Oddities

  • Piper and penguin

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Oddities, Social Media

    I’ve been aware of Scott, Amundsen, Shackleton et al. and their expeditions to Antarctica since my childhood and on Christmas Eve this year was made aware through social media of the exploits of the 1902-1904 Scottish National Antarctic Expedition.

    Although its work was overshadowed by more prestigious expeditions, the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition nevertheless completed a full programme of exploration and scientific work, including the establishment of the first manned meteorological station in Antarctic territory, as well as the discovery of new land to the east of the Weddell Sea.

    Below is a photograph taken on that expedition; a suitably light-hearted one of piper Gilbert Kerr serenading a penguin.

    Gilbert Kerr, piper, with penguin. Photographed by William Speirs Bruce during the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, 1902-04
    Gilbert Kerr, piper, with penguin. Photographed by William Speirs Bruce during the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, 1902-04. Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

    However, penguins did more for the expedition than provide an audience for pipers. They were a regular item on the menu too!

    A typical day’s diet there might have been: breakfast of porridge and penguin eggs, with bacon on Wednesdays and Thursdays and coffee or cocoa week about. Lunch of eggs with bully beef or bread and cheese and tea. Dinner of penguin “hare soup”, then stewed penguin, with some farinaceous pudding or preserved fruit to follow.

    The above comes from the text accompanying a splendid photo of Bill Smith, the expedition’s cook from Glasgow Digital Library, which has a fine collection of photographs from the expedition. I also love the final sentence on the page too for its description of Smith:

    Smith’s substantial physique is a good advertisement for the value of his own work.

    Season’s greetings all.

  • A salutary lesson in social media for business

    Steve WoodsOddities, Social Media, Tech

    A message to all businesses: if you sack a member of staff, you should consider changing your Twitter password, particularly if that person had access to the account.

    The Plough, a pub in Great Haseley, Oxfordshire, didn’t… and at the time of posting it has nearly 1,700 followers.

    You can enjoy the results in the screenshot below.

    screenshot of tweets

    Update 12 noon, 16/12/13: According to Buzzfeed, Jim Knight, the chef in question, created the Twitter account with the permission of his now former employers. Furthermore, he has also now been offered a new job, in which I wish him well. 🙂

    Hat tip: Eugene Byrne

  • Lookalikes

    Steve WoodsMedia, Oddities, Politics

    It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Private Eye (posts passim).

    Amongst their many admirable features is a long-running lookalikes photo comparison on its letters pages.

    The picture below has taken its inspiration from the Eye and features 2 lots of villains, the East End’s Kray twins and the Eton Posh Boys gang.

    image of Cameron, Osborne and the Kray twins
    The Kray twins (left), Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer (right)

    I’ll leave you to decide which are the nastier set of criminals. 🙂

  • Bristol Post Balls – ungulate identification

    Steve WoodsMedia, Oddities

    Horses and cattle are both ungulates, i.e. both use the tips of their toes to support their whole body weight whilst moving. Both cows and horses have hooves.

    A horse is an odd-toed ungulate with a long hairy mane and tale, whilst a cow is an even-toed ungulate. They’re easy to identify, unless you’re a city-based employee of the Bristol Post.

    Yesterday the Post published a tragic story of more than 100 horses having to be put down after being rescued from appalling conditions in Bridgend in the Vale of Glamorgan.

    However, the picture used to illustrate the report features animals that look more bovine than equine, as revealed by the screenshot below.

    screenshot from Bristol Post
    Frisians or Dobbins?

    Just because both beef and horsemeat taste equally good on the plate doesn’t means they are interchangeable in the field, Bristol Post. Try saddling up a cow and entering a steeplechase! 🙂

  • Racist van: a load of tripe

    Steve WoodsMedia, Oddities, Politics

    Earlier this year I blogged about the Home Office’s so-called racist van (posts passim). Yesterday along with most of the national media the BBC reported that the Home Office had admitted that just 11 illegal immigrants had left the UK as a result of its ill-advised campaign.

    Although the Home Office’s efforts were ill-advised and less than successful, its use of mobile billboards has inspired their use by others like the Tripe Marketing Board, as the picture below – allegedly from Lancashire – shows.

    Tripe van

  • Wanted: English interpreters in London

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Oddities, Politics

    The title is true and it’s a genuine item straight from the news you couldn’t make up department: Capita Translation & Interpeting, the outfit responsible for making an utter mess of the courts and tribunals interpreting contract with the Ministry of Justice (posts passim) is seeking English interpreters for assignments in the London area.

    Yes, it does sound amazing, but below is a screenshot of a page from Capita T&I’s website, captured today at 4.45 pm. English is the fifth item down the list.

    screenshot of Capita T&I web page
    English speakers wanted in London? The mind boggles.

    Do you have any ideas why Crapita should need English interpreters in the capital of the country where the language originated? Put them in the comments below. 🙂

    Hat tip: RPSI Linguist Lounge

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