Zombie

The dossier on the neighbours was fattening up nicely

my German knowledge is pitiful but my understanding is German nouns can be “adjectivised” but the form changes - adding an “e” at the end? - whereas in English the word form is often unchanged e.g. “ersatz” in this case, or “management” (n) and “management style” (adj. but sometimes termed an adjectival noun or noun adjunct), “garden” (n) and “garden variety” and countless other examples …but sometimes in English the word form does change and becomes a different word (just to confuse English learners - native as well as non-native ) e.g. “rudder” (n) and “rudderless” (adj) This process in English happens through coinage (a neologism that in this instance describes itself i.e. the process of neologising… eeek! ) either by invention (e.g. Shakespeare) or stealing from another language (German in this case) and, if it is widely adopted, then becomes standard English Hope this helps

Fifty one years ago, in a London studio, Shirley Bassey recorded Diamonds are Forever. She was 44. The peak of her singing career you’d think. Three weeks ago, on 13 March at the BAFTAs, Dame Shirley sang the exact same song. Aged 85. That’s the kind of age when most singers, their careers decades behind them, are probably playing bingo in a maximum security retirement home Yet she delivered a knockout performance. Live. But was it as good as 51 years ago? Luckily there’s a devoted Youtuber who’s done the hours of audio analysis to answer that question. Turns out Dame Shirley’s voice, although a tone lower, is just as good now as it was then. It’s the vocal equivalent of Usain Bolt still being able to break 10 seconds for the 100m in 2072

The stench polluted the whole coastline. The dead fish were rancid. Just how the penguin liked ‘em

plus FAB FREE GIFT* of Dick Johnson’s seminal food tool… * for one day only (terms & conditions apply) About this item - product details Do you think about Cock all the time? Are you obsessed with putting dark meat into your mouth at inappropriate times and settings? Then face it... you were born to read this book! There are so many ways to enjoy Cock... and this book shows you all of the best ones. Tired of choked chicken? (as in "arti-choke", geeze...) Just grab a few ingredients and a friend and you'll both soon be enjoying the best Cock you've ever tasted. Be careful not to gag! (as in "gag gift", what's with people these days?) THE PERFECT GIFT for anyone who likes COCK and likes it Fabulous! Buy two, cause you're gonna wish you kept one for yourself... All About Cock: A Cookbook For Lovers of All Variations of Cock (Paperback)

So the predicate might be a single word, the verb, as in this example? The old crone cackled… ——- Ooops, just noticed Adi’s mug has a similar example

John Charles Walsham Reith, 1889-1971 (from 1940 1st Baron Reith of Stonehaven) The previous post was about John Logie Baird, the pioneer of television. This is about “the other John” in Baird’s story, John Reith, who hated the very idea of television and was no supporter of Baird’s efforts. 2022 is the centenary of the BBC (incorporated 18 October 1922). Many (most?) think Reith created the BBC. He didn’t. Or did he? The BBC was actually set up as a commercial business by a consortium of six companies (five British engineering and telecommunication companies and one American company, Western Electric) who then advertised a vacancy for Managing Director. Reith applied for and got the job in December 1922. Reith was a “big” man both physically (6’6” tall) and in his forceful personality (domineering, intimidating, scary ) and he imprinted his views, beliefs and values into the DNA of the BBC to such a degree that he created what it was to become for the next 50 odd years, arguably until his death in 1971. But was John Reith always intimidating and scary? No. For ten years from 1912, throughout WWI and until 1922 (a few months before he got the BBC job), Reith had a passionate, emotional and physical love for Charlie Bowser, a 15 year old boy who lived nearby when Reith (then aged 22) first met him in Glasgow. After the war ended Reith and Charlie moved into a house and lived together and Reith records in his diary that they sometimes slept in the same bed . Then a curious ménage à trois developed after Reith met Muriel Oldhams, continuing after Reith’s marriage to Muriel in 1921. Less than a year later in 1922, when Charlie married Maysie Henderson (Reith had actually introduced them and encouraged the match) Reith was devastated to receive a letter from Charlie ending their relationship (probably egged on by a resentful Maysie). It seems Reith never got over his lost love for Charlie. Every year, for the rest of his life, he recorded Charlie’s birthday in his personal diary. There’s obviously a lot more to the man’s story than this, but these aspects of his life are probably not well known. A more detailed account of Reith’s love affair with Charlie is described in the following two BBC webpages (in date order): https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/research/john-reith/reith-in-love/ https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/research/john-reith/back-in-britain/

it’s important to follow the link instructions exactly - might help to print the webpage and then literally follow them word for word

You also have the option, if you prefer, to post as a link like this: https://youtu.be/MxEgdHASyrY by clicking “Display as a link instead” at the bottom of the text edit box Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead.

