Here's a message from a london cycling email group in response to a message about a campaign to encourage safer driving in the City (around one tenth of London's cycling deaths occur here even though it covers around one thousandth of the area of London):

'About a month ago I cycled to LCC HQ in Southwark for a
meeting at 0930. This was the first time I'd been
through the city / central London in months. The
situation there has gotten much worse since I commuted
regularly through the area in 2000.

I'm not surprised that attitudes are becoming
aggressive towards cyclists. I was almost knocked off
my bike on several occasions by cyclists who did not
expect me to stop for a red light. At the Angel I
watched well over 17 cyclists jump a red light, five of
them forcing buses moving through the intersection to
brake sharply. Complete disregard for vehicles and
pedestrians was the order of the day.

It was enough to make me consider the volunteer work I
do for the LCC. Not that I have a problem with the
organisation. It's the London cyclists who really got
up my nose.

I am not surprised by a rise in anti-cycling
attitudes, they are well founded on the anti-social
behavior of a large percentage of those of us on two
wheels. Why not a leafleting campaign promoting
better cycling?'

As one respondent said: 'I feel a warm debate coming on'

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Just got another offer of free entry to Club NME. The first 300 get in free every week as well. I don't know if I could take the excitement, but luckily I'm busy tonight anyway.

Meanwhile, Donal is being teased by his mates because he went to the theatre last Wednesday while 'your dad and his mate were out clubbing'. Like, which ones are the wrinklies here?

Off to start teaching for the first time in ages now. Hope I can stay awake...

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Yesterday Rose missed the train to school. Today it was Apoa's turn. I somehow managed not to set the alarm last night* and was woken by a desperate Apoa who had one minute until her train was due. She woke herself up on time, had breakfast and everything but didn't wake me until just after the last minute.

Just to make sure my day started beautifully, I came home to hear our lying weasel of a prime minister ramming his incompetence down my throat on radio 4.

Alec spent the night last night* and made me a bit jealous of Scotland where they have the extra option of SNP to turn to. Everyone in the right-on bubble I live in is trying to decide between Lib Dem and Green without feeling that confident in either.

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*Could these things be connected?

Geoff Pullum on language log points out another reason why grammar is important.

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After a quiet day at home tidying up the spare room for next week's visit from Daniel and Gemma, and a quiet evening in with just Kiloh at night (Apoa was off sleeping over), with a visit from Clemmie, Dug and Nicki squeezed in (with a bit of guilt as I took advantage of their SUV for a quick stock-up on cat food), we had a really fun day today.

First we visited circus school where Apoa took a massive step forward in the battle against vertigo and learned how to turn around on the flying trapeze. Meanwhile Kiloh mastered the 'big star' on the static trapeze and developed her skills on the walking globe and whatever those funny things with two steps and four wheels are called. Then we resisted stopping off at Virgin on the way to the Soho Theatre, where the matinee performance of Private Peaceful was followed with a discussion and question session with Michael Morpurgo (author of the novel), Simon Reade (writer and director of the play) and Paul Chequer (the one actor in the play). I've been to a fair number of these discussions and this was the liveliest and most fun, mainly because Michael Morpurgo is a right laugh and a great performer. When the host said we should be winding up soon, he said 'Why? I don't have anything on this evening, do you?' He capped it all by having his chair collapse under him near the end. His wife instantly leapt onto the stage, whipped out her camera and took a picture. She says it might appear on his Children's laureate website soon.

The play itself was really great. I could mention the few things I would have been tempted to change (there are always some of these) but the main thing to say is that the script and performance were great, totally involving and 'real'.

We followed that with a quick pizza stop on the way home and an almost instant passing-out from both kids when we got home. Maybe not the best prep for a busy week at school, but worth it imho.

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Message to Jed and Ruth:

Hi guys,

Do you remember back on the 12th of September when you went visiting as many artists as you could in one day in Somerset? And you sent us a lovely card about it?

We wanted to say thanks for the lovely card and thought you'd be interested to know that we received it on Friday after the card had taken a slight detour to Australia and back! It arrived with a note on the envelope saying:

'Missorted to Australia. Return UK'

Well, at least it got here in the end!

