Coincidences

[Min Bannister]

Ancient Aliens has given me a couple of coincidences recently. Half watching the Vikings episode and half looking at the internet I saw an advert for a tattoo parlour where a young man had had the ravens Hugin and Munin tatooed on his chest. I was admiring the work :shy: and re-reading the names as I wasn't familiar with them when they were read out by the narrator. Gave me a bit of a shock!

The other was the narrator reading out the word Peru at the same time I was looking at a piece of pyrites in my mineral collection that is labelled from Peru. Okay that one is a bit less coincidental but it jogged my memory of the ravens!

 

[escargot]

Ancient Aliens has given me a couple of coincidences recently.

Aliens - coincidences - they are NOT coincidences. Bacofoil time.

 

[escargot]

We're watching some dull fillum on Netflix. There's supposed to be a demon.

I said to Techy 'So where's this demon then?'
He said 'Which demon?' and a character said 'This demon!'

 

[feinman]

I've noticed a lot of synchronicities occurring related to this forum; a LOT of them, too. As if this forum is our collective unconscious, group mind or egregore.. Wouldn't be surprising really... I was just discussing rings with a forum member (not Frideswide) on email and then Comfortablynumb sent the unicorn ring link, for example. I noticed a lot when I was working on my avatar sequence, before the current pic.

 

[escargot]

I've noticed a lot of synchronicities occurring related to this forum; a LOT of them, too. As if this forum is our collective unconscious, group mind or egregore.. Wouldn't be surprising really... I was just discussing rings with a forum member (not Frideswide) on email and then Comfortablynumb sent the unicorn ring link, for example. I noticed a lot when I was working on my avatar sequence, before the current pic.

Yup, earlier I was about to click on the thread about crisps when Techy suddenly said 'Do you want a bag of crisps?'
gulp

 

[feinman]

I think it is time.... We start thinking about.. WINNING THE LOTTERY!!! :badge:

 

[escargot]

Yesterday a video of a bloke came up on my Facebook Memories so I posted it on my feed.

I'd never posted any other ones about him and had forgotten I'd ever seen it until then.

Later the same bloke messaged me to ask 'Where was that video made?' with a link which didn't do much.

Turns out he hadn't sent the message. It was a scam and I needed to change my password PDQ!

 

[Mikefule]

I remembered an old personal coincidence today when I was out on my bike.

From the ages of about 4 to 8, I lived in a flat in the grounds of Letton Hall, in Norfolk. At the time, Letton Hall was occupied by a local landowner and was a "minor stately home". My family lived in a small flat above the coach houses (where coaches and carriages were kept in an earlier age) and we overlooked a courtyard with stables on the opposite side.

I was uprooted from this rustic idyll to start a very different life in a rented terrace on the outskirts of Nottingham.

Many years later, I joined the Dolphin Morris Men, a side of Morris dancers based in Nottingham. Nottingham is fairly central in England, a long way from the sea. The side is named after one of the two pubs of that name that used to exist in the city.

Being a member of Dolphin has been a huge part of my life and my identity, and my forum name "Mikefule" comes from the fact that I have been the Fool of the side for most of my life.

I have returned to Norfolk on many occasions to revisit my childhood haunts. I discovered that Letton Hall had become a Christian conference/retreat centre, and my old flat and the associated buildings had been renamed "Dolphin Court". Letton Hall is fairly central in Norfolk, a long way from the sea.

 

[catseye]

I was reading yesterday, somewhere on this forum, where I think it was Swifty was talking about a haunted pub, someone asked where it was and the reply was The Red Lion in Avebury. My friend lent me the Christmas edition of Countryfile magazine which I was flipping through this morning. There's an article on Wiltshire and one of the recommended places to stay is the Red Lion in Avebury.

 

[Krepostnoi]

I was reading yesterday, somewhere on this forum, where I think it was Swifty was talking about a haunted pub, someone asked where it was and the reply was The Red Lion in Avebury. My friend lent me the Christmas edition of Countryfile magazine which I was flipping through this morning. There's an article on Wiltshire and one of the recommended places to stay is the Red Lion in Avebury.

