Friday 1 December 2023

Doctor Who Advent Calendar - 1

 As it's the 60th anniversary of a certain British TV show (and as, incredibly, I haven't already used it) what other option was there for this year's caption advent calendar.

Starting with Door number 1:



Thursday 30 November 2023

From The Mind of Merc - Inventions (by women)

Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today, following on from last month's post about misattributed inventions, I was thinking about the inventions made by women who lost the credit to a man.

Here are a few examples of women inventors whose credit was given to men:

Mary Anning - invention: Dinosaur Fossils - credit taken by: The Geological Society
Anning discovered several dinosaur skeletons on a beach but they and she were ignored, decried as fake and blocked from being accepted with credit going to scientists who bought fossils from her.  

Rosalind Franklin - invention: The Double Helix - credit taken by: Crick & Watson
It was Franklin who produced the groundbreaking image in 1951 which was passed on to Crick & Watson who published their 'findings' 2 years later. 

Chien Shiung Wu - invention: Nuclear Physics - credit taken by: Tsung-Dao Lee & Chen-Ning Yang
Wu worked on electromagnetic interactions with the Wu experiment. The findings from which prompted a Nobel Prize... for two physicists working on a similar project. 

Lise Meitner - invention: Nuclear Fission - credit taken by: Otto Hahn
Frisch won the Nobel Prize for their work but Meitner wasn't even mentioned. She went on to receive 49 Nobel nominations but never succeeded in winning any of them.

Hedy Lamarr - invention: Wireless communication - credit taken by: US Navy
Lamarr created the basis for today's wifi as part of WWII work to prevent the bugging of military radios. Although she had a patent for her work, this was ignored by the US Navy

Alice Ball - invention: Leprosy Cure - credit taken by: Arthur Dean
Ball died in a tragic accident just months after her discovery and the head of her department published her work as his own - he and it were later corrected.

Marion Donovan - invention: disposable nappies - credit taken by: Victor Mills
Before Donovan's invention, nappies were made of cloth. Her disposable nappies were initially ignored by manufacturers until Victor Mills started Pampers using Donovan's idea.

Margaret Keene - invention: Big Eyes paintings - credit taken by: Walter Keane
Keane's husband persuaded her the pictures would sell better under his name. She eventually took him to court and was able to prove her ownership by producing a picture on the spot.

Margaret Knight - invention: Paper Bag - credit taken by: Charles Annan
Annan stole Knight's invention while it was being made and patented it under his name. When she took him to court, his defence was that a woman couldn't have invented it.

Elizabeth Magie - invention: Monopoly - credit taken by: Charles Darrow
Darrow sold Magie's 'Landlord's Game' to Parker Brothers who claimed their version was sufficiently different to the one Magie created to protest against monopolists.

Vera Rubin - invention: Dark Matter - credit taken by: Kent Ford
Rubin confirmed the existence of dark matter in the atmosphere yet her work was ignored until later scientists proved that she was right. However, she never received acknowledgement for her work.

Grace Hopper - invention: Computer Programming Language - credit taken by: John von Neumann
von Neumann may have been the one to initiate the program for the Harvard Mark I computer but it was Hopper's codes that were used to program it.

Caresse Crosby - invention: the bra - credit taken by: Warner Brothers
Crosby sold her patent for the 'backless brassiere', which was to become the modern bra, to Warner Brothers and subsequently fell from public knowledge or recognition

Ada Harris - invention: Hair Straighteners - credit taken by: Marcel Grateau
Grateau actually invented the curling iron in 1852 - a big difference to the hair straightener Harris was the first ever to patent in 1893.

Esther Lederberg - invention: Microbial Genetics - credit taken by: Joshua Lederberg
Although she worked jointly with her husband on her work and was actually the one to discover the lambda phage virus, it was her husband that took the credit and Nobel Prize

Jocelyn Bell Burnell - invention: Pulsars - credit taken by: Antony Hewish & Martin Ryle
Burnell discovered and pointed out the irregular radio pulses she had detected while a research assistant at Cambridge to her advisor - it was said advisor who claimed the credit.

