Dos Gringos - Going in for Guns

Okay, I dunno how Dos Gringos escaped me for so long, but it's the perfect mix of military humor and music. They do a good range of music styles, but it's mostly old-school country styles, American and Irish folk, and a little bit of rock. Careful, there is some NSFW language in there. Of all the songs I heard from them this one is my favorite, but World War 3 was also pretty good. 

It could have been: The F-14 in RAF service

Not sure if I have mentioned them before here, but the Aviation Geek Club site really lives up to their moniker. They have all sorts of excellent articles on their site that are worth checking out, but there is one in particular that caught my eye a while back about how close was Britain to buying the F-14.

The RAF F-14 Tomcat Fighter Jets that Never Were

Not to steal too much of their thunder over there, but in reality, the answer was it was never that close to being in RAF service. Ultimately, back when the requirement for the new RAF fighter/interceptor was made, they did realize that the F-14 Tomcat not only met the requirements, but it exceeded them!

What could have been: It looks good in RAF markings. All pics form the article. 

However, there is no denying that the Tomcat in it's early days had it's issues as well as the fact it was nearly four times the price of the fighter of the day, the F-4 Phantom that was in use at the time in Britain. That, and the Brit government had a long time axe to grind when it comes to the Americans killing off the British Aviation industry, and was absolutely determined to make their own home built solution. 

So, we all know what actually happened, which is the RAF eventually got the home-brewed Air Defense Variant of the Tornado, which served fairly well, but had some even greater limitations than the Phantom it replaced, as well as being fantastically more expensive than the Tomcat, not to mention far less capable. 

The Tornado ADV: An acceptable interceptor, a fairly poor fighter.

It's a darn shame, because with the British being invested in the Tomcat, I could see there being far more emphasis on correcting the shortcomings of the A model cat into something far better in a faster time that what we got in reality. It also would have offered a fighter that was ready for service in the 1974 -75 time instead of waiting for the Tornado to arrive in 82. Anyways, that's not all there was to the story, so be sure to check out the article over on their site for the full scoop.

The big cat would have just been so cool in those markings.

The Creamery

A tradition that has held among my wife and I has been that whenever we are on I-15 going past the town of Beaver, Utah, we have to stop at The Creamery. It's a surprisingly boutique little place that offers locally made dairy products like milk, cheese, and ice cream. 

All of their products are nothing short of great, but what makes the place so good is the atmosphere, and the fact that they offer far more than just dairy products as well, with all sorts of jams, honey, trail mix, sauces, pancake and waffle mix, as well as kitchenware, an excellent little cafe, and even their own merch shop. Also, as long as your animal doesn't cause trouble, they are more than welcoming to being pet-friendly in the store itself. 

It's pretty easy to see from the freeway, so you can't miss it. Go ahead and check it out...unless you have a lactose intolerance issue or something. 

Forgotten Films: To Live and Die in LA

This movie was huge when it came out and was lauded by just about everyone in the business, but when it comes to people talking about great crime or cop movies today, it never seems to be remembered anymore, and I think that's a huge crime unto itself. Perhaps because so much of it's style and atmosphere is just dripping in the 80s may have made some people think that it has aged poorly, but I happen to think it just makes it a stronger period piece, and has made it even more fun to watch now.

Without giving too many spoilers for those that haven't seen the movie, it's about secret service agents investigating a counterfeiting operation that is responsible for the death of an agent. The great Willem Defoe plays the villain, and the movie also features John Turturro, Robert Downey Sr., and Dean Stockwell. 

The movie is most notable to me for a few reasons, but the most interesting points to me are that despite the fact the Feds are still the good guys, the film doesn't shy away from showing them massively screwing up due to hubris and outright stupidity, as well as blatantly doing bad and illegal things to get their man. It also really delves into showing the slow corruption of a good cop into a crooked one over the course of the story. 

The film also has one of the best car chases committed to film, and there is just an immense amount of style to it that is unmistakably forever cemented in the 80s. I mean, come on, the entire soundtrack was done by Wang Chung and it's absolutely great! Another reason I love it, is that is shows LA for what most people really know it for, in that it's a dingy, dirty, and nasty city, instead of glorifying it, like an overwhelming majority of movies set in LA do. 

The movie's tone is dark, gritty, and unapologetic about it (and that's how crime movies should be IMHO, and that's just another reason I love it), which is a great contrast to the very bright and upbeat visual and audio style of the time it's set in. So if you like dark crime or cop movies go check it out and you won't be disappointed. Normally, this is where I'd put a trailer for the movie here, but I figure I'll put the music video for the theme song here instead, as that really sets the tone for the film. 

Space Marine

I make no secret that I love the lore of the Warhammer 40K universe. However, Games Workshop is nothing less than a despicable company for a multitude of reasons, one of which being that they seem to love pushing out completely garbage low budget video games for the franchise as a whole. There have only been a few that I thought were good, those being: Dawn of War II, Battlefleet Gothic Armada, Space Hulk: Deathwing, and Space Marine. Even among those one, though, they still have the feel of being shoe-stringed nearly to death on their budget. Despite that, I am still looking forward to the release of Darktide and Space Marine 2.

