Era motif? (4, 3, 1, 6)

"γ little closer m'dear", he suggested, twirling his moustaches.

She ν what he was after,

So she δ swift blow to his lascivious hopes.

"φ upon you Sir!", she cried

And β hasty retreat.

Voice and curls amount to play.

"We always dress for dinner", said Tom in a tired voice.

"I'm not afraid of Chinese porcelain", said Tom in a booming voice.

"It regulates the water level", said Tom in a weary voice.

"I lost a packet at the races today" said Tom in a hoarse voice.

"It's not as simple as that", said Tom with a catch in his voice.

Just tried some Absinthe. No wonder Lautrec was Toulouse.

I've been Satyr for hours,

With not the slightest glimpse

Of Nymphs.

In the Apologia Socrates is made to say

"I went to one who had the reputation of wisdom, and observed him—his name I need not mention; he was a politician whom I selected for examination—and the result was as follows: When I began to talk with him, I could not help thinking that he was not really wise, although he was thought wise by many, and still wiser by himself; and thereupon I tried to explain to him that he thought himself wise, but was not really wise; and the consequence was that he hated me, and his enmity was shared by several who were present and heard me. So I left him, saying to myself, as I went away: Well, although I do not suppose that either of us knows anything really beautiful and good, I am better off than he is,—for he knows nothing, and thinks that he knows; I neither know nor think that I know. In this latter particular, then, I seem to have slightly the advantage of him."

I love this passage. The bit where Socrates says "I tried to explain to him that he thought himself wise, but was not really wise" suggests the philosopher was somewhat short on tact and diplomacy.

After this he went off and offended other groups, such as poets and artisans. He sums it up "This inquisition has led to my having many enemies".

Quotes from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1656/1656-h/1656-h.htm

Masochists. Do they get a kick out of it?

www.apologies.co.uk

It's a sorry site.

when the doctor said its never easy thats not a promising sign but to be fair we were both sitting down at the

time

and at least i took it well

I wrote before about the mysterious and romantic-sounding opposite birds, who lived alongside the ancestors of modern birds for millions of year but then died out 55 Mya with all the large dinosaurs.

A recent paper describes an exciting example of an opposite bird preserved in amber. It was only very young when it became trapped, but seems to have been quite well developed, in keeping with the idea that opposite birds, unlike modern ones, fended for themselves as soon as they hatched.

The detail below gives an idea of how well the fine structure of the animal has been preserved.

There is a good article here about the fossil and what it suggests about the opposite birds.

Today is Bloomsday, a world-wide literary festival held on the 16th June each year.

It commemorates James Joyce's novel Ulysses, the entire action of which takes place during a single day, the 16th June 1904.

In many parts of the world people dress in contemporary costume, hold readings, and enact scenes from the book, often walking along a route that imitates the one followed in the book by its main character Leopold Bloom.

This is the third year we have celebrated Bloomsday in our village. It is a small affair compared with the festivals held in places like Dublin and some cities in the US, but we are proud of it, and it is heartening to see that it has grown, and this year included events on the surrounding days as well as Bloomsday itself.

I have the honour to appear in the first event of the day. I don't have to say anything, or even move, just be in a tableau illustrating the book's opening pages. Somebody else does the reading:

My part is as Stephen Dedalus, who Mulligan calls 'Kinch' and who is a sort of avatar of Joyce himself.

The action takes place in a Martello tower near Dublin (the tower really exists and is now a James Joyce museum). Our local tower is just a piece of stage scenery in the best tradition, consisting of a painted sheet wrapped around a step ladder, but naturally it doesn't have to be a convincing representation of a real tower. It only has to suggest one and our imaginations take over and do the rest.