Wondrous Words Wednesday 13/7/11

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a fabulous weekly meme hosted by Bermuda Onion, where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our weekly reading.  

I've just recently finished a book called Pompeii. It wasn't my favourite book of the year. Actually I didn't really like it, but it did provide some interesting words. I've already blogged some of them, and now for the rest.

1. Tiro (Noun)

Anyway I have found out nothing useful- beyond that there is a new recruit. As if I didn't know who that was. A tiro, Calpurnia calls him.

Explained in the text, but I always learn more by looking up the words too.

A variant of tyro. A novice or beginner. From the Latin tiro- recruit. The Free Dictionary

2. Augurs (Noun)

Father says there are augurs aplenty wandering the streets these days and that many of them are charlatans and we must be careful who we listen to.

I saw an augur in the street today. I knew he was an augur by the conical hat he wore and the curve staff he was leaning on.

The augur was a priest and official in the classical world, especially ancient Rome and Etruria. His main role was to interpret the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds: whether they are flying in groups/alone, what noises they make as they fly, direction of flight and what kind of birds they are. This was known as "taking the auspices." (from wiki)

This page has a great mural painting of an augur including a conical cap. I find it particularly fascinating that we still use the phrase "augurs well", when noone really indulges in a spot of augury any more, and the original meaning was certainly lost to me.

And I learnt that I've been spelling auger wrong for quite some time. I was wondering how it was going to relate to these manglers of limbs:

3. Bulla (Noun)

I slipped off the bulla I always wore and handed it to him.

Bulla is a word I know well, but in quite a different sense. In lungs where smoking (most commonly) replaces healthy lung tissue with big balloons called bulla(e). You can also get big blisters on skin, which is also called bullous skin disease.

I suspected that that usage probably wasn't right, and went searching.

Before the age of manhood, Roman boys wore a bulla, a neckchain and round pouch containing protective amulets (usually phallic symbols), and the bulla of an upper-class boy would be made of gold. (Roman Clothing)

Photo credit

This makes much more sense, but all of the googling I did said that boys wore bullas, not girls, as in the story. 

4. Ballista (Noun)

I felt as if the city was under siege, as if a huge army had ranged outside the gates and was catapulting pumice at us from giant ballistas and slingshots. 

An ancient catapult for hurling stones, etc. The Free Dictionary.

Photo credit

Again, this gives us the well known modern word ballistics (the science of the study of projectiles), but the more ancient term was not known to me.

Favourite Classic Artists, and bonus Musee Rodin

My art education via Junior Non Fiction continues. A small book with a two page spread on a small selection of world famous artists. Constable. Turner. Rembrandt. Manet. Renoir. Rodin. Cezanne. Klimt. Cassat. Sadly they chose only to print one painting from each artist. Although there are weblinks and gallery suggestions of more. But it's hard to get to Paris, Washington, London and Cardiff to see some more of Renoir's works. Much as I might want to. The book is part of the Wayland Weblinks series, and the inside cover is devoted to tips on internet safety for children.

An adult reader can still learn from even these short bio pieces. Cezanne was clearly a troubled person. When a children's book mentions several times that he could be violent and moody, that he spent more and more time living alone, and that he was embittered by the time he found fame in the 1890s then you know there's something going on there.

I also learnt that the beautiful Musee Rodin which I was lucky enough to visit last year, was a former Hotel, where Rodin lived from 1908. That makes it even more special. The grounds of Musee Rodin are astonishing. Sadly, we ran out of time during our visit, and didn't get to go inside the Musee building.

I'll be very keen to make another visit to the Musee Rodin on my next visit to Paris, which is a bit surprising as I wasn't all that enthused about seeing it before we went. Mr Wicker was very keen so I went along for the sake of marital harmony, and I absolutely fell in love with the place.

Pride of place near the entrance

A year before his death in 1917 Rodin donated all of his works to the people of France. Which helps explain why there are so many of these very famous works on easy public display. What a wonderful and generous legacy. 

What I came to realise is the rather famous Gate of Hell (white version on display at Musee d'Orsay)

There's a lovely little cafe in the grounds of Musee Rodin where the food is not standard tourist trap level (this is a rather French practice, they make an effort everywhere). We all happily had a lovely filled turkish bread, and then a selection of desserts, in glass, with proper spoons.

You can add to the street art as you leave

Which really makes this post about Paris in July, even though I tried to make it about something else. 

Lèche Vitrine

My French isn't all that. It used to be, but sadly isn't now due to neglect. But I still appreciate many a French turn of phrase. Like lèche vitrine- so much better than our window shopping. The French don't shop the windows, they lick them. And why not when they look this good?

I was transfixed by this dress, we walked past it a lot

I really wanted to have a little girl to buy this dress

An echo of an ancient land!


The knife shop around the corner from our flat had a great display about the changes with time and the regionality of knives in France. Almost the terroir of knives. 

Kinves of yesterday

Kinves of today

Of course the DON'T TOUCH is in English

Book shops!

