Monday, August 12, 2013

osprey airlifts Bo to Martha's Vineyard


38 comments:

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

It was my best guess that the reason Gandolf didn't call in the eagles at the very beginning had something to do with Christianity and C. S. Lewis.

edutcher said...

I'm sure Choom sees this as spitting in the Marines' eyes, but the Osprey has a rep as something of a widowmaker.

Then again, maybe he wanted a dogburger.

rhhardin said...

Japan has been angry that Ospreys are being deployed by US forces in Okinawa, the contrived outrage of the day.

It's a safety issue, they say.

The have to have an anger object in Japan.

US forces out of Japan, except the US has to defend us. Thanks.

rhhardin said...

Four hours spent writing new shell scripts Saturday to retrieve and archive (with index) Armstrong and Getty podcasts so far has paid off.

It also worked today.

Every time they tinker with their page format, you have to rewrite your shell scripts to fetch stuff.

Expect more changes soon.

Massive invocations of bash, awk and sed.

Icepick said...

US forces out of Japan, except the US has to defend us. Thanks.

I'm all for the US getting out of east Asian. It'll be funny watching Japan and S. Korea and Taiwan and China scramble with the new reality.

rhhardin said...

Did I mention how good the dialogue is in Carell and Hathaway's Get Smart?

I'm still chuckling over it.

You can replay it a lot because of the deadpan flirting. It's funny every time.

They have an alternate scene track, in which in every case the dialogue they went with was much better. They kept deadpan over the jokes.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Salmon hors d'oeuvres.

Oh, the dog, from Dreams of His Majesties Father.

Freaking Genius ChipA.

Cody Jarrett said...

but the Osprey has a rep as something of a widowmaker.

Osprey is the safest USMC rotorcraft in combat.

Look it up.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Haven't seen the new Get Smart movie.

But I will crank it via Amazon.

Tonight. The Sox have the day off.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Who said...

"I would love to spy on Barack Obama"

Answer: here.

Freeman Hunt said...

Okay, okay, I will watch Get Smart.

Freeman Hunt said...

I used to watch that TV show on Nick at Nite when I was in junior high or high school.

Methadras said...

Mitchell the Bat said...

It was my best guess that the reason Gandolf didn't call in the eagles at the very beginning had something to do with Christianity and C. S. Lewis.


Seems a lot of the LOTR is in-the-nick-of-time slavishness.

Methadras said...

Icepick said...

I'm all for the US getting out of east Asian. It'll be funny watching Japan and S. Korea and Taiwan and China scramble with the new reality.


Fortress America isn't going to end well. Hell, even now our intelligence agencies are doing so hot. Have you seen what China is doing to Africa. We are getting shut out from there in a big way.

rhhardin said...

The 2008 Get Smart DVD was $4.99 at Kroger, I noticed.

I paid much more long ago.

Get Smart fans didn't like it because Carell wasn't like the old Max and Hathaway wasn't like the old 99, but they never saw the old Get Smart as a romance either.

This romance is updated.

edutcher said...

CEO-MMP said...

but the Osprey has a rep as something of a widowmaker.

Osprey is the safest USMC rotorcraft in combat.

Look it up.


That's not what I said. It's had a very troubled history.

I know they've made a lot of improvements because the Marines wouldn't give up on it, but its early history was very bad.

Methadras said...

I'm all for the US getting out of east Asian. It'll be funny watching Japan and S. Korea and Taiwan and China scramble with the new reality.

Fortress America isn't going to end well. Hell, even now our intelligence agencies are doing so hot. Have you seen what China is doing to Africa. We are getting shut out from there in a big way.


They may be setting themselves up for a big fall. Those Potemkin cities they're building there are all that's keeping their economy going and it's got a lot of people worried.

bagoh20 said...

Speaking of drugs, as we have been, Chip Ahoy must be wasted out of his mind. NTTIAWWT

deborah said...

Chip, your dog-salmon-osprey idea has practical flaws.

ndspinelli said...

Folks on the Vineyard are really pissed. We use to have family reunions out there every year so I know the island well. There are the usual roadblocks when Bubba or Obama are there. That's when they're going somewhere. But, the house that Obama's renting this year is closer to the road than the SS like. So they closed the road. This is a main road. You have to go WAY out of he way to take another road.

ndspinelli said...

And I know, most folks see the Vineyard as an elitist vacation spot. It is that. But, it's also a family vacation spot. You can rent houses in June[off season] fairly reasonably. It's very safe, and there is great food. I met Warren Spahn in a restaurant bar on the Vineyard. Believe me, Warren isn't an elitist. He was there for the same reason a lot of normal guys are there, to go blue fishing.

