"I'm Not Stab Man, I'm Not Knifey Boy"

That One Always Gets Me

In case you were wondering, and even if not, it's a quote from "Mystery Men", where The Blue Rajah (Hank Azaria) explains why he uses forks and spoons, yet avoids edged cutlery.

     Speaking of which, I would like to extend a thank you to Oscar, in charge of my memory, for dredging up the name "Claes Oldenburg" out of nowhere earlier this afternoon.  Since you uncultured Phillistines have surely never heard of him, I shall explicate.  He is an artist, of Scandinavian origin, now resident in South Canada, whose trademark was enormously upscaled replicas of everyday objects.  Art!

There very much IS a spoon

     His other trademark was the (again, oversized) replication of objects in 'soft' form, and if Art can put down his plate of coal -

No!  He's not a very small man <sighs wearily>

     Okay, now we've got that out of the way, let's look at that Bonestell I used last night.  Art!

What's wrong with this picture?

     Of course!  The Emergency Escape System is still attached to the capsule, when in reality it gets jettisoned not long into the launch sequence, once the rocket reaches Minimum Safe Distance.  It does show that Ol' Ches adapted and incorporated real life into his art.

     Back to spoons.  Well, cutlery, because we are now going to be looking at "Doctor Hope's Sick Notes" and his "Rapid Fight Scene Trauma Diagnosis", which is where he takes a literal and hilarious look at cinematic carnage from a medical professional's viewpoint.  Today it is the climactic fight scene from "V For Vendetta", a film Conrad has not seen; though I've got the comics it was based on.  Art!

     Excuse the rubbish quality of the photographs, they all seem to feature a pair of hairy horror hands - thanks to the screen being very dark and it being bright daylight outside.  Bad sun!  Naughty sun!  No biscuit for you.  Hang on - 

     This is how it begins, with the Eeeevil  Government killers shooting V at least fifty times.  No, they don't kill him - not right away.

    - aaaaand this is how it ends, with Doctor Hope giving us a kill count for the Eeeevil Government Killers: In a stable condition= 0

In serious condition = 3

In critical condition = 9

Dead as mutton = 3

     That'll teach them to make cutting remarks!  I bet he was feeling a bit edgy!  Do you think they got the point? <cackles and tweaks moustache>*.

     Okay, as the purple sun sinks into the radioactive mists covering the Mutant Monster Marshes, let's kick the motley out and tell it to hunt for it's supper!

"When Worlds Collide"

Woo and, indeed, hoo.  Your Humble Scribe had been a-looking for this DVD and "War of the Worlds" (1953 iteration) and found the other box with titles in the "T - W" range.  Art!

Well well, it's Mister Bonestell!

     I've no idea who the girl is, and she's only in this scene.  What I wanted to show were the Norwegian subtitles, whilst they were speaking in Teuton for some reason - I think I must have accidentally selected that whilst choosing Norse.

     Incidentally, the political organisation that took over in "V For Vendetta" was called 'Norsefire' in the comics, Conrad unsure if similar in film.  The shot you see above is a nice directorial touch, especially since at this point in the plot everyone is poo-pooing the idea that Zyra and Bellus are going to DESTROY THE EARTH.  And at this point there are only 8 months left before Destruction Day.  "Waste anything except time.  Time is our most precious resource."

     There's a throwaway line with the above sketch "Similar rocketships are being built in other countries" and I'm not sure if this ever gets mentioned again.  It's a plot thread in the novel (yes I've read it)  and Italy's project is mentioned specifically.  I shall keep my ears cocked to see if it crops up again.  Next.

     You can see the rocketship under construction in the foreground, and look at the enormous reinforced concrete ramp that looks to be a mile in length, which has been completed well before that eight-month deadline.  They really threw that up in a hurry.  Mind you, it only has to operate successfully once.  Then again, will they do a dry run with an unloaded rocket sled**?  

O I Forgot - I'm Still Furious

Furiously ANGRY!  And yes, it was yesterday's Codeword.  SIT BACK DOWN!  

"SYNTH": This is not a proper word!  I know that back in the Seventies rock bands would list a "synth" amongst their keyboard accomplishments, which WILL NOT DO!  You cannot hold English grammar attributable to sleeve notes by Gentle Giant!

"FLAK": O WHAT!  Okay, this isn't even English, it's Teuton.  And an abbreviation at that, from "Fleiger Abwher Kanone" or somesuch.  Really, this is too much!  <sits down for a minute to calm down with a snifter of gin>.

"CLARIONS": Defined by my Collins Concise as "an obsolete, small-bore trumpet" O NOW WE HAVE TO BE EXPERTS IN LONG OUTDATED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS DO WE?  You're taking the flak for that one, pal.

     I shan't complain about "SATYR" nor "SEXTON" as I think they were more sly and sneaky than outright cheaty; your mileage may vary as you're probably not as good at Codewords as I am (no false modesty here).

The Haul

Or, look at what I got.  Wonder Wifey had mentioned that Home Bargains have a whole lot of bottled food that she was sure I would like, as it seemed to be the sort of things that Polish cuisine calls for.  She backed up her words with deeds yesteryon and made a present of same for Conrad.  Art!

There you go: bottled artichokes, grilled peppers, Jalapeno peppers and sundried tomatoes.  Already attacked them and they were delicious, thanks.

Finally -

Just because I took the photograph and we only need a short item to hit the Compositional Ton, here's my playlist for the rest of the weekend.  Art!

     Both the Fifties films are there because of the Bonestell connection, and I've not watched "Watchmen" for an age, so it'll be interesting to see how it holds up after all these years.  Still can't beat the graphic novel, though.

*  Sorry, couldn't resist.

**  No.  I checked.