h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Henley on Todd, yes that was it. Brilliant! That's my sort of sport! I just popped back to give you Tasmanian historians this address: http://www.thehistorychannel.co.uk/index.htm . I expect you probably know about it but I've only just found it and it has a great history search engine.

Pod of dolphins, wow. I do believe I'm all eaten up with jealousy. I should go and do penance or something. You're so lucky.

I'm off to sort out this terrible, envious, wrong-mindedness now. Good night all.

Sal

Good evening again,
Crab apple jelly is very nice, my mother uses my crab apples and I get of jar of jelly in return. But damson jam is even better. Unfortunately my mother now has her own damson tree and doesn't need my damsons.
I'm sorry I missed the Henley on Todd regatta. I was once part of a "crew" that caused total havoc at a regatta. On a canal boat. We'd only just picked it up for week's holiday and no one on board knew how to steer, stop, turn or park the thing. Nor did we know the river etiquette. We came across this regatta. Lot and lots ( and I mean lots) of little boats all neatly lined up across the river, all ready to set off on their races, one after the other. We barged, literally, through the lot. Little boats scattered everywhere. The air was blue! But all along the banks were big notices, "Private", "No Mooring", "Trespassers will walk the plank" (well almost), so what else could we do?

Walter I saw you being referred to as a sage in another forum. That's better than bureaucrat.

Bran I think I know what you mean. If everyone took the volcano for granted you'd do the same. My nightmares started after seeing one erupting - a small one, nothing spectacular, but followed two weeks later by a visit to Pompei. Have you seen the pictures of the people preserved in the ash there?
I'm off now to watch Steve Redgrave in the coxless fours, hopefully on his way to a fifth olympic gold.
Wz

Gooday Wazungu, StM, and Bran,

Oh dear, I am tired, and the Olympics have another week and a half to run. Despite my best intentions, I have become besotted by the Games.

Bran, I don't think you ever told me you grew up in Rabaul. There should be some fond recollections to share with us when you have time and inclination.

StM, thank you for that history web site; I have had a poke through it and it does look like it will provide a lot of info. Sloe gin: by coincidence, J's mother brought over a bottle that she had made. Tried some the other day - cripes, it can make the eyes smart. And me and my beloved bought a crab apple tree last weekend, which will shortly go into the front garden somewhere. Ben's kennel is/was made of wood. He has also partially demolished several garden bench seats and completely demolished every panel of lattice. But he's only a puppy. And he loves us. Perhaps he is related to Sabre.

Wazungu, geese are the best guards you can have around a house - isn't there a legend that Rome was once saved from being sacked because the geese alerted the citizens? We had three geese at the last house for some years and they were better sentries than any Rottweiler, and nearly as aggressive to people they didn't know. Falling plums and falling leaves: Autumn. A beautiful time of year, every bit as good as Spring, the only difference, and it is a big one, is that Spring heralds Summer. In fact tomorrow is the Vernal Equinox, or the Autumnal Equinox for those of you in the Northern hemisphere: my dad was adamant that Spring/Autumn didn't properly arrive until the Equinox. He used to say that nature knew when Spring had sprung, but that people just took the first of each relevant month because it was easier to remember. He was just as firm about Solstices, too. Of course, he was right. Take care, y'all,

Walter.

Morning All

Thanks for that link Sal. It looks like a good site to delve into in more depth when I have time later ... I'm in the throws of preparing for my next PhD section so am a little obsessed with that at the moment.

I didn't ever want to become a vulcanologist after my volcano trips as a kid ... mostly cos I found the thought of it a touch scary. I did have some nightmares about the place going up, that I now recall was mostly concerned with the tidal waves afterwards. I'd forgotten that till now. I guess that I was not as OK with it all as I'd remembered ... though the nightmares were when I was younger. As a teenager, I do remember boasting about where we lived at boarding school in Australia (very teenager behaviour) ... shakes head at memory.

