Conrad - Sneaky Rascal

I Know, I Know -
"But we knew that already," I can hear you retort.
     Here an aside.  I used to work with Lisa, who once stated that she would never dare to have an affair, as her partner was so extremely astute that he'd figure it out immediately.
     This is kind of related.  I have bored you with a short account of reading "Defiance", which we might even have a picture of, if Art can stop drooling over his photo collection of Mara Corday - 

My edition

     Mr. Nichols originally published this work in 1919, only a year after the events it describes, and because he was typically reticent and didn't want any accusations of slander, he was careful to excise all mention of his unit (an artillery brigade), his senior officers and even which Division he was in.  He mentions an infantry battalion in the division as being the "Westshires", which is blatantly made-up.
     Alas! Mister Nichols.  The dust jacket's brief biography of him mentioned that he was in the 82nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery.
     Remember Lisa's partner?  He had an eye for telling details, and so does your humble scribe.
     "82nd Brigade, eh?" I said to myself, in my usual sinister whisper (this is okay as I was alone and there are no small children or nervy old ladies to worry).
     As well as an eye for detail, I also have Becke's "Order of Battle of Divisions".  Art?

Thus

     This is an incredibly detailed breakdown of the entire British army of the First Unpleasantness, a fantastic reference work if not something you'd sit down and read from cover to cover.  It reveals that the 82nd Brigade RFA was part of the 18th (Eastern) DIvision, with it's sister Brigade being the 83rd, that the General commanding was Major General R.P. Lee, that the infantry brigades were numbers 53, 54 and 55; the BGRA (Brigadier General Royal Artillery or the gunner's top bloke) was BG Evans to begin with, before being temporarily succeeded by Colonel Thorp, who may well have been Nichols' CO.
     So!  All is revealed.  I feel quite pleased with myself.  All that remains is to strip the motley naked and pursue it with a water-cannon.

Conrad looking pleased.
(In his defence, it's not a face made for smiling)

     I was going to go on about "War Robots" but perhaps later.  Instead we shall focus our jaundiced and cynical eye on LITHIUM WAFER BATTERY DE - no, no, that's deadly dull stuff.  Ah!

When I Say "N.M.R."
I am referring, of course, to the Naked Mole Rat, that spectacularly ugly desert denizen, because having to type the whole thing out is too time-consuming, even if it would up my word count.  Art?  

Repellent in every detail!

     This clarification is so that you don't confuse the abbreviation with "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance" which can also be abbreviated to N.M.R. and which is used in medical spectroscopy, to obtain pictures of and information on the body.

This is how they found out about the Brain Parasites*

     Mind you, given the peculiarities of the NMR, they might well end up getting imaged via NMR, in which case the Universe will implode or you will be confused, one of the two.

"Thallassa!  Thallassa!"
Which is Greek for "The sea!  The sea!" and comes at the end of Xenophon's epic saga "Anabasis", which is a Thrilling Wonder Story and no mistake, and all true.  The Greeks are overjoyed to see the <ahem> sea, because it means they are now close to friendly Greek cities, after a long battle across hostile lands.
     This came to mind after reading a couple of stories on the font of all that's fit to be writ, more formally the BBC.  Firstly there's Lihou.  Art?

Lihou at low tide

     We might have covered this in our. series on tidal islands earlier this year.  Anyway, Lihou lies just off the coast of Guernsey and can be reached via causeway at low tide.  There is one house on the island, which is occupied by a warden who maintains it and looks after the local wildlife.  There is also a natural swimming pool which is topped up every high-tide. Art?

Thus

     They are now looking for a new resident warden.  The old one is moving to France after doing the job for 14 years, so the post does have some kind of attraction for healthy, outdoor, rugged types.  I dare say they'll be swamped with applicants.
     Then there's Happisburgh.  Art?

On the Norfolk coast

     These photos aren't dated but can only be a few years apart.  You can see the extent that the coastline is being eroded by the sea and where houses have fallen into the sea.  What was expected to take over a century to occur has instead taken place in a few years, and most of the remaining houses will be gone in an estimated five years or less.  Note that the erosion is most marked where there are no sea defences.
     So a distinctly less cheerful tale than Lihou, and a reminder that it's unwise to mess with the sea, since there tends to be only one winner and it generally ain't puny humans.



     I say, that was a bit of a downer, what?  The truth might set you free but it can be a bit depressing, too.

Finally -
I have noticed over time that the length of the average post here on BOOJUM! has increased markedly.  My normal target used to be 750 words, and when I started a good few years ago posts usually only consisted of a couple of hundred.  Now they often hit 1,000 words.  I think this is what military pundits call "mission creep", although in the case of this blog "mission creepy" is probably more accurate.
     If there is a conclusion here, I think it's that you now get even more wibble for your money.  Which, if you enjoy reading a stream of slanderous scrivel, can only be a good thing.

Conrad.  Still pleased.**

     A few flattering Comments wouldn't hurt, though ...

*  This is a lie <the relieved truth courtesy Mister Hand>
**  And still not very smiley