Comments on: Corncrake Project http://hootingyard.org/archives/445 A Website by Frank Key Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:05:40 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Jacob Apsley http://hootingyard.org/archives/445/comment-page-1#comment-3030 Jacob Apsley Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:44:33 +0000 http://www.hootingyard.org/?p=445#comment-3030 No, in short. (Nor, for that matter, the Franz Kafka who claimed to be a denizen of - and even to have gaily haunted - the Czech city of Praha, but who never stepped beyond the bounds of his natal Liverpool.) This is a wholly other Franz Kafka, who fired from his bow with abandon, frolicked in the forests of Lincolnshire, and came no closer to being an adherent of that alleged movement of Fletcherism (in truth, little more than a ragged band of individuals fluttering along in the tremendous wake of Fletcher's most gifted pupil, Hündersøn) than I do to being learned in the lore of the Spoonbill. No, in short. (Nor, for that matter, the Franz Kafka who claimed to be a denizen of – and even to have gaily haunted – the Czech city of Praha, but who never stepped beyond the bounds of his natal Liverpool.)

This is a wholly other Franz Kafka, who fired from his bow with abandon, frolicked in the forests of Lincolnshire, and came no closer to being an adherent of that alleged movement of Fletcherism (in truth, little more than a ragged band of individuals fluttering along in the tremendous wake of Fletcher’s most gifted pupil, Hündersøn) than I do to being learned in the lore of the Spoonbill.

]]> By: Frank Key http://hootingyard.org/archives/445/comment-page-1#comment-3022 Frank Key Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:54:26 +0000 http://www.hootingyard.org/?p=445#comment-3022 Would that be the same Franz Kafka who was a keen oarsman and whose devotion to the dietary and masticatory tenets of Fletcherism made his table manners so revolting? Would that be the same Franz Kafka who was a keen oarsman and whose devotion to the dietary and masticatory tenets of Fletcherism made his table manners so revolting?

]]> By: Jacob Apsley http://hootingyard.org/archives/445/comment-page-1#comment-3021 Jacob Apsley Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:19:36 +0000 http://www.hootingyard.org/?p=445#comment-3021 Franz Kafka, I deem, had a thing or two to say about such matters (as well as the behaviour of all manner of other animals from mice to jackals, and from leopards to dogs)... Franz Kafka, I deem, had a thing or two to say about such matters (as well as the behaviour of all manner of other animals from mice to jackals, and from leopards to dogs)…

]]> By: R http://hootingyard.org/archives/445/comment-page-1#comment-3016 R Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:48:25 +0000 http://www.hootingyard.org/?p=445#comment-3016 The least-frequently sighted, yet most-feared, member of the -crake family is the burrowing one, whose activities register from time to time on the Richter scale. The least-frequently sighted, yet most-feared, member of the -crake family is the burrowing one, whose activities register from time to time on the Richter scale.

]]> By: Jacob Apsley http://hootingyard.org/archives/445/comment-page-1#comment-3008 Jacob Apsley Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:56:54 +0000 http://www.hootingyard.org/?p=445#comment-3008 It is all very well to feel for the plight of these birds, but it has ever been true that such of their kind become extinct. Take, for example, the winged creature known only from the fossil-record, but which palaeontologists have dubbed the beefcrake in recognition of its coprolites, which are suggestive of its utter penchant for this meat. We are without it now and so can largely not imagine the splendid sight that it once made, winging its way through the skies with a hunk of topside ready for its breakfast... That juicy morsel apart, please spare a thought for the oatcrake, no less at risk of being expunged from history, but being of such an unassuming character that its name is a complete misnomer, since, much to the maltster's annoyance, it survives entirely on grains of barley - a wise bird, to recognize (as those who lift a dram do) the life-giving qualities of that cereal! It is all very well to feel for the plight of these birds, but it has ever been true that such of their kind become extinct. Take, for example, the winged creature known only from the fossil-record, but which palaeontologists have dubbed the beefcrake in recognition of its coprolites, which are suggestive of its utter penchant for this meat. We are without it now and so can largely not imagine the splendid sight that it once made, winging its way through the skies with a hunk of topside ready for its breakfast…

That juicy morsel apart, please spare a thought for the oatcrake, no less at risk of being expunged from history, but being of such an unassuming character that its name is a complete misnomer, since, much to the maltster’s annoyance, it survives entirely on grains of barley – a wise bird, to recognize (as those who lift a dram do) the life-giving qualities of that cereal!

]]> By: Frank Key http://hootingyard.org/archives/445/comment-page-1#comment-2985 Frank Key Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:40:06 +0000 http://www.hootingyard.org/?p=445#comment-2985 And I suppose we ought also to spare a thought for the brancrake. And I suppose we ought also to spare a thought for the brancrake.

]]> By: R http://hootingyard.org/archives/445/comment-page-1#comment-2984 R Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:55:08 +0000 http://www.hootingyard.org/?p=445#comment-2984 Not as threatened as the Wheatcrake, y'know ... Not as threatened as the Wheatcrake, y’know …

]]>