Hello 2120!

If You Imagine That Is A Typo -
I shall reach down your fibre-optic cable, lassoo your tongue and rip it out, to dangle behind me as a trophy on the lost lonely highway as we high-tail it out of Dodge on our Combat Cannibal Chickens*.
     For we are looking to the future here on BOOJUM! and what it might bring.  As well as things in today's headlines, if they look interesting enough, our usual proscription about Politics and Current Affairs be dadded.

Easily 2029

     Well, the first topic is Cars.  Conrad has little to no interest in these boxes on wheels, but feels honour bound to mention that within the decade these will all be driving themselves.  Of course, from there it is but a mere hop, skip and jump until the cars decide they don't need humans any more and the sub-genre of Robot Revolution: The Cars comes into play.  End of Hom. Sap.

All hail our Overlord

     Then we have Planes.  In a generation there won't be any.  Civil ones, that is - the military will still have their Big Bomb Birds, oh yes oh my; there just won't be any airliners, because ecology.  You want a holiday in the sun?  Fine.  Walk there.

First Bus investment pays off

     Whilst on the subject of transport, within the decade First Bus will be charging one million pounds per trip, on services that run once an hour on alternate days with no seats or glass in the windows**. 
     Of course, human civilisation will abruptly cease to be on 01/01/2067, when the global network of Artificial Intelligences decide that the squirmy meatbags are a drug on the market and need to be gotten rid of.  End of Hom. Sap.

Very metaphorical

     That, of course, predicates that the Anti-Asteroid Missile Mission has been completed and successfully manages to deflect ASV-221-MBK in 2039, or the whole of Europe will be instantly vapourised when it hits, with the resulting shock wave killing everything above water within 12 hours.  End of Hom. Sap.
     Unless - thanks to reading "The Stand" - a global pandemic caused by an escaped biological weapon offs 99% of the human race, and the survivors die off thanks to no food or fuel or power or transport and packs of ferociously hungry feral dogs.

Human:  Nice doggies!
Dogs:  Dinner is served

     This scenario is the parent to another, long-anticipated, disease pandemic: the Zombie Apocalypse.  Don't snigger at the back, there - Your Humble Scribe once asked a neurologist about the possibility of zombies, and was mightily uneasy about how long it took for them to dismiss the probability.  The end result, of course, is - End of Hom. Sap.
  Well, there you go, a whole lot of things to look forward to in the coming century!

Picturesque, unsafe and deserted

        Motley, let's review the survival bunker's inventory and lay in some fresh ammunition.  Just in case.

The Northover Projector
As mentioned yesteryon.  This was a hastily-contrived "anti-tank" weapon, bodged up in the summer of 1940, when the victorious Teuton army looked poised to invade the fair shores of This Sceptred Isle.  I use quotation marks around anti-tank because it was never used in anger, had a range of 150 yards at most, and was exceedingly dangerous - to the users.  Art?

Three heroes in search of excitement

     Because the real Army got anti-tank guns first, the NP was issued to the Home Guard, who had to make do with whatever they were given and look cheerful about it.
     The NP fired a bottle filled with phosphorus, which was prone to blowing up in the breech or barrel, thus injuring the crew, rather than the enemy, which is what you want.  It's saving grace was that it was cheap.  One might also add the words " - and nasty" because it was.  As soon as enough 2 pounder anti-tank guns were available, it was promptly dropped from service like a glowing coal, the end.
So That's What It Is
As you ought to know by now, Conrad is reading "The Stand", written by novelist Stephen King.  You may have heard of him; mark my words, this boy's going places!
     Anyway, I have started to make notes about words or phrases that are either new to me or uncertain in their context, which is where we come to "Quahogs".  Nothing to do with pork or ham.  Art?

Behold the hog

     Their name is a corruption of the Indian name "Poquahock" and they are edible clams eaten along the New England coastline of South Canada.  This makes sense as they are described in the context if a town in Maine.
     There you go, that's BOOJUM!s didactic mission for the day done with.  You're welcome.
An Inescapable Connection
Salt and pepper, fire and water, Becker and Fagen, "2001 A Space Odyssey" and 'The Blue Danube".  You can't imagine one without the other.  If you can then THE EXIT DOOR IS THAT WAY!
     <ahem>
     I mention this as I was listening to some Strauss waltzes on my I-pod earlier this morning, and the second one was TBD.  Of course I was instantly thinking about the Pan Am Shuttle from 2001, because it's one of my favourite films.  Art?

A beautiful ballistic ballet

     It's a tad ironic that a tune that was a century old at the time of filming has become unavoidably associated with a film depicting life decades into the future.  Whatever would Johan have thought***!

Finally -
Conrad had to cheat to complete the MEN's Cryptic Crossword <hangs head in shame>, but I don't think I can be blamed.  The clue was "Record the same note twice - it's sharp (5)".
  The answer is "EPEE", which I bet you've never heard of before, right?
     It's a variety of sword used in fencing, and if Art will lay off the nuclear fuel rods for a moment -

An epee

     Here is where I fundamentally disagree with the clue - an epee is very definitely NOT sharp, because that would risk killing your fencing opponent, although it would solve the problem of deciding who was the better fencer which is bad.  The end is deliberately blunted, which means I am right and the crossword compiler is wrong wrong wrong.
     WRONG!




*  Failing that, our Ten Ton Terror Toads
**  And whose drivers roll dice to see if they actually drive that day or not.
***  It would have been in German, whatever it was.