I’m kind of fascinated by the idea of disaster recovery. Back in the day when I was a sysadmin, and later when I was doing backup/recovery support, disaster recovery was a part of my life. These days, other people plan disaster recovery for what I do (and we have a lot of redundancy) but every now and then, I see someone who’s got themselves jammed up…
What does the phone company do?
“Operation Desert Switch”. After Gulf War I, Kuwait’s phone system was completely destroyed. AT&T came to Kuwait in early March 1991 to get at least some limited phone service back to the country:
The Second Avenue fire is not one I remember, but I do recall the Hinsdale Central Office fire: I was reading TELECOM Digest on USENET pretty avidly at the time, and the Hinsdale fire was a big freaking deal.
Why don’t we continue with our tour of the United States and visit another exotic destination?
“More Per Mile”, a 1950s travelogue about the great state of Kentucky, “the state where the young have fun”.
Bonus: “Real Appalachia with Shane Simmons” visits Harlan.
Bonus #2: This stretches the definition of “travel” a bit, but I found it amusing: “Flight Attendant: Is There A Doctor On This Flight? Dad: Yeah, Me [It Happened Again]”. This guy seems to get dragged into in-flight medical emergencies a lot.
Also, to be honest, I’m fascinated by this portable Bluetooth EKG machine. Not that I have heart trouble, but at $149, this almost falls into “impulse buy” territory. Throw it in your carry-on if you are a doctor and are traveling…not that I know anybody who falls into that category…
I’m feeling in the mood for some random gun crankery.
DeviantOllam – DEFCON speaker, locksport guru, penetration tester, gun guy, bon vivant, and international man of mystery – has a YouTube channel. I plan to put up some more videos from him on other topics in the future, but I thought I’d link this very recent one: “What’s Inside the Rifle Bag that Tarah and I Both Use?”
There are things I don’t care for in this video. But that’s because my needs and my preferences differ from Mr. Ollam’s. Neither of is wrong, we just do things differently and have different ideas. For example, I would get a different bag: not just because the one in this video is currently unavailble, but because I don’t like storing my rifles broken down. (Many of them don’t break down anyway. Though a takedown pre-1964 Model 70 would be a really bizarre and interesting thing to have a gunsmith build.)
But watching this video gives me a lot of ideas for things that I would like to start carrying, and things I would like to do.
Here’s another perspective and another guy’s bag: “Jon’s Bag Gun Setup – An EDC Bag That Packs A Punch!”
Again, I’m not saying I agree with everything here. But I like the lightness and compactness of this guy’s setup for a truck/car bag. (I have to say, though: that Unity Tactical Clutch belt seems a little on the high side for me, price wise.)
Bonus: Maggie, from the “God Family and Guns” channel, explains “What Happens If You Lie On Your Background Check?”. I’m sure all of my readers know this, but I thought I’d link this video here so you can use it as a handy refutation next time someone starts spouting off.
Related: “How To Pass Or Fail A Background Check”. For the next time someone says “It’s easier to buy a gun than it is to vote.”
“That’s what we do here. We adopt babies to good homes to people who can pass their background checks.”
One more, just for giggles: “Top 5 Guns With Cult Followings” from TFB TV.
He went on to become active in Republican politics and became rich. Then in 1972, he found Jesus, but with a twist: he built his own religious community and specialized in taking down scam evangelists.
I cannot tell a lie: “permanently banned from the ‘700 Club'” is what hooked me. (And “often obscenity-laced, sometimes violent Bible study sessions”. And “a Trinity member who, like Mr. Anthony, had taken a vow of poverty before acquiring a private investigator’s license”.)
Among those “margins of Dallas society” he attracted: Joe Bob Briggs.
Well, I threatened some mixology, and it has been a while since I’ve done anything with cocktails…
Two videos on the gin and tonic, with associated discussion on malaria and quinine: the “How to Drink” guy:
And Alton Brown:
Bonus, also from the “How to Drink” guy: “A history of Tiki: Donn the Beachcomber”. Personally, I find the backstory behind Donn Beach interesting, which is why I’m linking the video here. The cocktails strike me as sort of fussy and requiring various specialized syrups and ingredients (“Velvet Falernum”, “Fassionola Syrup”), which you may be able to get mail order (if the store isn’t sold out). Frankly, I like cocktails that I can make from a relatively small number of ingredients that are available locally.
