This Critter's On Twitter

Not That I Wasn't Before -
Although all I ever did was pimp BOOJUM! with an occasional comment on some people I follow.  This, apparently, is Not The Done Thing, and - being English and therefore with Polite all the way through me like a stick of rock - I hang my (now tidier and more manageable) head in shame.  FORGIVE ME INTERWEBZ, FORGIVE ME!
     "What does this mean in practical terms, Conrad?" I hear you ask, whilst you guzzle down a six-pack of Carlsberg and devour a pizza.
     Leaving aside your shockingly unhealthy lifestyle, I shall propound.
     First, it means I am posting more on Twitter.  Those of you out there who think that Conrad's musings, mentoring and mental meanderings are nothing more than mind-sewage* will thus probably not be impressed.  You can petition Twitter if you want, but - Hey!  Free speech and all that.
     Second, it probably means a bit of a disconnect with Facebook posts, as they can be far longer than Twitter's meagre 23 characters.  Normally I just copy the FB stuff over to Twitter or vice versa, but from now on they are going to differ.
     Thirdly, people on Twitter might bother to read my stuff.  A pious hope, certainly, yet hope springs eternal.
     Enough of the wibble - on with the motley!

"Bleeding Edge" By Thomas Pynchon
I took notes whilst reading this novel, and whilst it didn't affect reality, causality or phenomenology as when reading his other works, it did generate a long list of things I have to look up to understand.  Last night on Twitter I posted about just one of these things - "Zabars".  A kind correspondent replied that it was an "Upscale New York (Upper West Side) delicacy store".  Well now I know, except - it's easier to use a picture here.  Art?

I can't very well post each of these on Twitter, can I?

     It really would be testing people's patience to go posting all of these, and I don't think the Pynchon Wiki is the same edition as mine, so the pages won't match.
     I strongly suspect a very long session on Google beckons!

Conrad - Rubbing Shoulders With The Rich And Famous
Hey, it's true!  I have an autographed Post-It from Norman Lovett on the fridge door.  I once spoke to John Peel.  Bruce Campbell replied to an e-mail.  Oh, and Al Murray once retweeted a post of mine**.
     BUT! All this pales into insignificance - except the Bruce Campbell bit - when I got a reply from Stephen Mangan last night on Twitter.
     "The name is familiar," I hear you chunter.  "Although I cannot -"
     Stop right there!  Art?

Stephen, right of centre.  Also far left.

      Allow me to point out that those terms are strictly in terms of location, not politics, as Conrad maintains his lofty disregard of anything to do with the Third Estate.  The photo above is from a Comic Strip spoof entitled "Red Top".  You heard it here first, folks.
     "Still not seeing it, Conrad.  Can't you do better?" I hear you chasten.
     Excuse me!  That's Art falling down on the job, not me.  Don't worry, I shall deprive him of his supper*** tonight as punishment.

     You've surely heard me banging on about the television programme "Houdini And Doyle"?  Well Mr Mangan plays the part of Doyle.  Art?

Now! Now do you see?

     And the interesting thing is that Mr Mang - dammit, I'm going to call him Stephen, we're practically best mates already - Stephen is actually a pronounced skeptic, holding a worldview diametrically opposite that of his character.  That, sir, is acting.

Whilst On About Skeptics ...
Allow me to mention The Iron Skeptic, who has a website that is - I know, you got there already - skeptical about woo-woo, ju-ju, voodoo and Boo-Boo (the sinister ursine mastermind behind all of Yogi Bear's evil schemes).

http://www.theironskeptic.com/

     That's the link, but BEWARE! for it does have quite a bit of sweary language in it, as I think old Iron gets annoyed at idiocy on the internet, to the extent that his blood pressure is at risk.

Cool Idea
Thanks to Degsy I came across this little gem on Facebook.  Art?

Brrrr!

     Now, you know your humble scribe by now - never one to use a short word where a long (preferably pretentious and Latin-derived) one will do and also wont to use fifty words where five would be enough for normal people.  Heck, look at that previous sentence.  Heck, look at that previous sentence^.  Conrad likes to boost his word count, so the idea above rather struck home.  And I have a short story of two sentences for you to read and cringe in horror at!
     Ready?   Here goes -

"You thought I was dead.

I AM!"

     Think it's got legs?

*  Yes amazingly enough there are people who think this way. Including me at times.
** It was quite funny.
***  A plate of coal
^  I could go on indefinitely but am feeling merciful so will not.