A book. This time, Angry Optimist; The Life and Times of Jon Stewart

Angry Optimist; The Life and Times of Jon Stewart

by L. Rogak

It's not often that a book about one of your favorite comedians, or even a book by one of your favorite comedians is as satisfying as the visual material delivered by your favorite comedian. This was no different. I so wanted it to be, buying this book about 2 months before Stewart's last appearance as host of the Comedy Central cable network's The Daily Show. And actually reading it the week after he was done. I am so going to miss him on the Daily Show.

But the book was just okay. You get the obligatory growing up and into college stuff - actually, I was surprised to learn that he was a very good soccer player. You get some insight into how he got his main gig, and some insight into the inner workings of making the show what it was. But somehow it's just not enough.

The book did make me laugh in places - When comparing the riches that David Letterman made and enjoyed on his network show with what he was faced with on cable networks, he says "Letterman sits down to a feast, and the we ask, 'are you gonna finish that?'"

When complaining about how lame real network news magazine shows like NBC News' Dateline and ABC News' 20/20 are, he says - "You watch those shows and you'd think we were falling apart: 'You won't believe what's in that cheeseburger!' 'Did you know that your airbag could decapitate you?'

Of the rules that he had to abide by - "One of the few hard and fast rules that they ran into was that "dildo" couldn't be mentioned in a show four times; but three was okay."

When Hugh Grant was a guest, and complained about the coverage he got for the movie Did You Hear About The Morgans, Grant complained, "What is that clip? It's a terrible clip!" Steward replied, "Well, then, make a better fucking movie."

The book was okay, I guess; certainly better that Jerry Seinfeld's Seinlanguage. (I was and still am a big Seinfeld fan, but don't bother with that book.) However, this book made me laugh more than a few times, but worse than that, it just made me realize just how much I am missing him on TV every week.

Large socks to fill, Trevor Noah!

A Guy Trip to NYC - phase 2

More on the May 2015 Guy trip to NYC with by buddies Pete and Fiz.
The Saturday started with a trip to the USS Intrepid museum on a large pier on the Hudson River just off the west side of Manhattan island (the Intrepid website).
Some background on the ship-
The USS Intrepid is an American aircraft carrier that was built during WW2, saw heavy action in 1943-1945, and continued to serve after the war. It originally looked like typical (but huge) WW2 aircraft carrier: USS Intrepid original configuration.
After modernization in the 1950's, it looked much different with a second angled flight deck, and could accommodate modern jet aircraft: USS Intrepid modernized config.
So my buddy Fiz and I went first thing Saturday morning to see this big behemoth - Pete "wasn't feeling well" and did not join us.
You've seen the outside in my previous post (NYC Guy Trip phase 1). So the first image is from the extreme front of the bow of the ship looking back along the flight deck:

The photo doesn't do justice to the immense size of this ship. The flight deck is crowded with all types of aircraft- some of which actually flew off the ship when it was in service, and some of which did not. If it were me designing the museum, I'd only allow aircraft that actually flew off the ship. But it's a museum, and they have to keep the locals coming back for more. I get it.
First airplane on the right is an SR-71 Blackbird:

Actually, it's a YF-12A, the "fighter" version, but it's basically the same thing. These definitely did not fly off carriers, but it sure is an impressive sight. These were the fastest airplanes ever built, but they are now retired. Their spying duties bettered by orbiting spy satellites, and their air-frames being old, they were no longer practical to keep flying. A shame, really.
Next in line was an F-16 Falcon (better known as "Vipers") - these never flew off carriers either - they're still in service in the US Air Force, and in other air forces all over the world.

And they are still very formidable fighters that can compete well against any modern fighter jet.
Next in line is an Israeli Kfir jet, also something that never flew off carriers..

These were used by the US Navy as adversarial aircraft for their dissimilar air combat training for their fighter pilots - as in Top Gun.
After that was an interesting US Navy helicopter, the H-19 Chicasaw:

It was a utility/search-and-rescue vehicle.
After that was a Bell H1J Sea Corba:

Sea Cobras were used by the US Marines, and were flown from carriers; not sure if they flew from Intrepid tho. They called the Cobra's main weapons system a "mini-gun" --

Looks pretty menacing to me...
Next in line was the venerable Twin Huey, UH-1, a machine that almost everyone flew - US Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and most allies around the world as well.

