In which the pond is soothed by the Thursday sounds of Savva ...

(more papal frolics here).

Today is the day that the pond goes in search of uplift, of redemption, of the harmony of the spheres, and the conjunction and unity of planets …in short, the savvy Savva explaining that all is plain sailing between Mars and Venus (as to which is which, others can decide) …

Vital partnership? That doesn't sound quite right, that doesn't quite capture the harmony exuding from the spheres.

What about "plain sailing" …?

With the ship of state in such sure hands, a consultation here, a bromance there, the marriage proceeding as well as marriages can, the pond decided to take a detour into the origins of "plain sailing" here …

'Plain sailing', along with the variants 'smooth sailing' and 'clear sailing', which are more common in the USA than elsewhere, is a nautical phrase that has the literal meaning of 'sailing that is easy and uncomplicated'. All of these variants of the expression are now used figuratively to describe any straightforward and trouble-free activity. There might seem to be be little more to say about 'plain sailing', if it weren't for the existence of the phrase 'plane sailing'. 
'Plane sailing' is a simplified form of navigation, in which the surface of the sea is considered to be flat rather than curved, that is, on what mathematicians call a 'plane surface'. The plane method of approximation made the calculations of distance much easier than those of 'Mercator's sailing', in which the curvature of the earth was taken into account.

Trouble free and uncomplicated! Is there any better way to evoke the Malware government?

Anyone wanting to argue about 'plain' v. 'plane' can follow the link, because the pond would like to cut to the joke at the end of the entry, featuring dialogue from the 1999 The Simpsons' Bible Stories:

Milhouse: Well, Lisa, we're out of Egypt. So, what's next for the Israelites? Land of milk and honey? Lisa: [consulting a scroll] Hmm, well, actually it looks like we're in for forty years of wandering the desert. 
Milhouse: Forty years! But after that, it's clear sailing for the Jews, right? 
Lisa: [nervously] Uh-huh-hum, more or less.

Uh huh, it's plain sailing for Malware and Sco Mo, and it's smooth sailing on to the next soothing Savva gobbet …as we touchingly learn how human, how genuinely sporty this bromance is ...

Pshaw, just a lover's tiff and typical of the wicked Fairfaxians trying to throw a spanner in the works by spreading tattletale gossip, a malicious leak, when everyone knows the harmony of the spheres results in melodious policies ...

By golly, that's the sort of glowing report card the pond would have loved to have received … a few notes here and there to suggest a realist teacher is doing the report, but generally glowing about sound students working together in a sound relationship to produce sound policies, and freebies for all, including even those naughty banks …

… and this is all just as well, because the pond must report on another deep reptile fear.

It's not just greenies, it's the devilish cars that the greenies have developed and ride around in …

Eeek, the electric cars are coming, and they'll shock you and simplistic Simon like an eel …and if the crisis isn't dealt with in the impending budget, then we'll all be rooned … possibly by Xmas...

Electric cars will produce a congestion crisis? 

Has the Turnbull government's chief infrastructure adviser driven in peak hour in Sydney lately, or contemplated the way that the NSW government is currently busy trying to make the town and the road system as fucked as Los Angeles? At the same time as the new tram roll-out is an epic disaster which must have Melburnians laughing their heads off, seeing as how Sydney would have been better off importing a few of them to help out ...

But at least now the pond understands how we ended up with Malware's NBN ...

And there you have it, at heart it's all about keeping up revenue, because after all, the government needs to keep its cash in the paw, because after all, handing massive tax cuts to the big banks is the most important work the fabulous bromancers are doing …

And now as the pond has mentioned greenies, it would just like to mention a bit of personal abuse handed out by the reptiles yesterday.

The pond was thinking of featuring it, but in the end, it was beneath contempt, a personal attack on the basis of a party affiliation, though it did offer a warning for herpetologists … while the reptiles might look cute basking on their hot rocks, anyone who happens to put a hand anywhere near them risks being bitten, scratched and clawed …

Happily, Emily Watkins in Crikey (sadly behind the paywall) is a keen reptile watcher, with a keen awareness of the dangers of giving the reptiles a prod,  and she added this wrinkle to the story ...

Oh yes, it's not just a comical fear of electric cars - sometimes they're nasty, scratchy, clawey, biting, vindictive creatures careless with the facts ..and then all that talk of the harmony of the spheres and the salvation of the planet can sound like so much hot air …

… and speaking of the spheres and the planets, by golly, this Pope is a winner, oui? (Remember, here).