On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 07:42:47 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
It did if you lived in Doggerland, or used to walk from Australia to
Indonesia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Spring
The rest of the trilogy, 'Bronze Summer' and 'Iron Winter', are okay but
the focus moves from Doggerland.
Le 08-01-2026, Lawrence D?Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> a ‚crit˙:
On Wed, 7 Jan 2026 19:21:09 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
FORTRAN and COBOL are still around, but I don't thinks anyone from
the 70s would recognize them.
COBOL is still COBOL. Fortran has evolved somewhat,
post-Fortran-77.
Is it really still the same COBOL?
On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 07:42:47 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
It did if you lived in Doggerland, or used to walk from Australia to
Indonesia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Spring
The rest of the trilogy, 'Bronze Summer' and 'Iron Winter', are okay but
the focus moves from Doggerland.
The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> writes:
On 09/01/2026 21:24, John Ames wrote:
On 9 Jan 2026 20:36:38 GMTYes.
rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
That *is* an intriguing question - AFAIK the evidence we have is
scant, but it's certainly a fascinating notion. Dunno if we'll ever
get any solid answers, but you gotta wonder...
Heyerdahl was disliked by the academics but he had an embarrassing
habit of building boats and going places that shouldn't have been
reachable in their theories.
Certainly can't accuse him of not putting his money where his mouth was. >>>
Before Doggerland sank anybody could wander over without having to
build a coracle.
It's truly amazing how much of the world was walkable in the Ice Age;
doesn't explain *every* place humans ended up (it's absolutely mind-
boggling to consider how far back the Pacific islands were settled,)
but it absolutely made a whole lotta places readily accessible for a
good long while. Makes you wonder, too, how many of the various quasi-
Atlantean legends in northwest Europe are really mutated folk memory
from a *staggeringly* long time ago...
125m of sea level rise in a few thousand years...and a global
temperature rise of
up to 10ųC
Odd how that didn't 'destroy the planet'...
Apples are not equal to oranges.
On Fri, 9 Jan 2026 10:00:20 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 09/01/2026 04:13, John Ames wrote:
They do now - but they had a different character once upon a time.It was other people before that. too. Celts are late invaders from the
England used to be a bunch of Celts and a handful of Roman expats 't
broinze age.
Before Doggerland sank anybody could wander over without having to build a coracle.
On 1/9/26 15:32, rbowman wrote:
On Fri, 9 Jan 2026 10:00:20 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 09/01/2026 04:13, John Ames wrote:
They do now - but they had a different character once upon a time.It was other people before that. too. Celts are late invaders from the
England used to be a bunch of Celts and a handful of Roman expats 't
broinze age.
Before Doggerland sank anybody could wander over without having to
build a
coracle.
˙ Correct. However it mostly sank about 12,000 years
˙ ago when all the ice melted. Even the Beaker People
˙ had to float over to England.
˙ Stick to my estimation that England perhaps ranks
˙ as the "most invaded" country ever˙ :-)
˙ Original pop ? Who the fuck knows ?
On 1/10/26 18:51, c186282 wrote:
On 1/9/26 15:32, rbowman wrote:
On Fri, 9 Jan 2026 10:00:20 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 09/01/2026 04:13, John Ames wrote:
They do now - but they had a different character once upon a time.It was other people before that. too. Celts are late invaders from the >>>> broinze age.
England used to be a bunch of Celts and a handful of Roman expats 't
Before Doggerland sank anybody could wander over without having to
build a
coracle.
˙˙ Correct. However it mostly sank about 12,000 years
˙˙ ago when all the ice melted. Even the Beaker People
˙˙ had to float over to England.
˙˙ Stick to my estimation that England perhaps ranks
˙˙ as the "most invaded" country ever˙ :-)
˙˙ Original pop ? Who the fuck knows ?
People just kept heading west, and when they got to England they had to stop.
On 1/10/26 10:23, Scott Lurndal wrote:
The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> writes:
On 09/01/2026 21:24, John Ames wrote:
On 9 Jan 2026 20:36:38 GMTYes.
rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
That *is* an intriguing question - AFAIK the evidence we have is
scant, but it's certainly a fascinating notion. Dunno if we'll ever >>>>>> get any solid answers, but you gotta wonder...
Heyerdahl was disliked by the academics but he had an embarrassing
habit of building boats and going places that shouldn't have been
reachable in their theories.
Certainly can't accuse him of not putting his money where his mouth
was.
Before Doggerland sank anybody could wander over without having to
build a coracle.
It's truly amazing how much of the world was walkable in the Ice Age;
doesn't explain *every* place humans ended up (it's absolutely mind-
boggling to consider how far back the Pacific islands were settled,)
but it absolutely made a whole lotta places readily accessible for a
good long while. Makes you wonder, too, how many of the various quasi- >>>> Atlantean legends in northwest Europe are really mutated folk memory
from a *staggeringly* long time ago...
125m of sea level rise in a few˙ thousand years...and a global
temperature rise of
up to 10ųC
Odd how that didn't 'destroy the planet'...
Apples are not equal to oranges.
