Advogato blog for marnanel

Song for today: Homophobia by Chumbawamba

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:11:49 GMT

It is a great shame that one of Chumba's weakest songs is the only one anyone knows. This is one of my favourites of theirs. (youtube link because apparently embedding broke for some people.)

(The original began with the line "A song about how brilliant and how powerful deviant sexuality is" which is omitted in this version)

Up behind the bus stop in the toilets off the street
There are traces of a killing on the floor beneath your feet
Mixed in with the piss and beer are bloodstains on the floor
From the boy who got his head kicked in a night or two before...

No! Homophobia-- the worst disease
Love how you want to love, and love who you please
No! Homophobia-- the worst disease
Love how you want to love, and love who you please

In the pubs and clubs and burger bars, breeding pens for pigs
Alcohol, testosterone, and ignorance and fists
Packs of hunting animals roam across the town
And they find an easy victim and they punch him to the ground...

The siren of the ambulance, the deadpan of the cops
Chalk to mark the outline where the boy first dropped
Beware the holy trinity: church and state and law
For every death the virus gets more deadly than before...

OMG IT IS A NEW MEME

Sun, 11 May 2008 02:13:54 GMT

When Obama wins...

When Obama wins...

The Wombats

Sat, 10 May 2008 08:08:09 GMT

Who are The Wombats and why does Facebook think that I should get targetted ads about them since I list the Cure on my favourites list?

(Yes, I know what I can get out of Wikipedia.)

rings

Sat, 10 May 2008 08:08:09 GMT

l-r: firinel, plexq, marnanel

Why

Tue, 6 May 2008 21:10:42 GMT

Does anyone know where I can get my hands on anything by the nineties CCM folk-rock band Why? ("Rachel Says Boo", "Giggle", "Pinnenstripensuitenwearenfoddergeburnenclipencloppen", etc; Nick Parker, Ant Parker, others). I had a bunch of their albums back in the day and I miss them, and there's nowhere you can get them any more.

OMG I AM GETTING SUCKED INTO READING BABY NAME SITES

Tue, 6 May 2008 16:13:51 GMT

I love the name Kai and was delighted to find out it is a welsh name, as our Surname is Griffith.
Our new baby boy adopted from Vietnam will be named Kai.

(Found while reading up on this.)

Llan Manager

Sat, 3 May 2008 20:06:59 GMT

trochee asked for a translation of this writeup of the word "llan" as part of this discussion, and this is my attempt. Corrections welome.

A "llan" is a piece of land that is closed in. It is a very common element in Welsh placenames, especially in the sense "piece of consecrated ground".

The roots of this word are very ancient. According to the University of Wales Dictionary, it derives from the theoretical Celtic word *landa from the root *lendh- ("open land, heathland"). This is cognate to the word "llannerch" [ TT: which means "a clearing in a forest" ] and the English word "land". Cognate words are found in the other Celtic languages, such as "lann" ("church, heathland, open land") in Breton, and "lann" ("open land; building, church") in Irish, for example. From the cognate Gaelic word *landa comes the French word "lande" ("heathland, rough land"). [Ref: Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, cyf. 2, tud. 2094.]

The ~~[original?]~~ earliest meaning in Welsh, it is probable, was "piece of land, enclosed in order to grow some crop or other, or to keep property", and it had this sense in some compound words such as "coedland" (enclosed land to grow trees), "corllan" (to keep animals), "gwinllan" (to [grow?] wine), "perllan" (for fruit), "ydlan" (for growing grains), etc. [Ref: ibid]

With the arrival of Christianity and the proliferation of churches, the sense "piece of consecrated land" evolved, naming the land which encircled the church, containing the graveyard ["mynwent"] (~~[I can't follow this parenthesis; something to do with "mynwent" also being an example of something.]~~ there are examples of the world "llan" meaning graveyard too). The next step was for the word "llan" to come to mean the church itself, and thus the larger portion of towns and villages and parishes in Wales received their placenames, usually joined with the name of a saint, such as Llanlechid (the church of St Llechid). This "llan" was some land which was connected to some particular saint, where a cell or some cells stood or an early cloister.

Links have been made to two or more saints in "llan" placenames such as Llanddeusant, Llantrisant, Llanpumsaint and even Llandeuddegsaint [two, three, five, ~~twenty~~ twelve saints]. Some examples of placenames have been made to describe their site, such as Llan-faes (in an open field [=maes]), Llangoed (in the wood [=coed]), Llanllyfni (along the River Llyfni). [Ref: Ifor Williams, "Enwau Lleoedd" (Liverpool, 1945).]

"Llan" can refer to the Church itself insofar as it is an institution, especially in a comparison to the secular world or the state, for example in the saying "mewn llan a llys" [=between llan and court], i.e. everywhere. As a metaphor it can also mean "heaven". [Ref: Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, supra]

Sparrow and Obama

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:10:56 GMT

Good grief, the Mighty Sparrow himself, no stranger to political calypso, has released a song endorsing Barack Obama.

Facebook apps we'd like to see

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:16:32 GMT

Spellbinder. It is *perfect* for a FB application.

http://www.mud.co.uk/richard/spellbnd.htm

http://www.gamecabinet.com/rules/WavingHands.html

New tthurman post

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:10:36 GMT

http://blogs.gnome.org/tthurman/2008/04/24/nor-shall-my-sword/

Comment there! Raaar! I like comments! Comment and I shall eat you last when the stars are right!