I was in Liverpool a week ago with some colleagues for an HEA conference on research methods in the social sciences. A handy place to pick up a free cloth bag with an ESRC logo on it, which may well be the only loot I ever get out of the ESRC.

After all these years of living in Britain, and before them visiting Britain, it was my first time in the city, despite having been a big Beatles fan throughout. From this end of the country it’s out-of-the-way enough that you have to be heading for it rather than passing through, and a pilgrimage to Penny Lane never seemed enough justification for a trip.

Read More · 31 May 2013 · Travel

A new paper has identified twenty-three words from a language supposedly spoken in Europe before the end of the last ice age (via Mefi). The words are thou, I, not, that, we, give, who, this, what, man, ye, old, mother, hear, hand, fire, pull, black, flow, bark, ashes, spit and worm.

Judging from some linguists’ reaction the claim seems doubtful, but I pulled this from the ashes.

Hear Not

Mother,
What is this?
     Bark.
     Fire.

Old man,
What is this?
     Fire.
     Flow.

Mother,
What is this?
     Black.
     Ashes.

Old man,
Who gives fire?
     Old man.
     Mother.

Mother,
Who am I?
     Hand.
     Fire.
     Ashes.

7 May 2013 · Whatever