Growing up in the late 50’s & 60’s, one became accustomed to the Graffiti reminder that “Kilroy was Here”. However I had always assumed that this was just some rubbish written by someone that just caught on, like the other popular graffiti of the time: ”Foo was here”.
However it seems that the original Kilroy was real at least. I took the following from the net:
James Kilroy was also a Boston City Councillor and state representative. He died in Halifax, Massachusetts. Born: Sep. 26, 1902 Died: Nov. 24, 1962 . He is/was also an American Folk Figure. He was the originator of the ubiquitous World War II expression and doodle "Kilroy was here." The "Kilroy was here" phrase seemed to appear everywhere during World War II. Its origin was not widely known until after the war had ended when the American Transit Association ran a contest in 1946 to find out where and why the phrase originated. The winner was James J. Kilroy of Boston who had been hired by the Fore River shipyard on December 5, 1941, two days before the Pearl Harbor attack, as an inspector. His job was to count the completed rivets and then leave chalk marks where he had left off. It was on this basis that the riveter's daily piece work counts were calculated. Some of the riveters were not too honest and would erase the mark left by Kilroy resulting in some of the rivets being counted twice. James Kilroy got wind of this practice and began to scrawl "Kilroy was here" on his rounds and added the head peering over a wall. Reportedly he left his mark on such famous Fore River vessels as the battleship USS Massachusetts, the aircraft carrier, USS Lexington (II), the heavy cruiser USS Baltimore, as well as numerous troop carriers. Millions of service men saw the slogan on the outgoing ships and all they knew was that "Kilroy" had been there first. Service men began placing the graffiti wherever the United States Forces landed, claiming it was already there when they arrived. This was the origin reported by the New York Times in 1946, with the addition that Kilroy had marked the ships themselves as they were being built - so, at a later date, the phrase would be found chalked in places that no graffiti-artist could have got to, such as inside sealed hull spaces, which then fed the mythical significance of the phrase ("after all, if Kilroy could leave his mark there, who knew what else he could do?").
You might find the above meaningless nonsense, but I am constantly amazed at how many of our “Nonsense’ sayings and stories, all have a true original base to them, even if over the years it gets elaborated on quite considerably. What true stories do you know about otherwise presumedly made up nonsense?
Showing posts with label Net items. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Net items. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Earlier Experiences With Magpies.
I grew up on a small farm on the outskirts of Melbourne and so grew up with magpies always being around. And especially watching out for the males in Breeding Season, “swooping” on you. Mostly this was a bluff and they usually miss, although when they do hit they leave a bloody reminder of their ever-present danger. So much so, that many people wear helmets if they have to go regularly near a magpie nesting area. That or a big stick and continually turning to check your back. I can’t actually remember any of us Kids being actually attacked, but all of us had been swooped more than once then.
Despite being aggressive during mating/nesting the birds do have a beautiful song and can become quiet if fed, so they were never seen as a real problem or a problem to chase away.
In fact many times a baby magpie would be found having fallen out of its nest and abandoned by its parents, and Mum would take it in and feed it on porridge. Thus they became quite tame and followed us kids everywhere. That actually became the problem, as they were quite tame and following everywhere, they had a habit of getting stepped on or a cat or dog would get them. I can’t remember how many actually survived to adulthood, but mum always named each bird. However for some reason that escapes me now, they were all called George.
All this just explains my sense of comfort with magpies, and that no matter how hostile some may be a mutual living arrangement between us can be accommodated.
So, who around you that you are more naturally enemies than friends, whether human or animal, can you get along with, with a bit of cooperation and accommodation from you? And will you try? More to come later on magpies...
Despite being aggressive during mating/nesting the birds do have a beautiful song and can become quiet if fed, so they were never seen as a real problem or a problem to chase away.
In fact many times a baby magpie would be found having fallen out of its nest and abandoned by its parents, and Mum would take it in and feed it on porridge. Thus they became quite tame and followed us kids everywhere. That actually became the problem, as they were quite tame and following everywhere, they had a habit of getting stepped on or a cat or dog would get them. I can’t remember how many actually survived to adulthood, but mum always named each bird. However for some reason that escapes me now, they were all called George.
All this just explains my sense of comfort with magpies, and that no matter how hostile some may be a mutual living arrangement between us can be accommodated.
