I
said something about the ladies of Basingstoke the other day so it's
only right I should now pose a question about the men - Why do so
many of them have a camouflage pattern on their shorts/trousers? As
the latter end just below the knee, I suspect the irony is that real
soldiers wouldn't be seen dead in them. Or with the beer belly that
usually hangs over them.
Well,
the Eurovision Song Contest was its usual farce, the worst thing
being the gradual loss of the only reason for watching it - its
capacity to amuse. It was interesting, though, to be reminded it once
served a political purpose for Portugal. When their 1974 performers
made their entrance carrying guns, each of
these had a red carnation in the barrel. This was a signal to the
rebels to begin the peaceful overthrow of the country's
dictatorship.
I
wrote last week of the upcoming exhibition of 'invisible art' in
London. Coincidentally, I saw a cartoon in the Oct. edition of
Prospect magazine today in which a gallery guard is rushing towards
someone about to take a foto of a blank canvas, shouting "No
photographs!"
And
now for some surprising (English) word origins:-
-
Neighbour: Near labourer; the guy who tilled the next field
-
Nickname: Eek name.
It's
a quick and easy flip from words to names . . . I don't know about
the USA but the names of Chardonnay and Shiraz are now commonplace in
the UK, especially for girls. Though I don't think I've seen Pinot
and/or Grigio yet. Or even Tempranillo. But this article suggests
that Timotei has appeared on the list of bizarre monickers. As has
Nevaeh, said to be
the fastest growing name in the USA. As well as being 'Heaven' spelt
backwards. Spain seems to have fewer
of these fad names, perhaps because the choice seems to be limited to
those of saints or parents. Which is much the same thing. My all-time favourite is Jesus and Mary, from Steinbeck's "Sweet Thursday", my recollection being
that it took me a good few chapters to realise this was only one
person. As for 'Shiraz', this is, of course, a wine grape - also called Syrrah - and is said
to hale from around
the city of the same name in southern Iran. Shiraz, not Syrrah. The best bottle available when
I was in Iran in the 70s had a name which translated as One Thousand
and One - Undoubtedly a reference to the Arabian
Nights but
also a brand of carpet cleaner in the UK. Actually, it's even a questionable brand name in Iran. Which is not an Arabic country and which, on the whole, looks down on its Arab neighbours. Especially those which try to invade it. With Western help.
A
bit more on the troubled Spanish bank - Bankía
- which is currently causing serious problems for Spain. And, thus, for the EU. Having previously reported a profit of 309m euros for 2011 it's now coughed and quietly admitted it made a 2.98bn loss. Yes, 2.98
billion euros. I asked yesterday whether anyone there could count but
I think we have our answer now. Spain's Prime Minister, Mr Rajoy, who
doesn't make many appearances before the microphones, has said there'll be no need for a bailout to put the bank on its feet and
that Spain will sort out this problem on its own. But this appears to
depend on how you define 'bailout', 'sort out' and 'own'. In so far
as I can tell, he's asking for ECB help but in a way which would mean
some mutualisation of the debt. Sucking Germany in through the back door. If not the coal hole.
Meanwhile,
the articles on Spain get more and more apocalyptic and the word
Spaxit
has inevitably been coined. El Mundo
has fanned the fears by claiming that three other banks will need
rescue funds of 30 billion euros - CatalunyaCaixa, NovaGalicia, Banco
de Valencia. Like Bankía, NovaGalicia is a fusion of two savings
banks and I'm reminded of the old IT phrase - Shit
in, shit out.
Finally
. . . Have they
found the Higgs Boson yet?
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