It isn’t just steel…

January 23rd, 2023

…it is battleship steel.

And it isn’t just battleship steel, it is (I’m pretty sure) low background steel.

Sadly, though, low background steel ain’t what it used to be.

You know, I wonder if you could forge a knife out of Battleship Texas steel…probably, if you could get enough of it from the Foundation. That’d be a cool gift shop item.

On a semi-related note, I find this slightly weird. No shade on Drachinifel: I’ve watched a few of his shorter videos, but don’t have time for his longer stuff. I guess it just seems odd that they’re using him as a draw. Even more so at $100 a head (drinks and “light snacks” extra).

Posted in Geek, Knives | 3 Comments »

You dry-docked my battleship!

January 23rd, 2023

You don’t really realize how big these things are until you’re standing right next to them.

You also don’t realize just how large the infrastructure supporting these things is until you see it.

(If you live in Texas, or want to make a trip, the Battleship Texas Foundation is doing these tours through April 30th, only on Sundays. You can find details here if you’re interested.)

(This was a Christmas present from my beloved and indulgent brother and his family. Thanks, folks!)

Posted in Boats, Christmas, History, Photography | 4 Comments »

O Canada!

January 23rd, 2023

I didn’t get a chance to blog this yesterday, as I was busy pretty much all day (for reasons I hope to be able to post shortly).

Bruce Boudreau out as coach of the Vancouver Canucks. That’s a NHL team, for those who might be wondering: I was a little confused at first myself and thought they were a CFL team.

The Canucks have lost 28 out of 46 games this season.

Boudreau is the second coach Vancouver has fired in under 14 months. Boudreau took over in December 2021 when previous coach Travis Green and general manager Jim Benning were let go 25 games into the 2021-22 season.
The Canucks have missed the playoffs the past two seasons since reaching the second round in the bubble in 2020.

…

Teams coached by Boudreau for a full season have made the playoffs nine out of 10 times. His .626 points percentage ranks fourth among coaches with at least 500 games behind the bench, and his 617 wins are tied for 20th in league history with Hall of Famer Jacques Lemaire.

Posted in Firings, Sports | Comments Closed

Firings watch.

January 21st, 2023

Former NFL player Ed Reed out as football coach of Bethune-Cookman University.

The question is, does this count as a firing?

He was “hired” less than a month ago, but stated yesterday:

“Bethune-Cookman University has been working with my legal team to craft contract terms with the language and resources we knew were needed to build a successful football program,” Reed wrote on Twitter. “It’s my desire to not only coach football, but to be an agent of change that most people just talk about being. However, after weeks of negotiations I’ve been informed that the University won’t be ratifying my contract and won’t make good on the agreement we had in principle, which had provisions and resources best needed to support the student athletes.”

Mr. Reed also went on a rant a few days ago “about the conditions at Bethune-Cookman”.

Posted in Firings, Sports | Comments Closed

Firings watch.

January 20th, 2023

Matt Weiss out at Michigan. (Previously.)

Ed Donatell out as defensive coordinator for the Vikings.

Posted in Loser, Sports | Comments Closed

Obit watch: January 19, 2023.

January 19th, 2023

Yukihiro Takahashi, drummer and vocalist for the Yellow Magic Orchestra.

Mr. Takahashi and Yellow Magic Orchestra, which he founded in 1978 with the musicians Ryuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosono, were often ranked alongside the German electronic group Kraftwerk as pioneers in electronic music and significant influences on emergent genres like hip-hop, New Wave and techno.
Yellow Magic Orchestra was among the first bands to employ in live shows devices like the Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer and the Moog II-C synthesizer, which they used to complement Mr. Hosono’s funky guitar and Mr. Takahashi’s tight, driving drums.
Unlike their German counterparts, who leaned into the avant-garde nature of electronic sound and referred to themselves as automatons, Yellow Magic Orchestra found ways to bend it toward pop music, blending in elements of Motown, disco and synth-pop.
In a 1980 appearance on the television show “Soul Train,” the band performed a souped-up version of Archie Bell and the Drells’ “Tighten Up,” after which a bemused Don Cornelius, the show’s host, interviewed Mr. Takahashi. Kraftwerk, it might go without saying, never appeared on “Soul Train.”

Jonathan Raban, writer.

Mr. Raban’s literary narratives of the places he visited and the people he met combined travelogue, memoir, reportage and criticism. What he was not, he insisted, was a travel writer.
“Travel writing seems to me a too-big umbrella, full of holes to let the rain in,” he told Granta magazine in 2008. “Anyone commissioned by a newspaper to write up meals and hotels in foreign holiday resorts is a travel writer. Anyone who does a guidebook is a travel writer.”

David Crosby, of Crosby, Stills & Nash and The Byrds. This seems to be breaking news: hattip on this to Lawrence. (Edited to add: NYT obit.)

