Christ And Samaritan by Henryk Siemiradzki, 1890.

Just finished watching Nick Of Time (1995) and The Falcon And The Snowman (1985)...

Just finished watching Hell In The Pacific (1968) and Shazam! Fury Of The Gods (2023)...

The Impact of Akira: The Film that Changed Everything

Hey. Akira’s a pretty good movie. Kind of changed the history of anime. Gonna talk about it now.

Now listening to Stand! by Sly And The Family Stone and A Flock Of Seagulls by A Flock Of Seagulls...

On Drake Street in Downtown Vancouver. Summer of 2018.

 

Front Mission 3 | Classic Review

https://vocal.media/gamers/front-mission-3

A few years ago, when the first fire emblem games started coming out in the US a lot of people were telling me to try them out. They said things like, if you love RPG’s, you will love turn based strategy RPG’s. So, I rented the Gameboy Advanced version and, it did not click with me. It was not the perma-death I just would get bored. The fights take a long, long time and being thrown into the deep end with large units, you spend half an hour fighting a battle and then loose and have to start all the way at the beginning of the battle. I tried other games in the genre thinking I was just missing something. Like Phantom Brave or early Sega Shinning Force games for the Genesis, but it just never clicked with me. That was until I played Front Mission III. What made the difference for me? Why did it click when all the other games simply did not?

First, I really liked the story, at least one of them, let me explain. Set in an alternate future, not that different from our own you play as Kazuki on a mission to rescue his adopted sister or her real sister and save the world from the threat of Midas. Midas is the code name for a nuclear style weapon with the capability to level cities without the damaging fallout radiation. You team up with seven other characters to fight genetically enhanced super soldiers and world powers from all over the world to accomplish your personal and far-reaching mission. The story can play out in two ways depending on a seemingly ordinary decision that you are presented with in the opening minutes of the game. In fact, for a long time, I did not even know there were two campaigns as I always made the same choice in the narrative. Allies in one campaign become enemies in the other and vice versa. That said in neither campaign do you play “the bad guy” or the “good guy.” Kazuki is a good person and desires to do the right thing, but his potential allies are morally grey characters that are positively influenced by him as the story progresses. The two campaigns act as a, what might have been, to each other and are different narratively and even influence the battles and locations where you fight. That said I definitely prefer one campaign to the other, but it is cool that you have some options.

The main method of warfare consists of piloting Wanzers, large powerful mechs that you take control of, four at time, in battle against the many enemies you will face. It is epic stuff with all the combat, espionage and intrigue to make a Hollywood blockbuster. It is too bad that it all told through text boxes and the few cut scenes it has have not aged well. Especially the ones using the in-game engine where the humans look like they were cut from cardboard pieces. In short, the story is good however not terribly well told. Some of this is down to the PlayStation hardware, but the rest, well I will get back to that. I really did enjoy the story; I just wished more emphasis had been placed on its presentation.

Cut scenes and character models aside the game look pretty good even by today’s standards. It may lack in the color department, but it portrays a realistic gritty world marred by war. The Wanzers look great, and it is clear they received most of the budget for 3D models and 2D sprites. Both of these are presented together for wide battlefield shots and closer combat views. The transition between these two modes holds up to this day and is impressive given hardware limitations. However, background texture mapping suffers from the texture warping common on the hardware. Music fits the game though sitting here writing I cannot recall any of it, though I never felt removed from the experience by it. As stated, most of the story is told through text boxes. The dialogue is pretty wordy and none of it is voiced, but the character portraits are good and the backgrounds for these scenes are rarely reused unless it is appropriate to do so, as in we are in the same place as before. Easily the most impressive presentation piece is the internet feature. Throughout the game you will have access to a fictional internet service with email, web addresses, shopping and more. This is expanded through exploring and interacting with the few NPC's, main characters and even in battle. It is fun to poke around in and is a unique experience.

Typical to the genre, all of this game is menus. In a town? Menu. In a battle? Menu. Shopping? Menu. So, the skill gap for the game is low, precision platform skills are not needed. That is not to say that the game has no challenge or that it is easy. In a battle you can control four Wanzers. Rarely you may have support, but you cannot control their actions, always you will have enemies and from the start you will almost always be outnumbered and outgunned. The challenge comes with maximizing your damage dealt while minimizing damage taken and meeting your objectives. Usually, the objectives are always “destroy all enemies,” but occasionally you will have others as well. Best of all though you can fight with all your strength without fear of consequence. Playing Shinning Force, I was always afraid to commit the main character to battle because if he dies game over and in Fire Emblem, with the threat of perma-death that becomes true of every character. So, you hold back your best characters, which means they don’t level, and they become useless. In Front Mission there is no experience just money which you use to upgrade equipment. You can earn abilities for characters through ability points earned in battle, but it is not the main focus. But best of all if the main character goes down, you can keep fighting and he will be back for the next battle. The challenge is just not losing all Wanzers, which is plenty because of how often you are outnumbered. Many times, I wished I could field all my characters, having seven total, but the challenge of the game is in the four character limit. So, things are balanced and if you do not mind a lot of menus then the control is very applicable to the game play style. This also makes the game more manageable. Battles are still long but with so many moving elements like damaged parts needing to be repaired I found the combat more engaging.

