Tuesday 21 July 2009

Find The Fault Nos 19 & 20


"Have you finished doing the artwork for that Dainty Series yet?", came the shout down the corridor. A barely audible sigh and then: "Nearly. Just doing the last two". A double-header this week, for a double-headed reason. One is that Unmitigated England goes on holiday next week- to Unmitigated England- and, well, neither of these are going to tax the brain so I thought I'd bung them together. The good news is that Only Daughter has sourced another box of puzzle cards. All round I think you'll like them. For one thing the artist appears to be a bit more on the ball, although I still hope they will be riven with controversy. And they are a sheer delight to look at. So that's Tuesday 4th August for the Great Unveiling; I must now get on with levering the travelling trunks down from the attic and supervising the polishing of the headlights on the Bentley Nash-Napier.

27 comments:

office pest said...

Ah, yes, the magic holeless belt. I'll leave the Telegram one to Sam.

Happy holidays!

williamandemma said...

Am I first? Should I dignify the artist with a response? It started so well, but maybe the fug of the Woodbines at 11 at night combined with the 30W Anglepoise lamp was all too much? (No holes in the belt and the K6 (I think) should read Telephone, by the way). Have a nice holiday.

williamandemma said...

Obviously not first then...

Chris Partridge said...

I love the way the artist has brought the ends of the belt close together to emphasise the fact that the buckle needs holes.

Peter Ashley said...

Well. To be fair that's one each. Two winners, Office Pest and Williamandemma- very appropriate for a double-header. Just for the record the card does indeed say: 19: Belt has no eyelets and 20: Word "Telegrams" should be "Telephone". I need a holiday now, although I feel a couple of blogs coming up before I turn the starting handle.

Diplomate said...

where's the door handle on the K6?

Peter Ashley said...

Well spotted Diplo. It is missing isn't it? No good pleading for it to be on the side elevations, with the inset footpaths being so narrow. Forgotten Sounds No.1: The thud a kiosk door made as it closed behind you. No: 2 Real fog horns. No.3:...Oh no, I feel another collection coming on.

Philip Wilkinson said...

Yes! More lost (or endangered) sounds, please. The writer Joseph Wechsberg said, writing about Vienna, that there should be 'sound-hearing tours' as well as sight-seeing ones. The same goes for Unmitigated England. Shop bells, klaxons, manual typewriters, the sound of change humming on wires. Things like that.

Anonymous said...

Forgotten sounds no. 3: the slam of a train door.

"Irrecoverable as Lyonesse, so quicky have the waters flooded in"

Anonymous said...

And proper cash-registers!

James and Maggie said...

...blimey, went to make phonecall only to find the box sends 'Telegrams' then my trousers fell down. We just returned from a week in Unmitgated England (Cornwall to be precise) don't forget your 'brolly'!

Peter Ashley said...

We've hit a rich vein of Forgotten Sounds here haven't we? It reminds me to recommend to you all Alan Renton's superb book Lost Sounds (Whittles Publishing 2001), his record (sadly only in cold print) of defunct coastal foghorns. I really want one as my mobile ring tone, preferably the monster that bellowed out at Trevose Head.

Philip Wilkinson said...

Oh - and the actual ring of a proper telephone.

Anonymous said...

Well, if we're talking about ringtones, how about Proper Telephone Bells as a Forgotten Sound?

I'm off for a long Unmitigated weekend near Whitby this coming Thursday - not by touring car but the civilised way; two changes from Kings Cross, four hours door-to-door. Allegedly stations on the Whitby branch are unique in being the only ones from which it is not possible to reach London with just one change of train. Not a lot of people know that.

Peter Ashley said...

Ah, DC. Your required reading is Murder at Deviation Junction by Andrew Martin. It's set on the North Yorkshire coast railways, and you'll almost certainly pick it up on the railway bookstall.

accountant said...

I would like to suggest 'Appleby's End' by Michael Innes a crime story which starts with a train journey on a remote branch line through snow bound countryside. Also 'The Moving Toyshop' by Edmund Crispin which also features a train journey. Both are light hearted and suitable holiday reading and for curling up on the sette in front of an open fires on rainy days like today.

Peter Ashley said...

Thankyou for those "Your Accountant Recommends". I have just realised that I have Appleby's End as one of those re-issue green Penguins. Unread, so it'll be stowed away in the Globetrotter for the hols. In the same genre, and same re-issues, is Margery Allingham's Mystery Mile. Another good 'un- an Albert Campion Mystery.

Bucks Retronaut said...

I reckon a wonderful sound is the whine of a vintage car`s back axle (with straight cut gears ).Even better if accompanied by the aroma of warm Castrol R.
The click of 6 inch stiletto heels and Chanel No 5 has a similar effect...only "similar" though.

martin said...

Forgotten sounds: How about a stylus needle hitting a well played 33/3rd and settling in. Not forgotten here,but I fear it may be lost to many.

martin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Peter Ashley said...

Thankyou for all these Lost Sounds.
I'm really getting into th1s. The sound of a Bell & Howell projector in a school hall, a VHS tape rewinding, the teeth-edge screech of chalk on a blackboard...

CarolineLD said...

Not just the telephone bell, but the sound of the rotary dial spinning back.

Can't wait for the new set of puzzles!

Jon Dudley said...

Having just been to a rare screening of 'The Moon and the Sledgehammer' at Brighton's admirable Duke of York cinema, it was full of unmitigated sounds - the playing of a harmonium, the sound of metal being cut on an outdoor lathe and the puffing of an Allchin traction engine. I believe that Hunstanton is very nice at this time of year Mr.A.

Peter Ashley said...

Ah, Hunstanton. We crouched in a caravan there in about 1960, having travelled on the Kings Lynn branch line in what my father called a 'push 'n' pull', which I thought was an animal in Doctor Dolittle. The other odd thing about Hunstanton is that you can watch the sun setting over the sea, even though it's on the East Coast.

Jon Dudley said...

...and sunbathe facing back to front if you see what I mean. Red cliffs too.

Anonymous said...

Another Forgotten Sound: the crackle of the foil top of a milk bottle on the first opening...

Preferably green top, fresh and warm from the farmhouse door.

Peter Ashley said...

I like that. Keep'em coming. A Foden changing gear in the snow on Shap Fell. Actually, I've no idea what that sounded like.