No Heh Here... Just Truth

The "it's the Real Thing,"no-shit-really BEST political cartoon about Obama I've seen to date.  It'll take some doin' to beat Eric Allie's latest.

Test Drive, Part Two

Well, not exactly like Part One of "Test Drive"...  I've bought this puppy, said puppy bein' Firefox 4.0, which has all the features of IE9 and a VERY slightly different layout.  Witness:

Click to embiggen, as always

FF 4.0 is off to the races...

After a slow start, Firefox 4 picked up its download pace considerably late yesterday and throughout the night: It scored about 7 million downloads in its first 24 hours after launch. By 9 am PST today, the download count blew past 8 million and there are no signs of a slowdown. Previews of Firefox 4.2 are already available.

And, appropriate for a racehorse, the browser is fast... much faster than 3.6.15.  I like the new layout, too, which is much like IE9 in that it gives ya more content space (without having to figger out how to hide your menu bars).  Muscle-memory is killing me, tho... I have to make two moves with the mouse to change tabs.  A lil more familiarity with the new interface and this, too, shall pass.

We all have out favorite browsers... I've downloaded and dabbled with both Chrome and the latest incarnations of IE... but I always come back to Firefox.  If you're one of those undecided but objective types when it comes to browsers, PC Mag has a good three-way comparison between FF, IE, and Chrome.  Spoiler:  PC Mag rates Chrome as the Editors' Choice.

Procrastination Я Us

I really should have been out and about earlier, coz I have various and sundry errands that must be attended to... like filling three prescriptions before my eye surgery in two weeks time, restocking the larder, and replenishing the beer inventory.  But we weren't out and about and we ain't gonna be so, for we are having another wind event here on The High Plains of New Mexico.  Shorter: it ain't nice outside.  None of the foregoing items are time sensitive and the beer supply is adequate for the moment, so... everything can wait.

Well, sorta.  I'm drinkin' the second bottle of that beer for people who don't really like beer and I'm seriously considerin' chuckin' the four remaining bottles in the trash.  Throwin' out beer is a RARE thing at El Casa Móvil De Pennington but it HAS happened (we disposed of this moose-piss-in-a-bottle with no regrets).  OTOH, I might save what's left of this berrry interesting stuff, if only because I have occasional female visitors who might like it.  Mebbe.

In the mean time we have an adequate stock of suitable beers for our second and possible subsequent round(s).  Coz we're good like that.

―:☺:―

Speakin' of wind events... we were out and about for about five hours yesterday, having journeyed to Cannon Airplane Patch to resupply the meds and then over to The Big(ger) City™ for our pre-surgery eye appointment.  I made the grievous mistake of leavin' all my windows open while I was gone, with predictable results: the 40-mph winds left a fine coating of miserable frickin' grit all over every-gotdamned-thing.  I gave the desk a perfunctory wipe-down when I got back in last evening and saved the heavy-duty cleaning for today, which took me at least an hour... no shit, really.  Suffice to say our windows are shut tight today and we WILL use the AC if conditions require.  Housework is the curse of the drinking class, yanno?

About that eye appointment... I've decided to go with an upgrade and will get my astigmatism fixed when the cataracts are removed.  Medicare won't pay for the upgrade but the price is reasonable and it will be a welcome change to go through the rest of life without glasses.  Well, sorta.  I'll still need reading glasses for close-up work but that's not all THAT bad now, izzit? 

So... beer me! 

Plane Pr0n and Other Stuff

Occasional Reader Ron C. sends along a rather cool video put together by Jeremy Blaney at Vance AFB in Oklahoma...

The Toby Keith song has become sort of an unofficial anthem at many military events; I've heard it more than once at various ceremonies and gatherings out at Cannon Airplane Patch.  It DOES make a nice soundtrack for the above, doesn't it?