Ada Lovelace - invention: Computer Programming - credit taken by: Charles Babbage
The father of modern computing actually had a lot of help from the daughter of Lord Byron as it was Ada who actually wrote the programme that made Babbage's machine work.

ENIAC programmers - invention: Electronic Computer - credit taken by: John Mauchly
Mauchly might have invented the computer itself but it was the team of 6 women - the ENIAC programmers - who developed the functionality of the machine.

Katherine Johnson - invention: Moon Landing - credit taken by: NASA
Johnson was a crucial 'computer' who calculated the path used for the successful landing of Apollo 11 on the moon. Yet she continued to be ignored and overlooked by her racist colleagues.

Mary Anderson - invention: Windscreen Wiper - credit taken by: Robert Kearns
Anderson created and patented the now commonplace invention back in 1903. However, it was ignored by the car manufacturers. By the time they should an interest her patent had expired.

Nettie Stevens - invention: Sex Chromosomes - credit taken by: E B Wilson
Despite Stevens producing the breakthrough work that showed the connection between chromosomes and sex determination, it was her colleague who published the findings first. 

Candace Pert - invention: opiate receptors - credit taken by: Solomon Snyder
Pert was just a graduate student when she made this crucial discovery but her professor was rewarded for it. When she objected, he said, "That's how the game is played."

Anna Atkins - invention: photography book - credit taken by: Henry Talbot
Atkins published her photographically illustrated book 8 months earlier than Henry Talbot but even the work itself was miscredited or else claimed as Anonymous.

Saturday 11 November 2023

Lest We Forget - !!!NEW!!!

A special creation to mark Remembrance Day.

Because Of You Lest We Forget not by Kelly Clarkson
It’s been so long and yet still so important
It’s been so long and yet still so fresh in our memory
It’s been so long and yet still now
For the fallen
Though they are gone we will never let their efforts fade 

Lest we forget
All those who gave their lives for their country
Lest we forget
All those who died to ensure we all could remain free
Lest we forget
All those who believed dulce et decorum est pro patria mori
Lest we forget
Remember them

It’s once a year
And it's not too much to ask for us to do
Not yell and cheer
But just stand still and acknowledge their deeds
Just want to hear
And see and know that they’re still in our thoughts
For those who’ll never grow old
We can fall silent for two minutes 

Lest we forget
All those who gave their lives for their country
Lest we forget
All those who died to ensure we all could remain free
Lest we forget
All those who believed dulce et decorum est pro patria mori
Lest we forget
Remember them

Now war is done (Now war is done)
Wars two and one
We mark Remembrance Day
So many lost (so many lost)
A tragic cost (oh such a tragic cost)
We can’t let that fade away

We’ll keep them close
Close to all our hearts
With a red flower pin (all wear a poppy)          
So that all of these years later what they did
Will still mean something 

Lest we forget
All those who gave their lives for their country
Lest we forget
All those who died to ensure we all could remain free
Lest we forget
All those who believed dulce et decorum est pro patria mori
Lest we forget
Remember them
 

Lest we forget
Lest we forget

Friday 10 November 2023

Here's My Labyrinth - !!!NEW!!!

My latest parody creation is inspired by a very clever meme I found a while ago. I realised I could extend this to apply to the full song. So here it is:

Call Me Maybe Here's My Labyrinth not by Carly Rae Jepsen
You threw a wish to the air                  
So thought I’d show you I care           
And I appeared from thin air                                       
I thought I’d help you out
You wanted rid of the kid
So I just did as you bid
Won’t tell you where he’s hid              
Did it to help you out 

You’re so enchantn’
Don’t want to be wantin’
Not much I’m demandin’
Do you really want this baby?

Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy
But here's my labyrinth, I stole your baby
You can’t defeat me can you, lady
So here's my labyrinth, I stole your baby
Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy
But here's my labyrinth, I stole your baby
All that I do will drive you crazy
Cos here's my labyrinth, I stole your baby

Just take your time with this quest
But know that I am the best                                                     
No way that you’ll pass my test           
Then Toby will be mine
You’ve got just 12 hours to win                       
Let the challenge begin
Soon you will find you’re in a spin
Those peaches are sublime 

You’re so enchantn’
Don’t want to be wantin’
Not much I’m demandin’
Do you really want this baby?

Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy
But here's my labyrinth, I stole your baby
You can’t defeat me can you, lady
So here's my labyrinth, I stole your baby
Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy
But here's my labyrinth, I stole your baby
All that I do will drive you crazy
Cos here's my labyrinth, I stole your baby

But know you don’t have to do this, just let me rule you
Just let me rule you, just let me rule, rule you
But know you don’t have to do this, just let me rule you
Think you could do that
Just let me rule, rule you
(You, you, you, you, you, you)
 

You can’t defeat me can you, lady
So here's my labyrinth, I stole your baby

Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy
But here's my labyrinth, I stole your baby
All that I do will drive you crazy
Cos here's my labyrinth, I stole your baby

But know you don’t have to do this, just let me rule you
Just let me rule you, just let me rule, rule you
But know you don’t have to do this, just let me rule you
If you won’t do that
Come find your baby

Tuesday 31 October 2023

From The Mind of Merc - Inventions (Misattributed)

Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today, following on from last month's post about mistake inventions, I was thinking about inventions that have been attributed to the wrong creator by mistake.

Here are a few examples of inventions that weren't invented by the person you thought:

Theory of Evolution – Credited: Charles Darwin – Actually: Anaximander of Miletus
- Anaximander speculated humans descended from another species and that all life started in the sea
Iguanodon – Credited: Richard Owen – Actually: Gideon Mantell
- Owen sought to erase Mantell's contribution from the record which led to Mantell committing suicide
Airplane – Credited: Wright Brothers – Actually: Richard Pearse
- Pearse beat the Wright Brothers celebrated flight by 9 months
Computer desktop – Credited: Microsoft – Actually: Xerox PARC
- Xerox showed their system to Apple who in turn inspired Microsoft
Conveyor Belt – Credited: Henry Ford – Actually: The Ancient Chinese
- It was used in the construction of the terracotta army
Car – Credited: Henry Ford – Actually: Karl Benz/Oliver Evans
- Benz's automobile was first produced in 1885 - 11 years before Ford's creation in 1896
Telescope – Credited: Galileo – Actually: Hans Lippershey
- Lippershey's telescope was created in 1608. Galileo's was a year later.
Radio – Credited: Guglielmo Marconi – Actually: Nikola Tesla
