quotes

Monthly Quotes

This month’s selection of quotations encountered.

War against a foreign county only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it.
[George Orwell]

One of the most cowardly things ordinary people do is to shut their eyes to facts.
[CS Lewis]

Some people have no idea what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.
[George Carlin]

When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archaeological dig. I was talking to one of the archaeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of ‘getting to know you’ questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favourite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theatre, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes. And he went WOW. That’s amazing! And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.”
And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”
And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure to someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with
the myth of Talent, that l thought it was only worth doing things you could “Win” at.
[Kurt Vonnegut]

If you make people think they’re thinking, they’ll love you; but if you really make them think, they‘ll hate you.
[Don Marquis]

Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow just as well.
[Mark Twain]

It is paradoxical, yet true, to say, that the more we know, the more ignorant we become in the absolute sense, for it is only through enlightenment that we become conscious of our limitations. Precisely one of the most gratifying results of intellectual evolution is the continuous opening up of new and greater prospects.
[Nikola Tesla]

Books say: She did this because. Life says: She did this. Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren’t. I’m not surprised some people prefer books.
[Julian Barnes]

What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed?
[Michelangelo]

Yes, reason has been a part of organized religion, ever since two nudists took dietary advice from a talking snake.
[Jon Stewart]

It’s the invention of clothes, not nature, that made “private parts” private.
[Mokokoma Mokhonoana]

amusements, medical

July Quiz Answers

Here are the answers to this month’s five quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.

July Quiz Questions: Medical

  1. In a woman where would you find the pisiform bone? The wrist
  2. When was insulin first used to treat a patient with diabetes? 1922
  3. What is tachycardia? An elevated heart rate
  4. Who introduced inoculation against smallpox to England? Lady Mary Wortley Montagu in 1721. [Edward Jenner developed a true vaccination sometime later in 1796]
  5. What is a Sphygmomanometer used for? To measure blood pressure

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2022.

memes, science

Ten Things: July

This year our Ten Things column each month is concentrating on science and scientists.

Where a group is described as “great” or “important” this is not intended to imply these necessarily the greatest or most important, but only that they are up there amongst the top flight.

Top Poisons

  1. Polonium
  2. Cyanide
  3. Arsenic
  4. Ricin
  5. Botulinum
  6. Strychnine
  7. Anthrax
  8. VX
  9. Sarin
  10. Novichok
amusements, medical

July Quiz Questions

Again this year we’re beginning each month with five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. They’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers, so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as have a bit of fun.

July Quiz Questions: Medical

  1. In a woman where would you find the pisiform bone?
  2. When was insulin first used to treat a patient with diabetes?
  3. What is tachycardia?
  4. Who introduced inoculation against smallpox to England?
  5. What is a Sphygmomanometer used for?

Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.

amusements, memes, personal

Unblogged June

[All images are clickable for a larger view]