I have seen some of the photos of Pompei, Waz. Quite affecting, I thought. In the 1937 eruption, there were about 500 deaths, mostly from the local villages. One of the volcanoes that went up was originally an island that had a village on it. In the space of 2-3 days, a cone of about 500 feet arose from the island and joined it to the mainland. Needless to say that many people in the vicinity perished. I remember reading about it, and a quote from Somerset Maughaum (sp?) in his Tales of the South Pacific ... he talked of the eruptions but said that no human lives were lost, only 500 natives (!)
As I said, in the 1994 eruption, I don't think anyone was killed, though I recall that there may have been a pedestrian run over during the evacuation.

I didn't realise, Walter, that you knew not of my tropical origin. We moved there when I was 5, from Wooloongong in NSW, and I lived there till boarding school and university in Brisbane, which is when I stopped thinking of myself as "from PNG". My parents lived in PNG (Rabaul, Lae, Port Moresby) for 26 years in all. They have since retired to NZ (there is no accounting for taste).

I too have been surprised to find that I am watching an amount of the Olympics. Swimming mostly ... which is what in on when I am free to watch anyway. AND Australia is doing so well in the pool that it is very exciting for us.

Snow on the mountain again this morning. No dolphins spotted yet ... I'll keep watching.

Cheerio
Bran.

Evening all,

When you say "unfortunately my mother now has her own damson tree", you don't mean that she keeps her jam to herself now, do you Wazungu? If you're just concerned that the damsons are going to waste, well, I expect lots of visitors to your garden really appreciate them. Mainly the wasps, now I come to think about it. I almost suggested you ask your mother for the recipe but where would you find the time to make jam? You can't find the time to do journal entries - what with all the other things you have to do: entertaining us, Scottish dancing, keeping an eye on the webcams, work. Busy life!

I see what you mean about finding time to do guide entries. I've had a couple of ideas for my own but h2g2 has so many ways to side-track you.

From your description of your canal boat exploits, the Henley on Todd regatta would be right up your street. If anyone was daft enough to put me in charge of a canal boat, I'm sure mayhem would follow.

You are a sage, aren't you Walter? Fancy bumping into you in the fox hunting peer review thread. It's nice to know the fox has lots of friends, poor little chap. He's just trying to make a living like the rest of us.

I thought of you boys when I stumbled across the history site because I tried out the search engine and it came back with reams of data on every search word I entered. Hoped it might be handy for your courses.

I've never tried sloe gin (yet) so I'm looking forward to my first experience. I expect it would be a bit on the sharp side. Those junipers look like tiny little purple plums. They look very inviting but they never actually get sweet like plums and damsons. They'll take the roof off your mouth if you eat them. I think you have to put them in gin with a fair amount of sugar then leave it for a while. Hope it won't take too long. I can hardly wait.

I love the Autumn. Keats called it the "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness". I wonder if he ever tried sloe gin.

It's a pity you can't find work for Ben in demolition. It sounds as though he has a natural talent for the work. Sabre only used to wreck things when he was upset. He was very quick to completely devastate the interior of several of my dad's cars over the years, if dad left him alone in there for a few minutes. I blame my dad for that though. After the first couple of times, you'd think he'd know better than to leave Sabre alone in a car. Funnily enough, he never destroyed the house if he was left alone in there.

Volcanoes *are* very scary Bran. Anyone who avoids them just because they're dangerous, obviously isn't mad enough to be a vulcanologist. I guess you're far too sensible for that sort of job. I used to have nightmares about tidal waves when I was a child. I think there was one on the movie "The Castaways" or "Swiss Family Robinson" or some such. Gave me nightmares for weeks.

I saw some dolphins on the news this morning. They were featured in a story about how fish stocks in the oceans around Britain and, in particular, the North sea, were in crisis. Apparently 60% of the species that used to be abundant are reaching numbers where populations are likely to be unsustainable. The fishermen would like to blame pollution, seals and dolphins. Nothing to do with over-fishing, of course. I think they have a valid point about the pollution but they really ought to take their share of the responsibility for the problem and not blame a man-made problem on the wildlife.

Also on the news: the protesters who destroyed GM corn crops just before the pollen had a chance to contaminate near by non-GM crops, were found not guilty of whatever the charge was (criminal damage probably - can't remember), in court today. The GM lobby are up in arms, saying the judge's decision has set a dangerous precedent. Good old judge! If the GM companies and our dopey government had got the science right, it wouldn't be necessary for those protesters to take the law into their own hands. It's not as though the damage can be undone later if anything goes wrong. They're only in such a neck-breaking hurry to get the trials carried out in the slip-shod way they're doing them, to get the profits in quickly.

