British Stele

What?  Don't Tell Me You Think I Mis-Spelled It?
As if!  You are talking about the biggest spelling boor in the Western Hemisphere, for the love of heaven, not to mention this web application has a spell-checker.
     I know what you were thinking of.  Art?

WRONG!

     Once again, we here at BOOJUM! (Conrad, Oscar, Art and Mister Hand) do not tamper with the Terrible Trio - Religion, Politics or Current Affairs.  No, it is pure coincidence that Conrad happens to mention what was described in the world of antiquity as a "Tablet or plaque, usually engraved and taller than it is wide" - a stele.  Here is the British stele in question:

The stele of Antiochus

     Apparently the Turks are making noises about wanting it.
     WELL THEY JOLLY WELL CAN'T!

"Inherent Vice" By Thomas Pynchon
As you surely know by now, your humble scribe is a big fan of the author, and has to still pinch himself every now and then.  They made a film of this?  Yes, really.  Did they really?  Yes really.  I'm not imagining it? Yes - look, I'm bruising from all this pinching.  Anyway, this is about the novel not the film.

The film poster, just to be perverse

     I did post on Facebook that it's a positive smorgasbord of pop culture references, so many that your humble scribe has taken to noting them down, because you can't exactly trust TP.  He's inventive and creative and some of those people could be fictional.  Scott Oof?  Probably made up.  Art Fleming?  No idea.  Ron Karenga?  Who knows!  Adam-12?
     Aha.  "Adam-12" was a televsion show about a couple of cops who patrolled the mean streets of San Francisco in their car, 1-Adam-12.  Thank you Wikipedia.
     Never seen it.
     Next!

"PURLOIN"
I can tell you're desperate to know where this word comes from, desperate.  Even if you're not, you're still going to find out - SIT BACK DOWN!  This is interesting, and even perhaps a bit topical*. 
     Okay, Conrad suspected a French root for the word, as it doesn't sound either Latin or Greek, the usual suspects.  It means "Steal" (tee hee!).  It does have Old French roots, "Pur" meaning "Forth" and "Loign", meaning "Far".  From this comes "Purloigner", meaning "To put away" - which is what the criminals in "Inherent Vice" are trying to do to Mickey Wolfmann - but I digress.  Thus we get "Purloin", meaning "To put at a distance", that is, steal.
     BOOJUM! - making education entertaining**.

No!  Art!

The Dirty Bomb
Currently in the news, Conrad has avoided being specific about these babies in the past up until now.
     "God Bless you for your sound moral compass, Conrad!" I can hear you cheer.  "Er - up until now?"
     Yes, since I happened to be watching BBC News and Gavin Esler and a visiting lady scientists were discussing the matter in depth.  I wish I could remember her name, she was a looker***.  Given the coverage this broadcast has, I think the self-censor here at BOOJUM! can be relaxed.
     Okay, a "Dirty bomb" is classed as a "Radiological Weapon".  Please note, as the hot positive role model lady scientist elaborated, it is NOT a nuclear weapon.  A nuclear weapon operates by the fission of radioactive materials.  A thermonuclear weapon operates by the fusion of radioactive materials and special isotopes.  A nuclear weapon is complicated to construct; a thermonuclear weapon is extremely complicated to construct.  Witness those baffoons the Norks trying: they've spent decades and billions to barely manage the former and completely futz the latter.

Rush hour in Pyongyang*

     A dirty bomb, however, is simply an explosive core with an outer cladding of radioactive material, and any radioactive material will do.  You can only contaminate an area with one of these, and the area covered depends wildly on weather, windspeed, elevation above ground level, surrounding terrain, the type of explosive used and how it's detonated - a whole range of imponderables.
     
Too grim!  Cheer us up!

Er - Herbie the skateboarding duck, anyone?

A man eating tree?

A man-eating tree?^

Okay, that'll do for tonight.


* I know I said no Current Affairs, but I lie a lot.
** Or weird.  Weird will do instead.
*** Er - lest you think me shallow, she was a positive advert for - er - women in science.
^  Gotta respect the hyphen