My dad flew these for the Canadian Army and the air force (when it was the Canadian Armed Forces).
Next in line was an AV-8B Harrier jump jet. These are US Marine jets that are still in use today, but will eventually be replaced by the F-35.

Harriers fly from carriers, but from special amphibious assault ships rather than fleet carriers like the old Intrepid.

That was the lineup on the right side of the forward flight deck (port side, actually).

Now, starting from the bow on the starboard side-

First is maybe the best fighter jet ever, is the F-14 Tomcat. I think I read that the Intrepid was actually too small(!) to fly F-14's... The star of the movie Top Gun, the F-14 is also the coolest jet ever, and gets 3 photos here; from the front:

Excellent view of the F-14's TV and infrared imaging systems, and how far back those variable-geometry wings sweep. You can see the F-14's lines better in the image below. This is actually a souped-up F-14, close the the standards of what was to become the "Super Tomcat" that never came about. This is evidenced by the larger than normal number of hard points - places to hang bombs.

The final image shows the business end of the F-14's big-ass engines. Not sure if this had those GE-F110-129 engines in there - probably not.

It was really cool seeing one of these bad boys up close!!

I think next in line was the A-6 Intruder, but for some reason I can't seem to find any photos. Oh well- you can see a bit of it beside the F-14, but not much of it- this ship definitely had A-6's aboard while at sea. After that was an F-11F Tiger:

The F-11 was a carrier fighter, and almost certainly flew off the Intrepid at one time (in the 1950's). Next in line was the F9F Cougar, which was pretty much an F-9F Panther with swept wings. The Panther was a beautiful airplane; the Cougar seemed like an after thought to me. However, the Cougar definitely flew off carriers, and probably off the Intrepid at some point (again, in the 1950's). Next to the Cougar was a Grumman E-1 Tracer-- it was the predecessor of the E-2C Hawkeye which still flies today. The E-1 is basically the same airplane, but with 1950's / 60's technology radar. 

The Intrepid definitely had one of these flying off her decks in the 50's and 60's - these were the eyes are ears of the fleet - they flew high, and spread their radar coverage for 100's of miles, allowing the fleet to react quickly to approaching enemy aircraft.

Beside the Tracer was the formidable F-4 Phantom fighter jet. This was the Navy's air-superiority fighter jet in the 60's and 70's. In it's day, it was the most powerful and feared fighter jet in the world. 

F-4 Phantoms flew from the decks of USS Intrepid until her last operational days...

Beside the F-4 was the F-3H Demon. This was a fighter plane that flew sometime before the F-4 did - in the early 1960's. I had no idea there were this big!

Don't know too much about the Demon, but the later F-4 Phantom does bears some minor resemblance - similar tail and slightly similar wings. I'm quite certain that Demons flew from the decks of Intrepid.

Next in line was an Italian trainer jet that didn't interest me.

I think that's all for now; I'll have more images soon from the decks of the mighty USS Intrepid; stay tuned!

A guy trip to NYC

In May 2015 I went on a guy trip to New York City with my two best buds- Fizz and Pete. Guy trips are defined by at least one, if not two sporting events, along with at least one other manly endeavor, as well as the obligatory eating of some dead cow and the quaffing of the odd beer or two.

This is the most recent of a series of guy trips, the others being the Washington, D.C. Nationals baseball - Capitals hockey and Smithsonian aerospace extravaganza of 2013 and the Chicago Whiskey-fest (that's a real thing) - White Sox in game Comiskey Park trip of 2010.

This year's trip was a Yankee's baseball and USS Intrepid trip. While it's true that there are other things to do in NYC; the Empire State bldg., plays on Broadway, some other stuff I guess, these are the key guy things to see in NYC, at least while the Rangers are out of town and the Giants and Jets are off-season.

