From today’s very brief Bleat:
Maybe that’s why I want to watch the movie; I want to see if they came up with a compelling reason for Superman to have a secret identity. It’s like the world’s longest-running metaphor for being in the closet, which I’m sure two thousand other bloggists have noted.
Bloggists? Where did that come from? I actually like it; better than blogger. Blogger sounds like someone carrying big wobbly Hefty bags of Jell-O; bloggist has a certain precision, as well as an old-world charm. It also lends itself to bloggista and bloggisto, which moves the emphasis from the dull O to the pert & vivacious i vowel.
Hmmm. I rather like the idea of being a bloggist, rather than a blogger. Dunno if I’m ready for bloggisto, though. Too close to Mephisto. Or Bluto. And I ain’t gonna touch that metaphor thing.
SN1 sent along a link to this video showing a new and highly effective means of traffic control being employed in
It’s not too early to bookmark this page for Christmas Eve…NORAD tracks Santa. Along about this time last year I posted a brief reminiscence about tracking Santa manually at the radar sites I was stationed at back in the day, quoted here just for grins and giggles:
Back when I was in the radar biz we used to do this sort of thing locally, for the families of the guys at the radar sites where I was stationed. Back in the day every radar site had a video mapping device that fed programmed exercise video to Operations; the normal output from the video mapper was "canned" and consisted of video blips simulating actual aircraft. On Christmas Eve we'd load up a special video overlay and route it to the intercept control scopes in Operations. While "exercise" video consisted of fake bogeys (simple blips) and tracks to train intercept controllers and technicians, the special Santa video showed a sleigh and reindeer on the scopes. Not nearly real, but real enough for the kids that saw it!
The kids always got a big thrill out of the radar displays. Doing the Santa video was one of the most fun things I ever did while I was a radar guy.
And we used to put green and/or red glass overlays on the floodlights inside the radomes, too, the object being to create huge red or green “ornaments” lit from within. Well, we did it at those sites that had translucent radomes; most of the radomes were opaque. The effect was pretty cool: the biggest damned Christmas ornaments you’ve ever seen!! And they could be seen for miles in most cases.
Life was sometimes hard on a radar site, even if said site was in close proximity to a major American city…witness this tale (the radome in the foreground is translucent, the other two are opaque. Just so you know the difference!). Mt.
Today’s Pic: Feeling rather military today, thus: More Plane Pr0n. This time it’s an F4U Corsair (with a Wildcat in the background), taken at a Confederate Commemorative Air Force Air Show in
Quiz: What's the obscure reference in the post title?
Did you ever wonder why the corsair was a gull wing? The corsair swung a huge propeller and in order to get a sufficient amount of ground clearance without stretching the body of the plane vertically the engineers at Grumman "Gulled" the wings. The plane had so much power they later added a 4th blade to the prop. In my opinion, Grumman is and was the most innovative aircraft company in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteMonday Monday. How could you leave and not take me?
ReplyDeleteDan:
ReplyDeleteI think the good folks at Vought might take exception to the Grumman reference -- not to impugn the Iron Works engineers for they certainly brought innovation to the casrrier deck (see TBM-3W among others).
- SJS
Laurie: You WIN! First prize is dinner for two at the restaurant of your choice next time I'm in Ra-cha-cha. (Void where prohibited by law. Equivalent cash value one mill. Certain terms and conditions apply. Your milage may vary.)
ReplyDeleteDan: I knew all that (except as SJS noted) coz I watch The History Channel. A lot. Plus I read SJS, too! :-)
Dan and SJS: MY money for "most innovative aircraft co." is on Lockheed, specifically the lil division created by (and originally led by, too) Kelly Johnson.
Cool beans! I actually found a good Mexican place here this past weekend. Well actually my friends found it and I was just along for the ride. It was better than the Mexican food I had in Arizona even. Salsa wasn't quite as hot but overall the food was better. Way better than the old ChiChi's.
ReplyDeleteThanks SJS, I stand corrected. I agree with Buck on Kelly Johnson however I still think Grumman is the most innovative.
ReplyDeleteInnovation is good, but it can also lead down the path to an evolutionary dead end: Flightdeck Friday-Vought Pirate ;)
ReplyDelete-SJS
Laurie said: I actually found a good Mexican place here this past weekend.
ReplyDeleteGOOD Mexican food in Ra-cha-cha? Oh MY..."it's the BIG One...I'm comin', Elizabeth!!" (apologies to Mr. R. Foxx)
I never thought I'd hear that!
Well, maybe I should classify that statement, since my own experience with good Mexican food is limited... It's the best Mexican food I've had, but you know, I don't get around much where there is "real" Mexican food. Usually when I am travelling, I'm with my mother and she doesn't like it, so we don't go to those places.
ReplyDelete