Club

Club (pronounced kluhb)

(1) A heavy stick, usually thicker at one end than at the other, suitable for use as a weapon; a cudgel.

(2) A group of persons organized for a social, literary, athletic, political, or other purpose.

(3) The building or rooms occupied by such a group.

(4) An organization that offers its subscribers certain benefits, as discounts, bonuses, or interest, in return for regular purchases or payments.

(5) In sport, a stick or bat used to drive a ball in various games, as golf.

(6) A nightclub, especially one in which people dance to popular music, drink, and socialize.

(7) A black trefoil-shaped figure on a playing card.

(8) To beat with or as with a club.

(9) To gather or form into a club-like mass.

(10) To contribute as one's share toward a joint expense; make up by joint contribution (often followed by up or together).

(11) To defray by proportional shares.

(12) To combine or join together, as for a common purpose.

(13) In nautical, use, to drift in a current with an anchor, usually rigged with a spring, dragging or dangling to reduce speed.

(14) In casual military use, in the maneuvering of troops, blunders in command whereby troops get into a position from which they cannot extricate themselves by ordinary tactics.

(15) In zoological anatomy, a body part near the tail of some dinosaurs and mammals

(16) In mathematical logic and set theory, a subset of a limit ordinal which is closed under the order topology, and is unbounded relative to the limit ordinal.

(17) In axiomatic set theory, a set of combinatorial principles that are a weaker version of the corresponding diamond principle.

(18) A birth defect where one or both feet are rotated inwards and downward.

1175-1225: From the Middle English clubbe, derived from the Old Norse klubba (club or cudgel) akin to clump, from Old English clympre (lump of metal) related to the Middle High German klumpe (group of trees).  The Proto-Germanic klumbon was also related to clump.  Old English words for this were sagol and cycgel.  The Danish klőver and Dutch klaver (a club at cards) is literally "a clover."  Ultimate root is the classical Latin globus or glomus (forming into a globe or ball), a later influence the Middle Low German kolve (bulb) and German Kolben (butt, bulb, club).  The sense of a "bat used in games" is from mid-fifteenth century; the club suit in the deck of cards is from the 1560s although the pattern adopted on English cards is the French trefoil.  The social club emerged in the 1660s, apparently an organic evolution from the verbal sense "gather in a club-like mass", first noted in the 1620s, then, as a noun, the "association of people", dating from the 1640s.  The Club Sandwich was probably first offered in 1899, the unrelated club soda in 1877, originally as the proprietary name Club Soda.

The Club Sandwich

A majority of historians of food suggest the club sandwich, as an item able to be ordered, first appeared on a menu in 1899 at the Union Club of New York City.  It was however made with two toasted slices of bread with a layer of turkey or chicken and ham between them, served warm, not the three slices with which it’s now associated; at that point the "club" was merely self referential of the institution at which it was served.  Others suggest it originated in 1894 at an exclusive gambling club in New York’s Saratoga Springs.  The former is more accepted because there’s documentary evidence while the latter based on references in secondary sources.  It’s a mere etymological point; as a recipe, what’s now thought of as a club sandwich had doubtless been eaten for decades or centuries before the words Club Sandwich appeared on a menu.

The notion that club is actually an acronym for "chicken and lettuce under bacon" appears to be a modern pop-culture invention, derived from a British TV sitcom, Peter Kay’s Car Share (episode 5: Unscripted, 7 May 2018) in what’s claimed to be an un-scripted take, although, on television, very little is really ad-lib and "reality" has a specific technical meaning.  On the show, the discussion was about the difference between a BLT (bacon, lettuce & tomato) and a club sandwich.  It spread quickly on the internet but was fake news.

Seemingly sceptical: Lindsay Lohan contemplates club.

Ingredients

12 slices wholegrain or rye bread

12 rashers rindless, shortcut, peach-fed bacon

Extra-virgin olive oil

2 free-range eggs

1/2 cup whole egg mayonnaise

12 cos lettuce leaves

320g sliced lean turkey breast

4 ripe Paul Robeson heirloom tomatoes, sliced

A little freshly-chopped tarragon

Ground smoked sea salt & freshly cracked black peppercorns

Instructions

(1) Preheat a grill tray on medium.  Place half the bread under grill and cook until lightly toasted.  Repeat with remaining bread.

(2) Lightly brush both sides of bacon with oil.  Place under grill and cook for 2-4 minutes each side according to taste.  Once removed, place on a paper towel, turning over after one minute.

(3) Fry eggs, preferably leaving yokes soft and runny.  Fold tarragon into mayonnaise according to taste.   

(4) Spread 8 of the slices of toast with mayonnaise.  Arrange half of the lettuce, turkey and tomatoes over 4 slices.  Evenly distribute the fried eggs.

(5) Top with a second slice of toast with mayonnaise. Then, add remaining lettuce, bacon and tomato. Season well with salt and pepper. Top with remaining pieces of toast.

