Book of Boba (mild spoilers)

 Caught the first episode of the new series just the other day, and I really liked it, but I can tell it already has some of the same problems that the Mandalorian did. Some reviewers called it boring (which I very much disagree with). However, I admit they don't establish much of an overarching story and they don't really explain why Boba is doing what he is doing. They do go over how he escaped the Sarlacc, which was cool from a fan's perspective, but useless to any story they want to do going forward (and totally moot if you watched The Mandalorian at all). 

I know it's the same writers/producers working here, but I hope they break out of the same problems the Mandalorian had. In that they don't just follow a monster of the week routine, and actually add some depth and progression to the story, world, and characters. Either way, I still liked it and will be eagerly awaiting the next episode to see where they take the show.

Paul, you suck

Recently, Sony announced a new Ghostbusters collection that would include the first, second, and Afterlife movies, and predictably, Paul Fieg started crying on social media about his 2016 "Ghostbusters" movie not being included in it. Some people and news outlets have actually defended him in his actions but I would have to very disrespectfully disagree with supporting him. Normally, I might agree that perhaps he needs some consideration, but I'm in the camp that agrees he's a whiny little moron for the following reasons. He has:

1. Admitted he made the movie because he was begged to and or was forced to do so by the studio, and admits it was just crapped out, then tries to defend it at every turn. Dude, you had enough clout at the time to get a job somewhere else, you fool.

2 He also admits to being given complete creative control over the film and script, and decided to do a shitty remake/reboot instead of an original story (or one that builds on the original universe), so no sympathy there.

3. He then insults the original fan-base for not liking his idea of remaking a beloved classic with only mediocre talent and writing, and resorts to calling fans racist, sexist, man-babies after the film is released.

4. He then also defended the movie as empowering to women, which I would argue that it's not empowering if you have to steal the entire story/formula of the first movie, while mocking/putting down all the men your film, but what do I know?

5. He also insults the fans by making every male in his movie either an idiot, evil, ignorant or mean, and includes some of the original Ghosbusters actors in that mess. Don't you DARE tell me Bill Murray that doesn't have what it takes to be a Ghostbuster.

6. Speaking of insulting fans and the original cast, he was the prick that used his leverage with Sony to threaten to sue the original cast if they didn't make a cameo just to insult them in his movie! Fieg was also subsequently escorted off the Sony lot for his toxic bullcrap.

7. Now, he gets pissed off for not being included in this GB collection when he himself said he doesn't want it to be associated with the original universe, then pisses off fans again when he insults them for pointing this out.

If this guy had just kept his mouth shut, he would not have been hounded and mocked by fans anywhere near as much as he is today. He's the one who continues to pipe up and whine or insult people to continue the flame war. Pretty sure if you're going on twitter to whine about GB fans when you threatened to sue while admitting your movie sucks, YOU are the man-baby. 

Coming from a guy who insults fans who make cars and proton packs to not only celebrate their fandom, but also help many charities and children along the way. Proud to be an asshole in that case.

Yup

UPDATE: I wrote this post on the 28th and was planning on posting later, then it turns out that Doomcock beat me to the punch with a video from his stream (I know the stream happens a while before the video is posted, but I don't generally watch the streams on his channel. Sorry, Doomcock) Link to the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kPJl8RumpQ.

Interesting times

Got this one from the r/coldwar sub on Reddit. It's a very underappreciated sub (and is constantly mistaken for a Call of Duty sub by people who don't know how to read), but is still chock full of all sorts of interesting stuff from days gone by, obviously with a focus on east-west relations. This is from user samstanley7 who posted a picture of a travel advisory from the US passport office given to his grandfather about traveling to the GDR (East Germany). It's full of political rhetoric about how it's not a real country, as the US did not recognize it as such until the 70s or so. Just fun to give it a read to see the tensions of the time. 

You can also see the original post here if you are interested: https://www.reddit.com/r/coldwar/comments/rdbezn/theres_some_real_shade_in_this_travel_advisory/

Custom build

Well, it's time to get back to work, no more holiday time of for me. One thing we did during the holiday was to go to a cool little local place that is all about creating custom lego characters.

I feel a bit sheepish for not getting pictures of the place while we were there, but I suppose you can just go to their site to check it out for yourself: https://minifigureamerica.com/what-we-sell

The place is pretty amazing and the not only allow for you to build just characters, but all sorts of stuff, as well as it having DVDs and also being a bookstore at the same time. We were there because we wanted to treat our niece to building her own, but I couldn't help but make a few myself as it was just such a good time. If you or someone you know is a lego fanatic, this is the place to go. 

Merry Christmas

 As the years creep by I see more and more apathy on my favorite holiday of the year. This time around, I think my feelings this year are perfectly summed up by the excellent firydeth on youtube:

May you all have a wonderful holiday

Finally off of work for the holidays

 

Blogging may be light the next few days, so just wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and give them my love. 