- The majority of Marconi's work relied on research and patents by Tesla
Toilet – Credited: Thomas Crapper – Actually: The Ancient Chinese
- Crapper created several components of the toilet but the first ones were used 2000 years ago
Internet – Credited: Al Gore – Actually: Vinton Cerf
- Gore never actually said he invented the internet - Cerf is often called 'the Father of the Internet' 
Monopoly – Credited: Parker Brothers/Charles Darrow – Actually: Elizabeth Magie
- Charles Darrow copied Magie's design... which the Brothers rejected at least twice
Telephone – Credited: Alexander Graham Bell – Actually: Antonio Meucci
- Meucci couldn't afford to patent his creation - he took Bell to court but died before the suit finished
Steamboat – Credited: Robert Fulton – Actually: Claude de Jouffroy
- de Jouffroy pioneered his creation in 1776 - years ahead of Fulton's inaugural trip in 1803
Steam engine – Credited: James Watt – Actually: Hero (Ancient Greek)
- Hero's design was copied by Thomas Savery and then Watt before Thomas Newcomen improved it
Geodesic dome – Credited: Buckminster Fuller – Actually: Walther Bauersfeld
- Bauersfeld built his dome in 1923 years before Fuller's 1948 creation
Chocolate bar – Credited: Milton Hershey – Actually: Joseph Fry
- Brit Joseph Fry created the first chocolate bar in 1847 whereas American Hershey's came out in 1900
Guillotine – Credited: Joseph Guillotin – Actually: Tobias Schmidt
- Guillotin actually only proposed the use of Schmidt's invention
Peanut butter – Credited: George Washington Carver – Actually: Incas
- The Incas are documented to have made peanut butter centuries before Carver
Seed drill – Credited: George Washington – Actually: Jethro Tull
- Washington's "own invention" was actually a copy of Tull's established machine
Tesla car – Credited: Elon Musk – Actually: Martin Eberhard & Marc Tarpenning
- Musk was an early investor and then Chairman who took the founders to court to claim co-creation
Uber – Credited: Travis Kalanick – Actually: Garrett Camp
- Kalanick himself has affirmed it was Camp's idea
Apple – Credited: Steve Jobs – Actually: Steve Wozniak
- It was actually Wozniak who made the computer
iPod – Credited: Steve Jobs – Actually: Kane Kramer
- Apple admitted to this fact during a court case when another company claimed credit
Electric chair – Credited: Thomas Edison – Actually: Harold P Brown
- Brown was an employee of Edison's but lost out to him in the credit stakes
X-Ray – Credited: Thomas Edison – Actually: Wilhelm Rontgen
- Rontgen's invention is also being referred to as Rontgen rays
Moving pictures – Credited: Thomas Edison – Actually: Louis Le Prince
- Le Prince vanished mysteriously and his son was shot dead during a court case against Edison
Recording audio – Credited: Thomas Edison – Actually: Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville
- Edison's announcement of his invention came 17 years after de Martinville's first audio recordings
Lightbulb – Credited: Thomas Edison – Actually: Humphrey Davy
Edison basically copied an already existing structure initially created by Davy in 1802.
Projector – Credited: Thomas Edison – Actually: Charles Francis Jenkins
- Jenkins partner, Thomas Arnat, sold the rights to Edison who rebranded the creation as his own