˙˙˙˙Don't worry about the planet.˙ With or without life on it Earth
will take care of itself just as does Venus or Mercury.˙ The risk is
to the last few hundred years of human progress(?). We might
manage to revert to barbarism if the temperature does not go too
high for our systems by which I mean the whole means by which
your body maintains homeostasis which includes food systems,
medical systems, transport systems.˙ I suspect without clear
evidence that we may hit another bottleneck and suffer large
losses of population and genetic diversity human and otherwise.
On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 20:03:27 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
On 1/10/26 18:51, c186282 wrote:
On 1/9/26 15:32, rbowman wrote:People just kept heading west, and when they got to England they had to
On Fri, 9 Jan 2026 10:00:20 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 09/01/2026 04:13, John Ames wrote:
They do now - but they had a different character once upon a time. >>>>>> England used to be a bunch of Celts and a handful of Roman expats 't >>>>> It was other people before that. too. Celts are late invaders fromthe broinze age.
Before Doggerland sank anybody could wander over without having to
build a coracle.
˙ Correct. However it mostly sank about 12,000 years ago when all the
˙ ice melted. Even the Beaker People had to float over to England.
˙ Stick to my estimation that England perhaps ranks as the "most
˙ invaded" country ever˙ :-)
˙ Original pop ? Who the fuck knows ?
stop.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2150867.Westviking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farfarers
No, you just build a boat. Mowat has been accused of having a vivid imagination particularly for 'Never Cry Wolf' but he does point out that
by island hopping in the Hebrides and Faroes before heading for Iceland
you are only out if sight of land for a couple of days, assuming you don't get blown off course.
He tells a plausible story. In 'Collapse' Jared Diamond claims that one of the reasons for the abandonment of Greenland along with climate change was
an irrational reluctance of the Norse to eat fish. Excuse me? He bases
that on the lack of fish bones in the middens. I've never had it but I
think the process of producing h karl might dissolve the bones.
On 10 Jan 2026 14:40:30 GMT, St‚phane CARPENTIER wrote:
Le 08-01-2026, Lawrence D?Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> a ‚crit˙:
On Wed, 7 Jan 2026 19:21:09 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
FORTRAN and COBOL are still around, but I don't thinks anyone from
the 70s would recognize them.
COBOL is still COBOL. Fortran has evolved somewhat,
post-Fortran-77.
Is it really still the same COBOL?
I imagine it?s still backward-compatible.
My point being that the new stuff added to Fortran changes the
language out of all recognition (e.g. free-format source, user-defined
types, type parameters, CONTAINS), whereas the same is not true of
COBOL.
From what I've read, even the Neanderthals knew how
to build at least crude boats - pushed out onto some
of the Greek islands.
So yea, modern humans carried on the practice. It got
them to England and beyond. Well, SOME of them ...
the death rate would have been rather high for any
long voyage.
Building GOOD, large-ish, properly steerable boats ...
THAT took much longer than expected. Seems easy now,
but for whatever reasons the ancients had a hard time
of it.
England ... NOT too far. Even crap boats would do it.
The Beaker People completely infiltrated the existing
English pop about 4400bc - but they'd HAVE to have
floated there. Clearly their boats were 'adequate',
and there'd have been a LOT of them.
On 1/10/26 03:27, The Natural Philosopher wrote:No it didn't. It destroyed doggerland. And as for walking to australia,
Odd how that didn't 'destroy the planet'...
It did if you lived in Doggerland, or used to walk from Australia to Indonesia.
Our ancestors survived global warming, ice ages, plagues, wars, and
all sorts of other problems, at least long enough to breed and pass
on the genes.
On 1/10/26 11:44, rbowman wrote:
On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 07:42:47 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
It did if you lived in Doggerland, or used to walk from Australia
to Indonesia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Spring
The rest of the trilogy, 'Bronze Summer' and 'Iron Winter', are
okay but the focus moves from Doggerland.
When Doggerland is submerged and the people have to leave it it
seems totally logical that the focus would change to ancientry.
Remember Doggerland was prehistoric so I cannot even say ancienty
history but whatever the author according to his education can
imagine of those times.
Worthwhile book in 'Stone Spring' in my ever so humble opinion
Bliss
Odd how that didn't 'destroy the planet'...Apples are not equal to oranges.
˙˙˙˙Don't worry about the planet.˙ With or without life on it Earth
will take care of itself just as does Venus or Mercury.˙ The risk is
to the last few hundred years of human progress(?). We might
manage to revert to barbarism if the temperature does not go too
high for our systems by which I mean the whole means by which
your body maintains homeostasis which includes food systems,
medical systems, transport systems.˙ I suspect without clear
evidence that we may hit another bottleneck and suffer large
losses of population and genetic diversity human and otherwise.
˙˙˙˙bliss - always the cheery optimist...
The global climate has never gone "too hot" over
˙ the past BILLION years.
˙ However the "warm zone" has sometimes expanded to
˙ reach the poles.
˙ And sometimes contracted so there's icebergs at
˙ the equator.
On 2026-01-09, c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> wrote:
'C' has added a few nicey-nice things, but not TOO much.
You can (I do) stick pretty much to K&R and everything
still works fine.