Arthur Duncan, noted tap dancer.

There were more renowned tap dancers during his long career — Bill Robinson, Sammy Davis Jr. and Gregory Hines among them — but only Mr. Duncan had a regular national television showcase like the one he had on Saturday nights on the popular if square Welk show, from 1964 to 1982.
“‘Lawrence’ was not the hippest show around,” Mr. Hines told The Daily News of New York in 1989, when he was headlining “An Evening of Tap” at Carnegie Hall with Mr. Duncan and other dancers, including Bunny Briggs, Brenda Bufalino and Savion Glover. “But I’ll tell you, when nobody was home, I’d tune in, hoping to catch Arthur.”
He added, “He’s one of the most underrated dancers around, and a lot of that has to do with the association of the show. But other dancers know he’s great — and for a while he was the only one keeping tap in the public eye.”

…

“He did a number almost every day, and he could always count on knocking me out when he did ‘Jump Through the Ring,’” Ms. White wrote in her 1995 autobiography, “Here We Go Again: My Life in Television, 1949-1995.”
But broadcast during the Jim Crow era, some Southern stations threatened to boycott the show because of Mr. Duncan’s presence on it, a response that came as a “frightfully ugly surprise,” she wrote.
In the 2018 documentary “Betty White: First Lady of Television,” Mr. Duncan said, “People in the South resented me being on the show, and they wanted me thrown out.”But Ms. White did not yield.
“I’m sorry, but, you know, he stays,” she recalled saying to NBC. “Live with it.”

Posted in Books, Music, Obits, TV | 2 Comments »

Quick lazy firings watch.

January 19th, 2023

Josh Boyer out as defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins. Also out: safeties coach Steve Gregory, outside linebackers coach Ty McKenzie, and assistant linebackers coach Steve Ferentz.

Byron Leftwich out as offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay.

Posted in Firings, NFL, Sports | Comments Closed

Day of the .45, part 1.5 (Brief random gun crankery)

January 18th, 2023

That FOIA request took about five days. The people at Redstone Arsenal (especially “Stephanie”) are a nice bunch of folks.

The following information was found in the Department of Defense (DoD) Small Arms/Light Weapons Registry for M1911A1, .45mm Automatic Pistol, NSN: 1005-00-726-5655, Serial Number XXXXXX.

1. 26 May 1995 - United States Property and Fiscal Office (USPFO) of Michigan (MI) National Guard (MIARNG), Lansing, Michigan performed multi-field corrections on the weapon.

2. 01 October 1996 - Rock Island Arsenal - Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, Rock Island, Illinois received the weapon from United States Property and Fiscal Office (USPFO) of Michigan (MI) National Guard (MIARNG), Lansing, Michigan.

3. 28 January 1997, 30 November 1998, 18 March 2003, 13 August 2003, 08 October 2003, 07 January 2004, 02 March 2004, 21 April 2004, 01 July 2004, 04 October 2004, 03 January 2005, 22 February 2005, 18 April 2005, 15 July 2005, 31 January 2006, 04 April 2006, 05 February 2007, 22 January 2008, and 11 August 2008 - Rock Island Arsenal - Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, Rock Island, Illinois performed reconciliations on the weapon.

4. 20 November 2008 - Rock Island Arsenal - Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, Rock Island, Illinois shipped the weapon to Army General Supply (Logistics Modernization Program (LMP) Stock Records), Anniston, Alabama.

5. 17 April 2009 - Army General Supply (Logistics Modernization Program (LMP) Stock Records), Anniston, Alabama received the weapon from Rock Island Arsenal - Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, Rock Island, Illinois.

6. 24 January 2010, 06 March 2011, 03 December 2011, 19 January 2013, 07 March 2015, 01 May 2016, 05 March 2017, 04 June 2017, 31 March 2019, 26 April 2020, 25 April 2021 - Army General Supply (Logistics Modernization Program (LMP) Stock Records), Anniston, Alabama performed reconciliations on the weapon.

Yes, I did edit out the serial number, which is plainly visible in the photos. But photos are not text, and I just feel better leaving that information out.

I’m slightly disappointed that the available information only goes back to 1995 (“The DoD Small Arms/Light Weapons Registry history only goes back to 1975 when the Registry was started.”) but that’s not Redstone’s fault. And I can talk myself into believing that this gun sat in a National Guard armory or depot in Lansing for a long time.

I’m not sure what “multi-field corrections” means: it might imply that the pistol was serviced at that time. But since the 1911 was replaced in service in 1985, it seems a little weird that they’d be working on them nine years later. Could be, though, that the military was keeping them in inventory and servicing them, just in case they were needed again. (See: the shortage of 1911 pistols during WWI.)

I am pretty sure “reconciliation” just means that they verified the serial number in question was still in inventory, and hadn’t grown legs and walked off.