Friday 20 October 2023

My Name Is Nell - !!!NEW!!!

And then a bit further into the future about an infamous orange seller:

Highway To Hell My Name Is Nell not by AC/DC
Born sixteen
Fifty
Determined to change my destiny
Came to London
With fam-ly
Who knew how big my life would be
Wanted money
Wanted fame
Weren’t nothin' that I wouldn’t do
On the streets
Play the game
I’ll be someone before I’m through
 

You’ll soon know my name is Nell
Oh yes my name is Nell
My name is Nell
I’ll tell you my name is Nell

Tread the boards
Theatre
Make the most of restoration
Met the king
Was a winner
This calls for a celebration
His mistress
Bore him 2 boys
He made one of them a Duke
Not no-one
A big noise
You couldn’t say my life was a fluke

You know that my name is Nell
My name is Nell
Yes you know my name is Nell
My name is Nell
Somebody

You know that my name is Nell
Oh yes my name is Nell
My name is Nell
Yes you know my name is Nell
(My name is Nell) You know that my name is Nell
(My name is Nell) my name is Nell
(My name is Nell) my name is Nell
(My name is Nell)
And I'm goin' down
In hist’ry
You all know my name is Nell

Tuesday 10 October 2023

Tom Wolsey - !!!NEW!!!

A return to my familiar Tudor theme this month, first with a parody about an infamous Cardinal:

Dance Monkey Tom Wolsey not by Tones and I
I was born the son of a poor butcher man
But had greater things in mind in my life plan
After the new king’s ascension is when I began
To show King Henry I was his number one fan
 

Ooh, yes Henry, Henry, Henry was in awe
At how well everything I o’ersaw
He, he made me, made me, made me Chancellor
And then it seemed I was even above the law

‘Cause I am
Tom Wolsey, Tom Wolsey, Tom Wolsey, oh-oh
They’d never seen anybody that had reached my heights before
‘Cause the, king needs me, king needs me, king needs me, ay-ay
Before I’m done, I will achieve yet even more

I was on top of the world untouchable
Had money, wealth and power - was wonderful
Worried that Boleyn girl could spell trouble
But knew that from my grasp King Henry would never pull

Ooh, yes Henry, Henry, Henry was in awe
At how well everything I o’ersaw
He, he made me, made me, made me Chancellor
And then it seemed I was even above the law

‘Cause I am
Tom Wolsey, Tom Wolsey, Tom Wolsey, oh-oh
They’d never seen anybody that had reached my heights before
‘Cause the, king needs me, king needs me, king needs me, ay-ay
Before I’m done, I will achieve yet even more

I am
Tom Wolsey, Tom Wolsey, Tom Wolsey, oh-oh
They’d never seen anybody that had reached my heights before
‘Cause the, king needs me, king needs me, king needs me, ay-ay
Before I’m done, I will achieve yet even more

Ooh
Woah-oh, woah-oh, oh
Ooh
Ah ah, ah

I am
Tom Wolsey, Tom Wolsey, Tom Wolsey, oh-oh
They’d never seen anybody that had reached my heights before
‘Cause the, king needs me, king needs me, king needs me, ay-ay
Before I’m done, I will achieve yet even more

I am
Tom Wolsey, Tom Wolsey, Tom Wolsey, oh-oh
They’d never seen anybody that had reached my heights before
‘Cause the, king needs me, king needs me, king needs me, ay-ay
Before I’m done, I will achieve yet even more
Even more

Saturday 30 September 2023

From The Mind of Merc - Inventions (Accidental)

Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today, following on from last month's post about killer inventions, I was thinking about inventions that came about by accident.
It's amazing how many familiar products came about by sheer fluke.

Here are a few examples of those lucky enough to create something successful by accident:

Slinky – Inventor: Richard Jones
– He was actually trying to make a meter to monitor power on battleships using tension springs
Penicillin – Inventor: Alexander Fleming
– 
He was actually trying to make a wonder drug - penicillin was discovered on a dish he threw away
Choc chip cookies – Inventor: Ruth Wakefield
– 
She was actually trying to make normal chocolate cookies but the bits didn't melt
Crisps – Inventor: George Crum
– He was actually trying to make a plate of fried potato that a customer insisted needed to be thinner
Pacemaker – Inventor: John Hopps
– He was actually trying to make a way to use radio frequency to restore body temperature
Silly Putty – Inventor: James Wright
– He was actually trying to make a rubber substitute out of silicon during WWII
Microwave – Inventor: Percy Spencer
– He was actually trying to make a radar related project
Saccharin – Inventor: Constantine Fahlberg
– She was actually trying to make a oxidisation experiment - a chemical spill lead to a sweet discovery
Fireworks – Inventor: chef in China
– He was actually trying to make a new cooking experiment using charcoal, sulphur and saltpetre
Scotchgard – Inventor: Patsy Sherman
– She was actually trying to make a rubber material that would be resistant to exposure from jet fuels
Cornflakes – Inventor: John and Will Kellogg
– They were actually trying to make boiled grain but they left it on the stove too long
LSD – Inventor: Albert Hofmann
– He was actually trying to make lysergic acid derivatives and accidentally swallowed some
Post-its – Inventor: Spencer Silver
– He was actually trying to make a strong adhesive and ended up with the opposite result
X Rays – Inventor: Wilhelm Rontgen
– He was actually trying to make advances in cathodic ray tube experiments
Inkjet printer – Inventor: Canon engineer
– He was actually wasn't trying to make anything - he was on a break but rested his hot iron on his pen

Who knows what other coincidental creations will be made in the future 

Friday 29 September 2023

Companions song - !!!NEW!!!

