I Shall Explicate
Wouldn't want you to think I was potty or anything, would we*? Okay, earlier this year the Youtube channel Insider had present an authority on warfare in the ancient world, one Roel Konijnendijk, whom for obvious reasons I shall call Roel (that surname trips off his tongue but not mine). Art!
Roel had an analytical gander at various films that purported to be recreations of the ancient world and warfare within. He mocked quite a few and constantly emphasised the importance of ditches, which were notably absent in nearly all films. You can perhaps forgive "Game of Thrones" because their battle was fought in the frozen Northlands, where the ground would have been as hard as iron.
ANYWAY Insider have brought Roel back for a second helping, to the immense gratitude of his earlier audience. First he looked at the "Battle Of The Illegitimates" in "Game of Thrones" Season 6. Art!
Here you see and hear the Cross Shouty Man giving orders to the archers - which Roel scoffed at. It just didn't happen: archers shot as their skill and experience taught them, not to an entitled twod who thinks he's hot stuff. Art!
Another nope
More scoffing from Roel. To get a circular array of soldiers many layers deep would require absolutely unattainable levels of co-ordination. Ancient armies did use formations, usually variations on lines or blocks (such as the Greek phalanx, which he notes). Even at the Battle of Cannae, where the Romans were given an absolute shoeing by the Carthaginians, there was no complete encirclement. Art!
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| 'Nother nope |
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| Locomotives LIKE THIS! |
Doctor Rob Will See You Now
It's a poorly-kept secret that Conrad's Name As In Daily Use is Robert, which is why I have to use the Remote Nuclear Detonator so frequently. And Lo! here's another Rob, the very very respected military historian Robert Citino, who has a doctorate in Philosophy, so he is a kind of Doctor.
<cringes under glare>
Your Humble Scribe only encountered him via "We Have Ways" where he was singularly un-precious and down-to-earth. I was so impressed that I immediately ordered two of his books, and may have to resort to ordering more, or the universe and internet and Planet Earth and wheat will surely explode.
ANYWAY there I was reading an article about the Afrika Korps of desert legend during the Second Unpleasantness, and, do you know, it was pretty accurate. It looked at the reality rather than the Rommel-centric puff pieces that you normally get about North Africa and the Teutons there. The Italians in these accounts usually get relegated to providing pasta and surrendering in large amounts.
<loud swears in Italian>
"This chap knows what he's talking about," Conrad said, aloud because I was alone in the Sekrit Layr. Then: "DOG BUNS!"
For the author was none other than Doctor Bob. Art!
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/drive-nowhere-myth-afrika-korps-1941-43
There you have a link to the article. If Conrad were to offer any criticism it would be the lack of mention of signals and signal security - which is at least another two or three blog posts in their entirety.
Another fan of "Worker's Playtime" listens in
Enough of conflict! Let us pursue a different agenda!
Lithium Wafer Batt
No.
On The Theme Of Derelict - Yes Again
Do you have to pay for the privilege of reading this scrivel? No you do not! Therefore your criticism has absolutely no weight. It might, if you bothered to make a Comment, except you're too idle to manage that. So you get this. Art!
Courtesy Jim Munday
This is the remains of Steetley pier, which lurks offshore at Hartlepool. Conrad thinks it's a splendid picture which makes the remnant look like a giant sinister beetle, looming out of the dusky water. One presumes that the local council decided to get rid of a section of pier so that nobody can access the unsafe structure, because this would be far cheaper than getting rid of the whole thing. Do we have it from another angle?
There you go
Demolition via the elements is a lot less sure and certain than an approved and certified company wielding detonators and plastique, but it is a whole lot cheaper.
A Thank To Frank
Tinsley, that is, who was neither shy about coming forth with - er - unusual ideas nor illustrating them, which is good news for BOOJUM! as he is a long time dead and cannot sue us for anything. Let us move onto another bonkers idea he put forward in "Mechanix Illustrated" - Art!
Well, yes. Meaning NO.
You cannot blame Frank alone. The South Canadian military had a giant brain eructation in the Fifties and thought "Hey! Let's make every infantryman a sky pilot with an individual aircraft!". This was rapidly grounded when it was realised how incredibly expensive it would be. Not only that, a man in the sky announces his presence via sound before he arrives, and when he does - no cover nor protection. Clouds are not noted for having any significant bullet-proof qualities.
Finally -
I spent several hours today reading an incomplete novel I began before BOOJUM! took over all my waking hours. I actually have the ending plotted out in my head, and should probably commit it to print and gain some sense of closure - at which point I remember I'm not going to be made redundant and have to continue working <sad face> although this does mean a continued supply of book-buying money <happy face>. It's about Niall Bloom, a record producer and music label owner, who has to depart London thanks to some verrrry sharp business dealings. He ends up in a bargain of a house in the village of Eden Underwood. A bargain because it's haunted. In a village with a white witch, a telepath, cursed construction, a demonic railway cutting -
You get the picture.
Eden Underwood's least favourite film
* Rhetorical question DO NOT ANSWER.
** Indubitable proof of the efficacy of ditches
*** Entitled steam locomotives: the curse of 2021
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