I will, one day, walk the Ridgeway. I will begin on Ivinghoe Beacon, where once I wrestled with the knowledge that I was to become a father. And I will walk counter to my usual direction, for this time I will be headed West. I will greet the White Horse and the Smithy, and I will cherish the little secret sights that only I will notice. And I will descend through the Avenue into Avebury and I will rest my weary bones, I will end my peregrination, right there, in the Red Lion.

 

[escargot]

There was a cluster of road deaths of young people from a Cheshire village in the mid-1990s.

Can't find anything much about it online now but at the time it was in the news.

Nine young people from the area were killed in crashes. All but two were male. They were aged 16-23 but mostly teenagers.

I thought the crashes were typical inexperienced driver incidents, where a teenager passes their test and takes their mates for a drive.
We've all had that ride.

However, today I came across this account of the cluster which states that some of the crash victims had premonitions of their own deaths:
(Safe The Free Library page)

VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED

Nine young friends from a Cheshire village died in ten months of tragedy. Now heartbroken parents wonder if the village is cursed.

The sleepy village of Audlem is like thousands of others dotted round the English countryside - with one chilling difference. The parents who live there refer to it as the real-life Village Of The Damned after nine young friends have been killed in less than a year. And they're living in fear that the curse will strike again.

All but one of the victims lived in or near the picturesque village - population 1,797 - in the Cheshire countryside.

Eight went to the same school and all nine knew one another. Headstones and crosses commemorating seven of them now stand close to each other in the tiny village cemetery.

Now it's been revealed that three of the children had bizarre "premonitions" that they were going to die only days before their tragic accidents. There were also other bizarre events linked to the deaths.
etc

It's rather lurid but an interesting read.

 

[IbisNibs]

How traumatic for the poor survivors!

 

[escargot]

How traumatic for the poor survivors!

That's the thing though; if you mean survivors of the actual incidents, there weren't any. Two crashes killed seven people and two were solitary drivers.

The friends and families of the dead are of course survivors in the sense of having to deal with the grief.

 

[Iris]

Last night I was talking to my daughter and said that if there was another lockdown we had plenty of food in the pantry and freezer.
At 10.30 pm there was an announcement that a quarantine guard from the Open had tested positive and had visited areas all around us, so some restrictions were back.
I had been going to shop today but will leave it for awhile now.

 

[Mikefule]

A coincidence I became aware of today, although it does not directly involve me.

I was reading the Hippopotamus thread. Several people mentioned "hippopotamus" is Greek for "water horse" or "river horse" which is oe of those things I've always known, but never looked up. So I looked it up. Indeed, it comes from hippos (horse) and potamós (river).

I then had one of my connecting moments: there is a Potomac River in America. Potamos/Potomac (you say potato...)

Rather than making the obvious assumption of a connection, I checked.

The river gets its name from the Algonquian (native American) Patawomeck (a particular village) and Patawomke meaning "river of swans".

The similarity between the Greek and Algonquian words is entirely coincidental. I am not the first person to notice it; I only found out today.

[Edited to correct spellings after EnolaGaia's response below. Thanks.]

 

[EnolaGaia]

They're a bit less similar than you portrayed them ...

I then had one of my connecting moments: there is a Potamac Potomac River in America. Potamos/Potomac

(you say potato...)

But I don't say 'potota' ...

 

[IbisNibs]

The friends and families of the dead are of course survivors in the sense of having to deal with the grief.

Yes, that's who I meant. Poor people!

 

[escargot]

Yes, that's who I meant. Poor people!

A memorial to the nine dead was placed in the churchyard there as if it were a natural disaster. I have seen it on a visit with older relations as some of my family are from the area.

 

[PeteS]

There was a cluster of road deaths of young people from a Cheshire village in the mid-1990s.

Can't find anything much about it online now but at the time it was in the news.

Nine young people from the area were killed in crashes. All but two were male. They were aged 16-23 but mostly teenagers.

I thought the crashes were typical inexperienced driver incidents, where a teenager passes their test and takes their mates for a drive.
We've all had that ride.

However, today I came across this account of the cluster which states that some of the crash victims had premonitions of their own deaths:
(Safe The Free Library page)

VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED



It's rather lurid but an interesting read.

