amusements, words

100 Day Challenge: Words #13

Episode 12n (days 61 to 65) of my 100 day challenge to find words I don’t know. I’m scraping words from https://randomword.com/ and each day picking one that I find interesting and which is also in the OED.

Day Date Word Meaning
61 Tuesday 31 December rudenture architectural moulding in the shape of a rope
62 Wednesday 1 January libanomancy ** divination by the burning of incense
63 Thursday 2 January limaciform having the form of a slug
64 Friday 3 January breviloquence brevity of speech
65 Saturday 4 January gambrel crooked stick used by butchers for hanging carcasses

** My favourite of the words presented.

Next episode in a few days!

amusements, current affairs, personal, ramblings

Predictions for 2020

Once again this year I’ve retrieved my crystal ball from the back of the wardrobe and dusted it off. However it becomes cloudier by the day so despite regular consultations over the last month what follows are my guesses at what may happen during 2020.

As before, I’ve divided the predictions into sections: UK, World and Personal. I figured that Brexit is now so likely to happen that it is “business as usual” and doesn’t warrant its own section. Note also that various items are currently redacted (although I have them documented) as some might consider them over-sensitive.

Disclaimer. I remind you that these are just my ideas of what could happen; they’re based solely on hunches and gut feel; I have no inside knowledge, I haven’t been studying the form, and I have a success rate of about 20%. So if you base any decision on any of this I will take no responsibility for your wanton act of idiocy or its consequences.

UK

  1. Look out for natural disasters around 9-10/02 (snow), 9-10/03, 7-8/04 (very wet Easter), 6-7/05 (financial crash) (all of these dates are moon at perigee and full).
    Also 30-31/10 (plane crash) (moon is at apogee, full and a Blue Moon).
  2. Penumbral lunar eclipse (visible in London) 10/01, 05/06, 05/07, 30/11 may also presage problems.
  3. UK leaves EU on 31/01: UK will not request a further extension and anyway the EU wouldn’t grant it.
    Leave deal will be unsatisfactory (basically the deal of 10/2019, passed due to Tory majority in the new parliament) containing many Henry VIII clauses (many of which will be abused before YE).
  4. Government cannot agree a trade deal with EU by YE.
    If the EU proposes an extension beyond YE 2020 the UK government will refuse it, thus cementing a total “no deal” Brexit.
  5. Boris Johnson continues to believe in unicorns and will ride out the economic turmoil following Brexit.
  6. Corbin is replaced as Labour Leader by a woman; possibly one of Yvette Cooper, Stella Creasy, Angela Eagle, Angela Rayner. (Predicted before the runners and riders are declared.)
  7. Despite attempts by UK and Ireland, the parties in Ulster are unable to agree a power sharing administration.
  8. There’s a move to reunite Ireland as the post-Brexit border is unworkable.
    This could stimulate Sinn Féin take their seats at Westminster to try to push through the reunification.
  9. Scotland is denied an independence referendum in 2020 by Westminster and fails to get a Supreme Court ruling in it’s favour.
    The SNP will build resentment against Westminster in order to win elections (and maybe a referendum) in 2021/22.
  10. Increasing calls for reform of electoral system (to some form of proportional representation) but they’re continually blocked by the government who implement boundary changes to cement their position.
  11. HS2 gets the go-ahead and a feasibility study into extensions to Edinburgh/Glasgow and Cardiff.
  12. Fracking is allowed to restart.
  13. Sadiq Khan wins a second term as London Mayor – but only just.
  14. Nigel Farage gets a peerage; John Bercow, Kenneth Clarke and Dominic Grieve do not.
  15. Appointees to the Supreme Court (eg. the replacement for Lady Hale) are seen as being clearly political appointees, rather than appropriate legals.
  16. Because of the economic turmoil the UK is in recession by YE.
    Unemployment hits 10%.
    Bank of England Interest Rate returns to 0%.
  17. Sterling plummets against dollar and Euro following the UK’s exit from the EU.
  18. Inflation rises to at least 10% by YE, mainly due to large cost increases in the food industry and hospitality sector.
  19. FTSE falls 10% cf. start of year – due to Brexit and the financial crash.
  20. Financial crash, probably in early May, with the possibility that a bank will fail.
  21. S&P and/or Moody’s downgrade UK creditworthiness by two levels.
  22. Mortgage interest rates hit 10% before YE.
    Average UK house prices fall by at least 10%.
    Repossessions double.
  23. Pensions (private & state) are compulsorily frozen.
  24. Drug prices double as the US buys up the NHS.
    Prescription charges are extended to everyone with no exemptions.
  25. Either ASDA or Morrison’s fails or is taken over; Debenhams finally fails.
    Major problems for M&S and/or John Lewis – a partnership between the two looks likely.
  26. Major drug/alcohol or fraud/fixing issue uncovered in one or more of UK athletics, rugby, cricket.
  27. Extinction Rebellion fizzles out.
  28. Diane Abbott and Theresa May are diagnosed with long-term illnesses.
  29. Magnitude 4 or greater earthquake somewhere in UK.
  30. At least 200 deaths in illegal migration attempts to the UK.
  31. Plans announced to replace the Thames Barrier; work to start 2025 and complete 2040.
  32. Announcement that London congestion charge zone will be expanded out to N & S Circulars in 2025/6.
  33. Relatively mild wet January/February followed by a cold wet spring & summer thus ensuring a poor fruit and grain harvest.
  34. Death of the Queen and Prince Philip.
    Possibly also Prince Charles, in an accident.
    William becomes King by YE.
  35. Other Deaths: Edwina Currey, Gordon Brown, a royal duke, Kenneth Clarke, Jeffrey Archer, Dennis Skinner, Lord Heseltine, Lord Gowrie.

