THE BAD NEWS...

Regular readers will recall that I was having protracted computer problems, which were finally solved by the acquisition of a very nice new Dell PC. Sadly, at the age of only 29 days, the poor machine was killed stone dead by a massive lightning bolt while I was working on a new list the other day. No warranty, no insurance. Act of God, apparently. If anyone has God's phone number, please let me know, as I have a bone to pick. I'm way overdue some luck, mister.

... AND THE GOOD NEWS

I got hold of an advance copy of the book version of Vitamin Q at last today and have been reading it with glee, as if I wasn't the tragic fool who wrote it. It's only a few days till VitQ's second birthday, so it was well timed. The book will be on sale in around seven weeks time and will soon be available via this site (stay tuned). So far, I've only spotted one mistake (the word wannabe spelled with three Ns). A mistake like that could be seen as a talisman. Couldnnn't it?

While we're on the subject of books, my collection of New and Selected Poems Mischief Night came out recently, if anyone is interested. It is available from Amazon here (UK) and here (US etc). You can read a very perceptive review of it here.

 
CDGGs

Albums with horses on the front cover:

Aztec Camera – Love (carousel horses)
Ginger Baker – Horses & Trees
The Blue Nile - Peace at Last
The Byrds – The Notorious Byrd Brothers
Catatonia – International Velvet
Bruce Cockburn – Night Vision
The Fatima Mansions – Viva Dead Ponies
Bryan Ferry - Mamouna
Jethro Tull – Heavy Horses
The Melvins – The Melvins
Steve Miller Band – Best of 1968-1973 (winged horse)
Christy Moore – Ride On
Van Morrison – Tupelo Honey
Nico - Desertshore
Lee Perry – Return of Django
Phish - Hoist
Pretty Girls Make Graves – The New Romance
Quicksilver Messenger Service – Happy Trails
Super Furry Animals – Phantom Power
Kevin Tihista – Don’t Breathe a Word
XTC – English Settlement (chalk horse)

 
GRUBS UP

Feeding schedules at Jersey Zoo:

Lemurs

Morning – apple / carrot / banana / orange

Afternoon - grapes or raisins / ice lollies or porridge / greens and leaf forage

Evening - apple / pear / grapes / carrot / cucumber / kiwi fruit /
plums / lettuce / chicory

Extras: egg, potato, pellet

Aye Ayes

Morning – pellet mix / fruit juice / pellet, honey and cereals

Afternoon – bamboo stick filled with meal worms

Evening – bamboo stick filled with waxmoth larvae / one or two pieces
of exotic fruit (mango, papaya, melon) / nuts / coconut / rotten logs / nectar

Source: spotted in window at Jersey Zoo during our lovely holiday

 
DISNEY MATTER

This is silly and pointless, but so is human existence, so why not? Each of the following made-up ‘movie descriptions’ refers to a title which is one letter different to a real Disney animated feature eg 'Leo sprouts feathers' would be The Lion Wing. See how many you can work out. Answers are at the end of the April 2004 archive.

1 The adventures of a sabre still in the fencing shop.
2 A sad tale of the financial struggles of the former Mrs Mandela.
3 Life in Italy’s fashion capital.
4 A history of plaid cloth.
5 The high life and wild times of a bowl of Cajun soup.
6 The tangled relationship of an inflatable lounger and a riding whip.
7 A celebration of Colin Dexter’s crime-solver.
8 The come-uppance of a babe who bragged she was even better-looking.
9 A grand history of ale brewed by monks.
10 An aristocratic woman bemoans her period pain.
11 A tale of a flamingo-croquet shot gone wrong.
12 The stories from rap Producer Rick’s local area.
13 The career highs and lows of an Amazon chef.

