Oddities

  • Daleks preferable to Musk

    Dalek on display at MediaCityUK in ManchesterAs part of the background to TV science fiction series Dr Who, which has graced TV screens since 1963, one learns that the planet Skaro, home of the Daleks, suffered a thousand-year war between two societies: the Kaleds and the Thals. During this period, many natives of Skaro became badly mutated by fallout from nuclear weapons and chemical warfare. The Kaled government believed in genetic purity and swore to “exterminate the Thals” for being inferior. Believing his own society was becoming weak and that it was his duty to create a new master race from the ashes of his people, a Kaled scientist named Davros genetically modified several Kaleds into squid-like life-forms he called Daleks, removing such “weaknesses” as mercy and sympathy whilst enhancing other behaviours such as aggression and the survival instinct.

    The Daleks are just about the nastiest characters ever to appear on Doctor Who: they are portrayed as violent, merciless and pitiless cyborg aliens, completely absent of any emotion other than hate, who demand total conformity to the will of the Dalek with the highest authority. Your ‘umble scribe well remembers cowering behind the settee fifty-two years ago.

    However, there are worse creatures in the universe according to your correspondent’s social media timeline.

    Goose-step forward fascist man-baby Elon Musk, a man with a now undisputed reputation for gesture politics.

    In a poll by British science fiction writer Charlie Stross, the South African-born man-baby and best buddy of the disgraced 47th and 45th president of the United States, insurrectionist, convicted felon, adjudicated sexual predator, business fraudster, congenital liar and golf cheat, one Donald John Trump, is beating the Skaro aliens hands-down over the most evil incarnation of government.

    Post reads Listen, we face a choice! Which would be less evil: government by: Elon Musk 2% Daleks 98%
    You will obey or you will be exterminated!

    Where’s a Tardis when one’s needed?

    .
  • Liability lost in translation

    As this blog has pointed out previously (posts passim), it is not unusual for bilingual signage to have text that tells the speakers of one language one thing and those of the other language something completely different.

    The bad advice given can cover such varied topics as how far one has to travel to legal liability for loss of or damage to private property.

    The latter is the subject of a photograph which appeared in your ‘umble scribe’s social media feed this morning and concerns legal liability at an unknown railway station operated by Trafnidiaeth Cymru, also known as Transport for Wales.

    Welsh text = You can leave your bike here for free, but at your own risk. English text - Bicycles may be left here free of charge but at our risk

    In translation, the Welsh text on the sign reads:

    You can leave your bike here for free, but at your own risk

    On the other hand, the English text reads:

    Bicycles may be left here free of charge but at our risk

    Judging by the patina on the sign, it’s been there a long time and somebody has yet to take the railway company to court to determine exactly where legal liability lies given the sign’s bilingual ambiguity.

    Your correspondent wonders how many of these confusing signs have been installed across Cymru.

  • What We Leave Behind

    Your ‘umble scribe’s recent stay in Sydney coincided with the Sydney Festival, a major arts festival held for three weeks in January every year since its inception in 1977.

    On my penultimate day in Australia your correspondent had arranged to visit the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and arrived rather early. While waiting to rendezvous, a volunteer for Cave Urban outside a gazebo at Tallawoladah Lawn persuaded yours truly to take part in What We Leave Behind, a participatory event involving lots of split bamboo, market pens and people’s imaginations.

    Leaflet reads WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND CAVE URBAN Come down to Tallawoladah Lawn outside the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia) to share your messages of hope for our planet. Your written messages will be woven into this stunning bamboo art installation. 8am-7pm daily

    Members of the public were invited to leave messages of hope for the planet on strips of bamboo which are being woven into a structure.

    My positive message: “Let homo sapiens finally live up to its Latin species name“.
  • Idiocy in public office

    There are still over 3 weeks until the disgraced president-elect of the United States, the disgraced former 45th president, insurrectionist, convicted felon, adjudicated sexual predator, business fraudster, congenital liar and golf cheat, one Donald John Trump, (also known as the Felon of the Year. Ed.) is inaugurated for his second term as president of the United States.

    However, that has not stopped the so-called Tangerine Tyrant from upsetting other countries around the world, firstly in respect of trade tariffs and more recently in the field of territorial claims and a revived offer to purchase territory.

    As regards the latter, two instances are prominent: Panama and Greenland.

    As regards the former, Trump is of the opinion that Panama is charging US shipping ridiculous fees to use the Panama Canal, and in his usual bullying and bombastic manner, has threatened to seize control the canal if Panama does not reduce tariffs. Furthermore, he has intimated that China could exert increasing control over the canal. In response, Panama’s president José Raúl Mulino has called the claim of increased Chinese influence ‘nonsense.

    Even though the US largely built the canal in 1914 and administered territory – the Panama Canal Zone – either side of the passage for decades, Washington finally handed over full control of the canal to Panama in 1999 under treaties signed two decades earlier by then-US president Jimmy Carter and Panamanian nationalist leader Omar Torrijos.

    When it comes to Greenland, this is a long-term obsession of Trump’s. He first suggested the USA purchase this Danish autonomous territory during his first term pf office and has recently resurrected the idea. The Greenland prime minister has replied by stating categorically that it is not for sale.

    In both his election campaigns, Trump’s leading slogan has been to Make America Grate Again (or something akin thereto. Ed.) and as has been seen above, this has not gone down well outside the 50 states of the Union.

    Moreover, Trump’s bullying tactics have also not gone down well with the more progressive elements of American society, as can be seen by what some individual has done outside the orange one’s eponymous tower in New York.