(6) Cut each sandwich in half or quarters according to preference, using toothpicks driven through centre to secure construction.

Variations

Chefs are a dictatorial lot and tend to insist a club sandwich must be a balanced construction with no predominant or overwhelming taste or texture.  Trick is to agree with everything they say and then make things to suit individual taste.  By varying the percentages of the ingredients, one can create things like a bacon club with extras and vegetarian creations are rendered by swapping bacon and turkey for aubergine and avocado.  A surprising number find tomato a mismatch, some add cheese or onion while many prefer butter to mayonnaise.  In commercial operations like cafés, tradition is to serve clubs with French fries but many now offer salads, often with a light vinaigrette dressing.  Served with soup, it’s a meal.

Montreal

Montreal (pronounced mon-tree-awl or muhn-tree-awl)

(1) A city and major port in the south of the Canadian province of Quebec, on Montreal Island at the junction of the Ottawa and St Lawrence Rivers.  The French name for the city is Montréal.

(2) An ellipsis of “Montreal Archipelago”, an archipelago on the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, which contains the island (known also as Island of Montreal, and Montreal Island).  It’s also the name of a number of rivers and localities in North America.

(3) An Alfa Romeo model (1970-1977), the appearance of which was based on a show-car built for the 1967 Montreal Exposition.

1705 (in the sense of the city’s name): From the French Montréal (deconstructed as Mont Royal (Mount Royal), the triple-peaked feature named le mont Royal by French explorer Jacques Cartier 1491-1557), honoring Francis I (1494–1547; King of France 1515-1547).  Although surpassed in economic activity by Toronto, Montreal remains a cultural, commercial, financial, and industrial centre and, with a population of 1.8 million (the Greater Montreal metropolitan area is 4.3 million), is the second-largest French-speaking city in the world, only Paris having more.  The city lies at the foot of Mount Royal.  Montreal and Montrealer are nouns; the noun plural is Montrealers.

Lindsay Lohan at Montréal International Airport, May 2009.

The surname Mulligan was of Irish origin and was from the Gaelic Maolagan and the Old Irish Maelecan, a double diminutive of mael (bald), hence “the little bald (or shaven) one”, presumably a reference to a monk and his tonsure (the practice of shaving part of the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility).  As an ellipsis of “mulligan stew” (a meal made with whatever was available), it’s listed by slang dictionaries as “early twentieth century US hobo slang” and is thought derived (for reasons unknown) from the name.  In various card games, it’s used to describe an opportunity (which under some rules can attract a penalty) for a player to reshuffle their cards and draw a new initial hand at the beginning of a game; by extension from this use it has come generally to mean “a second chance”.  The best known use of “mulligan” is in golf (used without an initial capital) where it describes “re-taking a shot after a poor first attempt” and while there are several tales of the origin of the tradition (said variously to date from between 1927-1949), the most accepted involves the Country Club of Montreal golf course in Saint-Lambert.  David B Mulligan (1869–1954), it’s claimed, was one of a foursome who each week played 18 holes and he was the one who drove them to the course over “rough & rutted roads”, his reward being “an extra” shot although whether that was granted in gratitude or was his price for doing the driving isn’t mentioned.  A notable variation claims Mr Mulligan simply hit a bad shot and immediately re-teed, taking another (claiming the second was a “correction shot” so the first didn’t count on his score-card); in response his partners decided to name the practice (not within the accepted etiquette of the game) after him.

Golfer Greg Norman (b 1955) with Bill Clinton (b 1946; US president 1993-2001), about to take (another) mulligan.

US presidents often have been keen golfers.  John Kennedy (JFK, 1917–1963; US president 1961-1963) enjoyed pointing out to visitors the marks made in the White House’s polished timber floors by Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969; US president 1953-1961) who walked on them in his golf shoes which was bad form but there’s no record of the general ever having “taken a mulligan”.  Bill Clinton was certainly keen on the game but not especially skilled and took mulligans so frequently that among themselves his Secret Service detail would bet how many would be claimed in each round.  They called them “billigans” and unless at risk of causing a diplomatic incident, Mr Clinton would cheerfully and openly take as many as he needed to enjoy the day.

Donald Trump (b 1946; US president 2017-2021) addressing the ball on the first tee during the pro-am prior to the LIV Golf Invitational, Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, New Jersey, 10 August 2023.

Mr Trump denies ever having taken a mulligan, explaining his prowess by saying “I am just a good golfer and athlete”.  That must be true because in 2023 he won his club tournament at Bedminster with an impressive round, posting on his own Truth social media platform: “I am pleased to report, for those that care, that I just won the Senior Club Championship (must be over 50 years old!) at Bedminster (Trump National Golf Club), shooting a round of 67”.  Aware some might be sceptical, he added “Now, some people will think that sounds low, but there is no hanky-panky.  Many people watch, plus I am surrounded by Secret Service agents.  Not much you can do even if you wanted to, and I don’t.  For some reason, I am just a good golfer & athlete - I have won many club championships, and it’s always a great honor!”  Apparently, Mr Trump always insists on the Oxford comma, even when technically not “required” (although, according to some, it’s never required).

