A slightly belated Christmas present…

December 25th, 2019

The CBC Radio adaptation of Frederick Forsyth’s The Shepherd.

There’s a lot of good stuff (if you’re a plane buff) linked from that page and elsewhere, including:

If you are a plane buff, I commend both the CBC links and Forsyth’s work to your attention.

(For those who may be unfamiliar with the story: young pilot is flying home for Christmas and suffers a total electrical failure over the north Atlantic. He has virtually no instruments, fog has set in, and if he bails out, he’ll probably freeze to death in the ocean. At the last possible moment, he’s led to a safe landing at an old RAF base by a Mosquito. And then the story goes in some unexpected directions from there.)

Posted in Books, Christmas, Heroism, History, Planes, Radio | Comments Closed

Merry Christmas, everyone!

December 25th, 2019

(Burgess Meredith?)

‘Do you know the poulterer’s in the next street but one, at the corner?’ Scrooge inquired.
‘I should hope I did,’ replied the lad.
‘An intelligent boy!’ said Scrooge. ‘A remarkable boy! Do you know whether they’ve sold the prize turkey that was hanging up there?—Not the little prize turkey: the big one?’
‘What! the one as big as me?’ returned the boy.
‘What a delightful boy!’ said Scrooge. ‘It’s a pleasure to talk to him. Yes, my buck!’
‘It’s hanging there now,’ replied the boy.
‘Is it?’ said Scrooge. ‘Go and buy it.’
‘Walk-er!’ exclaimed the boy.
‘No, no,’ said Scrooge. ‘I am in earnest. Go and buy it, and tell ’em to bring it here, that I may give them the directions where to take it. Come back with the man, and I’ll give you a shilling. Come back with him in less than five minutes, and I’ll give you half-a-crown!’
The boy was off like a shot. He must have had a steady hand at a trigger who could have got a shot off half as fast.

There was another time I remember when my best beloved uncle came in one Christmas Eve just a little, you’ll pardon the expression, fried to the eyes. He fell into the Christmas tree, toppled it over, busted the decorations, and set fire to the drapes. We used candles in those days. Uncle Rob pulled himself up out of the mess, scraped some tinsel off one ear, and brushed some powdered glass from the smashed ornaments off his coat. He glared mistrustfully around him.
“God damn Santa Claus,” he said, and staggered off to bed, summarily dismissing Christmas for all time.

–Robert Ruark, The Old Man and the Boy

Merry Christmas to all of you. Traveling mercies to those of you who are on the road, or will be on the road. Blessings to any of you who are standing the watch: as part of the military, as law enforcement or fire or EMS, or even holding down the fort at the gas station or answering support calls Christmas Day.

There are two people that I’d like to extend extra special good wishes to this season: Borepatch, for his continued support and driving traffic my way. And pigpen51, who has been leaving a lot of thoughtful comments recently. Especially on the obituary watches: he’s clearly been giving some thought to mortality and what it all means, and much of what he says overlaps things I’ve been thinking about myself.

God bless us all, every one.

Posted in Christmas | 1 Comment »

Obit watch: December 23, 2019.

December 23rd, 2019

In keeping with the official policy of this blog: Claudine Auger. Apparently, she was a very successful actress in Europe, and less so elsewhere. But: she was the Bond girl in “Thunderball”.

Johanna Lindsey, who I have actually heard of, but never read any of her books. She actually passed away October 27th, but her death was only recently announced.

Her books sold at least 60 million copies, according to her publisher, Simon & Schuster, and she ranked among the leading romance writers of her era, most notably Jude Deveraux, Judith McNaught, Kathleen Woodiwiss and Rosemary Rogers.
“Since I was old enough to appreciate a good novel, I’ve been a romantic,” Ms. Lindsey was quoted as saying in the book “Love’s Leading Ladies” (1982), by Kathryn Falk. “I enjoy happy-ending love stories more than any other type of reading. Romance is what comes out of me.”
Ms. Lindsey set her passionate tales in many locales, including the Caribbean; the Barbary Coast; England as early as the year 873; Norway, when the Vikings ruled; 19th-century Texas, Wyoming and Montana; and the planet Kystran, in a series of science-fiction bodice-rippers.

…

Liz Perl, the marketing director of Simon & Schuster, said that Ms. Lindsey had been a shy, private person who only occasionally toured to promote her books.
“On several occasions, her mother would accompany her, which was really sweet,” Ms. Perl said by phone. “Her mother was quite outgoing, so Johanna would sign the books, and her mom would stand next to her and tell fans anecdotes about Johanna when she was young.”
She added, “When she turned her books in, she wouldn’t celebrate by buying a car or going to Paris, but by buying a video game and playing it for 12 hours before starting her next book.”

I have a feeling that I would have enjoyed hanging out with her.

Gen. Ahmed Gaïd Salah, who the paper of record describes as “Algeria’s de facto ruler”.

