January 06, 2009
An Emotional Reaction
Feh. Double-Feh.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
11:24 PM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 5 words, total size 1 kb.
January 03, 2009
A Dawn Like Thunder
Readers of The Pond know that I have a thing for the Pacific War, and even moreso for the Battle of Midway. The study of that period is one of my avid hobbies, and is what lead me to my fondness of Japan in general and eventually anime in particular (though in a fairly roundabout way). I know quite a bit about the strategies used by both sides in the conflict, and could talk tactics with confidence as well.
With a few exceptions however, the one thing I don't have much knowlege about is the people involved. Oh, I don't mean the Halseys and Nagumos, but the Chucks and Morts and Joes and Mitsuos and Hidekis... what about them?
While I was doing my Christmas shopping at a local bookstore, I stumbled on a new release that seemed to have been aimed directly at my bump of curiosity. A Dawn Like Thunder: The True Story of Torpedo Squadron 8, by Robert J. Mrazek tells the stories of the men made famous by the Battle of Midway, the only squadron flying off the USS Hornet to make contact with the enemy on that day in June, 1942... and which was almost entirely wiped out as it made its run on the Japanese carriers. All the squadron's Devastators torpedo bombers were shot down, and only one man, George Gay, survived.
But that wasn't the whole squadron. Historians of the battle will remember that the first six Avengers in US Navy service were flying from Midway's single runway after a hurried deployment from Pearl Harbor just before the battle. They, too, were part of Torpedo 8, a detachment left behind when the Hornet sailed. Further, another group of VT-8 pilots and crewmen, including the squadron XO, remained behind at Pearl waiting for the rest of the Avengers to arrive.
Later, VT-8 wound up flying from the USS Saratoga until it was torpedoed. Many of her squadrons wound up at Espiritu Santo, and some of them wound up going to Guadalcanal as part of the Cactus Air Force. VT-8 was one of those. The second half of the book covers that period of time, and the many, many trials the squadron suffered through. Indeed, VT-8 suffered the highest casualties amongst naval squadrons at both Midway and Guadalcanal. At Midway, 45 of 48 officers and men serving in Torpedo 8 were killed. At Guadalcanal, seven of the remaining members were killed and another eight wounded.
It also wound up one of the most decorated squadrons in Navy history, if not the most decorated in US service, period. It was the only squadron to receive two Presidental Unit Citations from FDR. Its 35 pilots earned 39 Navy Crosses before it was decommissioned after Guadalcanal.
A Dawn Like Thunder is written almost entirely from interviews conducted with the few members of VT-8 still living, and from letters and memoirs by those who've passed away. We meet men like Swede Larson, the squadron XO who took command of the squadron after Midway. We learn that as a leader, he was a martinet who wasn't afraid to belittle his men, issued promotions not on how they performed but if he liked them or not. Twice, men under his command were pushed so far that they pulled their sidearms on him. He was also a courageous pilot (though one who refused to admit mistakes). We meet Bert Earnest, the pilot of the single Avenger to make it back to Midway, though so shot full of holes that it never flew again. He then went on to survive Guadalcanal, and WWII as a whole. We meet Chief Petty Officer James Hammond, who won a Silver Star at Guadalcanal in large part because he built three 'Frankenstein Avengers', piecing scraps of many planes together to make one (barely flyable) bomber. This at a time when the Cactus Air Force was down to a bare handful of planes. The lineup of pilots and crew goes on, but you never feel like anybody is getting short shrift. The wives and girlfriends of some of the men even get their nods.
Robert Mrazek has done a fine job of tying all his research together and turning it into a coherent and readable story. The small number of inaccuracies (Midway was described as having two airfields in 1942, when there was only one, for example) are easily overlooked, and don't detract from the superb job he's done telling the human story of Torpedo 8. Highly recommended!
Mrazek and many of the men he wrote about are members of the Battle of Midway Roundtable, an organization that's been in existence since 1997. I'm proud to be a member myself. It's free to join, and if you're interested in the Battle of Midway or the Pacific War, you owe it to yourself to become a member.
With a few exceptions however, the one thing I don't have much knowlege about is the people involved. Oh, I don't mean the Halseys and Nagumos, but the Chucks and Morts and Joes and Mitsuos and Hidekis... what about them?
While I was doing my Christmas shopping at a local bookstore, I stumbled on a new release that seemed to have been aimed directly at my bump of curiosity. A Dawn Like Thunder: The True Story of Torpedo Squadron 8, by Robert J. Mrazek tells the stories of the men made famous by the Battle of Midway, the only squadron flying off the USS Hornet to make contact with the enemy on that day in June, 1942... and which was almost entirely wiped out as it made its run on the Japanese carriers. All the squadron's Devastators torpedo bombers were shot down, and only one man, George Gay, survived.
But that wasn't the whole squadron. Historians of the battle will remember that the first six Avengers in US Navy service were flying from Midway's single runway after a hurried deployment from Pearl Harbor just before the battle. They, too, were part of Torpedo 8, a detachment left behind when the Hornet sailed. Further, another group of VT-8 pilots and crewmen, including the squadron XO, remained behind at Pearl waiting for the rest of the Avengers to arrive.
Later, VT-8 wound up flying from the USS Saratoga until it was torpedoed. Many of her squadrons wound up at Espiritu Santo, and some of them wound up going to Guadalcanal as part of the Cactus Air Force. VT-8 was one of those. The second half of the book covers that period of time, and the many, many trials the squadron suffered through. Indeed, VT-8 suffered the highest casualties amongst naval squadrons at both Midway and Guadalcanal. At Midway, 45 of 48 officers and men serving in Torpedo 8 were killed. At Guadalcanal, seven of the remaining members were killed and another eight wounded.
It also wound up one of the most decorated squadrons in Navy history, if not the most decorated in US service, period. It was the only squadron to receive two Presidental Unit Citations from FDR. Its 35 pilots earned 39 Navy Crosses before it was decommissioned after Guadalcanal.
