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Posts Tagged ‘rantandrave’

  1. American English…?

    January 10, 2005 by dafyd

    Hmm. What really is proper English nowadays? Is it the language spoken in England? If so, which part of England? Is it the language spoken by the most people, across the greatest area? If yes, then it must surely be that spoken in the USA.

    That said, I have always considered the English I speak to be ‘proper’, and am often amused by how Americans ‘mangle’ the language. “Why is Dafyd waffling about this?” you might ask. Well, I came across this snippet on Bob’s blog about his trip to the Grand Canyon:

    Our first stop was next door to Treasure Island to pick up Paul and Melanie, who were visiting Vegas from the UK. These guys were around our age and were a total blast. It was just plain fun to listen to their various phrases that they used in comparison to ours (UK Dafyd [that's me, by the way] can back me up on this). People don’t wait in line, they “queue up”. You don’t have a chocolate for desert; you have a “chocolate for your pudding”. But even though we came from slightly different cultures, they were both very quick witted folks and we had a good time with them.

    Point 1: no, I don’t have a chocolate for desert. The Sahara and Mojave are deserts. I have chocolate for dessert. Sorry. Just me nitpicking. As usual. Ignore me.

    Point 2: I would argue, and always have done, that Americans have “different phrases to ours”, and not the other way round.

    And point 3: “they were both very quick witted folks” – that’s us Brits all over. Except those you see reading newspapers called, for example, the Sun, the Mirror, the Daily Mail.

    Reading this through, I realise that I come across slightly anti-American. That is absolutely not my intention. What I wanted to suggest was how different our viewpoints are. And also to ask the question about how we can really define “English” now that more non-Brits speak it than Brits.

    Category 1 | Tags: | 4 Comments

  2. Happy New Year

    January 1, 2005 by dafyd

    I do hope everyone has a jolly enjoyable 2005.

    But let’s just cast a thought to those in South Asia at the moment who are starting the new year with nothing, or, in many cases, considerably less than nothing. My thoughts are with you.

    Category 1 | Tags: | Comments Off

  3. South-East Asia Tsunami

    December 29, 2004 by dafyd

    Donate to the DEC Tsunami Relief AppealI want to echo what Google wrote on their blog about this truly horrific disaster that has affected millions of people:

    Like so many others around the world, we’re following the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami that has hit many parts of Asia and India. The only positive outcome of this sort of disaster is that people quickly swing into action. The Internet enables us all to get timely information from blogs like this as well as news sites, and by linking people to donation centers. Here are a few already set up to handle donations for victims throughout the region. Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected.

    I urge everyone to support the tremendously brave people who are travelling to the region to help the rescue effort – especially those volunteers with Medicins Sans Frontieres and Secouristes Sans Frontieres.

    My thoughts are with everyone in any way affected by the tsunami – and I hope you too will do your best to help the rescue effort…]

    UPDATE: The BBC have a very good, very detailed page on how to help

    The Disasters Emergency Committee operates an easy way to donate to several relief charities at the same time.

    At the moment, you may find that a lot of the sites are not working properly – this is because of the phenomenal volumes of traffic that they are receiving – hopefully from people donating. Please do not give up – try again later, or ring the DEC direct on 0870 60 60 900.

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  4. Get shopping

    December 18, 2004 by dafyd

    Only 3 days to go if you want to order anything from the chez dafyd store for Christmas.

    And in a bizarre coincidence, the same is true for Amazon.co.uk. How strange.

    By the way, my post yesterday was wrong – there were in fact only 7 sleeps to Santa – now there are 6!

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  5. 8 more sleeps to go

    December 17, 2004 by dafyd

    To quote Jo and Twiggy:

    8 more sleeps to go
    8 more sleeps to Santa
    8 more sleeps til the big fat fellow comes down your chimney and gives you presents and drinks your beer
    8 more sleeps to Santa.

    And you thought this was a serious blog?!

    Unfortunatly I missed the programme in question (what a pity) but it appears J & T recorded their own version of Band Aid – called Tone Deaf Aid. You can download it from the Trent FM website. I warn you, though – I’ve not heard it yet… chances are it’s crap.

    Category 1 | Tags: | 1 Comment

  6. And he’s out…

    December 15, 2004 by dafyd

    I fell in love with someone and they wouldn’t go public and things started to go very badly wrong in the summer, and then the News of the World picked up the story.

    That’s life in the public eye, I’m afraid, Mr Blunkett.

    It’s weird, but 7 years ago I quite liked him. I thought he was a good chap, and when Blair named him Home Secretary in 2001 I was quite pleased. However, he turned into one of the most authoritarian Home Secretarys the UK has ever known, and, frankly, I don’t think he has been good for Britain.

    It’s a shame that he had to resign for the reasons he did… but that’s politics in 2004. He should either have been sacked by the PM four weeks ago, or he should have stuck to his argument that he did nothing wrong until the election in June next year.

