I Dream Of Theme-y

Yes A Pun, Though A Classier One -
- ("I Dream Of Jeanie" is what I'm hinting at and I have to add this in because you're all too young to remember it) than that which I might have put, "I Dreamz Of Themez", which would not have misled you into thinking that tonight's Theme is the letter "Y" when it's actually "Z", and Y not? Well because after the other themed post about "Z" I had material left over and didn't want to waste it.  
     Kind of like twenty-three fifty-five p.m. on the last day of Creation.  "Goodness me!" exclaims God, looking in his Spares Box.  "I've got all these bits and pieces left over.  What on earth can I do with them?"
     This explains Iceland.

Now, having dabbled my long mis-shapen toe in the waters of religion, I shall hastily extract it and bash on with the theme for tonight:

Pronounced "ZED"

"Zabriskie Point"
This is a film, which you probably haven't seen, as it's pretty much of it's time, i.e. 1970.  It tries to be arty and edgy and political, but the only reason it's here is because there are three songs by early Pink Floyd on the soundtrack: "Come in Number 51 Your Time Is Up", "Heart Beat Pig Meat" and "The Crumbling Land", the last being the one your scribe likes the most.  Otherwise it's a pretentious overblown bore, not even saved by the shots of Things exploding at the end.

This is the vinyl version I had

     FYI, "Come In -" is a version of "Careful With That Axe, Eugene".

"Z Nation"
I've seen up to Episode Six and we seem to have left omniscient Citizen Z out of the script since Episode Two, he didn't appear in this week at all.  Casting our gallant rag-tag band of survivors on their own resources, one supposes.  Note that they are short of guns and ammo in Springfield, not for them the lazy scriptwriter who loads them with rifles that never run short.

It made me laugh

     The mocking comedy overtones were satisfied this week with Doc experiencing the horrors of an acid-flashback as he carries Murphy's zombie baby onto a bus full of zombie Abraham Lincolns, except they're really there.  "You see 'em too?" he gasps gratefully, realising that it's all actual courtesy The Apocalypse.
     Another character gets killed off, too, proving that you're never safe in this series and it might be curtains for you in Episode Seven.  I won't say who it was, just to say that they looked well-fed and happy when they turned up at the Batch 47 labs.

"Zorro"
This character crosses television and film, with his swaggering Latino good-looks and easy playboy charm, except it was all done here (in the UK) a lot earlier under the foppish guise of rose, not black.  Well, scarlet, anyway.  The Scarlet Pimpernel?
     Zorro himself comes in various iterations - Mask, Legend or Mark, take your pick.
     <yawn> actually he's a bit of a bore.  Glisteningly gleamy goody-two shoes guy.  

A man with several fetish issues, one feels

Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski
You may not be familiar with this chap, and are probably blaming any world-wide shortages of the letter "Z" for his monopolising  so many of them.  This is probably the only time you'll encounter a man with 5 of them in his name.
     Since Zbig is still alive I can't be too critical, let me just say that he was a politician, educator and National Security Adviser to the Carter Administration.  Given that he's Polish-American, was born in Poland, lived in the Soviet Union during the Purges and couldn't go back home after the Second Unpleasantness ended, his tenure saw pressure being applied to the bally Russians.  Encouraging dissidents, boosting Radio Free Europe, bankrolling the Mujahideen, making friends with Communist China - you can probably see a theme  here!

" - and we got to the Moon first!  Hah!"

"Zardoz"
Another film you probably haven't seen, yet if you have it will stay with you for all the wrong reasons.  The giant flying stone head, Sean Connery in a wedding dress, beloved British character actor John Alderton as a sinister immoral immortal schemer, the Wizard of Oz and borderline incoherence:  what's not to like!  
     It was a pet project of director John Boorman, which he was able to fund and direct on the back of his immensely successful - critically and commercially - "The French Connection".
     Conrad says see it once, except not while sober.

"Create your own hilarious caption here"

Zebu
"You cow!" in this instance would be deemed appropriate, as the zebu is a variety of cattle found in Asia, with a fatty hump, a large dewlap and floppy ears.  Whilst this sounds like many a Hollywood actor gone to seed, the zebu is widely used in the Far East, principally for draught usage, milking and hide or dung.  Not for eating, unless you are desperate or have a slow cooker, as the meat is held to be tough and tasteless.

Zebu

Zodiac
NO!  Not the astrological matrix, nor yet the film about the serial killer.  I mean Colonel Steve Zodiac, of course.
     "Who's he?" I hear you chorus, you ignorant lot.  Pilot and commander of Fireball XL-5, of course, you baffoons, that's who.
     Incidentally, when his father emigrated (or escaped!) from the Bereznik Republic and arrived in America, he changed his surname to "Zodiac". A little-known fact.

A, that "sneer of cold command!"

"Z-Cars"
Ah now, they don't make 'em like this anymore.  Supposedly set in "Newtown", it was Liverpool in all but name.  When it came out, in 1962, it was a severe and realistic corrective to the South Canadian cop shows that had hied their way here across the Atlantic.  The theme tune, which was great, was an arrangement of an old folk song called "Johnny Todd", which again referred to Liverpool.  You know that Brian Blessed?  Got his big break on Z Cars.

There he is, telling them they should be glad to have him, because he's -

     "Why were they called Z Cars? Tell us Conrad, tell us!" I can hear you call.  Simple enough: whilst those trans-Atlantic imports were based in Precincts, British Police were based upon Divisional areas, and the one for Newtown was - Z Division.

Zero-X
More Gerry Anderson.  I've written about this spaceship before, so in the spirit of Idle, let me copy that across:

You may not be overly familiar with the Zero-X spaceship, as it was not featured often on "Thunderbirds", but it had a fantastic strip in "Century 21" comic; firstly drawn by the splendidly accurate draughtsman Mike Noble in a exciting style, then in the much "muddier" style of James Watson, which could be terrifying to a 5 year old.

Mike Noble style

Conrad has no criticism of Zero X at all, as whoever created it sat down and worked out what it needed to do and how it ought to be designed.  Firstly, they use a HTOL** design, rather than the VTOHL designs we are familiar with.

James Watson style

     The "Wings" are actually Lifting Bodies that disengage once the craft reaches altitude, and are then guided down by radio control to land independently***.  The aerodynamic nosecone is jettisoned once orbit is reached - see the lower cartoon for the look with no nosecone.
     Once in orbit around the target planet (Mars in the first instance) the cockpit section disengages to descend and land, whereupon it deploys tracks and becomes a self-propelled vehicle.  
The whole process is reversed to achieve orbit and dock with the main hull.
     Things are rather thrown out by both the Mysterons and the sinister Martian Rock Snake - which is another story.
     Emergency provision is also made for - in case of potential disaster the crew are automatically removed, still in their seats, into an emergency descent capsule that blasts free of the craft to achieve a soft landing.

Ah, what wise words I wrote!

Zephyr
Aha, another word that you don't encounter in context very often here in the 21st Century.  Conrad is aware that it's a breed of car, but the version he's familiar with is: "A soft and gentle breeze."
     Of course it's derived from Greek.  "Zehpuros" - god of the west wind.  This became "Zefferus" in Old English before transmutation into "Zephyr".  

Quite big for a zephyr