Steely Can

NO! That Is Not A Typo For "Steely Dan"

Although, having said their name, I can - do you see wh - O you do - now use their likeness to pimp the blog, as I tweak my moustache and cackle gleefully.  Conrad can do this as he has several of their albums, and probably likes the track "Aja" most of all.  Art!

Becker and Fagan when they were young and grumpy

Fagan and Becker when they were old and still grumpy

     In fact I'm playing "Aja" as background right now.  What a can I am!  No - hang on, sorry - what a cad I am!
     ANYWAY today this Intro is going to be about one of the three Charter items from waaaay back when: tanks.  I doubt we'll get into zombies and atom bombs, but it's hard to predict where things will take us.  No, I don't have an over-arching plan for BOOJUM!  Sorry, was I supposed to?  Art!

     This, ladies, gentlemen and those unsure, is a Challenger 2 main battle tank, which is probably the very steeliest can you can  - do you see wh O you do - get, as seen with summer camouflage scheme and the turret traversed through 180º so the gun barrel is mostly over the engine deck.  This is a sensible precaution when driving anywhere not near the front lines, as otherwise it projects well forward and can seriously mess up one's day if it makes contact.  Trees, lamp-posts and parked cars would all come off much the worst for a collision.  Also, this beast is depicted in the Ukrainian wild.  What I want to point out - Art!

     An eye.  Somewhat stylised, but undeniably an eye.

     I might have chosen the title "Steely Eyed" or "Eye See Eye" for this second blog entry today, so count your blessings.

     Why is this significant?  O I thought you'd never ask!  You see, it's a loooong tradition with British tanks that they have a pair of eyes painted on the hull or turret.  When I say a 'long tradition' I mean over a hundred years of history.  Art!

     That's a Mark V from 1917.  I know, I know, it's a painting not a photograph, it's what came up first.  Go on then, have a photograph.  Art!

     
     How come the eyes to be there?  That's a story in itself.  It just so happens that a Chinese businessman, one Mr. Tong Sen, OBE, gifted 4th Battalion the Royal Tank Regiment a Mark V tank, back in 1918.  His only stipulation for this rather generous gift - a tank being a big ticket item at the time - was that, as according to Chinese tradition per boats and vehicles, it have a pair of eyes painted up it, so that it could 'see'.  4 RTR did so, with the results you see above.  Upon amalgamation, 1 RTR absorbed 4 RTR and kept this tradition going.  Art!

  

     Chally from Gulf War One.  Note the 'Chinese Eye'.  

     There is a confounding factor here, dating from the Second Unpleasantness, because there you have the Guards Armoured Division, who principally rode to battle in Sherman tanks, which were adorned with the Division's trademark insignia, that went back to at least the First Unpleasantness.  Others have been caught out by this use of eyes, so be wary in future when discussing the topic of eye symbols painted on tanks.  One can never be too careful.  Art!

     This eye was intended to represent unceasing vigilance, and came into use in 1941.  The GAD was training and otherwise involved in bimbling around This Sceptred Isle up until D-Day, and one wonders if a certain author of high fantasy ever witnessed it and thought "I say!  There's a design and a half!"  Art!

     Of course, I may be overthinking this .....

     <there will now be a short pause as I sortie forth to acquire beer>

     <beer acquired.  Back to the grindingstone.>

Huffin' And Puffin' At A MacGuffin

Conrad is pretty sure he's confused and annoyed you in the past when putting up some of the cheap tat that "The Daily Beast" promotes in it's adverts, especially when not telling you what a mysterious gadget actually is or does.

     You're not going to like this one.  Art!

     Okay, Item Two is sooooo obviously a ski-cap with built-in goggles that it barely needs mentioning.  Item Three is a tape recorder and good luck finding tape to load it with.

     Item One.  Er - quite.  It had vanished from the webpage when I went back to it, so I may guess that it's a 1) Meat Joint Thermometer, or 2) Electrical Resistance Potentiometer or 3) Dual Knifey-Boy Stabman Offensive weapon*.

Bricking It

NO!  This is nothing to do with that British vulgarism, and everything to do with Lego, because once again Conrad needs to remind you, we are SFW here on the blog.  Art!

     Do you remember that Czech with entirely too much time on his hands?  The one who built the largest Lego Ferris wheel in the world?  Well, he didn't rest on his laurels, he built the above, which is the largest Lego replica of a wooden amusement park ride in the world.  Art!

Courtesy Spitbrix

     As Ol' Spitty informs, there are over 90,000 pieces in this agglomeration, and it took matey 800 hours to build.  It's a replica of a South Canadian amusement park ride at Six Flags, named 'El Toro', if that makes any difference.

     Yes, states Your Humble Scribe.  How can you break it down and transport it? because unless it's modular you're going to spend another 800 hours setting it back up again.

"City In The Sky"

Citizens of said polity are now going to be travelling locally to do a little neighbourhood renovation work.

     ‘Those haven’t been used since the last days of putting up the Lunar Mine,’ warned Barclay.  ‘Be gentle and careful with them.’  His breath caught in his throat and he coughed loudly, swearing afterwards.  ‘Damn this air, it’s like breathing liquid ice!’

     Kurt methodically went down a list of instructions about booting up, warming up and powering up different Lander functions.  Soft tremors shook the cabin as fuel and oxidisers began to mix and burn.

     ‘Electromagnet clamps to off,’ sang out Barclay.  He clacked a set of big, stiff switches and the dock walls began to slide past Ace’s monitor, at first inching and then accelerating suddenly to bring the Lander out into sunlight. The sphere gradually took shape beneath them as distance gave them a perspective, becoming a giant mis-shapen football with the drum-like fusion plant at one end and miniature vacuum factories at the other. 

     Barclay ran a series of short bursts on all the verniers, finding a couple that mis-fired or refused to work altogether.  Kurt inspected all the electronic equipment, also finding a few instruments that no longer functioned thanks to long neglect and ultra-low temperatures.  Mona found that the radio-jamming also affected her radio link to the sphere.

     So I guess that they're all alone in the night**?

Poe's Law

You may or may not be familiar with this term, which you may have experienced in real life on teh Interwebz.  Broadly put, it means that without any indication that a particular post or item is either satirical or a joke, it WILL be taken seriously by a fraction of the readership.  I have seen Jake Broe have to retrospectively put up a "SATIRE" legend on one of his Twitter posts, as of course - obviously! - someone took it seriously.  Art!

     The term was invented by Edgar Allen Poe in 1867.

Finally - 

OF COURSE IT WASN'T YOU DUNDERHEADS!  You see?  That's Poe's Law in action.  Sheesh, Edgar Allen Poe died in 1849, you bafunes.  It's named after Noel Poe of 2005.

*  Yep, "Mystery Men" reference for you there.  Go Blue Rajah!

**  "Babylon 5" reference for you there.