Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Technically nobody ended up sitting on the iron throne. Dany touched it but never sat on it. So I wonder how the casinos treat that prop bet. Was there an option that nobody would end up sitting on the iron throne?... This guy is awesome!... Maybe Bernie Sanders is so against millionaire baseball players because A) he doesn't know how the economy works or B) they didn't play baseball in the Soviet Union. Can you imagine how racist he would have come off as if he complained about millionaire NBA players?... Heh Heh... If Mel Gibson announced he was running for President as a Democrat would his antisemitic views now be considered "mainstream" or "progressive"?... Can you imagine the number of wedding proposals this woman received. And the types of tattoos the guys proposing were sporting?... Pretty sure that the Boston sports teams have been conspiring for the past 20-years to murder my liver...
Showing posts with label Mel Gibson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mel Gibson. Show all posts
Monday, May 20, 2019
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Battle of Cowpens
Today is the anniversary of one of the most significant battles in the history of the United States and nobody seems to notice. A short history of the Revolutionary War could read like this:
- The British surrendered at Yorktown after being surrounded by the Continental Army on land and bottled up by the French fleet at sea.
- The British were stuck at Yorktown because they had been so long occupied in the South by battles like the disaster (for the British) at Cowpens
- Cowpens was made possible by Valley Forge and the victory over the Hessians at Trenton
- The French navy was brought into the war because of the overwhelming victory over the British at Saratoga.
- Trenton was made possible by the Continental Army slipping out of Long Island where they really should have been trapped and destroyed by the British
- Long Island was made possible by the victory over the British in the siege of Boston which in turn was made possible by the guns taken from Fort Ticonderoga and by the start of the war at Lexington and Concord.
Of the above - the Battle of Cowpens (which happened 237 years ago today) is probably the least remembered.
If it is remembered it is probably the version that was put forth in the Mel Gibson movie The Patriot. In the movie there is a battle without a name in which Gibson's character asks his irregular infantry to get off two shots and then retreat to trick the British into chasing after them. This is the same basic "plot" to the Battle of Cowpens. The Jason Isaacs character of the dark-hearted Col. Tavington is loosely based on Col. Banastre Tarleton who led the British troops at Cowpens. Unlike the battle in the movie, however, in real life Tarleton (nee Tavington) escapes to fight another day.
One other note that may only interest me. In the movie The Patriot, Gibson's character uses straw soldiers to convince the British to let captives escape. In real life this trick was used but it was used by the British to allow the "captive" loyalists to escape Boston via ships in the harbor under the cover of "troops" placed overlooking the city on Bunker Hill. The troops later turned out to be straw dummies.
- The British surrendered at Yorktown after being surrounded by the Continental Army on land and bottled up by the French fleet at sea.
- The British were stuck at Yorktown because they had been so long occupied in the South by battles like the disaster (for the British) at Cowpens
- Cowpens was made possible by Valley Forge and the victory over the Hessians at Trenton
- The French navy was brought into the war because of the overwhelming victory over the British at Saratoga.
- Trenton was made possible by the Continental Army slipping out of Long Island where they really should have been trapped and destroyed by the British
- Long Island was made possible by the victory over the British in the siege of Boston which in turn was made possible by the guns taken from Fort Ticonderoga and by the start of the war at Lexington and Concord.
Of the above - the Battle of Cowpens (which happened 237 years ago today) is probably the least remembered.
If it is remembered it is probably the version that was put forth in the Mel Gibson movie The Patriot. In the movie there is a battle without a name in which Gibson's character asks his irregular infantry to get off two shots and then retreat to trick the British into chasing after them. This is the same basic "plot" to the Battle of Cowpens. The Jason Isaacs character of the dark-hearted Col. Tavington is loosely based on Col. Banastre Tarleton who led the British troops at Cowpens. Unlike the battle in the movie, however, in real life Tarleton (nee Tavington) escapes to fight another day.