Just don't mention the Falklands....or nazis

 A friend of mine worked with someone who was from Argentina, and my friend just had to ask him, "So is it true? You know about all the Nazis down there?" to which the guy from Argentina replied, "Oh yeah, it's an open secret around there."

Joking about socialists aside, there is a very renowned and very tasty little Argentinian restaurant in the Layton, UT area called Argentine Corner that is very much worth checking out. I've been to a couple of little Argentinian places before but was not impressed until coming to this one. Their website gives a pretty good glimpse at what to expect (other than the poorly optimized website). But yeah, if you are in the neighborhood, give 'em a try.

Time for a radio show

 As I have stated many a time before, I generally don't care for most social media, but I have to give a big thanks to Instagram for introducing me to the fantastic Official F-14 Tomcat Podcast. 

It's hosted by a guy who grew up next to the Calverton factory, who's father worked there (and provides a part of the intro).  They often have Pilots and RIOs as guests, but also feature a lot of maintainers and Grumman factory workers, too. If you have any love for the last of the superfighters, give it a listen. 

Twitter is still a cesspool

So you really have to treasure the rare times it's got fun or interesting stuff on there. Some guy made a fun little compilation of him "reloading" various household items like they are weapons in Half-Life and it's nothing short of awesome.

Hey y’all! I compiled my best and favorite reloads! No robot voice and now widescreen format! Enjoy!! :) pic.twitter.com/fG5Y2zf0YA

— Karl (@kommanderkarl) December 14, 2021

Because I don't get tired of Christmas music

and it's hard to tire of the classics:

Handel's Messiah is pretty hard to beat

Why not a college degree?

Many people over the years (since I was a teenager) have told me something along the lines of, "Hey, Saint Grendel, if you love history so much, why don't you get a degree in it and get a job as a professor, teacher, or work in a museum?" then they would get upset with me when I tell them it's a worthless degree. Well, to argue my point for me, is someone with more qualifications than I:

I'm not a fan of the "adult entertainment" industry, but you can't accuse people that work in it as being anything other than hard working self-starters. Because I know I wouldn't want to deal with ANY of the crap they put up with when I clock into work. 

I mean, yeah it's funny, but in all seriousness, most museum workers don't make much, and most of them are actually volunteers. Even curators don't make that much money. Heck, I'm already making the same as the median income for the average museum curator in the US right now. All while having NO degree to speak of (not even high school). 

Other than that argument though, I sure as hell don't want to be a teacher, because I don't want to be a thinly veiled propagandist or babysitter (which is what most teachers are these days). That, and the easiest way to lose passion for something you love is to turn it into your job, especially when it's one you don't own. I'd rather develop a marketable skill that I don't mind, or one I mildly enjoy that makes me more money and just let my hobbies be my hobbies. 

Not all tragedy

The subject of POW camps in Utah is kind of overshadowed by both the Japanese internment camps and the Salina Midnight Massacre. Both are rightly remembered as some of the largest injustices in the US at the time. 

However, it's also good to remember some of the little, more mundane things as well. There were a large number of POW camps in Utah for the obvious security reason of its remoteness, and also for keeping prisoners occupied in local agricultural or construction tasks, as most able-bodied men were in military service. Finding info on them, at least for me, proved elusive for some time until relatively recently.

Clearfield Navy Depot (now a business district known as Freeport Center) was one area that housed a number of mostly Italian POWs who assisted in the running of the operations at the depot. If you aren't familiar with the facility, The History Guy on youtube has a nice little primer on it. 

Another location familiar to most people in the Salt Lake area is Fort Douglas that also housed POWs during WWII as well. A very appreciated resource I found on the subject was the Taylorsville, Utah city website which has a nice map and listing of POW camp locations along with a listing of museums that have info on the subject.

A picture of the map of locations from the aforementioned Taylorsville city article.

In an article by the Utah Humanities site it clarifies that POWs were not used as slave labor, but were paid an average of $0.80 a day, and were able to organize many extra curricular activities and groups, which included playing in orchestras, watching movies,  and helping to provide education as well (to themselves or the locals is unclear). However, it's also interesting to note that after Italy's surrender, the Italian POWs were allowed weekend leave from their camps. In the same article it states that many inmates of Utah's POW camps were interviewed in the late 60s about their treatment, and they overwhelmingly stated that they were treated fairly. Some were said to have actually stayed and married local women after the war.  

Some sample pictures of POWs taken from the article at the Taylorsville website. 

All in all, a pretty interesting thing to learn more about. 

Imagination and creativity

Much like I have always said when it comes to sequels, spinoffs, and prequels of movies or shows, I think it takes far more creativity and imagination to work within someone else's rules and/or universe. I think if you manage to make a sequel (or what have you) that is just as popular if not more popular than the first while not alienating the built in fans or mocking/disregarding the universe or characters, you've got far more talent than just coming up with an original creation, as that only requires you to obey the rules that you yourself have set. 

