Archive for the ‘Explosives’ Category

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“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 340

Saturday, March 6th, 2021

Here’s a couple more random things I pulled out of the big bag o’ random.

First off: “Turn On With AC – AC Tough!”. This is from 1973, and if that’s not enough of a warning for you: this is full on “Joel, am I tripping?” fodder. The best way I can describe it is as an early 1970s variety show (or a parody of same) promoting AC products. Not AC-Delco: they didn’t become AC-Delco until 1974.

I’m not necessarily saying that you should watch this, but it is only about 17 and a half minutes, and is so bizarre that it should make the younger set say, “What were they doing in the 1970s?!” (Answer: cocaine. Lots and lots of cocaine.)

Somewhat more serious bonus: “The Bomb Disposal Men”, from the British Army Documentaries channel. This dates to 1974, and deals with the work of bomb disposal men (“Ammunition Technical Officers”) in Northern Ireland.

Somewhat more serious bonus 1.5: “The Long Walk”. This is a more recent BBC documentary “following three retired bomb disposal officers as they recount their experiences in Northern Ireland during the IRA bombing campaign of the early 70’s.” It covers some of the same ground as “The Bomb Disposal Men” (and even uses some clips from it), but I find it kind of interesting to have this historical perspective.

Somewhat less serious bonus #2: “The Making of The Hunt for Red October”. Exactly what it says on the tin.

I should pick that up. I don’t think I’d put it in my top ten, but I have really fond memories of seeing that film in theaters, and would not mind seeing it again.

Posted in Cars, Explosives, History, Movies | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 333

Saturday, February 27th, 2021

After last week’s storm ended and the ice melted sufficiently, both Lawrence and I had trouble getting our cars started.

In my case, the car was sitting from Friday the 12th to Saturday the 19th, so a little more than a week, and it seemed like the battery was basically dead. I have a jumper box: when I hooked it up, though, the car would respond (dash lights, etc.) but it didn’t seem like my jumper box was providing enough power to kick the starter over.

I ended up calling AAA, who arrived within 30 minutes of my call (!) and brought their giant jumper box. The car started right away: I let it idle and drove it around for about an hour total, and didn’t have any problems with it starting after that. (Knock wood.)

What brings this to mind?

“Can We Make This FROZEN Truck Run During A Polar Vortex!?” I have to say: this does not look entirely unlike my situation. I was in a suburban driveway instead of a field next to a barn, but other than that…

Bonus #1: “Costco Boost Pack: Electrician vs. Truck Starter”. Somehow this reminds me of standing outside in the cold with that jumper box…

AvE has a separate video on the “stupid design” of the Costco boost pack.

Bonus #2: My dad used to go around to various places in the winter and cut wood for firewood. What we didn’t burn in our own fireplace, he sold to friends and neighbors. Dad had side hustles before there were side hustles.

I was never able to talk him into doing anything with explosives, though.

Bonus #3: 60 Minutes Australia visits “the coldest town in the world”, Oymiakon.

If it’s warmer than minus 55 degrees Celsius, then it’s a good day.

Posted in Cars, Explosives | 1 Comment »

And 2021 said, “Hold my beer and watch this!”

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2021

As if it hasn’t already been a year…

Gender Reveal Device Explodes, Killing Man in Upstate New York

Peter Pekny Jr., 34, the oldest of the brothers, called what happened “the freakiest of freak accidents that I could ever imagine,” though he did not know what had set off the explosion, he said in a telephone interview on Monday.
He said that his brother Michael was in stable condition at a hospital in Middletown, N.Y., and that doctors were able to rebuild a damaged knee.

Posted in Explosives, Safety | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 319

Saturday, February 13th, 2021

My phone currently claims that the low on Sunday will be 11 degrees Fahrenheit with snow, and the low on Monday will be 8 degrees Fahrenheit.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…

“Clearing An Avalanche Using Explosives!”

“Railroad Crew Uses Howitzer CANNON to Trigger Huge Avalanche”.

