Archive for February, 2021

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“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 325

Friday, February 19th, 2021

Just a random assortment today. Think of this as like a Whitman’s Sampler that you picked up at the grocery store after Valentine’s Day for 50% off. At least, you would have IF YOU HAD BEEN ABLE TO GET OUT TO THE GROCERY STORE THROUGH THE SNOW AND ICE IN AUSTIN.

Not that I’m bitter or anything.

Anyway: The Pogues perform “London Calling”. Without Shane MacGowan, but with Joe Strummer.

This next one requires a bit of background: I’ve posted videos from “Captain Joe” before. If you’re the kind of person who sees videos of air traffic control conversations pop up in your feed, you’ve probably heard of “Kennedy Steve”. Steve was a controller at JFK (he retired a few years back) who became somewhat of a legend for his sharp (and often amusing) exchanges with pilots, ground crews, and others. Especially those who were keeping traffic from flowing in and out of JFK. Here’s a random example, which may not be the best: search “Kennedy Steve” on the ‘Tube.

ANYWAY: Captain Joe interviews Kennedy Steve. This is basically RoadRich bait.

“How to Poop in the Woods and NOT Die”. Do I really need to put a content warning on this? Well, maybe. Content warning.

I would like to note, for the hysterical record, that How to Shit in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art is still in print (in a 4th edition, no less) and is readily available from Amazon (affiliate link).

Bonus: this is short, but I did get enough of a kick out of it that I wanted to share. Two of the stars of a minor 1960s TV science fiction series in a promo for Western Airlines.

The airline merged with Delta in 1987.

I think just one more. I don’t really consider this military history, but more of a music video. Clips of German Luftwaffe F-104 Starfighters…set to Peter Schilling.

Posted in Books, History, Music, Planes | 2 Comments »

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 324

Thursday, February 18th, 2021

Travel Thursday!

This is slightly less timely than I would have liked: I would have used this last week, but it wasn’t uploaded then.

There was a TV series called “Vagabond” back during the 1950s, hosted by a former child star named “Bill Burrud”. This episode is about Mardi Gras. And even better, it is in color!

Bonus video: in keeping with the theme, and offering something more recent, here’s something called “NOPD: Mardi Gras” which is exactly what it says on the tin: New Orleans Police Department officers patrolling during Mardi Gras in 2006.

Posted in History, Travel, TV | Comments Closed

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 323

Wednesday, February 17th, 2021

I thought today I’d try some more random gun crankery.

There’s a company called Optics Warehouse. I find it surprising that they sell rifle scopes in the UK, but I digress.

Anyway, they have a series called “Master Sniper”. This is episode 4, “British Sniper Rifles Through The Ages”.

One reason I wanted to mention this: Swift and Bold Publishing, the folks behind The British Sniper, A Century of Evolution (which I have previously discussed) have a new book coming out at the end of the month, The Green Meanie L96A1. Swift and Bold has been a pleasure to deal with in the past, and I endorse this product and/or service. (Even though the price does give me the leaping fantods, but again, have you priced sniping books recently? With shipping from the UK?)

Short bonus video #1: I haven’t used anything from the US Army Marksmanship Unit recently, so here’s an interesting video on the concept of “maximum point blank”.

Bonus video #2, from the School of the American Rifle, “AR-15 Cleaning Equipment”.

Bonus video #3: from Brownells (so keep in mind that they are trying to sell you product, though in my experience they are honorable and honest people): “Quick Tip: Tools Every Gun Owner Needs”.

Posted in Books, Endorsements, Guns, History | Comments Closed

Obit watch: February 17, 2021.

Wednesday, February 17th, 2021

Rush Limbaugh. Because I think the last thing in the world El Rushbo would want me to link to is the NYT, especially since the obit that’s up now is both incomplete and kind of insulting.

The website, which seems to be under heavy load right now.

I wish I could say more, but I was never a Rush listener, or really a talk radio listener after I left high school.

Edited to add: Lawrence. Also, thank you, Chris.

Posted in Obits, Politics, Radio | 2 Comments »

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 322

Tuesday, February 16th, 2021

Radio, radio!

A tour of WBCQ in Maine from April of last year. WBCQ is a new shortwave station:

WBCQ features a 1 million watt transmitter with a rotatable 400 foot tall high gain directional antenna array that has an Effective Radiated Power output of 20 million watts.

Bonus #1: We went on a virtual tour of the Early Television Museum. How about one of the Antique Wireless Museum?

Bonus #2: Another tour, this one of WLW in Mason, Ohio. WLW at one point was transmitting at 500,000 watts (between 1934 and 1939). They were forced to drop down to 50,000 watts, and still use that power level.

Despite no longer being the sole occupant of 700 kHz, WLW’s signal still sometimes spanned impressive distances, and in 1985 overnight host Dale Sommers received a call from a listener in Hawaii. Reception at the United States Air Force’s Thule Air Base in Greenland (4235 km) has been reported as sufficiently good for routine listening with an ordinary commercial AM-FM radio receiver at night during the Arctic winter.

