In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.”
He left the newspaper and went into screenwriting. His first produced screenplay was “Absence of Malice”, which you may remember for Wilford Brimley’s short but significant appearance. He was nominated for an Oscar for best original screenplay, but lost to “Chariots of Fire”. He did win an Oscar for best adapted screenplay for “Out Of Africa”.
(I don’t want to post it here, but I think I have a PDF of that article somewhere, if you can’t access it through your local library.)
“David McCampbell: Ace of Aces” is a short documentary produced by USNI (including material from his oral history) about Captain David McCampbell (USN – ret.), the Navy’s leading fighter ace, the third highest scoring ace during WWII, Medal of Honor recipient, and F6F Hellcat pilot.
Longer bonus video: “Gaining Altitude: The Mosquito Reborn”, about the de Havilland Mosquito…and the restoration of a vintage one.
Oh, what the heck. Nibbles: the Mosquito at Oshkosh in 2019.
And from the RAF Museum: “Under the RADAR: Mosquito versus Me 262”.
I’m fond of the Mosquito: how can you not like a fighter made of wood? At the same time, I’m not sure I’d actually want a Mosquito with the infinite money I don’t have, because I’m not sure I want to try to maintain a plane made out of wood. The Me 262 is closer to being my jam as far as vintage fighters, all that pesky Nazi stuff aside. Or a F6F Hellcat, but they aren’t making those anymore.
(I can’t find it now, but I have a general recollection of a company – somewhere up near Dallas? – that was building Me 262 reproductions with current engines. I think they were asking a little over a million each, but I have no idea what the current status is. If I am remembering this right, that seems a lot more feasible and fun than trying to find a vintage F6F and parts, or trying to maintain a Phantom jet.)
(We finally watched the movie of “The Dirty Dozen” a few weeks ago. I have to admit: it is much better than the book, especially since the movie actually has an ending, and the people responsible for the movie actually bothered to film it.)
It opened on Broadway November 17, 2003, and closed after one regular performance.
Oddly, Wikipedia does not seem to have a comprehensive list of Broadway shows that closed after one performance. One of the non-Wikipedia lists I found did enlighten me about the theatrical career of Oliver Hailey, who was also a successful TV writer.
His first Broadway show, “First One Asleep” appeared in 1966 and ran for one performance.
His second Broadway show, “Father’s Day” appeared in 1971 and ran for one performance.
His third Broadway show, “I Won’t Dance” appeared in 1981. And if you guessed it ran for one performance, take two gold stars and advance to the next blue square.
(Previously on WCD, for those who don’t recognize the “Moose Murders” reference. I believe the revival was actually an off-Broadway production, which makes the above statement technically accurate.)
In that vein, “Of Ships and Butter”, a 1970s (in color!) US Navy film about the Navy’s role in protecting shipping.
Bonus video: “U.S. News Review”, one of those old newsreels. I put it here because Veronica Lake shows up at about the :24 mark. And as far as I am concerned (and I hope the vast majority of my readers will agree with me) I need no justification other than “Veronica Lake”.
Another area of crafts that I’m interested in is good quality woodworking. This is another place where I feel like it would take years of constant practice to be able to turn out something attractive and useful. But at the same time, there’s a whole lot of woodworking books out there: you can probably find plans and ideas for anything you want to build. And if you start out following the plans religiously, and only when you get good, start improvising, well maybe the ROI isn’t so bad after all.
I’m fascinated when I sit down, turn on PBS, and find something like “The New Yankee Workshop” on. For me, this is something like Bob Ross is for other people. (Except I don’t get stoned while watching it.)
It also seems like you can do some nice stuff with some basic hand tools. And a router. And maybe a table saw. And perhaps a lathe. And maybe…
(As a side note, that’s one of the reasons why I’m excited about TJIC’s book: because he’s going to talk about the tools he finds useful. And having seen pictures of some of his woodwork, I think this is a good starting point.)
One thing I keep thinking I’d like to build (when I get good enough) is a shooter’s box (or “range box”). Every now and again, I see nice ones at the gun shows, but they’re not for sale. I have a used (and slightly battered) range box made mostly out of plastic in with the gun stuff, and it is nice enough. But it gets back to the idea of using something you built yourself and that’s adjusted to your own needs, not something mass produced you bought from a store. Plus the wood ones just look better.
If you’re not familiar with the shooter’s box, well, that’s today’s theme.
This guy built a box for camera gear, but it is the same general principle:
For the record: William English (one of the people who helped build the first mouse) and Frances Allen, noted computer scientist and researcher. Both of these have been extensively covered in a lot of places, which is why I’m only noting them here.
Terry Cannon. My feelings about baseball are well known, but Mr. Cannon sounds like my type of person. He founded the Baseball Reliquary:
Richard Lapointe. This is an incredibly sad story worth noting here.
In March of 1987, Bernice Martin was raped and murdered, and her apartment was set on fire. She was 88 years old, and the grandmother of Mr. Lapointe’s wife. Mr. Lapointe, who was born with a brain malformation that left him with limited mental capability, was interrogated by the police. Eventually, he signed three confessions to the crime, “though their legitimacy was open to debate“.
He was convicted in 1992 and sentenced to life. But almost immediately people raised questions about the conviction.
Among other issues, Mr. Lapointe’s disability may have left him particularly inclined to please others, including pleasing the police by signing confessions. And his disability may also have left him so poorly coordinated that he was physically incapable of doing the crime.
“Gemini Analog Reentry Simulation”, explaining how the simulator works, as well as how the Gemini re-entry profile was flown (yes, flown). Part of what makes this interesting (to me) is that it also shows some analog computers from the time (specifically, the Pace 231R, if that means anything to any of my readers).
And as a bonus, another bit of Gemini history: “Flight Controller Orientation”, a brief explanation of the workings of the flight control system.
And to complete the trilogy, a contemporary NASA documentary about Gemini 8. You may remember Gemini 8 as the one that rolled out of control during docking with Agena (due to a stuck thruster).
It is August. It is hot in Texas. How about some trains dashing through the snow?
One more, but this one is special: it features the little-seen rotary snow plow operating in Donner Pass.
Totally unrelated: at the last SDC, we were talking about various WWII resistance films, such as Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Army of Shadows“. In that vein: “Poland Forever”, from 1944, about the Polish fight against the Nazis.
Last one for today. I thought this was kind of moving.
I feel like this is going to turn some folk’s crank: a large R/C Airwolf in flight. With rocket fire a little past the 2:00 mark.
I have mixed feelings about some of these R/C aircraft videos. On the one hand, I admire the people who can build and fly these massive detailed objects. On the other hand, I keep thinking about the massive amounts of time, effort, and money that could be wiped out in seconds by one hardware failure or human error.
The “Leadership Secrets…” series is still active: I just haven’t found a lot of examples to post recently. But these two videos popped up in my feed. One short, but watch to the end for the point:
(This same point was quoted directly in a Twitter thread I linked to a while back. Thankfully, that’s still up.)
One longer:
It isn’t like Lawrence and I don’t have enough stuff already, but I’m giving some thought to “Band of Brothers”.