Diary (December 13, 2020)

Online diary of Karl Jones for Sunday December 13, 2020.

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Diary

"I loved the one where you dipped twisted wires into liquid plastic to make flower petals"

I remember those! My mom loved those dip flower petals, she brought them out for rainy-day games.

But then she also took dry-cleaner bag, gently twisted it into a loosely-woven length of rope, suspended it from the ceiling using a metal clothes hanger, positioned a bucket of water below, then set the bottom of the plastic rope on fire.

It makes a slow drip ... drip ... drip ... of flaming plastic, very pretty.

I think she ventilated the house, not entirely sure, this was fifty years ago and no doubt some of that burning petroleum stuff got into me.

Also, speaking of that — my first oral thermometer, I thought it was a candy cane, bit down hard. They got the glass out of my mouth right away, and *probably all* of the mercury.

• Comment @ Facebook

Playskool's My First Nuclear Football

Playskool's My First Nuclear Football

• Comment @ Facebook

Camp Shanks

On the evening of September 25, 1942, over 300 Orangeburg residents met at the Orangeburg School (now the city library) to learn that their homes, lots, and farms (amounting to approximately 2,040 acres (8.3 km2) west of the museum) were being seized for the immediate construction of a military camp. One hundred thirty families lost their homes. If the United States was to transport troops and equipment to Europe, it had to expand its military facilities around New York City. Colonel Drew C. Eberson, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was the Chief Engineer during construction.

Camp Shanks was a rush job, completed between September 1942 and May 1943 at a cost of $44,391,335. Charges of corruption, petty theft, and disorderly behavior by workmen plagued the project. In June 1946, a federal grand jury cleared the military and the contractors of charges of graft, but acknowledged major problems among some of the labor unions, primarily consisting of a gigantic kickback system. Camp Shanks officially opened 4 January 45 under the command of Colonel Kenna G. Eastman. The barracks in which the transient soldiers lived measured 20 feet by 100 feet and consisted of two rows of bunks and three coal-burning pot-belly stoves which provided the limited heat. Two WAC detachments, consisting of over 400 women, were assigned to the camp, and filled positions ranging from clerk to mechanic to warehouse staff to armorer. Their freedom of movement on the installation was restricted.

• Camp Shanks @ Wikipedia

The McKenzie Break

"The McKenzie Break" (1970).

It's not that Brian Keith's one line of spoken German is bad. I can't judge that, I don't know German.

What is bad is how the antagonist, an imprisoned German officer, responds with an admiring look as he says, in English, "Your German is excellent!" (or words to that effect).

After which Brian Keith, having established that he can recite one line of German without discrediting Brittania in the eyes of Boche, speaks English for the remainder of the film.

It's so ... postured. Like after-shave when you haven't shaved, but you have been smoking when you shouldn't have been smoking.

That said — it's an interesting film, inspired by historical events, with strong performances and excellent drama.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgWFr9wv1oo

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_McKenzie_Break

Battle of Fredericksburg

• Battle of Fredericksburg @ Wikipedia

Mars-Crossing Asteroids

Mars-Crossing Asteroids

• List of Mars-crossing minor planets @ Wikipedia

Fiction cross-reference

• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles