Saturday: Hili dialogue

December 24, 2016 • 6:30 am

It’s Christmas Eve: December 24, 2016. That means there’s only one frenetic shopping day left till Xmas and the First Day of Koynezaa. And, yes, it’s National Egg Nog Day. Now I know people claim that they’ve had good eggnog, and I’m sure that somewhere on this planet lurks a drinkable specimen—but I’ve not had it. (I anticipate serious objections from the readers.) But all things told, I’d rather have a mulled wine or a Moscow Mule. It’s also the pagan festival of Mōdraniht .

On this day in history, the Ku Klux Klan was formed in 1865; and 103 years later, the crew of Apollo 8 began orbiting around around the Moon. They were the first humans to do this, and performed ten such orbits. Not much else happened this day in history, as one would expect given its proximity to the holidays, at least in the West. What is remarkable, however, is the number of people who were born or died on this day, perhaps the latter trying to hold on till Xmas.

Notables born on this day include Kit Carson (1809), Matthew Arnold (1822), Baby Dodds (1898), Joseph Cornell (1903), I. F. Stone (1907), Ava Gardner (1922; ♥), Scott Fischer (1955; died on Everest 1996), Carol Vorderman (1960), and Ricky Martin (1971). Those who died on this day include Vasco da Gama (1524), Johns Hopkins (1873), John Muir (1914), Peter Lawford (1984), Norman Vincent Peale (1993), John Boswell (1994; a gay man who became a great scholar of religion and homosexuality and a professor at Yale, he lived across the hall from me during my junior year at William and Mary, and died of AIDS at only 47), Harold Pinter (2008), Jack Klugman (2012), and Buddy DeFranco (2014).  Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili has a holiday message for her fans and readers:

To all our readers, both those who believe in different strange gods and those who do not believe in any god except Bastet, I want to express my heartfelt meow.
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In Polish:
Wszystkim naszym czytelnikom, zarówno tym, którzy wierzą w różnych dziwnych bogów, jak i tym, którzy nie wierzą w żadnego poza Bastet, składam serdeczne miau.
And out in icebound Winnipeg, Gus is chilling indoors. Here he’s having some tea with his staff:
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And here he’s indulging in one of his favorite indoor pastimes: watching bird videos:
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21 thoughts on “Saturday: Hili dialogue”

  4. Didn’t notice it before: Polish and German cats speak the same language, for example the common word “miau”. I wonder if german-cat-polish produces more faithful results than trying to map german/polish onto each other.

    2. In Polish, miau would be pronounced as a three syllable word. “mi” is pronounced like the English word “me”. “a” is pronounced like “ah” and “u” like “oo” as in moo or shoot. So say it fast – me+ah+oo. Sounds like meow.

      1. Some things are Serious Business. After extensive research of hundreds of seconds, involving the newest research methods unimaginable just twenty years ago, I found that I was mistaken, and I regret having to withdraw my hypothesis for the further improvement of neigbourly friendship. I was wrong. In fact cats meow extremely differently as to render communication between felines of Poland and Germany practically impossible.

        German Miau is [miˈaʊ̯]. Characteristic is the entirely missing “w” at the end, which is not even suggested, but exists in vestiges in other germanic languages(compare Dutch vrouw and German Frau). So it is more like two syllables, you have to move your jaw quite a lot, Me – eeau. The second syllable is also rendered as “jau” with the J pronounced like in “Jan”. English speakers typically don’t know the sound, and have a hard time pronouncing it (it’s common in Scandinavian languages, and they often have it in their English accent when they prounce “jump”). Anyway, polish Miau is totally different and is pronounced like [mʲaw]. English is [mjaʊ̯] and thus somewhat like the German (since iau is pronounced “jau”).

        In short, German [miˈaʊ̯] versus Polish [mʲaw]. Glad that a diplomatic catastrophe was averted in the last moment.

        https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/miau
        https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/meow

  5. I love eggnog, perhaps because, when I was a kid, it was the only way my mother could get me to consume eggs.

    1. Shouldn’t it be: The only way my mother could get me to consume eggs was because I love eggnog.

      Ether way, I love eggnog too. 8)

    2. When I was sick in the summer, my baby sitter made me (and her three boys – also sick) egg nog. It was delicious. I think the home made stuff is milkier.

      1. Yes well, we could name all the birds tweety if that would help. At least there was no sitting around singing those Xmas songs. Nothing makes me head for the clicker quicker.

  7. I had made a reference to an eggnog recipe in a previous thread and here’s the recipe (It’s from Fanny Farmer):

    Holiday Eggnog

    Make at least a week before serving and let it mellow. Ladle from a big punch bowl into small cups and sprinkle with nutmeg (must be freshly grated per my tastebuds).

    12 eggs yolks
    12 egg whites
    1 1/2 cups sugar
    1/4 tsp salt
    1 quart heavy cream, beaten
    1 quart milk
    1 quart bourbon whiskey
    1 cup rum

    Beat egg yolks with 1 cup sugar and salt until very light. Beat whites until stiff and beat in 1/2 cup sugar. Combine and beat until thoroughly blended. Beat in cream, then milk. Stir in whiskey. Beat well. Add rum. Pour into gallon jug (extra in quart jar). Store in cool cellar. Shake thoroughly. Serves 30.

    The nog can be stored in the fridge or a cool cellar. The copious amount of booze will cancel out any danger raw eggs may present (such concern is overblown anyway according to some experts). Get doing! And you can have it for New Year Eve which is when I prefer getting soused.

    2. Seems much like a recipe I used to follow, only we’d set the egg whites aside (refrigerated!), then beat and fold them in just before serving.

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