It Is… Pt 41

Written by Prim on 11/11/2023

‘On the scale of 1-8 eat’
‘cf’

radio version with extra tuneage

… Alakazam, size of an octopus. Oh, fellow compatriots of London bus-waiters, that well known verb to wait for a bus, when Oliver Sudden, oh hang on and aye up, wouldn’t that be rad, a bus, a waiter; ‘tickets please’, ‘half a mild and a Babycham to Aldgate please.’ But thereby, it is for that reason, why everything back logs into the funnel of fury. Oh, lordy lord, I’ve got a complete backlog of things to do here, the whole world on my case, and before we know it, all that waiting and putting off stuff piles into a smouldering dollop of stench-fuelled procrastination, menacingly arriving all at once like proverbial London busses. Hold the Babycham. By the power of Grey Skull, let’s magic the magic octopus to juggle each mounting endeavour and light work we shall make. Tentacle one; on these cold dark days, free up movement in my seized forefinger bone and help my blind eyes to find the key hole (nurse). Tentacle 2; spare a thought for the soldiers in those WWI trenches of Northern France on these cold dark days, and help them find the key to their tins of bully beef. Tentacle 3; let the good folk of Brazil know they can now find Durban’s Bread in multi stereo ACX Audible from Amazon, wahoo. Tentacle 4; please fill in my tax accounts for April ‘22-’23. Tentacles 5&6; open and close the mayo and wholegrain mustard jars simultaneously, sometimes it is such a rigmarole. Tentacle 7; strangle any government till they bring the heating costs down or increase global warming, or keep us up to date about international festivals like Diwali, we miss the international feel, being cocooned on this little island, whichever comes soonest. Tentacle 7 or is it 8, oh yes 6 was on the mustard; there can be no 8 days a week unless you’re caught in the recent Beatles revival. Hold the Babycham, I have no 8, so dine on you we shall, along with an array of other mixed seafood tossed in a simple fried garlicky rice and not a Rick Stein risotto, which at the end of the day is but fat rice.

… to the fat of the World News…

Japan is more than ok with its treated radioactive wastewater from Fukushima nuclear power station, thank you very much. The local fishermen are hooking more and more to the point, the people of Japan are eating more fish than ever. You might think a little radioactive spillage leading to China banning exports might be a deterrent, but nay, far from it. For Japan, it’s a case of national pride, belief that all is ok and two fingers up at Beijing. Joban-mono is a fish thriving in Fukushima waters and chefs in Kyoto have menus focussing of Fukushima seafood, like the Joban-mono, the Joban- duo and trio headed Joban.

New York non-profit organisation Micro have brought tiny wee exhibitions to the people. That’s us, the normal-sized people. Concerns that folk (us) aren’t getting enough museums in our lives, through either affordability or want, they’ve (Micro) brought their tiny packages to the public, and are held in community centres, hospitals transport hubs and the like. The often dense and inaccessible traditional venues are crammed into bite, vending machine sizes, such as the evolution on healthcare and a mollusc museum displaying 650m years of evolution stacked in a couple boxes.

I just turned on my phone to look up molluscs and the time read 11:11 on the 11^th of the 11^th – Lest We Forget. Anyhoo, it turns out octopus’s (plural debate for another time) are molluscs and so too snails, whom I also learned recently are asymmetrical lovers.

Ok, electric planes aren’t new, but a whole fleet by 2040 is. Imagine the ex-mollusc fossil fuel needed to power that. Norway is up to such a task with their Elfly Group and its the Noemi sea-plane, plus of course a NOK84m government grant. They’re all short haul flights, lake to lake carrying 6-13 passengers a time. I’ll take a pint of Lervig and three aquavits’ to Randsfjorden please. Not so bad, but aren’t Qatar in planes and plans to almost double their 140 destinations, soon as they conquer the reusable fuel conundrum. If they were remote control, one octopus could control 7 and provide lunch.

Ok, lastly post-Brexit London is top of the table. The Global Power City Index, compiled by Japan’s International Urban Strategies Dept, whereby they aim to gauge the ‘magnetism’ of international cities measured by economy, liveability and R&D. London rose to top spot over the past three years with primary benefits of cultural attractions and air connectivity. New York popped second and Tokyo third. What is R&D?