I apologise for holding forth on something utterly random. What am I talking about? Why, "Gum Arabic", of course. What is it? Conrad wondered as he dashed with indecent haste to the bus-stop this morning (the penalty for remaining in bed for another 10 minutes). A product that the Victorians used to attach theatre prosthetics* with, as I seem to recall. Yes, although it has so many more uses than that. Also, it now comes from Africa rather than Arabia, and it's actually the sap of the acacia tree.
What's that? "Tell us, Conrad, o didact, what other uses does this product have? Except don't bother if it's icky and unpleasant." Very well, I shall - it's used in the food industry as a stabiliser in a range of food and drink products, also in printing and the manufacture of paint.
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| Gun Arabic. Close enough |
Now up to Page 705, so somewhat short of the three-quarters mark, and when did the character Cyprian turn up? I can't quite remember, which is the consequence of not reading ATD on a continual basis, analogous to the shark, which you remember has to keep swimming to stay alive as it has no swim bladder -
- sorry, that's a bit tangential. I meant to praise Mr Pynchon for writing convincingly about cricket, going so far as to mention the "I Zingari" team; don't forget that this is an American writing about a sport that even Conrad finds strange and confusing ("Silly Mid-On"? "Googly"? "BWL"?). I'm sure I explained to you what IZ were - a team without a ground of their own.
| Cricket. Close enough |
The War The Infantry Knew/Goodbye To All That/I, Claudius
Yes, still reading this, and the mention of gas warfare recalls the account given by one officer who woke up in the upper floor of a shattered house when the gas gong was sounded. He promptly went back to sleep, nervelessly certain that the gas, being heavier than air, wouldn't disturb his slumbers. The low-lying fumes were actually appreciated for killing off numerous vermin that thrived in the trenches - providing, of course, that one had the box-respirator to hand.
Robert Graves served in the 2nd Welch** Fusiliers and wrote his own account of wartime service, which is entertaining but frequently strays from the truth: "Goodbye To All That". He also wrote "I, Claudius" which I am currently reading. It is so far chock-full of politics, intrigue, murder, skullduggery, sex, war, more politics and the odd Cybilline prediction. Great stuff!
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| How'd he lose his arms? Who nose! |
Whilst attempting to collar and leash Edna, who was a-whimper with frantic excitement at the prospect of a walk***, I used the phrase "I'll be done in a trice". Of course a long twenty minutes-worth of walk provided the perfect opportunity to wonder where on earth this phrase comes from.
"End our misery, Conrad!" I hear you call. "Tell us! Tell us how and now!"
Gosh, insistent tonight, aren't we? Very well. It is from Old English, the fifteenth century, and is of nautical derivation: "Trysse", meaning a single turn of a winch.
It's not exactly precise, is it? How many trice are there to the minute? Or would it be second? Or hour?
Temporal inexactitude. You can see why we use the minute instead.
| Minute |
Who thought that name up? Give them a slap! Maybe it is just your mordant and whimsical correspondent but seeing that inevitably conjures up the exact opposite. No! Not "Pepsi Life". "Coca-Cola Death". Seen at a distance today on the digital billboard near work, there happened to be a lot of small print at the bottom. It is an abiding principle of Conrad's that there is an inverse ratio between honesty and the amount of small print in an advert.
| Coke and Mentos |
I couldn't let this pass. What does it mean and where does it come from?
It's Greek (Hooray! Not Latin!) and means "Addition". You may be more familiar with it used in reference to artificial limbs, but it does have a broader application - that carpet-chewing actor up on stage in 1879 fixed his fake muttonchops on (with gum arabic, of course^) and so they, too, may be considered prostheses (that being the plural)
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| Deckard figures out how replicants are created in "Blade Runner 2" |
A very funny chap. You may know of him by way of that film "The Infidel", or the insurance adverts, but he strode to stardom as the Arab jailer in "The Mummy^^". Omed is actually of Iranian descent, but he played an Arab who was killed by a scarab.
| Billy Mumy. Close enough. |
Finally
I picked up these sushi bargains, which would have been £7, but they were marked down to £1.70, which will make them taste even better. What's that? Pictures of food are not-news? Buying these means not having to delay posting the blog because I can eat on the go and it saves time.
Besides, whose blog is it anyway?
** She recognises this word so we have to say "The W-Word" instead
*** Yes, this is the correct spelling.
^ You see how everything refers to everything else? Life is a circle^^^.
^^ The entertaining one, not the other
^^^ For some of us it's a Moebius Strip - but that's another story ...
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