Band of Brothers Final Scene

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Dick Winters court martial paperwork (with his endorsement)

- Niall Ferguson on the new anti-American axis.

- Love the new Alex Trebek stamp

- American pole vaulter may decline Paris Olympics. He has a point that the Olympic Committee never apologized for their Covid hysteria.

Band of Brothers Final Scene

 

It history not drama so this isn't "spoilers" if you haven't seen the series by now.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Ronald Speirs - Badass paratrooper or war criminal? The scene of Speirs taking over from Lt Dike from Band of Brothers gives me chills every time. (HT The Feral Irishman)

- Not a good way to convince people to buy your cars Ford

- Marc Andreessen is an interesting cat. Never read that before thought I had often heard people refer to it. I was more familiar with this Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

- On a related note - tourism to Canada jumps 2,000%

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"Peace is happiness at rest, and happiness is peace in motion." - Naval Ravikant 

"The idea that taxpayers owe it to pay for what you want suggests that much of today's education fails to instill reality, and instead panders to a self-centered sense of entitlement to what other people have earned." - Thomas Sowell

"Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one." - Marcus Aurelius

"I treasure a remark to my grandson who asked, ' Grandpa were you a hero in the war?' Grandpa said, 'No - but I served in a company of heroes.'" - Dick Winters

The Way of the Monastic Warrior

The Way of the Monastic Warrior: Lessons from Major Dick Winters.

Bastogne

 

On this day in 1944, the 101st Airborne is surrounded at Bastogne.

Looks like someone's found a reason to re-watch certain Battle of the Bulge episodes from Band of Brothers today.

The Way of the Monastic Warrior

The Way of the Monastic Warrior: Lessons from Major Dick Winters.

The Battle of the Bulge

This week marks the 75th anniversary of what has become known as The Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945).

Old AF Sarge has a nice remembrance of the Battle and the costs paid.

Mental Floss has 10 things you might not know about the Battle of the Bulge (some good stuff including how the Battle got its name and perhaps the one American officer who saw the attack coming).

There has been some notice of the anniversary in the news. But honestly not much.

Sadly many 35-years old and younger may have only heard of the battle because it was featured in HBO's Band of Brothers (great show).

Personally I'm fascinated by the men who fought the battle. Men like Baseball Hall of Famer Warren Spahn or writer Kurt Vonnegut who was taken prisoner during the battle (and later survived the bombing of Dresden). People like actor Jack Warden. Or baseball manager Ralph Houk who was nicknamed the Major for good reason (Houk's exploits during the war would make an excellent movie).

Sadly most of these heroes have passed and for too many their memories and sacrifices are being forgotten. All the more reason for people to do their small part in keeping anniversaries like these in our thoughts and deeds so that the younger generations can understand the price paid by those who came before them.

Ralph Houk - The Major

I first became aware of Ralph Houk when he became manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1981. I read somewhere that his nickname was "the Major" but I had no idea why.

Turns out that it wasn't so much a nickname as a nod of respect to Houk's military career. Houk had entered WWII as a private but by the end of the war because of his heroics and leadership he had been promoted all the way up to Major. "He was at the Battle of the Bulge and the Remagen crossing. He was awarded the Bronze Star, Silver Star and Purple Heart."

Right or wrong I now can't help but think of Ralph Houk in comparison to another American hero - Dick Winters from Band of Brothers fame. Read the details of Houk's WWII service and deeds and tell me his story wouldn't also make a fascinating mini-series.

Where do we find such men as Dick Winters and Ralph Houk?

Bastogne

On this day in 1944, the 101st Airborne is surrounded at Bastogne.

Looks like someone's found a reason to re-watch certain Battle of the Bulge episodes from Band of Brothers today.

Bastogne

On this day in 1944, the 101st Airborne is surrounded at Bastogne.

Looks like someone's found a reason to re-watch certain episodes from Band of Brothers today.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Rob Gronkowski's heart really is in the right place

- A city's government losing the support of the police and fire departments is never a good sign (no pun intended)

- Good news as my prostrate maintenance regime is fully justified! Ernest Borgnine was ahead of his time!

- Interesting - how much does a cloud weigh?

