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

Gooday Wazungu, StM, and Bran,

Wow, it doesn't do to fall behind with the postings - so much to read and to chat about. Domesday. My understanding is that there are in fact two books to Domesday. They used to be referred to as Big and Little, although I'm sure such a description horrified the experts. Earls Colne is listed in Little Domesday as Great Colne, and was later known as Monks' Colne before winding up as Earls Colne. How wonderful that you noticed Wazungu. I definitely wouldn't worry about how you refer to Domesday - unless you are doing something really esoteric for a crusty academic. StM is spot on, friends shouldn't have to look to their Ps and Qs when they are chatting, or indeed most other times. Sometimes being a teeny bit pedantic can be fun among consenting adults, but most of the time it is just plain boring, or irritating.

StM: you used to live in a house recorded in Domesday?!!!! Some people are blessed!

Wazungu, I do enjoy my work, I really do, and it pays for my home and Gordon's Gin and stuff, so no complaints but it does sometimes demand more time than I really want to give it. Three days a week, sounds like bliss, I'd jump at it like a shot but sadly I'm certain that my boss wouldn't.

Talking of Earls Colne (you will be sorry Wazungu, I'm hard to shut up at the best of times, but no-one has ever managed it in relation to Earls Colne) and village web sites, you would probably get a very pleasant surprise if you visit www.colnevalley.demon.co.uk. StM, you Husbands Bosworth site is terrific. What a great name for a village, are you near to or connected with the famous battle site where Richard III was killed? And I can empathise with your brother over the foxhunters, but the hound that snitched the cat's dinner, I'm sorry but that is just priceless; the 'invasion' has to be worth it just for that. Just the once, of course.

I can understand how politicians, and what they say and do, or don't do, might upset people. Personally, I think it is best to utterly ignore them, the minute you take notice, even in anger, it just encourages them. By and large, politicians are simply not worth the bother. Better declare a vested interest: I work for one.

Bran, I can't believe that you have a bibliography of over 500!! Come on, share with us, how many footnotes?? Wazungu and StM, there was a time in the not so very distant past when Bran and I used to compete for the prize of most prolific footnoter. You can tell who won just by the fact that he now lectures and I am yet to finish my degree. And Bran, if you ever 'kenned John Peel' you would perhaps come to appreciate that riding cross-country with the hounds early in the morning is an exhilarating experience. What tarnishes it and those who participate in it is the hunting of foxes, or any other wildlife for that matter. Me, I could easily put up with horse and hounds galloping over my meadows if only there was not that blood lust in their eyes. Dream on, Walter. Take care, y'all.

Walter.

Gooday y'all

Bran, it didn't occur to me for a moment that you might be nit-picking my grammar. Even if you had, I know you wouldn't have been doing it in the way Wazungu was talking about - you know, unfriendly and judgemental. As Walter says, a bit of friendly nit-picking can be fun just as long as nobody takes it seriously.

You're right about the hunt. If they enter property without permission, it's trespass. Not only did they not have permission, they had clear instructions to keep out, in writing. But they're arrogant and, well, you tell him Walter.

That's further fascinating stuff about Domesday (volumes?) and Earls Colne. I can't get over how just about anything can be found on the internet. If only we could live longer or faster. There's so much to find out and so little time to do it.

Walter, Richard III bought it at the Battle of Bosworth. That took place at Market Bosworth. This is what it says on HB's web site: "By 1531 parts of Bosworth had passed into the hands of the Dixie family who also owned land in another place called Bosworth some 30 miles to the west. It was possibly at this time that the need arose to differentiate between the two places. The larger market town became known as Market Bosworth while the smaller farming village became Husbandmen's Bosworth; the farmer's Bosworth"

If you like that, you'll love this. I work in a barn (don't worry, it's been converted) in what used to be my brother's garden, before he moved a couple of miles up the road. The garden was a field where the losing side in the Battle of Naseby camped before the battle. Apparently, the camp followers showed the boys such a good time that they weren't fit for battle the next day. My brother now lives in what used to be the village of Sulby. It's not a village any more, though several farms have Sulby as their address. It was an old plague village and the plague wiped it out.

