The Bohemian Crusher

It's a Diplomacy opening for Italy. I'd never heard of it before. If you don't know what Diplomacy is, good for you.

The Crusher is a Fall 1901 anti-Austrian Italian Opening. It defers immediate gratification for positional advantage which reaps greater rewards in later years. It presumes the success of the aforementioned Spring moves. With armies in TYR and VEN, and a guaranteed build from F ION-TUN, most Italians would attack TRI or VIE depending on circumstances. You are probably not assured of a second build, but it's worth a try. Thus, everyone will be surprised when you exercise self restraint and instead move A TYR-BOH and A VEN-TYR.

Lupus

If you've ever watched House, you'll know that practically every week someone suggests Lupus as the cause of the current week's victim's illness. Eventually I had to look up what it was.

When the term 'lupus' is used on House, it is almost always referring to systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE. This disease with acute episodes that is characterised as a chronic autoimmune disease that involves multiple organ systems.

I am up to the start of season 3 in a huge House marathon. So far, it has never actually been Lupus. I am hoping that it will be in at least one episode (don't spoil it for me).

It seems like it might be possible to get a passing grade at medical school by simply answering Lupus to all the questions.

Broiling == Grilling

Kind of.

I didn't actually learn this today. It's just the most significant thing I've learned since I last posted. I lived in the US for over 18 months before realizing I had a grill because the control to turn it on was labelled "Broil"

My new cooker has a button that is labelled "Clear Off" which, while superficially rude, is at least possible to fathom the meaning of.