Vulpeculated
Robbed by a fox.
Derived from the Latin vulpēcula, diminutive of vulpēs, a fox.
Although the OED records the first use in 1672, the word is said now to be obsolete.
Word: Vulpeculated
All posts by Keith
Notre Dame de Paris
Devastating though it is, Vulcan failed in his mission to reduce Notre Dame de Paris to a pile of ash and rubble. I enjoy watching disasters like this, and plane crashes, not from a a sense of morbid curiosity but from a forensic and analytical perspective; I’m curious about the how, why, what was the cause, and what next.
While one hates to see any medieval, historic, and important building – let alone a church – reduced as it has been, it is equally irritating to see Vulcan not finish the job! The Brigade des sapeurs-pompiers de Paris did an heroic job, against all the odds, and won. But let’s be honest, this fire is a grand calamity for the cathedral, for France, and for the French. And it is a truly sorry sight.
It could easily have been so much worse. As one Parisian official has said there was a critical 15-30 minutes, which I presume is referring to the time when the flames reached the NW and SW towers but was contained before it took hold there. If either tower had gone up in flames all bets were off as those towers contain the bells which would almost certainly have fallen, destroying masonry and probably bringing down a large amount of the stone structure if only through a domino effect.
The French government has committed to rebuild the cathedral and somewhere around €1bn of private money has already been pledged to help finance this. Such is the understandable, predictable, knee-jerk reaction. But should Notre Dame be rebuilt? I suggest that maybe it shouldn’t – and not just because of the horrendous cost.
Clearly the remaining structure has to be made safe. After that why not conserve what remains to preserve the medieval splendour. Then do something modern (but, of course this being France, tasteful) which will commemorate the fire as a remarkable event in the cathedral’s history and the heroic efforts of les pompiers. Why not install a transparent (glass, probably) roof so that light (the light of God?) continues to shine through the holes in the stone vaulting emphasising what very nearly didn’t survive. After all the photographic record, and existing skills, are so good that there is little to be gained from remaking the lost parts. Well at least that’s what I would be tempted to do.
I’ve been to Notre Dame twice, and I didn’t like it. It didn’t just leave me cold, I had a feeling of the sinister, even evil, there – and that’s unusual for me in a church (despite my lack of belief). So from an totally personal perspective I would not have been too distraught had the whole building been destroyed. But that’s not to be (at least yet) and a major rebuild of some form will happen. Which is probably as it should be.
Quote: Ethics
Don’t lie, don’t kill, don’t steal. Don’t use love as a game or weapon. Respect the earth, and don’t abuse its gifts. All are familiar ethics that we somehow forget, or manage to sidestep, when we just don’t feel like thinking about consequences.
[Stephanie JT Russell]
Ten Things, April
This year our Ten Things series is focusing on each month in turn. The Ten Things may include facts about the month, momentous events that happened, personal things, and any other idiocy I feel like – just because I can. So here are …
Ten Things about April
- In most years Easter falls in April
- All Fool’s Day
- New financial year in UK
- St George’s Day
- The birth (allegedly) & death of William Shakespeare
- First cuckoos & swallows normally arrive in UK
- Start of asparagus season
- Buddhist Hanamatsuri (Buddha’s birthday)
- Start of cricket season
- Walpurgis Nacht on 30th
Word: Quafftide
Quafftide
The time, or season, for a drink.
That time at the end of a long day when you can finally collapse and raise a glass.
Literally: drinking-time.
The OED says it is obsolete and rare with the first usage recorded in 1582. But what a superb word, which deserves better than being obsolete and rare, because … well, isn’t it always quafftide?
H/T @susie_dent
Counters
Each month this year we’re bringing you a post under the general title “Things that Count in [Number]” where [Number] will be the month. And naturally each month’s post will contain the [Number] of items (so just one for January, up to 12 for December).
For our purposes the definition of counting includes things which either come in groups of [Number] (eg. four suits in a pack of playing cards) or things which count in [Number] (eg. decimal coinage counting in tens).
Things which Count in Four …
- The Beatles
- Violin strings
- Classical elements
- Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Monthly Links
Here we go again with this month’s pointers to curiosities you missed earlier. Not so much science this month!
Science, Technology & Natural World
Scientists are resurrecting some old, apparently safer and greener, nuclear technology.
Mice sing. They sing in ultrasound which we can’t hear (but apparently cats can). And they sing politely to each other!
