A Screening Comes Across The Sky

Well Done!
If you recognised that as a reference ("A screaming comes across the sky") to one of the most important and influential novels of the modern era - "Gravity's Rainbow" by Thomas Pynchon, who would surely be an OBE and CBE if he were only a citizen of The Pond Of Eden, rather than being a resident of the benighted South Canadian States*.  Art?

"A screaming comes across the sky -"

     Much to my mixed disgust and annoyance, Ol' Tom has not whipped up another novel of late, which is a bit of a bummer since he is getting on in years and may not have long to go.
     Anyway, let us abruptly change track, for yeah forsooth this is BOOJUM! where we swivel to all points of the compass at entirely no provocation, and what do we have here, but - 
     "The Fighting Seabees"   and several photos thereof, which in this humble scribe's mind amounts to a screening.  You see?  There you have it, a minor epic of the South Canadian Marine Corps' island-hopping campaigns across the waters of the wide blue Pacific.
     Here an aside.  Yes, already - once again, whose blog is it?  Back on the subject of "The Omega Man" -

Is he laughing with me or at me?

     - and The Family, that unlovable bunch of pox-ridden, fashion-deficient psychopaths.  Since they're living on food that comes out of tins, and avoid sunlight, all those horrid sores and skin lesions may be the result of vitamin deficiency - no Vitamin C or D, don't you know.  I mean, that sports stadium they cart Neville off to, in order to murder him to death (and yes literally in a cart that they must have had to put together by hand, o! Family what priorities you have) is prime arable land.  Do they grow food there?  Do they what!

H20 on the go

     Oh yes - water.  Sorry, I get a bit carried away at times.  If we assume an average of 6 3/4 pints of water per person for each Family member, that equals an annual water requirement of 75 tons for them, since we shall assume the disgusting diseased dossbags don't bother to wash.  Don't forget, no technology, so they can't boil that river water I postulated as the solution to their liquid needs.  Can you say Hello Dysentery! Once again, Colonel Neville's nose will lead him to The Family's nest

"The Fighting Seabees"
There we are, back on topic again. 
     Ah, except that I'm listening to "The Race for Space" by Public Service Broadcasting, and "Go" in particular, which features those immortal lines in the background of Apollo 11's powered descent to the lunar regolith 49 years ago - "1202 alarm" and the even more worrying "1201 alarm" - Art?

Anyone mentioning 'hoax' will be INSTANTLY EXTIRPATED!**

      Anyway.  The Fighting Seabees.  Firstly, this film was made with a lot of South Canadian government approval and kit.  All those bulldozers cost money to hire, you know.  Art?

No I don't know what it's called.

      John Wayne's character of "Wedge" Donovan is well-named, because he possesses all the intellect of that piece of door-positioning furniture.  Take a gander at this, as his skilled construction technicians - once again, their words not mine! - storm forward -

Storming if, that is, 4 m.p.h. can be said to be 'storming'

     - against the Japanese, because Ha!  Everyone knows how bullet and bombproof a water tanker or travelling crane is; ha! those foolish Brits, inventing the tank when they could just have crossed No Man's Land on a load of - oh.  Ah.  Yes, how's that storming advance working out, Wedge?


Not too well, one feels.

     Wedge manages to get half his men wiped out, which <thinks> is a really positive outcome because who knows what damage those Japanese bullets would have done if they were left to whiz around unobstructed?.  We are also treated to some laughably botched-up Japanese tanks, which look ridiculous.  Art?


     I believe they were going for - er - the 'tankette' look of genuine Japanese tanks of the time. Instead they end up more like that Timelords video Dalek -

Thus

 

      Don't forget, Conrad would make an exceptionally non-conformist Dalek.***

 


* They've got nuclear missile silos and Hubble Space Telescopes, but - do they have Irony?  NO THEY DON'T!
**  I should have added Apollo to the above, shouldn't I?  And perhaps used "CARBOXYLATED" to boot
***   And - Sharks Are Still Our Friends!