From Ever To Never

Settle In, Pilgrims

Also, expand your sense of mathematical scale when it comes to money, for we are moving into murky waters indeed.  Your Humble Scribe first became aware of a business entity called "Evergrande" about a week ago, whilst watching Youtube videos by a couple of bikers who were exploring The Populous Dictatorship (Advchina").  The video I watched was interesting in it's own right, because they were travelling outside the major cities and towns, into more rural China, where the tourists never travel.  Their original question was "Why are China's bridges falling down?".  Art!

Ezhou City, Shenzhen Province

     This collapse only got coverage because the government didn't close off the site, forbid cameras and delete Youtube content quickly enough.  Advchina allege that this kind of construction failure takes place all the time, thanks to shoddy buildings with no kind of quality control or enforcement.  And who is the second-largest construction company in The Populous Dictatorship?  Yes, Evergrande.  They seem to throw up low-quality housing construction projects in incredible abundance, that fall apart after a few years.  Art!

The chaps point out a crumbling building only 3 years old

     It seems that Evergrande's business model was to borrow enormous sums of money to finance it's building program, creating a bubble that continued to expand, until the Government brought in strict rules on companies acquiring dangerous levels of debt.

     Ooopsie.

Lo-fi hi-rise - imagine all this with the build quality of the photo above it

     Suddenly Evergrande is heavily exposed, being £300 BILLION in debt.  Over 2021 it lost 90% of it's share price, it was declared an unsafe investment by independent valuers, and has already defaulted on loans that were due in December last year.  The Government is refusing to bale it out, so watch this space for what might be a spectacular financial implosion.  Hopefully not as bad as the collapse of Lehman and the 2008 economic downturn, but we'll see.

Kenneth is shocked

"Kingdom"

Still in Asia, let us return to South Korea, and the series above, which Conrad has been aware of for a while, and vaguely recognised that it had a faint connection with zombies.  So, having binged on "The Silent Sea", I decided to have a look at "Kingdom".  Art!

     I've watched Series One and have started Series Two.  There are no dates given, bar that this is the Joseon era, which will make more sense to Sorks than us ignorant Westerners.  Conrad, based on the matchlocks present, is guessing sixteenth century?

     ANYWAY it's just as much a court opera about political machinations as it is about zombies.  Also, these zedheads are unlike their Western equivalent in that they hibernate when temperatures are high enough, usually in sunlight - but this is South Korea at the beginning of winter.  Art!

Zombie 500 yard dash

     Nor will they cross water, for no reason they've given out yet.  The undead themselves are the result of an excellent McGuffin - the 'resurrection herb', a plant that grows in remote, cold regions and which - I don't need to explain further, do I?  ANYWAY they did a film special which is claimed to fill in the prequel to Series One; no word on whether or not there's going to be a Series Three, so we can cross our collective digits and hope.  Art!

     O yes, by the way, these living dead are indeed sprinters not shamblers, just in case you were wondering.

More More More Of "Tormentor"

Yes, because nobody's yet protested, which means everyone loves it, the end.  Go on, let's see what Luma gets up to now.

‘Watch this!’ she trilled in the lounge, making the television come on and the standard lamp light up.

‘Is this what you learn from hanging about with other spirits?’

‘Yes.  Could I bring one to see you?’

‘You can.  Would I be able to see them?’

Jennifer wrinkled her nose.

‘That’s why I’d like to bring her over.’

 

After the hectic pace of recent events, Louis enjoyed a quiet meal, before Jen butted in.

‘Beans on toast?’

He wagged his fork at her.

‘With garam masala, yoghurt and sultanas, young lady - young spirit.  Beans on toast a la McMahon.’

The early evening news came on, followed by the local version.  His earlier guess was correct, since a reporter stood outside the Magistrate’s Court and enthused that a suspect had been arrested in the case of the teenaged schoolgirl murdered the previous week –

Without warning or his interference, the channel changed.  Jennifer didn’t care to watch or listen to news about herself being murdered.

‘Can’t blame you,’ he muttered.

‘Okay, I’m going to fetch Marjory,’ said Jennifer, crossing to alter the direction of Jackie’s photograph.  ‘It may take a while.’

‘Don’t keep me waiting all night.  I have to get ready for – uh, for you-know-what tomorrow.’

The funeral.  He shook his head.  How can you discuss a funeral with the victim?

     Disconcerting, I quite agree.

Progress So Far

I refer, of course - obviously! - to "Reclaiming History", that breeze-block sized tome by Vincent Bugliosi, it being a critique of the various conspiracy theories about the assassination of JFK.  We have reached the small hours of 24/11/1963, and are still only at page 260, leaving about 1,240 to go.  Quite besides all the additional links on the DVD that came with it, although I'm not sure that will run on anything I possess.  Art!

     If he walked into the courtroom the opposing counsel (that is, the defence attorney) would feel their heart sink into their shoes, because he only ever lost one case as the prosecutor.

Conrad - Happy To Be Seething!

Yet more envelope-pushing by the next generation of Codeword compilers, since the old ones are now merely vague vapours of radioactive memories, long since dispersed by the winds.  What do we have now?

"AXIOMS": You can't fool Conrad, he knows his Greek philosophy terms and this is one of them.  How unfair is it to have a word with "X" as the second letter out of six?  "A generally accepted proposal or principle, proven by experience" according to my Collins Concise.  Art!

Close enough

"EPONYMS":  Again with the Greek!  What is it about the Hellenes that drives Codeword compilers so?  Were they all trained in the classics at cruel hard boarding schools and feel the need to exorcise their miserable childhoods on the rest of Hom. Sap?  "A place name derived from the name of a real or mythical person" according to the CC.  Conrad is now trying to think of any such name and is coming up blank, so let's try a touch of Google-fu -

     Aha!  "Fahrenheit" that ridiculously baroque method of temperature measurement, named after physicist Daniel Fahrenheit*.  Art!

Quite apt

"CONFLUX":  Say what?  No, I don't know either, let me look it up.  "A flowing together, especially of rivers".  I see.  Time for a little action with the Remote Nuclear Detonator, and then there will be a conflux of former Codeword compiler's radioactive vapours, won't there?

That's three of them right there

     And with that we are done.

* It works like this: you divide 9 by 15 and multiply by what day of the week it is unless in a Leap Year in which case add 29 and subtract 31, then add a random number between 1 and 139 and there you have it.  I think.