According to Realtor.com, around a third of homebuyers said they would buy a haunted house if it had a lower price, a bigger kitchen, or was located in a better neighbourhood this looks just the ticket…

Downton Abbey - in French The YouTube algorithm has just given me the whole of series 1 dubbed into French. Normally I’d prefer subtitles for foreign language movies and TV shows but maybe not when it’s done as well as this - each voice sounds pretty much like the original actors

US state sports California surfing - duh Hawaii surfing - ditto Maryland Jousting - Whaaat?!?! Oh, wait… yeah, on second thoughts it totally makes sense….

View HTML on iPad/iPhone Want to view webpage HTML code on your iPad or iPhone? AppleToolBox explains how: https://appletoolbox.com/how-to-view-webpage-html-source-codes-on-ipad-iphone-no-app-required/ It worked a treat for my iPad 6 which wouldn’t display a trader’s product details correctly and this “hack”, now I’ve set it up, means all I have to do to view HTML for any webpage is click Bookmark, then Show source code (new Favourite) et voila! So if anyone else has any tips or tricks for their kit then post ‘em here

The Bayeux Tapestry #1 it’s not a tapestry* #2 it wasn’t made in Bayeux The 230 foot long “storyboard” of the famous Battle of Hastings in 1066 is not mentioned in any historical records until 400 years after it was made (shortly after the battle) when it is listed in a 1476 inventory of Bayeux Cathedral in France, but it was probably made in Canterbury, England, by Anglo-Saxon women who were renowned for the quality of their work #3 the comet shown in one of the panels is in fact Halley’s Comet, a periodic comet predicted by Edmund Halley (using Newton’s laws of gravity) to return in 1758, which it did. Sadly, he never saw it (he died in 1742) but he did get the honour of the most famous comet in history being named after him *it’s an embroidery

Tea …is so important to the British that during WWII, 80 years ago in 1942, the UK government bought up the entire world supply of exportable tea

He has a distinctive style Interesting he said he was never interested in being a jazz pianist because it required improvisation which he firmly eschewed, choosing to write completely notated scores, when of course improvisation was integral to many pieces of earlier classical music (cadenzas etc) and actually required in much (all?) early music Finale sounds like a supercharged variation on the opening to Herbie Hancock’s Cantaloupe Island - I wonder which one might have influenced the other?

certainly a backlash here in the UK but there’s a real head of steam pushing this through with “adoption” by universities, media groups, govt depts and now company HR depts (who control things like this) including major US companies like Microsoft (I think ). A defining moment will be when influential style guides choose which way to jump…

layman, chairman, spokesman, manhole (), fireman, policeman, man, woman, “the pronouns” etc - all gendered terms that seem on a journey to displacement and replacement, perhaps headed for the dreaded “obsolete” OED label in our lifetimes English is much less gendered than many other languages, like la langue française , so it’ll be interesting to see how pressure for change will be accepted (or rejected) by different countries with gendered language and whether maybe language rifts will open up, dividing nations formerly united by a common language. It’s arguable this already happened with English generations ago…

glad it’s not just me that can’t read notation and hear the music in my mind (unless I know it well). I’ve always envied those who can sit down with a full orchestral score and “hear” it as they read it, even something they’re not familiar with (so they say ). Although I once read somewhere that “Music does not exist until it is performed, whatever our armchair score-readers may say to the contrary” - which kinda makes me feel a tad less badly about my deficiency

ever been troubled because you can’t figure out how the Hobbit economy worked? Well now you can sweep your troubles away because someone has figured it all out for you in this nifty little YouTube

Tardigrades cute little critters - who knew?

interesting word, Germanic origin and Middle English connected with freight which might explain how it came to be used in the sense of load or burden, causing tension / distress etc can be used without with eg “they had a fraught relationship”, “next month looks like being particularly fraught” there are so many different ways in English of saying the same thing, or using the same words to say different things

the party-pooped penguin lay recumbent in its bed

there’s also a tense increasingly termed “historic present” often heard during history docs when a talking head will say something like “Anne Boleyn is being encouraged to make her claim for the Crown but all the while she is being misled by her closest advisers who are unaware that…” etc you’ll also hear it in casual conversation in pubs and so on: Fred: “So I says to him, I don’t want it!” Bert nods. Fred: “And then he shoves it into my hands!” Bert tuts sympathetically.