Round Two Commences

I Asked For It
This morning, I wondered in text what today would bring, apart from rain.  Well, the rain is here, and then some.  The weatherman proclaimed that tomorrow would be drier and brighter than today, which isn't very hard.  Weather in the Pond of Eden; always a splendid ice-breaker when encountering strangers.
     Enough maudlin pondering on precipitation!  I am glad to still be here, after re-discovering my plans on how potential war in the Middle East might turn out, were the other shoe to drop between Iran and Israel.
     Surprise surprise, I also discovered a long hand-written essay on "So You Want To Be A Supervillain?" which has promise.  Too long to type up and present here, or that's all this iteration of BOOJUM! would be; I may add it in, bit by bit.
     That's this unusually short Intro over and done with.  Let the motley begin!

Anthrax Ghoulshadow - apprentice world dictator

"The Time Machine" 1960's Version
You know Conrad; a bit of a stickler where truth and the facts are concerned*.  So, going back to TTM, I would like to address another dubious fiction they advance about nuclear weapons.  London, or that - er - futuristic version of it they imagined in 1960, gets nuked by what we are informed is an atomic satellite, homing in.  Art?  Less coal, more pictures!

Spot the matte

     Apparently those chaps in silver suits are not military firemen, but a species of warden.  And the Brodie pattern helmet is still in use in the future!  I feel so reassured.
     My specific objection is what follows the nuclear bang, to wit:  a volcanic explosion.  This is represented by flames and a stream of porridge dyed red.

The flames

     Now, I believe this may have established a precedent, as that dramamentary "Doctor Who" ends the saga about Daleks invading Earth by having a volcano in Bedfordshire.

Yes indeed - you must HURL them with considerable force!

     NO!  WRONG!  This cannot be!  If I can trot out my combined vulcanology and thermonuclear credentials, allow me to point out that even the biggest H-bomb evah cannot dig it's way through the Earth's crust to the seething magma below.  For one thing, the Pond does not sit on any tectonic faults that would allow a volcano to form.  Secondly, let us trip lightly to the Pacific and the Castle Bravo H-bomb test.  The Pacific, you know, that thing with the Ring of Fire and scads of both earthquakes and volcanoes.  Art?

That crater is over a mile wide

     Castle Bravo's yield was a whopping 15 megatons.  It made a very wide hole indeed, 1.2 miles in fact, but only 250 feet deep (or 1/20th of a mile).  So, unless that atomic satellite was followed  by a daisy-chain of several hundred more, NO VOLCANO!
     There.  I'm glad we got that out of the way.

Manchester Comic Con
Conrad is currently wondering whether to attend or not.  Thanks to that recent meal at Coriander with the family, he was able to get the <ahem> skinny from Darling Daughter and Tom The Quiet One, as they have been a couple of times.  Their experience of turning up on the day without buying tickets in advance meant queuing for hours, and at the last one they simply gave up, having seen all the wild and wonderful fan costumes as they paraded before entry.

Thus

     The guest list of those appearing is not particularly stellar, with people from computer games and television shows that your modest artisan knows naught of, and cares less about.  They say Theatre Panel info will be up on the front page - nothing there yet.  If they put up something interesting it may aid my decision, otherwise it's just an expensive way to shop for comics and <ahem again> shizzle.

Treppaning, Or Pardon Me Whilst I Drill A Hole In Your Head
Yes I say, Hastings Ismay. In olden times - before colour television and touchpad phones - 
our ancestors used to drill holes in each other's skulls, in order to allow The Evil Spirits to vent.  Don't look at me like that, my evil spirits are staying right where they are!

This patient survived!
(But for how long?)

     The word itself comes from the Greek "Trypanon", which is Hellenic for "borer".  You would think that, The Evil Spirit theory of medicine having fallen into neglect, that trepanning has long gone.  Not so!  There are some bampots out there who have managed it themselves with a drill and athleticism, for a whole list of nonsensical reasons.

This one - this one would hurt.

*  This is a lie <the truth courtesy Mister Hand>