Ummagumma

Proof of purchase. As many previous posts attest, wargaming is probably my favorite hobby.  It has been that way since I was an early teen playing games published by Avalon Hill .  Having devoted some five decades to enjoying the hobby and seeing it evolve, I would have to say my favorite game designer in Dean Essig . Essig's approach to design is to first create a set of rules for a series of games focused around whatever those rules are intended to simulate.  Then, he refines those rules as more games are developed for the series and more players offer input to improve play.  For example, his Operational Combat Series (OCS) has been around for about 30 years and is currently on rules version 4.3.  While the essential mechanics are the same as when the series started, the nuances and realism have been enhanced through the years. In the 1990's and into the early 2000's I played OCS and the Civil War Brigade Series (CWBS) more than anything else.  CWBS was my favorite ser

Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan sing the Star-Spangled Banner at Super Bowl LV. I'm not a country music fan.  I like the Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Merle Haggard type country but that ain't what country music is anymore.  So, I had no special feeling when Eric Church began strumming his electric guitar to the Star-Spangled Banner during pregame of Sunday's Super Bowl.  But soon I was struck by the wonderful straightforward, no-nonsense manner in which Church was performing, his voice so clear and twangy and strong.  It is rare to hear our national anthem approached that way. Then, for the second stanza, a warm and smooth female voice joined in with sensational confidence.  It was suddenly two different styles of the anthem performing in perfect harmony.  Church provided the steady backbone while Jazmine Sullivan provided the vocal fireworks.  Sullivan would go high and low, fast and slow, and always come back to where Church was moving right along.   Their prou

I'm reading a history book which I plan to review in the near future.  It's prologue is mainly concerned with Franklin Delano Roosevelt's changing relationship with the media during this presidency.  FDR began his presidency on convivial terms with the press.  But, as World War Two engulfed America, things changed.  The books reads: “Deploring the trend toward 'interpretive journalism,' he dogmatically insisted that newspapers should have no role in news analysis or commentary, even in the editorial pages.  Syndicated columnists, said FDR, were 'an unnecessary excrescence on our civilization.'” ( page 4 ) How times have changed.  The “excrescence” so vilified by America's most popular president has become commonplace.  So-called interpretive journalism is now the norm.  You will be hard-pressed to find any news story in any format that is purely factual and not framed within some sort of narrative. Freedom of the Press is essential, so I have no problem

My dad has two trucks, a brown one mainly for farm use and one that is white for running errands in town.  The other day he decided to purchase a licktub for his cattle.  These provide extra protein, salt and other nutrients that are essential for healthy animals.  So, he drove his white truck to one of the local feed retailers and bought one.  The trouble is, it has been raining quite a bit so far in 2021 and his pasture is very muddy.  The white truck is just a standard rear-wheel-drive truck whereas the brown truck is four-wheel-drive, much easier to maneuver on the soggy terrain.  He did not want to risk getting stuck delivering the licktub to his modest herd, so he decided to transfer the 200 pound tub from the bed of one truck to the other. Ordinarily, he would not hesitate to drive into his pasture.  He would simply park on an incline so the bed of the truck faced downward, tie a sturdy rope around the heavy tub, and pull it off the truck bed.  The tub would slide easily eno

Trumpism is a desperate, regressive revolt against modernity.  Trump supporters are psychologically pre-modern and lack the will to develop the skills necessary to become relevant in this age of accelerating change. I am devoting a lot of time this year to developing my own "theory of everything" type thing.  It is intended to be an amalgamation of ideas and writings I have contemplated upon throughout my life.  A summary of my own system of belief.  Like Nietzsche , I am fundamentally discontented with the world's philosophies and religions.  As he attempted to find his own way and create his own values, so too is my endeavor. In the process of building that set of validity claims recent events have motivated me to articulate this statement that I hold to be a fact... Most people inhabiting the Earth today do so at a stage of psychological development almost identical with people who lived during the Roman Empire.  Psychologically speaking, the mass of humanity is behav