(no subject)

Happy birthday, br3nda and wizardtower!

Various

Dept rus in urbe: Pavement plants ID guide: This guide aims to help in identifying most plants that grow frequently on pavements in the UK:

Have you ever strolled down a street and noticed plants sprouting through the cracks in the pavement, and wondered what they might be? Often dismissed as ‘weeds,’ these resilient plants thrive in the most unexpected places. Taking time to notice and explore these plants can reveal the diverse and often overlooked flora that thrives in our urban environments.

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Dept, a forgotten niche genre? I think I have previously had occasion to mention the early 1970s spate of comedy-smut movies (yes, 1971, year of the humorous willy movie, appeared here) and apparently somebody has now actually gone and made a two part documentary on Saucy! Secrets of the British Sex Comedy.

Okay, we do gather that there are no forgotten gems here, and questions arise:

why the British seem compelled to mix their sex with comedy. In Europe, sex films were sensual, soft-focus and at least aimed to be classy. In Britain, it was ooh-er-missus innuendo, door-to-door salesmen being ravished by housewives and female characters called Busty. There are various theories put forward as to why, from traditional seaside-postcard humour to the stiff upper lip to the fact that “nobody took their clothes off in those days”. I like the producer who blames it on the inherent conservatism of the nation and the old aristocracy.

But this sort of 'zee French zey do it bettair' is a recurrent trope about which I am persistently dubious, and, in fact, have muttered about before: - ah yes, here, re film critic going on about UK film based on the Cynthia Payne case vs Fr version of Histoire d'O.

Further article on the doco here.

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Dept, is this all an Evil Myth Invented by Male Docs???!!!: Menopause was a French invention at a time of revolution: 'French doctors of the 1800s had a vested interest in pathologising women’s ageing, as do many commercial entities today'.

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Dept, And Then She Fell Into A Black Hole Herself, sigh: Louise Webster has been largely forgotten – it's time to remember her.

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Dept of Quiet but Meaningful Change: The UK’s Health and Safety at Work Act is 50. Here’s how it’s changed our lives. We note the name of Barbara Castle as one of the moving spirits there.

Before the HSWA was enacted, workplace deaths and injuries were on the rise, from nearly 168,000 casualties in 1958 to just under 323,000 in 1969. The regulations dated back to the 19th century, with a hodge-podge of laws and inspectorates that covered some workplaces but ignored others. Regulation often focused on specifications for equipment, like machine guards – but often these were inflexible and, with changing materials and technologies, were out of date by the time standards were set. The nature of work was changing rapidly. Who was exposed to danger, and where, was evolving. Heavy industry declined, office and services work increased, and more women and immigrants entered the workforce.
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The HSWA moved away from prescription, to an ostensibly more flexible, risk-based approach. This gave organisations the ability to manage workplace dangers in a responsive way, anticipating where hazards might arise while removing or mitigating for their effects “so far as reasonably practicable”. It meant it was possible to respond, relatively quickly, to dangers arising from new processes or new workplaces.