The Pale Blue Eye - Netflix Movie

THE PALE BLUE EYE Trailer (2023) Gillian Anderson, Christian Bale
Movie Coverage

A very cool film. We've got Edgar Allen Poe (Harry Melling) as a cadet at the West Point Military Academy and we have an old, retired New York City detective (Christian Bale) called in to investigate the death of one of these cadets. The plot is very clever. It all seems very plausible until we get to the last scene when everything you thought you knew is revealed to be a lie. 

Poe (1809 - 1849) did attend West Point. West Point opened in 1802, so that part of the story is plausible.

It is winter, 1830, so all interior illumination is done with candles or kerosene lamps, and at least some of the time the lighting is realistic, as in very dim. Many period pieces are too brightly illuminated, and I'm grateful, otherwise I would be left in the dark, heh. But this one was more realistic.

But looking at all the snow makes me wonder why did people ever go north in the first place? I suppose more game animals which meant easier hunting, and the harsher climate would discourage most people, so fewer neighbors bothering you might be a plus. I suspect there would be fewer diseases in colder regions. The tropics seem to be riddled all kinds of deadly diseases. So moving north would have some benefits. You just have to be able to chop wood.

Wikipedia page about the film.

USS Farragut (DD-348)

See the ships at Washington Navy Yard! 1933
128 piece jigsaw puzzle

The Washington Navy Yard is in Washington D.C. It was converted to administrative use in the 1960s. I think this ship is the USS Farragut (DD-348). It was the first of its class and the first class to have only two funnels. Before this destroyers all had four stacks. Only problem is that this Farragut (there have been several US Navy ships with that name) wasn't launched until 1934.

USS Farragut (DD-348)

The ship served in the Pacific during WW2. It survived and was scrapped after the war.

Jeb Stuart

Jeb Stuart

We started watching Vikings: Valhalla on Netflix last night. It's pretty great. I noticed Jeb Stuart was credited as the writer and the producer, so I got to wondering who is this guy? Wikipedia knows all:

Jeb Stuart (born 1956) is an American screenwriter, film director, and producer best known for writing blockbuster action films like Die Hard and The Fugitive and the Netflix television series Vikings: Valhalla.

Criminently, Die Hard and The Fugitive, two of the bestest movies ever? Gee wilikers, he's a real American hero.

Mosquito

Gustavo Bravetti - Mosquito (live)
gustavo bravetti

This isn't much of a tune, some people would probably not even consider it music, but for getting you moving it works pretty well. I've started riding my daughter's Peloton exercise bike and it's making a big difference in how well my legs work. The Peloton has a video screen, exercise programs and music. It's basically overpriced ridiculousness, but it's here and it's available and I needed to do something, so I've started using it.

My back got screwed up a couple of years ago (from climbing stairs with steps that are like four inches extra tall, if you can believe it) and it's been giving me all kinds of grief ever since. Go to the doctor and they recommend a battery of exercises. They would probably help, but I am very bad at doing them. They are boring and they take work, so stupid. I used to ride a bicycle quite a bit, probably up until I ended up in the hospital with heart problems. That's when I found out why riding was such a chore and I wasn't get any of the euphoria normal, healthy people got from vigorous exercise. The root cause seems to be atrial fibrillation. That and an enlarged aorta and then the general hazards of riding a bicycle on the same roads as 18 wheelers convince me that bike riding was stupid and I wasn't going to do it anymore.

I did have a good time when I was riding, at least when I wasn't effing struggling up some stupid 50 foot hill. So the exercise bike suits me well. I've been doing ten minutes a day and now I can go up and down the stairs without having to hold onto the hand rail. Cool.

Modern American Railroads

The One Tiny Law That Keeps Amtrak Terrible
Wendover Productions

This video gives a good overview of the American railroad industry. The business about Amtrak is like icing on the cake, or the derby on the gorilla's head. He might have a point, enforcing the law might improve Amtrak service, but I doubt whether it is ever going to make a significant impact. One percent of Amtrak's $2 billion annual budget is a nit compared to 1% of the trillion dollar defense budget. You just can't buy as much graft with little numbers like that, which means you aren't going to convince Congress to do anything about it.

Just getting the railroads to start maintaining tracks and equipment would be a good thing. If self driving cars (as Tesla is demonstrating) become common, all transportation is liable to suffer. Traffic jams won't matter because you will be able to amuse yourself with work or games or sleep while you are waiting to be delivered to your destination. So what if your commute takes an extra hour? You can play video games while you ride in your pod. Commute in an RV and you will never have to go home, you can just get on the beltway when you get off work and have yourself driven around the beltway a couple of times until it's time to report to your cubicle in the morning.

Since the third world has figured out to make stuff, the only things that make big money in this country now are the defense industry and cutting edge electronics. All the other businesses are scrambling to figure out how to keep making money. A few people are innovating on a small scale, but most are looking to cut costs one way or another. 

Sausages

Baked Sausage

I like to eat but I am not interested in cooking and I really don't like cleaning up. Today I put two and two together and baked a dozen pork sausage patties in the oven. My wife has been using this technique to cook chicken and vegetables for a while now, but she has an aversion to any kind of real meat. I suspect it's due to years of being exposed to years of fascist propaganda about how fat was bad for you. Turned out great and clean up was minimal. I baked the sausage on a baking tray (cookie sheet?) covered with parchment paper. 20 minutes on one side and 10 minutes on the other at 400 degrees. After the sausages have cooled for a bit, I scooped them up with a spatula and moved them to a plate. Folded up the paper and threw it in the trash. Wiped off the baking tray with a paper towel and put it away.

I used to get big tubes of Jimmy Dean sausage, but cutting those up into a patties was a messy chore. I tried Jimmy Dean frozen, pre-cooked sausage, but they never tasted quite right.  Now we flat packs of fresh sausage patties from Fred Meyer. They are cheap, easy to handle and they taste great.

War On Drugs

Mexican cartel and paramilitary group CJNG showing extent of militarisation of their special forces

Bayou Renaissance Man has a post up about the situation in Mexico and along the border. Prompted me to comment and since it's such a great comment (if I do say so myself), I am reproducing it here for your amusement.

The only solution is to legalize all drugs. However, there are a couple of problems that will prevent this happening. Problem #1 is Congress won't do it because of people who think drugs are bad and prohibition is the answer. Problem #2 is Congress won't do it because that would impact the profits of the American drug cartel (you never hear about these guys, gray men in gray suits working out of gray offices). Problem #3 is even if drugs were legalized, all that would happen is control would pass from the cartels to big-pharma, and we know how much they can be trusted to do the right thing. Money pays for propaganda and propaganda rules. Our government is essentially a mafia. They may say things that sound like they are operating on principle, but they are not. They are lying. All the time. They are so immersed is their culture of crime that they are not even aware that they are lying.