Thu 1 Well that really was a bit of a slog. But we pretty much got there.
Fri 2 #000000;" />Last of the proceeds from the smokery. Smoked duck breast. In salad with lettuce, tomato, asparagus, pine nuts & croutons; served with a lemon & olive oil dressing. Followed by raspberries and cream. Washed down with a bottle of Falanghina. A passable Friday evening repast.Falanghina
Sat 3 Just watched a 10 minute film To Scale: TIME on YouTube demonstrating the age of the universe. And one has to wonder what really is the point, and why do we bother?
Sun 4 What a lovely day. And the gardener came. So the place looks a bit tidier, except for the deliberately unmown lawn which looks like what it is: a scruffy meadow. Pottering in and out and took a few photos.Yellow pond iris…Rose
Mon 5 Oooo … next door’s marmalade cat so nearly got that squirrel – despite looking heavily pregnant.
Tue 6 Mid-afternoon and the garden is awash with juvenile tits, some still being fed by parents. They were going everywhere; continually flitting hither and yon; and little clubs of then in a couple of places just hanging out. Half a dozen Blue Tits and as many Great Tits – and that’s just what I counted; there could well have been twice that. Plus a couple of sparrows joining in.
Wed 7 Somewhere in the house there are three cats. But I’ve no idea where as I’ve hardly seen anything of them all day. Rosie appeared for a share of our lunch – no change there. Tilly and Boy have put in the odd guest appearance but no more. Other days they’ll all three be in and around all day.
Thu 8 I blogged about the roses in our garden, but having walked round today I realised that we have both wheat and barley growing amongst the unmown lawn. Just a couple of ears of barley and a couple of dozen wheat, so not enough to make bread or beer. But they’ll not go to waste; if they don’t feed us they’ll feed the birds or mice. I guess they’re seed that got lost from the bird feeders last autumn.
Fri 9 So why are there feathers on the dining room rug? Which cat is the villain? They’re dark and small, so probably sparrow. But there’s no sign of a corpse.
Sat 10 It’s a wonderful hot sunny day, but sadly annoying on several counts. First I can’t sit outside because of my hayfever, even having had my usual antihistamine my eyes are streaming; guess that’s some part down to the unmown prairie called a lawn. There’s continual noise of someone, somewhere strimming or the like. And of course the neighbours are all sitting outside talking. One in particular never stops; never draws breath; it just the rivers of babble-on.
Sun 11 Bad light stopped play this afternoon, and despite much stomach rumbling in the gods, nobody thought to provide any rain.
Mon 12 Another hot and sticky day; lots of thunder in the afternoon and about 30 minutes light rain. And for once nothing in the schedule which had to be done – not that this stopped the day going tits up fairly early on.
Tue 13 A new book available from the literary society. So I spend all afternoon consolidating payments, packing and posting. It’s a thankless job, made worse when Royal Mail’s online postage system doesn’t work properly.
Wed 14 It’s uncomfortably hot, even for me. So I spend the day indoors without clothing (not unusual). Can’t sit outside as the pollen gets my hayfever going withing minutes – itchy, watering eyes mostly, despite daily antihistamine and regular eyedrops. Very annoying, especially as I’ve had hayfever since I was about 6 years old.
Thu 15 The gardener comes this morning. Oh! No, the gardener comes after lunch. I see … The gardener comes not; he’s tied up sorting some leaky plumbing for another customer. I wonder if Saturday will bring more luck?
Fri 16 Phew! What a day. Who would think that a trip to the hospital to get new hearing aids would be so tiring? OK, so it was a hot day; but audiology appointmnets aren’t invasive or threatening, they’re actually quite benign. It’s all the hassle around it that’s so draining: from middle of the night hypos, to early supermarket deliveries and getting taxis. But we won!
Sat 17 The gardener actually got here this afternoon and did some planting and tidying. At he same time we spent a nice few hours outside as well, doing some potting, fixing the watering system, and getting some sun (but not sunburn!). Sent the gardener away happy with a couple of chilli plants and some homegrown coleus.
Sun 18 Weatherman speak with forked tongue, again. Instead of thundery showers, we managed just 30 minutes desultory drizzle, which is no good at all for the garden.
Mon 19 A day marking time; no physical or mental go.
Tue 20 Today is Tuesday 20 June 2023, and that’s not something you can say every day.
Wed 21 Day 3. Hill. Jelly. Treacle. Toothpicks. Rinse and repeat. Why are washing machines so endlessly boring?
Thu 22 Last evening there was a lovely crescent moon (apparently 14% illuminated) and Venus in the western sky just after sunset (like my sketch below). More please!Moon & Venus
Fri 23 How is it that a friend you knew as a teenager when you were newly married is now celebrating their 60th? Even if I accept that I’m a geriatric, the friend in question certainly isn’t 60 already. Tempus fugit velociter.
Sat 24 Sad to be missing the friend’s 60th birthday bash – and her younger son’s 21st too – but N and I still don’t feel comfortable and safe in large indoor gatherings. And although it’s only been 28°C today, with the humidity thrown in, it is just too hot to get dressed up.
Sun 25 Shortly after 06:00 this morning our resident fox was still on the prowl. And right up by the trail camera so we got a good shot of the top half as he/she was so close. We’ve had this fox around all year, and I think it may be the only one we now have; at most we have two; whereas we did have at least three individuals (although they’re difficult to differentiate from poor night-time trail camera images). And boy are they a good disposal system: put out a plate of scraps (chicken carcass, cold baked potato, disliked digestive biscuits, lamb bones) and it all magically disappears during the night.Fox
Mon 26 I’ve been saying for some time that I’d revamp the Anthony Powell London tour I originally did as part of the 2011 conference. I started on the rewrite a couple of months ago and put it down, as one does. Today was the day to find all the ends and tuck them in. Several hours later and the tour notes are done, complete with street-by-street navigation. At 20 pages this version is twice the size of the previous one, and is definitely not a coach tour as it includes places you’d not want to try to get a 50 seater coach! The notes have been sent off to my friendly local black cabbie (who does lots of tours of London) for comment. It’ll be interesting to see what I’ve got wrong!
Tue 27 Technology. When it works it can be a real benefit and a time saver. When, all too frequently, it doesn’t work it’s a complete PITA and wastes so much time. Spent and unhappy afternoon fighting with Royal Mail’s on line system and, separately, the phone system. I think I won the former but definitely didn’t win the latter. Came away feeling totally smacked.
Wed 28 So in the end we did something we’ve not done since the before times and ordered in pizza.
Thu 29 Still at least I didn’t drown in the shower. Had I done so it would have been all of a piece with the rest of the day.
Fri 30 On a wonderfully damp evening I’ll leave you with something cheerful: the flowers on our recently acquired scented geraniums.Pink geranium flowers
history, links, medical, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

And yet already we arrive at time for our monthly round-up of links to items we thought interesting, and you might too.

Science, Technology, Natural World

A new dinosaur species has been discovered on the Isle of Wight.

Asian Hornets

There’s a crack squad of hunters keeping the island of Jersey free of the invasive Asian Hornets (above). And no these aren’t the “murder hornets” which are invading the west coast of North America which are even nastier.

Scientists are taking another look at just when animals like foxes started living alongside humans. [££££]

A new study is finding clues to when masturbation evolved in primates – because it isn’t just humans that indulge.