Well, we tried to see the Intrepid early, but the massive Memorial weekend line-ups were prohibitive. But we get get an outside, street-level glimpse of the behemoth.
From the front:

And from the side:

But a 2-hour wait was no way to start a trip to NYC, so off we went to look for a Oirish Pub.

And but 2 blocks away- McQuaid's Pub on West 44th street.

Proof we were there:

Then I started to tell one of my fave stories about a bridge, looked over at my pals in the middle of my narrative, and they didn't seem that interested:

After one or two pints and some decent chicken wings, off to another place - an interesting patio above The Beer Authority just across the street from the New York Times building - it's pretty tall. Just to the right, there was a "Landshark Beer" sign that caught my attention:

 

After that, recollection fades somewhat, but we did go to times square for a bit:

   

Yes, that's a church in the 4th image, there. Yes, a church on Times Square. The Times Square Church, no less, run by a former Ottawa, Canada policeman. 

After Times Square, food was needed, so next was a giant steak dinner with a mix of beer and red wine, which was not 100% agreeable with one of our party. After that, a cab ride to the hotel, and few more beer, and done before 11pm. We should have been ashamed of ourselves. That is, if we weren't a trio of old farts.

Still, not bad for a short Friday. 

Stay tuned for the Saturday adventure: Navy fun on Memorial weekend, followed by baseball action at Yankee Stadium!!

Yup, another book, this time, a Star Trek novel

Star Trek Chain of Attack

G DeWeese

For Star Trek fans, there is a whole sub-genre in science-fiction literature dedicated to their fave franchise. There are even sub-sub-genres for TOS and TNG, etc. So if you're a fan, there is almost an inexhaustible supply of Star Trek to submerse yourself in- or lose yourself in. I have avoided this, but occasionally, I'll read one when recommended by others. Read "Chain of Attack" a couple of times- recommended by C Collins the first time, in the early 1990s, and then again by someone on io9 this year. It's a Star Trek novel from 1986. Luckily SF novels can transcend the passing of time without coming off as dated. This one is no different. In this one, Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest of our heroes are checking out some mysterious gravitational anomalies with a guest on board, a politician with a doctorate who is observing his company's space probes designed specifically for these anomalies. Suddenly, by accident, they get transported into another galaxy where all of the planets seem to be completely ravaged by war. They soon find two warring species that while dangerous, are not a serious threat to the Enterprise, and could not have been responsible for the destruction that they have seen. Thanks to Spock, the mystery gets solved, and they get home safe. Certainly the best Star Trek novel I have read - but then, I've only read a few...

Another book: An Army at Dawn

An Army at Dawn

by Rick Atkinson

Traces the progress of the United States Army from just before Operation Torch (the invasion of German-controlled north Africa in late 1942 through to the destruction of the Axis forces in Tunisia in 1943.

The story begins with very detailed accounts of the invasion phase - at Oran, Algiers and Casablanca. Next is the first ineffective attempt at taking Tunis- if it was successful, it could have shortened the effort and suffering significantly. As it was, the attempt failed, and the Germans were permitted to bolster their forces for a longer, tougher fight. The story includes the arrival of the British 8th Army from the east, and the awkward interaction with the American efforts in the west. Despite Rommel's presence, the Allies eventually overwhelm the axis forces, and finally take Bizerte and Tunis.

In the book, there are some interesting details that are not well know by the layman. For example, French soldiers resisted the invasion with varying degrees of intensity- some very much so- and actually wore battle decorations for this resistance after changing sides in the conflict to fight the Germans and Italians along side the Americans and British. Many US officers (Patton, Bradley, etc.), did not trust the British, feeling that they were happier to see US casualties than their own. Similarly, British Generals (Montgomery, Alexander, etc.), though that US infantry were poorly trained and not very useful. Both were true to a certain extent, and this was one of the many aspects of the Alliance that Eisenhower had to manage. 

Interestingly, the Germans had their own leadership challenges- one in particular, when General Rommel chased the US Army up the Kasserine Pass- he may well have chased the Americans right out of Tunisia, and up to the coast in Algeria, had not his colleague, General Armin, taken half of his tank strength- for no good reason. That ended up being very good for the Allies, and very unfortunate for the Axis.