I think of my style as "K&R plus prototypes". In fact, to
work both ways, my code is still full of constructs like this:
#ifdef PROTOTYPE
int foo(char *bar, BOOL baz)
#else
int foo(bar, baz) char *bar; BOOL baz;
#endif
Stick to my estimation that England perhaps ranks
˙ as the "most invaded" country ever˙ ?
He tells a plausible story. In 'Collapse' Jared Diamond claims that one of the reasons for the abandonment of Greenland along with climate change was
an irrational reluctance of the Norse to eat fish. Excuse me? He bases
that on the lack of fish bones in the middens. I've never had it but I
think the process of producing h karl might dissolve the bones.
From what I've read, even the Neanderthals knew how
˙ to build at least crude boats - pushed out onto some
˙ of the Greek islands.
˙ So yea, modern humans carried on the practice. It got
˙ them to England and beyond. Well, SOME of them ...
˙ the death rate would have been rather high for any
˙ long voyage.
˙ Building GOOD, large-ish, properly steerable boats ...
˙ THAT took much longer than expected. Seems easy now,
˙ but for whatever reasons the ancients had a hard time
˙ of it.
˙ England ... NOT too far. Even crap boats would do it.
˙ The Beaker People completely infiltrated the existing
˙ English pop about 4400bc - but they'd HAVE to have
˙ floated there. Clearly their boats were 'adequate',
˙ and there'd have been a LOT of them.
On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 20:03:27 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
On 1/10/26 18:51, c186282 wrote:
On 1/9/26 15:32, rbowman wrote:People just kept heading west, and when they got to England they had to
On Fri, 9 Jan 2026 10:00:20 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 09/01/2026 04:13, John Ames wrote:
They do now - but they had a different character once upon a time. >>>>>> England used to be a bunch of Celts and a handful of Roman expats 't >>>>> It was other people before that. too. Celts are late invaders fromthe broinze age.
Before Doggerland sank anybody could wander over without having to
build a coracle.
˙ Correct. However it mostly sank about 12,000 years ago when all the
˙ ice melted. Even the Beaker People had to float over to England.
˙ Stick to my estimation that England perhaps ranks as the "most
˙ invaded" country ever˙ :-)
˙ Original pop ? Who the fuck knows ?
stop.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2150867.Westviking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farfarers
No, you just build a boat. Mowat has been accused of having a vivid imagination particularly for 'Never Cry Wolf' but he does point out that
by island hopping in the Hebrides and Faroes before heading for Iceland
you are only out if sight of land for a couple of days, assuming you don't get blown off course.
He tells a plausible story. In 'Collapse' Jared Diamond claims that one of the reasons for the abandonment of Greenland along with climate change was
an irrational reluctance of the Norse to eat fish. Excuse me? He bases
that on the lack of fish bones in the middens. I've never had it but I
think the process of producing h karl might dissolve the bones.
On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 20:03:27 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
People just kept heading west, and when they got to England they had to
stop.
He tells a plausible story. In 'Collapse' Jared Diamond claims that one of >the reasons for the abandonment of Greenland along with climate change was >an irrational reluctance of the Norse to eat fish. Excuse me? He bases
that on the lack of fish bones in the middens. I've never had it but I
think the process of producing h karl might dissolve the bones.
On 10/01/2026 18:23, Scott Lurndal wrote:
Odd how that didn't 'destroy the planet'...Apples are not equal to oranges.
What a meaningless statement.
FORTRAN ... it remains 'important', esp in academic
and professional circles. Can NOT beat all the
engineering/physics libs/functions writ for FORTRAN
over the years ... a solution for EVERYTHING complex.
It's not "popular" like Python ... but it's NOT going
to go away anytime soon. A 'niche' lang, but it's an
important niche.
On 11/01/2026 05:39, rbowman wrote:
He tells a plausible story. In 'Collapse' Jared Diamond claims that one of >> the reasons for the abandonment of Greenland along with climate change was >> an irrational reluctance of the Norse to eat fish. Excuse me? He bases
that on the lack of fish bones in the middens. I've never had it but I
think the process of producing h karl might dissolve the bones.
They are probably so hungry they ate the bones as well..
The 'Norse' grew up on fish. One visit to sweden or Denmark will show
1001 ways to prepare 'herring'
A lot less pork chicken and beef on the menu.
The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> writes:
On 10/01/2026 18:23, Scott Lurndal wrote:
Odd how that didn't 'destroy the planet'...Apples are not equal to oranges.
What a meaningless statement.
Not in the context of the portion of the post you
so conveniently deleted.
On 2026-01-11, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
On 11/01/2026 05:39, rbowman wrote:
He tells a plausible story. In 'Collapse' Jared Diamond claims that one of >>> the reasons for the abandonment of Greenland along with climate change was >>> an irrational reluctance of the Norse to eat fish. Excuse me? He bases
that on the lack of fish bones in the middens. I've never had it but I
think the process of producing h karl might dissolve the bones.
They are probably so hungry they ate the bones as well..
The 'Norse' grew up on fish. One visit to sweden or Denmark will show
1001 ways to prepare 'herring'
A lot less pork chicken and beef on the menu.