One other note that may only interest me. In the movie The Patriot, Gibson's character uses straw soldiers to convince the British to let captives escape. In real life this trick was used but it was used by the British to allow the "captive" loyalists to escape Boston via ships in the harbor under the cover of "troops" placed overlooking the city on Bunker Hill. The troops later turned out to be straw dummies.
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Battle of Cowpens
Today is the anniversary of one of the most significant battles in the history of the United States and nobody seems to notice. A short history of the Revolutionary War could read like this:
- The British surrendered at Yorktown after being surrounded by the Continental Army on land and bottled up by the French fleet at sea.
- The British were stuck at Yorktown because they had been so long occupied in the South by battles like the disaster (for the British) at Cowpens
- Cowpens was made possible by Valley Forge and the victory over the Hessians at Trenton
- The French navy was brought into the war because of the overwhelming victory over the British at Saratoga.
- Trenton was made possible by the Continental Army slipping out of Long Island where they really should have been trapped and destroyed by the British
- Long Island was made possible by the victory over the British in the siege of Boston which in turn was made possible by the guns taken from Fort Ticonderoga and by the start of the war at Lexington and Concord.
Of the above - the Battle of Cowpens (which happened 237 years ago today) is probably the least remembered.
If it is remembered it is probably the version that was put forth in the Mel Gibson movie The Patriot. In the movie there is a battle without a name in which Gibson's character asks his irregular infantry to get off two shots and then retreat to trick the British into chasing after them. This is the same basic "plot" to the Battle of Cowpens. The Jason Isaacs character of the dark-hearted Col. Tavington is loosely based on Col. Banastre Tarleton who led the British troops at Cowpens. Unlike the battle in the movie, however, in real life Tarleton (nee Tavington) escapes to fight another day.
One other note that may only interest me. In the movie The Patriot, Gibson's character uses straw soldiers to convince the British to let captives escape. In real life this trick was used but it was used by the British to allow the "captive" loyalists to escape Boston via ships in the harbor under the cover of "troops" placed overlooking the city on Bunker Hill. The troops later turned out to be straw dummies.
- The British surrendered at Yorktown after being surrounded by the Continental Army on land and bottled up by the French fleet at sea.
- The British were stuck at Yorktown because they had been so long occupied in the South by battles like the disaster (for the British) at Cowpens
- Cowpens was made possible by Valley Forge and the victory over the Hessians at Trenton
- The French navy was brought into the war because of the overwhelming victory over the British at Saratoga.
- Trenton was made possible by the Continental Army slipping out of Long Island where they really should have been trapped and destroyed by the British
- Long Island was made possible by the victory over the British in the siege of Boston which in turn was made possible by the guns taken from Fort Ticonderoga and by the start of the war at Lexington and Concord.
Of the above - the Battle of Cowpens (which happened 237 years ago today) is probably the least remembered.
If it is remembered it is probably the version that was put forth in the Mel Gibson movie The Patriot. In the movie there is a battle without a name in which Gibson's character asks his irregular infantry to get off two shots and then retreat to trick the British into chasing after them. This is the same basic "plot" to the Battle of Cowpens. The Jason Isaacs character of the dark-hearted Col. Tavington is loosely based on Col. Banastre Tarleton who led the British troops at Cowpens. Unlike the battle in the movie, however, in real life Tarleton (nee Tavington) escapes to fight another day.
One other note that may only interest me. In the movie The Patriot, Gibson's character uses straw soldiers to convince the British to let captives escape. In real life this trick was used but it was used by the British to allow the "captive" loyalists to escape Boston via ships in the harbor under the cover of "troops" placed overlooking the city on Bunker Hill. The troops later turned out to be straw dummies.
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Battle of Cowpens
Today is the anniversary of one of the most significant battles in the history of the United States and nobody seems to notice. A short history of the Revolutionary War could read like this:
- The British surrendered at Yorktown after being surrounded by the Continental Army on land and bottled up by the French fleet at sea.