The book also contains some extremely vivid technical accounts - for example, you could actually watch the path of a German 88mm gun's anti-tank shell from afar by the sand and dust that it sucked up as it traversed the desert floor at head level, at over 2500 feet per second. The German tanks for the most part, out-classed the Allied tanks in terms of general design, armour and gun quality, forcing the Allies to rely on quantity over quality (which, fortunately, they could do). 

This book was very well researched, and contains loads of info about the all of the major (and many minor) events and all of the major (and many minor) characters. A good measure of a military book is the quantity and quality of the maps accompanying the text; the maps in this book were some of the best I've ever seen. The work was very well done, and is highly readable. Highly recommended to the history buff, or even those with casual interest.

And another book: Gateway

Gateway

Frederik Pohl

I read this on recommendation from someone on the io9 online blog. I love hard science fiction, and this was the best one I've read in over a year. Set in the near-future, after people from Earth have colonized Venus and Mars. There was some terrific technological foresightedness on behalf of Pohl- ship communication via laser (cool), the idea that healthcare in the future would be very costly, and would be something that most people would be intensely aware of (nailed it). Also, homosexuality was treated as a common thing- a pretty advanced concept coming from a book written in the 1970's (at about the same time as Anita Bryant's rantings). On the other hand, I found it difficult to identify with the protagonist after he beats the crap out of his girlfriend! (I also found it odd that she would forgive him.) I could not understand the concept of smoking in a confined space ship, but that was a definite 20th century thing.

Spoiler alerts.

The book's theme is discovery and loss - about newly discovered alien (Heechee) technology that allows faster-than-light-speed travel. The technology is being used to explore the galaxy, and to obtain artifacts for financial gain. A secondary background storyline takes place in the future, as a recollection after the major events of the main storyline. The book jumps back and forth, but they're nicely tied-up at the end. The climax involves an expedition using an alien ship towards a black hole. Only the protagonist returns (as a rich man), and we're not quite sure if the others (including his girlfriend) were stranded there by accident, or on purpose. Nicely done.
This was a terrific read, and I've already received the follow-up in the mail; it will be my next read...

Trophy Presentations to Championship Teams

Watched the Superbowl on the weekend, and something occurred to me about the presentation of the trophy to the winning team.

The National Hockey League (NHL) does it right. The National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball do it wrong.

The NHL Crowning Event

When the NHL crowns its champion, the league president says very little, and presents the championship trophy to the players- specifically, to the winning team's player captain. The celebration begins immediately- the people that matter- players and fans are center stage. The old fart team owners and executives and the league president and executives are not an integral part of the celebration. 

Here's what is looks like when the NHL does it:

Gee, Messier looks pretty happy, and I bet the Rangers fans loved this!

The NFL black suit Event

The NFL gives us a mini state of the union speech from the hated league president, followed by presentation of the trophy to an old sod of a rich guy in a suit. The old owner in a suit then makes his speech for a while. Meanwhile, the people that matter, the players and the fans, stand around until the suits have their glory orgy. Nobody wants to see the president hand the trophy to an old guy in a suit. Nobody has tears in their eyes thinking about how much money that poor owner had to spend to buy a championship. Nobody reflects upon what that rich guy in a suit must have been going through watching that game from his luxury suite. 

Here's what it looks like when the NFL does it:

Hmmmm. Not the same thing, really, is it? Bill Belichick looks not sad. Patriots owner Robert Craft looks rich. And how do the players feel about this moment? I guess that's not really important.

The MLB black suit Event

Major League Baseball gives us little more- the only plus is that the baseball owners are usually a bit older, the trophy is more fragile-looking, and there's always the chance that the old guy in the suit might drop the thing, or drop dead on top of it.

Here's what it looks like when Major League Baseball does it:

Ummmm. What team won? Well, it says 2013 World Series, so I guess it's the Red Sox. John Farrell (far right, not near the trophy) looks not sad. I think some of those other people in black suits played a major role in beating the Cardinals that day. I guess.

