Building Big

For Yes, We Are Back To Lego
That wonderful Danish invention, which is horribly hard, sharp-edged and unyielding if you happen to step on it in either bare feet or socks.

The absolute gospel truth

     Conrad, having an analytical mind and also being inquisitive and speculative*, wondered how long a Lego brick will live for.  The answer to that is "indefinitely", since they are made of an incredibly robust, long-life plastic called ABS.  They don't degrade or decompose or - what's that?  O all right - "Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene" - and they've not been around long enough to begin falling apart.  Come back in a couple of centuries.
     Meanwhile, other, even nerdier minds have been pondering the question in a different way - how long will a Lego piece remain usable?  Art?

Legos just starboard of centre

     This hero put together an automatic Lego coupling and uncoupling rig and had the above go at it for days and days.  End result?  It took 36,720 couplings before the plastic became too worn to clip together.  So now we know.
     Anyway, what I really wanted to focus on was that well-spoken bonkers boy James May, whom you might already know from "Top Gear".  Art?

James to starboard

     James put forward an idea for a series where he built enormously enlarged versions of childhood toys, which included a Spitfire 1:1 scale Airfix model, a Hornby train track three miles long, a motorbike made out of Meccano, and - a full size house made out of Lego.
     Yes, really.  Art?

With puny James for scale

     It required the help of 1,200 volunteers to construct the basic "House-bricks", and ate up 3.2 MILLION bricks before completion.
                   

     James spent a night in the house, which was subsequently demolished, as it 1) did not have planning permission, 2) stood in the middle of a vineyard where vines needed to be planted, and 3) would have cost £50,000 to deconstruct, transport and re-erect at a Lego theme park.
     Wow.  Lego is turning out to be a very fruitful topic.  We shall definitely be coming back this way again!
     I say, motley, shall we break out the Meccano and build Tower Bridge?

This will be us.  Honest.

Hello, Coincidence Hydra
Typical.  I've just seen two 409 buses whiz past beneath my window within seconds of each other, rather than the promised nine minutes - O, and Spellchecker?  "Whiz" - dammit there goes another 409! - where were we? O yes - "Whiz" is most definitely a proper word and <checks> it's in my Collins Concise.
     Anyway, what I wanted to point out was that the Coincidence Hydra has once again settled it's fangs in my nethers.  Art?

     I didn't notice this until about 10 minutes ago.  Bridges, as far as I recall, have no significant place in "The Expanse", though as I am now watching Season 1 from the beginning, I'll let you know if that changes.
     Strange times!

No, Art, no - O what the heck, it can stay.  I love The Chameleons.

"The Old That Is Strong -"
As you should surely know by now, Conrad is no fan of poetry, and what he creates for colleague's birthdays at work can only be considered doggerel, so - no cognitive dissonance there.
     However, there is that short poem from Mister J. Ronald Reuel Tolkein, of which we have quoted the first line.  The whole thing goes:

"All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all who wander are lost.

The old that is strong does not wither;

Deep roots are not reached by the frost"

     I'll take that as read about the roots; Conrad is no gardener.  Anyway, I refer - of course and indubitably! - to Popular Mechanics, and their selection of 3 military weapons that are very old, yet still in service.  Art?

ART!

     Allow me to briefly chastise our errant Neanderthal art editor with a megawatt Tazer -
     Let me be more specific - the M2 Browning Machine Gun.  This puppy was introduced into service in 1918, after the commander of the American Expeditionary Force, General Pershing, asked for a much bigger machine gun, firing a much bigger round, that would go further and do more damage than anything else on the market.   Art?

The beast in question

     If it's that old, why not replace it?  Well, because it's simple, reliable, robust, and it kills the enemy extremely dead.  If you are on the receiving end of M2 rounds, you need to be at the bottom of a trench, or behind several feet of reinforced concrete or a few inches of armour plate, or you will shortly be shaking hands with Saint Peter at the pearly gates.  One issue about replacing it would be the cost involved, which, given how the South Canadian procurement system works, will be in the billions, I bet, which leads to another factor why it's still around - relatively cheap.
    

OW!
That Dog Buns Coincidence Hydra is at it AGAIN.  I note on the Beeb website an obituary for Stephen Moore, actor, whom they state is best know for being the voice of Marvin The Paranoid Android in both the radio and television series of "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy".  Art?

Yeah, but -

     I won't forget hearing this on the radio when it was first broadcast, thinking "What on earth is this?  It's bonkers.  I like it!"
     The thing is, he'd had a long career in films before THHGTTG, including a role in - waitforitwaitforit - "A Bridge Too Far", where, if that sluggard Art can put down his plate of coal -

Steve being quizzical

     He played Major Steele, who was worried from the outset about being able to establish and maintain radio communication with XXX Corps, and who was proven entirely correct.  Damn it, I only purchased ABTF to be able to put my hands on it if needed, and now - I'm going to have to watch the whole thing again, aren't I?  Well, there are worse fates.
     
     And with that, we are done!


*  Okay, nosey.  There.  Happy now?