- The British were stuck at Yorktown because they had been so long occupied in the South by battles like the disaster (for the British) at Cowpens
- Cowpens was made possible by Valley Forge and the victory over the Hessians at Trenton
- The French navy was brought into the war because of the overwhelming victory over the British at Saratoga.
- Trenton was made possible by the Continental Army slipping out of Long Island where they really should have been trapped and destroyed by the British
- Long Island was made possible by the victory over the British in the siege of Boston which in turn was made possible by the guns taken from Fort Ticonderoga and by the start of the war at Lexington and Concord.
Of the above - the Battle of Cowpens (which happened 236 years ago today) is probably the least remembered.
If it is remembered it is probably the version that was put forth in the Mel Gibson movie The Patriot. In the movie there is a battle without a name in which Gibson's character asks his irregular infantry to get off two shots and then retreat to trick the British into chasing after them. This is the same basic "plot" to the Battle of Cowpens. The Jason Isaacs character of the dark-hearted Col. Tavington is loosely based on Col. Banastre Tarleton who led the British troops at Cowpens. Unlike the battle in the movie, however, in real life Tarleton (nee Tavington) escapes to fight another day.
One other note that may only interest me. In the movie The Patriot, Gibson's character uses straw soldiers to convince the British to let captives escape. In real life this trick was used but it was used by the British to allow the "captive" loyalists to escape Boston via ships in the harbor under the cover of "troops" placed overlooking the city on Bunker Hill. The troops later turned out to be straw dummies.
- The British surrendered at Yorktown after being surrounded by the Continental Army on land and bottled up by the French fleet at sea.
- The British were stuck at Yorktown because they had been so long occupied in the South by battles like the disaster (for the British) at Cowpens
- Cowpens was made possible by Valley Forge and the victory over the Hessians at Trenton
- The French navy was brought into the war because of the overwhelming victory over the British at Saratoga.
- Trenton was made possible by the Continental Army slipping out of Long Island where they really should have been trapped and destroyed by the British
- Long Island was made possible by the victory over the British in the siege of Boston which in turn was made possible by the guns taken from Fort Ticonderoga and by the start of the war at Lexington and Concord.
Of the above - the Battle of Cowpens (which happened 236 years ago today) is probably the least remembered.
If it is remembered it is probably the version that was put forth in the Mel Gibson movie The Patriot. In the movie there is a battle without a name in which Gibson's character asks his irregular infantry to get off two shots and then retreat to trick the British into chasing after them. This is the same basic "plot" to the Battle of Cowpens. The Jason Isaacs character of the dark-hearted Col. Tavington is loosely based on Col. Banastre Tarleton who led the British troops at Cowpens. Unlike the battle in the movie, however, in real life Tarleton (nee Tavington) escapes to fight another day.
One other note that may only interest me. In the movie The Patriot, Gibson's character uses straw soldiers to convince the British to let captives escape. In real life this trick was used but it was used by the British to allow the "captive" loyalists to escape Boston via ships in the harbor under the cover of "troops" placed overlooking the city on Bunker Hill. The troops later turned out to be straw dummies.
Thursday, November 03, 2016
Flotsam and Jetsam
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Congratulations to the Cubs and the City of Chicago. I have the feeling that this is just the first of a few Championships to come... I love this poker story... Jut a reminder - the Red Sox magic number is now 163... Any time I see Newt Gingrich - I try to picture him as Santa's gay half-brother to see if it makes him more likable... Some good tips for better swimming... Not only is Tom Brady 1st in quarterback rating, he's also tied for 11th in TD's despite missing the first 4 games... Pretty sure Rape Whistle would be a horrible name for a band or a coconut rum drink... Henry Miller's 11 Commandments of writing... First it was the Chippendale Dancers, then it was the Thunder Down Under, now it's MEAT RAFFLE!... Should the Jaguars hire Tom Coughlin? I say yes (or hire Josh McDaniels)... I think if Mel Gibson came out and endorsed Hillary Clinton then most of Hollywood would forgive him en masse... Heh heh...
