Pay closer attention - I typed "Wither" not "Whither", and the former word because it is cold and dry today, a winning combination in Conrad's view but perhaps not for those of you whose veins are not filled with a combination of lava and nitric acid. For those folks, the chill and wind is a bit - withering.
Here's a still shot of the balmy view from my bus stop this morning:
Things are looking up as it didn't rain once today; this means that Conrad's hilarious and satirical description of This Sceptred Isle* as "The Pond Of Eden" may have to revert back to the Garden variety.
Now, it is rare for Conrad's thought processes to run along the same track for long, though it does happen, as in this post, since I was looking out over Royton, noticing how clear the view was, yet back uphill, in the same direction as the photo of today, it was misty and obscure. Yes, I should have taken a photo as proof, but come on - surely you trust me on this little thing?
So, I pondered. Then I mused. Finally I cogitated: when does "mist" become "fog"?
Well, when does it? Is there an official Meteorological Office density "parts of precipitation per million per cubic metre" measurement? Does this differentiation occur in other countries? Probably not, since they are nowhere near as damp as this country; over in the Bavarian Alps I expect you can either see for miles or it's impossible to see the end of your eyelashes.
Further to the photo above, here's a short video sequence of Tandle Hill, minus mist or fog.
Then again, why do we have "Smog" but not "Smist"? and if it comes to that, why not "Smaar", "Smlag" and "Smizzle"? as I seem to recollect that Haar, Clag and Mizzle are all terms used by the Met. Office, too. Although those new variants do sound rather odd in addition to seeming a bit vulgar.
Conrad suggests that the Met. Office go for another expressive, all-encompassing word also beginning with "S" - "Slutch".
Dustin Wong And "Infinite Love"
Comrade Ian Breen is no longer present in the office yet is still one to pay attention to for music suggestions, and in this case a chap called Dustin Wong, guitarist out of the band Ponytails. Youtube reveals him to be a "looper", and any silly puns about Bruce Willis will get you a slap across the chops. I mean a guitarist who uses a ton of effects to create layers of sound (loops, see?) coming across as the equivalent of 10 people.
Here's a link to Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSrqCfTgHHI
Conrad is ambivalent about Dustin Wong. On the one hand, it's very nice stuff, tuneful and melodic. On the other hand, a wallet-emptying trip to Fopp is now in the offing.
Thank you, Ian, thank you a LOT!
| Art! |
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| Better |
What A Difference A B Makes
Just one of those things that pop up in your head as you shiver 'neath the sheets at 6:25 a.m. of a morning, eh?
Take the word "Robing" and you instantly have connotations of ermine and the Lords - pomp, pageantry and all that. Wigs and Black Rod**.
| Okay, no wigs |
You get "Robbing" with all it's connotations of theft and villainy - Burglar Bill if you will.
Some of the more acerbic amongst you may draw a connecting line between the two - and since that's an unhealthy combination of both Politics and Current Affairs, BOOJUM! politely declines.
For Your Information - just listening to Beethoven's "Ode To Joy" in the background on Youtube. This, Vulnavia, is music, and then some. Two hundred years old and still as good and more popular than ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kcOpyM9cBg
Today's odious alleged musical celebrities are, frankly, not fit to lick the dirt off shoes that got picked up from the shoes of Ludwig Van.
Where was I?
- actually make that " - from the shoes of Ludwig Van's butcher's wagon-driver."
Conrad's Coffee Convention
That's overstating it a little as there were only five of us. Exaggeration and Conrad are never far apart, though, are they?
This was a small gathering to meet up with Anna, whom we miss. Myself, Carol, Katie and Manisha - whom I am going to be in trouble with come Monday as I forget to get a photo of her. Here's an officially-vetted and approved one:
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| Anna - like the jam in a sandwich |
Aha! The music has now moved onto the Overture for the "1812" by Tchaikovsky. Stirring stuff indeed, and a stern corrective to those who dismiss the French as "Cheese-eating surrender monkeys". Napoleon, Victoria, did not conquer (and hold) Europe with a bunch of nancies. Who else in European history has ever managed to occupy Moscow***?
Anyway, back to the Convention. One topic that came up was sleepwalking, and one of Katie's relatives suffers from this in a major way. Carol said that her daughter had done this as a child.
Conrad should have been paying attention since the answer to a crossword clue - okay, okay, here's the clue: "He's still on his feet though he may not be aware of it" 12 letters.
Give up? So did I. "SOMNAMBULIST" - the Latin for "sleepwalker".
Pah!
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| Sheep walking. Close enough. |
* Britain. Of course.
** No sniggering at the back!
*** That he got beaten by the Russians in the end is a minor technical point.
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