Wrap alert: John Peel dies
26 October 2004
The DJ and radio presenter John Peel has died after suffering a heart attack while on holiday in Peru. He was 65.
Guardian.co.uk (http://www.guardian.co.uk/)
B-(
October 2004 Archives
From The Wrap:
THE BEAUTY OF BELONGINGS
Die Libelle, or the dragonfly, was a runner-up, and so was Rhabarber-Marmelade (rhubarb jam), but the most beautiful German word was yesterday declared to be Habseligskeiten, "belongings, or bits and pieces".
Nearly 23,000 people nominated their favourite words, including Geborgenheit (a sense of security) and Augenblick (moment or blink of an eye), but Habseligskeiten won, the Times reports, because it can evoke "the kind of possessions collected by a six-year-old which he joyfully displays when he turns out his pockets" or even "the few belongings of someone who has lost his home and has to transport them to wherever there is shelter".
- Germans find beauty in small things
(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,171-1328697,00.html)
a richt moofae - Press and Journal
Here's another article from the P&J about the research of the 'Buckie quine'. I have to say I find it really weird reading things like this. Partly it has to do with decisions about spelling that I wouldn't have gone for, but I think it's also just weird reading somebody writing a dialect that you're only used to in speech. Mind you, I always enjoyed reading Dod and Bunty's 'Far's the paper?' column. Does it still exist? Is it on the web at all. The closest I got to finding it was this article about things that make Aiberdeen special. It mentions in passing some of the most important things and people, including Dod, Bunty and Snuffy Ivy.
By the way, Jonathan tells me the P&J referred to Jennifer as 'Ms Smith' because they refuse to recognise non-medical doctors. Quaint, eh?
B-)
Yes, Robbie, I am very busy and that explains the lack of updates on the blog. Just got back from a weekend in Paris, though, which I'd highly recommend to any overworked academics out there.
It seems Jennifer Smith's research on changes in my native tongue has become a story in the Scottish press while I've been away. Jonathan told me and I also got an email on an English Language list about it.
Here are some links:
Jennifer Smith - Press and Journal
The change which got the papers interested was the decline in the use of velar fricatives among younger speakers. But they're still saying fit like, apparently.
B-)
Middlesex is a very groovy place just now, mainly because of the European Social Forum coming up this weekend.
We've got Zapatistas selling coffee and CDs at the union. Yesterday marquee tents and a 'bender' (a tent whose frame is made from large bent branches) were put up on the grass outside my office. And today there are impromptu seminars happening all over the campus. I ate my lunch next to 'squatting history'. It's as if the wave of student apathy and the corporatisation of academia had never happened. Makes me feel like I'm back on Woodcraft camp.
Together with the unusually lively students this year, it's making me enjoy my return to academia rather a lot. Which makes me a rather irritating presence to the more typical (i.e. depressed) academics I keep smiling at.
B-}
Next door to me, Zaria is being Hannibal B-)
Media Guardian - John Hegarty on advertising
This looks like a useable text. Discusses branding, which is a complicated kind of meaning construction. Uses a nice, vague notion of context which we can talk about making more precise. And also makes some interesting points about branding and viral advertising.
(There's a free registration you need to do before you can see it)
B-)
Today I am mainly being Boudicca putting together a PowerPoint presentation to try to persuade the Iceni that now is the time to rise up against our Roman oppressors.
This is the second Tuesday in a row where I've spent the day being trained. Tomorrow, no doubt, I'll be using some moments from the course as real-life examples to discuss in class.
B-)
Just read this on a local email group, from a former Haringey councillor and soon-to-be-ex-Labour Party member:
I thought I would take a quiet moment and announce my resignation from the Labour Party.
Many people have done this over the last few years, and I regret that they have not communicated on this.
There is actually no way of resigning in a way that feels as momentous as it did joining in the first place.
Phoning up Head Office and cancelling your direct debit just doesn’t have much of a ring to it, does it?
After 25 years you feel you want to at least make some sort of gesture.
The Party doesn’t meet any more locally (or if it does, it is in private and I am not invited) - so going along and resigning is not possible. Hopefully some of you are reading this. You guys may think it has been one of the longest goodbyes you've seen. I guess it has. Working in recent elections has been interesting.
Of course the Party has changed since I joined it to support the initiatives of the Campaign For Labour party Democracy, and the selection process of Labour candidates and sitting MPs. I was thrilled to be the union rep vote that got Jeremy Corbyn selected in North Islington. What a great MP he still is.
