Category Archives: memes

beliefs, freedom of speech, memes, thoughts, words

Word of the Week

Libertine.
1. A freedman; one freed from slavery. [Roman]
2a. The name given to certain “free-thinking” sects (of France and elsewhere on the continent) of the sixteenth century.
2b. One who holds free or loose opinions about religion; a free-thinker.
2c. One who follows his own inclinations or goes his own way; one who is not restricted or confined.
3. A man who is not restrained by moral law, especially in his relations with the female sex; one who leads a dissolute, licentious life.

The word ‘libertine’ was first applied in the 1550s to a sect of Protestants in northern Europe who, with unimpeachable logic, reasoned that since God had ordained all things, nothing could be sinful. They proceeded to act accordingly. Their views were regarded with horror by both Catholics on one side and Calvinists on the other.
[AC Grayling, The Form of Things]

memes, music

Listography – Gigs

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For Kate’s Listography this week we’re asked to nominate the top five bands we’d like to see live. I’ve never been a great one for going to gigs and seeing bands live partly because they’ve often seemed unreasonably expensive and partly because you can often get a better sound from a studio recording without being deafened — but then I grew up with the excessively loud rock bands of the 60s/70s. Nevertheless there are a few bands I wouldn’t mind seeing live. Those of you who know me at all can probably guess a lot of the list …

Well we’ll start with three all-time favourites Pink Floyd, closely followed by Yes and Caravan. What more is there to say about any of them?


At I’d probably but The Beatles. It would have to be late Beatles, as of the era of Abbey Road and Let It Be, by when they’d stopped performing live and the cracks were beginning to show.

All of those four create such magical music (at least it is for me). How I’ve never been to see especially Pink Floyd I just don’t know.

Creeping in at #5 would I think be the Barron Knights. Originally formed in 1959 they’re a set of guys who performed for the hell of it (as I recall they all had regular jobs) and did those brilliant Christmas-time parodies of other bands. And they were still performing live until relatively recently.

And the Barron Knights win by the shortest of short heads from Who, Rolling Stones, Queen, Dire Straits, Moody Blues, not necessarily in that order.

memes, words

Word of the Week

Cullet.
Crushed, broken or refuse glass with which the crucibles are replenished.

According to the OED the name is formed as an extension of “Collet. The neck or portion of glass left on the end of the blowing-iron after the removal of the finished article” to include all refuse and broken glass melted over again to make inferior glass.

books, history, memes, personal, science

Ten Things – July

Number 7 in my monthly series of “Ten Things” for 2011. Each month I list one thing from each of ten categories which will remain the same for each month of 2011. So at the end of the year you have ten lists of twelve things about me.

  1. Something I Like: Beer
  2. Something I Won’t Do: Parachute
  3. Something I Want To Do: Visit Scilly Isles
  4. A Blog I Like: Not Exactly Rocket Science
  5. A Book I Like: Diary of Samuel Pepys
  6. Some Music I Like: Amanda Palmer, Map of Tasmania
  7. A Food I Like: Cheese
  8. A Food or Drink I Dislike: Tapioca
  9. A Word I Like: Numpty
  10. A Quote I Like: It will pass, sir, like other days in the army. [Anthony Powell]
books, medical, memes, personal, photography, pleasures, science, topographical

Listography: What I want to do this Summer

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Keith at Reluctant Housedad is running Listography again this week while Kate Takes 5 has a break and we’ve been asked to say five things I want to do this summer.

Hmmm … well .. I thought summer was over. Wimbledon has finished, the first blackberries have been picked and it’s raining. Sounds like the end of summer to me. 🙂

But in the spirit of beating my brans out (‘cos I actually found this hard!) here is my rather pathetic list …

Run a Successful Conference. For the Anthony Powell Society; at the beginning of September. Yep, I’m organising it (again — that only five of the last six!). It certainly promises to be good, but you never know until you get there if some joker or other is going to be put into play. So let’s hope all the speakers turn up; the venue works OK and the events all run smoothly.

Kill off my Depression. I’ve had depression for far far too long. It’s high time it b*ggered off for good. It’s certainly better than it was; I’ve halved my dose of anti-depressants this Spring and the hypnotherapy seems to be doing some good. Now for the remainder, please!

While we’re at it can I also Get Rid of my Hayfever once and for all. It had really p’ed me off more than usual this Summer as I’ve been having really itchy, watering eyes despite my usual anti-histamines. After 50-odd years enough is enough. Thank you!

Visit Kew Gardens at least once on a nice day. Kew is one of my favourite places, but despite living only a few miles away we get there all too seldom. At least one visit is a must this summer.


Prospect Cottage, Dungeness, home of the late Derek Jarman.
© Copyright Dr Keith C Marshall, 2010.
Finally we need a Holiday. But it ain’t going to happen until after the conference in September. Does that still count? We’re going off to wallow in decent B&B in New Romney, Kent. The Romney Marsh area is another of my favourite places: wide open spaces; Dungeness; seaside; medieval churches; RH&D Railway. And I have ancestors from New Romney and around the edges of the Romney Marsh, so we’ll be doing some family history while we’re there too. Mix and match depending on the weather, but get away and get some good sea air — and even better if it is warm and sunny.

Will that do?

memes, words

Word of the Week

Cuneiform.
1. Having the form of a wedge, wedge-shaped.
2. Applied to the characters of the ancient inscriptions of Persia, Assyria, etc., composed of wedge-shaped or arrow-headed elements; and hence to the inscriptions or records themselves.

Probably hence also “cunt”.

medical, memes, natural history, science, words

Word of the Week

As my purpose in being here is as a catalyst is to educate all you barbarians bring you new and interesting insights and ways of looking at the world, I’ve decide that we’ll have a new regular series: Word of the Week. Yes, it will appear weekly — well most weeks anyway; no guarantee I won’t miss, or move, some! And as this is the first in the series, and it’s Wednesday, the series will appear regularly on a Monday.

OK, so here’s this week’s word, with it’s definition from the OED …

zygodactylous. Having the toes ‘yoked’ or arranged in pairs, ie. two before and two behind, as the feet of a scansorial bird. [As in the feet of most woodpeckers.]

Oh bugger. That means we’ll have to have a second word. So here’s your week 1 bonus …

scansorial. Used for climbing. Of or pertaining to climbing; specifically of the feet of birds and animals, adapted for climbing.