Anyways, this post is really about Space Marine. The game is a third person shooter in which you play as an Ultramarine in a campaign against the Orks and the forces of Chaos. The game really nails the setting and gives you that over the top action-movie feeling right from the get go. My only complaint about the story is that I feel like the Ultramarines are really one of the more boring aspects of the lore compared to other chapters of Space Marines, and you can tell that they were a little self indulgent with some of the cut-scenes and they drag on far too long. 

Sheer awesome.

Overall though, the game is absolutely great and has some excellent moments the especially funny ones being with the Ork boss. It's full of all the coolest weapons and has plenty of blood and guts to satisfy all. The game is usually on sale or even when not, is usually just straight up super cheap, and I would highly recommend it.

The Summum Pyramid

Utah has no shortage of religious kooks no matter the time period, it seems, and this one is no less interesting than any other. Easily seen from the I-15 freeway while southbound, if you are quick with the eyes, you can catch a glimpse of an Egyptian style pyramid built of partially metal construction that was completed in 1979. Designed to be facing true north as well as incorporating Golden Ratio in its design, it's got an fascinating story to go along with it.

The movement began in 1975 with a man named Claude "Corky" Nowell who said he had been contacted by beings he called "Summa Individuals" who spoke with him about concepts regarding the nature of creation and those concepts having always existed and are continually re-introduced to humankind by advanced beings who work along the pathways of creation. The experience had a profound effect on Mr. Nowell as he subsequently changed his name to Summum Bonum Amon Ra, and founded Summum to share what he had learned with others.

Afterwards, Mr. Nowell was often referred to (often derisively) as "Corky Ra" by the news at the time, and I can kind of see why, because nobody in religious circles ever seems to change their name to anything that's actually easier to type. 

Kind of confusing to me, but that's just me.

Anyways, Summum's religious practices and philosophy draws heavily from both Ancient Egyptian religion, modern mysticism, and some of the Hebrew tenants from the old testament. The name itself is derived from the Latin word Summus, meaning “highest,” and the goal of the religion is to achieve through heavy meditation a state of “spiritual Psychokinesis.” They don't believe in a specific deity at all, but rather say that all people are a part of the mind of the universe and that the universe collectively constitutes something great and worthy of study and meditation.

Perhaps uniquely, they also proport to be practitioners of modern a mummification process and a practice called Transference" which is meant to be able to guide one's essence to a greater destination after death. Another reason for the practice is that it would help to preserve the person's DNA and cells for possible cloning in the future as a scientific method of literal as well as spiritual reincarnation. However, the first person to undergo the mummification process was 2008 and was Nowell himself. His body is now encased inside a bronze mummiform casket that is covered in gold and is displayed inside the pyramid itself.

Actual photo of the mummification process for a cat.

Despite being used as the church’s primary teaching space, meditation hall, and location for the modern mummification services, the Pyramid building itself is not zoned as a church, but as a bonded winery. This is because they believe in consuming "Nectar Publications", which are wines needed in the meditation practices that help to have the mind absorb messages contained therein. An interesting fact to accompany this is that Summum was Utah's first ever federally bonded winery. 

The organization does not keep formal membership records, but according to its founder, over 250,000 people worldwide have "received" Summum instruction, this figure being based on the number of bottles of wine it has distributed.

See's Factory

Another staple of my childhood was being located not far from the See's Candies factory headquarters in South San Francisco on El Camino Real and was able to see and visit it often. The fruit flavored truffles are by far and away my favorite of their products, and the lemon, key lime, and apple pie flavors are among my favorites.

The El Camino Real location. All pics from the wiki article. 

As for a little history, the company itself was founded by Charles See, his wife Florence, and his widowed mother Mary after emigrating from Canada in 1921, and was initially headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Mary in particular was the secret to the candy itself, with all the original candies being her own recipes that she developed when living in Canada. The first shop was located at 135 North Western Avenue in Los Angeles, and the store's iconic black and white porcelain look was first introduced in 1941.

The specific store in South San Francisco was opened in 1936 during the height of the great depression (which See's did surprisingly well in) and they quickly moved their creams and truffles production (60% of their product) to this facility to specifically take advantage of the often cold local weather. 

The couverture chocolate used by See's in their product is actually sourced from the nearby Guittard Chocolate Company. The nuts used in their candies are also locally sourced from the Mariani Nut Company of Winters, California.   

A shop location in Hong Kong.

In 1972 the See's family sold the company and it is now owned by Berkshire Hathaway, who have greatly expanded the company's marketing and product availability outside of California. But, they still rely on their headquarters in South San Francisco for a majority of their production, and you can still visit it today.  

Happy Pioneer Day, everyone!

