Erich Wolfgang Korngold - The Adventures of Robin Hood

 Erich Wolfgang Korngold won the Oscar for this score in 1938 - the very first composer to receive the Academy Award.  Before that, the Oscar went to the head of the Studio's music department.  A child prodigy in Vienna be was a professor at the Vienna State Academy when the Nazis began their rise to power.  Invited to Hollywood, he became one of their standout composers, writing the score for some of Errol Flynn's great swashbuckling epics (this one and Captain Blood).

Back at State U the Fencing Club did a fundraising movie series of swashbuckling films.  They were all packed, and everyone had a great time.  Check them out on NetFlix or Prime (or you can probably score a DVD on the cheap) - they're still great fun.  And the music is top shelf.

Dad Joke CCXX - Special Space edition

The Queen Of The World says I need to get back to posting Dad jokes.  OK, to make up for the hiatus, here are two.

When we have a Moon Base someday there will be a restaurant there.  I don't think I will go, however.  Even if it has great food, there will be no atmosphere.

When we have a Mars Base someday there might be a riot.  The Government would have to declare Martian Law. 

Good shoot or bad shoot?

I had missed that Denver prosecutors dropped all charges against Matthew Dolloff in the shooting death of Lee Keltner in October 2020.  Who is Matthew Dolloff, I hear you ask?  The dude holding the heater here:

This was a protest where two sides stood off against each other.  Words led to shoving and Dolloff shot Keltner graveyard dead.  You can see Dolloff's slide pushed back and smoke from the propellant making a bee-line towards Keltner's head.  If you zoom way in there's a black dot that may or may not be the bullet right above Keltner's wrist.

So was this a good shoot or a bad shoot?

To answer this we need to put aside which "side" each was on.  Keltner was Patriot Front, Dolloff may or may not have been Antifa but does seem to have been BLM.  But quite frankly none of this matters.  From the DA's statement:

As the case progressed - and a full analysis of the case details including materials provided by defense counsel was made - prosecutors realized that they would not be able to prove that Mr. Dolloff did not have the right to use deadly force to defend himself and others pursuant to Colorado law.

...  without provocation, Mr. Keltner verbally threatened and physically assaulted Mr. Dolloff and was the initial aggressor before being shot. Under Colorado's law, Matthew Dolloff had no duty to retreat and was legally justified in his actions. While I do not agree with Mr. Dolloff's decision to use lethal force, the fact remains he had the right to do so under our law.

This may be some of the reason that the DA said that (images from the UK Sun newspaper):

Just a face slap, right?  Well, maybe - Keltner had a can of bear spray in his right hand here.  Mace may or may not be considered Deadly Force (some places it is, some places it isn't).  But here's the thing - look at the vertical chain link fence support right behind Keltner in the picture immediately above, then look at where that same fence support is in the first picture: clearly both men had stepped back.  While Colorado law says you have no duty to retreat, both men backed up.

So bad shoot?

Maybe not.  Look at the position of both men as Dolloff was drawing his pistol:

Kelter has taken a step back as he sees Dolloff drawing, but Dolloff has stepped way back.  Kelter seems absolutely to have been the aggressor, physically assaulting Dolloff and holding what may (or may not) be considered a deadly weapon in Colorado, but which is definitely considered a deadly weapon elsewhere.

So good (justified) shoot?  Remember, these pictures are from the video which means that the first and last are separated by a second, maybe two.  When things go bad, they go bad all of a sudden.

I don't know whether this was a good shoot or a bad one, but the DA seems to think so.  Maybe the DA in on the side of the "bad guys" but I don't think we should "flip the scrip" because Kelter was "on our side" and Dolloff wasn't.  Rule of law is a street that runs both ways - or should, when the range goes hot.

Feel free to comment with your opinion.  

So where did Roman Emperors die?

This is pretty cool: A Death Map Of Roman Emperors. 

Click to embiggen or even better click through my link which talks about a bunch of the Purple Toga set.  It also breaks down just how few ended their life due to natural causes (note: it has the Divine Augustus dying of natural causes, rather than being poisoned by Livia; take THAT Mr. So-Called Expert Michael Grant!).

Also, This post introduces a new tag,, "Not The News",  There's too much anger from the news, so let's all roll around in 2000 year old Imperial Murders, shall we?

