Bonkers Ballistic Back-engineered Buzz Bombs

I'm Not Sure If This Counts As A Theme -
 - or not, since we've not had one for a while.  It does rather tend to swerve all over the place, which is excellent practice for the 21st century lifestyle.
     Okay, first we shall roll the glazzies over a film poster that Art can be inveigled into displaying - *
                             

     "Well of course!" I can hear you scornfully disclaim.  "If it had to crawl, or stagger, or limp with the aid of a cane and a lantern, then it wouldn't be much of a missile, would it!"
     O, how harsh you are.  There's a lot going on in the background here that you don't appreciate.
     Firstly, this is not some zero-budget Fifties sci-fi monster-mash, for which you may be forgiven.  It does actually have some basis in reality <gasps!>.
     Let us now backtrack from 1950 to 1944, when several relatively intact examples of the Teuton V1 had fallen upon the lands of Perfidious Albion.  The British seized upon these examples of advanced technology, and promptly exported them to the far distant lands of South Canada, where eager technicians took them apart.  Art?

V1

     And not only took them apart, but reverse-engineered them and built a perfectly functional copy to boot.  This version above was known as the "Loon", wherein the "Bonkers" bit of today's post comes from.  Art?

The "Loon"

     If the forces of South Canada and Perfidious Albion had ever invaded Japan, they would have been preceded by tens of thousands of Loons; at which point the sons of Nippon might very well have bewailed ever having taken up with the Eeeevil Westerners.
     Here an aside.  Some Wehraboos bang on about how Nazi Germany could have won the war if only it had dragged on a bit longer, as they would have developed their own nuclear weapons and -  WRONG!  The V-weapon program ate up so many resources that Herr Schickelgruber could have had either V-weapons OR nuclear weapons, but not both.  Whereas our South Canadian friends did have both.  Just making a point.

Also, Robert Goddard.

     Anyway, back to the "Flying Missile", whose poster I came across randomly, and was prepared to mock and scoff at, until I read a precis about it's plot.  No big surprise to discover that it concerns missiles, except these are missiles intended to be launched from - the backs of giant mutant yaks!
     No, I was just seeing if you were paying attention.  Launched from submarines.  Although, if someone from the Pentagon ever reads this, you can bet they'll get a faraway look in their eyes and begin to wonder ...
     Okay, I think that's quite enough missile for one helping, but rest assured that we're going to be coming back to this topic, for Your Humble Scribe has not finished with it.
     O no!

Back To Barca
I will be doing, at some point, but in the meantime you can experience the Catalonian capital vicariously, thanks to Conrad and Darling Daughter.  Art?

The mercat

We had trawled round art galleries and museums at my insistence, so it was time to bite the bullet, gird up my loins, glue courage to the sticky place and - go into the Markets.  In fact as an experience it wasn't too bad, as the seething scrum of tourists at the entrance soon died off inside and we had a good wander round.  A couple of stalls were staffed by locals who don't enjoy being treated like the animals at the zoo, and informed passers-by that "We Are Not A Tourist Attraction".   So - no photographs of them.                                                                                                       

A pond of some description

This is the very heart of Barca, Place de Catalunya.  And that is a pond.  No fountains or squirty water involved, it just sort of - sits there.                                                           

Dammit, even their street-lams are stylish!

I think this is what they call "Art Nouveau" in practice.  You cannot argue that it is immeasurably more stylish than the stark steel monstrosities here in Gomorrah-on-the-Irwell.  Well - you could, except you'd be wrong.                                                            

This is the house next to Casa Batlo, an interesting structure in it's own architectural right, and with one of those very naughty Catalonian independence ribbons.  Don't fret, Catalunya, one day you will be free!                                                                             

     Casa Batlo.  Which was shut.  Maybe next visit.      There was one more shot, of the Brutalist artwork in Place d.C. but it was out of sequence and I've consequently deleted it.  Is it in the "Insert Image" toolbox?  Of course not!  So you will just have to wait.
"Space Rangers"
Another of Ol' Pat's choices of cancelled sci-fi or fantasy series from the Eighties and Nineties.  Unlike "Space Above And Beyond", SR was done on the cheap, and because it was up against both "Star Trek:TNG" and "The One About A Space Station That's Totally Not Ripping Off Babylon 5", it failed rather miserably.  Art?

"Cult classic" is code for "Did not do very well and is not very good"

     It managed all of 6 episodes before collapsing dead, un-mourned and unloved.

The motley, after those million flesh-eating butterflies of yesterday

     Conrad has never seen it, and from the brief clips seen on "Patrick Answers Questions No One Asked" I am not keen to do so.  It's probably lurking on Youtube if you feel a bit of self-loathing coming on and want to punish yourself.
     Next!
Ah - Now I See
Your Humble Scribe was ambling purposefully towards work this morning when a couple of odd sights greeted his eyes.  Not the usual pavement dressing of vomit, broken bottles, fag ends and dead kebabs, but rather long queues of Hom. Sap. waiting patiently outside shops.  Art?

Not from today.

     The queue ran down Oldham Street, round the corner along Church Street and then even further back up Tib Street.
     This is a consequence of today being Record Store Day, when you the public can go to record stores and - buy records?  The proviso being that said store has to be an independent one.  None of yer HMV.  Although haven't they gone bust yet again?



     Okay, I need to go order some of that medicine that prevents me from falling over dead, or at least comatose.


Chin chin!


*  "Glazzies" = "Eyes"; Nadsat courtesy Anthony Burgess and "A Clockwork Orange" and yes, I've seen one and read the other.