I think they just translated it as directly as they could, nicht wahr?
Ah - excuse me for a minute, it's just gone Beer O'Clock and I've got some Old Speckled Hen in the kitchen cupboard a-calling me -
- which of course in Czech is "Stara Skvrnita Slepice".
And the reason for being so exclamatory is that, once again, I mention Czechia and Czechoslovakia as was, and viewing traffic goes through the roof.
So! Let us continue to revel in Czech culture and return to that classic author I mentioned previously, Jaroslav Hasek. Art?
 |
| In his last years |
You know that word "Bohemian"*? It was probably invented to describe Jaroslav. He was a wit, a writer and a bon viveur who drank himself to death at the age of 39. His life is much too complicated to go into here, but Your Humble Scribe would recommend "The Bad Bohemian", a biography of the rascal. One example of his drollery was when he managed to get appointed as editor of "Animal World" magazine, which didn't last long: he was fired for writing articles on werewolves, amongst other cryptids.
You would know him from "The Good Soldier Svejk", which was an international success and is the best-known example of Czech literature. The big question about Svejk himself is, was he really a completely clueless idiot, or was it all an act? and because Jaroslav died without finishing the novel, we'll never know. Art!
| Thus |
Since Jaroslav introduced the topic, I was going to write about the Czech Legion during and after the First Unpleasantness and into the Ruffian Civil Unpleasantness, but this would be rather complicated, and, besides, I think I've ticked enough Czechia boxes for this item.
Motley! Staropramen! Now!
| Close enough |
I Lied
- about no more Czech stuff, because we're going right back to Angry Czech Lady and seeing what comes in at Number Five in her list of Spousti, which is Czech for "Triggers".
O Marketa! What is rattling your cage today?
"Say Kofola is the Czech Coca-Cola"
Ah. Yes.
TAUNT ME WITH WHAT I CANNOT HAVE WHY DON'T YOU!
<ahem> Conrad has cut carbonated swill out of his life, as long as you don't include Old Speckled Hen in there. I did have a small swig of Pepsi-Cola this week, only half a mouthful, honest, and then only to empty the bottle so we could bin it (which is "Zasobnik to" in Czech).
Conrad (which is probably "Konrad" in Czech) STOP DOING THAT IT'S B****Y ANNOYING! <what everyone's thinking courtesy Mister Hand> has never heard of "Kofola" before, and considers it sounds like a nasty lung infection endemic in Laos, or something. Art?
 |
| CAUTION! Do not inhale |
In fact it's the product of a company that are positive giants in the soft drinks field in Central and Eastern Europe. It was invented in 1959 when trying to find a use for coffee grounds and was an immediate and long-lasting success. Marketa alleges it tastes better from the barrel than the bottle, which we will have to take her word for, as it's not available in This Sceptred Isle.
The English Civil Unpleasantness And Logistics
I have taken note in the work that I am reading about the above, that the King's armies tended to be better run in terms of logistics than did Parliament's, especially the Earl of Essex's army. One supposes this is a consequence of having less in the way of material resources; you have to make what you have work harder.
For Lo! we are back on the subject of gunpowder again. The King initially had no powder mills under his control, so they were set up on a wartime basis, which is where the lack of skilled or experienced artisans is telling, because explosions.
 |
| Old not destroyed |
To give you some idea of the quantities of powder needed to keep the armies in business, Parliament's annual requirement came to about 7,000 barrels, and the King's armies would need a similar quantity. The Powder mills of Parliament would supply 3,600 barrels annually, so they needed to purchase the remainder. The King was in a far worse position for powder production, unable to produce (from my guesstimates) more than 2,000 barrels annually, so his wife Queenie was often away from home on the continent, buying up powder. Which, knowing merchants of any stripe at any time in history, would have suddenly become VERY VERY EXPENSIVE. Meaning that Kingie had that much less to spend on other kit.
 |
| That's a couple of pounds of powder gone up in smoke |
As well as artillery - which used up oodles of expensive powder - there were the muskets to supply, and granadoes (clay pots full of horrid sharp things), and mines.
From Dystopia To Dattopia
Kind of, I was reaching a little there. For we are now at Number 19 on "Rolling Stone"'s list of the Top 50 Sci-Fi Shows Of All Time, even if Your Humble Scribe contends that some are arbitrary and unworthy.
Anyway! This entry is "Utopia", which - Art?
 |
| Thus |
-Conrad had never heard of. The plot, however, revolves around a comic manuscript which Conrad can get right behind. The plot also revolves around global vaccination programs against a disease called "Russian Flu**", which - O really? Ah. Apparently Amazon have picked up the rights to remake it and began doing so in 2019. Whether they will continue given the way Covid-19 has rather changed the game for anything involving a global pandemic is quite another question. Even if completed, it may get shelved.
Ah well, such is life.
Finally -
I didn't mention this before, since the human consciousness can only take so much, but the dedication in Peter Caddick-Adams "Sand and Steel" is to Professors John Buckley and Gary Sheffield. Why is this important or relevant?
Well, because both are eminent and respected authors on military history, John tending to the Second Unpleasantness and Gazza the First. AND I'VE GOT LOTS OF THEIR BOOKS!
 |
| John, thinking higher thoughts. Or, what's for dinner |
And now - dinner!
* There, there, Brian, don't cry, this is nothing to do with Queen.
** One can hear the bitching and whining from a certain Tsar in the Kremlin right now ...
No comments:
Post a Comment