Hello Sweety

This Hateful Screed Is All Because Of J-Dog
Although he shudders if you call him that, as Javed is the most reserved and quietly-spoken person on the floor.  There we were at lunch, Conrad unconcernedly tackling the Cryptic Crossword (not completed on the bus because, hey, it was a tricky one), and Javed asks "Rob," (my Sunday best name that you're not allowed to use), "What do you think of the Sugar Tax?"
     I apologise if this risks skating on the boundaries of politics and current affairs, except it concerns your humble scribe in a MAJOR way, so we can perhaps subsume it under the title of "Economics", which makes it okay. I flipped back to the front pages of the paper. 5 grams of sugar per Ml?  8 grams of sugar per Ml?  An additional 24 pence per litre?  That means a bottle of pop from Morrisons would double in price!  This horrendous hike in the cost of lemonade is potentially horrific news for Conrad, who is more fond of the fizzy stuff than is good for him.
     Of course he could always resort to his home-made version, drinking with one hand whilst thumbing his nose at Osborne* with the other, as with number of bags of sugar that go into it, you'd pay £4.80 a bottle were it for sale.

Obscure Cult Classic Clarified
You may not have heard of it, which is understandable as I don't expect you to know the name of every obscure Sixties television show that ever aired - "The Corridor People", anyone? - but "Star Trek" has been given what some might call a "makeover" and others "major corrective surgery".
     Yes, that vaguely popular series has been digitally remastered and re-released, and Conrad for one has been enjoying it of a weekend, albeit with a touch of guilt**.  

"No comment"

I can quite understand the decision to clean up the image, remove flaws and scratches from the taped version, even redo the sound, except where do you stop with remastering?  Because if there aren't any limits then you're going to end up with a completely new product, in the same way Captain Scarlet is - a perfect copy that isn't the same as the original.

"Conrad!  I've warned you about slandering me!  Just you wait ..."

     Take Star Trek The Original Series (hereon STTOS).  Obviously the exterior of the starship Enterprise and the planets it orbits are digital reworks.  Is this legitimate reworking - or a remake?  And if the latter, in the spirit of whom?  After all, the people who made this series 50 years ago aren't around to approve or disapprove.
     Here's a bit of illustration.  Art?

A lot more detail.
But is it right?

     Oh boy, wrestling with the big philosophical issues, eh?  I feel so intellectual!

     There's more - whilst watching the episode "Plato's Stepchildren", Conrad observed Kirk and Spock performing for the perverse pleasure of Forman or Fronam, something like that, and what do they perform?  Why, a portion of "The Hunting Of The Snark" by Lewis Carroll, from which poem your humble scribe found the name BOOJUM!  although the exclamation mark is all my own work.

I bet there was much corpsing on set

Doctor Who Adventures: Coda
Confession time: I'm not entirely sure what a "coda" is, except it's probably of Latin descent, since there is that legal term "codicil" about adding to a will, and it seems to be the same as an epilogue, except it has fewer letters.
     <sigh> undercutting our Great Philosophical Questions stance of mere seconds ago, I nevertheless feel bound by the laws of truth to inform you about my purchase of "Doctor Who Adventures".  Art?

We like to recycle

     I lied to the young lady at the till when I presented the above for purchase.  Pretty obviously to purchase; I am not bold or confident enough to march up to a stranger, waggle a children's comic at them and say "This is a really good comic with excellent free gifts!" and then go replace it on shelves.
     "Get on with it old man!" I hear you call, and as I reach for my De-Mat Gun*** I hear you add "Old man as term of endearment, honest!"
     Back to my lie.  "It's for my daughter," I said.
     "She's got good taste," replied the young lady, not put out for a second.
     My conscience, putting in a rare appearance, sank it's needle-sharp fangs in my gluteus maximus^.
     "Er no actually it's for me," I blushingly admitted, walking away quickly.

Well now, we're actually slightly over word limit, which - oh, excuse me, there's someone at the door.  Let me just go and -

     Oh.

"Surprise!"

     BOOJUM! will continue at a later date after a technical interruption thank you for reading SIG


*  Yes it is mis-spelt.  On purpose.
**  Nothing to do with the Princes in the Tower.  I have an alibi.  And it was 500 years ago.
*** Ten brownie points if you got this Doctor Who reference.
^  Arse - Latin to contemporary courtesy Mister Hand