You exaggerate. Sure, fish is _a_ cornerstone in our cuisine, but only
one. I would not say there is a _lot_ less pork, chicken and beef.
Personally I don't eat fish very often, and neither do most people I
know.
Niklas
On 11/01/2026 17:44, Niklas Karlsson wrote:
On 2026-01-11, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
On 11/01/2026 05:39, rbowman wrote:
He tells a plausible story. In 'Collapse' Jared Diamond claims that one of >>>> the reasons for the abandonment of Greenland along with climate change was >>>> an irrational reluctance of the Norse to eat fish. Excuse me? He bases >>>> that on the lack of fish bones in the middens. I've never had it but I >>>> think the process of producing h karl might dissolve the bones.
They are probably so hungry they ate the bones as well..
The 'Norse' grew up on fish. One visit to sweden or Denmark will show
1001 ways to prepare 'herring'
A lot less pork chicken and beef on the menu.
You exaggerate. Sure, fish is _a_ cornerstone in our cuisine, but only
one. I would not say there is a _lot_ less pork, chicken and beef.
Personally I don't eat fish very often, and neither do most people I
know.
Niklas
Well the point being that Norse nations are well able to survive on fish
if they have to.
On 2026-01-11, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:The Norse greenlanders were never huge in number and the natives knew
On 11/01/2026 17:44, Niklas Karlsson wrote:
On 2026-01-11, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
On 11/01/2026 05:39, rbowman wrote:
He tells a plausible story. In 'Collapse' Jared Diamond claims that one of
the reasons for the abandonment of Greenland along with climate change was
an irrational reluctance of the Norse to eat fish. Excuse me? He bases >>>>> that on the lack of fish bones in the middens. I've never had it but I >>>>> think the process of producing h karl might dissolve the bones.
They are probably so hungry they ate the bones as well..
The 'Norse' grew up on fish. One visit to sweden or Denmark will show
1001 ways to prepare 'herring'
A lot less pork chicken and beef on the menu.
You exaggerate. Sure, fish is _a_ cornerstone in our cuisine, but only
one. I would not say there is a _lot_ less pork, chicken and beef.
Personally I don't eat fish very often, and neither do most people I
know.
Niklas
Well the point being that Norse nations are well able to survive on fish
if they have to.
That I'll agree with... though I'm not sure how sustainable the level of fishing would be that we'd have to do if fish and maybe shellfish were
our only protein.
Niklas
On 11/01/2026 20:23, Niklas Karlsson wrote:
On 2026-01-11, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:The Norse greenlanders were never huge in number and the natives knew
Well the point being that Norse nations are well able to survive on fish >>> if they have to.
That I'll agree with... though I'm not sure how sustainable the level of
fishing would be that we'd have to do if fish and maybe shellfish were
our only protein.
how to fish.
I suspect the Norse said 'fuck this lets go home' and abandoned
greenland as being not worth the effort.
On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 16:44:55 GMT, Scott Lurndal wrote:
rbowman <bowman@montana.com> writes:
On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 20:03:27 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
People just kept heading west, and when they got to England they had
to stop.
He tells a plausible story. In 'Collapse' Jared Diamond claims that one >>>of the reasons for the abandonment of Greenland along with climate
change was an irrational reluctance of the Norse to eat fish. Excuse me? >>>He bases that on the lack of fish bones in the middens. I've never had
it but I think the process of producing h karl might dissolve the bones.
One word. Lutefisk.
Butter, lots of butter. Big problem if the cows died off and there was no butter. It shows up around here at Christmas time. I've been told by knowledgeable people Norwegians in the US eat lutefisk and Norwegians in Norway eat frozen pizza.
On 2026-01-11, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
On 11/01/2026 17:44, Niklas Karlsson wrote:
On 2026-01-11, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
On 11/01/2026 05:39, rbowman wrote:
He tells a plausible story. In 'Collapse' Jared Diamond claims that one of
the reasons for the abandonment of Greenland along with climate change was
an irrational reluctance of the Norse to eat fish. Excuse me? He bases >>>>> that on the lack of fish bones in the middens. I've never had it but I >>>>> think the process of producing h karl might dissolve the bones.
They are probably so hungry they ate the bones as well..
The 'Norse' grew up on fish. One visit to sweden or Denmark will show
1001 ways to prepare 'herring'
A lot less pork chicken and beef on the menu.
You exaggerate. Sure, fish is _a_ cornerstone in our cuisine, but only
one. I would not say there is a _lot_ less pork, chicken and beef.
Personally I don't eat fish very often, and neither do most people I
know.
Niklas
Well the point being that Norse nations are well able to survive on fish
if they have to.
That I'll agree with... though I'm not sure how sustainable the level of fishing would be that we'd have to do if fish and maybe shellfish were
our only protein.
On 11/01/2026 20:23, Niklas Karlsson wrote:
On 2026-01-11, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:The Norse greenlanders were never huge in number and the natives knew
On 11/01/2026 17:44, Niklas Karlsson wrote:
On 2026-01-11, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
On 11/01/2026 05:39, rbowman wrote:
He tells a plausible story. In 'Collapse' Jared Diamond claims
that one of
the reasons for the abandonment of Greenland along with climate
change was
an irrational reluctance of the Norse to eat fish. Excuse me? He
bases
that on the lack of fish bones in the middens. I've never had it
but I
think the process of producing h karl might dissolve the bones.