The difference here being that I don't think gun laws should be respected, or in some cases even adhered to, but I will say that sometimes it does force some incredible ingenuity out of people. Take for example the types of CA, NJ and NY compliant guns and the people that buy them and subsequently modify to make them suck less. 

Just found this little ditty on Reddit's r/guns recently, and I have to say, it is a beauty. Normally I really hate the look of state compliant guns, but this one from a user called thebowski really pulled it off with the good looks here:

Also the guy has a good sense of humor for calling it the Fudd-15

Wow. I wouldn't mind getting something like THAT out of the box, even if I don't have to deal with dumb compliance restrictions. Can you believe that's still basically an AR15 under there? What's even better is that this sucker is chambered for .450 Bushmaster, so you could wreck some bear's day with it if you wanted to. This guy did a lot of work to it, and he describes his build in the post, but I just have to say, dang good job.

For those not in the know, here's a .450 Bushmaster (on the left) next to the standard .223cal/5.56mm AR-15 round (on the right).

First pilot on my block with a confirmed kill

If you're an aviation aficionado and haven't stopped by the Hush-Kit site, you really should. They always have articles that are at bare minimum interesting and entertaining if not also very informative. They self-describe themselves a kind of "Top Gear for aviation" and it's not a bad comparison. 

Recently, they put up an article about the top scoring WWII aircraft by kill count on the site and they do so to help illustrate that the Supermarine Spitfire is likely the top scoring aircraft type, instead of the P-51 Mustang. Their reasoning being that it served nearly the duration of the entire war, in ever increasing numbers, and served in every theater. Here's the kill counts they came up with along with their sources (methods are described on the article):

I don't doubt their numbers for the Spitfire kills being fairly accurate, but I'm curious as to the other allied aircraft numbers. As with all things historical, there will be many different accounts, records, missing records, and misinformation to deal with when doing such research, but I found their numbers interesting to compare to the numbers found on the Warbirds and Airshows site (even though the Warbird's site's is meant to be strictly American pilots, not overall victories by type). 

Interesting to note, is the (apparent) debunking of the P-38 and it's "most Japanese kills" claim. However, the real interesting bit is the discrepancy of the tallying of the P-51 compared to Hush-Kit's and I would certainly think the accounting here is likely more accurate than at Hush Kit (no offense to them). Although, the numbers for the F6F Hellcat is much closer when comparing the two.

Also to note, is that this second tally is meant to be only American victories, and doesn't take into account all other allied nations flying the same aircraft, which I suspect would be no small contribution to swing the numbers even more in the P-51's favor. Although, I wonder if the (albeit minuscule) victories by Americans in Spitfires was accounted into the Husk-Kit numbers as well. 

Is the Mustang still king of the skies during WWII?  Or is it really the Spitfire?  I dunno and I'm too lazy to do all of the research myself. 

Lastly, as a fun thought, the Spitfire was there for nearly the entire war is true, but that just seems to make the Hellcat's numbers even that more impressive, as it was only in the war for a couple of years. 

If you ask me, the real lesson here is: Fly Navy!

Provo is the worst place in America

You know there are some good things about the city of Provo, but for the most part, I absolutely hate it. First off, the streets there are a jumbled mess compared to the elsewheres of Utah. Instead of a sensible, simple grid system, you have the "I threw up my spaghetti on a map" style of city planning, making it frustrating to even find your way on or off the freeway. 

Next is all the obnoxious advertising for the no-name, D-list movies that are more poorly made than the average Hallmark movie, along with all the other Mormon-targeted advertising. Look, if you have to advertise to only a specific demographic, your "entertainment" product more than likely sucks...really bad (and I say that as a Mormon) 

Then, there's the people that congregate there. I dunno what it is, but the majority just seem terrible. Everyone I know that has lived there comments on the toxicity of the people who all seem two faced and impolite. I can also agree that everyone I've interacted with there are either incredibly rude or too stupid to know how basic human interaction works. 

Even in businesses, I'll be completely ignored when looking for help and just left to my own devices because the owner or person behind the counter is "busy" having a conversation about random crap. It's like Provo is the biggest version of a small town with all the worst aspects of one and none of the benefits. Despite Provo also being a huge hub for new and or startup businesses, it's also the biggest place I know of where every kind of pyramid scheme imaginable is just rampant there

Lastly, there's BYU. A lot of good things do come out of BYU, but let's face it, it's just kind of overshadowed by all the bat-crap insanity that comes from there as well. For example:

https://nypost.com/2021/09/27/what-is-soaking-the-mormon-teen-sex-act-going-viral/

Sorry for posting that, but people in Provo are just crazy enough to do it. It makes me sad. I don't take the title lightly either, as I have lived in San Francisco and been through Oakland, CA a number of times, too. So, can you guess I had to go there recently?