Health & Medicine
Medics have discovered only the second ever known pair of semi-identical (or sesquizygotic) twins. It’s a weirdness we were always told couldn’t happen; obviously it can but very, very rarely.
Many of us know someone who has panic attacks; some of us even suffer ourselves. Here are seven ways in which you can help someone through a panic attack.
Social Sciences, Business, Law
So many top leaders seem to be totally incompetent. So just how do incompetent men rise to the top?
It was hard to decide where best to put this next item … Researchers are suggesting that “big religion” may be being given too much credit for the evolution of modern society. But how will we ever know?
History, Archaeology & Anthropology
Palaeontologists have discovered an enormous haul of very well preserved, 500 million year old, fossil species in China.
Recently unearthed archaeological evidence suggests that humans have been living in Australia since about 120,000 years ago – that’s twice as long as previously thought.
Somewhat nearer our times, archaeologists have found the wreck of a ship in the Nile which shows that Herodotus was right about Ancient Egyptian shipbuilding almost 2500 years ago.
And coming almost up to date, DNA testing has shown that the crew of Henry VIII’s ship Mary Rose was from the Mediterranean and North Africa.
Lifestyle & Personal Development
Excellence is something we all strive for. But the thought now is that excellence is overrated, even destructive, and we should be cultivating “good enough”.
The world is getting more and more extrovert, so us introverts are feeling more and more guilty at declining invitations or struggling through social obligations. Here’s how one young woman learnt to accept her introversion.
Food & Drink
A company called Garçon Wines is proposing to make flat, rectangular wine bottles from PET plastic. Maybe they’re not as elegant as round bottles but they apparently save huge amounts on shipping and are recyclable.
People
Many of us have small, insignificant birthmarks, but congenital melanocytic naevus (CMN), where birthmarks cover a large area of the skin, is quite rare. It can also be very emotionally disturbing. Now 30 people with CMN have been photographed almost nude for an international exhibition by Brock Elbank. The aim is to make everyone, sufferers and the public, more comfortable with CMN.
More next month …
30-a-Week?
We all know that current medical wisdom is that we need at least five portions of fruit and veg a day for good (gut) health – although the definition of “portion” is often far from clear. There’s even a suggestion that 5-a-day isn’t enough and we should be eating 10-a-day!
However recently I came across the concept that as well as our 5-a-day we should be eating at least 30 different plants a week, for optimum gut health. Fortunately you don’t need to eat that mythical portion of each; “some” seems to be enough – although again no-one is being specific.
Now I reckon I’m pretty good at getting my 5-a-day; in fact there’s hardly a day when I don’t, and more often than not I’ll have seven, eight or even 10 a day. But do I get some of 30 plants every week? Can I get 30-a-week?
Being a scientist, of course I had to find out. So last week (Monday 18 March to Sunday 24 March, inclusive) I kept a note of what fruit and veg I was eating. This is what I found:
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That’s 40; count them! I achieved this without any real effort, and without the ubiquitous apples and pears (both of which eat regularly) and oranges (which I almost never eat ‘cos these days they’re rubbish). It is also without counting things like tea, beer, G&T. There are lots of other things which I could easily have added easily, and which I often eat, had I wanted to: kidney beans, lime, aubergine, courgette, lettuce, spinach, nectarine …
I was surprised how easy this was, and with no special effort on my part; I certainly didn’t go looking for different things to boost the total.
You can find more about the 30-a-week suggestion at:
- https://www.eatingmindset.com/my-plant-based-diet-challenge-30-different-plants-in-a-week/
- https://www.fermentedbylab.com/blog/2018/9/10/is-it-achievable-to-eat-30-different-plant-species-in-a-week-in-order-to-nurture-a-healthy-gut
Enjoy your plants!
Easter? Confused?
One of our favourite London bloggers, Diamond Geezer, earlier this week picked up on something I’d missed.
If you follow the rule, Easter should be this weekend – the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring Equinox. The Equinox was on 20 March and the full moon on 21 March. This would make Easter almost as early as it ever can be.
But it isn’t.
Easter isn’t until 21 April, apparently a full four weeks late, and almost as late as it can be!
WTF is going on?
Well it turns out that the rule isn’t quite what we think it is. Why? Because it was set by the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD who, amongst other things, set the date of the Equinox in concrete as 21 March when it actually moves around by a day or so. No-one has since redefined it.
This means in some years Easter falls on what appears to be the wrong date, although this is only likely if the full moon and the Equinox are very close together, as they are this year.
