Lazy Quiz

[Greenfairy]

Reen wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "Reen wrote: "1. Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell

2. Uncle Tom ... Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe

3. Nelson's Pillar in Joyce's Ulysses ... for all sorts of reasons in t..."
Ok!

[Greenfairy]

Alwynne wrote: "Reen wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "Reen wrote: "1. Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell

2. Uncle Tom ... Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe

3. Nelson's Pillar in Joyce's Ulysses ... for all sorts of..."

Alwynne wrote: "Reen wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "Reen wrote: "1. Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell

2. Uncle Tom ... Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe

3. Nelson's Pillar in Joyce's Ulysses ... for all sorts of..."

I have had a 'Mellow Yellow' earworm ever since Magrat mentioned it..

[scarletnoir]

OK, so it seems a bit unfair that I am not allowed to mention any works already cited, as 64 people have already answered! So... I have skipped to the end WITHOUT reading any of the answers (apart from one exception... see below).

1. The Yellow Dog by Georges Simenon (I'm sure someone else has already mentioned Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun, which would have been my first choice).

2. I thought of Ubu Roi independently - honest! - but then saw it in the first answer...

3. Statue - can't think of a book, but the French film Poulet au Vinaigre, directed by Claude Chabrol and starring Jean Poiret as the 'poulet' (cop) has a statue which (spoiler alert!) contains the dead body of the murder victim. (I suppose someone will have already have cited Dashiell Hammet's The Maltese Falcon, which uses the same idea - that the statue of the falcon contains the 'goods'... just thought of that.)

Now that I have read the answers... I see that one of you mentioned the Hammett - not surprising, I suppose... it's a well-known film, which I've seen several times - can't remember if I ever read the book.

If 'Uncle' is a 'name' starting in 'u', I'm a Dutchman! Really! I'm shocked! Shocked! If this sort of thing is allowed by the moderators, then I'll go for the Ubermensch in Nietzsche's Also Sprach Zarathustra; this also has the advantage that it's a book I have actually read - unlike the Jarry/Ubu Roi.

Finally - a confession: when I proposed The Yellow Dog, I was actually thinking of Walter Mosley's A Little Yellow Dog rather than the Simenon, which showed up when I checked - but perhaps I can be allowed my answer, as I have read both.

[Justine]

scarletnoir wrote: "OK, so it seems a bit unfair that I am not allowed to mention any works already cited, as 64 people have already answered! So... I have skipped to the end WITHOUT reading any of the answers (apart ..."

I feel your pain, scarlet, regarding Uncle, Ubu and all the rest, but have you ever tried herding cats? Well, that's a lot easier than imposing proper discipline among these former TLSers. I've decided it's easier to relax on the sofa with a soothing drink, and observe the fun.

[CCCubbon]

2. Don’t think Captain Underpants has been mentioned yet - The Adventures of Captain Underpants
or
Ugly Duckling

[scarletnoir]

Justine wrote: I feel your pain, scarlet, regarding Uncle, Ubu and all the rest, but have you ever tried herding cats? Well, that's a lot easier than imposing proper discipline among these former TLSers. I've decided it's easier to relax on the sofa with a soothing drink, and observe the fun.

No worries - I'm sure you picked up on the air of fake indignation in my post!

[Slawkenbergius]

Justine wrote: "I feel your pain, scarlet"

I feel the pain of everyone, then I feel nothing.

[Justine]

CCCubbon wrote: "2. Don’t think Captain Underpants has been mentioned yet - The Adventures of Captain Underpants
or
Ugly Duckling"

That's the spirit, CCC!

[Tam]

Justine wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "OK, so it seems a bit unfair that I am not allowed to mention any works already cited, as 64 people have already answered! So... I have skipped to the end WITHOUT reading any of..."

Tough love!.... Yay!... and I will support you, 'human kind cannot bear very much reality'... And I will pour another one and salute the stray cats...

[Max (Outrage)]

CCCubbon wrote: "1. The Yellowhammer’s Nest by John Clare

I love to watch the yellowhammers when they visit the garden, sadly scarcer now.
Hope yellowhammer counts."
Last time I saw a Yellowhammer I was on a train from Manchester to Norwich (seven hours and no refreshments). Not far from Norwich the train stopped, and the Yellowhammer was on the branch of a bush right next to the window. I could have touched it. Total silence. I thought 'My god, I've woken up in Adlestrop!'