So, who around you that you are more naturally enemies than friends, whether human or animal, can you get along with, with a bit of cooperation and accommodation from you? And will you try? More to come later on magpies...
Sunday, April 26, 2009
The Australian Magpie.
The Australian Magpie is a largish, black and white bird, but the plumage pattern varies across its range. Its nape, upper tail and shoulder are white in males, grey in females. I’m not an expert on “Maggies”, but according to an article from the Web, across most of Australia, the remainder of the Maggies body is black, but in the south-east, centre, extreme south-west and Tasmania, the back and rump are entirely white. The eye of adult birds is chestnut brown.
Although I have only heard them referred to, as Magpies or “Maggies” apparently there is an uncommon alternative name for them as the “Flute Bird”, which refers to its loud musical flute-like song, often performed as a duet or by groups.
Another article described this song as “a beautiful "Warbling Carol" (carolling) which is heard across Australia every day in the bush, on farms and in Urban backyards They call for partners, and also to warn other birds this is their territory The notes become shorter when distressed, and a young magpies "begging for food" call is most insistent.”
They are common and conspicuous birds, found wherever there is a combination of trees and adjacent open areas, including parks and playing fields. They are absent only from the densest forests and arid deserts. Groups of up to 24 birds live year round in territories that are actively defended by all members of the group. The group depends on this territory for all their feeding, roosting and nesting requirements.
The Magpie walks along the ground searching for insects and their larvae. Birds will also take handouts from humans and will often venture into open houses to beg for food.
Although the “Music “ from these birds is beautiful and they can become tamish, they are also quite aggressive at breeding season, and especially males who fiercely defend their nest and territories by basically dive bombing any perceived threat whether in the air on the ground including humans, sometimes resulting in a jab to the back of the head, or at the very least a huge fright. They prefer to wait until the quarry is not looking, so often the first you know of it is when wings are beating beside your ears.
Now you can get fuller and more complete information on our magpies by checking out the Web for yourself. All the above is for, is to try and set the scene a little for you if you have no idea of what a Maggie is, so that I can tell a few stories of our own backyard and magpies, in subsequent blogs.
Although I have only heard them referred to, as Magpies or “Maggies” apparently there is an uncommon alternative name for them as the “Flute Bird”, which refers to its loud musical flute-like song, often performed as a duet or by groups.
Another article described this song as “a beautiful "Warbling Carol" (carolling) which is heard across Australia every day in the bush, on farms and in Urban backyards They call for partners, and also to warn other birds this is their territory The notes become shorter when distressed, and a young magpies "begging for food" call is most insistent.”
They are common and conspicuous birds, found wherever there is a combination of trees and adjacent open areas, including parks and playing fields. They are absent only from the densest forests and arid deserts. Groups of up to 24 birds live year round in territories that are actively defended by all members of the group. The group depends on this territory for all their feeding, roosting and nesting requirements.
The Magpie walks along the ground searching for insects and their larvae. Birds will also take handouts from humans and will often venture into open houses to beg for food.
Although the “Music “ from these birds is beautiful and they can become tamish, they are also quite aggressive at breeding season, and especially males who fiercely defend their nest and territories by basically dive bombing any perceived threat whether in the air on the ground including humans, sometimes resulting in a jab to the back of the head, or at the very least a huge fright. They prefer to wait until the quarry is not looking, so often the first you know of it is when wings are beating beside your ears.
Now you can get fuller and more complete information on our magpies by checking out the Web for yourself. All the above is for, is to try and set the scene a little for you if you have no idea of what a Maggie is, so that I can tell a few stories of our own backyard and magpies, in subsequent blogs.
Friday, April 24, 2009
What The Heck Is A Heck.
Was reading in the Melbourne Herald Sun Newspaper an article on April 23RD about Heck cattle being introduced to England from Germany and so I started to wonder what the heck a Heck was.
Looking at some on line Dictionaries, I found that a heck was a lot of different things. According to the “Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper” it is a euphemistic alteration of hell, first recorded 1865.
As such it is used as an interjection like:
1. (Used as a mild expression of annoyance, rejection, disgust, etc.): What the heck do you care?
2. Something remarkable of its kind (usually used in the phrase heck of a): That was a heck of an impressive speech. Have one heck of a good time.