A Dawn Like Thunder is written almost entirely from interviews conducted with the few members of VT-8 still living, and from letters and memoirs by those who've passed away. We meet men like Swede Larson, the squadron XO who took command of the squadron after Midway. We learn that as a leader, he was a martinet who wasn't afraid to belittle his men, issued promotions not on how they performed but if he liked them or not. Twice, men under his command were pushed so far that they pulled their sidearms on him. He was also a courageous pilot (though one who refused to admit mistakes). We meet Bert Earnest, the pilot of the single Avenger to make it back to Midway, though so shot full of holes that it never flew again. He then went on to survive Guadalcanal, and WWII as a whole. We meet Chief Petty Officer James Hammond, who won a Silver Star at Guadalcanal in large part because he built three 'Frankenstein Avengers', piecing scraps of many planes together to make one (barely flyable) bomber. This at a time when the Cactus Air Force was down to a bare handful of planes. The lineup of pilots and crew goes on, but you never feel like anybody is getting short shrift. The wives and girlfriends of some of the men even get their nods.
Robert Mrazek has done a fine job of tying all his research together and turning it into a coherent and readable story. The small number of inaccuracies (Midway was described as having two airfields in 1942, when there was only one, for example) are easily overlooked, and don't detract from the superb job he's done telling the human story of Torpedo 8. Highly recommended!
Mrazek and many of the men he wrote about are members of the Battle of Midway Roundtable, an organization that's been in existence since 1997. I'm proud to be a member myself. It's free to join, and if you're interested in the Battle of Midway or the Pacific War, you owe it to yourself to become a member.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
10:50 PM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 812 words, total size 5 kb.
January 01, 2009
Winter Classic
I've never really been a hockey fan. Oh, sure, I lived in Chicago growing up and was at least slightly aware of the Blackhawks, and the two years I spent attending grad school were up in Minnesota, but the sport didn't really interest me much. So, while I'm not a hockey fan, I do know a little bit about the
sport's history in Chicago... the 'Hawks are an Original Six team, for
pete's sake! I like the uniforms ("sweaters" in the sport's parlance),
and the Blackhawks' in particular is a classic of sports merchandise.
Almost 10 years ago, I attended my first hockey game, as my girlfriend at the time was a fan of the Chicago Wolves. It was a great time, and part of me wished I had been exposed to the sport more growing up. These days Duckford has a professional team of its own, the IceHogs, which are a 'minor league' team of the Blackhawks. But I can't get very into the sport.
In recent memory, the 'Hawks have been not only bad, but the team owner Bill Wirtz refused to put their games on television, short of the nationally televised games on ESPN they were scheduled for (or whatever... I'm really not a hockey fan). As a result, the only way you could see them play was to actually attend a game. Hardcore fans did that, of course, but people who might become fans couldn't just flip on the TV and catch a game... like you can do with just about every other sport in the history of the world. However, last year Bill Wirtz died, and his son, Rocky, went about changing the public's opinion of the Blackhawks. The games are now on TV, and he brought in John McDonough, who once was the President of Chicago Cubs and a great marketing mind, to run the team. As a result, the 'Hawks are the hottest ticket in Chicago... it doesn't hurt that they're a pretty good young team, too.
Today, the 'Hawks were on the national stage: the NHL's annual event called 'The Winter Classic.' The game, against the Detroit Red Wings, was played outdoors... at Wrigley Field, no less! While they lost, 6-4, the 'Hawks put on a helluva show. Particularly the pregame stuff... and specifically the National Anthem. Here, take a look:
The good part comes at the six-minute mark, when Jim Corneliusen sings The Star-Spangled Banner. The crowd, as it always does at Blackhawks games, goes completely insane... which reminded me of back when the Blackhawks played at the old Chicago Stadium. Cramped, smelly, but with a pipe-organ many churches would be envious of... and Chicago legend Wayne Messmer singing. The following is from the 1991 playoffs, before Wayne was shot in the throat:
Almost 10 years ago, I attended my first hockey game, as my girlfriend at the time was a fan of the Chicago Wolves. It was a great time, and part of me wished I had been exposed to the sport more growing up. These days Duckford has a professional team of its own, the IceHogs, which are a 'minor league' team of the Blackhawks. But I can't get very into the sport.
In recent memory, the 'Hawks have been not only bad, but the team owner Bill Wirtz refused to put their games on television, short of the nationally televised games on ESPN they were scheduled for (or whatever... I'm really not a hockey fan). As a result, the only way you could see them play was to actually attend a game. Hardcore fans did that, of course, but people who might become fans couldn't just flip on the TV and catch a game... like you can do with just about every other sport in the history of the world. However, last year Bill Wirtz died, and his son, Rocky, went about changing the public's opinion of the Blackhawks. The games are now on TV, and he brought in John McDonough, who once was the President of Chicago Cubs and a great marketing mind, to run the team. As a result, the 'Hawks are the hottest ticket in Chicago... it doesn't hurt that they're a pretty good young team, too.
Today, the 'Hawks were on the national stage: the NHL's annual event called 'The Winter Classic.' The game, against the Detroit Red Wings, was played outdoors... at Wrigley Field, no less! While they lost, 6-4, the 'Hawks put on a helluva show. Particularly the pregame stuff... and specifically the National Anthem. Here, take a look:
Now THAT is how you sing an Anthem, ladies and gentlemen. His 1991 NHL all-star game performance is pretty darn good, too (but meh sound quality). That one took place just a few days before the ground portion of Operation Desert Storm began, so you can imagine the fervor of the crowd... it sure put Whitney Houston's rendition at the SuperBowl to shame.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
08:35 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 527 words, total size 4 kb.
December 31, 2008
Happy New Year Everyone!
So 2008 is passing into history, and there's a big part of me that is happy to see it go. I can't overstate the effect the arrival of my elderly, stroke-ridden Grandmother at my folks' place had on the family. You, the readers of The Pond, were only exposed to it towards the end, but during the 11 months she was in Duckford... well, there were more unpleasant times than good ones. It was hardest on Momzerduck, of course, but she handled things the way she always does: strongly.
In the two mainstays of The Pond, though, 2008 was another banner year. In Formula 1, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won the Driver's Championship in the final turn on the final lap of the final race of the season; the F1 Update! for that race wound up being The Pond's 1000th post. We also saw the first wins of Sebastian Vettel for Toro Rosso in a fun (and rare) wet race at Monza, Robert Kubica for BMW at the same track (Montreal) where he had a serious crash in 2007, and Heikki Kovaleinninnie for McLaren in Hungary when Felipe Massa blew an engine with three laps to go. We also had new tracks in Valencia, Spain and the first night race in F1 history through the streets of Singapore. Then there was the terrible decision at the swimming pool at Spa-Francopants which torpedoed a very exciting race and put the decision in the hands of the FIA. We also saw Adrian Sutil, driving for the new team Force India, have a shot at a podium at Monaco ripped from his hands by some terrible driving from Kimi Raikkonen, the passing of the SuperAguri team at Turkey, the retirement of F1U! favorite David Coulthard's Chin, Rubens Barrichello driving in a record-breaking 257th race, and FIA supremo Max Mosley having some woman trouble. All in all, an amazing season of F1, perhaps the best of all time.
On the anime front, the simply fantastic series called ARIA came to an end, but not before it aired what I consider the best episode of anime I've ever seen. A few months later came the announcement that it had been licensed by Nozomi, which made me very happy. 2008 also saw the near-death-experience of ADV, with the final Kanon '06 dvd unreleased, and the subsequent arrivial of white knight Funimation (for which I haven't thanked them enough). We also saw the first (and currently only) AMV from Wonderduck Productions, "...Angel", make it to the Semifinals of the animemusicvideos.org Viewers Choice Awards, only to be denied the Final round by at least one AMV that had subtitles in it. Nice... not bitter, though!
Strike Witches and Ikkitousen Great Guardians also debuted, resulting in people looking at me weirdly as I loved both series. The best series of the year, however (non-ARIA division), was a tossup between either Clannad or Bamboo Blade: two completely different shows, but both good in different ways. Hidamari x365, a peaceful laid-back show, proved to be historic in the "Ducks In Anime" category, with nearly every episode having a rubber duckie in it somewhere. Surprisingly, the undead anime (we'll have to drive a stake through it's chest, cut its head off and bury the body at a crossroad to get it to go away) known as Evangelion came out with a new retelling in movie form that was pretty good (and looked great). And in what was probably my Crowning Moment Of Awesome for the year, I got to metaphorically slap around an anime n00b at the Duck U. Bookstore.
No year can be complete, however, without a big thank you to Big Papa Pixy for his letting The Pond sully his servers for another year. Couldn't do it without him... or you, my readers! May we all have a better 2009!
...now, where's those party hats?
So 2008 is passing into history, and there's a big part of me that is happy to see it go. I can't overstate the effect the arrival of my elderly, stroke-ridden Grandmother at my folks' place had on the family. You, the readers of The Pond, were only exposed to it towards the end, but during the 11 months she was in Duckford... well, there were more unpleasant times than good ones. It was hardest on Momzerduck, of course, but she handled things the way she always does: strongly.
In the two mainstays of The Pond, though, 2008 was another banner year. In Formula 1, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won the Driver's Championship in the final turn on the final lap of the final race of the season; the F1 Update! for that race wound up being The Pond's 1000th post. We also saw the first wins of Sebastian Vettel for Toro Rosso in a fun (and rare) wet race at Monza, Robert Kubica for BMW at the same track (Montreal) where he had a serious crash in 2007, and Heikki Kovaleinninnie for McLaren in Hungary when Felipe Massa blew an engine with three laps to go. We also had new tracks in Valencia, Spain and the first night race in F1 history through the streets of Singapore. Then there was the terrible decision at the swimming pool at Spa-Francopants which torpedoed a very exciting race and put the decision in the hands of the FIA. We also saw Adrian Sutil, driving for the new team Force India, have a shot at a podium at Monaco ripped from his hands by some terrible driving from Kimi Raikkonen, the passing of the SuperAguri team at Turkey, the retirement of F1U! favorite David Coulthard's Chin, Rubens Barrichello driving in a record-breaking 257th race, and FIA supremo Max Mosley having some woman trouble. All in all, an amazing season of F1, perhaps the best of all time.
On the anime front, the simply fantastic series called ARIA came to an end, but not before it aired what I consider the best episode of anime I've ever seen. A few months later came the announcement that it had been licensed by Nozomi, which made me very happy. 2008 also saw the near-death-experience of ADV, with the final Kanon '06 dvd unreleased, and the subsequent arrivial of white knight Funimation (for which I haven't thanked them enough). We also saw the first (and currently only) AMV from Wonderduck Productions, "...Angel", make it to the Semifinals of the animemusicvideos.org Viewers Choice Awards, only to be denied the Final round by at least one AMV that had subtitles in it. Nice... not bitter, though!
Strike Witches and Ikkitousen Great Guardians also debuted, resulting in people looking at me weirdly as I loved both series. The best series of the year, however (non-ARIA division), was a tossup between either Clannad or Bamboo Blade: two completely different shows, but both good in different ways. Hidamari x365, a peaceful laid-back show, proved to be historic in the "Ducks In Anime" category, with nearly every episode having a rubber duckie in it somewhere. Surprisingly, the undead anime (we'll have to drive a stake through it's chest, cut its head off and bury the body at a crossroad to get it to go away) known as Evangelion came out with a new retelling in movie form that was pretty good (and looked great). And in what was probably my Crowning Moment Of Awesome for the year, I got to metaphorically slap around an anime n00b at the Duck U. Bookstore.
