Glagolitic. Well Well Well

Again, One Of Those Words -
 - that just pop into Conrad's mind, apropos of nothing.  Today I was putting away the shopping and the word "Glagolitic" came to mind.  What is or was it?  something to do with geology, along the lines of calcite, ebonite or Iceland spar?

Iceland

Spar

     Not Iceland Spar, no.  That's Part 2 of "Against The Day", which starts off as almost War-of-the-dirigibles, then transmutes into an account which would have done H P Lovecraft proud, then back to -

Tesco - no, hang on -

     Sorry, going off at a tangent - like Mr Pynchon.
     Anyway. "Glagolitic", it transpires, is actually an interrim form of early Slavic, established by the brothers/saints Cyril and Methodius in the mind-9th century.

Glagolitic.  So there.  All Greek* to me.

     Glagolitic was big news until supplanted by Cyrillic in the Middle Ages.  Next time you meet a Croatian or Czech, say "Glagolitic" and make yourself seem knowledgeable.

Bustard
     Whilst putting away the chicken thighs, another word popped into Conrad's fertile, if chaotic mind.  
     "Where does that bird, the Bustard, get it's name from?"
     I mentioned this to Dogsitter Daughter, who - frankly I was insulted - doubted that any such creature existed.
     Well say hello to the Kori Bustard as proof:

No, it's not wearing a feather boa - that throat's a mating display.  Don't mock.  To the females, that's one sexy bustard

     These are big birds, that can motor at speed by running, or feed a family of twelve.
     <Mister Hand points out that the name ->
     Oh!  Yes, sorry.  This may derive from the Latin "Avis Tarda", which  appeared in Middle French as either "Oustarde" or "Bistarde", hence via Anglo-French to "Bustard".
     Except, as Conrad mentioned, the bustard can really whiz along on it's legs.  Puzzling, eh?
     Perhaps those Latins were being ironic.

Magazines
     Conrad ought not to mock any other publications, given that his choice of reading is The Society of Twentieth-Century Wargamers Journal, Flight Training News and Stand To!  However, a few publications did catch his eye today:

The Tractor Factor moves magazines

Hah!  Classic Tractor looks down on mere "Tractor"!

Hah!  "Farm Machinery" - so much more than mere Tractors!

     There you have it.  Conrad does not mock - the subject material here is all big, metal and power-driven - merely observes with a touch of wonder.
     Whatever next?

Won't The Spines Burst The Bag?
     As Dogsitter Daughter has been pulling her weight around the Mansions by looking after Edna, Conrad remembered to get her some fruity-flavoured tea.

Conrad read that as "Echidnacea"

     Hang on, what?  "Echidnacea"?  Surely the Echidna is the Spiny Anteater?

It's Spiny and it eats ants.  So you're not going to call it the Greater-Spotted Wall-Falling Wombat, are you?

     That would make awful tea, surely?
     Yes it would.  Which is why the makers used "Echinacea", a flower with petals, not a flounce of prickles.

Hello? RSPCA?
     Conrad has just seen one of the most ghastly television adverts ever made, exploiting animals terribly**.  Yes, McVitie's I'm staring squarely at you!
     As a sales gimmick this utterly unscrupulous company has compressed up to a dozen kittens inside packets of biscuits, where they are stored in a vacuum until the packet's seal is broken.  Then, dazed and disorientated, they emerge from the packet, are kept as a pet for six weeks until the "cute" wears off, and then get sent to Eastern European "catteries", never to be seen again.
     Here, m'lud, is all the evidence you need:

Apparently they do it with puppies, too, but Conrad is so much more a cat person -

Cat In The Doghouse
     Jenny, the she-cat, is quite often a she-cow.  Conrad had to clear up another mouse carcass outside the back door this morning, she tried to eat my yoghurt & strawberries when it was on the table, she managed to find her way into a box slid into the storage rack (to prevent her getting into it) and she got the lid off the current tin of cat food.  Consequently, when she tried to get just a little bit closer to Sally's dinner, she got chucked outside, to sulk in the rain.
     

"Foolish human!  I will have my revenge!"

"Aha!  I have spotted your open notebook.  I shall muddy my paws in preparation ..."

* Cyrillic is derived from the Greek alphabet, you know.  Well, you know now.
** Conrad exploiting cute animals to generate blog traffic is completely different.