I have never really liked David Cameron. He’s too slick, too slimy. He is really little more than a British Malcolm Turnbull. I’d hesitate to walk behind him in fear of slipping on the trail of slime he emits. As much as I disliked him personally he never struck me as being stupid. Yet, that is what he has revealed himself to be – tone deaf, stupid. I knew that his “renegotiation” with the EU would not amount to much. Continue reading “The Whelk’s Sham”
Category: General
Language and Government Interference
Soon the French language with its infamously archaic orthography will, once again, be subjected to government interference. That is, certain words will have their official spellings changed and one of my favourite accent marks, the circumflex, will be removed. The main words that will be changed are:
– Oignon >> Ognon
– Week-end >> Weekend
– Nénuphar >> Nénufar
– Coût >> Cout
– Disparaître >> Disparaitre.
It is their language so I suppose they can do as they wish with it, but it seems slightly absurd. Then again, unlike English with its myriad forms that have been allowed to develop organically French has since the 18th century has been “maintained” by a group of Francophone scholars. Despite arguably being one of the four main global languages, along with English, Spanish and Portuguese French has remained heavily Paris-centred. There is a fair degree of regionalism in the language, of course, but the standards of French are broadly accepted in ways that no form of English or Spanish are. I will no more go along with the new spellings than I went along with the 1995 reforms of German orthography.
Use it or lose it . . .
Since Janus inexplicably removed his latest post a couple of days ago, there have been no further posts from anyone and only one comment, from Sipu.
I have no idea why all you honoured Charioteers have ceased using the site, but of course that’s entirely up to you.
Anyway, and all that, if the inactivity continues for a few more days, The Chariot will be taken on its slow, sad journey to the knackers yard, there to be broken up as spare parts.
So long, and thanks for all the fish. 🙂
Ode to Janus
In his post, Asylum in Denmark, Janus implied, in response to one of my comments, that I was a white supremacist. I posted a rebuttal, not because I was offended by his observation, I care not a jot for the epithets ascribed to me by others, but because I disagree with it. Of course I expanded on my theories and clearly I must have caused a level of indignation because Janus decided to remove that comment almost immediately. Unfortunately I had not saved it and so, I am now going to try to reproduce it, or at least the gist of it, though clearly it will vary somewhat. Continue reading “Ode to Janus”
Survival
Yesterday I found an interesting variety of soap sourced from Pondicherry by a relatively local company. It was hand-made and designed for people with my skin type. After a quick sniff I concluded that, despite having a slightly herbal odour it would do and bought it. After opening the box I realised the gravity of my error. It was tightly wrapped. People could inhale the noxious fumes from 3 yards away! Not being one to waste, I’ve started using that soap to the most amusing reactions. It’s really a very good soap and even after a single use my skin looks healthier. The only problem with it is that I smell like an Indian Madame. I’ve changed my name to Miss Lakshmi and am now in purdah. Continue reading “Survival”
A special treat for Christina!
Easy for you to say….
And it rained for 81 days!
I have been a bit busy of late
and this is the reason – her name is Abby.
After her first puppy groom:
I really had forgotten how time consuming puppies can be. She’s very good and learning fast, but boundless energy can be a bit exhausting. I’m not finding it easy to fit in her hectic social life – puppy parties, walks with her favourite dogs and puppies and training classes – it’s worse than having a small child. She is twenty weeks old now and I feel I have aged significantly since she arrived. But it has been fun – walks in the forest, on the beach and she adores small children. Amazingly she hasn’t savaged any visitors or grandchildren yet!
Fear and Loathing in Europe
When I was young Germany was beautiful. It was pedantic, of course, but well-governed, clean and safe. Germans, despite their often unduly good reputation abroad, are not especially intelligent people. They merely found what they could do well and focus all their efforts on doing that. My grandfather received only a very basic education but made do. For over fifty years he worked as a mechanical engineer. My grandmother received a similarly basic education. As a woman of her generation, she faced restrictions on which careers she could pursue but she spent decades working as a designer and seamstress. My grandfather built several houses with no need to rely on anyone’s help. He came up with a concept and saw it through from early sketches to the last layer of paint. He could do this before the invention of calculators or engineering software. My grandmother could design, cut and sew dresses by hand without needing anyone’s advice or assistance. My mum is a theatre nurse. Then again, she sat her Abitur when it still meant something and read medicine.
2015 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.
Thin and Crispy
Dear Charioteers, I thought you’d like to see a picture of the Christmas dinner my wife so lovingly made for me. N0, it is not a Scottish delicacy, but a type of crisp bread. It is known in Italy as a pizza. In my house I called it a pizza hardboard. (I thought all of you north of the border might be amused.) Actually this was a pizza I had put in the oven for my son and I thought it merited a photo shoot.) Can anyone here recall a Christmas cooking disaster? Anyways, wishing you all good health and continued good living for 2016. 
Boadicea's Chariot 
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