In The Land Of Green And Pink And Grey

Actually I Lied

There is no Pink or Green, I was just trying to evoke that album by Caravan, you know the one.  Conrad may have it in his extensive collection of prog rock.  Art!

     No, I have no idea why it's called that.  Let's not get distracted, hmmm?

     If you have, however reluctantly, been following the blog of late, then you'll be aware that Conrad is doing a - shall we say somewhat critical review of the film 'Greenland', which is where today's title comes from.  The title is a misnomer, because Greenland only comes into play at the very end.  'Cometary Disaster Road Trip' is more accurate, if a little long for film posters and gives part of the plot away to boot.  Art!

"Crowds gather to watch Clarke"

     There is a group of neighbours gathered at Alison's house to have a Clarke party, mimicking those on-screen at this point as the countdown to the first 'Fragment' arriving.

     We the audience know that things are not going to end well, having witnessed John get a 'Presidential alert' on his phone whilst at the store, and the enormous number of big military jets heading north.  I'm guessing that it was north, heading for Greenland because the airport at Cancun cannot accommodate that many planes.  Art!

     Yes, it's a random picture of Alison, as played by Morena Baccarin, because it's my blog and I can.  As ever, I'm having to take photos of the film, rather than Snip, because of Netflix anti-copy software, which can perhaps be gotten around.  The quick Google I did on the matter seemed to require a lot of work, so you'll just have to put up with it, won't you?

     ANYWAY Art!

     This is where the film's logic breaks down.  Apparently the Eeevil South Canadian Gubmint knows that the Earth is going to be pummelled silly by Clarke and all it's fragments, to the extent that they've already begun evacuating people, and have warned others to be ready to evacuate themselves.  Okay, what about the rest of the planet?  Are Chinese or Ruffian astronomers going to stay silent and complicit?  How come no amateur or non-governmental astronomers have come forward to break the bad news?  If this is a global conspiracy, what are other governments going to get from it?  Why isn't the South Canadian government advising people to evacuate to mines and caverns and stockpile essential supplies?

     So many questions, with no answers!  Art?

Birds fly; from a whisper to a scream

     The group of partying comet-watchers at Alison's are puzzled when there is no footage of the first fragment hitting the Atlantic north of Bermuda.  This leads to yet another question: what did the population on Bermuda do to protect against a potential tsunami being generated from the impact?  

     Hmmm first sign that all is not well comes when birds start flying off en masse, and John, solo because nobody else has any sense of curiosity, goes outside to see what he can see.  Art!

     Nothing for several seconds, then a shockwave from the impact arrives and knocks him down.  It dawns on him that the impact was nowhere near Bermuda but a lot closer to home, hence that Presidential Alert and the evacuating jets.  What excited and annoyed some people in the Goofs section on IMDB is that John goes back into the house relatively untroubled by dirt or debris, which is explained away by it falling off him when he stands up.  Art!

     There appear to be shutters or blinds on these windows, where the glass shattered by the shockwave leaps forwards, which is surely contrary to the laws of physics, but which looks good on camera.  Art!

     Another bone of contention, this is the scene when John rushed back into the house: all panes of glass intact.  That was the most considerate shockwave ever.  I suppose the budget didn't stretch to having more than two windows break.  Art!

     We are told that the actual impact site was Tampa, Florida.  Nobody else apart from the (Eeevil) Gubmint had plotted this trajectory?  No other country's astronomers had predicted the point of impact, shrugged their shoulders and decided 'Ah, what the heck,'?  What you might call Alas Shrugged.

     That's enough Green, Pink and Grey for one Intro.  And we're only 25 minutes into the film!


"The War Illustrated Edition 213 17th August 1945"
I recall the publication date because it's my birthday.  Splendid!  Art?

    "Now It Can Be Told!  British Maquis Were Ready For Invaders"

     We'll deal with that headline first.  What they describe are the 'Auxiliary Units', a bland name for what was a suicidally dangerous military unit.  They consisted of teams of seven men, who were equipped with small arms and explosives, and who would deploy to hidden underground bunkers in the case of invasion. Their task was to emerge from hiding in Teuton rear areas and commit acts of sabotage and assassination, and they were not expected to last long, but to do as much damage as possible.  The article also mentions 'Special Duty' personnel who were given a radio in order to report in on Teuton activity, from behind their lines.  

     That photograph lower down is taken from the bridge of the Teuton heavy cruiser 'Hipper'. and shows the British destroyer 'Glowworm' cutting across the bows of the much larger and more heavily-armed ship.  This very unequal duel ended up with the 'Hipper' being badly damaged and the destroyer being sunk.  The Teuton captain was so impressed he recommended the Glowworm's captain for a VC.  Not a common occurrence!  Art!

What A Mug!

As you know we here at the blog are not remotely fond of Boorish Orange Oaf Himself, and I have just come across a photo of him that looks awful.  Art!

   He looks as if he's eating a lemon at gunpoint whilst sitting bottomless on a saguarro cactus.  Probably worrying about the Epstein files and his $11 billion lawsuit against the 'New York Times' for publishing a story about the two of them.  Discovery for that will be interesting if it ever gets that far.

     I wonder what the 'red flags' are?  Dog Buns, I may have to investigate. 

Thank You 'Special Kherson Cat'

For those unaware, SKC is a Ukrainian resident of the city of Kherson, who posts regularly on Twitter, and makes fundraisers too.  Art!

     This is a graphic of the Ruffian refineries Ukraine has been applying 'kinetic sanctions' to, and is already out of date as at least 2 more have been given a right malleting.  They have hit 14 refineries, taking at least 5 completely offline; 2 military airfields; 8 fuel storage depots; 12 railway sites and 6 defence contractors.

     Ukraine began hitting Ruffian refineries last January and had by the end of the year reduced Ruffian oil refining by between 10 to 15%.  Now they are hitting refineries repeatedly and the reduction in crude processing is nearing 30%.  In the space of six weeks.  Someone somewhere clearly gave Zelensky a thumbs-up on this process, and notice how Boorish Orange Oaf Himself isn't coming to Ruffia's rescue by forbidding or curtailing this strategy.

     Putinpot may not want a ceasefire but he clearly needs one!

     Late-breaking news: Ruffian refinery at Saratov hit.

Bovvie Is Go!

Plans are firming up for later this week.  Consequently, there is zero chance of a blog on either Friday or Saturday, and we'll have  to see about Sunday.  Art!

     Conrad is going down with the Advanced Party (Sal and Tom) since Col and Julie cannot get away early enough.  So, Your Humble Scribe will be travelling to Warrington to rendezvous with the kids.  One thing that worries Conrad is the gift shop, because I can already feel it siphoning money out of my squeaking wallet, because there may be military history books, because there are definitely model kits - do you see the problem?  I DO NOT WANT TO GET BACK INTO MAKING MODEL KITS! they take up so much room and time.  

And with that we done!