No Swearing Here

Rest Assured, Concerned Parent
For BOJUM! does not indulge in foul badinage of any sort, and if the word "Bloody" does crop up from time to time, it is because we are discussing oceans of gore and people being rendered into dog food, to which end - Art?

Not sure how this will play on Facebook

     We do have an Official Swear Phrase, which is "Dog Buns!" - yes yes yes, Concerned Parent, we DO talk about gore and even about atom bombing the Moon, we just don't swear whilst doing so - and this is why you will see the phrase occur in texts where, on a less scrupulous blog, you might expect to see  cursing - what is it now, Concerned Parent?  O don't whine so, the Moon's pretty enormous, it can take an atom bomb or two -

Ha!  Take that, Moon!

     - and we stole the phrase from a cartoon where one character posed the immortal question "Why do I smell like dog buns?"  It was either "Adventure Time" or "Rick And Morty" if you must know.
     There, I'm glad we got that out of the way.  Of course, were I to swear in Russian (or Czech) then you'd have no idea, would you?
     Motley!  Svadiy somochka!

This Is Going To Be Painful -
If you don't like Zero X.  If you don't like Gerry Anderson THE EXIT DOOR IS THAT WAY.
     <pauses for a moment to compose self>
     Zero X, lest you be unaware, is the giant interstellar-capable spaceship that flies out of Glenn Field Spaceport and you can judge what a monster it is because it needs a runway two miles long to get airborne.  It was originally a guest machine in "Thunderbirds" and proved to be so popular it got it's own strip in the "TV 21 comic, admirably served by some fantastic artwork.  ZX is what you might call a 'composite vehicle' since it has several separate component parts.
     And with that, let the photo-essay begin.  Art?

Labelling in case anyone is uncertain

      In case you were wondering why they need to encase ZX in a gigantic reinforced concrete bunker, the answer is one word - Bereznik.  Or just imagine Tsar Putin's anti-aging serum worked unexpectedly well.  Anyway, let us now see the Main Body -

      Thar she rolls.  Once out of the hangar, the ZX MB will mate up with one of the Lifting Bodies, i.e. LB #2.

 

     This attaches to the rear undercarriage of the MB.  Next, Lifting Body #1 will emerge from it's protective hangar, along the guide rail and mate with the MB's superstructure.

     Here you can see the outriggers deploying to provide additional stabilisation for acceleration down the runway.  Next, the Martian Excursion Vehicle is deployed, attaching to the front of the MB.  You can't see the tracks that this vehicle can run on, as they are retracted during flight.

     To those who ask why it doesn't just drive over to the MB on it's tracks before mating - fuel.  Why expend any when you don't need to?

     Then, because the MEV is not particularly streamlined (a consequence of being a hybrid design), the ballistic nosecone is added.  Unlike the rest of the ocean-blue hull, this is a resplendently silvered metal.

     Once this is in position the whole monstrous beast has been assembled, and is ready for launch.

The beast in flight

      Once it gets to about 30,000 feet (I think, memory's a tad hazy on this) the two Lifting Bodies detach and are remotely piloted by Glenn Field Spaceport Control down to a landing; the process is reversed when ZX comes in to land.  Oh, the nosecone is also jettisoned at this point, too.

     Doubtless there are killjoys out there who take great delight in saying "That would never work in real life because -" YOU ARE MISSING THE POINT*.  The whole process was designed to look cool and groovy as all get out, which it succeeded in doing - just ask any 8 year old.
"Ushanka Show"
Somewhat to my surprise, I hadn't already subscribed to Sergei's Youtube channel, an oversight that has now been corrected.
     First, some background.  Sergei Sputnikoff was born in 1971 in Ukraine, of the Sinister Union, which means he experienced 20 years of Sinister rule, or mis-rule if we're honest.  He uploads videos of what life was like there in all aspects, and has a commentary in his excellent English.  He does have a pronounced accent, fortunately; it would be a lot less appealing if he sounded like Sir Laurence Olivier.  Art!

Spot the Ukranian

     He visited South Canada and worked in youth camps a couple of times, and moved there in 1995.  SS has a book out at the moment, "American Diaries", which no doubt come complete with the culture shock of moving to <O go on then> "America".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6Y0NXh9Xzg&t=965s

     That's a link to one of his latest videos, about what food he ate growing up.  I've made a note of one food, "Syrniki", which are a kind of pancake made with cheese and at some time this weekend I am going to get cottage cheese and make them.  

His Youtube's been demonetized - go buy his book!

     I don't know if it's impressive or sad that I shall be listening to the video above with a notepad and pen to hand, making notes of what the various foodstuffs sound like, as SS has not added any screen text.

Syrniki

Finally -
Conrad is a little anxious, thanks to his traffic figures.  Art?

     In case it's not clear, that's 111 visitors today, before I've posted anything.  That would be the normal total at the end of a Saturday, not the start.  The figure for Friday is 269, which is mad busy by our standards here, and on Thursday it went well over 300.  At first I thought it might be people alarmed or interested by the implied swearing in the title of my Facebook/Twitter posts, though it seems a bit beyond belief that posting ********* would trip people's nosy gland.     What I worry is that it's the interfering nosy parkers at UNIT or Spectrum, or both, going over things to gather evidence.  If I suddenly v


*  YOU ARE MISSING THE POINT IDIOTS.