―:☺:―

In other Air Force news... there's this from today's AFA Daily Report:

Odyssey Dawn Units Identified: The Air Force has identified units that participated in the attacks against Libyan military targets in the opening salvos of Operation Odyssey Dawn this past weekend. In addition to B-2 stealth bombers from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo., the Air Force sent F-15Es from the 492nd Fighter Squadron and 494th FS at RAF Lakenheath, Britain, as well as F-16CJs from the 480th FS at Spangdahlem AB, Germany. The B-2s struck combat aircraft shelters at Ghardabiya Airfield in Libya, and, based on post-strike photos that the Pentagon displayed, precisely hit them. The F-15Es and F-16CJs attacked ground forces loyal to Libyan ruler Muammar Gadhafi that were advancing on opposition forces in Benghazi and threatening civilians. KC-135s of the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall, Britain, refueled the strike aircraft en route to an unnamed forward air base. C-130Js from the 37th Airlift Squadron at Ramstein AB, Germany, moved ground equipment and personnel to the forward base, as did theater-based C-17s. Pentagon officials also said EC-130 Commando Solo psychological operations aircraft participated. The Pennsylvania Air National Guard's 193rd Special Operations Wing in Middletown operates these aircraft. (Ramstein release) (See also our initial coverage)

Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue... and a few of our closest friends.  It surprised me to read that the US was responsible for taking out that tank convoy outside of Benghazi; initial reports speculated it was the French who did that.

―:☺:―

Yesterday's news item about a certain USAF Major General generated an interesting e-mail thread between YrHmblScrb and a few of my Occasional Correspondents.  About which... there's this in the "let me be perfectly clear" department: 

Just generally (heh) speaking... the concept of women Air Force generals or Navy admirals doesn't bother me at all, either, if they have suitable experience, and by that I mean combat experience.  Flying fighters, for instance.  Bombers, even.  Or driving ships into harm's way and having had weapons-release authority.  But a cursory look at Gen. Woodward's biography shows stuff like "protocol chief" and "deputy (DEPUTY!) director of colonel matters," whatever the hell THAT means.  I'll cop to the squadron and wing command slots, even if those were "just" tankers... coz the flying gas-station guys are an integral part o' each and every OpPlan.

OTOH... I KNOW there are chicks out there who have spent a good amount of time with their asses strapped into A-10s, F-15s, and F-16s... the point bein' why not them?  I smell a lot o' politics here... just sayin'.

Which, of course, is my amplification on the point I was tryin' to make in yesterday's post.  So just don't be callin' me a male chauvinist pig, mmmkay?  It all boils down to "Who are ya gonna believe?  Me or your lyin' eyes?"

(Photo credit: Official USAF photo from MGen Woodward's bio page)

Not Your Father's Air Force XI: A Short Quiz

Notice anything unusual or different about this blurb from today's AFA Daily Report?

B-2s, F-15s, F-16s in First Wave of Libya Airstrikes: Air Force strike aircraft participated in the initial wave of attacks against Libyan military targets. Following the US and British cruise missile attack on Libyan air defense sites that launched Operation Odyssey Dawn on Saturday, three B-2 stealth bombers, flying from their home station at Whiteman AFB, Mo., struck Libyan airfields on Sunday. They flattened hardened shelters used to protect Libyan combat aircraft, Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, Joint Staff director, told reporters Sunday. Four F-15Es and eight F-16CJs also flew in the opening strikes, said Air Force officials. "Our bombers and fighters performed magnificently," said Maj. Gen. Margaret Woodward, 17th Air Force commander and joint force air component commander for Odyssey Dawn. KC-135s from RAF Mildenhall, England, supported the strike aircraft. (AFPS report by Jim Garamone) (Mildenhall photo caption by SrA. Tabitha M. Lee) (Ramstein release) (Whiteman photo caption by SrA. Kenny Holston)

Not unusual or different... this cool pic of a B-2 from Whiteman AFB:

3/20/2011 - One of three B-2 Spirit bombers returns to Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., from a mission in support of enforcing Operation Odyssey Dawn no-fly zone over Libya March 20, 2011. The no-fly zone was imposed by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 authorizing military action. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Kenny Holston)

Photo captioned as found.

