Marijuana
Ganja; flowering tops of the cannabis sativa plant. Yes, it’s far less addictive than tobacco, safer than alcohol. No, it’s illegal.
Heroin
Purified and semi-purified (brown sugar, smack) opiate. Utter evil. Life-destroyingly addictive. Users may feel death is better. It is.
Hashish
Ganja concentrated. Dutch bars offer Himachal and Kashmir varieties (the best) on the menu. Don’t ask how it got there.
LSD
Also called acid. Eat a paper blotter soaked in the stuff and experience bizarre hallucinations for hours. Sustained use fries brains.
Opium
Gooey black poppy plant extract, swallowed or smoked. Addictive, and also makes you about as useful as a house plant.
Mushrooms
Some fungi contain just enough poison to briefly addle the mind. Listen to yellow and see thunder, but risk more brain fry.
Culture Vulture
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe C.S. Lewis
The what? First book in Lewis’ children’s classic Chronicles of Narnia series.
More kids fantasy? Indeed. Four children discover the magical land of Narnia, have many adventures helping a Christ-like lion named Aslan fight an evil witch.
Pious and moralising too? Yup. One of Lewis’ closest friends was fellow fantasy writer and devout Christian J.R.R Tolkien, whose religious allegories were far subtler.
So you thought you knew all about
Luis Figo
Will Portuguese football’s brightest star help keep the European Cup at home? Figo it out.
A. Born Luis Filipe Madeira Caiero Figo on November 4, ’72, in the Almada district, Lisbon.
B. Made his Sporting Clube de Portugal debut as a 16-year-old, went on to make 124 appearances, winning the Portuguese Cup before joining FC Barcelona in ’95.
C. Transferred to arch-rivals Real Madrid, for a record £37 million.
D. Voted fifa World Player of the Year in 2000, European Footballer of the Year in ’01.
E. His Swedish model wife, Helene Svedin, was in a footballers’ wives ‘glamour team’.
Answer D. Was European Player of the Year in 2000, and World Player in 2001.
what is
Bandicoot
Very large rodent of rat persuasion. Particularly adept at destroying crops and gardens and terrifying house cats. Name is rare Telugu gift to English, from pandikokku, literally "pig-rat". Called a ghoos in North India.
