2009 – Leeds's Singing Organ-Grinder

Cost-cutting in the ancient world

Hera can no longer afford the dragon and has installed security cameras to stop the Hesperides stealing her golden apples. (Pomegranates, actually, which I believe some people also view as possible candidates. On this walk.)

Relative corruption of PP, PSOE, etc revisited

Every 9th Canarian nationalist councillor has a problem, and the left looks to be in worse trouble than the right nationally.

What’s so hard about answering an email?

–Hello. –Hello, is that the Department of Tourism? Yes? Hello, a week ago I sent you an email asking if this Friday you could let me and a group in to see the crypt of blah blah blah, and I was wondering whether this would still be possible. –Oh yes, I read the email. –So?…

Spanish Christmas Lottery rips off Google logo

Google translates the “I’m feeling lucky” button into Spanish as “Voy a tener suerte”, which is closer to “It’s my lucky day.” So, easy meat for ventura24.es, which wants to associate a brand for losers with one where you really do win (almost) every time you play. Google may be an addiction, but it isn’t…

Why I’m called Trevor

Or, rather, how my grandfather seems to have been named after a minor railway station.

An unusual case of risus sardonicus

Is Mr Barbecue Bunny’s sardonic grin pre- or post-mortem?

Drawing by <a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9s_Laguna'>Andrés (de) Laguna de Segovia</a> of a candidate for the Sardinian laughing plant in <a href='http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA250&id=l8I9qBq-PNYC'>a 1651 Valencian edition of Dioscorides</a>.

Jingoistic poem celebrating the Battle of Vigo Bay (1702)

Half roasted Frenchmen, some o’er Gratings Broil’d/Do mix with Spaniards in the Sea parboil’d;

<a href='http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Vigo_bay_october_23_1702.jpg'>Zeeslag in de baai van Vigo</a>

Ghit goes generic

The Danish-based trends site Ghits.dk is now using my most popular neologism (Google hit -> ghit) for both Google and Yahoo searches. (Dear Mr Larsen, any chance of a link back to the source of your inspiration? Kalebeul or FollowTheBaldie.com would do nicely!)

Real Academia Española contemplating eliminating accents

And they’re going descriptive, bit by bit.

The Nicaraguan and Spanish characters compared

Bizarrely honest or honestly bizarre?