Tag Archives: blog

quotes

Monthly Quotes

Herewith my latest collection of recently encountered quotes which interested or amused. And a good long list it is this month …

Naturism … is much more than simply shedding one’s clothes. It is a philosophy deeply ingrained in the principles of freedom, equality, and respect. At its core, naturism advocates for the acceptance of the human body in its natural, unadorned state. This acceptance goes beyond mere tolerance, striving to cultivate a sense of self-respect and a respectful acknowledgment of others, regardless of their physical attributes. The movement encourages individuals to view the body as normal and natural, rather than an object of sexualization or shame.
[Nancy M; https://justnaturism.com/understanding-the-difference-between-naturism-and-primitive-living/]

A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking.
[Jerry Seinfeld, American comedian and actor]

Education is not memorizing that Hitler killed 6 million Jews. Education is understanding how millions of ordinary Germans were convinced that it was required. Education is learning how to spot the signs of history repeating itself.
[Noam Chomsky]

Pay heed to the tales of old wives. It may well be that they alone keep in memory what it was once needful for the wise to know.
[JRR Tolkien]

I don’t think people realise how the establishment became established. It simply stole the land and property off the poor, surrounded themselves with weak minded sycophants for protection, gave themselves titles and have been wielding power ever since.
[Tony Benn]

I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.
[Alan Watts]

Speak to people in a way that if they died the next day you’d be satisfied with the last thing you said to them.
[unknown]

The deep critical thinker has become the misfit of the world, this is not a coincidence. To maintain order and control you must isolate the intellectual, the sage, the philosopher, the savant before their ideas awaken people.
[Carl Jung]

When we recognize our place in an immensity of light years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual.
[Carl Sagan]

Atheism is what happens when you read the bible. Christianity is what happens when somebody else reads it for you.
[Bertrand Russell]

Your call is in a queue. We are experiencing a completely normal volume of calls at the moment, but we don’t see a business benefit in hiring more staff.
[unknown]

The current obsession with nostalgia and remake culture is easy to understand when you realize that it’s a symptom of a culture that isn’t allowed to imagine a future.
[unknown]

I prefer working with women. No one has to win or lose, they just get the job done.
[unknown]

The more you know, the more you realize how much you don’t know. The less you know, the more you think you know everything. Knowledge is humbling. Ignorance is arrogant.
[Richard Feynman]

The only labour-saving invention that reliably works is a general strike.
[Thomas Fuchs, @thomasfuchs.at]

You have to accept the fact that sometimes you’re the pigeon and sometimes you’re the statue.
[Claude Chabrol, French film director]

Collective anger is a form of wisdom in a society plagued by numbness. Stoicism won’t save us. Sometimes the most credible response to the terrors of the world is rage.
[Cole Arthur Riley]

Since it is obviously inconceivable that all religions can be right, the most reasonable conclusion is that they are all wrong.
[Christoper Hitchens]

Christianity did not become a major religion by the quality of its truth, but by the quantity of its violence.
[Michael Sherlock]

The King of England lies dying and one of his sons has been exiled. A princess has vanished. Plague stalks the land and the Treasury has been plundered.
NOW is the time for strange women lying in ponds to distribute swords to form the basis of government.
[Paul Tichonczuk, @paultk@mastodon.social]

food+drink

Culinary Adventure #108: Asparagus Tips

We’ve recently had the joy of the first English asparagus of the year. So I thought it might be worth a few tips which I find useful in getting the best from asparagus. This is my experience; as always YMMV.

Buying asparagus. Do not be tempted to buy those thick tree trunks as they’ll be woodier and not good value. Buy sprue – that’s the very thin spears – if you have the choice. They tend to be younger, softer, and more succulent.

Cut off ends & stand in water. If you aren’t going to use the asparagus within about 24 hours, you need to keep it fresh. While the fridge will help, it will tend to dry out the spears unless they’re wrapped in damp kitchen paper. I find the best way is to cut a small slice (no more than 5mm) off the bottom of each spear and then stand them in a small amount of water in a glass or jar. This will rejuvenate them, but don’t try keeping them more than 2-3 days as the tips they will start growing again.

Bundle of asparagus

Snap off the ends. When you’re preparing asparagus you will want to remove the woodier part at the bottom of the spear. But how much do you need to remove? Let the asparagus show you. Lightly hold the spear at the bottom (in one hand) and about two-thirds the way up (in the other hand). Now bend it towards you and it will snap at the point where the woodiness is less. Voila! Job done.

Forget peeling. Just don’t bother peeling asparagus. Why would you remove much of the goodness?