“With this long range 105 howitzer, the team will fire shells into the danger zone…”

You know, those space blankets are so cheap, you probably ought to get a few. Keep one in your car(s), maybe tuck one away in a windbreaker or coat pocket (they’re small, too)…search Amazon for “mylar survival blanket”.

“German Military Special Forces Mylar Blanket Survival Shelter”

“Now you might be asking yourself, ‘Self, why is this guy taping chapstick and a lighter together with 550 cord?'” Answer: “Make the Best Fire Kit! Light a Fire Any Time Any Where!!”

Finally, “Lost WINTER Survival Challenge (NO Food, NO Water, NO Shelter!) | Knife, Saw, Axe, Wire, Rope”.

Posted in Explosives, Guns, Trains | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 292

Sunday, January 17th, 2021

Science Sunday!

Whatever happened to chloroform? Well, turns out as an anesthetic it occasionally caused complications like death. And it may be a carcinogen.

It is classified as an extremely hazardous substance in the United States as defined in Section 302 of the U.S. Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (42 U.S.C. 11002), and is subject to strict reporting requirements by facilities that produce, store, or use it in significant quantities.

But why should we let that stop us?

Oh, yeah: it also decomposes into phosgene unless you stabilize it first. Which is a bit concerning…

Next: “I somehow convinced myself to order a full kilo instead.”

That’s a full kilo of…sodium cyanide.

“Does cyanide actually smell like almonds?”

This is right on the annoying border for me, so I won’t hold it against you if you skip the video and read the notes instead.

This one might be a little more interesting: the chemistry of arsenic, from the Periodic Videos folks.

As a side note to this, and because Lawrence and I have been talking about it, I went looking for videos on Shadows From the Walls of Death. I did find a few about the book (not death metal) but…they were all in foreign languages without subtitles.

Okay, just one more: “The Science Behind Shaped Charges”.

Posted in Explosives, Geek, History | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 235

Friday, November 20th, 2020

This is another video that I just flat out could not pass up. People who know me well will understand why.

“The Devil’s Cigarette Lighter”, from 1962 and the Red Adair Company, featuring (of course) Red Adair.

Bonus video #1: Remember these commercials?

I have this mental image of Red Adair placing phone calls to get well heads…and charging them on his AmEx card. (In reality, I expect that his company probably had open accounts with everyone who provided equipment: no AmEx needed.)

(Side note: Red Adair’s biography is kind of pricey on Amazon, even in used paperback form. Interestingly, Boots Hansen’s book (affiliate link) is available in a Kindle edition.)

Bonus #2: this is a two-part biographical video about Red Adair. Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 2 does include a brief discussion of Piper Alpha and Adair’s role in putting out the fire.

Posted in Books, Explosives, History, Kindleing | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 220

Thursday, November 5th, 2020

Travel Thursday has been delayed until tomorrow, because this is also my happy Guy Fawkes Day post for all my homies in the United Kingdom. This is also going up earlier than usual because UKOGBNI time differences. (Two! Two! Two posts in one! Because I’m a lazy blogger.)

So: Happy Guy Fawkes Day, people! I’ve been waiting probably about six months to use this one.

Richard “Hamster” Hammond from 2005: “The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding the Legend”. In which Hammond not only talks about the gunpowder plot, but builds a replica of the House of Lords…and then blows it up.

I know this is kind of long, so for the convenience of my readers who may not have a holiday today: here’s the timestamp for the big event.

Spoiler:

(more…)

Posted in Explosives, History | Comments Closed

Brief historical note, suitable for use in schools.

Wednesday, September 16th, 2020

I would completely have missed this if it were not for Hacker News, but: today is the 100th anniversary of the Wall Street bombing.

In 1919, a coordinated attack had bombs going off in seven cities, including Washington, DC, where an explosive was supposed to land on the porch of US Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. But, said Gage, “it was set to a timer and went off prematurely. The guy carrying the bomb, an Italian anarchist, got killed. Pieces of his body were found all over Palmer’s neighborhood.”

…

It’s widely speculated that an Italian anarchist named Mario Buda did the deed in retaliation for the murder-robbery indictment of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (better known as Sacco and Vanzetti). Buda, who was thought to be involved in the 1919 bombings, was never brought in for questioning and fled to Italy soon after the Wall Street attack.

