Regular readers of this blog have probably figured out that I love a good spy story.
Have you ever heard of Lionel Crabb? I had, because the story was in a collection of great spy stories I have floating around somewhere.
Lt. Commander Crabb was a British frogman. On April 19, 1956, LTC Crabb disappeared while on a mission for MI6: he was exploring Ordzhonikidze, a Soviet cruiser that was visiting Britain on a diplomatic mission (with Nikita Khrushchev on board.)
His body turned up 14 months later. Maybe.
Bonus, combining spy stories with another of my loves: “The Secret Listeners”, a 1979 BBC documentary about radio intelligence during WWI and WWII.
Our movie for New Year’s Eve (before we set off fireworks) was “The Starfighters“. (Specifically the MST3K version with “B-1” Bob Dornan, though I’m not sure there is a non-MST3K version available on home video.)
Personally, I feel that it could have used more refueling and flight scenes, and less romance and character development. But that’s just me.
The F-104 is an interesting aircraft, especially in terms of its operational history.
Why was the German accident rate so high? Lots of reasons.
“Why Germany had so many accidents with the F-104 Starfighter”.
Bonus #1: “F-104 Starfighter Walkaround”.
Bonus #2: I hope you like Starfighters, as this is basically “The Starfighters” without bots, Mike, skits, or all that annoying character development stuff.
I’ve mentioned Theodore von Kármán in passing previously, but only in the context of his influence on other folks. He was a hugely important scientist in his own right, though: he did massively important work on fluid flow (including air flow) and turbulence, especially in the supersonic realm.
This is a lecture from 2012 about von Kármán’s life and work.
Bonus: A discussion with Roger Penrose on “What is time?”
The other day, I was at Half-Price Books, and found a first edition first printing of One Ranger (affiliate link) signed by both authors for $10, which is a heck of a find. I’ve written before about this book, and I won’t repeat myself here.
But it did get me thinking about the Texas Rangers.
I still have not seen “The Highwaymen”. It isn’t out yet on DVD or blu-ray, I refuse to subscribe to NetFlix, and I haven’t gotten up enough motivation to hoist the black flag.
But I do love this scene, both for the obvious reason and because there’s a limited amount of Woody Harrelson.
No, that wasn’t today’s video.
“Doing Justice to Pancho Hamer” part 1:
Part 2:
“Captain Frank Hamer and his go to firearms.”
This guy says that Frank Hamer did not use the Remington Model 8 to dispatch Bonnie and Clyde (they were used in the ambush, just not by Ranger Hamer):
A photo of the posse’s weapons taken shortly after the shooting that shows one BAR. (I do not believe Boessenecker reproduced that photo in his book.)
A footnote in which Boessenecker attacks Guinn’s scolarship and sources, but does not offer any sources of his own.
Boessenecker claims that the Monitor in the Ranger’s museum did belong to Hamer but there is “no evidence” it was used in the ambush. But he also admits that Hamer’s rifle in the museum could not have been used in the ambush. (It is a Remington Model 81, a successor to the Model 8, that wasn’t manufactured until 1940.)
History doesn’t work on the basis of “which writer we like better”. But given Boessenecker’s (in my opinion) weak sourcing, his tendency to take pot shots at other writers, and the moralizing he inserted into his book…unless somebody shows me a better reliable source, I’m taking Guinn’s side in this dispute.
(It looks to me, watching clips on YouTube, that “The Highwaymen” takes the Boessenecker side.)
For those unfamiliar with the Monitor (which is probably a lot of folks) it was basically a cut-down version of the BAR. Here’s a video from Brownells showing both.
And one last video for the road, from TFB TV: “John Moses Browning’s Amazing Remington Model 8 Semi-Auto Rifle”.
(Remember, JMB’s birthday is coming up January 23rd. I’ll probably do a thematically appropriate post that day: in the meantime, I encourage you to pick up something designed by JMB if you don’t already have one of his guns. A .45 would be nice if you fall into that category, but an Auto-5/Remington Model 11, a Hi-Power, or a Winchester Model 1894 would be fine choices as well.)
Happy New Year! And happy Travel Thursday on Friday!
I thought we’d go someplace exotic today. Namely, “The Land Called New Jersey”, a 1960s promo film from Humble Oil.
Bonus: I may be fudging the definition of “travel” a little bit, but this popped up and I couldn’t resist for two reasons. “Come Fly With Me”, a documentary (about one hour long) about the history of Pan Am. Reason #1 being: Pan Am.
(Speaking of Ms. Blackman, we actually did watch “Cockneys Vs. Zombies” (affiliate link). And…it’s not bad. I don’t think it is one of the great zombie films, but for $8 it gives you about 90 minutes of solid fun entertainment. And both Ms. Blackman and Alan “Brick Top” Ford are quite good.)
New Year’s Eve, the night when all the amateur drunks are out on the road. These seem fitting. (We’ll do Travel Thursday on Friday again this week.)
Shot: From the Laphroaig Whisky channel, a tour of the Laphroaig distillery.
Chaser: “Space Driving Tactics”. This has nothing to do with Star Wars (though if you want that, I assume you’ve seen Ian’s video) but is instead a 1971 driver’s ed film about the importance of allowing space so you can react to the drivers around you. This seems especially important on a night like tonight.
