Armageddon???? (Part Fifty Up)

pdf27 · Post by **pdf27** » 2008-05-08 04:53pm

JN1 wrote:Batty is also a character from the series

D'oh, missed that one - although I think I would have got it had they been addressed as "Ma'am" and not as "Sir".

Black Admiral · Post by **Black Admiral** » 2008-05-08 04:56pm

Given the other cameos, one does wonder how long it'll be before Pte. McAuslan, J. (the dirtiest soldier in the British Army, if not the world), and his long-suffering platoon commander, Lt. Dand McNeill turn up.

JN1 · Post by **JN1** » 2008-05-08 05:07pm

I don't think it's Nora, but the put upon, late, Wally. Nora would scare the sh*t out of even Satan.

Gerald Tarrant · Post by **Gerald Tarrant** » 2008-05-08 05:46pm

He began to jog away from the lava, towards the city centre, but he made one crucial mistake; he looking back. The lava flow had accelerated as more rock poured into the channel, and the intense heat seemed to scorch his eyes.

An explanation for the biblical version of what happened to Lott's wife?

JN1 · Post by **JN1** » 2008-05-08 05:51pm

Alex downed his sixth pint and lurched to his feet. "Back in a sec, mates." he slurred, as he made his way unsteadily to the men's restroom. Half way through the process of relieving himself, the world exploded into noise and darkness.

Being an English pub it's a toilet, or the gents. You've been in the States too long, Stu.

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2008-05-08 06:00pm

JN1 wrote:
Alex downed his sixth pint and lurched to his feet. "Back in a sec, mates." he slurred, as he made his way unsteadily to the men's restroom. Half way through the process of relieving himself, the world exploded into noise and darkness.
Being an English pub it's a toilet, or the gents. You've been in the States too long, Stu.

In a traditional yorkshire pub, it's called a wall.

I'm not too young to remember going to see Barnsley at home and finding the toilets at the stadium to be... primitive at best

JN1 · Post by **JN1** » 2008-05-08 06:06pm

I've been in pubs like that.

Of course these days with Health and Safety...

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2008-05-08 06:06pm

Gerald Tarrant wrote:
He began to jog away from the lava, towards the city centre, but he made one crucial mistake; he looking back. The lava flow had accelerated as more rock poured into the channel, and the intense heat seemed to scorch his eyes.
An explanation for the biblical version of what happened to Lott's wife?

It was probably intended as an allusion to that event. But lava is only around 1000 to 1500 degrees C if I recall correctly, and while it's definitely hot, it's not like looking into the Sun.

Starglider · Post by **Starglider** » 2008-05-08 06:08pm

JN1 wrote:Being an English pub it's a toilet, or the gents. You've been in the States too long, Stu.

I just wrote 'men's room'; Stuart probably decided to clarify it. 'Toilets' would be typical colloquial usage for students.

Incidentally the alcohol ration is just two pints a week, so one might ask how Alex had managed to have six pints with more to come on two weeks rations. The answer is that as with many of the establishments catering to younger drinkers, that pub was offering 'two for one deal on rationed pints'. Of course they achieved this by drawing half a pint of strong ale and topping it up with half a pint of water, resulting in something even worse than Fosters.

Stuart wrote:Hence the problems the poor Baroness Yulupki was having.

You chose the strangest characters to get sympathetic about.

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2008-05-08 06:19pm

Darth Wong wrote:
Gerald Tarrant wrote:
He began to jog away from the lava, towards the city centre, but he made one crucial mistake; he looking back. The lava flow had accelerated as more rock poured into the channel, and the intense heat seemed to scorch his eyes.
An explanation for the biblical version of what happened to Lott's wife?
It was probably intended as an allusion to that event. But lava is only around 1000 to 1500 degrees C if I recall correctly, and while it's definitely hot, it's not like looking into the Sun.

If it was at those sorts of temperatures, it does hurt a bit. I was remelting volcanic rocks back to the molten state last year at temperatures between 1200-1600°C, the couple of times I chanced briefly looking in the furnace without the blast goggles with the black tinted screen, it was a bit painful. The second you took it out of the furnace though, the surface instantly quenches and you can look at it just fine.