3. As heck (used as a mild intensifier): I say he's guilty as heck.
Then according to “Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.” It can be: Heck\, n. [See Hatch a half door.] [Written also hack.]
1. The bolt or latch of a door. [Prov. Eng.]
2. A rack for cattle to feed at. [Prov. Eng.]
3. A door, especially one partly of latticework; -- called also heck door. [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.
4. A latticework contrivance for catching fish.
5. (Weaving) An apparatus for separating the threads of warps into sets, as they are wound upon the reel from the bobbins, in a warping machine.
6. A bend or winding of a stream. [Prov. Eng.]
Half heck, the lower half of a door.
Heck board, the loose board at the bottom or back of a cart.
Heck box or frame, that which carries the heck in warping.
1. Then according to the “Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.” It Is: A comblike attachment on a loom, for guiding the warp threads as they are dressed for the warp beam.
2. A device that guides yarn onto the bobbin of a spinning wheel.
3. A gridlike arrangement of glass or metal rods below the hooks on a Jacquard loom, used for lifting all harness eyes equally or evenly.
So after reading all that, I learnt a heck of a lot more about heck than I previously knew; but still didn’t know what the heck a Heck cow was. For that I had to leave the On-line Dictionaries and go back on Line where I found the following about Heck cattle. And found that their name had nothing to do with the other heck, except in their spelling.
Heck cattle were developed in the early 20th century by the Heck brothers in Germany in an attempt to breed back modern cattle to their presumed ancestral form, the aurochs, Bos primigenius primigenius. Heinz Heck working at the Hellabrunn Zoological Gardens in Munich began creating the Heck breed in about 1920. Lutz Heck, director of the Berlin Zoological Gardens, began extensive breeding programs supported by the Nazis during World War II to bring back the aurochs. The reconstructed aurochs fit into the Nazi propaganda drive to create an idyllic history of the Aryan nation.
Heinz Heck crossed Hungarian Grey Cattle, Scottish Highland, Murnau-Werdenfels, Angeln, German Friesian, Podolic cattle and Corsican breeds. In Berlin, Lutz Heck crossed Spanish and French fighting cattle with other breeds. The resulting animals’ configurations were largely similar. The Berlin breed was lost in the aftermath of World War II. So modern Heck cattle are descended from the Hellabrunn breed. At the end of the 20th century, other so-called primitive breeds were crossbred with Heck cattle to come closer to the aim of creating a cattle breed that resembles the extinct aurochs in external appearance.
Characteristics: A typical Heck bull should be at least 1.6 m (5'3") high and a cow 1.4 m (4'7"), with weight 600 to 900 kg (1,300 to 2,000 lb). Heck cattle are twenty to thirty centimeters shorter than the aurochs they were bred to resemble. However, cross-breeding efforts continue to increase the size and weight of the breed, particularly in Germany.
The Heck bulls were not much larger than the bull of most breeds of domestic cattle, while wild aurochs bulls are believed to have often exceeded 1000 kilograms (2,200 lb), half the size of a rhinoceros. So the African Watusi cattle were then brought into the herd. The result was a somewhat larger animal, but it also caused infertility among the cows, a sign of the genetic divergence that had occurred between these populations of Bos over the millennia. Heck cattle were first bred outside of a zoo in 1980. There were 88 registered at that time. Continued crossbreeding with these animals resolved the infertility in the cows.
Distribution: There are about 2000 Heck cattle in Europe and few elsewhere. Although there are now 13 In the Devon countryside of England too!
Controversy: Even though trying to bring back extinct species may seem commendable, "breeding back" is a controversial procedure in the scientific community (see also Quagga). The general consensus among biologists today is that the Hecks' original methodology used to "recreate" the aurochs was flawed: once a genetic lineage is gone, it cannot be "bred back". Some go as far as to consider it outright deceitful. For example, Professor Z. Pucek of the Bialowieza Nature Preserve has characterized the Heck cattle as the "biggest scientific swindle of the 20th Century. Professor Pucek has devoted his life to the conservation of the surviving native Wisent (European Bison) which is seen by some as competition to Heck cattle development.
