Saturday 30 April 2011

Nothing Rhymes with Nothing: Arcade Fire.

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Music for your listening pleasure...





Here
Are my place and time
And here in my own skin
I can finally begin
Let the century pass me by
Standing under night sky
Tomorrow means nothing

I was only a child then
Feeling barely alive when
I heard a song from the speaker of a passing car
And prayed to a dying star
The memory's fading
I can almost remember singing la, la la, la la la la
La, la la, la la la la

We watched the end of the century
Compressed on a tiny screen
A dead star collapsing and we could see
That something was ending
Are you through pretending
We saw its signs in the suburbs

You could never have predicted
That he could see through you
Kasparov, Deep Blue, nineteen-ninety six
Your mind's pulling tricks now
The show is over so take a bow
We're living in the shadows la, la la, la la la la
La, la la, la la la la

Hey 
Put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey
Put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
I feel it, it's leaving me

La la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la
La la, la la, la la la la



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Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers.

Around The World In 90 Gaffes (Part 2).

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More sound-bites from HRH...



31. "Aren't most of you descended from pirates?" In the Cayman Islands, 1994.

32. "You bloody silly fool!" To an elderly car park attendant who made the mistake of not recognising him at Cambridge University in 1997.

33. "Oh! You are the people ruining the rivers and the environment." To three young employees of a Scottish fish farm at Holyrood Palace in 1999.

34. "If you travel as much as we do you appreciate the improvements in aircraft design of less noise and more comfort – provided you don't travel in something called economy class, which sounds ghastly." To the Aircraft Research Association in 2002.

35. "The French don't know how to cook breakfast." After a breakfast of bacon, eggs, smoked salmon, kedgeree, croissants and pain au chocolat – from Gallic chef Regis Crépy – in 2002.

36. "And what exotic part of the world do you come from?" Asked in 1999 of Tory politician Lord Taylor of Warwick, whose parents are Jamaican. He replied: "Birmingham."

37. "Oh no, I might catch some ghastly disease." On a visit to Australia in 1992, when asked if he wanted to stroke a koala bear.

38. "It doesn't look like much work goes on at this University." Overheard at Bristol University's engineering facility. It had been closed so that he and the Queen could officially open it in 2005.

39. "I wish he'd turn the microphone off!" The Prince expresses his opinion of Elton John's performance at the 73rd Royal Variety Show, 2001.

40. "Do you still throw spears at each other?" Prince Philip shocks Aboriginal leader William Brin at the Aboriginal Cultural Park in Queensland, 2002.




41. "Where's the Southern Comfort?" On being presented with a hamper of southern goods by the American ambassador in London in 1999.

42. "Were you here in the bad old days? ... That's why you can't read and write then!" To parents during a visit to Fir Vale Comprehensive School in Sheffield, which had suffered poor academic reputation.

43. "Ah you're the one who wrote the letter. So you can write then? Ha, ha! Well done." Meeting 14-year old George Barlow, whose invited to the Queen to visit Romford, Essex, in 2003.

44. "So who's on drugs here?... HE looks as if he's on drugs." To a 14-year-old member of a Bangladeshi youth club in 2002.

45. "You could do with losing a little bit of weight." To hopeful astronaut, 13-year-old Andrew Adams.

46. "You have mosquitoes. I have the Press." To the matron of a hospital in the Caribbean in 1966.

47. "The man who invented the red carpet needed his head examined." While hosts made effort to greet a state visit to Brazil, 1968.

48. "During the Blitz a lot of shops had their windows blown in and sometimes they put up notices saying, 'More open than usual.' I now declare this place more open than usual." Unveiling a plaque at the University of Hertfordshire's new Hatfield campus in November 2003.

49Philip: "Who are you?"
Simon Kelner: "I'm the editor-in-chief of The Independent, Sir."
Philip: "What are you doing here?"
Kelner: "You invited me."
Philip: "Well, you didn't have to come!"
An exchange at a press reception to mark the Golden Jubilee in 2002.

50. "No, I would probably end up spitting it out over everybody." Prince Philip declines the offer of some fish from Rick Stein's seafood deli in 2000.

