I'm Not Sure How This Will Fly
Your Humble Scribe has an end in view, and a start, it's just the prolonged bit in between that we call "The Middle" which is obscure at present.
Let's begin. Our title, in case you were unaware, refers to a series of novels by one Philip Reeve for <ahem> 'Young Adults', a demographic Conrad is unable to define beyond that they're probably no longer in short pants and not yet able to drink (legally). Art!
Since I have absolutely no idea what the heck they're about, you can't accuse me of being biased or critical or dismissive, so there. Conrad is a tad curious, so allow me a quick Google -
Ah. A post-apocalypse civilisation where cities chase down and consume each other for resources. That old trope.
Yes yes yes, there was a film, before you -
Hey, I just found out how to list all my posts in Facebook! And yes, I've gone and posted Friday's blog on Thursday, so now I'll be posting Thursday's blog on Friday, which is very confusing and an indication of how very discombobulating it must be when you travel by TARDIS. Art!
Keeping bad company
Where were we? O yes - there was a film of "Mortal Engines" which went down as well as one of Tony's Extra-Large Donner Kebabs at Elrond's dinner table. Still, it does allow me to put up a picture or two. Art!
"From people who hope this will bait you in as it's a load of tosh"
This is one city trying to catch and consume another. Conrad suspects that the smaller, nimbler and definitely speedier 'city' (it looks more like a village) would escape, but there, what do I know about intra-city carnopolities. Art!
Blimey! I think he needs that mask, not the lady
All this preamble is merely a precursor to another annotated review of "Inside Russia", Konstantin's blog, and more descriptions of another bottleneck he identified in the Russian economy. This one deals with
GAS AND STEAM TURBINES: Big K has never been explicit about what he did for employment back in Ruffia, until this vlog. He worked, in accounting I believe, in the Ruffian energy and construction business for 20 years. So he knows of what he speaks. Art!
The Sinister Union used to make it's own gas and steam turbines, and then stopped any research and development in the Seventies. If it ain't broke don't fix it, right? After fifty years of neglect in this field there are only two Ruffian companies that make gas and steam turbines, and guess what? They're still at the same level of technology as they were sixty years ago when Brezhnev was alive.
You see, it was cheaper to buy-in Western turbines from Siemens (a name that will crop up again) or General Electric, brands from the land of the Teutons and South Canada, because these companies had never stopped improving their product. Consequently Western turbine plant was not only cheaper than their Ruffian equivalent, they were a lot more efficient and reliable. Art!
This is a General Electric gas turbine. It looks impressive, even if Conrad knows nothing about what it does.
Big K then explained that turbines are expensive lovers, requiring regular checks, maintenance, servicing and spare parts - none of which has been possible in Ruffia for the past 2 years. So their legacy Western turbine technology is now going up the spout, to use a technical term, and past of the on-going utilities crisis is the result of this slow catastrophic failure.
O dear. How sad. Never mind.
Facebook's Attentive Algorithm
If you've been paying attention of late AND YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN, then you'll know that Conrad has been mentioning the "Commando" comic of late. This is a British institution that has been in print for over sixty years, surely a record of sorts for any comic publication. I have a cover illustration I'd like to bring to your attention. Art!
Yes, a little pixelated. Bear with it.
What you see here is the cover artist having done a bit of research. The vehicle in the foreground is an 'Aerosan", a peculiarly Ruffian bit of kit designed for winter warfare. We've probably covered these on the blog before <code for "I can't be bothered to check the horrid truth courtesy Mister Hand> and with that proviso I'll dig out a picture. Art!
It's a very straightforward idea: put a sled on skis and attach an aircraft engine to the rear, the propulsion from which drives the aerosan o'er the snows and ice. Quite how it steered is obscure.
The other vehicle is one we've definitely covered before, it being the Teuton 'Landwassweschlepper'. An ugly beast who mother and father were obviously a panzer and a tugboat, it was an amphibious vehicle intended to operate in riverine or swamp conditions, and the Wehrmacht had a whole twenty or so of them. Art!
Panzer McPanzerface
O and that item title about Facebook? The algorithm has obviously picked up on my posting about this comic, because - Art?
"City In The Sky"
Interstellar war is about to be joined!
Er - on the muddy streets of a small Australian town, that is.
The six men split up to hide amongst deserted houses and buildings. The Doctor co-opted Billy and ducked under
the tarpaulin concealing the fire-engine.
There he set to locating the valves that ensured a flow of water to the
hose before gently teasing them with his sonic screwdriver, coming to a
conclusion with a satisfied grunt and pulling down the side-bar that generated
pressure within the water tank. He
cranked this up and down for whole minutes, Billy not understanding why – the
pressure would fall off once those handles were let loose again, surely.
‘I know what you’re thinking,’ said the stranger, taking the words right
out of the young man’s mouth. ‘But I’ve
swollen the seals to prevent pressure leaking away.’
A low rushing sound penetrated the dank, smelly fabric covering.
‘Oh dear! The wave arrived early
– come on Billy, out, out.’ The little
man shooed them both outside, pausing to stab the tarpaulin’s corners into the
roadway with his stolen kitchen knives, then dragged Billy to the north side of
the nearest building. Already clouds
were arriving overhead, dark and ominous and driven by winds from the sea, and
that rushing –
I wanted to get CITS in here because of the next item -
Life Imitating Art
All Conrad can say is that, if life is imitating his art, Planet Earth is in for a torrid time of it. Beware killer potatoes! A sidebar title on the BBC News website caught my eye yesteryon. Art!
They are, apparently, now resistant to cancer, which is making oncologists around the world sit up and
If you recall, CITS features dingoes far more intelligent than any wild dog has a right to be, with the ability to plan and strategize, thanks to mutations driven by a high background count. One would guess that they are also resistant to cancer. Hmmmm hello real world, baby steps, baby steps.
Conrad most definitely isn't going to bow the knee to our canine overlords any time soon.
I was going to put in an item from "The War Illustrated" but we've had enough internecine-related guff here. What next? Aha!
The Racoon In The Room
Or, as I believe they call them in Ukrainian, "The cunning fox". Yes, racoons are a thing in Ukraine. Given what utter softies the Ukes are when it comes to animals - they have roving patrols in abandoned neighbourhood to look after strays - it's no surprise that some soldiers rescued and 'adopted' a racoon. They called it "Slavko" (don't know if that's male or female), and it's a bit of a handful. 'Nosy' would be to underestimate wildly. Art!
These stills are from a clip less than 30 seconds long, which goes to show how inquisitive Slavko is. Conrad, of course - obviously! - had to respond to this on Twitter with a caption. "I am SBU! Must investigate thorough!"
Finally -
I'm typing this up of the morning, and am currently aswill with tea and porridge. Looking out the window at the dismally dank damp day, Your Modest Artisan is profoundly grateful to be WFH.
Toodles!
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