Congratulations to the Cubs and the City of Chicago. I have the feeling that this is just the first of a few Championships to come... I love this poker story... Jut a reminder - the Red Sox magic number is now 163... Any time I see Newt Gingrich - I try to picture him as Santa's gay half-brother to see if it makes him more likable... Some good tips for better swimming... Not only is Tom Brady 1st in quarterback rating, he's also tied for 11th in TD's despite missing the first 4 games... Pretty sure Rape Whistle would be a horrible name for a band or a coconut rum drink... Henry Miller's 11 Commandments of writing... First it was the Chippendale Dancers, then it was the Thunder Down Under, now it's MEAT RAFFLE!... Should the Jaguars hire Tom Coughlin? I say yes (or hire Josh McDaniels)... I think if Mel Gibson came out and endorsed Hillary Clinton then most of Hollywood would forgive him en masse... Heh heh...
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Battle of Cowpens
Today is the anniversary of one of the most significant battles in the history of the United States and nobody seems to notice. A short history of the Revolutionary War could read like this:
- The British surrendered at Yorktown after being surrounded by the Continental Army on land and bottled up by the French fleet at sea.
- The British were stuck at Yorktown because they had been so long occupied in the South by battles like the disaster (for the British) at Cowpens
- Cowpens was made possible by Valley Forge and the victory over the Hessians at Trenton
- The French navy was brought into the war because of the overwhelming victory over the British at Saratoga.
- Trenton was made possible by the Continental Army slipping out of Long Island where they really should have been trapped and destroyed by the British
- Long Island was made possible by the victory over the British in the siege of Boston which in turn was made possible by the guns taken from Fort Ticonderoga and by the start of the war at Lexington and Concord.
Of the above - the Battle of Cowpens (which happened 233 years ago today) is probably the least remembered.
If it is remembered it is probably the version that was put forth in the Mel Gibson movie The Patriot. In the movie there is a battle without a name in which Gibson's character asks his irregular infantry to get off two shots and then retreat to trick the British into chasing after them. This is the same basic "plot" to the Battle of Cowpens. The Jason Isaacs character of the dark-hearted Col. Tavington is loosely based on Col. Banastre Tarleton who led the British troops at Cowpens. Unlike the battle in the movie, however, in real life Tarleton (nee Tavington) escapes to fight another day.
One other note that may only interest me. In the movie The Patriot, Gibson's character uses straw soldiers to convince the British to let captives escape. In real life this trick was used but it was used by the British to allow the "captive" loyalists to escape Boston via ships in the harbor under the cover of "troops" placed overlooking the city on Bunker Hill. The troops later turned out to be straw dummies.
- The British surrendered at Yorktown after being surrounded by the Continental Army on land and bottled up by the French fleet at sea.
- The British were stuck at Yorktown because they had been so long occupied in the South by battles like the disaster (for the British) at Cowpens
- Cowpens was made possible by Valley Forge and the victory over the Hessians at Trenton
- The French navy was brought into the war because of the overwhelming victory over the British at Saratoga.
- Trenton was made possible by the Continental Army slipping out of Long Island where they really should have been trapped and destroyed by the British
- Long Island was made possible by the victory over the British in the siege of Boston which in turn was made possible by the guns taken from Fort Ticonderoga and by the start of the war at Lexington and Concord.
Of the above - the Battle of Cowpens (which happened 233 years ago today) is probably the least remembered.
If it is remembered it is probably the version that was put forth in the Mel Gibson movie The Patriot. In the movie there is a battle without a name in which Gibson's character asks his irregular infantry to get off two shots and then retreat to trick the British into chasing after them. This is the same basic "plot" to the Battle of Cowpens. The Jason Isaacs character of the dark-hearted Col. Tavington is loosely based on Col. Banastre Tarleton who led the British troops at Cowpens. Unlike the battle in the movie, however, in real life Tarleton (nee Tavington) escapes to fight another day.