Everyone gets excited by the windows of Paris- even the stylish ladies

Laduree

Extraordinary Left Bank nougat shop that lured me inside

I never got to try any of these but liked to admire their windows

Sometimes you can only wonder

Paris in July 

Saturday Snapshot, is a wonderful weekly meme from at home with books.

Random Reason I Love Paris #2

Because Paris is so beautiful it makes you look like a photographer even if  you're not.

A colour photo masquerading as black and white inside the sadly dilapidated Eglise de Saint Germain des Pres.

Paris in July

Random Reason I Love Paris #1

Paris in July

Dear Fatty

I was initially disappointed that Dawn didn't read this audiobook herself, but she does a brief introduction where she says that she felt she couldn't read it herself as it was too personal and difficult. Hmm, alright then. Hard to argue with that I guess. She chose a friend to read it, who actually does sound a bit like Dawn. And she does a good job of it.

An unusual memoir, written as a series of letter to friends and family (most often her father), and random folks like David Cassidy, his letter written by a smitten teenage Dawn. I do love an epistolary novel. I'm not sure that I've ever come across an epistolary memoir before, but Dawn makes this format her own on 6 wonderful CDs. She apparently received a 1.5 million pound advance for the book, which seem rather well deserved.

Early on we get indications that her father dies badly and at a young age. Dawn then recounts an hysterical early encounter with the Queen Mother when she came to visit their typical RAF house. Four year old Dawn thinks the Queen Mother is a witch.

She pens a great letter to her niece largely about body image- so funny, with endless commentary about cipolata toes. The family lives in Cyprus for a while, and Dawn comes across war and death for the first time. On her return to England she regales with stories of her scheming, hard-drinking drinking grandmother.

We hear Dawn growing up- tales of boarding school antics, leaving school, first relationships, and meeting Jennifer Saunders (the Fatty of the title) at Teacher's College in London in the late 70s. Lovely to think that we were both going to see Rocky Horror multiple times back then.

She has an early engagement to a young RAF man, who soon moves into tea. Later she recounts meeting and marrying Lenny Henry. Lenny comes from a large Caribbean family, and I was most intrigued to hear that his mother's favourite drink was Guinness Punch- a heady mix of Guinness, condensed milk and nutmeg! Perhaps I've finally found a way that I might like Guinness! It sounds fabulous..... Note to self- Definitely must try this.

She speaks so passionately and fervently about her relationship with Lenny that listening to this audiobook in 2011 you can't help to feel a bit sad knowing that their marriage did actually end last year. A large number of the letters are written to her father. These are the most poignant letters of the book. I came across a copy of Dear Fatty in a bookstore after finishing the audiobook, and I really enjoyed flicking through the picture sections, providing perfect images to match the words.

I'm not usually one to read memoirs, or even newspaper articles, about actors or people in show business but this one was really most enjoyable. I just wish that it hadn't been abridged for the audio book format. Besides learning about Guinness Punch, I also learnt that Jennifer Saunders was married to Adrian Edmondson! I had no idea.

I'm really quite enjoying my dabbling with audiobooks. My drive to work used to take 4 minutes, then my workplace moved in March this year, and it takes me 15 minutes each way now. Plenty of time to listen to something interesting. Luckily, it seems there's plenty of interesting audiobooks to keep me happy during the commute. Really, I do know it's still a pretty quick drive, but when you live in a small town like I do, well, 15 minutes is a long time, and I'm enjoying putting it to good use.

All the Fun of the Fair

Last July I wasn't just sitting at home in the cold dreaming of Paris. Last July I was in Paris! And loving it. It would be so easy to fill my posts with the iconic images of Paris. There are so many, after all. They are famous and iconic for good reason. 

But I've never been one to take the easy path. So I'm going to try and find 5 interesting, different, unusual but still spectacular topics to post for Snapshot Saturday this July in Paris.

One of the things our family loved most during our completely marvelous two weeks in Paris was the fabulous Fete des Tuileries. A wonderful fair that is set up in Tuileries from late June to late August every year. It was set up during out first week in Paris, and we ended up visiting most days during the rest of our stay.

It's an absolute must do when travelling with children. We managed to drag our 9 year old through many churches and galleries with the promise of yet another visit to the fair later in the day. It's free to get in, you just pay for rides, drinks and food.

Nestled in the heart of the 1st arrondisement, and just next to the Louvre

Our son loved these maze type amusements- and we never even had to try to join in, we could just sit back and have a  cold drink!

Adults can beg off the climbing walls too

My favourite ride- the skychair I think it was called

The Fete provided my favourite photo of the entire trip. My son at the end of a ride on the sky chair. He was shouting "I believe I can fly"

I had a spot of fun taking some shots up on the ride. It was rather terrifying zooming out over the Rue de Rivoli. But an incredible thrill too. All for a few euros.

Trying to capture the Eiffel Tower from the skychair

This may not be exactly as it came off the camera

The food at the Fete probably wasn't the typical Parisian delights

I never got to try a churro

Beer in whatever size you want

These ice cold slushies saved my life several times during the Parisian heatwave

We loved the Fete so much that we chose to spend the final moments of our very last night in Paris there. And saved taking a ride on the large Ferris wheel for last.

I got all misty seeing her lit up in the dark for the first time on our last night