Today The Theme is - Moles!

There.  Said It
So there's no need to worry about the eternally vigilant Facebook Scrutineering Squad of crack internet-scouring hamsters.
     Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking, but if they were called "Soggies" nobody would buy them -     Oh!  Sorry, you were wondering why moles.  Why moles?
     Why not!
     Don't, however, expect little black-furred burrowing chaps, because this is, after all, BOOJUM!, where logic and rationality have no seats at the dining table.

Talking of the dining table, here we are at lunch

     And here we have an illustration of the generation gap, Alex fiddling about with her mobile and Conrad reading the print media*.

Matching Mole
If you know anything about music you'll have heard of Robert Wyatt - the chap behind "Shipbuilding"**.  Robert is a radical, card-carrying Communist, so he probably won't ever get to tour America, which is a loss for the Americans since he is a consummate songwriter and singer.
     Anyway, he used to be in Soft Machine, but left them in 1970 to found Matching Mole. 
     They put out two LPs (as they were at that time), one of which Conrad had - "Matching Mole's Little Red Record".  Also the song "Caroline", about a romantic break-up suffered by Robert which is heart-breakingly honest and poignant.  Hear it and weep.

Moles, holes - all it needs is some voles.

 Thunderbirds
If the Tracy's ever needed to tunnel, burrow, excavate or undermine anything, they resorted to the mighty Mole.  Behold the Mole!

In transport mode

Doing what it does best - digging.  Note the rocket at rear - this thing means business!

     Conrad is unsure quite how the Tracy's knew where they were going as the Mole is as blind as it's real world counterpart - no windows.  Compass and best guess?

The Black Sapper
This chap started out as a villain, but swung over to the side of right when the Khansu armed hordes invaded Britain in 1971***.
     He was quite small, old Sapper, which he needed to be as his mole-machine was much smaller than The Mole:

I think that qualifies as "Ill-gotten gains"

     Er - Conrad has to admit it's actually called the "Worm".  But, dammit, it looks so - so - Moley!

See!  All that's missing is a snout!

At The Earth's Core
Ah!  Now, this came to me in a sudden flash^.  And this is a Mole - the Iron Mole, to be precise.  Behold the Mole!

Sorry, no colour versions.
Anyway, it's Victorian - it ought to be in black and white!

     Now, we will generally avoid all mention of that nasty word "plagiarism" or that far nicer word "hommage"; clearly burrowing machines designed to penetrate the earth's crust will have similar design components; check out modern tanks - they all look much of a muchness for the same reason.

Dunkirk
Ah, I can tell what you're thinking, and yes, selling "Brain's Faggots" in America would be extremely hard -
     Oh!  Sorry, you were wondering where a French coastal town comes into an article about moles?
     Well, look at this here picture:

An Excursion to France: the home leg

     That large stone structure stretching into the distance is the Dunkirk harbour East mole, decorated by British soldiers waiting for a lift home.  A "mole" in this sense is a typically massive structure that prevents the free passage of water beneath it.

Parker
Ah, Art Department -

No!  Get it right!

     The Thunderbirds article has been done, you bag of sand!  No, I meant this chap - Reginald Molehusband:

Molehusband the man

     Reginald was the star of a public information film from the Sixties, being the worst parker in Britain.  He was hapless, hopeless and <thinks> hairy^^. But he learned how to parallel-park properly and was feted as the best parker in Britain by the end of the film.

"Jason's Quest" by Margaret Laurence
I remembered a line from this children's novel last night:
     "Molanium the mighty
     With twenty tunnels blessed"
     Conrad's memory being erratic at best, I couldn't remember more than this.  Until Google, mighty Google, came to my rescue.
     So - Jason's Quest, a novel about a young mole^^^ on a desperate quest to discover why so many of Molanium's inhabitants are mysteriously dying.

He's Jason and he's on a quest.  Close enough.

The Dickies
Ah, yes, the mighty Dickies, who took themselves even less seriously than The Skreeming Voles.  Behold their second LP:

Spot the Romero reference

     I know what you're thinking, and no, I can't really understand why we suffer Russell Brand to live - Oh!  Sorry, you were actually wondering where zombies and Dickies have any connection to moles?
     "Attack of the Molemen" is why!  Pretty obviously - obviously! - inspired by "Attack of the Mole People"

"they carry their clubs upon their back

mole man mole man

they climb up on ground and then attack

beware of the head moleman jack"

     There you go.

"Nantucket Sleighride"
Yes, a track by - wait for it - Mountain.  Here's the Youtube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0JrV86EKCs

     I know, what does this have to do with moles?
     Well - I made a mountain out of a molehill ...


* Actually The Metro so it really only counts as a newspaper on a technicality.
** Conrad - out on the edge of sense as usual - thought this was about the Polish shipyard strikers at Gdansk.
*** You don't remember this?  It was in the documentary magazine "Hotspur" and everything.
^ I get electric shocks all the time.
^^ Well, it's true!
^^^ Don't fear, any Polish readers out there, these moles all wear clothing.