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When I said 'a Pescarolo', I meant a car. I should add, though, that she'll also be playing with M. Henri Pescarolo himself who will be driving the car.

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Ohna headed off to Estoril this morning to play with a Pescarolo

And it's work!

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Wish I'd spotted this talk at 'ackney museum sooner.

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Emily from the nme phoned me yesterday to tell me I'd won two tickets to the launch night of club nme at Koko

She had them biked over to me which made me think they were maybe a bit worried about the turnout.

They were gold VIP tickets, so when we got there Andrew and I had a look for the VIP area. We eventually discovered that these were the kind of VIP tickets that let you jump the queue on the way in but not much else.

It's a lovely building and we had a great time. It was all quite relaxed in the beginning and we enjoyed that there wasn't much sense of preciousness about the people. By the end of the evening, we had maybe consumed one kola kube tequila shot too many (OK, I only had one but anyway), enjoyed the Kaiser Chiefs, joined the moshers for The Others, whose set ended with a full stage invasion, and I had been snogged by a delightful young lady who introduced herself to us by stealing large gulps of Andrew's drink.

It's got to be over a decade since I moshed (I'm sure it wasn't even called that then) and I have to say I really enjoyed it, especially the bit where my specs were being bent in two onto my eyes and the bit where I did my spectacular backwards tumble (starting from the floor, not the stage or anything). It wasn't packed, so we remembered that bit in School of Rock when Jack Black dives from the stage and the audience politely stand aside to let him land on his face.

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LINGUIST List 15.2609: Nicaraguan Sign Language

This is a message from Renee Jourdenais with a reminder about the documentary that was on BBC2 a few years ago and Judy Kegl's website

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LINGUIST List 15.2596: Nicaraguan Sign Language

Two more links on this, following an update in Science

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Just been looking at some of Ohna's recent work on davidreviews website.

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Induction week starts on Monday and teaching the following week. There are more people than usual trying to get in at the last minute. I'm not sure what it means, but there is definite evidence that the Guardian putting Middlesex in the top 20 in its recent league tables has had an effect. I'm looking forward to teaching some of them.

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Two people I know were at the House of Lords last night. Both said the security was really lame.

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Yesterday was our 15th anniversary, but we decided to postpone it until today. We spent yesterday evening at the APA Show instead. Free drinks and nibbles, and a screening of 'the best' 50 ads from last year. In the V&A, which was very cool. My favourite ad was the one for powerade with the cameraman running faster than the racing athletes. I think it would have been better if the commentator hadn't mentioned the cameraman at all, though. No doubt it was that old fear of some of the audience not getting it.

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Johnny Ramone dies - GUARDIAN

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Just had my first experience of using sms in dealing with a student applying to Middlesex.

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This story about Tony Blair reminds me that when we were on summer camp and away from the news for a week, we heard of two stories that had broken while we were away and which turned out not to be true. This was one and the other was that Gadaffi actually had taken over Crystal Palace.

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It's 0040 on Thursday morning and I'm watching investigative journalism being carried out by postmodern ironic puppets. A genuinely new concept. It's sort of like 'That's Life' with kiddie presenter puppets.

Tonight they're talking about the practices of drug companies, while making me think they might have spiked my drink.

Can't find a website but it's on the schedule here at 0025:

http://www.in4mer.com/schedules_c4.asp?xDate=22-09-2004

B-}

It's The Beatles vs iTunes! - NME.COM

Surely this was just waiting to happen....

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Finally managed to add some links to this site. Meanwhile, those nice people at The Guardian have just added a link to The Lecture List on their front page.

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Just read this bit of potentially-useable-in-class data in the wrap. I have to say that I processed it instantly without any confusion at all. Interesting that the word 'pop' no longer appears in the headline of the first article. Is The Sun trying to spoil our fun?

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

The essential, as with Latin, is finding the verb. Is it pop? Have some rattish fellows called Nick popped Nat's new hits? Maybe the headline is in the imperative, imploring us to inform on these Nicks, and subsequently pop Nat's new hits? No, wait: there's a bad fellow, a "rat" who has stolen ("nicked") some fizzy drinks ("pop") - maybe even some booze. All wrong. In fact, a pop singer called Natasha Bedingfield has had her laptop, containing some new songs, stolen from Heathrow airport. Tomorrow, we'll try to explain how a story about traffic congestion on Venice's Grand canal became a "gondola love ban". We'll try, I say.