I saw a wren in my garden this afternoon. Must go and mark it off on my garden bird survey form.

Speak to you all later.
Sal

Good evening all and sundry, and any Sages too.
Too many holidays too, Sal, for writing guide entries. But I have done an outline one on my village, I need to check some facts before I can finish it. I have made damson jam, but it takes so long getting the stones out, hammering them to get the kernels and putting the kernels in the jam before it sets rock solid. It was very stressful and extremely messy! I haven't done it for a few years now. I was being unfair on my mother, she does give a jar of her damson when she does it (but she cheats and only puts a token number of kernels in). I just eat mine off the tree now. (That's the damsons, not the jam.)

Autumn is beautiful but I don't love it. I can see winter coming and I DO NOT like being cold. I'll feel better in a couple of weeks once it's cold enough to light the boiler. Then the house will be warm again and I'll have hot water all day. I think Keats may have been on the sloe gin.

That was good news about the GM judgement. I bet it doesn't get much publicity - like that incredible "not guilty" judgement on the women who wrecked those fighter planes with hammers a while ago. I couldn't believe the lack of discussion on that.

I remember a legend about geese giving a warning Walter. Possibly from when an attempt was made to teach us Latin at school. We had metal cases for our pencils then and most of the lessons were spent making patterns on the ceiling with reflected sunlight. But we did listen to the Greek and Roman myths and legends.

I'm trying to watch some some Olympics but its hard to keep track of what's happening when it's on so late or in the morning when I can't watch. I never seem to be around when the BBC do their catching up highlights. I got the timetable completely wrong for Steve Redgraves rowing! I'm going to watch now for a while,
soona, Wz

Good morning each and all,

It is one of those weeks where work keeps getting in the way of more civilised and pleasant pursuits. Wazungu, how exciting to do a piece on your village, now that is an idea I would think seriously about emulating. Will post a weekend greeting when I return to the office. Take care,

Walter.

Weekend greetings,
The weekend starts now. I'm back from work with three completely free days ahead. It's a good feeling. And there's lots of athletics to watch plus Steve Redgrave's rowing team tonight. Tomorrow I'll have time to collect some of those fallen plums, pick some apples before they hit the ground, and bring in the last autumn raspberries. Maybe you should downshift Walter?! Life's to good to spend at work. Unless you enjoy the work, of course.
I do enjoy the three days I do but three days is enough . Actually you sound as if you have your life pretty well balanced. Mine wasn't but is now, hence the gloating over doing a three day week. It's been five years since I worked full time and I'm still gloating. But I'll finish now, wish everyone a good weekend, and get round to my parents, for the only decently cooked meal of the week, before they start ringing to ask where I've got to, Wz.

Good Morning All and Everyone

We are about to head out to Saturday lunch at some friends who live near some lovely beaches on the way to Port Arthur, so shan't chat long. Waz, I would love to have a job that was for only three days a week, and was able to sustain me at the same time. I keep having all these ideas for projects I would like to do after I finish The Great Big Tome, and I am going to need more than 24 hours in a day to do them when I have a job. (I have to say when, as I do need to eat). The trouble is, that I like being an academic, and I don't want to pass up any job opportunities that come up in that sphere either. I guess I'll just have to live several lifetimes and be done with it!

I can't believe how much I have been watching the Olympics. Just saw Great Britain win the coxless fours rowing - probably with Steve Redgrave. Someone on the team has won 5 gold in a row. Is that him? Australia came third, only behind the pace by about 1.3 seconds. Italy second.

Best get ready to face the outside world. Have a great weekend everyone.

Bran.

Morning you weekenders

Alright for some. I have to go to work now. I don't usually work on a Saturday but today I want to make a hole the backlog with nobody around to distract me.

Wazungu, did you feel that earth quake at 5.24 the morning. It registered 4.2 on the Richter scale. Its epicentre was in Warwickshire. I was wide awake when it happened. It went off with a hell of a jolt. I lay there in bed wondering whether the house insurance would cover any damage or if the wriggling insurance company would say no, that's covered under our "act of God" clause (wriggle space) in your policy. It's my second quake. The last one was 10 years ago. I was at work that time (north of Leicester), trying to work out something in my head with my eyes resting on the wall opposite when there was this sound of a crash and vibration and a big crack opened in the wall then snapped shut again.

