From Here To Teaternity

Back In The Old Routine
     'From Here to Eternity' as per the original; that would effectively be forever, would it not?  Why don't they just say so?  A touch of the Windbag Willie's about whoever came up with that title.  Did they get paid by the word?

Gosh, let's hope the random picture selector on Facebook doesn't choose this.
People might get the wrong idea.

     Those amongst you with sharp eyes or a modicum of wit will have realised that the blog didn't get posted properly yesterday.  All I did was repeat the previous day's BOOJUM! so you may have felt a sense of deja vu during Thursday.
     There is a reason, beyond that of being as idle as a housebrick, which is that I went out after work for a chew and a chinwag with some ex-colleagues from my days working at The Electric Goldfish Bowl.  Consequently I did not get home until late, and it would not have been practical or efficient to create a blog post that wouldn't have gotten published until nearly midnight.
     So, here we are on Friday, which is a day - sorry?  What's that?
     <sighs> O you want proof.  Very well.  Art?

Janice, Manisha and Anna.  No last names 'cos I don't trust you lot.

     Now, about LITHIUM BATT - What?  More details?
     <sighs again>  Okay, okay.  We went to Zizzi's in the Triangle.  If Art can put down his plate of coal  -

In warmer days

     We had a long and detailed gab about various things, including a fair amount of shop, which I shan't replicate here as it is deadly dull to those not involved in it.  Janice remembered to enquire about Edna, and I briefly mentioned the raw food diet - but NOT about tripe.  We were eating, after all.
     I came close to being beaten by the yard-square pizza that they brought in (after having a fairly substantial starter, too).  We can demonstrate how big they are.  Art?

     Since mine was mainly meat, neither Anna nor Manisha could partake.  Shame, that.  Janice was heading directly for a slimming weigh-in after the meal, so she didn't take up the offer to share, either.  Shame, that.
     Because they are ladies, there were a lot of photos taken, including a very rare one of your humble scribe smiling.  Art?

What do you think?

     And, result result, I did The Metro's Cryptic Crossword on the journey home from Oldham Bus Station in 15 minutes - best time ever!

Conrad: Inquisitive And Acquisitive
I picked up a paper on the 83 bus to Oldham, thinking that it was The Metro, and I was wrong.  Art?

On the right

     It's all in Chinese, which I cannot read a single pictogram of, but I'm going to keep it out of curiosity.
     Also waiting for me at home was the latest edition of "Organ News", the house journal of Church Organ World of Shaw.  I went to their "Autumn Shades" event last year, and seem to have missed it this time <sad face>.  O well, there's always 2018.

Spigot Mortars, Hooray!
Yes, the British during the Second Unpleasantness do seem to have been ever so fond of these weapons.  Briefly put, a spigot mortar is one where there is no conventional barrel, the projectile has a hollow centre that fits over a projecting rod instead.
     We did mention the Blacker Bombard earlier this week, a simple weapon designed by Colonel Blacker that would fire a 20 lb bomb.  It may have been used in action on a very few occasions in the North African desert war, but details are verrrrry spotty.
     The good Colonel then went on to develop the Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank, a weapon that fired a shaped-charge bomb.  Art?

PIAT-diet: unhealthy for tanks

     You needed to compress the butt, because that compressed a giant internal spring which leapt forward to strike an explosive charge inside the bomb's tail.
     It may look a bit Heath Robinson (Rube Goldberg to you South Canadians), but it was quite capable of stopping a German panzer dead in it's tracks.  Because it didn't use rockets for propulsion, there was no flash when it fired, nor a smoke trail, so it was hard to spot.

A victim

     So there you go - Spigot Mortar Iteration #2.

How Can I Pun This?
One of my work colleagues is June, who is quite effervescent and upbeat, even on a grim grey Monday morning.  She delighted in highlighting your humble scribe's haircut last week, and on Thursday happened by my desk clutching a Lego promotional flyer.  Let's see if that sloven Art can be made to earn his wages.  Art?

     She had cast her eyes, with longing, upon the Lego Millenium Falcon, which needs an impressive 7,541 pieces to complete.  We can get a sense of the thing's scale with this photograph - Art?

Gotta admit, impressive!

     According to Lego, it's the largest kit they have ever released.  You can remove that top in order to reveal the internal detail, making 'pew pew' noises as you do so (the Atomic Rockets website looks on disapprovingly).
     It comes in at £650.00 so your humble scribe rather doubts it will feature on many small children's Christmas wish list.  Their parents - their parents are quite another matter.