Meretricious (and a happy new year)...

Sad news today to hear that Gore Vidal is dead. He was a friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, Princess Margaret, Tennesse Williams and Leonard Bernstein. He was close to John F Kennedy and confident of Jackie Kennedy. With his quick wit and brutal frankness, he often seemed the only voice of reason and critical thought to emanate from the US.

Vidal was an author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter and political activist. He wrote plays that were Broadway hits (The Best Man and Visit to a Small Planet), historical novels (Burr, 1876 and Lincoln), political essays (Armageddon? and United States: Essays 1952–1992) and film screenplays (Ben-Hur and the original draft for Caligula). His autobiography, Palimpsest is well worth digging out.

He was known for his acerbic tongue and lightning wit. Asked whether his first romantic encounter was homosexual or heterosexual, Vidal replied that he had been "too polite to ask". The BBC have put together a list of quotes to mark his death. They all display the man's sharp sense of humour.

My favorite quote is not included in the BBC's list. It goes something like:

The British writer Richard Adams, appearing alongside Vidal on That Was The Week That Was, called his work "meretricious" "Pardon?" said Vidal. "Meretricious" repeated Adams. In a split second Vidal was back at him, "Meretricious to you," he smiled, "and a happy new year."

You can find out more about Gore Vidal here.

1 Year Ago:

Where's the justice...?

Run 01/08/2012 17:29
Distance	5:01 km	Time	29:00
Pace	5:47 min/km	Cadence	81 spm
Comments: Heavy downpours.

Run 30/07/2012 17:38
Distance	5:01 km	Time	30:15
Pace	6:02 min/km	Cadence	79 spm
Comments: Grey.

Run 27/07/2012 16:57
Distance	5:06 km	Time	30:13
Pace	5:59 min/km	Cadence	79 spm
Comments: Sunny and hot.

Aarschgnoddle...

Made In America by Bill Bryson, is about how British English has been adapted, enriched, subverted, wrestled with and wrought into today's American English over the last 400 years. Much has been written about English, the common language that separates Britain and the US. However, nothing approaches the anecdotal and offbeat style adopted by Mr Bryson in his book.

American English has never restricted itself to adapting British English alone. A myriad of words have been introduced to American English by the waves of immigration through the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Everyone is aware of the words that the Italians, Irish and Jews brought with them and, I think most would agree, the American language would be all the poorer without them.

There are pockets of communities throughout the US who still speak their original native tongues. It's no surprise then to discover that these communities are still contributing to the vocabulary of American English, even hybrid communities such as Pennsylvania German (or Pennsylvania Dutch as it's sometimes known).

So it was, with keen interest that I read about how, in isolation, this language has drifted away from standard German. There are words they have for situations that other languages would require whole sentences to describe. For example, fedderschei - the condition of being reluctant to write letters and aagehaar - an eyelash hair that grows inwardly and irritates the sclera.

But there is one word that top trumps all contenders. In Mudderschprooch (as Pennsylvania German is known to its native speakers) that word is aarschgnoddle - the globules of faeces found on the hair in the vicinity of the anus.

And so, today's word of the day is aarschgnoddle. Repeat after me, aarschgnoddle. And your challenge today is to casually drop it into a conversation before the day is out...

Today's run at 14:46
Distance	4.04 km	Time	22:58
Pace	5:41 min/km	Cadence	80 spm
Comments: Cold. Clear. Sunny.

Tom Lehrer...

Tom Lehrer was born in Manhattan in 1928. He studied mathematics at Harvard in the 1940s and became famous in the 1950s and 60s for darkly humourous and satirical songs such as I Got it from Agnes and So Long Mom.

Lehrer came to prominence as a musical satirist through writing comic songs to entertain his college friends. Through word of mouth he developed a considerable following and by the late 50s embarked on a series of concert tours. This was followed by a spell of writing for the US version of That Was The Week That Was.

Tom Lehrer retired from the world of entertainment in the early 70s, concentrating instead on an academic career, lecturing in Mathematics and Musical Theatre. It was rumoured that his retirement was a protest at the award to Henry Kissinger of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973. Lehrer denies this but he did comment that awarding the prize to Kissinger had made political satire obsolete.

Lehrer has always attracted a cult following. Despite a short musical career that ended nearly 40 years ago, his work is still revered by many today. Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe cited Lehrer as, "the cleverest and funniest man of the 20th Century", adding that he was his hero. He even performed one of Lehrer's best known songs, The Elements, on The Graham Norton Show.

Lehrer has said of his musical career, "If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while." Here he is doing, The Vatican Rag.

Today's run at 08:33
Distance	4.01 km	Time	22:29
Pace	5:36 min/km	Cadence	81 spm
Comments: Frosty and clear.

Land of my fathers (and mothers)...

It has long been claimed by some here in Wales that America was discovered by the Welsh. It has also been claimed that America was named after a Welshman - Richard Ap Meurig. I think that every country in Europe could probably lay some tenuous claim to the discovery and naming of the New World. So it is with the Welsh.

Many have argued that half the signatories of the American Declaration of Independence were Welsh or of Welsh heritage. It is claimed that 8 presidents were Welsh or of Welsh descent including: Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Adams and Obama.

It seems that American movie stars such as Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Tom Cruise, Bob Hope, Harold Lloyd and Susan Sarandon all have a Welsh ancestry. It's recently been argued that Elvis had his roots here in the Land of Song and, if that weren't enough, I once remember reading a news article some years ago of the claim that Bob Marley was part Welsh. If all this were true it might be an easier task to name a famous American who is not Welsh.

Whilst, undoubtedly, there are a number of the above (and also those named on this list of Welsh Americans) that can genuinely lay claim to a Welsh connection; it strikes me that for most, being Welsh or having a Welsh ancestry will have played little or no part in who they are and what they have become. It seems that this appropriation of the famous as Welsh is a little pointless.

And d'you know what; I'm sure you can detect a soft Welsh lilt from Hitler at the 1933 Nuremberg Rally. Never forget you're Welsh...