Not always spears. Don’t be afraid of asparagus. It doesn’t have to be kept as long spears. If what you’re cooking needs smaller pieces (eg. stir-fry or salad) don’t be afraid to cut the spears into shorter lengths, and cook as shorter lengths.

Steam, don’t boil. Forget specialised asparagus cookers. And forget saucepans of boiling water. Asparagus is best steamed, preferably as full spears. Just don’t steam for more than a handful of minutes; you don’t want it soft and mushy but very slightly crunchy.

Cook with your pasta or noodles. This is the one time it is excusable to boil asparagus. If you’re doing a pasta dish to include asparagus (and you should), you want the asparagus to be added late on so it doesn’t get over cooked, but it may not cook best in the ragu. As you’re boiling your pasta add the prepared spears about 2-3 minutes before the pasta is done. If the pasta is being added to the ragu, just drain it and tip in the pasta and asparagus together. If you want to serve the pasta separately, then remove the asparagus with a perforated spoon before draining the pasta.
Asparagus goes will in stir-fry too, so you can do the same with noodles: if you’re cooking dried noodles in hot water (usually for 5-6 minutes), add the asparagus at the same time as the noodles. Drain as before.

Now two recipe tips …

Asparagus with butter & parmesan starter. You will want 4-6 spears per person. Lightly cook the whole asparagus spears and serve hot on individual plates with a nob of butter and plenty of shaved parmesan. The first time I did this was for a dinner party; I knew it would work but one of the guests wasn’t so sure until he tried it and said it was excellent.

Cold in salad. Asparagus goes well in a mixed salad with tomato and herbs (of your choice); but for my money it doesn’t want to be raw. You’ll want the spears cut into 2-3cm lengths (match the size to the rest of the salad); you can cut before or after being cooked. Steam the asparagus and remove from the heat just before it’s done; leave it aside to cool (it’ll continue to cook a bit). When cool add to the salad and toss with an oil and lemon dressing.

There’s so much more you can do with asparagus; it’s incredibly versatile. Just Google “asparagus recipes”.

Enjoy your asparagus while you can. The season is all too short, and I don’t like having it shipped across the globe.

amusements, memes, words

March 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.

Language

  1. Sea urchins got their name from what non-aquatic animal, which was known as an “urchin” until the 15th century?  The hedgehog
  2. What is a group of crows called?  A murder
  3. How many letter tiles are there in a game of Scrabble?  100
  4. What is the origin of the expression “cobblers”, meaning something isn’t true or rubbish?  It derives from “cobbler’s awls”, Cockney rhyming slang for “balls”.
  5. What in pidgin is “Magimiks bilong Yesus”?  Helicopter

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2023.

amusements, memes, words

March Quiz Questions

Each month we’re posing five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. As before, they’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers – so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as having a bit of fun.

Language

  1. Sea urchins got their name from what non-aquatic animal, which was known as an “urchin” until the 15th century?
  2. What is a group of crows called?
  3. How many letter tiles are there in a game of Scrabble?
  4. What is the origin of the expression “cobblers”, meaning something isn’t true or rubbish?
  5. What in pidgin is “Magimiks bilong Yesus”?

Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.

history, memes

March 1924

Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.

3. The 407-year-old Islamic caliphate is abolished when Caliph Abdülmecid II of the Ottoman Caliphate is deposed. The last remnant of the old regime gives way to the reformed Turkey of President Kemal Atatürk

