A Tidy Atomic Pile

Dammit!
That's not what I meant to put.  Sorry; I've been using the prefix "Atomic" recently - Atomic Snail, Atomic Weasel and Atomic Shark* - which sort of went hand-in-hand when that word "Pile" came up.
     Here an aside.  Nowadays we call them 'nuclear reactors', yet they were originally known as 'atomic piles' for a reason.  Art?

Thus

     As you may be able to see, this is literally a pile of graphite and uranium bricks, which created a self-sustaining chain reaction.  By design it only put out enough power to heat a cup of tea, so there was no worry about it going critical and destroying the city of Chicago, or even the University thereof - an important point since it was built under the football stand of said university.  Why there?  You got me.  Health and Safety not an issue back in the day, I guess.
     Back on track!  What I meant to say was merely "A Tidy Pile", because I was wondering where my DVD of "Undermind" had gotten to and yes, the two things are connected. Art?

Despte the red, it is in black and white

     For those of you who don't know, this is a sci-fi series from 1965, long thought to be mostly lost; a review over on IMDB dated 2001 states that only 3 episodes survive, but here all 11 are.  It's a  subtle and sinister take on the hoary old alien invasion threat trope, with nary a Grey or Reptilianoid or even Dalek to be seen.
     However good it may be, your humble scribe couldn't find it, so a long search resulted until I found it.  I know what you're thinking, Hooray tale all told now we can go and watch "Pointless".
     Not quite.  I decided to therefore put all my DVDs into alphabetical order.  Ha!  You didn't expect that, did you?
     Oh.  I didn't realise I was that predictable.  Well, here's a before and after shot of my Sekrit Layr.  Art?

This is impressive, and not in any way sad.

     It took ages, let me tell you.  Each stack represents one letter of the alphabet, with the exception of "V".  For some reason there's nothing with a title that begins with "V".  
     From there it was a case of arranging them in alphabetical order and then stacking them in alphabetical fashion.  Art?

     I stacked the ones that begin with a number separately, because you might have worried about that.
     There you go, the origin of (most of) today's title!
     Now to throw an egg and the motley and mock it's tears!**

"Thaumaturges"
Yesterday we kicked off with the 'Dramaturge', which turned out to be a proper thing (a kind of literary liaison in the theatre world), and today we turn our philology on the word above, which the cynical or realistic would say is not a proper thing.  

No, Art, no.

     Quite contrary to Art's speculative post, Thaumaturges are not hideous alien monsters, because the word comes from the Greek for "Miracle", "Thauma" and "Work", "Ergon".  So, a Thaumaturge is a miracle worker.
     Which leads nicely into -

I Bring You Sunshine -
Not literally, although that would be nice, given the current weather.  Since many of you out there are shorter in the tooth than your humble scribe, I need to explain that the comedy duo of Morecambe and Wise used the song "Bring Me Sunshine" as their signature entry and exit tune.
     "Is this relevant?" I hear you ask.  "Because 'Pointless' has finished and 'Quincy' is on next."
     Well, yes, rather.  Art?

Horribly funny.***

     I post this because the BBC have managed to recover 30 seconds of a lost episode from 1968, which is not so much lost as unloved: it's a long reel of film that has degraded so much it's all stuck together and cannot be unseparated.  It's not radiation-proof, however, so some clever rascals at the Beeb x-rayed it, then scienced the shizzle out of it, and Hay Pesto! a clip of the programme.  Herein the link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-43118475/morecambe-and-wise-rescuing-a-lost-film

     Go on, have a look.  Since they've managed this, I'd hesitate to call it a miracle.  It is of interest to sci-fi buffs, though, because how many decomposing "Doctor Who" film reels are there hiding in attics around the country?  The nation's favourite dramamentary might get some miracles of it's own.

More Of Medenine
I was having a quick browse at "Firepower" (Shelford & Bidwell) last night, and happened to come across a reference to the Battle of Medenine.  It mentioned the 17 pounder anti-tank gun, which we have posted about recently.  Art?

A Pheasant being unpleasant

     Interestingly, S & B mentioned that one 17 pounder hit and destroyed 6 Axis tanks with it's first six shots, and given the shell weight and speed, those tanks would have been very, very destroyed.
     Just so you know.

*  Worryingly, all these are real.  Well, "Atomic Shark" is a film (if you can grace it with that description) but it still exists.
**  Mind you, it was an ostrich egg.
***  Eric Morecambe could simply walk on stage and cross his arms and still be funny.