Heh

Nico doing THE most bizarre take on Jackson Browne's signature tune... from the soundtrack of a weird little comedy called "The Royal Tenenbaums," which I'm watching as this goes to press.  IMDB on the movie:

An estranged family of former child prodigies reunites when one of their member announces he has a terminal illness. 

The movie is really funny or mebbe I've had too much single malt.

You hadda be here?

Broadening Our Horizons XVII

"Berrrry interesting... but..." as Arte Johnson might have said:

That would be a Leinenkugel Berry Weiss, which is berry mediocre according to the readers at Beer Advocate.  One dude really didn't like this beer (copied exactly as found... don't be yellin' at ME for the grammar and spelling errors):

i knew i was in trouble when this candy like color starts to fill the glass, with a fizzy white top that seams to pop up and fall down immediatly. ehh. but then i took a whiff, fake berries, and just light kool aid like aroma. not even close to a good fruit beer. way too light and the flavors and aromas are so blatently artificial it was downright scary. light berrys and hints of sweet malts try and poke up but they are just remnants of what would make a good beer. 

I agree to a point, but not as much as that guy above; the beer is like an alcoholic Kool-Aid.  That said, it is nice for a warm Spring day but it also won't be seein' the inside of my fridge again for a while, if ever.  This one really IS too sweet for my tastes... I shoulda saved the "Barley Pop" post title for this particular beer.  I'm thinkin' I've had enough of this fruit-beer thang for a while. 

Finally

Spring is officially here... or it will be soon, what with the official arrival date bein' March 20 at 2321 hrs GMT.  That's close enough for gub'mint work, I suppose, and we consider ournearlyfineself to be a gub'mint employee of sorts, seein' as how we subsist largely (tho not completely) on a military pension and the largess of you taxpayers who contribute to my monthly Social Security stipend.  And we are grateful to you.  Yes we ARE.

But we digress, as is our wont.  The ornamental cherry tree directly outside El Casa Móvil De Pennington burst into bloom yesterday and is festooned with these things as we speak:

Full disclosure: that's an old pic from an old post, but it IS an accurate representation of what is on the cherry tree at the moment.  The fact is we are not fully caffeinated as yet and can't be troubled to go outdoors and snap a new picture in the service of truth and journalistic accuracy.  Such is the nature of journalism in this day and age... even citizen-journalists take the odd liberty with facts and circumstances now.  What IS this world comin' to?

I did notice a rather strange thing when searching the archives for this pic: the cherry tree bloomed on the third of March back in 2009 and didn't bloom at all in 2008.  Mother Nature is sure one fickle bitch.

More Trouble Than It's Worth?

A time-lapse video of what it takes to setup and then snap the Montreal Canadiens' team photo.  Who knew?

I'm thinkin' this is (a) a helluva lot easier and (b) a helluva lot more gratifying:

It might be a while before the Habs find themselves in that position, though.  Just sayin'.

h/t: Kukla's Korner.  Apropos o' nuthin'... see that light gray tee shirt the two trainer dudes are wearin' (second row, extreme right)?  I have one of those.  I don't have the hat, though, what with me bein' a black-hat sorta guy.  I don't do white.

Looking For Wakkanai?

I've been getting a lot o' hits the last week or so from folks searching for Wakkanai Air Station or variants on that theme.  One of the very first posts I put up on EIP was about Wakkanai and that post ranks high among Google searches for the term.  Every Wakkanai-searching visitor I've had of late clicks out to "Wakkanai Was My Home," which used to be the definitive website on the subject, and it was a real jewel.  David Lynch, the creator of "Wakkanai Was My Home," did a bang-up job and his photo archives... which featured many contributors, a few o' whom were my contemporaries back in '68 ~ '70... were a treasure for those of us who served there over the years.