On the other hand, Heck cattle are considered by some the most suitable cattle breed for low intensity grazing systems in certain types of nature reserves, due to their ruggedness and lack of need for human care. Heck cattle today are propagated in some places to fulfil the role of extinct megafauna in the ecosystem. However, there is uncertainty as to what ecological niche the aurochs itself filled. Dr Frans Vera claims that the aurochs lived in open parkland and supports their inclusion in nature reserve management. Cis van Vuure, however, in his book, Retracing the Aurochs: History, Morphology and Ecology of an Extinct Wild Ox suggests that the aurochs dwelled in dense forests and marshes while the Wisent dwelled in the open landscape. Wisent supporters claim that Heck cattle landscape management is a public relations ploy in order to illegitimately garner support for Heck cattle at the expense of a genuine native species, the Wisent.
Nevertheless, in view of today's farm breeding programs (primarily to increase milk and meat production), the Heck cattle represent an important source of vital genes. Since a single breeding bull with good genes can be a sperm donor for a hundred thousand offspring, inbreeding becomes a serious problem in modern farm animal management, potentially resulting in diseases that rarely affect Heck cattle and other old farm breeds.
Now you may be wondering what the heck all this has to do with you today? Well all I can say is, that a heck of a lot of people went to a heck of a lot of trouble, and expense, not to mention spending a heck of a lot of time, to bring these Hecks into existence. Whether it was worth it may be never known, but I can’t help but wonder what our own heck cows are?
In other words, is there something that we too are spending a heck of a lot of time, effort and expense on, which is also controversial in whether the end results are really worth the time, trouble and expense? Or would we and the world, be better off if we spent all that time, expense and effort on more purposeful projects?
Oh, what the Heck! Your thoughts please?
Looking at some on line Dictionaries, I found that a heck was a lot of different things. According to the “Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper” it is a euphemistic alteration of hell, first recorded 1865.
As such it is used as an interjection like:
1. (Used as a mild expression of annoyance, rejection, disgust, etc.): What the heck do you care?
2. Something remarkable of its kind (usually used in the phrase heck of a): That was a heck of an impressive speech. Have one heck of a good time.
3. As heck (used as a mild intensifier): I say he's guilty as heck.
Then according to “Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.” It can be: Heck\, n. [See Hatch a half door.] [Written also hack.]
1. The bolt or latch of a door. [Prov. Eng.]
2. A rack for cattle to feed at. [Prov. Eng.]
3. A door, especially one partly of latticework; -- called also heck door. [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.
4. A latticework contrivance for catching fish.
5. (Weaving) An apparatus for separating the threads of warps into sets, as they are wound upon the reel from the bobbins, in a warping machine.
6. A bend or winding of a stream. [Prov. Eng.]
Half heck, the lower half of a door.
Heck board, the loose board at the bottom or back of a cart.
Heck box or frame, that which carries the heck in warping.
1. Then according to the “Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.” It Is: A comblike attachment on a loom, for guiding the warp threads as they are dressed for the warp beam.
2. A device that guides yarn onto the bobbin of a spinning wheel.
3. A gridlike arrangement of glass or metal rods below the hooks on a Jacquard loom, used for lifting all harness eyes equally or evenly.
So after reading all that, I learnt a heck of a lot more about heck than I previously knew; but still didn’t know what the heck a Heck cow was. For that I had to leave the On-line Dictionaries and go back on Line where I found the following about Heck cattle. And found that their name had nothing to do with the other heck, except in their spelling.
Heck cattle were developed in the early 20th century by the Heck brothers in Germany in an attempt to breed back modern cattle to their presumed ancestral form, the aurochs, Bos primigenius primigenius. Heinz Heck working at the Hellabrunn Zoological Gardens in Munich began creating the Heck breed in about 1920. Lutz Heck, director of the Berlin Zoological Gardens, began extensive breeding programs supported by the Nazis during World War II to bring back the aurochs. The reconstructed aurochs fit into the Nazi propaganda drive to create an idyllic history of the Aryan nation.
Heinz Heck crossed Hungarian Grey Cattle, Scottish Highland, Murnau-Werdenfels, Angeln, German Friesian, Podolic cattle and Corsican breeds. In Berlin, Lutz Heck crossed Spanish and French fighting cattle with other breeds. The resulting animals’ configurations were largely similar. The Berlin breed was lost in the aftermath of World War II. So modern Heck cattle are descended from the Hellabrunn breed. At the end of the 20th century, other so-called primitive breeds were crossbred with Heck cattle to come closer to the aim of creating a cattle breed that resembles the extinct aurochs in external appearance.
