You're In For It Now!

Forsooth, Have I Not Solved That Technical Problem?
Yes I have, you needn't sit there sucking your teeth and shaking your heads.  All it took was a different cable, which prompted the dialogue box "Permit access DENY/ALLOW", and a click on "ALLOW" later I could see all the photographs that I knew were present.
     So, now you get to experience deja vu as I revisit my earlier topics and add in pictures to go with them.  Art?

Skeleton, fleshed out

     I freely admit I looked up 10 Across, as I've yet to quite get the hang of this Skeleton  thing.  You'll notice that I've accidentally blacked-in a couple of squares that should have remained blank, as I hadn't worked out where the symmetry lay.  It was doable, if still rather a challenge thanks to novelty.  I shall have another go later this week, as the paper it's in only comes out on a Thursday.  You wait and see: in a couple of months I'll be waltzing through these.
     Next!

Ignore Lewis.  It's probably about drugs, anyway.

     I should have taken a photograph of the distant Pennines from Floor 17 of the Dark Tower, as this would have shown how fuzzy and obscured they were.  Not because it was raining, rather because of all the moisture in the air, which, combined with high temperatures, makes it feel unpleasantly muggy and humid.  Thus are folks hereabouts crossing their fingers in hopes of a violent thunderstorm or two, to get things feeling fresher again.
     At the risk of divulging a little too much information, Your Humble Scribe will have to sleep with the windows open tonight, lest he slowly baste/broil/saute (delete where applicable) in his own sweat overnight.  This means difficulty getting to sleep thanks to the intrusive traffic noises - no happy medium.

"Conrad was sleeping, fitfully."

     Okay, motley, I've got the blindfold on, as have you, so we'll play Blind Man's (Red-Hot Poker) Bluff!*

I Also Discovered This From Way Back When
This dates from when I started my "The Incredibles" possible timeline project, many months ago.  Art?

     Conrad took this shot because he was curious about those characters at the top of the keyboard.  I recognise Pi, and Epsilon, and Beta, and Delta; thus, are they all Greek alphabetical symbols?  Not your standard Quertyyuiop layout.  Perhaps these are Special Mad Scientist Characters?  You know, "Press Delta - errant minion's seat vanishes beneath the floor, with him still upon it, and there is the sound of sharks feeding" or "Press Pi twice to send billion-dollar extortion e-mail to UN Assembly", that sort of thing.

I bet he has them on his mobile, on speed-dial, too

The State Of Play To Date
The jigsaw, of course.  What, did you think this was going to be about some obscurantist drivel like the Women's World Ballfoot Thingy, which the Beeb is pushing suspiciously hard?  Conrad would rather have Mixed Double Bus-Spotting than anything to do with ballfoot, thanks very much.
     Anyway, the jigsaw.  A 1,000 piece one, titled "Water's Edge".  Art?

     Not bad, eh?  I haven't counted the bits remaining, though it looks to be about half-way there.  Not watching episodes of "Justified" whilst assembling it has helped, too.


Speaking Of Which -
I have now started to watch the 6th and final series of said program, which knew when to quit - that is, when it was ahead, as it still had very high approval ratings.  Best to go out on a high note and leave them wanting more, rather than turning into an hideous gurning caricature of your original self.

You know who you are

Colin's Beach House
If you have to ask "Colin who?" THEN YOU HAVE NOT BEEN PAYING ATTENTION!  Colin Furze, he of the technical ability, fervid imagination and utter ignorance of the terms "Health" and "Safety".  You know Colin - once he gets an idea in his head, he will work ceaselessly to make it an actuality, regardless of that soppy word "Danger".
     Thus, his Beach House.  Art?

Perfectly innocuous, right?

     I know what you're thinking - it's a bit small. Enough room for a couple of small children, or two very petite adults built along the lines of Audrey Hepburn <drifts off into salacious fantasy of having two Audrey Hepburns at his ->
     Anyway, being designed by Colin, of course it cannot simply be a beach hut.  There's a hint over on Youtube -

It begins!

     - as to what the secret is.  Allow us to jump to the finished article, and the beach hut interior.

Very twee.  And also wee.

     But this is not the hole - you'll see what I did there in a minute - story, because Ol' Col can peel back the lino in a corner and reveal -

An hidden room for the kids!

     Again, they have to be small children.  Yet even this is not the full storey - ha! sometimes I slay myself! - as Ol' Col can peel back the lino in a corner and reveal -

A room for the grown-ups

     Another secret room, where you can keep your brace of Audrey Hepburns hidden from the world <more seedy fantasies ensue until Mister Hand slaps a cheek>. 
     I hope you took notice of the plywood walls in that second photo, as they needed something substantial to keep all that mass of sand at - get this! - bay.  Ol' Col decided to remove the whole thing after gloating on Youtube about it, since it was likely to collapse anyway; digging in sand can be a somewhat risky proposition for normal human beings with common sense exciting way to build beach huts.


Finally -
We made the ton last night!  103 viewers, which is the Hits/Views ton rather than the 1,000 words plus Writing/Composition ton.  As you can see, words and terms here at BOOJUM! can be fairly elastic.**
     Anyway - Uxbridge.  Another English town that begins with "Ux-", and once again this is due to it's Anglo-Saxon heritage.  Art?

Utterly Uxbridge

     The derivation comes from "Wixan's Bridge", the Wixans being a bunch of Anglo-Saxons who were around from AD 700, and who built a bridge.  Back in those days, you had to make your own entertainment, and a bridge was right up there with cheese-rolling and bog-snorkelling.***
     And with that, it's time for my lunch.




*  Don't worry, I've got the poker, the motley's got a stick

**  Mister Hand translates: the fat biffer makes it all up.
***  See? said Mister Hand.