The place I used to live when my parents first moved here was the village corner shop. It was 3 old cottages with a newish bit built on the side and a newer bit on the back. It was full of unexpected little nooks and crannies. Also it was full of old utility stuff left over from the last war, all packed away in hidden corners. The original buildings were amongst the oldest in the village. There was an enormous pile of deeds that went with it, written in the most bizarre language, in various ornate scripts. I remember my parents complaining that they wanted to give them to Leicester's County Archivist but they couldn't get them from the solicitors and suspected that the solicitors had done what a lot of solicitors were doing at that time: photocopied them and sold the originals to people who liked to frame such old documents and hang them on the walls of their homes. It was a fashion at that time.

I think we'd like to be able to ignore the politicians, wouldn't we Wazungu? The trouble is that if you leave them to their own devices they can do so much damage. It's a bit like my dog who used to be a wrecker when she was a pup. I couldn't take my eyes off her for a moment or she'd have the fringe off the sofa, the tv remote chewed to splinters, all the electric cables chewed through. The entertainment to be had from watching a puppy all the time wears a bit thin. But it had to be done because the moment I let my attention wander, she was at it again. Politicians can do so much more damage and they're so clever at hiding what their up to. You have to be vigilant.

I'm off to walk the dogs now before the next downpour.
Sal

Good Morning Sal, Waz and Walter

Thanks for the note, Sal. I occasionally go through spurts of self-doubt, and that was one! Oh, I have visited your website and read it all - great stuff indeed! All that history just makes me gibber. That was the thing that we so loved about visiting Britain - the sense of heritage and great age that we just don't get over here. And Walter and I live in one of the parts of the country where European occupation occurred the earliest. We get excited about buildings from the 19th century! Aboriginal history is really pre-history so a little harder to study in the same way. When we were in Britain in 1995, we started to get blase (sp?) if a pub we drank at was younger than the 17th century. Sounds like your part of England was at the centre of a lot of important goings on.

Walter, I think you are well past me regarding scholarship so stop being modest. That number of references just comes from looking at the same topic for so long, and from having the luxury of no word restriction. It just means I can waffle more. Number of footnotes is about 550, with about half the words still to write.

Whoops, keep forgetting the cooling porridge.
Cheerio All
Bran.

Good evening,
Hope Tome is coming together Bran! Maybe putting it out of your mind completely for a while would help. It used to when I had to write essays. It's a good excuse for a break anyway. My essays always came back with large red "SP"'s on them. Sal, re the opinion of someone who writes you off over bad grammer not mattering, ...what if it was the boss? .
I think the answers to your hunting questions Bran are; good question, yes and yes. Actually I don't understand the legal status of the hunt and trespassing myself. The hounds get out of control, chase through gardens, kill pets, and get into Sal's brother's house. Anyone in charge of any other pack of dogs doing such things, in this country, would be dealt with pretty swiftly.

The Panorama programme sounds grim. I suppose they must have had the agreement of the government of the country concerned. Not that that would justify letting biological agents loose.
BTW Sal, there's a BSE thread in "ask h2g2" going, I passed on what you'd said about Nick Brown there. Hope you don't mind. It seemed to fit into the discussion at the time.

Back to the Olympics to see how the Decathlon is going;
Wz

PS.
I hadnt seen we had a new page of this thread when I posted the above! I'm way behind. I'll catch up tomorrow. Just one comment, I've no idea what the history is for my village but a mole kindly unearthed a Charles I silver shilling in my mother's garden and left it for her, lying on top of his molehill. (Trying to make amends maybe). I've always wondered whether the shilling's original owner is down there too?
Wz

Hi Wazungu, StM and Bran,

This has got to be the best chat line on h2g2.

Bran, 550 footnotes, but the real test is how many per page? You used to average around seven or eight, and sometimes there was more footnoting than text on a page. But I think Wazungu has a point. A complete break for a week or so could be worth a thought - it is not as if you will forget it all, is it? And are Wazungu and StM aware of your edited Anglo-Saxon/Viking/King Arthur entries on h2g2? And wazungu, what does SP mean on an essay?

A mole exhumes a Charles I coin, and the barn where soldiers stayed before Naseby. Do coincidences get any better than that? StM, thanks for the info on the two Bosworths. My interest in history turns from passion to obsession for the period 1300-1500, but I did not realise that there are two Bosworths, and how they came to be 'separated' or at least distinguished from one another.

