Darkprincess69
High Priestess of Slaanesh
Right now the world needs more heroes like those guys
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Passings...
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Praefectus Praetorio
R.I.P. Brother of the Quill
On this day in 1917, Margaretha Zelle—better known by her stage name, Mata Hari—was executed for espionage. Known as "the greatest woman spy of the century," the exotic dancer spied for the Germans during World War I before her conviction in France.
www.smithsonianmag.com
Revisiting the Myth of Mata Hari, From Sultry Spy to Government Scapegoat
One hundred years after her death, a new exhibit is putting the spotlight on the dancer’s life and legacy
On this day in 1917, Margaretha Zelle—better known by her stage name, Mata Hari—was executed for espionage. Known as "the greatest woman spy of the century," the exotic dancer spied for the Germans during World War I before her conviction in France.
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Revisiting the Myth of Mata Hari, From Sultry Spy to Government Scapegoat
One hundred years after her death, a new exhibit is putting the spotlight on the dancer’s life and legacy
Great costume
Back in the 90’s I read a book about the history of the Soviet space program, which featured freshly declassified information.
Like how to get back into the Voskhod Leonov had to partially deflate his suit to fit through the hatch. Then a malfunction landed them over 200 miles off target, stranded for two days and nights in a forest wilderness where they were damn near eaten by wolves.
Professionalism, and nerves of chromium steel.
Darkprincess69
High Priestess of Slaanesh
I think it's worth pointing out that it was the Russians who actually won the Space Race. We've all been taught that America won it but the only thing where they were first was putting men on the moon (Not that I'm belittling that great achievement for one moment) but Russia was first for everything else;
First satellite
First man in space
First dog in space
First woman in space
First space walk
First manned space station
The list goes on and on. America really was playing catch-up for most of the 60s and well into the 70s.
OK America also had the first space shuttle, and people often say that the Russian version (which only flew once - unmanned) was a straight copy of it, but in fact the Russian shuttle (Buran) was actually more advanced in a number of ways - for one thing, it could fly under computer control without a crew - something the US version was never capable of.
So when us westerners get all smug about our technological superiority, we should remind ourselves that history didn't always play out the way that we get taught.
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
Greatest woman spy of the century sounds a little bit flattered. She passed some information, but to both sides. She got a kangaroo trial by the French, apparently to protect the reputation of 'important' people she had lured with her seductions. Any evidence against her suited, including liquids she used as primitive contraceptics, and which were presented to the court as substances to make 'invisible ink'.
There have been allied woman spies in WWI, which were much more efficient than Mata Hari, and which have been treated more merciful by German court-martials (life sentence in stead of firing squad)
Mata Hari was often topic here.
Migoz2
Senator
I missed this one. (And it might only mean something to people of a certain age who listened to / watched the BBC's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy )
Stephen Moore (1937-2019): stage and screen actor
www.theguardian.com
Stephen Moore (1937-2019): stage and screen actor
Stephen Moore obituary
Actor whose versatility and experience shone through his many stage, screen and radio roles
www.theguardian.com
Darkprincess69
High Priestess of Slaanesh
I loved this show and I have it on DVD. I particularly loved Sandra Dickinson's portrayal of Trillian - cute, funny and sexy all rolled into one, and Marvin was awesome with his dry, deadpan delivery.I missed this one. (And it might only mean something to people of a certain age who listened to / watched the BBC's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy )
Stephen Moore (1937-2019): stage and screen actor
Stephen Moore obituary
Actor whose versatility and experience shone through his many stage, screen and radio roles
Some of my favourite Marvin quotes;
"All the doors on this spaceship have been programmed to have a cheery and sunny disposition. It is their pleasure to open for you and their satisfaction to close again with the knowledge of a job well done"
“The first ten million years were the worst. And the second ten million: they were the worst, too. The third ten million I didn’t enjoy at all. After that, I went into a bit of a decline"
“You watch this door. It’s about to open again. I can tell by the intolerable air of smugness it suddenly generates"
“Let’s build robots with Genuine People Personalities,’ they said. So they tried it out with me. I’m a personality prototype. You can tell, can’t you?”
Migoz2
Senator
I loved Trillian, too. I caught the radio show by accident back in 1978, and was immediately hooked. I think every episode has a Marvin gem in it.
Arthur Dent: "But that sunset! I've never seen anything like it in my wildest dreams ... the two suns! It was like mountains of fire boiling into space."
Marvin: "I've seen it. It's rubbish."
Marvin: "You think you’ve got problems? What are you supposed to do if you are a manically depressed robot? No, don’t try an’ answer that, I’m fifty-thousand times more intelligent than you and even I don’t know the answer. It gives me a headache just trying to think down to your level."
Darkprincess69
High Priestess of Slaanesh
Yeah Marvin had some of the best lines in the show - and that's a show that's crammed with awesome dialogue from all the characters. I suppose my favourite line of all though was from Slaartibartfast: "Shocking cockup - the mice were furious"
Migoz2
Senator
Another one I missed:
Harold Bloom, US literary critic 1930-2019. Defender of the 'literary canon'.
www.theguardian.com
Harold Bloom, US literary critic 1930-2019. Defender of the 'literary canon'.