World

  1. Trump wins 2020 Presidential election due to Democrat dissent over their candidate.
  2. Saudi Arabia drastically cuts oil exports amid internecine turmoil.
  3. Zimbabwe finally succumbs to outright civil war which spills over into South Africa.
  4. South American countries descend further into right-wing government.
  5. Rate of Amazonian deforestation increases.
    Global temperature and CO2 emissions continue to rise.
    The COP26 climate talks in Glasgow (in November) end in disagreement and failure.
  6. Major violence (civil war?) in Turkey.
  7. Violent uprising continues in Hong Kong and India.
  8. Russia annexes one of the Baltic states.
  9. Big solar geomagnetic storm causes major breakdown of satellites and infrastructure, probably across North America but possibly elsewhere.
  10. Collision between two operational satellites (maybe as a result of geomagnetic storm).
  11. Boeing Starliner and Space X Crew Dragon both launch crewed capsules.
    One of them fails with loss of the crew.
  12. At least one other major space mission fails.
  13. Magnitude 7 or greater earthquake in California and another in Peru.
  14. Greta Thunberg is burnt out and sinks out of sight to complete her education.
  15. At least one major global IT company fails (or is saved only by a takeover).
    Also a major airline and a shipping line.
  16. Major plane crash in western Europe – possibly France – possibly controlled flight into terrain.
  17. Ebola flares again in central Africa.
  18. Significant new disease emerges (as MERS and SARS did); concern at possible pandemic.
  19. Number of western countries ban vaping or include it in their anti-smoking regulations.
  20. Amazon and/or Facebook is involved in a major anti-trust or privacy law suit.
  21. Deaths: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Dalai Lama, Angela Merkel, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch.

Personal

  1. Personal (a), (b): [[REDACTED]]
  2. Neighbours1 (a), (b): [[REDACTED]]
  3. Neighbours2: [[REDACTED]]
  4. Neighbours3: [[REDACTED]]
  5. Local Community1 (a), (b), (c): [[REDACTED]]
  6. Local Community2 (a), (b): [[REDACTED]]
  7. Local Community3: [[REDACTED]]
  8. Friends1 (a), (b): [[REDACTED]]
  9. Friends2 (a), (b), (c): [[REDACTED]]
  10. Friends3: [[REDACTED]]
  11. Friends4 (a), (b): [[REDACTED]]
  12. Friends5 (a), (b): [[REDACTED]]
  13. Friends6: [[REDACTED]]
  14. Friends7: [[REDACTED]]
  15. Deaths: 11 named individuals [[REDACTED]]

These have all been redacted as the content is bound to be sensitive to people I know, however they are documented in my files and will be reported on at the end of the year.

