Posts by ChrisW
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Capture: Autumn lite, in reply to Jos,
That little black shag seems to be an outcast loner rather than cheeky.
Here’s an unplanned capture of at least 10 little black shags just after a formation landing at considerable speed, still decelerating. I was lined up taking photos in the pre-sunrise fog cf. these ones four days ago when they swooshed in, hence all that flax obscuring the action. They generally feed and hang out in distinct groups of 10-18 or so, but there does seem to be this odd one out. I'm sure it would really have a story to tell, but sadly I can’t hear it for retelling, other than as ‘speculative fiction’ perhaps.
(Truth to tell, all those little black shags look the same to me – perhaps they all take a turn keeping the pied shag company one day at a time?) -
Then along came a giant green penguin! Sheila recoiled, instinctively pulling in her head and spare foot as a sign of submission, but that stupid little black shag just squatted there, totally oblivious to the danger.
Pleased to hear it, Islander! I try another, with small version that may allow the eye to not be distracted by the details, and larger too because I at least like the details too.
They double as a representative image of Gisborne’s weather today, like most of yesterday's. And surely there was some photo-worthy autumnal light and weather elsewhere to post here? I hear there were gale-force winds and torrential rain and floods? -
Hard News: Spread the Noise, in reply to Carol Stewart,
Come quickly, girls! The paramecia are conjugating!
Lovely story!
It would have been very educational for me as a 4th former more advanced in my Latin scholarship than biology - that sense of 'conjugating' would have been unknown to me and I would have thought: But surely paramecia is a noun not a verb, so it's declension not conjugation they're doing? -
Hard News: Spread the Noise, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
I confess I still use 'sanguine' in lieu of 'comfortable' and 'relaxed' - John Key stole those from me!
Mmm, I wonder if someone influential were to refer to Key's style of policy and political management as 'sanguine' often enough, with ostensible meaning of something like (unthinkingly foolhardily) optimistic, whether it would be heard with sanguinary connotations like those proposed for 'ensanguinated' and stick as stuff does to blankets?
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Hard News: Spread the Noise, in reply to Emma Hart,
Indeed, a good match for the sanguinary general.
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Hard News: Spread the Noise, in reply to Russell Brown,
I'd say that's very good evidence for 'sanguine' being pretty well obsolete ...
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RB -
We're more sanguine about the idea of "citizen journalism" now, but, equally, citizen reporters are a valuable part of the plan in every newsroom.
“Sanguine”? Did you mean less sanguine rather than more, in the sense of sanguine as optimistic?
But I’d say it’s pretty well obsolete now as a useful word, there being so little consistency in what limited use there is. Except where a traditional double meaning works well, as in an updated context for “Despite the early set-back, the general remained sanguine of success in his ‘big push’ on the Somme.” -
Try as she might, Sheila could not shake off the feeling there was another shag perched at the far end of the log, imitating her every move.
Even though she turned her head as suddenly as she could, it was always gone – she could never see it.
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At the kitchen sink on May Day – depths of subdued grey-greens in the rain, the red flag only a pale imitation.
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Capture: Autumn lite, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
So much to focus on, eh! Here's the same but different ...
