Todays favourite track

I love this. I haven't got a clue who they are or what they are singing about, but the 'swing' of it is excellent. Freja and I danced to it and we copied each others moves. The Snoos can certainly swing her bottom when she's inspired!

I also came across a Miles Davis track I quite like, which is simply amazing. I never believed I would ever like anything Miles Davis did, but I guess we evolve with time in ways we can't possibly begin to imagine in the early days of adulthood. Whilst its a great track, its no where near as good as 'I be blowin' by De La Soul & Maceo though.

Designing Rocketman

Its not easy designing a rocket pack wearing hero if your attempting anything resembling historical accuracy. Apart from the obvious lack of flying men in 1936, there is also the small fact of just how would a man in 1936 go about using a rocket strapped to his back? How would he control it? How would he steer it? Disney's 'Rocketeer', set in 1938 uses the simplest of control mechanisms. A simple on off button and a fin on the Rocketeers helmet to steer. This gives Rocketeer a very nice art deco helmet, but it begs the question, how can you see whats going on around you if turning your head turns your trajectory? I'm not convinced that the human form is aerodynamic enough to make a fin on a guys head all that effective either. In the recent movice 'Iron Man' the Iron man steers (in flight) by virtue of two thrusters on his palms. This would probably work if it were possible to actually build small retro rockets on Rocketman's palms, or perhaps his fore arms, but unfortunately (as my brother Philip pointed out) firing these might actually break his wrists. Iron man has power armour where as Rocketman, operating in the 1930's has only the most meager technology at his disposal and his armour is wholly inferior.

So here is what I've come up with. The main garment is a modified, padded flight suit with an asbestos lining. Over this he wears a 'chemico' flak jacket (these were originally employed by the British in World War One) with an attached groin shield. On his head Rocketman wears a modified paratroopers helmet with a fin. The idea is this assists in steering the rocket, though the rocket pack has its own steering system with smaller retro-jets behind each shoulder. Rocketman wears standard pilots goggles and his face and neck are covered with a silk scarf.

His lower arms are protected by steel vambraces with the left arm terminating in the rocket control mechanism (don't ask me how this works because I don't have a clue, its classified top secret). The controls for the pumps, and the master control switch for the rocket pack are located on the belt. Rocketman wears steel capped boots and steel greaves (with asbestos lining) to protect his legs. The pistol is a .455 Webley-Fosbery automatic revolver, though this is not Rocketmans usual fire arm (that being a ZK383 heavy submachine gun).

On the whole I quite like it. It looks home made and has a certain period feel to it. Its not flashy at all and doesn't make him look like a 'super hero' which I like. The whole idea is, Rocketman fits in with the other weird tech that characterizes the RM games.

Moifling Nr 2

Yesterday we went to the hospital for Mette's first ultra sound scan, only to find, to our surprise that she is a whole month further ahead than we realised. This means the baby will be born in the first half of February. Currently the new moifling is about 16cm long. The ultra sound scan revealed a little hand with four stubby fingers waving at us, but alas, the picture we got as a print was less charming. Gender was not established, mostly because the nurses were understaffed (due to illness in the dept) and because they were all worked up about the wrong date. It seems that it is to late to establish certain facts regarding the health of the baby, and they cannot tell if it has Downs Syndrome or not and this is of great concern apparently. It doesn't really matter to us because we wouldn't terminate a child just because it had Downs Syndrome. That would be horrible.

Hopefully, moifling nr 2 is a healthy little sprog though. It certainly looked lively (and big). The nurses called in another woman, but whether she was a doctor, another nurse, a tecnician or just a curious passer by was never explained. This new woman took a good long look and declared the baby looked good as far as she could make out. Quite how they can make out anything in that mass of grainy shadows is beyond me, but they seemed happy. They made all the usual female signs of satisfaction, so I took heart from that.

Still not got any good idea as to a male name yet. We can't agree on any at all. Mette likes Biblical names, though she isn't religious at all, where as I prefer Nordic names.

Bittersweet symphony

Jules at AD reminded me of this song yesterday. I'd almost forgotten it.
I never could understand the point of the video, but the song is great!

I can change!

edited to add:

CP over at AD made a comment regarding Koko Taylor, and I looked her up on You Tube. I quite like her!

il girasole

Its beena long long while since I posted anything from the 1930's, but here is a post about the amazing mechanical house; il girasole (The Sunflower). Built in Italy by a nautical engineer named Angelo Invernizzi from 1929 to 1935, this is nothing less than a house built to rotate, that it might always face the sun! As you can see from the images, the house is divided in two. The upper chambers revolve around the tower, which is 43 metres tall and the lower chambers are static. A curious corckscrew staircase appears to connect the two in a manner which suggests it revolves along with the upper levels. The whole thing is powered by two motors which have a combined output of 3hp. The 1,500 ton building is said to able to complete one revolution every nine hours.
All it needs now is a death ray concealed in the top of that tower, or a secret rocket silo hidden underneath the revolving building and this is the perfect villains lair!