51. "Any bloody fool can lay a wreath at the thingamy." Discussing his role in an interview with Jeremy Paxman.

52. "Holidays are curious things, aren't they? You send children to school to get them out of your hair. Then they come back and make life difficult for parents. That is why holidays are set so they are just about the limit of your endurance." At the opening of a school in 2000.

53. "People think there's a rigid class system here, but dukes have even been known to marry chorus girls. Some have even married Americans." In 2000.

54. "Can you tell the difference between them?" On being told by President Obama that he'd had breakfast with the leaders of the UK, China and Russia.

55. "I don't know how they are going to integrate in places like Glasgow and Sheffield." After meeting students from Brunei coming to Britain to study in 1998.

56. "Do people trip over you?" Meeting a wheelchair-bound nursing-home resident in 2002.

57. "That's a nice tie... Do you have any knickers in that material?" Discussing the tartan designed for the Papal visit with then-Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie last year.

58. "I have never been noticeably reticent about talking on subjects about which I know nothing." Addressing a group of industrialists in 1961.

59. "It's not a very big one, but at least it's dead and it took an awful lot of killing!" Speaking about a crocodile he shot in Gambia in 1957.

60. "Well, you didn't design your beard too well, did you? You really must try better with your beard." To a young fashion designer at a Buckingham Palace in 2009.


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Friday 29 April 2011

The Goonies {1985}.



What's that?

You want to see a live version of Cyndi Lauper struttin' her stuff?

Fair enough, click here...

QQQQ/RRRR.

Quaquaversal: directed outward from a common center to all points, omnidirectional
Querencia: the area of the bull-ring where the bull makes its stand
Quintessence: fifth element, perfect embodiment
Quisquose: something which is difficult to deal with
Quiver: shiver, shake, quaver, tremble
Quotidian: daily, mundane, occurring every day
Radii: pl. any line segment from the center of a circle or sphere to its perimeter
Rapture: ecstasy, felicity, state of sheer happiness, happiness to the point of delirium
Rariora: pl. unusual collector’s items, outstanding items, prize pieces
Ratatouille: French dish, vegetable stew
Realm: region, kingdom, plane, domain, territory
Recherché: elegant, refined or tasteful, sophisticated
Recidivism: act of repeating punished act, chronic tendency to repeat crimes
Reciprocity: the quality or state of requiting, mutual dependence
Redivivus: revived, come back to life, resurrected, resuscitated
Redolent: piquant, aromatic, or memory-invoking
Regalia: the emblems and symbols of royalty, such as the crown and scepter, jewelry
Relinquish: voluntarily cease to keep or claim, surrender
Reliquary: receptacle, such as a coffer or shrine, for keeping or displaying sacred relics
Renaissance: rebirth or revival, renewal of cultural and intellectual thought
Repartee: swift, witty reply, conversation marked by the exchange of witty retorts 
Replica: copy or reproduction of a work of art, especially one made by the original artist
Resonance: quality of being resonant, extension of sound via sympathetic vibration
Resplendent: sublime, full of color, dazzling, splendid
Revenant: specter, ghost, one who returns after a long absence
Reverie: an idle daydream, a thought of idle desire, a surrendering to imagination
Rhapsody: impassioned, inspired, or vibrant literature or music
Rimulose: characterized by or having small chinks, fissures, or cracks
Risorgimento: a time of renewal or renaissance, revival
Roseate: rose-colored, rosy, optimistic, cheerful and bright, promising
Roué: a rake, rouge, philanderer, lothario
Rupestrian: of or composed of rock, sculpted with or by rock

Journey To The City Of No Horizon.

by Tang Yau Hoong 

1855.

On Feb. 18th, 1855, French-Canadian cattle dealer Louis Remme deposited $12,500 in gold in the Sacramento branch of the Adams & Company bank. 
Shortly afterward he received word that Page, Bacon & Company of St. Louis, the largest financial company west of the Alleghenies, had failed. 
He returned to the bank but it had already been liquidated, depleted by desperate depositors.
So Remme jumped on a horse and rode 665 miles north in 143 hours, including 10 hours of sleep and brief stops for food. He arrived in Portland, Oregon, on Feb. 26th, went straight to the Adams & Company bank, presented his certificate of deposit, and withdrew the $12,500. 
He had beaten the steamer that carried news of the bank’s failure — and Portland had no telegraph.