29. Died. Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish composer, resident in United Kingdom (b. 1852)

amusements, memes

Unblogged February

Thu 1 Today is Imbloc, or St Brigid’s Day, depending on one’s belief system. It was originally a pagan, Gaelic festival which marked the mid-point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Imbolc holds significance in various modern pagan and witchcraft practices. It represents the awakening of the Earth from its winter slumber and the anticipation of the coming spring. It is a time for focusing on new beginnings, creativity, and personal growth; fostering a connection with the natural cycles of life and the energy of rebirth. As befits the day our weather, although chilly, was full of bright sunshine.
Fri 2 After a pagan festival yesterday, today is the Christian feast of Candlemas, or the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. In Biblical times this occurred 33 days after a boy’s circumcision and is now set as the fortieth day after Christmas. In some traditions Christmas decorations are taken down on this day, as opposed to Twelfth Night.
Sat 3 We had the weekly supermarket delivery today, instead of yesterday. And it has completely thrown me. Today seems to have been some combination of Friday-not-Friday-not-Saturday-not-Sunday-maybe-Sunday, while at the same time being some inglorious admixture of them all – sufficient that my mental calendar is completely addled.
Sun 4 Squirrels like avocado, but who knew that foxes do too – or at least they consider it a trophy?
Mon 5 Having spotted the first mauve crocus a few days ago, we now have an absolute drift of pale mauve flowers throughout the lawn. I know we planted quite a few bulbs some years ago, but they must be spreading. Oh and the pink hellebore is now in flower.
Tue 6 I don’t quite know where the money has gone in the last month, and it isn’t the hangover from Christmas. But at least we’re still solvent, and may even be able to save a bit extra.
Wed 7 Well that scuppered that. We should have been having an outing this afternoon to the dentist for check-ups etc. But N wasn’t feeling well, so she cancelled it; and I had to nip to the doctors with a sample for her. I must say I wasn’t heart-broken not to be wasting an afternoon – much as we like our dentist.
Thu 8 Good grief! That never happens. A day when I didn’t have to do any work for anyone. So I actually managed to do a couple of hours on my family history – not that I made any progress
Fri 9 In the open porch at our front door we have a woven coconut fibre doormat; it’s been there for some years. Very recently something has taken it into its head to attack it, and has been pulling it apart so there are lots of broken and loose threads. The mat is too sturdy for it to be a cat, so one suspects fox; I don’t think even a bold corvid would come that close to the door for the time which would be required. But why would a fox do this? I can think of three reasons: (1) it could be territorial; either marking its territory or trying to remove the markings of another. (2) It fancies some (all?) of the material for lining its den. (3) It fancies the mat as a trophy – we know foxes like trophies – but it would be quite large and unwieldy for a fox to carry away!
Sat 10 Oh happy days! Afternoon spent setting up the mail merges for literary society membership renewals. Still at least I have all the skeleton documents and know how to do it after 20+ years! It’s just a tedious job, so you always miss something stupid which you don’t see until too late. It’ll be good when we can get the new website etc. completed, when with luck it’ll be a job that’s automated.
Sun 11 Spring is definitely on the way. Lots of stuff in the garden is beginning to move. I spotted breaking leaves on some of the roses, lilac, an ornamental crab apple and even the liquidambar. But not yet any sign of movement on the silver birch, oak, ash or hawthorn.
Mon 12 What a lovely sunny day – when I should have been out taking photographs. Especially as yesterday I noticed our small ornamental crab apple is growing a really superb crop of lichen – nothing very special I think, but remarkable that it’s there, so prolific and looking so good.
Tue 13 So today I was going to photograph the lichen I mentioned yesterday. But instead of being nice and sunny it was dull, grey and raining all day. Even the wildlife stayed hunkered down and out of sight; scarcely a pigeon, parakeet or squirrel to be seen; cats likewise.
Wed 14 It’s Valentine’s Day, and an excellent example of how to get the day buggered up! First comes the gardener, which is always disruptive. Then the doctors demand to see N today, to which she wants me to accompany her. We spend around 40 minutes with the nurse – never let it be said you don’t get the time when you need it! It turns out they’re being rightly cautious given that she’ll have surgery coming up – and it was useful for me too. But it took out a large chunk of the afternoon.
Thu 15 And the medical stuff goes on. My turn today with an audiology appointment. As I had a couple of errands to do on the way to the hospital, and they took a lot less time than expected, I was very early for my 12:15 appointment. Astonishingly I was seen almost immediately, so I was ringing for a cab to pick me up by 11:40, and was home about 12:20! Result! What wasn’t a result was that I got a tea on my way into the hospital; it was so hot that even with a carrier I managed to spill a bit and burn my thumb! By the time I’d finished my appointment it was still too hot to drink! Luckily it cooled down enough in the 20 minutes I had to sit in the sun waiting to be picked up.
