A Distinction (or) a Rantly Screed

Our Rights are not granted by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The rights we have are granted by God (or understood as Natural Law by the non-deists out there), and our founding documents merely enumerate them, and set limits on government's ability to infringe upon or limit them.

As much as we appreciate the valiant souls who have fought and died for our Country, they DID NOT "give us our rights", as a popular Facebook picture states. They protect and secure them, as should we all, according to our abilities.

Britting out!

So one of the goodies the Ariel Santa'd me with was a Spy Collection of ITV shows like The Persuaders, The Protectors, The Prisoner, and...The Champions! This as a jewel of a set, and resided on my Santa list because of "The Champions". Hear what IMDB saith:

Craig Stirling, Sharron Macready and Richard Barrett were agents for Nemesis, an international intelligence organization based in Geneva. Their first mission as a team was to investigate some potentially lethal experiments in Communist China, but when they were escaping, their plane was damaged. They crashed into a remote part of the Himalayas where they were rescued by members an unknown civilization. They came away from the encounter with superhuman powers--telepathy, superior strength, memory, etc.--and returned to the outside world as "Champions of law, order and justice", to quote the series' opening. Written by Marg Baskin

The series uses "superhuman" concepts, but not the trite DC/Marvel overdoing of it. The trio have an edge over the evildoers, but they are not infallible, nor invulnerable.  


Besides having a neat premise, being an ITV series it was filled with great character actors like Michael Gough (Alfred from Burton's "Batman" movies). I was watching some episodes yesterday, and I saw a familiar face and voice:




NIKO


Maybe THIS will be more familiar:


 Professor Rudolph Popkiss. The SUPERCAR sculptors really
got the likeness well.


Also THIS:




"I am El Gaudillo. ALWAYS!"

George Murcell is an excellent character guy, and specialises in villains:


Masterspy!

so this was a real treat!

I have a new actor to obsess over collecting appearances.

AHA! There is another Gerry Anderson link...in the pilot episode, their jet is diving, with a peculiarly familiar warble. YES! Supercar's dive sound effect is front and centre! In another wing-heavy episode, Thunderbird 2's cruising sound makes an appearance.

I believe that David Healy does the intro narration giving the backstory at the front of each episode.

Here is the opening:



Also, Part one of "The Invisible Man" episode:

Fearless Leader

 

 

From Drudge:

"Obama to surround himself with children when announcing new gun regulations..."

Ahhh...human shields.

Belated Fort Walton Report

The Dread Dormomoo speaks. Herself says “You’ve gone from sounding like Batman, to sounding like Alex Jones.”. No pillow-talk, this. Your ‘Varkness  has enjoyed three fun-filled days Mostly Not At Sukoshicon in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. We came to have a working getaway, and I developed the whatever-passes-for-flu this year. I spent Friday at the con, coughing. I spent Saturday and Sunday in bed, losing my voice in the process.  The D.D. ran the booth, though the pickin’s were slim. I’ve spent two or three of this brand of con breaking even, and  sorry,  but I can break even at home.

The kids at the con were nice, and staffers were quite helpful to the missus, since, as the “Lost and Faust” Victoriana dealer put it, she had lost me in a poker game.  This can neither be confirmed nor denied.
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The trip was not a total wash. Friday night my last hurrah was going with the Dread Dormomoo to Floyd’s Shrimp House. They had an “All you can eat popcorn shrimp” special, so I had that, milady had jack. No, she did not go hungry, she had a grilled whitefish,  amberjack. The fish was excellent, as were my shrimp. The "all you can eat" was a prophecy rather than an offer, because it was in fact all I could eat.

A note. I have eaten at two very good seafood places on the Gulf Coast, and they both have the same deficiency: cocktail sauce. Cocktail sauce is a simple condiment: ketchup and horseradish. Period. It does what it is required to do, adding a piquancy to the shrimp or whatever you bless with it. It does not require cilantro, or lemongrass, or hobo's purse, or whatever herb you cram in it to make the sauce your restaurant's "own". Henceforth I shall take my own.
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We spent an extra overnight, and had a leisurely trip home Monday. The restaurant we wanted to breakfast at because of local legends of its Eggs Benedict was closed on Monday, so we breakfasted at the Panda Buffet. I had no clue that there were so many extant Panda recipes. The place had the standard fare, a hibachi/Mongolian BBQ arrangement, sushi and the like. My taste buds were responding on only the basics. I could discern sweet, salt, bitter, and sour. No other nuance. That said, the place was quite good, even with a limited palate palette. I goosed the hot and sour soup with a little more vinegar, and it was fine.

We stopped a little north of Fort Walton Beach to visit the Air Force Weapons Museum, an excellent side-trip. Bombs, missiles, and planes from WW1 'til now are on display. I touched an SR-71!!

And I found an Aardvark!

Nowt to it.

I am despairing because people give ANY credence to the "We The People" petition-mo-tron on the White House website. It is an internet illusion, like talk radio, where people make comments, and feel like they have DONE something, when they have done nothing more than talk.

Ours is a representative republic, NOT a democracy. A "vote" on the website is worthless, and only gives the Administration one more thing to ignore or belittle, and ultimately serves to make many of the petitioners just look like imbeciles.

Of COURSE Feinstein will be brought up on treason because of a petition, just like all the DVDs, books and Youtube videos about the President's various inconsistencies and apparent untruths kept him from being re-elected.

People, do it by the rules. The White House came up with this petition thing as a misdirection. It is a NEW thing, which carries ZERO weight as ballast for the Ship of State.

So, the loss of Gerry Anderson (Thunderbirds, Space 1999, etc.) REALLY set me on my ear. I was in an emotional fetal position for at least a day. (He was like MY John Lennon, by way of simile.) I'm OK now, but it was a really big shock. My reaction actually surprised me.

Yeah, a marathon may be the thing to do. A celebration of excellence.

The sad thing is, he was never really happy doing the marionette series. Had an eye for greater things, but he and his crew did them so very well. Comparing "Fireball XL5" to Roberta Leigh's "Space Patrol" series is almost tragic. While "Space Patrol" has its charms, it looks like cardboard sets. The Anderson shows always appeared more...finished.