Earls Colne gets its name from the River Colne, and the Earls of Oxford (the de Veres). It nestles in the Colne Valley in one of the most exquisite settings imaginable, alongside Colne Engaine, White Colne and Wakes Colne. There used to be a monastery, or priory, there but virtually nothing remains of it now. It was the traditional burial place of the de Vere earls of Oxford, and other prominent de Vere family members. In the seventeen or early eighteen hundreds, a 'new manor' was built on or over the old priory. The then owners discovered large quantities of old documents, parchment, deeds, rolls etc. Dime a dozen stuff in those days, I suppose, and maybe the owners had no sense of history. Anyway, they burned the lot. All that stuff on the de Veres, lost forever. Take care, y'all.

Walter.

Evening everyone,
We're of aware of Bran's edited entries now! SP stood for "SPELLING!!!" Walter. I always interpreted it to mean atrocious rather than fantastic spelling.
I agree to some extent with what you say about politicians, and working for one you should know. But Sal's right, they need keeping an eye on. It's as well that they know ordinary people pick up on what they say - particularly when it's not about party politics. In my experience I will get a reply of some sort. Which, if appropriate, I'll pass on to a suitable lobby group. I don't know how it works in Oz but lobby groups seem to have a fair amount of influence here. In my previous job I got involved in writing to MPs. It was a game we had to play. The urban councils all lobbied on their special needs, if rural councils didn't put up counter arguments their grants decreased.
In all other respects however I agree that politicians are best ignored! And I very seldom listen to them . With one exception. Lembit Opik, a nearby Liberal Democrat. He is entertainigg, doesn't take himself seriously and campaigns for the Government to deal with the possibility of earth being hit by an asteroid! His grandfather was an astronomer.

Had a look at your village site Sal. 120 years ago Husbands Bosworth was placed by reference to rivers and now it's by reference to trunk roads. In another 120 years what will it be? Maybe web site addresses. I wish I knew more about Ash's past.
I also had a look at the Earls Colne site. Its very impressive as well. It gave me some ideas to add to my Ash entry. Not that it will ever be as comprehensive as these sites. The drawings for Colne Engaine were beautiful.

Cooling porridge? ... For the fevered brow, Bran?
I'm away swimming this evening, Wz.

Good evening everyone

I tried to chat with you all yesterday night but h2g2 went awol. Someone else also mentioned it so I think it must really have been h2g2 and not just my computer. Anyway, we seem to be all present and correct now.

I've read Bran's Viking, King Arthur and Celt entries Walter (thank you for pointing them out). They're very interesting. I particularly liked the sceptical tone adopted when dealing with the King Arthur legend. I have to confess, I'm not all that hot on history, but it seems to me that as far as King Arthur, Robin Hood and the Loch Ness Monster are concerned, most of what people (and particularly journalists) say can be taken with a pinch of salt. There was a booklet circulating in Market Harborough (6 miles from HB) in which some nut (and I know he was nut because I met him when he tried to sell me one of his booklets on my door step) argued that Camelot was actually at Lubenham (between MH and HB). He mentioned a place called Offa's Dyke (which he interpreted as Arthur's Dyke) as some sort of evidence. In your History of the Celts chronology you have Arthur pegged around 516 AD and this guy Offa at 785 AD. The trouble is, archaeologists and journalists seem to just let their imaginations run riot and then present all their wild ideas to the public as though they were facts - and the public love it and just swallow it wholesale. I liked the History of the Celts chronology. It's a nice, economical way of getting in a lot of information.

I took my first guide entry over to the Peer Review page yesterday so that had me all jittery and unnerved. If any of you are interested in bugs you're welcome to have a look. It's about periodical cicadas. They have a most unusual life cycle. So far, it's been well received.

That Tome of yours: excuse my impertinence but I only say this because it's worked for me at much much smaller scales. If you spend a few days just shoving all the key points into a spread sheet with fields listing the who, where, what, when, why and how, you won't feel guilty about not working on it. It's a "tub and min" job. It's just data input so your mind can relax and wander but you have the advantage of knowing you're doing something useful. You'll be able to sort the data by all the different fields and see the picture from different angles. That's my last interference and I'm sorry for being so nosey. I, who have never written a book in my life - what do I know?

