The h2g2 Post 29.07.24

Created Jul 2, 2024 | Updated Jul 28, 2024

A crest bearing the legend The H2G2 Post

Posted: 29^th July 2024

This week's title is Fields of Dreams. Clockwise from upper left: A nine-spotted moth, a tortoiseshell cat in a blanket fort, a marmot in grass, red and white hollyhocks, a six-spotted moth, a tank going down a Dutch street with crowds watching, a black dog and a white dog exploring, some yellow plums growing, and some purple phlox..

There are many traditions at work here. Since our correspondents come from different parts of the world, we should probably give you some background.

On the western European front, our cartoonist Bluebottle pursues a popular international pastime known as parkrun. It's a timed 5k run. This week, we learn about BB's adventures in the Netherlands. Read to find out about the involvement of a 'gurt big tank'.

South Africa has an enviable diversity of wildlife, and our Willem is there. This time, he's visiting the Mockford vultures. Vultures gotta eat, and a smorgasbord has been provided. He got amazing photos of these incredibly important birds.

The rest of you don't know this, but in the US, there's a particular tradition of rhymed-couplet poetry that may shock you. The lines can be ragged, the rhymes groanworthy, but darn it, people enjoy these things. Two prominent practitioners have been poet Ogden Nash and the legendary mail-order company Miles Kimball, whose thematic rhymed catalogues caused so many of our mothers to spend their disposable incomes on frivolous tchotchkes. Why do I mention this? You'll understand when you see Paulh's Create photoessay on summer flowers. Enjoy.

Many Post traditions are in evidence here: recording puzzling signs, counting the spots on moths, trying to gross the Editor out with slimy things, showing off beautiful flowers, and, of course, arguing about wildlife identification. See if you can help us figure out what that rodent is Angel LiaDan spotted through the bus window in Italy.

Naturally, we have the other traditions: humour (yes, it's humour, stop asking), a quiz, amazing cinema (which you really should read, even if you don't like the films), essay stuff, and fiction. We have only two stories to read this week. FWR's suspense may nearly kill you, and I will swear that my Roman shenanigans are based on Roman historians. Okay, Roman historians weren't much better than the Daily Mail, but I can't help that. Caiman's still on holiday, and Tavaron is building something for real and can't stop to tell us about space this week. They'll be back, though.

Read, comment, spread the word about us. Oh, and visit us @dmitrigheorgheni on Youtube. You won't believe all the good videos we have.

Dmitri Gheorgheni