Lava temperatures usually go up to about 1200°C, with basaltic lavas tending towards the higher end of that IIRC, but in the field, the immediate surface won't be that hot due to interaction with the air and the surface quenching to form cold chunks of carapace being dragged along on top.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2008-05-08 06:21pm

JN1 wrote:
Alex downed his sixth pint and lurched to his feet. "Back in a sec, mates." he slurred, as he made his way unsteadily to the men's restroom. Half way through the process of relieving himself, the world exploded into noise and darkness.
Being an English pub it's a toilet, or the gents. You've been in the States too long, Stu.

It's a narrative description, not dialogue from the British character himself. There's no reason why it should employ British dialect.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2008-05-08 06:26pm

El Moose Monstero wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:
Gerald Tarrant wrote: An explanation for the biblical version of what happened to Lott's wife?
It was probably intended as an allusion to that event. But lava is only around 1000 to 1500 degrees C if I recall correctly, and while it's definitely hot, it's not like looking into the Sun.
If it was at those sorts of temperatures, it does hurt a bit. I was remelting volcanic rocks back to the molten state last year at temperatures between 1200-1600°C, the couple of times I chanced briefly looking in the furnace without the blast goggles with the black tinted screen, it was a bit painful. The second you took it out of the furnace though, the surface instantly quenches and you can look at it just fine.

Lava temperatures usually go up to about 1200°C, with basaltic lavas tending towards the higher end of that IIRC, but in the field, the immediate surface won't be that hot due to interaction with the air and the surface quenching to form cold chunks of carapace being dragged along on top.

Oh sure, it's a bit painful, but a brief glimpse is not going to actually do serious damage. I've walked around a corner and seen an unshielded arc welder with the naked eye because some negligent moron didn't bother to put up the curtain. That was bad, but still only a cause of temporary pain. The Lot's Wife story implies serious damage, which doesn't make sense from light intensity alone.

Starglider · Post by **Starglider** » 2008-05-08 06:36pm

El Moose Monstero wrote:I was remelting volcanic rocks back to the molten state last year at temperatures between 1200-1600°C, the couple of times I chanced briefly looking in the furnace without the blast goggles with the black tinted screen, it was a bit painful.

Now imagine that filling most of your field of vision.

the immediate surface won't be that hot due to interaction with the air and the surface quenching to form cold chunks of carapace being dragged along on top.

Unfortunately that establishment was only 400m or so directly downhill from the impact site. As such the lava was still very fresh and churned up when it got there.

Darth Wong wrote:It was probably intended as an allusion to that event.

Nope; as you say, simple radiant heat isn't enough to do that.

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2008-05-08 06:43pm

It may also have been an effect of aerosols, ultra-fine glass fragments and gases released into the air as well; I've not had the misfortune to experience any form of acid vapours to the eyes, but maybe there was a sudden blast of gas release in the chap's direction as he turned that might also leave a 'scorched' or burning feeling. But that's probably more interpretation than is really necessary.

Strewth, this is fun though - there's not enough volcanoes in current fiction, and this is some excellent fiction to have them in.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2008-05-08 07:03pm

Starglider wrote:
Stuart wrote:Hence the problems the poor Baroness Yulupki was having.
You chose the strangest characters to get sympathetic about.

I'm the only one who when forced to choose in that one thread about what kind of mythological creature you would want to be if forcibly transformed into one, voluntarily selected ending up a Naga. For some reason, I just find the idea rather cool.

JN1 · Post by **JN1** » 2008-05-08 07:34pm

It's a narrative description, not dialogue from the British character himself. There's no reason why it should employ British dialect.

It's only an observation and only a humorous aside at that. However if I'm writing something set in America I'd say restroom, or refer to an armored division, but to be totally honest it's not really important.

Of course they achieved this by drawing half a pint of strong ale and topping it up with half a pint of water, resulting in something even worse than Fosters.

NOOO! Oh the horror, the humanity! It's good that Hell stepped in when it did then.
We really need to win this war if pubs are going to be serving something worse that <shudders> Fosters

Bayonet · Post by **Bayonet** » 2008-05-08 07:50pm

Darth Wong wrote: Remember that he's being auto-translated into modern English, not the English of his era. The English of the 15th century would be only barely recognizable to any of us. So while they might have said "loose" instead of "fire" back in the 15th century, that doesn't really have any bearing on the auto-translation into modern English.

Understanding is all based on context, so this one is kinda up in the air for lack of observations. The ancients are baffled by some of our technical jargon, mainly because it has no context.

If Ori had once heard one of the GIs refer to firing a rifle, he would almost certainly make the contextrual jump.

