• Mudlark replied to the topic It Takes You Away

    @idiotsavon

    I don’t think the two theories are mutually exclusive – far from it.

    They aren’t, I agree. The evidence suggests that the Europe, Asia and the Americas were originally populated by descendants of very small groups of modern humans who survived a bottleneck in their migration from Africa, and since we can assume these migrants and the…[Read more]

  • @idiotsavon

    I think it’s just linguistic borrowing for the sake of economy,

    Yes, that’s one of the many mechanisms of convergence.

    Put two groups of people together and their languages will converge, either through creolisation or one being dominant but borrowing heavily from the other. It is even true of accents (witness the way native H…[Read more]

  • Craig replied to the topic The Kebab & Calculator

    @idiotsavon Thank you for taking the time to read my script. I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I may post another one soon.

    The TV version was really good – but it was interesting in that it almost completely focused on the second half of the story. There is little of Billy and Cathy. So, I hate to say it, but I think my version is more complex and…[Read more]

  • Craig replied to the topic The Kebab & Calculator

    @bluesqueakpip That was the point. Upstream @idiotsavon wondered, if Scotland left the UK, would that condemn England to a lifetime of Tories. To which I said no – Scotland has little impact on the UK Government. So don’t worry if we go independent, it won’t effect you much!

  • Craig replied to the topic The Kebab & Calculator

    @idiotsavon (and cc. @jimthefish – see above post too)

    I came across this today too. Just some proof that Scotland really doesn’t effect UK elections. It’s from the same source but the facts can be checked.

    Why Labour doesn’t need Scotland

    Scottish votes and UK Elections

  • Craig replied to the topic The Kebab & Calculator

    @idiotsavon Following up on our conversation a while back, I thought you might find this interesting. ‘Wings’ is a very pro-independence website but it’s pretty factual, providing links to all his sources. So while it is partisan, it’s also quite reliable.

    How Scottish Labour's toxic hatred of the SNP has brought the entire UK to the brink of a…

    [Read more]

  • @mudlark @idiotsavon

    The idea that the interwoven threads in traditional stories have their origin in a prehistory common to all speakers of Indo-European languages is an enticing hypothesis. The problem, as you are clearly aware, is proving it.

    Not really. It’s just convergent evolution with the admixture of complex language (the specific…[Read more]

  • Mudlark replied to the topic It Takes You Away

    @idiotsavon

    I was a bit rushed when I posted earlier, but I have been thinking further about what you wrote and am inclined to continue the discussion, even though it means straying further off topic.

    The idea that the interwoven threads in traditional stories have their origin in a prehistory common to all speakers of Indo-European languages is…[Read more]

  • Mudlark replied to the topic It Takes You Away

    @idiotsavon

    So that might explain why the Grimm brothers didn’t confine themselves to purely German tales: they didn’t see folk tales as existing in geographical isolation

    The point is that by the time the Grimm brothers were collecting them the stories had been thoroughly assimilated into German folk culture and given a regional twist, and the…[Read more]

  • Mudlark replied to the topic It Takes You Away

    @idiotsavon

    Yes, there is always that cross connection of recurrent themes and it goes back a very long way. People don’t always realise how much traffic there was across the whole of Europe, not only in goods but in cultural ideas and material traditions, even in prehistory. This was further facilitated during the centuries of the Roman empire,…[Read more]

  • thane16 replied to the topic It Takes You Away

    @cathannabel

    As always, a beautifully expressed post. And coincidentally, I was thinking last night of Buffy’s The Body and what an impeccable piece of writing it is. Possibly one of the finest 40 minutes of television I’ve seen.

    I love this:

    even if they were to say there wasn’t, I’d just quote D H Lawrence: Trust the tale and not the tel…[Read more]

  • Craig replied to the topic It Takes You Away

    @kevinwho @idiotsavon

    Thanks for the kind words. And you don’t know the half of how amazing she was. She took a course in trauma rescue (whatever they call it – car crashes etc) and they asked her to become an instructor. When she couldn’t nurse, because she was ill, she became the instructor for the whole hospital on patient resuscitation (which…[Read more]

  • Craig replied to the topic It Takes You Away

    @cathannabel @kevinwho @idiotsavon

    Many thanks. I actually took that photo – she was an Intensive Care nurse, so saved many lives during her short career – her colleagues say she was one of the best nurses they ever worked with. Then she decided to do drama at university (while still nursing) to see if she could maybe act – that pic was her head…[Read more]

  • @craig @ichabod @miapatrick @pedant @idiotsavon

    Let’s play Finger The @Cumquat

    No. Wait. That came out way more obscene than intended.

    Or did it?

  • Cath Annabel replied to the topic It Takes You Away

    @idiotsavon YES to the Ariadne’s thread motif (both in the Antizone and in our world).  The Antizone certainly shared some characteristics with the labyrinth, and Ribbons perhaps the Minotaur – although I think it echoed many 20th/21st century retellings of that story by making the Minotaur rather less terrifying, and locating the threat…[Read more]

  • Craig replied to the topic On The Sofa (9)

    @ichabod @miapatrick @pedant @idiotsavon

    Let’s just say I won’t be taking any action against the hilarious cumquat – it’s not me either though, by the way.

    Edit: As the new Doctor might say “Or is she?”

  • nerys replied to the topic It Takes You Away

    @idiotsavon Wonderful observations! Thank you for sharing them here. Now I must watch this episode again with your comments in mind.

  • Miapatrick replied to the topic On The Sofa (9)

    @cumquat I can only apologise (and thus compound the wrong) but, like @idiotsavon, I can only say, I try, but I fail. For example, while I flexed my fingers over my laptop with the purpose of pouring out a torrent of abuse in response to your posting, I have all but lost control of my fingers which insist on asking you:

    Really five Basset…[Read more]

  • Arbutus replied to the topic On The Sofa (9)

    @idiotsavon <span class=”Apple-converted-space”> </span>On the subject of names, I don’t disagree with the principle. And yet, I recall that while Tennant and Capaldi were mostly called by last names, Matt Smith was very often “Matt”. Due to youth, perhaps, or personality? There might be a bit of that element with the use of Jodi (as well as the…[Read more]

  • thane16 replied to the topic The Kebab & Calculator

    @fatmaninabox a sort-of kebab (no calculator but with chilli) as I mentioned that….person. 🙁

    @mudlark

    Now, mudders! Definitely you wrote a post describing the furious winter experience from which I took a “whoa, THAT’S a serious winter. That. Right there.” 😉

    Not to worry. If it was more humorous than, “awful. This is awful” awful then…[Read more]

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