Monday, 22 December 2014
Moments in love #5
Gently throwing flowers in a stream, gazing out of the window wishing you were elsewhere, Winter solstice...
Sunday, 9 November 2014
Moments in Love #4
West End Pub. Buddhist retreat. A day drenched in Sunshine. A night soaked in Champagne...
Tuesday, 4 November 2014
Thursday, 24 July 2014
Monday, 2 June 2014
Poll Results - Which England player will not make the World Cup Squad?
Ashley Cole - 100%
Wrong decision though!
Wrong decision though!
Wednesday, 7 May 2014
Moments in love #3
Late night phone calls. Graffiti on town hall walls. Walking through Luxembourg Gardens at dawn.
Monday, 24 March 2014
Moments in love #2
Pillows and cushions on the lounge floor. A movie plays. All the action is off screen.
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Moments in love #1
Sitting in Macari's 7:00am. One cup of tea to share. One cigarette to smoke. One thought on my mind.
Saturday, 22 March 2014
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Rainy Sundays
Waking up late to the smell of slightly burnt toast. It is raining outside. Move seamlessly from breakfast to lunch in the time it takes to read the sports sections of the broadsheets. It is raining outside. Bubble & Squeak and mint sauce. Batman, The Big Match. It is raining outside. Light fading. 633 Squadron. It is raining outside. More toast for tea. It is raining outside. Radio Luxembourg 'Street Sounds'. It is raining outside. Back in bed... It is still raining outside.
Friday, 29 November 2013
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
Rain stopped play
Sitting in the pavilion watching the rain sheet down, cutting the square off. Waiting for the umpire to abandon the game and for the celebrations to begin!
Wednesday, 19 June 2013
Let's all speak palare
I've recently been reading a number of works by the magnificent English poet/writer Jeremy Reed and combined with a recent spell of listening to Julian and Sandy's exploits on 'Round the Horne', I've been finding Palare creeping back into my lexicon.
According to Wikipedia Palare (or alternatively Parlare, Parlary, Palori, Palarie, Palari; from Italian parlare, "to talk") is a form of cant slang used in Britain by actors, circus and fairground showmen, merchant navy sailors, criminals, prostitutes and the gay subculture. It was popularised in the 1960s by camp characters Julian and Sandy in the popular BBC radio show Round the Horne. There is some debate about its origins, but it can be traced back to at least the 19th century and possibly the 16th century. There is a longstanding connection with Punch and Judy street puppet performers who traditionally used Polari to converse
Be that as it may, here are some bona palare phrases for your perusal...
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| ajax | nearby (from adjacent?) |
| alamo | hot for you/him |
| aunt nell | listen, hear |
| aunt nells | ears |
| aunt nelly fakes | earrings |
| aunt nell danglers | earrings |
| barney | a fight |
| basket | the bulge of male genitals through clothes |
| batts | shoes |
| bibi | bisexual |
| bitch | effeminate or passive gay man |
| bijou | small/little (means "jewel" in French) |
| blag | pick up |
| blue | code word for "homosexual" |
| bod | body |
| bona | good |
| bona nochy | goodnight (from Italian - buona notte) |
| bonaroo | wonderful, excellent |
| bungery | pub, this comes from the English word for the closure on a barrel. |
| butch | masculine; masculine lesbian |
| buvare | a drink (from Italian - bere or old-fashioned Italian - bevere or Lingua Francabevire) |
| cackle | talk/gossip |
| camp | effeminate (possibly from Italian campare "exaggerate, make stand out") |
| capello/capella | hat (from Italian - cappello) |
| carsey | toilet, also spelt khazi |
| carts/cartso | penis (from Italian - cazzo) |
| cats | trousers |
| charper | to search (from Italian - acchiappare - to catch) |
| charpering omi | policeman |
| charver | to shag/a shag (sexual intercourse) (from Italian - chiavare) |
| chicken | young man |
| clobber | clothes |
| cod | naff, vile |
| cottage | a public lavatory used for sexual encounters |
| cottaging | seeking or obtaining sexual encounters in public lavatories |
| cove | friend |
| crimper | hairdresser |
| dally | sweet, kind. Possibly an alternate pronunciation of dolly. |
| dilly boy | a male prostitute |
| dinari | money (Latin denarii was the 'd' of the pre decimal penny) |
| dish | buttocks |
| dolly | pretty, nice, pleasant |
| dona | woman (perhaps from Italian donna or Lingua Franca dona) |
| dorcas | term of endearment, 'one who cares'. The Dorcas Society was a ladies' church association of the nineteenth century, which made clothes for the poor. |
| drag | clothes, esp. women's clothes (prob from Romani — indraka — skirt; also possibly from German - tragen - v. to wear (clothes)) |
| doss | bed |
| ecaf | face (backslang) |
| eek | face (abbreviation of ecaf) |
| ends | hair |
| esong | nose (backslang) |
| fantabulosa | fabulous/wonderful |
| feele/freely/filly | child/young (from the Italian figlio, for son) |
| fruit | queen |
