Judith Proctor's Journal

I'm a long time lover of the classic Christmas movie "It's a Wonderful Life".

Like many others, I've often wondered about Clarance the angel and the line: "every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings." 

It seems an odd line to come from nowhere.  What was in the scrip-writer's mind when he wrote it?  To have the line actually be related to the overall story suggests that he was familiar with such a belief/custom/saying.

I think I may have found a possible origin.  

I was browsing Wikipedia and ended up in the article on Indulgences   (For those who don't know, the over-simplified explanation is that by buying an indulgence, a sinner could avoid part of the punishment in purgatory for a sin)

Luther, who was a key figure in the Protestant reformation was strongly opposed to the sale of indulgences.  

 In Thesis 28 Luther objected to a saying attributed to Tetzel: "As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs".^[40] 

I think that quote of Tetzel is the likely origin of the Angel getting his wings saying.  

Ever wondered where these funny old units of measurement come from?  They were originally very practical units of measurement.

eg. Allotments are typically 5 or 10 rods in length. (a pole is the same measurement as a rod)

Plot sizes are measured in rods, an old Anglo-Saxon unit so-called because it was the length of the rod used to control a team of eight oxen (thus an item of standard length that was likely to be around and handy for measuring stuff).

A rod is 5.5 yards (5.03 metres).


An acre is the area of land that could be ploughed in a day, being a furrow long (one 'furlong')and a chain wide.

Turning a team of oxen was difficult, so the typical acre on the ground was a long narrow shape.  Short furrows would drain better, but long ones were easier to plough. The furlong was a compromise between the two factors.

A furlong = 10 chains.

But the chain has an extra layer of meaning.  It was the measuring tool of surveyors and had to be strong enough to not stretch, but light enough so that the surveyor could still carry it.  It was literally a chain, typically made with 100 links.


A chain = 4 rods = 22yd (20.12m) and is the length of a cricket wicket.  (I guess the surveyor's chain was another handy item)

A mile is 8 furlongs or 80 chains.

A foot is pretty self-evident.

An inch is derived from the width of a man's thumb at the broadest point. Again, one can see this as an easy practical measurement.

A fathom is used mainly at sea for measuring depth.  6 ft, fingertip to fingertip of outstretched arms.  Think of how you quickly measure the length of a rope and you can see why depth measurements made by a man dropping a lead on the end of a piece of thin rope would obviously be measured in fathoms.

 

A mile = 8 furlongs.

An acre is the area of land that could be ploughed in a day, being a furrow long (furlong)and a chain wide, or 160 square rods.

It strikes me that one of the reasons I find alternative names for Jew's Harps to be mildly annoying is that names of musical instruments have a cultural context for me.

One (of many possible) derivations suggested for the name was its popularity among people like the Khazars, who were largely Jewish.  That's a link back to areas of the world where the instrument is still used.

I'd be equally irritated if Appalachian dulcimers, or Irish Harps underwent a name change.

I still can't pronounce 'bodhran' correctly (it's the drum in the icon), but I'd never want to change the name as that would be to lose the cultural context and history of the instrument.  Speaking of which, I really need to get mine out and play it more often...

I was reading the letters page of the local paper last week and saw two separate letters from people thanking the unknown strangers who had handed their lost wallets (complete with money) in to the police.

It's worth remembering that there are still a lot of honest people in the world.  (I remember both the occasion when my son found a wallet on the train and fortunately the lady's address and bus pass were inside so we were able to post it to her, and the time someone else found his wallet and handed it in)

I'm now the owner of a pretty, blue topaz ring - which by a handy coincidence fits my index finger perfectly.  I handed it into the police after I found it on the pavement, but no one reported it as missing, so it's now mine as the apropriate time has passed since I found it.  I find it a little sad that the owner never reported losing it.  Did they assume that no one would hand it in?  (It's probably not massively valuable, but a gold ring, even if only 9 carat, is still a gold ring) 

Moral, if you lose something, tell the police.  You've nothing to lose and you might well get a happy surprise.

Slash fans may read Ansible and snigger in total disbelief at a quote there.  A writer called Toby Litt is not going to live this one down for a long time...