Kim Jong-il, the Dear Leader (centre), in his custom-built LWB (long wheelbase) golf buggy in candy apple green.

Impressive though Mr Trump’s score may seem, it would not have impressed Kim Jong-il (Kim II, 1941–2011; Dear Leader of DPRK (North Korea), 1994-2011).  According the KCNA (Korean Central News Agency, the DPRK’s energetic and productive state media), although in his entire life he only ever played one round of golf and that on the country’s notoriously difficult 7,700 yard (7040 m) course at Pyongyang, the Dear Leader took only 34 strokes to complete the 18 holes, a round which included five holes-in-ones.  Experienced golfers in the imperialist West cast doubt on the round of 34 (not commenting on the holes-in-one) but the KCNA had already pointed out the physiology of the Dear Leader was so remarkable he was not subject to bowel movements, never needing to defecate or urinate (it’s not known if this is a genetic characteristic of the dynasty and thus inherited by Kim Jong-un (Kim III, b circa 1982; Supreme Leader (originally The Great Successor) of DPRK since 2011)) but this seems unlikely because the Supreme Leader is known, while on visits to remote locations within the DPRK (ballistic missile tests etc), to be accompanied by a military detail with a portable toilet for his exclusive (and reportedly not infrequent) use.

The Alfa Romeo Montreal

Alfa Romeo Montreal Expo show car at Montreal International Airport, arriving from Italy for the 1967 Universal Exposition in Montreal.

The noun exposition was from the late fourteenth century French exposicioun (explanation, narration), from the twelfth century Old French esposicion (explanation, interpretation) and directly from the Latin expositionem (nominative expositio) (a setting or showing forth; narration, explanation) a noun of action from the past-participle stem of exponere (put forth; explain), the construct being ex- (in the sense of “from, forth”) + ponere (to put, place).  The familiar modern meaning came into existence in 1851 when the Crystal Palace Exposition opened in London while the now universal form “Expo” was first used in planning documents for the 1967 World's Fair held in Montreal.

The Soviet Union’s pavilion at the 1967 Montreal Exposition.  The initialization of the country’s nane appeared as both “USSR” & “URSS”, reflecting Canada’s status as a bi-lingual (English & French) nation, USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) the form in English while in French it was Union des Républiques Socialistes Soviétiques.  URSS was also used on the Iberian Peninsula, the Spanish being Unión de Repúblicas Socialistas Soviéticas and the Portuguese União das Repúblicas Socialistas Soviéticas.  In Russian, it was CCCP (Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik)), which translates as the familiar “Union of Soviet Socialist Republics”; CCCP representing the Cyrillic script, which corresponds to USSR in the Latin alphabet.

The theme of the EXPO 1967 at Montreal was “Man and his World” (a choice which now would see the event boycotted (or at least “girlcotted”)) and the organizers selected Alfa Romeo to present a car which represented the “highest aspiration of modern man in terms of cars”.  It was a time when development cycles of new cars were measured in years but the company had less than nine months in which to complete the project so the decision was taken to use the platform of the existing Giulia Sprint GT (the memorable 105/115 series coupés, 1963-1977) with Carrozzeria Bertone commissioned to style the unique bodywork, Marcello Gandini (1938–2024) the lead designer.  Gandini delivered a elegant and streamlined shape, the most distinctive features of which were the distinctive louvred eyelids which half-concealed the headlights and the six air vents on each C-pillar which led some to assume a mid-engined configuration lay beneath.  The factory fabricated two identical specimens, both finished in pearl white and named, appropriately, the Alfa Romeo Montreal Expo, displayed at the Exposition, in the “Man the Producer” pavilion by means of a clever visual trick using mirrors, the image of the two infinitely repeated throughout the exhibition space.  Both cars still exist and are housed in the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo (Alfa Romeo History Museum) on the outskirts of Milan.

1973 Alfa Romeo Montreal.

From critics and the public (notably including prospective buyers) the reaction to the Montreal Expo was such the factory opted to bring the car to market as a regular production model.  Unusually for show cars which often have their tantalizing specification “toned down” for appearance in showrooms (the Jaguar XJ220 a notorious example), the production version was considerably more exotic than what was seen at the exposition, the 1.6 litre (96 cubic inch) DOHC (double overhead camshaft) in-line four cylinder engine replaced by a 2.6 litre (158 cubic inch) version of the 2.0 litre (122 cubic inch) DOHC V8 used in the 33 Stradale (a road-going version of the Tipo 33 race car, 18 of which were produced 1967-1969).  It was one of the last of the "small" V8s used in road cars during the post-war years, a breed which included the flathead Ford (2.2, 2.4 & 2.5 litre (also used by Simca and in production (off and on) between 1935-1969), the Fiat 8V (1996 cm³, 1952-1954), the Daimler V8 (2548 cm³, 1959-1969), the Glas 2600 (2580 cm³, 1969-1967), the Lamborghini Urraco (2463 cm³, 1972-1976 & 1995 cm³, 1974-1977) and the Ferrari 208 (1991 cm³, 1975-1981).  Compared with these jewel-like power-plants, the contemporary 3.0 litre V8s (the Ferrari 308 and the sonorous but flawed Triumph Stag) were almost “big”.