One other note that may only interest me. In the movie The Patriot, Gibson's character uses straw soldiers to convince the British to let captives escape. In real life this trick was used but it was used by the British to allow the "captive" loyalists to escape Boston via ships in the harbor under the cover of "troops" placed overlooking the city on Bunker Hill. The troops later turned out to be straw dummies.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Memorial Day Flotsam and Jetsam
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations on Memorial Day.
Happy Memorial Day to everyone out there. In order to help keep the day in it's proper perspective - here are 10 Things to Remember About Memorial Day... I am shocked — shocked! — to find corruption going on in FIFA! Not a big soccer fan myself but I do remember my reaction to the news that Qatar was being awarded the World Cup. So how does a tiny country in an inhospitable part of the world with a repressive Islamic government get a World Cup? Anyone with half a brain knew that big bribes were involved... Heh heh - this always cracks me up. The Count's Song... Who knew? In the Mad Max movies - Mel Gibson's character's last name is Rockatansky. From now on Max Rockatansky is my new fake name. If you hear Max Rockatanski being paged over a PA somewhere - chances are that's just me screwing around... Why can't this happen to me?... How come you don't see Code Pink organizing human shields to prevent additional US bombing in Libya?... Only 3 players ahead of Derek Jeter for all-time runs scored are not in Hall of Fame - Barry Bonds, Pete Rose and Craig Biggio. Likewise, only 3 people ahead of Jeter for all-time hits - Pete Rose, Rafael Palmeiro and Craig Biggio - are not in Hall of Fame. Is there any question in anyone's mind that Jeter is not a Hall of Fame player?... An interesting look back on the he first Indy 500.
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations on Memorial Day.
Happy Memorial Day to everyone out there. In order to help keep the day in it's proper perspective - here are 10 Things to Remember About Memorial Day... I am shocked — shocked! — to find corruption going on in FIFA! Not a big soccer fan myself but I do remember my reaction to the news that Qatar was being awarded the World Cup. So how does a tiny country in an inhospitable part of the world with a repressive Islamic government get a World Cup? Anyone with half a brain knew that big bribes were involved... Heh heh - this always cracks me up. The Count's Song... Who knew? In the Mad Max movies - Mel Gibson's character's last name is Rockatansky. From now on Max Rockatansky is my new fake name. If you hear Max Rockatanski being paged over a PA somewhere - chances are that's just me screwing around... Why can't this happen to me?... How come you don't see Code Pink organizing human shields to prevent additional US bombing in Libya?... Only 3 players ahead of Derek Jeter for all-time runs scored are not in Hall of Fame - Barry Bonds, Pete Rose and Craig Biggio. Likewise, only 3 people ahead of Jeter for all-time hits - Pete Rose, Rafael Palmeiro and Craig Biggio - are not in Hall of Fame. Is there any question in anyone's mind that Jeter is not a Hall of Fame player?... An interesting look back on the he first Indy 500.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Flotsam and Jetsam
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Super Bowl line came out at Colts -4 with the Over/under at 56. Many people expect that the line on the Colts will increase to -5 or -6. I expect the line on the coin flip to remain unchanged... Seven Golden Rules to help you make a profit from sports betting... Strange Fact #1: The letter "M" comes from a pre-Canaanite hieroglyph pronounced "mem" meaning water and shaped like waves... Just saying but if Jay Feeley hit all his FG attempts then the Jets cover the spread last night and many of the Jets fans feel a little better about things today... This is so mean... Sure the Colts and Saints get to go to the Super Bowl but the Jets and the Vikings get to donate thousand and thousand of division championship T-shirts and hats to Haiti... Cross the Sean Penn character from the movie Mystic River with Mel Gibson from the movie Payback and then make Gibson a cop = Edge of Darkness... Strange Fact 2: Johnny Carson died on January 23rd and Conan O'Brien's last show ended on January 23rd... Haiti to Donate $1 Million to the NHL... Strange Fact 3: They Might Be Giants created the theme music to Jon Stewart's The Daily Show... Today would have been the 136th birthday of one of my favorite authors, W. Somerset Maugham. The Razor's Edge
remains one of my favorite all-time books... Happy 92nd birthday to Tigers great Ernie Harwell. I really hope he also sees his 93rd birthday...
