Torak

Way back in Sweden in the 80s or 90s I remember reading a comic book that I've been trying to remember ever since. I think it's originally either French or Belgian, but I wouldn't bet money on that.

All I really remember about it is that it involves an elderly (ex-military, perhaps?) bloke in a pink sweater and his big, fluffy dog. For some reason I can't remember - I'm sure there's an escaped convict involved somewhere - they mount an old gun turret to a motorcycle sidecar and go on the rampage firing cobblestones lifted from a major intersection.

It's not a lot to go on, I know... but does anyone have the faintest idea what comic I'm thinking of?

When I visited Cape Town last year, I saw a wrecked ship off Bloubergrant:

http://maps.google.co.za/maps?hl=en&ll=-33.824482,...

The question is, what ship is it, and what's its story?

My wife and I have a son due in September. At what age should I get him his first:

- Drum kit?

- Piano?

- Instruments in general?

- Submachinegun?

- Crewcut?

(Some of those questions may be more serious than others.)

Just over a year ago I gave my wife a silver ring, which we then used as our wedding ring. It was engraved and had a small tanzanite set in it.

Today she was fiddling with it on her finger, and it somehow broke into three pieces (at the setting and at a forward slash in the inside engraving).

The question, then, is this: is there any set of circumstances that could legitimately cause a good-quality ring to break into three pieces? Has the engraver got over-enthusiastic, or was the ring just really poor quality?

In the British military, many people - particularly officers, it seems - bend the crown of their peaked cap down at the sides (http://media.photobucket.com/image/british%20offic... as opposed to keeping the crown flat (http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/06/18/article-... Why is this, where does the tradition come from, and what do dress regs say about it?

In the kitchen we found a banana with a roughly hemispherical pit in it; at first we thought mice might have eaten it, but there were none of the usual signs (droppings, toothmarks, etc).

The inside of the pit is moist, almost like a suppurating wound, and the edges have turned dark brown by exposure to the air. There are little black/brown fragments around the banana, but no sign of where they're from.

All in all, it brought to mind the scene in Tremors 2 where the shriekers eat their way out of the graboid; it looks almost as if there's been something - a larva or something - pupating inside the banana.

Does anyone know what this could be?

Pictures: http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c192/awmperry/bl...

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c192/awmperry/bl...

I'm thinking of moving to South Africa with my South African wife, and if I do I'll be applying for a handgun licence. I'd plan to get a gun as a carry gun both for day-to-day CCW purposes and for duty use with my father-in-law's security company. I've decided to go with a .40, and while I prefer the ergonomics of the M&P I could manage with the Glock 23 as well - it all comes down to cost.

The question, then, is how much - roughly - I should expect to spend on each of those two, and if there are any major competitors that are significantly cheaper.

I currently have a Sony Ericsson Satio, and it's dreadful; reception is poor, the interface is dismal, the "bundled" applications turned out (*after* purchasing!) to be demos only...

The choice now stands between the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 (the full-size version) and the iPhone 4. My priority is simply a good phone, with excellent text entry options and good calendar and contact handling. Good web handling is also important, though not critical, and good media handling would be nice. I would also like a good *quality* camera (a good lens, for instance, is more important to me than a high megapixel count), and access to good satnav software.

So, which of those suits my needs best? And if another phone is even better, which is it?

A related question: I'm in the UK. I don't phone or text much, but can imagine using a lot of net bandwidth. When I do text or phone, it's often to South Africa or Sweden. What are my best options for service provider?