Spellingng reforrm

In the 12th century, there was a guy called Ormin who wanted to improve English spelling.

The'magic e' had not yet been invented, so he decided that, to distinguish between long and short vowels you would add a double consonant after every short vowel. So, (iff you wer writingng inn modderrn Ennglishsh) itt would look somthingng lik thiss. (My autocorrect did not like that sentence!)

I wonder why he didn't go for the more obvious solution of doubling long vowels? In which caas it wuuld luuk moor liik this. (I put two u's in look because oo is really a long u sound, not a long o sound.) Seems more logical to me.

Actually, putting a line over long vowels would be even nicer - and save ink. Sō it wūd lūk līk this. I think that wūd hav bēn a gūd solūtion.

Apologies to anyone reading this with a screen reader - I don't think it'll work!

What is it with packaging designers and percentages?

All this tell me is that it doesn't remove more grease than is there to start with.

Even I know that's not how percentages work

I got this hairbrush.

If there's 45% less breakage and 55% less effort, you don't add them together to get 100%.

The total percentage of overall benefit can't be more than the highest individual benefit. And if any of the individual benefits is not 100, the overall benefit can't be 100.

So (assuming breakage and effort are the only factors that contribute to 'happy hair'), I think (and my maths could be wrong) they add up to 50% happier hair - the average of the two. Which is still a good percentage.

Percentages aside, I think it does a good job - definitely much less breakage. Effort - easier than dragging a comb through it, but have to go over it more times. Happier hair? I haven't asked it how it feels 😊

 

[Edit: after a lengthy discussion with my brother (we do talk about interesting things 😁) I have concluded that a) my percentage was too simplistic, but that was partly because b) the whole thing is like comparing apples and oranges and makes no sense whatsoever.]

🗳️ Who to vote for - based entirely on their logos

This is a completely apolitical post - I'm looking at design only. Nothing said here reflects my political views AT ALL.

In order of the rainbow (because that's more design-y than the alphabet):

Labour 

I think this is a new logo for this election. I like it much better than the old rose, which was unclear and looked like a bad photocopy to me!

A thistle makes it look Scottish. It's a nice clear design. Interesting.

Changing to a pinkish red was an interesting design choice, and doesn't really say 'Labour' to me. It does look more modermn though. (Apparently it's supposed to be a red/purple gradient - but I think parties should stick to one colour.)

Could be a building society or sports logo.  

Liberal Democrat 

 

 It's just so happy! 

The flying bird suggests freedom, which goes with the name.

A nice golden colour too.

Nothing Scottish about it. 

Could be a building society logo. 

SNP

The symbol that is both a loopy cross and a thistle is clever.

Its simplicity means that anyone could draw it.

The black & yellow is a bit stark - though I think they've toned it down a bit. 

Of all the symbols, it would be the easiest for a totalitarian stare to use - it has that kind of non-fussy simplicity.

Green

So boring. The English one is more interesting.. Although it's different from the English one, there's nothing Scottish about it.

The only party whose colour is its name and message, which is handy. 

Putting your text inside a logo  can be tricky because you're forced to use a whole square every time, and the name can get rather small. A symbol that is separate from the name is easier to use in many contexts.

Could be an energy company or petrol station logo, which is slightly ironic. 

Reform 

 

Same issue with text inside, though I like the combination of black text and turquoise circle.

The arrow suggests moving forwards, which is a good thing for a political party to suggest though I'm not sure that it really reflects them, as their proposed reforms are of the conservative kind. It's definitely not touchy-feely, which does reflect them.

I can't see this used as a logo for anything but a political party. 

Conservative

 

Not bad. It's quite a dynamic saltire - Scottish but the touch of red brings in the Unionist aspect. The cyan is presumably just to add brightness. Unfortunately these colours are lost in black & white versions, where it becomes more underwhelming and loses something important. Don't rely on colour in your logos!

Could be a logo for a transport company or a bank.

Verdict 

So, in order of merit, based on logos alone, I'm going with:

1. Lib Dem 
2. Labour 
3. Reform 
4. SNP
5. Conservative
6. Green 

OK, now I'd better get on with figuring out who I'm actually voting for! 

Bones parenting styles 😁

Massive spoilers for Bones season 6.

OK, that out of the way...

 

Bones and Angela are in the park watching their respective children play.

Bones: Christine! You have reached your maximum potential energy on the swing. Lower your centre of gravity, please.

Angela: Does she actually know what you're saying?

Bones: Of course.

Angela: Michael Vincent! If you run up that slide one more time, I'm never feeding you again!
He understands me, too.

(Season 10 episode 4)

I'm dreaming of a white Easter

I don't think this is what people were expecting as they arrived at church this morning.

(Also seen today: heavy rain, beautiful sun, and hailstones)

Telephone quote

"I do not think I am exaggerating the possibilities of this invention when I tell you that it is my firm belief that one day there will be a telephone in every major town in America."

~ Alexander Graham Bell

Before tobacco health warnings

Was tidying out some craft stuff, and found these old pipe cleaners. They're real pipe cleaners, not the coloured craft ones you get now. (They came from my Granny.  For craft purposes - she didn't smoke a pipe!)

The text on the back is interesting:

 

WHAT IS A PIPE?

