Archive for the ‘Books, Movies, Music’ Category

At least he didn’t yell “Go Buckeyes!”

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Bruce Springsteen thought he was in Ohio during a concert in Detroit on Friday.

Veterans Day

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Americans owe an awful lot to our veterans. So do others around the world. Thank a couple today. Murdoc will be.

Meanwhile, a little graphic I came up with a couple years back continues to get a lot of attention, bringing in tons of search engine traffic and clicks from emails. I’m taking it that it’s appreciated, so I’ll post it once again:

Veterans Day Courage D-Day

A lot of our allies have Remembrance Day, Armistice Day, and maybe other special days today. Though I’m understandably biased, there is no shortage of courage in the veterans of other nations, too.

And on this week of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, it’s important to note that the vets who didn’t serve during a shooting war were performing the mission, too.

Thank-you all.

UPDATE: Murdoc’s been remiss about blogging the Valour-IT drive. Got a couple extra bucks? Support our guys who are doing the heavy lifting.

Also, the Smithsonian Channel has a new six-part documentary premiering tonight: Apocalypse: The Second World War

Here’s the trailer:

2012 Director Selective About what he Destroys

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

What even Roland Emmerich won’t destroy: an Islamic landmark

On destroying the Sistine Chapel:

“It has to kind of stand for something. One of my favorite pieces of art is Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: … God … reaches out to Adam, and the crack goes through it. It’s just an interesting kind of notion.”

On destroying St. Peter’s Basillica:

“The whole Vatican kind of tips and kind of rolls over the people. It said something, because in the story, some people … believe in praying and prayer, and they pray in front of the church, and it’s probably the wrong thing, what they would do in that situation.”

On destroying Christ the Redeemer statue:

“Because I’m against organized religion.”

On NOT destroying the Kaaba in Mecca:

“But my co-writer Harald said I will not have a fatwa on my head because of a movie. And he was right.”

He said he didn’t think it was an “important element, anyway,” so he “left it out.”

It would be interesting to see the complete, actual, unedited quotes, because the way they’re presented in the story makes Emmerich look pretty bad.

Bring Out Yer Trek!

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

The Captain Pike bit is so wrong and so funny. Via Instapundit.

New ‘The Pacific’ Trailer

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Got a heads up from a reader on this:

Posted an earlier one here.

HBO’s ‘The Pacific’ Trailer

Saturday, August 1st, 2009

I’ve not heard much about this lately. I wasn’t sure if it was still a going concern.

Looks good. If it’s only half as good as ‘Band of Brothers’, it will be awesome.

Hat tip to a reader for the heads up.

A SHIP TO REMEMBER by Alexander Griffin

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Won this on eBay:

A SHIP TO REMEMBER - THE SAGA OF THE HORNET by Alexander Griffin

A SHIP TO REMEMBER - THE SAGA OF THE HORNET by Alexander Griffin

This is a 1943 book covering the short life of the original aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV 8). I read this in about 5th grade or so, and it was probably the second in the string of books that really got young Murdoc interested in military history.

I’ve been watching for this on eBay for quite some time, and have just missed a couple of good ones over the years. This copy isn’t in the greatest condition, but it’s pretty solid and very readable. It’s a former library book, but it appears to have been a school library, not a public library. A penciled note appears to indicate that it was purchased 4/13/44. The last person listed on the handwritten library card is Howard Steffik(?) with a due date of 3-21-73. Howard had also checked it out in an earlier March (no year listed), as well.

Solo P.I.

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Via Caleb.

Star Trek

Friday, May 15th, 2009

Liked it.

The Scorpions ROCK!

Friday, April 24th, 2009

That’s all. Continue mission.