Guy On A Buffalo

I finally finished the "Guy On  A Buffalo" series.  That's one more thing off my bucket list.  Next up: complete all the works of Tolstoy and Melville.

Episode I

The "Guy On  A Buffalo" series is a documentary based on the real life events of Amos Smith: buffalo rider and outdoorsman of the untamed west, circa the early part of the 19th century.

This series has many layers to it, as we see the struggles of a man escaping pain, reshaping his life, taming the wild, taming a buffalo.  He starts life a greenhorn, surely to be expected to die in the unforgiving harsh climate and wild of the world of uncivilized North America.  At several key points, when surely death will take him, and the earth will consume his remains, Amos emerges victorious.

The greenhorn becomes a veteran of the wild.  He tames all he sees.  Then, he becomes hero, to then become legend.

A seemingly Marshall of the wild, this man is both Robin Hood and Davy Crocket.  Good and evil collide at the nexus that is "Guy On A Buffalo."

The music is haunting and carries the atmosphere, the very weather patterns that mark the backdrop to the travels of Amos.

With his trusty Buffalo, Stewy, the rider is always underestimated, always struggling to tackle the obstacles nature throws at him -- and sometimes, things thrown at him from his fellow man.

I highly recommend this series.

-fkd

The Kee Bird

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress

Although some 4,000 B29s were built, they were all destroyed/scraped but a handful.  There is now only one flying B29 in existence, and precious few that exist at all.  This made the fabled, "Kee Bird" B29 that had to emergency land in the harsh, abominable middle-of-no-where Greenland, all the more desirable.  Thus, it attracted the elite of the flying world, who attempted to save it:

• Darryl Greenamyer: U-2 pilot, SR-71 test pilot
• Roger Von Grote: relative of Manfred Von Richthofen (The Red Baron)
• Other highly specialized engineers and machinists.

The Kee Bird, pre-1994/95 Rescue Attempt

The history and story of The Kee Bird at wikipedia.org

I watched the Nova documentary on this attempted rescue/restoration of The Kee Bird B29 years ago.  It was one of the most tragic and haunting documentaries in my memory.  I revisit the status of this plane every so often to see if there are any new attempts at getting it, but it appears the answer is: no.

Spoiler alert!!!

A mechanic died during the 2 trips that spanned 1994/95 rescue attempt of a blod clot, and after millions were spent in 4 new engines and other parts installed, an entire specialized crew being sent to the site along with a bulldozer, the plane largely burned-up due to the simple over-sight of not checking a jury-rigged fuel system in the rear.  This caused a fire upon taxing that marked the end of, "The Kee Bird."

I can't but help to find synchronicity in the drama and tragedy of both the plane that dropped the 1st atomic weapon in human history, forever changing the world, and the tragedy that is the rescue attempt of The Kee Bird.

Here are two 2009 discussion threads on the plane along with 'recent' pictures.

Recent articles even as of May, 2013, claim that it has sunk the bottom of the lake, but not knowing about the lake, I believe this only means a few feet of water, and the plane has remained largely above the lake, with the landing gear submerged and the lower part of the fuselage.

A picture (seen below) was snapped in 2011 of the B29 wreckage by the crew of a P-3 during "Operation Icebridge".

Here is a tinyurl link to the maps.google.com GPS coordinates to the Kee Bird, near Petermann Glacier, Greenland.

Just enable photos and it will show a thumbnail of the Kee Bird's location.  The picture is pre-1994/95 restoration and disaster.

I do love wise and witty quotes, of which, I came across this one from the forum links above:

"There are more planes at the bottom of the ocean than there are submarines at the top of the sky." --Old Naval Aviator

A picture snapped in 2011 of the B29 wreckage by the crew of a P-3 during "Operation Icebridge."
The half-fuselage is seen covered in snow, still atop the surface of the lake.

Camping

camping  present participle of camp (Verb)
Verb
Live for a time in a camp, tent, or camper, as when on vacation.
(of a man) Behave in an ostentatiously effeminate way: "he camped it up a bit for the cameras".

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.

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