You have a point Wazungu. If it's your boss who despises you for your spelling and grammar, you have a problem, but on the brighter side, so does s/he. But seriously, your spelling and grammar seem fine to me. Apart from anything else, we produce most of our work with word processors now which have inbuilt spellcheckers. The grammar checkers are worse than useless of course.

I don't mind you passing on anything I say. That's how people get to know what's going on - people passing on information.

What kind of Philistine would burn ancient documents Walter? I suppose it's not really such a mystery. It just depends on what matters to people. Doesn't the idea just make you cringe though? I remember a programme a while ago about the Dead Sea Scrolls. I seem to remember something about local people burning them to keep warm before anyone realized what they were. They couldn't read the things, they didn't know a bunch of daft foreigners would pay a fortune for them and they were cold. It all makes sense.

If, as some people believe, there are aliens among us and plotting against us, I think they must be politicians. Every time there's an election, I vote - or at least I go and spoil my ballot paper. Usually I vote for someone who has no chance of getting in, specifically because they have no chance of getting in. It annoys me when a candidate who wins when very few people have voted for them, smugly says all their supporters stayed at home because they're content with things the way they are (implying that all those people who didn't vote, really voted for them by abstaining). I do listen to them but I hardly ever believe a word they say. I haven't heard of your entertaining Lembit Opik, Wazungu. It's a definite plus if they're a bit of a wit. I find Ken Livingston, Tony Benn and the Beast of Balsover very entertaining - but I wouldn't vote for them (unless I thought they hadn't a chance of winning, of course).

Good night all.
Sal

Morning Sal, Waz and Walter

A bit of a relief indeed to be back. I tried several times yesterday and could not get on. Came over all twitchy! Walter and I exchanged emails to confirm that it was the site and not one of us.

Thanks for all the words of support and advice regarding The Tome, gang. I really appreciate it. By coincidence Sal, I had just done a sort of spreadsheet/table in which I set out all my primary source data for the current chapter, and another putting the ideas down, etc. This appears to have helped a lot and I feel that I am now past the obstacle. I also had a good chat to my supervisor - who, as we speak, is in Florence in some villa with his ladyfriend (I go green ... we spoke before he left, btw) - who said to just start somewhere and edit later. It has really been a learning experience for me to write something that is not going to be submitted for a year or two. It s very different than writing an essay, for example, that you are going to put in soon after completion and therefore have to have pretty well right early in the piece. I go all perfectionistic, and agonise over every sentence in such pieces. Something on a longer time line means that it will have to be edited anyway, so you may as well just get some words down and play with it later on. That is my little pearl of wisdom for the morning.

Thanks for the answers to the fox-hunting questions. I get the idea of going riding in a group and all that, but not the fox-chasing. Whay have the fox at all? I join one and all in outrage at the trespassing.

Thanks for the feedback on the entries Sal. One of the things that I like doing with historical material is making sure the chronology is right (or as right as can be expected), and the Celts one came out of this (I give it to students). Interesting about Offa's Dyke being claimed as Arthur's. The archaeology is indeed not certain about the Dyke (the when and the what for), but the historical references do place it within Offa of Mercia's reign (c.760-795, or so). I guess almost any geographical feature in Britain is fair game for an Arthur association, and such sites run the length of the island. Lubenham seems like an odd place for a Camelot, being in Northhamptonshire. I wonder if he found some ruin that he thought was it?

(The last three paragraphs have begun with "thanks" - what say I try for something new)

I had the rather surreal experience of having a tooth out on Thursday. First one as a grown-up. I say surreal as the surgery had a large window which had a great view over greenery to The Mountain, and I had brought a tape of Beethoven no.7 to listen to during the proceedings - so I was all calm in terms of head-space. But at the same time I had this guy pushing and pulling my tooth with his pliers, head-rocking back and forth and so forth, and the undisguisable sound of tooth-cracking just making it over the Beethoven. Quite strange. Feels odd having this space in my mouth. But all is healing well with a minimum of pain.

Cooling porridge for a fevered brow Waz! I laughed out loud (or is that LOL?). Actually, I have to let it cool as I am a hot food whimp.

Have a great weekend everyone.
Cheerio
Bran.

P.S> Where is the Earles Colne site?

