"The Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator"

 

I'm pleased to say that my Buck Rogers XZ-38 Disintegrator pistol arrived in the mail today, more or less on schedule.

I somehow had in my head that it was nine inches long, and I was right - well, nine and a quarter, actually. Regardless of the actual size, it's a bit smaller than I had pictured it, but it fits comfortably in my hand, which is a little surprising given that I'm six feet tall and have average-sized hands.  It must have felt like a serious piece of weaponry in the grip of a ten-year-old in 1935.  To my eye, it doesn't look hokey or funny, it's a well-designed device with an Art Deco feel to it.

As I expected from the pictures, there's some corrosion on the tri-thermal convergence unit* at the end of the barrel, and a slightly wide gap on the back of the grip compared to the rest of the body. A couple of the sub-atomic condenser flanges* are a bit dented, and there's some rust inside the bell itself.

If someone told me that the convergence unit had fallen off at some point in the pistol's life and been soldered back on by some sympathetic handyman, I'd believe them:  the join between the end of the beam definer tube* and the unit looks tinned, the same way that copper water pipes look near a join.

The spring mechanism for the energy release lever* is completely missing in action.  The hinge mechanism is still sound, but when I pull on the trigger it doesn't return to position, and I have to tug it back out of the frame. Whatever sort of noise or spark was supposed to be produced is lost to the vagaries of time.

The finish is in acceptable shape, not perfect but what you'd expect under the circumstances, the joins between halves of the body are good, and it actually feels quite solid when I hold it, well balanced and comfortable. The various Pat. Pending documentation and the Buck Rogers Registered Trademark information is sharp and clear on the side of the body.

Overall, I'd have to say that I'm pleased with my unexpected purchase, regardless of its various signs of age.  All it needs is a fresh impulse generator cell*, perhaps an adjustment of the beam collimation coils* in the convergence unit, and it would be ready once again for use against the enemies of Earth.

 - Sid

* All of these except one are the actual names for the parts of the disintegrator as per the original Daisy box - the other one I just made up based on my extensive background in focused energy weapons.

Travel snapshots.

Photocomp by Jason Major

I love that we're now able to get regular photos from Mars. This particular shot is from the Curiousity rover, who took a break en route to Mount Sharp to bang the dust off some sampling tools and take a few pictures.  As with the Opportunity rover, it's difficult to avoid imagining something like Wall-E, repeatedly thwacking its sieve against a rock, scrutinizing it briefly but intensely, then rapidly banging it again before rolling off with a general air of satisfaction at a job well done.

On the other hand, I'm a little surprised that NASA doesn't have a more sophisticated solution to dust buildup on geological sampling devices than "thwacking".

 - Sid

And it's not just because Todd let me keep the quantum sphere.

In the wake of the whole Continuum-time-machine thing, I have to admit that I'm probably going to re-visit the show.  I saw part of a Season Three episode today in which an 18-year-old character comes to the realization that the forty-ish man he's talking to is actually his son, while a future version of the same 18-year-old sneaks out the door behind his own back in order to save the girl he loves from dying in a couple of days.  And as far as I can tell, these are just the subplots - obviously there are some interesting things going on.

 - Sid