You're Forgiven, Larry Niven

I Suppose A Bit Of Context Is Needed -
Larry Niven, for those who have been trapped underground in a forgotten bunker on the banks of the river Volga for the past 50 years, is an American science-fiction writer of the "hard sci-fi"* school.  None of his stuff has been adapted to film yet, so you may not be familiar with stuff like (thinks) "Ringworld" which is nothing to do with Tolkein and everything to so with engineering the planets of an entire solar system into a ring-shaped structure, viz:

This book really <ahem> rings the changes

     What he may be forgiven for is quite a lot, as he took up writing with Jerry Pournelle, creating stuff like "The Mote in God's Eye", thus:

Not entirely sure what this is, but it looks impressive, right?

     This is a matter we should all be grateful for, as Pournelle had invented the Kinetic Orbital Bombardment System whilst in the aerospace industry.  Had he remained there one presumes his Death Infliction Engineering (Inc) would have invented even more terrifying weapons - ion cannon, hypervelocity rail guns and gamma-ray lasers, to name a few.
   Thus - Larry, you're forgiven.

Bus Rate Wait
I invented this concept earlier this week, bringing what had been a nagging sense of bother into the formal structure of Western philosophy.  Broadly put, if you're waiting for a bus and in a tearing hurry, many mocking buses will pass by on the other side of the road; this is a given on working weekday mornings when 3 buses will pass by on the other side of Rochdale Road.  Conversely, if you aren't in a hurry, there will be far fewer buses travelling opposite.
     And this held true today.  As I waited to travel into The Modern Babylon**, entirely at my leisure, how many buses passed opposite?
     One!

Buses are boring.  Here's an ion-cannon blowing up shizzle^^.

Oh!  Hello Coincidence.  You're Dining Here Too?
One thing to look forward to in The City Of Rain** is a grilled cheese sandwich at Northern Soul in Church Street Market.  I had a delicious and very filling "Mac Attack" which was also very messy - and then I spotted Steve and Shirley, the sister-in-laws parents, having a milk shake.  Coincidence Number One.  Steve is a big fan of Northern Soul the music, and so had ducked into the cheese parlour for a listen and liquid load-up.  He'd been queuing up to buy rare NS vinyl and showed me his clutch - explaining that if you had the original of this one (only two ever made) then it was worth £25,000.  Which is quite a bit of scratch.  And he'd been part of the queue I'd seen outside Picadilly Records, me thinking that someone famous was autographing products.  Coincidence Number Two.
     What do I find on Facebook?  There's Shirley posting about being in Northern Soul, and underneath is a post from Ian, mates with the chap who runs Northern Soul and who posted about it and inspired your humble scribe to venture in there.  Coinci - DON'T SNEAK UP ON ME QUIETLY LIKE THAT!

PLEASE! Wear noisier footwear.  My heart, you understand.

"Big Game"
I have to revise what I wrote about this film on seeing another bus poster.  Apparently Samuel Jackson is The President.  One presumes of the United States and not Taiwan, Australia or Novi Pazar.  Also, that might not be a sub-machine gun after all - if he is the POTUS then his bodyguards probably have all sorts of compact weaponry*** and he got it from them.  Perhaps?

The puppy in question.  And the gun, too

     Hang on, because I still can't find a poster on the internet that corresponds with the bus poster.  I shall check my "Janes - Guns Recognition Guide"
     Aha!  Meet the Heckler & Koch MP7:

Look familiar?

     It is a sub-machine gun, with a very high rate of fire - 950 rounds per minute, and given that it's also quite light (3 lb) it would be difficult to keep on target.  Since the other person on the posters is a Finnish lad, one presumes this big game hunting is taking place in Finland - and it's surely against the law there for anyone go hunting with automatic weapons!
     Even if you are the POTUS.

"Cubanisto"
I saw this on a hoarding as we drove past, and actually paid attention to what it promoted, as most adverts flow gently over the surface of my eyes without involving the brain at all.

A Death's head.  How appropriate.

     "Rum flavoured beer".
     Rum flavoured beer?  Get out of here! Beer should taste of beer.  I'll allow that rum ought to also taste only of rum.  DON'T MIX THE TWO!
     Really, what is the world coming to <Mister Hand intervenes to prevent boredom setting in>

Today's Haul
It is traditional for me to sit and gloat about what I've bought in the first Saturday after payday, and today is - SIT RIGHT BACK DOWN! - this is fascinating stuff, I tell you, fascinating.  Where was I?  Oh yes, today is no exception.
The Books:

      I know what you're thinking - "Wow! Conrad bought TWO books that have nothing to do with war!" but you're wrong.  The blue hardback is "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer" by Siegfreid Sassoon.  You may know him better for objecting to the war and how it was run, but he was a gung-ho fire-breathing killer when in action - this is confirmed by Robert Graves, who served in the same unit (2nd Royal Welch^ Fusiliers).

      The Comics:

      Actually Trade Paperbacks.  And "United States of Murder" still isn't out as a TPB yet.  Maybe by May.  The top ones aren't that clear but are "The Goon", which is an utterly hilarious series by Eric Williams.  There was muttering about an animated film a year ago, but nothing seems to have come of it.  You'd need to have it animated, there isn't an actor I know of who could play The Goon - he's huge, has terrible teeth and a badly-scarred face.
     The CD's:

From top left: Bjork, Joe Walsh, Bjork, Public Service Broadcasting and - Bjork

     For all the Icelandic theme here, I wish there were more of it.  I enquired about The Apparat Organ Quartet and "Polyfonia", only to be told that Fopp! hadn't stocked it since 2011 and I'd be better off contacting Southern Records, who distributed it <sad face>
     And the solitary CD:

That's "The Signal", not "The Sign"

     I saw a <cough cough> version of this and really enjoyed it, and Conrad's rule is that this means I have to buy it.  So I did.
     Okay, that's enough for this post.  If you are good - or bad, I'm fickle like that - I may post later on.



* Writing "sci-fi" infuriates the science fiction snobs, which is why I do it.  Snort!
** Manchester
*** Notice how I avoid using that word "shizzle"
^ Yes, this is the correct spelling.
^^ See how "street" I am?

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