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Super Bowl line came out at Colts -4 with the Over/under at 56. Many people expect that the line on the Colts will increase to -5 or -6. I expect the line on the coin flip to remain unchanged... Seven Golden Rules to help you make a profit from sports betting... Strange Fact #1: The letter "M" comes from a pre-Canaanite hieroglyph pronounced "mem" meaning water and shaped like waves... Just saying but if Jay Feeley hit all his FG attempts then the Jets cover the spread last night and many of the Jets fans feel a little better about things today... This is so mean... Sure the Colts and Saints get to go to the Super Bowl but the Jets and the Vikings get to donate thousand and thousand of division championship T-shirts and hats to Haiti... Cross the Sean Penn character from the movie Mystic River with Mel Gibson from the movie Payback and then make Gibson a cop = Edge of Darkness... Strange Fact 2: Johnny Carson died on January 23rd and Conan O'Brien's last show ended on January 23rd... Haiti to Donate $1 Million to the NHL... Strange Fact 3: They Might Be Giants created the theme music to Jon Stewart's The Daily Show... Today would have been the 136th birthday of one of my favorite authors, W. Somerset Maugham. The Razor's Edge
remains one of my favorite all-time books... Happy 92nd birthday to Tigers great Ernie Harwell. I really hope he also sees his 93rd birthday...
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Morning Fun Stuff
Some morning links that hopefully will make you smile or think to get you day going.
- Carl Sagan and the Glorious Dawn (with backing vocals by Stephen Hawking).
- The awesomeness that is Mike Blowers. With a gift like this he should quit baseball and just pick Mega Millions numbers.
- Mel Gibson as Walter in Jodie Foster's The Beaver. This is so strange that it actually could be cool to see. (BTW - My mind first read the headline as "Mel Gibson in Jodie Foster's Beaver" and I thought it was about something else altogether.)
- Hey There Cthulhu
Some morning links that hopefully will make you smile or think to get you day going.
- Carl Sagan and the Glorious Dawn (with backing vocals by Stephen Hawking).
- The awesomeness that is Mike Blowers. With a gift like this he should quit baseball and just pick Mega Millions numbers.
- Mel Gibson as Walter in Jodie Foster's The Beaver. This is so strange that it actually could be cool to see. (BTW - My mind first read the headline as "Mel Gibson in Jodie Foster's Beaver" and I thought it was about something else altogether.)
- Hey There Cthulhu
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Connections
(I wrote a variation of this two years ago but I thought I'd run it again today.)
The historian James Burke had a very entertaining TV show called Connections that makes a chain of "connections" from an event in the past to a surprising result of that event in the present.
Based upon today's date - I'm going to do a version of Connections of my own.
On this date back in 1914 the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was shot and killed in Sarajevo. This caused Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia.
August 1st is generally regarded as the anniversary of the beginning of World War I in 1914 (when Germany declared war on Russia because Russia had declared war on Austria because Austria had declared war on Serbia because a Serb assassinated Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on July 28th).
Personally I think the real war started on August 3, 1914 when Germany declared war on France and followed that up with the invasion of Belgium the following day (because the quickest way to Paris was through neutral Belgium). However, that's neither here nor there. The connection I want to focus on actually started on this date in 1914.