No year can be complete, however, without a big thank you to Big Papa Pixy for his letting The Pond sully his servers for another year. Couldn't do it without him... or you, my readers! May we all have a better 2009!
...now, where's those party hats?
Posted by: Wonderduck at
10:03 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 648 words, total size 6 kb.
December 28, 2008
Bloggingblogging
I'm waiting for inspiration to strike, because at the moment, I'm out of things to blog about, and don't really want to blog much anyway.
"What? NOOOOOOOO!"
Something will pop up soon. Something always does. Then I'll be back. Probably Wednesday night.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
11:00 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 43 words, total size 1 kb.
December 26, 2008
Weatherblogging
Just once, I'd like a day where the weather is normal this winter. Three heavy snowfalls, three days where the high barely broke zero, dangerous windchills, and now? It's going to be 50 on Saturday. Sounds nice, except A) we're supposed to have thunderstorms, and B) it's going to drop below freezing Saturday night.
Oh, and did I mention the fog? Cold snow + warm air temps = heavy, heavy fog. Driving home from my folks' place tonight was... exciting, in an unpleasant way. At one point, I had one eye on the yellow line to my left and the other eye on the faint pair of brakelights a handful of car-lengths ahead of me. 30mph was the top speed I reached.
So, yeah, I'd like a nice, normal sort of winter day: high 20s, partly cloudy, maybe a flurry... that'd be nice.
UPDATE 12/27/08 @ 1016am:
The view from my balcony Saturday morning.
Oh, and did I mention the fog? Cold snow + warm air temps = heavy, heavy fog. Driving home from my folks' place tonight was... exciting, in an unpleasant way. At one point, I had one eye on the yellow line to my left and the other eye on the faint pair of brakelights a handful of car-lengths ahead of me. 30mph was the top speed I reached.
So, yeah, I'd like a nice, normal sort of winter day: high 20s, partly cloudy, maybe a flurry... that'd be nice.
UPDATE 12/27/08 @ 1016am:
The view from my balcony Saturday morning.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
10:50 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 155 words, total size 1 kb.
December 17, 2008
Content? Oh yeah, that...
Astute readers may have noticed a lack of actual content at The Pond recently. Fact of the matter is, I've not watched much anime (or much of anything else) recently. I've been far too busy at the Duck U. Bookstore (Buyback week), dealing with the weather and car problems, and enjoying the company of my houseguest to really do such things.
Example: Monday morning, my car was completely frozen shut. All four doors and the trunk, entirely iced over. Wound up having to take a taxi into work, but only after the driver's side door-handle had come off in my hand. Might have had something to do with the nigh-on-zero temperatures we had Sunday night... and the rain we had Sunday afternoon. We had a fifty degree temperature swing in under six hours: iceblox city.
So today, my car went into the dealership to get both handles on the driver's door fixed, and while the door now has handles, they screwed up the lock and mangled the car key. Fortunately, I have a spare, but that's the sort of luck I'm having.
Monday night I watched some Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka, but I couldn't tell you anything about the episode. It was funny, it made me laugh, but if someone put a gun to my head, I wouldn't be able to say why.
So until my life slows down a little bit, expect light and fluffy, mostly content-free posting... for example, here's a picture of Alice from ARIA:
Example: Monday morning, my car was completely frozen shut. All four doors and the trunk, entirely iced over. Wound up having to take a taxi into work, but only after the driver's side door-handle had come off in my hand. Might have had something to do with the nigh-on-zero temperatures we had Sunday night... and the rain we had Sunday afternoon. We had a fifty degree temperature swing in under six hours: iceblox city.
So today, my car went into the dealership to get both handles on the driver's door fixed, and while the door now has handles, they screwed up the lock and mangled the car key. Fortunately, I have a spare, but that's the sort of luck I'm having.
Monday night I watched some Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka, but I couldn't tell you anything about the episode. It was funny, it made me laugh, but if someone put a gun to my head, I wouldn't be able to say why.
So until my life slows down a little bit, expect light and fluffy, mostly content-free posting... for example, here's a picture of Alice from ARIA:
She's crying over the lack of content, too...
Content-Free!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
09:20 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 261 words, total size 2 kb.
December 09, 2008
The ANGRIEST Car Ever.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
10:05 PM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 16 words, total size 1 kb.
December 08, 2008
I Sing The Praises...
The past 48 hours have been kinda ugly around Pond Central.
First, Saturday was the memorial service for my grandmother. It was very nice, but more than a little stressful.
Meanwhile, the Official Car of Wonderduck's Pond, a 1996 Toyota Camry, has been feeling a little ill. Instead of purring like a kitten, over a period of a couple of months its begun purring like a lion. It was still a purr, yes, but louder than normal. Unfortunately, last Friday I began to smell the unmistakable odor of hot oil. A lot of it. So, I called the Official Mechanics of the Duck Family, Ricotta Automotive. We've been going to Ricotta's for nigh on 20 years, and we're all at the point with him where if he says something has to be done, we say "do it," we trust him that much. Tom Ricotta, the owner himself, said "have it here Monday morning, I'll work on it personally!" So, I traded cars with Ph.Duck, since I had to be at work Monday morning, and began to fret.
Sunday night, I visited Fark.com, specifically a Pearl Harbor thread that I'd made a couple of comments on... and my various anti-virus/spyware programs started freaking out. They said they caught a bit o' venom called Vundo (on my anti-virus program) and Virtumonde (on the spyware). Please note, I said that they said they'd caught it... nuh-uh. While I wasn't getting the popups, I was getting this symptom as described at the wikipedia page:
"Another symptom of Vundo may be the desktop icons will disappear and so will the taskbar and reappear after a short period. This becomes very frustrating if you are trying to run programs as they get automatically aborted."
Yes, quite frustrating. Vundo is EVIL, and nothing but. Five hours of trying to remove this beast, I had to go to bed, as today was the first day of textbook buyback at the Duck U. Bookstore.