* Sun: Rat nicks pop Nat's new hits
* Sun: Venice Gondola love ban

Manchester to get rock museum - NME.COM

Hope it does better than the one in Sheffield which I was keen to visit but which had closed down for lack of customers before I could get there.

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The Guide from the Guardian has a guideblog which is quite good fun. I liked the bit in this post about the Pet Shop Boys and Potemkin where it says that someone yelled 'Bring on the millionaire pop stars!' when 'the lecture about world poverty started dragging on'. Shame on their lack of revolutionary consciousness! (Or is the problem that it's overdeveloped?)

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Went to see the Pet Shop Boys soundtracking Battleship Potemkin in Trafalgar Square last night. There were bolsheviks there carrying red flags and distributing leaflets (one was entitled 'The bolsheviks have had a bad press!') At the beginning, the MC ran through some of the protests that have taken place in Trafalgar Square, including Rock Against Racism in 1978 (see previous post), many Stop The War protests in the past year or so, and even going back to an antiwar demo in 1914.

The film was much more powerful on a big screen and the music kind of worked. One effect which was used well was adding just a few real sounds into the soundtrack: a plate smashing and gunshots.

I don't agree with the whingers who, according to this BBC News report, couldn't see the subtitles and I think the Guardian review it also mentions is deeply suspect, even though I haven't read it. I never trust a reviewer who says what you'd expect them to say.

In homage, I cycled home afterwards with a red flag flying on the back of my bike.

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Went to Tim's 4oth on Friday night and then another Tim's 40th yesterday. Both born on the same date, one in Australia and one somewhere in the Birmingham (UK) area. Juicy conversation at both of them, but the funnest moment was talking to Sunil and Justin and discovering that all three of us were at the famous Rock Against Racism march and concert in Victoria Park in 1978. I think I win the dedication prize having bussed down from Aberdeen with a bunch of lefties. To give you a feel, I remember they were all singing a satirical revision of The Red Flag which was making fun of the Labour government (but not for long) at the time. One line I remember was 'and we believe, if we persist, we'll make the new year's honours list'.

The march was genuinely scary with some very angry anti-anti-racists around, including one guy in a van who tried to run everyone down who was queuing on the pavment outside a shop. The concert was great. Memorable moments include Poly Styrene dramatically removing a towel from her head to reveal she'd shaved her hair off, The Clash playing early cos they had a gig in Birmingham that night, losing our mates when me and Mike rushed to the front to see The Clash, Patrik Fitzgerald being bottled for reading poetry and therefore being, by definition, a 'wanka!', and Jimmy 'where is he now?' Pursey hanging out for ages afterwards to talk to the fans.

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Fantastic photo of Fergus Henderson on the cover of today's Observer Food Monthly. Haven't read the article yet, though.

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This was what it said on a post-it on our bedroom door when we got back from Tim's 40th last night:

'Love 'oo Mummy & Daddy!!!!!
DON'T YOU DARE BE DRUNK!!!!!!!!!!!

luv Posa & Kysa'

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This story says the government is about to shake up the admissions system for university. I don't know what they'll do but I do agree the current system could do with an overhaul.

Somebody asked me the other day who owns Middlesex University and I had to confess that I don't know. I know what they're called but I've no idea who or what they are. I've been feeling a bit Patrick McGoohan-like ever since.

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Just spoke to Kiloh on the phone. She was impressed to see this site showing up when she did a bit of vanity surfing, and then to find a company called 'Kiloh Associates' with a Kiloh and a Clark in them. Reminded me of the time we saw a photo in Bessie's local paper of a football player called Clark Kiloh.

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I'm enjoying /forwards by The Egg

Their last album, travelator, was not only really good but also added another track to my 'songs with Billy in them' list. This album starts off sounding a bit like early New Order, or other things we listened to when we were melancholy students, before getting more playful and more in the mode of the last album.

