Pluto - The Salvage Operation

This is a fascinating site talking about the salvage of the Pluto pipeline after WW2. Link.
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Cambridgeshire Steam Rally 2012

Went to the Cambridgeshire Steam Rally in Swavesey village last weekend on the Sunday. I have been before but it was many years ago, and it is now a much larger event and at a different venue. As the name suggests there is a strong Steam influence with a large number of traction engines and small stationary rotary steam engines (of astonishing variety). It had been very wet on the run up the event so it was quite interesting getting vehicles on to the site on the Friday.  Fortunately it was dry on the Saturday and Sunday and so the ground dried out enough to allow the event to proceed without it becoming a mud-bath.
Here's my son keeping the revs up on the truck prior to us setting off whilst I did some last minutes checks.
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Driving the over about 10 miles of windy back roads to the event I picked up a tailgater for a while ! LOL
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There was a large number of vintage cars in attendance along with commercial vehicles, tractors and and about half a dozen military vehicles including my own. Quite a relaxed affair with plenty to occupy the family for a few hours.
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Stand out military vehicle for me was this very tasteful Mack recovery truck
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Most interesting classic vehicle was this little BMW Bug which was in fantastic condition.
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Rare Dunkirk photos found after 70 years

Rare photos taken by a German soldier of the devastated beaches of Dunkirk after the evacuation have been found 70 years on by the family of a British war veteran. Link
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Dungeons & Dragons & Bitches

This is an interesting (and completely unPC) take on a D&D game :)
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Dungeons & Dragons & Bitches from Peter Atencio on Vimeo.
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HMS Triumph: Life on board a Royal Navy submarine

HMS Triumph is one of the Royal Navy's Trafalgar class submarines, using its stealth on counter-piracy, anti-terrorism and narcotics operations. BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale has had exclusive access to the confined space where 120 crew members serve.  Article on BBC web site:  Link
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Chinook Recovers Downed AH-64D

Some great flying here in rough conditions. Respect.
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2012 Olympic Ceremony - London

Watched the opening ceremony with the family on Friday night, and felt proud of our little country of 60 million and the fabulous show that was put on. Well done to all involved.
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Entrapment - Bill Kearns

This is very good :)
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10 Creepiest Abandoned Cold War Missile Silos

Dimply-lit tunnels snake into the distance, metal steps echo with the sound of footsteps, and huge vertical drops plummet into the darkness – cavernous chambers where missiles intended to carry nuclear warheads would have once been housed. Replete with the signs of creeping decay and generally left to rack and ruin, abandoned missile bases are grim yet fascinating places to explore. Link
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We Remember

Given a link today to this rather good video on U-Tube.

Picture Of The Week - No 9 - Orc Nob who was MIA found alive and well !

You what it’s like, you have a favoured figure that you like to use in some games. He should be safely tucked away ready use, but when you open the box he’s not there…
Years ago when I lived back in Harrogate and I used to play quite a bit of Space Crusade, White Dwarf No 134 came out and gave the stats for some ‘alternative’ teams. Suitably inspired I visited my local GW shop picked up some 40k orcs and generated an 12 strong Orc Mob to use in place of the standard Space Marine 5 man squad. Individually (apart from the Orc Nob) they don’t have the staying power of Space Marines as their armour is less, but they do have the advantage of numbers and if you use the Freebooter and Frag Stikkbombz equipment cards, they have some real firepower. Anyway, getting back to the story, I keep the mob in their own plastic box tucked away with the rest of the Space Crusade gear but a couple of years back the Orc Nob went MIA and for the life of me I haven’t been able to recall what I’d done with him. Chatting with Alex at the weekend I suggested to him that we I dig out of my loft the old classic GW game Blood Bowl and I’ll try and teach him it. Opening up the associated storage box to show him the selection of teams I’ve collected and low and behold who should turn up, but my missing Orc Nob who I now vaguely recall using in my Savage Orc team when they had a outing some years back. Anyway, so all’s well that ends well :)-
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Landslide uncovers 1,000 deadly WW2 bombs and rockets

The East Riding beach of Mappleton, near Hornsea, was used as a practice bombing range during the Second World War – but the bad weather has led to ground movement which exposed one of the biggest arsenals ever uncovered yesterday. Link
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Friday Humour

 

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It's good to stretch...  :)

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UK receives first F-35 stealth fighter jet from US

It has been a long and expensive wait, but Britain has now been handed its first Joint Strike Fighter jet, also known as the F-35 or Lightning II. Link to BBC.
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Comment: Lets hope it proves to be a good aircraft because they are certainly costing enough each.
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Wedding Anniversary

I can share with you that it is our Wedding anniversary today.  My good lady (Julie) and I have been married for 24 years today.

Humour - TO ALL STAFF REGARDING BAD LANGUAGE

It has been brought to the management’s attention that some individuals have been using foul and abusive language during the execution of their duties.  Due to complaints from some of the more sensitive staff, this type of language can no longer be tolerated. 

However, the management realizes the importance of staff being able to express their feelings when communicating with other employees.  To this end, our Human Resources department has compiled a list of code phrase replacements so that the proper exchange of ideas and information can continue in an effective manner without offence to our more easily offended employees.  The phrases are as follows:

OLD PHRASE                 NEW PHRASE

Absolutely no fucking chance                      I’m fairly sure that’s not feasible

You lying shit                                             Are you quite sure about that?

Tell someone who gives a fuck                     Have you informed the management about that?

It’s got fuck all to do with me                       I don’t think I was involved in that project

Shove a brush up my arse and I’ll

sweep the fucking floor as well                    Would you like me to do that for you as well?