Yes, buyback is here, and Wonderduck is in for a busy, busy time. Meanwhile, my computer is looking more and more like it'll need to have the C drive scraped clean and Windows reinstalled, and my car is in the shop (and lord knows what Tom is going to find, and how much it'll cost).
Around 11am, Tom calls. The oil smell is coming from some leaks on the cylinder heads, an easy fix, and relatively cheap at ~$250. Even better, he'll have it done today! Great! Do it! I hang up, humming, and go back to servicing students selling back their books. A lot of them. An awful lot of them. So many that I don't even get a chance to sip my gatorade. And then the phone rings again, an hour later. Caller ID says "Ricotta Automotive", and I'm suddenly worried again... much too fast. It's Tom again, saying there's another problem, much more serious. As he got the car up on a lift to change the oil, he discovered that the CV Boots on the Official Car of Wonderduck's Pond were both ruined. This is very bad, as it can make steering difficult. During the summer, it's not too bad, as there's little bad stuff to get into the joint/driveshaft, but during the winter, the lubricating grease leaks out and is replaced by snow, slush, and most importantly, road salt. This causes corrosion, as well as interfering with the steering... and, as a matter of fact, my steering WAS stiff last winter. My wallet screaming in agony, I tell him "fix it." Tom says he'll try find some rebuilt parts, try to save me money. A few hours later, he calls back: success! The Official Car is fixed, and the total cost is $500... the CV stuff could have cost as much as $900 alone! Fortunately, only one of the CV joints was bad, the other was still in good shape. Phew. One problem solved.
But then there's the computer. I do some research at the folks' place, find a couple of tools that might help, a set of instructions on manual removal of Vundo, and as a last resort, clear instructions on how to reinstall Windows.
I get back to Pond Central, metaphorically roll up my sleeves, and download a little thingy creatively entitled Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware ("it's like bringing a M4 to a knife fight"), freeware and with good reviews. Crossing my fingers, I tell it to run.
Nine minutes later, it reports that it has found 25 infected files and registry entries, and would I like to remove them? I'm not excited as I hit "yes", as the other tools also said much the same thing. It removes most of them, and it claims that the remaining three will be removed on reboot. Sure, okay, reboot. Whatever.
It worked. IT WORKED! This thing actually worked! After a few minutes of doing the Happy Ducky Dance, I run it again: nothing found! A few minutes of the Exultant Ducky Dance of Victory, and I hit the blog.
So I sing the praises of Tom Ricotta and Ricotta Automotive, and I sing the praises of Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware! Thank you, thank you both! I'll recommend either of them to anybody!!!
Meanwhile, the Official Car of Wonderduck's Pond, a 1996 Toyota Camry, has been feeling a little ill. Instead of purring like a kitten, over a period of a couple of months its begun purring like a lion. It was still a purr, yes, but louder than normal. Unfortunately, last Friday I began to smell the unmistakable odor of hot oil. A lot of it. So, I called the Official Mechanics of the Duck Family, Ricotta Automotive. We've been going to Ricotta's for nigh on 20 years, and we're all at the point with him where if he says something has to be done, we say "do it," we trust him that much. Tom Ricotta, the owner himself, said "have it here Monday morning, I'll work on it personally!" So, I traded cars with Ph.Duck, since I had to be at work Monday morning, and began to fret.
Sunday night, I visited Fark.com, specifically a Pearl Harbor thread that I'd made a couple of comments on... and my various anti-virus/spyware programs started freaking out. They said they caught a bit o' venom called Vundo (on my anti-virus program) and Virtumonde (on the spyware). Please note, I said that they said they'd caught it... nuh-uh. While I wasn't getting the popups, I was getting this symptom as described at the wikipedia page:
"Another symptom of Vundo may be the desktop icons will disappear and so will the taskbar and reappear after a short period. This becomes very frustrating if you are trying to run programs as they get automatically aborted."
Yes, quite frustrating. Vundo is EVIL, and nothing but. Five hours of trying to remove this beast, I had to go to bed, as today was the first day of textbook buyback at the Duck U. Bookstore.
Yes, buyback is here, and Wonderduck is in for a busy, busy time. Meanwhile, my computer is looking more and more like it'll need to have the C drive scraped clean and Windows reinstalled, and my car is in the shop (and lord knows what Tom is going to find, and how much it'll cost).
Around 11am, Tom calls. The oil smell is coming from some leaks on the cylinder heads, an easy fix, and relatively cheap at ~$250. Even better, he'll have it done today! Great! Do it! I hang up, humming, and go back to servicing students selling back their books. A lot of them. An awful lot of them. So many that I don't even get a chance to sip my gatorade. And then the phone rings again, an hour later. Caller ID says "Ricotta Automotive", and I'm suddenly worried again... much too fast. It's Tom again, saying there's another problem, much more serious. As he got the car up on a lift to change the oil, he discovered that the CV Boots on the Official Car of Wonderduck's Pond were both ruined. This is very bad, as it can make steering difficult. During the summer, it's not too bad, as there's little bad stuff to get into the joint/driveshaft, but during the winter, the lubricating grease leaks out and is replaced by snow, slush, and most importantly, road salt. This causes corrosion, as well as interfering with the steering... and, as a matter of fact, my steering WAS stiff last winter. My wallet screaming in agony, I tell him "fix it." Tom says he'll try find some rebuilt parts, try to save me money. A few hours later, he calls back: success! The Official Car is fixed, and the total cost is $500... the CV stuff could have cost as much as $900 alone! Fortunately, only one of the CV joints was bad, the other was still in good shape. Phew. One problem solved.
But then there's the computer. I do some research at the folks' place, find a couple of tools that might help, a set of instructions on manual removal of Vundo, and as a last resort, clear instructions on how to reinstall Windows.
I get back to Pond Central, metaphorically roll up my sleeves, and download a little thingy creatively entitled Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware ("it's like bringing a M4 to a knife fight"), freeware and with good reviews. Crossing my fingers, I tell it to run.
