Stewart Brand ("Whole Earth Catalog") changes his mind:Environmental Heresies
Big cities are cool! Genetically modified food is tasty! Nukes are nifty!
Reminds me of the Woody Allen movie "Sleeper," where Woody Allen has been frozen for a hundred years, and when he awakens he learns that cigarettes, steaks, and hot fudge sundaes are considered health foods.
When I briefly took "Contemporary Problems" in high school, the oh-wow teaching team hammered us on the population population (the textbook said we were going soylent green by 1979), the evils of big cities, and the coming ice age. Because the class reeked of hippy millenarianism, I dropped it and have had a Penn and Teller -like skeptical outlook on environmentalists ever since (not to mention a life long aversion to the stench of patchouli).
Jack Nottingham, inventor of the boffers featured in Stewarts Brand's Whole Earth Catalog, got interested in global cooling back in the 70s and came to some interesting conclusions. Jack, an autodidact of the highest order, was a long hair inventor of solar powered devices that could easily boil a kettle of water or burn your house down in 5 minutes or less. Jack's conclusion was that there was a whole lot about weather and climate we didn't know about, and we were still in an empirical pre-paradigm state, much like geology was up until the middle of the 20th century. By the late 80s Jack confidently felt that my car wasn't to blame for global warming: the numbers didn't quite add up. Besides, he liked to point out that people settled on the Shetlands and the interior of Greenland and grew crops, and that the Romans cultivated vineyards and made wine in England. They don't any more because it's too damn cold. There had also been a mini-ice age in Europe in the middle ages that had a crippling effect on the economy. Weather and climate cycles have come come and gone long before humans.
Still, it's great to know how far ahead of my time I was when I dropped Contemporary Problems.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Friday, April 22, 2005
Bill's Socal Nostalgia Page
Fedco, Grant's, Marineland of the Pacific, and more: Hey, Bill! You say you're busy and you have enough time to do this?
In my youth, the high point of the week was Grant's all you can eat fish stick and chips followed by the dime ice cream at Thrifty Drug in Victorville. I think I still have a plaid wash-and-wear sport jacket that my mother bought me before we moved to Greece. My father and I had to wear slacks and sports jackets on the flight.
I was a loyal Fedco shopper, and I still have my card. In addition to tires, and a deli with knishes, Fedco had their own liquor store and line of spirits, one being "Old Fedco" bourbon. There was a Woolworth's at South Coast Plaza, and they even had fish and hamsters in the back.
In my youth, the high point of the week was Grant's all you can eat fish stick and chips followed by the dime ice cream at Thrifty Drug in Victorville. I think I still have a plaid wash-and-wear sport jacket that my mother bought me before we moved to Greece. My father and I had to wear slacks and sports jackets on the flight.
I was a loyal Fedco shopper, and I still have my card. In addition to tires, and a deli with knishes, Fedco had their own liquor store and line of spirits, one being "Old Fedco" bourbon. There was a Woolworth's at South Coast Plaza, and they even had fish and hamsters in the back.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Academics and Con Men
The academics seem to have a fascination and soft spot for the old cons: Salon Books "The Big Con" . Maurer's study is one of the best books on the confidence man and was the basis for the movie, "The Sting." . It seems Maurer was a linguist who got sucked in by the lingo.
Edwin Sutherland's venerable"Criminology" textbook devoted a whole chapter to circus grifters. Very edifying for us rubes.
I remember a poli sci class where the professor described a political graft process as akin to a pickpocket team and went on, gleefully, to describe how the cannon and wire man worked to rob their mark and took advantage of the legal system to protect the actual pickpocket from prosecution (the pickpocket hands off the evidence very quickly). We were stunned.
Incidentally, the big con lives on, and I suspect the modern counterpart was the dot com. Millions evaporated and there was very little public reckoning. The investors for the most part were pumping up companies for the IPO and eventual ousting of the founders, so there was a con process in motion involving different sets of suckers who could also at some point be players.
Edwin Sutherland's venerable"Criminology" textbook devoted a whole chapter to circus grifters. Very edifying for us rubes.
I remember a poli sci class where the professor described a political graft process as akin to a pickpocket team and went on, gleefully, to describe how the cannon and wire man worked to rob their mark and took advantage of the legal system to protect the actual pickpocket from prosecution (the pickpocket hands off the evidence very quickly). We were stunned.
Incidentally, the big con lives on, and I suspect the modern counterpart was the dot com. Millions evaporated and there was very little public reckoning. The investors for the most part were pumping up companies for the IPO and eventual ousting of the founders, so there was a con process in motion involving different sets of suckers who could also at some point be players.
