Month: July 2024
Republican Convention Fun
One of the interesting observations that has been mentioned by people both on the Left and Right is that the mood at the Republican Convention is not the usual atmosphere of nervous tension and fear. It has been replaced by one that has been described variously as excitement, confidence and almost giddy jubilation. For once Republicans haven’t been gaslighted into despair by the national media.
And that’s great. Even if eventually the Democrats manage to steal the election, at least for the time being, Republicans are openly talking about their agenda and why it will be a boon for the American people. And why is all this happening? I’d say it’s no coincidence that George and Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Mike Pence, Liz Cheney and all the rest of the establishment Republicans have stayed away. I’m guessing they weren’t disinvited. They just knew that this wasn’t their party anymore. And I guess it would be degrading for them to be ignored and disparaged by the new owners of the GOP; Donald Trump and his rowdy friends.
I’ll confess that I’m pretty excited about this snub. I am a very vindictive guy and knowing that Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney are getting the cold shoulder is a rare pleasure. Schadenfreude is a guilty pleasure for most but I revel in it. These are people who despise the great unwashed. The fact that they look down on normal people is why I hate these elitist swine. Ordinary people run the gamut from devils to saints. And they deserve to be considered on an individual basis just as the rich should be.
And this is the lesson of Trump. He is this fabulously wealthy, crazy man who rubs elbows with the captains and the kings of industry and society. He could be one with the rest of the aristocrats. But he still feels a connection to hoi polloi; the many. Maybe it’s because he was born and raised in New York City back when it was still a place where rich and poor had some things in common. We still celebrated the same holidays and watched the same ball clubs and movies and maybe still felt a feeling of community when the Twin Towers were destroyed in 2001.
For whatever reason he’s decided to be our champion. He’s even faced a bullet now. For better or worse, he’s our guy. And most of the Republican Party has finally reconciled to that reality. And whether we see him triumph in November and take his second shot at fixing this terribly broken country or see him go down in flames and report to prison to serve out the rest of his life behind bars, we’re going to follow this parade either up to the shining city on the hill or off the cliff.
And since the die is cast, we might as well enjoy it a little. Joe and Mika and Crazy Joy Reid have been almost apoplectic since the hilarious Trump-Biden debate where Dementia Joe revealed to the world that he’s down to just a handful of brain cells and can no longer pretend to be sentient. Watching the various components of the “independent” press beclown themselves trying to reconcile the claim that Joe Biden is both a president of enormous accomplishments and a human turnip is endlessly entertaining. After the assassination attempt MSNBC pulled Morning Joe off the air for a day to avoid one of the psychotic denizens of that show saying something so disgusting that the last three people in their audience finally give up. Watching Joe, the next day complaining bitterly about this “betrayal” was very amusing.
I’m guessing the next act will involve all the people who begged Joe Biden to drop out of the race because he’s a jabbering moron switching gears and swearing on a stack of bibles that he’s actually a super genius of Wiley Coyote caliber. That should be rich. Well, I’m thankful that my enemies are in disarray and acting crazier than usual.
Now, on with the show.
18JUL2024 – Photo of the Day
18JUL2024 – Quote of the Day
Is it not a noble farce, wherein kings, republics, and emperors have for so many ages played their parts, and to which the whole vast universe serves for a theatre?
Michel de Montaigne
The ZMan’s Take on JD Vance
This is a pretty measured evaluation to what it means that Trump has selected Vance for his running mate and presumptive successor.
“Another angle to this is that this subculture has attracted the interest and limited support from members of the oligarchy. Peter Thiel and Elon Musk are two examples of billionaires who seem to support this project.
…
Trump tapping into this space and thus getting support from members of the oligarchy bodes well for him and the subculture that produced Vance. No reform effort can survive without elite support. This not only bodes well for the project, but it means Trump has a chance to not only win the election but get something done. Proof that the universe has a sense of humor is that this is the real Flight 93 election, a last attempt by reform minded oligarchs to save the system.”
This is a much more hopeful spin on what the Christopher Rufo/Claremont Institute nexus might achieve with the likes of Thiel and Musk as backers.
Tom’s World – 17JUL2024 – Gulf of Mexico Oil Field Work Boats
I’ve lived near Pensacola, Fl since I early retired and fled the traffic in my native north Atlanta metro. Though the local traffic seems to be building rapidly due to intense and rapid development, even the worst traffic here is almost laughable compared to the 24/7 nightmare of Atlanta.
One aspect of Pensacola in that it is on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and has an excellent deepwater harbor. It’s deep enough that, up until the early 90’s, aircraft carriers were commonly based out of NAS Pensacola. The civilian Port of Pensacola has a marine refit and repair facility that attracts a fair amount of business repairing and refitting highly specialized vessels that support the many hundreds of oil and gas platforms throughout the Gulf. We see some seriously weird vessels that are tied up for as much as a year while they are being reworked.
The vessels are extremely specialized, some are pipe line layers, some heavy lift with huge cranes used to build or remove oil platforms, some made for carrying pipeline materials, some are supply boats, some are floating hotels. There was one boat owned by Jeff Bezos which had all superstructure was cut off and removed in preparation for landing spacecraft on its deck. I call these vessels boats but not as diminutive, some of them a huge, 800 or more feet in length.
I shot most of the boats in port but on occasion I would be off shore in my 24’ fishing boat and see one on the way in.
Another ship that I’ll later do a post on is the sailing vessel Juan Sebastian De Alcino. Pensacola has a strong Spanish heritage and was ceded to the US by the Spanish in 1822. The JS De Elcano is owned and operated by the Spanish equivalent of the US Naval Academy and is used as a training ship for the midshipmen. Each summer, the largest sailing ship currently in operation in the world goes on a world cruise, hitting ports on the way. It stops in Pensacola for a couple of days once ever 3-4 years. I spent a few hours climbing around on it a few years ago. That will be a future post.
Below, I’ll post a few pictures of some Gulf work boats.



2024 Summer Movie Talk – Part 7
Fantasy
This category is a shambles. I have arbitrarily excluded superhero movies, monster movies and animated films like Disney’s Pinocchio without any rationale other than I intend to make separate lists for those. Also, these films run the gamut from children’s movies to adult fare. And one movie; “Big Fish,” may not even qualify as a fantasy at all.
So, I apologize in advance for the idiosyncratic and incomplete nature of the list. I’ve emboldened my personal favorites.
- THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
- THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940)
- THE SEVENTH SEAL (1957)
- JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963)
- MARY POPPINS (1964)
- WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1971)
- TIME BANDITS (1981)
- CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981)
- EXCALIBUR (1981)
- CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982)
- THE NEVERENDING STORY (1984)
- HIGHLANDER (1986)
- THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987)
- THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (1989)
- SLEEPY HOLLOW (1999)
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001)
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (2002)
- THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (2003)
- BIG FISH (2003)
- THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (2005)
- THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN (2008)
- THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (2012)
- THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (2013)
If I left out one of your favorites or if you detest one of my listed films, feel free to speak up and make your opinions known in the comments below.
17JUL2024 – Photo of the Day
17JUL2024 – Quote of the Day
There is, nevertheless, a certain respect and a general duty of humanity that ties us, not only to beasts that have life and sense, but even to trees and plants.
Michel de Montaigne