And then an equally complex Whovian parody of the Monarchs song from Horrible Histories:

Monarchs Companions Song not from Horrible Histories
My name is Susan Foreman I’m the doctor’s granddaughter
You never will forget me and, you never should oughta
I was the first to travel in the TARDIS with my gramps
Against all of our enemies we always were the champs
To help remember all his friends, I've come up with this song
A simple rhyming ditty, for you all to sing along, oh...
Susan!
Bit short, innit? We need more names! Who came next?

Bar-bra Wright, a teacher
Followed Susan, grave error
With her colleague, Ian C
Both worked (at) Coal Hill, you see
Then came Vicki, ‘cause Susan’s gone!
And Steven Taylor a hanger on
Sara Kingdom joined the fight
Dodo Chaplet? Yes, that's right!
Oh Katarina, what a tragedy
Gave her life so that they could flee

Chorus:
Susan, Bar-bra, Ian, Vicki
Steve, Sara, Dodo, Kat!
 

If you are new, we’re not near through, Troughton’s where we’re at

Next Polly a secretary
And Ben Jackson too
Then we have Jamie McCrimmon, a Scot och aye the noo
Victor-ya a loyal daughter, she’s forced to face all her fears
Next Zoe H she joined the team
Then Liz Shaw she appears
We’re on to three, then you’ll see
The companion’s Jo Grant (tada)
Had to earn the Doctor’s trust
‘Til Sarah Jane arrived (hurrah)
Harry S, Leela then
Romana one and two
With K9’s help on board and Adric’s
A stowaway in the crew
So Nyssa then five’s begun
A new regeneration
Tegan Jovanka too, who speaks indigenous Australian
Vislor Turlough, just let him go
Then an android
Yes!
Kamelion, asked the doctor
To help end his distress

Chorus:
Susan, Bar-bra, Ian, Vicki
Steve, Sara, Dodo, Kat!
Pol, Ben, Jamie, Vic, Zoe
Liz, Jo, SJ’s where we’re at
Harry, Leela, Romana
Adric, Nyssa, Tegan then
Then Turlough Kamel-yon

We now lose Davison

Peri Brown’s in the TARDIS
'Til she leaves to wed a king
When things resume, it’s now Mel Bush
The one with a big grin
We then get Ace before some space
Because they’ve gone off the air
In the movie it’s Grace you’ll see
Then Rose Tyler is who’s there
She and Mickey, who met one day
Captain Jack Harkness - immortal
And so from then, we’re following ten
Still we’ve not reached Clara Oswald!
 

Chorus:
Susan, Bar-bra, Ian, Vicki
Steve, Sara, Dodo, Kat!
Pol, Ben, Jamie, Vic, Zoe
Liz, Jo, SJ’s where we’re at
Harry, Leela, Romana
Adric, Nyssa, Tegan then
And Turlough Kamel-yon
Peri Brown, Mel, Ace and then
Grace, Rose, Mickey and Captain Jack

There’s still some key ones that we lack

And so began Tennant’s rebound gang
Donna and Martha
Jones!
Then Amy Pond she tags along
So Smith’s not on his own
Her husband too he joins the crew
Is he just a third wheel?
Hang on!
He’s actually the Centurion
And is really a big deal
Bang on!
And River Song she is fam-ly
You what!
It's time for a new tale to be told
When the Ponds are gone then just look who comes
Yes it is Clara Oswald!

