Friday, July 5, 2013

fkd Visits the Nation World War II Museum in New Orleans



For the 4th of July, my wonderful wife took me to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans (ok ok, we also hit Bourbon Street!).  I walk in, and I'm like a kid in a candy shop as I see:

A Rolls-Royce Merlin Engine.  I tell the wife, "...that's a Merlin!"  An elderly guide hears me and goes, "look up."  I do, and see a Perfect Spitfire hovering above me.  I start taking pics of both like a paparazzi photographing Bradjolina....

Not far away ... omg! I see it!  The legendary German 88mm.  Beneath it, two MG-34s!  I begin rattling off history to my wife, as I had over the Merlin and Spitfire!  (She's a good wife, she smiles at me).  A hipster walks up to the area containing the 88 and the MG-34s, looks at the German motorcycle and begins telling his girlfriend how he could fix that up!  Dude, you're standing feet from the gun that made history in North Africa, and to the ancestor to the MG-42.  I continue to snap pictures as he explains to her how he would fit her on the bike.  He doesn't once acknowledege the 88 or the MG-34.  /facepalm

The museum did an incredible job of laying-out the entire war, from it's gestation in Asia circa early 1930s, through until the end, and in both theaters.  As we toured, I watched my wife go off on her own reading the descriptions, watching the mini-videos.  She would come to me and ask questions, asked about my Grandfather on my Dad's side who fought in the Pacific, and my Mother's Dad who fought in the 4th "Ivy" Division -- which was featured in the Western theater section, with an entire billboard of pictures and descriptions.  She said many times: "it's amazing you're here."

Thanks to those men, I am.

And yes, I stood feet from the almost mythical Sturmgewehr 44 -- the first, ever, assault rifle in history.  I have to say, it moved me even more than the Merlin or the 88.

As we left, two elderly guides were near the end of the tour.  My wife went over and talked to them on her own -- now fully knowing my Grandfather's Division -- the 4th "Ivy."  She calls me over.  They tell me, "he would've landed on Utah."  "Yes." I said, "That's what I've read."  "Well, go out this door, see that?"  And they pointed at this hunk of concrete.  "You're Grandfather and that slab of concrete met on 6/6/1944.  That was brought over from Utah beach.  If you look on the top of it, you can see a German Soldier's boot print, and the hobnails too.  He walked on it before it finally hardened, the imprint is forever set in it now."

So, in the end, I got to see a piece of the beach defenses my Grandfather stormed, along with his troop -- most of whom died on D-Day.



Wife in foreground, German 88 in background






Front of 88



88 description and info



The incredible Rolls-Royce Merlin







Two MG-34s







Supermarine Spitfire













The Sturmgewehr 44 ... legendary drop



Steel-reinforced concrete from Utah beach, Normandy



The bootprint of an unknown German soldier, circa early 1940s, on the slab of concrete above


The full album along with pictures of a fully restore B-17 can be found here.

Friday, June 28, 2013

World of Tanks & Playing Old Replays

PTwr has produced the next iteration of RCP for World of Tanks.

In short, this allows you to watch old replays of World of Tanks from an earlier version of the game.


My best all time game was in my Lion (Lowe for the unwashed) and it is an old version of WoT.  I love the thought that I can watch it due to the work of PTwr.

Victory!
Battle: Erlenberg Wednesday, April 04, 2012 4:53:14 PM
Vehicle: Löwe
Experience received: 2,850
Credits received: 177,891
Battle Achievements: Mastery Badge: Ace Tanker, Boelter's Medal, Steel
Wall, Top Gun

^the game wherein, I pwnz3r3d <-- copyright



 RCpack for 8.6 on the World of Tanks Forums


^You will find all you need to know here along with download links.

As PTwr puts it:

RCpack - the thing that lets you watch old replays with minimal overweight.

this is just a cool pic, clicking it does nothing....