The point?
The NFL and Major League Baseball need to have a look at how the NHL does it, and take a lesson. The best presentation. For the players. For the fans. No one else matters here. Nobody cares what people in black suits have to say after a championship game. For the most part, nobody even cares who they are, or if they were even there. Really, you guys; nobody.

Another book: HMS Hood

The Battlecruiser HMS Hood, an Illustrated Biography

Bruce Taylor

It’s a coffee table book, I guess, but it’s filled with information and images if the late great British Battlecruiser HMS Hood.

I've always been fascinated by large fighting ships- their grandeur, power and grace- and the roles that they played in major conflicts in the 20th century. Later, I became obsessed with the idea that a ship with hundreds of persons on board - a virtual floating city- could be destroyed and sunk - with all those people in a matter minutes. Where were they when they perished? Why couldn't they get out? This book answered many questions for me.

HMS Hood started life as a ship among ships- more modern, more glorious, more everything than any other ship in any other navy. She had 15 inch guns, was capable of well over 30 knots and carried her officers and crew in more comfort that any fighting ship before her. She was the biggest ship ever built for the Royal Navy.

HMS Hood on its World Tour, Melbourne, Australia, 1924 

HMS Hood leaving Hawaii on its world tour, 1924

HMS Hood was designed by the same people that designed the original WW1 battlecruisers that played a major role at the battle of Jutland-- and paid a heavy price. Designed to arrive fast, fight at close range, escape and repeat, they were at great disadvantage fighting it out at long range against battleships. The British were aware of this disadvantage in WW1, and were no less aware of it in 1941. Her range-finding equipment was inferior to the equipment used by the most modern fighting ships, and she used a more volatile gun propellant than the Germans or Americans did in WW2. All these facts would play a role in her fate.

Left: The Torpedoman's mess-deck. Right: The Officer's Wardroom

The Torpedomen crew ate, lived and slept in their mess (there were several). They ate at those tables, then slept above them in hammocks- in very close quarters. This is from 1931. Officers ate and drank in the Officer's Wardroom. They had separate quarters for sleeping. This is from 1932.

The lifetime of HMS Hood closely reflects the decline of the Royal Navy. In the 1920s, Britannia ruled the waves, and the Hood was the star of a Royal Navy world tour that circumnavigated the globe. It was the apex of her glory- she was the biggest, fastest, most powerful ship in the world. But there was much change over her 20+ years- she changed over time, as did the world- and she couldn't keep up.

Engine room throttle action in the Hood, 1931

By the 1930s, the Hood (like the Royal Navy) was still highly revered and magnificent outwardly, but old, rusty and rotten inside. Constant leaking promoted rusting of bulkheads and machinery, and hampered the efficiency and integrity of her fresh water systems. Training was neglected. She was also a major player in the sad story of the Invergordon mutiny- caused by a shameful rift between the officer and crew classes in the RN.

Years of neglect wore on her. By the late 1930s, she was weighted down by the weight of many layers of paint (tons), tons of new equipment; she rode low in the water and she still leaked constantly. Training was improved, but the ship was aging. There were newer ships in the RN, and many more modern ships in several navies of the world. She was still the pride of the Royal Navy, but her sad fate awaited her.

The Hood's stoker crews, May 1941.
Most of these men went down with the ship;
many died at the same moment, just after 6AM on May 24, 1941.

WW2 came quickly, and planned improvements would have to wait. Like the Royal Navy, she had been rushed into service, somewhat unprepared, but fought gallantly. In the end, her demise punctuated the decline of the Royal Navy. In 1941, she was sunk by the Battleship Bismarck, a brand new German battleship, the Hood being well over 20 years in service at that time.

The last view of the once Mighty Hood, May 24, 1941.

The ship and her crew of almost 1500 were gone within 3 minutes.

All these images are from the book, and can be found all over the web. The book also contains some wonderful cut-away views and schematics. But more that that, the full story of the Mighty Hood from start to finish is contained within this book.

I enjoyed this book enormously, and would recommend it to any history or navy enthusiast.