They are probably so hungry they ate the bones as well..
The 'Norse' grew up on fish. One visit to sweden or Denmark will show >>>>> 1001 ways to prepare 'herring'
A lot less pork chicken and beef on the menu.
You exaggerate. Sure, fish is _a_ cornerstone in our cuisine, but only >>>> one. I would not say there is a _lot_ less pork, chicken and beef.
Personally I don't eat fish very often, and neither do most people I
know.
Niklas
Well the point being that Norse nations are well able to survive on fish >>> if they have to.
That I'll agree with... though I'm not sure how sustainable the level of
fishing would be that we'd have to do if fish and maybe shellfish were
our only protein.
how to fish.
I suspect the Norse said 'fuck this lets go home' and abandoned
greenland as being not worth the effort.
On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 16:44:55 GMT, Scott Lurndal wrote:
rbowman <bowman@montana.com> writes:
On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 20:03:27 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
People just kept heading west, and when they got to England they had
to stop.
He tells a plausible story. In 'Collapse' Jared Diamond claims that one >>>of the reasons for the abandonment of Greenland along with climate
change was an irrational reluctance of the Norse to eat fish. Excuse me? >>>He bases that on the lack of fish bones in the middens. I've never had
it but I think the process of producing h karl might dissolve the bones.
One word. Lutefisk.
Butter, lots of butter. Big problem if the cows died off and there was no >butter. It shows up around here at Christmas time. I've been told by >knowledgeable people Norwegians in the US eat lutefisk and Norwegians in >Norway eat frozen pizza.
On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 11:05:32 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Archaelogy has brought mots of human 'prehistory' into the class of
'fairly well known history'
With caveats. There have been many moments of 'oops, that stuff is a hell
of a lot older than we thought it was.' Even Chris Stringer had to change
his story although the popular conception is lagging.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milford_H._Wolpoff
On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 11:29:53 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 11/01/2026 05:39, rbowman wrote:
He tells a plausible story. In 'Collapse' Jared Diamond claims that one
of the reasons for the abandonment of Greenland along with climate
change was an irrational reluctance of the Norse to eat fish. Excuse
me? He bases that on the lack of fish bones in the middens. I've never
had it but I think the process of producing h karl might dissolve the
bones.
They are probably so hungry they ate the bones as well..
We used to have fried smelts, fins, tail, and scales, usually without the head. This isn't the best area for seafood but the only ones I've seen in the market lately were marked as bait.
On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 11:26:50 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 11/01/2026 01:51, c186282 wrote:
Stick to my estimation that England perhaps ranks
˙ as the "most invaded" country ever˙ ?
Yes, until 1066, after which it became the least.
Nothing like having a navy comprised of pirates.
And a merchant class comprised of pirates... Wasn't there a Monty Python sketch about that?
˙ Alas without detailed records we may find old THINGS,
˙ but what they MEANT, their context, is forever lost.
˙ That's just half a view of 'history'.
On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:47:29 GMT, Scott Lurndal wrote:
http://linuxmafia.com/humour/power-of-lutefisk.html
The only good thing about lutefisk is that it is generally accompanied
by meatballs and mashed potatoes (and lefse).
Is isn't that bad. That's not to say it's good.
It's blandly neutral.
Butter, lots of butter. Big problem if the cows died off and there
was no butter. It shows up around here at Christmas time. I've
been told by knowledgeable people Norwegians in the US eat lutefisk
and Norwegians in Norway eat frozen pizza.
I am not that familiar with that aspect of our neighbors, but I can
believe it. We have lutfisk (yes, we spell it without the E) and I
certainly don't care for it. Fortunately, very rarely has anyone
attempted to serve it to me.
They did have gjetost, which makes up for it. The stuff is dangerous though.
https://www.newsinenglish.no/2013/01/22/burning-brown-cheese-closes-
tunnel/
The Ski Queen brand must not be the real thing. It doesn't burn.
On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 08:11:36 -0800, John Ames wrote:
A friend who was active in a Norway based church told me a lot of the Sons >are really German. It's a nice clubhouse so why build your own when you
can invade Norway?
On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 08:11:36 -0800, John Ames wrote:
On 11 Jan 2026 21:38:00 GMT Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com>
wrote:
Butter, lots of butter. Big problem if the cows died off and there
was no butter. It shows up around here at Christmas time. I've been
told by knowledgeable people Norwegians in the US eat lutefisk and
Norwegians in Norway eat frozen pizza.
I am not that familiar with that aspect of our neighbors, but I can
believe it. We have lutfisk (yes, we spell it without the E) and I
certainly don't care for it. Fortunately, very rarely has anyone
attempted to serve it to me.
It's Considered Traditional among the older generations of Norwegian-
Americans, to the point where you can find it in the grocery store in
the northern Midwest. Have never tried it myself, but I've seen (and
smelled) it at family gatherings.
Now krumkake, *that's* a slice of the Ol d Country I can get behind.