Alas, the site is no more.  All you get when trying to go there is the shortest of messages informing you "This website has been cancelled (sic)."   There used to be an app for that... or rather an app to overcome that.  While Google Cache will show you the main page of "Wakkanai Was My Home," the links to the photos and other pages won't get ya to where you wanna go... they're all dead  The same thing holds true for a Google image search; there's a dearth of pictures of Wakkanai AS where there used to be hundreds.  That's a damned shame.  One of the best... arguably THE best... Wakkanai resources has gone dark.

Update, 1545 hrs:  I was doing some looking about on the net and came upon this lil gem:



This video is from 8mm home movies shot in 1962.  Although the time-frame precedes my time at Wakkanai by about six years it appears little had changed in between the time this video was shot and my arrival at WAS.  I'll say it again:  despite the weather and the isolated location, Wakkanai was one of the best assignments I had in my 22-year USAF career, topped only by London (RAF Uxbridge) and Tokyo (Yokota AB).  It was really one of those "ya hadda be there" experiences.

Heh

I coulda written the narrative to this clip (the usual disclaimer about f-bombs applies, coz there are more than a few):

Really.  That sounds just like me watchin' "Nature" or almost anything on the NatGeo channel.

h/t:  The Guardian.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

I have just the remedy in the off chance you find yourself in much too good a mood today... the Verve Pipe:

For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen

Ah, well.  We ALL have our bouts of angst, don't we?  Don't think for a moment this song represents our general mindset today, Gentle Reader.  The tune is merely an exception that proves the rule... for all is well in our world today.

Plus ça change...

... plus c'est la même chose.  I've mentioned in passing that I'm reading Mark Twain's Autobiography, albeit reading slowly... very slowly... almost to a point where "reading at it" would be more accurate.  It's not that the book isn't entertaining (it is), or that the prose is inaccessible (it's not), or any of the myriad reasons one has for not plowing through a book in a couple o' sittings.  I did put Twain aside in favor of Clancy a while back, but that was when I was in the weeds of the academic notes.  We've since moved to Twain proper and the reading is easy.  But I'm a lot slower than I used to be, in almost any life-category you'd care to mention.  It is what it is.

We digress.  The post title refers to this lil excerpt I ran across yesterday:

We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove. We have two opinions: one private, which we are afraid to express; and another one—the one we use—which we force ourselves to wear to please Mrs. Grundy, until habit makes us comfortable in it, and the custom of defending it presently makes us love it, adore it, and forget how pitifully we came by it.

Look at it in politics. Look at the candidates whom we loathe, one year, and are afraid to vote against the next; whom we cover with unimaginable filth, one year, and fall down on the public platform and worship, the next—and keep on doing it until the habitual shutting of our eyes to last year’s evidences brings us presently to a sincere and stupid belief in this year’s.

Look at the tyranny of party—at what is called party allegiance, party loyalty—a snare invented by designing men for selfish purposes—and which turns voters into chattels, slaves, rabbits; and all the while, their masters, and they themselves are shouting rubbish about liberty, independence, freedom of opinion, freedom of speech, honestly unconscious of the fantastic contradiction; and forgetting or ignoring that their fathers and the churches shouted the same blasphemies a generation earlier when they were closing their doors against the hunted slave, beating his handful of humane defenders with Bible-texts and billies, and pocketing the insults and licking the shoes of his Southern master. If we would learn what the human race really is, at bottom, we need only observe it in election times.

That bit o' wisdom was written at the turn of the 20th century... say around 1901, or thereabouts... in an unpublished article Twain wrote for The Atlantic, but published in its entirety in his memoirs.  There is a lot more in this vein and I could quote from the piece from now until the cows come home.  Twain was an Independent rather than a registered Republican or Democrat, and waxes eloquently about voting for the man rather than the party, claiming he never once voted a straight party ticket.  That's pretty good advice, no matter what era you live in.  But it's Twain's larger point about humanity's worst aspects being on display at election time that interests me.  I find it fascinating that the more things change, the more they remain the same.  It has been ever so.