Nine minutes later, it reports that it has found 25 infected files and registry entries, and would I like to remove them? I'm not excited as I hit "yes", as the other tools also said much the same thing. It removes most of them, and it claims that the remaining three will be removed on reboot. Sure, okay, reboot. Whatever.
So I sing the praises of Tom Ricotta and Ricotta Automotive, and I sing the praises of Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware! Thank you, thank you both! I'll recommend either of them to anybody!!!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
09:57 PM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 871 words, total size 6 kb.
December 07, 2008
December 7th, 1941...
Mr Vice-President, Mr Speaker, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives:
Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
With confidence in our armed forces-with the unbounding determination
of our people-we will gain the inevitable triumph-so help us God.
Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the
solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government
and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.
Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing
Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague
delivered to the Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American
message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the
existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war
or armed attack.
It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
The attack yesterday on
the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and
military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition,
American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between
San Francisco and Honolulu.
Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island. This morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.
Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending
throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for
themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their
opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and
safety of our nation.
As Commander in Chief of the army and navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us.
No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated
invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through
to absolute victory. I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and
of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to
the uttermost but Will make very certain that this form of treachery
shall never endanger us again. Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly
attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, a state of war has existed
between the United States and the Japanese Empire.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
12:10 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 496 words, total size 4 kb.
December 01, 2008
Portal (Continued)
There is cake. You just can't have any.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
01:56 AM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 10 words, total size 1 kb.
November 30, 2008
Sad Duck In Snow, 2008 Edition.
For the third year in a row, it's looking like Duckford is going to be getting substantial amounts of winter dumped on it on this date.
In 2006, it was 12" of snow on November 30th. In 2007, it was snow and ice from November 30th to December 1st. This year, they've trundled out a Winter Storm Warning for 7" or more of the white stuff. It's been flurrying all day, and the skies look leaden and bitchy. I dunno if it's really going to happen, but suddenly I'm really glad I woke up ridiculously early. As a result, I wound up going to the grocery story, where maybe I wouldn't've if I had slept to my usual time on Sundays.
They also are saying that the winds'll be gusting to 35mph from the North this evening, which'll make me happy that Pond Central faces South.
Well, we'll see what happens... however, as is the norm with these Sad Duck In Snow posts, here's the usual photoshop:
Gotta admit... I'm still amused by it, after all these years.
UPDATE 857pm: 50 flights have been canceled at O'Hare, and delays of up to an hour are being reported... but Chicago is on the edge of the snow zone. I just took a look at Pond Central's parking lot, and there's maybe three inches on the ground already. It's supposed to keep doing this all night, too. The snow is very wet and soggy... good packing snow. The TV stations are saying that roads are snow-covered and treacherous. Whee.
UPDATE 954pm: The Winter Storm Warning was canceled at 945pm, but we're still supposed to get another four inches overnight, and maybe an inch more Monday morning. Slightly less "whee".
In 2006, it was 12" of snow on November 30th. In 2007, it was snow and ice from November 30th to December 1st. This year, they've trundled out a Winter Storm Warning for 7" or more of the white stuff. It's been flurrying all day, and the skies look leaden and bitchy. I dunno if it's really going to happen, but suddenly I'm really glad I woke up ridiculously early. As a result, I wound up going to the grocery story, where maybe I wouldn't've if I had slept to my usual time on Sundays.
They also are saying that the winds'll be gusting to 35mph from the North this evening, which'll make me happy that Pond Central faces South.
Well, we'll see what happens... however, as is the norm with these Sad Duck In Snow posts, here's the usual photoshop:
UPDATE 857pm: 50 flights have been canceled at O'Hare, and delays of up to an hour are being reported... but Chicago is on the edge of the snow zone. I just took a look at Pond Central's parking lot, and there's maybe three inches on the ground already. It's supposed to keep doing this all night, too. The snow is very wet and soggy... good packing snow. The TV stations are saying that roads are snow-covered and treacherous. Whee.
UPDATE 954pm: The Winter Storm Warning was canceled at 945pm, but we're still supposed to get another four inches overnight, and maybe an inch more Monday morning. Slightly less "whee".
Posted by: Wonderduck at
02:31 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 293 words, total size 2 kb.
November 28, 2008
My Four Favorite Wargames
Over at Twenty Sided, there recently was a post on Shamus' personal "Worst Rule Ever." Now, Shamus is primarily writing about Role Playing Game rules, but in the comments, there are more than a few board games involved. That post, the recent "Life Events" that have been occurring over here at The Pond, combined with the holiday season got me thinking of The Old Days. Long evenings and weekends spent poring over hex maps, sewing boards (huh?), and rolling dice... lots and lots of dice... pretty much all of which were really quite fun.
So I got to pondering: which of the games I played 30 years ago with Vaucaunson's Duck, Gainesburger, The Other Jeff and the rest of the crew did I like the most? In the end, I've whittled it down to four. It wasn't easy... quite a few really good games didn't make the cut (Snit's Revenge, Kingmaker, MAATAC and its sister game Star Fleet Wars, Squad Leader, and Wooden Ships & Iron Men, you were great)... but these four are all games that if someone said to me right now, "Hey Wonderduck, wanna play?", I'd drop everything.
They're in no particular order, so let's get started!
more...
So I got to pondering: which of the games I played 30 years ago with Vaucaunson's Duck, Gainesburger, The Other Jeff and the rest of the crew did I like the most? In the end, I've whittled it down to four. It wasn't easy... quite a few really good games didn't make the cut (Snit's Revenge, Kingmaker, MAATAC and its sister game Star Fleet Wars, Squad Leader, and Wooden Ships & Iron Men, you were great)... but these four are all games that if someone said to me right now, "Hey Wonderduck, wanna play?", I'd drop everything.
They're in no particular order, so let's get started!
more...
Posted by: Wonderduck at
11:12 PM
| Comments (11)
| Add Comment
Post contains 2062 words, total size 16 kb.
