More Of Mercury

No!  Not The Planet
It's not really that interesting, being a piece of planetary real estate excessively close to the sun, embodying the phrase "hot rock".  Nor do I mean that prancing popinjay Freddy, who fronted some band or other once upon a time.
     No!  I mean the element Mercury, Hg, which (when refined) is the only metal which is liquid at room temperature.  Art?

Treat with caution

     You used to be able to carry out all sorts of interesting tricks with it, as I recall from school, when our Physics teacher used to routinely seal the end of a test tube of mercury with his finger.
     Not something you can do nowadays, not since mercury has been recognised as extremely dangerous.  There are various compounds made from mercury that make the liquid metal look relatively safe in comparison.  Such as Dimethyl Mercury.  This stuff is able to penetrate protective rubber gloves within seconds, and will kill you to death up to ten months later.  

Not good enough

          Let us now abruptly change subject to - the artist Joan Miro!  Conrad likes his art, because it is strange and entertaining.  I know it scares Art - which is another reason to like it - so I shall have to locate a picture myself.

Groovy.  Or freaky.  Or both.

     I think this one is "Evening Star" but don't write in to correct if I'm wrong because being ignored can disappoint.   Anyway, there is a museum and art building called the "Fundacio Joan Miro" in Spain, which houses an installation designed by the South Canadian Mr. Alex Calder.  Art?

Presto.  And yes, it is what you think it is.

     This is a fountain that uses mercury instead of water.
     It was created in 1937, so you can excuse them for thinking that mercury was merely pretty to look at, rather than being so toxic that it needs to be kept behind a protective glass casing, which is how it stands now.  Once a fortnight a cleaner in a hazmat suit goes in to get rid of dust, hair and other detritus that would otherwise make the mercury look less pretty.
     Nor is this a one-off.  Mercury fountains were a thing during the Moorish occupation of Spain; due to the presence of very high-yield cinnabar ore, which contains mercury.

Mike Mercury!

     I think that's enough of toxic terror tropes for the moment.  And to think all this came from a throwaway remark about hurling the motley into a pool of liquid mercury!
     Today we shall hurl the motley into a pool of 1" ball bearings and see what happpens!

Back To The Battle
The " The Battle of Britain" in filmic form, again, because I was watching a featurette entitled "The Battle for the Battle of Britain", which threw up some interesting snippets of information.  Whilst being shot in Spain, Guy Hamilton (the film's director) put out a casting call for Spanish extras.  They needed to be present for a scene being shot in a small harbour, which was dressed to look like an invasion port on the French coast.  Art?

Thus

      Guy broke down the process of getting extras.  He explained that they would select 200, on the basis that only 100 of these would actually turn up, and this would be whittled down to 50 who looked appropriately Teutonic and who could march in formation and fitted their uniforms well.  Of these, a mere 5 would be photogenic enough to be in the foreground of shots.

      Nor was that all.  Oh no!  The harbour, as I said, had been dressed to look like an invasion port, with barges and anti-aircraft guns and dozens of extras clad in Teuton uniforms.  Thus, when an unsuspecting trawler returned at the end of the day, they found the scene somewhat - unexpected.

Going astern

     Not quite knowing what was going on, and doubtless seeing a whole lot of guns, they began to go astern, before fleeing precipitately.  Art?

There they go

     We shall come back to TBOB, the film that keeps on giving.  Whether you like it or not is immaterial - after all, whose blog is it?

Finally -
Say hello to the Mariner Valley on Mars.  Art?

Mariner Valley

     I include this because I've just finished "Babylon's Ashes" (you know, from 'The Expanse' series), and Alex Kamal, pilot of the "Rocinante", hails from Mariner Valley.  He speaks with a drawl definitive of that region.
     Just for your information.

     Well, time to go get some of that food stuff.