Images in this post are from: Thorburn (Archibald). British Mammals. Two volumes. Longmans, Green & Co., 1920-1921.
I have now finished Pretty girl in crimson rose (8), a memoir of love, exile and crosswords by Sandy Balfour and it has been a delight throughout. The last few chapters include examples of what might be called perfect clues and the results of meeting and interviews with illustrious setters.
Perhaps best of all is one relating to the home of Rupert Brooke and subsequently Jeffrey Archer, about whom the author is extremely scathing. The clue is “Poetical scene has surprisingly chaste Lord Archer vegetating” (3,3,8,12) which contains an anagram of “The Old Vicarage Grantchester”. It was set by Araucaria whom many consider to be the best of them all.
There’s also the lovely suggestion that the English word with the most different meanings iş “set”. In the 1989 edition of Oxford English Dictionary some 60,000 words are used to list over 430 distinct meanings. Gemini AI says that “run” may have overtaken it with possibly as many as 645 different senses. I seem to remember that “jack” might give them a run for their money but it isn’t quite in the same league. Other contenders are “go”, “get”, “take” and “point”. Gemini adds that “The word “up” is often cited as the most versatile ‘small’ word. It can be a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, or preposition.”
Whatever you think about AI (it would be crazy not to have concerns) I have used it this morning to uncover points of law and to write a formal letter of complaint to an energy supplier over back-billing issues. It saved me a great deal of time. I have even used it to help me analyse, describe and value a limited edition Henry Miller lithograph. Gemini found information I had been unable to find anywhere else. It is also brilliant at finding contact details for institutional librarians which are usually deeply buried in their websites and sometimes not available at all.
Less welcome yesterday was the realisation that there is an error in Animal Wild. One I already knew about and there is always an erratum slip in each copy to correct it – I wrongly named a nineteenth-century ornithologist as John Cordeau instead of John Cordeaux, having seen a fine portrait in oils of him at the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) archive at their headquarters in Thetford. The second error of which I am now aware is the use of he same photograph twice. Entirely my fault of course but not spotted by a number of proof-readers either. I am trying not to beat myself up about it too much.
Some good news from the Daily Mail – British zoos are in serious financial trouble and some may have to close.
Fighting for survival – The great British zoos at threat of extinction
I am not sorry, only concerned about what will happen to the animals currently imprisoned. Rising costs are part of it but so are falling revenues. I wonder if that’s because more and more people find the whole concept repugnant.
The fearless Environmental Investigation Agency has sent this excellent report from one of its founders.
The International Ban on Commercial Whaling at 40 – EIA
There is no shying away rom the sheer cruelty of whaling. Even now it seems unbelievable that Iceland, Norway and Japan have resisted legislation endorsed and enforced by pretty much the rest of the world.
The winter newsletter from the Hare Preservation Trust concentrates on the new animal welfare legislation which of course doesn’t go nearly far enough and lacks detail, a timeline and plans for enforcement in terms of a close season for hare hunting (and much else besides). It shouldn’t happen at all in my opinion.
It is not just foxes who are killed under cover of ‘trail hunting’: “We will be feeding back our concerns that whilst a ban on trail hunting will help end illegal hare hunting by harrier packs, which are generally followed by hunters mounted on horseback, it may not prevent beagle foot-packs from continuing to hunt hares under the guise of rabbit hunting. Exemptions and loopholes in the Hunting Act (2004) must be addressed to ensure all illegal hare hunting is prevented.” And we need a ban on snares of all kinds now.
Scotland is way ahead of England as usual. An application to allow falconers to obtain licences to hunt Mountain Hares has been rejected. Apart from any other considerations, they are after all a protected species, but then so are Badgers.
I overheard a casual, non-condemnatory reference to Minkhounds recently. Mink are arguably a problem but if it needs dealing with it shouldn’t be like that – and of course it’s illegal. The packs switched to Mink when hunting Otters became unacceptable. Now they say they only go for rats. Hmm.
Film critic Mark Kermode is on brilliant, fiery, furious form here. Someone wrote offering to donate £50 to a charity of his choice if he watched and reviewed Melania. He is devastating, seeing it as a piece of filthy propaganda. He says that buying a ticket made hm feel dirty.
“It’s like somebody making a documentary in which Eva Braun feels sad about war while Hitler invades Poland.”
“It’s a heist movie about a crime family breaking into the seat of power and stealing stealing the cutlery, whilst destroying democracy.”
“It’s the most depressing time I’ve ever had in the cinema.”
“And then it gets really ugly…”
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