The image comes from a generic Google image search.  I chose Twain with a cigar for obvious reasons, that being the only thing we have in common.

True

There are other and similar 'toons at the usual source.  Apropos of the situation in Japan... The Second Mrs. Pennington sends this along:

Last night Junko said that in Tokyo they are having rolling blackouts, gas rationing, and food is being bought up to the point there are no eggs. 

There are things one doesn't hear on the news, aren't there?  I haven't turned my teevee on as of yet this morning so I'm unaware of overnight developments at the Fukushima nuclear plant.  One continues to pray and send our best thoughts to Japan.

Want

There was a time when my greatest want, Firepower Division, was an M1911.  But all that's gone by the boards... what I REALLY want is this:

There are just SO many practical uses for an M-32 that I can't begin to describe them.  But use your imagination, Gentle Reader, and begin, say, on the freeway or mebbe any given Wal-Mart parking lot.  Or think as I do: an M-32 would be VERY useful in my prospective post-retirement career as a midnite fire-bomber, once I get around to pulling the trigger.  Heh.

Alas... I'm afraid the M-32 is only available to uniformed members of the armed services... and I don't think I qualify, even though I DO own a nearly new and barely-worn Class A uniform adorned with all the bells and whistles accorded to me by the United States Air Force during my semi-illustrious career.  I don't want to dabble in the black market due to the unsavory nature of vendors in that space (there are hardly ever any warranties and service after the sale? Fuhgeddaboudit!), not to mention the fact prices in said market are beyond the wherewithal of a humble retiree (like me!)... even a retiree with aspirations of a potentially lucrative midnite firebombing career.  The 1911, OTOH, is widely available.  And my birthday is coming up...

We Are NOT Complainin'

About this:

It's about 85 degrees as we speak and we might be forced to turn the AC on if the wind gets any higher.  Life is just peachy right now, with a nice breeze blowin' through the open windows of El Casa Móvil De Pennington.  And we're just about to remove ourselves from indoors and decamp to our usual, customary, and quite reasonable place under the awning... for t'is a lovely day.

Happy St. Paddy's Day to those of you of the Irish persuasion, and to those of you who are temporarily Irish.  Our Happy Hour libation today will be a couple o' Sammy Adams finest Irish Reds.  Fitting.

I made my usual blog-rounds this morning and found that nearly EVERY single comment I left on Blogger-blogs yesterday vanished.  I think I know why this is, once I gave it a lil bit o' consideration.  Remember I told ya Google suspended my account yesterday?  That was exactly the same time I was making my rounds.  That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

The Doctor Is In

Or, "why I'm glad Andy exists."  Coz I'd hate to be doin' all this myself, which presupposes I'd have the knowledge to do it in the first place... not to mention other stuff.  Removing and repairing an RV furnace takes a lil bit o' doin'.  Here's a few shots of the work in progress:

The stove had to come out to get access to the furnace

Where the furnace lives, Part One

Where the furnace lives, Part II.  The unit slides out from a hole in the side of El Casa Móvil De Pennington.

As I said:  Thank The Deity At Hand for Andy.  I need to get started on building his altar.

Tsunami Relief

The Air Force and the Navy are stepping up in a BIG way... from the AFA's Daily Report:

Airmen Press On with Japan Relief Efforts: The Air Force has delivered 107.5 tons of relief supplies and emergency equipment to Japan since last week's earthquake and tsunami pummeled northern Japan. USAF tankers have offloaded more than 29,900 gallons of fuel to keep the aerial lifeline going, reported the Wall Street Journal, citing Air Mobility Command sources. Five days after tides raced across the tarmac at Japan's Sendai Airport at the tsunami's epicenter on March 11, special tactics airmen from Kadena Air Base on Okinawa succeeded in clearing the airport's runway for use as a staging area, with an MC-130H making the first landing on Wednesday. HH-60 crews flying from Yokota Air Base near Tokyo aided in establishing a forward refueling area at Yamagata Airfield near the disaster zone to facilitate the quick turnaround of US and Japanese search and rescue helicopters. While aiding the Japanese, Yokota and Misawa Air Base are still recovering from the earthquake. C-130 and C-17 airlifters earlier this week delivered 19 generators to Misawa to restore power there. (See our earlier coverage) (AFPS report by Cheryl Pellerin) (Kadena release) (Kadena report by TSgt. Aaron Cram) (Yokota release)

From the linked American Forces Press Services release:

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2011 – Fourteen U.S. Navy ships and their aircraft and 17,000 sailors and Marines are now involved in the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts in Japan, a Defense Department spokesman said here today.

Marine Corps Col. Dave Lapan said the military effort has included 113 helicopter sorties and 125 fixed-wing sorties, moving people and supplies, helping in search and rescue efforts, and delivering 129,000 gallons of water and 4,200 pounds of food.

The USS Tortuga, with heavy-lift MH-53 helicopters aboard, has completed loading 273 Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force troops, 93 vehicles and equipment for delivery tomorrow in Onimato, he said.

The USS Blue Ridge, the command ship for Navy Vice Adm. Scott R. Van Buskirk, commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet, is scheduled to arrive tomorrow and is expected to remain in the area, Lapan said.

The USS Essex, USS Harpers Ferry and the USS Germantown -- with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard -- “will remain on the western side [of Honshu] rather than transit around to the east because of the at-sea debris field and the radiation hazard,” he added.

The hazard was created by tsunami damage to reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Some Navy airmen and sailors participating in relief missions off the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan were exposed in the past few days to low-level radiation, and 17 crew members underwent decontamination procedures, Lapan said.

The Reagan and its escort ships have moved north, but remain in the vicinity, he said.

I laughed last year when the Navy changed their motto from whatever it used to be ("Row, Row, Row Yer Boat?") to the current "A Global Force For Good." I'm thinkin' no one in northeast Japan is laughing at that motto this week. This is yet another case of the US military stepping up... within hours... to help the unfortunate of the world, no matter where they may be. We're like that.

Barley Pop

Pop, indeed.  Purists will shudder but I enjoy this beer from time to time...

That would be a Sammy Adams Cherry Wheat (C+ at Beer Advocate), which I think just might be the perfect drink for our first 80-degree day here on The High Plains of New Mexico.

We're recently in from our daily errands... including collecting our snail-mail, at which time we were pleased to find that eagerly-awaited shipment from Amazon lurking in our mailbox.  Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack will begin with "Low Country Blues"... no Pandora today, thank ya.

And now to fire up both cigar and stereo, put the awning down, and enjoy.  I hope your day is going half as well as mine, Gentle Reader.

It's Always SUMTHIN', Part IX

Pretty soon we'll have all our major systems replaced here at El Casa Móvil De Pennington, as it seems like I'm running out of things that break and/or wear out.  Last night it was our furnace... the blower motor quit blowing.  And the blower motor is indeed gone, as verified by Andy the RV Doctor a few minutes ago.  I suppose this sorta thing is to be expected, as nothing is forever... especially where machines are concerned.  The good news is the furnace should be repaired by tomorrow evening.  The BEST news is the furnace waited to fail until the weather warmed up considerably.

But Hey!  This is all small stuff compared to events elsewhere in the world, eh?

―:☺:―

Speaking of those events... Blog-Bud Deb sends along a link to a NY Times feature with a series of before and after satellite images of the Japan tsunami devastation.  A couple o' screen caps:

Before

After

What makes these images unusual is you can slide the cursor over the images for the before and after contrast.  I'm still having difficulty comprehending the extent of the damage; the continuing teevee coverage of this event has been heartbreaking.