Cheating It's Way To VIctory

Yes Indeed.

As I shall be going out drinking directly after work, and probably not getting home until the small hours, there is no possibility of a masterfully-composed work of literary genius - not that there is anyway, so I thought I'd just copy last year's post from 20th March 2014.  This is actually a valuable exercise for Conrad, as I never bother to re-read posts once they've gone out, and hence cannot remember what I've been blathering on about.  I shall comment on the below, just to pad things out.
     Where pictures have been blanked out (no idea why!) I have removed them, but left the caption in, just to torment you.


(Looks Over Shoulder)
     Yes.  Watching "Monkees In A Ghost Town".  There can't be any unusual intertwinings of causality associated with that, surely?  I have also begun reading "The State Counsellor"; however, given that this is a work of historical crime fiction set in early 20th Century Tsarist Russia, I don't anticipate any coincidences arising from that, either.
     Having skirted the sleeping Fates and thus avoided prodding them awake, let us
proceed with today's blog.


Well coincidence is still alive and well in the world of Conrad - see yesterday's post about Turin Brakes and Brakes catering trucks.

From Mystery Tower to Nab Rock Lighthouse
     Yesterday we began the tale of the Mystery Towers of Shoreham.  Here a refresher photograph:
     Now these things were 1) Freaking enormous and 2) Obsolete.  They were built to deny the Channel to German U-boats.  The cunning Hun, however, ended the war before all 14 could be constructed.  Always a bit of a bummer when that happens, eh?
     So.  The lightship at the Nab Rocks was nearing the end of it's life.  An intelligent person combined the two concepts: light-house needed + giant concrete and steel tower going spare.

Note the tilt, which is not a photo artefact

     The concrete base settled at an angle of 3 degrees from vertical upon the Nab Rocks.  Where it sits until today.

Oops.  Coincidence Strikes Again
     Damn.  What do I find when Googling about Nab Tower?  Bam Nuttall have been renovating it and the work is due to finish this month.

You don't believe me?  Here's the link:

http://www.cnplus.co.uk/innovation/project-reports/bam-nuttall-restores-some-coastal-military-history-before-its-too-late/8652830.article#.UysryPl_uSo

Nab Tower after being Bammed and Nuttalled

I've enabled the link above but given that it's a year old it may not work.

Give it a go and let me know, okay?

Oh Noes!  Even More Coincidence
     What else cropped up when Googling "Mystery Towers Shoreham"?  This:

Having one of these permits you to twirl your evil moustache and go "Bwa-hah-hah!"

     This is actually a tower built by Nikolai Tesla - your archetypal mad scientist - and it's in Shoreham.  Shoreham, New Jersey, that is.  Having three mystery towers in one place would be greedy!

 

This artefact later turns up in the Thomas Pynchon novel "Against The Day", which I read last year, and is - if proof you need - that Coincidence likes it's party games with Conrad

 Okay.  Enough with towers and mystery.  Next!

Science News From Auntie Beeb
     Ha!  As if.  Honestly, listen to this quote: US scientists announce the discovery of a new species of dinosaur, which offers further clues to how the great beast became extinct 66 million years ago
      I thought that the documentary magazine "2000 AD" had decisively revealed that the dinosaurs were wiped out by over-farming by time-travelling cowboys from the future.  Really, Auntie, do keep up!

An artist's impression

So - Tanks?
     Just barely.  Say hello to the German "Weisel".

The "Weisel".  German for "Weasel"

I know it looks like someone cut a proper tank in three, threw away the middle and glued the two ends together, but this is a real thing.  It was meant to be air-portable, hence the small size, and it weighs less than 3 tons.  Regular readers will know that's very small in terms of tank.  I doubt if Conrad, at 6' 1", would fit comfortably into it.

Finally!

 

     More blatant puppy power. Edna doing her stretchy thing.


Ah, some things remain constant - Conrad abusing small cute animals in order to drive blog traffic.  The picture's unavailable, but I suspect this was in the "Both Small And Cute" phase of her puppyhood
 
 I hope this comes out okay - deleting the first picture caused the page format to fail and it changed wherever the cursor moved.  Hopefully you can still read these lines and remember, there is fresh material piling up ready for the weekend!