The Fruits Of My Research - England
Famous throughout the world mainly for its culinary achievements, England (according to its own self perception) is the home of fair-play, democracy and free speech. England gave the world rugby, football, cricket, tolerance, justice, Australia, the Beatles and Marmite.
Famous English People
Sean Connery, Lloyd George, John Logie Baird, Oscar Wilde
The Fruits of My Research - Turkey
Famous throughout Europe for its takeaway food, Turkey has a rich and proud history. Indeed, Turkish workers are largely responsible for the “German economic miracle” of the last 40 years.
Famous Turkish People:
Demis Roussos, Nana Mouskouri
The Fruits of My Research - Rooney, Wayne
Manchester United and England footballer. Famous for his volatile temperament and celebrity girlfriend. What is less well-known is his interest in Italian culture and architecture. His recent book on the work of Andrea Palladio and his influence on British architect Inigo Jones, Il Grande Libro dell’Architettura, written in Italian, has been critically acclaimed across Europe.
The Fruits of My Research - GI Diet
Dietary regime introduced to Britain in the 1940s which uses chocolate, Marlboro cigarettes and silk stockings to achieve weight loss. Fell out of popularity as a result of its major side effect – pregnancy.
The Fruits Of My Research - Entomologist
Somebody who is interested in the study of talking trees.
Famous entomologist:
JRR Tolkien
The Fruits of My Research - Etymologist
Somebody who is interested in the study of insects. From the Greek “etymos” = creepy crawly and “logisticos” = intelligent person.
This word is often confused with entomologist (qv) (qv)
The Fruits of My Research - qv
Latin for “click on this link or look elswhere on this website to see more information about this word or name”
The Fruits Of My Research - Whaling
Despite being condemned by the civilised world (i.e. the USA), whaling is an immensely popular industry in Japan (qv). Indeed top Japanese pop star Bob Marley often records with whalers to show solidarity with their cause.
The Fruits Of My Research- Wasabi
The locals in Japan (qv) live on a diet of Wasabi, a ferocious industrial cleaner (marketed in Europe under the brand name Cif).
The Fruits Of My Research - Aniston, Jennifer
Airhead American actress who shot to fame playing Monica in hit sitcom Cheers. This led to movie roles which allowed her to show off her acting skills from playing airhead Grace in Bruce Almighty to playing airhead Polly in Along Came Polly.
The Fruits Of My Research - Norton, Graham
Versatile slightly camp Irish comedian who came to fame in the challenging role of a slightly camp Irish priest in the Channel 4 sitcom, Angela’s Ashes. This success led to him presenting his own show Oh, Noooo, it’s Graham Norton, this time in a slightly camp Irish style. After his ratings rocketed he was poached by British public broadcaster BBC to present a host of early Saturday evening entertainment programmes. This tested his range as the programmes ranged from singing to dancing competitions featuring members of the public trying to be famous. Each show was completely different to the others and each required him to change his style, sometimes being a slightly camp Irish comedian and at other times being an Irish comedian who appears slightly camp.
The Fruits of My Research - Palmer, Arnold
Successful American golfer and failed businessman. After winning a succession of major titles (The US PTA, the US Majors and the British Oven), Palmer retired to devote time to his business interests. He ran a crazy golf course in Whitley Bay in the North of England in the early 80’s. Despite a large number of visitors, Palmer was never seen at the course. Needless to say, the business folded leaving Palmer, presumably bankrupt.
The Fruits of My Research - Twombly, Arthur
Famous rock star whose musical career has been blighted by his addiction to typography.
b. 1945 in Sausalito, named Jet Thrust. Unusually, he changed his name to Arthur Twombly to make him sound more respectable. Twombly grew up immersed in the exciting new world of rock n’ roll and was heavily influenced by Buddy Holly, Jerry Lewis and Eric Gill. Whilst at Art School he formed a band called Arthur Twombly and the Fonts.
His career took off with a string of bluesy rock classics in the 60s; “(I can’t get no) Hyphenation” and “My J-J-Justification” topped the hit parade on both sides of the Pacific. Twombly produced much of the bubble writing on the early single sleeves himself. As the band’s fame grew so a major deal with the Apple label followed.
