Monday, June 09, 2008

I Knew It By Heart

I'm almost too restless to write this entry.

Last week, I read an article in the local newspaper about an historical display that begins at noon today in my town and concludes two days from now. I have never seen one of these items in person in my life, but I have seen many, many, many of them on TV and in books since I was a kid. I have fantasized most of my life about seeing one in person. I remembered this event again yesterday and was thinking about going, but I had once again forgotten all about it this morning.

About twenty minutes ago (which was right at noon), I was sitting at my computer here in my basement. I had the world completely tuned out because I was concentrating on the task at hand. Suddenly, I heard an airplane approaching the house. This is not too terribly uncommon since our small airport (which caters only to small planes) is only about five or six miles east-northeast of my house, and Denver is southwest of my house; but the sound of that plane snapped me out of my trance so quickly you wouldn't believe it.

I said out loud to myself, "Oh my God! That's it!"

I knew the sound of that plane by heart even though I had never heard one in person in my life. I jumped out of my desk chair and ran to the window.

And there it was! Flying low right in front of my house!

A fully restored World War II B-17 bomber!

This very plane!

It is named "Sentimental Journey" and is one of the very few fully restored B-17s in the world that still actually flies. Even though this isn't an uncommon route for airplanes to take to the local airport, it certainly isn't the only route. I couldn't believe it actually flew right past my house on the way to the local airport.

I only caught a glimpse of it through the window. I could have seen it really well if I had only stood still and watched, but I didn't. I wanted to film it!

I knew I would be too late in getting outside, but I still quickly grabbed my new Canon ZR-700 digital camcorder, unzipped its bag while running to the front door (trying to remain calm enough not to fumble the unzipping process), and ran outside. By the time I started filming and had barely reacquainted myself with the On, Record and Zoom buttons, the plane was already too far away to capture its features very well (and the video quality of my new camcorder stinks, which is very depressing). Here are two images of the plane just before it disappeared behind the apartment building next door and one image just after it reappeared behind the building. I'm sure the history lovers among you will still be able to recognize that very familiar outline.




[P.S. Even though the video quality of my camcorder royally stinks, it does an amazing job of importing old VHS videos, so I couldn't bring myself to return it for a refund because that's why I really wanted it.]

[Update 6-10-08: Here is the local newspaper's story on this plane. Several press people got to take the first ride in it yesterday. I shall have more later.]

Friday, June 06, 2008

Robert F. Kennedy, 40 Years Ago Today

Canadian journalist and author Barrie Zwicker was once asked this question: "Do you take offense at the term 'conspiracy theorist'?" Zwicker replied, "I welcome being called a conspiracy theorist, as this exposes the intellectual bankruptcy of the person applying it and provides me with an opportunity to point out that intellectual bankruptcy."

Part One: The Men Who Killed Robert F. Kennedy In memory of Robert F. Kennedy, who was killed 40 years ago today, I present a fifteen-minute BBC report from November 2006 (scroll down). Once you've watched it, most of you will agree that the evidence presented is very difficult to refute.

Fifteen minutes is a very short period of time. You could be finished watching this report before you have even finished your first glass of wine or beer. So please consider taking some time out of your regular routine in order to enlighten yourself as to what is almost certainly the truth. We owe it to ourselves and to his memory to learn what really happened that day.

Part Two: The Men Who Killed John F. Kennedy Each video segment in this section is just over nine minutes in length (for the sake of avoiding a slow browsing experience I am only creating links to these YouTube videos instead of embedding them).

There are three episodes in this truly excellent series, but I have only included Episodes 1 and 3. Episodes 1 and 2 were aired on the History Channel a few years ago, but a very influential family (you'll guess who when you watch it) forced the History Channel at the last second not to air Episode 3 (coincidentally, the History Channel has become little more than a pathetic joke in the days since they aired this series). Luckily, some civic-minded person put all three episodes on YouTube in November 2006, and I watched them at that time.

I first heard about the theory that is expressed in (the censored) Episode 3 in about 1990 when a native Texan and her South Dakota husband, who had been in the Air Force in Texas, told me about it. They said that large numbers of Texans believe it. They completely believe it too and were determined to convince me. I was polite and open-minded (they were my close friends, after all), but I didn't believe a word of what they said. Episode 3 set me straight. It starts out a little too abruptly with its theory, which may put the viewer on the defensive, as it did me, but it soon gathers lots of steam and leaves little, if any, room for doubt. Episode 1 does a great job of setting the stage for Episode 3.

If a skeptic watches these videos and still has any doubts afterward, then I don't know what to say to that person. The same holds true of the very convincing segments on Robert F. Kennedy.
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Part One: RFK

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Part Two: JFK

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Hey! I Like an Angry Song! ;-)

I just found this independently produced music video via a link at another web site and must admit that it is quite catchy. Furthermore, not only is Aimee Allen very attractive (in spite of those tattoos), but she has a great grasp on the situation (so say I). You will also notice that her anger has a positive message behind it (with such an appealing smile, how could she not be promoting a positive message?). I am feeling very tempted to be infatuated with her, regardless of (sob!) my being "too old." But I won't. I'm not that much of a weakling (ha?).

Note: In spite of the immediate goal of this video, which you will learn at the 23-second mark (forgive me ;-), the overall theme, which begins at the 37-second mark, is quite well done. I hope you won't stop watching it. It's not that long, and it isn't (unlike yours truly) a broken record (no pun intended).

Update: No wonder she is predisposed to sing a song like this (and I am predisposed to be infatuated with her): She's a native of Montana. ;-)


https://dai.ly/x3yrih6

P.S. I also really like the softer songs that play automatically at her MySpace link above (especially the second one, which is entitled I'm Here). She's got a beautiful voice and a nice old-fashioned style.