Quote of the Day - Combat Mindset edition

Bitter Centurion posts about the Combat Mindset, amplifying my thoughts on the matter and getting QotD: 

Because at the end of the day, it's all well and good to have the gun on you. It's even better to get the trigger time and put lead down range and be able to hit gongs on demand with razor sharp speed and accuracy. But if you don't have your mind right when it's time to slay the dragon, that gun is nothing more than extra weight on your belt that doesn't do you or anyone else any good.

You really should read his entire post which has a lot of practical experience.  And you should read the comments which are a good - if dismaying - view into the Reindeer Games being played with police forces by Woke politicians.

Do Want

Underbarrel Picatinny mounted flame thrower.  $699 at Classic Firearms.

"But Borepatch," I hear you ask.  "What would you do with this?"

Beats the heck out of me.  Why do people want 600 HP cars?  Why do they want Faberge Eggs?

Alas, it's a lot of denarii for something whose only selling feature is that it's awesome.  Well, or fighting the Alien Ecomorphs ...

This is how it works but in the hand-held version.  It seems that Youtube doesn't like people embedding the videos of the under barrel version.

When I pointed this out to The Queen Of The World, she didn't even give me The Look.  Rather, her whole face said WTF?

Oh, bother.

(Want)

Combat Mindset

Jeff Cooper wrote about the Combat Mindset in his excellent book To Ride, To Shoot Straight, and ToSpeak The Truth.  While he taught this at Gunsite, it's not clear that it can really be taught.  Certainly the Special Forces selects for this mindset among its applicants.

Glen Filthie has an important post related to this: Not Bourne - It's Basic Pistolcraft:

Not to take anything away from the kid - under the circumstances, with the lead flying and people panicking - the young man showed a coolness and proficiency most veteran cops don't have. That is a condemnation of our police, more than anything else. The kid did well, and deserves the accolades he got.

However - 40 yards is not a long shot. Back when the Old Guard still were with us, guys like Bill Blankenship was dumping 12" gongs at 200 yards.

I agree and disagree, although I don't really disagree.  In a sense, 40 yards isn't all that far.  I recall the time that ASM826 hosted The Queen Of The World and me at his shooting range.  It was raining and so we set up a steel target at 100 yards.  TQOTW had a ball shooting the AR and ringing the gong all day.  Feeling a little sporty, I took my 1911 and squeezed off a shot - the sound of bullet hitting steel was quite gratifying, and I did an entire magazine ringing the bell.  And I'm not a particularly good shot.  So Glen is right that 8 out of 10 at 40 yards isn't exactly Annie Oakley shooting.

Except ASM826's range wasn't hot in both directions.  This is where the combat mindset comes into play.  It seems that those who can suppress their emotions do well - that's certainly what the young man at that Mall did.  And so my only disagreement with Glen is that it's only basic pistolcraft if you have the combat mindset.

I don't think this is common at all.  I don't think it has been common in ages past.  Roman military manuals discuss this: The Praecepta Militaria from around 965 AD talks about the fear that soldiers felt in combat and ways to organize the units to help maintain good order.  The book uses the term "in good order" or its equivalent dozens of time, showing the importance - and difficulty - of maintaining the Combat Mindset.

That was 1000 years ago.  I think the problem is the same today, which is why so many applicants wash out of Special Forces training and why the young man in Indiana stands out.  As Napoleon said the mental is to the physical as three is to one.  Or Clauswitz: in battle everything is simple but even the simplest thing is very difficult. That's just different ways of saying the lessons from the Praecepta Militaria.

Me, I have no idea how I would have reacted in that situation.  Quite frankly, I hope never to find out. 

Quitting the news

Chris Lynch has an interesting post up about the mental health benefits of quitting the news - ignoring the feeds rather than obsessing on them.  I did that last weekend in Key West and felt MUCH better.

Quitting the News is the new Quitting Cigarettes. 

Cows shut down Florida Turnpike

No, really:

Florida’s Turnpike was shut down Monday in Central Florida as dozens of loose cows were “moo-ved” off the roadway.

The Florida Highway Patrol said it first responded around 11:40 a.m. to a vehicle fire on the northbound turnpike at mile marker 226 near St. Cloud in Osceola County.

According to troopers, a cattle hauler was carrying about 70 cows when the cab caught fire. Troopers said the driver, a 47-year-old Alabama man, then pulled over to the outside shoulder, got out and opened the trailer door to allow the “udder-ly” frightened cows to escape due to the smoke and flames.