Harold Bloom obituary
American literary critic and author who delighted in overturning orthodoxies
www.theguardian.com
windar
Teller of Tales
Well, defender of his 'literary canon' - and of the idea that there should be one -Another one I missed:
Harold Bloom, US literary critic 1930-2019. Defender of the 'literary canon'.
Harold Bloom obituary
American literary critic and author who delighted in overturning orthodoxies
in a way, the US answer to Leavis - always provocative, sometimes insightful.
With so much Brexit noise, I'd missed news of his dying, thanks for posting.
Praefectus Praetorio
R.I.P. Brother of the Quill
For the poetry lovers here like @Eulalia, the two worst poetries in the world (a list on which her name does NOT appear)Yeah Marvin had some of the best lines in the show - and that's a show that's crammed with awesome dialogue from all the characters. I suppose my favourite line of all though was from Slaartibartfast: "Shocking cockup - the mice were furious"
The Azgoths of Kria were an alien race, responsible for producing the second worst poetry in the Universe.
The most famous Azgoth poet was Grunthos the Flatulent, whose work include such works as Ode to a Small Lump of Green Putty I Found in My Armpit One Midsummer Morning and My Favourite Bathtime Gurgles.
The guide recites a tale of how, during one of his readings of his poem four of the audience died of internal hemorrhaging and the president of the Mid-Galactic Arts Nobbling Council survived only by gnawing one of his own legs off.
He was disappointed by the reception of his poem and so prepared to read his 12-book epic but was prevented from doing so when his major intestine leapt up his neck and throttled his brain in a desperate bid to save life and civilisation, killing him.
The absolute worst poetry in the universe was written by Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings. She lived at 37 Wasp Villas, Greenbridge, Essex, GB10 1LL
Here is an excerpt of her poetry:
The dead swans lay in the stagnant pool.
They lay. They rotted. They turned
Around occasionally.
Bits of flesh dropped off them from
Time to time.:And sank into the pool's mire.
They also smelt a great deal.
but it was destroyed with the Earth. For this reason, the Azgoths of Kria now have the absolute worst poetry in the universe.
That rivals Scotland's national bad-verse bard,
the immortal William McGonagall -
it recalls his fragrant ode to Sunlight Soap:
You can use it with great pleasure and ease
Without wasting any elbow grease:
And when washing the most dirty clothes
The sweat won’t be dripping from your nose.
the immortal William McGonagall -
it recalls his fragrant ode to Sunlight Soap:
You can use it with great pleasure and ease
Without wasting any elbow grease:
And when washing the most dirty clothes
The sweat won’t be dripping from your nose.
Praefectus Praetorio
R.I.P. Brother of the Quill
An advertising jingle? Makes me want to buy the soap! So I can wash out my mouth and get the taste of the poem out of it.
yes, he was paid two guineas for that masterpiece, probably the only poem he was ever paid for!
Migoz2
Senator
That made me wince at the thought of how Leavis would have reacted to that!
Something in translation for poetry lovers:
Karashnikov’s “Another Christmas of Agony”
Mischa the dog lies dead in the bog.
The children cry over the carcass.
The mist chokes my heart, covers the mourners.
At least this year we eat.
And here is a moving recitation of it:
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Frank Petrexa
Tribune
Supposedly the T34 tank was the best tank in World War II as well.
But I do recall, however, seeing a Russian space control room (after the fall of the USSR) with banners saying "HP" scattered all over (and HP and IBM before it are no longer the top dogs).
I think that the Soviet planned economy didn't allocate resources effeciently--not only because of the top-down nature of the thing but also because all the resources came from one place, and every manager fought for his (her) piece. Politics was a major determinant of who got what. There was no pool of "customers" who could get up and walk away.
There is a funny story in James Fallows' decades old book about American defense spending. General Lemay of SAC was presented with a high-budget "air force flashlight" with all kinds of bells and whistles meant for use in cockpits. It wouldn't light up. "Most pilots use the 98-cent Japanese flashlight."
When the space shuttle Challenger blew up, Richard Feynman was on the investigation committee. He came to the conclusion that managers had downplayed the risk because no one wanted to jeopardize a big project because of his or her nagging doubts. An academic, a female sociology professor, wrote a big thick book praising NASA and derided Feynman's "evil manager" theory. Then Columbia burned up on re-entry (tiles this time instead of o-rings). The new commission came to the same conclusion--nobody wanted to be the one to scrub a major project based on perceived risks.
Markets certainly aren't perfect, and greedy people are always going to cut corners, but markets (if you have a big enough one--Boeing and Airbus do not) will eventually smoke those people out. Certainly the great disadvantage of the Soviet Union was a system where there was no one who could walk away from shoddy products, and hence there were no private enterprises who could pump successful technology into the government projects.