Gerald Berg
Annotations and comments
Gerald Berg has posted 340 annotations/comments since 4 March 2013.
The most recent first…
Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
Gerald Berg has posted 340 annotations/comments since 4 March 2013.
The most recent first…
Comments
About Sunday 19 January 1667/68
Gerald Berg • Link
I see in the portrait of Buckingham by Lely that he doesn't look anything like Chas. girlfriends!
About Monday 13 January 1667/68
Gerald Berg • Link
I always thought a murder/spy mystery set in that state of the art rope yard a great idea. Colour is now being added. Walk on parts galore.
About Monday 13 January 1667/68
Gerald Berg • Link
And to Batman! Hilarious, Stephane.
About Sunday 12 January 1667/68
Gerald Berg • Link
Pepys uses 'foul' for weather also.
About Sunday 12 January 1667/68
Gerald Berg • Link
Hopefully there is some wisdom somewhere in that particular Psalm other than a scamming of parishioners with monied piety?
About Saturday 11 January 1667/68
Gerald Berg • Link
Of course, we shouldn't forget that Chas. seemed to have had a 'type' of woman in mind so, not entirely Lely's fault.
About Saturday 11 January 1667/68
Gerald Berg • Link
Just the same painter-- mediocre Peter Lely. Chuck's fav.
About Friday 3 January 1667/68
Gerald Berg • Link
And with severe gout to boot! Apparently he could not walk unassisted.
About Wednesday 1 January 1667/68
Gerald Berg • Link
Averaged over time luck doesn't exist. So said the only professional gambler I know. Craps is the only casino game with odds evened out against the house but only "behind the line odds". This works much like a 'put' in the stock market:
Don't pass odds
If a player is playing don't pass instead of pass, they may also lay odds by placing chips behind the don't pass line. If a 7 comes before the point is rolled, the odds pay at true odds of 1-to-2 if 4 or 10 is the point, 2-to-3 if 5 or 9 is the point, or 5-to-6 if 6 or 8 is the point.
About Wednesday 25 December 1667
Gerald Berg • Link
RE: Ghosts
Apparently Kubrick when trying to sell Nicholson on The Shining told him it was sort of a good news story.
Happy New Year everyone -- may your new year be less isolating!
About Sunday 22 December 1667
Gerald Berg • Link
I knew a Newfoundland woman who dropped whole cloves into her cavitied molars to relieve the pain. This was in the late 70's. Back in Pepys time I imagine cloves to be too expensive.
So did barber-surgeons ply their trade with pliers?
My my L.H. (terrific nom de plum) can be grumpy.
About Saturday 21 December 1667
Gerald Berg • Link
Zealot to old fashioned for the times?
About Saturday 14 December 1667
Gerald Berg • Link
It has been awhile since Sam gloated over how much money he has saved. Maybe since the Medway bury my gold panic and its various comedic outcomes? Anyways, upward of 5000£ I believe was the tally. 200£ seems small change for keeping a family of aristocrats happy. How about a tithe to ailing Liz while at it?
About Sunday 1 December 1667
Gerald Berg • Link
With such nice gilding -- cuckold in Scotland. I suppose the detail makes it easier to believe.
About Friday 29 November 1667
Gerald Berg • Link
Amazing to think that Don Quixote has already entered the European (or was it only the British) imagination as modelling for the ridiculous. Even more amazing that it remains so today!
About Thursday 21 November 1667
Gerald Berg • Link
Spiders do fly on gossammer wings.
About Tuesday 5 November 1667
Gerald Berg • Link
Yes SDS the preferred way to not hear from anybody again is to have them owe you money. Works mostly, I can attest. The reverse? Never.
About Monday 28 October 1667
Gerald Berg • Link
"as they come into my mind now, I shall set down without order"
So in the never ending discussion on the reasons Pepy's keeps his diary; himself or public. Does this phrase indicate a record setting event for others to read?
About Thursday 24 October 1667
Gerald Berg • Link
Maybe compass is range but I feel more likely to do with pitch. Brass instruments of the time could only play one harmonic series (key) at any one time. To change keys required changing crooks. Not so with string instruments. Hence compass. Brass will always have a limited range compared to strings. Then as now.
About Wednesday 23 October 1667
Gerald Berg • Link
Mighty merry for 15 minutes! Me, hilarious.