Crews extinguished the fire, and the cattle hauler was towed from the scene, troopers said.

Florida is one of (perhaps the largest) beef producing states so well done to everyone for their quick thinking and patience.  A grateful State of shoppers looking for bone-in Rib Eye thanks you.

Security chicken guards ur stuff

Duval St. 

Playing Hookie

In Key West. May blog more, make that not. 

Dad joke CCXIX

I was accused of being a plagiarist.  Their words, not mine.

Shamelessly stolen from Chris Lynch

 Yup.  This is why he's a daily read.

Dad joke CCXVIII - Special Astronomy edition

Orion's Belt is just a big waist of space.

And while it's not Orion's Belt, here is one of the first images from the Webb Space Telescope.  It's the Ring Nebula, in our own Galactic neighborhood at only 2000 light years away.

 You can see more cool pix from space here.

Shamelessly stolen from Glen Filthie

Because it's awesome:

 

He has more, so get you on over there.  I love the guy who put a couple of plastic eyeballs on his suppressor.

Dad joke CCXVII

What vegetable needs a plumber? 

A leek.

Alfred Newman - Overture from "Camelot"

Alfred Newman won more Academy Awards for Best Original Score (nine) than anyone in history.  He was nominated 45 times, a record that was finally topped by John Williams in 2011.  Newman's long career in Hollywood spanned 40 years, and included such one-off compositions as the fanfare to the 20th Century Fox Lion logo:

Camelot wasn't his last film score (that was Airport in 1970) but it was his last Oscar.  Camelot (the film) was based on Camelot (the Broadway musical).  It actually didn't have anything to do with Jack Kennedy - the musical dates from 1960 and the film rights were acquired in 1961, so there was no Kennedy nostalgia then although Jackie said that it was his favorite.  When filming started the producers couldn't get Richard Burton and Julie Andrews who starred on Broadway.  Burton was asking too much money, and so they considered Gregory Peck and Marlon Brando.  Richard Harris heard about the film and started pestering the producers for the role.  He hired a team to do a screen test, and got the role of King Arthur.  Vanessa Redgrave beat out Audrey Hepburn and Ann-Margaret.

The score is very Hollywood Golden Age, meaning it was Oscar-worthy from a time when that meant something.

Nice turn of phrase

 So how many political genders are there in the GOP?

Gregg Allman - Midnight Rider

I rode the Harley today, for the first time in months.  I didn't ride it far.  The problem is that the drivers in Florida are simply terrible about running over motorcyclists.  Every week or two there's another biker that gets hit, either by some elderly resident of God's Waiting Room or some punk-ass kid looking at their phone.

Damn, I used to love riding.  We'd go from Castle Borepatch to Gettysburg by back roads, 3 or 4 times a year plus lots of regular rides with the HOG chapter.  It doesn't look like there's a good chapter down here and so we just haven't gotten out much.  Heck, I don't think The Queen Of The World has even been *ON* the bike since we moved here.

Le sigh.  As buddy Eagle likes to say there are old riders and bold riders, but not many old, bold riders.

But we need a song for Saturday and I don't think I've ever done Gregg Allman.  His brother Duane was killed on a bike (damn, can that have been a half century ago).  

Obsolete from the beginning

One classic problem with weapons systems is that the march of technology renders them obsolete, and the faster the technology advances the shorter the useful life of the system.  Via a wikiwander I have found perhaps the ultimate example of this: the SMS Hessen.

The German Kaisar was a big naval enthusiast and so built up a fleet of cutting edge battleships (including the Hessen).  Then the Royal Navy introduced the HMS Dreadnought which completely changed the game.  All existing battleships were instantly obsolete - including the Hessen which had only been commissioned a year previously.

Interestingly, the SMS Hessen remained in one form of service or another in the German fleet and then later in the Soviet fleet until 1960 when it was scrapped.  That is 55 years of obsolescence embodied in one warship.  That has got to be some sort of record.

There's some interesting stuff on the Wiki page for WWII Battleships.  One that caught my eye was a ship with an even longer life than the Hessen: the Turkish battleship Turgut Reis which began its service as the German battleship SMS Weissenberg in 1894 which was sold to Turkey in 1910 but wasn't scrapped until 1957 - 63 years later.  At least the Weissenberg wasn't obsolete for the first 12 years of its service.

To close out this post, Glen Filthie found a lego stop motion video of the hunt for the Bismark.  Recommended.