Monday, April 18, 2005
Colonial Police Officer Obit
From the Telegraph, April 5, 2005, "Sir Richard Catling"
A fascinating description of a British police official who was involved in Palestine, Malaya, Kenya, and Jordan. He even tried to punish a young Idi Amin. Lessons he learned: negotiating with insurgents can be productive, and it is possible to win hearts and minds. It also seems that former enemies can become future employers.
A fascinating description of a British police official who was involved in Palestine, Malaya, Kenya, and Jordan. He even tried to punish a young Idi Amin. Lessons he learned: negotiating with insurgents can be productive, and it is possible to win hearts and minds. It also seems that former enemies can become future employers.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
The Mighty 106mm Recoilless Rifle!
Picture courtesy of Historical Reproductions
I learned how to tell the difference between my right hand and left hand through a scholarship program provided by the U.S. government. After two months of basic training at Fort Ord, I eventually figured out that my watch was on my left hand, and that my left foot was usually on the same side under my watch.
After basic, the army chose me for their elite TOW anti-tank missile school at Ft. Polk, Louisiana. At least that was the intention, but by the time I showed up, the TOW school training cadre had departed to the Sinai to help stop Egyptian armored columns (my secrecy agreement expired a couple of years ago, so I can mention these things). Instead of the pleasant prospect of having nothing to do until they got back, I wound up being trained on the more venerable M-40 106mm recoilless rifle (hooor-hah!-- there's a remarkable reproduction of one at http://www.historicreproductions.com/restore1.htm).
With this weapon I had the chance to hone my right and left hand coordination skills. While looking through an optical sight, I traversed, that is made the gun tube point left or right, by spinning a wheel with my right hand, and at the same time I elevated, that is made the gun tube go up or down, by spinning, with my left hand, another wheel above and perpendicular to the traverse wheel . Tracking a moving target required me using my right and left hands simultaneously and independently at different speeds, sometimes moving my hands in opposite directions, sometimes not.
To determine the range and lead distance of a moving target, I pushed a knob on the traverse control. This fired a tracer-round from the top mounted .50 cal spotting rifle (note the smaller barrel on top of the main gun tube). I would then make corrections to my elevation and traversion and then pull the same knob to fire the main gun. That was the theory.
On the range, things were more complicated and eventually my gun tube started circling around like the eye stalk of a crazed Dalek. Invariably during the spotting phase, other neophyte gunners accidentally fired the main gun.
In retrospect, firing the 106 was definitely fun because it resulted in a resounding explosion and scary flash of fire from both the front and rear of the gun--the backblast was designed to reduce the recoil. However, at the time it was hard to concentrate while feeling and hearing an enormous loud explosion take place several inches from my face.
For most of the day, the firing line lit up and round after round passed harmlessly over, under, behind, in front of, but never on the target. The instructors looked at the unscathed targets, shook their heads, and expressed their fondest hopes that we wouldn't be called upon in our soon to be short career to do anything more intellectually taxing than excavating outdoor latrines, no doubt with our bare hands, as we most likely would be unable to learn the intracacies of a d-handled earth moving implement, i.e. shovel.
As if the humiliation of the firing session wasn't enough, then came the time to take apart and clean the 106. The gun tube was easy, it required half an hour of swabbing similar to how a ship's cannon was loaded two hundred years ago. Then came the difficult task: putting the firing mechanism back inside the breechblock.
My problem was with a trigger transfer bar,a four inch metal rectangle with strange angles and slots. It was a puzzle piece that could fit inside several ways, with only one that allowed the weapon to work. Try as hard as I could, I could not get the breech block transfer bar to fit. I couldn't see where it was supposed to go, and I kept jamming it. An armorer came by, and couldn't help but notice my panic and frustration. I looked down because tears were beginning to form. Without saying a word, he took out the part, wiped it , and placed it inside. He tested the trigger and for the first time that evening I heard a click, proving the 106 was working. The armorer then disassembled the breechblock, smiled, and told me to close my eyes, take the bar, and wiggle it inside the breechblock. He said that the part would find its way. I followed his advice and to my shock it worked. He disassembled the breechblock and told me to try again. I attached the bar perfectly.
I learned an important lesson that evening: not everything I had to do required conscious will power and thought. Even if I couldn't use my visual skills, I had to trust my sense of touch that the part would fall in place.