I’ll leave it as an exercise for the student to read DG’s post and understand the details.
Another example of the Law of Things Aren’t What They Seem.
Monthly Quotes
OMG! What’s happening to time? It must be speeding up as we’re almost a quarter of the way through this year! But that means it’s time for our monthly collection of recently encountered, interesting and/or amusing quotes.
Treat yourself the way you would treat a small child. Feed yourself healthy food. Make sure you spend time outside. Put yourself to bed early. Let yourself take naps. Don’t say mean things to yourself. Don’t put yourself in danger.
[unknown]
Being good enough doesn’t just apply to our individual lives. It also can inform how we think about our institutions … Good-enough workplaces would give employees a decent wage, relatively interesting work and opportunities to develop. But they wouldn’t make outlandish promises about being everything for staff, nor would they make outlandish demands on them … Good-enough healthcare would provide the support we need when we are ill, but it doesn’t constantly intrude into people’s life to ensure they are well.
[André Spicer; Guardian; 28/02/2019; https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/28/excellent-overrated-good-enough-modern-quest-damaging]
Don’t let them tell you you’re annoying, unlikeable, difficult, problematic, or stepping out of your place. They’re just afraid of you. You scare them because they are weak. Because they are afraid of your truth.
[Jameela Jamil]
Buddhism is all about science. If science is the pursuit of the accurate knowledge of reality, then science is Buddhism.
[Robert AF Thurman]
My timeline is currently populated by people who believe that God is Flat, that Darwin supported brexit and that Jesus is not a greenhouse gas. Or something like that.
[Brian Cox on Twitter]
Science has always worked to convert invisible information into the range we can perceive. This is what microscopes and telescopes do: changing the very small or very distant into a form we can digest with our eyes.
[David Eagleman; neuroscientist; Stanford University; quoted at https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/02/nanotech-injections-give-mice-infrared-vision/583768/]
We should bear in mind that, in general, it is the object of our newspapers rather to create a sensation – to make a point – than to further the cause of truth.
[Edgar Allan Poe, The Mystery of Marie Roget]
In life, there’s always a solution to a problem. Not taking control of the situation and doing nothing will only make your problems worse.
[Professor Cary Cooper; University of Lancaster]
It will be exceedingly hard, but that is significantly better than impossible.
[Troels Schönfeldt at https://www.knowablemagazine.org/article/technology/2019/nuclear-goes-retro-much-greener-outlook]
The whole Brexit process was bound to be difficult despite the claims of Brexiteers that all would be easy and that beneficial trade deals would rain down. It is hard to think of any modern parallel for such avoidable chaos … We are witnessing a golden age of political blundering and it is far from clear what will emerge over the remaining 24 days.
[Law & Lawyers Weblog; 05/03/2019; http://obiterj.blogspot.com/2019/03/24-days-to-brexit-brief-roundup.html]
They’ve shown precisely no ability to manage this process in an adult way. They’ve shown no understanding of the systems they’re discussing. They’ve shown no ability to consider the interests of the country over their own spaffed-out ideological wet dreams.
[Ian Dunt on Twitter about the government and Brexit]
Even when forced to accept that calling for a People’s Vote must be adopted as Labour Party policy, as it was after last night’s vote against adopting Labour’s plan for Brexit, Corbyn does so with congenital truculence. As the BBC’s John Pienaar put it, adopting the policy with all the enthusiasm of a schoolboy staring at a large plate of Brussels sprouts.
[Peter Walmsley on Facebook; 28/02/2019]
From Questions to the Attorney General (Geoffrey Cox QC MP), House of Commons, 7 March 2019:
Helen Goodman MP: … is it still Government policy to seek a reopening of the withdrawal agreement?
Geoffrey Cox: It is Government policy to achieve the necessary change in the backstop that will cause me to review and change my advice. That is Government policy; that is the subject of the discussions that we are having. I would say that it has come to be called “Cox’s codpiece”. What I am concerned to ensure is that what is inside the codpiece is in full working order.
Mr Speaker: Well! I hope everybody heard that. In the interests of the accessibility of our proceedings – in case anybody did not hear it – the right hon. and learned Gentleman referred to Cox’s codpiece. I have repeated it so that the alliterative quality is clear to all observers.
[Hansard; https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-03-07/debates/4ACABC6F-EE41-4F99-90DA-2BA5235AF58A/EUWithdrawalAgreementNorthernIreland]