The triumph of man over evil

I may have written about the Christmas truce of 1914 on here before, but I don't know if I've written about the movie made about it that has quickly become a tradition in our house to watch it every year.  

Joyeux Noël is a french made film from 2005 that compiles some of the traditional stories from the 1914 truce. It's exceptionally well made, and perfectly encapsulates the triumph of humanity and kindness in the face of a pointless war. I would highly recommend it to any one who wants an actually good Christmas movie when wading through the drecks of hallmark-level fodder that is spewed out this time of yer. 

As far as I can tell, there are no places to officially watch it for free, but most places that do stream it, only change about $4 for it, so I would say it's worth every penny. 

Sunday songs

Saint Motel - The Moment

I'm no nerd

All growing up, I considered myself a nerd. However the one thing that all my friends loved that I never did was the entire genre of high fantasy. Especially Tolkien and Lord of the Rings. Everyone I know was into both the books and the movies, but I just couldn't enjoy either. 

Now later on, I was recently watching the movies again with the family, and I can still say that I can appreciate the great technological accomplishment the films are, and the immense work that Tolkien did to complete his novels (like inventing the elvish language to say the least). I think they are both monumental works in their fields, but they still bore me to tears, and the only fantasy story that keeps my attention is Star Wars because it's in a sci-fi setting, even if it's not a sci-fi story. 

I dunno, I'm I just the weird one here? I'm not crapping on Tolkien or the movies, I'm just not entertained by them or most other fantasy stories. But as for something that is at least interesting if not entertaining is this:

Holiday Cheer

There are not only an endless sea of adaptions of Charles Dickens' a Christmas Carol, but a good majority of them, I would think are all pretty good.  However one stands out as being unforgettable in my family's mind and that is the one from 1984 with George C. Scott playing the famous Mr. Scrooge. 

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be one of the more remembered versions by the public at large, and is kind of hard to come by. If you have an Amazon Prime subscription and pay for the paramount + package, it's available there, but for the unwashed masses, the only place I could find it for free was at tubi (with commercials, of course. Ugh.)

It ain't perfect, but George C Scott is worth the watch for anything he is in. I mean, with a reputation of The Changeling, Dr. Strangelove, and The Rescuers Down Under he can do no wrong. 

On the opposite side of the spectrum, how in the hell does Tig Notaro have a career in show biz? That woman is supposedly a comedian and I sat through over an hour long special without laughing once. Wish I could get that time back, as it wasn't even entertaining in any other way either. 

Of course, it figures that she would be a big fixture on STD, because that franchise isn't entertaining anymore either, and hiring talentless dolts is their specialty. Heaven forbid that franchise mean anything fun or interesting to anyone anymore. 

UPDATE: Totally forgot to mention George is most famous for his portrayal in Patton as well! Silly me. 

Whew!

Had a nightmare last night where I was late for work, then woke up, then was late for work again then I actually woke up. So yeah, not quite fully defrosted yet this morning. Maybe I'll post something later when I'm feeling more coherent. 

more retro gaming

With the Battlefield franchise slipping further up it's own orifice by trying to be more like COD, I've been really enjoying my time replaying Battlefield 2 again. The bone stock game kinda shows it's age, but with mods, it's still a great time to be had. 

I've probably mentioned it here before, but my far and away my favorite mods for BF2 (in order this time) are:

MG3s and G36s everywhere. I love it.

Point of Existence 2: I can't praise this mod enough. The setting is very original with mostly the fights being between Germany and Ukraine. The mod is fantastically balanced, extremely well-polished, and stable for any mod along with excellent models and animations. Best BF2 mod by far.

Crazy vehicles galore in AIX.

Allied Intent Extended: Specifically built for Co-Op with friends and is insanely over the top fun. really powerful vehicles and weapons abound. Not quite as well polished, but still extremely fun with a plethora of maps; just be prepared to have to deal with nearly a dozen installers (worth it).

Great for those missing the BF Vietnam days but don't want the old crappy engine.

Eve of Destruction 2: Vietnam is back with this one. The vehicle play and maps are not overly well balanced (a common problem with BF2 mods), but the Vietnam setting and equipment is well done and still fun. No single player support, though from what I remember. 

The best part is that these mods all still work and there's even more big mods still being developed that you can check up on at ModDB. There's all sorts of stuff in the works that show some promise, like Alpha project, a Warhammer 40k mod, and one that restores it back to a WW2 setting. 

The only problem now is that all my joysticks are broken and I'll need a good one for the helicopter and jet action. It's the only way to fly. Pics all from ModDB.

