Volplaning And Velodogs

I Beg Your Pardon?
     Yes, these are both real things.  Don't worry, all will become clear.
     Conrad, as you surely know by now, dear audience, is one for reading.  Military history, murder mystery, occasional fiction, science-fiction.  He is also an inveterate note-taker.  You may remember this article:

Closed*

Open*

      The "Wonder Bag Memo Pad".  Jolly useful it is, too.  Small enough to be concealed in a hip or shirt pocket, thin enough to act as a bookmark.  So, should Conrad not make sense of a word or phrase, he makes a note for later referral.
     No!  This is not anal-retentiveness to the nth degree - careful planning is what it is.  For example, whilst reading "Fighting With Popski's Private Army", I came across the word "volplaning".  What did this mean?  Note made.  So what is it?  To sneakily descend your aircraft with the engines turned off, that those below with hostile intent and, more to the point, anti-aircraft guns, cannot hear you.  I doubt you can do it with modern jet aircraft but it worked like ooja-ma-flip in WW2.

Velodog
     Having just finished "The State Counsellor", an Erast Fandorin novel, I came across the name "Velodog".  Clearly it was a weapon, given the context, but - what kind of weapon?  You will recall earlier this week I mentioned a Victorian "life preserver" that was actually a hand-held bludgeon.  Could this be the same?
     Not at all!  Meet a Velodog:

Compact yet deadly.  Like Joe Pesci.

     Yes, it's a small revolver.  It fired .22 or .25 bullets, which - obviously! - are pitifully small for dealing with human beings.
     Ah yes, the clue is in the description.  It was intended for use against dogs, not people, and was marketed for people on bicycles.  There you are, tootling along down a country lane and a savage behemoth with frothing mouth comes slavering at you, and his dog as well - no problem!  You let fly with your Velodog.
     Invented by a Frenchman, I hasten to add.  The French regard dogs with less affection that do the British, it seems - although you could get cartridges that were loaded with sawdust or chilli powder.

Sterlet Pate
     Another entry from "The State Counsellor".  It came with other food dishes, so it can be assumed to be edible - but what could it be?  Conrad, not big on late 19th Century Russian cooking, looked it up.

Sterlets

     It's a very small sturgeon.  Awww how cute! Another of life's little mysteries solved.  Next time you're in Moscow or Tver or Archangelsk and your hosts press sterlet on you, thanks to BOOJUM! you will know to be properly appreciative.

Chocolate Toffee Brownie Muffins
     - that are also gluten free.  I have a recipe for these, but it called for almost a whole jar of Creme De Leche, which is £3 a go.  Then Conrad spotted "Kate's Kitchen Caramel Condensed Milk", which proved, on opening the tin, to be pretty much the same as CDL**, but half the price.
     He pressed on and these are the result:

Made with love, that extra-special invisible ingredient***

Steatopygous
    Aha!  You can't fool me, this is a dinosaur.  Possibly a relative of, or descendant of, the Stegosaurus, that curious creature with a spiked tail and bony plates all down it's back.  The Steatopygous would be a herbivore, having evolved to do without the plates down it's back (they tend to get snagged on branches), maybe with a pair of horns on it's forehead - that way it has spikes at both front and rear - 

Exactly like this! (yes some people are weird)

     What's that?
     It's not?
     It merely means having a big bum?
     Arse!  My version of reality is much better!  Plus it could be in "Jurassic Park VII" or "Primeval"  :(

Fun With Dangerous Chemicals!
     Sulphuric acid.  You've heard of this chemical, I take it?  Nasty stuff indeed.  In concentrated form, it is extremely corrosive and is not to be treated with anything less than extreme care.
     Well, say hello to Fluoroantimonic Acid!  This is another of those chemical compounds that are not just dangerous, they are stupidly dangerous.  It is of the order of millions of millions times more powerful than sulphuric acid.  Just about the only thing it won't cause to explode, dissolve or disintegrate is PTFE (Poly-Tetra-Fluoro-Ethylene), which is lucky otherwise it would have melted it's way to the Earth's core by now, inconveniencing Doug McClure.  So - extremely corrosive, toxic, explodes on contact with water - this ticks all the boxes for a Dangerous Chemical!  Sadly though it isn't radioactive.
     What practical use does this Essence of Evil have?  Supposedly as a tangential application for several chemical processes; you and I, gentle reader, know it's reallllly being kept in storage by S.H.I.E.L.D. for when - ah but that would be telling ...

Yes.  But only once.

Edna!  Help My Blog Traffic!

There's a lot going on in that head ...

**  CDL - So - Tanks?
CDl - or "Canal Defence Light".  Say hello to another barmy military project that created tanks with high-powered armoured searchlights, thus:

The Light is that vertical aperture in the turret, next to the dummy gun

     They were so top secret no Allied commander knew about them and they sat unused for most of the war.  The name "Canal Defence Light" was supposed to be a cunning subterfuge, probably dreamed up by Baldrick, to fool the Hun.  Ha!  They ended up defending the River Rhine with their armoured searchlights.  Ironically close to being a real Canal Defence Light.

And Finally -

The Fouquieria Columnaris

     Better known as the "Boojum Tree"

* I'm not being too technical here, am I?