what I have learned today.

[Flite]

That reminds me.
Also riding along a fell road at dusk and seeing, flying directly ahead of me, an enormous pteridactyl type bird.
Massive wing span, with articulated wings going steadily up and down.
I eventually worked out it was 3 geese flying in a v-formation and wings beating in perfect synchrony.

[ElyDave]

That reminds me.
Also riding along a fell road at dusk and seeing, flying directly ahead of me, an enormous pteridactyl type bird.
Massive wing span, with articulated wings going steadily up and down.
I eventually worked out it was 3 geese flying in a v-formation and wings beating in perfect synchrony.

Had the same happen to me on an Essex Audax, confused me for a bit until the angles changed and I could see two ducks.

[rogerzilla]

The grumble version of the BAFTAs is called the SHAFTAs.

[Giraffe]

If you want a dangerous farm animal look no further than a pig. They can be very big, very fast and aggressive.

The thing I've learned today is that France's longest land border is with Brazil.

Saw a clip of a leopard grabbing a wild boar piglet. The area was sand and the cat couldn't accelerate much; the sows charged and then were overtaken by a boar that rammed the cat. It dropped the piglet and fled.
Considering that a boar can make a hole in a man's thigh similar to that for a hip replacement, it's no surprise that a big cat can' afford to be injured by one.

[rafletcher]

What an epicrisis is.

[geraldc]

Terry Jack's "Seasons in the sun" is an English version of a Jacques Brel song, le moribond.

[robgul]

Terry Jack's "Seasons in the sun" is an English version of a Jacques Brel song, le moribond.

.. with lyrics rewritten in 1963 by American singer-poet, the late, Rod McKuen.

Bit of a Rod McKuen fan here ... his Sea/Earth/Sky trilogy is brilliant.

[T42]

Terry Jack's "Seasons in the sun" is an English version of a Jacques Brel song, le moribond.

Which tells a much blacker story: a dying man's biting farewell to his best friend, the local curé, his wife and his wife's lover.  The McKuen version is prettily banal.

[Mr Larrington]

Terry Jack's "Seasons in the sun" is an English version of a Jacques Brel song, le moribond.

N Boulting: I knew that

[Canardly]

That my two times great grandfather was born in Paris. Does this mean I can apply for French citizenship? (Rhetorical)

[rafletcher]

Courtesy of my wife, that the Times of London used to have its front page covered with adverts, and (courtesy of the Graun) this continued until 1966. 

[robgul]

Courtesy of my wife, that the Times of London used to have its front page covered with adverts, and (courtesy of the Graun) this continued until 1966. 

. . .  and The Times used to publish a collector edition every day that was a scaled down version (photographed) of the actual paper about 8" x 6", printed on very thin "airmail" paper.  [I have a copy somewhere . . . ]

[Tim Hall]

Courtesy of my wife, that the Times of London used to have its front page covered with adverts, and (courtesy of the Graun) this continued until 1966. 

We didn't get that answer in the quiz this week.

[Basil]

Courtesy of my wife, that the Times of London used to have its front page covered with adverts, and (courtesy of the Graun) this continued until 1966. 

I remember that from my paper round.  It was just a mass of birth, marriage and deaths, plus other announcements and general small ads.

[pcolbeck]

That the USA used to have a network of massive yellow concrete arrows every ten miles on the ground that were illuminated at night so that the US postal service planes could navigate at night before WWII and modern navigation systems.

https://youtu.be/-DfzbnW2DTI

[Mr Larrington]

My copy of Atlas Obscura says there are still some in Montana which haven’t been built on, ploughed under or sold to the fiendish Godless hordes of Beijing either, presumably marking the route to Seattle.

[T42]

Courtesy of my wife, that the Times of London used to have its front page covered with adverts, and (courtesy of the Graun) this continued until 1966. 

I remember that from my paper round.  It was just a mass of birth, marriage and deaths, plus other announcements and general small ads.

Great fun, the Times front page: "Lt-General Charles ffewkesbourough-Combover announces that he will no longer be responsible for his wife's debts" - too much gin in the gin rummy again, eh?

I can remember the first time that news and (gasp!) photos appeared on the front page. Had all the fogies huffing and Good-Godding. You could hear the aneurysms popping a mile off.

[Cudzoziemiec]

That former footballer Roberto Baggio is a Buddhist.

[T42]

Mansuete, manciple, esker, replevin and more in just two or three pages of Blood Meridian.  Whether I'll still remember them tomorrow is uncertain.

[robgul]

My Garmin car satnav had an interesting instruction today that was a first - rather than the usual "turn right", "turn left", "at the roundabout" etc type commands it came with one that said :   "In nnn turn right at the red fish bar" -  that seemed a bit odd, but lo and behold there was a fish and chip shop painted bright red on the corner at the turn.   

I'm used to the voice pronouncing street names strangely but never a command like this one.

[CAMRAMan]

I found out that I am potentially eligible for Hungarian*, therefore EU, citizenship via marriage. There are however a few complications:

• I have been separated from my wife for 4 years!
• We don't actually like each other
• I need to pass a fairly basic language test. My Hungarian is ropey at best
• There needs to be some evidence that we share a residence.

With a bit of gentle persuasion I might be able to coax some cooperation out of my ex, but there needs to be a certain amount of creativity to satisfy other requirements. I'm fairly sure that the language test can be passed with some directed tutoring.


* I know, I know! Beggars can't be choosers...

[Cudzoziemiec]

That gollum is Irish Gaelic for pigeon. Which puts your fancy Italian tubing in a different light (or no light but a dark dank cave).

[Giraffe]

Two types of pillow case: Oxford and housewife. Easy mnemonic: housewife has frilly bits at the edges.

[Ham]

That the Pogues were formed as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic póg mo thóin, meaning "kiss my arse"

[T42]

The existence of this fascinating site: https://rappel.conso.gouv.fr/, being the list of products which have been subject to obligatory recalls since 2018, from cars to Kinder eggs. Quite entertaining unless you've bought one.