It appears in the grocery stores here around Christmas.
https://www.sofn.com/norwegian_culture/recipe_box/ baked_goods_breads_and_desserts/rosettes/
The local Sons of Norway lodge has a booth at the fair where they sell 'vikings' and rosettes. The rosettes are good. The vikings are deep fried mystery meat on a stick sort of like a corndog. They're okay. The problem
is there is usually a long line.
https://www.sofnmissoula.com/
A friend who was active in a Norway based church told me a lot of the Sons are really German. It's a nice clubhouse so why build your own when you
can invade Norway?
He says as the gelatinous fishy slime slides down his throat ?
We had it twice a year for decades. Yes, butter helps to mask
the the flavor, but nothing masks the consistency (or lack thereof).
On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 07:45:11 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
On 1/11/26 19:19, c186282 wrote:
˙ Alas without detailed records we may find old THINGS,"It's a ritual object."
˙ but what they MEANT, their context, is forever lost. That's just
˙ half a view of 'history'.
I've heard some fascinating explanations for the petroglyphs in the US
west. My personal explanation is the tribe sent bored teenagers up to a lookout where lacking cellphones they chipped away at the rocks.
rbowman <bowman@montana.com> writes:
On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 07:45:11 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
On 1/11/26 19:19, c186282 wrote:
˙ Alas without detailed records we may find old THINGS,"It's a ritual object."
˙ but what they MEANT, their context, is forever lost. That's just
˙ half a view of 'history'.
I've heard some fascinating explanations for the petroglyphs in the US
west. My personal explanation is the tribe sent bored teenagers up to a
lookout where lacking cellphones they chipped away at the rocks.
You may not be that far off. Have a read of _The Nature Of Paelolithic
Art_ (R. Dale Guthrie) - it?s not short but if you?re interested in that
sort of thing, it?d be time well spent.
https://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/311260.html has a copy of the introduction.
erested inAlas without detailed records we may find old THINGS, but what
they MEANT, their context, is forever lost. That's just half a
view of 'history'.
"It's a ritual object."
I've heard some fascinating explanations for the petroglyphs in the
US west. My personal explanation is the tribe sent bored teenagers
up to a lookout where lacking cellphones they chipped away at the
rocks.
You may not be that far off. Have a read of _The Nature Of Paelolithic
Art_ (R. Dale Guthrie) - it?s not short but if you?re int
that sort of thing, it?d be time well spent.
On 1/12/26 11:45, rbowman wrote:
On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 08:11:36 -0800, John Ames wrote:
On 11 Jan 2026 21:38:00 GMT Niklas Karlsson <nikke.karlsson@gmail.com>
wrote:
Butter, lots of butter.˙ Big problem if the cows died off and there
was no butter.˙ It shows up around here at Christmas time. I've been >>>>> told by knowledgeable people Norwegians in the US eat lutefisk and
Norwegians in Norway eat frozen pizza.
I am not that familiar with that aspect of our neighbors, but I can
believe it. We have lutfisk (yes, we spell it without the E) and I
certainly don't care for it. Fortunately, very rarely has anyone
attempted to serve it to me.
It's Considered Traditional among the older generations of Norwegian-
Americans, to the point where you can find it in the grocery store in
the northern Midwest. Have never tried it myself, but I've seen (and
smelled) it at family gatherings.
Now krumkake, *that's* a slice of the Ol d Country I can get behind.
It appears in the grocery stores here around Christmas.
https://www.sofn.com/norwegian_culture/recipe_box/
baked_goods_breads_and_desserts/rosettes/
The local Sons of Norway lodge has a booth at the fair where they sell
'vikings' and rosettes. The rosettes are good. The vikings are deep fried
mystery meat on a stick sort of like a corndog. They're okay. The problem
is there is usually a long line.
https://www.sofnmissoula.com/
A friend who was active in a Norway based church told me a lot of the
Sons
are really German. It's a nice clubhouse so why build your own when you
can invade Norway?
Garrison Keillor had a nice take on Norwegians vs. Germans in Lake
Woebegone
On 12/01/2026 15:44, Scott Lurndal wrote:
˙˙ He says as the gelatinous fishy slime slides down his throat ?
˙˙ We had it twice a year for decades.˙ Yes, butter helps to mask
the the flavor, but nothing masks the consistency (or lack thereof).
Oysters: "like swallowing someone else's cold snot"
rbowman <bowman@montana.com> writes:
On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 07:45:11 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
On 1/11/26 19:19, c186282 wrote:
˙ Alas without detailed records we may find old THINGS,"It's a ritual object."
˙ but what they MEANT, their context, is forever lost. That's just
˙ half a view of 'history'.
I've heard some fascinating explanations for the petroglyphs in the US
west. My personal explanation is the tribe sent bored teenagers up to a
lookout where lacking cellphones they chipped away at the rocks.
You may not be that far off. Have a read of _The Nature Of Paelolithic
Art_ (R. Dale Guthrie) - it?s not short but if you?re interested in that
sort of thing, it?d be time well spent.
https://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/311260.html has a copy of the introduction.