Unless your baby is in a breach position, the risk of a Cesarean birth is double that of a vaginal delivery.  (I hadn't expected the difference to be so great, but that is the result of a massive study, and interestingly enough, the risk is to the baby as well as the mother)

Oliver Postgate (the man behind Bagpuss and the Clangers and Ivor the Engine, etc) comments here on one of the inherent problems of a government (independent of what political party it is) that wants to stay in power - namely that you have to keep the people happy, even if this means acting against the long term interests of your country.

He's got an interesting style of writing - very narrative - which is what I'd expect really.

Just saw this in undyingking's journal and thought it was a really neat idea.

There's a project scanning old books where the OCR often can't identify the word correctly.  They're using the power of massed real people by making their hard to read words available for all those places where web sites need to distinguish between spambots and real people.

http://recaptcha.net/learnmore.html

They also have a way for you to use their scheme to list your email address on web sites without getting spammed to death.

While looking for a suitable ceilidh for orbital_2008, I contacted someone via the EFDSS (English Folk Dance and Song Society) web site.

The person I contacted turns out to be familiar with the requirements for an Eastercon ceilidh because she goes to Eastercons - not only that, she recognises my name from allotments_anon 

It's a small world.

Listen to the band here.  I wasn't sure until I was about 30 seconds in, and then the music really started to swing.  (It's only a kitchen rehersal session, but I'm smiling happily as I listen to it)

Here's the five questions I was asked by dougs. If you want me to interview you, leave a note in the comments.

1. Often, when something good happens, some group of worthy people gets casually omitted when the credit gets handed out. Pick one such good thing, one such uncredited group, and praise them.

2. Default behaviour on this meme is to ask questions which draw the victim out on their favoured topics. In this case, the strong temptation is to ask questions about the environment. Which questions do you often itch to be asked, but which never arise because people ask you questions about the environment instead?

3. Intermittent voice trouble, intermittent shoulder trouble. You have to choose -- you could pick a complete and permanent cure for one of them, in exchange for constant serious problems with the other. Which way round do you make the choice?

4. Imagine you'd had two daughters instead of two sons. Describe your life.

5. You're well known for your activities in B7 and SG fandoms. What are your other fannish obsessions? Any other shows you'd eagerly recommend to someone with time on their hands?

( my answers )

I was watching an episode of Carnivale today (thanks, sugoll) and noticed that even a series that looks good for overall detail managed to make a classic mistake (It's not alone. Every film I've seen with a concertina does the same).

The person playing the concertina in the background hasn't a clue how to fake it. The concertina is like the one in my icon - the strap passes over the back of the hand. That means it's an Anglo concertina and they are played in short, jerky, in and out movements. The person holding it on screen is pulling it out a long way on the bellows and then doing a couple of seconds squeezing it together, then a few seconds out again. You can't play an Anglo that way (unless you're very skilled and playing it Irish style and frankly if you want to play that style it's much simpler to buy an 'English' concertina rather than an 'Anglo' as the keys are totally different and more suited to long bellows pulls). Anglos are a dance instrument, suited to bouncy tunes with lots of oomph and a bellows push for every bounce/beat. 'English' concertinas have very different straps as you're using different fingers to play with.

I'm sure we all notice our own instruments in this way.

What poor fakes do other people notice?

My other favourite is the bowed psaltery in the opening credits of the first season of BAbylon 5 (An instrument like an isocleles triangle being held by a Minbari priest) He's holding it the wrong way round and plucking it.

Cultures are very different in how people use names, which name they use and how/when people introduce themselves.

For instance, I get very irritated when salesmen address me by my first name. My first name is for my friends. If someone wants to sell me a mortgage/gas company/sofa, he can darn well call me 'Mrs Proctor'. They only do it to make me feel I'm with a friend - you know they've been trained to do it for that reason - and it *grates*.

I love name badges at conventions - they remove all the awkwardness of asking people's names, especially when there's too many new people and you've forgotten...

If you meet someone at a party or in a social setting (assuming you haven't just arrived and been formally introduced by your host) how long would you wait before asking the name of someone you're talking to or before telling them what your name is? Would you do it immediately, after ten mins or so, maybe after a couple of hours, or never unless they asked you first?

(This isn't just about how easily you make friends or if you have Aspergers or whatever, I'm interested in English/american/Australian differences.)