Because it's the one holiday that's more American than the 4th of July, we gotta celebrate here in Utah. Also, because I didn't actually see this one on Instagram when it was posted on Independence Day, here's the coolest thing you'll see this month: A guy in a flight suit playing the star spangled banner on a Tomcat branded electric guitar, while standing on a Tomcat. Sheer awesome.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by F-14 Tomcat Radio Show/Podcast (@f_14_tomcat_)

It could have been: The Vought YA-7F

I like the idea of putting more aviation related write-ups on here on a more regular basis, so until further notice, I think I'll be replacing the regular unresolved mysteries posts with this type from here on out. 

This week I just felt the urge to write about the YA-7F prototype, as it is something that is pretty close to home (literally). Back in the 60s and 70s, the US Air Force was being criticized for not taking the mission of Close Air Support seriously, and so they bought a bunch of A-7D Corsair IIs developed initially for the US Navy to help perform the role and were very successful in Vietnam. 

One of the two prototypes built in flight.

They were massively successful at the role, but despite this, the Air Force insisted on developing a dedicated aircraft for the mission, and came up with what we know as the A-10 Thunderbolt II (more famously know as the Warthog) that is still in use today.

But, there was a problem. The A-10 despite excelling at the role of CAS, is still an exceptionally slow aircraft, and is not suited (or designed) to be performing missions in non-permissive or non-sanitized environments, which is what the strike/interdiction mission is all about.  The F-16, despite being a faster and more accurate strike aircraft is still ridiculously short ranged, and carries a very limited payload even without additional fuel tanks taking up the pylons. 

Changes from the A-7D to the YA-7F Strikefighter taken from the Secret Projects forum.

So what is the solution? Upgrades, people. Upgrades. The plan was to take the older airframe of the A-7D Corsair II and swap out the outdated avionics for more modern systems, like OBOGS, new multi function cockpit displays, new heads up display, new sensors, upgraded radar, along with new pylons for modern podded nav and attack systems. They would also physically stretch out the fuselage to allow for more fuel for the already long ranged aircraft, and slap an afterburning engine in there to ramp up it's speed, then re-wing the thing with one with a larger area including new flaps and leading edge extensions to vastly increase payload and maneuverability. With all these upgrades they now called it the A-7F Strikefighter. 

Size comparison of the Navy A-7E and the prototype YA-7F on the bottom.

This made for a pretty formidable aircraft and another appealing aspect was that you could retrofit older aircraft to this standard as a stopgap until new production aircraft could be completed. There were of course downsides, in that it was slower than an F-16 and not as maneuverable as the A-10 or the F-16 (but was very close). However, it certainly seemed it would be a more economical option in that it seemed to be far cheaper to manufacture, far longer ranged than either the F-16 or A-10, carried a much higher payload, and was very economical on fuel. 

Testing of the F-100 engine on the prototype. The F-100 was to be used on the prototype, but the production plane was to have a more economical TF-41 engine mated with the afterburner from the F-100. A Navy version would have used the F-110 from the F-14. 

Its a shame it never made it to production, as I think it would have been a welcome addition to the modern set of capabilities, especially in Afghanistan when long range was a key requirement. Not to mention the benefit of a naval variant which would have kicked the butt of the F-18 Hornet in terms of acceleration, range, payload, and cost. For example, a new F-18 Hornet in 1982 cost approx 37 million USD per unit, whereas an A-7F production variant would have been closer to 31-32 million per unit (adjusted for inflation). But as with all things decidedly not sexy or without a pointed nose, the poor advanced version of the SLUF (short little ugly f*cker) died out not long after the end of the cold war. 

There were only two prototypes built of this special variant of the A-7, both of which are in museums. One having it's home at the Edwards AFB museum, and the other here at the Hill AFB Museum.

It's final resting place outside the entrance of Hill AFB Museum right next to the parking lot. Photos from the Wiki page.

Destroy All Humans

So there has been a rash of remastered/remade games lately, some blatantly not good like Rockstar's bullcrap classic GTA games remaster which actually made the games worse. But thankfully there are also some really good ones out there like the Destroy All Humans remaster, which I happened to like a lot.

First off, I haven't actually played the original games when they came out, so take everything with a grain of salt when comparing the two here, but from what I hear they didn't do anything to ruin or change the story, characters, setting, or overall story in any way from the original, so massive win there. Why is this so important, you ask? Well in this day and age when even video game developers aren't immune to the tides of woke bullcrap and try to include "the message" in everything, it's nice to a developer sick to it's guns and insist on retaining all it's political incorrectness that made the original characters and dialogue so good to begin with.

The game is really prized for it's excellent humor, and straight up leans into an insanely exaggerated late-50s little green men from mars setting and story that works so dang well. With all your favorite tropes to play an wreak havoc with like mind control, ESP, telekinesis, ray guns, jetpacks, gelatinous goop, and of course, flying saucers with tractor beams. My favorite aspect to the gameplay is that it feels like a more demented version of what an Invader Zim game would be like and it even features Billy West straight up doing the same voice as Zim for the character of your boss in the game!