November 26, 2008
Portal
So I went out and purchased Portal today.
Um...
Wow, that's fun stuff.
Even the Strike Witches like it!
Um...
Wow, that's fun stuff.
Even the Strike Witches like it!
I think I'm going to be enjoying it for a long, long time.
Too bad there's the whole Steam activation thing. That's the only blemish on the whole concept. Other than that, though? Wow.
Too bad there's the whole Steam activation thing. That's the only blemish on the whole concept. Other than that, though? Wow.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
07:43 PM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 54 words, total size 1 kb.
November 23, 2008
Goodbye, Nonnie...
My grandmother passed away about a half-hour ago, at 1201am.
However, in the past week all her children came to see her. This included Duckey, Momzerduck's younger brother (JDuck is her "baby brother"), who I've only met once before even though he lives just up the road in Milwaukee. A couple of other assorted family members stopped in as well (we're actually a very small family; her visitors made up a substantial percentage of us).
She never regained consciousness after her stroke 10 days ago, but up until a couple of days ago, she still had some reaction to some external stimuli. Thursday, however, she stopped reacting to pain (to be clear: she was a diabetic, and her feet had large sores on them. When the nurses changed the dressings on her feet, she would grunt or twitch.).
The nurse that was with her at the end said that my grandmother made the transition from being alive to not being alive very quickly, with nary a sound or complaint.
While I'm not a Believer, my grandmother was. Because of that, I hope that she's truly in a better place, in the hands of the Lord she believed in.
Everybody, have some pierogi and kielbasa today if you can... she would have wanted it that way. Thank you all for your words and actions of support.
My grandmother passed away about a half-hour ago, at 1201am.
However, in the past week all her children came to see her. This included Duckey, Momzerduck's younger brother (JDuck is her "baby brother"), who I've only met once before even though he lives just up the road in Milwaukee. A couple of other assorted family members stopped in as well (we're actually a very small family; her visitors made up a substantial percentage of us).
She never regained consciousness after her stroke 10 days ago, but up until a couple of days ago, she still had some reaction to some external stimuli. Thursday, however, she stopped reacting to pain (to be clear: she was a diabetic, and her feet had large sores on them. When the nurses changed the dressings on her feet, she would grunt or twitch.).
The nurse that was with her at the end said that my grandmother made the transition from being alive to not being alive very quickly, with nary a sound or complaint.
While I'm not a Believer, my grandmother was. Because of that, I hope that she's truly in a better place, in the hands of the Lord she believed in.
Everybody, have some pierogi and kielbasa today if you can... she would have wanted it that way. Thank you all for your words and actions of support.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
01:00 AM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 227 words, total size 1 kb.
November 16, 2008
An Update
My grandmother's stroke occurred deep in the brain, in the area that controls the automatic functions of the body. While it left such things as heart and lung function more-or-less untouched, it took out most everything else. For example, you could shine a 5000w spotlight in her eyes, and the pupils wouldn't constrict. She's unable to swallow. Her hands are partially clenched. It goes without saying that she's not regained consciousness since the event.
As she had signed a living will forbidding 'heroic measures', including a feeding tube, upon consultation with Momzerduck and JDuck, she was released from the hospital on Saturday. She's returned to the nursing home she'd been at for the past couple of months, and is closely attended by Hospice staff, who will keep her comfortable until the end.
She's not expected to make it through the week.
My grandmother's stroke occurred deep in the brain, in the area that controls the automatic functions of the body. While it left such things as heart and lung function more-or-less untouched, it took out most everything else. For example, you could shine a 5000w spotlight in her eyes, and the pupils wouldn't constrict. She's unable to swallow. Her hands are partially clenched. It goes without saying that she's not regained consciousness since the event.
As she had signed a living will forbidding 'heroic measures', including a feeding tube, upon consultation with Momzerduck and JDuck, she was released from the hospital on Saturday. She's returned to the nursing home she'd been at for the past couple of months, and is closely attended by Hospice staff, who will keep her comfortable until the end.
She's not expected to make it through the week.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
04:11 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 143 words, total size 1 kb.
November 13, 2008
On Hold
Early Wednesday morning, my elderly maternal grandmother suffered what appears to have been a large stroke. She's in an intensive care ward here in Duckford, and is unresponsive to most external stimuli. Any reactions that have been reported have been fleeting, and possibly imaginary.
I'm more concerned about Momzerduck right now. She says she's relaxed and calm about the possibilities, but it's my job to worry about her.
For some reason, I find I've a distinct lack of motivation in regards to blogging at the moment. The Pond, therefore is going to take a short break. It might be a couple of days, or a week, or whatever. See you then.
Early Wednesday morning, my elderly maternal grandmother suffered what appears to have been a large stroke. She's in an intensive care ward here in Duckford, and is unresponsive to most external stimuli. Any reactions that have been reported have been fleeting, and possibly imaginary.
I'm more concerned about Momzerduck right now. She says she's relaxed and calm about the possibilities, but it's my job to worry about her.
For some reason, I find I've a distinct lack of motivation in regards to blogging at the moment. The Pond, therefore is going to take a short break. It might be a couple of days, or a week, or whatever. See you then.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
10:08 AM
| Comments (5)
| Add Comment
Post contains 113 words, total size 1 kb.
November 08, 2008
A Public Apology
In the past, there has been one actor out there that I have never particularly cared for, despite the general adulation bestowed upon him. I've seen quite a few of this particular actor's films, and my reaction has always been "meh," or "yech", depending on the role. It's always seemed to me that all he could do is "ridiculously over the top", much like all Keanu Reeves can do is "laid-back slackmeister".
However, I have just seen a movie that has changed my opinion on this particular actor.
That movie was Sweeny Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and that actor is Johnny Depp.
