A missive from the academy informs me that it's Earth Hour on Saturday week, 29th March, from 8-9pm. It's all hands on deck for denizens of the university are requested to turn off as many coal-fired electircal devices as possible during this time. I'm all for sustainability, but wonder whether the timing of this worthy initiative has managed to redefine the term "symbolic act"?
The intervening weekend is of course Easter, kicking off with Good Friday, one of the few public holidays at this time of year not observed in France. The human is planning to celebrate it with swineflesh, shellfish and milk (mouclade with chorizo is looking good for the moment, perhaps with a vegetarian option on the side), washed down with various fruits of the vine. Which can't be purchased in this strange country on the anniversary of the son of Dog being given vinegar from a sponge on a long pole, so he'll have to remember to stock up.
Energy conservation will be effected by relaxing, by employing wind power to propel ourselves about the harbour, and by thinking back to Alfred Jarry's environmentally sustainable recasting of the crucifixion as an uphill bicycle race - La Passion considérée comme une course de côte.
The Passion in fact dovetails neatly with this week's tutorials, attempting to explain to tertiary students the difference between descriptive and prescriptive grammar. I can only surmise that they did things better in the old days:
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