Friday, April 30, 2010

We Were Pirates: A Torpedoman's Pacific War


Ok. Odd admission here. While at work, I sometimes listen to a podcast called The Pritzker Military Library. Basically, they've got hundreds of interviews of veterans and authors, chronicling their stories or currents works. So you can get an old man talking about how he won the Navy Cross choking out an Nazi, or an author detailing the first battle of the Marne in World War One. Often you get monotone droning that puts you to sleep. Sometimes though, you will hear a grown man's heart break as he retells one of these difficult moments from his long life. It can be quite moving and always interesting.

This book "We Were Pirates" by Robert Shultz/James Shell covers a young sailors adventures in the South Pacific including combat and shore leave. If you catch my drift.
Robert Hunt managed to survive twelve consecutive war patrols on the submarine USS Tambor. During the course of the war, Hunt was everywhere that mattered in the Pacific. He stood on the bow of the Tambor as it cruised into Pearl Harbor just days after the devastation of the Japanese air raid, peered through binoculars as his boat shadowed Japanese cruisers at the Battle of Midway, ferried guns and supplies to American guerilla fighters in the Philippines, fired torpedoes that sank vital Japanese shipping, and survived a near-fatal, seventeen-hour depth-charge attack. For exceptional skill and proficiency at his battle station Hunt received a commendation from Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. This WWII torpedoman's account of the war offers the rare perspective of an enlisted seaman that is not available in the more common officer accounts. To capture and recount the progress of the Pacific War through Hunt's eyes coauthors Robert Schultz and James Shell examined the young submariner's war diary, as well as crew letters, photographs, and captains' reports, and they also conducted hours of interviews. Their vivid descriptions of the ways in which sailors dealt with the stress of war while at sea or on liberty show a side of the war that is rarely reported.

USS Tambor's Wikipedia link here.


(Below) Robert Hunt during the war years.




Thursday, April 29, 2010

Die Antwoord-Zef Side

Always liked this video.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

I do love his songs...

Man, I forgot how big of an asshole Foghorn Leghorn was. And violent. But you know what, he did it HIS way. He should have had a glass of bourbon and a cee-gar drawn into his hands. He's already beating animals, giving unsolicited advice. Why stop there?


Monday, April 26, 2010

Labour

Ran into two buddies of mine this weekend. Ryan Dunn and Wyeth Hansen, founders of creative studio Labour, whom I've always been a fan of. This creative duo always manages to interject their laid-back style and humor into all their design work. Stand-Up cats they are. Check out reel below.

Labour Show Reel from Labour on Vimeo.

Friday, April 23, 2010

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Footnote: From an unknown Tumblr account.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Gang Starr's Guru Dies of Cancer 4.19.10


43 years old. The Originals. I have so many great memories associated with this groups songs. First time ever was in my buddy's white Oldsmobile. Jazzmatazz, Full-Clip... really a sad day. Guru, Rest in Peace.



Friday, April 16, 2010

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Thursday, April 15, 2010

Lauren Bacall

Make Haste!

GodSpeed 45/06 Documents 1 + 2
A quarterly collection of photographs documenting bike builders, their work, and their workspaces.

Looks great. Tuff. Well designed. Well photographed. Check it out brother!


Monday, April 12, 2010

Cincinnati Dispatch #03



Charlie Harper: An Illustrated LIfe (Hardcover)
Charlie Harper's illustrated works of various wildlife and natural environments were a huge influence on me as a kid growing up in Cincinnati. His clean-line illustrations were ubiquitous, from the Krohn Conservatory to Nation Park Service posters. It also seemed like every doctor or dentist office in town had a framed print of his.

Charlie Harper passed away on Sunday, June 10th, 2007. He was 85.












Friday, April 09, 2010

Sometimes. But rarely.





Thursday, April 08, 2010

Kyrgyzstan is free...

and oddly stylish.

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Wednesday, April 07, 2010

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Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Oui!


Spring 1944. Another target for Operation Strangle. "French airmen hit a pinpoint target. Flying with the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces under the tricolor of France, the Frenchmen split a vital rail bridge 600 feet long and 15 feet wide at the Piteccio viaduct in central Italy. On the wing of the American-made B-26 bomber may be seen the roundel of the French Air Force."

(Check out the bombardier leaning forward in the nose.)

Via Shorpy