It is the stated policy of this blog that, if you were a Bond girl, you get an obit.
Tanya Roberts has died at the age of 65. She was, of course, “Sheena: Queen of the Jungle”, Donna’s mother on “That ’70s Show”, and one of Charlie’s Angels (for the final season). She was also the Bond girl, Stacey Sutton, in “A View to a Kill”, the movie that caused me to punch out of the Bond franchise.
Edited to add: Lawrence sent me a link from TMZ that claims Ms. Roberts is still alive. However, I don’t trust TMZ any further than I can sling a piano, and THR has not retracted their story yet. I will try to keep an eye on this one.
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.
I’m sure it is documented somewhere – I can’t remember if it was discussed at all in the supplement for “Boggy Creek II: And the Legend Continues” (which she does not appear in) but I’d really like to know how Ms. Wells got involved with Charles B. Pierce. (Noted: he also got Jessica “Suspiria” Harper to star in one of his films, alongside Vic Morrow. I don’t know: maybe people held Pierce in higher regard back then.)
Joe Clark, the principal with the baseball bat who inspired “Lean On Me”.
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