Bat bitten

Early Last month I wrote on here about my experience taking a short flight with my brother and then encountering a Vampire on the flightline. I had misplaced my actual photos of the experience, but thankfully my Mom had found the copies I had sent her about it at the time. So, without further delay here it is:

I certainly prefer the wartime camo paint to the newer black racing job. Note the gorgeous Grumman Albatross in the background, too. 

A nice view of the Wasatch Mountains from the air on our flight. 

The last picture here is from a nice little stop we made at the Utah National Guard West Jordan Armory.  The gate guard here being a nice Vietnam era Huey gunship. The place is still home to the 211th Aviation Regiment with an ANG AH-64 Apache attack squadron, a UH-60 Medevac unit, Aircraft Maintenance Unit, and the 23rd Army Band. I tried to find if there was any more detailed history on the unit, but I didn't have much time and results were sparse after a cursory google search.  

Precious Resources

Just heard on the news last night that the last of the men from Easy Company, 506th Airborne has passed away recently. His name is Edward Shames, and he certainly has quite the story to tell, with some amazing accomplishments. I'll link to the article here, just be sure to give it a read, as it's not worth missing:

https://www.dailywire.com/news/last-surviving-band-of-brothers-officer-a-jewish-soldier-who-toasted-his-sons-bar-mitzvah-with-cognac-stolen-from-hitlers-eagles-nest-dies-at-99?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=benshapiro

Pretty sure I've mentioned how much I like the HBO adaptation of their story here before, as I can't think of a more accurate and respectful telling of that story on film. That being said, here's the fantastic and memorable intro to the show. 

I've also suggested to the family to make it a traditional viewing on every June 6th, and people seemed to really like the idea, and enjoyed it the first time around. Gotta also now see if we can watch The Pacific as well, since no one in my wife's side of the family has seen it yet. 

Aint got nothin

If you tell me modern pop music can compare to stuff like this, I'll have to respectfully disagree.

Eddie Floyd - Knock on Wood (Remastered)

Dang shames and high points

Was going to give another shout out to an awesome local restaurant (well, somewhat local), and then just come to find out a few minutes ago from a friend that the place just closed. Crap! Well, I'll press F to pay respects to the formerly wonderful Chile Amore restaurant in Bountiful. 

In other news, I took my father in law to go see the new Ghostbusters Afterlife movie yesterday, which makes it the third time I've seen it in theaters.  I'm trying to remember the last time I payed to see a movie that many times in a theater, and it's been so long, I just can't recall it. Though, I have a suspicion it was the last Incredibles movie. Basically, go see it if you still have a chance, it's worth supporting.

Totally worth it.

One big project

On a roll with these movie posts recently, but bear with me. The wife just found a neat little podcast the day before yesterday called Dis-Order which goes into pretty great depth on the behind the scenes trivia and details of the productions on Disney movies. I'm not the biggest fan of Disney in the world, but there are a lot of underappreciated gems that are among my favorite movies that I'd love to hear more on. Some of which are: The Rocketeer, The Emperor's New Groove (both of which I know they have an episodes on), Flight of the Navigator, and The Black Hole. Their goal is to go through all the Disney movies,which is a pretty tall order and they are only on their second season. 

They haven't gotten to most of my favorites, but even some of Disney's more standard fare would be pretty interesting too, like Lilo and Stitch, A Goofy Movie, and Tangled would be some I'd like to listen to. Had a good time listening to a few already with the wife and I'm planning on binging more of 'em during the slow hours of work. 

Modern zombies came from vampires

I love the story of I Am Legend, and I have watched the adaptations to films starring Charlton Heston and Will Smith (the latter being good but a bit inferior to the prior). Strange though, that I had never seen the first adaptation to film, The Last Man on Earth starring the late, great Vincent Price until now.

I was utterly enthralled with it, as it does a far better job than the newer films of building an atmosphere of loneliness and despair. It makes the job of surviving the post-apocalypse alone seem more of a routine shambling than living, along with a bit more terror. 

It's especially more effective in the horror, as it's a far more accurate adaptation of the book, in that it distinguishes that there are two types of vampires in the world, the more shambling zombie-like hoards and the more cerebral predators who can more carefully reason and think. Either way, both are willing to feed on their own when a lack of food presents itself. This makes Dr Morgan's life even more depressing in this version of the story, as he is constantly collecting and burning the bodies in a futile attempt to stop the spread of the disease. It also makes his hunting of the vampires far more personal and disturbing, as he's not able to use a gun, and has to stake them himself to prevent them form coming back. 

Freaking disturbing

As for the legacy of the movie and the title of this post, it's funny that the book it is based on won an award for it's depiction of vampires, with Interview With A Vampire losing out to it. Yet nowadays, Anne Rice's work practically defines the vampire genre, and I Am Legend is nearly alone in it's style of vampires. The only other work I can think of to use it, would be the anime Hellsing. 