Characteristics: A typical Heck bull should be at least 1.6 m (5'3") high and a cow 1.4 m (4'7"), with weight 600 to 900 kg (1,300 to 2,000 lb). Heck cattle are twenty to thirty centimeters shorter than the aurochs they were bred to resemble. However, cross-breeding efforts continue to increase the size and weight of the breed, particularly in Germany.
The Heck bulls were not much larger than the bull of most breeds of domestic cattle, while wild aurochs bulls are believed to have often exceeded 1000 kilograms (2,200 lb), half the size of a rhinoceros. So the African Watusi cattle were then brought into the herd. The result was a somewhat larger animal, but it also caused infertility among the cows, a sign of the genetic divergence that had occurred between these populations of Bos over the millennia. Heck cattle were first bred outside of a zoo in 1980. There were 88 registered at that time. Continued crossbreeding with these animals resolved the infertility in the cows.
Distribution: There are about 2000 Heck cattle in Europe and few elsewhere. Although there are now 13 In the Devon countryside of England too!
Controversy: Even though trying to bring back extinct species may seem commendable, "breeding back" is a controversial procedure in the scientific community (see also Quagga). The general consensus among biologists today is that the Hecks' original methodology used to "recreate" the aurochs was flawed: once a genetic lineage is gone, it cannot be "bred back". Some go as far as to consider it outright deceitful. For example, Professor Z. Pucek of the Bialowieza Nature Preserve has characterized the Heck cattle as the "biggest scientific swindle of the 20th Century. Professor Pucek has devoted his life to the conservation of the surviving native Wisent (European Bison) which is seen by some as competition to Heck cattle development.
On the other hand, Heck cattle are considered by some the most suitable cattle breed for low intensity grazing systems in certain types of nature reserves, due to their ruggedness and lack of need for human care. Heck cattle today are propagated in some places to fulfil the role of extinct megafauna in the ecosystem. However, there is uncertainty as to what ecological niche the aurochs itself filled. Dr Frans Vera claims that the aurochs lived in open parkland and supports their inclusion in nature reserve management. Cis van Vuure, however, in his book, Retracing the Aurochs: History, Morphology and Ecology of an Extinct Wild Ox suggests that the aurochs dwelled in dense forests and marshes while the Wisent dwelled in the open landscape. Wisent supporters claim that Heck cattle landscape management is a public relations ploy in order to illegitimately garner support for Heck cattle at the expense of a genuine native species, the Wisent.
Nevertheless, in view of today's farm breeding programs (primarily to increase milk and meat production), the Heck cattle represent an important source of vital genes. Since a single breeding bull with good genes can be a sperm donor for a hundred thousand offspring, inbreeding becomes a serious problem in modern farm animal management, potentially resulting in diseases that rarely affect Heck cattle and other old farm breeds.
Now you may be wondering what the heck all this has to do with you today? Well all I can say is, that a heck of a lot of people went to a heck of a lot of trouble, and expense, not to mention spending a heck of a lot of time, to bring these Hecks into existence. Whether it was worth it may be never known, but I can’t help but wonder what our own heck cows are?
In other words, is there something that we too are spending a heck of a lot of time, effort and expense on, which is also controversial in whether the end results are really worth the time, trouble and expense? Or would we and the world, be better off if we spent all that time, expense and effort on more purposeful projects?
Oh, what the Heck! Your thoughts please?
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Counting your age by days and not years.
Recently stumbled across a site on the Web: www.peterrussell.com/odds/worldclock.php. On it he mentioned that: “A few years back I began counting my age not in years, but days.
The day is the natural cycle of our lives. The cycle of light and dark, wakefulness and sleep, has more significance than the cycle of the seasons. Indeed, in equatorial latitudes, you hardly notice the passing of the seasons. The day is what counts.
Each day is a complete unit in itself. At the end of each day I can look back and take stock. How have I been? What have I learned? What can I be grateful for?
I can hold a day's experience in mind quite easily. Trying to go back and take stock of a whole year is much harder. Numerous incidents and discoveries are inevitably forgotten.
