Mad About Martians

Perhaps I Should Be A Little More Specific -
For Hom. Sap. has long had a fascination with the Red Planet.  I think Edgar Rice Burroughs was one of the first popular writers to base his stories there, except he called it "Barsoom" and began writing about it in 1912.  Considering that powered flight had only been invented in 1903, this is pretty ambitious.

"Hello?  Professor Freud?  I have an illustration I'd like you to look at ..."

     Ooopsie!  I forgot H.G. Wells.  His Earth-invading hideous monsters are from Mars, after all, although the Red Planet is more of an off-stage character than being up front and in your face.  Art?

CAUTION!  Do not consume if you have a peanut allergy

     You have to have Mars in there, though, since otherwise it would only involve Earth, and you'd have "War of the World", which is rather less likely to set reader's pulses racing.
     And how could I forget my Favouritest Band Ever, The Comsat Angels, who put out a "Red Planet" single on - get this! - red vinyl.  Art?

Thus

     I'm pretty sure this was their first ever release, and Steve (guitarist, singer and song-writer) told me that they'd been completely ripped-off when it came to any profits from the release.  It's about the commercialisation of Mars -

     "Looking at the Red Planet

      Want to get my hands on it.

      Can I take my car?

      When I goto Mars."

     The unacceptable face of capitalism?
     Of course we also have to take into account the predictions of futurologist Gerry Anderson, who sternly warned Hom. Sap. about trespassing on territory that rightfully belongs to the Martian Rock Snake.  Art?

In it's native habitat

     This is obviously a silicon-based life-form, which probably uses that fireball to render Martian regolith into a form suitable for consumption.  Unfortunately they also seem to be rather territorial, and prone to react to movement within their particular estate.
     Anyway, none of that is anything very much to deal with what I really wanted to talk about, which was -

     I think we're up to number five by now.  Which novel is it?  You ought to be able to guess, based on the above, but I will be merciful and tell you outright. Art?

"A novel".  Seriously?  Who is going to believe this is real?

     No, I have not read the novel, which, once again, just to be clear, is a WORK OF FICTION.  It is not real.  Pretend.
     Here an aside.  There will, inevitably, be those out there who firmly believe that NASA and the Freemasons and Illuminati and the Jews and <add another sinister group of choice here> have long been on Mars with bases and mines and and and and hot green-skinned Martian women who go punting along the canals <fade away into conspiranoid loonwaffling>.  

Just because Ray wrote it DOES NOT MEAN IT IS TRUE!

     So.  No, I have not read the book.  I have, however, seen the film, which seems to be a pretty solid version thereof, kind of a "Robinson Crusoe On Mars Except Realistic And No Aliens".  For those who are not clear, astronaut Mark Watney is accidentally marooned solo on the surface of Mars, unable to even communicate that he's alive, short of supplies and without any kind of way to get off the Martian surface, let alone make it back to Earth.
     He tackles this situation head-on, declaring that he's going to <ahem> "Science the ***t out of it!" in order to survive.
     SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT   SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT  SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT*
     He survives.

And has a shave

     Wow, that was a long Intro.  In fact, under the old 750-word limit, we'd already be typing in "Finally -".  I'm not going to apologise, this is how we roll here at BOOJUM!
     Motley, would you like a deep-fried Mars bar?

What Was Going To Be Finally -
In today's earlier post I worked in a reference to "The Avengers" and a post-credits sequence set in a New York shwarama bar; if you can call a catering outlet a "bar".
     What I really wanted to work in was the Shield Helicarrier, because that way I could have satisfied the daily Lego criteria.  You remember the Helicarrier?

This puppy.

     Conrad is no avionics-engineer and so cannot say if this massive flying beast is even possible or not, though you cannot deny it looks pretty damn cool and they even manage to have two separate flight decks -
     Yes well, what I wanted to put up was the Lego version of same.  Art!

"64"?  There are 63 others of this thing flying around?!

     Here you have 3,000 pieces to (Avengers!) assemble.  Now, this is a formal Lego-sanctioned Collectors edition kit, so Your Modest Artisan is quite convinced that somewhere out there, a fan has put together their bespoke version which makes this look compact and moderate.

Finally -
Which came first, the Helicarrier or Cloudbase?  If you are unaware, Cloudbase is the stratospheric command centre of those nosey rascals Spectrum, who take an unhealthy interest in Your Humble Scribe's activities.  Art?

Rather above, than at the base, of the clouds.

     Similar concept.  One wonders how they manage to get toilet rolls up to this behemoth?  Presumably it is nuclear-powered so they don't have to worry about topping up the petrol tanks.  It boasts a squadron of interceptor aircraft flown by attractive young female pilots, which is <thinks> empowering in terms of female ability and gender stereotyping <crosses fingers>.

     And with that, we are done!



*  Yes, this will up the word count, heh heh heh.