Michael Cain is Bunch or vice-versa

It has finally come to me! After re-watching Zulu, I realize; Michael Caine looks just like Bunch did at Kemper. Same hair. Ok, NOT the same accent, but still. Fair skin. Man, that has been one of those things that has been rolling around in my head for while. And from what I have seen of Michael Caine these days and Bunch; they STILL look the same.

hey it may not seem like much, but that's a big deal; I knew Bunch reminded me of someone and never felt right when I was trying to think of who. Now, I know!

Call Me Nostalgic

I remember when sci-fi cons and the like were just for the 'geeks' and hardly got much press except for a write up in the Lifestyle section of the paper. With the onset of the Internet, which is both good and bad for our genre, the press coverage of Comic Con is outrageous!

Initially, way back when I was glad. We, the sci-fi and fantasy lovers were finally coming main stream. But now; with some of the slop of sci-fi movies/remakes etc of comics, video games or toys (I heard they were suppose to be making a movie about Rock'em Sock'em Robots... I don't know if what I heard was a joke or not, but now a days I can see them doing that) its not pretty.

I am glad to see the 501st of Star Wars fame getting press... but now as I was telling someone, its gotten outrageous. The famous of yesterdays are hardly remembered.

Maybe I just woke on the wrong side of the bed or universe or whatever, but this shit pisses me off. I'm as hopped about this as when Bryan watches soccer (office co-worker).

Why? Is is that they, the newcomers, have no idea where us old timers had to endure to get here. We endured the bullies, without killing ourselves or anyone else and we turned out fairly normal. We had parents who loved us and were involved with us and indulged out little hobbies as they saw this as what it was, an outlet like sports or anything else. Some of us outgrew them, some moved on-while retaining some like for the stuff, and then a few of us continued. Some of those that continued were still not totally 'indoctrinated' (yeah I know, scary word, but can't think of any other way to say it) and some, like I would say I am, moved beyond this as a hobby and, as some sports fanatics; its wrapped up in our DNA. This takes us beyond those who just have the costumes (they are uniforms, as that is what they are). It does NOT make us better than them, it just makes some of us, more determined to make sure that those that went before, in all sci-fi and fantasy, be it literature, movies, games or even music, are not forgotten. Before CGI and political correctness ruined some. Hey, I still have Trek uniforms hanging in my closet-I am going on 23 years in STARFLEET and have held numerous local, regional and Fleet level positions. For 10 years I owned a game and comic store and even had a d20 module published. I have attended many conventions and even put on some. I have paid my dues when, while growing up, people thought I was a freak for believing in UFOs. Then the X-Files came out. I was into that stuff before Chris Carter could spell "X-Files."

An old friend I hadn't seen in years asked me if I was still into that. Unfortunately not I told him. Before, no one knew what I was talking about and now adays, I have seen people advertising "paranormal investigations" and there are all those shows on TV; Ghost Hunters, etc. The fictionalized stuff is fine: X-Files, Supernatural, Harry Potter... but these people... I am sure some are well meaning, hard corps enthusiasts. Others are out to make a buck. But unless I missed something, everything that has been recorded, seen, or felt... nothing has shown concrete proof to the scientific community or either life after death or intelligence life in outer space. And with out illustrious president cutting NASA's money, will we ever?

Needless to say, that I am a dinosaur in this aspect also. With the passing of Frezatta, and others... the corp groups are slowing dying off. To be replaced with....what? CGI? Stories with holes in them that you could drive a super star destroyer through? (Avatar) Remakes that use the name and very little else to try and revive a franchise instead of a decent story? (Star Trek). Or a new edition of a classic game that is so far from what the creators dreamed up that it bares little resemblance to it but the name and idea? (4th ed D & D)

I have paused. Ok, maybe I DID wake up on the wrong side of the universe, but this has been building for sometime, and like a safety valve I just had to blow. I am calm now. I now return you to your regular scheduled blogs, already in progress.

The Gates

Ok... ok... like bad delivery food I keep coming back to this... whatever. Ok, let me bite off this: I can take a vampire (gorgeous one at that) who can do the sun (with sun screen) has blood stored in her home like bottle of wine (ironic that they are stored in the wine cellar)in her home but vamps out and kills someone and hubby (also a vamp) is pissed about that. Hes trying to do the normal thing. Ok... swallow that. I can do it.

Then the new police chief is a no holds barred, had to leave one town cause he was over zealous and is now the new chief in a gated community cop. Ok, that's was easy.

His son is attracted to the girlfriend of one of the local jocks, who just happens to be a werewolf. And there are other teen wolves out there too. Giving him a hrad time about not 'running' with them. Gee peer pressure comes in all forms I guess. Ok... a little harder, but after some coughing, I swallowed that.

Then the wife of said police chief goes to town to a herbal store and gets caught between two of the local wiccans. Ok.... that's getting a bit tough.

Then one of his deputies (another beautiful lady) starts to freak and blood out after something of hers is stolen. And, after getting said item back (didn't see what it is) she offs the guy. Ok.. by itself doable, but this is getting a bit much.

