April already! Who owns English. Read a Book Day. That Paltrow case.

 It’s April 1st. April Fools Day. Someone posted this:-

It is official!

King Charles III

has announced that as of the day of his coronation, only the UK will be permitted to call the language it uses English. Other countries shall rename their language.

I can only hope it was posted before 12.00!

It seems that it’s also National Read a Book Day. Atvleast according to a post of Facebook, which I can’t find again now. 

According to some sources National Read a Book Day is the 6th of September. Another source tells me:

“This year, World Book Day is took place on Thursday 2 March 2023 and the emphasis was on making it YOUR World Book Day. Since it was first celebrated in the UK and Ireland over 25 years ago, the day has grown to become an essential calendar fixture for schools, settings and communities. It provides a fantastic opportunity to focus on reading for pleasure, supporting children's autonomy in book choice, and embedding a habit of reading that brings a wide range of benefits.”

Since that last quote came from literary trust.org.uk I am a little concerned about the grammar - “is took place” does not sound good to me. I hope it’s a typo rather than someone’s idea of correct English. 

And now, someone suggests it is today. It doesn’t really matter. Surely every day should be Read a Book Day. Here’s a bit of history’

“The first celebration of National Read a Book Day was around the end of the first decade of the 2000s and was almost certainly the idea of a librarian, probably one who was encouraging youngsters to read a book.

Of course, there are a lot of significant dates in history relating to books. In 1455, people around the World were given the chance to read thanks to the Gutenberg Bible. This was the first book that was mass-printed. It was produced in Mainz, Germany. As the name indicates, it is a Bible. It was produced by Johann Gutenberg and it is written in Latin.

The first book that was printed in English was the “The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye.” This was printed by William Caxton in 1473. The text is a translation of the French stories about Troy. We’d have to wait several hundred years for the first book to be written on a typewriter. This was Mark Twain’s “Tom Sawyer.””

Here’s a link to a post about Oldham’s Coliseum Theatre which closed last night, despite a campaign to keep it open, because of withdrawal of Arts Council funding. 

I confess to not having been a regular attender at the theatre, despite having lived here since the early 1970s but I know a number of people who will miss the pantomimes. 

Theatre of a different kind has been going on in a courtroom in the USA. Gwyneth Paltrow, we are informed today, won the case. I can’t get worked up about people who are upset about collisions at posh ski resorts. 

From today’s reporting comes this: lafter the verdict, the Los Angeles entertainment attorney Tre Lovell commented that Paltrow had not only won the legal fight but improved her image. “Overall, she walks away from this trial with her image more than intact,” he said. “It’s actually been enhanced because of how she handled herself with poise.””

This next bit amused me:

“Crucially, Paltrow is not now a working actor, she’s a wealthy lifestyle entrepreneur, and the risks she took in resisting the legal claim are not necessarily aligned. According to one LA lawyer, the risk to reputation and future employment from litigation are so great that most claims are settled to make them go away.”

There has been much reporting about Ms Paltrow’s clothes and style.

Somhere’s another bit of amusing reporting, mostly amusing becasue of the language used:

“The overall idea that she has an ability to express herself and her personhood, to display these signs of integrity, human-ness, autonomy, says more than any of the intricacies of the outfit.”

What exactly is “personhood”?

Life goes on. Staynsafe and well, everyone!