Yesterday I was riffing on being inspired by a Muse - it might have been Terpsichore - and then managed to hilariously and ironically subvert this by referring to myself as "bemused", in the sense of being a confused old man rather than hit by inspiration from a mysterious supernatural force, which is normally how things get put together round here.
"Ah, that reminds me of BMEWS" I recalled. These things stick in my mind, you see, all the more so when associated with Things That Go Bang.
"What on earth is he on about now?" I hear you mutter. "And who or what is this Terpichore?"
"BMEWS" is the uncatchy acronym for "Ballistic Missile Early Warning System". I'm pretty sure Herman Kahn hasn't covered it in his work so in consequence I've not yet mentioned it. BMEWS was a radar chain set up to detect and warn of incoming Sinister ICBMs, oriented towards the Arctic since the shortest route for incoming missiles was over the North Pole. With an effective warning system in place, SAC and NORAD would get between 15 to 25 minutes warning of incoming warheads. This is sufficient time to "flush" vulnerable aircraft on standby, allowing them to get away.
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| As was |
Further for your enlghtenment, these radars were initially of the mechanically-rotating type, meaning that they required distinctive "golf-ball" radomes as protection from wind and wuthering. One of the best examples was at Fylingdales Moor in Britain. Nowadays the beams can be steered electronically, so - no more picturesque radomes.
Now, BMEWS is not to be confused with DEW, or Distant Early Warning ...
| As is |
A Pear Doth Appear In There
Sophie - no, not that Sophie, this Sophie - is currently sojourning in Germany, where she finds many things sufficiently different from life in Britain to comment on them. She thus posted an online picture of a bottle of pear wine, with a pear inside the bottle -
- and a bemused* comment "How did the pear get into the bottle?"
Conrad's remorselessly logical mind immediately rejected the notions that -
- It's not a real pear, it's a hologram
- It's actually a really, really tiny pear that can thus easily fit into the neck of the bottle and it's size is hugely magnified by the glass/wine combination.
- Matter transportation technology, which has matured to the level whereby non-living organic matter can be successfully sent.
- magic
None of the above! The fruit-bearing branch is thrust into the bottle and the pear grows inside it.
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| Thus |
- continues to entertain your humble scribe with it's scriptwriters inclusion of Words Conrad Appreciates. Latterly we had "incremental", "Corrode", "Faux-Moriarty", "Proclivities" and "Misanthrope". Although I do remember an undead character from "An American Werewolf In London" using "proclivities" that was over 30 years ago.
Conrad has also noticed something that Wonder Wifey commented on, what might be dubbed "Guest Star Syndrome". If a known actor turns up, only briefly and not as a suspect, then they are indeed The Guilty Party and make no mistake about it. After all, why pay for a name and then not use it? Hopefully the makers have also noted this, because it detracts from the dramatic tension when Conrad squawks in triumph at the very end of the episode as his suspicions are concerned.
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| An hirsute clue |
And indeed he was.
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| Conrad, gloasting |
I did mention yesterday that I was both surprised and gratified to see that "Samurai Jack" is back for a 5th season, to finally round off Jack's journey. I also mentioned being pleasantly surprised like this in 2009 and 2016 but didn't explain why and I feel I owe you a clarification.
2009 was a brief but wonderful reunion for The Comsat Angels, one of the finest rock bands Britain ever produced, and Conrad went to see them play in Sheffield. Art?
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| Me just out of shot |
Then last year Kevin Smith the film director chap mentioned that he was trying to get a "Buckaroo Banzai" television show off the ground. Art?
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| "Laugh while you can, monkey boy!" |
* Do you see what I did there?
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