Hello there! And what a fine, sunny morning it is as I write this. (Can you tell my exams have finished?) Honestly, I feel like a new man! (No, I'm not going to make that joke!)
Anyway, the curious among you might be wondering what lies ahead for me now my stay in Bradford is drawing to a close. Well, to be honest, I'd quite like to know myself! It all depends on unanswerable questions, such as my performance at hurdles such as the eye-watering-sounding "Insertion Test" in Brussels later on in the summer. You will, of course, be the first to know...
As a consolation for not even knowing what country I'll be living in come September, I am authorised to tell you that I'll be in London next week, in the run-up to my trip to Gothenburg for the annual Midsommar festivities. June 17th is not only the 50th anniversary of the 1953 workers' uprising in the former GDR, but it's also my sister's birthday, and that evening I'll be watching her perform (she's a comedian, you know), in London's Bar Code.
And then Thursday morning it's off to Stansted to be whisked over to Göteborg by Ryanair. So I'd better make a packed lunch, then.
Posted by Eurodan at June 11, 2003 9:31 AMAnd it's also my mum's 70th birthday that day. Wonder if she'd like to pop along to Bar Code?...
How splendid that you're rejoining us in the capital, however briefly. When do you plan to come down? If at the weekend, you can collect your Chocomel etc from Frederik in person! Otherwise it would be fun to meet up another evening, if you're free?
On the subject of transport delays (thank you, Adam, for this link!), the noticeboard at my local Tube station the other day read as follows:
"Delays are affecting the Circle Line, both inner and outer rail services"
Now I bet not one commuter in 100 knows what "inner and outer rail services" means! In fact it's LUL's rather quaint term for "clockwise and anti-clockwise" - I think "outer rail" means clockwise and "inner rail" anti-clockwise, based on the layout of the platforms at Aldgate, although I'm happy to be corrected on that - but why use it on a public noticeboard (which most people will be glimpsing for a few seconds at best)?? Why not just write "in both directions"??! They might as well have written "turnwise and widdershins"...
Posted by: Erato at June 11, 2003 2:16 PMHa ha! Turnwise and widdershins... is that your invention? I like it a lot, especially the Germanic quality of widdershins, evocative of the German 'wider' meaning 'against' in the sense of against the flow...
You're quite right about LUL's language, which is often wilfully opaque. Like 'Due to LFB being in attendance, the train will be non-stopping at the next station'. Which roughly translates as 'There's a fire in the next station, so we're going to crawl through to give you time to have a look'.
And what about 'Customers for Heathrow Terminals 1, 2 and 3 alight here.' Alight? How many native English speakers still use that word?
As for London, much as I would love to collect my Chocomel from Frederik in person (and how very kind of him to bring some for me!) I'm not going to be arriving in town until Tuesday afternoon (17th), and then I'm taking the plane on Thursday, so I fear I may have to wait to meet him in person - but perhaps we could meet up on Wednesday?
(Sorry everyone, we'll take this into an email, I think!)
Posted by: Eurodan at June 11, 2003 5:12 PMI suspect it's really a London Underground code phrase used to convey some alarming piece of infomation to the staff, similar to "Could Inspector Sands please report to..." indicating that a fire alarm has been activated.
It's almost certainly the code for "Saddam Hussein has released nerve gas into the tunnel from his secret weapons dump near Aldgate station."
Posted by: Adam at June 11, 2003 6:58 PMOn the other hand... ;-)
Why do you assume that the purpose of a notice displayed at an underground station is to provide the passengers with some relevant piece of travel information?
Its main purpose is obviously to make the staff and certain train-spotting members of the public feel superior to the hordes of less well informed travellers passing through the station.
What a boring world it would be if everyone understood everything ;-)
Posted by: Adam at June 11, 2003 7:07 PMI think its better I don't bring the Chocomel with me if I can't give it you in person. I'm quite sur the bottle will be empty by the time you meet Robert :o)
Sorry for the others but I can't comment on public transport. I love my car and I know I'll sound like a snob but here in Brussels you can't do it without a car. Public transport is crap.
Posted by: Fredje at June 11, 2003 10:41 PMHi Fredje,
Well, I couldn't resist from commenting on this - I lived in Brussels for 6 months a couple of years ago, and half the time I had a car, half the time not.
It was certainly a lot easier to get out of town at the weekends with a car, and go on nice trips to the country, but as for the city itself, it's so compact that I could do without a car very well, actually... but then, I *did* live right next to a Metro station...
Anyway - just thought I'd add my 10 cents' worth... I hope I still get Chocomel now! ;-)
Posted by: Eurodan at June 12, 2003 12:45 AMDaniel - there's really no need to apologise for adding comments to your own blog! :-)
I'd love to say that "turnwise and widdershins" was my own invention but alas no - it's nicked from Terry Pratchett, being two of the cardinal directions of the Discworld.
LUL must have gone through a corporate re-branding exercise sometime in the middle '90s because they started stretching the language to ever more unlikely circumlocutions - "person under a train" was replaced by "due to passenger action..." and "alight" (which personally I'm rather fond of, 1930s fetishist that I am) was replaced by the ghastly "de-train". "Alight" seems to be back in fashion now, though that horrid construction "will be non-stopping" is still in vogue, alas. My personal favourite, I think, is: "[the next station is closed, so] customers should alight here and continue their journey at street level" - or, in translation, "get out and walk".
But, yes, I agree with Adam about the tedium of universal comprehension!
Posted by: Erato at June 12, 2003 10:14 AMPS (sorry, once you've got me started on the subject of London's glorious public transport there's no stopping me!)...
I'm dying to know what's in those lockers on a few station platforms labelled "Private Rod" and "Emergency Gap Jumper"... Can anyone enlighten me??
Posted by: Erato at June 12, 2003 10:22 AMYes, 'passenger action' really is grotesque, isn't it? Although 'person under a train' was bad enough - making it sound like the poor soul had just been discovered there after a considerable period.
I'm afraid I can't help you out with 'Private Rod' and his company, but if anyone else out there can, please feel free...
Posted by: Eurodan at June 12, 2003 11:51 AMI suspect Private Rod is a friend of Inspector Sands.
Posted by: Adam at June 12, 2003 2:08 PMHaha - yes of course - they're very close...
The Mr Sands and Mr Maroon codenames must be so well known now that most people will just panic anyway!
Posted by: Erato at June 12, 2003 3:56 PMAre there any "Private Rods" and "Emergency Gap Jumpers" at Mornington Crescent?
Nowhere is far from a Metro/Tram/Bus in Brussels... I couldn't fault the service when I was there. And the train service is fantastic for going anywhere else... and even that costs less than crossing London. There's a place for the car, but...
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