THE BRITISH THREAD II

I think so!

That's funny, because one Molly Malone pushed her wheelbarrow through streets broad and narrow, in Dublin's fair city.

Perhaps Paul McCartney had that in mind when he wrote Obladi-Obladah.

No, I've got that arsy-versy, because it was Desmond who had a barrow in the market place, and Molly was a singer with the band.

And your guitar gently weeps to that, McTag, I hope ...

Molly then, as promised.

There are a few letters existing in which Joyce discussed this word for his archetypal female with literary friends.

"Moly" is the name of the magic flower which Hermes gives to Ulysses in Homer to protect him from Circe. It is a white flower with a black root. A saint/whore symbol.

In one letter Joyce suggested that Circe's palace was a brothel and that Moly was an antidote to syphilis which he thought derived from syn phileis, (together with loving). One of his correspondents claimed the word derived from su philos, swine love.

Some think he was condemning Boylan to syphilis.

BTW. Joyce gives Molly the same birthday, Sept 8, as that traditionally given to the Virgin Mary.

In real life Joyce was insanely jealous of Nora's sexual independence.

All things I knew already, Spendy.

But thanks for the reminder, it never harms..

An Englishman would never dream of saying such a thing Francis. It's what we call boorish.

And you can't prove it now anyway.

We concede the stage to those upon it and then strut our own stuff. We each applaud the other.

Have you noticed how serving girls are becoming more and more like the maid in Alphaville?

But then we are not all English here..

And the world doesn't live by your standards.

Why a simple acknowledgement of facts would be boorish, I wonder..


Not only serving girls but many other girls..

Do you know-- I am beginning to think that wearing skirts is indecent. I noticed in the pub tonight that the few ladies who blew upon the dying embers of my carnality were all wearing skirts. I had noticed the effect on the Sky News weather forecasts and financial reports.

Especially with those black or navy blue just above the knee tight fitting career skirts. Maybe indecent is too strong a word.

How would you evaluate those Scottish blokes in kilts jokes? Something like that maybe. Not exactly indecent. Not yet anyway.

And another thing whilst my mind is engaged with ladies clothes. Why have 90% of the women in the pub got half their tits on display and tops designed to go to three-quarters when they reach into their handbag. And why do they have so many things in their handbags requiring their constant attention. Why don't they get the lot out? It's obvious that's what they want to do. The only trouble though is that when you look them up and down and see the jeans and the trouser suits it all goes for nothing.

Long live skirt.

There's hardly a chap in the place with the second button of his shirt undone.

Isn't it romantic, Spendy?

It's nice too, to see through the remains of your humanity, all hope is not lost..

At least, in your case, Anesidora's pithos is not completely open.

You will have to explain that to me Francis if, as I assume, it is not a toilet joke.

Explain which part of my post, Spendy?

Now you are being obtuse.

But that's my daily fate, Spendy.

I'll try anyway.



According to a white-ground kylix by the Tarquinia Painter, ca 460 BC (British Museum), Anesidora is the original name of Pandora "she who sends up gifts".

Francis--

A man of your obvious experience and sophistication ought to know that to instruct a lady not to take a peek into a container is a garuantee that she will do.

Isn't there a story of Balzac's to that effect? I think a bird was in the box which flew away when it was opened. A nice metaphor eh?

I always keep that in mind and act accordingly, Spendy.

You could try hiding the containers.

The latest statistics have shown that divorce rates increase as the house the couple occupies rises in value. Half each of a decent pot, it seems, over-rides the sentiments.

Getting your hands on, say, £150,000 and being freed of social encumbrances of one sort or another gives people confidence they are saying. A lot less in some cases.

I agree with what Spendy says about laydees in sheath skirts, or pencil skirts or whatever you call them.

There's a lady does the weather on Sky who is fond of turning out in one, and very fetching she looks.
But it can depend a lot on the size of the pot.

Duffy or Buffy wore a little black dress on Children in Need and it was so short and tight, with her little pot and all, that it just looked weird.

But interesting.

That tells me that Mac once had a Sky package and he cancelled it. He told us he couldn't get Sky Arts. That's the proof.

It was probably an economy he made in order to fund his trip to see Bernie and the Grand Canyon!