For One Thing, The Weather Is Good!
This being The Allotment Of Eden, we cannot take it for granted that this will continue beyond the next thirty minutes (or fifteen on a changeable day), which is all the more important for Conrad as The Mansion's occupants are off to visit Darling Daughter this afternoon, hopefully with some sitting in the garden involved. Covid-compliant, just so you're aware. If you're lucky there may be photographs of the event.
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| Apropos of nothing |
Okay, let us get back to Mark Rober, Jim Browning and the porch piracy plotters. As mentioned before, Indian call centre scammers hack victim's computers, generate an enormous refund and then tell the victim to just Fed-Ex cash to a certain address.
Money mule minus money
These money mules are hired by a scamming supervisor to drive to different Air B'n'B addresses to collect the parcels full of cash. After collection they take the parcels to the scamming supervisor, who will then pay them a couple of hundred dollars. The scamming supervisor then has to film themselves unloading the cash - no honour among thieves - before wiring 90% to the Indian scammers.
Unfortunately for the scamming supervisor, this was a Glitterbomb
As mentioned previously, Mark's fiendishly ingenious Glitterbomb Mark III sprays tons of glitter everywhere, squirts skunk-enhanced Fart Spray and brays loudly and mockingly, while also extruding metal studs that prevent the box from going back on. Since Mark and Jim had hired private investigators to follow both mules and supervisor, they knew exactly where to send the police. Art!
Ooops. Someone is in trouble.
Jim, meanwhile, whose soft Irish brogue conceals a spiky I.T. maliciousness, and with a voice-changer, managed to scam the scammers. He had played the part of a victim, unable to send the cash to an address on that day. When the Indian scammers called the next day with a new address to send the cash parcel to, Jim lied and said he'd managed to deliver the parcel to the previous address. Ooopsies. The Indian scammer went ballistic! You'd have thought it was his money they were talking about. Then he got them to advance him $100 because (s)he was running short. Then he turned the voice-changer off and explained they'd been stung.
There were consequences
If you happen to come across Mark or Jim on Youtube, please give them at least a Like and consider subscribing.
No Stone -
Sorry to leave you hanging like that. There isn't any more. Yes, this is to do with "Pillboxes On The Western Front" once more. Your Humble Scribe has finished the descriptive part of the book, which leaves the Gazetteer: this lists surviving fortifications, and the Appendices; which are very detailed official notes from the British Army about fortifications at the time. The thing is, the book was originally published in 1995, so there are going to be even fewer of these concrete constructions remaining. Yes, they are formidably robust and massive, which has not saved them when a road or building is going to be constructed, or if thrifty farmers want more land. Back in the day, Belgian and French Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams used to put recovered unexploded shell inside unwanted and unloved pillboxes, removing both ordnance and fortification in one go. Presumably modern HSE rules prevent this efficient and interesting solution. Art!
This structure seems to have become a victim of time. Despite looking for contemporary images of it by Googling under the splendid and evocative Belgian term "Stonebakkery" I could not find anything. A shame. Although, once again, modern HSE would shrink in horror at the prospect of anyone climbing it - which one could do externally or internally. Lovely panoramic view, though.
Who's Fallen In The Well? O! Chesley Bonestell!
Ha! Sometimes I amuse even myself. Not today, it's too easy to make fun of Ol' Ches, whose surname makes him a variety of low-hanging fruit for punsters. Yesteryon we displayed his sweeping and intriguing vista for the end of "When Worlds Collide", and today we have more matte work, done for "War Of The Worlds". Art!
This is Mars, home to those intellects described as "Vast and cool and unsympathetic". Ol' Ches' has been forced to depict a landscape he knew very well was unrealistic, but It's In The Script. You cannot have a threat to Earth originating from an empty planet, can you? Today we all know what Mars really looks like thanks to Perseverance et al. The version above looks chilly and without any great prospects. Art!
This is Saturn, one of the gas giants and entirely unsuitable for habitation, though some of it's moons might be convertable if you're willing to spend decades if not centuries of aresforming them. Art!
Mars again
More of Ares, since I can't find the matte work he did for Mercury. Hang on, let me Google specifically for that. Ah! A palpable hit. Art!
Definitely by Ol' Ches, and definitely Mercury, though Your Humble Scribe doesn't think this image is from WOTW. Definitely an uncomfortable place to put up any kind of buildings. Although, using solar power, your electric bill would be pretty modest.
Aha. Well well well, what have I discovered? More on this subject tomorrow.
Also, we have just returned from a Covid-compliant visit to Darling Daughter and Quiet Tom in Northenden, where the weather was indeed kind and clement, allowing a nice natter in the back garden. Pictures tomorrow!
Finally -
That above is why you're only getting one post today, even if it is a Bank Holiday and I got up late and lazed around this morning. You can't create perfection to a deadline, you know.
ANYWAY I thought I'd cover another cinematic Darwin Award winner, namely "Jeepers Creepers", where a brother and sister witness a verrrry sketchy character throwing body bags down a pipe. Naturally, since this is a horror film, they immediately decide to investigate. This means the male lead is determined to -
- climb down the pipe. Of course. Police? Sorry, who are they? Well, since this is a horror film, complete idiots, of course, who never even noticed hundreds of victims disappearing, nor the verrrrry sketchy character, nor his highly individual beat-up old truck.
It does not end well.
"Nah, just hold my feet, it'll be fine."
With that, gentle readers, we are O! so very done.
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