Good morning everyone,

And what a good to be alive morning it is. After writing this I intend to speed away from the office and mow the lawns - on my brand new ride-on mower. I'm so looking forward to it, except that we have two pairs of plovers currently calling our lawns home, and both pairs have three babies so I will have to leave some grass uncut. And if there are parents who are more courageous in defending their chicks than spur-winged plovers, I've yet to see them.

StM, it was a mistake to mention Offa's dyke, because now there will be no stopping Bran. And as I just said somehwere else StM, that is a marvellous article on Cicadas, and highly recommended reading. What I like is the lightness of touch that you have brought to the subject (perhaps I ought to pop back over to the other forum and repeat this).

Wazungu, I'm not sure if I am on the right tram, but is your boss giving you a hard time about spelling? My boss has just completed his PhD (yes, he is Doctor Minister now), but he could not pass muster in a spelling test for twelve year olds. I have had essays where the examiner inserts, or removes, commas and stuff, and highlights typos with red biro (how I hate that!!!) yet when they write their comments the remarks are (a) illegible and (b) incoherent and (c) usually with one or more words mis-spelled and (d) grammatically incorrect. I have sometimes felt like returning a marked essay with my comments on the examiner's comments, but have been assured this is not smart, so thus far have refrained. Bran marks essays, and I am reliably told he is a veritable terror!! And Bran, I think it is lovely to start sentences or paras with 'thanks' and it is a terrific word that can't be used too often.

Having teeth extracted to Beethoven's Seventh. Definitely not my choice of music for such an experience, but then again you are perfectly entitled to whatever comfort you choose in such circumstances.

Wazungu, I don't want to spoil our conversations by letting politicians intrude very much, but if at any time you are thinking of writing to or lobbying one of them, and you think I could offer you any hints or tricks of the trade, please let me know. I don't mean for one moment to suggest that you are not eminently capable of dealing with a pollie; it's just that when you work for them after a while you get a feel for what gets them where it counts, and my experience is that they are the same the world over, so what works here would probably work in the UK. I guess you must have watched 'Yes Minister'; well most people think it is a timeless and superbly done comedy - we regard it as a training manual (and I am yet to meet a Minister who does not have the books in her/his office). Take care y'all,

Walter.

Sal it's been my belief for a long time that William Hague is not of this planet! And as for Redwood and Mandelson....
Bran, since Walter has unaccountably not said; Earls Colne can be found on www.colnevalley.demon.co.uk.

About my spelling - it's only OK because I watch it and have a complete speller to hand! But it doesn't really worry me, I've a pretty good idea what words to look up and, when handwriting, when to scribble illegibly. It was a previous boss who was uptight about spelling and he never saw any of mine that hadn't been processed by his secretary!
I do some exam marking myself, sometimes I see words and think "that looks odd" followed by "but it's probably right" .

Just to add to the list we have somewhere in Shropshire being claimed as the real site of Camelot. I've been reading your entries, Bran, too. It was the Viking one I dwelt on 'tho they're all interesting. I always assumed that the Vikings did what they did because they came from a fighting culture and wanted the plunder. But I also thought they did have horned helmets. I was watching a recent Time Team (TV) programme in York where one of the archaeologists had kids out measuring shop frontages. To find any that matched Viking units. They found a whole street of them. Parcels of land in the centre of York are still in their original Viking measurements. .
I've heard that Orkney Islanders think they're more Viking than Scot, do you think that is likely?

I havn't seen your cicadas entry yet Sal, but I intend to.

Walter, thank you for the offer of help with the pollies. Great word for them. I only have a rough draft of a letter at present, when I'm clearer I may ask your opinion on the general gist of it. I'm slow with words, I prefer letters when they're in equations.
BTW we had a beautiful day here today, sun, autumn colours, blue mists in the distance this evening. I should have mowed the lawn but didn't. Now if I had a ride-on mower......Mine runs on a 100% renewable energy source! Also wish I had the plovers problem. Once upon a time there were flocks of lapwings around here.

Have a good evening everyone,
Wz.

Good morning Wazungu, StM and Bran,

Whoops, can't explain the lapse about Earls Colne but thanks Wz for providing the info to Bran. And Wazungu, you mark exam papers too? What sort of subjects? I have two essays due in a fortnight, although at least one is going to miss the cut. Currently working on 'The Golden Age of Elizabeth I: All that Glisters is not Gold'. What are your immediate impressions when someone speaks of the 'Elizabethan Age'?