- The way of the monastic warrior - lessons from Dick Winters

- Dick Van Dyke was one of the best physical comedians of all time. His grace was amazing!

- Why did people wear powdered wigs? It always comes down to syphilis and lice doesn't it?

- Story behind Bill Belichick wearing Armenian pin at White House. Good for Belichick!

- I want this print!

- MLB Players who use 80's music for their walk up songs.  I would use God Bless America by Kate Smith just to confuse the hell out of the crowd.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I'm really happy the Patriots signed Darrelle Revis. Some are curious if his deal precludes New England from using the franchise tag on him next year. I'm curious if Bill Belichick will also use him as an extra receiver (like a reverse Troy Brown)... I'm starting to understand why some people are afraid of clowns... Put me in the camp of people who think the Boston Celtics having special St. Patrick's Day uniforms as a dumb idea. They're the Boston CELTICS!!... Interesting - did climate change allow Genghis Khan to invade with such success? Wonder what Dan Carlin thinks of this?... Heh heh - the Germans play Monopoly... How is Jerry Sandusky not dead in jail by now?... I laughed at the Obama Between Two Ferns interview but I agree that this Presidency and Between Two Ferns have officially jumped the shark... As a Boston fan I'm getting restless. It has been way too many months since our last championship... If I knew then what I know now I would have bought all the lawn darts I could before they became illegal and I would give the Jarts as a semi-joke gift every Christmas to friends who have pre-teen boys...  Interesting - a possible explanation for what happened to flight MH370... Patrick Laverty made a great point. The Florida Marlins complained that the Red Sox failed to field a major league team last time they played but the Marlins still LOST that game! What does that say about the Marlins...  RIP American hero and Band of Brothers icon Wild Bill Guarnere...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Last night the Cowboys basically quit when they found themselves down 21 with about 3 minutes to go. I found myself thinking that Bill Belichick and Tom Brady would never quit in those circumstances. Maybe that's why the Patriots are the Patriots and the Cowboys are the Cowboys... If humans mated like animals in comic format - disturbing... "Ditka" should be a verb or adjective for anything awesome. We should work to make "Ditka" next year's Websters Word of the Year... Cool - the outcome of the Ravens / Vikings game in terms of poker percentages. Excellent illustration of how unlikely Baltimore's victory really was... I'm wondering why we haven't seen any Ewing Theory references from Bill Simmons regarding the Patriots losing Rob Gronkowski... I'm a huge Band of Brothers fan but I didn't know about number 1 and 3 on this list (and forgot about number 2). 11 actors you may have forgotten were in Band of Brothers... Congrats to Doherty High football coach Sean Mulchahy who will be honored by the New England Patriots today as the high school coach of the year. A well deserved honor for a great guy... Great photo from Sunday!...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Scientists discuss how to build star ships.

- Loureedia - a genus of velvet spider that lives underground. Very cool.

- RIP Frank Perconte - was the oldest living member of Band of Brother's Easy Company.

- Obamacare website updated to meet reality

- Heh heh - Back to the Future as if it happened on Twitter

- How crocodiles have sex

History of Science

A little insight into my TV viewing habits - last night I had a choice between a fairly crappy Bears / Texans game and a Band of Brothers marathon on Spike but I ended up watching The History of Science on PBS.

I love Band of Brothers but by now I know the episodes backwards and forwards. The History of Science combines two of my favorite things - history and science. You can watch all six episodes here.

Worth the time. Very well done.

Justified

I love the show Justified. I was a fan from the very first time I saw the commercial for the new show. The writing, the dialog and the action on the show are all top notch but one factor that really makes me love the show is the various actors who populate the world of Harlan County who have played roles in two of my other favorite shows - Deadwood and Band of Brothers.