On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 17:58:31 -0500, c186282 wrote:
Many stocks of fish are already depleted or nearly so,
and that's just at CURRENT levels of consumption. The "bounty of the
sea" is NOT unlimited, not at all.
Some of the species I see in the market would have been classified as cat food 60 years ago.
On 11/01/2026 21:35, rbowman wrote:
On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 11:26:50 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 11/01/2026 01:51, c186282 wrote:
Stick to my estimation that England perhaps ranks
˙ as the "most invaded" country ever˙ ?
Yes, until 1066, after which it became the least.
Nothing like having a navy comprised of pirates.
And a merchant class comprised of pirates... Wasn't there a Monty Python
sketch about that?
Dunno. There is a Trumpian experiment ongoing to see exactly where that leads, of course...
In the end, we developed democracy. The amount of loot the war winners gained was always less than they spent on defeating the opposition.
Probably the USA will end up doing the same.
After having explored all the other alternatives.
Elizabeth I is quoted as saying 'war is such a chancy thing' or similar.
On 2026-01-12, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
On Sun, 11 Jan 2026 17:58:31 -0500, c186282 wrote:
Many stocks of fish are already depleted or nearly so,
and that's just at CURRENT levels of consumption. The "bounty of the >>> sea" is NOT unlimited, not at all.
Some of the species I see in the market would have been classified as cat
food 60 years ago.
I've heard this described as "eating our way down the food chain".
On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 19:52:39 GMT, Scott Lurndal wrote:
rbowman <bowman@montana.com> writes:
On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 08:11:36 -0800, John Ames wrote:
A friend who was active in a Norway based church told me a lot of the
Sons are really German. It's a nice clubhouse so why build your own when >>> you can invade Norway?
Small village where my father grew up had two churches. A norwegian
lutheran church and a german lutheran church (ALC and Wisconson Synod,
IIRC). Never the twain shall meet.
No kidding. I was interested in the food, not the theology, but Immanuel Lutheran is ECLA. First Lutheran, about a mile away, is Missouri Synod. I think the Missouri folks consider the ELCA folks to be baby-raping, communistic, apostates. Both the pastor and assistant pastor at Immanuel
are women and that's a non-starter for LCMS.
On 1/12/26 15:46, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 12/01/2026 15:44, Scott Lurndal wrote:
˙˙ He says as the gelatinous fishy slime slides down his throat ?
˙˙ We had it twice a year for decades.˙ Yes, butter helps to mask
the the flavor, but nothing masks the consistency (or lack thereof).
Oysters: "like swallowing someone else's cold snot"
˙ They're awful .....
˙ Oh, are nothing but slimy nasty fish to be found
˙ in the North Sea ???
On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:17:25 -0500, c186282 wrote:
I tend to agree ... most petroglyphs DO look like things bored
kiddies would scrawl. Lacking spray-paint, well, you use what you
have.
https://www.ancientartarchive.org/handprints-universal-symbol-humanity/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I49uteH-EA
I've had an informal interest in experimental archaeology. If you say to yourself "I'm here in this environment, how do I make a living?" some of
the theories of armchair archaeologists don't make sense.
The hard part is viewing the scene with fresh eyes. I know how to make a figure 4 trap or deadfall. Do I have to assume Ogg never figured it out?
I've ground corn with a mano and metate. Can I assume an early human
wouldn't have figured out rubbing hard seeds between two rocks didn't make them easier to eat?
Perhaps, but it's so much _fun_ (if you're into that sort of thing).
On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 22:58:32 -0500, c186282 wrote:
Put it into the trash - it'd attract ten species of roving animals
... that fish smell is infinitely attractive. Don't think the garbage
service would be very friendly to a 50 pound concrete brick on top of
my trash bin .........
You do realize there is water packed tuna?
and it's gone long before the trash panda gets wind of it. I do get
sardines in oil and after I get the fish out the can goes on the deck. Not
as popular as tuna juice but community cats will eat almost anything.
Except Blue Buffalo. The cats wouldn't eat it. The raccoon wouldn't eat
it. The skunk managed to choke it down.
On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 22:58:32 -0500, c186282 wrote:Yes, and I have some. It's all I used to eat. Then
Put it into the trash - it'd attract ten species of roving animals
... that fish smell is infinitely attractive. Don't think the garbage
service would be very friendly to a 50 pound concrete brick on top of
my trash bin .........
You do realize there is water packed tuna?
I drain it into the cat's bowl
and it's gone long before the trash panda gets wind of it. I do get
sardines in oil and after I get the fish out the can goes on the deck. Not
as popular as tuna juice but community cats will eat almost anything.
Except Blue Buffalo. The cats wouldn't eat it. The raccoon wouldn't eat
it. The skunk managed to choke it down.
On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:12:38 -0500, c186282 wrote:
Oh, are nothing but slimy nasty fish to be found in the North Sea ???
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fishes_of_the_North_Sea
Anything edible is vulnerable or endangered, even the eels.
On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 20:58:16 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Like the Norse graffiti at Maes Howe that says something like 'Hagars
wife is a good fuck'
Concerning graffiti, nothing changes...