Posted in History, Radio | Comments Closed

Obit watch: February 15, 2021.

Monday, February 15th, 2021

Over the weekend, FotB RoadRich sent an obit for Lt. Col. Thomas Robert ‘Bob‘ Vaucher (USAF – ret), certified American badass, who passed away on February 7th at the age of 102.

What did LTC Vaucher do? He flew B-29s. More specifically, he delivered the first B-29 from the factory to the military. He also led the flyover of the USS Missouri during the surrender ceremony. Additionally:

He is recognized for several B–29 “firsts” that are recorded in his biography. Vaucher flight-tested a B–29 to 38,000 feet to assess bomb bay activation, pressure modifications, and other systems; flew as commander on the aircraft’s first strategic combat mission against Japan; flew on the longest nonstop World War II combat mission of 4,030 nautical miles round trip from India to Sumatra; and streamlined cruise procedures that helped increase bomb load by almost 50 percent.

…

In the course of 46 months of active Army Air Corps service, Vaucher flew nearly 40 different aircraft types during 117 combat patrol, bombing, mining, and photography missions in Panama, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, the Galapagos Islands, India, China, and Tinian. His military awards include two Distinguished Flying Crosses, five Air Medals, eight battle stars, and 13 wartime commendations and citations, according to his biography. He was an active GA pilot for 62 years.

…

Weak brakes, a lack of reversible props, and a nosewheel collapse cut one wartime B–29 mission short. During another, Vaucher’s heavily laden long-range bomber struggled to gain altitude when one of the four supercharged 2,200-horsepower Wright R-3350 Duplex Cyclone engines feathered unexpectedly on takeoff. “I staggered out” as the 138,000-pound aircraft slowly gained altitude, he recalled to Zimmerman. “What happened was that when the co-pilot ganged the power down from our takeoff engine speed of 2,900 rpm to 2,600 rpm or so, one of the toggle switches stuck and an engine went into feather mode. I could barely keep the airspeed up above a stall. Fortunately, we took off at sea level and remained at sea level for the next 10 miles, so I was able to baby the thing up to get going.”
“I flew it so much it was second nature to me,” Vaucher said from the pilot seat of the B–29 during a video recounting his wartime flying experience. “I have 3,000 hours sitting in this chair—a year and a half of work.”

This is a 2016 talk LTC Vaucher gave to the Air Force Association NJ Chapter 195 about his experience flying the B-29.

Another shorter video from AOPALive:

Posted in History, Obits, Planes | 2 Comments »

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 321

Monday, February 15th, 2021

I don’t want to seem like I’m whinging about the cold (even if it is 477.67 degrees Rankine out at the moment) so I thought I’d fall back to some more military history today.

From 1944, vintage OSS film: “Army Experiments In Train Derailment & Sabotage”. You know, it is a lot harder to derail a train than you’d think…

Bonus video #1: higher quality, and more recent: “An Eye In the Darkened Sky”, a promo video for the A6-E Intruder and the Target Recognition Attack Multi-Sensor system (TRAM).

This was a small, gyroscopically stabilized nose turret containing a FLIR boresighted with a laser spot-tracker/designator and IBM AN/ASQ-155 computer. TRAM allowed highly accurate attacks without using the Intruder’s radar, and also allowed the Intruder to autonomously designate and drop laser-guided bombs.

Bonus video #2: “Royal Navy Learning Gutter Fighting”. Might be some useful tips here if you’re the kind of person who gets held at bayonet or gun point.

Bonus video #3, and I think this one is a real treat: “Cowboy 57” a 1959 short about the day to day activities of a B-52 crew. The treat is: this is narrated by Brigadier General James Maitland Stewart.

Posted in History, Planes, Trains | 2 Comments »

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 320

Sunday, February 14th, 2021

Science Sunday!

I’ve been thinking about volcanoes. Why? No reason, really.

This seems right up RoadRich’s alley, and possibly Lawrence’s as well. I’m trying to find this on blu-ray, but the only versions I’ve found so far are not US region discs.

(What I really want to do is a double-bill of this and “Krakatoa, East of Java”. The latter actually does seem to be available on a US region disc at a reasonable price.)

Anyway…

I like this video because it clearly solves two problems at once: heating up the ravioli and opening the can. And because the ravioli is in the can, you avoid the gas problems you get when you try to toast marshmallows over hot lava. Now if you could just figure out a way to contain the hot ravioli once the can explodes.

Anyway, that was just the appetizer. From Gresham College and visiting professor Sir Stephen Sparks CBE, “Enormous Volcanic Eruptions”.

Bonus #1: “Volcano!”, a NatGeo documentary.

Bonus #2: “Life on the Rim: Working as a Volcanologist”, also from NatGeo, but short.

Bonus #3: Professor Tamsin Mather on “Volcanoes: from fuming vents to extinction events”.