The “Missionary’s Downfall” does sound feasible, though I don’t generally keep peach brandy around.
Today’s videos go out to FotB RoadRich, as they involve two of his favorite things: planes and submarines.
This is an older documentary (about 1990) from Connecticut Public Television on the USS Nautilus.
Back in a previous life, when I was going to Rhode Island semi-frequently, I was lucky enough to visit the Submarine Force Museum in Groton twice. The first time I went, the Nautilus was closed for renovations. So I made a second trip a while later just to see the Nautilus. I really like the museum itself, and the Nautilus: once things open back up again, if you have the chance, I recommend visiting.
Bonus: “Saga of the Skyraider”, a short video about the Douglas A-1 Skyraider.
This is one of those planes that I think would be hella fun to fly as a civilian, and maybe not that expensive to run.
Bonus #2: Since that last one was short, I’ll throw one more in here: “Tactical Weapons Effects Tests”, a 1963 Air Force promo film featuring Century series fighters blowing stuff up.
I wanted to do some biology today. Specifically, I wanted to do some stuff about malaria, as that would give me an opportunity to work in a couple of (appropriate!) videos about the gin and tonic.
But I couldn’t find any real science videos about malaria that I liked. I might do the G&T videos another day, if I decide to do a day of mixology.
Anthropology is kind of close to biology, though, and is science: “The Natural History of our World: The Time of Man”. I apologize for the naked man a-s early on, but you can safely fast forward past that. Also: narration by Richard Basehart!
Bonus: “How Does Forensic Anthropology Help Solve Crimes?”, with Dame Susan Margaret Black.
Bonus #2: I find something kind of soothing in Dame Black’s voice, so how about another lecture from her?
“Forensic anthropology in the real world – this is not CSI!”
“So if I do nothing else this evening but remind you to switch off the television when ‘CSI: Fleetwood’ or whatever it is comes on next, can we please not?”
(And I quote Dame Black as a person who actually has a certain amount of affection for “CSI: Original Recipe”, at least the first eight or so seasons. I also say this as a person who can distinguish TV from reality, which I guess means I need to “check my privilege” or something.)
(I also say this as someone who is interested in forensic anthropology, but has never studied it formally.)
Somewhat similar question: how can you have a bad axe?
Answer: “The Worst Axe I’ve Ever Tested”. Surprisingly, this is from Spyderco, a company whose products I am generally fond of.
Bonus #1: “Bacon Grease as Engine OIl? Let’s try it!”
I’m posting this specifically because: over the weekend, Mike the Musicologist came up for our birthday dinner. And somewhere along the way, a group of us got into a discussion of whether, and how long, you could run an AR with no lubrication…other than mayonnaise, the vile emulsion. No, I don’t remember where this idea came from, and it wasn’t terribly late when we came up with it. I mean, mayo is mostly oil, right? I suspect what would mess things up is the eggs.
We were actually discussing doing a YouTube video on this, using Duke’s, Hellman’s, homemade mayo…and Miracle Whip, which isn’t mayo, but is two lies in one.
I know somebody who has a GoPro and would probably let me borrow it, in addition to our phone cameras. We just need to find a range that will let us do the filming and isn’t busy, and someone who’s willing to let us mess up their AR (maybe temporarily?) for science.
(On an unrelated side note, I now have my snazzy new ballistic chronograph in hand. And MtM and I were discussing some more serious ideas for YouTube videos. I have a little list, if we can ever get around to it.)
One more, just for fun: “18 Straight Minutes of Useless Catholic Trivia”.
You know, I could almost do a day of great TV theme songs from the ‘Tube. I don’t think I’m going to, but I could…
But today: “Pattern For Progress”, “…which shows how machines increase the power of farming operations, therefore increasing production and revenue.” This is a product of the Ethyl Corporation and Esso.