Needless to say, I'm eager to get the remastered version of the sequel as well. 

Smith and Edwards

Note the sign over the door. Pic from the Only In Your State site.

Could have sworn I wrote about this one before, but even if I did, it seeds it's own post. So, if you haven't been to Smith and Edwards, you really should go, as it's the ultimate redneck getaway. The place specializes in a number of things, but is mostly known for being a huge military surplus store, gun store, outdoors and sporting goods equipment, food storage supplier, with a large footwear section, while also being a massive clothing outlet (mostly by Wrangler for obvious reasons). 

But that's not the end of their usefulness, as they also have a large hardware and home improvement section, farming and gardening supply, a nursery, housewares, children's books, school and office supplies, a surprisingly great in-house fast food joint, as well as an extensive amount of toys, candy, and soda for the kids or just the young at heart. Basically, if you haven't figured it out yet, the place makes Cabela's and CAL Ranch look outright boring by comparison. It's kinda hard to find something they don't offer other than fresh produce, dairy, or meat, but as far as I know, maybe they plan to do that at some point, too. 

Personally, I love their large assortment of old school and specialty candies that are hard to find anywhere else, a fantastic variety of great jerky brands, as well as they have a great selection of specialty sodas that are a must.

They have a couple of locations I know of in the state, but the one that is most well known is the one just outside of North Ogden at 3936 N. 2000 W. just southwest of the 351 exit on I-15. You can't really miss it, as it's the biggest thing out there and in case that's not enough, they have an iconic naval artillery piece in the parking lot along with an old Sherman tank hull with a plinth on the turret and glide bomb on top of that. 

Photo from the Visit Ogden site page.

Forgotten Films: 2010: The Year We Make Contact

Poster pic from IMDB.

People often think of this movie like it's an outdated relic of the Cold War, that also lives under the shadow of the first movie. Its true that perhaps the first is more memorable (for better or worse), than 2010 and it has certainly aged a little worse than 2001, but I still feel it is often unfairly forgotten compared to it's predecessor. Despite this movie having been a respectable box office success when coming out, I find not many people talk about it today. outside of complete sci-fi film nuts like me.

Assuming you have actually seen 2001, the premise of this one is easy to grasp: in this possible future, the Cold War is still raging, and despite NASA wanting to go out and find out what happened to the Discovery mission, budgets have hit hard and they are unable to complete their own craft before the USSR are able to send one for themselves to the area. So, the US are forced to send their own specialists to hitch a ride with the Soviets to see if the Discovery is recoverable, reactivate HAL, solve the mystery of it's failure, and see if whatever caused the disaster is still a threat. 

First, there are the downsides. Yeah, 2010 had some really big shoes to fill from the get go, and unless the people making the film were planning on breaking the bank, it was naturally going to have some trouble in the visuals department compared to the first movie. That being said though, despite some special effects scenes being hot trash (like the awful blue screened spacewalk scenes), there are still a lot of scenes that are still fantastically good, as it was still made in an era with actual physical models and sets instead of the ubiquitous green screens of today. 

Note that this movie came out in 1984, and uses curved CRT monitors for the Dicovery sets, but the original sets in 1967 had managed to show flat screen displays almost 30 years before they were invented!

Secondly, a lot of people now look on the Cold War aspect of the story as silly and as something that has not aged well either. I tend to disagree with that, as I love the idea of this now being an alternate-future type of story kind of like Star Trek: First Contact or Man In the High Castle. That, and the overall moral to the conflict is still applicable today, just not between the US and former USSR. As the movie states, "our governments are enemies, not us" is a quote that rings true and can be applied to a lot of situations today. Some would say this movie is cheesy because of it's setting and the time it was made in, but I say that is all hogwash (although I admit, Helen Mirren doing a Russian accent is just laughable).

The model shots are just gorgeous though and they still hold up.

As for the parts of the movie that are an improvement over the first one is that it's nowhere near as slow paced as the original and can certainly be enjoyed by a much wider audience for that reason alone. As much as I love the first film, it is way too self indulgent and drags on far longer than is welcome by most. Even for people like me who love the first film for it being a massive special effects spectacle, the pacing can still ruins some of mood and tension intended by the story, as well as having a confusing ending for most, which brings me to my next point. 

I absolutely love the atmosphere created by this film, it just reeks with mystery and foreboding, which is a big plus in my book when it's done correctly and it's delivered in spades here. Also, compared to the first, there is far more tension, higher stakes, better character development, a (now) very unique setting, and scenes so ominous and creepy, it tingles the spine, great acting showcased throughout, and an excellent 80s soundtrack that really sell the mood. 

