Comments on: Nightmare 2008

By: Captain Jack

Captain Jack — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:42:17 +0000

“however, now you have the privileges of a TA, you have access to Marina’s back end”

TAs do not have backend access. There are different levels of access to the backend. I have limited access for the function of posting and some maintenance tasks.

I’ll take care of forwarding your email as per request.

By: Evan Owen

Evan Owen — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 04:45:25 +0000

Kent, did I ask you this one before?

Essex, Wessex, and Sussex were named after (respectively) the East, West, and South Saxons. Why is there no county named after the North Saxons? Did they all die out?

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 02:28:44 +0000

Yes, too bad there isn’t a private messaging facility on this site, however, now you have the privileges of a TA, you have access to Marina’s back end ( Sorry Marina, I didn’t mean it like that ) so you should be able to get my email that way. If that doesn’t work, you can get it from Captain Jack; or you could Tweet me at https://twitter.com/2486Bob.
I handed over all my family history stuff to my sister who is researching another branch of the family, so I shall have to get it back to see if we can find a link.
By the way, it occurs to me that Kent is a strange name for an Earl of Essex, or has it just slipped south over the years, like so many other things do?

By: pennsyltucky9

pennsyltucky9 — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:30:03 +0000

You have got to be kidding me. My first cousin’s middle name is Devereux and he’s the eldest son. Okay, this is getting spooky.

We’re probably more closely related than either of us imagine, if that’s the case. My uncle, father of the aforementioned cousin, was not the first born son of his generation but one of his older brothers died of polio as a youth, and I’m not positive but I’m pretty sure it was the eldest son, which leaves the gate open for speculation. This is wild.

We may have to consult the gene genie. You know, Bob, I always had a sneaking suspicion something was terribly wrong with you. We should try to figure out a way to communicate via email.

-Kent

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 04:45:22 +0000

Well, what a hell of a coincidence!
Devereux is one of my family’s names which family legend says has been passed down through the eldest son of each generation from the same Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex.
I don’t carry the name myself as my father was a second born, but could it be that you and I are distantly related?
Enquiring minds MUST investigate.

By: pennsyltucky9

pennsyltucky9 — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:21:49 +0000

How DO you manage to retain all this stuff? You’re truly amazing, Bob. While slumming some old posts in an effort to reduce the backlog of lessons that slipped past me while I battled the dark forces of academia, I ran across this posting in regard to Che’s request, [dead as a doornail].

The link you posted here is of interest to me because one bloodline in my admittedly tangled lineage has been directly traced to the House of Essex and ostensibly to the ill-fated Earl of Essex who apparently was granted the poverbial axe by order of her majesty Queen Elizabeth I. My dad has a photocopy of the Death Warrant signed by Elizabeth that he keeps for conversation value. Gee, I’m so very proud… But I digress.

Regardless of its true origin, I believe that the power of creative alliteration has probably played a major role in the persistence of this expression in our language over the generations. It sounds much more poetic than, say, “Dead as a fieldstone” would. “Dead as a Dane’s hide parching in the sun on the sanctuary door” just doesn’t seem to transmit quite the same verbal panache either. Thanks for bringing this bit of historic trivia to light.

By: leonard

leonard — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:12:03 +0000

Scariest thing ever!…Marina does a good job on clowns, with this video…have a clown-full day

By: BillyB

BillyB — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 07:56:18 +0000

Did you see the icon picture for the you tube site?

By: Warren

Warren — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 07:02:50 +0000

I know this is late. Too bad I didn’t find it earlier. Frankenstein Sings Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress

By: m3v4n

m3v4n — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 05:02:03 +0000

wow! i never heard that one before!

And thanks for pointing out the matter on requests CampKohler! Well, I’ll just have to keep trying! as someone once said, Try, Try and Try, someday you can fly!
Ciao!