Bonus #1: I’ve never heard of “Combat Dealers” before. It might be on Quest TV. It might also need subtitles.
I’ve noted before that I think an old VW Thing would be fun to hack around in, if I could afford one. Someone a while back recommended a used Jeep Cherokee as another fun hacking around car.
So: “American Jeep Vs German Kubelwagen”. Neither of these is exactly a Cherokee or a Thing, but they’re kind of within shouting distance.
Bonus #2: I’m actually going to link to an entire playlist here, for bookmarking purposes and because I can’t pick just one.
These are fairly short, but there are a bunch of them. Just to give you a taste: “4 Special Tricks with the Victorinox Toothpick” that don’t involve picking your teeth with it.
Today’s my birthday, so I’m queuing this up in advance. I thought I’d try to do something a little different today, maybe go back to some things I haven’t done in a while.
Like trains.
“Last of the Giants”. This appears to be a Union Pacific documentary about their “Big Boy” steam locomotives, which they operated in “revenue service” until 1959. UP still operates one “Big Boy” and one “800 Series” locomotive for promotional purposes.
Interestingly, the “Big Boy” has actually been converted to run on oil:
Bonus: Do you like people speaking with Russian accents? Do you like Zippos? I like Zippos. Most of the time, I can take or leave Russian accents.
By way of “CrazyRussianHacker“, “7 Zippo Gadgets You Did NOT Know Exist”.
It doesn’t (generally) get that cold in Texas, but I kind of want one of those Zippo hand warmers anyway. I remember my dad used to have something similar kicking around, but he didn’t use it much in my memory, because it doesn’t (generally) get that cold in Texas. There have been some New Year’s Eve’s when we’ve been setting off fireworks, though…
Bonus #2: Here’s a bit of a time capsule for you. It could also fall under “Travel Thursday”, but I’m not putting it there for two reasons. One, this is different.
The “Museum of Automata” in York. Apparently, this was filmed sometime in the 1990s.
Reason number two is that, sadly, from what I’ve found on the Internet, the museum closed quite a while ago.
Bonus #3: I will freely admit, I am posting this one to tweak someone who says “‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ f–king ruled!” (My own personal opinion: the monster fight scenes were pretty good. Unfortunately, there was an excess of humans and human interaction in the movie, and I really didn’t like any of the humans. The kaiju film that would “f–king rule” for me would be the monster equivalent of “The Raid: Redemption”: maybe two minutes of introductory setup, two minutes of epilogue, and 116 minutes of giant monsters fighting.)
Anyway, C.W. Lemoine ruins the first fight scene from “Godzilla vs. Kong”.
To be honest, I thought the movie looked a lot better on the screen at the Alamo than it does in this video. Also, to be fair, it is just a TV show movie: I should really just relax.
Bonus #4: I see a lot of folks talking about minimizing their lifestyle, and stripping away almost everything to the point where they can live almost completely out of a van. (I see very few of these folks who have toilets in their vans: apparently, when they need a bathroom, they find one at a gym, gas station, store, or other place of public accommodation. But I digress.)
Have you ever listened to these folks talk, or read any of their praises for van life, and asked yourself, “Self, what do these people do when it is -20 degrees? -20 Communist Centigrade degrees, too, not -4 American Fahrenheit degrees.” (See, by converting from Centigrade to Fahrenheit, you’ve already made yourself feel warmer. If you go a step beyond and convert to 455 degrees Rankine, you’ll probably give yourself heat stroke.)
Well, here you go.
Bonus #5: Okay, I know I’m posting a lot of stuff today. Consider this a present on my birthday to you, my loyal readers.
Have you ever asked yourself, while stoned on your couch, “Self, what ever happened to all those paintings Bob Ross painted?”
I’m going to guess: probably not, because I don’t think most of you are stoners. But just in case, the NYT (who probably are a bunch of stoners, judging from some of the crazy (stuff) they publish these days) investigated. Here’s what they found.