Obviously I shall keep a tally and will publish the results at the end of the year. Let’s hope I do better this year than I have over the last several?

I’m conscious that much of the above will be in people’s “bad news” category. So this year I intend to also log good news stories. Good news is, of course, a rather flexible concept as it depends on one’s values of “Good” and “News”. The stories I log will therefore be ones which meet or exceed my personal, flexible and arbitrary values of Good and News. Hopefully there’ll be a list at the end of the year.

amusements, current affairs, personal, ramblings

Predictions for 2019: The Results

This time last year I made a series of predictions about what would happen during 2019. So what did I get right, and what wrong?
[Some of the items remain redacted to protect the sensitive and innocent.]

UK (Brexit)

Most of these predictions stand or fall on the outcome of the first two.

  1. Despite all the clamour, there will not be a second referendum on Brexit, and even if there is the result will still be Leave. CORRECT
  2. Parliament will not be able to agree the negotiated deal so Britain leaves the EU on 29 March with no deal, no fall-back plan, and no “implementation period”. WRONG as Brexit was delayed, twice.
  3. All trade stops as it is discovered that WTO rules cannot be applied instantly and easily. Resolution takes at least 3 months. WRONG.
  4. A hard border has to be implemented in Ireland almost overnight and is accomplished only by using troops. WRONG.
  5. There’s surprise that airlines cannot fly in/out of UK, and this badly affects food/medicine supply. WRONG.
  6. There are delays of up to a week (ie. that’s how long trucks have to queue) to get goods in/out to Europe via the seaports. Troops are required to manage the flow of trucks. WRONG.
  7. UK economy is in recession by mid-year. WRONG; although it was close towards the latter part of the year.
  8. Food and medicine supply issues are biting hard by end April as stocks run low and imports are almost impossible. There won’t be rationing but there will be significantly empty supermarket shelves. WRONG.
  9. There’s no insulin available by end May. Lack of insulin and other diabetes drugs results in 5K excess deaths during the year and another 5K avoided only due to an increased rate of amputations. The NHS estimate that a further 50K have unnecessary adverse events. WRONG.
  10. Due to import issues prices rise sharply and inflation hits 20% but stabilises to 5% by year-end. WRONG; inflation fell to 1.5% in November.
  11. Bank base rate is reduced to 0% as the banking sector is unable to do business/make money. Most savings rates are 0% while the mortgage rate rises to at least 10% resulting in an increase of repossessions. WRONG.
  12. House prices fall by 20-30%. WRONG; in October (latest data available) year-on-year house prices were up 0.8%.
  13. At some point during the year £1 will be worth no more than $0.90, and €0.90 (although not necessarily at the same time). CORRECT (just!); in July we got to £1=€0.85 at some UK airports.
  14. Moody’s downrate UK credit rating by at least two notches. WRONG; to my surprise.
  15. Despite this the FTSE100 ends the year up 10%. CORRECT; FTSE100 was up just over 12% at close on 31/12.

UK (Other)

