Isle Of Dogs

It Makes More Sense If Said Aloud

Conrad is still wrapping his head around the concept that Edna, the Small Domesticated Wolf, is an old lady at age ten, or seventy in human years, which is getting on for half of Conrad's age (129 at last count).   Your Humble Scribe is  still not a dog person; they are noisy, have questionable habits and scare the cats.  There are those people out there who adore canines and to them I say, DON'T WALK YOUR DOG BUNS DOG AT THE SAME TIME AS MINE! thanks for listening.  Art!

      This is a real place, as evinced by the map above.  The reasons for it being so-called are many, with none being definitive.  A corruption of "The Isle of Ducks" because it used to be marshland with many birds present?  Attached after the publishing and performing of a satirical play about Great Britain, called "The Isle of Dogs"?  A corruption of "The Isle of Dykes" because of the large number of same to control water levels?  Because one of the English kings kept his hunting and racing dogs there?  Pay your money, take your choice.

     This, necessarily, has nothing to do with - what's that?  You want evidence that Edna is real?  How sceptical you are.  Very well - Art!

The champ of scamp

Not something you see every day

     O and - an item I didn't know - 'Canary Wharf' is so-named because it was the dock for dealing with marine traffic to and from the Canary Islands, which were known in Latin <hack spit> as "Insula Canaria", or - and you may be ahead of me here - "The Isles of Dogs".     

     ANYWAY none of that, as you doubtless suspected, has anything to do with the real meat of the matter.  Art!

     Thanks be to the seething mass of white-hot slime that constitutes my mind (sorry if you can't unsee that image).  Whilst working yesteryon, the thought popped into my head - "What was that animé film about an island made up of rubbish?" for absolutely no reason.  Your Humble Scribe only watched part of the middle section and never bothered to catch the whole thing.  A bit of Google-Fu and I discovered that it's called <drum roll> "Isle Of Dogs".  Art!

     There are dogs, and an island made of domestic rubbish, and that's all I recall.  Given Edna's habits, being a dog on an island made up of rubbish sounds like canine heaven, as we need flip-top bins to stop her rummaging and eating anything that will fit in her mouth.

     ANYWAY the plot is a bit bonkers and involves a dog flu pandemic, evil politicians, lots of dogs (obvs!), conspiracy, worship of cats and true love prevailing, with lots of dogs along the way.  It's also done as stop-motion, which means director Wes Anderson reallllly did it as a labour of love, as stop-motion is so very time-consuming to film.  The voice cast is stellar - take a look at the credits on the poster above.  Total budget = a modest $35 million, with a global take of $65 million, so a moderate success.  Art!

     Which brings us to the end of this Intro, for which once again, thanks to Steve and Oscar, my memory and subconscious respectively.

     Ambrose Bierce for Prez*!

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

<hack spit> You know, I've always translated that as "Thus passes worldly splendour" in the sense that nothing lasts forever, so let me just consult my - ah - Latin dictionary and get back to you -

     Yep, close enough.  Art!

     This used to be the "Blue Belle" before it got taken over and turned into a collection of clichés under the name "Murphy's Bar", which betokens a colossal lack of imagination on the landlord's part.  Well, now it's gone toes-up as you can see - the name removed and the advertising boards gone.  Conrad has never been in under either incarnation, nor does he feel he's missing out on anything.  I'm quite pleased with this shot as it was taken from a moving bus.  One wonders if it's going to remain empty or another chancing landlord will take it over and call it "Scotty's Bar" (all the staff wear red shirts).

     I did search BOOJUM! to see if it had been mentioned before, and as sheer luck and the Coincidence Hydra would have it, what photograph did I find?  Art!

     Yes, it's the Isle of Dogs again, with the Luftwaffe doing a bit of urban re-design.

"Mackenna's Gold"

No, not the film, which you are most definitely going to be hearing more of.  Rather, the novel it was based upon.  Conrad, always on the lookout for an excuse to buy more books - I RESISTED THE URGE THIS MORNING IN LESSER SODOM - wondered if it was available via Abebooks?

     Provisionally, yes.  Art!

     DOG BUNS!  In what universe is a paperback worth nearly three hundred pounds?  Is it printed by hand in gold leaf on vellum?  Art!

     What the fnorp!  Yes yes yes, it's dirt cheap for four books.  Take a look at the P & P - Art!

     What, is it brought in an amphibious hovercraft staffed by exotic dancers who prance it up to your doorstep in an explosion of confetti and popcorn?

     DO NOT ADD TO BASKET!  In fact, KEEP IT VERY FAR FROM BASKET.

     Bah!

"City In The Sky"

The Doctor is preparing to carry out a rather risky endeavour, first by utterly discomfiting the survivors at New Eucla.

‘This Doctor.  He’s summat special.  Right?’ enquired Billy, standing awestruck next to the new mayor.

     Mike ran through a string of practiced curses that lasted thirty seconds without repeating.

     ‘Bill!  Look up at the skies, mate!  I saw this bludger blow up an alien flying saucer with an effing frying pan!’

     A delicate tap on his lower vertebrae warned him that the bludger had arrived in person.  When Mike swung around he found that the diminutive traveller had lowered the offending article (his umbrella) and was standing poised on tiptoes.

     ‘A wok, actually, Mike.  Subtle difference.  Closest I could find to a parabolic reflector.  Now, do you have a refrigeration plant in town?’

     Not for the first time, Mike paused at the sheer strangeness of the question.  The Doctor lowered himself to terra firma and pursed his lips.

     ‘Cryogenic sto – no, no, entirely out of place.  Ah!  A salt-meat store!’

     Billy pointed to the west, where the township stored meat: salted, smoked and dry-cured.

     ‘Any chance of there being fresh meat there?’

     ‘Ah – yes.  Yes.  I think.  Only a day or two old,’ stuttered Mike.  He found himself mentally unbalanced by the visitor, who always seemed to be two or three steps ahead of everyone else.

     Being a centuries-old time-traveller does give you a winning perspective.

Here's An Interesting Twist

You may remember Conrad boring you with details about "Military Operations Egypt And Palestine 1914 - 1918" when he was perusing it last year.  One problem the British (shorter than saying "British, Australians, New Zealanders, Egyptians, Indians, French and even Italians") had was getting supplies across the Sinai Peninsula to their forces advancing into Palestine.  One problem in particular was that there were no ports nor natural harbours along the Palestinian coastline, and the advance being made in winter, the weather was bad, seas were rough and it was very difficult to land supplies from ships offshore.  Art!

     Here you can see the hardcore and whacking big concrete blocks being used to create a pier, or jetty, whichever nautical term is appropriate.  How long it will last, or if it will last, is an interesting question given weather and tides.

     Predictably, there are numpties on Twitter claiming that above is in fact a "US port" and it will be used to "invade and enslave the Gazan population (Cont. Page 94)".  Proof you cannot fix stupid.

Finally -

That's all!

*  182 isn't too old, is it?