I do wish he'd get back to the Parlement Journale though! Oh, the suspense!

(I love Mandeville's contributions, too. He is downright cuddly.)

I'll never read that the same way again. Hee. (No cucumber here, but chocolate hurts.)

Waxen, means "grows," as in a waxing moon; wood means "mad," as in mad with love.

It didn't, but that's mainly because I was smart enough to put the coffee down before I got that far...

(If you see strangely accented letters where there should be none, that's because this computer I'm using is locked down to provide a $%^&* Dutch keyboard, which does Strange Things with ' and " keys.)

The big trend around here has been all the Polish beer, but I'm not impressed so far.

As for that delightful filk, my subconscious started supplying the accompanying tune before my forebrain had quite picked up on what he was doing. (I guess my brief acquaintance with Middle English back in college helped.)

Such doings seem like an offshoot of the "mash up" thread elsewhere, and coincidentally they also relate to some CDs I got yesterday. While I expect to be sneered at for this purchase, I went for Sting's Dowland lute music CD "Songs From the Labyrinth" -- though uneven, it's also a lot of fun, and part of that fun is seeing how an Elizabethan/Jacobean songster could have lyrics just as mopey and quasi-suicidal as the last few decades of emo bands (with some flashes of wit thrown in for good measure). And dissonant lute, thank's to Sting's collaborator Edin Karamazov [I kid you not] ... cool!

Then there's Richard Thompson's "1000 Years of Popular Music". Haven't watched the DVD yet, but he starts with a rowdy "Sumer is Icumen In", and towards the end transfigures Britney's "Oops! I Did it Again" so it not only sounds great but briefly diverges into an instrumental that Dowland fans could dance to. While he lets one of the ladies in the band sing "Night and Day" and "Cry Me a River", he makes "Shenandoah" all his own, and roars to a finish with "Sam Hall" (which used to be a pirate song till it took that later form). Of course, none of this will come as any surprise to rabid RT fans who bought the thing months ago....

Lee, #15: thanks as well, though I had that part.

Between this and some stuff on the latest Open Thread, I may have to buy *more* CDs for gifts. Oh, drat.

While I expect to be sneered at for this purchase, I went for Sting's Dowland lute music CD "Songs From the Labyrinth" -- though uneven, it's also a lot of fun

I for one not going to sneer at you: I thought I was the only person in the entire world who actually likes this album! And I have a huge collection of early music, so I probably have no excuse. But that's the only recording I've heard of "In Darkness Let Me Dwell" that actually sounds like it's about depression rather than just being Sad and Pretty.

I also love 1000 Years of Popular Music, but I don't think that will earn as many sneers. ;) (My favorite track on that one is "Remember O Thou Man." Guh.)

Now to take a peek at his review of "Serpentes on a Shippe". I wonder if Chaucer's a fan of Samuel, son of Jack?

-- Steve

-- Steve

I've heard Richard Thompson's version of that Britney Spears song (on Fresh Air) and I was amazed at how he reclaimed it from its former place in a dustbin of stupid pop music.

The regular Erdinger Weissbier is my second favorite beverage on earth.

I am now craving both, and in a place where there's no chance in hell I'll be able to get either. Sigh.

Guess I'll have to console myself by reading Geoffrey Chaucer's blog and laughing hysterically. :)