  1. This is a year of trouble, unrest and pigeons coming home to roost – not all caused by Brexit but often due to incompetence and/or poor planning. Good news is in very short supply. CORRECT; see inter alia school kids striking for climate change, Extinction Rebellion, and many demonstrations about Brexit.
  2. Theresa May resigns as PM, possibly due to ill health. CORRECT.
  3. Andrea Leadsom becomes PM and appoints Jacob Rees-Mogg as Chancellor, with Boris Johnson as Deputy PM. WRONG.
  4. Ulster sectarian troubles boil over again; multiple shootings / bombings by both sides. CORRECT; but not as much as I feared.
  5. Labour Party adopts an official policy to re-unify Ireland. WRONG.
  6. TfL is declared bankrupt, causing chaos for London travellers. The government refuses to provide a bail-out. This results in many redundancies, pruned services and upgrade projects, and protracted strike action. WRONG.
  7. Work on Crossrail is paused, and the opening delayed to 2021. The Emirates Dangleway will close. Crossrail 2 is postponed by at least 3 years. CORRECT about Crossrail which will not now open until “sometime in 2021”. WRONG about the Dangleway. No good clues about Crossrail 2.
  8. HS2 is cut back due to lack of funding. Heathrow Third Runway is also delayed due to lack of money. Hinkley C nuclear power station development is cancelled. CORRECT about Heathrow Runway 3 which will be delayed from 2026 to maybe as late as 2029. WRONG about HS2 and Hinkley Point C.
  9. There’s a murder on my street. WRONG.
  10. The Sussex’s baby [REDACTED] will be named Diana or Iris (if a girl); Robert or David (if a boy). WRONG.
  11. A reintroduced wolf or lynx kills a human. WRONG.
  12. Beavers are found to be colonising the upper reaches of the Thames basin. No-one knows (or will admit to) how they got there. WRONG.
  13. A feral big cat (probably lynx or puma) is conclusively confirmed somewhere in the UK; it may be captured or shot to confirm the identification. WRONG; there were the usual purported sightings but no conclusive evidence.
  14. Major terrorist attack somewhere in UK (probably London) kills 50 including a high profile politician or minor royal. PARTLY CORRECT; the major UK incident seems to have been the London Bridge attack with two, plus attacker, dead.
  15. The country lurches even further towards pervasive surveillance and a police state with troops, and openly armed police, regularly on the streets in major conurbations. WRONG.
  16. At least one train crash and one plane crash; each with 20 dead. WRONG.
  17. A rail franchise will fail and have to be taken back into public ownership. WRONG.
  18. A major hospital (in England) fails and closes unexpectedly. WRONG.
  19. At least three major companies (possibly including a bank/building society and a supermarket) fail; 1000 job losses each. CORRECT: Patisserie Valerie, Jamie Oliver’s restaurants, Thomas Cook, Wrightbus, Mothercare.
  20. Deaths: Bill Turnbull, Tariq Ali, George Monbiot, David Jason, Derek Jacobi, Richard Branson, Leslie Phillips, Prince Philip, another Royal Duke/Prince. WRONG on all counts.

World

  1. Anthropologists discover that an isolated tribe (probably in Africa; possibly pygmies) is not Homo sapiens but another hominin species. WRONG.
  2. DNA recovered from ancient hominin teeth totally changes our current understanding of human evolution. WRONG; although with the apparent discovery that people were in Australia much earlier than thought this might have been quite close.
  3. Astronomers identify another extra-solar system “asteroid” visitor (like ‘Oumuamua) and prove this one is an alien spacecraft, although it appears to be dead. PARTLY CORRECT; another alien visitor has been found but it’s an asteroid.
  4. The upgraded LIGO experiment fails to reproduce its previous detection of gravitational waves, throwing whole areas of physics into turmoil. WRONG.
  5. There will be significant damage to ISS which forces its abandonment and a long pause in manned space-flight. WRONG.
  6. Donald Trump is confirmed to be suffering from a mild form of dementia, but is ruled as still fit to govern. WRONG.
  7. CO2 emissions rise by at least 5% year-on-year in US, India and China. INCONCLUSIVE; although China was reported to be 4% up in 1H2019, there’s too little easily available data to judge.
  8. In a petulant move, Russia cuts off gas supply to Europe for at least three months. WRONG.
  9. The global average temperature for the year is at least 1°C above the long-term average. PARTLY CORRECT and it’s going to be very close; YtD data for November shows land+ocean temperature 0.94°C above the long-term average; land only 1.39°C; ocean only 0.77°C.
  10. There’s a disease pandemic – cause currently unknown, but not flu, Ebola or Zika. WRONG.
  11. There’s an outbreak of Ebola in South America; plus 6 cases in UK, not all imported. WRONG; just more Ebola in Africa.
  12. Major terrorist attacks in western world: 1 in USA and 2 in other places; combined deaths 250. PARTLY CORRECT; several attacks, most notably New Zealand with 51 deaths, El Paso, Texas 22 dead.
  13. More die in mass shootings in USA this year than in 2018. CORRECT; according to Wikipedia 486 deaths in 2019 cf. 387 in 2018.
  14. Saudi Arabia annexes one or more of UAE, Dubai, Kuwait. WRONG.
  15. A Chinese warship fires at a US Navy vessel in the South China Sea; this may be the start of a US/China war in the area. WRONG.
  16. MH370 is found by accident in waters between Australia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor. One of the black boxes is recovered. WRONG.
  17. At least one round the world sailor is lost at sea and never found (although the deserted yacht is found). WRONG.
  18. There are three major transport accidents (plane/train/cruise liner/ferry) each with 100 deaths. PARTLY CORRECT; Ethiopian airliner crash with 157 dead, Iraqi ferry with about 100 dead, Pakistan train crash with 73+ dead; plus an Aeroflot plane crash (41 dead), Cairo train fire (25 dead), Chilean plane crash (38 dead).
  19. There’s a major earthquake (around magnitude 8) along the Himalayas which causes widespread destruction in Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan with thousands of deaths. As a result the summit of Mt Everest is 1m lower. WRONG.
  20. Deaths: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Robert Mugabe, Pope Emeritus Benedict, Elon Musk, a major European politician. CORRECT about Mugabe. WRONG about the rest.