Palaeontologists believe that Homo naledi in South Africa may have made etchings on cave walls and buried its dead. [££££]

Well now this (isn’t) surprising … it seems that air quality filters are picking up airborne DNA which reveals what species are nearby.

Changing tack somewhat … the US is being urged to reveal its UFO evidence amid (more) claims it has intact alien vehicles.

Meanwhile the “gateway to the underworld” megaslump in Siberia is revealing secrets from 650,000 year old permafrost.

And back to humans … there’s a myth that we use only 10% of our brain, but it is just a myth. [££££]

Health, Medicine

Here are nine things you probably didn’t know about saliva.

Also from the Zoe Health Study, here’s a look at the importance of bile.

Sexuality

Some curious scientist has taken an in-depth look at the condition known as “Blue Balls“, and discovered some interesting things about sexuality.

WWI

Who knew that until fairly recently many countries officially provided whores for wartime soldiers near the battlefield? No, it isn’t much known and talked about. And it wasn’t just in wartime.

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

England is apparently going to trial providing a “universal basic income“. The trial will be in just two places with a very small number of people for two years, so don’t hold your breath.

One historian is suggesting that we’re on the brink of civil war – the US in particular but the Western world in general – but that we can avert it if we wake up. [LONG READ]

Art, Literature, Language, Music

So who actually knew there were officially many shades of black? [LONG READ]

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Archaeologists have found evidence of plague in Britain 4,000 years ago. And it is being suggested this might be the reason the culture and people who built Stonehenge suddenly vanished from the record.

WWI

A stunning 3,000 year old bronze sword (above) has been found in a Bronze Age grave in Bavaria.

Cricket clubs don’t generally expect to be the custodians of several Roman gods’ heads.

Also with the Romans, a stunning mausoleum has been discovered on a building site in Southwark.

Here’s the story of St Ursula and the 11,000 virgin martyrs. [LONG READ]

Minstrels played an important role in medieval society, and it is now being appreciated that their work could be mad, bad and bawdy.

A pair of shipwrecks full of Ming era porcelain in the South China Sea are telling us a lot about the historic Silk Road trade routes.

Myths based in medieval goings-on are not always accurate. Here’s the case of the Fowlmere Tunnel. [LONG READ]

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

And finally for this edition, here are 13 signals all cat owners should recognise. [LONG READ]

WWI

environment, natural history

Fox in the Grass

So there we were, about 19:15 this evening, eating out chicken and chips.

I spotted a dark russet-y shape appear way down the garden and disappear behind the philadelphus bush.

“Good evening, Reynard.”

A few minutes later it strolled across the lawn, to the upper lawn were we put out food. Sadly the plate there was empty – so we’ll just mark it with a dose of pee.

It wandered back down the path, stopping for a while to sit and look, and have a good scratch. I thought it had then disappeared beyond the philadelphus again.

At this point the white front of Boy Cat appeared on the path down by the pond. And waited.

He crept a couple of feet closer. And waited.

Is fox still trotting around down by the pond? It’s too shady to see, especially from the dining room.

Boy Cat creeps forward another couple of feet. And waits. Looking nervously to his left. Who’s he watching. Presumably another of the neighbourhood intruder cats.

He creeps forward again. And again. Still watching his left flank. And again.

Finally having made it some way past the silver birch he breaks into a slow trot. And he’s now clearly past the danger and on a home run.

Some minutes later, when I come upstairs and look out of the study window, the scenario becomes clear. Fox has not gone away but is curled up in the long grass almost in front of where the old apple tree was. This was about 19:45.

Grab camera. Oh bugger that’s an awful place to try to get a decent shot. Big, long focus lens, on full zoom, and a wide open bathroom window provide a handful of reasonable shots.

fox in the grass

[Click the images for a larger view]

fox in the grass
Fox snuggled down for a doze. It’s now 20:50 (as I type) and fox has just woken up having had a good hour’s doze; had a mighty stretch; a scratch and is generally attending to regular maintenance. Another big stretch and a shake. Rinse and repeat.

And at 21:00, off we trot.

Unfortunately the animal looks a bit mangey, but there’s nothing one can really do.

I got a good shot of a fox on the trail camera yesterday, but this is a different individual.

Nice that fox feels comfortable here (although the cats wouldn’t be too pleased); and something which probably wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t left the grass grow.

memes, personal

Seven Haiku Words of Me

Now here’s a little challenge for you!

Some while ago I came across someone suggesting we should describe ourselves in seven words.

Hmmm … I wrote down a list of almost 30 without trying – and they were just the polite ones!

Then I thought it should be made more interesting (translate: difficult). Hence was born …

Describe yourself in exactly seven words,
written as a (correctly formulated) haiku.

Here are my first two efforts:

Spectacled obese
Deaf diabetic depressive
Grey geriatric. 		Deaf geriatric
Grey liberal scientist.
Devil’s advocate.

It isn’t easy. I tried to find some more last evening and got no further.

What can you do? Please share your haiku seven word descriptions in the comments.