THE SUPERB OWL

Yes I Say, Hastings Ismay!

For the owl, symbol of Oldham (or "Babylon Lite", if you will), might very well be revered today, yet it was not always so.  Art!  Less coal more goal!

That's one ticked-off owl

     You see, whilst the Greeks and Romans (who nicked Greek culture at every opportunity, in order to be more sfisticated) revered the owl as a symbol of martial endeavour and wisdom, they were equally likely to be seen in other cultures as harbingers of bad news, if not the actual cause of it.  The Christian church in Europe had an anti-owl policy, due to their habit of mooching around at night, and hooting, so they were usually paired with witches and devils.  Art!

     Being able to rotate your head through 360 degrees is also a tad unsettling, and didn't help their image.  In reality they keep down vermin and the reason you're not over-run by legions of squealing rats - or mice, if you're squeamish - is because of Owls.  Thank you so much, Superb Owls!
     What's that?  There was a sporting event known as the "Superb Owl" last night?  No - sorry, the "Supper Bowl"?  A competetive eating event? O! I see - the "Super Bowl".  Why, what an amazing coincidence - er - Art!  Quick!

     That's a Barn Owl, frequently mis-identified by surprised people as "A Ghost!  Run!" because if you glimpse a pasty-white face rotating in the twilight like that then you might forget all the ornithology you ever learned.  There is also a theory that the "Mothman" of urban legend was actually a Barn Owl, sorry to burst your fantasy bubble*.

I Did Not Plan This

Serendipitous though it is.  No, you see, I was watching a clip from "Cross Of Iron" last night, a war film directed by Sam Peckinpah, which takes the then-unusual view of the Second Unpleasantness from the Teuton perspective.  It's adapted from a novel, which I might have lurking in the Book Cave.

     So, naturally, I had to go poking around the internet about it, and discovered that the ambiguous ending was a result of Sam - that is, Mister Peckinpah - running out of money.  Thing is, all sorts of interpretations have been read into it by fans and critics when it was simply down to a lack of moolah.  Art!

Sam and Maximillian Schell
(On the set: Max doesn't choose to dress like this)

     One reason all the kit looks realistic is because it is real.  COI was filmed in Yugoslavia when it was still a going concern, and the Yugoslavian Army never threw anything away, so those aren't prop guns or tanks or rifles, they're the real thing.     So.  That's probably the end of bird-based puns for tonight**.

Congratulations - You Are Now Reading A Newsletter

For thus did fair Anna describe it.  This is either a deadly insult or a gracious compliment, I'll have to sit and simmer a little before deciding and get back to you.

     ANYWAY her sister Georgina has established a Facebook group titled "Spellbound" and to ensure you the public don't confuse it with either that Siouxsie And The Banshees song, nor the Hitchcock thriller - Art?

Set design by Salvador Dali
(Yes, really!)

     - she has appended "Scents And Fragrances" to it.  Since Anna asked me to mention it, I have done.  It's a private group as that's how it was designed, but I can show you the title image, if I can just reach Art with the toasting-fork -

     Conrad is afraid he's not going to be much of an asset as a member, since 1) I have practically no sense of smell and 2) Despite that, strong smells give me a migraine, so I don't like the smell of napalm at any time of day, thanks.

Purple Polish Provender: Proof Provided

Aha, photographic evidence of yesteryon's Bigos, or Polish Hunter's Stew!  True to form, Your Modest Artisan made enough for six people, and yet there's only he who will eat it, O! what a tragedy.  Art?

"Which band am I?"

     

     A whole family from Wroclaw could live on that for a couple of days.  It can also be heated and eated for lunch, thus doing away with cold sandwiches in this bitterly icy weather.

Conrad Is Still ANGRY!

Okay, if I'm going to be angry in this item, I have to acknowledge BOOJUM!'s being a newsletter as a gracious compliment.  Now, let us continue with the Frothing Nitric Ire, since there is one word left over from my ENTIRELY JUSTIFIED PROTEST at the words used in that wretched Codeword from last Sunday.

     "KEMPT": Honestly, have you ever heard anyone use this word, either spoken or in writing?  No, me neither, and I've read scads of Dickens.  It is, according to my Collins Concise, the past participle of "Unkempt", which I have used many a time.  Kempt refers to hair that is orderly, mannered and well-combed, being a dialect variation on 'Comb' that was originally 'Kemb.'

Jeremy Kemp.  Close enough.

     I feel so much better after that.  Of course, I now have Sunday just gone's triple Codewords to tackle, so no doubt my blood pressure will be ascending to stratospheric levels any time soon.

Talking Of Stars ...

I exaggerate a little, as Jeremy was more a character actor, since he had rather a rough-hewn face that Hollywood finds full of character, although not enough to get the girl and win the race.  Okay, back to astronomy, which is the subject matter of this item, thank you strained link.  Art!

Astronomy Picture Of The Day

     Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer, put a link to this one up on Twitter.  You are looking at Globular Cluster M53, which is probably too close to the camera to reveal just how globular it is.  These star formations are composed of old stars and hover about our galaxy's 'halo', to the number of two hundred and fifty.  They are relatively tightly packed and compact.  We shall have to take the numerical prognostications of the scientists at face value, which is that there are 250,000 stars in M53, unless you fancy printing it out on a piece of paper the size of a football pitch and counting it using a pin.  Art!

     There you go, we now know more than we did five minutes ago.

Finally -

Proof that everything is linked to everything else.  Whilst checking on the background information for "Spellbound", Conrad noticed that it is based on a novel, co-authored by Hilary Saint George Saunders.

     "That name's familiar," I muttered to me.  "Didn't he write -"

     That's the edition I have, thank you very much.

     And with that, we are done!

*  Heh heh heh!

**  Only probably.