Personal

  1. In family history, I finally unlock the brick wall in my Marshall line in mid-18th century, although I then get stuck at about 1700. WRONG.
  2. Family. [REDACTED] PARTLY CORRECT.
  3. Personal. I’m diagnosed with BPH (possibly low grade cancer) but surgery not required. WRONG.
  4. Doctors. [REDACTED] CORRECT on one item. WRONG about the other two.
  5. Friends 1. [REDACTED] WRONG.
  6. Friends 2. [REDACTED] WRONG about the first part. CORRECT about the second part.
  7. Friends 3. [REDACTED] WRONG.
  8. Friends 4. [REDACTED] WRONG.
  9. My total lottery winnings for the year are less than £50. WRONG, but still less than £200.
  10. Deaths. [REDACTED] WRONG; of 14 people listed, two died in 2018 (unknown to me when making the predictions) and the other 12 are still on life as far as I am aware.

That is an absolutely pathetic hit rate for which I deserve to be sacked – lucky I’m not a football manager!

Tomorrow I’ll post my predictions for 2020. Watch this space.

personal

My 2019 in Summary

Traditionally at this time I look back at my achievements and engagement (or, more accurately the lack of it) over the past year.

At the risk of having a stuck record, it’s been a strange year with significant amounts of work and depression which obstinately refuses to lift even during the summer months. This has meant a number of things have been binned along the way (or just ignored), which overall means I don’t feel I’ve achieved anything much, at least by my exacting standards. So here’s the summary …

At the beginning of the year I posted 10 Things I Want To Do in 2019. The results are in and I’ve done appallingly badly this year.

  1. Reduce waste/rubbish/clutter and recycle as much as possible. DONE; although not enough clutter cleared.
  2. Do something not done before and go somewhere not been before. DONE; hit both in one go by attending a garden party at Buckingham Palace. I also made a trip to look at the Eleanor Crosses at Hardingstone and Geddington.
  3. Spend less money. FAIL; if for no other reason than we did a lot of work on the house, and had to replace a significant amount of technology.
  4. Have a monthly day out. FAIL; I think we managed 4 or 5.
  5. Regular meditation. FAIL; tried but just unable to make it stick.
  6. Do a bigger share of the cooking and shopping. FAIL; this one largely down to the depression rather than a lack of will.
  7. Get back to taking more photographs. FAIL; depression again, and the lack of days out.
  8. Be drawn/painted/photographed nude (by someone not family). FAIL; I wasn’t at all sure this was likely to be achieved.
  9. Do more family history; unlock the mid-18th century block in Marshall line. FAIL; did quite a bit of family history in the first part of the year but then tailed off; and have been totally unable to breach that brick wall.
  10. Increase/develop teamwork between our GP practice and the patient group. FAIL; I keep chipping away at this but the doctors won’t take the bait.

