Zokko And Bongo And A Water Feature (Not The Congo)

It's Not My Fault!
Blame Oscar - my memory.  Its his fault, he keeps throwing up stuff at random.  Honestly, I shudder to think what the storage in my lower memory levels is like - a gigantic simmering broth of ideas and images twenty-five thousand kilometres across and one hundred thousand miles deep.  And punctuated by 150 kilotonne explosions on the mental sea bed that propel those ideas and images up into the stratosphere - 
     - pardon my poetic meanderings!  Where were we?

Either a Giant Smoke Octopus, a 150 kt explosion or -  Conrad's lower memory substratum

Ali Bongo
You might not have heard of this chap, but Conrad distinctly remembers him being on television in the early Seventies, with his own show.  Real name William Wallace*, he was a magician who went on to advise on many television shows, as well as becoming head of the Magic Circle.

Ali in Fez-tive dress.
(Sorry)

     Which is an organisation representing magicians - not some sinister Neolithic cult that carries out human sacrifice at the vernal equinox.  Just so we're clear.
     Now, two of his television credits are enough to ensure his virtual immortality:  Doctor Who, The Tomorrow People and Zokko.*

Zokko
Ali had a slot on this rather strange program that emerged into British television in the late Sixties.  Described afterwards as a "children's television comic", it was fronted by - er - a pinball machine.  Viz:

Hi-tec in those days

     The internet has come on a bit since last year as Conrad remembers trying to get a photograph to illustrate a previous item on Zokko, and finding nothing.  It was a compilation of various bits and pieces, doubtless a cheap way of filling airtime with back catalogue stuff.**
     If you want more detail herein the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zokko

Although there's not a lot there.

Jonathan Creek
Aha!  You see what I did there?  The "Water f- o you did.
     Yes it's droll, Dave Grohl.  David Renwick was inspired by the problem-solving abilities of Ali Bongo to create a fictional magician's assistant, who became an amateur sleuth - Jonathan Creek, in other words.  And Ali was the magic adviser for the series.  The circle turns back on itself, hmm?

The good series.  Where Conrad didn't solve them.

     Don't sneer, there is an historical precedent.  Recall Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his creation, Sherlock Holmes: the surgeons Joseph Bell and Sir Henry Littlejohn were both inspirations for our "Consulting Detective".

Ah Yes Coincidence I Do See You!
If you have been reading the blog with any regularity - and thanks to Google Analytics I know that 25% of viewers are repeat victims returners - then you will have seen Conrad banging on about his quill pen, how slow writing with a quill pen is, and <cont. Page 94)
     I didn't realise until adding this volume to my list of military history books, but check out the author:

     Ha!  One of the car boot books, and no I didn't notice until typing out the title.

You Realise This Is The End, Don't You?
Forget Skynet and military AI systems, the first steps to machine dominance over Hom. Sap have already been taken, and here is proof:

Fools !  Don't they realise Some Things Must Not Be Meddled With?

If you want the link to read before the metal monsters take over entirely, here it is:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-30641980

     I recommend you start running now!
     On a slightly less-serious note I remember Gavin, my old manager, discussing the difference between the perfectly-programmed music that he could generate via a sequencer, and the music that human beings produced.  The two are, pretty obviously, not the same.  The robotically precise version sounded strange and vaguely unpleasant compared to human musicians - the imperfections inherent in a human performance are part of what makes it music.***

Finally
To ensure heightened blog traffic Conrad likes to resort to using photographs of cute animals as he signs off.  This has backfired once or twice, as Art Department is a completely useless duffer whose coffee appears to be laced with either gin or hallucinogens.  Anyway, let us prod him awake with a bamboo skewer and point at the words "cute animals".  Cute animals, Art.  Can you arrange?

"Cough mixture!" replied Art.
"Because I'm feeling - get this - a little husky!"

* I shall leave it to you to decide which two, exactly
** Conrad you fearful cynic you.
*** The first to mention "X Factor" dies horribly!