There Have Been Too Many Exclamation Marks In Titles Lately
Which is why this one lacks said punctuation. ANYWAY let us get back on track and a fairly morbid topic, which tends to be more interesting than a fairly bland topic. Would you prefer to learn about spacing conventions for screw threads on taps, or ghastly murder?
Exactly.
Conrad has just finished reading "The Devil's Foot", one of the stories in "The Complete Short Stories Of Sherlock Holmes", and had half-figured out how the murder had been committed. Ol' Doyly introduced a deus ex machina or McGuffin, namely "Radix Pedis Diaboli", which you can translate as "Devil's Foot". Art!
This terrifying substance can be dried and ground to a powder, which, if burned, causes anyone inhaling the fumes to go stark staring mad or die. Holmes and Watson discover how immediate and horrifying the effects are when they conduct a dangerous experiment with the stuff.
Veering wildly off-time, let us look at how the Roman army punished naughty soldiers to the extreme. If a deserter were captured, or a soldier was guilty of dereliction of duty - such as falling asleep on sentry-go - then they could expect the 'Bastinado', which has a vulgar ring to it. In practice the guilty party would be either clubbed or stoned to death. A bit harsh, one feels. Art!
Mightclubbing
That seems positively mild compared to the punishment for treason, which was to sew the offender into a sack and dump said sack into the nearest river or lake. O and to ensure the poor so-and-so's last moments were as miserable as possible, a whole load of snakes were added to the sack first. Ouch!
This grim Intro was inspired by a question on Quora, wanting to know why the guillotine was invented and introduced. Art!
Believe it or not, this was intended to be a humane alternative to the extant methods of execution, it being an efficient and effective way of decapitating the victim, thanks to the mass of the weighted blade; thus it merely killed a person, instead of inflicting fatal injuries. It became notorious because of it's widespread use during the Reign Of Terror in France.
What did it replace? Several different methods. Nobility and aristocrats had been decapitated with either an axe or sword, which often meant several blows before the job was done. Art!
Charles I
Commoners were merely hung, and would be lucky if they got the long drop that instantly broke their neck, rather than the short drop that had them choke to death, usually over several minutes. Hmmmmm nope, no picture for that one.
Anyone attempting regicide would be dismembered. That is, their arms and legs would be removed from their torso whilst they were still alive. Still think the guillotine was horrid?
Common murderers would be broken on the wheel and then garrotted. That is, they would be strapped to a wheel, and anything hanging over the rim would get beaten with clubs.
It gets worse! People who forged currency were boiled in oil, and in case you were wondering, the oil was boiling before they got deep-fried. Monsieur Guillotin, who did not actually invent the device, was actually against the death penalty, but considered the traditional French punishments to be needlessly cruel, and in reflecting on that list above one cannot help but agree. Art!
Mr. Guillotin himself
Onto Lighter Matters
It wouldn't be hard to be lighter, would it?
ANYWAY you may be sitting there thinking "In what possible way could "The Time Machine" (1960 iteration) be linked to "Forbidden Planet"?" which, by an amazing coincidence, is what this particular item is about. Art!
The stalwart crew of United Planets cruiser C57-D.
Okay, one of the stops that George The Time Traveller makes is at the worst possible moment in history. Art!
That, gentle reader, is a matte painting in the background, because the studio couldn't afford to shoot in London. When George debarks his time-chariot, these chaps are running around herding people into underground shelters. Art!
The Brodie Pattern helmet is a nice touch. The uniform ...
Now, if we pop back to C57-D for a minute or two - Art!
Impressive-looking prop, isn't it? Art!
You see to starboard ...
One reason these uniforms and props were re-used is because both films were made at MGM Studios, and anything that could save a buck or two was welcome.
I hope you appreciate that last photo, it took Conrad quarter of an hour to track it down.
This Will Be Interesting
Citizen Trump is in hot water. Yes, again. For one thing, $300,000 in gifts made to him when he was Prez are missing. Apparently Mister Orange was unable to grasp the concept that gifts over $450 in value have to be 1) Declared and 2) Handed over. "But they're mine!" was his plaintive cry, much akin to that of a stroppy seven year-old. Art!
Mister Orange was not amused
He has also taken the rather potty step of declaring that he's going to be arrested on Tuesday, so that all his faithful flock can rally round him. If it really happens - because there's absolutely 0% proof of same occurring - it will be interesting to see how many people turn out. If it doesn't happen he's going to look awfully even more foolish. Whichever, bring on the dustbin of popcorn!
"The Sea Of Sand"
It's not looking good for the Doctor. He has so enraged one of the local bio-vore aristocrats that he's been sentenced to summary execution before he can be grilled about the TARDIS.
Twenty Five: Almost the End
Url felt a
profound hatred for the alien, a hatred that he’d not felt for anything in the
past that he could recall. Things were
breaking down here on Homeworld, Farmers daring to lift their hands against
their betters, Warriors discussing orders instead of following them
blindly. Never mind that a new world
beckoned, ripe and fat and perfect for exploitation, for what use would that be
if Homeworld lay in ruins?
He intended to
Eviscerate the malicious little alien himself, never mind that the big blue box
would remain a mystery. Those idle
scientific staff back at his keep could earn their bottled algae breaking into
it!
Back to the
sentence. Url stood at the front of the
amphitheatre, facing the prisoner, who cocked his head to one side and gave a
grimace of threat. Url began his
diatribe.
‘Being that
you are guilty of sabotage, assault, deceit, insurrection, murder, theft,
property damage to the value of - ’
We'll break off there but you just know the Doctor is going to get his side in.
Finally -
Darling Daughter has just arrived for Mother's Day so we'll call it quits here as we all assemble to celebrate, with beers.
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