I just discovered Bill and Bull, a double planet orbiting Delta Eridani. Oh, ok, so I didn’t literally discover it — astronomers from Uppsala University did. Isn’t that marvellous? Discovering a double planet and naming the constituents Bill and Bull.

And for those readers who were not raised on a diet of Swedish childrens’ literature: Bill and Bull were twin cats who were the minions of the nasty cat Måns, nemesis of Pelle Svanslös (Peter No-tail in the English translations of the books). Bill and Bull were always seen together, and always said the same things, generally echoing what Måns said (and often getting it oh so slightly wrong). Especially Bull had no imagination of his own, he’d repeat everything Bill said, and so in Swedish, “X, said Bull” has become a means of emphasising that X is rather obvious.

Bill and Bull as a double planet. Excellent. I’ll sleep well tonight.

Incidentally…

In the year 2007 I resolve to: Not forget Poland. Get your resolution here.

I haven’t broken my resolution yet!

Woo, posting now works with Firefox again! I am pleased.

I have posted links to the GROW! games before; two new games have appeared there since last time I checked. These are less complicated than the ones on the site earlier — in fact they are called GROW! 1 and 2, respectively, whereas the previous one was GROW! 3 — but quite enjoyable all the same. Here is GROW! 2 and GROW! 1. The latter is extra fun because once you have found the correct sequence you can go back and see what happens if you make other choices, which is often quite fun and very different. I like that kind of light-hearted creativity, very much.

Today I read in the papers…

…that there will be a 20 km/h speed limit for bicycles in parts of Stockholm.
…that Carl Linnæus was actually born in 1706, not 1707 (the error probably stems from as far back as 1753, when the Julian calendar was abandoned for the Gregorian one) and so the big celebrations planned for next year will happen this year instead.
…that the recent Archbishop election may have to be declared invalid, since the previous Archbishop’s sister was one of the candidates. A never-repelled law from the late 17th century decrees that if possible, the position of Archbishop of Uppsala should remain within the family of the previous Archbishop. So there should never have been an election — Rev. Hammar should automatically succeed her brother.
…that on Monday when analogue TV transmissions cease in the Uppsala area, one can still watch analogue TV using one of a number of secret frequencies. (To find out these frequencies, send a SMS to the local paper.)
…that the Pope made a flying visit to a school in southern Sweden the other day.

April, April, thou stupid herring. (Yep, that is what we say in Swedish — it’s true!)

I give you… the Dala moose. To quote the manufacturer: “Quite an unusal item which leaves few unaffected!”

(If you have no idea what a dala horse is, you may want to take a look here, but it’s not required.)

Right, so this is a) only funny if you know Swedish and b) rather rude. It will help having some knowledge of the Värmland dialect as well (more specifically, in the ways that it is lexically similar to Norwegian).

This was published in Expressen a few days ago. My colleague Kicki (who does have some knowledge of the Värmland dialect) showed it to me, and we wondered together if that was the same edition of the rag in question that was published in Karlstad? Yes, knowing a bit about language is important…

Johari Window by Kevan. I wouldn’t call it a personality test so much as a… um, not sure just what

Today I have been working on a Table. A good table, I’m quite fond of it as a matter of fact. It’s not the kind of table that has legs and a tabletop, rather the kind where you get rows and columns, and table cells with numbers in. I know more things about the language of chat rooms now than I did this morning. Not much more, mind you, but still — a day well spent.

When was the last time you saw a job advert where fluency in Etruscan or Gothic was required? This isn’t it, but at least it’s a place where native speakers of Latin, Klingon, Sindarin and a dozen other long-dead or made-up languages have a chance to make their skills known. Which I’m sure they appreciate. (My favourite on that list has to be Indo-European, though. I’m still giggling.)
(received from Johan)

So You Think You Are Clever. And So You Think You’re Clever, 2.

Calling them “intelligence tests” is not quite right, though. I think. But they are frustrating and fun, and it does feel good when you get an answer right! (I finished part 1 and am currently missing four answers in part 2… there is no time limit.)

A new GROW! game has been released, and a very topical one, too. Much easier to solve than the previous ones, but still immensely satisfying once you get it right. (Don’t close the window immediately when you’ve solved the game, or you’ll miss the Christmas greeting.)