I've seen the stage musical a number of times, though I never worked on a production. I've seen poor Sweenys, acceptable Sweenys, and excellent Sweenys, but none of them "got" Todd the way Depp did. The amount of effort he had to put into the role impressed the hell out of me; Sweeny Todd is a musical, and Depp is not naturally a singer. Unfortunately, there's not a heck of a lot anybody can do about that, but yet he pulled it off. Oh, don't get me wrong, it's hardly Broadway-quality, and indeed, I've heard community theatre singers with more force and grasp of vocal ability, but you can tell that, instinctively, Depp made it right for him.
Depp played the role in a way quite opposite of what I'm used to, in a very still and tightly controlled way. It's only when the blood begins to flow (and the movie does this right, with lots of it) that Depp's Todd gets to be let free of the emotional chains.
This film single-handedly got the miserable taste of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory AND his Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy out of my mouth. He got an Academy Award nomination (Best Actor) for this movie, and it was well, well deserved.
So to Johnny Depp, I apologize. NICE job.
However, I have just seen a movie that has changed my opinion on this particular actor.
That movie was Sweeny Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and that actor is Johnny Depp.
I've seen the stage musical a number of times, though I never worked on a production. I've seen poor Sweenys, acceptable Sweenys, and excellent Sweenys, but none of them "got" Todd the way Depp did. The amount of effort he had to put into the role impressed the hell out of me; Sweeny Todd is a musical, and Depp is not naturally a singer. Unfortunately, there's not a heck of a lot anybody can do about that, but yet he pulled it off. Oh, don't get me wrong, it's hardly Broadway-quality, and indeed, I've heard community theatre singers with more force and grasp of vocal ability, but you can tell that, instinctively, Depp made it right for him.
Depp played the role in a way quite opposite of what I'm used to, in a very still and tightly controlled way. It's only when the blood begins to flow (and the movie does this right, with lots of it) that Depp's Todd gets to be let free of the emotional chains.
This film single-handedly got the miserable taste of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory AND his Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy out of my mouth. He got an Academy Award nomination (Best Actor) for this movie, and it was well, well deserved.
So to Johnny Depp, I apologize. NICE job.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
09:43 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 333 words, total size 2 kb.
November 06, 2008
Hey, Wonderduck... What Ever Happened With That DVD Drive?
Some months ago, I asked for advice regarding a DVD drive that kept ejecting at random times completely on its own.
Well, reader pxcasey suggested that it was probably just a defective drive. Guess what? Defective drive, yep.
Thanks to the untimely demise of Momzerduck's computer*, I now have an exact duplicate of the original DVD drive (just made by LiteOn, instead of a company who's name doesn't even appear on the case). After an hour's worth of installation struggle, I just gave it a test-run... total and complete success. No ejecting on its own, no hesitation in reading, no problems of any sort.
...and before you all begin to think I'm a complete incompetent when it comes to installing computer hardware (I heard a lot of you thinking "one hour to install a drive? The hell?"), one of the bottom corners of the drive was poorly constructed. When I slid it into the drive bay, the corner actually bent... and I couldn't flatten it without a hammer, which would probably be bad for the drive. But what should have been a quick pop out/pop in thing became a little more complex. After a quick and dirty bit of case modding involving a screwdriver and one of the install rails, I was eventually able to get the thing installed. And all is right with Chiyo-chan once again!
*Momzerduck's motherboard kicked the bucket, I think because of a particularly nasty thunderstorm. It wasn't zorched immediately, but lingered for a couple of weeks. I troubleshot everything I could, and then it was time to call in the big guns: my uncle, JDuck, who works at Lawrence-Livermore Labs. He has a collection of diagnostic tools that'd make your head spin, and he was able to confirm the death of the mobo. Unfortunately, Momzerduck's 'puter used a BTX mobo. It was actually cheaper for JDuck to buy a slightly used ATX system and install the hard-drive from the dead one in it. Miracles of miracles, there wasn't even a problem with the system recognizing the old install of Windows, a stroke of luck and a huge saver of time. Anyway, JDuck sent me the spare DVD drive, and the rest is history.
Well, reader pxcasey suggested that it was probably just a defective drive. Guess what? Defective drive, yep.
Thanks to the untimely demise of Momzerduck's computer*, I now have an exact duplicate of the original DVD drive (just made by LiteOn, instead of a company who's name doesn't even appear on the case). After an hour's worth of installation struggle, I just gave it a test-run... total and complete success. No ejecting on its own, no hesitation in reading, no problems of any sort.
...and before you all begin to think I'm a complete incompetent when it comes to installing computer hardware (I heard a lot of you thinking "one hour to install a drive? The hell?"), one of the bottom corners of the drive was poorly constructed. When I slid it into the drive bay, the corner actually bent... and I couldn't flatten it without a hammer, which would probably be bad for the drive. But what should have been a quick pop out/pop in thing became a little more complex. After a quick and dirty bit of case modding involving a screwdriver and one of the install rails, I was eventually able to get the thing installed. And all is right with Chiyo-chan once again!
*Momzerduck's motherboard kicked the bucket, I think because of a particularly nasty thunderstorm. It wasn't zorched immediately, but lingered for a couple of weeks. I troubleshot everything I could, and then it was time to call in the big guns: my uncle, JDuck, who works at Lawrence-Livermore Labs. He has a collection of diagnostic tools that'd make your head spin, and he was able to confirm the death of the mobo. Unfortunately, Momzerduck's 'puter used a BTX mobo. It was actually cheaper for JDuck to buy a slightly used ATX system and install the hard-drive from the dead one in it. Miracles of miracles, there wasn't even a problem with the system recognizing the old install of Windows, a stroke of luck and a huge saver of time. Anyway, JDuck sent me the spare DVD drive, and the rest is history.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
09:07 PM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 377 words, total size 3 kb.
November 04, 2008
So...
...was there something going on today?
Posted by: Wonderduck at
10:40 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 7 words, total size 1 kb.
105kb generated in CPU 0.3209, elapsed 0.4715 seconds.
59 queries taking 0.415 seconds, 359 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
59 queries taking 0.415 seconds, 359 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