Thursday 28 April 2011

Heeay Bert...

"Heeay, Bert...
If Jim pulls up his pants any higher, then his balls will sit under his arms..."

Lonesome Jim {2005}.

Graham and Alistair.

Now, it's fair to say that I'm no big fan of cats.

Scratchy, boney, selfish and when they go out you might never see them again.


But could this be about to change?


You see, there are cats in the properties either side of where we live, and, well... I'm quite fond of both of them.

Alistair is a fluffy grey, with wide eyes and a mischievous sense of timing.

Graham is young, alert, naive, spry and inquisitive.


Why, I might invite them both round for tea (milk) and biscuits (whiskers)...

Zissou.

Steve

SSSS.

Sable: black, type of animal with a deep, black pelt
Salient: prominent or conspicuous, most important
Saline: salty, pertaining to salt
Salubrious: health-giving, healthy, healthful, relating to good health
Salve: remedial lotion or substance to soothe or allays
Sangfroid: composure or coolness as shown in danger, imperturbability
Sanguine: of a healthy reddish color, ruddy, blood-red, of the color of blood
Sapience: rationality, compare sentience, wisdom or sagacity
Sapphire: bright blue, valuable gemstone of a bright yet deep blue
Sardonyx: type of stone(onyx) with sandy bands
Satellite: celestial body that orbits a planet, a moon, object designed to orbit a planet
Scarlet: bright-red color
Scepter: rod or wand, usually adorned in regalia
Schefflera: type of shrubby, tropical plants which are cultivated for their showy foliage
Scialytic: dispersing shadows, typically with light
Scilicet: to wit, that is, namely
Scintilla: an infinitesimal item or mote, tiny thing
Scion: an heir or descendant, a twig or shoot used for grafting
Sclera: the whites of the eyes
Scoliosis: abnormal lateral curvature of the spine, affliction thereof
Scythe: agricultural implement with a long, curving blade fastened to a long handle
Seizure: act, condition, or instance of seizing or being seized, fit, spasm, convulsion
Selcouth: unusual, rare, unique, or strange
Selenian: designating, relating to, pertaining to, or of the moon
Semblance: apparent form of something, especially when the reality is different
Semiotician: one who studies, applies, or explains the theories of semiotics
Sempiternal: eternal, endless, lasting forever, ceaseless
Senescence: state of being old or growing old, cellular decomposition, studies thereof
Sentient: aware, characterized by the ability to feel or perceive, conscious
Sequacious: pertaining to sequence or order, following
Sequence: succession, an arrangement, related or continuous series
Sequester: to relegate to a small space, to cause to withdraw into seclusion
Seraglio: harem, harem house, brothel, living quarters thereof
Seraphim: pl. six-winged angel
Serenade: courtesy performance given to honor or express love for someone, to serenade
Serendipity: occurrence and progress of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way
Serenity: calmness, tranquility, relaxation
Sesquipedalian: having many syllables, long, given to or typified by the use of long words
Sestina: poem of six six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy
Seven: seventh integer in a series
Sforzando: music, suddenly or strongly accented
Sfumato: definition or form without hasty outline by mild gradation from light to shadow
Shadow: shade within clear boundaries
Shallow: lacking physical depth, lacking depth of intellect, emotion, or knowledge
Shimmer: to shine with a subdued, flickering or wavering light
Shiver: a tremble, to tremble, shudder, or shake
Shrivel: wither due to lack of moisture, cause to contract, lose momentum
Sibilant: hissing, making a sound that resembles hissing
Sibyl: prophetess, fortune-teller, female prognosticator
Sidereal: of, related, pertaining to, or determined by the stars or constellations
Sidle: walk in a furtive or timid manner, especially obliquely or roundabout
Sienna: yellowish-brown, type of clay
Sierra: ridge of a mountain or mountains
Sigil: seal, signet, glyph, sign or image considered magical