My garden is full of lovely butterflies now. They're fond of the buddleia and sedum nectar. The latest info I have on that huge caterpillar I saw is that it would probably turn into a hawk moth. Everyone seems to have a theory. You wouldn't think it would be so difficult to find out for sure, would you?

It looks as though you were right about the GM judgement Wazungu. Haven't heard another word about it. I remember those protesters who wrecked the planes. As you say, the publicity quickly died away. It's good to know that our government and media go to great lengths to manipulate our opinions. They must really care about us.

I can see you've been working hard on your Ash entry. It sounds like the village where I live, only smaller. There are people who've lived here 50 or more years who are regarded as "new comers". Is Ash in the Doomsday Book? Give us a prod when you've finished.

You must've been feeling all celebrational when Steve Redgrave's team won gold last night. That's 5 golds he's won now. (Yes it was him Bran.) Do you suppose he's getting bored with all that success?

Must go. Work beckons. Groan.
Sal

Good Morning Peoples

What a glorious day it is here. Blue sky, warm, and I can hear birds singing outside my office window. We listenned to a blackbird sing yesterday for what seemed like ages. Is it true that the more plain-looking birds have the most impressive songs? Everything is in flower at the moment, so the birds are having a great time. And it is the time of year for daffodils (actually, they are even on the wane by now) and there was a "Tulip Festival" on over the weekend.

I can now make it official that I have tasted the best pie in Tasmania. My partner and I drove down to a small town called Huonville yesterday (about 25 minutes away) to a place that won the award (yes, there is such an award). I ate a chicken and sundried tomato pie ... fantastic!

Too bad about working on the weekend Sal ... I used to have a job where it was weekend work nearly all the time, as it was impossible to do it all in a five day week. Madness. I try not to now, but sometimes use the weekend if I have had interruptions during the week. The great thing about doing a PhD is that you please yourself most of the time. Of course, it also means that it is all up to you to actually do anything. Still, it is not a bad life.

Speaking of which, The Tome beckons.
Cheerio All
Bran.

Good evening,
That certainly was Steve Redgrave, Bran and I was celebrating Sal. After recovering from a very tense race! That was too close at the end. 5 gold medals in 5 consecutive olympics. I don't think he's bored. He gives the impression he hardly notices the success. His interest really seems to be the rowing and the race itself. People who live at that sort of intensity are awe inspiring - and to be a team player as well, as he obviously is, makes it more amazing. I think that is what it takes to live several lifetimes in one Bran!
Hope work at the weekend wasn't too bad, Sal. I've had a very lazy weekend. I've only been useful for one hour and a half of it, when I was the music for our monthly hymn singing visit to the two old folks homes here. I'm not much good at the music and we're not too hot at singing. It feels a bit trite sometimes and so little. But tonight the matron at one of the homes told us how much last month's visit meant to a gentleman who had stayed up for us and who died just days after.
I didn't feel that earthquake but I remember the '90 one that had it's centre in Shropshire. I was at work too, also resting my eyes! On the engineers offices opposite. I saw them, the offices, move. Very disconcerting, but not as odd as seeing a crack open and disappear.
There was something in our local paper complaining of a lack of appreciation of moths. Because we don't see them as they're only out in the dark. I think if your caterpillar was a butterfly you would have identified it by now. Is it still around?
I don't know if Ash is in the doomsday book - it would be worth finding out. Maybe its on the internet?

I think I was right about the GM news. Isn't it amazing how its the papers' job to fufill the public's right to know however much the story will upset the establishment when it's the sort of story that sells papers. But when it's not they choose to be responsible and not highlight news that might encourage us to go smashing planes and digging up crops. Or freeing pheasants?
BTW I caught the end of a TV programme today where a vet was examing a rescued red kite. She said red kites were very easy because they play dead, as she laid a limp heap of feathers on the floor, next to two other piles of limp feathers. Then the angle changed and you saw three very bright eyes, one from each of the perfectly healthy feather heaps, staring at the camera.
Going to see what olympics are on offer this evening. Have good Mondays,Wz.