Another amazing aspect of the film is that most of the Russian crew seen in the movie were actual Russian, Ukrainian and Latvian actors who either defected or emigrated to the US during the Cold War. It's a rabbit hole, so I wont go into it here, but you can read about some of the actor's stories on Wikipedia here:

Elya Baskin
Savely Kramarov
Natasha Shneider

So, despite it not being as pretty as a film as the first, I think almost every other aspect of it is far better that than 2001 and I have certainly re-watched 2010 far more than the original. Basically, if you like good classic Sci-Fi, you can do far worse than this one, so give it a shot. The trailer was remade in high def by a dedicated youtuber which you can watch below, but even when remastered, it really doesn't do the movie justice IMHO:

Wind Harp, South City CA

The wind harp in South San Francisco is something that I'll always remember in that it was always a noticeable part of the skyline when growing up. It's story of how it came to be wasn't really that exciting, in that the real estate company that created the industrial park it resides in just wanted to have a nice centerpiece for their business complex and hired architect Aristides Demetrios to create one.

What they got was one of the world’s largest aeolian harps that was completed in 1967, and is constructed from steel from Bethlehem Steel. The designer stated that the shape of the structure was meant to “take advantage of the viewer’s motion…constantly changing, presenting a series of graceful ellipses and a shifting light pattern.”  The noise can be difficult to describe, but I would say it gives off an almost enjoyably unsettling hum that you need to be fairly close to it to hear, kind of reminding me of those scenes with the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey. For an instrument meant to be so large, it is also surprisingly quiet on most days unless the wind is really going, and in those instances, you can then hear it almost across the valley.

The place itself has limited parking, but it's a nice place to enjoy the scenery and has certainly been cleaned up considerably since the time I was a kid. 

San Rafael Research center

The San Rafael Research center isn't a place I have been able to go to yet, as it's a little out there near Orangeville, Utah. However, it is a fascinating facility, as they do a large range of high-tech research into things such as medical isotopes, combustible fuels, thorium based nuclear energy, hydrogen research, education about such programs, and other projects. 

I could do a big article here about it's two primary items, the thorium and fuel research, but that would be a massive write up, and there is a handy primer out there on YouTube actually made by the research center, so here ya go:

Sources:
https://scic-utah.org/projects/san-rafael-energy-research-center
https://etvnews.com/what-is-the-san-rafael-energy-research-center/
https://le.utah.gov/interim/2022/pdf/00001612.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium-based_nuclear_power

Synth on Sunday

I swear there isn't a song more 80s than this one, and I love it:

Work For Love - Ministry

UMs: Miscellaneous wrapping up

So this will be the last of the weekly regular Unsolved Mystery posts in some time, as the well has kind of dried up for me, but I may end up posting some irregular snippets here and there if I come across something I find interesting. This one will have stuff from both the unresolved mysteries and non-murder mysteries subreddits, so just slap on the good music or the best version of the theme song and read on:

A rocket crashed into the moon, and no one is claiming it. Is it a botched probe, ICBM launch gone wrong, a rouge James Bond villain?
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/a-mystery-rocket-crashed-into-the-moon-and-no-one-on-earth-is-owning-up-20220628-p5ax4x.html

Speaking of really weird, how about a war criminal forcing a rapper to make a song:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nonmurdermysteries/comments/v4sszs/did_a_convicted_war_criminal_and_a_hitman/

An Austrian man goes into a coma in 1921. When he wakes up, he says he was in the body of a man living in the year 3906 while unconscious. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/nonmurdermysteries/comments/sxlfgs/the_fascinating_story_of_the_man_from_the_year/

Rory Gene Kesinger was a known bank robber who escaped prison in 1973 and hasn't been heard from since. 
https://www.reddit.com/r/nonmurdermysteries/comments/o9r1td/americas_forgotten_outlaw_rebel_girl_where_is/

On a more somber note, the story of Otto Warmbier is a tragic one, but we may never know the full truth of it until the fall of North Korea, and even then...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Warmbier

What's kind of new in games

So recently, I got two newer games that I have been meaning to get for some time now. The first being Hitman 3 and the (quite a mouthful) Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 ‘Complete Edition’. I don't quite feel like giving full reviews to either but I figured I'd give a initial impressions or may be a mini-review to both. 

Still as fun as ever, and that's no accident.

Hitman 3: If you are familiar with either the first or second game in the series, you're getting more of the same, and that's not really a bad thing at all. I haven't beaten the game yet, but so far, the pros are: slightly increased difficulty in certain areas, and still very unique and impressive map designs, as well as you can carry over your unlocks from the last game. Also, they really took the time to give the player far more to do than just assassinating their targets and exploring the maps, as I had a grand old time doing a murder mystery on the second map, that was completely optional. Also worth mentioning is that the soundtrack is even better this time around and they weren't exactly phoning it in last time, either. 

Sadly, the Cons are pretty much the same as the previous games, since they don't seem to have learned any lessons at all from the last ones. Specifically, the unlock system is still as dumb as ever, there's still no dual wielding, weapon customization, and the non-stealthy gunplay is still crap overall. Also, I still don't like that people will just lose out on rewards from completing exclusive contracts if they don't play at a specific time. That is straight up crap and insulting to players with actual lives. Not to also mention all the pricing shenanigans when it first released, but now that it is on sale, it's still worth every penny. 

