Plunge Taken

Or Gomorrah-on-the-Irwell, Here I Come

(Manchester, for your information).   I’m leading with this because (Dog Buns!) I’ve left my longhand notes about “So You Want To Be A Supervillain” at home, and I don’t care to guess about what to type: we here at BOOJUM! take our responsibility to educate very seriously*.

     Yes, I have purchased an e-ticket (O thou horrid innovation) for the 2017 Manchester Comic Con.  A bog-standard ticket, that is, not one of the more expensive Priority ones, which admits one for 11:00 ante meridian onwards.  Typically this will still mean queuing, probably for a considerable time, which is a shame – the Theatre information offers up that Peter Davison, one of the stars of the Beeb’s premier dramatic reconstruction programme ‘Doctor Who’, is appearing at 11:00.  Oh well, into each life a little rain must fall, and because this is Gomorrah-on-the-Irwell we’re talking about, that rain is a frequent occurrence. 

Pondering about googlies, doubtless

     Also, because I am an anal-retentive anorak, I need to go research the other guests appearing, simply because – well, I like to know what I’m getting into.

     Because I’ll be there and not at home, expect only a single post on Saturday**.

6^th MG

Back, at least in passing, to that War Diary.  These chaps, whom you will recall were described earlier as before, set out to smite the Teuton with Colt “Potato Digger” machine guns  (I’m not explaining about that here, go check earlier blog posts e.g. 9^th July 2017).  In the diary they list officers, NCOs and Other Ranks being sent for instruction on the “Vickers Light Machine Gun” that they were being re-equipped with.

     Excuse ME!  I have a very stretchy imagination, yet even that is not sufficient to imagine the Vickers as “Light”.  If I can, I will dig up a photo from the Museum of the Manchesters showing one of these beasts fully assembled.  Art?

It took ages to find this, so yes, you ARE getting it in Extra-Large

     There’s also a famous photograph of those stalwart slayers from Albion, 2^nd Regiment Special Air Service, on the island of Kos, carrying a dismantled Vickers gun.  One carries the gun itself, another carries the tripod and a third carries a box of ammunition; all three are swathed in ammunition belts for ready use.

Aching proof of my assertion

     “Quite what point are you trying to make, Conrad?” I hear you whimper.  “And be quick, Doctor Quinn Medicine Woman is on soon.”

     Pausing only to castigate you for your execrable taste in television, I shall expound.

     That Vickers gun on Kos has been broken down for handling, into three loads, because it is HEAVY, not light.  I have seen a photograph of Indian troops in Mesopotamia carrying an assembled Vickers gun, but it was slung beneath a stout pole carried by two husky Jains.

     Here an aside.  I believe the film is <checks internet> Yes, it is!  “The Lives of a Bengal Lancer”, starring Gary Cooper.  He stars as the titular*** lancer.  At one point he picks up a fully assembled Vickers gun, with a full belt of ammunition, then carries it around – and manages to fire it!  Sorry, simply not possible – or he’d live with a rupture and bad back forever.

I hope his insurance iss fully-paid

Enough of strife and misery! 

Little Arabella Miller

Ran away to far Manila.

There she had a happy life,

And ended up a content wife.

     There you go, just to prove I can be paraded in front of polite company –

Little Arabella Miller

Thought to debate with a gorilla.

In the end she lost out,

For the great ape had a louder shout.

-      But not for long, and not too often.

Close enough

At Work

Kind of.  Since my last day in the Centre comes tomorrow – did I tell you I was working again? – I have decided to bless my co-workers with both a goodbye pome and a cake.  Still working on the pome, and last night I was assembling the ingredients.  This would be Halloween Pumpkin Cake, except – this may come as a surprise to the less observant of you – it isn’t Halloween.  Which means you can’t get pumpkins, a slight technical hitch in a pumpkin cake. 

     So!  I used carrots instead, because it’s a robust recipe and it’s worked before.  The photograph (Art?  Less coal more photo!) shows Jenny looking to see if any stray meat is involved, and Edna hanging around faithfully because she loves me so I gave her odd scraps of carrot to small to grate.

Admire those manly legs!

That’s us at count!  Time for lunch – ta ta

*  Sometimes

**  Don’t complain, you’re not paying for any of this, are you?

***  Yes, this is a proper word, and yes again, it is SFW