Am I the only twat here                              Would someone else care to answer the telephone

You haven’t got a fucking clue                    Perhaps you need a little more training in this

This place has gone to rat shit                   The office is looking a little untidy

Eat shit and die mother fucker                   I think I told you this would happen

You over paid shit for brains                      You’re my boss and I respect that

Fuck off smart arse                                  Well-done

She’s a ball-busting bitch                         She’s a full time career woman

Get out of my face, dog breath                 I don’t think I require your assistance

Raving fucking arse bandit                       He’s very much in touch with his feminine side

Boy, are you in the shit                           Does the boss know about this?

Kiss my fucking arse                              I’d rather not if you don’t mind

Who the fuck are you?                            Are you new here?

No fucker told me                                   I wasn’t given that piece of information

What sort of clueless fuck wit are you?     You haven’t done this before, have you?

You’ve made a right cock-up of that         It’s the sort of mistake anyone could make

I’m dying for a shit                                  I’m going to wash my hands

It’s fucked                                             It’s broken but I think I can fix it

It’s completely fucked                            It’s broken beyond repair

Fuck off                                                I'd like to be alone for a while if you don’t mind

Fuck off you twat                                  You are a very rude man

Borderlands 2 - Wimoweh Trailer

The original Borderlands computer game was good, Borderlands 2 looks like it could be even better !  Can't wait until September :)
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Mussolini's bunker: Il Duce's futile search for safety

The extensive air-raid shelter that Benito Mussolini had built under his home gives a flavour of the fears that must have haunted the Italian dictator's final days. Link to the BBC.
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Alexander the not so Great: History through Persian eyes

Alexander the Great is portrayed as a legendary conqueror and military leader in Greek-influenced Western history books but his legacy looks very different from a Persian perspective. Link on the BBC site.
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The Hobbit Trailer 2012 Movie Lord of the Rings - Official [HD]

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Trailer 2012 - Official movie trailer in HD - The Lord of the Rings prequel - starring Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Cate Blanchett - Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit, journeys to the Lonely Mountain accompanied by a group of dwarves to reclaim a treasure taken from them by the dragon Smaug.
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Comment:  A must see for all Lord of the Rings Fans :)
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Hadrian's Wall Podcast

Whilst driving to the dentists yesterday I happened to tune into the BBC Radio 4 programme 'In Our Time' which is hosted by the well known radio presenter Melvyn Bragg. The format of this programme for those who haven't listened to it is a simple one. Melvyn Bragg and his three guests (experts in their field) discuss the history of ideas - including topics drawn from philosophy, science, history, religion and culture for approximately 40 minutes.
Must confess I found yesterdays programme about Hadrian's Wall totally fascinating. Here is a link to the BBC page concerned. Link   The broadcast is described as follows: 'Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Hadrian's Wall, the largest Roman structure and one of the most important archaeological monuments in Britain. It was built across North England in about 122 AD by the Emperor Hadrian and, even after more than a century of excavations, many mysteries still surround it. Did it have a meaningful defensive role or was it mainly a powerful emperor's vanity project? Melvyn Bragg is joined by Greg Woolf, Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews; David Breeze, Former Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Scotland and Visiting Professor of Archaeology at the University of Durham and Lindsay Allason-Jones, Former Reader in Roman Material Culture at the University of Newcastle.'
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Highly recommended.
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Crumbling Soviet Military Bases: A 20th Century Empire in Decay

This is worth looking through.  Link

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Brake Pipes & Doddington Carnival

Along with most of the UK we have battered by unseasonably heavy rain of recent, but on Friday with a break in the weather late afternoon and early evening I managed to change the twisted brake pipe,

fit a new brake hose and bleed nipple and get the system bled.

With the truck now serviceable again, on Saturday morning I took it along to the Doddington Carnival.  Our MVT club had been invited along by the organisers, and myself and another member turned up to join in the festivities.

(part of the procession just prior to setting off)

Doddington village has been holding this carnival for 90 years and it is an engrained part of village life that sees the main road closed off and the carnival procession proceed from the middle of the village down to bottom, then up to the top, then back to the start position at a slow walk with 99% of the village turned out to watch.  I was thankful the truck has a crawler gear for first gear (under normal operations you start it in second) as it was a good match for the speed we were doing.

Unfortunately little Vulture was poorly and so didn't come along, so I offered a seat to the eight year daughter of one of the organisers.  Waving to her surprised school friends from the cab made her day, and with a huge smile on her face she turned to me and said "I know what the USA stands for, the United States of Awesomeness" :)   Amazingly the weather held up and was clear and warm and sunny all morning, however as I drove home at lunchtime I could see the weather fronts rolling in, so I pulled the truck over and put the canvas doors on.  No sooner had I done this and the heavens opened in a torrential downpour !  This was the first time I had driven it in really heavy rain, and its fair to say that cab is not that water-tight ! LOL  There was water dripping in from round the windscreen, round the top of the doors, round the side of the doors and also from the vent just in front of the windscreen.  A steady stream of drips from this vent landed with perfect precision on my foot on the accelerator, right on the laces, so that within a couple of minutes I could feel a pool of water gathering round my heel !  All in all an entertaining morning :)

Humour - Traffic Incident

This is sure to make you laugh/smile  :)
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Picture Of The Week - No 8 - Chaos Terminator

This weeks picture is one I took many years ago. It features one of my favourite Games Workshop figures, a Warhammer 40k Chaos Space Marine in Terminator Armour armed with a Gatling Gun.   I bought him not use in 40K but to use in Space Crusade games, where I had great fun using a small Chaos squad as my team. Still a top game after all these years.
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Five Rules To Remember In Life

The Battle of Waterloo Movie (1970)

The classic movie Battle of Waterloo (1970) is on U-Tube. Brilliant stuff !
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