However, it's legacy is not completely lost, as George Romero has stated this as his primary inspiration for making Night of the Living Dead and thus starting the zombie genre as we know it today. In a funny apocryphal quote, when Richard Matheson (the author and screenwriter) watched Night of the Living Dead and had afterwards confronted Romero about having adapted his work without permission, Romero put his hands in the air and stated emphatically, "I didn't make any money on the movie either!"

They also used extras for most of the bodies, making his handling of them very authentic and saddening.

For such a low budget film, it holds up really well, but some of that does show, especially in the action scenes. Overall, I still love it far more than the other two adaptations. If you have a chance, be sure to give it a try, as I think it's certainly the most true adaptation to the book.  Just be sure to watch it in the original black and white version, as it adds to the disturbing aesthetic as well as the colorized version being just inferior. 

On a rail

I think all young boys go through a phase in which they are crazy about trains at some point or another, and I was no exception. I'm not as crazy about them now, but what I would really like to do is take my wife's family to Jamestown and Sonora, California to ride the Sierra Railroad. 

It's got a great museum there, that has some interesting history tied to the gold rush and mines in the area (with the mines closed as recently as 1994). It's also the location for plenty of movies, which I mentioned on this blog before. 

However, what I really remember it for is the filming of a majority of Back to the Future III there. Totally not ashamed to admit it's the sole reason for me wanting to go back with the wife's family, despite the sets having burned down in a wildfire many years ago.  Thankfully, as a kid, I was able to see it before it being lost to time by the fire, but I still think it would be a really cool family trip to take, as we are all big fans of the trilogy.

Just a shame that it's not there anymore.

If we have time, I also stumbled across a fun interactive map of filming locations for the movie, that would be a fun trip to go on as well.

Random trivia

I do like looking up random holidays/days of observance on a whim, and the site nationaltoday.com is indispensable for that kind of random crappy trivia. Today, it turns out, is National Mousse Day, one of my favorite forms of chocolate! Though, I have heard that there is strawberry mousse out there too, I'll have to give that a try. Can't think of a better way to mark the end of the month, so grab yourself some while you can. 

On a related note, it's also National Mason Jar Day.

Fantasy world

I used to love reading all the Tom Clancy novels back in the day, and I still like them and the techno-thriller genre he helped spawn. I loved them because they did provide some realistic scenarios that I find very interesting to read, but as time goes on, and I get older, I have become just a little disillusioned with them.

Why? Well, I realized they are no different from high fantasy, as they are based on the extremely fictitious concept that three letter government agencies like the CIA or FBI are anything close to resembling competent or honest at all.

For some very extreme examples, here's the latest video from DJ Peach Cobbler that I not only found entertaining, but introduced me to a whole slew of new plans by the retarded agency I had never heard of. 

Again, more Sunday music

Grim Reaper - See You In Hell

Fools and their money

are often parted as the saying goes. Now, I do actually attempt to be somewhat responsible with my cash, but on occasion, someone comes up with a crappy gimmick idea that hits the right spot for me, and I think this one is it:

The perfect gift for a man who wants to smell like a cockpit: Russian defense firm launches aftershave that 'captures the scent' of the inside of their new fighter jet

Holiday happiness

The most wonderful time of the year is made possible by all the things that make you fat. Seriously. I don't really get the people that don't love Christmas, cause even if you aren't into all the other celebratory jazz, there's still all the awesomely tasty goodies that come from it. 

Personally I love all the stuff about it, the weather, the good cheer, family get togethers, and the gift giving. But even though it's not the real reason for the holiday, we all have those seasonal commercial goodies we all like: the egg nog, Meier's cold duck, wassail, cranberry sodas and punch, gingerbread cookies, tamales, pumpkin cookies, Martinelli's sparkling cider, mint chip cookies, a resurgence of white chocolate, Terry's chocolate oranges, a wave of peppermint flavored stuff, and pumpkin spice everything.

Nectar of the gods, right there.

This is why I'm trying some new diet all the rest of the year.

Afterlife

Went and saw the new Ghostbusters: Afterlife on Sunday, and I feel the need to give a minor spoiler-free review.  I have to say that there are so many ways this movie could have gone wrong, and it still has some noticeable flaws, but it is an excellent movie that helps repair the damage that was done with the 2016 movie. It remains a jump scare comedy that is very enjoyable, and manages to also be very heartfelt, and will have you tearing up at the end if you have any shred of humanity left. 

It's worth watching more than once. Just be sure to stay to the absolute end of the credits!

Also, I feel ashamed to admit that at the time, I had no idea we were watching the movie on Harold Ramis' birthday. I like the serendipity there, as the new movie is dedicated to his memory and rightly so. I can't imagine that guy to be anywhere other than a far happier place, but even if he isn't, he's got the tools and the talent.

Totally one my childhood heroes growing up. Happy birthday, you new-age Mr. Spock! (also shamelessy ripped from reddit)

Laziness or nerdyness? You decide.