The Montreal V8 was fuel-injected and used a dry-sump, both then still rarities in road cars and, reflecting the race-car origins, was configured with a cross-plane crankshaft.

Visually, the mass-produced (it’s a relative term) touring berlinetta appeared little different from what had wowed the crowds in 1967 but placed side-by side, the differences are obvious and it was offered in some vibrant colors (which were very 1970s) including metallic gold, Verde Termico green, Marrone Luci Di Bosco brown beige and the famous lobster orange with which the car became associated because it was used for many of the cars provided to the press for testing.  However, exquisite though it was, commercially it was a failure.  Although displayed at Geneva International Motor Show in March 1970, the first deliveries weren’t made until 1972 and ironically it couldn’t be purchased in Montreal or anywhere else in North America because it proved impossible to tame what was a detuned race-car engine to the point where it would comply with the new US emissions regulations, then the most onerous on the planet.  The loss of the US market really doomed the Montreal which was a shame because it offered performance which was competitive with Ferrari’s Dino 246 and all but the most potent Porsche 911s, its traditional layout meaning it was an easier car for inexpert drivers to handle, even if the absolute limits of adhesion didn’t match those two.  So, despite the innovative design and advanced engineering, the Montreal became a footnote among the exotic machines of the era and it wasn’t helped by high production costs and the first oil shock coming just as full-scale production had been achieved.  Between 1970-1977, only 3925 were made but they now have a dedicated following among collectors and those for whom an Alfa Romeo’s special charms means many flaws & foibles (and there are a few) are forgiven.

Athenaeum

Athenaeum (pronounced ath-uh-nee-uhm or ath-uh-ney-uhn)

(1) An institution for the promotion of literary or scientific learning.

(2) A library or reading room.

(3) A sanctuary of Athena at Athens, built by the Roman emperor Hadrian, and frequented by poets and scholars (always with initial capital letter).

1727:  Adopted in English from the Latinized form of Greek Athḗnaion (the temple of Athene) in ancient Athens, in which professors taught and actors or poets rehearsed. The meaning "literary club-room or reading room" is from 1799 while the generalized "literary or scientific club" emerged in the mid 1860s.  The academy of learning in Rome was established near the Forum in circa 135 AD by the Emperor Hadrian.  The alternative (mostly US) spelling is athenaeum.

Ruins of the Athenaeum, Rome, now a working archaeological dig.

The Emperor Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus, 76–138; Roman emperor 117-138) built the Athenaeum as a place for the promotion of literary and scientific studies (ingenuarum artium), the name borrowed from the Hellenic original in acknowledgement of the still admired intellectual traditions of classical Athens.  The Athenaeum was situated near the Capitoline Hill and the ruins were discovered in 2009 during excavations for the construction of a underground rail line, in the middle of what is now Piazza Venezia.

Founded in 1824 with an exclusively male membership roll, the Athenaeum is a private club in London, on Pall Mall at the corner of Waterloo Place, the origin of which was to provide a place men of a literary and scientific bent would find convivial, an atmosphere then apparently thought hard to find in the city's more fashionable clubs.  As was the trend in the twentieth century, women sort of "crept in" as guests and later in a segregated space but since 2002 they have been admitted as full members.  In another sign of the time, it’s now a non-smoking building although charmingly, the elegant “smoking room” signs remain.  There are a number of Athenaeum Clubs in cities of the Commonwealth.

South Library, The Athenaeum Club, London.

The Athenaeum Club is noted for its three libraries, housing a collection of manuscripts, documents and books accumulated over two centuries.  The most photogenic of the three is the South Library designed by English architect Decimus Burton (1800–1881).  Although a space in the tradition of the great continental libraries, in one aspect the visual effect has been heightened in the twenty-first century, LED (light emitting diode) illumination now integrated, almost imperceptibly, into the architectural fabric.  In a nod to the layout of a library's shelving, London’s DesignPlusLights created a three-level, horizontal framework, softly to illuminate the spines, cowls added over each light source to ensure there was no leakage of luminosity, only the vertical shelving being lit.  Adding to the ethereal effect, taking advantage of the new possibilities offered by the tiny LED units, miniature spotlights were built-into the central chandelier to upwardly project light to the ceiling rose.  There’s also a trick using light as an architectural device, recessed up-lights within the window frames and fireplace drawing the eye lower, rendering the internal void something more attuned to human scale.

