May 2003 Archives
With Ohna still in Wales (past Cardiff by now I hope), the kids just watched 'The Big Impression' and 'HIGNFY' with me. They laughed at some of the impressions but I think a lot of the rest went over their heads (and mine).
B-)
Today I sent off Kiloh's entry for the Saturday Show S Club 8 Karaoke competition. She's singing 'Wherever You Are'. Fingers crossed.
On the way, Apoa called me to tell me she was stuck with her homework. She left a message which said:
'Hello Billy. It's Chris Tarrant here. Apoa's doing quite well with her homework but she's stuck on one question. We were wondering whether you might be able to help her?
If you want to test yourself, the question was:
Which of the following is most similar to 'dog' and 'cow'?
bull, camel, whale, lion, python
B-)
They found him. You can read about him here They've even given him a column in the Guardian.
B-)
Can't believe I missed this
B-)
Just enjoyed this insight into our younger citizens, from London by London:
THIS ONE TIME, AT BAND CAMP
Dudes, I just wanted to know if anyone happened to be wandering around the Golders Green area last Saturday from around 9:00 to 12:00.
If you were then your probably still baffled about what you saw happen. If you were not there, I shall explain what did occur last Saturday night! Basically, all the dudes 'n'chicks in year 11 (15 to 16 year old) broke up from school last Friday, to go on 'study leave' for their GCSEs. I am one of these dudes and right at this moment I am meant to be 'revising'. To celebrate this two week holiday, *opps did i say holiday? I meant 'revision period' all the dudes from Westminster school decided to meet up at golders green station at 9:00. Yet one friend told another, and in the end chicks'n'dudes came from all over the capital including: UCS, City of London, Highgate, Westminister, Francis Holland, South Hampstead Girls school, St Micheals and word even got as far as my school (QE Boys) in High Barnet.
When I arrived at Golders Green station, it was absolutely buzzing, with 200+ peeps just chilling with each other. The chick to dude ratio was about 9:1, so i was definitely In there. After-a-while I went, with these two chicks ,from some french school, to buy some booze in the local 24/7. He denied to sell it to me, which really pissed me of, but God must have been watching, cause some guy gave us his un-opened bottle of Smirnoff vodka to share. And, oh boy, did we share it!
Around 10:00, someone must have called the cops, so this big group of 200+ went marching up towards Hampstead Heath. It was too dark in the heath, so we continued up to the high street, where we carried on the party.
In the end, one girl was knocked out somewhere on the street, and everyone else was either (1) harassing the rich snobs in Hampstead, (2) exchanging vodka from mouth to mouth or (3) in a fight. My good friend got attacked and beaten up. I found it funny at the time, and to be honest, still laugh about it now. About 12:00, it seemed to be getting a bit boring, so I headed back home on a night bus.
God I loving being me.
Oli, NW8
[For the avoidance of doubt, this years 'dudes n chicks' quota has now been exceeded. Subscribers should avoid using either or these words in future correspondance. - ed]
from jennifer:
Cre(a)mola Foam found as far south as Sheffield? I thought it was an experiment on us Scots only. So did they have the poll tax in Sheffield too?
When my uncle was a young lad, he used to work on a farm up at Glenlivet. Every day they'd stop off by the burn to have lunch. What better to help waash doon the hale coo inside twa shaves o' loaf than a pitcher of beautiful clear burn water... wi' five speens o' cremola foam (raspberry) added.
The image of these hardy farmers quaffing cremola foam is imprinted on my mind forever. Fabulous.
Just got news that the Eat More Words project has been defeated:
Hello Eat More Words subscribers.
Alas. After months of delays and elaborate plans and hopes for the future and dreams of words, words, and more words, we have some sad news. The powers that be in the land of the OED Online have decided that EMW does not qualify for access to their services. Despite our non-profit status through the Apicule Foundation. Despite the fact that other organizations provide online access to the OED to their members in very similar ways to what we proposed. We've tried to appeal the decision, but have had no luck, and unfortunately have to abandon the plans to provide OED access.
So now we have some of your money and we need to figure out what to do with that. We'd like to offer you a few choices - please select one and let us know.
1) Refund the full amount of my subscription/donation (in most cases, $10)
2) Refund my subscription/donation minus the Paypal fees we incurred (in most cases, $9.41)
3) Donate my subscription/donation funds to the National Center For Family Literacy (www.ncfl.org) or PEN (http://www.pen.org/)
We're sorry this didn't work out as we'd hoped.
There are other ways to access the OED online, if you're interested. In the US, you might see if your library offers online access. If it doesn't, you can join the Multnomah County library online (http://www.multcolib.org/card/cardnew.html) for $70, which gives you access to various other online databases as well (http://www.multcolib.org/ref/remote.html).