In 1914 the Turks had two state of the art battleships being built by the British. The ships had cost $30,000,000 in 1914 dollars (which is a lot of money now but a fortune back then). On July 28th the British thought that those two ships (the Sultan Osman and the Reshadieh) would come in handy in the upcoming war - so under the direction of Winston Churchill - the British "requisitioned" them (and they also kept the $30,000,000).
This did not sit well with the Turks who had been trying to stay neutral in the whole brewing fiasco but this bit of thievery may have tipped them toward the Germans. On August 10th the German ships Goeben and Breslau entered the Dardenelles and were soon given to the Turks to replace the two ships the British had stolen. This gesture was well received and basically put the Turks on the side of the Germans.
If the Turks did not enter the war on the side of the Germans then there may never have been the bloody massacre at Gallipoli.
If there was no battle of Gallipoli - then there probably would have not been a movie of the same name. This 1981 movie helped continue the career of a fairly unknown Australian actor who would use his role in Gallipoli to help gain him entree into the American film market by starring in the 1984 film The Bounty.
It is entirely possible that if the movie Gallipoli was never made that Mel Gibson would have remained simply a star in Australia. And news of what crazy Australians spout off when they get arrested in Australia for drunk driving never makes the news in the US.
So Mel Gibson may want to blame the Jews for all the wars in the world but in this series of connections it was the greedy British who miscalculated.
(I wrote a variation of this two years ago but I thought I'd run it again today.)
The historian James Burke had a very entertaining TV show called Connections that makes a chain of "connections" from an event in the past to a surprising result of that event in the present.
Based upon today's date - I'm going to do a version of Connections of my own.
On this date back in 1914 the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was shot and killed in Sarajevo. This caused Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia.
August 1st is generally regarded as the anniversary of the beginning of World War I in 1914 (when Germany declared war on Russia because Russia had declared war on Austria because Austria had declared war on Serbia because a Serb assassinated Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on July 28th).
Personally I think the real war started on August 3, 1914 when Germany declared war on France and followed that up with the invasion of Belgium the following day (because the quickest way to Paris was through neutral Belgium). However, that's neither here nor there. The connection I want to focus on actually started on this date in 1914.
In 1914 the Turks had two state of the art battleships being built by the British. The ships had cost $30,000,000 in 1914 dollars (which is a lot of money now but a fortune back then). On July 28th the British thought that those two ships (the Sultan Osman and the Reshadieh) would come in handy in the upcoming war - so under the direction of Winston Churchill - the British "requisitioned" them (and they also kept the $30,000,000).
This did not sit well with the Turks who had been trying to stay neutral in the whole brewing fiasco but this bit of thievery may have tipped them toward the Germans. On August 10th the German ships Goeben and Breslau entered the Dardenelles and were soon given to the Turks to replace the two ships the British had stolen. This gesture was well received and basically put the Turks on the side of the Germans.
If the Turks did not enter the war on the side of the Germans then there may never have been the bloody massacre at Gallipoli.
If there was no battle of Gallipoli - then there probably would have not been a movie of the same name. This 1981 movie helped continue the career of a fairly unknown Australian actor who would use his role in Gallipoli to help gain him entree into the American film market by starring in the 1984 film The Bounty.
It is entirely possible that if the movie Gallipoli was never made that Mel Gibson would have remained simply a star in Australia. And news of what crazy Australians spout off when they get arrested in Australia for drunk driving never makes the news in the US.
So Mel Gibson may want to blame the Jews for all the wars in the world but in this series of connections it was the greedy British who miscalculated.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Connections
(I actually wrote this last August but I thought I'd run it again today.)
The historian James Burke had a very entertaining TV show called Connections that made a chain of "connections" from an event in the past to a surprising result of that event in the present.
Based upon today's date and something that has been in the news lately - I'm going to do a version of Connections of my own.