Chorus:
Susan, Bar-bra, Ian, Vicki
Steve, Sara, Dodo, Kat!
Pol, Ben, Jamie, Vic, Zoe
Liz, Jo, SJ’s where we’re at
Harry, Leela, Romana
Adric, Nyssa, Tegan then
And Turlough Kamel-yon
Peri Brown, Mel, Ace and then
Grace, Rose, Mickey Captain Jack - hurrah
Don(na), Marth(a), Am(y), Ror(y)
River, then Clara
Now it’s Clara, now it’s Clara, now it’s Clara

She’s the impossible girl, you know

Nardole, and Bill
Graham, Ryan, Jaz
Dan Lewis joined the team
And so our companions song
Is brought up to fourteen

Chorus:
Susan, Bar-bra, Ian, Vicki
Steve, Sara, Dodo, Kat!
Pol, Ben, Jamie, Vic, Zoe
Liz, Jo, SJ’s where we’re at
Harry, Leela, Romana
Adric, Nyssa, Tegan then
And Turlough Kamel-yon
Peri Brown, Mel Ace 
and then
Grace, Rose, Mickey Captain Jack - hurrah
Don(na), Marth(a), Am(y), Ror(y)
River then Clara
Nardole, Bill, Graham, Ryan 
Then Yas and Dan help reach the end

Let’s not forget the Brigadier
The one who we 
now all should cheer

Thursday 28 September 2023

Supercalifragilisticexpialitimelord - !!!NEW!!!

Having a stinking cold unfortunately delayed the proper upload of September's creations. But here they are now for you to enjoy. The first one a tongue-twisting Whovian parody of the classic Mary Poppins song:

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocioustimelord not from Mary Poppins
It's Hartnelltroughtonpertweebakerdav-sonbakermccoy
They’re who started off the whole regeneration convoy
When it comes to aliens now who else would you deploy
Hartnelltroughtonpertweebakerdav-sonbakermccoy
From-galli-frey yes-from-Galli- frey
From-galli-frey yes-from-Galli- frey
From-galli-frey yes-from-Galli- frey
From-galli-frey yes-from-Galli- frey

Way back in nineteen sixty three on your old TV set
Came a brand new programme like the world hadn’t seen yet
An old but clever traveller in as big strange blue box
Is here to save the world that is just how the doctor rocks
 

Oh, Hartnelltroughtonpertweebakerdav-sonbakermccoy
They’re who started off the whole regeneration convoy
When it comes to aliens now who else would you deploy
Hartnelltroughtonpertweebakerdav-sonbakermccoy
From-galli-frey yes-from-Galli- frey
From-galli-frey yes-from-Galli- frey
From-galli-frey yes-from-Galli- frey
From-galli-frey yes-from-Galli- frey

He travelled all through time and space but despite all his deeds
At avoiding being cancelled sadly didn’t succeed
But we can’t get enough timelords and ninety six’s when
We got another lot who started it all off again (woo)

Mcgannhurtecclestontennantsmithcapaldiwhit-ker
A new series came on the back of that motion picture
The doctor is here to stay on that we can all concur
Mcgannhurtecclestontennantsmithcapaldiwhit-ker
From-galli-frey yes-from-Galli- frey
From-galli-frey yes-from-Galli- frey

You know you can say it backwards which is
Raxacoricofallapatorius
But that just doesn't sound quite right, don't you think?
Indubitably
 

So when the Daleks threaten or the cybermen are here (they’re here?)
There’ no reason for panic so please just allay your fear
But encountering the doctor well that could change your life
 

For example
Yes?
Since I first met the doctor my whole world is filled with strife
Oh, but I wouldn’t want to change that
It’s
 

Hartnelltroughtonpertweebakerdav-sonbakermccoy
Mcgannhurtecclestontennantsmithcapaldiwhit-ker
Hartnelltroughtonpertweebakerdav-sonbakermccoy
Mcgannhurtecclestontennantsmithcapaldiwhit-ker

Thursday 31 August 2023

From The Mind of Merc - Inventions (Lethal)

Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today, following the Titan disaster, I was thinking about inventing and how it can be a dangerous thing.
Everyone wants to come up with the next big thing but what if you don’t survive it.

