Jonathan Frakes - He Eats What He Bakes

As Any Real Cook Will Do!
Conrad ain't pointing any kind of dietary finger at our acting and directing chum.  He is rather huskier than he was in "First Contact", but then that was nearly 20 years ago*.  Your humble scribe was also rather thinner 20 years ago.

Our Jon, dateline 2015

     Do you think he dyes his hair?  Mines gone mostly white by now, you see.
     Amyway, old Frakey directed "First Contact", as well as being one of the star leads, which must have made his days on the set rather hectic.  Since it hits 7.6 over at IMDB, he did a pretty good job of dodging behind and back in front of the cameras.

Dog Buns!
Yes, the above is the Official Swear Phrase of BOOJUM!  I'm stretching a point here, as I am wont to do**, in that what I have to show is more along the lines of biscuits than buns.  To wit:

Et viola

     These are home-baked dog treats, using a recipe I found online.  Oats, flour, cornmeal, a stock cube, a bit of sugar and butter and hey presto, over 50 of the rascals.
     Edna Wunderhund could not be reached for comment today, although she wolfed one down in seconds last night, not leaving even a crumb.

A Boring Bit Of Statistics
I am going to relax my normal attitude and allow anyone not interested in blog traffic to sneak off and make a brew.  Personally, I think it's fascinating.  But then I would.
    Back to the traffic.  At some point this afternoon, we hit 18,000 visits.

Proof positive

     Using the newly-discovered Search function, I went back to see when BOOJUM! hit 17,000 visits, and discovered it was exactly 4 weeks ago on the 18th of August, meaning that the "Previous Months Hits" total for August of 1,074 has merit.
     This is a useful figure for conversations - "Oh about a thousand hits per month" said in a modest and humble tone after you've mentioned in passing about having a blog ...

Eyes, Pay Attention!
You young whippersnappers out there, and a whole lot of aged ones as well, will be woefully unaware of "TV 21".
     This was a comic that featured Gerry Anderson stories, with a few syndicated ones from America thrown in occasionally.  Allow me -

This scale doesn't really do it justice

     This is "Zero X", a strip about the titular interplanetary (and later interstellar) spaceship.  It was only ever a supporting item in the puppet series, but the TV 21 version one was a stand-alone entity in it's own right.  
     The stories were sometimes a bit weak, although they did develop over time, but the colour artwork was never less than stunning.  The panels above are by Mike Noble, an absolute master of detailed, accurate pen work.
     I may have whetted your appetite.  However!  Don't go rushing out to buy up back copies.  For one, they are extremely rare, as you're talking 50 years since publication.  Then, if you can find them, they are extremely expensive.  Conrad remembers the ones he bought 20 years ago at £5 each (original cost something like 5p).

They used to pretend it was being beamed in from 2064

Tocopherol!
You've thrilled at the super-dangerous chemical compounds described here on the blog, things that blow up, poison, disintegrate, corrode or a combination of all four.
     Meet Tocopherol, a nitrated xylene N2 compound, liquid at S.T.P.***It is liable to break down in the presence of sunlight, creating salts that give off heat, thus igniting spontaneously.  It is also impact-sensitive and reacts explosively with H2O, creating oxy-xylenic acid, which has a pH of -5 and which will dissolve anything organic it comes into contact with.  It is toxic at 2 parts per million, radioactive, corrosive and -
     Actually, none of that is true.  I so, so wanted it to be when the word "Tocopherol" popped into my head.  In reality it's a rather dull compound associated with Vitamin E and fertility.  Sorry <sad face>

Tocopherol sadly not one of them!

Shakeshaft
We here at the blog have rather left the Barb of Avon alone for a while, because those Shakespeare-loving rascals Misha and Grisha had been making warning noises, and one never likes to annoy literary fans with the launch codes for ICBM's.
     However, I happen to know that they're in the infirmary for a week - see last night's blog for an explanation - so we can venture forth.

"Now is the winter of our discontent"

It is? I wondered where the summer went.

I was going to go camping in a tent.

With news like this I think I'll repent.

I swear, the British weather is all bent.

Next year, for sun, it'll be the Continent!

Thank you and goodnight!  (We're over the word limit already)


* Which is quite frightening, really.
** Those points!  Lazy swine - they could do with a bit of exercise
*** Stop The Pigeon^.
^ Sorry.  Standard Temperature and Pressure.