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Monday, 27 April 2020

Mostly Tell No One

As In The Sense Of 0.0001% Nobody
Because let us look at what is pertinent to those of us who are either working on, or beneath, or within, saucerbotics at Area 51 -
     Actually let's not, because having MI5 and the CIA round up my audience would be bad for traffic stats - and I can hear the groans of disappointment coming from all the eager Creatures That Lurk Under Norwegian Bridges Yet Who Live In The Land Of Cold Beetroot Soup*.  Also, if people like you go spreading rumours of how punchingly fantastic BOOJUM! is, there is every prospect of legal sanction being pursued.  Not by Tsar Putin - "legal" not being a word he recognises - but rather First Bus and The Metro, who must be mightily relieved at the lockdown, since they are the low-hanging fruit we pick on regularly.
First bus launch their new service - YouTube
Hiding from scrutiny (and BOOJUM!)
     Okay, now that I've sabotaged my own Intro, what shall we resort to?  <consults notebook> ah yes -
Ellena Vincent on Twitter: "Being ill sucks. But this baby ...
Frockodile?
      - um no.  I don't think I can - hang on, Vulnavia, did you enlarge the anti-tank ditch as I commanded? because I can distinctly hear the sound of an approaching steam locomotive, and you know what unspeakably boorish gatecrashers they are -
Anti-Tank Ditch | World War II Wiki | Fandom
Well, it will have to do, I suppose
     Aha!  So, what I meant was "Tell No One", rather than Tell No One.  Because "Tell No One" is a film, made in France, adapted from a novel by Harlan Coben, and it comes highly recommended, by none other than Conrad.  I forget where I saw it recommended myself, but I don't regret paying attention.  It's a thriller about a husband whose wife was murdered eight years ago - or was she?  And he's completely innocent - or is he?  I don't know what significance the silhouette carrying shoes has, though.  Continental, you see.
     Well worth a watch, and the author described the film's ending as being better than his novel, which is generous of him.  Art?
Tell No One Reviews - Metacritic
So -
     You can tell someone.  Just not about what I was doing at Groom Dry Lake and reverse engineering <REDACTED IN THE INTERESTS OF NATIONAL SECURITY>.     Okay, motley, time to put a metal bucket over your head and for me to start wielding the lump hammer!  Don't whinge so, it's character-building.
Back To The Future -
As it were.  Actually back to that "Rolling Stone" list of the 50 best sci-fi television shows ever, and sci-fi being about the future, that's how we get this item's title.  Simple.
     We are now up to Number 36: "Stargate SG-1".  Art?
Editorial use only. No book cover usage.Mandatory Credit: Photo by Double Secret/Gekko/Kobal/Shutterstock (5886238s)Christopher Judge, Amanda Tapping, Richard Dean Anderson, Michael ShanksStargate Sg-1 - 1997Double Secret/Gekko/Stargate Sg-1USATelevision
All star, no gate
     Conrad has seen the film that this series is based upon, yet not the series itself.  Which must have had something going for it, if it was around for ten years, Hollywood suits not being noted for their altruism.  Presumably it's about Hom. Sap. poking around whichever corners of the galaxy they can attain thanks to their earth-bound Stargate?  And having a whiz-bang of a time doing it, with guns and explosions if I know Hollywood.  Your Humble Scribe has seen "Stargate: Universe", which was a spin-off, about a bunch of ill-matched humans stranded aboard an alien starship which they can't control and don't understand.  Does that count?
Stargate SG-1: Was Longevity Its Curse? | Den of Geek
Now with extra added Gatey-ness
     In case it doesn't, I shall go look it up on Wiki.  There.  Happy now?

Worst Lockdown Ever
You think you've got it bad?  Spare a thought for the unfortunate denizens of Candia, back in the seventeenth century, when it was under siege from the Ottoman Turks.  Art?
Old World Auctions - Auction 169 - Lot 623 - Geometrisch ...
Sic
     FOR 21 YEARS.
     Part of the reason the siege lasted for so long is visible above; Candea was a port on the island of Crete, so it could be, and was, supplied by sea.  One must wonder at the Turks sitting outside it for so long, since by the time they actually got their hands on the place the world around had moved on.  Why, the English Civil War was long over, and there was a King on the throne again, hurrah!     Nor do you, sitting at home with Netflix and a bucket of popcorn/gin/human blood <delete where applicable> have to contend with artillery a-pounding your domicile to dust, or where your next meal is coming from (my, that dog looks worried and the cat is in hiding).
The English monarchy was restored to Charles II after Cromwell ...
1660: when wigs were big
     Did the Sultan remain the same over that fifth-century?  Conrad is unaware and hasn't got the time to devote to finding out whether or no - deadline to get this done before lunchtime is over, don't you know <scoffs dip and pitta bread>.

Well Well What The Heck**Your Humble Scribe had a question of the day that he wondered about - who invented the jigsaw?  and did they know what an insidiously time-consuming puzzle they had created?  I speak as one who cannot stop until several hours have gone by when these hideous diversions are released from their boxes.  Art?

     Surprise surprise, Wiki had a prompt answer for me, a very definite one and a lot later than I'd expected.   The trend began in Continental Europe, before the British pioneer engraver John Spilsbury, bestriding the puzzling world like a colossus, invented the first jigsaw puzzle., by cutting up a map.
     The early jigsaw puzzles were a bit of a trial.  I mean, they are anyway, except they were more so back then, as you only rarely got a cover picture to guide you, and the pieces were not made interlocking.  So if Spiggy the cat jumped on the table and knocked your puzzle, she rapidly became Spiggy the fur hat.
Wooden Jigsaws - A Bit of a Collecting Puzzle
An early example, featuring the world's most important bits

     
Finally -
Life would not be worth living if we didn't have recourse to pictures of large construction plant in action, would it?  In the spirit of same, have a picture of a landscape scraper.  Art?
Classic Machines: The Wabco 333 elevating scraper | Heavy ...
What ho, it's a Wabco!

     Try shrugging that off, earth!

And with that, yes, we are done done done.

*  Tough.  Hah! 
**  No, it doesn't rhyme, but it's SFW

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