Starglider · Post by **Starglider** » 2008-05-08 08:23pm

The Duchess of Zeon wrote: I'm the only one who when forced to choose in that one thread about what kind of mythological creature you would want to be if forcibly transformed into one, voluntarily selected ending up a Naga. For some reason, I just find the idea rather cool.

Demonic naga also get four spike-tipped tentacles on their backs that shoot lightning and open hellgates, which has to come in handy from time to time.

JN1 wrote:NOOO! Oh the horror, the humanity! It's good that Hell stepped in when it did then.

I'm glad you agree.

Eulogy · Post by **Eulogy** » 2008-05-08 08:49pm

When humanity inevitably kills Belial and ruins his shit, the human traitors better hope that they are careful and smart enough not to blab that they helped the demons bomb the town, and lucky enough that nobody else rats them out.

JN1 · Post by **JN1** » 2008-05-08 09:21pm

Eulogy wrote:When humanity inevitably kills Belial and ruins his shit, the human traitors better hope that they are careful and smart enough not to blab that they helped the demons bomb the town, and lucky enough that nobody else rats them out.

Not sure I'd characterise someone who has been tortured in Hell for the equivalent of a lifetime, or more as a 'traitor', but as a torture victim. PoWs who have been tortured and gave away information have not been classified as traitors.

Darmalus · Post by **Darmalus** » 2008-05-08 09:50pm

JN1 wrote:
Eulogy wrote:When humanity inevitably kills Belial and ruins his shit, the human traitors better hope that they are careful and smart enough not to blab that they helped the demons bomb the town, and lucky enough that nobody else rats them out.
Not sure I'd characterise someone who has been tortured in Hell for the equivalent of a lifetime, or more as a 'traitor', but as a torture victim. PoWs who have been tortured and gave away information have not been classified as traitors.

Not to mention one of those traitors was so drugged up when he fingered Detroit that he didn't know where he was or who he was talking to, or that he had been tortured in hell for several decades!

Robo Jesus · Post by **Robo Jesus** » 2008-05-09 12:29am

Uhm, I have a question. It's been stated that the demons 'decay' unless their bodies are fed electricity. Given that it's implied that the demons and humans in hell are made of faux matter, what's to say that the lava flow isn't the same and won't start breaking apart sooner or later?

EDIT; Ahh, considering that you have the Tridents as just regular pieces of metal, that brings up the question of WHY the demons decay when their equipment doesn't. In other words, why are the demons made of one type of matter when their materials aren't, and the foods that would be made from those materials (plants for the animals and the animals themselves) don't seem to be made of faux material either. Either there is something very wrong plotwise or the demons 'claim' that they aren't eating the flesh from the humans in hell as standrad fare is outright wrong. =/

dragon · Post by **dragon** » 2008-05-09 12:46am

Very nice. I have a question don't know if it has been asked before or not. What happens to the old or mangled people when they die, do they get new younger bodies. For example that private that just died will he appear in hell with a unmangled, unscarred body?

bilateralrope · Post by **bilateralrope** » 2008-05-09 12:59am

dragon wrote:Very nice. I have a question don't know if it has been asked before or not. What happens to the old or mangled people when they die, do they get new younger bodies. For example that private that just died will he appear in hell with a unmangled, unscarred body?

With the rate of healing in Hell, I doubt anyone will know for sure once they pull him out of whichever torture he gets thrown into.

Sidewinder · Post by **Sidewinder** » 2008-05-09 02:17am

JN1 wrote:
A great revolver indeed. They're not uncommon over here although most have been rebored to take .45ACP.
A bit of a handful, though, hence the move over to the .38 with the Enfield No.2 Mark 1 and Mark 1*, and the Webley Mark IV. The Enfield was a scaled-down version of the Webley Mark VI, and contrary to popular conception it was the Enfield that was army issue, though Webleys were bought during WW2 to make up the numbers.
Not sure I approve of reboring to .45ACP, but I guess .455 is not easy to obtain. Some M1911s were rebored to .455 for the RAF to take things the other way.

According to an 'American Rifleman' article, the .455 Webley cartridge had "approximately two-thirds the puissance of a .45 ACP." I also read that the Webley cannot handle high pressures.

Wikipedia wrote:Since the frame is in two parts, held together by a latch on the top rear of the cylinder, top-break revolvers are relatively weak, and cannot handle high pressure rounds.

Which suggests reboring a Webley revolver for the more powerful .45 ACP is a BAD IDEA. Comments from someone with better knowledge of firearms?