 
FOUR As

Some organisations using the acronym AAAA:

American Association of Advertising Agencies
Australian Automotive Aftercare Association
Alberta Aerial Applicators Association
Association of Accredited Advertising Agents
American Association of Amateur Astronomers
Association of Accountants and Auditors of Armenia
Arizona Antique Aircraft Association
American Association for Affirmative Action
Atlanta Area Aquarium Association
Acrophobia Addicts Anonymous Association
Army Aviation Association of America
Akron Area Arts Alliance
African American Appalachian Arts
Alps-Adria Acoustics Association
Albuquerque Aerostat Ascension Association
Arizona Asian American Association
American Academy of Adoption Attorneys
Association for Applied Animal Andrology
Asociación Argentina ‘Amigos de la Astronomía’

And here is an alphabet of '_a_a' words:

AAAA - a small, slender grade of battery often used in pen torches
baba - a small cake soaked in rum syrup OR a Polish coffee cake OR a Slovakian bake made of potatoes, barley and bacon
Caca - a giantess and minor goddess in Roman mythology; in one story, she betrays her cattle-rustling brother Cacus to Hercules
dada - the French word for hobby-horse, giving its name (chosen it is said, at random from a dictionary) to a radical arts movement of the early 20th century
eaea - a Polynesian name for the plant spurge; a supernatural turtle in Hawaiian folklore; a vocal styling of elongated vowels used in Hawaiian falsetto singing; a gene (eaeA) which is associated with attaching and effacing lesions and which encodes intimin, a protein
Fafa - an island, part of Tonga; a Micronesian foodstuff made from pounded taro root and coconut
gaga - prone to lightheartedness or mental instability
haha - a sunken ditch or wall built so as to stop animals trespassing but to avoid spoiling a view; originally a French term, it is usually hyphenised in English
iaia - the Catalan word for ‘granny’; also an Italian surname - Cristina Iaia is a celebrated fashion designer best known for her upmarket lingerie
Jaja - Jaja of Opobo was a king in 19th century Western Africa who was one of the first to oppose colonial trade monopolies and who was eventually deported to the W Indies for his ‘breaking of treaties’
kaka - the brown parrot of New Zealand; (with cap.) a Brazilian football star
lala - a term applied to the excesses or pretensions of Los Angeles or especially Hollywood (Lala-Land); a style of shoe made by Clarks; a fairly common female first name
mama - This child’s word for mother exists in languages as diverse as Swahili, Indonesian, Russian and Turkish and is thought to derive from a baby’s natural vocal sound when wanting to be fed; also common as a song title: songs called ‘Mama’ have been recorded by Herb Alpert, ELO, Roy Orbison, Annie Lennox, Sugarcubes, The Spice Girls, Bay City Rollers, Connie Francis, Genesis, Toto, Elvis and many more
Nana - common word for a grandmother; French slang for a young woman; the dog-maid in Disney’s Peter Pan; a novel by Zola; a type of dwarf pomegranate tree
oaoa - depending on pronunciation, this Polynesian word can mean ‘joy’, a stake to tie a canoe to, or ‘a scarecrow, made by rattling together empty water-bottles made of cocoa-nut shells’
papa - a general word meaning father; a priest of the Eastern Orthodox church; the nickname of Ernest Hemingway; a word used in the names of several islands in Orkney and Shetland, signifying that they were once inhabited by monks
qaqa - Arabic word for warrior (Bin Laden is sometimes called ‘al-Qaqa‘); Uiluit Qaqa is a mountain in Greenland; the qaqa-loro is an endangered Bolivian parrot
rara - comonly used in ‘rara avis’, a rare bird; a lake in Western Nepal; a style of musical band in Haiti
sasa - a species of woody, evergreen Asian grass; a fairly common Eastern European male first name; a port in Mindanao in the Philippines; a town in Israel
Tata - one of India’s biggest companies, best known for engineering and vehicle manufacture; a village in Senegal; a town in Morocco; a city in Hungary
uaua - a sub-race of people existing in North East Africa in the early centuries AD; Samoan for ‘to start a plantation’’; the Kiribati word for swimming; a variety of taro - piko uaua
Vava - the first player to score in two soccer World Cup finals, representing Brazil in 1958 and 1962; a township in Mozambique; ‘A Vava Inouva’ (’My Little Father‘) is a popular North African song
Wawa - a town in Ontario, Canada; a coffee shop company based in Pennsylvania; the Chinese word for ‘doll’;
Xaxa - a royal palace in the story The Mastermind of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs; a supernatural people in the myths of the Salish Indians of British Columbia
yaya - the Swahili word for ‘nurse’ or ‘babysitter’; also means nursemaid in Tagalog (an unrelated language); a fairly common boy’s name in W Africa
Zaza - an ethnic group from Turkey; a movie about a French entertainer, based on a play and made twice with the eponymous character played by Gloria Swanson (1923), then Claudette Colbert (1939); the cat character in children’s series Hector’s House (Le Maison de Toutou in the original French version)