We're really sad that we couldn't bring you the heaps of words we'd hoped to, and we hope that you will still be our friends and still send us interesting word-related things when you find them.
Best,
Caterina & Judith
ps. Want to use the EMW site for something spectacular? Let us know. The best idea (with a demonstrated commitment to actually get something going there, unlike what we did) can have the domain name.
On top of all that I also had to turn down free tickets at the weekend to see Patti Smith performing at Charleston, Vanessa Bell's (well, it used to be hers) country house near Lewes. John says it was great but you can't do everything I suppose.
B-}
Well, I thought three nights out in a row last weekend was impressive but after I go out for a drink with Eddie tonight, I'll have been out six nights out of seven. Monday was my night in but I went out for lunch with John that day as well. John says the main thing about my blog is that 'you never know what you're going to get' and he sometimes feels like he's tuning in to a soap opera having missed the last few episodes. So here's an omnibus edition just for him (and you):
Last Friday: Tiger Lillies in Gorey End. Thirteen songs inspired by the work of Edward Gorey, based on unpublished work he sent to the Tiger Lillies before he died (too soon, unfortunately, to hear any of the songs). The evening was a kind of 'in memoriam' with Julian Bleach as compere and readings from Imogen Claire, Rosalind Knight, Alan Rickman and Josie Hall. It was a great evening and made me even more fed up that I never got it together to see their Shockheaded Peter last year. I've been enjoying my foyer-purchased CD all week (between nights out).
Saturday: a most elegant party at Rob and Jemima's swish, modern Highgate home (I know they were built 37 years ago as I met the neighbours who moved in when they were new). We started sipping champagne and apple martinis and nibbling sushi and ended up helping ourselves to more drink and fighting the rodeo bull they'd put in their central courtyard. This was karaoke-like in that the evening began with no-one wanting to go on and ended with everyone fighting for the next go. The operator was a bit of a sadist so Ohna made him get on so that she could dump him a couple of times.
Sunday: Neil Young solo and acoustic with no support at the Hammersmith Odeon (well, Apollo these days). They crammed loads of people in and we stood with two rows of people at the back of the circle, i.e. miles away. We passed binoculars around all evening and I tried not to Bogart them. It was a great show. Like the Tiger Lillies, he was presenting a new album. For the first hour and fifty minutes he talked us through a story about Earl and Edith Green, their daughter Sun, the Double E ranch and the community of Greendale. Quite Garrison Keillor-ish. Some great songs and moments, some slightly less gripping. And nice to get a whole narrative, together with some funny bits about how he writes and records ('I wake up in the morning, I think of three chords. I say 'that's it. those are the chords' and I don't change them. That's why all my songs are so simple'). Then he took a break and came back to perform a few oldies. The highlight for me was a speed-hymn version of 'After The Goldrush' with harmonica and organ (and of course Mother Nature was now on the run in the 'twenty-first century' rather than 'the nineteen-seventies').
Check out Neil's Garage for more on the Greendale album (not much yet, though).
On the way home, I was squeezed next to Rico on the tube. I didn't talk to him as two other guys got in first. So I just eavesdropped as he reminisced about his days with the Specials.
Tuesday: Apoa's (ex-)teacher's band's launch party for their new CD. They were very good, i.e. skilled, competent, etc. But sadly, it wasn't really my kind of thing (even though they jumped around different styles/genres). Read about the band here
Wednesday: watched Celtic lose with Alec and Kirsty. A great night despite them losing. Started off in Bradley's Spanish Bar, which is still a really special place. Tiny but everyone manages to get in. And a great atmosphere with 'Itchycoo Park' and 'White Horses' on the jukebox and a picture of Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin naked in bed together behind the bar. What more could you want? We then continued the Spanish theme by staying up too late in Bar Sol Ona, one of those late licence places that all Londoners need to know a few of.
Tonight: drinks with Eddie.
Anyway, that should keep John happy for a while. Me, I need some rest.
B-)
Jennifer writes:
Def no e for me either in that second vowel. but marshmallow was one of my favourite foodstuffs as a kid. In fact, that/those and cremola foam were staples for me.
Anyway, funny word, so I looked up its etymology: it was originally made from the root of the mallow plant which grows near salt marshes.
This is disasterous news for me: it means I actually had something natural in my daily diet. Feel I've been had somehow. Bet I now find that cremola foam is derived from brussel sprouts.
I've got two bits of bad news:
first, this and also this which reveals the presence of 'gum, acacia'. Sounds a bit natural to me.
Still, I think adding vodka to it as advocated here would be a good enough antidote to any wholesome qualities.
B-)
How common is the pronunciation of 'marshmallows' with 'e' as in 'pet' for the second vowel?