His relationship with sultry Arial Bold in the early 70’s saw a waning of his song writing and performing powers. She seemed to be doing to the Fonts what Yoko Ono was doing to the Beatles. His assertion in 1975 that typography was “better than sex” led many fans to the conclusion that Twombly was still a virgin. The low point was the turgid prog-rock album “Tales of Typographic Oceans”. Twombly left the band in 1976 to design posters for the Basel Jazz Festival, something he still considers to be his finest achievement.
In 1977, influenced by the British punk bands of the time and disillusioned with graphic design, Twombly returned to the band with new guitarist Franklin Gothic. The pair soon started writing aggressive, foul-mouthed anthems that the kids loved. Their singles stormed the charts and his career was once more going upwards. As the drink and glue flowed, music replaced typography in Twombly’s heart. His 1978 single “F**k Alignment” contained 38 “f” words, 7 “c” words and, bizarrely, one “r” word and was considered so offensive it was banned in 42 US states. The follow up “F**k widows and F**k orphans too” was even more outrageous and was banned in 62 US states. This stage of the band’s career ended when Gothic died in tragic circumstances in Marrakesh, choking on Twombly’s vomit after a night of substance abuse.
Stricken by grief and remorse, Twombly immediately married Gothic’s widow and recruited Australian axeman Angus “Hell” Vetica. The two went in to the studio and within days had recorded the soon-to-be stadium rock classics “Highway to Helvetica”, “Bat out of Helvetica”, “Helvetica’s Bells”, ”Back in Arial Black” and “Chiller”. Criticised for his non-PC lyrics (Rolling Stone magazine called it “music for the dirty mac brigade”), Twombly and Apple continued to work together, producing the classic album “The Dark Side of Monotype”.
Plagued by his addiction, live appearances became more sporadic. A major gig at Bercy in Paris had to be cancelled when Twombly disappeared. He was found three days later in a barn in Normandy “adding the finishing touches” to a Tourist Information leaflet for the Bureau de Tourisme de Seine-et-Marne. Shortly after this episode he was admitted to the Betty Ford Clinic, “I’m just doing too many lines, man” he told his therapist. The lines in question turned out to be keylines, box rules and 2pt rules placed at random throughout his work. His therapists thought he may never be cured until one day he met Kurt Cobain and discovered Grunge. With it’s anarchic, hygiene-free and drink and drug-fuelled energy he was released from the constraints of orderly structures. The seminal album “Smells like Times New Roman” smashed its way to Number 1 in the US, the UK and UCLA college radio. Further experimentation with new styles resulted in the typography/rap fusion classic; “You gotta fight for your right to Palatino.” There seemed no stopping Twombly following the release of the electronica/rock crossover hit “Born in the USB”, a song which influenced Bruce Springbok and his Sesame Street Band.
Twombly fell out with Apple in the late 80s, eventually being lured to the Windows label by its laid back and charismatic chairman “Bilge” Gates. He persuaded Twombly to use more strings, backing singers and gospel choirs, The result was a series of bland, uninspiring ballads which were, nevertheless, huge hits; “Kerning me softly with his song”, “Wind beneath my Wingdings” and the unforgettable “If I said you had a beautiful Bodoni, would you hold it against me?”.Unhappy with the sheer tedium of these recordings, Twombly once more succumbed to his addiction problems and went to live in a disused warehouse in Oklahoma City, where he worked on the new station logo and corporate identity for radio KKNG, King Country.
Here he met pedal steel guitarist Zapf Dingbat with whom he was soon writing songs again. Now with a definite honky-tonk groove, he was back. His new sound is rootsy, ballsy and sounds like it might wear a Stetson and a checked shirt. Look out for his new album “You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucida” featuring the single “I walk the Linotype” in the record stores or available for download on www.girldogandtruckgone.com.
The Fruits of My Research - University
Once the domain of crusty academics and the cream of a nation’s intellectual youth, modern Universities have fallen on hard times. Today’s harsh economic realities have changed the way they operate. Far from being a playground for the young, privileged and gifted, many Universities operate industrial workshops where students work 18 hour shifts in appalling conditions. Yale has a lock factory, in Heidelberg students manufacture printing machinery and in Oxford they make bags.
In Britain, any building which has seating for more than 10 people aged 18-25 is allowed to call itself a University.
The Fruits of My Research - Palestine
The just and rightful homeland of the Palestinian people.
For a fuller explanation of the reasons behind the Arab-Israeli conflict, see Israel.
The Fruits of My Research - Israel
The just and rightful homeland of the Jewish people.
