Hypergolic Colic

An Occupational Hazard -
 - when dealing with exotic rocketry fuels.  Well, when I say 'colic' I mean 'poisoned, exploded, boiled and burnt', which you might agree is a tad worse than mild stomachache. 
     For Yes!  we are back in Dangerland, and the subject of hideously horribly dangerous explodey stuff, which makes the missiles whiz.  

Apocalypse now, indeed

     This is a Lance battlefield nuclear missile, as were liberally distributed across Europe during the days of the Cold War, and although it looks terrifying at launch, believe me, those on the receiving end are going to wish they never got out of bed that morning.
     One of the reasons this thing looks at launch as if it was designed by Old Nick with a hangover is the fuel it uses, because the oxidiser is Perchloryl Flouride, which is - of course! - toxic, corrosive and explosive.  Inhaling it will cause you to promptly die; any skin contact will poison you and blister your skin, and it will react with alcohols to form insanely shock-sensitive explosive compounds.
     Standing anywhere near the launch site itself is very unwise; the exhaust fumes are going to contain exciting combinations of fluorides and chlorides, none of which are good for you and most of which will melt you from both the outside and inside.  Lucky you!

Not the wisest place to stand, really

     So there you are: perchloryl fluoride - good for missile fuel, unsuitable for your backyard barbecue (unless you want to impress the neighbours).
     Now, it's time to sling the motley into a ball pool which also contains a cobra and a python!*

Now For - Cake!
Whilst Wonder Wifey is off seeing the sights on her cruise, your humble scribe is taking advantage and using up his wheat flour, for there is no demand for gluten-free cakes until WW returns to The Mansion.  To that end, may I present a Blueberry Crumble Loaf - Art?

     Not made this before so I don't know how well it'll keep; there may be some left to take into the office next Monday.  Yes, yes, it is a cake, despite what the Hummingbird Bakery Recipe Book says; I think they pedantically insist on 'loaf' because it's baked in a 2 lb. loaf tin.
     Now, I have all the nuts and butterscotch ingredients weighed out for Mixed Nut Slices, which leaves creating the sweet dough base and lining a baking tray for it.
     Baking Mojo has definitely returned!

I Speak - Of Jonathan Creek
Conrad is unsure why a sudden desire to see this series again popped up in his mind, which is about usual for my mind - a rule unto itself.
     I was mildly horrified to see that it is 21 years old, which is about 15 more than expected.  Nearly as old as Darling Daughter, in fact.
     This does mean that I've forgotten the details of how some of the puzzles were solved, although I did guess correctly about "The Omega Man" and "The Three Gamblers" originally - go me.

No, Art, no!
<sigh>

     In trying to solve these puzzles, one has to keep a couple of syllogisms in mind: Ockham's Razor, i.e. entities should not be multiplied un-necessarily; if you have eliminated the impossible then whatever remains, however incredible, must be the truth.
     I shall let you know if I solve anything further.

Oh - Art gets it right.  Let me sit down.

     Part of the appeal in JK was the "will they won't they" relationship between Maddy and Jonathan, until after Series 3, when she suddenly vanished, never to be seen again.  In real life Caroline Quentin stopped acting to have kids, and never got cast in JK again.  Ah, the sad romance of television characters, eh?

     <excuse me, off to get another cup of tea>

The Under-employed Mechanoid
Cast your mind back fifty years or so, to an epic dramatic reconstruction of Doctor Who entitled "The Chase", wherein the Daleks are pursuing our heroes with a crude time machine of their own, which ends up on the planet Mechanus, home of the -

They're hot for you, Dalek

     - Mechanoids.  These are autonomous robots, self-aware, and rather suspicous of newcomers.  They imprison our heroes for a bit of interrogation and investigation, but they don't resort to shrieking "OBLITERATE!  ANNIHILATE!  DISCOMBOBULATE!" and killing people on sight, like the Daleks do by default.  The Daleks then turn up on Mechanus and, not being ones to play nice or be good guests, set about fighting the Mechanoids (see above), just on principle rather than for any good reason, one feels.  Art?

Not listed in Fodor's Guide

     This is the only time they turn up in Doctor Who, for which the operators were grateful, because they were great big unwieldy things that took a lot of handling to work effectively, not to mention that they came armed with a flamethrower (see top photo); Health and Safety in 1966 might not be quite so robust as today, yet letting off a flame gun on set is not going to be without risks.
     They did, however, turn up a lot more frequently in Century TV 21 comic serial graphic art journal, where they tended to be a whole lot more aggressive and pre-emptive than in 'The Chase'; I guess they learned the hard way that Daleks make bad dinner guests and are likely to pass the port to the left if now watched closely.  Art?

Prepare to be poached alive, intruder!

     I suspect that at some point they are going to make a reappearance in the dramamentary series, because if you leave a group of AI-enabled robots alone for a while, they will inevitably try to take over the galaxy.**

Finally -
I'm not sure who the author is aiming this work at, because if there is a huge ship in the vicinity, you're bound to see it, on account of it being - well - huge, so you can avoid it.  Art?

Note that 'Second Edition' - which means the first one sold out

     I know what you're thinking - what if you're out at sea during the night, and visibility is limited?
     Well you shouldn't be mucking about in international trade lanes then, should you!  Certainly not without radar.  Really, some people are an accident waiting to happen.




*  Don't worry, I'm almost positive that we defanged the python and put the cobra in a bit of pipe to stop it - hang on, is that the right way round?
**  It's in the script.