I also find it far more meaningful to think that I have lived through nearly twenty thousand days this life, rather than 50 years. And it reframes the future. I have -- probably -- thousands of days still to come. Thousands of new days to discover, enjoy and learn from. “
Further he added about, “Living Each Day in the Present. It is easy to go through our days on semi-automatic, caught up in doing and thoughts about the past and the future, not experiencing the present moment in its fullness.”
This mindset has a lot to recommend itself as a general principal, but I am not too sure that I actually like the thought of going around telling every body that at the time of writing/posting this, I am /was 21,1106!
However I do feel that it is probably good for us to take stock of our present situations a little more often than we do, even if not every single day. And that sometimes the time to change things is now, today, rather than waiting for another birthday or year, to come around before we consider things again. Because by that time, we may have forgotten or it may just be too late then to do anything meaningful or helpful.
Likewise I too think that sometimes we do “go through our days (& our lives) on semi-automatic, caught up in doing and thoughts about the past and the future, not experiencing the present moment in its fullness).
So tonight, when you come to the end of this day, will you look back and take stock of not only your day but of your life too? And ask yourself the following questions? How have you been today? What have you learned today? What can you be grateful for today?
Often we look back at the negativeness of our day and even our Life, but forget to think about and give appreciation for all the good things too. Often, numerous good things, incidents and discoveries are inevitably forgotten and unappreciated as we only focus on the bad things that have happened. So starting today, won’t you start living each day, one day at a time and focus on the good things and go out and discover, enjoy and learn from the new things in your life, leaving the past for the past. Again what say you?
The day is the natural cycle of our lives. The cycle of light and dark, wakefulness and sleep, has more significance than the cycle of the seasons. Indeed, in equatorial latitudes, you hardly notice the passing of the seasons. The day is what counts.
Each day is a complete unit in itself. At the end of each day I can look back and take stock. How have I been? What have I learned? What can I be grateful for?
I can hold a day's experience in mind quite easily. Trying to go back and take stock of a whole year is much harder. Numerous incidents and discoveries are inevitably forgotten.
I also find it far more meaningful to think that I have lived through nearly twenty thousand days this life, rather than 50 years. And it reframes the future. I have -- probably -- thousands of days still to come. Thousands of new days to discover, enjoy and learn from. “
Further he added about, “Living Each Day in the Present. It is easy to go through our days on semi-automatic, caught up in doing and thoughts about the past and the future, not experiencing the present moment in its fullness.”
This mindset has a lot to recommend itself as a general principal, but I am not too sure that I actually like the thought of going around telling every body that at the time of writing/posting this, I am /was 21,1106!
However I do feel that it is probably good for us to take stock of our present situations a little more often than we do, even if not every single day. And that sometimes the time to change things is now, today, rather than waiting for another birthday or year, to come around before we consider things again. Because by that time, we may have forgotten or it may just be too late then to do anything meaningful or helpful.
Likewise I too think that sometimes we do “go through our days (& our lives) on semi-automatic, caught up in doing and thoughts about the past and the future, not experiencing the present moment in its fullness).
So tonight, when you come to the end of this day, will you look back and take stock of not only your day but of your life too? And ask yourself the following questions? How have you been today? What have you learned today? What can you be grateful for today?
Often we look back at the negativeness of our day and even our Life, but forget to think about and give appreciation for all the good things too. Often, numerous good things, incidents and discoveries are inevitably forgotten and unappreciated as we only focus on the bad things that have happened. So starting today, won’t you start living each day, one day at a time and focus on the good things and go out and discover, enjoy and learn from the new things in your life, leaving the past for the past. Again what say you?
Friday, October 3, 2008
A Town called Chicken.
I know that a time or to I have been called Chicken but this was the first I have of a town being called Chicken, but there you are. On the Alaskan side of the Canadian Border on the appropriately named, “Top Of The World Highway”, stands the small town of Chicken with its population according to a census 8 years ago of 17 people.
It is an old gold rush town, which was named back in 1902 after the ptarmigan fowl that was very common then. Originally it was intended to call it Ptarmigan*, but the founding fathers could not agree on how to spell the word, and so the compromise was reached and hence it has been called Chicken ever since.