Recently, I managed to build a kind of Frankenstein-ed hodgepodge of a M-16A1 type of AR, assembled from an assortment of spare and new parts. I put it together to give as a gift to friend and I really like the way it turned out. It's certainly not a completely correct representation, the barrel is a heavier profile and is a couple inches short, the color is black instead of grey, and the lower is an A2 design. Other than that, I still think it looks pretty good. 

Very nice. Just ignore the open triggerguard.

It's not my first foray in building one, as the AR that I have for myself is one I put together as well. When I did so, I was at my brother in law's house and I got one of the best compliments from my nephew, "I don't know of anything more Saint Grendel than for you to come in here with a box full of metal parts, and leave with a functioning firearm."

I obviously have a preference for the retro style ARs.

Assembling ARs is pretty fun and I like to call it extreme legos. The lower receiver has a few things that can be come three-handed affairs, but is still very simple overall to assemble. As long as you aren't dealing with a complete idiot, you can teach anyone to put one together, as they are quite simple. It's even more simple if you just assemble your own lower and just buy a complete upper (or vice-versa). 

However, what I really want to do, is to assemble a G36. This sucker was built to be modular from the get go, so assembly is just stupid easy. Basically all you need is a torque wrench, a vise, and a couple small specialized tools for installing the barrel to the receiver. Pretty similar to assembling an AR upper, but simpler, as there's really nothing else left to do. After that, the remaining parts are self contained and it's basically the same as putting it back together after field stripping it. 

Now that is one pretty rifle. This is the exact build I'd like to go for.

They do sell parts kits for the type I want with the barrel length I like at a few places, but the problem is two fold: first, the specialized tools needed to install the barrel are both expensive and hard to find. Then, I would also need to get a TG36 receiver from Tommy Built in order to make it, but it's a shame that the guy never seems to keep anything in stock for long at all. So, who knows if I'll really be able to build one anytime soon.

Añunga Ñunga!

More lazy music posts. I liked this song a long time, but now I can't help but think of Oregon in a nostalgic way every time I hear it.  

Irakere - Añunga Ñunga

Broken record time!

Not sure if I had written about it here before, but back when I was a kid (around 8 or so), I was sent to a week (or two?) long summer camp in the Marin Headlands located in the barracks of old Fort Cronkhite. The goal was to immerse kids in lessons on ecology and marine wildlife and get kids on board with various eco-values both legit and not. I really liked it, we did all sorts of hands on stuff and got to see a bunch of different animals.  Though, even as a kid, what was far more interesting to me was the location and it's history, which was almost completely ignored by the staff there at the time.

The old barracks I stayed at for the trip.

Fort Cronkhite was set up in the 1930s as the threat of war in the pacific became an increasing threat, and across the Rodeo Lagoon from the barracks, there was a large coastal artillery battery set up there to defend the critical San Francisco port. 

A 16in artillery emplacement of the time (1940s)

What the emplacement looks like now. This is a far more improved condition than when I got to see it as a kid. 

I got to climb all over the ruins of the gun emplacements when I was there, and was completely enthralled by the idea that there was this massive piece of World War II history that was just left dilapidated and completely ignored by everyone.  Back then, they were certainly describable as ruins, as they were falling apart and we weren't allowed inside. In hindsight, this is likely because they didn't want anyone to get hurt on the meth needles, as most of the coastal defense structures were popular druggie hangouts. 

Since my childhood, they have been subsequently been restored to a certain degree, as they certainly look a far sight better now. Still, I had no idea at that age that there was so much more to it while I was jumping around the concrete emplacements. 

I had no idea that at the crest of the hill above the artillery emplacements was the dilapidated remains of a subterranean Nike Ajax and Nike Hercules SAM site for ballistic missile defense called SF-87/88. Technically a part of Fort Barry, construction started on the SAM facilities in 1954 and were operational later that year. Security was paramount at these sites and people stationed there were not allowed to discuss their work with any outsider, as the missiles were often armed with nuclear warheads themselves. They were designed and anticipated to be used to intercept incoming Soviet bombers and ballistic missiles. The site was operational until 1974, and was decommissioned and lay dormant until sometime in the 80s when restoration began by a local military vehicle collectors club. 

The missile site when operational. You can see the same barracks I stayed at in the background.

It took more than a decade of restoration, thousands of dollars, plus untold hours of time by volunteers to get it to the point it is at today. Now it is an amazing replica of the the facility at the time it was operational (minus one or two structures) that is open to the public for tours on a regular basis and (if you are lucky enough) will occasionally have Army Nike site veterans to come to assist with tours. They will also on occasion raise the restored dummy missiles from their underground storage to launch position!   

The infamous bay area fog providing some excellent dramatic lighting for this shot. All photos sourced from Wikipedia. 