More images

Models

At the moment I'm obsessed with idea's for Rocketman Extremis, and buying various stuff to build up the forces I shall need to run a multiple tank per side battle. The idea is, to run a five game campaign where the 'good guys' have only limited resources. To that end I have recently purchased a few models. I still have a lot of purchases left to complete what I need, but in the mean time, here is a review of the quality of various vehicle models.

Vickers Mk II medium tank
By Copplestone Casting
Price: £19:00

This is the model which inspired me towards a full on tank vs tank Rocketman game. I've always regarded the Vickers MkII as the quintessential example of 'daft pre war tank design'. It was designed to be a light tank, but in those days when they had tanks so small they called them tankette's, the Mk II was something of a heavy weight in the British arsenal. It had five crew and no less than seven weapons. The British used these tanks in Africa but they never really saw combat.
The model is approx 1/50 scale, and as far as I can tell, is exactly the right size for 28mm games. As you can see in the images below, the top of a mans head is about level with the rear of the tanks body (so much for low profiles) and the Copplestone model is exactly the same. The model itself is resin, comes in four main parts (with four metal gun barrels) and is extremely easy to asssemble. The only minus is the quality of the cast, which mine has slight air bubble damage and a few blurred details (but not enough to prevent me from buying three more of these in the not too distant future I hope). 5/5

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Austin armoured car
By Sloppy Jalopy
Price: £15.00

I got a shock when I opened the packet and saw this monster for its a huge model, so big that I thought there had to be an error of some kind.
The problem is, this model is 1/48 scale and although some people prefer this scale for wargaming in 28mm I think its fairly obvious that the vehicles are just too big. You can see how big the Austin really was below, where the top of the tallest guys head comes to the lower edge of the turret. By comparison my 28mm figure's head comes to about half way down the vehicles body. I can get around this problem by using the Austin model as an armoured truck based on the Austin armoured car but its a hassle when a model is sold for 28mm games, but is so innacurate. Whats even worse is the model isn't even very well made. The rivets on the body are very badly done and the cast is messy and full of flash. The model comprises of one resin body and 18 metal parts. 2/5

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Ford AA pick up truck
By Sloppy Jalopy
Price: £11:00

A far better model than the Austin armoured car, and a model not uncomfortable with being 1/48 scale in a 28mm game. Yes its a tad big, but its a truck and it looks right, and thats what counts.
The Ford AA was manufactured in huge numbers, and was built in the Soviet Union as the GAZ AA, so its a great model for the 1930's period, and I may buy another at some point. There are four different versions available.
The model is all metal and has 23 parts. Some parts do not fit together very well, but a little filing and some green stuff can see it right. 3/5

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Morris 15 CWT
By Company B.
Price: $30:00

On the Brigade games web shop, this model looked great. Since it says 28mm in the page header I assumed that the driver in the picture was a 28mm figure, but alas, he isn't. He's more like a 25mm figure, and a small one at that! Consequently my heart sank when I saw the model for the first time. Instead of a heavy duty truck, I've bought something that looks like a soap box go-cart. I'm so disapointed with it that, try as I might, I can't see much use in it. I may scrap this model and convert it to a destroyed vehicle unit. A few other companies make similar models (but are mostly SAS desert Chevrolets) so I may have to find a decent replacement. The problem is, this model is a 1/56 scale model and 1/56 is just too small. I maintain that 1/50 scale is the best scale for 28mm figures, but so few models are made in 1/50, where as, 1/56 scale is pretty wide spread. I wouldn't mind if it just didn't look so stupid!
The model itself is okay, as a model. It has two main resin parts and 12 metal parts. It gives you the choice btween a soft top up and down and the driver has a choice of three heads. If it were just the right scale it would be perfect, but as looks are everything in 28mm gaming models, then I'm afraid this model was a waste of money 1/5

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Ford model T
armoured pick up
By Company B.
Price: $17:00

I bought two of these under the same false advirtising as the Morris 15cwt. Assuming they were compatable with 28mm figures, I was amazed and dsimayed at how small and ridiculous these models looked. The machine gunner figure which sits in the back looks like a child compared to my regular 28mm figures. Once again the 1/56 scale, this time coupled with the small size of the Ford Model, T is the culprit. The models are decent enough, as models, but they are practically useless for the purpose I had intended, which is a shame because these models would be perfect for 1920's to 1930's period games, especially dealing with Bolsheviks. I'm not sure what I'll do with these. (I wonder if Oleg has any use for them as qionst vehicles...?)
The models have a single resin body and 17 metal parts. 1/5

Anatomy of a hack

Oleg sent me the link to this article, and its well worth reading by those who run blogs!

