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Tuesday, December 23, 2014

From Deep Outer Space to Deepest Ocean Trenches AND in Between: "Carp in the Bathtub"

     This December has brought discoveries and images from Deep Space and the International Space Station:




to the New Snailfish in the Deepest Sea of the Marianas Trench


  
          And in between these depths is the discovery and revelation that carp spend time swimming in the bathtubs of families in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Germany and other central European countries. They swim in the bathtubs as a precursor to being served as Christmas dinner, according to NPR.



       My son's girlfriend is from the Czech Republic. She confirms that her grandmother had various carp swimming in her bathtub over the years to "clean them out." Linda says that she loves the taste of fried carp, after soaking it in milk and salt, and served with a special potato salad. She did say it was harder to eat some of the fish than others (due to the "pet factor").



      Oh, I may as well say it now: "Carpe Diem!" and "Merry Christmas Eve Eve." Do you have special holiday traditions that involve anything swimming in your bathtub?




        Here's to deep discoveries and long traditions of whatever holiday you celebrate. 


And no deep carping! ;-)
Steph

Beautiful Christmas Eve Morning here:




          The dogs, Maizie and Stella, are here but they're not raining (more like reigning;-)). 




27 comments:

  1. Carp in the bathtub... [anagram of "Carp"] in that other porcelain bathroom fixture!

    " She did say it was harder to eat some of the fish than others (due to the 'pet factor')." I believe the fourth Wise Man brought a pet fish (in a fishbowl) as his gift to Jesus. But the shepherds were so hungry that they filched the fish and made sandwiches out of them...
    Talk about your Magi Carp Pet Ryed!

    ...A scatological anagram and a far-fetched-filched-fish pun! What a way to enter into the spirit of the joyous holiday Christmas season on PEOTS.

    Sorry Steph, and PEOTS followers. You deserve better, And I trust janta Claus will eventually be sleighing in to bring it to us.

    LegoLambdaOnRye

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    1. Still shaking my head at Magi Carp Pet Ryed, Lego. . .;-)

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  2. I don't think anyone could top "Magi Carp Pet Ryed", Lego!

    Yeah, my father-in-law likes to talk about soon-to-be gefilte fish swimming in his bathtub in Brooklyn when he was growing up.

    Merry Christmas to all, and Veselé Vánoce to your son's Czech mate, Steph!

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    1. And Czech mate, jan, so glad you got that one off your chess. . .

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    2. Wouldn't want you to get board....

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    3. Just a p(r)awn in the game. So shellfish.

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  3. Gentlemen, your wonderful word play humbles and amuses me, as usual. Rye, rye humour all! Thank you this Christmas Eve.

    I thought of getting a fish to swim in the bathtub as a surprise but I'm not sure how the dogs would handle that. . .so perhaps a Veselé Vánoce will be surprise enough.

    Have a splendid day!

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  4. I've been thinking a really clever carp (a MacGyver carp, if you will) might find a way to tunnel out of his (or her) bathtub prison. Tunnel? Carp? Never mind!
    I seem to remember catching a few carp as a kid (little ones, nothing like those in the pictures) and being told to throw them back because they were no good to eat.

    My family never got into the sauerkraut thing. I think my Dad hated the stuff. I might tolerate a little bit on a hot dog (don't get nervous, Maizie, I'm talking about a REAL hot dog) but I don't think I could face a whole steaming plate of it.

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    1. So many carp, so many transposed letters.

      Paul, my grandmother, Cappy, made a sauerkraut soup that was mostly sauerkraut and mushrooms. Yum! I'd like a big, steaming bowl today; it was 7 degrees this morning.

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  5. Tying up loose ends from last week:

    “Take the word CLAMBAKES and double one of its letters. Remove three consecutive letters in the alphabet, and add two other consecutive letters of the alphabet. Rearrange the result to form a beverage.”
    Answer: CLAMBAKES > CLAMBAKKES – ABC + HI = MILKSHAKE

    Take a word that appears in Steph's PEOTS headline (last) week:

    Clam to Clam: "Don't Make Me Put My Foot Down!" or "Bivalve, Will Travel"

    Invert one of the letters and superimpose part of it onto a part of one of the other letters to form a new letter. Rearrange the result to get the name of a blog purveyor with whom many here at PEOTS (and other aficionados of fine puzzling) may be familiar.
    Answer: BIVALVE. Invert a V and superimpose it onto the other V to form and N. BIALNE rearranged = BLAINE.

    LegoForMoreLikeThisVisitPuzzleria!

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    1. Thanks for tying up those loose ends, Lego. It's east to see those gyrating letters now in reverse, er, re^lerse.

      Snowing again today in our deep cold. Stella has gone back to her dog parents; Maizie is relieved.

      A Monday morning joke to start your day:

      A Swede, an Englishman, a Scot, a Russian, an Indian, a Greek, an American, an Irishman, a Spaniard, an Aussie, a German, and a Costa Rican go into a fancy restaurant. The waiter says, "I'm sorry, I can't serve you without a Thai."

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    2. Steph,

      Love the joke. Will try to remember it.

      Stella may be a dog star, but Maizie will always be our beloved "corn dog!" I used "Stella" in a Puzzleria! hint yesterday. It involved baseball.

      Any sneak preview of the final PEOTS of 2014?

      LegoSubStellar

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    3. Alternative punchline: "I can't Lett you eat here without a Thai"? "I can't Lett you in without a Thai, you Slav!"?

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    4. I'd only heard the one where he's asked if he'd like dessert.
      I don't get out much.

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  6. Thanks, Lego.

    I am kicking around biotechnology, the squid and medical research, and malachite/azurite. The last was inspired by a bar of "malachite/azurite" soap I received for Christmas.

    Any preferences or other ideas?

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    1. My friend received a bar of Malachi/Azariah soap for his Bar Mitzvah... or maybe it was an iPod Nano. I guess I don't remember.
      LegoyLambda

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  7. Take two New Years wishes for PEOTSers. Put them together to name something you might see in the night sky over the next few weeks.

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    1. I like it!

      And Happy Hogmany also!

      PEOTS is running a wee bit behind this week due to a wonderful get-together with both of my kids yesterday. I am trying to wrap my head around Dengue Fever and new antibody treatments. My daughter is fascinated with immunology. . .

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