Guglielmo Marconitron: ACTIVATE!

Oh, man! Here we go. This one starts with grown men doing science with kites (Kites were so useful to Old Timey Scientists. Modern scientists would benefit from more kites, I think.) Since this is in Newfoundland there are obviously hordes of unattended children wandering around with absolutely nothing to do. These children laugh at the men doing science, but when the science is successful the men are so happy that they forget the children’s rudeness and show them how they just got wireless technology off the ground (if you will).

Quotewise, there’s a couple worth loving. The interplay “Do you know where England is?” “Sure, it’s over there.” is fun and, in my opinion, quotable. But the real clincher that makes this Attempt To Make Canada Feel Good About Itself a classic is Marconi’s reading of “Through the air, across the ocean, the first time ever.” Presumably the man had an Italian accent when speaking English, which is to be accepted, but that line is not spoken in an Italian accent. That line is spoken in fluent Robot. That is fact. That is sweet, beautiful, glorious fact.

This one gets Five out of Six Pieces of PDR’s Reviewing System Cake. Wireless technology is something I consider great in my daily life, and Marconi talking like a robot is something all Canadians should remember fondly.

PDR Comments on Recent Events

I feel like I should be commenting on recent events in the world. There was this big wedding in England that everyone cared about and then forgot once Osama bin Laden got killed and also some kind of election in that country that borders the Nation of Patrick D Ryall on all sides.

On the former, I have to say that PDR is just not a big fan of weddings. I like the idea of marriages, but the whole big wedding to start them generally just annoys me. Now, I’ve had a good time at some wedding receptions, certainly, but the ritual, the ceremony, is usually boring to me. So seeing this blown up to royal levels in England, and then covered with fervor by the local newses (I only get one news channel, people. I need variety or I miss out on everything) made it even worse.

The night before the wedding we put a flyer into the newspaper at which I work that advertised plates with an image of Prince Whichever and his ladyfriend who were getting married. If even one person saw that flyer and thought “Oh, that looks nice, I should get that,” then I apologize for not sabotaging it before it could get to you. That plate was a waste of your money.

Similarly dominating the news, and more likely to have actual effects on the world I think, is the death of the most wanted terrorist. Perhaps my favorite aspect of this whole thing was a small blurb that was in last night’s paper that, if I may paraphrase from memory, went something like “some construction worker who had flown to Afghanistan to find bin Laden himself claims that his presence scared the terrorist leader out of the mountains to the city where he was found. The construction worker now wants millions of dollars for his services.” Possibly there is more legitimacy to the guy’s claim than the small article went into, but I would like to make it clear that my presence in this apartment totally kept Osama from being here. I’d be happy to settle for just a single million.

Haiku!

Rocketship captain.
Please don’t forget your loved ones
as you soar through space.

As for the Canadian election: Pretty much nobody I know was happy with the result so… sucks for pretty much everybody I know. But rest assured, the leadership of the Nation of PDR remains dedicated to maintaining peaceful relations with Canada while simultaneously trying to bring down the current form of society as a whole.

That’s it. Go away.