In The Good Old Sumer Time

Heh!  That'll Catch A Few People Out
And for those of you who clicked on the link expecting to see a list of cliches about hot weather, tough!  Pay closer attention next time, because this Intro is all about the ancient civilisation that lay at the southern end of what we called Mesopotamia, that of the Sumerians.
     What, did you think it was a spelling mistake?  BITE YOUR TONGUE! and bite it very hard indeed.  When was the last time there was a typo or spelling mistake in BOOJUM!  Never, that's when, despite the blinkered South Canadian spellchecker not recognising legitimate words like "bloggoreah" or "scrivel".
     Anyway, the Sumerians were one of the three great ancient civilisations, alongside the Egyptians and Chinese.  I think we could do with a map.  Art?

Thus

     When using the word "ancient" it's difficult to grasp how old this civilisation was; it was already thriving by 3,000 BC and probably had roots going back as far as 4,500 BC.  They persisted until 1,750 BC, when they got somewhat scragged by their neighbours and lost any independent status they might have had.  Still, a history of two and a half thousand years is not something to sniff at.
     Don't expect a long list of things they invented, as they were a clever lot and invented much, which we don't have time to explore here - though we shall come back to it.  One of their primary inventions was the city - Art?

The ruined city of Ur, with ziggurat in the background

     Uruk - not to be confused with Ur - holds the distinction of being the first city, having a population of about 70,000.  The size of population, together with the infrastructure for housing, travel, sanitation and commerce is what defines it as a city.  I say "city" but "city state" is closer to the mark, each of the major cities being a self-contained unit similar to the later Greek city states; and like the later Greek city states, they were always squabbling with each other, frequently spilling over into open warfare.  Art?

The Chariots of War powered by the Donkeys of Death!

     There you go, I think that's enough ancient history for you.  Perhaps we'll come back and look a little more closely at some Sumerian inventions.
     <eyes the motley sitting eating crumpets and drinking tea, frowns, walks away>

Speaking Of Chariots ...
I did once hear an odious bafoon, in getting on the bus, describe it as a "peasant chariot", which is of course a gross calumny, as the vast majority of us who board them in the city of Gomorrah-on-the-Irwell are in fact clerical workers, not toilers in the fields.
     Anyway, tonight the 24 bus turned up on time <small hooray!> and it was a double-decker, which was also boiling, to the extent that Conrad had to take his jacket off.
     No sooner had I finished the MEN's Cryptic Crossword and taken out "Snow and Steel" than the bus came to a stop at Broadhurst Park, only twenty minutes into an hour-long journey.
     Uh-oh.  This did not look good, and neither did the gusts of smoke that had been whipping past the windows.  Art?

What's wrong with this picture?

      We were all shepherded off the bus, which had been so hot because the engine was overheating.  Not what you want when the ambient temperature is about 250.  As that chap above in the TFGM hi-vis vest noticed and informed the driver, coolant was "pouring out of the engine."

It certainly was!

     Fortunately the 182 came by a few minutes later, there was plenty of room upstairs and it was considerably cooler.  Also, we had a good view of the 24's grinning satanic maw - Art?

At least a little bit satanic?

     Your Humble Scribe cannot wait to see what First Bus unveil for us tomorrow!

Back To Ol' Otto
If you recall, Otto Strasser was one of the pre-election Nazi Party's committed left-wingers, who got kicked out in 1930, whilst his brother Gregor, equally left-wing, remained a member, if an increasingly uneasy one.  
     Otto decided not to stay in Germany, which was passing wise, since his brother was killed by the Nazis in The Night Of The Long Knives in 1934.  This was typical of how the Nazis settled disputes - bloodily.

French, please note.

     Otto ended up in France, where he was given money and a radio station to broadcast propaganda to the Third Reich's citizens; them French, eh?  Never miss a chance to put the metaphorical boot in.  He wanted all Teutons outside Germany to unite in order to get rid of Herr Schickelgruber, which particular idea did not go down at all well with the Nazi heirarchy.  In fact, when a peripatetic Otto moved to Canada, the Nazis put a £500,000 bounty on his head and described him as "Public Enemy Number One", presumably because he had impeccable National Socialist credentials, he was German, and his "Black Front" bunch of pals were still stooging around.

Otto and Gregor

     Nazi politics, in the opinion of Your Modest Artisan, resembled nothing more than the court of a medieval emperor.  No wonder they only lasted 12 years!

     Hmmmm, rather heavy stuff, that.  Let us choose something light and inconsequential to follow up with -

A 3D Maze
This was an idea that popped up in that seething stew of sordid speculation, a.k.a. my brain.
     Consider a normal maze as found in a book of puzzles.  Art?

2D

     It is flat and bidimensional.  Googling "3D Maze" brought up what I'd describe as "Pseudo-3D Mazes", which, if Art will put his plate of coal down -

Nope

Still nope

     They have depth, yet not really the 3rd dimension I'm looking for, because that would be a multi-level affair, with only one correct route through the initial level of the maze, though there would be several false exits leading to dead ends in the second level.  It would all have to be done in a transparent material so you can see into the heart of it, four levels down, in order to negotiate your icon round the route.

Conceptually, what I meant

     That above looks more like what I meant, although since it isn't transparent, you're going to have a hard time negotiating it.  I wonder, are there any actual, real three-dimensional transparent mazes out there?

Finally!

     Er - having found one, it does look forbiddingly difficult.  Oh, and it costs over £2,500.  I think the idea of a surprise Christmas present just took a back seat.
     Okay, no problems with the notorious Reformatting Cursor glitch today, though I am not going to sweep the cursor o'er the body of what I've written, just in case.  And now, about 12 hours earlier than usual, I am going to Publish - and see who turns up to view.
Chin chin!