Sexually, I'm More of a Switzerland Part 11

154 Virgo-August 23 to September 22 in the tropical zodiac, or September 16 to October 15 (approximately) in the sidereal zodiac. Rooster-in the Chinese zodiac, 22 January 19099 February 1910, 8 February 192127 January 1922, 26 January 193313 February 1934, 13 February 19451 February 1946, 31 January 195717 February 1958, 17 February 19695 February 1970, 5 February 198124 January 1982, 23 January 19939 February 1994, 9 February 200528 January 2006.

155 In the UK, Child Support Agency. Responsible for the calculation, collection and distribution of child-maintenance payments from non-resident to resident parents.

156 Possibly the Virgin Trains West Coast Main Line between Liverpool Lime Street and London Euston, which is s.h.i.+t.

157 'Du bist eine Maultasche' translates as 'You are my ravioli'. The advertiser is referring to the Frankfurt Book Fair, or Frankfurter Buchmesse, the world's largest trade fair for the publis.h.i.+ng industry.

158 Red Devils-the British Parachute Regiment's display team. Formed on 1 January 1964 by Major-General Glyn Gilbert, then Regimental Colonel of the Parachute Regiment, it was officially declared the British Army's parachute display team in 1979. A popular attraction at provincial fetes and summer fairs where they often display their skills.

159 'Scarborough Fair/Canticle'-traditional English ballad, recorded by Simon and Garfunkel on their alb.u.m Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966, Columbia Records).

160 Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (b. 1965)-British celebrity chef and presenter of the River Cottage series of cookery programmes, along with A Cook on the Wild Side, in which he ate roadkill animals, and TV Dinners, in which he cooked and ate a human placenta served as a pate. The A 405 (UK) is the North Orbital Trunk Road (M25 Junction 21A to M10/A414 Park Street Roundabout) and is located in St Albans (see p. 126, n. 136).

161 Population 14,292 (Census 2001). The population density at the time of the 2001 census was 5,276/square mile (2,037/km2), which is significantly lower than the Manchester area, 9,880.8/square mile (3,815/km2), of which Didsbury is a suburb. However, the area is intersected by Wilmslow Road, which, according to a.n.a.lysts, is the busiest bus corridor in Europe.

162 Statistically, the most commonly used companion adjective for male advertisers in the LRB personals column is 'divorced'.

163 Enya (born Eithne Patricia Ni Bhraonain, 1961)-Irish singer, songwriter and former member of Clannad (she left the band in 1982).

164 Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (185491). French poet.

165 Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (b. 1920)-American film producer and special effects creator. Known for his brand of stop-motion model animation. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958, dir. Nathan H. Juran) is the first of the Harryhausen-conceptualised and animated Sinbad trilogy (the others being The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, released in 1974, and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, 1977).

166 Victor of Aveyron, aka the Wild Boy of Aveyron, was found wandering the woods near Saint-Sernin-sur-Rance, France (near Toulouse) in 1797. After being captured and escaping several times, he finally emerged from the forests voluntarily on January 8, 1800. Victor was taken under the wing of French physician Jean Marc Gaspard Itard (17741838). Itard believed that the two crucial differences between humans and animals were empathy and language and attempted to teach Victor to speak and show human emotion. However, the only words that Victor learned to speak were 'lait' (milk) and 'Oh Dieu' (oh G.o.d). It is now thought, partly by studying such feral children, that language acquisition takes place in a critical period of early childhood.

167 Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck (181598)-Prussian and German statesman of the 19th century. As Minister-President of Prussia from 1862 to 1890, he oversaw the unification of Germany. Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg (18561921)-Chancellor of the German Empire from 1909 to 1917. Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfurst, Chlodwig Carl Viktor, Furst zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfurst, Furst von Ratibor und Corvey (18191901)-Chancellor of Germany from 1894 to 1900. It was, in fact, the Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfurst's advanced years during his tenure as Chancellor and subsequently increasingly rare appearances at Prussian and German parliaments (he was 75 when he accepted the office at the request of Emperor William II) that led to increased independence being granted to the German secretaries of state.

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