Another thing I’m trying to avoid using too much is the “Timeline – World History Documentaries” channel. But this popped up in the feed, and is relevant to my interests:
“How The Germanic Barbarians Annihilated Rome’s Legions”, a semi-short (49 minutes) documentary about the Battle of the Teutoberg Forest.
Bonus: To give folks a little variety, here’s a documentary about “The Black Ghost”, a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T SE with a 426 Hemi that was a street racing legend in Detroit.
I’m not a huge gearhead, and definitely not a big Mopar guy, but I have to say: that is one nice car, with a great story behind it.
Short: a 15 minute documentary about Ruark from the Robert Ruark Society.
Long: “Safari Hunting”, a 1954 documentary about an African safari, featuring Robert Ruark (and Harry Selby) and narrated by Ruark.
It’s kind of cool, for someone as Ruark obsessed as I am, to see and hear the man himself, instead of just reading him. It’s also kind of cool to see what a safari was like in the 1950s.
And speaking of that, one of my Christmas presents from my beloved and indulgent sister and her family was a swell book: White Hunters: The Golden Age of African Safaris by Brian Herne (affiliate link). I’m about 3/4ths of the way through it, and I feel comfortable in recommending this book.
I remember trying to roast chestnuts on an open fire in our fireplace when I was really young. Frankly, I didn’t care for the taste: I remember finding them really bitter and unpleasant. But: I have also found that my tastes have changed a great deal as I have aged.
(On a side note, I strongly suspect that is one thing many parents do not understand about children. I firmly believe that things parents like the taste of now, actually taste acutely unpleasant to their children. I suspect there is scientific research that will back me up on this. Main point being, back off on micro-managing your children’s eating. As long as they aren’t developing scurvy, I don’t think you need to worry. Nor do I think you need to cook second meals just for your children, to be clear.)
Bonus: I have a doctor’s appointment today, so you’re getting a sampler platter. Hope that’s okay.
“Neuschwanstein: Secrets of a Castle”, a documentary from Deutsche Welle. (Don’t worry, this is in English.)
Just going to add here: this is one of my desktop backgrounds when I’m using multiple monitors.
An air-to-air formation of four fighters participating in REFORGER ’82 fly over the cloud shrouded Neuschwanstein Castle on the German/Austrian border. The flight of three F-15 Eagles from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida is lead by a German Air Force F-104 Starfighter. Exact Date Shot Unknown
“Einstein on Light; Light on Einstein”, a lecture by Douglas Hofstadter at Uppsala University in 2017. This is about 52 minutes, with a short introduction.
Bonus #1: A bit shorter: Douglas Hofstadter at Stanford on “Trying to Muse Rationally About the Singularity Scenario”.
Bonus #2, which is also kind of a bookmark: Someone at MIT taught a course on Gödel, Escher, Bach, and the lectures are posted on the ‘Tube. Here’s the first one, which should enable you to find the rest of them.
Seriously, do you ever feel like the days are just an oncoming freight train, constantly bearing down on us?
(I am obligated, of course, to point out that, as all people of goodwill know, the Christmas season actually runs through January 6th, and anyone who nags you about leaving your lights and decorations up is a Philistine and not a serious person.)
This is an odd one that didn’t pop up at random: someone on The Drive linked to it in the comments section. I have to apologize that it isn’t in English and doesn’t have subtitles, but I think there’s enough interesting imagery in this to overcome that.
According to the commenter, “Wehrhafte Schweiz / La Suisse vigilante / La Svizzera vigilante” is a 1960s Swiss military propaganda film, originally shot in Cinerama. I think this is a surprisingly good transfer: you might want to watch it on the ‘Tube in full screen mode. You might also want to fast forward past the opening, which is kind of trippy, but (again) does not have English subtitles.
English translation of the YouTube description from Google Translate:
The official doctrine is communicated after a lengthy prologue, which allows different positions on national defense to be heard. A large-scale, combined combat exercise demonstrates the interaction of various branches of weapon.
‘
Bonus: Since that was kind of short (especially if you skip over the tripping beginning), here’s something I didn’t know about previously: Wilson Combat has a YouTube channel.
What makes this interesting is that, starting in October, they started a new series: “Critical Mas(s)” with Massad Ayoob.
I’ve been thinking about my friends in the Austin Citizen’s Police Academy Alumni Association, how much I miss them, and how much I miss the CPA classes (which have been suspended due to the Chinese rabies). So I thought I’d highlight this first one, since it is relevant both to current events and to stuff we discuss in CPA: “Police Use of Deadly Force: Reasonable or Necessary?”
I’m hoping I won’t be doing this next Christmas. I’m hoping that we will be back to “normal” (whatever the new “normal” is) and that we won’t be scrounging for paper goods or wearing masks everywhere and that I’ll even be able to get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge.
But in the meantime, I intend to have some fun with the Christmas theme.
“Rankin/Bass CBS Christmas Special W/Vintage Commercials”. Four hours of Christmas specials.
Bonus video: I had a video I was thinking about putting here, but she turned out to be dull. (And she had good material to work with, too.) So today’s bonus video is really a question for the huddled, wretched masses yearning to breathe free:
Is it just me, or does Alton Brown:
kind of look scarily like Walter White these days?
(I picked a season 2 clip because Lawrence and I have only gotten through season 2. The resemblance may be more pronounced in later seasons, but since we haven’t watched those…)
