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2013 — 26 February: Tuesday

Perhaps today I shall manage to venture out on the expotition that was perforce¹ derailed yesterday? Another grimly grey cold day by the look of it. Try telling that to all my blooming daffodils.

I see I recently overlooked an amusing anniversary:

That reminds me. Better make some breakfast.

I hope that, despite...

... my occasional satirical thrusts, nobody doubts the genuine affection and regard I hold for Big Bro. I was reminded of him by a brief news soundbite a couple of minutes ago. I wonder if he recalls this (excellent) book I filched from him?

He bought it, probably (given that it's a December 1959 reprint) in 1960 or 1961² while we were on a family holiday in Appledore, staying with some relatives in their 'pub' — I can still recall the smell of the stale beer lingering in the bar each morning as I wandered through it long before opening hours. The soundbite reveals that, shamefully late, the Ministry of Defence is producing an "Arctic Star" medal to be sent to veterans (or, more often, their widows) in extremely belated recognition of the incredible contribution of the Naval escorts to the protection of merchant shipping on the North Atlantic and Russian Arctic convoys.

I'm back from...

... my truncated initial foray into "Forbidden Planet" in perfect time to miss whatever Mr Postie failed to fit through my letterbox. So that's my next expotition planned even before I've had as much as a nibble for lunch (and I'm starving... again). It was a truncated visit because I first spent an unanticipated 90 minutes of my 120 minutes of parking time with my new(est) best friend — a young chap whose financial institution will soon be (dis)graced by my deeper entanglement³ with them.

Three's the charm?

I suspect a slight case could be made (given one of today's deliveries [or, more precisely, pick-ups, since I had to drive out to Mr Postie's cave to get it]) for my having a mild completeist tendency when I reveal it alongside two of its predecessors:

I've not yet found the first edition, which dates back to 1974. And I certainly don't recall ever seeing it in any of my usual 'haunts' (which have been many and varied over more years than I now care to think about). These three paperbacks are editions #2, #3, and #4... [Pause] Meanwhile I've now had two text messages and an email from my newest best friend. It might have been a mistake to give him my mobile number, dammit. [Pause] Time for more food. And I forgot to prepare my next crockpot this morning, so I shall have to scratch around and see what I can turn up. <Sigh>

For my evening ration...

... of moving pixels I picked the most beguiling of these three new arrivals:

"Young Frankenstein" is a favourite film so you should be able to deduce what I've just watched. It's a very fine piece of hi-def stop-motion animation and richly-detailed. Lots of cinematic references, clichés, and in-jokes, too. I enjoyed it very much and chortled with delight at many points.

The final Jiffy bag held the following dead trees smeared with information:

But a fresh cuppa is now next on my list. And somebody ought to do the dishes, too... I tell you, a chap's work is never done!

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Footnotes

¹  These things happen, as I recall only too well from when Christa was ill. I've already warned Gill that if she dies I will hunt her down and kill her.
²  I suspect the later latter for reasons to do with either 'Beano' or 'Dandy' drawing to my juvenile attention the fact that "1961" could be printed upside-down without changing its value — but that's another story.
³  I've decided there's really not much point hanging on to a couple of sets of accounts at a couple of places that I only ever joined in the first place because Christa and I made all our accounts into joint ones a month or so before she died (to avoid everything of hers getting 'frozen' and to simplify the probate process for me).