Badger's Bottom, Say Hello

I Will Probably Have To Explicate That
Since, if you are one of those benighted people who do not hail from the shores of This Sceptred Isle, you may not be familiar with the saying "As rough as a badger's bottom", although the term used for "Bottom" is a little more vulgar.  It means to be in an unfit state, the worse for wear and generally under the weather.

A badger

     This is how Your Humble Scribe is feeling, as he is full of a cold and feels utterly zonked.  Edna's morning walk absolutely washed me -
     What's that?  Why is the posterior of a badger considered to be the epitomy of a gritty consistency?  I have no idea, and my Brewers is upstairs.  Hang on <grits teeth and resorts to Google>  nope, not much there, either.  You'd expect it so be something along the lines of "Rough as shed shark's skin" because you can actually use shark's skin as a crude sandpaper.

Shark skin

     How about "Rough as a shark's bark", which would be hilariously ironic and post-modern (I use that phrase without having the slightest idea of what it means, since nobody else does, either) because of course sharks don't bark, not even dogfish.  Unless - unless we're talking about metaphorical "Bark" as in the bark of a tree, which is the outer epidermis of our leafy friends -
     Sorry, where was I?
     O yes.  Trying to glean some sympathy for feeling mildly ill.  After all, there is nothing more pathetic on this planet than a man with a minor illness.
     Motley!  Motley!  I need a litre of chicken soup, quick as you can, along with ten rounds of toast, dumplings, a pot of Darjeeling and a punnet of strawberries.

A Dumpling.  Just so we're clear

More Of Food
I now have a new phone, which was supplied with a micro-SD card, whatever that is, but no SIM card.  I suspect they put the MSD card in by mistake, when it ought to have been the SIM*.  Regardless, I now have the ability to take and post photographs, which I can demonstrate right now.  Art?

      So, these are only 6 months past their BBE date, and as you can clearly see, they aren't rotten or mouldy so I shall be eating them in the near future.  How remarkable it is to find long-forgotten food at the back of the cupboard!
     CAUTION!  Do not try this at home.  Conrad has a nuclear-powered induction furnace for a stomach; you do not.
     Also, I have made an Italian Pork and Lamb Stew, from the "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipe Book".  Art?

In prep

     It looked rather underwhelming in terms of size when in the slow cooker.  Well, that transpires because it's a freaking enormous pot, and the amount of food that came out would feed four people, or two greedy ones.  And maybe one-and-a-half Conrads.

One For Those Abroad
Edna is cast upon my tender mercies, which variously involve feeding her, walking her, chasing her and her ball, and being the Fifth Sleeping Place in the lower house.  She is currently asleep on the dog bed out in the hallway, where I make a point of giving her a stroke every time I pass her.  Just in case she's feeling any canine angst.  Art?

Subtly different from yesterday

     This position is known as "Trapped By Dog" and means that the human being used as a cushion cannot move.  Apparently this is one of the highest honours it is possible to pay a member of Hom. Sap.  According to the dogs, anyway.

Back To Threadbanger
If you have been up to speed on things then you will recall Conrad mentioning this channel and their debunking some of the visual spew that "5 Minute Crafts" puts out.  However, I didn't have the capacity to take explanatory photographs.  Until now. 

The supposed finished product

      Let me be clear here; the intent of 5MC is not to create anything workable, but merely to make their videos go viral, because that's how they make their money.  Let's look at the utter mess Rob got into trying to copy their instructions.  Art?

A disaster

     This shows the zip coming unstuck, as hot-glue isn't strong enough to adhere it to the plastic.  This is quite apart from the zip not working at a 90 degree corner, of which there are two.  Finally, the supposed 'finished product' is completely different from the one that they would have you build.  Art?

      Neither Rob nor Conrad were impressed.
     Bah!

Back To Book Bucket List
Don't look around nervously like that, we are getting towards the end, I promise.  Only another twenty or so to go**!  Art?
"The Forever War" By Joe Haldeman

Military sci-fi?  Of course I've read it!

      It is variety of space-opera, humanity being at war with the alien Taurans across huge stretches of interstellar space.  Travel between stars is via "Collapsars" that permit instantaneous travel over astronomical distances, with the (very large) proviso that relatavistic and time dilation effects mean two years travel away from the Solar System ends up being 27 years back on Earth.  Mandella, our protagonist and hero, ends up surviving to the war's end - otherwise you wouldn't have a novel - and the background and setting is realistically bleak, Haldeman having been a tank crewman in Vietnam.  So he knows how dehumanising war can be.
     Now, I'm not sure I've still got a copy of the novel, but I do have the three trade paperback comics inked by Marvano.  Art?
                        

     Go me!

Finally -
I am still watching "Limitless" and am now up to Episode 8.  I know that it wasn't renewed after the initial season of 22 episodes, and am okay with that.  I don't think you could have kept the initial concept of a man enhanced by neurotropics beyond one season.  And there is always that nagging feeling that the television suits were very, very uncomfortable with a show where the lead character is only awesome when he's on drugs.

"NZT - is it inherently good?  Inherently bad?  And where can I get some?"

*  MSDs are for data storage, apparently.  So now we all know. 
**  I haven't been counting but we are a lot closer to the end than that.  You may rejoice quietly.