Sandwedge

Sandwedge (pronounced sand-wej)

(1) As Operation Sandwedge, a proposed clandestine intelligence-gathering operation against the political enemies of US President Richard Nixon.

(2) As sand wedge, a specialized golf club, an iron with a heavy lower flange, the design of which is optimized for playing the ball out of a bunker (sand trap).

1971: The name was chosen for a “dirty tricks” covert operation as a borrowing from golf, the sand wedge a club used to play the ball from a difficult position.  The construct was sand + wedge.  Dating from pre-1000, sand was from the Middle English sand, from the Old English sand, from the Proto-West Germanic samd, from the Proto-Germanic samdaz, from the primitive Indo-European sámhdhos, from sem- (to pour).  Wedge was a pre 900 from the Middle English wegge (wedge), from the Old English wecg (a wedge), from the Proto-Germanic wagjaz (source also of the Old Norse veggr, the Middle Dutch wegge, the Dutch wig, the Old High German weggi (wedge) and the dialectal German Weck (a wedge-shaped bread roll) and related to the Old Saxon weggi.  It was cognate with the dialectal German weck derived from the Old High German wecki and Old Norse veggr (wall).  The Proto-Germanic wagjaz is of uncertain origin but may be related to the Latin vomer (plowshare).  Sandwedge is a noun; should the plural ever be needed, it would be sandwedges (ie phonetically a la the use in golf (sand wedges)).

In golf, when using a sand wedge, the player’s stance and the way in which the club addresses the ball differs from what’s done when using a conventional iron.  Noted golfer Paige Spiranac (b 1993) demonstrates the difference although there may be some variations depending on an individual's weight distribution. 

Richard Nixon.

Operation Sandwedge was a covert intelligence-gathering operation intended to be conducted against the political enemies of Richard Nixon (1913-1994; US president 1969-1974).  Beginning in 1971, the early planning was done by Nixon's Chief of Staff HR Haldeman (1926-1993), his assistant for domestic affairs, John Ehrlichman (1925-1999) and Jack Caulfield (1929–2012), then attached to Ehrlichman’s White House staff “handling special assignments” and also involved (though paid not by the White House but from external campaign funds) was Tony Ulasewicz (1918-1997), later a bit-player in the subsequent Watergate affair.  The core of Caulfield’s plan was to target the anti-Vietnam War movement and those figures in the Democratic Party Nixon had identified as the greatest threat to his re-election in 1972, including Ted Kennedy (1932–2009; US senator 1962-2009), Ed Muskie (1914–1996; US senator 1959-1980), William Proxmire (1915–2005; US Senator 1957-1989) and Birch Bayh (1928–2019; US senator 1963-1981).  Of interest too was a settling of scores with those who had prevented G Harrold Carswell (1919–1992) being confirmed by the Senate as Nixon's nominee for the Supreme Court and the president's net was internecine too, others of the targeted figures in his own Republican Party.

G Gordon Liddy.

Operation Sandwedge was intended to be clandestine but it wasn’t subtle and included physical and electronic surveillance, the intelligence of particular interest that which could be used either to feed damaging leaks to the press or for purposes of blackmail including dubious financial transactions, mental health records and sexual proclivities.  However, the operation never proceeded beyond the planning stages because Haldeman and Ehrlichman thought the methods of Caulfield (a former New York Police Officer) unsophisticated so transferred the project to G Gordon Liddy (1930–2021), a lawyer, one-time FBI agent and later one of the great characters of the Watergate affair.  Caulfield had chosen the name sandwedge because, as a dedicated golfer, he knew the sand wedge was the club of choice when one was in a difficult spot and if well-played, it was what could transform a bad situation into something good.  At the time, the code-names were probably among the more imaginative things to emerge from Pennsylvania Avenue, the name chosen for the squad to investigate leaks of information to the press was dubbed “the plumbers”.

The Watergate complex, Washington DC.

The Watergate affair was of course the most celebrated of the “dirty tricks” operations run out of (or at least connected with) the Nixon White House but it was far from unique.  Back channel operations had actually begun even before the 1968 election but by 1971 the vista had expanded to include what would now be called fake news plants, the infiltration of the staff of political opponents and break-ins and burglary, among the most infamous of which was “the plumbers” (including Liddy) breaking into the office of the psychiatrist treating Daniel Ellsberg (b 1931), the former Defence Department military analyst who had leaked the “Pentagon Papers”.  Ellsberg’s file revealed nothing of interest but the burglary gained a place in history, being recorded by Ehrlichman (who approved the operation) as "Hunt/Liddy Special Project No 1".  There would be more.

Paige Spiranac with sand wedge.