Now I know that sometimes compromise is a good thing, but somehow in this case I think it would rather have taken the chance with the odd misspellings of Ptarmigan, than the more spellable, but plain ”chicken”.
What say you? Sometimes compromise is good and wise but sometimes it is also the easy way out, and thus sometimes should be avoided too, for the slightly harder but more preferable alternative, don’t you think.
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* From the Net.
“Ptarmigan, common name for three species of bird that make up a genus of the grouse subfamily, found in mountain and tundra areas around the northern hemisphere. One bird, the white-tailed ptarmigan, is confined to high mountains of western North America. The willow ptarmigan and the rock ptarmigan are circumpolar, and are among the very few nonmigratory birds of the Arctic. Ptarmigan are notable for having a moulting cycle unique among birds, in that they assume a white plumage in winter, in addition to the usual spring and autumn plumages. Their toes, which are at best sparsely feathered at other times, become heavily feathered in winter, creating efficient “snowshoes”. One population of willow ptarmigan—the red grouse of Great Britain— does not develop the white winter plumage.”
It is an old gold rush town, which was named back in 1902 after the ptarmigan fowl that was very common then. Originally it was intended to call it Ptarmigan*, but the founding fathers could not agree on how to spell the word, and so the compromise was reached and hence it has been called Chicken ever since.
Now I know that sometimes compromise is a good thing, but somehow in this case I think it would rather have taken the chance with the odd misspellings of Ptarmigan, than the more spellable, but plain ”chicken”.
What say you? Sometimes compromise is good and wise but sometimes it is also the easy way out, and thus sometimes should be avoided too, for the slightly harder but more preferable alternative, don’t you think.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* From the Net.
“Ptarmigan, common name for three species of bird that make up a genus of the grouse subfamily, found in mountain and tundra areas around the northern hemisphere. One bird, the white-tailed ptarmigan, is confined to high mountains of western North America. The willow ptarmigan and the rock ptarmigan are circumpolar, and are among the very few nonmigratory birds of the Arctic. Ptarmigan are notable for having a moulting cycle unique among birds, in that they assume a white plumage in winter, in addition to the usual spring and autumn plumages. Their toes, which are at best sparsely feathered at other times, become heavily feathered in winter, creating efficient “snowshoes”. One population of willow ptarmigan—the red grouse of Great Britain— does not develop the white winter plumage.”
Monday, July 21, 2008
Chums, New- Chums and Chummage.
I am supposing that most of you know what the first two words mean but that you do not know what the third means nor that the first two originated from the third? Well, although they all come from the one word, and I hope that we are all chums, even if no longer new chums, I really do trust that we never meet in any Chummage ever. If you don’t know what the Chummage was, maybe you need to read a bit more of Charles Dickens works to remedy that lack of knowledge.
Before I tell you about the Chummage, let’s have a little bit of British history first, and talk about the Marshalsea. The Marshalsea was a debtor’s Prison in London. The original prison stood for over 500 years but the second one, for only 38 years before being closed in 1849. As hinted above, it is largely remembered these days because Charles Dickens father spent 3 months there in 1824 and the prison is referred to in at least 3 of his (Charles) writings. (Little Dorrit, David Copperfield & The Pickwick Papers.)
One of the buildings in the Marshalsea was called the Chummage. It was there that the new prisoners first entered the prison system, and when they did so, the new prisoners were each given a "chum ticket," which told them which room was theirs. The lucky ones arrived when a room was vacant, but most were expected to "chum" with other prisoners, thus becoming the new-chum there.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Are you Generating Anger Or Support?
In my blog Your Say on Humour Verses Violence 2, I posted part of a response from my Musician friend in regards to my earlier Blog, Humour Verses Violence: Your Say?”
Here I would like to respond to a further comment in that same reply where he said, “Like you I think that if the Palestinians did a bit more laughing they might get a lot further but nobody is going to have any sympathy for somebody who bombs innocent civilians.”
Again he makes a very valid point, not just in regard to the Middle east situation, or terrorism in general but also to our everyday lives too. You may not like to agree but he is right when he says, “nobody is going to have any sympathy for somebody who bombs innocent civilians.”
If you want real sympathy and real support you have to earn it with respect and responsibility, not bombs, whether real bombs or simply metaphorical ones.
