There is no cephalopodic apoclaypse* for the Spanish capital city, I was just trying to see if a fish in the title brings higher traffic to the blog. Also, it throws the equally sinister Hamster Guardians of the Internet, as they have trouble separating fiction from fact.
Yes, yes, I know - the cephalopod is not a fish, it's an octopus or nautilus - good lord aloft, you surely don't expect logic or consistency here, do you?
Anyway, on with the motley!
| Have an iceberg! Why? Why not! |
Sorry, sorry, another of those words that pop up into my consciousness with no rhyme or reason, and I was walking to the bus stop rather than standing idly at it, so - all the more peculiar.
I have, as you surely know by now, given up trying to define these words before looking them up in a dictionary - Conrad's embarassing and utter failure to get things right is a lasting source of humiliation - but it was a long bus ride to the office and I wondered if the "Catafalque" was a medieval warship?
By the time I reached the office I'd decided that no, it was not a cog or dromond, it was associate with - Funerals!
Cheery chap, aren't I.
Yes indeed, the Catafalque is a platform or bier used to support the coffin or body of the deceased. Latin in origin? Partly - the Greek "Kata" meaning "down" and Latin "Fala" for "scaffolding", thence to "Catafalicum" and then the word you now know.
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| Bier. Close enough (And a lot more cheerful) |
Bus Poster Film Fest
A new crop of film posters have appeared on the many, many buses that whiz by the opposite side of the road to the one Conrad stands upon, waiting for the bus. So, let us reprise the BOOJUM! rules of film review:1) Generalise hugely
2) Take things literally
3) Do not check facts
The Water Diviner
This one features Russell Crowe, and looks to be set in a hot country. Australia, perhaps?
You can tell it's not made in the UK. We don't have to divine for water, it comes out of the sky in vast amounts all year round.
So. A film about a man looking for water v45 67g
felrerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
- sorry, fell asleep. Dull. Deadly dull!
Next!
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| It's a crow. Rustling. Rustle, Crow! |
Isn't the seventh son of a seventh son supposed to be -
- actually I couldn't get beyond the seventh son concept. The artwork for this looks positively medieval - there may be a dromond around for all I know - and all Conrad could think was, "How grateful modern women must be for contraceptives!". Don't forget that title only mentions sons. There might well be another seven daughters in the background ... yet this pales into washed-out linen compared to -
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| Seventh Seal. Son, seal, close enough |
Child 44
Egad! If they come along one at a time, that's 33 YEARS spent being pregnant!
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| Conrad shamelessly exploits Doris the Seal That Sews |
How, I ask, am I supposed to compose
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| If I wasn't cranked up on Red Bull and ezpresso, I'd be falllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll |
No, Coincidence, This Seat Is Not Taken
For a couple of days now the word "Tardenois" has been floating around my mind, with no other knowledge but that it sounds French.
Well, it is French. It's a French village. It was fought over in 1918 by the British Nineteenth Division and I know this because I read about it on the bus this morning.
I'm sure there's a perfectly rational explanation for all this and - WHAT WAS THAT NOISE!?
| Tardenois. I don't think we did this during WW1 ... |
Haghtanak!
(Which is Armenian for "Victory!")
If you remember the weekend, Conrad was off playing with
This Black Sea former-Soviet republic has a shoreline on the Black Sea and a sub-tropical climate on the littoral. Further inland the terrain becomes hilly, before ascending into mountains covered with pine forests.
Unfortunately for Andreivia, all the long suppressed seething passions of the various elements making up the population burst forth when the heavy hand of the Kremlin vanished. The Government only holds sway thanks to armed force, whilst the Andreivian Turks and Andreivian Armenians both have a militia force that hate each other only slightly more than they hate the Government's armed forces. It's not uncommon for all three forces to be fighting each other at the same time.
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| Tcherbevan's Armenian Quarter |
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| Downtown Tcherbevan |
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| The Harbour board - harbour at far side |
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| The Southern Hills - Italians yet to arrive |
Finally, NATO is also present on the board - a heavy armoured convoy of Italians is en route to Tcherbevan - or - do they have another goal?
Well, that sets the scene. I shall come back to this for a more detailed account, and describe my woeful luck and misfortune.
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| The first outing for this formidable piece of kit |
Well, here we are at nearly 1,000 words and the 60 minute deadline looms, and I've not added any photos - better get cracking.
UA-61206227-1
* Two words you rarely see together.
** Not entirely sure what this is, but people use it in this context.
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