The everyday blog of Richard Bartle.
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11:37am on Saturday, 30th September, 2023:
Anecdote
After being told by several people that perhaps it wasn't a good idea to give away digital copies of my novel Dheghōm without at least including a donation button at the end, I've now updated the .pdf so it links to a Paypal donation page (there's a QR code, which you can scan or click on from the .pdf). If I'm lucky, no-one will modify it so it takes people to their donations page instead.
On another topic entirely...
When I was at primary school, we used to play a game (well, depending on your definition of "game") in which a group of half a dozen children or more would hold hands in a line and the one at one end would lead the group in on itself, going under the connected arms of the two people at the other end. This would have the effect of crossing the arms of the second-last person. The exercise would be repeated until everyone except the two at the ends had their arms crossed. There was an extra step in which the final two crossed their arms and made a circle, but I don't think that was formal.
This kind of playground activity is called a "needle-threading" game. While threading the needle (going under linked arms), we sang a song. The consensus is that the first line is The Big Ship Sailed on the Alley Alley Oh, but I was taught "Illey Alley Oh". Depending on how it's transcribed, it may be "Illy" or "Ally", and it could be "O" rather than "Oh". The lyrics go:
The big ship sailed on the Alley Alley Oh,
The Alley Alley Oh,
The Alley Alley Oh.
The big ship sailed on the Alley Alley Oh,
On the last day of September.
Where's September gone? It feels as if it shouldn't even be half-way through.
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