 
HARD BARD

Twelve hard things about staging Shakespeare (many thanks to my brother Eric - stage manager of many Shakespeare productions for the RSC and other companies - for compiling this list)

‘But there is two hard things’ says Peter Quince, before sharing with us the difficulty of representing The Moon and A Wall in his play in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. But Shakespeare left modern producers of his plays with quite a few problems to solve.

1 The Bear in ‘The Winter’s Tale’

The very famous stage direction ‘exit, pursued by a bear’ is a tall order to accommodate. One RSC version in 1986 had a bearskin rug which was decorating the floor of Leontes’ house rise up on wires to terrify Antigonus. Not awfully effective. Other versions have ignored the writer’s demands and provided sound effects only. The 1993 Stratford production was beautifully executed however, by a very tall actor on all-fours in a very good costume, with not much light, and lots of dry ice, naturally.

2 Entrance of Jupiter in ‘Cymbeline’

‘Jupiter descends, in thunder and lightning, sitting on an eagle’. Apparently this was done in 1611 at the Globe, where an overhead trapdoor was part of the normal set up. But in these days of risk assessment and tight budgets, Jupiter is more likely to walk on, possibly holding a small model of an eagle.

3 Macbeth’s head

‘Enter Macduff, with Macbeth’s head’. I’ve seen many Macbeths, but never this. If any director wanted to end the thriller with a big laugh, this would be his or her chance. Funnily enough, the head is always cut. If you know what I mean.

4 Violence in ‘Titus Andronicus’

You would think that two broken necks (onstage), one hand cut off (onstage), two more hands and a tongue lopped off (offstage), with lots more rape and murder, and climaxing in a pie baked with two children being fed to their mother would be a hard thing to pull off. Yet in Deborah Warner’s award-winning 1987 Stratford version, the audience watched without a snigger. She proved that horror can work onstage.

5 Gloucester loses his eyes in ‘King Lear’

More graphic horror, this time in the much more widely-seen ’King Lear’. An old man is blinded on the order of his bastard son. The eyes are usually small condoms full of water and the second soldier on the left has a small water pistol full of blood to surreptitiously drench the perpetrators as the gouging occurs.

6 Hermione’s Statue in ‘The Winters Tale’

An actress must stand stock still for ten minutes as people inspect the ‘statue’ of the dead Hermione. But she needn’t worry too much about the odd blink, because it turns out she really is alive; ‘She’s warm!’ and they all live happily ever after.

7 The Forest of Arden in ‘As You Like It’

‘So this is the Forest of Arden!’ says Rosalind in awe. Some productions have more trees than you can shake a stick at, while most, with less money, prefer the ‘two scaffolding poles’ approach.

8 Twins in ‘The Comedy of Errors’ and ‘Twelfth Night’

Shakespeare loved twins, and gave us two sets in ‘Comedy’. Finding suitable actors can be tricky, the RSC used two lookalike brothers in 1976. Otherwise it’s left to the wig department to convince us. Then in ‘Twelfth Night’ we have Viola and Sebastian (‘an apple cleft in two is not more twin’): tricky with a man and a woman. We got to see how it worked for the author in the excellent all-male 2000 production at the Globe, where at last the two men did look genuinely alike.