Two nights later during night fire, the spotting gun sear broke, and the rate of fire became, briefly, automatic until the barrel exploded. My helmet and main gun tube shielded me, and I was left staring in amazement at the spotting barrel, which now resembled a peeled banana. The range instructor, more excited than I was, quickly ran over and made sure that I was all right. He helped me pull the gun from the firing line. Moving the 106 was like moving a heavy wheelbarrow. We momentarily lost the balance of the gun and rammed the barrel into dirt, normally an unforgivable sin, but a minor problem tonight. We manhandled the gun back to the cleaning shed, where the armorers quickly replaced the spotting barrel and broken sear and left me to clean the rest of the weapon.
What had happened this evening had not bothered me, in fact I was delighted at being able to take apart the breech block and put it back together. Though it was near midnight, and I was grimey, coated in and smelling of powder residue and cleaning solvent, I didn't feel dejected or tired. Working in the cleaning shed made me think about how, with assistance, I had worked through frustration and beaten failure. I felt elated and looked forward to next day on the range, and I was very sure I was going to nail that target dead on, which was exactly what happened.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Notes from Selberg Seminar March 12-13, 2005
Maestro Selberg explains the differences between modern and post-modern fencing.
From his seminar at the Salem Classical Fencing Club in Orgeon, March 12 and 13, 2005.
From his seminar at the Salem Classical Fencing Club in Orgeon, March 12 and 13, 2005.
Monday, April 11, 2005
Four Tips for Beginning Fencers
1) There are no quick results.
Most beginning fencers usually have problems with learning how to fence because they don't know how to take a fencing lesson, or how to translate the lesson into actual execution when sparring. Unless beginning fencers have an extensive dance or martial arts background, they have difficulties in getting their bodies to do an action in a consistent manner. If they try to fence entirely with intuition and energy, they typically become frustrated and prone to injury. This learning how-to-learn process can take a long time (in my case years). Most beginning fencers who want to get better at their game should look at spending four years to learn and become comfortable with the fundamentals.
2) Individual lessons are only part of fencing.
Fencing is both an individual and group activity individual skills and techniques is important, but so is learning how to use them in the fencing setting of drills and sparring. Fencing also has its own traditions, and beginners who show respect for fencing, their instructors, and fellow club and teammates, often earn more respect and learn a more important lesson than if they won all their fencing bouts but lacked courtesy and sportsmanship.
3) Fencing is about persistence and work.
Talent offers a head start, but in time can turn into a handicap. All fencers hit a plateau (it feels more like a wall) where they feel they can't get to that next level. It's tough and frustrating, especially when it comes to giving up points in club sparring while trying to get that hang of a new technique or strategy. What fencers have to do is trust in their discipline of training and practice, and eventually they can make a break though.
4) Fencing is fun.
Learning how to fence is about using the mind and body in new and different ways and having fun while doing it. Some beginners become interested in historical fencing, others take up serious competition, most are happy to show up a club and work up sweat. They all enjoy what they are doing and feel good afterwards. Fencers who aren't having fun should go back in their mind to their beginning days and re-discover what made fencing so compelling.
Most beginning fencers usually have problems with learning how to fence because they don't know how to take a fencing lesson, or how to translate the lesson into actual execution when sparring. Unless beginning fencers have an extensive dance or martial arts background, they have difficulties in getting their bodies to do an action in a consistent manner. If they try to fence entirely with intuition and energy, they typically become frustrated and prone to injury. This learning how-to-learn process can take a long time (in my case years). Most beginning fencers who want to get better at their game should look at spending four years to learn and become comfortable with the fundamentals.
2) Individual lessons are only part of fencing.
Fencing is both an individual and group activity individual skills and techniques is important, but so is learning how to use them in the fencing setting of drills and sparring. Fencing also has its own traditions, and beginners who show respect for fencing, their instructors, and fellow club and teammates, often earn more respect and learn a more important lesson than if they won all their fencing bouts but lacked courtesy and sportsmanship.
3) Fencing is about persistence and work.
Talent offers a head start, but in time can turn into a handicap. All fencers hit a plateau (it feels more like a wall) where they feel they can't get to that next level. It's tough and frustrating, especially when it comes to giving up points in club sparring while trying to get that hang of a new technique or strategy. What fencers have to do is trust in their discipline of training and practice, and eventually they can make a break though.
4) Fencing is fun.
Learning how to fence is about using the mind and body in new and different ways and having fun while doing it. Some beginners become interested in historical fencing, others take up serious competition, most are happy to show up a club and work up sweat. They all enjoy what they are doing and feel good afterwards. Fencers who aren't having fun should go back in their mind to their beginning days and re-discover what made fencing so compelling.
