Boadicea's Chariot

Haggis schmaggis

The DT today gives rein to a Scotch cook called Callaghan (is that genuine Scotch?) who blasphemes to the effect that haggis originates from the Vikings and was made with venison – hence his ‘staggis’. And a Norse etymologist finds a link between haggis and ‘haggwa’ or chopped food.

The modern Danes call haggis ‘hachis’ which is French, from a root meaning ‘chopped food’ so the haggwa isn’t so far away, innit?

But dare we refuse the Scots their glorious invention? Er, yes. Because homo sapiens has been stuffing animal meat into conveniently shaped animal organs since Adam was a lad. Think sausage.

Verdict? Callaghan is good at PR but a poor linguist. 😳

Boxing Day

Boxing Day means different things to different folk – no longer a time for exchanging gifts after a day of prayer – and increasingly a time for manic shopping. (But never of course a time for organised fisticuffs, as some incorrectly conclude.)

But time was when (such an elegant phrase😑) the Upper Ten were wont to ride to hounds today, baying for blood, pink in coat and red in claw.

And regrettably the blood lust persists in these northern latitudes, in the pc guise of population control – of the hunted, that is. What the hunting fraternity do is ‘protect’ the deer against poachers and natural migrations, feed them and then send in posses of gunmen to shoot them down for sport. They claim to be trained marksmen but their prey occasionally survive and limp painfully towards a silent, hungry death. How we laugh!

Even though fox hunting with dogs in England is almost dead, stalking deer is alive and well in many countries. But who dares to rob the rich and famous (or the not-so-rich and bloodthirsty) these days? Robin Hood joined Labour and became a preacher.

Have a nice day, y’all!

Yuletide greetings

Today is the first day of the new year, sunwise that is. And today many Nordics start their family rituals. You know the kinda thing: cosy booze-ups, loadza grub, sibling rivalry, risk of DUI and a hangover lasting until 31st December. How we laugh!

Anyway in the best possible spirit of the season old Backside and I thank all of you for another sun-year of good company and stimulating thoughts to brighten our duller days. And we wish you health and contentment for the year ahead.

Breaking Scotch News

Help me out here. Is it the Stoon of Scoon, the Ston of Scon or just the Stone of Scone a la Sassenachs?

OK. That’s settled then. Except the laddie wot nicked it in 1950 says we the British may not presume it will be available for the next coronation.

And before you say it, I blame Alex Salmond too. Personally I would insert it widthways into an appropriate fundament but that wouldn’t allow it to be returned to Westminster as Mr Major said.

All patriotic suggestions welcome.

Cretinism, Thy Name Is Academia.

To fund my interminable holidays I normally work at least two jobs. My secondary position, working as a professor’s assistant, is convenient and my pay is predictable. Despite its convenience, I do all work online and can thus work as effectively in Dorchester as I can in Sydney or even California where the job is actually based. However convenient it is it is Continue reading “Cretinism, Thy Name Is Academia.”

Vox populi

Famous men (and women) and our fathers that begat us are never safe from censure as ideas evolve.

Back in the day (horrible expression) a scion of my college had his portrait re-titled ‘Haig the Butcher, 1 million dead’. The job was so professional that it was several weeks before it was spotted.

Now colonial torch-bearer Rhodes is the target; Oriel College has decided to disown his values.

‘And?’ you ask. Well, it’s a shame the facetwats can’t indulge their own prejudices without trying to rewrite history. Haig and Rhodes did important things, like them or not.

Holidays again

Today lots of Danes start 2 weeks off – hardly denting their 6+ weeks p a entitlement. Yes, it’s true – paid leave, I mean. And since Fridays are ‘short days’, they go off today to their ‘summer’ cabins or to the sun.

And that’s what socialist gubmints, egged on by powerful unions want. Of course in the private sector employers don’t always play ball; but that leaves more than half of workers here encouraged to milk the system – so it grinds to a halt now until mid-January, with some people taking ‘days owed’ from 2015.

I laughed out loud today, reading that, per Forbes, Dk is the best country to start a business. Yeah right! And die of frustration in half an hour!

Spell check mess

Proof readers were never fool-proof but editors now rely on blind electronics to check their texts.

So just yesterday I was treated to a corpse ‘lying prostate’. Well, it is in the dictionary. While the DT today advises that ‘the border force will compromise of…..’ thereby conflating two errors of syntax – one of which is getting ever more frequent, ‘comprise OF’ for ‘comprise’.

Do you get hot under the collar too?

I’m Chutney

I’m in a bit of a spot. Last Friday I was asked to help design a new museum exhibit. It will have to be done quietly. The existing exhibit is extremely popular but it poses no shortage of challenges and problems. The concept is good. It is a recreated Pre-Contact village scene. However, it is an insect-infested curatorial nightmare. How can decades-old twigs, leaves and pine-needles be kept clean? Some parts of the display break all rules of contemporary artefact conservation such as 140-year-old baskets being allowed to collect dust in an unprotected area or animal hides being allowed to sit out and never be cleaned or maintained. Associated displays and information are hideously outdates. Grandparents remember using the displays that their young grand-children are now playing with when they were teenagers. Continue reading “I’m Chutney”