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  7. Band Aid 2004

    December 1, 2004 by dafyd

    You bought it yet? No? Why not? It only costs £3.99 on CD from Amazon – and even if you never listen to the song, the disc makes a jolly good coaster. The download is £1.49 almost everywhere, except iTunes, where it’s 79p. Guess where I got it from…

    I quite like this review from Amazon:

    It’s simple.
    If you like the new version, buy this.
    If you prefer the original, buy this. It has the original on.
    If you want to hear the Live Aid version, buy this AND buy the Live Aid DVD.
    If you don’t like the song at all, buy it anyway or go to the website and cut out the middle man.

    It’s time to make poverty history. This is a small step in that direction.

    Of course, it’s not as good as the first one. Are sequels ever? (Yes, OK, I know about The Godfather Part 2 and The Empire Strikes Back. And Terminator 2. And Star Trek II. And Spiderman. And Harry Potter. Oh, forget it.)

    Thomas Scott (who you may remember from the Preparing for Emergencies spoof website) has managed to cajole top stars such as William Shatner, Brian Blessed, The Queen and John Lennon to appear on his version. It’s free to download, with every penny going to charity. Well worth it. Please do support Thomas’ version – he comes from Mansfield, so he definitely needs the help.

    Pretty picture from Rum and Monkey:

    Senor Peeg does Band Aid(ish)

    Category 1 | Tags: | 1 Comment

  8. Nothing is Original…

    November 24, 2004 by dafyd

    This is good… although I am a huge fan of Mr Potter, I have to agree that there is nothing particularly original about the concept of the novels:

    Harry Potter = Star Wars?

    Category 1 | Tags: | 2 Comments

  9. Google Juice

    November 16, 2004 by dafyd

    Go to Google. Search for ‘opportunist‘. Click “I’m Feeling Lucky!” That is all.

    (Tip-of-the-hat to Boriswatch and Bloggerheads!)

    Category 1 | Tags: | 1 Comment

  10. Alton Towers 2005

    October 25, 2004 by dafyd

    Alton TowersAs you may know, I’m a huge fan of Alton Towers. The coasters and rides there are, quite simply, fantastic!

    But a quick glance at an Alton Towers fan website such as Towers Times will tell you that many fans are unhappy. The park has got lax in its ways. Nemesis, the world’s most intense roller coaster, has been slowly decaying in its hole, and now isn’t anything like as good as it was 10 years ago when it opened. (It’s still one of the best rides on the planet, though!) Oblivion, the world’s first vertical drop roller coaster (stunning ride!) has had to be seriously changed because of a lawsuit from residents of Alton complaining about the noise. (Apparently, the voice at the top of the drop that says “Don’t look down” – an integral part of the ride – was too loud. Alton Towers have removed it, and now just advise riders to scream as loud as they can!)

    For the last 2 months half the park has been closed off, for no apparent reason. Cred Street, the area for little people, has been fenced-off. Ug Land, home to the park’s first roller coaster – the Corkscrew – has been completely closed off to guests. Understandably, fans haven’t been happy.

    The one and only NemesisBut to every cloud there is a silver lining. Or, in this case, a golden lining. Alton Towers has officialy announced that they are building a new roller coaster for the 2005 season. Codenamed RITA (don’t ask), it will be a launched roller coaster with a loop and heartline-roll – basically, you get blasted out of the station at 65mph, get flipped over a couple of times, get off, and do it again. The actual specifications of the ride are top secret, but from what people on Towers Times have found out, this seems a fairly good assumption. Alton Towers have launched a promotional website, Ride RITA (I said don’t ask), and have been heavily promoting the ride at events like the fireworks.

    But is that all there is to it? It seems that over the winter closed season, Alton Towers will be getting rid of the Black Hole. One of the oldest rides in the park, predating Nemesis by almost a decade, many people are up in arms at Alton Towers’ attempt to get rid of what they see as an old friend. Apparently, the tent won’t be going, just the ride. Nothing will go in the tent next year. But what about 2006? A stunning new dark ride, on the scale of Disney’s Space Mountains or Rock ‘n’ Roller Coasters? I hope so!

    It seems that Alton Towers have always codenamed their big new roller coasters as SWs (Secret Weapons) – air, for example, was SW5. The last new coaster, Spinball Whizzer, wasn’t an SW because it wasn’t considered big enough, it wasn’t a trademark ride. But RITA is a European first. Why is she (oh dear….) not a Secret Weapon? Could this be a very elaborate, very expensive, smokescreen? Could Alton Towers be distracting people’s attention from what they’re doing in the Black Hole tent? Many people, me included, think so.

    Let’s hope and see! If you want to keep up to date on what’s happening with RITA, the Black Hole, and other Alton Towers news, I really recommend you have a look at Towers Times and its forums.

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