It is the poor man's friend. It calms the mind, soothes the nerves and makes a man patient under all difficulties. 

From the moment a man takes to a pipe he becomes a philosopher.

It has made more good men, indulgent husbands, kind masters and fathers, than anything else in the world.  

STUDY YOUR HEALTH and clean your pipe daily for it is a filter which purifies the smoke before it enters the mouth. 

IF YOU ARE WISE you will smoke two or more pipes alternately and leave a pipe cleaner in those not in use. You will find them all the sweeter.

Rather overblown claims there, maybe?

The fifth of February

I discovered I posted this 10 years ago, but I think that's long enough ago to allow a repeat.

Lyrics by John Finnemore. Music written and played by Susannah Pearse. Performed by Simon Kane, with Carrie Quinlan and Margaret Cabourn-Smith.

Stone Age Smash®

The prehistoric Peruvians had instant mashed potato.

This is my favourite fact among the many fascinating facts in a book I got for Christmas.

 

 

Which, btw, means that the claim on the Smash potato packets is many thousands of years out of date.

 

Chalet School centenary 1925-2025

So when I was a teenager I was obsessed with the Chalet School series by Elinor M Brent-Dyer.

I was in a fan club, and in 1994 I entered a competition for a new magazine cover (didn't win). I recently came across it, and thought that, as 2025 was the centenary of the first book, I might have a go at redoing it. I realise I'm cutting it a little fine...

My 1994 cover:

This was Before Computers, so I used film with a dotty pattern for the shading!

Actually, I preferred my initial idea, which back then I had discounted as 'not working', so  based my new idea on that one. 

And because it's not going to be photocopied, I decided to use colour. But, to give myself a challenge, used a limited palette: black, white, uniform colours of brown & flame, gentian blue & crimson, a pale straw colour, and green. I got variety by using paler versions of the colours - no colour mixing.

The uniforms are: left -1920s, bottom - 1930s/40s, top - 1950s, when the school split and we follow the new branch with a new colour scheme, and right - 1960s.

I quite like it. There's a lot of stuff that could be improved (not least the faces), but since it was just for fun and I'm running out of time this year, I won't!

Happy Easter 🥚🥚🥚

Was in the corner shop today, and there were creme eggs and biscoff eggs on the counter.

Time travel problem

"The ones who go back to kill Hitler, whether as an infant or in his artist days in Vienna, frequently forget that in the eyes of those alive at the time, they are not the savior of history, merely a baby killer or a common murderer, and spend most of their historical sojourn in custody or fleeing from it."

~ John Scalzi

Overheard in the station

A dad and a two or three-year old were having this conversation, which I've recorded as best as I can from memory:

Dad: You can't run in the train station.

Wee girl: Why?

Dad: Because you might fall over the edge, so you need to be a bit careful.

Wee girl: And then if a train came along you’d be squished.
Like a pancake. 
With eyes. 
And a nose, and ears, and fingers, and legs [long list of body parts which I can't remember]

Dad: I wouldn't want you to turn into a pancake.

Wee girl: What would you do?

Dad: I'd say oh no, Martha's a pancake!

Sauce for the goose

I've been enjoying watching Bones lately.

The two main characters are a forensic anthropologist (nicknamed Bones) and an FBI agent (Booth) who work together.

This conversation amused me. 

He's trying to explain why he was being so secretive about a romantic relationship he is in.

Booth: I just didn't want it to get weird, I guess. 

Bones: Weird? 

Booth: We're partners, you know? Together all the time, right? You're a woman, and I'm a man. And I never had a relationship like this where we were...like two guys - except you're not, you know, a guy. Yeah.

Bones: No, no I'm not... 
Should I feel odd about wanting to hang out with Will? [a guy she fancies]

Booth: No, of course not. You know? Because essentially, I mean, you're a guy like me. But not really.

Bones: That would mean that, to me, you are essentially a woman. 
Yeah, I can see that.

Booth:  No no no no. I'd prefer not to be a woman, if you don't mind.

Bones: I'm merely trying to follow your reasoning, Booth. 

Booth: OK, fine. What do you say we just, you know - we'll drop it for now. 

Poetry

I came across this profound piece of poetry:

"A trio of sightless rodents

A trio of sightless rodents

Observe how they perambulate

Observe how they perambulate

They perambulated after the agriculturist's spouse

She severed their spinal extensions with a culinary utensil

Have you ever observed such a phenomenon in all of your existence as a trio of sightless rodents?"

Tough on grime

Every time I see this my mind goes, "Tough on the causes of grime."

The power of a slogan!

Variations on a theme

I was amused by this noughts & crosses left by some kids in church.

For the first game they used their initials, for the next they coloured the squares blue or red, then they used the traditional X and O, and finally one wrote "10" and the other wrote "100".

The usefulness of childhood stories

Whenever I'm liquidising something like soup, I remember the story of Paddington decorating his room. He switched the electric paint stirrer on before putting it into the paint, instead of once it was in. I take care not to do this - as a direct result of hearing that story 40-odd years ago.

I didn't take this photo - it came from an Etsy listing. The book is Paddington's New Room.

The king playing a carrot along with the London vegetable orchestra

 A friend told me about this, and it seemed too bizarre not to put on a blog with this name: