IS BACK, BABY!
Not that I was ever really gone, to judge by the amount of Dog Buns! that have cropped up on BOOJUM! of late, for as you should surely know, we never swear here, and if I were to say 'Bloody zombies!' it would be because there are indeed zombies, and they are covered in blood. Art!
See?
To pursue an aside for a moment, this is the current film I'm watching on Netflix, a horror thriller from -
Thailand. Yes, it surprised me. Why not, though, after the quite cerebral 'Outside' from the Phillipines? It starts off with a convincing background of ecological collapse, global warming, food shortages and a lack of potable water, which is bad enough, before Patient Zero arrives and triggers the zombie outbreak in Bangkok. Only 2/3 through so we don't know how it will end.
ANYWAY back to my FNI. No! Not 'Fervently Nuanced Intransigence', 'Frothing Nitric Ire'.
AI Art Generator strikes again. 'Snowy Arctic Pyre'?
Me, in a bad temper, thanks to Cretinous Codeword Compilers. We've not consigned them to the lower depths of Hades for, oooh, simply ages (code for 'I've no idea how long and cannot be bothered to check') but here we are again. To start with, let's begin with what I trailed a couple of blogs ago.
ZIGGURAT: "A type of rectangular temple tower or tiered mound erected by the Sumerians, Akkadians and Babylonians in Mesopotamia' and to which one might add ' - also hideously unfair as a Codeword solution', thanks to it being in the original Sumerian. Art!
Both ziggy and ratty
ABSEIL: "To descend a steep slope or vertical drop by a rope secured from above and coiled around one's body". This one originates in the Teuton for 'Down' ('Ab') and 'Rope' ('Seil') which is less exotic than a dead Mesopotamian language, but, still, who expects to need mountaineering experience to solve a Codeword? Art!
The less boring variant
KAVA: I solved this one, then had to go back and make sure that the 'K' wasn't actually an 'L', because I'd no idea what, or whom, 'Kava' was, which turned out to be entirely explicable. Art!
Another language here: Polynesian. Kava is an aromatic shrub, the name of which means 'bitter', as well as the drink produced from it.
Well there we go. Sumerian, German and Polynesian. What other language are these Dog Buns! compilers going to come up with!
APOPLEXY: Greek. I had to ask. In fact Conrad is eminently familiar with this word, in the modern sense of 'Apoplectic', 'being in a state of Frothing Nitric Ire', as it has come to be used. Technically it is " Sudden loss of consciousness, often followed by paralysis, caused by a rupture or occlusion of blood vessels in the brain." From the Greek 'Apoplessein', meaning 'To cripple by a stroke;. Art!
 |
| "Tam's overdraft had been denied. He went -' |
OBLOQUIES: Finally, we hit Latin! <spit hack>. Conrad remembers this as being in the lyrics to one of The Mars Volta's songs, which is an unusual lexicographical choice to say the least. Meaning, lest ye be unaware, "Defamatory or censorious statements, especially when directed against one person." From the Latin 'Ob' as in 'Against' and 'Loqui', 'To speak'.
AI triumphs again
ERSATZ: Another word borrowed from Teuton. Thank you so much, compilers <hammers Remote Nuclear Detonator repeatedly> "Made in imitation or artificial" from the Teuton 'Ersetzen' meaning 'To substitute'. One example of this was the Royal Navy's cruel and malicious blockade of the Teutons during the Second Unpleasantness, which forced them to substitute roast acorns for coffee or some such local substitution scheme. Yuck. Art!
Made from twigs, spit and ground cockroaches. Possibly.
I think we'll halt this apoplexy-inducing Intro right there for the moment, because I've got still more invective to ladle over the Compilers, which will come together as a theme. I bet you can hardly wait.
All definitions courtesy of the 'Collins Concise Dictionary', every home should have one.
A Taste of Funny
Conrad is still determinedly perusing his way through Alan Moorehead's 'African Trilogy', which is rather a misnomer, as he's already visited India and South Canada by the time I'm inserting this part of the narrative. At this point in the narrative he's about to spend the Christmas season in Londonderry, prior to joining the crew of the corvette 'Exe'. Art!
One of the more peculiar things about the Second Unpleasantness was that the Irish Free State (later the Republic) was neutral, whilst Northern Ireland as part of the UK was under strict wartime conditions. As Al put it: "People passed freely back and forth over the border. Indeed, it was a common practice for the inhabitants of Northern Ireland to cycle across and buy unrationed silk stockings and sweets and liquor, and, provided you did not go to excess, the Eire customs would wink their eyes at the bundles under your coat." Art!
"A heavily-guarded border crossing point watched ceaselessly by both sides"
Talking Of Ersatz And Product Substitution -
We are back to that most insightful of 'Euromaidan' articles, concerning Ruffian arbitration courts, sitting in judgement on industrial concerns trying to produce equipment as part of the military-industrial complex. If they fail to produce on time and as per contract terms, they are liable to GREAT BIG FINES and jail sentences, too. Holiday in a gulag courtesy of the FSB. Art!
Let me guess - in Soviet times said connectors were made in Ukraine? Whatever, their drones were not capable of even taking off thanks to excessive weight, for which they were hit with GBF. Import substitution not a rampant success.
Your Favourite Spelling And Grammar Nazi Is Back
Me! Who did you think I meant, Buckaroo Banzai? You, gentle reader, ought to be familiar with the phenomenon of mis-spelling and grammatical errors as seen on teh Interwebz, which instantly leap off the page and slap me around the chops. In metaphor only. Otherwise I'd have a permanently smarting face. Art!
Conrad is irked
I couldn't care less what the latest wibble about the Epstein Files, which seem to have all the essence of Shrödinger's Cat: they don't exist until you open the file, and then they vanish. Or something.
NO! Look at that typo - OFFICAL. To be sure, the Orange Land Whale cannot read or spell and so wouldn't know the difference, but I do, and then some.
Bah!
New Netflix Binge Calling
After having been aware of it for several months, Your Humble Scribe took the plunge and started watching "The Eternaut" last night. I was aware of the general thrust of the first episode: what appears to be 'snow' falls over Buenos Aires, except that it's not snow, because anyone who gets it on their skin instantly drops dead.
I mean, this stuff kills faster than the worst nerve agent extant. Clearly - Conrad doing a bit of cogitating here - this is a type of toxic crystal designed to terminate Hom. Sap. as efficiently as possible. This is not going to end well.
One thing is how thoroughly cosmopolitan Buenos Aires looks and feels. Like any North American or European suburb, possibly apart from the small protest of people angry about power cuts. Well, they cannot be pleased at the situation at the end of this episode: no power over the whole city (probably the whole of Argentina), no working mobiles, no landlines functioning, all cars dead with their occupants also dead (thanks to the heat most people were driving with their windows down). Depressingly bleak. Looks great!
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