    Chalk graffito reads Dear Panama and Greenland - Apologies he's an idiot - America
  • MP finally visits constituency

    The seaside resort of Clacton in Essex has the singular accolade of being voted Britain’s worst seaside town by Which? However, its reputation sank even lower in July 2024 when it elected congenital liar, charlatan, grifter and BBC Question Time resident Nigel Paul Farage as its member of parliament.

    Even before his elevation to Halitosis Hall, the frog-faced fascist’s presence in town vexed some people: one even threw a milkshake at him; and not for the first time either!

    Thus far this fake man of the people has avoided holding a single constituency surgery citing dubious security reasons. Indeed, he has probably spent more time at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, home of the disgraced president-elect of the United States, disgraced former 45th president, insurrectionist, convicted felon, adjudicated sexual predator, business fraudster, congenital liar and golf cheat, one Donald John Trump, than he has done in the parliamentary constituency he’s supposed to represent and in the House of Commons where he’s supposed to speak on behalf of the good burghers of Clacton.

    Anyone would think he would be better titled the Dishonourable Member of Parliament for Mar-a-Lago. Indeed he was last there last week meeting Musk the man-baby along with Nick Candy, a man so trusting of giving so much of his money to the Farage Fan Club (which some call Reform UK) that they made him party treasurer.

    Some disturbing news came though on social media this morning: Farage has once again remembered where Clacton is, posting the following on the man-baby’s toxic right-wing social media echo chamber.

    Post reads You will never guess who is in Clacton today.
    A well-known annual visitor to Clacton with one who prefers Palm Beach, FL

    As Santa knows his way to Clacton better than its alleged parliamentary representative, what’s the betting that Farage grabbed a lift with him? All speculation is welcome in the comments below.

  • Da iawn, Sports Direct!

    As spotted on the Sports Direct website.

    Bobble hat featuring wording Cyrmu instead of Cymru

    Needless to say, some parts of the Welsh media have been having a field day with this elementary orthographical error, with Nation.Cymru jesting as follows:

    We can neither confirm or deny that Sports Direct are selling Egnland hats as well!

    It looks like the product has now been withdrawn from sale as it does not come up in search results on the company’s website, as confirmed today (4th Dec.) by Nation.Cymru.

    Update 02/01/2025: Nation.Cymru reported yesterday that the bobble hat has now reappeared with the correct spelling of Cymru.

  • Shropshire news – a century behind

    The impression is frequently given that these modern times are the era of 24 hour news coverage, but that itself can be very misleading, as can what is and how it is reported.

    Evidence for this comes from today’s Shropshire Star website, which features the following headline under the UK News heading.

    Headline reads Unofficial tallies in Irish election suggest some trouble for big figures

    Whilst it is encouraging to see coverage in the regional press of matters of more than local importance, one has to ask the following question of the Star’s editor: what is this doing under the UK News heading?

    When I was a lot younger, I recall being told in school that news of Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 took three months to reach settlements in northern Scotland.

    It seems that news of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921 and the subsequent foundation of the Irish Free State in December 1922 has yet to reach Hollinswood Road in Telford where Salopia’s Ministry of Truth is situated.

    NB: The paper does have a separate World News section.

    Update: 17.00h, 30/11/24: In a textbook case of (lack of) editorial perspicacity, there is now a second Irish election story filed under the UK News heading.

    Headline of story on extreme right reads: ‘A positive day for us’ – Social Democrats look set to make gains in Dail

    Update: 01/12/24: There seems to be no end to the paper’s political and geographical ignorance as this morning a third story was posted as UK News.

    Headline to Irish election story Counting to resume in Irish election as focus shifts to coalition permutations

    Additional research has since revealed that the Shropshire Star routinely files Irish news under its UK News heading. Neo-colonialism and ignorance are therefore alive and well in the newspaper of record in my home county.

  • Tech meets tasty

    First came the emoticon – pictorial representation of a facial expression using characters — usually punctuation marks, numbers and letters — as an adjunct to written language to express a person’s feelings, mood or reaction, without needing to describe it in detail. From the start of the 2000s, this was followed by the emoji, a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages, likewise to express feelings, moods or reactions.

    Nowadays emojis are ubiquitous and not necessarily confined to electronic messages and web pages. They can be found on clothing, trinkets and, as your ‘umble scribe’s social media feed revealed at the weekend, baked goods. 😀

    Fruit biscuit with fruit resembling expression of disappointed emoticon/emoji

  • Ovine emissions reduction – update

    Along with dogs, sheep are believed to be one of the earliest animals to be domesticated by humans.

    According to Wikipedia, sheep are most likely descended from the wild mouflon of Europe and Asia and their domestication date is estimated to fall between 11,000 and 9000 BCE in Mesopotamia and possibly around 7000 BCE in Mehrgarh in the Indus Valley.

    For some reason, sheep are very popular on the Mastodon social media network and Thursday, 7th November, was peak sheep day, with photos and videos being posted all day, together with the customary hashtags, although these were all Welsh, e.g.#defaidodon (sheep of Mastodon). One very humorous sample is shown below.

    Post reads - One of the last coal-powered sheep. Most sheep are all electric now.

    Picking up on the theme of the post, domestication has involved a long process of selective breeding to arrive at today’s breeds, which bear little resemblance to their wild ancestors. For much of their history, most sheep were powered by charcoal before the Industrial Revolution, but this soon changed to coal due to its higher calorific value. With the climate crisis underway at present, sheep powered by electricity and renewables are now being developed; and there is even talk of fuelling them with biomass. 😉

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