Alatriste

Dir: Agustin Díaz Yanes. 2006.

Apparently the most expensive Spanish language film ever made (28 million USD), this 2½ hour spectacle features Viggo Mortensen as the dashing soldier, Capitan Alatriste. A veteran of the Spanish wars in Flanders and a sword for hire in the dark under belly of Madrid, circa mid 1600's.

I've begun reading the books by Arturo Réverte-Peres and so far I am only half way through the second one, but even with so little to go on, I can see this film has failed utterly to capture the dusty hot ambience of the books, or the wealth of detail Réverte-Peres invested in his novels. Its as if the film makers decided they were only going to get one chance and so they put all their eggs into one basket. Instead of concentrating on the story of the first book, which I believe could easily have made a decent 140 minute film, they taken all the books and lumped them together into one long rambling movie.

My friends and I watched this tonight with varying levels of confusion, detached curiosity and ironic sarcasm. No one thought much of the film, all agreed that the editting was ridiculous though the consensus was forgiving with regards to the visuals which were mostly good, especially the old corridors and buildings. The costumes were fantastic too. The battle scenes varied from good to down right terrible (think of dark shapes moving about the screen and grunting for five minutes) and there were some sword fights which bordered on the impressive but just failed to get there. The acting seemed okay, but given how disjointed the story was, it simply fell apart. There were too many characters who you knew were supposed to be important, but who's screen presence was so short lived, you never got to appreciate them. Viggo Mortensen was on the screen for most of the film and I'm guessing Díaz Yanes couldn't get enough of Mortensen's big screen aura, his PR department have certainly banked heavily on it. I got the feeling that much of this film was a chance for various Spanish actors to share the lime light.

On the whole, 'Alatriste' doesn't even come close to giving Réverte-Peres's novels the illustration they deserve. The film is long, confusing and difficult to invest attention in.


Next, I'd like to see the Italian film 'The Profession of Arms' from 2001, alas, to date it has not been released on DVD with English subtitles.

Artist of Month: Alex Kanevsky

I almost forgot Augusts artist of the month, and I was looking forwards to this one before I went to France. He totally slipped my mind in the mean time. Thus is the curse of chronic decay. Alex Kanevsky is a Russian born American artist whose abstract style, monochromatic silent spaces and near photographic obsessive focus appeal to me. Some of his pictures actually look as if they were simply painted over photographs, which deception I find sort of annoying as they aren't, where as others are very obviously influenced by photographic reference, which is understandable given his overall style and body of work.


And thats about all I can say about Kanevsky without talking a lot of bollocks. I don't know much about him at all. Naturally I like his figurative work the best, the above is very good. I could think of a way he might improve on his portfolio in that regard, but thats probably just my favourite prejudism talking. I would hang it on my wall if I were rich enough to buy it.

Freja: 3 years old

Watching Pingu, eating home made ice cream

Freja has begun Kindergarten (as of yesterday). We've been really lucky to get her into one of the few outdoor kindergartens on offer in Århus. She will spend most of her time outside, even when its raining, as the idea is to get the children out and active. Frankly its the best possible thing for The Snoos, who is full of energy these days and being couped up in the apartment watching 'Pingu' or 'Franklin the (bile inducing )Turtle' isn't doing her any good.

At the Kindergarten she has been issued with her own, very practical rucksack, will get taught about fire and knives and safety first, and all the kids go on nature expeditions into Moesgaard forest or to the sea so it should be heaven on Earth for little Freja Olivia!

On Sunday (17th) Freja enjoyed her birthday party (though her birthday is actually the 13th), with a few friends and her grandparents over to provide gifts and entertainment. Its amazing how fast her development has been. I know thats a complete cliché and all parents watch their children growing with the same feelings of disbelief, pride and regret, but its such a strange sensation to look at this 'new person', so 'embedded' into ones life that one cannot even imagine life without them any more. Freja is so big a factor in our lives now that its especially poigniant to consider that in six months time she will for ever be a big sister. Not only has our life been irreversably changed but hers is about to too.

From 2 days to 3 years