The basketball was on teev last evening and we found it a bit tedious, as one does, so switched channels and found Parkinson interviewing Joan Collins and William Hague. Frankly, we should have switched back to the basketball, or turned the teev off and gone down the pub. Must say that I can't envisage Hague ever winning the big one, although if John Howard can make it to the top I guess there is hope for everyone. And I can't understand why such a fuss is made over Ms Collins, whose contribution to the show was telling us that Cary Grant used his towels until they were nearly threadbare and sewed buttons on his shirt cuffs, that modern (i.e younger than her i.e just about everyone) women dress sloppily and inappropriately, and that Bette Davis was a 'terror'.

The mowing went okay until heavy rain set in, so still some to do. The ride-on is not quite essential, but close, what with two plus acres of fiercely growing grass. At our last place we had the ultimate lawnmower, our mare, which was just the perfect arrangement but sadly the new place cannot sustain her, so she remains at the old home while I have to wear ear protectors against the din of a four-stroke motor. At the old place, I never had to protect my ears against the mare, even though she was partial to nuzzling me around the head. And we used to share carrots, and in summer an occasional beer. You can't share a carrot with a mower, let alone a beer. And mowers don't provide a constant source of manure for the garden either. Take care y'all.

Walter

Good morning,
Elizabethan age - immediate impressions;
Shakespeare, taverns full of men in tights, filthy streets, women wearing wigs, you can probably tell that my last Elizabethan influence was the film "Shakespeare in Love". Before the film it would have been a time of relative peace during which Shakespeare flourished, explorers went to new worlds, colourful clothes, music - recorders etc, odd dances, tudor roses, leaning half timbered buildings, I'm afraid my study of history didn't go beyond O levels and even O level didn't cover the Elizabethan age.
I mark accountancy papers, part of a professional, not academic, qualification. Unfortunately we have to be very restrained with the red ink. Can't write anything that might influence a subsequent marker's opinion. Which takes all the fun out of it!

Collins and Hague - who dreamt that combination up? I've been watching part of the olympics party, the lifeguards marching band was priceless. And the Great White Shark and Waltzing Matilda - great fun.
But it's another nice day here and I have to go and get the grass mown. I hope for the last time this year. Wz.

Good Afternoon everyone

It's Sunday, the sun's shining, the dogs are barking, the closing celebrations of the Olympics are on tv and my guests will be arriving soon. All's well.

Bran, you came over all twitchy when h2g2 lost its marbles? That's a relief. So did I. It's probably a bad sign. I used to wander the rooms and corridors of CompuServe, but I never got attached to the people and the place as I seem to be doing here. I don't know what it is about h2g2 and it's community - it somehow seems more real and the people you talk to regularly feel like friends in a way that I haven't found elsewhere online.

Glad to hear the Tome project has settled into place in your mind and is starting to move. The advice from your supervisor seems to have done the trick. It makes sense. Pseudo-Zen: every journey starts with the first step.

Wazungu, Shropshire has the real Camelot as well? Would the real Camelot please stand up? You see Bran, they're all over the land like a rash! Lubenham's in Leicestershire by the way - not far from the border with Northamptonshire, so you weren't far out. I expect Northamptonshire probably claims a Camelot too, in any case.

I thought the Vikings did it because they were boys. If they were alive today and living in Millwall, they'd be football hooligans. Or am I over simplifying? I just thought it was that hormone that boys have in great abundance that makes them a bit over exuberant at times - perhaps the Vikings just had a bit more testosterone than most and a bit of spare time on their hands to go out and put it to some use. Shame about the headwear. I liked the idea of hats with horns.

One of my friends (who should be here any time now) had a tooth replaced with a cap last week. She says it feels really odd - like having a tin toffee where her real tooth used to be. This is the bit you may find difficult to believe: she broke the real one on, probably, the safest food known to man (as far as teeth are concerned). Banana. In fairness, I think it was dried banana. But still ...

Yes, you're right about the lapwings Wazungu. Where have they all gone? They were here in great numbers all over the fields until very recently, but I haven't seen or heard one for a couple of years now.

