Damn You, Al Murray!

And James Holland, Too!
I blame them.  I am, currently, trying to compose another missive full of wit and wonder (and some strained puns) that will be posted as BOOJUM! and they are distracting me.  I am listening to one of their podcasts, and it's too damn interesting - that's 10 minutes I'm not going to get back again.

The two miscreants

     Also, Jim may not be entirely at home with my Tweeted comment that his profile photograph here is not very flattering.  Well, it's not!  Al is never going to be a candidate for Top Male Model, yet Jim looks better in real life than the Brylcreemed Cockney Chav shown here.  I can back this up - 

Jim's charming face

     Also, they keep mentioning or discussing books that sound really, really interesting, meaning another addition to my Abebooks list, or they mention or discuss authors whose works sound really, really interesting, meaning another set of additions to my Abebooks list.  Guys!  I only work because I need the money to fund my book habit, and you are NOT helping.  Their podcast "Bombers And Gliders" has already covered a memoir "East West Street" by internationally renowned lawyer Phillipe Sands that is not going to easily slip out of my memory, dealing as it does with human rights, genocide and war crimes.  Guys!  My wallet only contains so much cash!

     <sneaks away to stir the chili>

     Right!  Time to beard the dragon in it's lair.

Speaking Of Beards ...
Your Humble Scribe was hit over the hob, whilst browning the mince for that chili above, by one of those Random Words Out Of Nowhere.  To wit, "Ahenobarbus".  I think I recognised it as a name from antiquity and that was it.
     So.  Doing some on-line research, it is a Roman surname meaning "Red-beard".  Technically it is a "cognomen", or the third part of a name, coming after the "Gens".  

Hey, sue the sculptor, not me!

     Thus we have young Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, as seen above.  You might know him better under his adoptive name that came 13 (lucky number!) years later - Nero.
     One to conjure with, hmmm?

More Of Matters Legal
Yesterday I came across a Youtube channel that was novel yet intriguing, calling itself "Lawful Masses", stating that it was an educational channel, and filmed by a chap calling himself Leonard French.  South Canadian, I should say, lest you wonder.  I have noticed that all these interesting Youtube channels dealing with legal matters are all South Canadian.  Either This Sceptred Isle's solicitors and barristers are all boring and don't post, or they fear legal sanction.  Art?

That at port is definitely Leonard.  The lady to starboard may be "Tactical Bra".

     One of Leonard's things is that he likes to wear different hats.  His legal specialism is in copyright law, though he does seem to consider other areas of litigation as well.  His MO is to address legal issues by putting up an image of the legal documents involved, highlighting parts of the text, and discussing the document as he goes along.

Plus, hats

     He is also a big fat softy when it comes to dogs, since I've seen him play onscreen with his two dogs, throwing one of them treats whilst feeding one of them said treats directly, and the profile graphic for the site features both of them.  Art?

Proof

     Yes, he may be a lawyer,  but a man who loves dogs must have a tiny bit of soul?  Anyway, he is an interesting character and we're going to be hearing more about him and the cases he mentions, especially this one about Sargon of Akkad and Akila Hughes, where you have two hugely unlikeable people who - but that is another story.

You Lucky, Lucky People
I'm sure that's a catchphrase for a television comedy program somewhere.  Perhaps radio?
 Anyway, you may be fondly recalling the end of my look at a website that was pushing the 51 best sci-fi novels of all time, because having a link like that takes a lot of the heavy lifting out of the conceptualisation of BOOJUM! (which makes us sound ever so profound).

F104 Starfighter.  Just because.

     Well, what have I found to take up the conceptual slack but another website, from something called "The Rolling Stove", which lists 40 top television science fiction programs.  I'm afraid I shall have to go through this entire list one at a time, to determine whether it's correct or not.  
     Shall we begin*?
"Humans"

Humans.  OR ARE THEY!!!

     This sounds like the sort of thing that Philip Kendred Dick would have liked; a near-future where humans are living alongside convincing androids, with all the problems this brings in terms of What Is Human? and Can You Have A Meaningful S**g With A Robot?" and What's To Stop Them Taking Over? etcetera.  It didn't get renewed for a fourth season, so it falls into the Middling Meh of television sci-fi.  One for the pervs out there who are eagerly waiting for science to advance to the Realistic Slut-bot stage of AI.

Move along.  Nothing to see here.

     Excuse me, gotta go put the oven on for the baked rice I'm doing with the chili -

Finally -
I may have mentioned this before, but we are today seeing real life imitate art.  I doubt any of you out there are old enough to have seen "Survivors" when it was broadcast back in the Seventies, but Your Humble Scribe is both pretty ancient and able to recollect.  Back then there was a virus pandemic which began in the Far East, before spreading globally, and remember this was over forty years ago, when transport hubs were nothing like they are now.

Butterfingers kills us all

     The virus arrived in Europe and immediately hit Italy, where one of our protagonists declares that there are "some people dead" in the tens of numbers, whereas in China - "They're talking of millions."
     Well, the Populous Dictatorship did see the whole thing unravel under their helm today, so if things get any more fraught, a sternly worded letter to The Times is in order.

     And with that, we are done!


*  Rhetorical question.  We were always going to begin.