Freeman Hunt said...

We used to have family reunions there too. Ha! What if we're related? (What depth of surprise there would be!)

edutcher said...

The Blonde has yet to forgive him for using her birthday.

ndspinelli said...

Freeman, from ~1990-98 we stayed @ condos or houses @ a place called Mattakest. It has a different name now. It is just 1/4 mile from South Beach. They had a day camp for the kids, a pool, bikes, etc. Where would you folks stay?

dc said...

I lived there until 3 years ago when I moved to Montana.In Kennedy's last election I had a "VOTE FOR THE SWIMMER"bumper sticker.Got a few laughs,a lot of dirty looks but nobody said anything.What could anyone say?

Revenant said...

It was my best guess that the reason Gandolf didn't call in the eagles at the very beginning had something to do with Christianity and C. S. Lewis.

No reason is given in the books, but two good "in-universe" reasons why he didn't is:

1. The eagles help Gandalf out of friendship. They weren't under his command and weren't really part of the war. Asking a friend to pick up another friend is one thing; asking a friend to undertake a dangerous mission into a war zone is something else entirely.

2. It is a lot harder to be sneaky in the air than it is to be sneaky on the ground. Add in the fact that the composition and disposition of Sauron's forces is unknown, and aerial missions become very high-risk. Remember, if the ring-bearer is caught, the war's over and the good guys lose -- having him NOT be noticed is the number one priority.

Revenant said...

Fortress America isn't going to end well. Hell, even now our intelligence agencies are doing so hot.

False dichotomy. We don't have to choose between the post-Cold-War "Team America: World Police" schtick and isolationism. We need to focus on defensive measures that actually serve American interests. Our picking up the tab for Japan and Europe's military defense serves everyone's interests BUT ours.

Have you seen what China is doing to Africa. We are getting shut out from there in a big way.

That's just it. We're spending our money and power defending other nations. China spends its money and power securing access to the natural resources its economy needs.

Titus said...

You all should try and get to MV once in your lifetime.

Granted, it is very elite, expensive and totally East Coast.

But it is so fucking beautiful.

So you flyover state people may have a difficult time.

Freeman Hunt said...

Nick, I have no idea. I just rode along. My great aunt and my father's cousin have houses near each other there, so it would be at one of those.

Icepick said...

False dichotomy. We don't have to choose between the post-Cold-War "Team America: World Police" schtick and isolationism. We need to focus on defensive measures that actually serve American interests. Our picking up the tab for Japan and Europe's military defense serves everyone's interests BUT ours.

Well said.

Also, let China have sub-Saharan Africa. I doubt it will do them any more good than it did the Europeans. Or the sub-Saharan Africans, for that matter.

Freeman Hunt said...

I didn't get the impression that either family member was extremely wealthy. I don't think you have to be rich to live there.

For Arkansas people, it's like Eureka Springs on a beach.

deborah said...

Rev:
" China spends its money and power securing access to the natural resources its economy needs."

While at the same time providing infrastructure for the host country.

rhhardin said...

Here's (mp3) Radio Japan going on about the awful Osprey, if you hit it on Aug 12 before midnight, when you get the next day's news instead.

That may also have the Osprey story tomorrow though. It's a continuing complaint in the news.

ndspinelli said...

Freeman, You're correct, you don't have to be rich to live there. However, if you want to buy or build a house now, you got to have some dough.

The thing about the Vineyard is you can't see the mansions from the road. We would always fly into Boston, rent a car, and take the ferry. One year we flew onto the Vineyard from Newark. Well..when you fly in you see all the mansions not seen from the road. They are mostly in the Chillamrk[up island]. All the kids loved those vacations, as did the adults. You could lob mortar rounds into downtown Edgartown and not kill one Republican.

deborah said...

My dad was stationed at Iwakuni in the mid-sixties.

Titus said...

I had a complete ball, sack, wax treatment at an enclusive spa in Cambridge and as a result have a zit.

I am thinking about demanding a refund.

That zit, after many attempts at poppy it is expanding.

And it near my hog!

Hello! I demand more. For $400.00 I expect you could run a bowling ball against my smooth cooch without any interference. And now there is a bump.

I am completely outraged and heading to Yelp to express my anger.

What do you all do in Red State, flyover with no ocean view do when this happens?

And when they say fresh Maine Lobster do you pause for such a second and say I am in Arkansas how fresh is it really?

ndspinelli said...

For some folks there is only one trick, and no second acts.

ken in tx said...

Titus, rub triple-antibiotic ointment on it for several days. Don't try to pop it. It should fade away after a few days.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Bo looked awfully tired after that long flight.