OMG! That a miserable 2/10. That is a bad, bad year! Or was I too overambitious? No, it was a bad year!

Looking at the year through the usual 25 questions is a bit more of a mixed bag …

1. What did you do that you’d never done before?
a. Attended a Buckingham Palace Garden Party.
b. Had posh afternoon tea at London’s Rubens Hotel.
c. Celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
How can I keep something I never did?

3. What would you like to have in 2020 that you lacked in 2019?
Health, wealth and wisdom; peace and tranquility.

4. What dates from 2019 will remain etched upon your memory?
a. Wednesday 15 May: Buckingham Palace Garden Party.
b. Wednesday 9 October: Trip to Hardingstone & Geddington.
c. Monday 4 November: Tea at the Rubens Hotel.

5. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No, nothing new this year!

6. What was the best thing you bought?
Tom to do more decorating.
Champagne.

7. Where did most of your money go?
Into other people’s pockets.

8. What did you get really, really excited about?
Nothing. No not even going to Buckingham Palace. I don’t do excitement, just like I don’t do panic and crisis.

9. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a. happier or sadder? Sadder; it’s the depression.
b. thinner or fatter? Maybe very slightly thinner.
c. richer or poorer? Definitely poorer due to all the work on the house.

10. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Sitting in the sun in the garden.

11. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Staring at a computer screen.

12. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Surviving.
Getting the proceedings of the 2018 Anthony Powell Conference published – and mighty fine they are too!

13. What was your biggest failure?
The depression.
Not drinking more champagne.

14. How many one-night stands?
Zero.

15. What was your favourite TV program?
I’ve watched hardly any TV all year – it is such a load of garbage. So yet again the pick has to be the RI Christmas Lectures.

16. What was the best book you read?
Jen Gunter; The Vagina Bible
Anthony Powell, King Arthur and Other Personages

17. What did you want and get?
New PC and new mobile phone – isn’t that just so sad!

18. What did you want and not get?
I’m still waiting for that big lottery win.

19. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
a. Cancellation of Brexit.
b. That big lottery win.

20. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2019?
Distressed casual.

21. What kept you sane?
Nothing – I’m beyond redemption.

22. Who did you miss?
My mother.

23. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2019:
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers.

24. A quote or song lyric that sums up your year:
“You bustle around tutting and narrowing your eyes, in the manner of a dog territorially pissing on a lamppost.”
[Emma Beddington]

25. Your hopes for 2020
Cancellation of Brexit – well no-one said it had to be realistic.

Overall Result: STILL REQUIRES MUCH IMPROVEMENT

But enough of me. How was your 2019? And what are your hopes for 2020?

amusements, memes

January

We’re beginning every month this year with a haiku (or a longer poem made of haiku) relevant to the month.

January Thoughts

January’s start …
I hibernate in my cave
with bare thoughts

January’s end …
may February’s groundhog
see its shadow

[Andrea Dietrich]

All the poems can be found online at http://www.haikupoemsandpoets.com.

amusements, words

100 Day Challenge: Words #12

Episode eleven (days 56 to 60) of my 100 day challenge to find words I don’t know. I’m scraping words from https://randomword.com/ and each day picking one that I find interesting and which is also in the OED.

Day Date Word Meaning
56 Thursday 26 December selenocentric having relation to the centre of the moon or to the moon as a centre
57 Friday 27 December chambranle an ornamental frame around the top and sides of a door, window, or fireplace
58 Saturday 28 December circumjacent ** bordering on every side, surrounding
59 Sunday 29 December jumentous resembling that of a horse, specifically of urine
60 Monday 30 December quoiceneck grey shale or clay with an iridescent surface

** My favourite of the words presented.

Next episode in a few days!

amusements, environment, history, links, medical, science

Monthly Links

And for the last time in 2019, here’s our monthly round-up of links to items you may have missed.

