wɒnhəʊp Wanhope: hopelessness, despair Now comth wanhope þat is dispeire of the mercy of god þat comth somtyme of to moch outrageous sorow and som tyme of to moch drede Geoffrey Chaucer The Parson’s Tale (c.1400) I’ve fallen into the habit, recently, of picking words from current affairs for my posts about etymology and usage. … Continue reading Wanhope
At the end of my previous post, I had reached the stage of being ready to apply decals to LN-ABH. But with the decals still in Brexit/Covid postal limbo between Finland and Scotland, I turned my attention to the earlier version of this aircraft, registered as D 260, when it was part of the Junkers Spitsbergen … Continue reading Revell 1/72 Junkers F13W: Two Builds – Part 3
In order to stay behind, we needed somewhere to stay: and by sucking up to the Sappers we had already brought into being what might very loosely be called a network of subterranean hide-outs in which not only the striking force—[myself] and about fifteen other idiots—but our far-flung, hand-picked collaborators in the Home Guard, would … Continue reading John Warwicker: Churchill’s Underground Army
Lundie Craigs (NO 281378, 353m)Keillor Hill (NO 281385, 334m)Donald’s Brae (NO 293396, c280m)Auchtertyre Hill (NO 293398, 278m)Newtyle Hill (NO 296399, 270m) 8.5 kilometres210 metres of ascent It’s been a while since I’ve posted a new walk in the Sidlaws. This one accesses an old ridge-walk from a new direction. I’ve previous visited these hills either … Continue reading Sidlaws: Long Loch Circuit
I published my original “We Are Stardust” post some time ago, introducing the infographic above, which shows the cosmic origins of the chemical elements that make up our bodies, according to mass. At that time I concluded that Joni Mitchell should actually have sung “We are 90% stardust,” because that’s the proportion of our body … Continue reading We Are Stardust (Supplement)
I’d originally considered entitling this post simply “More Bullshit”, but that of course would be misleading—The Oikofuge attempts to be a bullshit-free zone. I’ve posted on the topic of bullshit before, when I wrote about Pennycook et al.‘s classic paper “On the Reception and Detection of Pseudo-Profound Bullshit“. Now I’d like to share with you … Continue reading More About Bullshit
ˈlæbɪrɪnθ Labyrinth: 1) A structure consisting of a number of intercommunicating passages arranged in bewildering complexity, through which it is difficult or impossible to find one’s way without guidance. 2) A structure consisting of a single passageway winding compactly through a tortuous route between an entrance and a central point. When Minos reached Cretan soil … Continue reading Labyrinth
By the end of my previous post, I’d completed all the necessary revisions to the kit parts to produce an in-flight model of Gidsken Jakobsen‘s ill-fated Junkers F13 floatplane, LN-ABH. (See the previous post for details of its fate.) Unusually, I painted the fuselage and wing parts before complete assembly—because of the boxy nature of … Continue reading Revell 1/72 Junkers F13W: Two Builds – Part 2
Beinn a’ Chuallaich (NN 684617, 892m) 13 kilometres720 metres of ascent The Crow Craigies Climbing Party was again prevented by Covid restrictions from assembling in full force this year, but the founding members managed to get together for a socially distanced day on the hill nevertheless. Our aim this year was to climb Beinn a’ … Continue reading CCCP 2021: Beinn a’ Chuallaich
With Covid lockdown lifted (at least for now) but international travel still looking like a Very Bad Idea for the rest of the year, the Boon Companion and I are back to travelling around Scotland. Our most recent trip was to Kylerhea, at the eastern end of the Isle of Skye. It’s not a particularly … Continue reading Kylerhea, Skye