You Aint' Nothin' But A -

 - 1 Megaton Air-Launched Cruise Missile
Snarf!  I bet I got you there, although yes we are talking about a "Hound Dog" here, though in this case it's the AGM-28.  Nothing to do with Elvis Presley, thank you.
     "Has he been at Herman Kahn's 'On Thermonuclear War' again?" I hear you ask, "Because it sounds suspiciously similar to previous sweaty-palmed ranting on the subject."
     Leaving aside the state of my palms, dry, sweaty or clad in latex, let me detail what I mean.  Trust me; it may not be fun yet you will learn something.
     Yes, I confess I've taken up that weighty tome of Herman's again, picking up from about half-way through.  I did find it a little difficult to concentrate whilst an Israeli horror film called "JeruZalem" was playing in the background; despite this I did pick up on Herman's mention of the Hound Dog missile as being a happy combination of off-the-shelf projects that ended up with a successful product*.
     This is a little dry.  Art?

Hound Dog:  probably not anybody's friend

     Yes, I know what you're thinking, it does rather look like the Regulus 2.  Entirely different pedigree** however: the airframe came from an old 1946 project, the X-10, the inertial guidance system came from a never-completed fighter plane, and the J-28 engine had been plodding along unsuccessfully for other jet aircraft.
     "Yes, yes, all very interesting in a scary kind of way," I hear you mutter.  "And?"
     Serendipty, gentle reader, serendipity.  Thrown together in a hurry from disparate bits and pieces, this canine was kept in service for 15 years.  
     My point is - and yes there is one - kind of how BOOJUM! is assembled and put before it's adoring public.  We might not get to 15 years, though not for want of trying -

Hound Dog: everybody's friend.

"Grant Takes Command" By Bruce Catton
I have now finished this work on General Ulysses S. Grant.  Not to spoil the ending for you, but the Union won the American Civil War.  I already knew this yet not the detail along the way, of which there is a great deal.  One point BC makes is that Grant's superiority in numbers was actually a lot less marked in the field than the statistics would have you believe.
     Another thing that Grant had to put up with were idiot Union generals.  It would seem that highly placed and influential Union politicians got themselves appointed to high command, where they sat and defied any effort to remove them.  Even if, or especially if, they were military incompetents of the first order.  Ben Butler, who will be a stranger to anyone not an ACW buff, appears to be the prime example of An Entitled Idiot.  He wouldn't resign from command, he refused to be promoted away out of harm's way, he had too much clout in Washington to be removed.  Eventually he screwed up badly enough and bigly enough that Grant eradicated his ass - er - fired him.

General Butler.  Looking very pleased at being General Butler

Enough of war, death and misery!  Something lighter is needed!

Strawberry Feels Forever
I know, I know, it's a shocking pun.  I may have mentioned that Wonder Wifey was in a state of what might be called "Alarmed Speculation" about the first ripened strawberry that appeared on her plants.  Conrad, you see, likes strawberries, and is not too particular where they come from.
     So it was with mild dismay that he encountered this in the freezer:

Solid.  Absolutely solid

     Now it will keep forever, hence that title.
     There.  Was that pacific enough for you?

A Little Explanation For An Omission, With Your Permission
Nobody has yet complained or asked for an explanation as to why there was no novel post on Friday, yet your humble scribe feels guilty at ducking his entertainment and educational commitments, so I shall explain why.
     It wasn't my fault.  Blame Rick, Mo and Dawn, who are all either moving on or have moved on.
     NO!  That's not an euphemism about them being dead; they are moving on to different employment opportunities.  Sheesh.  What a buzzkill you lot are.
     We were due to meet in Tiger-Tiger, except I got off work an hour earlier than anyone else, so I found a set of tables that Rick had reserved and ordered a meal.  A 'Tiger Tower' since you ask, and I did it justice.  My eating was only slightly disturbed by various staff coming up and asking if I was one of the team who -
     "YES!" I replied gruffly.
      - it's just that are you entitled to -
     YES!" I barked in reply.
     - as there are people - 
     "YES!" I practically snarled.
     Actually the tables had been reserved by a completely different set of people - same employer, which is where the error crept in - and when they turned up your modest artisan debouched, although by then I'd demolished the Tower**.  Still, it goes to prove how effective a snarling response can be.
     Now, the party:

Mo, with photobomber to right

      It's okay to post these since I asked.  

Rick to the right, with that photobomber again

Winsome Dawn on the left, Sara on the right

Most of us

     Pete's face is blurred out in that last one, which is serendipitous again as he cordially detests having his photo taken.  The lovely Anna is out of shot to the left, and of course your talented typist is taking the photo.

     ..... and finally

     Normally a small number of odd things happen to Conrad during the day, and Friday was no exception, so he didn't expect a single large thing to end the evening, and was rather startled when this lot went whizzing past - 

Yes, entirely naked, and no, I'm not going to enlarge.

*  Not so good news for the Sinister's air-defence systems of course.
** Do you see what I did - O you do.