Antontea And CleoPotra

I Know, I Know
This nonsense about punning titles that work in tea or coffee has been going on for almost two months now, and has gotten to the point where I am now directing my poison wit at the works of Bill Blather, a.k.a. that Shakespeare chap, instead of mocking a film or television show.

Or ...

     Sorry to break it to you; there is more to come.  Conrad appears to have an inexhaustible supply of nonsense scrivel.  It's a gift*.
     Okay, let me point out that the Shakespeare work I refer to in today's title is indeed "Antony and Cleopatra".  Two digs in one.
     When I say "today" I actually mean "yesterday" as this is being typed after my pre-bedtime shave and shower.  I completely forgot this necessity last night until after 23:30, because of my vice - mucking around with words.  Your humble scribe got entirely too much into Wordsquare without realising the time.  Art?

     Nor is that all.  Come Friday I shall be driving into work, so cannot sit and pen thoughtful notes on the bus, scowling so hard with concentration that other passengers keep clear.  Thus I made a few notes as an outline.
     So!  Let us pop the motley's balloon with a pin and run away laughing.

Olympus And Bus
I wonder.  The ancient Greeks had a word, "hubris", which encapsulated the concept of the prideful getting it squarely in the neck, as punishment for being all up there**.
     Well, yesterday I had terrible trouble with the busses.  One failed to turn up entirely, and another came quarter of an hour late, turning an hour's journey into two. O how I was not happy!

Conrad.  Not happy.

     Hmmm.  Let's see, I had called Zeus, head honcho of the assembled deities on Mount Olympus, a "pratwangle" earlier that day.  Do you suppose he overheard and had a quite word with Hermes - the god of transport?
     Nah.  Nah, I'm imagining it.
     Right?

"Adumbration"
There's a ready-made pun right there, which I'm not going to descend to.  We do have standards here a standard here.  I wondered two things about this word - 1) Was it real, or had my imagination suffered a fit of over-activity, and 2) What did it mean?  If it was real, that is, because if Steve (responsible for memory round here) had cooked it up, then it might mean anything.
     Surprise!  It is real.  From the Latin "Adumbratus" which meant "to create an outline", "Adumbration" means to foretell in a nebulous manner, or to sketch something out.  Kind of like your modest artisan and his half a page of scribbled lines***.

You Won't See This Very Often
Conrad is a big fan of the Youtube channel "Forgotten Weapons", which does indeed focus on weapons that many people out there have never heard of.  Ian McCollum is the chap responsible for the channel, demonstrating how particular weapons work or dismantling them to display their inner workings.  He may look a touch hippy-ish, but don't get on his wrong side. Art?

     Just to be clear, Ian and FW deal with firearms - no messing about with edged weapons or the more traditional blunt instrument.
     Here an aside.  Yes, it's late in the post to introduce this, yet here it is.  Conrad was puzzled in a piece of period detective literature by mention of a "Life Preserver".  Given the context it was certainly not a piece of buoyant marine self-protection gear, nor yet was it a brand of sweet.  Art?

What it's not

     It turned out to be an euphemism for a blunt instrument, carried around by paranoid Victorian gentlemen who feared an assault upon their person.  Art?

Not sure that would pass muster with the Advertising Standards Authority today ...

      Conrad would imagine a flak jacket would be better protection.  Failing that, a gun.
     Well now, we're back on track with talk of guns.  That fearsome-looking engine of destruction perched in front of Ian is his own, personal, Vickers heavy machine-gun.
     Like I said, you won't hear that very often.  It's not genuine First Unpleasantness vintage, being an adapted aircraft gun with an Australian tripod of The Pyongyang Unpleasantness vintage.  It's up for auction, as Ian is looking for funds to buy even more guns.  Quite what it would fetch is a matter of speculation, but I think we're looking at $6,000 at a minimum.
     We shall come back to this subject.  O yes.  O yes indeed!

What Is A "Gamba"?
Conrad, being an intellectual snob and poseur of the worst variety, likes to have his radio channel set to Radio 3 when he drives.  This, of course, infuriates and alienates any passengers present, which is half the intent.
     Anyway, the presenter this morning announced that she would be playing a little something by the talented gamba-player So-and-so.  As if her audience knew, without being told, exactly what a Gamba was.
     Er - quite.
     "A species of viol?" offered up Steve (in charge of memory around here), haltingly.
     Of course, the instant I got into work I cattle-prodded my PC's hamster into action and perused teh Interwebz.
     Surprise!  It is a species of viol.  Art?

Bass viola da gamba

     Steve - decrepit, erratic and whimsical, but occasionally right.
*  Some opinions on this differ.
**  And shizzle
***  Pink Floyd reference.