Poised for Effect

Being a scientist, I get the chance to experience many different and interesting things. I was once invited to tour a military base in the top left hand corner of England. These guys tested tank shells by firing them out to sea at the Isle of Man. You could hear the noise from two miles away.

I was invited to stand behind one as it fired a shell. There were three of us, and precautions were taken. Ear plugs, ear muffs and hands pressed to the ears. We stood in a three-sided shelter the shape of half a hexagon, with a plexiglass window in the middle wall. We faced the back of the tank, whilst our backs were exposed to the air.

It fired it's shell, looking exactly like the photo above. the whole 61 tonne tank jumped about 5 cm into the air. The sound was deafening. I think it was a 4.0 on the Richter scale.

But that was not the most surprising thing.

The blast wave from the air travelled right around the shelter and entered from the rear, actually pushing us forward TOWARDS the tank. My hair was blown forward across my face, I nearly lost my balance, and my poise almost received irreparable damage!

I was treated to lunch at the Officer's Mess.

The London Bombings VV DPRK

As an ex-Londoner, I find these bombing atrocities mindless.

However, look what the bombers achieved:

"ONE CITY ONE WORLD"

"LONDON UNITED"

All over the UK, and in particular in London, the people are united even more so, as I said on a previous post.

One of my elusive friends is particularly agitated about being bombed from North Korea with unclear bombs (SORRY NUclear bombs). I think his catchphrase is not " I have a bad feeling about this", but Bill Paxton's quote from Aliens when the rescue ship crashes.

My advice to said compadre is: "Talk to Londoners".

They are NOT afraid of Al Queda, Hitler, DPRK, Taliban, Pol Pot, Osama, Trance Music, Bigots or Faggots, etc.

Party on , London! I love you!