Thursday, September 25, 2008
The times they are a changing
The British government has proposed some earth-shatteringly major changes to accession to the throne of England. Among (of course I meant to say "amongst") them are that Roman Catholics could be king or queen and that the first-born child of a reigning monarch would be his or her heir regardless of its gender and that the Privvy Council's powers be limited especially where Scotland and Wales are concerned. These are astonishing changes to conventions that have been in effect since late in the seventeenth century (yes, that's over three hundred years ago), a mere snap of the fingers in the duration of the universe but a very long time in British history.

If he is in any way aware of such things, Henry VIII must be spinning in his grave like a router blade - his and Catherine's daughter Mary would simply have been his successor and oh so many heads wouldn't have needed to be felled.

Despite low approval ratings, Gordon Brown may have a permanent place in history, after all.

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Permalink | 3 comment(s) | posted by jau at 9:19 AM

Tuesday, June 24, 2008
IammmmmmW
It's time to revive the oft-quoted, utterly descriptive and apt phrase "it's a mad mad mad mad mad mad world." It is very much needed. This time, there's a story from the U.K., a place I revere for many things - scenery (Cornwall, for starters), literature, television and theater, flowers, gentility and generosity of culture, etc., etc., that challenges one's ability to laugh at the absurd.

The Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in Kent, usually thought of as a particularly balanced and solid corner of the kingdom and certainly neither insane nor off its collective rocker, has edicted that council members immediately cease using the term "brainstorming" and substitute the phrase "thought showers." The Telegraph is a paper thought of fairly well; it's not known for reporting false events or humans who give birth to Martians and asking readers to take them seriously. Nevertheless, today it relates that the TW Council chiefs took this step because they "feared the word brainstorming might offend mentally ill people and those with epilepsy."

But since "brainstorming" is used to describe people working together and stimulating each other's ideas so as to gather better ideas than they might on their own, then even if somehow one made a connection between "brainstorming" and "mentally ill people and those with epilepsy" (although how they might do so is beyond me), how could it be at all offensive?

And it occurs to me that meteorologists should take organized offense at the term "thought showers" and protest that the TW Council is publicly humiliating their intelligence.

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Permalink | 1 comment(s) | posted by jau at 4:41 PM

Friday, November 9, 2007
Crisis averted
Apparently it was dramatic - dare I say it was astonishing and gorgeous, as a matter of fact - but it was not particularly life-threatening. The high tides and gigantic waves in Great Britain. Check out the photos for breath-taking sights including a foolhardy surfer (is that a tautology?).

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 10:54 AM

Tuesday, August 7, 2007
New (to me) blog
Just discovered Across the Pond thanks to Frenchless in France (a favorite of mine). I'll be spending more time there but for now, I am soaking up the wonderful photos in this fantastic post on England's southwest coast, one of my absolutely favorite places on earth.

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Permalink | 0 comment(s) | posted by jau at 11:54 AM