Sandwedge had been envisaged as an intelligence gathering operation, the most novel aspect of which was that while the project documents presented an overview of something using conventional methods of surveillance and the compilation of publicly available material, privately Caulfield advised illegal electronic surveillance would also be used, something any expect presumably could have deduced from the size of the requested budget.  Of the greatest interest were financial records (relating particularly to tax matters), mental health conditions, undisclosed legal problems and sexual conduct, especially if illicit and preferably unlawful.  The idea greatly interested Haldeman and Ehrlichman but they had never been convinced by Caulfield’s “lack of background” by which they meant education and political experience.  Accordingly, Sandwedge and all intelligence matters were transferred to Liddy, the article of faith in the White House being that anything run by a trained lawyer would be legally secure, not something they believed of ex-NYC policemen.

New York Times, Saturday 2 March 1974.

Liddy revelled in the role as the White House’s clandestine clearing house for “covert ops” and created his own list of spy-like code names (Gemstone, Diamond, Ruby et al) to an range of activities expanded beyond Sandwedge including physical espionage, infiltration of protest groups, secret wire-taps, sabotage of opposition campaigns and, of course, “honey-pot traps”.  Even for Haldeman and Ehrlichman the implications of becoming essentially gangsters was too much but the shell of Liddy's structure was in 1972 approved and even then it included a range of unlawful activities, including the one which would trigger the chain of events which would culminate in Nixon’s resignation of the presidency and see dozens of the conspirators (including Haldeman, Ehrlichman and Liddy) jailed: the break in and bugging of the Democratic Party offices in the Watergate complex.  As the affair unfolded, suspicion fell upon Caulfield until it was realised his role in Operation Sandwedge had ended before any dubious operations began and he’d never been part of Liddy’s more ambitious plans.  He was compelled to resign from government but was never prosecuted, maintaining to his dying day that if he’d been left to run Operation Sandwedge, there would have been no burglaries in the Watergate complex or anywhere else and thus none of the cascading scandals which at first paralysed and later ended the second term of the Nixon administration.

Paige Spiranac's definitive guide to the use of one's sand wedge.  This is one of a series of invaluable short clips called Paige Quickies.

Dilettante

Dilettante (pronounced dil-i-tahnt, dil-i-tahnt, dil-i-tahn-tey or dil-i-tan-tee)

(1) A person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement, especially in a desultory or superficial way; dabbler.

(2) A lover of an art or science, especially of a fine art.

1733: From the Italian dilettante (a lover of music or painting), noun use of present participle of dilettare (to delight) from the Latin dēlectāre (to delight; to allure, charm or please).  From this root, English gained delight, from the Middle English deliten, from the Anglo-French deliter, from Latin dēlectāre (to delight; to allure), frequentative of dēlicere (to allure), the construct being dē - (the Latin suffix “of”, “from”) + lacere (to allure).  In English, the earlier meaning was borrowed from the Italian quite literally and without any pejorative association: "an admirer of a fine art, literature or science; a devoted amateur who cultivates an art or literature for pleasure and amusement.  The negative sense of a "superficial and affected dabbler" or "one who maintains fitful interests in various fields" emerged in the late eighteenth century as a deliberate contrast with the actions and interest of the seriously minded or the professional.  The noun dilettantism was first used in 1809.  Dilettante is a noun & adjective, dilettanteism is a noun and dilettanteish an adjective; the noun plural is dilettantes.

Society of Dilettanti

The artist moved to despair at the grandeur of antique fragments (circa 1778), a drawing in red chalk with brown wash by Henry Fuseli (Johann Heinrich Füssli (1741–1825)).

Founded circa 1734, the Society of Dilettanti was established as a gentlemen's club which aimed to correct and purify the public taste of the country and would later sponsor serious archaeological expeditions, assemble celebrated collections of antiques and art and advance the study of classical art, architecture and music and science.  Remembered especially for the promotion of Italian opera, it was a club for amateurs with some interest in these matters, its early membership exclusively rich, white men, many of who had met in their youth while in Italy on the grand tour.  One critic of the time described it as "...a club, for which the nominal qualification is having been in Italy, and the real one, being drunk: the two chiefs… were seldom sober the whole time they were in Italy."  Others hinted at actual depravity.  The best known member of the society also revived the Hellfire Club and, in the remains of an abbey he revived as a picturesque ruin, he build a shrine dedicated to the erect penis.  The sign above the doorway read: Fais ce que tu voudras, a shortened version of the words of St Augustine (love and do what you want).  The society, now a most respectable outfit, still exists and has sixty members.

6126 official campaign advertising. 

