1911 Census - more family tree details revealed

I've just looked at some records from the recently released UK 1911 Census (at www.1911census.co.uk)

So far I've discovered that my grandmother on my Dad's side was known as Lizzie in 1911 (when she was 6), and that my Mum's grandmother on her Mum's side was called Kate.

I tried searching for my Mum's father, to find out who his parents were - but there were about 50 results for his name and birth year, so I might need more credits...!

Geansai Gorm. Blue Jumpers. Damien Mulley competition.

Geansai Gorm is the Google search term that everyone hopes will return their own page at the top ranking position

Damien Mulley has started a competition to fine the best SEO in Ireland. Here's what he said :

"You have until December 1st at 3pm to rank your website for the following phrase: geansai gorm. Yup, we’re using a phrase as gaelige in order as as not to pollute the indices as much as possible."

So anyway, I've made my own feeble attempt here geansaí gorm.

More feverish blogging to follow!!!

Oh, and by the way, 'Geansai Gorm' means 'Blue Jumper'.

Green Lantern Movie

Earlier this year I made a fake movie trailer based on the DC Comics superhero Green Lantern and stuck it up on YouTube. It's now had nearly 200,000 views and loads of really positive comments. It also now pops up as video link on Google first page results for 'Green Lantern'.



There IS a live-action Green Lantern Movie in production from Warner Bros. Greg Berlanti (Broken Hearts Club, Dawson's Creek, Brothers and Sisters) is directing and co-writing with Marc Guggenheim and Michael Green (Batman, Spiderman & various other comic writing credits). By all accounts the film will focus on Hal Jordan (Silver Age GL). Try Googling 'Green Lantern Movie' for more info.

And for those (shame on you) that don't know who 'Green Lantern' is - here's a fine rundown courtesy of Wikipedia. And here is the origin story courtesy of DC.

My Green Lantern trailer was put together mainly just as a bit of fun - also as a bit of practice using After Effects plug-ins and 3D modelling. An earlier attempt is also on YouTube here.

Anyway - I hope you like the Green Lantern trailer - and that you're looking forward to the real thing! Please feel free to comment :)

Laura White Petition

Seems like I wasn't the only mug punter slightly bewildered by the sudden exit of Laura from X-Factor. BBC News is reporting that over 6000 people have now signed an online petition : Laura White was ROBBED! Funny that quite a few of the signatures are from people bad-mouthing the lovely Laura and telling their fellow signatories to 'get a life' - presumably the kind of life spent signing petitions they don't agree with...

Anyway, once the petition clocks up twenty or thirty thousand signatures I'm sure Cowell will start sniffing a Number One single lurking there somewhere.

Laura White X-Factor Vote-Off Shock

There seems to have a bit of mix-up with last night's X-Factor. For some reason the series winner Laura White ended up in the bottom two and then got voted off by mistake by the Judges. I'm sure there'll be some kind of investigation, and I expect she'll be allowed to rejoin the programme next week.

And what a shame that Diana was too poorly to sing. I was really looking forward to hearing her 'unique' Dolores O'Riordan-style yodelling again.

Brand and Ross to be burnt at stake

From the BBC website - some more nonsense from England.
You couldn't make it up.

"A twin effigy of Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand will be set on fire as part of a Kent bonfire society's Guy Fawkes celebrations. The celebrity guy depicts Ross clutching a BBC contract in his right hand and holding a dog with Brand's head under his left arm. Edenbridge Bonfire Society will burn the effigy in Edenbridge on Saturday. Members of the society said they thought the shamed celebrities would be the ideal topical choice for their annual guy."

Who Do I Think I Am? (2)

I've been doing a bit of research into my family tree.

In my last post I described how I'd managed to trace my roots back as far as Ragnar Lodbrok Siggurdsson - semi-legendary King of Sweden from the eighth or ninth century (not to be confused with Ragnar Sigurðsson, the 21st century Icelandic footballer).

The emphasis here is 'semi-legendary' - once your family tree connects with one of those crusty old Vikings frankly you can trace it back to wherever you please. Once I got to King Ivar Vidfamne (via Ragnar's grandmother Aud) I was connected with the Skjöldungar - legendary Kings of the Danes which means, basically, that I'm directly descended from Odin, King of the Gods.

As an aside - it's worth mentioning here that I've owned a copy of Snorri Sturluson's Edda for years and years, but never bothered to read it. In it, (to quote from wikipedia) he proposes the theory that "mythological gods begin as human war leaders and kings whose funeral sites develop cults. As people call upon the dead war leader as they go to battle, or the dead king as they face tribal hardship, they begin to venerate the figure. Eventually, the king or warrior is remembered only as a god. He also proposed that as tribes defeat others, they explain their victory by proposing that their own gods were in battle with the gods of the others."

So, according to the Prose Edda, Odin is directly descended from Mennon (Munon) of Troy (who incidentally, was married to the daughter of King Priam of 'Trojan War' fame). Some sources give Memnon/Mennon/Munon a father named Tithonius, who apparently was the great-great-great grandson of Dardanus(King of Arcadia), who in turn was one of the many offspring of Zeus. Which still makes me directly descended from the King of the Gods, only Greek ones this time.

Unless you believe those other sources which cite Dara/Dardanus as the child of Zerah, son of Judah. Which, I have to say, is all rather convenient - because Zerah is the son of Judah, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham... blah blah blah blah... all the way back to the beginning.

So, it turns out I'm a direct descendant of Adam and Eve.

But then aren't we all?