- we do not resort to textspeak or urban argot. No. We maintain a moral bulwark against the insidious lexicographical machinations of the C21.
| An insidious lexicographical machine. Perhaps. |
So! Now that's all - sorry? You have no idea what I'm rabbiting on about?
Oh. Well, we'd probably throttle back from Mach 2,500,831/Licht 1 and explain.
Okay, as you know, your humble scribe is worryingly/intensely/sadly* interested in the Desert War of the Second Unpleasantness, after being inspired circa 1978 by a reprint of Geoffrey Wagner's "The Sands of Valour". Art?
Possibly taken from a real-life photograph, since Roger McGowan used it as the basis for the cover of the boardgame "Operation Crusader". Not sure who the artist it, but they have thoroughly nailed the British infantry Mk. II tank 'Matilda'.
Anyway, for those who care to know, the Evil Opposition in the Western Desert from the outbreak of the war and for a good nine months (before that piker Rommel showed up) after that was the Royal Italian Army, who are officially dubbed "Regio Esercito".
Enter work colleague L., who hails from Italy. I bet you can see where this is going - yes, she explained how to pronounce Regio Esercito, which was quite different from how I imagined it.
So there you go. Schooled.
Now, it is time to throw the motley into a barrel full of broken bottles and roll it downhill!**
More Of The World''s Most Boring Hobby
Ah, how fruitful it is to have a cruise through the Goofs page on IMDB for a film. Well, fruitful for us hair-splitting pedants - the rest of you might regard it as a cruel and unusual punishment.
So - there I was, watching "Cross of Iron", Sam Peckinpah's magnum opus about the Eastern Front in the Second Unpleasantness, and, because it's how I roll, your humble scribe checked the Goofs page, and a couple of things came to attention. Art?
Although dozens of rifles, submachine guns, and machine guns are fired during the movie, in only one instance are spent cartridge cases shown to be ejecting during firing (this occurs near the end of the film, as Sgt Steiner is firing a captured Russian submachine gun at Lieutenant Treibig).
Of course, I could not resist the opportunity to prove this -
WRONG!!! I think you will find spent cartridges being ejected at 43:50, 44:44, 1:00:20, 1:00:21:32, 1:00:46:30, 2:00:04:33 minutes into the film.
Ha! <snaps fingers, hurts self, cries>
| Cartridges! Being ejected! |
Generally, lighting and editing and camera angle all conspire to prevent vision of cartridges being ejected. And do you really want the action to pause so you can experience every aching second of a Wehrmacht stubble-hopper working the bolt on his Kar 98, in order to capture the moment he ejects a spent cartridge?***
My Fickle Furry Friend
Edna, for those of you who are unaware of whom, exactly, is undisputed Queen of The Mansion. Whilst dog-sitting she was never far from my side, and more usually camped out on my lap.
However, now that the Wrecking Crew have returned from their sojourn overseas, I am briefly greeted upon returning from work by Edders, frantically trying to wag her bum off, and may be graced later in the evening by a single visit. Not that I can claim to be the main attraction, as she is simply out to hoover up any spilled food^.
Oh well. Sic transit Gloria Conrad.
Conrad, Ploughing A Lonely Furrow
After rehabilitating the weasel ("Our Misunderstood Friend"), I think I've chosen a tough gig by trying to remedy folk's perception of the shark. Although there is a brand of clothing that uses a shark marque. Art?
| Yes. Is this progress? |
I think a tagline "Hoover of the seas" would sell it a bit better than "Go-to amoral villain that eats people". Hollywood, are you listening?
* Delete where applicable
** Yes, we're being extra-specially cruel today, because it got off scot-free yesterday.
*** The answer is "No" lest you be unaware.
^ Good luck with that, Edna. Conrad is greedy and not at all fussy about eating what's been dropped.
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