Vickers Emergency Tripod

No!  This Is Not Merely Random Wibble -
 - although I understand David Bowie managed to cobble together a few ballads by throwing a whole load of Post-it's up in the air together and singing those he could hit with peanut butter pellets fired from a catapult.

            This kind of catapult -                   -  and definitely not this  

  No, today I refer to that not-quite best-seller "The History of the Canadian Machine Gun Corps", which I have taken up again to peruse whilst also watching a very interesting Youtube presentation - which we may come back to.
     The'Emma Gees', to give them their own nickname, are now at late September 1918, and are partaking in ceaseless attacks on the rapidly retiring Teutons.  This means hefting their Vickers machine guns forward, which is quite a feat of arms in itself, since an individual Vickers gun in toto weighed about 90 pounds.  They are called 'heavy machine guns' for a reason.  Art?

A Vickers machine gun.  Good for killing and - and - er - I'll get back to you on that ...

     The massive tripod on a Vickers weighed in at 40 pounds, almost half the mass of the entire assembly, and it required one man alone to carry it.  Now, look at the photo above, and the horizontal arrangement underneath the barrel just forward of where the barrel sits on the tripod.  See it?
     That, my friend, is an emergency mount.  Thus, a 'Vickers Emergency Tripod'.  This was a small addendum that enabled the job to be done in a pinch, without the accuracy of a whacking big main mount.  The thing is, it's oh so rare to see in action that there aren't any pictures, and pictures of it under any circumstance are passing rare.  Why, it took me a good 10 minutes of searching to find this!
     "Do hurry up," I hear you quibble, "For 'Mister Benn' is on in five minutes.'

A hero for the ages

     Well, given that, I'd better be quick.  The reason I mention the VET is because the Emma Gees, in their ceaseless pursuit of the foe, make use of their VET, which is only the second time I've ever heard of one being used.*  Obviously, humping a Vickers gun is a task rendered onerous by weight, so having the 'light' tripod makes it a tad easier.
     Okay, time to make the motley dive into a swimming pool full of petrol!


Peter Pervert
I refer, of course, to that cinematic excresence "Peter Rabbit", and I don't care if I'm being unfair in singling it out for scrutiny.  Walt Disney, I'm looking at you, too.
     If you will kindly consider the original illustrations that E H Shepard did for Winnie the Pooh, you may get an inkling of what I mean.  Art?

Naked and unashamed (ignore Piglet)

     Yet when these images get traduced by Disney, we see Pooh semi-clad.  Top only.  What kind of message are they trying to send to your our impressionable young!** He's not the only one, because once again - Donald Duck.  Art?

Donal', where's yer troosers?

     Hat and tie and tunic BUT NO TROUSERS!      And the sinister machinations continue with Peter Pervert.  Art?

Thus

     Where do they get their clothes from?  Do they buy them?  How do they earn the money?  Or do they just steal everything?  Given that they come with ready-made fur coats, WHY do they even need clothing?
     Of course, I might be over-thinking this ...

Speaking Of Ducks -
I know we mentioned the Salter Duck yesterday, it being a species of electrical generator that relies on wave movement to create current.  Also, rather rough on the digestion.  I think we can stretch to a picture.  Art?

These ducks don't cluck

     Not sure if this picture gives a correct sense of scale, although you can see the giant yellow things bobbing away on the waves, making electrons agitated.
     And once again the Coincidence Hydra comes and bites your humble scribe on the behind, for what graced the Beeb's webpages yesterday but - Art?

More than enough duck for everyone!

    Interestingly enough, this giant inflatable got loose because the wind carried it away, leading your modest artisan to posit that here's another potential energy-creating duck; simply connect it to a dynamo on a leash and allow the wind to agitate those electrons.

A duck on a pole might work, also.

And there we shall leave it for today, since we are at count.

"Do I still get to keep my clothes on?  It's a bit chilly, you know."

*  First time in George Coppard's "With A Machine Gun To Cambrai" - I think.
**  That tenon-saw fretwork is a valuable social skill?