High-Flying Birds

Well - Kind Of
If I'd put "High-Flying Elephants" you might have thought I was merely being silly.*
     I might have titled this post "Eight Miles High" except I'm not familiar with the upper bounds of a 747's operational ceiling when carrying cargo.

Apt, though.

     For yes!  We are back to Conrad banging on about why concert tickets cost so much.  A word of caution, however, as this is less investigative journalism and more a citric rant, which is less objective than the former but a whole lot more fun to write.
     The Beeb's article on this had some tour manager boasting about requiring 5 Jumbo jets to carry Beyong's tour paraphernalia from South Canada to the Garden of Eden.  You can tell where this sent my tedious, nerdy, number-crunching mind.
     "How much does it cost to charter a 747?" pondered your humble scribe.  The answer is, a lot.  $25,000 per hour for a cargo plane.
     Doing a bit of quick and dirty maths, assuming that it takes about  hours 10 hour to fly across the Atlantic, the costs of hiring these jets comes to nearly a million dollars.  Which, of course, gets passed on to the paying sheep you the audience.  Well, I hope you're happy with that.

This much money!

     There you go.  Go spend a small fortune on expensive tickets; I shall instead go have a look at ticket prices at the Academy, for Eels are playing there in July.
     Okay, time to put a bucket over the motley's head and hit it with a hammer!**
Conrad Continues With His Boring Fascinating Deconstruction
Yes, we are back to my forensic analysis of Wikipedia's account of the Battle of Medenine, and the supposed losses experienced by the British, as detailed by the Axis.  Go back to yesterday if you need the background.  So!

     “16 scout cars” sounds like another fib, too.  The reason being that these handy little vehicles, known as the Daimler Dingo, were used by Perfidious Albion for reconnaissance, probing ahead of any advancing force, spying on the enemy and reporting back.  However, Medenine was a defensive engagement for the British, and they had to reason to have a screen of Dingos out in front of them.  Bad Axis!  Naughty Axis!

<sigh>  Art strikes again

     “33 motor vehicles” is dubious, too.  The reason being, as mentioned above, that the British were already on the defensive, all dug in and treacherously waiting.***  They weren’t driving forward and since they were defending fixed positions, the MT would all have been collected to the rear.  It’s possible that there were individual vehicles knocking around the front lines, but certainly nowhere near enough for 33 of them to be destroyed.

Restraining a wild truck as it tries to escape domestication

“ 32 anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns” again this sounds like an exaggeration, because this would amount to nearly 10% of the total number of guns the British  deployed.  It’s not mentioned at all in the British accounts of the battle.  And, how would the Axis know how many anti-aircraft guns were destroyed, as these would be set out well behind the front line?

Preparing to rock someone's world.
And not in a good way.

     Enough of this wibble!  Perhaps you begin to see why Conrad is questioning figures and possible sources.  I suppose the only way to definitively answer the question of what losses there were is find a book that deals with the battle in detail - and there aren't many - or individual unit records.
     However, I see you eyes beginning to glaze over.  Let us make haste away!

So far there has been no critical fallout from my doggerel rhyme about Edna - hey, did you see what - O you do - which either means that it was acceptable in the eyes of Wonder Wifey, or that she just hasn't read it yet.  Ah - a series of whimpers from our furry daughter over on the windowsill as she catches my eye.  Let me just run it through the Dog Translation Unit that I have on loan from DARPA.^

Edna, taking her ease.  On MY bed.

     "Wicked neglectful humans.  Edna sad.  Nobody love Edna.  Nobody walk Edna.  Nobody play with Edna.  Edna have much to offer world.  Poor, sad Edna.  Neglectful wicked humans  - "
     "Hey, Edna, want to go walkies?"
     "EDNA LOVE EVERYBODY!"
     I shall now go suit action to words.  Expect me back later, chilled.

*  As if that ever happens around here.
**  The bucket, not the motley.  Also, plastic bucket, rubber hammer.
***  Treacherously, even - dare we say it - perfidiously.
^  Oh alright, I stole it.  There.  Happy now?