There’s an interesting book by Mike Davis, Buda’s Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb (affiliate link). He views the Wall Street bombing as the first car bomb, even though it wasn’t really a “car” bomb.

FBI page. There’s an “American Experience” documentary that you can apparently stream for free if you’re a PBS station member or have Amazon Prime.

Posted in Explosives, History, Horses, Law | Comments Closed

Things I enthusiastically and wholeheartedly agree with.

Wednesday, August 26th, 2020

The first two panels of today’s “Dinosaur Comics”. Having extensively studied listened to the first 112 or so episodes of “The History Of Rome”, I am confident in stating that the decline and fall of the Roman Empire began when the Empire proscribed setting off fireworks whenever you felt like it.

All of this Babylon Bee op-ed. (Hattip: MtM.) Yes, I am aware that they are a satire site, but everything in that piece is correct: everything did start going downhill when men stopped wearing hats.

“The best thing about kids’ soccer being canceled this year”. Although I quibble slightly with this: the best thing about kids soccer being cancelled isn’t the renewed socialization, it is the fact that kids aren’t playing soccer.

Posted in Bagatelle, Explosives, Hats, Sarcasm, Sports | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 96

Saturday, July 4th, 2020

Skyrockets in flight!

Okay, this is another “not quite random” pick. But in honor of the 4th of July, I thought it might be fun to post some things that go “boom”.

“10 INCREDIBLE Space Launch Failures!” In 4k, for the discerning viewer.

Here’s a short one: eyewitness video of the 2015 Tianjin explosion. I’m posting this based on the assumption that the people filming made it out okay (seems reasonable).

My initial reaction when I first saw this was: “Why did you wait? Why didn’t you start running IMMEDIATELY!” But on second thought, what’s safer: sheltering in place (and hoping the blast doesn’t knock over your building, or send fragments through the windows), or running into the street and hoping you don’t get hit by falling fragments or inhale toxic byproducts? I honestly don’t know.

Every once in a while, I spend a little time watching BLEVEs on YouTube. Here’s a good compilation: and, if you are unfamiliar with the term “BLEVE”, it also explains what those are. Life pro tip: you don’t want to be anywhere near one.

Here’s another point of view of the Murdock BLEVE, featuring a news crew who found that out the hard way.

Posted in Explosives, History | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 95

Friday, July 3rd, 2020

I’m easing into the July 4th weekend myself. So there’s no overarching theme here, other than: America!

“Grayhounds of the Sea”, a history of U.S. Navy destroyers, narrated by none other than Mr. Jack Webb.

Ordnance Lab builds a replica of the Syrian Hell Cannon Mortar. This is part 1: as far as I can tell, they haven’t posted part 2 yet. (The Wuhan Flu probably has something to do with that. But it looks like they’ve been doing stuff recently with the Roomba-Boomba.)

“Ten Years To Remember”. This is a promo film from the Martin Company (which later merged and became Martin Marietta, and even later on merged again and became Lockheed Martin) from 1964, covering ten years of rocket development.

1972 NASA promo film for Skylab. I’ve always been kind of partial to Skylab.

I was only going to do three, but this one popped up, and it is short: a tribute to Robin Olds from AirForceTV.

Tomorrow: things blow up real good.

Posted in Explosives, History, Planes, Ships | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 66

Thursday, June 4th, 2020

I haven’t put up any Canadian content (CanCon) in a while, so let’s fix that today. Plus: explosives!

“Handle With Care”, a 1943 documentary about TNT production during the war.

Bonus video #1: “Birth of a Giant”. From 1957, about the construction of the Canadair Argus, a massive Canadian built anti-submarine aircraft.

Bonus video #2: This is a little longer, but at least one reader might enjoy it: “Challenger: An Industrial Romance”, about the design and construction of the Canadair Challenger executive jet. This is also from 1980, so at least you’ve got color. Plus, you know, I kind of like the National Film Board of Canada.

Posted in Explosives, History, Planes | Comments Closed

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