An underrated series that has gotten much better over time. 

Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 Complete Edition (say that fast ten times in a row): Some people look on this game as a cheaper, modern-day knock off of the Sniper Elite series, and I don't think that's a bad thing. The earlier games in the series were more than a bit clunky, but they are using the Cry Engine, and that is notoriously difficult to work with, especially for a small, mid-tier studio. 

Anyways, the Pros are that it has a much more fine tuned upgrade and unlock system for the guns and gear. There is a much better system of challenges and achievements, making the maps far more re-playable. The maps/missions are fantastically long to start with, but can be done in little piecemeal segments for those who don't have the time, with no penalty to the player at all. Also, unlike Sniper Elite 5, it also has a much better system of controls and I had far less issue with them than the game from a supposedly AAA studio (Hear that? Get your shit together, Rebellion).

As for the cons, unfortunately there are some hitches in the unlock system, with the the fact that you need to get "intel tokens" as well as money to get new gear which really hampers the experience in my opinion. There's also the problem where I think the devs of this game also see Sniper Elite as their primary competition and have implemented a similar problem with the unlocks for guns are completely retarded and unrealistic, which is a bigger problem here, as this series was initially wanting to be more realistic than the Sniper Elite series. Lastly, the gameplay time per map is great, but still felt like the maps themselves were far more restrictive than in previous games and should have been more open, as well as have at least one or two more of them in the game if they were going to be that restrictive. Overall, despite the problems I mentioned, it's still worth it. 

Antica Forma Pizzaria

Careful, they can be hard to find in Vernal, as they are hiding in the Dinosaur Inn. Photos from the site onlyinyourstate.com.

If you are ever in the neighborhood of either Vernal or Moab, I'd say you're gonna have to stop by the famous Antica Forma Pizzaria. The place is fantastic with some of the best food you can possibly get in the Eastern part of the state. 

The wife and I had stopped there while in Vernal some time ago and were very pleased. Not only do they have great pizza, but a variety of Italian food, as well as monthly changing menu of some of the greatest desserts you can find in the whole state. In short, you will not be disappointed. 

Hiller Aviation Museum

Photo from the official website.

I've only been to the Hiller Aviation Museum a couple of times in my younger years, but it was certainly a memorable experience. The Hiller Aviation Museum in one of the newer institutions and has only been around for 24 years, having opened in June of 1998. The museum has the namesake of Stanley Hiller Jr, who was an aviation pioneer in his own right, especially in the field of vertical takeoff and landing vehicles like helicopters and vectored thrust vehicles. The museum found it's origin because of the repository of Hiller aircraft and prototypes that were left by the Hiller Aviation company to Redwood City, that had been left in a warehouse, but is now thankfully open to the public at large. 

Unlike most aviation museums, the Hiller aviation museum has primary focus on advances in civilian aviation, and in showing off it's impressive, one of a kind repository of Hiller built aircraft such as the first ramjet, NOTAR and gunship helicopters, Coleopters, and Rotorcycles. 

Some of the other more interesting aircraft they have on display are:

a Rutan Defiant - not exactly rare, but any Rutan design is just cool to look at.  

Boeing Condor - A super rare spy drone from the late 80's that is utterly massive.

Scaled Composites LLC Space Ship One - just about anyone would know that one. 

Grumman HU-16-RD Albatross - this one having a very unique story you can read about. 

A replica of the Manfred von Richtofen's Fokker Dr.1 Triplane

A replica of the Curtiss Pusher - the very same model that was the first to land on a ship at the Tanforan Air Exhibition. 

By far the most interesting to me though, was the fact the museum was (for a short while) the home of a portion of the late Boeing 2707, the American project that was to surpass the Concorde. The project is no longer there, but had a portion of the cockpit and first class, along with a mural depicting how big the full aircraft would have been. It's no longer at the Hiller location, as it has been moved to the Seattle Museum of Flight and is currently undergoing restoration. 

A pic from the Boeing 2707 Wikipedia page of what it looked like at Hiller. 

The Hyrum Dance Hall

I've driven by the Hyrum Dance Hall (also called Elite Hall) a few times but had no idea of it's story or significance until looking it up online.  Turns out that this was a pretty big project for such a small town when it was constructed in 1917. It's architect, K.C. Schaub gave it a very interesting feature that is even more rare today in that is has a spring-loaded dance floor. Yeah, you heard me, the maple wood dance floor is actually spring-loaded. 

After opening on Pioneer Day of 1917, the place was able to accommodate 1,400 people, and it not only hosted dances, but also other events like roller-skating, local meetings, and sporting events (of what I don't know). The place was initially privately owned, but it was officially given to the city of Hyrum in 1934. Hyrum is still a pretty small town and the dance events have slowed down somewhat since the 60s, but they have announced this year that they plan to start a restoration project to bring the building back to it's original look.  Thank goodness, because that nasty blue paint job is totally ugly and out of place for a building of that era. 