Fri 16 A surprisingly quiet day, and not because I left my hearing aids out; just not a lot happening. And yes, I was wearing my hearing aids, which are much more comfortable having had them adjusted yesterday – although I’m noticing I need them turned up a bit more now. It’s good wearing them; everything is very dull without; but it is nice to take them out at the end of the day!
Sat 17 For the first time in some years we had a total reorganise and clear-out of the bathroom cabinet. No, we didn’t find a pile of expired drugs (a) because we don’t have expired drugs and, (b) most drugs don’t live in the bathroom cabinet anyway. There were a couple of ends of ointment that were consigned to the bin though, as well as a certain amount of supernumerary crap – but nowhere nearly as bad as I had expected. The first aid box – which is almost never used! – got turned out too.
Sun 18 Dear God, we had some rain last night. It must have been throwing it down all night. This morning we have standing water in the garden, on the path by the pond; an area of about 6m x 1m! I know the water table is high at present – the gardener reported on Wednesday that it was only a few centimetres down – but I think this is the worst I’ve seen it (except when next door’s kiddo leaves their garden hose on). Not that the wildlife is deterred: as I type this there’s a pair of magpies ripping twigs off the silver birch; squirrels and parrakeets hopping about everywhere. Well it’s better than that because the magpies have decided to build a nest almost at the top of the silver birch.
Mon 19 So how much worse does it have to get before it gets better? Everything’s going to the dogs in a handcart – or is that going to Hell in a dogcart? Either way there seems to be no chance to jump off and run away to sea.
Tue 20 Went with N to her hospital appointment this morning, which as usual turned into a 2½ hour marathon – consultant, samples, bloods, pharmacy, nurses … it seemed never ending – and apart from 15 minutes with the consultant all I was doing was sitting around. The waiting area we were in was heaving; hardly a spare seat. There must have been 50 patients/hangers-on all the time, plus at least 20 staff of all grades. Out of all those, at no time were there more than 5 mask wearers; and the air quality was dreadful. This in a clinic for people at high risk if they get Covid. Boy, was I glad of my well fitting N95 mask. Needless to say we escaped to the fresh, but cold, air as soon as possible.
Wed 21 What a dismal day, so no surprise that very little got done apart from the supermarket order. So I really cannot blame the gardener for not coming today. The weather was absolutely filthy. It had clearly been raining most of the night and was peeing it down until gone lunchtime, then on and off. Nobody would want to be out working in that, especially as everything is so wet that it goes audibly “squelch” under foot. And the weather people all seem to be predicting that we’re in for at least another two weeks of mostly wet, wet, wet. I think by then we might all have drowned!
Thu 22 Arrggghhhh!!!! My main email worketh not. Two ways to access it, neither works. Everything else is OK, including lots of other email accounts. Oh, N’s email is dead too! After much head-scratching the guys at the ISP find that there’s something misconfigured at our end (how?) which is causing our IP address to get blocked – but only for those email addresses. Seems all to be OK from soon after lunch – now to read the influx of 50 emails since last evening. Later I checked over N’s email and found a misconfigured server address.
Fri 23 One of the few perils of having a cat flap is that the local bovver-cats think they can come in; mop up any spare food lying around; and generally make themselves at home. But they soon skedaddle when we appear. Mind in this weather who can blame them. Oh, and by the way, it is Saturday isn’t it?
Sat 24 Something must have happened today, but if it did it passed me by and I have nothing to show for the day other than writing one of my monthly blog posts and then getting depressed.
Sun 25 04:00 Thick fog, and yet the full moon was visible.
07:00 Fog cleared, heavy frost.
11:00 Bright and sunny.
14:00 Dull and raining.
Mon 26 Well the magpies seem to have abandoned their nest building in our silver birch tree. Although a couple of days ago I did see one of them “paddling” in what little they’ve built, I’ve seen no activity, and there’s been no obvious construction since the day they started. But then we know that many birds will start several nests before settling on which they prefer.
Tue 27 Luckily it was dry, because the gardener came by. He spent the whole time from 11:00 to dark rise, pruning and cutting back shrubs etc. Then after dark spent an hour sitting nattering – once he starts it is almost impossible to get him out the door to go home!
Wed 28 So the magpies have obviously come into some funds, because they’ve restarted construction work in the silver birch tree. They were around a bit yesterday, but there’s been more activity today. Mind you they need a good Clerk of Works or QS … Several times today I watched one of them trying to magpie-handle a twig twice it’s own length, held cross-ways in it’s beak, into the nest and wondering why the twigs of the tree were getting in the way. They mostly succeeded, but knowing how cunning they are I’m surprised they didn’t work it out faster.
Thu 29 It’s Leap Day. We haven’t had one of those for a while. In fact it’s been four years since this happened. That calls for a celebration and a bottle of Champagne – after all we may not live to see another.
And I’ll leave you this month with a picture of my Dendrobium orchid, which chose today to burst into full flower.Three magenta Dendrobium orchid flowers
history, links, medical, natural history, science, sexuality

