It is reported that Romans are complaining that the lack of litter collection means their beautiful City is attracting wild boar from the countryside into the popular piazzas and plazas. Clearly they haven’t been to Westminster where there’s been plenty of rubbish for years and The Palace has been overrun by wild bores, with an albino Bor-is in charge. Not sure we wouldn’t be better off with boars. “Four legs good, two legs bad”, with apologies to George Orwell.
Whilst dashing from the excellent coffee emporium that is Urban Ground to another Deli of Delight called Barley Sugar, I happened to notice an old red letter box outside the chemists with the letters G R writ large below the mail-gatherers door. Why I noticed it on this particularly haste-fuelled morn I have no idea, but I did and it set the rusty cogs whirring. To which George Rex did this ancient box belong? The Royal Cypher that has adorned our land for very nearly seventy years is EIIR; i.e. Elizabeth Regina The Second. If only the second of two Elizabeths requires a II, how come King George, of whom there have been six, gets away with G R? Knowing that the renowned Penny Black stamp originated in Queen Victoria’s time, I was guessing it must refer to a George after Victoria. However, further investigation reveals that the Post Office dates back to 1660 when it was established by Charles II. As the GPO it expanded across the British empire, with the first uniformed postmen taking to the streets in 1793. The first purpose built mail facility was the hugely impressive porticoed headquarters of the GPO in the City of London which became fully operational in 1829. The adhesive postage stamp was invented by Sir Rowland Hill in 1837 and the Penny Black was established three years later. However, the first red Post Office pillar box was only introduced in 1852, less than halfway through Victoria’s reign. George V was King from 1910 until 1936. Could he be the elusive G R? Or was it his son George VI who reigned from 1936 until his death in 1952? That would seem more likely, but either way it’s a little piece of history that has been standing there unmolested (and unnoticed, certainly by me) for perhaps a century or even longer. See if you can spot a red pillar box that has anything other than EIIR on it. I’ll bet there aren’t many.
When I eventually made it to Barley Sugar, I was intrigued to see a metal basket perched cunningly on the countertop right in the customer’s eyeline when paying, containing nice little tins of Nipits, which, the lid proudly proclaims are “pure liquorice pellets” that “clarifies the voice and clears the throat”. What a thrill. I had been searching for these for ages, knowing how effective they are for broadcasters, let alone opera singers. (I am the former with no pretence of being the latter). They used to be called Nigroids. I’ve no idea why they changed the name?
Many things happen nowadays that make me realise I am now the person that my father was when I was a teenager; i.e. an outdated techno-prat; a person for whom modern technology has swept past leaving a confused and befuddled shadow of a once clued-up genius. (Ok maybe that bit’s a wee self-proclamatory). Today’s dose of humiliation came in a headline that read “Welcome to the Metaverse”. I am familiar with the meaning of verse, but needed to consult the Oxford Dictionary for Meta…….”(of a creative work) referring to itself or to the conventions of its genre: self-referential”. Unfortunately that didn’t really help, as this Metaverse seems to be something that Mr Zuckerberg and Facebook are particularly interested in. That immediately sends shivers down the spine. This is some virtual reality-powered version of the internet with non-fungible tokens or NFTs. I am concerned I may not sleep too well if I go any further. Good night and good gaming.
ADayInTheStrifeOf 