Homage to William Gaines
Nice obituary and biography of William Gaines. Known for Mad magazine, Bill Gaines also published the sensational EC comics (whose motif of gore and violence figures heavily in Sin City). Bill Gaines' father, Max, practically invented the modern comic book.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Back to Comics: Sin City
I thought I had gotten comics out of my system, but I saw "Sin City" yesterday at the Cinerama. Frank Miller (Batman: Dark Knight) and Robert Rodriguez' (Love and Rockets) came up with movie that shows a grim and grimy world of corruption, despair, and unbound violence. Roger Ebert liked it, and I'm sure Joe Bob would say check it out (though no doubt he'll be confused by the presence of the A-list actors).
A few thoughts: comics and movies are very American in orgin and nature, and both came on the American scene about the same time over one hundred years ago as urban mass entertainment. Movies weren't even considered an art form for their first two or three decades, and the debate still goes on about comics. Movies start out as comics (picture boards) that outline scenes. Stan Lee at Marvel saw himself as doing movies on papers (Stan Lee's hero was Fellini). Both comics and movies require extensive systems of production and distribution, have to fight the economy of scale cost curve, and must rely on trying to appeal to a wide audience. Both can be lucrative and have a tremendous effect on popular culture, but still take years, sometimes generations before attracting the notice of elite art and educational institutions. Eventually they become part of our culture and mythology.
A few thoughts: comics and movies are very American in orgin and nature, and both came on the American scene about the same time over one hundred years ago as urban mass entertainment. Movies weren't even considered an art form for their first two or three decades, and the debate still goes on about comics. Movies start out as comics (picture boards) that outline scenes. Stan Lee at Marvel saw himself as doing movies on papers (Stan Lee's hero was Fellini). Both comics and movies require extensive systems of production and distribution, have to fight the economy of scale cost curve, and must rely on trying to appeal to a wide audience. Both can be lucrative and have a tremendous effect on popular culture, but still take years, sometimes generations before attracting the notice of elite art and educational institutions. Eventually they become part of our culture and mythology.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Fencing Cheesecake
Marvel Marches On!
When I was a kid I was enthralled with Marvel. We all went through the DC phase: the secret identity thing was way cool, and the camaraderie of having super friends really was appealing. Still, when I started leaving my pre-pube and hitting my pube years, Marvel supplied the all drama and anxiety I could handle, and every month I was thrilled by Sgt. Fury, and really felt for the Fantastic Four (one of my first Marvel favorites). Captain America really got to me: the big lummox was having a hard time dealing with the 60s and couldn't move on after Bucky, as a way to visit happier times, I bought all the old Kirby and Simon reprints of the WWII Captain America.
I didn't join the fan club, the Merry Marvel Marching Society, because they wanted a whole buck. Forget that! I could buy more comics with a dollar. I won an authentic Marvel No-Prize (those who have one won't tell, those who tell don't have one). I even sent in a drawing I did of Captain America, and one of the editors sent it back, with "Nice lap drawing!" written on it. This pleased me no end. I got my mother to draw a poster of Captain American in color. I can't remember when I quit sending letters, but I remember typing letters to Marvel before I finally found another hobby.
So here I am middle-aged and wondering if I should invest in Marvel Enterprises (probably won't, and for the same reason I didn't join the MMMS: too overpriced for me). I haven't opened a Marvel comic in years and have only been thinking about them since reading "Men of Tomorrow." I watched both Spider-Man movies, but passed on the Hulk, Daredevil, and Electra. I had one of the worst headaches in my life watching X-Men, but I still saw the sequel. DC always had a stronger franchise with Superman and Batman, but it looks like Marvel may finally catch up (Marvel Enterprises pulled in a half billion in revenue last year). Wonder what the Fantastic Four will look like.
The most amazing thing is that Stan Lee soldiers on despite the collapse of Stan Lee Media. Salon did a nice write up: http://www.salon.com/people/bc/1999/08/17/lee/
There's a book about Marvel's recent up and downs:
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/comicwars/timeline.html
Sad footnote: I was trying to get one of kids in fencing to riposte immediately after the parry, and said I wanted to see a riposte quicker than what the Flash could do. I got a blank look in response. Then it hit me: kids don't buy and read comic books. Their parents would never let them go to a seedy comic store run by a pathetic,pot smoking pudgeball with a goatee. I used to buy mine at the corner store, supermarket, and later at the newsstand, then at the Stars and Stripes Bookstore. Kids don't have that option any more.
