Oh, Poppycock!?

When I first saw this photo in the news above I thought Santa had died, but it was a photograph of the now late British botanist
David BELLamy.

"In later life Bellamy, who lived in County Durham, attracted criticism for dismissing global warming.
In 2004 he described it as "poppycock" - a stance which he later said cost him his TV career."

A poppy cock?

David's use of the word "poppycock" confused me when he would say the word without explaining just what a poppycock's function was in the plant world:-)

Brighton, right on:-)

His scientific career began when he got a job in the biology department of a technical college in Surrey, he told
BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs programme in 1978.

On that 1978 Desert Island Discs radio show David said that his first job was collecting the deck chairs on Brighton Beach.
When he was asked about global warming near the turn of this century his reply was "poppycock", so it's kind of ironic that a lot of people these days think that we are metaphorically just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, as far as saving spaceship Earth goes.

There was also a section in that 1978 Desert Island Discs show where David said he was hoping to go to visit the North Pole, so it's a bit hard not to think of David and Santa as doppelgangers after hearing that confession.
And with David having been a botanist, I wonder what he thought of mushrooms?-)
The Magic Mushroom Christmas Theory?

Well, David did appear to like tripping around a lot, much like Santa does at Christmas:-)
86 was a good innings to reach considering that the Reaper comes for us all in the end, especially botanists.

Probably a shame not to get one more Christmas in though before departing ... the sinking ship?

Happy Hogswatch?