Some Pictures

It Was 1978


The Year the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox last staged a duel to the end; and in the 1-game play-off, Bucky Dent hit that famous homerun that earned him a middle name starting with 'F'. I was watching it on TV and lept out of my seat with joy and amazement. Anyway, the Yankees went onto the World Series and my favorite Yankee of that era made some amazing, amazing defensive plays at third base, time and time again.

The photo here is from the Encyclopedia Britannica Year Book 1979 I happened to be flipping through. It's Graig Nettles, flying through the air sideways like Superman, snatching bullet liners down the third base line. You'd better believe it; it was just amazing. He was the slugging third baseman of the New York Yankees; just like A-Rod is today (only better, of course).
In another life, that's what I'd be.

The Battleship Yamato





I found these pickies of the battleship Yamato on the net. As a kid back in 1978, I was really into the warships of the late Imperial Japanese Navy. If you were going to build a battleship in the late 1930's, this was how you did it. Nine 45cm Canons 273m long. 70,000 tons. 27knots. All muscle and punch.
I know, it's a big contradiction that I'd be into readng about the IJN, but also cheering on the New York Yankees. But you see, life was always complex for me.

Aeronautical Marvels




While I'm at it...
I've found these pickies of Mitsubishi's final interceptor design for WWII, 'Shinden'. Some real buffs have been creating some images in 3D. If these things had seen operation... ...oh what the hell. It's not like it would've changed the outcome one tiny bit. :)

Anyway, for those who ever wondered about how 'out there' the avionics understood by the Japanese wer ein 1945, take a good look at it; 6-blade rear-mounted turbo props. After WWII, the Americans under Macarthur forbade the Japanese from developing any planes of any description. Indeed, even in the 1980s, there was enough American paranoia about the Japanese developing their own fighter Jet. So they told the Japanese to develop it from a F-15. Then US Congress got paranoid some more and legislated that the Japanese had to work off a F-16. I don't know if the 'FSX' ever got finished. If you ever wondered how much Congress was in the pockets of the MIC, you only had to look at that wrangling to realise that no US pollie is ever going to say, "who cares if the Japanese develop their own fighter jet?"