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locodos

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Posts posted by locodos

  1. 5 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

    Go ahead and disagree with me, but don't assume that I don't know about the casualty rates among bomber crews. 

    There are movies that take place over the course of a day or two that have great character development. It's not a matter of time; it's a matter of dramatization.

    Every bomber crew wasn't lost on their second mission. This series chooses principal characters from history who actually didn't die right away. They're not much more than 2-dimensional as presented.

    I would suggest that the value you are getting from the characters as portrayed is from what you bring to the series yourself. There's nothing wrong with that. I've liked movies that others haven't cared about for the same reason. The Banshees of Inisheren was perhaps more profoundly meaningful to me because I happen to know about that time in Irish history. The same may be happening for you in this series. 

    For brief depthening of a character, one great example comes to mind. In the original Cape Fear, the opening is of Cady walking the sidewalk and his path is intersecting that of an attractive woman at the courthouse struggling to carry books. Just before their paths cross, she fumbles the stack onto the ground. Cady just strolls by without a glance. 

    Bingo, in under a minute, we have key insight into Cady. This happens in movies all the time.

    I will disagree with you and also agree with you...  Do I think MotA has done a great job fleshing out characters?  No I don't, and I don't solely blame the circumstance of the war.    I do think there are serious problems presented by the nature of the story.  Large groups of men doing a single highly coordinated task while separated/isolated into groups of 10.  For a BoB type telling I think they should have focused on one bomber crew, 10 men, but I do think it would have given those characters plot armor and taken away a key message.  Friends, comrades, and maybe you just vanish into thin air.

    How impactful would that scene have been to the movie if Cody was immediately struck by a truck and killed?  The characters are getting turned over too quickly to read those traits into a longer story.  I think that "a mile wide and an inch deep" was a trade off to tell a larger story (in 10? episodes), one not associated specific individuals, but with the collective experience of a large group.  

    I'd have liked twice the run time of each episode and deeper dives into the characters, but there's only so much $$ and time.

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  2. 38 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

    I'm guessing that, like The Pacific, this is suffering comparison to BoB, which really was a remarkable work. 

    Yes, the plot is constrained by truth and actual events, but with BoB you had the benefit of Ambrose' oral history work and the living characters to provide an unusual amount of character development. Not to mention 80% of the characters didn't die every couple of weeks after dday. 

    I read Crosbys book, and you learn quickly that the Bucks were almost the undoing of the 100th and that it required serious, dull, mean men to snap it into shape. 

    Also, in a lot of ways, the story of the 8th AF is kind of monotonous on a daily level: fly, bomb, die. The story lies in tactical shifts and technical advances over time. The show seems to be doing a good job with that. 

    This^

    It's hard to do a lot of character development when most of the characters die.   More Airforce personnel died in crashes than all the Marines killed in WWII... Just let that sink in...  MotA did have a quick reference.   Imagine if BoB was reduced to one character after Dday and had to roll over characters every 2 episodes.   Flying bombers was just that much more dangerous. 

    Attached is a history of the 401st if you are interested.  My Great Uncle was in the 401st (H) bomb group, he died in a crash in Montana one week before deploying to Deenethorpe.

    "On October 1st, (1943) the 612th Squadron lost a Flying Fortress with nine men aboard in an accident over the Big Sandy bombing range. The Fortress was piloted by 2nd Lt. John McIlwain. The plane was flying in formation as they approached the bombing range when observers in other Fortresses saw it go out of control and spin in. All the crew were killed."

    US MILITARY CASUALTIES IN WORLD WAR II
     

    Branch Killed Wounded
    Army and Air Force 318,274 565,861
    Navy 62,614 37,778
    Marines 24,511 68,207
    Coast Guard 1,917 Unknown
    TOTAL 407,316 671,278

     

     

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Air_Forces

    USAAF statistical summary[edit]

    The United States Army Air Forces incurred 12% of the Army's 936,000 battle casualties in World War II. 88,119 airmen died in service. 52,173 were battle casualty deaths: 45,520 killed in action, 1,140 died of wounds, 3,603 were missing in action and declared dead, and 1,910 were non-hostile battle deaths. Of the United States military and naval services, only the Army Ground Forces suffered more battle deaths. 35,946 non-battle deaths included 25,844 in aircraft accidents, more than half of which occurred within the Continental United States.[118] 63,209 members of the USAAF were other battle casualties. 18,364 were wounded in action and required medical evacuation, and 41,057 became prisoners-of-war.[118][119] Its casualties were 5.1% of its strength, compared to 10% for the rest of the Army.[120][n 58]

     

    401stBG(H).pdf

  3. 11 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

    I don’t have the pic, but a friend of mine in Corpus who is down there fishing this week, found a flesh light washed up on the beach.  Some poor bastard on an oil rig is having to make do with his calloused, cancerous hand.  
     

    oh, now I have a pic.  spacer.png

    razor clam?

  4. 25 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

    Fly or train to Edinburgh.  Train might be very scenic, but also long.  Fly means Heathrow.  Bleh.