Oh, and the actor who played Dresden (great series and great books) shows up as.... well I'm not sure what he is as I fast forwarded through that part as I couldn't bare to see that. But hes a vamp too. And he and the female share someone and then she lies to hubby about it. OMG> Now thats a soap opera. Oh wait, maybe its just Phantom of the Opera.

And now, the girlfriend broke up with her furry faced bf for the chief's son. And after laying one helluva kiss on him, he collapses. Cut to one of the local witches, who I thought of as a good witch, was talking with said father about daughter and that he had to tell his daughter about her mother and that was becoming a succubus. For those of you who know what that is, we can all go "ahhhh" that's why ex-bf said had so much energy since breaking up with her, she wasn't feeding on it. For those who don't know what a succubus is, look it up.

Ok, I have had about as much as I can swallow. Does this mean EVERYONE is some kind of creepy crawly? I mean, I could take one or two, but this is getting ridiculous. I had joked about if we would see Frankenstein's monster or the Mummy. Now, I am just wondering when.

Great Website!

http://www.gonetoosoon.org/

This free memorial is for lost ones/animals. I love reading about how much animals meant to people. And I found the following on one about a kitten.


Rainbow Bridge
Just this side of Heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an
animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet
goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our
special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of
food, water and sunshine and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and
vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong
again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times
gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small
thing: they each miss someone very special, someone who was left
behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly
stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; his
eager body begins to quiver. Suddenly, he breaks from the group,
flying over the green grass, faster and faster. You have been
spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling
together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses
rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and
you look once more into those trusting eyes, so long gone from your
life, but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together...

Rules of Engagement - MGN Curry

Rules of Engagement
by Major Gen. Jerry Curry

During the Viet Nam War several Viet Cong engaged our forces in a running fire fight and when we finally closed in for the kill they fled into in a Buddhist Pagoda and hid. I turned to my South Vietnamese counter-part, shrugged my shoulders and said, “Sorry Colonel, my rules of engagement are that we must observe the sanctity of all South Vietnamese religious buildings. If the Viet Cong don’t come out voluntarily, we are forbidden to go in and get them; unfortunately the enemy knows our rules of engagement as well as we do.”


The Colonel nodded his head, spoke a few words to his executive officer and several minutes later some Vietnamese soldiers arrived carrying shoulder fired rocket launchers. They very methodically blew a huge hole in the wall of the pagoda, threw in a bunch of hand grenades, killed or captured the Viet Cong who were hiding inside, and continued on with the mission.

By showing respect for their pagoda we Americans were trying to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people. The Vietnamese Colonel was trying to win the battle. His actions reminded me of something a Korean officer, to whom I was an advisor many years before, had once said to me, “If you grab them by the throat their hearts and minds will follow.”

As best I can tell from the news coverage of the War in Afghanistan, our troops have been directed to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people at all costs. While we observe these niceties, the Taliban sometimes win by default. In war adopting a hearts and minds strategy is nothing new, but it is still just as dangerous and difficult to carry out as it has been in previous military engagements.

To win, our soldiers should be authorized to use whatever force is necessary. This means that if a terrorist fires at our soldiers with a rifle, they should return fire with a machinegun. If they fire at us with a rocket launcher, we return fire with a tank gun. If a terrorist sniper fires from a Mosque window killing one of our soldiers, we “direct lay” an artillery piece at a point about one meter below the center of the window sill, fire one round and take out the sniper, wall and all.

On page 106 of my book: From Private to General: An African American Soldier Rises through The Ranks, I write:

During the question-and-answer period, one of my classmates … asked (the instructor), “How do you save a nation from … enslavement when the inhabitants refuse to fight for their own freedom?”

“You don’t,” he said. “You let them be enslaved.” Then scornfully he added … “You can occupy them and take over their government and armed forces, including promotion authority. This assumes that you also run their communication systems, transportation, and public schools…

“If the United States is willing to make such an extreme sacrifice for 20 or 30 years, perhaps you can successfully … raise up a generation of young people who will embrace your values and be willing to fight and die to preserve their own freedom … You can’t do for other nations and people what they won’t do for themselves.”

U.S. rules of engagement in Afghanistan can’t be based on what we imagine other nations might think of us or how the Afghans may or may not respond to our actions. General George S. Patton once said, “Wars might be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.”


Nothing in war can substitute for killing the enemy.


________________________________________
Major Gen. Jerry R. Curry (US Army Ret.) Ph.D. is a decorated combat veteran, Army Aviator, Paratrooper and Ranger who has served his country both in the military and as a Presidential appointee in three administrations.

Stuff I Found

A little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. . . It is a medium necessary for the sound health of a government.
Thomas Jefferson


People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
George Orwell


I’d like to have two armies: one for display with lovely guns, tanks, little soldiers, staff, distinguished and doddering generals, and dear little regimental officers who would be deeply concerned over their general’s bowel movements or their colonel’s piles: An army that would be shown for a modest fee on every fairground in the country.
The other would be the real one, composed entirely of young enthusiasts in camouflage uniforms, who would not be put on display but from whom impossible efforts would be demanded and to whom all sorts of tricks would be taught. That’s the army in which I should like fight.
Jean Larte’ Guy


Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.