[Justine]

Tam wrote: "And I will pour another one and salute the stray cats."

Cheers!

[scarletnoir]

Max (Outrage) wrote: Last time I saw a Yellowhammer was on a train from Manchester to Norwich (seven hours and no refreshments)"

This is what I (mis)read (note the missing letter...).

I thought: "That poor bird! 7h on a train with no refreshments!"

[CCCubbon]

Max
They were quite common around here, seem to like cereal fields best, often singing on top of hedgerows. For several years I would record number of different birds seen in the garden and the yellowhammers are so pretty but we don’t see many now.
The starlings roost in the reed beds quite near and clouds of them fly over the house once it gets light, always going in the same direction (west)

[Tam]

CCCubbon wrote: "1. The Yellowhammer’s Nest by John Clare

I love to watch the yellowhammers when they visit the garden, sadly scarcer now.
Hope yellowhammer counts."

Found it.... thought I only had this as an mp-4 but it is on you tube... Birds make music on the Wires. I hope you enjoyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoM4Z...

[Tam]

Alwynne wrote: "Tam wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "1. The Yellowhammer’s Nest by John Clare

I love to watch the yellowhammers when they visit the garden, sadly scarcer now.
Hope yellowhammer counts."

Found it.... tho..."

There is another longer one on you tube, which has a full concert by the musician/arranger after it, of the whole of the concert he wrote based on this piece of music, in Bilbao concert hall, which is lovingly done as well...

[Hushpuppy]

Tam wrote: "Found it.... thought I only had this as an mp-4 but it is on you tube... Birds make music on the Wires. I hope you enjoy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoM4Z......"

Lovely Tam/jediperson, thanks a lot. Love the concept.

[Max (Outrage)]

scarletnoir wrote: "Max (Outrage) wrote: Last time I saw a Yellowhammer was on a train from Manchester to Norwich (seven hours and no refreshments)"

This is what I (mis)read (note the missing letter...).

I thought: ..."
Ooops!

We get estuary birds here. The curlews have gone inland now, and the egrets have vanished but I'll be able to watch the oystercatchers, redshanks and terns all winter. Not many yellowhammers up here but plenty of starlings.

[Max (Outrage)]

CCCubbon wrote: "Max
They were quite common around here, seem to like cereal fields best, often singing on top of hedgerows. For several years I would record number of different birds seen in the garden and the yel..."

I like starlings. Beautiful of course, and I've always thought they're very courageous birds.

[scarletnoir]

Max (Outrage) wrote: "Ooops!

We get estuary birds here. The curlews have gone inland now, and the egrets have vanished but I'll be able to watch the oystercatchers, redshanks and terns all winter. Not many yellowhammers up here but plenty of starlings

Max - no 'oops' about it - your sentence was correct. Perhaps I wasn't clear - it was my fault that I misread your comment, and missed the 'I' - which made it clear that you were on the train, not the bird - I was laughing at myself!

As for the rest - we saw for the first time a small flock of whimbrels on the beach earlier this year... I don't think actual curlews - who have the most beautiful bird call, IMO - come to our coast. Oystercatchers are common - we saw a dozen this morning. Starlings roost under the local pier, and are quite a sight at dusk - I posted a link to photos some time ago, but can re-send, if you like.

The best site for the curlew's call I have found is labelled 'not secure' on my laptop, but I doubt it means much - just flagging it up, in case... their call as they return to the nest is especially appealing:

http://www.thesoundspace.co.uk/pete-s...

[Max (Outrage)]

scarletnoir wrote: "Max (Outrage) wrote: "Ooops!

We get estuary birds here. The curlews have gone inland now, and the egrets have vanished but I'll be able to watch the oystercatchers, redshanks and terns all winter...."
Thanks, scarletnoir!

[FrancesBurgundy]

scarletnoir wrote: "The best site for the curlew's call I have found is labelled 'not secure' .."

Quite a few sites are now 'not secure'. They need some technical tweaks to make them 'secure' but I don't think they're actually dangerous, though occasionally links refuse to show them. It's to do with a new SSL encryption protocol I believe, but don't quote me.