Very short random gun crankery.
December 7th, 2023Super brief historical note, suitable for use in schools.
December 6th, 2023I’ve written before about the Halifax explosion.
I did not know that Damn Interesting had also done an article, and since Alan Bellows is a much better writer than I am, I would encourage you to read it.
(Also, if you feel like it, I’d encourage you to throw a few dollars at Damn Interesting. They’ve missed their goals for the past couple of months and I’m a little worried about the continuing viability of the site.)
Obit watch: December 6, 2023.
December 6th, 2023Dr. William P. Murphy Jr., another one of those unsung big damn heroes.
His most famous invention was probably the plastic blood bag:
…
No matter what I may have thought of Lear’s politics, he served honorably in WWII (52 combat missions in B-17s).
John Nichols, author. (The Milagro Beanfield War)
Denny Laine, of the Moody Blues and Wings.
TMQ Watch: December 5, 2023.
December 5th, 2023No clever introduction this week. Just this week’s TMQ (which you won’t be able to read in its entirety unless you subscribe to “All Predictions Wrong”, which is the actual title of Gregg Easterbrook’s Substack) after the jump…
Obit watch: December 3, 2023.
December 3rd, 2023Tim Dorsey, mystery author. Obit from The Rap Sheet.
I’ve never read any of his books, but he seems to be generally classified as a member of the Florida School of Wackos genre. (See also: Carl Hiaasen, Dave Barry).
Long before Florida Man became the Sunshine State’s unofficial mascot, there was Serge A. Storms, the antihero at the heart of Mr. Dorsey’s 26 novels, beginning with “Florida Roadkill” in 1999.
Brilliant and high-strung, Serge is also a serial killer who channels his homicidal urges into taking out various baddies he encounters during a series of improbable adventures around Florida. He usually rolls in the company of Coleman, his semi-lucid friend whose proficiency with various narcotics is so well known that strangers ask him for autographs.
The Firearm Blog coverage of the Remington Ilion shutdown. Per their story, Model 700 production had already shifted to Georgia earlier this year.
Random question.
December 1st, 2023This is prompted by an email I got from Kino Lorber about their current sale. (Not an affiliate link.)
One of the things they have on sale is “Goldengirl“, a movie I remember from the 1980s but never saw. Check out that cast: James Coburn! Robert Culp! Harry Guardino! Michael Lerner! And Susan Anton, who I also remember from the 1980s but never saw.
I got curious about the plot and went over to Wikipedia, which describes “Goldengirl” as a “American drama sci-fi sports film“.
Which got me to racking my brain. Perhaps I am getting senile, but: how many sci-fi sports films are there? “Goldengirl” and “Rollerball” are really the only two I can think of. (I don’t know that I’d call “Field of Dreams” sci-fi, though I think there’s a strong argument for it being fantasy.)
Gentle readers, what sci-fi sports films am I missing that will cause me to slap my forehead and say “Of course! How could I have forgotten about that one!”
Obit watch: December 1, 2023.
December 1st, 2023Sandra Day O’Connor, a good El Paso girl (thanks, Rich!). WP.
You know who writes really good obits? Murray Newman writes really good obits, thought it probably helps that his obits are for people he knew personally. Anyway, he put up another excellent one for former Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal, who passed away November 23rd. I have not seen this reported elsewhere.
The Remington plant in Ilion, New York. My brother forwarded some tweets yesterday, and Mike the Musicologist found press coverage, but I prefer the Outdoor Life link.
The Ilion plant had been making guns since 1828. I have seen references (but can’t back them up) to this being the oldest continuously operating manufacturing plant making the same product in the United States. At the time of the announcement, they were making the Remington 870 shotgun and the Model 700 bolt-action rifle.
Remington (well, the new “RemArms, LLC”, which is one of the parts that emerged from bankruptcy) is moving all of their production to their new facilities in Georgia, and plans to shut down the plant in March of next year. However, the tweets my brother sent over were from people who said they’d already been laid off.
Frankly, this doesn’t surprise me, though I feel bad for the people who get fired right before Christmas. (Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.) New York is consistently hostile to firearms, so moving everything out of there seems like a good decision. It also sounds like a lot of the equipment is old and needs replacement or refurbishment. I’m surprised that they apparently aren’t offering Ilion employees jobs and relocation allowances to move to Georgia, but the linked article says the employees were represented by the United Mine Workers of America. That could have been another factor: move to Georgia and get cheap non-union labor. (Hi, Lawrence!)
It should be interesting to watch this play out. I’m wondering if Remington also plans to move their museum to Georgia as well.
Obit watch: November 30, 2023, part 2.
November 30th, 2023Shane MacGowan. Pitchfork. NYT. THR.
I’ve never been a Pogues fanatic. I pretty much missed them when they were an operational band, and the first thing I ever heard from them was “Fairytale Of New York”. I think we can play that now. After all, it is the Christmas season.
Later on, I picked up some more Pogues by way of “The Wire”. Unfortunately, I can’t find a clip of a drunk McNulty (not the valued commenter here, the other one) repeatedly ramming his car into a bridge abutment while playing “Transmetropolitan”…
And Shane MacGowan was Irish, but I think I’d be willing to grant him honorary US citizenship just for this song, which should probably be the national anthem. (Well, either that, or “You Never Even Called Me By My Name”.)
Frances Sternhagen, actress. THR. Other credits include “Law and Order”, “Up the Down Staircase”, and “Communion”.
Obit watch: November 30, 2023, part 1.
November 30th, 2023Henry Kissinger. NYT. WP. LAT. McThag. Henry Kissinger official website.
Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
–Tom Lehrer
Yes, I know…
November 29th, 2023Kissinger obits tomorrow, when I have a chance to search the ‘Tube for that Python bit.
Obit watch: November 29, 2023.
November 29th, 2023This is being well covered, but for the historical record: Charles Munger, generally described as Warren Buffett’s right hand man. ZeroHenge obit by way of Lawrence.
Marc Thorpe, “Robot Wars” guy.
Victor J. Kemper, cinematographer. Pretty impressive body of work.
(The Saturday Movie Group watched “They Might Be Giants” before Thanksgiving. I like George C. Scott, and I’d never really realized how good looking Joanne Woodward is. But the movie seems interesting but flawed. I don’t want to spoil the ending because there really isn’t one.)
TMQ Watch: November 28, 2023.
November 28th, 2023Looking over the hysterical records, the last real TMQ watch we did was December 11, 2018. So it has been very close to five years. We’re not even sure we remember how to do this.
But a gift is a gift, a promise is a promise, and after the jump, this week’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback (which you won’t be able to read in its entirety unless you subscribe to “All Predictions Wrong”, which is the actual title of Gregg Easterbrook’s Substack) after the jump…