9 The two hours traffic of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ etc

Despite the opening speech, which tells us we are in for ‘two hours traffic of the stage’, ‘Romeo’ is seldom less than three and a half hours long. Shakespeare is, in the main, long. The shortest are Macbeth and Julius Caesar, which can be done straight through in well under two hours. King Lear and Hamlet are famously long, at around four hours, and most actors refuse to do matinees. But the uncut Kenneth Branagh Hamlet in 1992 did play twice a day, at 12.30 and 7.00.

10 The Apparations in Macbeth

The witches ‘show’ Macbeth a succession of images, culminating in a parade of eight children who will become kings. Nowadays, it’s simply over to the video department. How did they manage in the old days?

11 Corpse of Henry VI in ‘Richard III’

A dummy is expensive, and if you use an actor, you have to get four strong volunteers to carry him on. And then Shakespeare throws this at you: ‘the corpse begins to bleed’. In option two, the actor must try to stop his chest moving as he gently pumps the fairy liquid bottle hidden under his shroud.

12 Crab in ‘The Two Gentlemen of Verona’

Yes, it’s Shakespeare’s only onstage real animal. This dog always steals the show, and usually gets paid more than the leading actors. In Stratford 1994, the dog was ill and an understudy dog had to go on. Unfortunately due to lack of training, it took a severe dislike to one of the characters and tried to attack him repeatedly before running into the audience.

 
CALL ME

Descriptions of some intriguing bird-calls or songs of some US and UK birds (descriptions in brackets approximate what the call sounds like in English):

US:
Arctic Loon - owiiil-ka owiiil-ka owiiil-ka
Black Storm-Petrel - pukaree puck-puckaroo
American Bittern - BLOONK-adoonk
Ruddy Duck (male during display) - jif jif jif jif ji ji ji ji jijijijijijwirrrrr
Gambel’s Quail - pup waay pop pop
Willow Ptarmigan - (displaying male) - goBEK goBEK goBEK, poDAYdo poDAYdo
Sooty Tern - ka weddy weddy
White Winged Dove - hhhHEPEP pou pooooo (‘who cooks for you’)
Inca Dove - Poo-pup (‘no hope’)
Greater Pewee - soo saay sooweeoo (‘Jose Maria’)
Olive-sided Flycatcher - whip WEEDEEEER (‘quick, three beers’)
Black-whiskered Vireo - chip john phillip
Blue-headed Vireo - see you, cheerio, be-seein-u, so-long, seeya
Tufted Titmouse - peter peter peter peter
Magnolia Warbler - sweet, sweeter, SWEETEST
Palm Warbler - zzizzizzizzizzizzi
Seaside Sparrow - tup teetle-zhrrrr

UK:
Montagu’s Harrier - yick yick yick
Red Grouse - go back, back, back
Capercaillie - click-click click-click click-click POP
Quail - whip, whip-whip (‘wet my lips’)
Jack Snipe (displaying) - kollarap kollarap kollarap
Pied Wagtail - chizzwit
Cetti’s Warbler - pwit, pity-chewit, chewit, chewit
Blue Tit - see see see
Magpie - chacker chacker chacker
Yellowhammer - zit zit trillip (‘little bit of bread and no cheese’)

Source: RSPB Handbook of British Birds / The North American Bird Guide

 
BANNED OR BRAND

Newspapers are careful to avoid using trade names which have become synonymous with the products of which they are the leading brands. Here is an American list from 25 years ago of the most common ones, together with the terms which should be used:

Alka-Seltzer - antacid tablets
Baggies - plastic bags
Band-Aid - bandage
ChapStick - lip salve
Chiclets - chewing gum
Coca Cola, Coke - cola drink
Dacron - synthetic fiber
Deepfreeze - home freezer
Dictaphone - dictating machine
Dixie Cups - paper cups
Dramamine - travel sickness medicine
Fiberglas - fiber glass
Formica - laminated plastic
Frigidaire - refrigerator
Jell-O - gelatin dessert
Kleenex - tissues
Laundromat - self-service laundry
Levi's - jeans
Mace - tear gas spray
Masonite - hardboard
Mixmaster - food mixer
Novocaine - painkiller
Plexiglas - acrylic plaster
Ping-Pong - table tennis
Polaroid - camera or self-developing film
Quaaludes - tranquilizers
Q-tips - cotton swabs
Saran wrap - plastic wrap
Scotch tape - cellophane or plastic tape
Sheetrock - gypsum wallboard
Simoniz - car wax
Tabasco - pepper sauce
Technicolor - color movies
TelePrompTer - cuing device
Tommy gun - sub-machine gun
Vaseline - petroleum jelly
Windbreaker - sports jacket
Xerox - photo copier

Source: Los Angeles Times Stylebook (Meridian 1979)

 
BOY-CRAZY

Stories, articles etc from the contents of The Champion Annual 1926, a book for boys:

(stories)

1. The Elephant Of Fortune: A Thrilling Story Of Central Africa
2. Wolf Of The Wild
3. The Fellow Who Slacked: A Rousing Yarn Of Fun, Sport And Adventure At School
4. The Law Of The Ring: An Exciting Boxing And Adventure Yarn
5. The Daring Of Dirk Frobisher: A Gripping Yarn Of Adventure In The Days Of The Pirates
6. The Burglar Alarm!
7. The Frozen Road: A Yarn Of Breathless Adventure In The Far-Flung Himalayas
8. A Race For Riches: A Magnificent Story Of Peril And Adventure In The South Seas
9. Barred From All Games: A Magnificent Story Of School Life And Sport
10. Stowaways Of The Air: A Yarn Of Thrills And Perils On Land And In The Clouds
11. True To Their King: A Powerful Story Of Intrigue And Adventure In The Days Of Charles II
12. Bluffed By Ship's Boys: A Magnificent Story Of Adventure On Land And Sea
13. The Young All Blacks: A Ripping Yarn Of Sport And Adventure "DownUnder"
14. Trapped In The Arctic: A Rattling Yarn Of The Frozen North
15. Eddie And The Magician: A Capital Complete Story Of A Boy Who Thwarted A Stage Conspiracy

(articles)

1. Training For All Sports: General Rules Which May Be Followed With Advantage By Every Boy Who Is Anxious To Improve His Strength And Stamina
2. The Boy Model Maker: Two Splendid Toys Which Any Handy Hobbyist Can Make
3. Behind The Football Scenes
4. How To Look After Your Pets: Timely Tips For Livestock Breeders
5. What You Don't Know About The Cinema: Some Little-Known Facts Concerning One Of The World's Most Prosperous Industries
6. Football In The Good Old Days: An Intimate Pen Picture Of Sport In The Middle Ages
7. Soccer Simplified: The Laws Of Football Simply Explained
8. A Home Telephone: Would You Like A Telephone In Your Own Home? Of Course You Would!
9. The Romance Of The Redskin
10. Heigh Ho For Camp!
11. Learn To Box! Useful Hints Which Should Be Absorbed By Every Boy Who Is Anxious To Get On
12. Stunts For Swimmers: Some New Aquatic Performances Which Will Make Your Visits To The Baths A Source Of Added Interest To Yourself And Of Much Amusement To Your Friends
13. Facts About Fencing

(From the back cover:) Six Reasons Why You Should Read The Champion:

1. It is the premier adventure story paper for boys.
2. The stories are written by authors who have travelled all over the globe - men who have actually lived in the countries in which their stories are set.
3. The pictures are drawn specially by the finest black and white artists.
4. The stories are original, full of vigorous action, and deal with true-to-life characters - boys who are fired with the love of adventure and who have heaps of pluck.
5. The adventures related are stirring and convincing, and ring true in every detail.
6. Its motto is "Something New - Always Something New"; and it lives up to it!

