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 A tentative blog to test the temperature. |
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Ten years ago I was writing several blogs on various subjects - F1 motor racing, Music, Classic Cars, Great Romances and, most crushingly, a personal journal that included my thoughts on America, memories of England and Africa, opinion, humour, writing and anything else that occurred. It all became too much (I was attempting to update the journal every day) and I collapsed, exhausted and thoroughly disillusioned in the end. So this blog is indeed a Toe in the Water, a place to document my thoughts in and on WdC but with a determination not to get sucked into the blog whirlpool ever again. Here's hoping.     |
| Light the Blue Touch Paper That’s what it used to say on the instructions to fireworks when I was a kid. What the heck is “touch paper”? Still beats me, but I’ve always known what colour blue is, so I figured it out. Today I remembered another little cracker bugbear of mine so let’s do some lighting. It all concerns the difference between “diffuse” and “defuse” (the second turns out to be quite appropriate). It was when I was watching one of those little short videos that are all the rage on YouTube at the moment. Probably because our attention spans are so degraded now that shorts are about all we can cope with - but that’s another post. Anyway, in this video a guy starts on about a situation being “diffused.” Which means the situation got spread out all over the place and, as a result, became diluted. Now I’m prepared to bet that the guy didn’t mean that at all, judging by the context. What he should have said was that the situation became defused, meaning that the heat was taken out of a potentially explosive matter. And now we get the point of the title to this post. How can I be certain that I did not mishear what the feller said? The two words sound pretty similar when part of a sentence, it’s true. But those short videos all seem to have captions so that, if the sound effects aren’t good, you can just read what’s said. And these confirmed that the guy was diffusing matters somewhat. It’s the kind of thing that gets my goat. So, if you don’t want this particular firework to blow up in your face, remember to diffuse your information but defuse any possible sources of trouble. Word count: 290 |
| Household Handy Hints 1 What to do after washing up the glasses after your latest cheese and wine party: |
| Choices Just because we can do (or make or invent) something, it doesn't mean that we should. |
| Being Schooled Lilli asked an interesting question in Question of the Day yesterday. “What is something you learned in high school that you have never used in your adult life?” I’ve seen it asked before and know that most people answer with a branch of mathematics. Algebra is always a popular response and geometry gets several adherents too. I was a bit weird in that there were several occasions in my life where algebra proved useful. As I was reading through the answers to Lilli’s questions today, I asked myself, “Can you remember when something you learned in school had a sudden and unexpected use?” Language sprang to mind and I thought of Latin. Though I never liked having to learn what little I did of it, it came in handy when learning French. And then it was useful in deciphering other languages that I did not learn. Like Spanish and Italian. Afrikaans proved a point of contact with Dutch people on the internet years later. They would laugh at my spelling but it was, at least, a way of understanding each other. And French came abruptly into prominence on a train journey between Luxembourg and Brussels. Geography I would love, even if it had never given me an understanding of my present position and situation on the earth’s surface. And History places me in time and supplies me with a past. Chemistry I hated but have to admit that I’ve used some rudimentary memories of it on occasion. Pretty much the same goes for Physics. Then there were the things they didn’t teach us. What the Americans call Civics we never touched on. And being aimed at University, I never had the chance to learn Woodworking, Mechanics or Household Economics, all of which I studied for myself after leaving school. The net result is that I am grateful for what I learned in school. Even when it turned out not to be tremendously useful in real life, it was interesting and, at times, good fodder for the imagination. And, when it comes down to it, would school have been any better if they’d taught nothing but what was to prove useful in practice? Maybe I’m a weirdo but that sounds incredibly boring to me. Word count: 373 |
| Foote on Writing Advice for writers is everywhere these days, so I feel no compunction in adding the following to the pile: If someone were asking me whether they should become a writer, I would always say emphatically no, have absolutely nothing to do with it under any circumstance. And, if he would listen to that, he certainly should not have been a writer. Shelby Foote |
