Attack Of The Killer Potato

That's A Title To Conjure With
Imagine a cheap Fifties sci-fi film with that as the title, eh?  The tagline would be "Night of the TERROR TUBER!" and you'd have a poster with hideous mutant Maris Pipers carrying off nubile young ladies not wearing a lot.
     I did write a story with that as the title, though it was a lot less giant mashbots and more biological warfare.
     None of which has to do with what I really wanted to talk about, which is another DANGEROUS CHEMICAL!  Namely: Acrolein.  Art?

Toxic stuff indeed

     Unusually, there is quite a lot of detail about it over on Wiki, so I don't need to access my Dangerous Chemicals Website.  You will probably be familiar with acrolein, even if you didn't realise it, since it is created by the breakdown of glycerol in cooking oils when heated to excess.  It is toxic - obviously! - and an acute irritant that affects the skin, eyes and nasal passages.  It is one of the carcinogenic compounds in cigarette smoke, and - from where we derive today's title - it is also found in chips.  Art?

Flee!  Run!  Save yourself  from the Devil's digits!

     Before you go into a blind panic and swear off chips forever, rest assured that the amount is only in micrograms of acrolein per kilogram of chips, or only one or two billionths of what you're eating.  So you're probably okay, unless you start to chow down on a metric ton of chips at each meal.  In which case gluttony will finish you off before the acrolein.
     Well, that was a whole bunch of fun, wasn't it?  Motley, shall we do the Monster Mash?

Maybe not

By The Numbers
Conrad was, for some reason, looking up Roman numerals, because - er - because I was wondering what the Romans used for zero.  Like you do*.  As you ought to know, the numbers go I,II,III, IV, V, VI,VII,VIII, IX, X.  Then there's L, C, D and M.  So, the convention was that you used these letters as numbers.  
     What did they use for zero?  The suggestion is that "Nulla" was used in medieval times, but that the Romans didn't bother with it, which must have made their maths lessons outstanding fun.

An example of Roman numerals in use today

     Then you have fractions.  These had a general convention about how to represent them in written form, and they were based on a system of twelfths, as it was easier to divide by this amount rather then tenths.  One-twelfth would be represented by a single dot, thus . and was called "Unciae";  two-twelfths or one-sixth would be two dots .. and this is called "Sextans".  And do you know, that astronomical location instrument the Sextant derives it's name from the fraction.  Art?

The instrument in question.

     I haven't finished yet, but I'm not going to bang on about others Roman fractions in this post.  Maybe later today**.

Threadbanger Again!
I should warn you that Rob is a bit sweary at times, so the channel is thus NSFW and should be treated with care.  He was mocking and demolishing that odious Youtube 'lifestyle hacks' channel "5 Minute Crafts", and had shot down three different hacks as being complete bodges.  I mean, seriously, popping a whole bag of popcorn with a pair of hot hair tongs?  Yes, you can do it, but it would take hours and hours.  Art?

     That above is Rob proving one hack that worked, partly.  You can't see it very well, but he's reversed his hoodie and placed popcorn in the hood, which is quite convenient.  The drawback, and there's always a drawback with 5MC, is that the grease from the popcorn soaks into the hood.  So.  Convenient yet needs laundering.  5 out of 10.

Old Soldiers Refusing To Die
Okay, imagine that you are seventy years old.  During the First Unpleasantness you served as a destroyer captain, then a destroyer flotilla commander, then vice-admiral of a cruiser squadron in the First Unpleasantness, and you helped ensure that Finland and the Baltic republics remained independent after the First Unpleasantness, by keeping the Sinisters at bay.
     You, gentle reader, might be forgiven for expecting that retirement and growing roses would be the only topics on this person's mind, which is where you are completely wrong.
     We are talking about Admiral Sir Walter Cowan, who was born in 1871.  Art?

The man himself

     His old mate Admiral Keyes was in charge of the Commandos by 1941 and asked "Tich", was Walter was known, to take over their training in boats, which he did.  He also somehow managed to get transferred to the Middle East with them, and got involved in several unsuccessful raids on the North African coast.
     When Number 2 and Number 9 Commando were disbanded, Tich somehow - that word does seem to crop up with him, doesn't it? - got himself assigned in 1942 to an Indian cavalry regiment, the 18th King Edward VII's (Roman numerals!) Own Cavalry Regiment.
     Just stand back at this point.  Here is someone who is over 70, who is a naval officer, and who manages to get assigned to an Indian cavalry regiment.  The word "How?" is probably at centre front in your mind here.

The Free French giving it rice at Bir Hakeim

     The "Why?" is because he was keen to fight, and he got into the battle over Bir Hakeim, the desert fortress securing the southernmost tip of the Gazala Line.  Here Tich was captured in battle, after taking on an Italian tank.  With a revolver.
     Rather stupidly, he was repatriated in a PoW exchange the next year because of his age (these people had no idea!), and of course he went right back into the army, fighting in Italy and then with the Partisans in the Adriatic.  
     Sir Walter died peacefully in 1956, which was quite a surprise to him.  His memory lives on in the Estonian minehunter "Admiral Cowan".

Thanks, chaps

Finally -
I can report that the supermarket shelves were stocked as per normal this morning.  Nor did I buy more than 4 rolls of toilet paper.  There were no bottles of Crabbie's Ginger Beer, however, so all was not completely up to scratch.  Very shabby, Morrisons - Must Do Better.

And with that, we are done!




*  Or is it just me?
**  I bet you can hardly wait.