JD-U offers to campaign for Hillary in US

The Chief Minister (Nitish Kumar) of India's poorest state (Bihar) has offered to send one of his senior leaders to America, in case Hillary Clinton needs someone to campaign on her behalf among the Indian American community. Nitish Kumar was quoted as saying: "In case we receive an invitation, party Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Digvijay Singh will go there and campaign in her favour. So far, I have not received any invitation. If invited, Singh will go since he is well versed in foreign affairs. I am definitely in favour of Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton." Personally, I would've thought Narendra Modi, the darling politician among NRIs, would've been a better choice. But he belongs to a completely different political party. Nevertheless, an amusing story that wouldn't be out of place in The Onion or a site of that sort.

Moby's Busking Disaster

"Moby made less than he did as a student when he made a surprise busking appearing in Sloane Square last night. The international superstar stunned commuters as he played an impromptu 40-minute set. But he made less money busking unknown student in 1980s America, he told thelondonpaper afterwards. Despite being in one of London's most exclusive districts, the techno DJ made just £5 or £6. Back in the 1980s, he said he and student pals played for a similar amount of time until they had collected $5 to buy cheap vodka - the equivalent of $12.70, or more than £6 in today's money. However Moby revealed he loved playing for bemused commuters, saying the unprepared show was "random" and "spontaneous". He said: "At the most I was given maybe £5 or £6, but that's fine because I was obviously not doing it for the money."

If I'd known about it and not been busy preparing my Law application, I would've listened and left a bob. Along similar lines, I discovered this cool G-Map mashup of buskers on the Tube! Click on a yellow ear and see who's playing, when and where!

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Curfew

c.1320, from Anglo-Fr. coeverfu (1285), from O.Fr. covrefeu, lit. "cover fire," from couvre, imper. of couvrir "to cover" + feu "fire." The medieval practice of ringing a bell at fixed time in the evening as an order to bank the hearths and prepare for sleep. The original purpose was to prevent conflagrations from untended fires. The modern extended sense of "periodic restriction of movement" had evolved by 1800s.

And from Wikipedia:
"The first mentioned reference to fire safety in England was in 1066 in the instructions William the Conqueror gave to his soldiers. He ordered a curfew each night, the word comes from Anglo-Norman via Middle English, an instruction to cover and damp down the fires before retiring, "couvre feu". He used it in his encampments to prevent the campfires from being left burning and thus any wind blowing embers onto the tents."

Language is a fascinating thing. [Also: aperire (Latin) --> ouvrir (French) --> overt & aperture (English)]