Deadwood veterans:
Timothy Olyphant is the star of Justified and was of course Sheriff Seth Bullock.
Jim Beaver plays Shelby and on Deadwood he was Ellsworth. Beaver seems to specialize in characters with just one name.
Brent Sexton was the dirty Sheriff from Season 1 and he played Harry Manning the bartender at Tom Nuttall's saloon.
The excellent Stephen Tobolowski plays FBI agent Barkley and was also Yankton's man Yugo Jarry.
W. Earl Brown had a memorable episode in Season 1 where he played Cal Wallace a dangerous prisoner. Of course he was also Dan Dority on Deadwood.
Sean Bridgers also had a stand-alone episode in Season 1 and he was Dan Dority's sidekick at the Gem - Johnny Burns.
Ray McKinnon was memorable as hitman Mr. Duke in Season 1 but he'll always be epilepsy sufferer Reverend Smith to me.
Pruitt Taylor Vince was an amusing Harlan roulette playing Glen Fogle and equally amusing Mose Manuel.
Peter Jason who was Con Stapelton on Deadwood played Owen Carnes in one episode in Season 1. I honestly don't recall him on Justified.
Clay Wilcox played a loudmouth drunk who cussed at Wild Bill and he was the drug dealer with the Samurai sword in Justified. He's actually the reason I put together the list. I saw him and thought "where do I know him from?" It was then I realized just how many Deadwood and Band of Brothers veterans were on the show. 

Band of Brothers veterans:
Neal McDonough is psycho carpetbagger Robert Quarles and was Buck Compton.
Rick Gomez is ADA David Vazquez and who played Sgt. George Luz.
Richard Speight Jr. plays one of Dickie's flunkies and in Band of Brothers he was Warren "Skip" Muck.
Frank John Hughes played a criminal in the witness relocation program and was also Wild Bill Guarnere.
David Andrews plays Sheriff Napier and he also had brief role as the General who interviews Major Winters and who tells him his men have earned the right to keep him around.

I may be missing a couple of actors but you have to admit that's a lot of crossover from those two shows on Justified.

I know that there is also a lot of Sons of Anarchy veterans but while that show is very good - it is not in the class of Deadwood or Band of Brothers.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If I ran Single A or below baseball team I'd invite Charlie Sheen to play in a Press Release. I'd ask him to bring his winning. Seriously I'd invite Charlie Sheen to play any position he wants. The number of outlets reporting on it alone would make it a "winning" proposition. Free advertising for the team and an outside shot he's crazy enough to take up the offer... Victor Davis Hanson on Donald Rumsfeld - double win... How screwed up would it be if Zack Greinke became of charter member of Charlie Sheen's cult?... Charlie Sheen quotes as New Yorker cartoons... Now when I see the question "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?" I really expect the answer to be Charlie Sheen... Very cool! New Jersey Congressman Beats IBM’s Watson... If I was at all musical I would start a Bruce Springsteen cover band with an Elvis impersonator as the frontman singing the Springsteen songs in an Elvis voice. I'd call it Boss Elvis. I think that would be awesome... God forgive me but I laughed my ass off at this... Some sites have this "Space Ball" banner ad - the noise on those ads is the most annoying thing in the history of the Internet. I wish I knew what product those ads are for just so I could avoid buying that product for the rest of my life... Very cool! Band of Brothers cast to jump out of planes in aid of Normandy memorial. I just knew that Dale Dye would be one of the parachuters... I agree with this legislation 100% - NH Bill Would Make Some T&A Screening Sexual Assault...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Those Dominoes commercials are stupid. How about having one where they secretly bring customers to a slaughter house to see where their meat ingredients come from? That would be a fun one... Monday night I couldn't help thinking that Jeremiah Masoli had to be sitting at home thinking he could have done a better job at QB for Oregon. I wonder if he felt any remorse for his missed opportunity?... There is one very deserved medal missing from Major Dick Winters military awards - the Medal of Honor... Boston College has been to a bowl each of past 10 years - 5 of the Bowls they went to technically no longer exist. Good luck Humanitarian Bowl! By the way - is the Humanitarian Bowl sponsored by the Human Fund?... I know some people on Monday saw Nick Fairley and thought Albert Haynesworth. I saw Fairley and thought of Charles Jefferson - the Forrest Whitaker character from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Every time Fairley made a play in my head I heard, "Fairley's gonna shit! Then he's gonna kill us!"... My name is Larry Page. Millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht. I want to live on this yacht - full time... There are many males (and some females I guess) in Red Sox Nation who are saddened by the news that Hazel Mae is off the market. She recently got married. Sorry boys... I laughed at this. It is pretty accurate...