Thursday 10 April 2008

( nr 123 ) Lenin is on the list of "100 Great Leaders"(Shaping History) by Brian Mooney (2006) as a great revolutionary, with a page of biography, that differs from the standard (Soviet) textbook version. No alphabetic reference or order, so I might have missed Stalin. No big deal, one might say, but still, a recurring pattern.
----------------------------------------
"Corry en de Rekels" has two songs about cold climates: ' Aan de Noordpool' and
'Igorowitschj' (Igor Igorovich). The latter mentions Sarawat or Saragat (?), which I couldn't find in an Atlas.
----------------------------------------------
Cutting through stereotypes ?
From the "A dictionary of the underworld" by Partridge (and other ref.):
... Tom of Bedlam - one of a gang or order of beggars that, usually most pitifully dressed, pretend to have come out of Bedlam ... the same as Abram-man [1608-1785]
... abraham (or abram) man. [1562] 'is he that walketh bare armed, and bare legged, and fayneth hym selfe mad, and caryeth a pack of wool, or a stycke with baken on it, or such lyke toy, and nameth himself poore Tom. .... Beggars antickly trick'd up with Ribbands, Red Tape, Foxtails, Rags, etc., pretending Madness to palliate their thefts of poultry, Linnen, etc.
... Polack or Polak. Among white-slavers, this C.20 term is used as in A.Londres, "The Road to Buenos Ayres" 1928, ... The Polaks (Poles, Russians, and Czechs who deal in Polish Jewesses); ...
---------------------------
The Independent newspaper had a diabolical photo of semi-regular polygons of arctic ice with a tiny bear on it's front page last Thursday.
Too many news items (crime, accidents) in British papers to comment on.
-------------------------------
Next post next Thursday, April 17, 2008.