By and Large
One of the things that has struck me watching the US primaries and caucuses is the way the word ‘republican’ has different connotations on either side of the Atlantic.
If you’re a US Republican with a capital R, it means that you are rather conservative, religious and believe in traditional values (click the graphic), whereas in the UK, being a republican with a lower case R marks you as a lefty liberal rebel.
Going Dark
I went on strike yesterday in support of the poor and downtrodden that is Wikipedia and Jimmy Wales.
Not that I expect that anyone noticed, least of all the present and/or future incumbent of the White House, but it’s the thought that counts.
A is for Angelsey
| My contribution to ABC Wednesday which for Round 10 I am focusing on people from the past. |
For this round of ABC Wednesday, I thought I would focus on people from the past, some famous, others less so, but hopefully all interesting in one way or another.
Starting with the flamboyant 5th Earl of Angelsey, who “seems only to have existed for the purpose of giving a melancholy and unneeded illustration of the truth that a man with the finest prospects, may, by the wildest folly and extravagance, play away an uniterable life, and have lived in vain.”
Nightmare
It’s a while since I wrote a book review which isn’t surprising as I haven’t read much of late, but one title very much on my pre-order from Amazon list was Nightmare, the third in Stephen Leather’s Jack Nightingale series.
I’ve written about the previous two novels here and here, so I’ll make my precis of the story so far as brief as I can.
Jack Nightingale is a former police negotiator whose life changes when he fails to prevent a nine year old girl from committing suicide.
Missing Inaction
It isn’t like me to go without posting for so long, but we had an exhausting, sleep-deprived week last week that had me otherwise occupied.
The problem was the course work that my daughter had to complete over the Christmas holiday for the first part of her TEFL degree. It was an enormous task.
Z is for Zephyr, Zibi and Zip-lining
| Can I complete the whole of Round 9 of ABC Wednesday based on our four week stay in South Africa in February? Click on the photos to enlarge. |
Phew! I managed to make it through the alphabet from South Africa and with quite a few examples for the letter Z. First up is this Zephyr in bronze and chrome that you can find on the waterfront at Knysna.
It is the work of South African artist Stephan Raubenheimer and weighs 62kg when off its Jarrah-wood base. It was created in 1997 and was on display in Auckland, New Zealand in 2000 during the America’s Cup Regatta.
Bonfire of Inanities
My following is obviously growing. After I wrote about the Banished Words list the other day, the BBC followed in my wake when the issue was included on 7 Day Sunday on Radio Five yesterday.
Okay, so they might have read about it on the Hot Word Blog which is where I stole the idea from in the first place, but a boy can dream.
Service Event Horizon
I read a newspaper editorial yesterday that I think was meant to cheer me up over the state of the economy. It didn’t.
It was the bit that followed an intro about the tumult in the eurozone, with the euro falling, increased borrowing by the French and £41 billion in new bad loans in Spain. It read:
“Yet, in Britain, came the positive news that the service sector, which accounts for more than 70 per cent of our entire economic output, grew in December at its fastest rate for six months.”
Ginormous Trickeration
Pretty well everyone I know has a pet hate about the use and misuse of the English language. (I can’t speak, or speak for, other languages, but I suspect the same annoyance will apply.)
I have lots. For example, using the word ‘gate’ as a suffix to indicate some level of conspiracy, as in Camillagate, Svengate, Climategate, Shilpagate and even Nipplegate.
Y is for Yachts and Yellowwood
| Can I complete the whole of Round 9 of ABC Wednesday based on our four week stay in South Africa in February? Click on the photos to enlarge. |
Yachts are always helpful to illustrate the letter Y, as any author of ABC books for children will tell you.
I took this photo of yachts at Knysna Quays Waterfront during a stop off on our Garden Route trip along the south coast of Africa.
My Flickr Stream
A Whole Lotta Links
Other Blogs (18)
- Conspiracy & Quackery (14)
- Fun (15)
- Seriously Good (15)
- History (14)
- Sport (11)
- Politics (22)
- Media (13)
Your Comments