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Nouvelle Vague is walking out of record shops just now.

Obviously, 'Too drunk to fuck' is going to be the popular choice, but I think my favourite is 'Friday Night, Saturday Morning'. The original was one of my favourites when it came out (on the same 12-inch disc as Ghost Town) and this one has a different take on feeling dismal. They're now using it on the trailer for the Dispatches programme on drug rape on Monday night.

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Jon Snow is one of London's most famous cycling celebrities. I've spotted him (and Jeremy Paxman but no-one really talks about him as a cyclist for some reason) riding around a few times. I just got overtaken by Jon Snow on my way to the library and I have to report that when his mobile beeped he did take his phone out of his pocket and read it while cycling down the road. Apparently, there are no laws at all about using mobiles while cycling.

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E-Julie writes:

Just a teeny note to say the Language Legend blog is out of the summer holiday doldrums - latest post is on the article in the August New Scientist about new linguistic determinism research.

I saw my second years this week and they have filled their summer A2-coursework-ideas-gathering-books with things they've been looking into, many of them sparked off by stuff that appeared on the blog so I'm feeling gratified by my "I WILL make them read" strategy! Anyone can use it; it has no agenda other than being of use to English Language A Level students (and teachers?...); and it's entirely free.

Comments and suggestions always welcome.

E-Julie

John Lawler posted this to LINGUIST:

Stephen Anderson of Yale University is featured in an article in the New York Times "Science Times" on Tuesday Sept 7 (p. D3), about his new book 'Doctor Doolittle's Delusion', which debunks stories about animal language on the grounds that (surprise!) animals are innocent of Original Syntax.

The article is available free (one must register) today at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/07/science/07cont.html

Later it will cost money to read.

John Lawler

U Michigan Linguistics Dept

When we went to see the final part of 'Lord of the Rings', the whole cinema erupted into laughter at the funny little hobbits at the end. On Midweek Ian Holm just revealed that at least some people on the film knew how awful it was. After talking about the mask/makeup debate, and enjoying the fact that a man in his 70's had to be aged up to be Bilbo, he said:

'But did you see the model? At the end? When Bilbo waddles onto the boat?'

He and Libby had a laugh about the idea that they had gone through all that work on special effects throughout the three movies and then just shoved a wig on a model at the end.

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The language feed is a site offering a weekly roundup of language news stories on the web.

I enjoyed Fordyce Maxwell making fun of Dominic Watt's research suggesting that devolution is causing speakers in Berwick on Tweed to lose their Scottish accents. He responds to the suggestion that their /r/ sound is becoming a bit labial in the style of Jonathan Ross by saying:

'Show me the Jonathan Ross sound-alike in Berwick and I'll show you a man afraid to enter a pub...'

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Very excited to be able to buy In the Shadow of No Towers yesterday. I paid the full 20 quid but speed seemed to matter more than money. One of the plates refers to how 'now in September 2004' the Republican convention is coming to New York, which was a bit spooky until I realised the copyright date he'd written on was 27th-31st August 2003 rather than 2004. I couldn't see how he could have been working on the art last week and I could be holding the book today.

It's not a coherent narrative like Maus, but that seems appropriate since it's about the particular kind of mental instability he's been suffering since 9/11. It's definitely a must-read.

I could of course fill you in on the stuff we've been doing while I've been fairly silent (2 weeks in Club Med, a weekend in Tuscany sleeping at the top of a tower in the castle at the highest point in Tuscany between Florence and Siena, an interesting linguistics conference) but I kind of think it makes sense just to leap forward to today where Kiloh is just going to sleep in her finally decorated bedroom. The colour scheme is Kiloh's choice, which means the colours are dark blue, light blue, green, red, pink and yellow. I'll post a photo at some point (this kind of thing being delayed just now because the digital camera broke as soon as we went on holiday)

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Here's a gratuitous link to The Lecture List just to play with the quickpost option that moveable type have given me. I'm also celebrating the technological breakthrough we achieved last night when Dug came round and set up our wireless network to spread our broadband connection around the house/family. We pretty much just plugged it in and it did what it said on the tin.

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