All info sourced from:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/elite-hall

Forgotten Films: The Crazies (1973)

George A. Romero is rightfully known as the father of the modern zombie movie. Without him, we wouldn't have either the good or the bad zombie flicks out there. However, this movie he did in 1973, could likely be seen as the original version of 28 Days Later.

People forget that despite the fact that 28 Days Later was the start of the re-invigoration or 2nd wave of the Zombie craze, that it wasn't really a zombie movie, but a contagion movie. The Crazies was really the one to pioneer this idea, as most other contagion movies of the time just had death as a consequence of the outbreak.

As with his zombie movies, I think Romero really loves telling the tale of the survivors, which can be good, but more of then than not, the most interesting part of the movies by far is the world building. Seeing everything fall or collapse because of the zombies was always the best part of the 'dead' series of movies and it's no different here. Basically a military bioweapon is accidentally released upon a small town that causes people to go completely homicidally bugnuts.  

The setup is really the best part of the movie, and in the original script, was really to just be glossed over, but thanks to the screenwriter Lee Hessel, it was then expanded upon in the final filming script and the movie is much better because of it. So, the military takeover of the town because of the outbreak is just full of horrifying and mind-bending visuals and is nothing short of impressive. However, to be fair, the movie does start to peter out with the intrigue and tension to a bit of a muddling pacing when focusing on the survivors later in the film, but does have a decent ending in my opinion.

So, I can see why it may have been a bit of a flop when initially released, but it certainly gained a resurgence with a cult status after release on home video. So much so that there was a remake of the movie made in 2010, but like most reboots, was pretty trash compared to the original. But, if you like Romero films, or something of a similar vein to 28 Days Later, give it a shot and I think you will not be disappointed. 

Good vibes

Just some relaxing tunes for Sunday

FEVER THE GHOST - "Calico"

UMs: Miscellaneous non-murder stuff - Part 2

So, we have more goodness to peruse from the r/nonmurdermysteries subreddit which have been pretty interesting in my mind, and one of the better subreddits out there. So slap on that rockin' theme song again and read on:

There is a famous gravestone in the Salt Lake cemetery (even my grandmother is buried there), one that has puzzled many people for ages as it is inscribed that the deceased was a "victim of the beast 666" Here's a good write up that solves the mystery.

Okay, people. This one is straight up David Cronenberg weird. The Richmond TV fairy: A man dressed up as a TV who leaves old TVs on people's doorsteps. Yeah. Weird. 
https://urbantruecrime.com/richmond-tv-fairy/

A random Redditor's experience with a stranger that was simply trying to get rid of cash. Why can I have this kind of encounter?
https://www.reddit.com/r/nonmurdermysteries/comments/g6a5aa/bizarre_encounter_on_a_washington_dc_university/

Did a rural Portuguese college professor find proof of extraterrestrials in the 50s? A long, but interesting write up:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nonmurdermysteries/comments/goaypa/did_a_smalltown_college_professor_discover_the/

I wrote about the Vietnamese war apes before, but here's a good write up that says there's good evidence it may be a fraud:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nonmurdermysteries/comments/i21ce4/vietnam_war_rock_apes_bigfoot_or_big_fraud/

A short youtube video doc about an old reddit mystery called the "Box of Crazy" full of UFO and other oddities that was found by a random redditor. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3obAiNLCyw

The Cold War had a lot of unlikely partnerships and hair-brained schemes, but this one is pretty crazy. The CIA and Indian intelligence services make nuclear powered sensors to track China, but then they go missing. 
https://www.reddit.com/r/nonmurdermysteries/comments/tdq3xv/the_unsolved_mystery_of_the_dangerous_nuclear/

Youtubers worth watching: Count Dankula

Back in the day, I remember the absolute crap-storm of a media sensation that surrounded his fraudulent arrest and trumped up charges, but I'm sad to day I never really watched much of his content until relatively recently, and surprise, he's pretty entertaining.  

Needless to say, I'm glad he's not only been able to put the haters back in their place, but has gone back to doing what he does best: doing youtube videos about spicy topics with blatantly dark and politically incorrect humor. He's done a lot of videos about a number of topics, but my favorite series is his is the "Absolute Mad Lads" series that documents both famous and (more often than not) infamous people from history. Below is an example, about the little-known and curious tale of Frank Amodeo:

The Crepery

The wife is an absolute fiend for a good crepe or two, and so stopping by the Crepery in Logan as always a must while we are in town. If you haven't been, they have a bewildering amount of choices on the menu, with both sweet and savory crepes, as well as salads and just about every kind of breakfast accompanying drink you can think of.  

What I didn't realize is that they now also have a location in St. George, Utah as well, so the count of good restaurants down there might soon exceed the number of fingers on one hand. 

A pic of their old location in Logan, which they no longer have, but you can get the address to new one from their website.