For a fuller explanation of the reasons behind the Arab-Israeli conflict, see Palestine.
The Fruits of My Research - USA
Famous in the Middle East for its takeaway food and complete disregard of human rights, America has a rich and short history..
Famous Americans:
Pierre Trudeau, Gloria Estefan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Johnny Weismuller.
The Fruits Of My Research - Thailand
Famous in the west for its takeaway food, Thailand has a rich and proud history. Indeed, in the very near future Thailand will still be famous in the west for its takeaway food, something Britain and Germany will never be.
Famous Thais:
Kipper, Shoestring, Old School
The Fruits of My Research - China
Famous in the west for its takeaway food, China has a rich and proud history. Indeed, in the very near future China will be heading towards global superpower status, passing Britain and Germany going in the other direction.
Famous Chinese People:
Emperor Hirohito, Rev Sun Yung Moon
The Fruits of My Research - India
Famous in the west for its takeaway food, India has a rich and proud history. Indeed, in the very near future India will be heading towards global superpower status, passing Britain and Germany going in the other direction.
The locals live on diet of curry and lemon-scented microwaveable white flannels. Presumably you have to “be there” for the flannels to taste really good. It works on the same logic that says ouzo tastes much better at a beachside taverna in Kefalonia than it does in a kebab shop in Rotherham.
Famous Indians;
Geronimo, Imran Khan
The Fruits of My Research - Woods, Tiger
Born “Ocelot” Woods in Cyprus in 1974. He changed his name to Tiger to fit in with the macho, aggressive gun and drugs culture prevalent in Augusta and St Andrews at the time. Many consider him to be the finest golfer of his generation and the only current American player comparable to the American greats of the past; Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Fuzzy
If you do not know something, there are 3 ways of finding out:
1. Ask an expert.
2. Look on the internet
3. Make it up.
Clearly the first option relies on knowing a trusted source of accurate information whose integrity is beyond reproach. How many of us are lucky enough to be friends with such a person? The second approach is time-consuming and often leads the enquirer to highly detailed and dry academic sites that are hard for the layman to understand. This way should therefore be discounted. The third option is to make up your own facts and pass them off as truth. This of course is easy to do and forms the basis of my series of posts entitled "The Fruits of My Research."
Happy reading, knowledge hounds.....
I have been puzzled of late by the tree growing just beneath my window. With limited knowledge of trees but access to large numbers of gardening obsessives, I thought it would be relatively straightforward to identify the thing. After each ID proved to be different – Sumac, Ash, Varnish Tree etc, we resorted to taking the scalpel out, carefully hacking a stem off (if hacking can ever be “careful”) and wrapping it in wet kitchen roll before delivering it to an arborist. He identified it as Aralia Chinensis.
Having looked on the web for more information it appears that this is quite the most wonderful tree. Whilst it is not on the level of Yggdrasil, the ancient Norse Tree of Life, it does have a lot going for it. It has leaves all year round, green shoots of a flower that turn into green, then purple berries and is an explosion of colour. Having seen photos of it and looking out of an upstairs window I can now see that “my” tree has the beginnings of a flower in the crown.
There is a selection of really good pictures of this tree and many other plants and animals from Asperupgaard in Asperup, Denmark. Visit www.asperupgaard.dk to see them.
After trying many combinations of salad, I have arrived at the conclusion that a simple green salad with parmesan and vinaigrette dressing is best. For ease of preparation and depth of flavour it simply cannot be beaten.
There is a farm shop called "Paul" in St Martin de Boscherville, near Rouen. There they sell the fruit and vegetables that you can see them picking in the fields every morning. As the mists swirl from the nearby Seine ,the farmer and what appear to be his family are hard at work in their neat rows of crops. Their basil is wonderfully fragrant, the service is excellent and their salad leaves are just perfect.
We are still undecided about the best vinaigrette. The choice is between either of two home-made versions. The front runner is Balsamic vinegar, runny honey and extra virgin olive oil. The other alternative is Cider vinegar, Maille's Dijon mustard and extra virgin olive oil.
As for the leaves, the choice is yours, but I'm definitely a spinach, watercress and rocket man.
There is a chain of stores in the UK called Poundland where all items are priced at one pound - £1. It's a brilliant concept, but what happens when the UK joins the Euro? Have they thought this out and registered the names Euroland, 1.46 Euroland or 2 Euroland to cover them for the new prices they might have to charge? I like to think ahead....