Doesn't surprise me about these crashes. Audlem is in the middle of nowhere on a long twisty turny road between the M6 and the A41/49 going up to Chester. Haven for inexperienced boy/girl racers whose ambitions far exceed their abilities, particularly when mates egg them on. Terribly sad. One wonders whether these premonitions resulted from previous "near misses" on that road.
In a similar vein, I sometimes use a back road about 5 miles long again full of twists and turns. 3 or 4 years ago I must have seen the aftermath of at least half a dozen crashes on this road in the space of 12 months where drivers were obviously unable to negotiate corners and ended up crashing into trees or turning over into farmers fields, none at the same place. I use the road more regularly now, but with no alteration in the road surface or speed limits, I've not seen any incidents since. Maybe hearing of these crashes has warned off the wannabe Hamiltons?

 

[cycleboy2]

Doesn't surprise me about these crashes. Audlem is in the middle of nowhere on a long twisty turny road between the M6 and the A41/49 going up to Chester. Haven for inexperienced boy/girl racers whose ambitions far exceed their abilities, particularly when mates egg them on. Terribly sad. One wonders whether these premonitions resulted from previous "near misses" on that road.
In a similar vein, I sometimes use a back road about 5 miles long again full of twists and turns. 3 or 4 years ago I must have seen the aftermath of at least half a dozen crashes on this road in the space of 12 months where drivers were obviously unable to negotiate corners and ended up crashing into trees or turning over into farmers fields, none at the same place. I use the road more regularly now, but with no alteration in the road surface or speed limits, I've not seen any incidents since. Maybe hearing of these crashes has warned off the wannabe Hamiltons?

When I was in New Zealand two decades ago I was staggered at the number of roadside memorials to road crash victims. But what really perturbed me was that the majority of these were on straight roads, no junctions or hazards of any sort. The only conclusion I could draw is that virtually without exception these would have been young people (statistically men, I'm guessing) driving too fast for the conditions. Tragic.

 

[bugmum]

I remembered an old personal coincidence today when I was out on my bike.

From the ages of about 4 to 8, I lived in a flat in the grounds of Letton Hall, in Norfolk. At the time, Letton Hall was occupied by a local landowner and was a "minor stately home". My family lived in a small flat above the coach houses (where coaches and carriages were kept in an earlier age) and we overlooked a courtyard with stables on the opposite side.

I was uprooted from this rustic idyll to start a very different life in a rented terrace on the outskirts of Nottingham.

Many years later, I joined the Dolphin Morris Men, a side of Morris dancers based in Nottingham. Nottingham is fairly central in England, a long way from the sea. The side is named after one of the two pubs of that name that used to exist in the city.

Being a member of Dolphin has been a huge part of my life and my identity, and my forum name "Mikefule" comes from the fact that I have been the Fool of the side for most of my life.

I have returned to Norfolk on many occasions to revisit my childhood haunts. I discovered that Letton Hall had become a Christian conference/retreat centre, and my old flat and the associated buildings had been renamed "Dolphin Court". Letton Hall is fairly central in Norfolk, a long way from the sea.

View attachment 34450

Coincidentally, yesterday, on my trawl through Norfolk Parish registers looking at baptisms, I found a boy who was given the first name Dolphin at some point in the 1800s...

 

[Mythopoeika]

Coincidentally, yesterday, on my trawl through Norfolk Parish registers looking at baptisms, I found a boy who was given the first name Dolphin at some point in the 1800s...

An illegitimate child of France's former ruler, perhaps?

 

[escargot]

I was reading yesterday, somewhere on this forum, where I think it was Swifty was talking about a haunted pub, someone asked where it was and the reply was The Red Lion in Avebury. My friend lent me the Christmas edition of Countryfile magazine which I was flipping through this morning. There's an article on Wiltshire and one of the recommended places to stay is the Red Lion in Avebury.

When I was in New Zealand two decades ago I was staggered at the number of roadside memorials to road crash victims. But what really perturbed me was that the majority of these were on straight roads, no junctions or hazards of any sort. The only conclusion I could draw is that virtually without exception these would have been young people (statistically men, I'm guessing) driving too fast for the conditions. Tragic.