General Gaïd Salah’s unexpected death at 79 — his official age, though he was most likely older — less than two weeks after the army’s favored candidate was elected president, creates a power vacuum in the vast North African nation, a major oil and gas producer.
A survivor from the generation that led Algeria to independence from France in the early 1960s, General Gaïd Salah was the man who increasingly blocked the demands of the popular protest movement that has rocked the country’s politics since last February.
As chief of staff, General Gaïd Salah orchestrated a hardening crackdown on the movement, imposed a presidential election that the protesters rejected, and demanded, in regular if stiff televised speeches to other army officers, that the demonstrators back off.
The movement has rejected the newly elected president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, as a mere figurehead, put in place to carry out the general’s wishes.

I try to leave geopolitics to Lawrence, so all I’ll say is: it should be interesting to watch this play out.

Elizabeth Spencer, another author I’d heard of but have not read. She was apparently most famous for “The Light in the Piazza”.

Baba Ram Dass, counterculture guy.

He started a foundation to combat blindness in India and Nepal, supported reforestation in Latin America, and developed health education programs for American Indians in South Dakota.

…

By the 1980s, Ram Dass had a change of mind and image. He shaved off the beard but left a neatly trimmed mustache. He tried to drop his Indian name — he no longer wanted to be a cult figure — but his publisher vetoed the idea. Ram Dass said that he had never intended to be a guru and that Harvard had been right to throw him out.
He continued to turn out books and recordings, however. He started or helped start foundations to promote his charities, to help prisoners and to spread his message of spiritual equanimity. He made sure his books and tapes were reasonably priced.
The old orthodoxies slipped away. He said he realized that his 400 LSD trips had not been nearly as enlightening as his drugless spiritual epiphanies — although, he said, he continued to take one or two drug trips a year for old time’s sake. He said other religions, including the Judaism that he had rejected as a young man, were as valid as the Eastern ones.

Posted in Books, History, Movies, Obits, Politics | Comments Closed

Obit watch: December 21, 2019.

December 21st, 2019

Junior Johnson, legendary NASCAR racer. NYT. ESPN. News and Observer. NASCAR.

“The Last American Hero Is Junior Johnson. Yes!” by Tom Wolfe.

In the Korean War, not a very heroic performance by American soldiers generally, there were seventy-eight Medal of Honor winners. Thirty-nine of them were from the South, and practically all of the thirty-nine were from small towns in or near the Appalachians. The New York metropolitan area, which has more people than all these towns put together, had three Medal of Honor winners, and one of them had just moved to New York from the Appalachian region of West Virginia. Three of the Medal of Honor winners came from within fifty miles of Junior Johnson’s side porch.
Detroit has discovered these pockets of courage almost like a natural resource, in the form of Junior Johnson and about twenty other drivers. There is something exquisitely ironic about it. Detroit is now engaged in the highly sophisticated business of offering the illusion of Speed for Everyman—making their cars go 175 miles an hour on racetracks—by discovering and putting behind the wheel a breed of mountain men who are living vestiges of a degree of physical courage that became extinct in most other sections of the country by 1900. Of course, very few stock-car drivers have ever had anything to do with the whiskey business. A great many always lead quiet lives off the track. But it is the same strong people among whom the whiskey business developed who produced the kind of men who could drive the stock cars. There are a few exceptions, Freddie Lorenzen, from Elmhurst, Illinois, being the most notable. But, by and large, it is the rural Southern code of honor and courage that has produced these, the most daring men in sports.

Randy Suess. He and Ward Christensen built the first computer bulletin board system in 1978.

Posted in Cars, Geek, Obits, Sports | Comments Closed

Nothing more to add…

December 20th, 2019

…this is a great story.

Posted in Heroism, History | 2 Comments »

Quick followups.

December 20th, 2019

Two quick, mostly throw away items:

1. I was reading Serious Smith & Wessons the N- and X-Frame Revolvers last night, and ran across something interesting: according to Mullin, S&W designed the X-frame revolvers so that the cylinder was long enough to chamber the .223 Remington cartridge.

Beyond the fact that a revolver in .223 is a wonderfully silly idea (and I’d probably buy one): overall length of the .223 Remington is 2.26 inches. Overall length of the .221 Remington Fireball: 1.830 inches. At least one of my ideas doesn’t sound so silly now…

(And a long overdue thanks to Ygolonac for weighing in. I like your idea, and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.)

2. More on the Tom Coughlin firing: it may have been motivated in part by Jacksonville’s record. But another part of the motivation may have been that Coughlin managed to make a lot of people upset.

Like the NFL Player’s Association.