I knew it existed but I was surprised to discover I'm the only one in my family who doesn't do it.
B-)
Just checked what's in the kids' discmans (it can't really be 'discmen', can it?). Apoa has Dusty In Memphis and Kiloh has Elephant (she's taken this over, so I haven't had much of a chance to listen to it yet). They do like TaTu and Girls Aloud and stuff but it's good to see they haven't reached the stage yet where 'my dad likes it' is conclusive proof that something is rubbish.
B-)
The parents at school are awestruck by the news that I'm going out three nights in a row this weekend: the Tiger Lillies, Rob's birthday party and Neil Young. Hope I can cope...
B-)
I'm going to be going to see this
B-)
As well as the main critical mass ride there's now a north london version.
I passed the starting point a wee while ago and there were only a small number of cyclists. I guess it might pick up, though, especially now that they've obviously splashed out on an advertising campaign.
B-)
I went with Dug and Tania to an event that was very much a Lecture List kind of thing last night.
The NFT is showing a retrospective of films by John Krish, who's a top British documentary maker. Among other things, he also worked on The Avengers, and he made an interesting contrast in his introduction between the tantrums and problems when he was on set with Steed et al and the sanity of working with schoolkids.
The films were great in themselves but it was also fascinating to look back in time. Most of the kids were just a little bit previous to my generation but I certainly remembered the various attitudes and looks and fashion statements. Also fascinating to see the institutions as they were then and compare with my own experiences as a kid then and as a parent now. One of them - 'I Want To Go To School' - was commissioned by the NUT and designed to let parents know what their kids got up to at school. One way things have changed is that most of us know exactly what our kids do at primary school these days and, at least at our place, we're welcome to go in and help as much as we want. (Not in France, though, as Tania pointed out).
There are a million things to say about how the films were put together, the documentary style and etc. and etc. But right now I've got some shopping to do.
You can read more about John Krish in this piece which was in the Guardian the other day.
B-)
I meant to tell you that Dug has created a blog for the Lecture List (or should that be The Lecture List?) It's here. Do let us know any thoughts you have about it.
B-)
This is a message from Andy:
Hiya, I'm after a quick fav.
My mate has just started up a new website that needs a bit of advertising. Could you please forward on this address to as many people as you know, and ask them to look at it and pass the address on to as many people as they know etc..
The site is still quite basic at the minute but will be updated and added to on a regular basis. The address is:
The creator says it's like Jamie Oliver meets FHM.
The big news today, apart from how the kittens have been getting bigger and fluffier, is that Jazzy has moved herself and her babies out of Kiloh's tiny drawer and into the nice big box we got ready for her.
Apoa's little digital camera doesn't cope too well with cats in boxes but I've put a couple of (quite big) snaps of Jazzy and her babies (current temporary names: Roxy, Sparks, Thingie and No-Name) here and here
We'll put some clearer pictures up when we've got some.
B-)
Well, Jazzy our very small cat just had four kittens. We all knew she had it in her.
She chose the tiniest drawer at the bottom of Kiloh's wardrobe for the delivery and did a very professional job of cleaning them up and looking after them. Kiloh didn't think much of watching her eat the cauls and afterbirths as a spectator sport.
There are now four children sleeping on the floor next to the babies. And we're off to sleep with the sound of a contented mum purring carrying through from the maternity drawer next door.
B-)
Here is a site the BBC have made about cycling in London.
B-)
You can read the composition of Jed's council here.
As you'll see, he's got his work cut out for him as even with three seats lost the Tories still control the council. They've got 35 seats, the LibDems have 18 seats and Jed is one of 6 independents. The Labour Party in East Devon are like the Tories in Scotland, having lost their one seat last night.
Dug has posted a message from Jed about it. B-)
He won.
B-)
Today's the day my dad-in-law runs for office in the local elections in Budleigh Salterton (in Devon). Enlightened people in 'the Budleighs' (Budleigh Salterton and East Budleigh) are fed up with living in a place where 'if you pinned a blue rosette on a donkey people would vote it in' and where the donkeys have then gone on to do 'baaad things' (I'm not really up to speed on it all but I think their worst behaviour from Jed's point of view has been to do with planning - letting developers put whatever they want wherever they want) so some of them have decided to run as independents. Let's hope the electorate seize their opportunity.
B-)
We've decided not to bother with the free holiday.
I checked the company's website (Grand Vacation Club) and I've a feeling there might be a catch to do with having to be a member of the club as well.
Anyway, it all feels just a bit suspicious and we know we'll be paying somehow or other. I think the bottom line is that Stevenage is too high a price to pay. We're going to follow Jennifer's advice:
go to Cair*i*nbulg instead: no timeshares there: just tons of cultcha
(Not sure how long it is since she's been to the Belger, though)
B-)