My brother and his partner (business) have ride-on mowers Walter. What is it about men and their lawn mowers? They love the things! They show just the same level of enthusiasm as you. It seems every other day they're itching to get out of the office to rush home and play with their mowers. I hate mowing lawns - but then I've never had a ride-on mower (or indeed a lawn big enough to warrant one). Tut, boys!

It's ever so nice of you to be so unstintingly positive about my cicada piece. I must say I've been rather surprise at the generally good response. I thought only a few bug lovers like myself, Amy the Ant and maybe a few others would even bother to look at it, but there's been quite a bit of chat over at the Peer Review page. Makes me feel all warm and content.

Re your boss and his spelling - isn't it funny how we think about what it is to be intelligent? Some very clever people couldn't spell to save their lives. Also, I hear that the exams to qualify as an accountant are ever so hard and a lot of people fail them, yet I've come across several accountants who seem unable to add up. Intelligence obviously resides elsewhere.

I think you've picked out three definite aliens there, Wazungu. You can almost see their antenna jiggling about on their foreheads.

Must go and prepare for my chums to arrive.
Sal

PS Just about to post this and spotted your new post Wazungu. Elizabethan age: don't forget the horrible smell and the disease, fleas, lice, scabies and that sort of thing. Must go ... they'll be here any moment now.

Good Morning Wazungu, StM and Bran,

Well, it's over. There is going to be an emotional let-down and hangover of truly monumental proportions, I can tell you.

StM - lawnmowers. I detest the things; expensive, noisy, smelly, dangerous and prone to not working at crucial times. They are, however, a necessary trade-off for having park-like lawns and gardens. With the hand-pushed motor mower, it used to take me something like twelve hours to mow the grass, which is an awful lot of time away from the really good things in life. With the ride-on, I've done about three-quarters of the job in about three hours. Should also mention that my beloved mowed for about half the time and I think it is going to be very much a shared labour of love.

Wazungu, I loved your 'impressions' of Elizabethan England, both before and after Shakespeare in Love (the most enjoyable film I've seen in ages). But StM probably is right to bring us romantics back down to earth with a quick reality check.

To work. Take care, y'all.

Walter.

Hi Sal, Waz and Walter

Well ... what an active forum this is. I don't look at it for a day and there are messages galore. This is what I mean about getting twitchy without H2G2; there is just so much going on. I haven't ever linked in to any other discussion/chatroom type site - apart from reading some rather distressing as well as amusing fan club postings on the ER website that I couldn't bring myself to participate in (it was more for my education into internet culture, such as it is). But, who needs anything more anyway?

The Viking material is all good stuff isn't it (no Walter, I don't need you to reply here - for your interest Sal and Waz, Walter does not like Viking history ... it's a childhood thing I suspect). The horned helmet-wearing appears to be of 19th century origin. No early record or drawing has them wearing such helmets - they would have been a bit cumbersome for warfare anyway I reckon. Great suggestions for why they did it - sheer bloodthirstiness would be up there for me, but it is not PC in the literature these days to say this. We are being increasingly encouraged to see the early medieval past through rose-coloured glasses, a development which I am a bit non-plussed about. Was the York Viking program about the Yorvik site Waz? I haven't been there, but understand the display is quite good. Oh and thanks for the Earls Colne site - I shall look at it it later, and try to see what it is Walter gets so excited about. The Viking heritage of the Orkneys and Shetlands is pretty strong. They only came back under the control of the Scottish throne in the 1400s (or there abouts), as the default on an unpaid dowry from the king of Denmark. So, they had been occupied and under Scandinavian control for up to 600 years. Long enough for quite a bit of a legacy - all the placenames on the islands are of Scandinavian origin.

A Camelot in Shropshire, eh? Would that be Wroxeter, between Shrewsbury and Telford? I remember reading a fairly recent book that had something about the place - it is a fairly impressive Roman site, and would have been within the Welsh kingdom of Powys after the end of Roman rule.

I saw that Parkinson as well Walter, or at least part of it. My impression was that Hague was trying desperately not to be seen as a kind of obsessed political "wunderkind" - just as an ordinary guy who happens to love politics. Didn't quite carry it off, I think, partly as he seemed also to be doing a very good male version of Maggie Thatcher's accent (couldn't have a Tory leader sound like a Yorkshireman, could we?). I thought he told some amusing stories, but as soon as he started the politic-speak he lost it for me. He and Joan Collins then started to sound just a little scary.

