General Chit Chat

[Montreal Wanderer]

Amongst my personal reading preferences are the "of the time" writers. Good research is available for people writing historical novels etc, but Walter Scott, Dickens, Conan Doyle,Wilkie Collins and too many others to mention, wrote of their own times leaving us with almost diaries of events as they actually were. It's one of the reasons I like Jane Austen and the Brontes'. Many people write about Regency England and the events, lifestyles and happenings two hundred years ago. Jane Austen lived in that time and told it as it was. Much of her appeal is in dialogue and description, (in the unabridged versions) as her plots are very simple. It's interesting to see how language and spelling has changed, "chuse" for "choose" etc, and a view described as a "prospect" etc. I find this quite fascinating.

As I recall, Dr. Johnson said: "The most noble prospect in Scotland is the highroad to England."

[Lost Leopard Spot]

My favourite Dr Johnson-ism was his dictionary entry for oats: 'a grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people'

[thebish]

My favourite Dr Johnson-ism was his dictionary entry for oats: 'a grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people'

or his entry dog: not a cat.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

[Montreal Wanderer]

Pension: An allowance made to any one without an equivalent. In England it is generally understood to mean pay given to a state hireling for treason to his country.

[Montreal Wanderer]

My favourite Dr Johnson-ism was his dictionary entry for oats: 'a grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people'

or his entry dog: not a cat.

I was not sure whether this was serious or a memory of a Blackadder episode. I did look up dog in the dictionary and the entry on page 634 0f 1104 (I guess he lost interest in the later part of the alphabet) reads:

DOG. n.f. [dogghe, Dutch; canis, Lat.]
1
A domestic animal remarkably various
in his species ; comprising the mastiff,
the spaniel, the bulldog, the greyhound,
the hound, the terrier, the cur, with
many others. The larger sort are used
as a guard ; the less for sports.

The whole thing is online in pdf format.

[Prufrock]

All sorts of book titles and authors of fiction from youth are running around in my brain right now. That and the pleasure I got from them (and still can): Ivanhoe, The Prisoner of Zenda, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Sherlock Holmes, trips out west with Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour, Ryder Haggard, Baroness Orczy, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, C.S.Forester, Dickens, the list is just endless.

it's always a gamble in my mind - whether to read stuff again that absorbed me when I was a kid... the danger is that it will come as a crushing disappointment and ruin the magic of the memory...

The golden glow of memory is indeed a fact, but I've bought re-read quite a few recently that still give pleasure: Treasure Island, Ivanhoe and Last of the Mohicans being amongst them. One of the problems is seeing films of the books which, in some cases, are miles away from the text. J. Fennimore Cooper's Natty Bumpo is far different to Daniel Day Lewis and all the film Robin Hoods don't quite match youthful images. That said, much as I liked them at the time, I wouldn't want to re-read later stuff like Dennis Wheatley, Jack Higgins or Clive Cussler (although I could re-read Alaistair McLean and Hammond Innes) . It's all a personal thing with no fixed rules. I think part of the magic is being transported back to the innocence of youth and forgetting things around you for a while. Same with films. I once started to watch Narnia with my granddaugher. Halfway through she wandered off to play. I stayed there and watched it out.

I'm a confirmed re-reader - I have even re-read Dennis Wheatley. I have read Lord of the Rings many times (and certainly preferred Tolkein to the Worm Ouroubos and remainder of the trilogy. I probably have everything Mclean and Innes wrote and have re-read them. I don't have to buy new ones as I have kept all the paperbacks I want to re-read over the decades. P.G. Wodehouse I re-read and laugh just the same.

See I never even came across Wodehouse as a kid. It seems almost everybody cites him as an influence on their reading when they were younger, and so I keep meaning to start now, and keep forgetting. Must try harder!

[Gooner Girl]

Am in a seriously grumpy, low mood today and craving chocolate. Broke into the only stuff we had which was supposed to be for the twins Christmas stockings and now, one milkybar polar bear later i still feel grumpy and sad, but now guilty as well for eating the chocolate (that they didn't know they had)

Don't suppose Arsenal will do a good job of cheering me up vs Bradford today either.

[Dujon]

Ah, P.G.Wodehouse, Monty. I have but four of his books on my shelves but have promised myself that in a few months time I'll search out a few more. He was a wonderful writer who could conjure up preposterous plots, people them with colourful characters in weird and wonderful settings and produce chuckles galore.

[Montreal Wanderer]

Ah, P.G.Wodehouse, Monty. I have but four of his books on my shelves but have promised myself that in a few months time I'll search out a few more. He was a wonderful writer who could conjure up preposterous plots, people them with colourful characters in weird and wonderful settings and produce chuckles galore.

I have about 25 of his books, including the whole Wooster canon and his golf stories (Heart of a Goof and the Clicking of Cuthbert). Only a quarter the way through I'm afraid.

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

Am in a seriously grumpy, low mood today and craving chocolate. Broke into the only stuff we had which was supposed to be for the twins Christmas stockings and now, one milkybar polar bear later i still feel grumpy and sad, but now guilty as well for eating the chocolate (that they didn't know they had)

Don't suppose Arsenal will do a good job of cheering me up vs Bradford today either.

And, of course, they didn't.

But cheer up - you can replace the chocolate very easily! If only the same were true of football teams...

[Lost Leopard Spot]

My favourite Dr Johnson-ism was his dictionary entry for oats: 'a grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people'

or his entry dog: not a cat.

I was not sure whether this was serious or a memory of a Blackadder episode. I did look up dog in the dictionary and the entry on page 634 0f 1104 (I guess he lost interest in the later part of the alphabet) reads:

DOG. n.f. [dogghe, Dutch; canis, Lat.]
1
A domestic animal remarkably various
in his species ; comprising the mastiff,
the spaniel, the bulldog, the greyhound,
the hound, the terrier, the cur, with
many others. The larger sort are used
as a guard ; the less for sports.

The whole thing is online in pdf format.

Thanks for the link.

[thebish]

Hey Everyone..

happy international soundcheck day!!

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Hey Everyone..

happy international soundcheck day!!

What? as in Testing testing 1 2 3.

[Lost Leopard Spot]

Hey Everyone..

happy international soundcheck day!!

What? as in Testing testing 1 2 3.

Ohhhhhh I get it now 12 12 12
- with thanks to my sponsor Annoyed Grunt.

[thebish]

looooooooooooooooooooooong day yesterday and late night out - and I return home to find the dog has left me a "Welcome Home" LAKE of wee in the kitchen..

the dog is a greyhound - she has no discernible extra space in her tiny waist at all - yet (by my conservative estimate) - there must have been 15gallons of wee on the kitchen floor...

where on earth does a greyhound store 15gallons of wee????????

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

Drink...pee...drink...pee and repeat until the requisite sized lake is formed?

[thebish]

Drink...pee...drink...pee and repeat until the requisite sized lake is formed?

ahh - you think she did it in shifts? hmmmmm.... interesting theory!!

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

Pets are most cunning. Mine like to wait until I'm parked on the loo and then come in an take a shit in the litter tray!

[thebish]

Pets are most cunning. Mine like to wait until I'm parked on the loo and then come in an take a shit in the litter tray!