Swan Sea

A couple of weeks ago, K noticed that a nest had been built in a nearby stream. There were no eggs in it at the time. However, last week four appeared. Not sure how long it takes to incubate a swan egg, but with any luck, we should have some new Winchester swanlings soon. We're a little concerned about the precarious position of the nest, though. It is in a stream that runs alongside a paved path. The stream is only a couple of feet deep and max ten feet wide. A hooligan with enough motivation could easily destroy the nest or steal the eggs to use in some inane prank (whatever it is kids do these days... you know what they say about idle hands). Winchester is fairly free from the type of hooligan that would perpetrate something like this, so we'll just keep our fingers crossed. It's not like I'm going to pitch a tent out there to stand guard. I though about it, but I think I'd have a hard time getting the time off work.

Here are some pics:



We'll be keeping an eye on how things progress with these parents-to-be. K went by it today and she thinks there might be a fifth egg. Still to come: a picture with the swan actually sitting ON the nest.

Spring Has Sprung

We've been having a perfect lazy Sunday today. All our chores were done yesterday, the weather is glorious, just cleaned the bird bath, K is in the kitchen baking, life is good. Spring has taken a firm step into 2006.

A few random pictures:





A typical English street lined
with terraced houses.









The carnies are in town -
a cheesy carnival set up in the park.









There was a leak in our water
main. This pit was dug up 2 weeks
ago, then the plumber went for a
holiday. Typical England! :)

V for Vendetta

We just saw V for Vendetta this afternoon at The Screen - Winchester. Didn't know much about the movie, going in. Holy crap was it good! So good that I wanted to buy another ticket to see again immediately. I'm not going to write a critical review or anything (you can read a newspaper or magazine if you want that), I just want to say that it was an amazing film. Entertaining, thrilling, thought-provoking, meaningful, important.

V for Vendetta!

V for Vendetta!

V for Vendetta!

The Ides Of March

Word of the Day for Wednesday March 15, 2006

Ides \YDZ\, plural noun:
In the ancient Roman calendar the fifteenth day of March, May, July, and October, and the thirteenth day of the other months.

In one measure of how fast this calendar has become in recent years, by the Ides of March 1984, seven states had held primaries, said Rhodes Cook, the author of "Race for the Presidency".
-- Robin Toner, "Both Parties Seek Ways to Tame Fast and Furious Primary Process.," New YorkTimes, January 24, 2000

Oh he is a very fast horse, and on the Ides of November you will know just how fast he is.
-- "The Aristocracy of the Democratic Party.," New York Times, November 9, 1864

A soothsayer bids you beware of the Ides of March.
-- William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

There is a poem inviting Philodemos to dinner which he is supposed to have written himself, and one of the other guests is Artemidorus, very likely the same son of Theopompos of Cnidos who warned Caesar about the Ides of March in 44 BC on his way to his assassination.
-- Peter Levi, Virgil: His Life and Times

---

Ides comes from Latin idus, probably from an Etruscan word meaning "division" of a month.

The Insidious "R"

There is an invasive species, a pernicious weed, infecting the (British) English language. It crosses all class boundaries, infecting the speaker regardless of dialect -- though it does favor some dialects more than others. I refer to this phenomenon as The Insidious "R". It is so named because an "r" sound has crept into the pronounciation of words and phrases where it shouldn't be. It has infiltrated so completely that most people have no idea it is there and look at me with great confusion if I point it out.

As an "armchair linguist", I have been observing this condition since we moved to England. I have studied the weed's habits and I now feel I can pin it down a bit better. Well enough to put it into words, at least.

The Insidious "R" most commonly appears in words or phrases in which a short "a" sound (as in pasta) is followed by another vowel sound. I suppose it came about for the purpose of smoothing the transition between the two vowel sounds. American English seems to be relatively free from this -- with the exception of certain dialects/accents in the Northeast -- so it is possible to pronounce the aforementioned sound combination without the "r".

To illustrate the phenomenon, I will give a few examples that I have been "collecting". I will first give the word or phrase with the proper spelling and then spell the "infected" version phonetically:

1) Pasta and sauce -> pah-sturh-and sauce

2) Hurricane Wilma is... -> hurrican Will-murriz

3) Cheetahs in Africa... -> cheeters in Africa
(an interesting one given that the two vowel sounds were technically already broken up by the "s" in Cheetahs)

4) Willy Wonka and... -> Willy Wong-kurrh-and
(cracked up laughing when I first heard this one)

5) Yeah, I... -> yair-eye

6) Clawing -> clor-ring
(the first time I heard it within a word as opposed to between two words)

7) Beta SP -> beeturh ess pee
(proves that it the phenomenon stems from the pronounciation only and have nothing to do with spelling or some unwritten rule of grammar)

8) Agenda or... -> a-jendurh-or

9) From now on... -> frumm now-ron

10) I don't want to hear it -> ...too-rear-it
(only in dialects in which the leading "h" is dropped in pronounciation)

11) Any word ending in a short "a" sound in which the speaker is either fading out (digressing) or following with "uh" or "uhm"

There are countless other examples, but I have listed the most common types of infection.I hope that makes it a bit clearer. Next time you hear a Brit speaking, try to pay attention to this and see if you notice it, too. And if you yourself are British, please try out a few phrases like the ones above and see if you find any truth to it.

Then again, who am I to talk? I pronounce "t" like a "d" (wa der, bu dder, etc.), just like most Americans.

Pancake Day

Yesterday, we partook in a British tradition; that of Pancake Day. The first time someon told me about this (I think it was the Head Chef at The Belgian Monk), I thought it was a joke, but alas, it is not.

It is strangely linked with Shrove Tuesday, which also falls on Fat Tuesday. You'll definitely get Fat if you Shrove enough pancakes and syrup down your gullet. For more info about Pancake Day, see this cheesy website (which obviously hasn't been updated since last year): Pancake Day. Anyway, it's an excuse to eat lots of pancakes. Something that K and I were happy to indulge in.

We made American pancakes, though. We do like the thin European pancakes (I say "European" because English pancakes are the same as Swedish pancakes are the same as Danish pancakes, etc.), but since we hadn't had any of the more airy American pancakes in quite some time, we went for that instead. Complete with Maple syrup. Plus some pan fried Gammon (ham) steak. As you can see by the photo, K did the pancake cooking. I made the batter and then got discouraged after my first pancake didn't turn out. So, I let the American take over.

It was a tasty dinner and we have some pancakes left over in the freezer. However, once per year is far too seldom to have a Pancake Day, so I think we'll do it again soon.