Get a Copy To-day! Every Monday - Price Twopence

 
WHAT A RAVE UP

Some more information on parties of the past. These are the proposed rules for ‘family circles’, social gatherings held in Victorian London.

“They manage it better in France,” is a remark to be often applied with reference to social life in England, and the writer fancies that the prevalence here of a few bad customs, easily changed, causes the disadvantageous difference between ourselves and our more courteous and agreeable neighbours.

i. Worldly appearance; the phantom leading many to suppose that wealth is the standard of worth - in the minds of friends, a notion degrading to both parties.
ii. Overdress; causing unnecessary expense and waste of time.
iii. Expensive entertainments, as regards refreshments.
iv. Late hours.

The following brief rules are suggested, in a hope to show the way to a more constant, easy, and friendly intercourse amongst friends, the writer feeling convinced that society is equally beneficial and requisite - in fact, that mankind in seclusion, like the sword in the scabbard, often loses polish, and gradually rusts.

RULE 1. That meetings be held in rotation at each member’s house, for the enjoyment of conversation; music, grave and gay; dancing, gay only; and card-playing at limited stakes.

RULE II. That such meetings commence at seven and end about or after twelve, and that members and guests be requested to remember that punctuality has been called the politeness of kings.

RULE III. That as gentlemen are allowed for the whole season to appear, like the raven, in one suit, ladies are to have the like privilege; and that no lady be allowed to quiz or notice the habits of another lady; and that demi-toilette in dress be considered the better taste in the family circle; not that the writer wishes to raise or lower the proper standard of ladies’ dress, which ought to be neither too high nor too low, but at a happy medium.

RULE IV. That any lady infringing the last rule be liable to reproof from the oldest lady present at the meeting, if the oldest lady, like the oldest inhabitant, can be discovered.

RULE V. That every member or guest be requested to bring with them their own vocal, instrumental, or dance music, and take it away with them, if possible, to avoid loss and confusion.

RULE VI. That no member or guest, able to sing, play, or dance, refuse, unless excused by medical certificate; and that no cold or sore throat be allowed to last more than a week.

RULE VII. That as every member or guest known to be able to sing, play, or dance, is bound to do so if requested, the performer (especially if timid) is to be kindly criticized and encouraged; it being a fact well known that the great masters of an art are always the most lenient critics, from their deep knowledge of the feeling, intelligence, and perseverance required to at all approach perfection.

RULE VIII. That gentlemen present do pay every attention to ladies, especially visitors; but such attention is to be general, and not particular - for instance, no gentleman is to dance more than three times with one lady during the evening, except in the case of lovers, privileged to do odd things during their temporary lunacy, and also married couples, who are expected to dance together at least once during the evening, and oftener if the please.

RULE IX. That to avoid unnecessary expense, the refreshments be limited to cold meat, sandwiches, bread, cheese, butter, vegetables, fruits, tea, coffee, negus, punch, malt liquors, &c., &c.

RULE X. That all personal or face to face laudatory speeches (commonly called toasts, or, as may be, roasts) be for the future forbidden, without permission or inquiry, for reasons following:- That as the family circle includes bachelors and spinsters, and he, she, or they may be secretly engaged, it will be therefore cruel to excite hopes that may be disappointed; and that as some well-informed Benedict of long experience may after supper advise the bachelor to find the way to woman’s heart - vice versa, some deep-feeling wife or widow, by “pity moven”, may, perhaps, after supper advise the spinster the other way, which, in public, is an impropriety manifestly to be avoided.

RULE XI. (suggested by a lady). That any lady, after supper, may (if she please) ask any gentleman apparently diffident, or requiring encouragement, to dance with her, and that no gentleman can of course refuse so kind a request.

RULE XII. That no gentleman be expected to escort any lady home on foot beyond a distance of three miles, unless the gentleman be positive and the lady agreeable.

