Archive for April, 2019

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A small silly diversion.

Wednesday, April 17th, 2019

Lawrence stated the other night that you can Google DuckDuckGo “Florida Man” and any combination of words and almost be guaranteed you’ll get some results back.

Here is a perfect example of that theory:

Florida man arrested after aggressively eating handfuls of pasta

No, you are not having a stroke. Yes, that is an actual headline, though the gentleman in question was actually arrested for (quel frommage!) being drunk and disorderly in public and resisting arrest. To the best of my knowledge, the eating of pasta – even in an aggressive fashion – is not an actual crime in Florida. Yet.

In other news of the weird:

Man in monkey mask stole mail from Southwest Austin apartments, police say

Moral of this story: don’t mess with the postal inspectors. They got his fingerprints off light bulbs, and…

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service, told police the agency had planted a gift card in the mail designed to force the recipient into giving up their personal information to access the gift card. The day after the burglary, postal inspectors learned that the card was accessed by a Texas woman who — joined by a man later identified by authorities as Ortiz — used the card at a Target retail store on Research Boulevard about two weeks later, the affidavit said.

“The Man in the Monkey Mask” was also one of Dumas’s less successful works.

Posted in Bagatelle, Law | Comments Closed

Obit watch: April 17, 2019.

Wednesday, April 17th, 2019

Owen Garriott, astronaut.

In 1973 he was the science pilot of Skylab 3, the record-breaking 59-day mission — more than double the duration of any previous flight — to Skylab, the first United States space station.
He logged nearly 14 hours outside Skylab in three spacewalks, during which physiological and biomedical metrics were monitored to determine the body’s response to long periods spent in reduced gravity.

…

He returned to space in 1983 on the 10-day flight of the shuttle Columbia, which carried the European Space Agency’s Spacelab 1 module, on which a multinational team of scientists conducted research.
On that mission, Dr. Garriott operated the first amateur radio station from space. He used his station’s call sign, W5LFL, to connect with about 250 ham operators, including his mother in Enid, Okla.; Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona; and King Hussein of Jordan.

…

His marriage to Helen Walker in 1952 ended in divorce. In addition to his son Richard, his survivors include three other children from that marriage, Randall, Robert and Linda Garriott; his wife, Evelyn (Long) Garriott; three stepchildren, Cindy Burcham, Bill Eyestone and Sandra Brooks; 12 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Posted in Geek, History, Obits, Radio | Comments Closed

Gene Wolfe.

Tuesday, April 16th, 2019

Michael Swanwick. I love that story about the bags full of old books: I have a similar feeling to Wolfe’s sometimes when I’m watching an old movie, or (yes) handling an old book.

Brian Doherty at Reason’s “Hit and Run”.

Lawrence.

Posted in Books, Obits | Comments Closed

Obit watch: April 16, 2019.

Tuesday, April 16th, 2019

Thanks to Alan Simpson for providing Gene Wolfe obit links. I’m still holding off a bit on posting here, as I’d like to see some things come together first.

In the meantime: Georgia Engel, Ted Baxter’s girlfriend/wife on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”. Apparently, she also had a gig on “Everybody Loves Raymond”, but I was one of the people who didn’t love Raymond. And she had a pretty substantial theater career, both before and after MTM.

“I was walking down the street one day after ‘Dolly’ closed to cash my unemployment check for $75,” Ms. Engel told The Toronto Star years later, “when I ran into John and he told me I had to be in his play ‘The House of Blue Leaves.’ I was so thrilled, until I got my first paycheck. I was making $74, one dollar less than unemployment.”

Posted in 1970s, Books, Obits, Theatre, TV | Comments Closed

Obit watch: April 15, 2019.

Monday, April 15th, 2019

I am seeing unconfirmed reports that Gene Wolfe, one of the greatest SF authors ever to walk the face of the earth, has passed away.

I’ll try to link to reliable obits when I find them.

Edited to add:

Posted in Books, Obits | 2 Comments »

Happy BAG Day!

Monday, April 15th, 2019

I did make it down to Cabela’s yesterday, but I didn’t see anything that really called out to me and said “Take me home!”

They did have a bunch of S&W Model 59s in one of the display cases – I want to say at least ten out on the floor, and I don’t know if they had more in back. It looked like they’d been knocked around some, so I’m thinking these were trade-ins or surplus from somewhere. But I didn’t have a chance to ask, or look closely at any of them, as the counter people were busy. The price isn’t too awful – $350 – and it is a Smith I don’t have, but I just don’t know if I need another hi-cap 9mm right now.

They also had a surprising number of Winchester Model 70s out on the rack (as opposed to in the gun library) but nothing pre-64 (of course) and none of them were in calibers that I found desirable: mostly .30-06 and .243, with one each in .300 Win Mag and .308. Also a bunch of Savage rifles, but, again, nothing in a caliber or configuration that really attracted me.

So I’m declaring a push on my own personal Buy a Gun Day. But I’m also declaring this an open thread for anyone who wants to brag about their acquisitions.

P.S. Since I’m making the rules for this thread: yes, layaways do count. Also, if you need some inspiration, you-know-who is still selling M&P Shields for $250.

Posted in Guns | Comments Closed

Good night, Luke.

Friday, April 12th, 2019

Luke Walton out as head coach of the LA Lakers.

98-148 over three seasons. LA was 37-45 and missed the playoffs this season.

Posted in Firings, Sports | Comments Closed

Obit watch: April 12, 2019.

Friday, April 12th, 2019

Earl Thomas Conley, musician.