| funt | pound |
| gelt | money (Yiddish) |
| handbag | money |
| hoofer | dancer |
| HP (homy polone) | effeminate gay man |
| jarry | food, also mangarie (from Italian mangiare or Lingua Franca mangiaria) |
| jubes | breasts |
| kaffies | trousers |
| khazi | toilet, also spelt carsey |
| lacoddy | body |
| lallies (lylies) | legs |
| lallie tappers | feet |
| latty/lattie | room, house or flat |
| lills | hands |
| lilly | police (Lilly Law) |
| lyles | legs (prob. from "Lisle stockings") |
| lucoddy | body |
| luppers | fingers (Yiddish — lapa — paw) |
| mangarie | food, also jarry (from Italian mangiare or Lingua Franca mangiaria) |
| martinis | hands |
| measures | money |
| meese | plain, ugly (from Yiddish "meeiskeit, in turn from Hebrew מָאוּס repulsive, loathsome, despicable, abominable) |
| meshigener | nutty, crazy, mental (from Yiddish, in turn from Hebrew מְשֻׁגָּע crazy) |
| metzas | money (Italian -mezzi "means, wherewithal") |
| mince | walk (affectedly) |
| naff | awful, dull, hetero |
| nanti | not, no, none (Italian — niente) |
| national handbag | dole, welfare, government financial assistance |
| ogle | look, admire |
| ogles | eyes |
| oglefakes | glasses |
| omi | man (from Romance) |
| omi-palone | effeminate man, or homosexual |
| onk | nose (cf "conk") |
| orbs | eyes |
| palare pipe | telephone ("talk pipe") |
| palliass | back |
| park, parker | give |
| plate | feet; to fellate |
| palone | woman (Italian paglione - "straw mattress", [viz. old Cant "hay-bag" = woman]) |
| palone-omi | lesbian |
| pots | teeth |
| remould | sex change |
| riah/riha | hair (backslang) |
| riah zhoosher | hairdresser |
| rough trade | a working class or blue collar sex partner or potential sex partner; a tough, thuggish or potentially violent sex partner |
| scarper | to run off (from Italian scappare, to escape or run away or from rhyming slang Scapa Flow, to go) |
| schlumph | drink |
| scotch | leg (scotch egg=leg) |
| screech | mouth, speak |
| sharpy | policeman (from — charpering omi) |
| sharpy polone | policewoman |
| shush | steal (from client) |
| shush bag | hold-all |
| shyker/shyckle | wig (mutation of the Yiddish sheitel) |
| slap | makeup |
| so | homosexual (e.g. "Is he 'so'?") |
| stimps | legs |
| stimpcovers | stockings, hosiery |
| strides | trousers |
| strillers | piano |
| switch | wig |
| thews | thighs |
| tober | road (a Shelta word, Irish bóthar) |
| todd (Sloanne) | alone |
| tootsie trade | sex between two passive homosexuals (as in: 'I don't do tootsie trade') |
| trade | sex, sex-partner, potential sex-partner |
| troll | to walk about (esp. looking for trade) |
| vada/varder | to see (from Italian — dialect vardare = guardare - look at)
vardered — vardering
|
| vera (lynn) | gin |
| vogue | cigarette (from Lingua Franca — fogus - "fire, smoke") |
| vogueress | female smoker |
| willets | breasts |
| yews | (from French "yeux") eyes |
| zhoosh | style hair, tart up, mince (Romani - "zhouzho" - clean, neat)
zhoosh our riah — style our hair
|
| zhooshy | showy |
Polari Omies and palones of the jury, vada well at the eek of the poor ome who stands before you, his lallies trembling.—taken from "Bona Law", a Round The Horne sketch written by Barry Took and Marty Feldman
The British & Irish Lions
As the tension begins to rise, I cast my mind back to 1971 and the exploits of King Barry and the rest of the Lions as they saw off the brutally efficient All Black to secure tour victory. What a team, what a tour!
The Lions won the first test in Dunedin 9–3, with a penalty goal to the All Blacks, and two penalties and a try, (scored by Ian McLauchlan) to the Lions. Several Lions players later admitted they were overconfident following their initial test victory. The Lions were hence convincingly beaten 22–12 in the second test in Christchurch, with the All Blacks outscoring them five tries (Bob Burgess (2),Sid Going, Ian Kirkpatrick, pen try) to two (Davies (2)). The third test match was played at Athletic Park, Wellington. The Lions did not make the same mistake they had in Christchurch, resulting in a 13–3 win, the Lions scored two converted tries and a drop goal. The All Blacks managed only a try.
Following the third test the Lions led the series 2 - 1. The final game played in Auckland would require an All Black victory for New Zealand to draw the series. A draw or Lions victory would give the Lions a series win. Scores were level 8–8 at half time with a try, conversion and penalty each. The first 15 minutes of the second half saw the Lions land a penalty goal and the All Blacks score a try. With the scores tied 11–11, Lions fullback JPR Williams received the ball 45 metres out and attempted a drop goal, it was successful and put the Lions ahead 14–11. Williams' drop goal was the only one he ever landed in his test career. The All Blacks could only manage three further points from a penalty to draw the game and give the Lions the series.
Let us hope that this tour of Australia delivers equal levels of skill, tension, courage, commitment and success!
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