Evening everyone

So it's nice and warm in Tasmania, you have blue sky and the birds are singing. I can report it's been raining heavily all afternoon and evening here. It rained heavily most of yesterday too. I, my friends and my dogs all got drenched to the bone gathering hedgerow fruit but we had a nice bottle of red wine to warm us up when we got home. Whatever else you say about the winter, it's an excellent excuse to curl up in front of the fire with a book and a glass of wine.

Working on Saturday wasn't too bad. I was only there for about 3 hours and completed work that would normally have taken 6 or more with the usual constant interruption. I took the dogs over to my brother's place on the way home and they had a gallop around his garden, a rootle through the woods and one of them had a swim in a pond. That probably made a nice change for the fish who are more used to dodging the heron. Meanwhile, I helped myself to a bunch of grapes off his vine and ate them while we walked around chatting as he fed the fish, sheep, goat and chickens. One of the chucks is a big red and golden cockerel called Slobodan and his wife is Mrs Milosovich (sp?).

I think they said on the News tonight that the British athletes had got more medals (could've been gold medals) at this point in the games than they have since some time not long after WW2. I guess that means they're doing ok then. Lovely!

Also on the News on Channel 4 this evening, the agriculture minister was saying that bovine blood, gelatine and tallow hasn't been banned from cattle feed because of a European law passed in 1995 and instigated here in 1997. Currently one calf has been confirmed as having contracted BSE and 7 more calves are suspected of having contracted it. They are now carrying out tests to confirm their suspicions. The minister (Nick Brown I think) categorically denied that the cattle and sheep products still allowed in cattle feed could cause problems because cattle over 30 months old were not for human consumption. He then said he didn't know why the interviewer was asking him all these questions as he was only the agriculture minister and not a scientist. Hmmm. What can you say? I say I'm glad I'm a vegetarian but then maybe some clever GM scientist will manage to get a gene for prions into veg - we could have mad spud disease.

You might feel your singing isn't as melodic as it might be Wazungu, but do you enjoy it? My aunt who lives just up the road goes to 2 of the 3 churches in the village for no other reason than she loves singing hymns. I've never heard her but she says she isn't very good at it. The point is, she really enjoys it. If you like doing it and the old folks like listening to it, you can't knock it.

You're right about that crack opening and snapping shut - it still seems surreal when I think about it now. Apparently there are lots of little earth quakes in Britain but it's quite rare to get fairly strong ones happening near to populated areas. Britain isn't exactly known for it's seismic activity.

The house I used to live in just round the corner and up the road is in the Doomsday Book and so is the Hall over the back of where I live now (that's where they breed and shoot pheasants). A group (of just over 1) is doing a village web site (I get the job of proof reading it) but it's taking ever such a long time because the person who is actually constructing it is a farmer and therefore very very busy. He also does the village news letter and a column in the local news paper. It's got some interesting stuff in it on village history but it doesn't look very technically sophisticated yet. If you folks are interested, I'll give you the address so you can peruse it.

I wonder what those red kites were thinking while they were lying there. I saw a hawk of some sort hovering over a field when I was driving to work a little while ago and when I got closer, it seemed to be hovering directly above a horse. Very ambitious!

Good night all.
Sal

Re Nick Brown - I can think of a lot to say! I fact I'm thinking of saying it in writing (to him, not you!). He really said that? What a total prat. Sorry, but you did ask "what can you say?" . He's as bad as a previous minister who announced that organophosphates found 1cm below the surface in carrots didn't matter because boiling them destroyed them. I wouldn't be too sure they won't put animal genes into plants - apparently they've already put peanut genes into non nut plants. Maybe Nick Brown is already sufering from mad spud disease.

I'm glad the weekend work went well. Hedgerow fruit - would that be more sloes?
I can't say I enjoy going to the homes and hymns are definitely not a favourite! But I do enjoy playing (badly) the clarinet and going there keeps me practising. (Is it still infinitive splitting if you put the split in brackets?)

I found a site with Domesday Book details and Ash wasn't on the list for Shropshire. The town 1.5 miles away and the next village, Ightfield, were there. So I need to know now if the name has changed. I'd be surprised if there wasn't at least a hamlet here back then. I did see Earls Colne.