Well, time for a cup of coffee and a dive back into the Tome. Till next time ....

Cheerio
Bran.

Evening,
It wasn't Yorvik, somewhere I've yet to see, Bran. It was a dig last year in Walmsgate. They found "a large tenement block - very similar to what was found at Coppergate in the late 1970s". I think Coppergate is the Yorvik site.
I see what you mean about the rose coloured medieval past. There was a BBC2 programme on this period yesterday. I was surprised by the comments on King Alfred's time. On the other hand the junior school level history (ie mine) was slanted too much the other way. It would never have occurred to me for instance that King Alfred had visited Rome, as he apparently did, as a child.
It used to be rose coloured Tudors, but that's not fashionable now.
I think Shropshire's Camelot is in the south of the county or I would have remembered the name. There was a small ruined castle on the site. It wasn't Wroxeter, that's been excavated and this site hadn't been. Wroxeter is impressive by all accounts - somewhere else I ought to visit!

I'm glad I'm not the only one to hear Mrs T's voice coming through Will Hague.

Thanks for the answer re cicadas/crickets Sal. I think it was crickets I listened to every night all night for nine months on end in Zimbabwe. Such a relief when they all shut up in winter! Silent nights! They definately chirped and didn't sound like water on hot oil. And they went on for months, not weeks. I meant, but forgot, to ask where the British cicadas are to be found.
Re adding up, I have the occasional problem myself, but it's a bit dismaying to find accountancy candidates making errors of principle in their calculations. I don't know what counts as intelligence but I was impressed by a speaker who said all the facts we'd spent so much time learning were irrelevant. We'd barely ever use them again. What we'd really been taught was how to think, research and problem solve. I liked that, but then I have a really bad memory so I would.

I've never spoken to anyone online other than here so I can't compare. But I can say I really like the h2g2 community, present company particularly! It can't be all down to Hitchhikers can it? I wouldn't say I was a fan, I just enjoyed the books.

Walter, accountants/romantics? A contradition in terms. BTW an excellent justification for having a ride on mower. I don't have the space for one, even before I dug up half the grass. And there's less every year as the colony of speedwell that took root under the apple tree grows.

Good morning Wazungu, StM and Bran,

Wazungu, anyone in Australia can relate to the blessed relief of SILENCE after months of cicada calls. Beautiful little critters but my oh my can they penetrate the ear drums. At the moment, because it is wettish, our frogs are chattering away most of the evening, but they are nowhere near as 'intrusive' as the cicadas. One (I think it is the same one) keeps appearing on the kitchen wall; he is quite small, and has an orange tummy and a brownish-greenish back. And the cutest face. He and Ben appear to be getting on quite well too.

Rose coloured Tudors! What a great expression. You say that this view is not fashionable now; why is that? It seems to me that the twin trends in contemporary historical research and writing are 'don't write it unless you can prove it', and colour it in hues of grey and murk. And a confession: my interest in Vikings and Anglo-Saxon history waned dramatically in direct proportion to the marks I received. On one infamous occasion, Bran and I did the same topic for an essay. Bran got a 90 for his, at the time the best mark in living memory. I got a 78. We both included dictionary definitions of the word 'formidable' (it was the key word in the essay topic). My essay was marked down with the comment 'Is this really necessary?', but Bran's was annotated by the marker with a tick and 'Yes, good.' And the same person marked both essays! No wonder I jumped both back and forward a few centuries to where the markers were more generous and had a penchant for sharing red wine with their mature-age students. Although to be fair, Bran consistently writes history in masterful fashion, and is gaining very real status here in Australia and overseas for his work and knowledge.

For now, take care all,

Walter.

Hi All and Everyone

A quick post - I have to confess to being a bit of an Alfred fan, Waz. The visit to Rome was interesting, as it was later claimed that the Pope blessed him, and thus his kingship was meant to have been divinely ordained. That fitted in nicely with him being the Viking-beater - i.e. the Christian king overcomes the pagan horde.

I'm very jealous of the ride-on mower Walter. Do you think I could ride it one day?

Cheerio
Bran.