Let Me Explain -

About Pentaborane

No!  It is not an island chain in the South China Sea, nor yet is it a warrior band from "Lord of the Rings", or even a kind of ice cream.

Excuse me whilst I drool

 

     No, Pentaborane follows on in the footsteps of yesterday's 'Azidoazide azide", that ridiculously dangerous substance itching to explode for absolutely no reason at all.  One gets the feeling that some organic chemists have entirely too much time on their hands, that and a sense of mischief.  I mean, fourteen nitrogen atoms hanging off a mere two carbon ones?

     Anyway - pentaborane is actually a variety of rocket fuel.  Or was.  Turned out, there were safer alternatives to something that combined the lethality of nerve gas with the unpredictable explosive tendencies of AZAZAZ.  It's use was projected with Oxygen Difluoride as an oxidising agent, which is itself toxic, carcinogenic, corrosive and liable to explode, and this is in fact the lesser evil of the two compounds.  Look at that last sentence carefully before we continue.

Borane burns bright green

     One of the problems with pentaborane is that it explodes on contact with air, which is a bit of a problem with fuel, I think you'll admit.  So - toxic, corrosive, explosive and it also decomposes into compounds that are shock-sensitive.  I think the only way this stuff could be worse is if it acquired sentience and crawled out of the tank to attack you.
     Okay, enough of DANGEROUS EXPLODEY STUFF! and ice-cream.  Let the motley loose in the supermarket thirty seconds ahead of the zombie shoppers!

Conrad's Baking Mojo Is Definitely Back
I don't actually have proof of some of the cakey stuff I've been baking, but I do have some pictures, as I know you lot are sceptical rascals not easily persuaded unless there are pictures.  Art?

Yes, someone has already 'sampled' or 'tested' it

      This is an Orange and Almond Loaf - so the recipe book describes what is obviously a cake - made with Gluten-free flour, yet which rose just like one made with proper flour:  Xantham Gum in this case is what helps to add in elasticity. Art?

That's odd  - there were a lot more in there last time I looked ...

     These are Almond and Apricot Cookies.  I have camouflaged their rather idiosyncratic outlines with the one that came out roundest.  I know now if making them in future to split them up over four baking trays and halve the size of dough balls used, otherwise they end up running into each other and become hexagonal instead of round <sad face>.

Dammit, What's Going On!
As you should know by now, Conrad is here in the role of camouflaged alien spy.  You'd never know, as I fit into human society so well - years of training and experience.

See?



     However, my superiors back home in the <cough cough> star system don't appear to be enthused with my progress to date.  They've already brought in another ringer, who goes by the ridiculous handle of 'John Bolton', and now Youtube confirms that they've sent another clone to ensure the enslavement of Earth takes place on schedule.  Art?

 

     It's a bit disconcerting to suddenly discover not one but two doppelgangers.  Oh well, if the powers that be were really unhappy with my performance on your planet, I'd just disappear.

Serial Graphic Art Explained
This is the formal name for what some people dismiss as "comics"* and I have to thank Brian Michael Bendis for another illustration, both literal and metaphorical, of what constitutes the comic creators process along the way to a final product.
     Here an aside.  Brian is the author of the fantastic "Words For Pictures" which I have a copy of, and which I would recommend to anyone with more than a passing interest in comics.  Art?

Buy or die!

     Well, perhaps only "get very severely told-off" rather than "dipped in a bath of hydrofluoric acid".  Brian can wield the old pencils himself -
     But we're getting off track.**  Let us now have a look at the raw material created by an artist with pencils.  Art?

     This, I believe, is the basic pencilwork, which has not been inked-in.  You recall the difference that inking makes, from one of my earlier posts?  So there is another step in the process between the above and the final four-colour print.  The last stage in the process, you see, is to add in the colour scheme.  Art?

 

     Well, apart from adding in titles and lettering.  So, there you go, an illustration of how an illustration works.  I hope you appreciate the work that goes into a Serial Graphic Art strip now, and why Conrad is a little loathe to minimise them with the reductive title of "comic".

Later!

*  Usually said with a sneer and a spit.  Don't worry, I have a list and I'll get round to them in my own time.
**  No apologies, it's how we roll here at BOOJUM!