It's been raining hard here today. The river in Shrewbury was very high again. If you're ever in Shrewsbury be very wary of the Frankwell carpark. I'ts right beside the river. They charge you 70p and you return to find the car axle deep in the River Severn.
Off Scottish dancing, see you all later,
Wz.

Ps posted that, instead of previewing, it by mistake. Sal, I would be interested in seeing your village history site.

Good evening Wazungu, Walter and Bran

Yes, he said it. I obviously didn't get it verbatim but I gave you the gist of it. Astonishing really, after all the things that have happened. No wonder people don't trust politicians.

And yes again. There are no more sloes available to anyone of 5' 7" or shorter - even with a walking stick. Also, we've mopped up the last of the crab apples. I plan to introduce the sloes to the gin and sugar tomorrow.

It must be nice to be able to play an instrument even if don't play as well as you'd like. I can play a kazoo but it makes the dogs howl so I rarely practise and I can't even play that very well on account of all the giggling.

I don't think there's any clause in the rule covering the splitting of infinitives to protect you. A bracketed split is still a split. But did you split the infinitive? I don't know about you but I can't remember ever being taught grammar at school. Apart from people with degrees in linguistics, the Brits don't seem to know much about grammar. As far as I know, you're not supposed to split the infinitive of the verb so you could say "to play the piano slowly" but not "to slowly play the piano". Most people break that rule though and, in any case, languages are like living things that grow and develop so the thing that really determines whether a speech form is correct or not, is common usage, in my humble opinion. Feel free to disagree with me. What do I know?

I suppose the "Domesday Book" is another example of that. You may remember I said I had the job of proof reading the village web site. Well, during my proofing I came across references to the Domesday Book 2 or 3 times and said it should be changed to Doomsday. But I was wrong. Readers may assume that the Domesday Book is something to do with the Millennium Dome - but no! That's how they used to spell Doomsday. This is the address by the way http://www.geocities.com/husbandsbosworth/ . Go forth and enjoy.

I think there were flood warnings on the news earlier. Is the Frankwell carpark built on a flood plain? They've put a stop to National Carparks and supermarkets building on flood plains now, but that doesn't solve the problems caused by the ones that were built in the past. If you came back to find your car up to its axle in river water, you'd consider the 70p parking fee a bit steep.

By the way, I had to do a letter for my brother this afternoon to the local hunt. He's told them to stay off his land. He tries to protect a badger set and the foxes in a wood that's part of his garden. The hunters charged over the garden on Saturday morning and terrified all the animals. One of the hounds went into his house and ate his cat's dinner (ahhh - I might not like the hunt but I love their hounds). So he's threatened them with solicitors.

Hope you enjoy your dancing and if you're driving there, park on high ground.

Good night y'all.
Sal

Evening again,
I can just picture a pack of Solicitors after those hounds, Sal! And in answer to your question about the Frankwell carpark, half of Shrewsbury appears to be built on a flood plain.

I picked up the Domesday spelling when running searches. Doomsday came up with a lot of irrelevant answers. I'll check out that site later.
Thanks for the confirmation about Nick Brown, I do want to write. What he said, implying it's not his responsibility is unforgiveable.

I know no grammer neither! I've always assumed I missed it changing schools so often but maybe it simply wasn't taught, as you say. I only know about split infinitives from the infamous Star Trek "To boldly go". That's my test for split infinitives. Like you I don't think it matters too much - as long as you can communicate sucessfully. But, (and I know I shouldn't start with a but), I've met people who write you off, along with your attempt at communication, for the sake of a spelling or grammatical mistake.
The dancing was good in terms of fun, not correctness and there were no floods on the way,Wz.

Good Morning Sal, Waz and Walter

I have been a touch obsessed with The Tome of late and so have not been checking the site as much. I am at a stage where I am not exactly sure how to procede .... tons of ideas and tons of notes but not really happy about how to put it all together. I understand that this is common and I have always managed to get over such impasses in the past, but it still takes a lot of psychological effort to get there. Anyway ... I like the topic so I am not exactly suffering.