The ghost town of Lucin, Utah and the legend of Ivo Zdarsky

Lucin, Utah has your typical story of most ghost towns, in that it was really a product of the railroad boom, coming into being as a water/service stop for the steam locomotives that grew into a small town. Despite making a low-effort search, I couldn't find a founding date for the town other than it being in the late 19th century, but I can assume it would have not been long before the completion of the Lucin Cutoff in 1903 (also known as the Great Salt Lake Causeway today).  

A picture of a train going across the Lucin cutoff. All pics sourced from the Atlas Obscura page. 

The 1930s were not kind to a lot of things and the town had officially been abandoned by 1936, due to the change to diesel locomotives and the great depression likely not helping that. Sometime afterwards some retired railroad workers and their children lived there for a while, but was completely abandoned by about 1990 or so. There aren't really any structures left in the town anymore other than a couple of fruit cellars and a concrete phone booth, and some scattered personal effects.

Strangely, the history of this place actually gets far more interesting after it's abandonment, largely due to it's new inhabitant, Ivo Zdarsky. Ivo bought the entire town boundaries after they were put up for sale in 1997, moved in around 2007 and is now the city's only current resident. 

Ivo Zdarsky is a fascinating man who has an equally fascinating tale of defection during the Cold War. Zdarsky is a former engineering student who lived in Czechoslovakia and studied in the city of Prague. He made headlines worldwide in 1984 when he defected to Austria at the age of 24. What's even more amazing is the fact that he managed to do so by flying an ultralight trike that he designed and hand carved a propeller for himself. 

Ivo in front of his DIY escape aircraft in 1984. 

Without even telling his family, he flew his vehicle over the heavily guarded Czechoslovak-Austrian border during the night at low altitude to avoid detection by radar and being spotted visually. He managed to remain completely undetected even at the point of landing at the Vienna International Airport. Afterwards, he sold his homemade ultralight so that it is now preserved and displayed in the Berlin Checkpoint Charlie Museum in Germany. 

Once in the Western world, he re-settled to Long Beach, California, and used his engineering know how and experience to create the company IVOPROP Corp, which manufactures composite propellers for homebuilt and ultralight aircraft, as well as airboats, and has sold well over 20,000 units since it's founding.

A picture of Ivo in 2020 in front of his Cessna with the killer paint job and his hangar/home behind it.

Zdarsky currently lives in his aircraft hangar, the only real structure in the town other than the runway accompanying it. He bides his time tinkering on projects like keeping his building self-sustaining and energy independent, flying his woodland camo painted Cessna Skyhawk (which you can even see on google maps), shooting his gun collection, watching TV, or perfecting one of his experimental aircraft designs, like the one pictured below.  

He took the location for it's obvious remoteness, as Lucin offers a very practical test-ground with no collateral risks, as well as the fact that he is a survivalist of sorts and likes the idea of being completely self-sufficient. You can read much more on him and his living conditions in the excellent article about him on Atlas Obscura. 

But that's not the end of this man's legendary story, as he had also made the local news in 2019 because he helped find a woman that was reported missing for nearly a week while flying one of his aircraft in the area. Read all about it on the KSL site here. I have to say, he is certainly by far the most interesting man in the state!

Bay area birdwatching

Just look at that thing. Mother-effing majestic. Pic sourced from the Wiki page. 

The Peregrine Falcon is a fascinating animal and I've been interested in them since a very young age. I think solely because they are the fastest living thing on the planet as well as the fact that they are birds of prey. When diving onto prey, they reach an average speed of 200 MPH, and the fastest one ever recorded hit 242 MPH, basically making them nature's equivalent to the MiG-31. I mean, there's a reason that the original name of the F-16 was the Fighting Falcon, and it was even used for the program's official patch. Heck, even the Peregrine Falcon's mating habits look like a prolonged, dangerous aerial dogfight, so this bird just lives to be awesome. 

But they don't need to be on a patch to be just plain cool.

I'm not an overly big into Taxonomy, nor am I really into that many animals, I don't watch nature programs or anything, nor do I even venture out much into nature at all anymore. However, with all the complaining I've done recently with all the stuff I've been writing about in the San Francisco bay area, I figured I should point out something they have done recently that is really great. 

I remember as a kid growing up in that area, that the topic of the falcon's endangered status was brought up in the news on occasion, and the efforts being made to try to rehabilitate the population. Little did I know that at the time of the late 70s and early 80s, their populations had dwindled to the point of there being only two mating pairs in all of California. It was often brought up that whatever steps taken, it may not be enough to save them at all.

Thankfully, that mode of thinking has been proven wrong. Due in part to various policies and practices that included the installing of nests along the higher portions of the business district buildings in the 80s and 90s, that started in San Francisco. Also due to the instituting of breeding programs, and especially the banning of DDT, the population has now dramatically increased. As of 1999, they were removed from the endangered species list, and as of 2010, there was a known population of over 800 in California. Good to see that San Fran has at least done a great job in helping preserve one of natures coolest, most insane flying killing machine of death. 

A photo of falcons on the PG&E building in San Francisco where the first of artificial nests were placed. Bit hat tip to Atlas Obscura for the info and final pic.