So, how are you travelling within your own little world right now? Do you think that you are being treated harshly and in need of some sympathy and active support from others around you? Well maybe like the terrorist groups everywhere, you need to stop throwing bombs and start trading civility and respect and see how far that will take you.
Put another way, do you want people to think of you as a Mugabe or a Mandela? One treats his enemies one way and the other treated them with respect and in turn, gained theirs in return, to the point that no one remembers now that he was once a terrorist himself.
So back to you. Are you a Mugabe or a Mandela, and will you give up your violence and bombs to become a Mandela instead of a Mugabe? I have said enough! Over to you now.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Do you suffer from Paraskavedekatriaphobia?
Just in case you think that the word above is made up and all Greek to you, let me assure you that it is both a genuine word and is in fact derived from three Greek words. Translated into English, the Original Greek words meant, Friday thirteenth Phobia, hence the above word and Malaise of Paraskavedekatriaphobia.
And in case you think that that is a crazy malaise, it would appear that around 67 Million Americans suffer from this malaise to some degree whenever one appears, like it did this June.
And if you are unlucky to suffer this impediment, next year looks like being a bad one for you with three of them then.
According to the Herald Sun Newspaper of that date (June 13th) “Psychologists believe that Friday the 13th will become a day of bad luck if you focus on it too much. They say that you can create your own bad luck by paying attention to a superstition."
Now I don’t suffer from Paraskavedekatriaphobia and I hope you don’t either, but I do think that the message that the Psychologists are trying to get across in this case, also applies to most things in life that cause us concern too.
Many of our concerns become self-fulfilling prophesies because we concentrate on them too much and they can often be mostly avoided by putting our time, energies and concerns elsewhere. Now while I don’t believe a positive attitude will solve or avoid every problem, I do believe that a positive mind-set and work effort will produce a better way of life for us, than one of always fearing the worst and then being held back by that fear.
So whatever your fear today, whether it be Paraskavedekatriaphobia, or any of the countless other phobias, including the fear of the unknown, let us all be a little more positive in future and far, far less negative. Indeed let us focus on the positives in our lives and not the negatives! What say you? What phobia is holding you back today?
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The mechanic and the surgeon.
Got this story of the net and love it: A mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Harley motorcycle when he spotted a well-known heart surgeon in his shop. The surgeon was there, waiting for the service manager to come and take a look at his bike. The mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hey, Doc, can I ask you a question?" The surgeon a bit surprised, walked over to the mechanic working on the motorcycle.
The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I open its heart, take valves out, fix 'em, put 'em back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So how come I get such a small salary and you get the really big bucks, when you and I are doing basically the same work?" The surgeon paused, smiled and leaned over, and whispered to the mechanic... "Try doing it with the engine running."
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have been like that Motor mechanic and have compared myself to others that I think are doing the same as me but getting paid more for it. And Like the mechanic, I have had to have pointed out to me that what I was doing was with the Motor switched off, while what they were doing was like with the motor switched on.
Sometimes we have to take the advice that Joe South gave us in his song, “Walk a mile in my shoes.”
That advice? “Before you accuse, criticize and abuse, walk a mile in my shoes!” I think that is very valid advice don’t you? Yes, from a distance, the things various people do, like with the mechanic and the surgeon, may look and sound the same at first glanse, but when we look at them properly from the other person’s perspective, the difference is as great as that between working on a motor when it is running and when it is not. What say you? Walter
The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I open its heart, take valves out, fix 'em, put 'em back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So how come I get such a small salary and you get the really big bucks, when you and I are doing basically the same work?" The surgeon paused, smiled and leaned over, and whispered to the mechanic... "Try doing it with the engine running."
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have been like that Motor mechanic and have compared myself to others that I think are doing the same as me but getting paid more for it. And Like the mechanic, I have had to have pointed out to me that what I was doing was with the Motor switched off, while what they were doing was like with the motor switched on.
Sometimes we have to take the advice that Joe South gave us in his song, “Walk a mile in my shoes.”
That advice? “Before you accuse, criticize and abuse, walk a mile in my shoes!” I think that is very valid advice don’t you? Yes, from a distance, the things various people do, like with the mechanic and the surgeon, may look and sound the same at first glanse, but when we look at them properly from the other person’s perspective, the difference is as great as that between working on a motor when it is running and when it is not. What say you? Walter
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