I also had trouble with the Doomsday-Domesday thing Sal. Apparently one is to refer to it simply as "Domesday Book", as in "I found this reference in Domesday Book", and not "the Domesday Book". This is because there is no one definitive copy but several of them, and so the definite article is thought to be misleading. Walter knows more about this than me, and might be able to elaborate. Oh, and thanks for the site reference Sal ... I'll have a look at it later.

All the autumn food collecting sounds great, despite the weather. When I said we had a great day in my last post, about half an hour after than it clouded over and rained on and off for the rest of the day, as well as becoming quite cold. The weather is referred to as changeable down here, and understandably so.

Well, my breakfast is cooling, so best be back to it. Take care all, and I promise a longer post when I am more in tune with my direction.

Cheerio
Bran

We're having a busy evening here aren't we?

I meant to mention Panorama at 10 pm next Monday. It's the one that was supposed to be on this Monday but they replaced it with the petrol crisis programme. The title is "Britain's Secret War on Drugs" and the write-up in TV Quick describes it as: A report on how Britain and the US are turning to biological warfare overseas in a bid to nip drug crops in the bud.

I heard something about it recently. Apparently, they're spraying or bombing areas where opium poppies and marijuana are thought to be growing, with biological agents. Some fruit growers in surrounding areas have had their crops blighted by the agents which were supposed only to attack the target crops. Judging from what I've heard, these agents have been genetically modified. I wonder if they've mutated in order to attack the fruit crops or if the Brit and US scientists just didn't test the agents thoroughly enough to be sure what they would and wouldn't attack. We'll have to wait for the story but really, if it's true, what can you say? Unbelievable arrogance! Who do they think they are? Just imagine, those poor fruit farmers - probably just subsisting - who may have been tempted to grow drugs as a way to make a decent living, but resisted and just grew the legal, low profit crop instead. What a reward for their hard work and good citizenship.

I do like the image of a pack of solicitors with the hunt at bay, Wazungu.

The sort of people who would just write you off because of a few spelling or grammatical errors aren't really the sort of people you'd be interested in impressing anyway, are they? I like things that are well written. I like to read books that have a nice flowing style. I don't like to read text with very long sentences (like the sort I'm sometimes guilty of writing) so you forget what the beginning was about by the time you get to the end. But you shouldn't have to watch your p's and q's when you're just chatting, as we are here. Where's the fun in that? We're just being friends and chatting about the things that interest us. We're not in an essay competition. Still ... I'm quite interested in grammar. I once did a project on deaf sign language that was fascinating. I can't remember any of the references but people who researched the subject found that isolated a groups of profoundly deaf people would construct their own language in a very short time with it's own recognisable grammar and they would all follow the rules when communicating with each other. It seems the human brain is "programmed" to recognise grammar and actually manufacture it if it's missing - provided the conditions are conducive. For example, there needs to be more than one person.

Bran, have you ever tried listing all the key points and putting them in a spreadsheet or database with different sort criteria like dates, key people, geographical area, level of importance of the point - that sort of thing, then sorting them by this or that criterion? I've never written anything bigger than an essay but I think I'd get in a pickle if I had too much data to collate. I'll just go and mind my own business now.

That's interesting about "Domesday Book". I don't suppose I was alone in imagining it as one big old book. Would the indefinite article also be thought misleading do you think? How would it be taken, I wonder, if you said "I found this reference in a copy of the Domesday Book". There are some mighty peculiar conventions and they're hard work for people who aren't very conventional.

Tut. It's way past my bed time.

Good night again all.
Sal

Hi Again

Sal, these are all good questions about Domesday. I feel a bit funny refering to it in the way you're meant "Domesday Book". Feels wierd. I think your suggestion makes a lot more sense (oh, and I hope that my post on this wasn't taken as trying to correct your grammar, which was not the intention at all ). And thanks for the writing tips. I currently have over 500 items in my bibliography (!), so organisation is the key.

Great image of the lawyers, Waz. How could the hunt people ride across land that isn't theirs? Isn't that trespassing? Or do they try and claim some right of access thing, cos their prehistoric ancestors dressed up in red coats and chased foxes? Sounds like a completely ludicrous past-time to me. But, I am but an uncivilised Colonial.

Back to The Task.
Cheerio
Bran.