tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post1217021997206112217..comments2024-03-27T15:59:11.066+00:00Comments on Prometheus in Aspic: Hooptedoodle #233 - Hannibal, Me, and Napoleon Makes ThreeMSFoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-5254989775006986932016-09-01T08:55:57.672+01:002016-09-01T08:55:57.672+01:00Excellent. My visits to Helsinki were all in conne...Excellent. My visits to Helsinki were all in connection with musical gigs at the Storyville, so I'm not sure I ever met a Finnish man who was sober - they were mostly very loud!MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-59482254068374427372016-08-31T23:25:40.451+01:002016-08-31T23:25:40.451+01:00Henning Wehn mentions this fect, sorry fact, about...Henning Wehn mentions this fect, sorry fact, about German grammar. "German is the most exciting language in the world. Because the verb comes at the end of the sentence it keeps the suspense going right to the last word."<br /><br />Going off tangent a bit regarding English entrances trailing off. You ought to listen to two Finnish women talking (it never seems to be men - who maybe don't even start talking in the first place, unless it's absolutely necessary). They have the knack of breathing in when they speak and the words get quieter and quieter until you're straining to hear what you wouldn't understand anyway.nundankethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12895608927860103442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-88558790321713038172016-08-31T12:36:10.009+01:002016-08-31T12:36:10.009+01:00My first wife went to German Conversation evening ...My first wife went to German Conversation evening classes for 3 straight winter terms, and at the end of the 3rd series she and her pal Mrs Haggart were still giggling helplessly every time some referred to a Fahrt. Perhaps there is a correlation with the fact that, in an actual conversation with an actual German, she was still unable to contribute anything at all. Kein Wort, old boy - nichts.<br /><br />I studied German at school, and have had a couple of serious goes at brushing it up, since at times in the past I had non-trivial plans to move to each of Switzerland and Germany (neither of which came to fruition). I also used to travel to Germany with my work and my musical activities, so - though my speech is halting and unpractised - I can read and understand German reasonably well, and have gained a lot of understanding of English grammar as a useful by-product. One thing that occurred to me on this last holiday is that, though German is often more precise than English, you have to listen awfully carefully. Because of the way in which past participles and detachable verb-prefixes move to the end of the sentence, as do all sorts of verbs in subordinate clauses, I became aware of train conductors and similar listening carefully to the end of what i was saying, to see what I wanted! The idea of the important words coming at the end does something profound to conversation and listening patterns - in English we can frequently trail off halfway through a sentence (with a series of dots...) and the listener can understand the rest of what we mean (or, in the case of my former mother-in-law, can finish the sentence for us) - in German that doesn't work.<br /><br />The beggars still speak far too quickly for me(!), but I do like to have a go - it seems only polite, somehow. I was appalled that the two reps from our British holiday company in Tirol spoke no German at all - if we contract a serious disease or have an accident on holiday, it is not ideal if our guardian angel on the spot is reliant on Google Effing Translate.<br /><br />To end with another unkind poke at the previous Mme Foy, there was an occasion in Italy when she screwed up some fairly trivial exchange, and stated that she couldn't explain it, but her attempts to speak Italian (Gawd bless her) seemed to consist of waving her arms about and speaking French - something which, I observed, she never seemed to have managed when she was on holiday in France... (those dots again...) MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-70285693910274409092016-08-31T11:09:00.919+01:002016-08-31T11:09:00.919+01:00German is definitely the funniest language a nativ...German is definitely the funniest language a native English speaker can encounter. Thanks for sharing.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12086521005933108090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-62318050321921528022016-08-31T08:47:12.975+01:002016-08-31T08:47:12.975+01:00I have to be honest here - not one single elephant...I have to be honest here - not one single elephant. Disappointing. On the border. at the top of the climb (thank you, Woodrow Wilson) there is a mountain "Hutte" in the Austrian style, which serves food and beer and so forth - after the trek up the hill, this is as much a shock as if you found an ice-cream van on top of Everest. A couple of things about this Hutte:<br /><br />(1) The Italians who work there are all German-speakers - Andreas Hofer would have been reassured that all those modern Italians named Müller and Schmidt in the South Tirol have not lost their identity completely (and, of course, the Italian ski team has never looked back)<br /><br />(2) The puzzling question of supply is explained when you find you can drive up the Italian side - another cultural clue - if these were PROPER Italians there would have been a row of motor scooters parked outside the cafe.<br /><br />Harry Worth - I understand he was a nice man, and he was certainly an improvement on Harry Champion and Tommy Trinder and all these in-yer-face cheeky chappies, but his endearingly dippy TV persona was mostly irritating after a few minutes. I recall a sketch in which the Queen is visiting his town, and in his efforts to get rid of a nuisance beggar he ends up throwing water over HM. The denouement was obvious about 5 minutes in advance, which probably goes to show that poor Harry was a victim of the eternal dumbing down of BBC scripts.<br /><br />The optical illusion in his famous TV show intro sequence <br /><br />https://youtu.be/f189hOfyYSY<br /><br />puzzled me as a kid, since he checks to see if anyone was watching before he does it, and any kid who has tried this knows very well that you need a mate there to line it up properly and, of course, only the mate can see the illusion, so you need him to take a turn for your benefit. These scriptwriters were overpaid. MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-82794053714761329382016-08-31T00:22:48.931+01:002016-08-31T00:22:48.931+01:00Foy - did you pass by any elephants on route? I do...Foy - did you pass by any elephants on route? I do hope that you did.<br /><br />Harry worth was not very funny but in the days of only three TV channels was vital viewing...Strykerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14258922461691204362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-77966781326886525402016-08-30T07:11:31.455+01:002016-08-30T07:11:31.455+01:00Funny you should mention that...