Mr. Conley had 24 Top 10 country singles in the ’80s, several of which he wrote or co-wrote, including 18 that reached No. 1. Only two artists that decade topped the country charts more times than he did: the vocal group Alabama, which had 27 No. 1 singles, and the singer Ronnie Milsap, who had 23. All but one of Mr. Conley’s No. 1 hits were recorded for RCA, starting with “Somewhere Between Right and Wrong” in 1982.

…

“My stuff started with bluegrass music,” Mr. Conley once explained in an interview. “That’s what inspired me, the people that came out of those hills in West Virginia and Kentucky. And, of course, Hank Williams Sr. down in Alabama.
“I was born in ’41, and I was raised up on that early stuff,” he went on. “Coming out of those mountains, there’s a different soul and a different feeling and a whole different deal than what it would be like to come from the city.”

Forrest Gregg, legendary Green Bay Packer.

He was the best offensive lineman of his era. He was so good that he went to nine Pro Bowls, was a first-ballot Hall of Famer and was named to the NFL’s 75th anniversary team.

…

Drafted in the second round out of SMU in 1956, Gregg began a streak of a then-NFL record 188 consecutive games, interrupted only in ’57 when he missed the entire season in order to serve in the army. The NFL did not count those as missed games and Gregg became a mainstay on the Packers’ offensive line, playing mostly right tackle but filling in at guard when injuries dictated.

He also did some coaching: he was with the Browns, took the Bengals to the Super Bowl, had a controversial stint as head coach in Green Bay, and was the first coach at SMU after the scandal.

NYT. Packers.com.

Posted in Music, Obits, Sports | Comments Closed

Firings watch.

Thursday, April 11th, 2019

Dave Joerger out as head coach of the Sacramento Kings.

Three seasons, 98-148, and the team went 39-43 this season, which was their best record since 2005. Also out: assistant GM Brandon Williams and PR director Chris Clark.

Memphis fired head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and “reassigned” GM Chris Wallace. Apologies for linking ESPN, but I can’t get the Commercial-Appeal website to load on my phone.

(Edited to add 4/12: coverage from the Commercial-Appeal.

Not exactly a firing, but Larry Drew is not coming back as head coach in Cleveland. Drew took over after head coach Tyronn Lue was fired early this past season.

Posted in Firings, Sports | Comments Closed

BAG Day is coming!

Thursday, April 11th, 2019

Again. Monday, April 15th. Of course, a lot of the good smaller gun shops are closed on Monday, so (as always) I don’t have a problem if you want to start early, or extend your BAG shopping into next week.

What am I getting this year? There’s nothing that I’m really excited about or that turns my crank. I’m tempted to pick up one of the Palmetto State Armory M&P Shields (which are still on sale) but I don’t really feel like I need one.

Earlier today, I got an email from CDNN, who are selling the “Steyr Scout RFR”. I assume “RFR” means “RimFire Rifle”, as these are available in .22 Magnum, .22 LR, and .17 HMR. I didn’t even know these existed before now.

The idea of a rimfire “scout rifle” (Cooper would call it a “pseduo-Scout”) is kind of appealing, and I’ve been thinking about something in .17 HMR. The price isn’t bad, but I haven’t quite finished getting my Savage Scout set up the way I want it yet. (I’ve got the scope, I’ve got the rings, I just need to find a gunsmith I can trust to mount and boresight it.) So I’m not sure I want to put more money into another scout that will need a scope. Plus, for .17 HMR, I’m actually thinking more along the lines of the Ruger Precision Rifle than a scout.

And I’ve actually checked off all the items I had on last year’s list. Well, mostly: I have the sling and the scope, and the Dragon Leatherworks holster is on order (expected delivery at the end of May.)

If I have time over the weekend, I might run down to Cabela’s to see if there are any targets of opportunity, but I’m not counting on it. Unless I see something that really excites me, I’m probably going to be putting BAG Day money into getting more of my collection set up the way I want it.

But don’t let me stop you, and feel free to share photos of your BAG Day finds here if you want to.

Posted in Guns | Comments Closed

Obit watch: April 11, 2019.

Thursday, April 11th, 2019

Ed Westcott passed away at the end of March. He was 97.

Mr. Westcott was the photographer at Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project era. Note I said “the photographer”: Mr. Westcott was the only person authorized to take photos at Oak Ridge. (There were also photographers at Los Alamos and Hanford.)

Thousands of his negatives were stored at Oak Ridge, and then at the National Archives in Washington, before they were declassified years later.
He also developed aerial reconnaissance photos of the devastation wrought by the bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as armed guards waited outside his darkroom.

Kind of related: I got curious about the Cemestos houses, did some DuckDuckGoing, and found this piece from McSweeney’s. I know, but I actually thought this was pretty good: Anne Wheeler’s a charming writer, and I’d love to hit some nuclear tourism spots with her.

Posted in Obits, Photography | Comments Closed

Own goal.

Wednesday, April 10th, 2019

When I was a small child, I had a book.

Well, actually, I had more than one book. But this one was about planes: I don’t remember the title, or if it was about planes in general, or just military aircraft.

But I do remember a casual mention in that book of a plane shooting itself down by running into its own cannon fire.

What brings this to mind?

The F-16, which suffered considerable damage in January during an exercise above Vlieland, appears to have been hit by its own ammunition. At least one fired cartridge caused damage to the cladding of the device. Parts of the ammunition also ended up in the engine.

(Translation by Google Translate. Original is in Dutch.)

More from Military Times, which is in English, and actually mentions the incident I think I remember.

Posted in Planes | Comments Closed

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