This Will Take A Bit Of Explaining
Yes, we will be talking about the wilds of Caledonia, except it'll be the islands, not the Highlands, both of which are a culture unto themselves. Only those into film history and those made by a certain Sam Peckinpah will get today's title, which is a riff on his classic and elegaic 1962 Western, "Ride The High Country". This was a swan song of sorts for Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea, who had been big Western stars back in the day of the 'oater'. Art!
The reason this somewhat obscure film features in the Intro is thanks to that 'High' in the title, because we are, once again, on about whisky (or whiskey).
First, a detour into the speculative lands of investing in a cask of whisky as an financial investment. I did warn you.
What are the risks? O I thought you'd never ask! For one, if the liquid in the cask falls below 40% proof, then it cannot legally be called 'whisky'.
The experts also advise that the quantity, quality and character of the whisky in it's cask are all vital, and it needs to be sampled in order to determine exactly when to bottle it. Sampling, alas, does not come free and wherever your cask is stored will charge you for this service, which can cost £100 per sample. Art!
You also need to take into account the fees charged for bottling your liquid, which includes the bottle itself, labelling, foil covers, etcetera, which come to at least £4 per bottle. And there are 285 bottles in a cask, so you're going to be forking out £1,140 at least to get that many bottles, on top of what you paid in the first place (ranging from £1,500 to £5,000).
Suddenly that whisky cask investment looks a lot less attractive, nicht wahr? Art!
This is the 'SS Politician' and no, I have no idea why they'd christen a ship with such an unlovely name.
'Twas a dark and stormy night in February 1941 when the Politician ran aground on rocks south of the Scottish island of Barra, in the Hebrides. Rather miraculously, nobody was killed in the collision and abandonment of the ship. Art!
Somewhat incautiously the crew informed locals and lifeboat crews that their ship was carrying 20,000 cases of whisky, or 240,000 (!) bottles. They had been stored in a hold that was mostly underwater and contaminated with fuel oil, which, believe me, was not going to discourage the locals. Not one whit. Up to 60 men would be working on what they termed 'rescuing' the whisky, and what His Majesty's Customs and Excise called 'stealing'. Because yes, the C & E inevitably turned up, since the whisky hadn't even paid duty and they were determined to prevent theft. Art!
By the time they arrived on scene, which took a while thanks to being in a wild and lonely location, the crafty and cunning locals had 'saved' 7,000 cases of whisky. Official government salvors took over and retrieved a lot of the remaining cases, but by no means all of them. In a display of petty-mindedness and slitting one's throat to spite one's neck, the stern of the ship was blown up to prevent any more out-of-reach bottles being rescued.
HMC&E tried to prosecute locals they suspected of having 'saved' cases of whisky, which proved problematic, as the locals were careful to hide their salvaged cases in out of the way places, frequently burying them. A few people were prosecuted for theft, and served as much as two months in prison, which is a pretty fair return if you got away with bottles of whisky by the hundred. Wartime rationing and restrictions caused the supply of whisky to shrink dramatically, and the price to increase just as dramatically. Art!
Bottles from the Politician occasionally turn up, as in the auctioned one above from 2020, and a couple that went (metaphorically) under the hammer in 2013, which went for £12,000 apiece. No, they are no longer drinkable, at least by human beings. Art!
The story of the SS Politician and her cargo is far from over, because the facts inspired Compton MacKenzie to write a novel based on the events, titled "Whisky Galore". Which we may get into at a later date. Slainte mhath!
Another Annoying Advert
The Intro above was all sparked off by an advert on my feed that keeps banging on about investing in casks of whisky, which I hope we here at BOOJUM! have proven to be a lot more costly and involved and speculative than the ads would have you believe. Art!
Conrad isn't aware if this is being pimped ceaselessly on Youtube thanks to some algorithmic twitching and tweaking, but it crops up in EVERY vlog I watch. Art!
In case you're unaware, what you're looking at here is the only running Tiger I tank in the world, as owned by Bovington Tank Museum, and which can be seen in "Fury". Normally you won't find Your Humble Scribe complaining about TANK but this same advert keeps playing on a loop. Art!
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| This for your Tiger |
It's okay, I've already called the RSPCA.
"The War Illustrated Edition 205 29th April 1945"
You should already be aware that we're talking about the central pages montage, which TWI published every issue, and this one concentrated on the British crossing the Rhine. Art!
This is one of the pontoon bridges constructed over the Rhine by the Royal Engineers, done in less than a day. What you can't see here is the warning on a sign, telling vehicles to keep 5 feet apart or risk collapsing the bridge.
The vehicles in question here are Morris artillery tractors, towing Bofors anti-aircraft guns, which were a tad redundant by this time, since the Luftwafffe was all but extinct. They were often used to 'thicken up' artillery barrages, where their very flat trajectory and extremely high rate of fire (about three rounds per second) made up for their smallness of shell.
Dog Buns And Me All Out Of Popcorn
I am writing this as of the 16th of March, to be published and disseminated tomorrow (or today) the 17th of March, Saint Patrick's Day. Which will be a very sober occasion for Conrad, being Day 45 of his sober patch. I may put on a green sweatshirt to conv
ANYWAY the release date for Disney's live-action 'Snow White' is this Friday, the 21st. That sinister rasping sound you can hear is me rubbing my hands together with malicious glee. Art!
Watch for boot-licking pundits who want to retain access to Disney product gushing about how 'brave and diverse and full of strong female characters' the film is, and then go check out it's status on 'Rotten Tomatoes' to see what the viewing public think. Also expect Disney to talk up the weekend box office figures, ignoring the fact that they get, AT BEST, 50% of the take. Conrad predicts that it will be pulled as soon as is decent and then pimped to the rafters on Disney+ to cut expenses and recoup it's budget. Which is reportedly north of $300 million. Tee hee!
At Last!
As you should surely know by now, we've been illustrating a series of cards that Bernie Wrightson illustrated for FPG back in 1993: "Masters of the Macabre". Towards the end of this run of 90 cards it became harder and harder to find the illustrations and matching cards and Number 87 'Midnight Snack' is no exception. Art!
I think it says "I like the contrast of the soft, low-key colours to the actual concept of the picture". Don't quote me, it's getting late and I'm old and infirm.
Finally -
I need to go down and box up Sunday's Stew, and perhaps even taste-test it for edibility.
Laterz!
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