I Was Given a Sexist Mug

Sigh. We poor men have to put up with these sort of sexist jibes all the time.

Recycling

More Shots of Asses in Fancy Pyjamas

I only gave the post that title because I knew it would get all the wrong search hits....
One of my most visited posts by distant strangers was a photo of farm tractor collectors magazines in a window. I titled it "Tractor Porn". You'd be amazed at how many people, every day, search Google for "Tractor Porn"..... Okay, guys, sorry. I'm just search-engine baiting, and it's cruel. Of course, if you're reading this blog in an educational establishment, you'll probably find it blocked on the grounds of it containing words like nipples. I find that lubricating my drive shafts, and also my ball-joints, (oh yes, I have jointed balls, in my steering linkages).. lubricating those things is greatly facilitated by having grease-nipples, onto which the ball and socket end of my Tecalemit high pressure grease-gun clamp, I pump the handle, the connection stiffens, and lube squeezes out of the gun, slithers greasily across those shiny mating surfaces.


Where was I? Oh yes. Max commented in the previous post, and seemed to doubt the veracity of my zebra-drawn carriage picture.
These pics are to show that it was not a one-off.
Some neat Zorses on the last pic, or are they Zonkeys? or Mebras, or Zules?

This guy looks a bit shifty. I wouldn't trust him with my sister.

But But... what was in FRONT of the zebras?

Zonkeys? Zules? Neat PJs, guys.

Whew! Lookit! Mules in Fancy Pajamas!

Seen in the Sky Over Northern Norway, This Morning. ... Subtitle: Oh My God, We've Just Lost Power on the Port Reindeer! MAYDAY! MAYDAY!

This lasted for, according to many witnesses, over a large area of northern Norway, about two minutes.
So far, nobody has come up with a definitive explanation.
The most persuasive one so far is that we're seeing the traces left by a Russian ballistic missile, spinning out of control, and ejecting a fine mist of fuel vapour as it spins. This vapour is sufficiently far into the upper atmosphere to be illuminated by the sun, long before sunrise occurs at ground-level, just as vapour trails from high flying aircraft are often illuminated in the pre-dawn sky.


The Russian Navy is exercising in the White Sea, not so very far away, but..... the Russians deny any launches at or around 7:45 a.m. local time.

There do seem to be sufficiently large a number of reports from different sources to suggest it's not a hoax

Station F - F Archangelsk,RUS
2009-12-08 16:54:55 (GMT+0)
Signal quality 100
Message number 79 Type A (Nav warning)

ZCZC FA79
031230 UTC DEC 09
COASTAL WARNING ARKHANGELSK 94
SOUTHERN PART WHITE SEA
1.ROCKET LAUNCHING 2300 07 DEC TO 0600 08 DEC
09 DC 0200 TO 0900 10 DEC 0100 TO 0900
NAVIGATION PROHIBITED IN AREA
65-12.6N 036-37.0E 65-37.2N 036-26.0E
66-12.3N 037-19.0E 66-04.0N 037-47.0E
66-03.0N 038-38.0E 66-06.5N 038-55.0E
65-11.0N 037-28.0E 65-12.1N 036-49.5E
THEN COASTAL LINE 65-12.2N 036-47.6E
2. CANCEL THIS MESSAGE 101000 DEC=
NNNN

"Russia’s troubled Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile will be test-fired on November 24. Of the 11 test launches that have been conducted so far, only five have been successful.

The missile will be launched from the nuclear powered Typhoon-class submarine Dmitry Donskoy, which is the only vessel in service with the Russian Navy capable of testing the new missile, RIA Novosti reports.

The Bulava was last test-fired from the Dmitry Donskoi in the North Sea on July 15, but self-destructed soon after launch due to a defective steering system in its first stage."

Source: Barents Observer

The Bulava is a 5,000 mile range intercontinental ballistic missile, with capability for multiple re-entry warheads. Somehow that seems like a return to the bad old days of the cold war.

I'm sure things will become clearer in the next few days. But I wish I'd been there to see this strangely beautiful happening.

Update:- Russian Defence Ministry have today confirmed it was a Bulava missile, launched from the submarine Dmitry Donskoi. "It has been established ... that the missile's first two stages worked as normal, but there was a technical malfunction at the next, third, stage of the trajectory," a Defense Ministry spokesman said."

A very expensive light-show. Half of Russia's military budget has been going into these missiles, recently, and 8 out of 12 launches have been failures. In this case, a very visible one. The builder blames the failures on poor quality components coming from the 650 suppliers, and says this would not have happened under the soviet regime. Hm. And under the soviet regime, he might reflect, the chances are that he'd be lucky to get sent to a gulag.

Just the Sort of Shop I Love

"Damn... No spoffle-pins in stock? "
"We get them delivered direct, what size spoffle pin did you want, small medium or large?"
"Ummm I suppose I'd better get a large, just in case"

"It's on its way"

btw: I used to live about ten miles south of Mikkeli.

"Canned", and "Bread"

I recently read an article which quoted someone as describing himself as "The best thing since canned bread".
Sliced, surely?
But of course, the concept nagged at me and I now know that canned bread is a reality. Indeed, if you come from Maine, or from Japan, you're probably bemused by the fact that I'm bemused. As if I were wondering about canned beans, for instance.
Let it be duly recorded that prior to today, I had never heard of canned bread, nor did I ever ponder the possibility.
I understand that canned bread sells rather well, and that New Englanders feel lost without it, so it is exported to expatriates across the globe. It features regularly in SpongeBob cartoons. Survivalists stock it in their bunkers.
I shall not be purchasing any. I like my bread fresh, aromatic, warm inside, and crunchy on the outside. mmmm.
I rather think cylindrical bread in a can might not tick the boxes there. However, if you've ever had canned bread, do tell if it's as disgusting and rubbery as it sounds.

Pigs:Three of, (Size:little), Check. Wolf: (Big/Bad), One of, Check