Lindsay Lohan's occasional forays into the fashion business have been described as dilettanteish.  In 2008, there was a line called 6126 and allusion to Marilyn Monroe’s (1926-1962) birthday (6/1=1 June in US use) but the label fell victim to her well publicized troubles in 2010.  There there was a brief sojourn as an artistic advisor with Paris fashion house Emanuel Ungaro, the result of which were reviews which ranged from unenthusiastic to damning.  Not discouraged, in 2014 she partnered with streetwear label Civil Clothing for a men’s line that sold at PacSun, and in 2015  worked with the UK's Lavish Alice on a capsule collection that included quirky pieces such as a striped cape, a fringed minidress, and flared knit pants.  That to date the last of the collaborations with the fashion houses but in 2016 there was also the one-off release of a line of T-shirts & tops printed with the slogan I Only Speak LiLohan, an allusion to her earlier use of an accent of indeterminate origins.  Although I Only Speak LiLohan was grammatically dubious (I Speak Only LiLohan presumably the message), it was for a good cause.

I Only Speak LiLohan, 2016.

Homily

Homily (pronounced hom-uh-lee)

(1) In Christianity, a kind of sermon, usually on a Biblical topic and often of a practical, non-doctrinal nature.

(2) An admonitory or moralizing discourse.

(3) A platitude or cliché intended to be inspirational.

1545-1555: From the Middle English omelī, omelīe & omelye, from the twelfth century Old French omelie (which persists in Modern French as homélie)and the Ecclesiastical Latin homilia & omilia (homily; a sermon), from the Ancient Greek ὁμιλία (homilía) (homily; instruction), from ὅμῑλος (hómīlos) (an assembled crowd; a throng), from the primitive Indo-European somalo- (a suffixed form of the root sem- (one; as one, together with) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-íā) (the suffix used to form abstract nouns).  The construct of the Greek ὅμῑλος was ὁμός (homós) (common; same) + ῑ̓́λη (ī́lē) (crowd), from εἴλω (eílō) (to aggregate).  The related common forms in Greek were homilia (conversation, discourse) & homilein (to converse with) and were cognate with the Sanskrit melah (assembly) and the Latin miles (in the senses of “an ordinary soldier”).  Under ecclesiastical influence, the Latinate form was restored in sixteenth century English.

The noun homilist, dating from the early seventeenth century described one who delivers a homily (although in some parishes in England the word was applied to a deacon or other junior cleric who wrote the text of a homily or sermon to be delivered by a bishop, dean etc).  The adjective homiletic was first recorded in the 1640s and was used to mean “of or pertaining to sermons” and was from the Late Latin homileticus, from the Ancient Greek homiletikos (of conversation, affable, a conversationalist), the related form the rare homiletical which rarely escaped the specialized field of study in divinity known as homiletics, a discipline which created also homilete & homiletical.  A bound or published collection of homilies or sermons is a homiliary (1844), a name used first in 1844 and they remain a feature of church publishing, especially those of leading figures (popes, archbishops et al).  The homiliary of Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger, b 1927; pope 2005-2013, pope emeritus since) is an outstanding collection and an illustration why he remains the best pope since Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli 1876-1958; pope 1939-1958).  Homily is a noun & adverb, the noun plural is homilies.

The words homily and sermon are sometimes used interchangeably and not always without justification because, if one respects the traditional distinctions, there are sermons which read like homilies and vice versa.  In the Christian churches (Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran religions), a homily is commentary delivered by a priest or deacon after the reading of scripture, the purpose being to reduce the sometimes abstract theological issues raised to something practical and expressed in a conversation voice; it's essentially an explanation of the passage from the Bible.  Sermon was from the Middle English sermoun, from the Anglo-Norman sermun (and the Old French sermon), from the Latin sermō & sermōnem (speech or discourse).  A sermon is a speech or discourse on theology or morality and may be in direct reference to a scriptural text but may also be an abstraction from Christian teaching or indeed any matter of morality or which touches on some matter of religious significance.  Strictly speaking, sermons need not be restricted to what is delivered as part of a service and indeed can be book-length endeavors which hints perhaps at why “sermon” is also casually used to mean a tedious and usually long lecture delivered as an admonishment.  The Second Vatican Council (Vatican II; 1962-1965) muddied the waters and it’s tempting to think it was the negative association of the word “sermon” (until then the commonly used word) which convinced the bishops to rebrand the message delivery system as "homily".  This may also account for why some believe the two interchangeable.

The classic (if not now exactly typical) sermon in Christianity is the The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin in which it was called Sermo in monte), an assembly of words attributed to Jesus of Nazareth and found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5-7) that encapsulates his moral teachings.  It is the first of five discourses in the Gospel and remains one of the most extensively quoted (and misquoted).  Winston Churchill, no moral theologian and self-described as “an external buttress rather than a pillar of the Church” thought “Christ’s story was unequalled and his death to save sinners unsurpassed” and “the Sermon on the Mount was the last word in ethics” but while he always admired the teachings, he didn’t always follow their strictures and probably imagined God would forgive his sins because he “had a few runs on the board”.

The idea of the homily or sermon isn’t restricted to Christianity.  The Prophet Muhammad delivered the last sermon (or Khutba) on Friday, ninth Dhul Hijjah (twelfth month of Islamic year), in mount Arafat’s Uranah Valley, the message delivered to humanity, telling all they are accountable to God for their deeds.

