Death From Above!

No, This Is Not About "Apocalypse Now"

Although it could be, if you really wanted it to.  No?  Allow me to explain that the film was inspired by Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", which was set in the Belgian Congo, and it was FFC's brainwave to translate it to Vietnam whilst retaining the novel's DNA.  One of the main protagonists was the barking-mad Colonel Kilgore, whose personal aerial steed sported a pretty radical motto.  Art!

     There's no ambiguity about that, is there?  No "Ill Wishes From The Heavens" or "May You Get A Bit Poorly And Feel Really Under The Weather".  No, this is real "Lasers, 8 o'clock, Day One!" stuff.  O and if you were unaware, the ending is supposed to reflect a dirty great airstrike by B52 Big Ugly Fat Fellers on Kurtz's camp, as called in by "Chef" (before he got decapitated, of course).

     ANYWAY that's enough of what this Intro is not about.  Get used to our style, it's how we both rock and roll.  

     'So - this is about a laser battle station in low Earth orbit, able to smite whole cities into ash, as in "Akira", and the South Canadians are the deployers, except that sinister terror organisation C.H.A.F.F.I.N.C.H. have gained control and only a rogue team of cyborg weasels led by James Bond can win the day?' I hear you query.  Art!

The laser in question

     Pausing only to nod in appreciation at your inventiveness, and then shake my head at what you've been drinking, I shall explicate.  No, nothing to do with man-made mechanisms of mass murder, instead we are looking at a phenomenon as old as the Solar System; meteorite impact upon Planet Earth, as detailed by an extract in "The Daily Beast".  Art!

     I ain't gonna post a link, because I have a subscription and if you want the whole story, why! you'll need to take out a subscription too.  The author is Greg Brenneka, who might be what passes for a science correspondent at TDB.  He explains that fear of death by meteorite - hence today's title - is more prevalent now than ever before, thanks to Hollywood and CGI.  Of course - obviously! - the concept of meteorites is relatively new, so our woad-covered ancestors, awed into incomprehension at the mighty technology inherent in A Pointy Stick, had no idea about them.  Art!

     Chinese scholars claimed to have recorded the deaths of tens of thousands due to meteorites, of which we have absolutely no evidence.  That flail weapon above is described as a "meteor hammer", so it's possible someone is going to fall victim to a meteorite, just not in the way we're looking at things.

     Greg makes a guesstimate, being generous, that throughout recorded history 50,000 people have been killed by meteorites.  Since recorded history goes back 10,000 years that's an average of 5 people per year, and is probably a massive overestimate.  How many people, globally, died last year from meteorite strikes*?  And that's with an enormous world population able to communicate instantly via mobile phone technology.

     However, when a meteorite does hit ...

     I think we'll come back to this tomorrow.

Feeling Light Headed

Ha!  I'm so funny I make myself laugh.  Just not this time.

For lo! we are back on the fascinating subject of marine and civil engineering, and the assembly of the Royal Sovereign Lighthouse.  As you should surely know, the base unit had been towed out to sea and sunk onto a prepared foundation.  The cabin, sporting a natty tower containing light and foghorn, had been jacked into position onto a pontoon, which was ready to ferry it to the base unit.  Art!

With puny humans for scale

     

Bow view
(Stop me if I get too technical)

     The cabin was towed into position at the dizzying speed of 6 miles per hour, and on arriving at the top of the base unit's tower, had to be slowly winched painstakingly into place.  Art!

Top of tower and bottom of cabin

     To ensure absolute alignment, two huge 'pins' were dropped from the cabin into pre-drilled holes in the base unit, meaning both stayed still relative to each other, a vital need when you're dealing with ocean waves and current.  Art?

     With the cabin now in position and secured, it was time for the inner tower to be jacked up, allowing the cabin to rise 70 feet above the waves.  It took ten days in all for this to happen, and a concrete collar was built around the tower to literally cement the inner and outer parts together.  Art!

Finito completo!

     The design life was fifty years, which has come to pass as the RSL is going to be dismantled progressively up till 2025.  Conrad is unsure what will substitute for it.  If I find out I'll let you know.

     

A Little Light "Torment"

Once again we counsel caution, for what follows is definitely darker than Parker.  Let the torture commence!

Father Geoghan waited until the door closed and the sound of footsteps faded away.

               ‘The Bishop counsels that we proceed slowly.  If this man is what he appears to be, then he needs to be nurtured and protected.  I’ve already asked the prison visitor to raise Eric Miller’s state of mind as an issue – don’t worry, strictly in terms of psychiatry and a potential suicide risk.’

               The briefcase was opened and emptied of a thin sheaf of papers.

               ‘Read these, Jorge.  The answer lies in one of these events, or, more probably and more complicated, in a combination.’

               Father Escobal’s gaze flickered quickly over the various reports.

               ‘Are we sure about Mister McMahon?’ he asked, skim-reading, to be answered by a tremendous snort of derision from the older priest.

               ‘Sure?  Sure?  Good Lord above, Jorge, didn’t I tell you about that wretched prostitute’s grave?  Neglected and overgrown because nobody ever went there, thanks to the atmosphere of doom permeating the place.  One service later, you could feel the difference – fresh, untroubled, free of misery.  This man is the real thing, no question about it.  The last we came this close was Verbius, and that was fifty years ago!’

 

Unaware of the interest expressed in his humble self, Louis dozed off whilst reading, again. In the morning his book would be found carefully placed on the bedside table, table lamp turned off and the duvet pulled up around his neck. 

               Whilst Father Geoghan might be close-lipped about encountering a reluctant convert to the view that religion had a solid, objective basis in reality, the Reverend Sharples was considerably less reticent.  His presence in a college with considerable scientific lab assets proved to be serendipitious, also.

               Meanwhile, Louis had to contend with Laura, the bright shiny new lecturer with all of one year in high school as experience.  Being an official mentor meant having to make annotated observations of her lectures and seminars during her academic year, rating them and reporting back to Rowell and the Principal, Mister Sommers.  He also needed to make time available on at least a weekly basis for her to see him and discuss matters of concern.

               All this would have been problematic enough, if not for Jennifer’s restless spirit.  Louis wondered if the old green-eyed monster would surface if he spent any length of time with Laura, who nobody could deny was pretty.  Boyfriended, but pretty.

      You may get to hear more of Verbius.  Or, you may not.  I'm horrid that way

Finally - 

Hoorah!  Working from home tomorrow, no need to rely on the exigencies of Worst Bus for another three days.  My step count will be down, though <sad face> but I can always offer to take Edna for a walk <happy face> as long as the weather stays reasonably unwet <anxious face>

*  Spoiler: none.