Then there is the one at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul 'Halfdan was here'
On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 12:38:24 -0500, c186282 wrote:
Except Blue Buffalo. The cats wouldn't eat it. The raccoon wouldn't eat
it. The skunk managed to choke it down.
I haven't seen the 'raccoon test' mentioned in their ads ... I wonder
why ?
I see their ads, I think on Netflix, with dogs. I get a chuckle but then >dogs like to roll in shit.
On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 12:41:52 -0500, c186282 wrote:
On 1/13/26 00:50, rbowman wrote:
On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:12:38 -0500, c186282 wrote:
Oh, are nothing but slimy nasty fish to be found in the North Sea
???
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fishes_of_the_North_Sea
Anything edible is vulnerable or endangered, even the eels.
Clearly somebody really REALLY liked fish there in the past :-)
I wonder if they can transplant some N.Atlantic species ?
Assuming there's anything for THEM to eat ...
I think cod, flounder, haddock, and halibut are about fished out in the >North Atlantic too. Maybe even sardines.
https://www.islandinstitute.org/working-waterfront/27423/
'Maine' sardines come from Latvia. I visited a sardine factory in the
On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 22:41:07 GMT, Scott Lurndal wrote:
I still visit a Sardine factory occasionally.
<https://www.sardinefactory.com/>
Trust me, the one I went to didn't look like that.
Unfortunately, the west coast actual sardine stocks were rather famously
exhausted in the late 1950's. As documented in _Cannery Row_.
50 years later, they had mostly returned, but even absent commercial
fishing, the numbers started to decrease in 2019.
I liked Steinbeck's novels. When I finally made it to Monterey I wasn't
all that impressed.
rbowman <bowman@montana.com> writes:
On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 22:41:07 GMT, Scott Lurndal wrote:
I still visit a Sardine factory occasionally.
<https://www.sardinefactory.com/>
Trust me, the one I went to didn't look like that.
Unfortunately, the west coast actual sardine stocks were rather famously >>> exhausted in the late 1950's. As documented in _Cannery Row_.
50 years later, they had mostly returned, but even absent commercial
fishing, the numbers started to decrease in 2019.
I liked Steinbeck's novels. When I finally made it to Monterey I wasn't >>all that impressed.
That all depends on your expectations. We often drive
down on a Sunday morning just to walk the old rail line from the
antique mall to Lover's point or the John Denver memorial.
scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
rbowman <bowman@montana.com> writes:
On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 22:41:07 GMT, Scott Lurndal wrote:
I still visit a Sardine factory occasionally.
<https://www.sardinefactory.com/>
Trust me, the one I went to didn't look like that.
Unfortunately, the west coast actual sardine stocks were rather famously >>>> exhausted in the late 1950's. As documented in _Cannery Row_.
50 years later, they had mostly returned, but even absent commercial
fishing, the numbers started to decrease in 2019.
I liked Steinbeck's novels. When I finally made it to Monterey I wasn't
all that impressed.
That all depends on your expectations. We often drive
down on a Sunday morning just to walk the old rail line from the
antique mall to Lover's point or the John Denver memorial.
I proposed to my wife at lover's point. Ahh memories.
On 1/18/26 15:30, Daniel wrote:
scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:
rbowman <bowman@montana.com> writes:
On Tue, 13 Jan 2026 22:41:07 GMT, Scott Lurndal wrote:
I still visit a Sardine factory occasionally.
<https://www.sardinefactory.com/>
Trust me, the one I went to didn't look like that.
Unfortunately, the west coast actual sardine stocks were rather famously >>>>> exhausted in the late 1950's. As documented in _Cannery Row_.
50 years later, they had mostly returned, but even absent commercial >>>>> fishing, the numbers started to decrease in 2019.
I liked Steinbeck's novels. When I finally made it to Monterey I wasn't >>>> all that impressed.
That all depends on your expectations. We often drive
down on a Sunday morning just to walk the old rail line from the
antique mall to Lover's point or the John Denver memorial.
I proposed to my wife at lover's point. Ahh memories.
There's a "John Denver Memorial" ???
On 10/01/2026 23:39, Bobbie Sellers wrote:
Depends on your definition of prehistoric. Or ancient history.
On 1/10/26 11:44, rbowman wrote:
On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 07:42:47 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
It did if you lived in Doggerland, or used to walk from Australia
to Indonesia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Spring
The rest of the trilogy, 'Bronze Summer' and 'Iron Winter', are
okay but the focus moves from Doggerland.
When Doggerland is submerged and the people have to leave it it
seems totally logical that the focus would change to ancientry.
Remember Doggerland was prehistoric so I cannot even say ancienty
history but whatever the author according to his education can
imagine of those times.
Archaelogy has brought mots of human 'prehistory' into the class of
'fairly well known history'
History is defined by being written.
In <jEf9R.2212580$Pf33.1251031@fx18.iad> Charlie Gibbs:
[Snip...}
Perhaps, but it's so much _fun_ (if you're into that sort of thing).
There's always at least one lunatic who insists the war partying
fun go on indefinitely ...
The Smell of Napalm In the Morning (Apocalypse Now) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k26hmRbDQFw
It's an Egg (Catch-22)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0UV6ug96c0
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