Anyway, still a neat gun, and I see nothing in the historical record that refutes my theory this one may have seen action in WWII.

And thank you again, McThag!

Edited to add 1/19: according to this thread on the CMP Forums, “Multifield Correction” is “Used for correcting erroneous or invalid national stock number (NSN), owner DoDAAC/UIC, or weapon serial number (WSN) on the UIT Central Registry file”. So this seems to be more paperwork corrections than any sort of servicing/rebuilding/reworking of the gun.

Posted in 1911, Guns, History | 2 Comments »

Obit watch: January 18, 2023.

January 18th, 2023

Lucile Randon, better known as Sister André. She was 118.

The French nun became the world’s oldest known person after the death of Japan’s Kane Tanaka, who died last year at 119, according to Guinness World Records. With Sister André’s death, the oldest known person, according to the Gerontology Research Group, which validates those thought to be 110 or older, is Maria Branyas Morera. She was born in the United States, lives in Spain and is 115.

…

She was known to be a gourmet. For her 117th birthday, she ate foie gras, roasted capon, cheese and a dessert similar to a baked alaska. She said in several interviews that she enjoyed a daily diet of wine and chocolate.

Frank Thomas, one of the original Mets.

...Frank Thomas was an All-Star with the Pirates in 1954, 1955 and again in 1958, when he had his best season, hitting 35 home runs, driving in 109 runs and batting .281.
He later played for the Cincinnati Reds, the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Braves, who traded him to the Mets in November 1961 when they were forming the roster for their National League debut.
Usually playing in left field for Manager Casey Stengel’s 1962 Mets team, which lost a record 120 games, Thomas drove in 94 runs in addition to his 34 homers — a club record that stood until Dave Kingman broke it with 36 in 1975 — taking advantage of the short left-field foul line at the Polo Grounds, the Mets’ home for their first two seasons.

…

He later played for the Houston Astros and again for the Milwaukee Braves before rejoining the Cubs, who released him early in the 1966 season, ending his career.
In addition to his 286 home runs, Thomas drove in 962 runs in his career and had a .266 batting average.

I encourage you to click over to the obit so you can read the “Yo la tengo!” story, which I think is too long to put here.

K. Alex Müller, winner (with J. Georg Bednorz) of a Nobel Prize for advances in high-temperature superconductivity.

Jay Briscoe, pro wrestler with Ring of Honor.

The Briscoes — Jay, and his brother Mark — are 13-time tag-team champions of the promotion, which included a present reign.

He was 38, and died in a car accident. He had two daughters in the car with him, who are currently hospitalized.

Wayne “Gino” Odjick, NHL player. The obit describes him as a “beloved enforcer”. He was 52, and died of a heart attack: he’d been diagnosed with AL amyloidosis in 2014. (Hattip: Lawrence.)

Wear your seatbelts, people. (Hattip: Lawrence.)

Posted in Obits, Religion, Sports | Comments Closed

At the weird intersection of sports firings and legal news…

January 18th, 2023

Firings news (sort of): Matt Weiss, “co-offensive coordinator” for the University of Michigan, has been placed on leave.

Legal news: He’s involved in a criminal investigation.

Weird news: It doesn’t involve domestic violence or any of the usual crimes.

“The University of Michigan Police Department is investigating a report of computer access crimes that occurred at Schembechler Hall during December 21-23, 2022,” University of Michigan Deputy Chief of Police Crystal James said in the statement. “Since this is an ongoing investigation there is no additional information to share.”
An entry from the university police’s online daily crime log on Jan. 5 notes that police received a report about “fraudulent activity involving someone accessing university email accounts without authorization” at Schembechler Hall. It is the only report of police activity at the football facility in the past month.

Posted in Firings, Law, Sports | Comments Closed

Frank Mansfield, call your office, please.

January 18th, 2023

According to some rooster men, the game fowl, or fighting chicken, was almost chosen to be the national bird of America. “And it should’ve,” a breeder once told me. “An eagle ain’t nothing more than a glorified buzzard.” Such game-fowl lore and sentiment abound: George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were devoted rooster fighters. Union and Confederate soldiers put aside their differences on Sundays during the Civil War to pit their chickens against one another. Abraham Lincoln was given the nickname Honest Abe after he displayed impartiality as a cockfighting judge. Whatever the (dubious) historical merit of claims like these, they are meant to establish the deeply American identity of game fowl. “They fought them right out on the White House lawn,” says David Thurston, president of the United Gamefowl Breeders Association, a national nonprofit dedicated to the birds’ preservation.

(Alternative link for the NYT challenged.)

(Title reference explained.)

Posted in Birds, Clippings | Comments Closed

Firings watch.

January 17th, 2023

Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and quarterbacks coach Shane Day out at the worthless Los Angeles Chargers.

Posted in Firings, NFL, Sports | Comments Closed

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