I Get The Bird

In A Good Way
Come on, when have you ever known this blog to be straightforward about anything when we can be convoluted at the very least, if not positively cryptic at times?  Mandy did say that she sometimes wondered exactly what I was going on about*.
     I refer, of course, to the game of Mah Jongg, which is apparently Chinese for "Sparrows", which comes in two versions: i) A game played between four people, in a similar convention to bridge, apparently, which I will take as read because I've never played bridge.  I have only played this version of MJ against a computer, and got pretty good at it.  Art?

The game in play

     The idea is to build hands from tiles you pick up, getting a bonus if you have one or more of the special tiles.  There's a lot more to it.  We have an MJ set lying around somewhere -
     Anyway, that's what this is not.  Because ii) is a solitaire version, much like solitaire, where the tiles are arranged at random and you have to remove edge pairs, attempting to clear all the tiles.  You can try to set this up with actual tiles, which is tricky, and most people prefer the computer version, which I got back into yesteryon.  No idea why, because it's a tremendous time waster.  Art?

An example

     There are "Undo" and "Hint" options with this one, which of course I never use. If you look at the picture above you can see that the extreme right hand tiles are blocked, because there's no Four Of Bamboo to pair with the edge tile.  On the bottom row you can see two Seven Of Dots next to each other, which is a pain, because to match either of them you need to get rid of all the tiles to either left or right.  You can also see the centrally-stacked tiles, but only the top ones.  If one of these piles has a pair of tiles one beneath the other, you're pretty much goosed.
     I do win occasionally.  Art?

Proof, you skeptics! Proof!

     Motley, when I said "shall we play with tiles?" it did not mean get up on the roof and strip slates <sighs heavily>

"Pimlico"
What's in a name?  Your humble scribe brings this name up because he was processing a form sent in from the branch there of My Still Coyly Anonymous Employer, and - as ever, curious** - wondered at the origin.  There is an entry on Wiki; however, I consulted my copy of Brewers (which was ironically apt, as you will see in a minute) which informs that the name - yes, Art, a picture, please - 

Nice Regency architecture
(Averaging £1,250,000 per house, or twice the national average)

     The name comes from a brewer (do you see wha - O you do) called Ben Pimlico, who was famous for his <ahem> "nut-browne" ale.  Allegedly.  Because, not to be outdone, the South Canadians claim it was borrowed from a place-name of theirs, to whit: Pamlico.  You can guess which origin Conrad prefers.
     As mentioned above, it is pricey, and has been the haunt of some famous people, whom presumably had deep pockets or inherited handily.  
     And there you have it: Pimlico.  Now we are all better-informed than we were five minutes ago.

Also -

The Devil's Dictionary!
Not literally, although I do own a copy of that amusing and horrendously cynical work by Ambrose Gwinnet Bierce.  No, I refer to my copy of "Brewers Dictionary Of Phrase And Fable", because it is indeed A Tome Of Satan: all you have to do is pick it up and check an entry, and then another one catches your eye, and then another, and you have to look up what it cross-referenced, and - then it's bedtime.  And you picked it up at breakfast.
     Today, however, I have managed to discover something useful within it's pages and put it down again.  First, though - Art!

Nice with a slice

     This drink is gin-based, which Your Humble Scribe did not know.  It is one of a clutch of Pimm's drinks, six in total.  Number 2 was whisky-based, Number 3 was brandy-based, Number 4 was rum-based, Number 5 was rye-based and Number 6 WAS A FREE MAN - sorry, came over all Prisoner there - Number 6 was vodka-based.  And it's called "Pimm's" because that's the name of the chap who invented it in 1840***.

"Dimya did not react well to being told he could not have a cut of Pimm's Number 6 profits"

"Dybbuk"
I know, I'm sorry, one of those words that pop up in my head like a mental eructation.^ I'm not even sure that's the correct spelling.  A minute, please, whilst I consult my trusty Collins Concise -
     Yep, spelled correctly.  It comes from Yiddish by way of Hebrew, and is the spirit of a sinner who has taken up non-paying residence in another person.  Possession?  Probably not a good thing.  

Conrad pretty sure this is a metaphor, as otherwise sitting down would be rather difficult

     As I recall, the way to evict this unwanted resident is to array a set of people around the sufferer, and have them blow a ceremonial ram's horn, preferably all out of tune.  This is enough to break the dybbuk's ties with the mortal body, especially if they were at all musical in life, and off they pop.  Where to?  Hmmm, good question, is there a Jewish Hell or Hades?  <Googles quickly> hmmmm a big question - perhaps, and if so it's called "Gehinom".
     Now we are all far better-informed than we were ten minutes ago.  BOOJUM! - educating you one factoid at a time!

Finally - 
Gotta tie this up quickly, Conrad is hungry and wants some lunch!



*  On occasions, so do I.
**  An euphemism for "Nosy" <the horrid truth courtesy Mister Hand>
***  Maybe he made enough money from it to go live in Pimlico?
^  No, this is NOT rude.  Wash out your dirty minds!