Then, If You Were Busy Working On Your No Trumps -
A term from Contract Bridge and nothing to do with politics <hack spit>, or you were folding and rolling your millefeuille for the fifty-seventh time, then you might think I was going on about one of the seminal characters in "Terminator 2", which shows how you ought to be paying closer attention. That was 'John Connor', so you got it wrong but we can still use a picture from the film and pretend it's not clickbait. Art!
For, you see, we are now back into Part Two of "The O'Connors" and the person I'm talking about here is John Carroll O'Connor, professionally known as Carroll O'Connor. South Canadian audiences from the Seventies onwards will be familiar with him as his role as Archie Bunker in "All In The Family" and "In The Heat Of The Night" and "Mad About You". Conrad is more familiar with him as General Colt in "Kelly's Heroes", probably the finest comedy-drama Second Unpleasantness war movie filmed in Yugoslavia. Art!
The General was irascible
Then we have Des O'Connor, whom will be well-known to citizens of This Sceptred Isle from the Seventies onwards, because of "Morecambe And Wise". Des was a very successful light entertainer, and the frequent butt of jokes from Eric and Ernie, who slandered him wickedly at every opportunity. Art!
In reality, a lot of the mockery and put-downs were scripted by Des himself, as he was best of friends with the comedy duo.
Enough of this preamble - let us haste to the main feature, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Nugent O'Connor, of the Honourable Artillery Company in Italy during the First Unpleasantness! Art!
Ol' Rick and another British officer spent a couple of days reconnoitring the island of Papadopoli, which British troops would need to occupy in order to cross to the east bank of the Piave and assault Austrian lines. As disguise they wore Italian uniforms to avoid giving the game away.
Come the 23rd of October, the H.A.C. were ferried across to the main island by Italian 'Pontieri", and after all four companies were over, a general advance across the island took place, with the very surprised Austrians putting up a stiff fight in places. Next day Lt. Col. O'Connor was up with the forward troops as part of Battalion HQ, and he, along with a couple of HAC soldiers, took a large party of Austrian troops prisoner. Art!
Helped by the view Austrian soldiers had of the British, in that they were ten feet tall, sported poison fangs and ate babies for breakfast.
Some protection against Austrian interference from the east bank was prevented by heavy and persistent rain, which raised the Piave's level, made crossing by boats impossible and threatened what bridges they had. During this lull Ol' Rick decided to use the HAC, the Royal Welch Fusiliers and the Warwickshires to sweep the whole island and defeat the enemy garrison. This was completed by 26th of October. When the river had fallen, several Austro-Hungarian* counter-attacks had to be beaten off, which were pressed home with dash and determination. Art!
This is the 'Silver Medal For Valour', which the Romans awarded to Ol' Rick for his exploits on Papadopoli.
22 years later, in the Western Desert, Ol' Rick, now a General, would be facing the Fascist Italian Tenth Army as enemies, led by one Marshal Badoglio, who had been known to Rick as a senior Italian staff officer of Comando Supremo in the First Unpleasantness. War, just as politics <spit hack> makes for strange bedfellows. His army -
But that is a story for another day (tomorrow if you are BAD).
Kyle's Kaos
Yes, we are dipping back into the dismal tale of terror and trauma put up by the mild-mannered Kyle of "Geography King"'s Youtube channel. Last time it was hurricanes, this time - Art!
THE MAP OF DOOM THE MAP OF DOOM INSET
For Your Information, those states are Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusets, Rhode Island and Connecticut. These, bar Vermont which I only put in there because you'd whine otherwise, are the states most at risk of a 'Nor'Easter', which is nothing to do with Bunnies or Eggs. Rather, it's a storm system where cold weather fronts meet warmer weather fronts, the difference in pressure causing very high winds and flooding. Art!
Groovy 3D road effects courtesy Mister Nor'Easter
Having to leave us on a downer, Kyle informed that with global sea temperatures rising, the risk of these storms increasing is getting higher over time.
Conrad's Clutter Chucked
For no good reason Your Modest Artisan decided to trawl the cupboards that stores all my baking incidentals, and to get rid of what was past the Best Before date. Because keeping margarine that should have been used or binned five years ago is a bad precedent. Art!
Yes, fourteen years past it's Best Before date. Perhaps I ought to have popped the lid and seen what it looked like? except rotten poppyseeds left for over a decade might - well, smell a bit off.
Our Journey With Bernie
First, due diligence. Does the FPG card image exist on teh Interwebz? Let me check.
Yup. Art!
I'm surprised Ol' Bern didn't go on at length about how RED his artwork here is, and how it contrasts with the blue and white background. If you don't know the story, then THE EX - O go on. It's a Poe short story, about a gang of rich people hiding in sanctuary whilst the Red Death plague ravages the lands without. These happy hermits have a masquerade, where a figure costumed as a Red Death victim joins their merry throng, horribly offending Prince Prospero, owner of said refuge and masquerade organiser. TLDR: it's the Red Death personified and everyone dies, The End.
Spare Us The Lopper
Another improvised log-lopper using a home-made stand and a chainsaw, where nothing could possibly go wrong, could it? Art!
Conrad loves how matey has a bag attached to a piece of pipe for collecting sawdust, and any loose digits or limbs that get severed in the process. Note the lack of any guides or shields or indeed any protection from the chainsaw blades. The chainsaw is bolted to the upright with a single bolt, which is all very fine until you realise that the chainsaw vibrates intensely, and if run for long enough, that bolt will unscrew, and then who is going to be undone? One point out of ten for wearing gloves, even if they're only fabric and rubber. After all, you've got ten fingers and thumbs, who needs all of them?
Finally -
I made a Carrot Cake Mug Cake, this time greasing the cup with brand-new cheap margarine purchased just last week from the Co-Op, and I'm pretty sure all the other ingredients were well before their Best Before date, so we'll see if this one tastes as - ah - 'peculiar' as that Lemon Poppyseed Drizzle Cake. Best to be washed down with a pot of loose-leaf Darjeeling. Art!
Naked versus decorated.
* It's too awkward to keep typing this, so have this make do.
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