Coughlin changed the clocks because his philosophy is, if you’re not five minutes early to a meeting or commitment, you’re considered late. It’s one of the ways he emphasizes accountability. Another way he does that is by fining players for rules infractions, including for missing doctor and rehabilitation appointments during the offseason.
That, however, is prohibited by the NFLPA, which released a letter on Monday that said former player Dante Fowler Jr. had won a grievance against the Jaguars after being fined 25 times for more than $700,000. The letter also noted that more than 25% of the grievances filed by NFL players over the past two years have been against the Jaguars and that “you, as players, may want to consider this when you have a chance to select your next club.”

Posted in Books, Firings, Guns, NFL, Sports | 1 Comment »

Another one down, another one down, another one from the legal beat…

December 20th, 2019

You may recall that, back in July, I wrote about the somewhat bizarre case of Jenna Garland, who was charged criminally with violations of the Georgia Open Records Act.

Guilty.

The charges against the press secretary, Jenna Garland, were misdemeanors, and Judge Jane Morrison of Fulton County State Court set the fines at $750 per violation.

Posted in Law, Politics | Comments Closed

And speaking of Christmas…

December 20th, 2019

I’ve been good this year, Santa. Do you think you could bring me one of these?

I don’t need the tactical operator: just the truck and the minigun. You can even leave it in the driveway along with the ammo, so you don’t scratch up the hardwood floors.

Posted in Cars, Christmas, Guns | Comments Closed

Filled with the spirit of Christmas.

December 20th, 2019

Remember that Christmas depression?

On the one hand, this is incredibly depressing:

On the other hand, I’m more than a little cheered up by the GoFundMe page: right now, they’re at $119,205 out of a $25,000 goal. Maybe there are good people in the world after all.

(Hattip to Dean Bradley. And, no, I’m not asking y’all to donate, but please feel free to do so if the spirit moves you.)

Posted in Christmas | Comments Closed

Obits and firings: December 19, 2019.

December 19th, 2019

Obit: legendary college football coach Hayden Fry.

Firing: Tom Coughlin out as “executive vice president of football operations” for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Yes, I know this is a lazy post, but I just don’t have much to say about either event.

Posted in Firings, Obits, Sports | Comments Closed

And another quick update from the legal beat.

December 18th, 2019

Remember Thomas J. Spota, the former DA of Suffolk County? Bag of sex toys, porno DVDs, and cigars stolen out of the police chief’s car? Charged with covering up the chief’s beatdown of the alleged thief?

Convicted. Along with his deputy.

Posted in Law | Comments Closed

Tweet of the day.

December 17th, 2019

No particular reason, other than I really needed a laugh today (after dealing with, among other things, car insurance companies), and this filled the bill:

(Related note: I remember when the first part of this story was circulating on Twitter a couple of weeks ago:

And the general theme of the comments was, “Yeah, his conduct was kind of unprofessional. But, on the other hand, he was dealing with Allstate.”)

Posted in Law, Music | Comments Closed

Update from the legal beat.

December 17th, 2019

I’ve written before about VonTrey Clark, the APD officer who hired thugs to kill his pregnant mistress (Samantha Dean, a victim services coordinator with the Kyle Police Department) then fled to Indonesia when his plot unraveled.

He pled guilty yesterday.

Clark waived his right to a trial by jury with the understanding he was waiving the right to call witnesses. Clark then signed a document stating he confessed to the crime. The prosecutors read the document Clark signed, which stated Freddie Lee Smith killed Dean. The document stated that Smith’s gun misfired, Smith returned and fired the gun again and then the scene was staged to look like a drug deal gone bad.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, he’ll spend life in prison without parole and waives the right to appeal.

Kimberly Dean, Samantha’s mother, read an impact statement following Clark’s guilty plea on Monday. She spoke about how Samantha was a daddy’s girl, a hero and a gift from God. She said Samantha was smart, independent, loyal and a true and a fighter who had fought and beat cancer. She also spoke of her love for her granddaughter, Madeline Rose Dean.
“We are two less people because of you. I am the mother to Sam and grandma to Madeline. There isn’t enough paper to write down all my feelings. There are no apologies grand enough to minimize my disgust for your existence,” Kimberley said. “You have issued all of us a life sentence.”

Posted in Austin, Cops, Law | 1 Comment »

Noted.

December 16th, 2019

McThag has a pretty cool post up at his place.

Using the CBS News list of the “Deadliest US Cities”, he’s gone through and documented not just the murder rate, but also what party the current mayor belongs to, and how long that party has held power.

4. New Orleans, Louisiana. Murder rate: 37.1/100k. The mayor is a Democrat and the last Republican left office in 1872!!!

Posted in Guns, Politics | Comments Closed

Banned in the UK.

December 16th, 2019

Well, not really, but I thought I’d cause a commotion.

Spotted at a Big Lots over the weekend. Mike the Musicologist and I are thinking you could do a holiday special about a narwal: all we need is a name, and then we can write the script.

(I kind of like “Nathan the Narwal”, but would Nathan be saving Christmas, Chanukah, or Life Day?)

Posted in Christmas, Hysteria | 1 Comment »

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