On Bram Stoker, #indexday, and the weird and wonderful history of the hapax legomenon. — For The Spectator
Filed in correspondence, Journalism
|
Tagged #indexday, Amazon Kindle, Audible, audiobooks, BRam Stoker, British National Corpus, Catullus, dogs, Egyptology, Foundling Museum, Gaelic, Galway, Greek, Greg Wise, hapax legomenon, Harkhuf, Hebrew, hieroglyphs, indexes, Ireland, Jeremy Paxman, Latin, Mayan, National Indexing Day, Old High German, Oxford English Dictionary, Poetry, prayer, pygmies, religion, Sam Leith, Shakespeare, Society of Indexers, TE Lawrence, The Spectator, University Challenge, vampirism, zoophagy
|
. High top boots for dogs are now being sold in the shops of New York. — The Nelson Evening Mail, January 23 1907 . The first pedestrian has been killed by a self-driving car. Starbucks employees do not capitalise their As. The sound of the bagpipe fattens the sheep and lambs of all Arabia. […]
Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE
|
Tagged (il)literacy, academia, Adam Smyth, age, America, Arabia, babies, bagpipes, Canada, cars, Chile, composition, criticism, death, dermatology, dogs, Donald Trump, Easter Island, education, entertainment, fauna, geography, housewares, Justin Trudeau, Mahler, Moldiv, Mount Everest, music, Nelson Evening Mail, New York, Poetry, politics, shopping, Starbucks, Truth, walking
|
. The German army has the healthiest troops in the world. — The Nelson Evening Mail, July 13 1908 . In January 2001 a BBC documentary crew filmed the everyday goings on in a typical workplace. The skin of fantas melons smells of BO. There’s 25% off Rovic floors. Philip Hensher will read any old crap. […]
Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE
|
Tagged army, BBC, bees, Britain, China, chips, computers, construction, criticism, Devon, eyes, fruit, Germany, health, Journalism, London, Mesopotamia, Nelson Evening Mail, North Devon Journal, Philip Hensher, pronunciation, rivers, Russians, sand, smells, Tibet, work
|
‘If success does not throw the Irishmen off their balance, they may go on winning and winning until the height of a season’s ambition may be attained.’ — Athletic News and Cyclists’ Journal, 3 February 1896 . When it comes to the 6 Nations, in recent years the fixtures guys have done well making sure […]
Filed in correspondence, Journalism
|
Tagged 6 Nations Championship, Australia, barristers, Brian Moore, British and Irish Lions, Cardiff Arms Park, cricket, debuts, Douglas Hyde, Dublin, embroidery, England, France, French Foreign Legion, gloves, golf, Grand Slam, Guinnness, hockey, humour, Ireland, Irish Rugby Football Union, Italy, James Sealy, Journalism, judges, justice, King's Counsel, law, Marylebone Cricket Club in Ireland, Oliver Cromwell, painting, Poetry, politics, religion, Robert Johnstone, rugby, Samuel Beckett, Sarah Purser, Saxons, Scotland, Second Boer War, South Africa, sport, St Patrick's Day, tea, The Athletic News and Cyclists' Journal, the Fates, The Times, Tom Crean, Trinity College Dublin, Triple Crown, Ulster, Una Hyde, Victoria Cross, Wales, Yeats
|
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
On microlecturing, the RGS, and a whistlestop tour around the Jaffna peninsula. — For The Oldie
Filed in correspondence, Journalism
|
Tagged anthropology, Australia, Christopher Ondaatje, cinema, coral, cycling, depression, drink, exploration, Fearghal O'Nuallain, geography, Hemingway, India, Jaffna, Levison Wood, Mary-Ann Ochota, Matthieu Tordeur, microlecturing, migration, Mongolia, Nicholas Crane, photography, public speaking, Pushkar, Rajasthan, Royal Geographical Society, running, Ruper Sagar-Musgrave, Scotland, South-East Asia, Sri Lanka, the Himalayas, The Oldie, the Pacific Crest Trail, the Zambezi, Transcaucasus, travel, TV, walking, war
|
. The average salary of professors at Dublin University is £530. — The Nelson Evening Mail, March 14 1907 . Wherever there is a fire that ravages everything in its path, the protea is the first thing to regenerate. Clive James once voluntarily interviewed the Spice Girls. Manchester has become ‘Womanchester’. Cineworld has landed in […]
Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE
|
Tagged academia, America, army, bowls, Cineworld, Clive James, domestic affairs, Donald Trump, drink, Dublin, education, Elon Musk, employment, engineering, film, finance, flora, Journalism, Kanye West, law, Manchester, music, Nelson Evening Mail, nomenclature, Oscar Wilde, pastry, retirement, South Africa, space travel, technology, the Congo, the Spice Girls, Um Bongo, university, Weston-super-Mare, women, work
|
When I went to the bar as a very young man, it was often enough in the company of the Oxford University Gilbert & Sullivan Society. My relationship with G&S had started early, specifically the argument in Three Men in a Boat over which song Harris is trying to sing (I remain confused to this […]
Filed in correspondence, Journalism
|
Tagged All Souls College, Arcadia, Bletchingdon, Brexit, clowns, comedy, Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act 1907, donkeys, drink, English National Opera, fairies, food, French, G Schirmer, Greek, Grenadier Guards, Holywell Music Room, Iolanthe, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Jerome K Jerome, Kazakhstan, ketamine, Latin, law, librettos, Mount Ararat, music, opera, Oxford University, Oxford University Gilbert & Sullivan Society, plebs, politics, Richard D'Oyly Carte, Savoy Theatre, sex, shepherds, Sir Arthur Sullivan, Sir William Schwenk Gilbert, the Conservative Party, the House of Lords, the Liberal Party, The Oldie, The West Wing, voice, women
|
. A blind chameleon cannot change its colour. — The Nelson Evening Mail, July 17 1908 . Nobody ever thinks they’re stupid. All homes bear ethnic odours. Some bags look the same. There’s no point putting shackles on Quinton de Kock. You don’t get many Mini Eggs for a pound no more. The UK is […]
Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE
|
Tagged alpacas, André Aciman, bags, blindness, Bruno Mars, Cadbury, Canada, chameleons, chocolate, cricket, death, Derbyshire, economics, eggs, ethnicity, farming, finance, French, housing, ironmongery, maple syrup, Michael Jackson, music, Nelson Evening Mail, oaths, oil, oral hygiene, Quinton de Kock, stupidity, the EU, the UK, voice, weather, Yarmouth
|
‘Struggling every day in scorching heat. Staggering under the burden of more than he should carry. The heavy load cruelly rubs his back until it’s raw and bleeding. He has sores on his legs, too, so that every step is agony. He’s desperately thirsty, and oh so very, very tired. . This is his life […]
South Africa is not on Zulu Time.