Know what you mean. A stretch of road near'ere was famous for crashes, near-misses, deaths, maimings, unplanned canal dips, you name it.

The Calveley Straight* was where you'd take your banger or motorbike for a nice brisk spin. It was rare to travel along it without being abruptly overtaken and burned off or at least spotting the wreckage from the previous weekend's carnage.

These days the speed limit is much lower and there are lots more signs, road markings and other safety features.
It's safe. We cycle along it and wave to the canal boaters cruising alongside.

I NEVER would have taken a pushbike there 30 years ago. ASKING to get splattered.


*A poet on t'wireless just described a California desert road as 'dead straight'!

 

[escargot]

Audlem is in the middle of nowhere on a long twisty turny road between the M6 and the A41/49 going up to Chester. Haven for inexperienced boy/girl racers whose ambitions far exceed their abilities, particularly when mates egg them on.

Do you know Audlem then?

It's generally rather a well-off area. The ex was a high school teacher and his mates who taught at the high schools in the next town would tell him of the problems teenagers of affluent backgrounds had. They had ready cash and access to high-powered vehicles.

So when Ex's pupils were getting pregnant or shoplifting or drunkenly falling off pushbikes and mopeds, Mr Posh School's lot were experimenting with drugs and crashing Daddy's Range Rover.

 

[PeteS]

Do you know Audlem then?

It's generally rather a well-off area. The ex was a high school teacher and his mates who taught at the high schools in the next town would tell him of the problems teenagers of affluent backgrounds had. They had ready cash and access to high-powered vehicles.

So when Ex's pupils were getting pregnant or shoplifting or drunkenly falling off pushbikes and mopeds, Mr Posh School's lot were experimenting with drugs and crashing Daddy's Range Rover.

Don't know it as such, but we've driven through it on the way to places. Your description would fit a lot of places in Cheshire. Daddies and mummies in those places seem to spend a lot of time crashing their RR's too.

 

[ramonmercado]

Coincidentally, yesterday, on my trawl through Norfolk Parish registers looking at baptisms, I found a boy who was given the first name Dolphin at some point in the 1800s...

His parents wanted to give him a porpoise in life.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

His parents wanted to give him a porpoise in life.

I'm sorry but I enjoy puns related to sea creatures on every day of the week - Barramundi...

 

[Nosmo King]

A memorial to the nine dead was placed in the churchyard there as if it were a natural disaster. I have seen it on a visit with older relations as some of my family are from the area.

Doesn't surprise me about these crashes. Audlem is in the middle of nowhere on a long twisty turny road between the M6 and the A41/49 going up to Chester. Haven for inexperienced boy/girl racers whose ambitions far exceed their abilities, particularly when mates egg them on. Terribly sad. One wonders whether these premonitions resulted from previous "near misses" on that road.
In a similar vein, I sometimes use a back road about 5 miles long again full of twists and turns. 3 or 4 years ago I must have seen the aftermath of at least half a dozen crashes on this road in the space of 12 months where drivers were obviously unable to negotiate corners and ended up crashing into trees or turning over into farmers fields, none at the same place. I use the road more regularly now, but with no alteration in the road surface or speed limits, I've not seen any incidents since. Maybe hearing of these crashes has warned off the wannabe Hamiltons?

When I was in New Zealand two decades ago I was staggered at the number of roadside memorials to road crash victims. But what really perturbed me was that the majority of these were on straight roads, no junctions or hazards of any sort. The only conclusion I could draw is that virtually without exception these would have been young people (statistically men, I'm guessing) driving too fast for the conditions. Tragic.

 

[escargot]

Your description would fit a lot of places in Cheshire

True. I've mentioned this problem in other threads. To be honest it's never been an issue for my own family!

 

[hunck]

Man named Pidgeon interrupted by pigeon in Zoom meeting

Research officer Colin Pidgeon was appearing at the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Finance Committee via live feed when his cat presented him with a live pigeon

The unusual incident caused great hilarity in the chamber. Mr Pidgeon took it all in his stride, removing the bird from his room via the window then returned to the Zoom call and confirmed that the bird was okay.

“It flew off so the cat hasn’t killed it," he explained.