I Say, Lore, D'you Like "Sleep No More"?

By "Lore" I Mean Data's Sinister Brother
You know, the cheerfully psychopathic one, that's if androids can be psychopathic, genuinely, or whether they just do a good impression of one.  Anyway, here he is:

Ah, the maniac mirth of a malevolent machine-man!

     When I mention "Sleep No More", I refer to the second album by The Comsat Angels, the finest rock band ever to come out of Sheffield and indeed the UK*.

I think the background was a wallpaper design in the guitarist's house

     So if Lore has anything about him, the silicon twod, his answer would be "YES!"

Shakeshaft
We're on safe ground at the moment, as those fanatical fans of the Bark of Avon (Misha and Grisha - do keep up!) are still in the infirmary at Novi Palatinsk.  So without further ado, let us proceed to flay the Swab of Avon!

"How sharper than a serpent's tooth,

It is, to have a thankless child."

Here, Bill, have some of this vermouth,

It'll stop you getting so riled.

You know I do but speak the truth

About kids getting so grossly reviled

In future please don't put down the youth,

As it drives Conrad utterly wild.

     <drum roll, exit stage left pursued by a bare**>

The Metro
Where would I be without Tomorrow's Boot-Wiper?  Less annoyed, yes, yet with less scope for ranting and tanting.  I'm not even referring to today's edition, instead I'm looking at yesterday's, where a "journalist" - if you can use the term without wincing - fawns over that guitar-playing walnut Keith Richards.

A guitar made of walnut.  Close enough.

     Apparently he is bringing out a solo album, hence the shameless promotional piece about a pensioner who stopped being relevant 40 years ago.
     As you may have gathered, Conrad does not like the Rolling Stones.  Not at all.  Not one bit.  At least the Beatles had the grace to end it, not go on as - well, they probably are zombies, you know.

"On Thermonuclear War"
Yesterday I warned you I might very well continue with a discussion of this text, particularly as it aligns with the concept of evacuating cities.  The idea, back in 1960 at least, was that you could empty your cities of their citizens.  Then your opponent might well, in a fit of pique, drop great big thermonuclear weapons on these cities, and blast them flat.  That's the thing with a 20 megatonne bomb, they have one shot-one kill capacity when it comes to blowing up whole cities.
     The implication is that you're laughing at this point, because all your people are safely evacuated.  Then, since he's crossed the line, you start dropping thermonuclear bombs on his cities ...

I thnik this is one of the later "Planet of the Ape" films.
Note the destroyed city - actually a matte painting.

     A bit of thought makes this a rather less simple process.  How long would it take to evacuate a whole city?  The city of Midchester.  Presumably you'd be using strictly-controlled public transport as it's more efficient and effective than having everyone trying to drive, and a lot of folk don't have cars.  This would be a shuttle operation requiring stewards and security and maintenance and working in shifts, a major operation in just moving people.
     Then, when they arrive at their terminus, they have to be given shelter, water, food and facilities.  How's this going to be done?  You need even more organisation and more people and more transport to carry tents and supplies.
     Then there's dispersal.  These evacuees mustn't be too close to the city of Midchester or they'll suffer from the effects of any bombs dropped on it.  They have to be scattered or they risk becoming a target themselves.  Again, this would mean still further organisation to get them well out of the danger zone.
     Imagine if the worst happened and Midchester was suddenly a large, radioactive crater.  Sure, your population has survived - and now their evacuation accommodation is going to become permanent.
     Food for thought!

The Burj Al Kahlifa And The Pub Quiz
I apologise for only bringing this up on the eve of this week's pub quiz, but you know me - it's my blog and I post what I like and when.  Last week we had a tie-breaker question about this daddy:

The Burj Al Khalifa

     How tall is the biggest window in the place?  In feet.
     The Marsden Muppets have a technique for numerical questions like this; we all write a figure, hidden from each other, then add them all together and come to an average.  My guess was 135, Rosie's 85 and Phil's 203.  Actually we broke protocol and took my figure, which was closest to the actual size of 135 feet.

Conrad Is Angry!
I know some of you out there consider this to be my default mental setting, which is a pretty fair guess.  When I'm asleep I'm not ranting.
     Anyway, enough of the nocturnal habits of your humble scribe, take a gander at this:

LOOK AT IT!

     In what universe, I ask you, is THAT a square?

Thank you and goodnight.


* This is not my opinion, it is A Solid Fact.
** A bare what?  Dunno.  Let's keep it SFW