| Hold That Sauce Lilli had a huge response to her Question of the Day yesterday. Everyone, it seems, couldn’t wait to tell the world just how they like their oatmeal (porridge). After studying the vast array of various additives people use in porridge, I am forced to the conclusion that I am somewhat of an exception in this area. I reckon that I must be the only person in the world who actually likes porridge. Everyone else adds all sorts of things to the mix, presumably because they don’t like the taste. A little sugar I’ll allow but that’s it. Anything else is affecting the taste and texture of the real thing and you cannot claim to like porridge if these are so necessary. There are certain foods that it is sacrilege to add anything to because you spoil the unique taste that makes them so desirable. Porridge is obviously an example but an even better one would be lobster. If you have only had it with the innumerable additives that go to make up the various ways that people adulterate it, you have never tasted lobster (or Cape crayfish). Why spoil the food of the gods by making it taste like something else? The real heresy comes when you mix two outstanding tastes together to make something that can only be described as unfortunate. The best example of this is chocolate and peanut butter. Both are excellent tastes when on their own. Together they’re just rather oily muck. You may point fingers at me and laugh but the fact is that only I know how many foods really taste. The rest of you have experience only of some watered down, insipid and tainted version of the truth. Try it straight and you’ll see what I mean. And, Americans, please, exercise some restraint with the cinnamon. Yes, it’s a fabulous taste but you only demean it by putting it on everything. Use it sparingly and it retains its specialness. Word count: 326 |
| I don't care what they say, the old songs are the best. This one was huge in the 16th Century: |
| Writing I wasn’t looking for it, but I found a really interesting interview with Shelby Foote, the writer. Apart from being an excellent example of how to conduct an interview (ask your first question then let the person talk), it contains a wealth of wisdom about and around writing. It’s less than half an hour in length but, if even that is too much, you should listen at least to what the man has to say about learning to write. He begins this at 12:26. Of course, I believe what he says is both wise and true because that’s what I think too, but can you afford to disregard it for that reason? Have a listen. I doubt you’ll regret it. Word count: 121 |
| The 48-Hour Challenge: Media Prompt In the past, I have attempted this challenge on precisely two occasions (if memory serves me well). Usually, the song choice is way outside of my taste and I have to pass on the offer to comment. I’m sure the challenge owners don’t want me to be rude about their choice, after all. But they’ve come up with a good one this time. I’ve never heard of the group, OK Go, and I must admit to being pleasantly surprised at their song, Obsession, and its accompanying video. Both are pure entertainment from start to finish and highly original into the bargain. The video alone was enough to win me over. The novel idea of using computer printers to spit out paper in time to the music, creating a myriad of fascinating visual effects, is brilliance indeed. Add the fact that the printer noises combine with the music to become an orchestral constituent makes the song a valid contribution to electronic music and musique concrète. It’s a cascade of shape, colour and sound that is a delight to the eye and ear. And so to the song itself. This is a pounding, repetitive tune that is entirely in keeping with the title. Obsession is certainly a matter of repeating impulses to a fascinating object. I googled the lyrics (to echo the words of my father from long ago - I can’t hear what the singer’s saying) and they are deep enough to be worthy of some thought. This makes a happy change from the usual throwing together of a few meaningless phrases. Altogether this was a refreshing experience. The song is catchy and the video a delight. If only they hadn’t decided to include the somewhat creepy assurances that the paper used would all be recycled. God, I hate the self righteousness of the modern world, even if it is caused by the fear of being cancelled for some imagined offence. Word count: 320 |
| MeTube My wife, Andrea, at the end of a long day: “I nearly reached the end of YouTube.” It’s an interesting concept. With thousands of new videos being added to YouTube every day, the very idea of there being a limit to it seems a bit far fetched. And yet there are times when we feel as though we’ve seen everything it has to offer. We scroll down the offerings, muttering, “Seen that, not interested, why are you showing me that, for pete’s sake find me something new!” Thanks to the system of indicating our preferences for content, it’s only videos in those areas that YouTube is supposed to present to us. The possibility exists, therefore, that we could reach a position where we’ve seen all that YouTube has on a particular subject. If we’ve limited our interests to very few and they happen to be a bit esoteric, this becomes almost inevitable. Which is why Andrea’s statement was so memorable. She has subscribed to over two hundred channels. Word count: 168 |
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