Science, Technology, Natural World

There are lots of Rose-Ringed Parakeets in London (far from their native home in Northern India). How did they get here? The legend is that they were released by Jimi Hendrix, but they’ve been around a lot longer than that. Two reports on the latest investigation from the BBC and The Oldie.

A fossil forest has been found in New York State, and it is the oldest one known.

Now to one of my favourite subjects: wasps. Just what is the point of wasps?

There’s a new formula for converting your dog’s age into human years. [£££]
But note: it is different for cats.

Health, Medicine

There is a significant resurgence of measles with a number of countries, including the UK, losing their measles-free status.

A very small number of people have a mystery illness which causes a fever every few weeks, but finally the cause has been identified. [£££]

In the stomach, the mind, or the brain? Migraine’s causes and remedies have been debated for 2,000 years. [LONG READ]

Medical science has traditionally neglected women’s health, and still does. Why does medicine have a gender problem?

Environment

Now here’s an idea: reintroduce national service and use the victims to do environmental and conservation work.

How often do you mow your lawn? There’s a good chance the answer is “too often”, because less frequent mowing can help wildlife.

Social Sciences, Business, Law

We’ve heard of environmental rewilding, well now here’s political rewilding: the antidote to our current malaise of the demagogues.

Art, Literature, Language

Japanese artist Masayo Fukuda hand-cuts intricate images from a single sheet of paper.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Here are ten English archaeological finds of the last decade.

Archaeologists do keep pushing the boundaries. In Indonesia they’ve now found the earliest known cave art by modern humans.

And in Greece archaeologists have unearthed gold-lined Mycenaean royal tombs.

2020 is the 850th anniversary of the assassination of Thomas Becket, and it will be a year of commemorative events, culminating in a major exhibition at the British Museum.

Prince Albert is usually blamed for introducing the Christmas tree, but it is likely to be much older than that. One early instance dates from 1419 in Freiburg.

So, apart from the obvious, what went on in a medieval brothel? Well, it often wasn’t pleasant. [LONG READ]

An academic has discovered annotations by Elizabeth I on a document in Lambeth Palace Library.

Religious and secular celebration of Christmas was forbidden by the English Puritan republic, but not entirely successfully. [LONG READ]

London

There’s a very elderly eagle in Croydon.

The Greek god Priapus, protector of gardens, fruit plants, livestock … and male genitals, is an unlikely subject for a statue in the discrete streets of Pimlico.

Food, Drink

Peru, as we all know, is the home of the potato, and they have a potato museum which conserves well over a thousand varieties and could be important in breeding the plants to handle climate change.

Haggis is a traditional Scots food. Or is it? [LONG READ]

Lifestyle, Personal Development

So how do couples stay together long-term? Understanding the other person is trying to do their best is important.

John Horgan in Scientific American investigates whether mysticism can help us solve the mind-body problem.

Naked therapy is a (non-sexual) treatment to help people become more comfortable with their bodies.

How the tattoo became fashionable in Victorian England. [LONG READ]

And, oh dear, it seems the codpiece is back in fashion.

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And finally … In Turkey there’s a bee which builds its nests out of flower petals. and they’re stunningly beautiful.

That’s all for now, folks. The Fates permitting, we’ll be back in January. Meanwhile a happy New Year to everyone!

amusements, pleasures

Amusements of the Year, 2019

Here’s my usual round-up of things which have amused me during the year. Yet again, this has not been a vintage year. So here are the pick of this year’s sparse fruit.

Product of the Year
This is one of the few categories which has done well this year, with quite a few contenders. It has been almost impossible to separate the top five:

ToppCock Silver Hygiene for Man Parts with Odor Neutralizer
Yes, lads, a deodorant for your dangly bits. Buy it on Amazon.

Frisky Light Up Fidget Spinner Anal Plug
It’s what it says on the tin. Again, buy it on Amazon.