Wednesday was August 1st - which is generally regarded as the anniversary of the beginning of World War I in 1914 (when Germany declared war on Russia because Russia had declared war on Austria because Austria had declared war on Serbia because a Serb assassinated Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on July 28th).
Personally I think the real war started on August 3, 1914 when Germany declared war on France and followed that up with the invasion of Belgium the following day (because the quickest way to Paris was through neutral Belgium). However, that's neither here nor there. The connection I want to focus on actually started on July 28th.
In 1914 the Turks had two state of the art battleships being built by the British. The ships had cost $30,000,000 in 1914 dollars (which is a lot of money now but a fortune back then). On July 28th the British thought that those two ships (the Sultan Osman and the Reshadieh) would come in handy in the upcoming war - so under the direction of Winston Churchill - the British "requisitioned" them (and they also kept the $30,000,000).
This did not sit well with the Turks who had been trying to stay neutral in the whole brewing fiasco but this bit of thievery may have tipped them toward the Germans. On August 10th the German ships Goeben and Breslau entered the Dardenelles and were soon given to the Turks to replace the two ships the British had stolen. This gesture was well received and basically put the Turks on the side of the Germans.
If the Turks did not enter the war on the side of the Germans then there may never have been the bloody massacre at Gallipoli.
If there was no battle of Gallipoli - then there probably would have not been a movie of the same name. This 1981 movie helped continue the career of a fairly unknown Australian actor who would use his role in Gallipoli to help gain him entree into the American film market by starring in the 1984 film The Bounty.
It is entirely possible that if the movie Gallipoli was never made that Mel Gibson would have remained simply a star in Australia. And news of what crazy Australians spout off when they get arrested in Australia for drunk driving never makes the news in the US.
So Mel Gibson may want to blame the Jews for all the wars in the world but in this series of connections it was the greedy British who miscalculated.
(I actually wrote this last August but I thought I'd run it again today.)
The historian James Burke had a very entertaining TV show called Connections that made a chain of "connections" from an event in the past to a surprising result of that event in the present.
Based upon today's date and something that has been in the news lately - I'm going to do a version of Connections of my own.
Wednesday was August 1st - which is generally regarded as the anniversary of the beginning of World War I in 1914 (when Germany declared war on Russia because Russia had declared war on Austria because Austria had declared war on Serbia because a Serb assassinated Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on July 28th).
Personally I think the real war started on August 3, 1914 when Germany declared war on France and followed that up with the invasion of Belgium the following day (because the quickest way to Paris was through neutral Belgium). However, that's neither here nor there. The connection I want to focus on actually started on July 28th.
In 1914 the Turks had two state of the art battleships being built by the British. The ships had cost $30,000,000 in 1914 dollars (which is a lot of money now but a fortune back then). On July 28th the British thought that those two ships (the Sultan Osman and the Reshadieh) would come in handy in the upcoming war - so under the direction of Winston Churchill - the British "requisitioned" them (and they also kept the $30,000,000).
This did not sit well with the Turks who had been trying to stay neutral in the whole brewing fiasco but this bit of thievery may have tipped them toward the Germans. On August 10th the German ships Goeben and Breslau entered the Dardenelles and were soon given to the Turks to replace the two ships the British had stolen. This gesture was well received and basically put the Turks on the side of the Germans.
If the Turks did not enter the war on the side of the Germans then there may never have been the bloody massacre at Gallipoli.
If there was no battle of Gallipoli - then there probably would have not been a movie of the same name. This 1981 movie helped continue the career of a fairly unknown Australian actor who would use his role in Gallipoli to help gain him entree into the American film market by starring in the 1984 film The Bounty.
It is entirely possible that if the movie Gallipoli was never made that Mel Gibson would have remained simply a star in Australia. And news of what crazy Australians spout off when they get arrested in Australia for drunk driving never makes the news in the US.
So Mel Gibson may want to blame the Jews for all the wars in the world but in this series of connections it was the greedy British who miscalculated.
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