Shooting Parrots

Snollygoster

Friday, 9 November 2012

In this week of contrasting political momentousness in both America and China, serendipity lead me to a wonderful word that is new to me – snollygoster. The Free Online Dictionary defines a snollygoster as ‘one, especially a politician, who is guided by personal advantage rather than by consistent, respectable principles’. An American journalist of the 1890s was more precise saying that a snollygoster is: ‘A fellow who wants office, regardless of party, platform or principles, and who, whenever he wins, gets there by the sheer force of monumental talknophical assumnacy’. [...]

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The Greasy Pole

Thursday, 8 November 2012

I don’t know what it is about elections that gets my juices flowing, but I just can’t resist ‘em. As an armchair spectator, of course, which is why I was up until the early hours yesterday watching events unfold in the US. It all started in 15 October 1964 when I was spending the night at my grandmother’s house and she let me stay up late to watch the general election coverage. I won’t forget her excitement when it looked likely that Harold Wilson’s Labour was looking likely to win. [...]

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Q is for James Quin

Wednesday, 7 November 2012

This is my contribution to Round Eleven of ABC Wednesday and again I am focusing on people, some famous, some infamous and some half-forgotten. Acting is fraught with back-biting and bitchiness, but in the 18th century the profession was downright murderous, as illustrated by the life of actor and comedian, James Quin. Quin was the son of a barrister and though he was born in London in 1693, his Irish parents took him back to Ireland where he spent his early years and attended Trinity College, Dublin, at least for [...]

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Sun Shines on the Righteous

Monday, 5 November 2012

I’ve been sitting by the phone for two days now waiting to hear from Messrs Romney and Obama about my sensible plan to extend the franchise in electing the ‘leader of the free world’. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I’m guessing that they’re busy right now, what with wooing the still undecided voters of Coshocton and Cuyahoga, although if I’m honest, the comments of their respective representatives were not exactly what you would call encouraging. But I can’t wait around while the Americans remain obstinately obsessed with their [...]

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Sykes

Sunday, 4 November 2012

I’m not generally one for heaping praise on the media (unless bribed or coerced), but I have to thank the BBC2 for the evening of programmes last night celebrating the life and work of Eric Sykes who died earlier this year. Sykes was one of my early comedy heroes for all sorts of reasons, but mostly for his mixture of silliness, surrealism and slapstick. He began his career as a writer and had his first big break with the Two Elephants sketch for Frankie Howerd in 1947. I’m sure I [...]

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Democratic Deficit

Friday, 2 November 2012

I’m in danger of becoming a Chadkirk photo bore with our regular strolls as Mrs P recuperates, but you’ll be pleased that I’m just using my shots to decorate this post while I talk about an entirely different sort of constitutional issue – the US presidential election. I’ve been following the campaign as best as I can from this distance, watching and waiting for Romney to alienate another chunk of the electorate and wondering when Obama would regain the fire in his rhetoric, when it struck me that this is [...]

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Splatter Jack

Thursday, 1 November 2012

We were all prepared for the Halloween onslaught last night – bucket of sweets by the door and a lit carved pumpkin on the wall by the gate to advertise that we were to be trick or treated, but no-one came. We don’t generally get many kids in costumes visiting on All Hallows Eve as we live on a main road, but the bad weather must have kept accompanying parents at home. At least we had made the effort though, or rather my son had, spending a couple of hours [...]

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P is for Louis Pasteur

Wednesday, 31 October 2012

This is my contribution to Round Eleven of ABC Wednesday and again I am focusing on people, some famous, some infamous and some half-forgotten. French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur is best remembered for his germ theory of disease, his vaccines for rabies and anthrax, not to mention the pasteurisation method for treating milk. But he also made a major contribution to the production of beer and all because of his deep-seated hatred of all things German following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 which simultaneously interrupted his work and humiliated [...]

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The Name’s Bond, Saint Bond

Monday, 29 October 2012

With all the hullabaloo about Skyfall, it is quite fitting that today is the feastday of Saint Bond, a 7th century hermit venerated in Sens, France. I bring this up as a not so subtle excuse to also mention that today was my birthday and to thank everyone who sent me good wishes. I did wonder how you all knew until I remembered Facebook. To be truthful, it hasn’t been the best of days. We went to the funeral of someone who was once our nextdoor neighbour and a close [...]

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