Despite the trash heap my old home state has become, I would still love to just visit certain places in (The Peoples Volksrepublic of) Kalifornia just for little while, especially this one, as I've never been able to go to the restored site yet. Any plan I have to go back to my home state, would definitely involve going there.

The missiles lowered into their protective underground shelter. 

Mystery solved. Thanks, internet!

For ages I had been meaning to go to the Tekoi Test Range to check it out. It's not too many hours away from me, and I really wanted to take a day to go there, but never got around to it.

For a long time, it seemed I just couldn't find much info on it other than what I could infer on the CLUI site and the very muddled and poorly written Wikipedia page on it. Maybe my google-fu just sucked at the time, but I honestly don't remember anything showing up when trying to find out more about it roughly 10 years ago. Thankfully, someone on youtube has again beaten me to the punch and made a couple of full videos on it. One video exploring the location and another video explaining not only what was done at the facility in relatively good detail, but also has some actual footage of the tests done there. 

The only thing not mentioned in the video is the variety of the rockets tested there. Some of the more prolific ones other than the Trident SLBMs motors that were tested at the site are likely to be: 

Motors for the MGM-134 Midgetman SICBM
Boosters for the Delta III rocket

The modular Orion booster used on a variety of rockets
RIM-67 Standard SAM missile

and the infamous Pershing II missile

Today the site is supposedly used by a local drone manufacturer for tests, and is listed a potential filming location. 

As an added note that is just barely related, Skull valley is also the same place one of the greatest gunfights in movie history was filmed. I highly suggest you Google search Way of the Gun if you are unfamiliar. 

Speaking of learning to love the bomb...

A little known, but influential site in Utah Cold War history, is the Buckhorn Wash Underground Explosive Test Site #8. Also know today as simply the MK tunnel system. I'm not sure how I initially found out about them, but for this article I'm using the Cold War Tourist site as a source, which has excellent write ups on the program and it's sites. Go give it a look see, it's an excellent site with details on a lot of other places of note.

Morrison Knudsen was a company contracted by the US Army in 1948-1952 to set off controlled detonations on the naturally occurring rock in the San Rafael Swell area in Utah as a part of the Underground Explosion Test Program. The purpose of these tests was test the suitability of the rock and to refine the design of underground structures to defend against aerial explosive attacks of various sizes and in various locations across western states. 

The site is Utah has three sandstone tunnels of various sizes, in which 19 explosions were set off at various depths above the tunnels with payloads ranging from 320 lbs. of explosives to a whopping 320,000 lbs. of explosives!

Being a very soft rock, the sandstone there was likely deemed unsuitable, and then another phase of the UET program later began testing in the granite cliffs of Unaweep Canyon, Colorado. These tests likely directly contributed to the eventual development of the famous Cheyanne Mountain Complex later. Although I don't have any sources or info to back it up, I did hear somewhere that the info from these tests also contributed to the development of the underground facilities built for the Titan II missile launch complexes. 

I prefer the missiles

Utah is a funny place and I will admit a lot of it is because of the dumbass voting habits of Mormons. Despite being one, I can't help but admit that Mormons as a group tend to vote very stupidly. 

All three variants of the Minuteman missile from History.com

For example, there was a big fuss back in the day about not basing Minuteman ICBMs here, with huge protests about it at the state capital that occurred back in the 70s. Instead of basing the missiles here, the USAF just based the logistical and maintenance headquarters here instead of actual missiles.  Yet, to this day, it is still a hot topic here considering the Minuteman missiles are planned to be updated/refurbished, so lawmakesrs are still huffy about it. 

Yet at the same time, nobody here seems to have any issue with the state being completely riddled with Uranium Disposal Cells, which, IMO, are far more potentially dangerous. Looking at history, it seems like ICBMs are pretty benign, considering they are highly maintained, very secure, and the goal is to NOT use them (and we've done pretty well so far). Whereas nuclear waste handling facilities have had a far worse track record for accidents, as well as the fact that not all dump sites are official or even regulated. 

Both images from the Center for Land Use Interpretation

So, all you retarded Mormons who think you did any good at all, had better be proud of yourselves for stopping those icky ICBMs, cause look what you did instead, you idiots. I bet if we actually had ICBMs here, we would have had better oversight for how the nuclear waste is handled in the state. Just for fun, here's a list of disposal sites in Utah:

https://clui.org/ludb/site/mexican-hat-uranium-disposal-cell

https://clui.org/ludb/site/monticello-uranium-disposal-cell

https://clui.org/ludb/site/crescent-junction-disposal-cell

https://clui.org/ludb/site/green-river-uranium-disposal-cell

https://clui.org/ludb/site/clive-radioactive-waste-site

On top of these, there are also lots of unlisted nuclear waste dump sites within the Skull Valley with only signs to guard them. 

UPDATE: totally forgot to add the Green River Facility and Energy Solutions as well.