Silence: state or quality of soundlessness, lack of sound
Silhouette: picture as an outline, often a human profile, filled in by a solid color
Silkscreen: stencil method of printing, in which a design is put on silk or other fine mesh 
Silver: shimmering gray color, type of metal
Simplicity: state or quality of being simple, freedom of complexity or intricacy
Simulacrum: image or representation, false, unreal, or vague simulation or semblance
Sinecure: an easy occupation or one which requires almost no responsibility
Siphon: to suck through, absorb through an appendage
Sirocco: hot, humid south or southeast wind of southern Italy
Sisyphean: pertaining to or involving endless labor, pertaining to Sisyphus
Sittella: small, gregarious songbird
Sleep: state of slumber, position of rest for the physical and mental being of a living being
Slender: long and thin, tall
Slice: a thin section of something, to slash or remove a small section of
Slither: to glide or slide like a reptile
Sluice: artificial channel for conducting water, with a valve or gate to regulate the flow
Smolder: burn without flame, to undergo slow and compressed combustion
Sobriquet: nickname, moniker, adopted name
Soigné: elegant, sophisticated, well-groomed
Sojourn: brief visit, stopover, jaunt
Solace: comfort or consolation in a time of sadness or distress
Solecism: an impropriety, nonstandard grammatical construction, violation of etiquette
Solemn: serious, dignified, formal, stern
Soliloquy: dramatic monologue, intense speech with exposition but not addressed
Solipsism: philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist
Solstice: one of two times in the year when the sun is furthest from the equator
Sommelier: a waiter expertly trained in alcoholic beverages, wine steward
Sonata: music, series of three solos
Sonnet: fourteen-line poem with specific rhyme scheme
Soothe: to allay, alleviate, relax, pacify
Sorcerer: practitioner of sorcery, wizard, warlock, magician
Sotto voce: soft-voiced, emphasis on quiet speech
Soubrette: saucy, coquettish woman in comedies
Soufflé: light, fluffy baked dish
Sough: a soft, gentle sigh, murmuring, purling, or rustling sound
Souvenir: keepsake, memento, something of sentimental value
Specious: superficially plausible, but actually wrong, misleading in appearance
Spinal: pertaining to, relating to, of, or using the spine
Spiral: helix, string in a successively concentric pattern
Splice: to infuse, join, interweave, unite
Spool: cylinder with ridges that has spirals string around it
Stasis: equilibrium causing a peaceful inactivity via equal opposing forces
Stiletto: high-heel with sharp point, small dagger
Stillicide: water falling from the roof of a house or a gutter
Sublime: noble, exalted, majestic, empyreal
Succinct: briefly stated, laconic, terse
Succor: to aid or assist in a time of need, assistance
Suffuse: gradually spread through or over, with light, color, music, or liquid
Suicide: the act of murdering oneself
Surreptitious: stealthy, kept secret, hidden
Sussurant: whispering, making a continuous, low, and indistinct sound
Sussurous: pertaining to whispering, whispering
Susurrus: a whisper, something which resembles a whisper
Svelte: suave, urbane, savvy, slender, lithe, polished, sophisticated
Swain: a young man, suitor, ephebe
Swath: width of a scythe-stroke, strips or radii made by something
Swerve: to abruptly turn or deviate from an otherwise straight course
Sweven: dream, vision, premonition
Swoon: fainting spell, collapse from ecstasy
Syllable: unit of spoken language consisting of a single uninterrupted sound
Sylph: graceful woman, fairy, air elemental
Sylvan: relating to or characteristic of woods or forest regions, forest sprite
Symbiosis: mutual biological synergy between two dissimilar organisms
Symphony: extended orchestral movements
Symposium: conference for discussion of a particular topic
Synchronicity: theory of, coincidence of two or more curiously similar events
Synecdoche: a reference to a part as opposed to the whole, girl as “skirt” ship as “sail”
Syzygy: alignment or unity of specific objects, notably in space or literature