Single spies, not in battalions

[desperance]

In other other news, this everlasting cold (I shall call it Flamineo) decided to present itself one symptom at a time, rather than altogether. Yesterday, I was entirely coughing; today it is the headache that I have. Tomorrow, who knows?

Still, we forge forward. I feel like an icebreaker (but God only knows where I'd find one this time of night, ho ho). It feels Really Slow, and Naught Availing, but I just did a countback and I've cut almost 3000 words out of 25,000. Better than 10% ain't bad, when you're cutting for clarity and movement, rather than length.

On, on...

Comments

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

I feel like an icebreaker (but God only knows where I'd find one this time of night, ho ho).

Kemi, Finland. The Sampo, only commercial icebreaker ship in the world, well worth taking a short cruise on, crunching down the thick crust of ice over the bay of Bothnia.

Hey, you ask 'em, I answer 'em as best I can.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Yay, I'd like that. I'm surprised there's only one, though. (There was TV last week, a guy on a Canadian icebreaker going through the North-West Passage for the first time. That wasn't commercial, though - strictly science and territorial...)

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

It's the only one, as far as I know. At least, it was, back in '95 (whoa, that long ago?), where I went for a cruise on it, under a full moon and the comet of that year (was it Halle-Bop?) to keep company with the guest of Kemi's Comics festival, Régis Loisel. A short walk on the ice, and then back to harbour, after a fine dinner on board, where we tasted Hungarian Bull's Blood wine.

That was fun. We were punished for it on arrival, because, unknown to us, the mayor's banquet was awaiting us, and we had to eat again or seem rude.

Back to the oneness of the ship, though, I suppose the upkeep of such a boat is quite large, and the use of icebreakers, primarily focused on less futile tasks. What's more, one needs to be far enough up North, so that the cruise business will last a long enough period of the year to be financially sound.

All of which must reduce the possibilities.

(The Sampo is the multicolored mill-like device that is the Finnish folklore equivalent to a cornucopia, by the way.)>/i>