'Nuff said.
I didn't join the fan club, the Merry Marvel Marching Society, because they wanted a whole buck. Forget that! I could buy more comics with a dollar. I won an authentic Marvel No-Prize (those who have one won't tell, those who tell don't have one). I even sent in a drawing I did of Captain America, and one of the editors sent it back, with "Nice lap drawing!" written on it. This pleased me no end. I got my mother to draw a poster of Captain American in color. I can't remember when I quit sending letters, but I remember typing letters to Marvel before I finally found another hobby.
So here I am middle-aged and wondering if I should invest in Marvel Enterprises (probably won't, and for the same reason I didn't join the MMMS: too overpriced for me). I haven't opened a Marvel comic in years and have only been thinking about them since reading "Men of Tomorrow." I watched both Spider-Man movies, but passed on the Hulk, Daredevil, and Electra. I had one of the worst headaches in my life watching X-Men, but I still saw the sequel. DC always had a stronger franchise with Superman and Batman, but it looks like Marvel may finally catch up (Marvel Enterprises pulled in a half billion in revenue last year). Wonder what the Fantastic Four will look like.
The most amazing thing is that Stan Lee soldiers on despite the collapse of Stan Lee Media. Salon did a nice write up: http://www.salon.com/people/bc/1999/08/17/lee/
There's a book about Marvel's recent up and downs:
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/comicwars/timeline.html
Sad footnote: I was trying to get one of kids in fencing to riposte immediately after the parry, and said I wanted to see a riposte quicker than what the Flash could do. I got a blank look in response. Then it hit me: kids don't buy and read comic books. Their parents would never let them go to a seedy comic store run by a pathetic,pot smoking pudgeball with a goatee. I used to buy mine at the corner store, supermarket, and later at the newsstand, then at the Stars and Stripes Bookstore. Kids don't have that option any more.
'Nuff said.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Comics Sell Better with Dinosaurs on the Cover
news from me - ARCHIVES
Obituary of Irwin Donenfeld, former managing editor at DC comics and son of founder Harry Donenfeld. Irwin had unique marketing methods and judged comics only by their cover.
I knew a neighbor who made a decent enough living in paperback distribution. He drove around northern California, talked to buyers, and showed them covers of new paperback titles. Covers. No books. No reviews. Maybe Irwin was ahead of his time.
Obituary of Irwin Donenfeld, former managing editor at DC comics and son of founder Harry Donenfeld. Irwin had unique marketing methods and judged comics only by their cover.
I knew a neighbor who made a decent enough living in paperback distribution. He drove around northern California, talked to buyers, and showed them covers of new paperback titles. Covers. No books. No reviews. Maybe Irwin was ahead of his time.
General Electric History
General Electric - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From Thomas Edison to Jack Welch.
The circle closes, from Edison's flickering images lit on a wall, to GE's ownership of NBC-Universal.
TimeWarner still has the DC line. Look for new releases of Superman and Batman.
From Thomas Edison to Jack Welch.
The circle closes, from Edison's flickering images lit on a wall, to GE's ownership of NBC-Universal.
TimeWarner still has the DC line. Look for new releases of Superman and Batman.
A Word Only Comic Book
Michael Chabon turned the history of comics into a novel:
Amazon.com: Books: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Amazon.com: Books: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Universal Studios History
This is the official history of Universal:
Universal Studios History
There's a movie connection from Chicago blues to Canadian booze. Not to mention the combination of muscle and moxie.
Universal Studios History
There's a movie connection from Chicago blues to Canadian booze. Not to mention the combination of muscle and moxie.
Lew Wasserman in Context
Book review by the Nation. A more balanced account of Lew Wasserman:
The Nation Book Review When Hollywood Had a King: The Reign of Lew Wasserman, Who Leveraged Talent Into Power and Influ Thomas Schatz
The Nation Book Review When Hollywood Had a King: The Reign of Lew Wasserman, Who Leveraged Talent Into Power and Influ Thomas Schatz
The Romance and Drama of Comic History
Gerard Jone's history of comics:
Amazon.com: Books: Men Of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book
A good read, though the gangster connection is a stretch.
Amazon.com: Books: Men Of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book
A good read, though the gangster connection is a stretch.
Hollywood as We Like It!
A more sensational biography of Lew Wasserman (haven't read it):
Amazon.com: Books: The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, MCA, and the Hidden History of Hollywood
Amazon.com: Books: The Last Mogul: Lew Wasserman, MCA, and the Hidden History of Hollywood
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