Guardian weekly: Notes and Queries 620

Will watches disappear in the internet age?

Watchmakers and e-devices; sharp grey matter; of the people
India Economy
A roadside watchmaker fixes a watch in Delhi, India. Photograph: Tsering Topgyal/AP

Is watchmaking in jeopardy now that people have electronic devices that tell the time for them?

Only Time will tell.
Nicholas Walton, Melbourne, Australia

• No. There will always be an enlightened minority who prefer theatre to cinema. My grandfather used to enjoy hauling up the weights on his grandfather clock every evening before he went to bed.
Dick Hedges, Nairobi, Kenya

• No, it's just a wind-up.
Noel Bird, Boreen Point, Queensland, Australia

• This may be second-hand information, but I am reliably informed that there is a movement to retain the art of watch and clock-making, probably in the nick of time before the pendulum swings to e–devices.
Ursula Nixon, Bodalla, NSW, Australia

• Hopefully not, if you are a sailor.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Page 43 will keep you keen

How is grey matter kept sharp?

• By living on a knife edge.
Avril Nicholas, Crafers, South Australia

• I use the next page.
Dave Robinson, Newstead, Tasmania, Australia

• Filing.
Ben Coles, Sydney, Australia

• Bergamot.

Paul Lloyd, Swansea, UK

• It's something called a pencil sharpener.
E Slack, L'Isle Jourdain, France

• By ensuring its 50 shades are fully utilised.
Bryan Furnass, Canberra, Australia

The familial dictatorship

Is there, or has there ever been a "government of the people, by the people, and for the people..."?

I have witnessed many fine examples of direct democracy, government by consensus, based on equal voice and open debate. Once the couple has kids, though, it all falls into a system of benign socialist dual-dictatorship. As the children grow and mature they are given increasing responsibilities in participating in the system of direct democracy, and hopefully found their own governments with a co-leader when they move out on their own. Whether such a government of, by and for the people can function on a larger scale is debatable.
John Warkentin-Scott, Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada

• Hugo Chávez's leftwing government of Venezuela, whether it will remain so, we shall see.
Rusty Hanna, Batchelor, Northern Territory, Australia

Cowboy summer? I think not

Down under, our balmy autumn is being described as an Indian summer. Why?

Whether an autumnal April and May in New South Wales or an autumnal October and November in North Wales, Pennsylvania, an Indian summer describes an unseasonal spell of warm, dry weather.
David Tucker, Halle, Germany

• Calling it a cowboy summer would sound silly.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia

Love is a many-shaded thing

Is love a figment of the imagination?

If love is colour-blind it may be a pigment of the imagination.
David Isaacs, Sydney, Australia

Any answers?

Does absence make the heart grow fonder?
Candace Davis, Roma, Queensland, Australia

What is the first thing End of the Worlders say when it hasn't ended?
Dick Hedges, Nairobi, Kenya

• Please send your answers to or Guardian Weekly, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, UK

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