Here are a few examples of those unlucky enough to be killed by their own inventions:

Stockton Rush
Oversaw the design and construction of the Titan.
Craft imploded during a trip to the Titanic wreck site killing everyone on board.
Francis Edgar Stanley
Joint creator of the Stanley Steamer automobile.
Whilst driving he swerved to avoid an obstacle which caused a car accident which led to his death.
Sylvester Roper
Creator of one of the first ever motorcycle – the Roper Steam Velocipede
He fell off the bike a 40 miles an hour and by the time anyone could get to him he was dead.
Horace Hunley
Creator of the first submarine to successfully sink a warship.
Unfortunately, during a dive, the vessel became trapped on the bottom of a harbour and all aboard perished
Henry Winstanley
Built the Eddystone Lighthouse to combat the loss of ships.
In 1703 the Great Storm of Southern England destroyed the lighthouse… with Winstanley inside it.
Max Valier
Creator of a rocket powered car.
The car used an alcohol-based fuel which exploded in his workshop killing him.
Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier
Made the first manned balloon flight.
Crashed his balloon whilst trying to cross the Channel.
William Bullock
Bullock came up with improvements to the pre-existing rotary press.
While installing one of these machines, his leg became trapped and he died after developing gangrene.
Thomas Midgley Jr
Created a pulley system to help get him out of bed.
One day he got caught up in the device and was strangled to death.
Franz Reichelt
Developed a full body parachute suit.
Tested the suit himself, it failed and he was killed instantly.
Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari
Made a set of wooden wings covered in feathers.
Jumped off the roof of a mosque to test them – they didn’t work.
Henri Thuille
Inventor of a high-speed steam locomotive.
Died during a test run.
Percy Pilcher
Developed a hang glider called the Hawk
The craft suffered a structural failure during a flight and he was killed as a result of the crash.
Charles Lugeti
Creator of the Lugeti Stratos aircraft.
Lost control during a test flight and was killed in the crash.
William Nelson
Invented a way to motorise bikes.
Fell off his prototype during a test drive and died.
Alexander Bogdanov
One of the first to experiment with blood transfusion.
Died when he used the blood of a TB and malaria victim on himself.
Michael Dacre
Created a flying taxi.
Died during a test flight.
Mike Hughes
Made a steam powered rocket.
Killed when the parachute failed to deploy during a crash landing.
Karel Soucek
Developed a shock absorbent barrel for surviving Niagara Falls.
As a result of an accident he hit the rim after falling 180 feet.
Henry Fleuss
Created a rebreathing diving suit.
He was killed while testing his creation as the pure oxygen he used was fatal.
Henry Smolinski
Created a prototype flying car.
On the first and only flight the wings fell off and he was killed in the crash.
Valerian Abakovsky
Developed a high speed railcar.
On a return trip the train jumped the track at 70 miles an hour.
Otto Lilienthal
Created a glider with a 23 foot wingspan.
The glider stalled during a test flight and crashed to the ground.
Robert Cocking
Designed a parachute.
The parachute failed to open during a test flight and Cocking plummeted to his death.
Luis Jimenez
Created the 32 foot tall sculpture called ‘Blucifer’.
During installation, pieces of the sculpture fell on him severing an artery in his leg and he died the next day.
Fred Deusenberg
Created the Deusenberg automobile.
Killed during a high speed accident.
Aurel Vlaicu
Inventor of a self-built airplane.
Failed in his attempt to cross the Carpathian Mountains.
Sabin Arnold von Sochocky
Inventor of luminescent paint which contained radium.
Died as a result of a disease caused by radiation poisoning.
John Day
Developed a diving chamber.
Died during a test run
Julius H. Kroehl
Co-designer of a hand powered submersible
Died from decompression sickness after repeated dives
Cowper Phipps Coles
Designed a masted turret ship
Drowned when it sank.
Thomas Andrews
Architect of the RMS Titanic.
Insisted on going down with the ship when it sank in April 1912
Marie Curie
Marie and her husband Pierre discovered radium and spent many years experimenting with.
She died from a disease caused by radiation poisoning as a result from constant exposure to the material.

Maybe the moral of the story is that testing is good but maybe we should be thinking mannequin not myself