Entirely Too Much Of A Bad Thing

Just To Ring Some Changes On The Saying -
"Too much of a good thing" and yes, I did add in "entirely" because I can, although by definition if you have too much of it then it isn't good any longer, as you can never have too much of a good thing, except perhaps ice cream, which gives you brain-freeze.
     Also, I am getting fed up of that Dog Buns! Coincidence Hydra showing up and going for the softer parts of my body.  There I was, on the bus - Art?

<sigh> yes, Art, a bus.  Not quite what we were getting at -

     I do apologise on behalf of Art - he was a lonely Neanderthal looking for work and shelter, and instead he found Conrad.  Anyway, back to the anecdote.  There I was, tackling the Cryptic Crossword*, and the first clue I solved was 8 Across.  Art?

The bus suspension was rubbish, my handwriting is not this bad!

     "An ornament attached to a sound receiver (7)".
     As you can see, the answer is 'Earring'.
     What did I espy on the windowsill of the 409?  Art!

An earring.

     Quite.  
     Now, if the universe has quite finished mucking around with causality and probability, let us proceed to the Entirely Too Much Of A Bad Thing.  We'll get back to tormenting the motley later.

Conrad Prepares To Bore The World

Yes, again!  For today we are looking at Wiki’s rather dubious recounting of Allied losses at the Battle of Medenine.  This was a pretty bruising encounter – for the Axis – as fought March 6^th 1943, in the hills of Tunisia.  Conrad’s brow furrowed when he read of the casualties listed for the Allies, as they seemed – wrong. 

     Before going any further, let us list what Wiki itself states. 

“6 tanks, 16 scout cars, 33 motor vehicles, 32 anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns and 51 prisoners.”

Dingo scout car.  The military equivalent of a nosy little rascal

     Conrad is unsure where these figures come from; I have checked 5 different works on the war in North Africa, including the British Official History (Playfair) and none of them list any British losses.  Quite how the Axis worked them out is a mystery, too, since they never broke into the British lines and abandoned the battlefield, meaning they lacked the capacity to tally their opponent's losses.  Let us look closer – and stop whining, this mental exercise is good for you.**

     “6 tanks” is an outright lie.  The British tanks were barely engaged all day and didn’t suffer any losses.  Methinks this is Axis whistling in the dark – “Ooh Ooh we did really well after all – oh look a flying saucer.”

                      Flying Saucers                                                   A Tank
     I don't want to have you fall out of your seats with boredom, so that will be all of the Battle of Medenine for now.  For now - because we shall return here.  O yes indeed!
his 

Just The Ticket
I was ranting earlier this week about ticket prices for gigs, although the ones referred to ought to be considered more pompously (and pretentiously) along the lines of Concert Events, since they tend to be on a very large scale.  And, consequently, cost very large amounts of money to attend.  The Beeb's example was someone called "Beyonse" whose musical output I am not familiar with but can guess at.***

The reason why

     Conrad rather imagines - being an horrid old cynic - that the show distracts from the thin-ness of the material being performed, but that's probably just me.
     Anyway.  Apparently this 'Beyong" person's tour abroad was scheduled to begin at the mighty music venue of - Sunderland, because - shipping.  So much kit came along with the tour that they needed to arrange venues based on the ability to move freight by marine transport.

     <small plaintive voice raises issues about music & is instantly crushed by  accountants>

     Then things changed again and they chose to use air freight instead, flying in the kit on five 747s.  Say what?


A 747 - with a LASER CANNON!
(rather less boring than amplifiers and scaffolding)

     Lord aloft only knows how much it cost to charter these aircraft.  What does it matter, because the paying sheep audiences happily pay for it all.
     Conrad would be angry if he could work up any enthusiasm, as he only ever attends the smaller and more intimate music venues for artistes with impeccable credentials.

Finally -
What's this?  Art?

     I have no idea, but it was i) Going cheap and ii)  Polish, so I bought it.  Colleague Ania may be able to help on this, her being Polish and all.




*  Yes, a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it.
**  YES IT IS!
***  Bland pop written by other people for a singer who cannot play an instrument and who gets by on looks.  In the ball park?