31–40 of 118 posts
Reminds me of the tradition of topping out a finished roof. You often see 100m+ skyscrapers with a pine wreath hanging on top as if we were still worshipping some forest gods.
> You often see... Where in the world is such a thing a frequent enough sight to say that?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know if you've ever been to London, Rome or Kyoto, but Americans actually fucking love old stuff
They should visit our thousand (nearly) year old door: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/history/explore-our-histor... I'm a Brit and didn't realise until recently that England is one of the world's oldest countries (927 AD).
How do you define country? Continuous occupation and law?
I remember talking to David M as a kid about the works he kept touched up and the stories that went with them.
https://www.magabala.com/products/yorro-yorro
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/australia-s-oldest-k...
Daylight Savings Time was first proposed to save candles, everything after is a forced retcon. This equally anachronistic law fits with that quite well. We are all very good at being modern humans.
It is worth stating (because the word bylaw is not always understood) that a bylaw (by- is the Scandinavian word for "city", "town" or "village" depending on which modern Scandinavian language you use as your source) is basically a local law. It is not universal. It exists in a single place, and although they can be similar in many locations, they are strictly only applicable in the specific municipality that has the…
> I guess the US does use bylaw, but it seems to always be rules and regulations that companies make. In the USA we call local laws “ordinances”. In US English, “by-law” relates to a set of rules associated with a contractually-created body, like a homeowners association.
Reminds me of the tradition of topping out a finished roof. You often see 100m+ skyscrapers with a pine wreath hanging on top as if we were still worshipping some forest gods.
> You often see... Where in the world is such a thing a frequent enough sight to say that?
https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/12/why-do-construction...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Up to 1973, London Taxis were required to carry a bale of hay (for benefit of the long absent horse). https://www.ludlowthompson.com/property_news/searching-for-a...
Is that really true? Section 51 of the London Hackney Carriage Act 1831 (to which the article refers) doesn't seem to require that; it (among other things) forbids a taxi driver feeding another driver's horses with anything other than corn or hay - but doesn't say anything about requiring them to carry hay for this purpose. There is no other reference to "hay" in the act. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1831/22/…
Daylight Savings Time was first proposed to save candles, everything after is a forced retcon. This equally anachronistic law fits with that quite well. We are all very good at being modern humans.
Sometimes the obvious is too sensible.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They should visit our thousand (nearly) year old door: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/history/explore-our-histor... I'm a Brit and didn't realise until recently that England is one of the world's oldest countries (927 AD).
927 - 1066 doesn’t seem that old to me ;)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Up to 1973, London Taxis were required to carry a bale of hay (for benefit of the long absent horse). https://www.ludlowthompson.com/property_news/searching-for-a...
Is that really true? Section 51 of the London Hackney Carriage Act 1831 (to which the article refers) doesn't seem to require that; it (among other things) forbids a taxi driver feeding another driver's horses with anything other than corn or hay - but doesn't say anything about requiring them to carry hay for this purpose. There is no other reference to "hay" in the act. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1831/22/…
I think its one of those cause and effect things.
You have a horse-drawn taxi. You wish to feed your horse at some point during the day.
The law says you can only do so with either (a) your own hay or (b) hay or corn held in your hands.
So the restrictions of the law push you in the obvious direction of keeping a stack of hay on your carriage.
Ah, yes, England and its innumerable traditions; turns out, Gormenghast is actually a documentary.
I got to thinking and a bale of straw isn't a bad idea.
My first thought was a flag on a rope, but wind can make it blow up and become less visible. So it needs to have weight in order to hang down and be visible at the right height. It needs to be disposable and cheap. And it can't damage boats.
So a bale of straw is not a bad idea even in 2023.