Deep Purple

No!  Not The Band
I refer, of course, to the production of purple dyestuff, as practiced most especially by the ancient Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon, in what is now Lebanon.  

Tyrian Lannister Purple

For your information, Tyrian Purple was made in either of two ways; you 'milked' the Murex shell of it's dye, which meant you could re-use the shell (a relief for the shell) or you CRUSHED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF THEM TO BITS, and acquired the dye that way.
     Whichever way you chose, it was a long, labour-intensive and costly process, meaning that mere commoners like you simply couldn't afford it - hence the "Royal" bit.  Art?

Spiny

     If you used the renewable method then, as obvious above, you could use the shell as a comb.  Or, if you mind runs along lines akin to those of Conrad, improvised caltrops.
     I forget who noted it, but since the environs of these Phoenician cities would be surrounded by hundreds of thousands of rotting sea-snails, in the heat of a Mediterranean summer you must have been able to smell Tyre from a verrrrry long way off.
     This all derives from today's earlier post, which rather went off on a tangent about a purple gown; well, that's how we roll here.
     Intro over, let us now proceed!

Actually there will be a short pause whilst I check to see if Doctor Who is on yet; have to keep up with the latest reconstruction!

 - well, I thought the resolution was a bit weak.  Liked all the cracks about Bill being able to speak Latin, though - remember Sarah Jane Smith being able to speak the French dialect of 13th Century England? 

Sarah and her usual - ah - 'distinctive' fashion

Meanwhile, Back In The World Of Tanks -
Conrad feels kind of obliged to come up with this stuff because of the default Facebook description.  Well, in another attempt to parade BOOJUM!'s Sheer Britishness on it's sleeve (tunic front, trouser leg and collar also) let me ask you a loaded question.  
     Which was the most numerous armoured fighting vehicle of all time?  
     If you boldly stated the T34, T55 or Sherman, go right to the back of the class, because it is actually a British vehicle, commonly known as the Bren Gun Carrier.  Art?

No!  That's not calisthenics - they are Prisoners of War

     This natty little 3 ton runaround was produced to the number of 113,000, in Britain and the Dominions.  Technically there were three versions: the Scout Carrier, the Bren Gun Carrier and the Universal Carrier, of which the latter was most numerous; however, everyone knew it as the BGC.
     "Gosh, what lazy swines the British and Commonwealth forces were!" I hear you chorus.  "For a Bren Gun weighs in at less than thirty pounds.  And they wanted a tracked vehicle to carry it around!"
     I'd be careful mouthing off like that; the "Commonwealth" bit of the above includes the Australians, and they hold a grudge.

The Ockers: coming to get you

     It could be considered as a kind of jeep-on-tracks, except it was around before the jeep.  During the Second Unpleasantness it was adapted for more roles than I have space for here.  We sent a lot to the Sinisters, who never thanked us but loved them to bits.  Art?

They have sensibly swapped the Bren for a Degtyarev

     The Teutons, those acquisitive little goblins of the battlefield, used captured ones as well, although one suspects spare parts might have been a problem.  Art?

There's a story about this one -

     - there is indeed.  This was a Carrier in use by the Free French in North Africa.  You can tell because the Bren has been replaced by the far nastier French 25 mm anti-tank gun, which would make your eyes water if you got on the wrong end of it.  Obviously the Teutons have got hold of it, possibly in the fighting at the south end of the British lines pre-Alamein.  Because fatal mistakes can so easily happen when using booty like this, the Maltese cross is prominently displayed.
     There is mileage in this, so we may return here in future.

Versatility: the flying version

Meanwhile, Back In Dangerland -
Another horrible compound to scare the children with!  Today we look at Lithium Hydride, whose formula is simply LiH, two of the lightest elements there are.
     This does not mean you treat LiH with anything less than extreme circumspection.  It will explode on contact with water - any water, including moist air.  It will explode if it comes into contact with static electricity, so you may get an explosion even in dry air.  The explosion yields hydrogen, which is itself explosive, so you may get secondary explosions; and also LiOH or Lithium Hydroxide, which is corrosive.  If it comes into contact with steel or glass it will corrode through them, escaping into the lovely humid air outside, where again, it will explode.

LiH in water.  Does not a cocktail make!