A satisfied RCpack customer; clicking this will make the pic bigger and, yes, you should click it

Rome Total War

In prep for Rome Total War II, I've been playing some good ol' RTW.  Got DAmn! I love this game!

Anyhow, came across this trait recently ¬_¬


I think my attempt to update to World of Tanks 8.6 did not go well









Sunday, June 23, 2013

Hitler vs Stalin

I made this a long time ago, and forgot all about it

Anyhow, idk if this is a repost on my own blog and not gonna peruse to see, but I think not....

Here it is:



Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Best Friends

We're the Best Dota2 Friends
That Anyone Could Have
We're the Best Dota2 Friends
That Anyone Could Have

We're the Best Dota2 Friends
That Anyone Could Have
And We'll Never ever ever ever
Leave Each other

I've been doing so bad at DoTA2 that I honestly thought about giving real cash to a charity to make recompense, sorta like Sam Kinison everytime he fucked up.

RIP Sam

And in the midst of some of the worst video gaming of my life (and that's a very low bar), I get a friend invite from this awesome guy named:

Dovakhiin | CL

^I guess "CL" is his clan.  It must mean:

Cool League or Crazy Lassies or Can Laydownforbuttjob....

I thought, "what the hell" and accept it.

Upon doing so, this guy, this Dovakhiin, he says to me:

"You're awesome at DoTA2!!!"

Me: "no I'm not.  I'm honestly horrific."

Dova: "Nah, you're good."

Me: "Well, thx I guess."

... a few minutes go buy.

Dova: "You wanna trade?"

Me: "For what?"

Dova: "You mythical Axe axe."

Dova: "i give you another good mythical."

Me: "not gonna trade that" [my nephew gave it to me]

Dova: "OK OBESE KID"

Dova: "FUCK YOU"

Then, he leaves.  I love my friends....



Tuesday, June 11, 2013

The Age of The Sphinx

This topic captivated me since I first learned of it in the mid 1990s.  The below is from memory, so, if I got something wrong feel free to tell me:


I finally read AAD blog post on the topic last night and listened to the podcast during commute (which is Chris White -- _the_ AAD guy -- reading the same blog).  1st, direct quote from the blog post:

Unlike similar debates with ancient alien implications this one has played out in scholarly circles.

^I.e., none of the participants are bsc (batshitcrazy) AA  (Ancient Aliens) guys.  But Schoch's view _has_ been used by some bsc AA guys.

Shoch's view is that the water erosion is evidence the Sphinx is circa 2,500 to 5,000 yrs older than Egyptologists claim it to be.  Reader believes this date too old, and the Sphinx is only circa 400 years older, which is a much later age by 4,500 to 2,000 years <-- both of these views most egyptologists do not like, as it affects their belief that King Khafra commissioned The Great Sphinx (can I call him "king"?).  It is important to denote that:

A. Both Schoch and Reader believe TGS (The Great Sphinx) to be older than the common egyptological view.
B. Both also believe it to be from an older hereto-fore-unknown "Sun Cult" culture (it is pointed at the sun).
C. Both believe TGS to have had a different, bigger head, most likely a lion.
D. Both believe Khafra simply carved his head onto TGS at a later date.
E. Egyptologists have not endorsed either view, but state Reader's -- which is _much_ later than Schoch's -- to be "probably right."

Good article, the tennis match between Reader and Schoch is enjoyable.  It is very academic and professional.  Both men showing high levels of education and scholarly respect.

tl;dr2: Schoch has to have his view proven guilty, and until then it is considered innocent.  He has turned over a lot of evidence and done lots of work, but until all possible geological "tests" are passed, his view will remain in doubt.  It is important to note here that Schoch has not been proven wrong, and he has affected modern archaeology regardless.

Credentials:
Schoch has a phd from Yale in geology and geophysics.
Reader is secretary of "The Manchester Ancient Egypt Society."  All else I can find about him is "Colin Reader Geologist" <-- cannot find his degree in a 5 minute search.  Here is one link to his creds.


rawr!