I Predict A Rite

Yes, You Did Read That Correctly

Forsooth, is this not BOOJUM! - yes it is for those uncertain - and is it not created and run by one of the internet's biggest spelling pedants? - the answer once again is yes - and thus how likely is it that I would put "Rite" by accident instead of "Riot"?
     Quite.  0%.  If negative percentages were a thing, then there'd be one.

A record I dislike, actually

     Okay, onto the meat of the matter.  Have you heard of 'Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'?  If not, then you ought to.  I have the 17th edition, a massive tome of considerable weight.  Art?

Several pounds worth

     Picking a page at random is an illuminating and interesting way to waste an afternoon, because you start to cross-reference other entries and before you know it, 1:30 ante meridian has arrived, and you need to be up for work at 6:00 -
     But I digress.  Which is pretty much business as usual round here.
     "Belomancy" is the entry I came across in BDOPAF, and it struck me as interesting enough to describe it to you.  The word comes from the Greek for 'dart' - "Belos" - and "divination" - "manteia", and means the rite of divination by arrow.  A set of labels were attached to several arrows, which were then loosed by archers, and the advice on the label that went furthest was the advice followed.
     Don't mock it.  The Babylonians were fond of it, and Babylon was a mighty city.  The Scythians were also passing fond of it, and they turned into the Russians, so the jury is still out on that one.  Besides, it's no dafter than people turning to the astrology column in The Metro for advice.

SO predictive - who knew!

     There you are, a little education about classical Greek lexicography and ancient Mesopotamia.  BOOJUM! - mixing interesting facts in with complete drivel.*
     Okay, time to see if a roomful of rabid dogs can make the motley climb up the chimney from the fireplace!

A Fur Coat You Can't Take Off

Ah, the carefree life of a dog, eh?  Eat, sleep, play, walkies; repeat.  Quite where the phrase "a dog's life", meaning a miserable existence, comes from Conrad cannot fathom.  Probably some benighted country beyond the borders of the Allotment.
     The drawback of being a dog with a particularly dense fur coat is that you can't take it off in hot weather, and since the weather of late has been especially hot, poor Edna Wunderhund has been suffering.  Art?

Edna, looking (literally) sheepish

     Wonder Wifey had been giving her a cold shower in the afternoon, which she was extremely reluctant about.  Edna, not WW.  Plus there was the risk of having her shake all the water out of her coat.
     Enter a barely-acceptable substitute: a damp cloth draped over her back.  She will put up with it for a few contemptuous minutes before shrugging it off.  Apparently she is too cool to be wet.

Observe And Report

Pub Quiz colleague Phil has finally gotten round to gifting your humble scribe with a pair of 'Observer's Book of -" which he had dug out of the attic, these being "The Observers Basic Book Of Aircraft" in a Civil and a Military variant.  Art?

Subdued lighting for dramatic effect

     They hail from 1967, so they are an interesting slice of late 60's technology, where the turboprop and jet were still flying side-by-side.  Now, the question is, will they have the BAE One-Eleven?  I intend to find out.  I can also show you their inner layout.  Art?

     Since that's not especially illuminating, you have a photograph of the plane in question, a load of stats about it, and then silhouettes from head-on, port and underneath (which I should probably call "ventral").

Finally -

Still watching "The Rain", and only up to Episode 4, but I see it's been renewed for a second series.  Damn.  That means there is no overall resolution to Series One.  If it were set in the UK it would all be over within thirty minutes stage time.  You know, this being the Pond of Eden, where it rains a lot all the time.

Yer average UK summer day

*  Hey, it's harder than it looks.