The Wombat is still alive, if drowning in work (O Harry O Oprah O Hillary), endless hours on the phone trying to explain why it was a bad thing for Gateway to reformat a hard drive without the permission they said they'd ask for, more hours trying to undo network problems caused by aforementioned company's reinstall of Windows.
More soon.
The Wombat is again frantically digging himself out a work-hole so deep he's about to fall through to the antipodes (or maybe the anti-antipodes, given that a Wombat is by definition antipodean in the first place), so another Bloomsday -- and another weekful of world events that cry out for the kind of dubiously valuable rantery we'd so love to contribute -- pass us by like a speeding Prius. Alas.
And now today's half-baked attempt to keep the illusion of life here alive...this week's quiz comes in late and shouldn't take you sharpies long at all. A quotable quote, a famous name, and you're done and back to the toting of barges, lifting of bales, and the inevitable alcho-legal consequences that follow.
"Twenty-five years ago I accepted the label 'pessimist' thoughtlessly without realising that it was going to be tied to my tail, as it were, in something the way that, to take an example from another art, Rachmaninoff's famous Prelude in C sharp minor was tied to him. No audience would allow him off the concert platform until he played it. Similarly critics have dug into my books until they could come up with something that looked hopeless. I can't think why. I don't feel hopeless myself."
Who said it? Bonus point: under what circumstances?
First correct answer to comments wins a rare downloadable ringtone version of Rush's "2112." Googlers will be drawn and quartered. Be strong and the answer will come to you like a pebble through the windshield of consciousness. One guess per comment, but comment as frequently as you like.
No time for the usual preliminaries, quizlings. Lay aside all distractions and dispense with today's noodle kugel so that we can put it behind us with out delay:
The earliest known reference a particular practice in print came in a 1909 issue of National Geographic magazine. However, much of the data available for practicioners was not fully accurate (or even known) at the time. It wasn't until 1936 that Arthur Marshall became the official record-holder for this practice, and his feat was surpassed by John "Vin" Hoeman in 1966.
The data has improved considerably since 1909. For example, the ranking of the first ten U.S. states on a list crucial to the practice is:
1. Florida
2. Delaware
3. Louisiana
4. Mississippi
5. Rhode Island
6. Illinois
7. Indiana
8. Ohio
9. Iowa
10. Missouri
What does this list represent, and what exactly is this practice?
First correct answer posted to comments wins a copy of Katie the Ferret. No Googling or leafing through old issues of the Geographic in your great-aunt's basement. One guess per comment, but you may comment like commenting is just about to go out of style (which, I think, it probably is...)
Harry Shearer's Le Show has Podcasts. Mr. Finewine does too.
This has been a public service announcement from The Association of People Who Come a Little Late to the Party but Have Noticed There Is Still Quite a Lot of Beer in the Fridge.
No quiz today: I'm so Oprah-swamped at work today that I can barely remember my own name. Much less what it was I intended to bother you all with...
Here at the Wombat File, we generally like to pretend that nothing’s more entertaining than a leisurely perusal of our knotty natterings. But occasionally it strikes us that there are superior amusements you may have overlooked before visiting this page. As it does now.