In truth, nobody...Funny you should mention that...<br /><br />In truth, nobody gave much thought to singing - breathing was enough of a challenge. I suspect that any Von Trappists in our group would have been left behind as an awful warning. I can't remember much about Harry Worth - one of a succession of harmless, politically lobotomised BBC comedians who weren't actually very amusing.<br /><br />Or so my grannie tells me...MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-68344191272673650222016-08-30T03:01:24.713+01:002016-08-30T03:01:24.713+01:00Invasion really never goes out of fashion....Invasion really never goes out of fashion....Jonathan Freitaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07862373894196924886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-14857358737572622962016-08-29T21:50:06.827+01:002016-08-29T21:50:06.827+01:00Trekking over the border from Austria you MUST hav...Trekking over the border from Austria you MUST have gone through the full repertoire of the von Trapps surely?!<br /><br />All I can remember from Harry Worth (I'm a bit too young really) was the opening credits and THAT pose in the shop window.nundankethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12895608927860103442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-12199203188905151462016-08-29T14:15:05.339+01:002016-08-29T14:15:05.339+01:00....and I roll my dice with a practised look of ha.......and I roll my dice with a practised look of haughty disdain - pretty good, actually. I studied newsreels of Mussolini.MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-52610963787490008442016-08-29T14:10:44.487+01:002016-08-29T14:10:44.487+01:00Interesting question - I have to admit that one fu...Interesting question - I have to admit that one fundamental point here is that these other guys were invading, and I've never done a lot of that. It may be down to my retiring personality, of course, but I suspect that invading is not so much the thing to do now. Fashions change, and we are all influenced (sometimes more than we realise) by the blight of political correctness, but opportunities for a good-going invasion are relatively few and far-between these days. Naturally, given the opportunity, I would have been a conquering emperor with the best of them, but I just never got the breaks.<br /><br />It's tough, but I guess that's the way the cards play out. I quietly get my own back by putting the toy soldiers through hell.MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-47069806027106781192016-08-29T13:52:29.769+01:002016-08-29T13:52:29.769+01:00They were much younger.....so...what took you so l...They were much younger.....so...what took you so long?<br /><br />Most enjoyable photos though, the only mountain hiking I did was in the Rockies over 40 years ago, wearing army boots.Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04053555991679802013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-13990689507182547012016-08-29T07:57:19.827+01:002016-08-29T07:57:19.827+01:00Thank you, young sir. There are different ways of ...Thank you, young sir. There are different ways of giving thanks - I have always felt that those of us who are still able to get out and do these things should really do so - not least as a tribute on behalf of those who cannot. Very little obesity in the Tirol - amazing. Everybody walks - all ages - and the kids start school early in the morning and do sports and other exercise in the afternoons - the school activities are not compulsory, but everyone who is able to is expected to take part.<br /><br />And then there's the topography - those cows are always up a bloody mountain somewhere, and they get milked and tended without fail. The majority of Austria is Alpine - they have working farms in places we would regard as hiking trails. Never saw such hard-working, straightforward people.MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-40886313129947650392016-08-29T07:48:48.579+01:002016-08-29T07:48:48.579+01:00Thanks Jon - as always, I forgot to pay tribute to...Thanks Jon - as always, I forgot to pay tribute to my shameless theft of the Contesse's photographs - most of the good ones here are hers.MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-33077742772614277712016-08-29T07:20:25.434+01:002016-08-29T07:20:25.434+01:00Hahahaha. Great to have you back, Foy. Congratulat...Hahahaha. Great to have you back, Foy. Congratulations on your mountain trekking triumph. The wife forces me up some enormous lump of NZ on an annual basis. I love it every time. All the best, WMWellington Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08295966991101976478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-67517391468776006892016-08-29T03:14:16.335+01:002016-08-29T03:14:16.335+01:00Gorgeous mountain scenery! Looks like a very enjo...Gorgeous mountain scenery! Looks like a very enjoyable diversion for you. Appreciate your travelogue greatly.Jonathan Freitaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07862373894196924886noreply@blogger.com