 

Unicum Zwack
Yes, I’m afraid we’re still being disreputable, except that this one is a Hungarian liqueur which can be obtained from The Drink Shop.

Cowshed Cow Pat Moisturising Hand Cream
This one’s specially for the girls. Again it may be procured from Amazon.

Walkers Crisps: Brussels Sprout Flavour
As if Brussels Sprouts weren’t bad enough with turkey, Walkers now make special Sprout flavoured crisps. I can hardly wait!

 

Headline
Well, of course, we had to exclude every thing to do with Brexit and the nonsense of the General Election. And that left us with these two winners:

Halal holiday bookings soar as Muslims opt for the Med
From the Guardian, 10 March 2019.

Five hundred goats save the Ronald Reagan library from wildfires
Again from the Guardian, this time on 31 October 2019.

Plonker of the Year
Leaving aside Boris Johnson, there was only ever going to be one winner here:

Jacob Rees-Mogg for this comment on Twitter: The vassal state must not be replaced by penal servitude.

Magazine / Newspaper Title
This year’s award for the best magazine or newspaper title has to go to the Olive Oil Times. Next year the Popeye Times perhaps?

Auction Item
As regular readers will know, we love the strange things which people sell at auctions. This year’s superlative has to be from our local auction house in July:
A pair of designer novelty Christmas trees made from scouring pads on silver plated bases

Personal Name
The winners here are a pair of twin girls born in early December to Peter Florence and his partner: Lark Win Florence and Winter Glad Florence.

Organisation Name
Our winner here is the fucking wonderful Whitstable Profanity Embroidery Group.

Place Name
And, yes, we’re keeping the vein of profanity for this year’s place name winner:
Katies Crotch Road in Maine.

Oxymoron
The accolade for this year’s best oxymoron goes to … Hot Coolant which I spotted as a label by a filler cap on a Chiltern Rail train.

Animal
So now to our animal of the year, where we have two winners but for different reasons.

First place goes to Wisdom the Laysan Albatross who is the world’s oldest known wild bird at 68 years old, and who has produced 30 chicks.

And then there’s the wonderfully named Alston’s singing mouse, Scotinomys teguina

Sport
Having said this isn’t a vintage year, I again find myself having to declare a group with two winners. So this years joint winners of sport of the year are: Unicycle Hockey (basically Ice Hockey on unicycles) and Mule Dressage. In both cases one is left asking “Why?”.

Do what?
There are five winners in this year’s competition to make one say “WTF?”.

I would favor to call together among anyone sympathetic to pursuing higher tangled community subjects as regards our line of work, associate me through my web page conceding that you think the same.
[Hat-tip: Chris Comley on Facebook, 21 January 2019]

… light is known to be fuzzy at the quantum level. With the help of a team in Australia, researchers are sharpening the light by squeezing the fuzziness.
[From BBC News]

This book examines literary representations of hyperlocal spaces that subvert the idea of grounded and organic spatial identities. Figures such as the pond, the scientific particle, and Wedgwood creamware often go unnoticed, but they exemplify important shifts in culture and aesthetics in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Hyperlocal in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Literary Space argues that these objects, as well as locations such as alcoves in remote shires, city inns, and mountain retreats, were portrayed by writers in the late eighteenth and early-to-mid nineteenth centuries as gambits that challenged cultural hegemonies. It shows that the hyperlocal space or object, though particular, reaches beyond itself, affording an elasticity that can allow those things that seem beneath notice to reveal broader cultural significance.
[The blurb for Nicholas Birns, The Hyperlocal in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Literary Space]

We introduced a control groups for this treatment group as one each for the three treatment groups too.
[Hat-tip: Steve Olle]

Y’all need to remember that heteronormative whiteness is the discursive cultural mechanism by which an oppressive hegemonic discourse of phallogocentrism serves to delegitimise a black/homoexclusive modality and reinscribes a proxi-fascist rearticulation of power structures.
[Titania McGrath on Twitter]

OK, so that’s all for this 2019 edition. We’ll be looking out for brilliance again next year; contributions are always welcome. Let’s see if we can make it a vintage year!