    City center to city center it's a push as far as time goes IMO.  I'd prefer the train... less hassle

     

    London to airport ~ 45 mins

    Lead time/checkin/security ~  1 hour (This is bare ass min imo)

    Flight  ~ 1:15  mins if no delays (lol)

    Airport to Edinburgh ~ 30 mins (by car, tram is ~ 1 hour)

    So best case 3.5 hours

     

    Train is 4:15 but it's much much easier, the airfare can be cheaper, but it's not much fun waiting in the terminal for a commuter flight that keeps getting bumped.

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  5. 5 minutes ago, Paul Wesley said:

    * I'm aware that the "new" genre that Elvis brought to Americans was a straight-up ripoff of black music.  You could write a pretty persuasive thesis statement that every *new* American genre of music since the Civil War followed exactly that same pattern.

    Bluegrass?

  6. 1 hour ago, Jersey Man10 said:

    I hate how more cars are coming with 18-20 inch wheels now. Makes it easier to bend a rim.

    And slower to accelerate, slower to break, rougher ride, more unsprung weight...  but you trade that all for looks

    My pet peeve is that you see people with tactical barbie dress up a trucks or jeeps and then they slap on big rims with small stiff sidewall tires. Off road machine indeed!

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  7. 1 minute ago, ztejas said:

    That's literally what I was doing. 

    Are you like 9 drinks deep right now?

    6 but who's counting...   

    24 minutes ago, ztejas said:

     I think there are quite a few folks like me. 

    Good thing you're not speaking for other people, my bad

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  8. 14 minutes ago, ztejas said:

    Meh. I don't give a fuck. I've heard compelling arguments on both sides. I think there are quite a few folks like me. 

    In middle school, I had his stupid jacket and one glove.  Speak for yourself on the way people think about his legacy.   Best thing about Thriller was EVH solo.  Fuck kiddie didlers!

    • Haha 1
  9. 18 minutes ago, Rimbo said:

    Neither Elvis nor Michael Jackson had the legit mania that followed the Beatles around.

    Tha fuck you say?   Jesus man, girls/women were fainting at his feet long before the beatles played their first note.

    I was NOT an Elvis fan.  I can remember clearly the day he died, the nation stopped.   Lennon not so much.  Clearly mourned, but not like the KING

  10. 2 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

    How can fame be "diminished"?  His legacy can be stained, but at his peak MJ was the biggest star in the world, and probably my answer to this question.

    He is not celebrated like he would have been if not for his predilections.

  11. Elvis

    The Beatles split fame between the four of them.  Elvis was a solo icon.  Even long after his death he is instantly recognizable the world around.   Ringo, not so much.

    MJ's fame was rightfully diminished with the kiddie didling... I want to say allegations, IDK if he was ever convicted.

  12. 14 hours ago, YGIFS said:

    Pos rep for Jensen callback.  

    I think about the fact that I literally worked probably 2 weeks over a number of years just to afford some of these ridiculously obsolete adapters and cables.  And I genuinely don't know if it was a good lesson in work ethics or a horrible mistake.  

    I still have a 100' of coaxial cable and the two end-adapters in case I need to steal cable from one of my neighbors, none of whom have fucking cable anymore.  What am I clinging to?  

    I still have a crimping tool and ferrules.

    The pending Great Garage cleanup of 2024 is going to be a Bataan death march of decluttering.  

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  13. On 12/21/2023 at 2:49 PM, cactusflinthead said:

    img_1_1703188104047.jpg

    That's not icing!

    On 12/14/2023 at 11:48 AM, YGIFS said:

    This site used to mean something, dammit! 

    That was two sites ago

    On 1/22/2024 at 11:22 AM, FirstTimeCaller said:

    It is good to know that when the revolution comes, we just need to setup inoperable turnstiles around important sites. Easy peasy.

    On 1/22/2024 at 11:34 AM, Francisco 2.0 said:

    In the summer of 2017, I took my entire family (parents, siblings, wife, children, nephews) to NYC.  Loaded up a big van, drove them all to Manhattan.  Aside from the wife and I, none had ever been there before.

    We ventured into a subway station, purchased all of them their own pass, and it took---literally---a  minute indoctrination to the group on how to get through the turnstile.  After that, we had zero issues going places, etc.

     

    And I'm to fear a group like this that can't even begin to understand the most basic level of subway access.

    I hope to god the Athens Subway doesn't keep their camera footage.  Our group of 6 adults & 6 kids took a solid 10 mins trying to get everyone through the turn styles.  It was Benny Hill-esque.  After a few minutes of bemused Greeks effortlessly passing the turnstiles, I decided it would be best if I wandered off and pretended to read a poster which was only in Greek.  Finally my friend just grabbed the last 2 kids and yanked them over the turnstile.   We walked back.

  14. 12 hours ago, Slacks said:

    I hate this thread.

    I have so many cables, adapters, plugs, cords taking up space in drawers and boxes.

    Who doesn't need a YRGB? Well, I have five of them just in case I fire up an old DVD player 

    This weekend, I shall take a picture of the shit I'm throwing away.

    yeah?

    What if you want to put the dvd player a long way for the TV stereo?   I even have a few of these bad boys!

    rca-connector-audio-video-3-rca-female-t

    If you think this sucks, wait till you see the up coming Flat screen TV stand/digital camera thread.

     

    Also,

    Shout out to all you assholes for keeping the voting 50/50... real helpful, but well played.

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