WYRMLOG

The Language of Gormenghast

Monday November 30th 2009

Last week I stopped into the second hand bookstore that's opened down the road and purchased the copy of Titus Groan that's been taunting me in the shelf by the window. Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy is something I've meant to read for years so I figured that with a copy of the first book so convenient I might as well get on with it.

The somewhat eccentric bookseller (despite being a new establishment the store is doing a very good job of being rambling, cramped and musty with a slightly gnome-like proprietor - the way all bookshops should be!) reminisced about the first time he read the book while looking for my change. He told me not worry about words I couldn't understand because I should be able to figure out most of them from context.

As such I was somewhat primed to watch for words I didn't understand, and have kept a list of them as I go. I'm about halfway through and have hit six of them so far, which I think is pretty good going. The list (and the definitions) are as follow...

Recrudescent - My first reaction to this word was that it could mean almost anything. The actual definition is "breaking out again" or "renewing".

Calid - I guessed that this means 'clammy', it actually means 'hot'. Which makes sense when you think of the words 'calorie' and 'calorific' or perhaps the Italian 'caldo'.

Fumid - I assumed this meant 'full of fumes', which in fact it does. Excellent!

Garde-Manger - My sketchy knowledge of French, combined with context, led me to assume that a garde-manger is a pantry. It's actually a cool and well ventilated area of a kitchen used for the preparation of cold foods - although it seems more commonly used to refer to a chef that works in such an area.

Ichadbod - I am of course familiar with the name Ichabod, but in the book it's used to describe a semi-ruinous section of the castle. I can't find a definition online supporting this use, but I presume it's a reference to the Hebrew meaning "the glory is departed". Nice one Mr Peake!

Malkin - From context it was clear that this means 'cat'.

Expect an update to this list when I've read some more - assuming I run into any other new words that is.

Tlot Tlot Tlot Tlot Tlot Tlot Tlot Tlot Tlot (Should I go on?)

Saturday November 28th 2009

I was thinking the other day about Tlot Tlot.

Tlot Tlot were a Perth band from (I think) the 1990s. I don't know that much about them to be honest, in fact I only know one of their songs. But that one song is a doozy.

Imagine you put the members of They Might be Giants and Barnes and Barnes in a room with a honky-tonk piano, a mixing desk and several sound effect CDs. Then got them slightly drunk. They might come up with something like that one song - a work titled Box of Gods.

Box of Gods is hard to pin down. It seems to be some kind of attack on either religion, or the commercialisation of religion (or maybe both). It's stuffed full of wacky sound effects, distorted vocals and lyrics so nonsensical that it's hard to tell if you're hearing them right. But it's energetic, crazy and catchy as hell.

Now, your odds of finding a copy of it (or the album it's off Pistolbuttsatwinkle'atwinkle) are probably pretty low, but because I'm a generous guy I thought I'd post the lyrics (insofar as I can make them out). This will also have the effect of increasing Tlot-Tlot's web presence by at least 10%, which has to be a good thing :)

So here we go...

That's your lot for the day! :D

The Peanut Twenty-One-Hundred

Friday November 27th 2009

Follow these instructions to create the drink sensation that's sweeping the nation - the Peanut Twenty-One-Hundred!

Ingredients: A 250ml to 500ml bottle of Coke (diet, zero, vanilla, whatever strikes your fancy really). A packet of peanut M&Ms.

Method: Drink (or otherwise dispose of) one fifth to one quarter of the Coke. Drop five to ten peanut M&Ms into the bottle. Enjoy the show (and clean up any mess). Once the Coke has turned an unearthly shade of brown, drink it (carefully). When finished, eat the chilled and marinated M&Ms from the bottom of the bottle.

This recipe bought to you by the Foundation for the Worst Possible Things You Can Ever Put into Your Body.

A Most Significant Anniversery

Tuesday November 24th 2009

It was 150 years ago today Darwin published his book explaining exactly what was going on. If I had time I'd compose an eloquent tribute, but as I don't, the following quote will have to do...

There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.

Indeed Charles, indeed.