One Old Green Bus

Post details: A Very Funky Affair

11/22/06

11:27:37 am, by

, 503 words

Categories: General Shtuff, "Living" History - Historical Re-enactment

A Very Funky Affair

John Le Couteur

From the diary of Lieutenant John le Couteur of the 104th Regiment of Foot... dated May 27th, 1813...

We both sat on the sound end of the wooden canoe, cocked her broken bow over the water and launched our bark for fame and glory. It was, in vulgar parlance, a funky affair but we got over safe.

Yup, you read that right... a "Funky Affair" in 1813... and no, George Clinton was born in 1941 so he wasn't there... although what an image that would be!

George Clinton

According to Donald E. Graves' wonderful tome, "Merry Hearts Make Light Days - The War of 1812 Journal of Lieutenant John Le Couteur, 104th Foot", which cites "A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue" by Captain Francis Grose, London 1796 (but reprinted in 1963) defines "funk" as...

To smoke; figuratively, to smoke or stink through fear.

Un-hunh...

So, this is the origin of "funk"... to effectively make a nasty smell because you're frightened.

Someone's gonna have to tell me how this ended up meaning cool base lines with rockin' slaps...

Hmmm...

GTA Residents - Help Support a Good Cause and Get Yourself Something To Read

If you're in the GTA and love books as much as I do or you're looking for a good Christmas gift idea... and want to support an EXCELLENT cause, PLEASE consider visiting The Giant Warehouse Book Sale at 120 Duffield Dr. near Kennedy and 14th Avenue (North of Steeles - just East of the DVP) on December 1st, 2nd, and 3rd...

Every book is 75% off... and ALL profits go to a very good cause, The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada.

Click here for details of the sale...

Again, if you're in the Toronto area, please go to this sale and help The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation!

Short post... but realistically, this is the only thought on my mind right now... which is indicative of the kind of Wednesday it is today here for the mighty-Mattster.

The standard last note on the old blog... PLEASE SUPPORT THE DREAM!

This blog is here to help promote a dream that an entire family shares... that dream is to rescue an old London Double-Decker bus.

Please, if you have a few minutes, take some time to find out more about this bus and the kooky dream by clicking here.

This bus is VERY special to myself and the whole family, and any help any person can lend us would be most gratefully accepted.

If you or someone you know might be interested, there's our pixel ad site, HelpCoverTheBus.Com and a PayPal donation button (see the upper-right hand side of the blog) and, of course, a Cafe Press shop for T-Shirts and shtuff!
(...and who doesn't need some shtuff!)

Please help us make this dream a reality and save a piece of history!

We thank you for your support!

Please Note: We are also hoping for help from a public relations/marketing standpoint... If you might be able to assist OR know someone who might be willing to, please click here and read this entry...

Permalink 4 comments

Comments:

Comment from: administration [Member]

· http://www.helpcoverthebus.com/

Speaking of books! Check out our new bookstore at:

http://www.nuttinbutpimp.com/

Cheers!

Permalink 11/22/06 @ 12:25

Comment from: MsDemmie [Visitor] · http://msdemmie.wordpress.com/

I will now think differently every time I hear that word !

Permalink 11/22/06 @ 15:06

Comment from: admin [Member]

· http://www.doubledeckerbuses.org/

Hey MsDemmie... Yeah, I know... I was reading the book, came to that and went, "Wow! That word is older... and stranger than I thought!"

Permalink 11/22/06 @ 15:09

Comment from: MsDemmie [Visitor] · http://msdemmie.wordpress.com/

Note I didn't call the new blog *funky* either !

(BMad hit)

Permalink 11/22/06 @ 16:44

Allow me to start with we do not own nor are we selling a bus. Just had to get that out...

This blog was started in April of 2006... during a very bad time for me and my family when money was very tight and life was very hard.

We maintained a happier outlook on life by fantasizing... talking about what we would do when times were better... and as Sue and myself are Anglophiles, England factored greatly into our "plans".

During these bad times, while looking at news items which, at the time included items about London removing their venerable old Routemasters, I came across one photo of an old green bus... and somehow, my whole family adopted it. It became very much "our bus". (Details about "our bus" are available by clicking here.)

Like most of you, I'd heard about the fellow who'd made a million dollars selling tiny ads online... and the fellow who did trades and turned a paper clip into a house... so I thought, since we couldn't make our bus actually into "our bus" (well beyond our means,) I'd try an "online" appeal... to make the focused item of our hopes into a tangible thing in our lives...

More specifically, in a burst of adult/juvenile optimism, I had hoped to show the youngest member of the family, who at the time was still very youthful and impressionable, that dreams really could become reality if you hope and, more importantly, try.

Well, I'm pretty sure you figured it out... we had limited succes in this venture... and the youngest has now reached an age where she is more traditionally "teenaged" cynical than much else about the world, which isn't a dreadful thing... but there's a "good news" portion to this... our personal situation with money is better, life has improved, and some people really liked my rambling here... so, I decided to keep things going... Yes, I will "give up" on asking for help on a bus... and have to give up on even trying as hard to get the bus through online means... and yes, be far more realistic... but I don't mind this "turn" of things as I actually enjoy venting, trying my hand at humour, and generally keeping on online presence outside my usual things.

Thanks to those who were/are "Busly Dream" enthusiasts... I suppose that our buses for now will be single-deck with the letters "TTC" emblazoned on them... but this blog will live as does our dream! (It's just a little quieter on that latter bit...)

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