Monthly Links

Welcome to our monthly collection of links to items you may have missed but which struck me as interesting or amusing. We’ve got quite a collection this month, and as usual we’ll start with the hard stuff – the science – and then it’s all downhill.

Science, Technology, Natural World

Let’s start with something topical … So just why do we have leap years? [££££]

Scientists have again proven themselves wrong: this time they’ve concluded that Saturn’s moon Mimas probably has an underground ocean which they thought couldn’t exist.

On Earth, but not entirely disconnected, scientists have concluded that the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history happened 7300 years ago off Japan. [££££]

We’re familiar with Isaac Newton splitting light into a rainbow with a prism, but it was William Herschel (better known as an astronomer) who actually worked out what was going on beyond the red and the violet ends of the spectrum.

Changing tack entirely … Researchers have worked out a more detailed mechanism by which erections work – at least in mice – opening the door for better drugs for erectile dysfunction.

Which somehow brings us to penguins … One of the current team at UKAHT’s Port Lockroy station in Antarctica describes counting penguins and why the penguins think pebbles are cool.

So why do birds have skinny legs? [££££]

Let’s hear it for the Yellow-Crested Helmetshrike (below), which has been rediscovered after not being seen for 20 years.

Why don’t humans have gills? Spoiler: because guess what, we don’t live in water.

On a more macabre topic, scientists have discovered a detailed, and regularly timed, network of microbes for decomposing flesh.

Which takes us nicely on to …

Health, Medicine

It is estimated that one million people in England may have undiagnosed type 2 diabetes.

Bubonic plague is still a thing, albeit pretty rare, in America. The latest case is in Oregon.

We are still in the Covid pandemic – it’s only the fifth year – and it is still presenting challenges. [LONG READ] [££££]

An epidemiologist takes a long hard look at what you can do to boost your immune system – and what doesn’t work! [LONG READ]

Bodily secretions (blood, tears, wax) can tell us a lot about our health.

Should this be here or under History? … A bone analysis has revealed the first known cases of TB amongst Neanderthals.

Here’s some reassurance, especially for those of us in the springtime of our senility, that forgetting is a normal function of memory – and when we should start worrying about it.

Sexuality

Apparently some women (probably some men too) enjoy anal sex, it’s more common than supposed and it shouldn’t be a guilty pleasure.

Sex educator Emily Nagoski has a new book out (Come Together) which is a good excuse for a Q&A. [LONG READ]
And here’s an excerpt from Come Together. [LONG READ]

Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics

Here are two related items from lawyer David Allen Green on when the UK government hold a border poll in Northern Ireland. The first from Prospect magazine, the second from DAG’s Substack blog. [LONG READ]

The first UK banknotes featuring King Charles III will be released into circulation on 5 June this year.

Art, Literature, Language, Music

I’m not at all sure I fully understand how they’ve done this, but researchers have uncovered secret mathematical patterns in Bach’s music. [££££]

A controversial new analytical technique offers a fresh look at the Indo-European roots of our languages.

Between about 1909 and 1915 Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky photographed Russia using his ground-breaking colour process.

A portrait by Gustav Klimt (above) has been rediscovered after being lost for nearly a century.

The astonishing art of Mattias Adolfsson.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

We start this section with a long overview article on the emerging use of science in historical research. [LONG READ]

Forget our modern preconceived ideas, just what was life like for female Neanderthals?

What does jewellery tell us about the culture of Ice Age Europeans? [££££]

Here are two articles on the Egyptian’s practice of mummification. First, when did the Ancient Egyptians start mummifying their dead. And secondly their practice of mummifying baboons. [££££]

Having mentioned TB amongst Neanderthals earlier, researchers have used DNA to identify Down’s Syndrome in 2600-year-old infants. [££££]

Rare Roman funeral remains have been discovered beneath Holborn Viaduct in London
From

The devastating Roman-era plagues were associated with cold snaps.

Still with the Romans, what was life, and death, like for Roman legionaries? [LONG READ]

A haul of nearly 400 ancient medical tools from Turkey hint at rare Roman doctors’ offices.

We’re coming a bit more up to date with this look at St Margaret of Antioch. [LONG READ]

Still with the early medievals … A gold ring of Mercian Queen Æthelswith (above) was unearthed by a Victorian ploughman in Yorkshire.

A look at secret romantic communications in medieval times. [LONG READ]

And finally in this section, Going Medieval looks at the Black Death in Africa and Asia, and the interconnected Middle Ages.

London

Covenants, Easements & Wayleaves: the intricacies of London Infrastructure. [LONG READ]

The various parts of the London Overground train lines are to be given their own names and identity. [LONG READ]

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Not having children when you get old can be unsettling, but it need not be. [££££]

A huge “house share” in the Netherlands has always caused outsiders to speculate and gossip about the residents’ sleeping arrangements. [LONG READ]

Third century Buddhist scripture The Lotus Sutra still has relevance today.

Cats have many attention-seeking behaviours, but do they really suffer from a fear of missing out? [££££]

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And finally for this month, here’s Simon Tatham’s Portable Puzzle Collection.