Author: Joshua G. J. Insole

Well, this is quite a nice post to be making — Chris Hewitt of Mused.Blog has nominated me for the Liebster Award! First of all, thank you very much, Chris — it really means a lot. If you haven’t visited Chris’ blog yet, I thoroughly recommend Mused.Blog — check it out! He’s got some excellent short stories and flash fiction going on.

So, what is the Liebster Award? Well, it’s essentially an award for bloggers with fewer than 200 followers (such as my blog). It’s an award given by bloggers to other bloggers — I think it’s a great way to support new bloggers and blogs that might otherwise fly under the radar.

There are a few rules to the award — answer the questions posed by the person nominating you in a post (with a link back to them), set five new questions, and nominate other bloggers wither fewer than 200 followers.

Okay! On to my answers! Chris came up with some really cool questions, so I had to give it a bit of thought… Be warned, these answers are quite lengthy! 😉

Oh no, it’s another global apocalypse. Only one book, one movie and one song will survive into the brave new world. Which do you pick?

The book would have to be Stephen King’s The Shining — it was one of the first ‘adult’ books I ever read… there are few authors who can tear your heart in two whilst absolutely terrifying you in the way that King does.

The movie would be Aliens! I love all things horror, and the original Alien is a masterclass in claustrophobic terror, but I just love James Cameron’s sequel! “Get away from her, you bitch!”

The song would be Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen. I dare anyone to listen to that song and not sing along — perfect for lifting spirits after the collapse!

Battle Royale: a T-Rex, three tigers, one hundred rats, which would win? Show your working out.

Now, that’s a good question. Buckle up for the answer!

It’s been estimated that the T-Rex had a bite force of 431,000 pounds per square inch (psi). A tiger has a bite force of 1,050 psi — which is still huge, considering that it’s twice that of a lion (we humans have a bite strength of 200 pounds). Rats are astounding creatures — they have a bite force of 24,000 psi! So, all of these creatures have the ability to puncture one another’s flesh with a reasonable amount of ferocity. The T-Rex could kill the other two in one attack, whereas the tigers would take a while to bring down the T-Rex. The rats would likely fail against the other two individually, but as a collective they might have a chance to bring down the predators.

The speed of the animals would play a large role, too. It’s been hotly debated how fast a T-Rex could run, but current estimates are around 11 and 33 miles per hour (mph). An adult tiger can run at 30 – 40 mph, so they’d easily have the advantage over the T-Rex — likely managing to get lots of quick attacks in between the Rex’s slower movements. Rats can only manage a paltry 8 mph — a good portion of their army would likely be KOd rather quickly by the predators.

You’d also have to factor in the hides of the animals, as well — how well could they withstand the attacks of the other two? I’m not an expert on this, but I’d guess that the T-Rex had very thick skin and would be able to take a lot of damage. Tigers are also fairly resilient animals, and could likely keep fighting until their last breath — but I imagine if the Rex were able to land a solid attack, it’d be an instant game over for the tiger. Rats, on the other hand, would likely face an instant death should an attack be successful against them.

Additionally, you have to consider terrain. Whose home ground is it? At the moment, I think it’s fairly even between the T-Rex and the tiger, but if the animal were in an environment to which it has adapted, I’d say that’d swing the balance.

Finally, we have to acknowledge bacteria and disease. The Rex existed at a much different time point to the tiger and the rat, so it would likely have a much different immune system. It’s well known that rats are efficient carriers of disease — if they were able to take a quick bite at the Rex, it’s probable that the prehistoric predator would not have the capabilities to deal with modern day diseases, such as the plague (yes, it’s still a thing). This might also be true of the tiger, as well — due to difference in environments.

Overall, I think it’d be close between the two predators, but the victor would likely die shortly after from infection. I think the likely winner would be the rats, due to their sheer number — a good few would perish, but I imagine one or two would escape the chaos, long enough to see the predators fall to disease.

Whew!

The Gods have chosen to remove one of your senses, in exchange, they’ll make one of your remaining senses a super-sense. Which one do you lose, and which one do you improve?

Technically, we as humans have a bucketload of senses — such as the sense to gauge time, senses for balance, senses for gravity, proprioception, etc., but I’m gonna keep it simple and stick to the basic five. (Have a google search on this topic, you can really go down the rabbit hole on our different types of senses!)

I’d choose to lose my sense of smell. It’s important for enjoying food, but I reckon it’s the one that I could do without.

I’d like to improve my hearing — imagine being able to navigate in the pitch black, using your own sonar!

You have died, bad luck! Luckily you’ve been offered the choice of being reborn at a time and location of your choosing with all your current knowledge intact. Where and when do you choose?

I’d like to go back to the mid-seventies. 1) I could see all of the awesome bands in their prime — Pink Floyd, Queen, Iron Maiden, Metallica, David Bowie, The Smiths, Joy Division etc. 2) I have a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and a master’s degree in neuroscience — I could win some Nobel prizes and be set for life with the winnings! The seventies aren’t so far back in time that scientific research would be difficult to conduct, and with knowledge of the right answers, I could focus my research.

What’s the best and worst thing about blogging?

The best thing is easily the other bloggers! I love the sense of community and the encouragement everyone gives each other.

The worst thing is the feeling of guilt I get when I can’t post or respond as quickly as I like! Sometimes, life gets in the way…

My five questions:

1) If money were of no importance, what would you be doing with your life, right now?

2) What’s your favourite genre, and why? (This can be for books, movies, or music!)

3) If you could take credit for one piece of work in history, what would it be? This could be a book, a song, a movie script, etc.

4) If you knew you would die in a year, what are the top things you’d like to do before kicking the bucket?

5) Tell me something that I (probably) don’t know! Did you know that the prominent joints on the legs of a flamingo are actually its ankles? The knees are closer to the body and are hidden by feathers!

My nominations:

• PJ — PJ writes amazing poems, and has a real talent when it comes to making a big impact with few words. PJ’s works have an authentic rawness to them! (PJ actually nominated me for the Real Neat Blog Award, which I will be responding to soon!)
• Rachel Admas — Rachel makes stunning artwork, often on paper. Her work is brilliantly original — I can’t recommend her blog enough.
• The Rookery — a hypnotic blend of art, profound poetry, and general musings on life. I’m not quite sure what category The Rookery falls into, but it’s all brilliant!

There’s no pressure to make a response post, this is just a bit of fun! If you do make a response, I hope you have fun with it. The rules can be found here. Happy blogging!