RULE THE LAST. That as the foregoing remarks and rules are intended, in perfect good faith and spirit, to be considered general and not personal, no umbrage is taken, and the reader is to bear in mind the common and homely saying, - “Always at trifles scorn to take offence / It shows great pride and very little sense.”

The author goes on to recommend some ‘innocent recreations of the fireside’ which might be played on such occasions including Anagrams, Charades, Conundrums (example: Why is hot bread like a caterpillar? Because it‘s the grub that makes the butter fly.), Enigmas, Puzzles, Rebuses, Riddles and Transpositions. He remarks, “Many persons who have become noted for their literary compositions may date the origin of their success to the time when they attempted the composition of a trifling enigma or charade.” Indeed sir!

Source: Enquire Within Upon Everything (no date, but probably 1880s)

 
PLAY ON

21 sweet songs:

Ice Cream - Sarah McLachlan
Rice Pudding - Jeff Beck
Caramel - Suzanne Vega
Sugar Cane - Herb Alpert
Chocolate Milk - Norman Greenbaum
Coca Cola - Roy Orbison
Marmalade - Moby Grape
Candy Cane - The Ohio Express
Black Licorice - Grand Funk Railroad
Humbug - ELP
Cake - The B52s
Hot Fudge - Robbie Williams
Coconut Ice - David Essex
Treacle - Hefner
Mars Bars - The Undertones
Honey - Tori Amos
Dream Topping - The Durutti Column
Cloudy Lemonade - Alfie
Custard Pie - Led Zeppelin
Saccharine - The Catherine Wheel
Cream Bun - Tiny Monroe

 
GLAM CUISINE

Dishes which had their heyday in the 1970s:

Stuffed Aubergines
Coquilles St Jacques
Beef Wellington
Tunny Fish Mousse
Artichokes Vinaigrette
Stuffed Peppers
Brunch (with quiche)
Boil-in-the-Bag Cod
Chicken Kiev
Prawn Cocktail
Duck a l’Orange
Galantine
Waldorf Salad
Black Forest Gateau
Fondue
Cream Julie (a rich soup)
Freeze-dried Curry
Steak au Poivre
Rice Salad
Ham Charlotte
Pizza Pie
Eggs Soubise
Tongue en Papilottes
Moussaka
Prawns Alabama
Lobster Thermidor
Baked Alaska
Beef Olives

Any suggestions for additions, let me know... (no brand name foods)

 
PRATT's LIFE

The fourteen foods which we should eat more of to keep us healthy and prolong life, according to US specialist Dr Stephen Pratt:

1 beans
2 blueberries
3 broccoli
4 green tea
5 oats
6 oranges
7 pumpkins
8 salmon
9 soya
10 spinach
11 tomatoes
12 turkey
13 walnuts
14 yoghurt

 
AVE MARIA

The ‘maria’ or seas of the moon are actually lava plains. They are…

Mare Insularum (Sea of Islands)
Mare Cognitum (The Known Sea)
Mare Nubium (Sea of Clouds)
Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility)
Mare Smythii (Smyth’s Sea)
Mare Crisium (Sea of Crises)
Mare Humorum (Sea of Moisture)
Mare Undarum (Sea of Waves)
Mare Nectaris (Sea of Nectar)
Mare Serenitatis (Sea of Serenity)
Mare Humboldtianum (Humboldt’s Sea)
Mare Frigoris (Cold Sea)
Mare Vaporum (Sea of Vapours)
Mare Foecunditatis (Sea of Fecundity)
Mare Moscoviense (Sea of Muscovy)
Mare Anguis (Sea of Snakes)
Mare Imbrium (Sea of Showers)
Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms)
Mare Australe (Sea of the South)
Mare Spumans (Sea of Foam)
Mare Orientale (Eastern Sea)
Mare Ingenii (Sea of Cleverness)
Mare Marginis (Sea of the Edge)