Horse Power

No! Not The Chemical Brothers Track
 - from the very excellent "Further" album, the last track of which I used to play before arriving in the office, as I found it got the blood pumping and adrenaline going - "Wonders of the Deep" actually.  Just so you know.
     "Okay, that's what it's not about.  What is this about, then, O Pontificator?" I hear you question.
     Pausing only to congratulate you on your vocabulary, though you can't claim any credit, it's all due to my influence, I shall explicate.
     "Defiance!" is the work I am currently reading, written by one G. Nichols, and it's first half concerns how a British artillery brigade fared against the enormous Teuton offensive of March 21st 1918.  Art?

British army bang-making equipment

     One thing I noticed immediately was the importance of horses.  Not merely for swaggering officers to swan about on and impress the ladies, but as draught animals to haul guns and wagons.  Yes, there were motor vehicles, which were used to transport the heavier guns, since it would have required unfeasibly large teams of horses to pull something like an 8" or 9.2" howitzer.

My point.

     The horse's welfare is also the concern of a conscientious officer, who ensures they are watered frequently, get to graze and are sorted out with proper rations; despite the 82nd Artillery brigade being in retreat and with somewhat chaotic supplies, their (extremely efficient and capable) colonel ensures the horses are well-looked after.  This means they manage hauling the guns for prolonged periods, up steep hills and off-road.

18 Pounder gun, limber and 6 horse team.

     There's more technical detail, which I may go into later, but this is a very interesting book that I'm glad I bought.  
     Now to poke a needle into the motley's hazmat suit and send it into the CS gas room!

Attention Tinfoil Hat Wearers!
The BBC website has a very amusing spoof quiz on whether or not you're a conspiracy theorist.  Conrad, who enjoys mocking these swivel-eyed loonwaffle bumbletucks, knew exactly which ones to respond to in order to join their ranks.  It's not hard - although Conrad has never heard that one about the Pope being a robot.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2NxPF8lSYPWctgxwKDLZxs2/take-the-conspiracy-theorist-quiz

     One of the lizard-people, yes, but a robot?  That's a new one.

Some people have entirely TOO MUCH time on their hands.*

     Also that chief purveyor of conspiranoid nonsense, the repellent Alex Jones, has suffered a whacking big drop in traffic since he got booted off all social media.  This is bad for his bank balance, since he makes his $$$ by selling dubious over-priced medical guff to the gullible and credulous.
     I realise this is almost Current Affairs, but I dislike him so much that I couldn't resist.

They're laughing at you, Alex.

O Lovely Lutefisk -
Yes, back onto disgusting Norwegian food again!  I mentioned an absence of this foodstuff in the recent 'Doctor Who' dramatic reconstruction set in Norway, over on Facebook, and it got a lot of attention.  Plainly, fish preserved in sodium hydroxide is hot news.  Art?

CAUTION!  Can kill.

     Lutefisk is highly toxic thanks to the very low pH value, and needs to be soaked for at least five days to leach out all the NaOH.  
     I was also introduced to "Kiviak", which my respondent described as a "dead bird experience".  Interesting! I'd never heard it before, so a touch of Google-fu and -

!

     Birds fermented inside a sewn-up sealskin for three months, beaks, feathers and all?
     Hmmmm.  Let me go make a ham sandwich whilst I ponder on this.

     Okay, I've pondered.  No.  No way.  I like this less than chocolate cake and pineapple.

A Small Apology
As you should surely know by now, Conrad likes him some pens.  Actually, "all the pens" is closer to the truth than a mere "some".  In fact, "ALL THE PENS ALL THE TIME" is probably going to be on his tombstone.**
     So, last night whilst doing the weekly shop, what did I espy by a newly-opened branch of B & M.
     "Ooooh, they usually have a set of really fine-nib pens," I mused, heading into the store, and they did.  Art?

     There you go, 24 little slices of wonderful, sufficient to brighten up any day.***

Talking Of Conspiracy Theories -
Not quite sure where I heard this one, and you'll need a little background information.  The BBC in the early Seventies, finding that it was running out of room to store things in it's stores, rather than finding more storage space, decided that DESTROYING old film and videotape stock was the way to go, thus releasing up precious storage space for storing spare B1024 forms, taglets and spare vacuum valves.
     They destroyed many year's worth of 'Doctor Who' tapes, and must have been rubbing their Dalek hands with glee at a job well done happy with all that extra room.

Until this re-appeared.

     The picture quality on this was outstanding.  The story went that it had been found in the stores of a Hong Kong television station.
     Enter the conspiranoid loonwaffles.  "A Hong Kong television station!  Really, must try harder.  As if -" and other scornful noises.  They now believe that the BBC has a secret vault with ALL the 'Doctor Who' tapes ever made, that they weren't destroyed, and that to keep up audience interest, odd series or episodes are occasionally released.
     Utter nonsense, of course!  I mean, that would presuppose the BBC management were 1)  Competent and 2) Clever, two things they have definitely proven not to be.
     Still - if it were true ...




*   I know, I know, who am I to talk?
**  Chiselled, of course.  
***  My day, anyway, which is what matters.