Posted in Geek, History, Movies | Comments Closed

Obit watch: February 14, 2021.

Sunday, February 14th, 2021

Lawrence sent over an obit for Lynn Stalmaster, Hollywood casting director.

Nicknamed “The Master Caster,” Stalmaster has more than 400 casting credits listed on IMDb, with the too-many highlights to mention including I Want to Live! (1958), Inherit the Wind (1960), The Great Escape (1963), The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966), In the Heat of the Night (1967), They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969), Harold and Maude (1971), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Onion Field (1979), Tootsie (1982), Nine 1/2 Weeks (1986), The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) and Battlefield Earth (2000).

…

For John Boorman’s Deliverance (1972), Stalmaster set up a casting call at a Georgia elementary school and found Billy Redden to play the quirky youngster in the movie’s famous banjo scene. And he suggested that Ned Beatty (making his film debut) play one of the businessmen who takes that fateful canoe trip down the river.
Stalmaster also was instrumental in the career of William Shatner (Judgment at Nuremberg); discovered LeVar Burton, then a sophomore at USC, for the landmark ABC miniseries Roots; cast country singer Mac Davis to play a pro quarterback in North Dallas Forty (1979); and insisted that eventual Oscar nominee Sam Shepard portray Chuck Yeager in 1983’s The Right Stuff (“It’s the only time I thought the film couldn’t be made without one specific actor,” he once said). He cast more than 100 roles for that movie alone.

He also was responsible for getting Dustin Hoffman into “The Graduate”, Christoper Reeve into “Superman”, and John Travolta into “Welcome Back, Kotter” among almost 400 credits in both movies and TV. He was the first casting director in history to receive an Academy Award.

Brayden Smith. He was a recent five-time “Jeopardy” champion:

Mr. Smith, she said, had achieved a lifelong dream by winning “Jeopardy!” as a contestant on some of the final shows hosted by Mr. Trebek before Mr. Trebek died in November at age 80 after a battle with cancer.

He was only 24.

He graduated last year from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with a degree in economics and had planned to become a lawyer in the federal government. He had recently served as an intern at the Cato Institute in Washington, researching criminal justice reform.

Posted in 1970s, Movies, Obits, TV | 2 Comments »

“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

Smash Lampjaw!

Saturday, February 13th, 2021

I wanted to note this yesterday, but I was kind of waiting to hear back from someone.

Austin Police chief Punch Rockgroin Brian Manley is retiring at the end of March.

He’s been the police chief for about three years, but he’s been on the force for 30.

It could be that he’s fed up with the current state of Austin politics and wants to get out while the getting is good. (Lawrence has suggested that Chief Slate Slabrock would have a lot of support if he ran for mayor. I currently live outside the city limits so I can’t vote for him if he does run.)

It could just be that, after 30 years, he wants to go off and do something else. At the 30 year mark, an APD officer gets 96% of their base salary in retirement. I think that’s based on your salary for the past two years, but I could be wrong about that. At “commander” rank, base salary ranges from $138,144 to $158,160 a year: I’m not clear on what chief pay is, but even 96% of the high end for a commander is still over $150K a year. Plus Chief Roll Fizzlebeef has a MBA from St. Edward’s University (one of the reasons I like the guy) so I doubt he’d have any trouble finding a job in private business.

Another person who shall remain nameless shared some speculation that Chief Punch Sideiron resigned as part of a deal with the City Council and city manager to get them to approve a new police academy class: we’ll bring in some new recruits who will (we hope) turn into officers, and in return you get to appoint the next guy to run the department. If so, that would be fairly noble on his part.

The big question in my mind right now is: who gets the job? Somebody local (which is another reason I liked Chief Rip Slagcheek: he was a local boy), or will they bring in someone from California (like they did with the previous chief, Art damn it! Art Acevedo). I suspect the latter, but would be pleasantly surprised with the former, depending on who they do appoint. (Ken Cassady, the head of the police union, is probably right off the list of candidates.)

I wish Chief Buck Plankchest the best of luck in whatever he does next, even if it does mean I don’t have as many chances to use selections from the Dave Ryder Wiki entry.

Posted in Austin, Cops, Law, Politics | 1 Comment »

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 318

Friday, February 12th, 2021

I kind of enjoy motor sports. I’m not an obsessive NASCAR fan, but I do kind of follow it from a distance. I’ve kind of lost track of IndyCar (though when I was younger, the Indy 500 was a big deal for me), and I never really got into F1 (but I do have a general passing familiarity with it).

As my regular readers know, I’m also a student of failure. So today’s videos…

“The Worst NASCAR Race Ever: The 1969 Talladega 500”.

“The Worst Formula 1 Race: The 2005 United States Grand Prix”.

There are a couple of others that I considered plugging into today’s slot, but either they were long and boring, or they involved people being killed in racing accidents. Nobody needs that (stuff).

Posted in Cars, History, Sports | Comments Closed

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