What's in a name?

The reading for this coming Wednesday's Mass is from the Book of Kings, and I think they are going to ask me to read it. It's the account of Elijah challenging the Baal-worshippers. How, methought, the devil do you pronounce "Baal"?
 In Hebrew it is represented by the three characters: בעל - BET AYIN LAMED - (AYIN being a sort of glottal stop), giving [1] /BAH' L/, though the ayin is often ignored by those not aware of its existence in the word [2]. The anglicised (originally Lutheran?) version of Baal rhymes with “hail” [3], though some add a weak /ə/ (schwa) to darken the L [4].



[1] BAH-ahl /'bɑːɑːl/
[2] BAHL /'bɑːl/
[3] BAYL /'beɪl/
[4] BAY-uhl /'beɪəl/
I prefer the Hebrew pronunciation, but that leads to inconsistency, eg, if BA'AL is to be pronounced in the Hebrew way, then surely Elijah (which we pronounce to rhyme with “oblige-a”) should really be Eliyahu (Hebrew אֱלִיָּהוּ, as I am sure you all know . So, much I'd love to show off by pronouncing Baal in the Hebrew manner, I'd better not. Don't want old Luther turning in his urn, do we?

Puzzle

Here's a puzzle for those of you who are trying to keep the Alzheimer's at bay. What do the following refer to? NW KARAYEL N YILDIZ NE POYRAZ SW LODOS S GİBLE SE KEŞİŞLEME W GÜNBATISI Clue: I didn't know about any of this till I went to the Turkish Aegean coast.

Ageing but still not withering

Well, mes chers potes, I made it to another birthday. What I find moving is all the bunting and flags that people have put out..... Quite humbling.

Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar. (1786 – 1845)

Did you know that Cretzschmar was a German physician? He was born at Sulzbach and studied medicine at the University of Würzburg. He taught anatomy and zoology at the Senckenberg Medical Institute of Frankfurt. No, I don't care either. It's just that I saw a pair of Cretzschmar's Buntings while I was holidaying on the Aegean. The male in particular is much prettier - and easier to cope with - than his name. It's not a common bird, apparently, not as common as, say, Ortolan Bunting, which despite a lot of searching I did not manage to see or hear. But that's birding for you.

Woodchat shrike

Another beauty, and in the manner of shrikes, was out in the open giving crippling views of itself. The Aegean sunshine helped.

Masked Shrike

I could hardly believe my luck when I stopped at a lıkely-looking shrike spot not far from where I am staying ın Turkey, and almost at once got my bins on to a Masked Shrike. It was in full view, an adult male in full dress uniform. I watched it preening and occasionally plunging to the ground after some tasty morsel. A lifer for me, yay! The photo is not mine, so thanks to Google Images and whoever took the pic in the first place. For those of you envying me for basking in Aegean sunshine, you will be pleased to know it is pouring wıth rain this morning. 'It never rains here in May' they say. It may be a rare event, but so is clapping your bins on a Masked Shrike..

Grey mullet

This is a grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) and we have three freshly-caught ones, filleted and ready for the pan. From which, mes chers potes, you will gather that I am a long way from the Fens right now. On the Aegean in fact. There are waves of migrant birds goıng through,so watch this space for some tasty pics, The mullet, though, will not reappear as they will be eaten before you get to the end of this sentence....