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Showing posts from 2017

Loose Ends 2017

I have not had the time nor the energy to blog as much these past couple of years.  Professional and family life demands more of me these days.  I worked more on my Nietzsche blog than I have in recent years.  So that took a bit of my blogging time and energy.  Here (in no particular order) is my annual rundown of various odds and ends that I didn't blog about from the past year. I went to the movie theater twice in 2017.  You can read my review of Blade Runner 2049 here .  The other film I saw, Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk , was not exactly a disappointment but it wasn't one of Nolan's stronger films either.  Long-time readers know that Nolan is my favorite contemporary director and the film had several innovative and interesting qualities, particularly in its interweaving of three different narrative time scales and its use of sound effects.  But I wouldn't give it higher than a 7 on my scale.  I just didn't feel inspired to write about it even though it w

Silver Bayonet: Gaming the Ia Drang Valley

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Proof of purchase.  Silver Bayonet has outstanding components and production quality.  The map is hard-mounted, a rarity these days - almost every game is published with paper maps.  Even the box is made of heavier stock.  A great value for the price. A section of the map as seen in the game's VASSAL module.  This is the area around Pleiku and Camp Holloway .  There are a few clear hexes but the terrain is mostly broken hills, light jungle and mountain jungle. I have blogged before about how I enjoy combining the reading of military history with historical wargames.  The Vietnam War does not loom large in my rather robust wargame collection (a lifetime in the making) but I do own several interesting titles.  In computer wargames I have John Tiller's squad level treatments at the war, Vietnam and Tour of Duty .  These offer relatively quick playing scenarios that show how the war was fought at the tactical level. I also own The Operational Art of War III which f

Shave and Play Barbie

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Neil Young: The Visitor and the Archives

On December 1, Neil Young released his 39th studio recording, The Visitor , along with opening up the complete, long-awaited Neil Young Archives project.  As of today you can stream the new album and explore the vast archives for free .  I ordered the new CD anyway because I want to support Neil's efforts.  This post takes a look (listen) to both the CD and the Archives project. I have spent over a week listening to The Visitor off and on.  Neil continues to work with Promise of the Real , which is a plus.  The band energizes the 72 year-old rocker and Neil leverages their youthful talent to create some incredible instrumentation on the new CD.  The overall album is a mixed bag, however, not as strong as The Monsanto Years but still well worth a listen.  Like The Monsanto Years , Neil is channeling some inner angst about the political issues and injustices of contemporary life.  Unlike the previous album, however, Neil is a bit less focused and he tends to express his rants

There came a big snow today

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We got 7 inches, were expecting 1 or 2 or maybe just a dusting.  Wham! One of the hardest snows I've ever seen in Georgia.  It was beautiful but it was mostly a pain in the ass.  Lost power for over 3 hours.  I have a lot of chainsaw clean-up work to do now.  And my heat pump sucks when its this cold.  Merry Christmas to Winter Storm Benji .

Meditations on the Vietnam War: The Ia Drang Valley 1965

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"When Robert S. McNamara became Secretary of Defense in 1961, he ushered in sweeping changes aimed at completely reorganizing the Department of the Army and its methods of warfare.  He was highly displeased with Army Secretary Elvis J. Stahr, Jr.'s , report on the status of Army aviation plans.  McNamara realized the current Army procurement program was hopelessly inadequate in every category of aircraft and considered it dangerously conservative.  Furthermore, McNamara felt that the Army failed to exert any strong, unified aviation effort and was plagued by reticence and budgetary restraint which were blocking the adaptation of necessary aircraft and equipment.  Most important, he believed that officers with progressive ideas about airmobility were not being heard. "McNamara was convinced that a breakthrough in airmobility was possible with the new Bell helicopter models.  He was given a list of officers who also believed Army aviation needed new direction, and the