I found it very sad that our ward recently assisted in the automatic reselection of our own sitting MP without the ability to debate or ask her any questions. Not quite so democratic.
But some changes are too fundamental and cynical to allow.
I want to be independent, so will not be joining another Party. I am not leaving so I can now vote for another Party with a clean conscience. Getting people to vote is a challenge in itself, never mind trying to sell the Party's record. Local and national politics deserves better than this. Reform of Local Government is nowhere on the agenda. Domestic issues seem too crime-centred.
Expedience is the order of the day.
What clinched it for me was the idea of going along to the Human Rights Lawyers Association AGM tonight (being held ironically at Matrix Chambers) and still being a Labour Party member. Impeach the crusader. No more Holy Wars. Another chapter of unnecessary British Imperial history. Could be an interesting evening.
I know that this government has achieved a great deal in social and economic welfare, but these were not Tony Blair's achievements. Anybody who wants to be confirmed into the Church in their first year at university (I had other priorities I seem to remember) has me wondering. A full third term is not a good prospect. Smacks of over-confidence.
So - time to phone and cancel my direct debit then....
Avril Lavigne at Wembley Arena - official Wembley site
Just got back from this. We all agreed it was better than SClubUnited, which is the only other concert the kids have been to. We had standing tickets but took advantage of the offer to be reseated at the side of the stage, since the kids wouldn't have seen anything from the floor. Us oldies particularly enjoyed the cover of Blur's Song 2 with the bassist from Simple Plan on vocals and Avril on drums.
Earlier in the day, we went to a remembrance service for families who had lost babies at the Whittington Hospital, as Apoa's guitar group were playing there. It was a simple service and obviously a lot of sadness there. The guitar group played beautifully.
Earlier still, Kiloh went to her circus class and Apoa missed hers to go bowling for Rachel's birthday.
All of this inspired us to rent a car for the weekend. I'm glad we did as it made all the moving around easier, and we even managed a quick visit to Ikea 10 mintues before they closed, where we picked up curtains and a rail etc. for Kiloh's room. But I must say it reminded me how crappy it is driving around and being close to all the angry drivers.
Yesterday was much quieter, but we managed to fit in a visit from Nicki and Clemmie, who enjoyed capering with her cousines.
Earlier in the week I learned a new German word, 'schnapszahl', when I turned 44. The kids think a 'double-digit' is really cool. Maybe this can be mentioned in my meaning class. To celebrate we went to St. John and the following night we went to a dinner hosted by Fergus Henderson and Anthony Bourdain which was great fun, even though the food wasn't very good (!!). The audience were mean enough to mention that in the question session.
Anyway, sorry to splurt out a whole week (well, bits of it) like that. I'll try to get back to daily postings from now on.
B-)
LINGUIST List 15.2734: NYT: Op-ed Piece on AAVE
This is a message from Karen Chung about the speed with which expressions from AAVE (Afro-American Vernacular English) are being picked up by white speakers.
You can go straight to the link at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/30/opinion/30gates.html
It reminds me a bit of how quickly Dug's idiom is entering Clemmiespeak
B-)
One cool thing last night was the Howard Marks Confessional - a confession booth where you could confess your sins to Howard Marks and hear his advice on things.
This is a rather vague photo of Howard taken with Gemma's phone.
Can't believe it wasn't mentioned on The Lecture List
B-)
Daniel and Gemma came down from the Belger to see the
Super Furry Animals - Lightning Fryday last night, which inspired us to go too. Ohna had to come straight from the airport and all those production traumas but she showed impressive stamina.
They had a load of things on in different rooms and began with a mini-acoustic 'set' (two songs, ten minutes) to start things off. Then there were acts all night in the ballroom and the Chelsfield Room (a cute little wedding-reception-esque room) upstairs as well as the main Super Furry Animals bit (well, two bits with an intermission) which was great. The sound was much better than last time and the atmosphere was the best I've seen at the Royal Festival Hall (they said they'd asked if they could change the name to the People's Festival Hall but they weren't allowed to).
I enjoyed the 20 minutes or so of 'The man don't give a fuck' at the end, especially given that around 10 minutes of it was just everyone dancing and singing along to some electronic noises while the band and their mates were backstage changing or having a cup of tea or something.
B-)