O People, lend me an attentive ear, for I know not whether after this year, I shall ever be amongst you again. Therefore listen to what I am saying to you very carefully and TAKE THESE WORDS TO THOSE WHO COULD NOT BE PRESENT HERE TODAY.

Beware of Satan, for the safety of your religion…All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety (taqwa) and good action.

Archbishop Porteous and the place of women & others

Homilies can be deployed as sword or shield and sometimes there’s a bit of overlap.  Late in October 2022, in faraway Tasmania, Archbishop Julian Porteous (b 1949; Roman Catholic Archbishop of Hobart since 2013) decided to use his Sunday homily to attack those who opposed him interpolating a so-called “submission reading” into the graduation mass he was to conduct at St Mary's College, an all-girls Roman Catholic school.  The reading the archbishop agreed to drop from the service was from Ephesians 5: 21-33 (KJV 1611):

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.  Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Apparently the archbishop intended to use a newer translation, thinking, not unreasonably, the archaic phrasing of the King James Version (1611) might make elusive the meaning he was trying to convey but why he thought the modernized text might be better received by the girls isn’t clear:

Wives should regard their husbands as they regard the Lord, since as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole body, so is a husband the head of his wife; and as the Church submits to Christ, so should wives submit to their husbands, in everything.

Archbishop Porteous summing up.

Tasmania however has moved on from the seventeenth century (and even from 1997 when it was the last Australian jurisdiction to remove the criminal sanction for homosexual acts between men) and the reaction among staff, students and parents was swift, the backlash accelerated by the inevitable social media pile-on.  Doubtless disappointed by his flock's response, the archbishop felt compelled to change his script although he seemed unconcerned about whether a passage demanding women submit to the demands of their husbands upon marriage was an appropriate choice to deliver to young women celebrating graduation, many of whom were soon to begin higher education as a prelude to professional careers.  Nor did he comment on the possible implications of the phrase “so should wives submit to their husbands, in everything” in a country where in some jurisdictions, because the inheritance of English common law, it wasn’t until the 1990s that it became possible to prosecute cases of rape within marriage.

The archbishop had other worries and in his Sunday homily noted it was "not unusual for the teaching of sacred scripture to be at variance with the attitudes and ethos of our age", adding that increasingly Christians were being “criticized and persecuted because we believe what the scriptures teach and we desire to live by its imperatives, even when they are at variance with the ethos of our times."  Of particular interest to the archbishop (and others) was the recent case of a Christian who was compelled to resign from an appointment as Chief Executive Office with an Australian Rules (AFL) club (the AFL itself something of a religion among many) after it was revealed the “City on a Hill” church (where he sits on the board) had published a series of articles critical of homosexuality and abortion.  Promptly, the club issued a statement saying the church’s views were contrary to the club's values and handed its CEO an ultimatum requiring he either disavow the position of his church or resign as CEO.  He chose his faith (in Christ, not the Essendon Football Club) and submitted to corporate crucifixion.

Drawing the comparison between one line of his reading from Ephesians and one fragment of a statement from the City on the Hill being taken out of context, he concluded "This tells us that our society is becoming increasingly hostile to Christian beliefs found in sacred scripture and actually to demand that people abandon their Christian faith if they wish to exercise public office.”  He went onto explain the theological basis of St Paul’s words in Ephesians and how they were such a radical approach to enhancing the status of women and the sanctity of marriage in what was still a pagan society, issuing a statement noting scripture needed to be read “within the total understanding of the faith” and that “…taking one sentence in isolation fails to do this”.  In that he’s correct but it’s unlikely the bolshie schoolgirls will be much impressed with his nuances.

Lindsay Lohan (b 1986), recently married to Credit Suisse trader Bader Shammas (b 1987) is thought unlikely to “submit to her husband in everything”.  It would be out of character.

Not helping the archbishop in his latest battle in the culture wars was that he has “a bit of previous” in the assault on modernity.  In 2015 he distributed to some 12,000 families with children in Tasmanian Catholic schools a pamphlet entitled "Don’t Mess With Marriage" in which it was argued that those from the LGBTQQIAAOP community "pretending that their relationships are ‘marriages’ is not fair or just to them."  It must have taken some intellectual gymnastics to reach that conclusion and even with a most careful reading the Old and New Testaments, while it’s not hard to work out that for men to lie with other men as others might with women is as much an abomination to the Lord as it would be for them to lie with beasts of the field, it’s hard to find a passage where there’s much concern for fairness towards them.  Still, the archbishop will be better acquainted with scripture than most so his insights may reveal a rare vision.  The pamphlet aroused the ire of the usual suspects and there were attempts to have the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner take the case but their interest was hard to arouse and after a desultory six months of meandering, the matter was withdrawn.