The only level design to speak of is the battle maps. These are varied and add challenges through terrain and cover. Say your character is getting pummeled seeking cover behind objects can affect the enemies aim and give you some time to recover and heal. Range is a factor to every action thanks to varied enemy types and range is easily affected by the unique environments and obstacles. A few maps can be revisited in the simulator to earn more money and try out new skills or weapons. I wish there were more simulated maps, or even if all of them could be unlocked, but this does not seem to be the case. In brief I never encountered a map where I thought that it was unfair or uninteresting.

I have finally found a strategy game that I can get into. The combat feels snappy and rewarding and the battles are, for me, fun. The story is full of intrigue despite its limited presentation. I find myself going back to replay it fairly often. I picked up part one on the DS and part 4 for the PS2 and I am looking forward to trying both of them. Maybe all the formula needed for me was giant fighting robots. I would absolutely love a modern remake of three though it will probably never happen. I fully recommend the game.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) - Sam Raimi | Review | AllMovie

https://www.allmovie.com/movie/doctor-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness-v721028/review

In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, director Sam Raimi (Army of Darkness) takes a script by Michael Waldron (Loki) and creates an eye-popping masterpiece that combines horror and fantasy. Though the story suffers a bit from underdeveloped characters, the fantastic musical score and various visual components easily overcome its shortcoming.

Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) has nightmares of a horrific version of himself. Despite this, he tries to go about his daily life and attend the wedding of Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams). The nightmares come to partial reality after the ceremony when America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), the girl from his visions, becomes a stark reality in his universe. Now, Strange must combine his talents with those of sorcerer supreme Wong (Benedict Wong), and also the witchcraft of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), to prevent the destruction of the multiverse itself. But the first step is finding out who wants to steal America's hidden talent and why. The answer is as shocking as the intent.

Waldron has created a skillfully written, multi-layered story that is neither short on horror nor action. But he has done so at the expense of the individual characters. The focus, of course, is on Strange, and Cumberbatch continues to improve his game as the character. But despite introducing other heroes old and new, as well as the two female leads so prominently displayed on the poster, the characters are not fully developed; and so, the spotlight remains on Strange. It is also notable that anyone who hasn't seen the limited series WandaVision will be lost with the motivations of the Scarlet Witch. Nonetheless, this issue does not entirely take away from a thrilling storyline. Also, knowing Raimi's history as a director, chances are there wasn't any issue until the studio called for 35 minutes of cuts. Another reason, perhaps, is that the studio didn't want to take too much focus away from the lead character and shine it on those that will be more developed later.

The real co-stars of the show are the amazing visual effects and incredible score. In the past, there have been issues with CGI not looking organic. This is never the case here, whether there is a horror from another dimension on the screen or the characters are hurtling through space. Even by Marvel standards, this is a triumph. Every bit of music throughout, whether beautiful or discordant, fits perfectly with the action, especially one particular battle scene. The score demonstrates that Danny Elfman is still a master of writing for the strange and unusual, and, in fact, this is one of his best.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a visual feast with a great menu but small portions in the character-development course. The story is multi-faceted and visually stimulating, and every other aspect of the film more than overshadows any issue.

Review of ?i?The Saturn Game?/i? by Poul Anderson

http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2013/12/review-of-saturn-game-by-poul-anderson.html

Theater, war reenactments, Star Trek conventions, cosplay, video games, and several other aspects of society—new and old—feature adults consciously participating in a reality with an entirely different context than the accepted version: an imaginary reality.  Taking the idea and running with it, Poul Anderson’s 1981 novella The Saturn Game asks readers to not only suspend their reality to participate in the story, but to try to understand the realities the characters themselves are participating in.  The story perhaps capable of being improved in the hands of another writer, Anderson nevertheless tells a tale with a conclusion relevant to humanity on our side of the looking glass.

Opening on a bizarrely mythic note wherein characters speak to one another of epic matters in archaic English, the story quickly settles in to describe a group of explorers arriving at Saturn’s moon, Iapetus.  The five member crew, having spent the preceding months in transit, prepare to land and explore the iced-over rock which floats against the backdrop of the massive ringed planet.  The crew who land on the surface are participating in a game in which they agree to improvise upon unfolds in reality.  The only one who is not playing stays behind to watch over the lander while the remainder head off to explore the icy crags.  A small catastrophe occurring after the explorers mount an ice ridge, it quickly proves potentially deadly.  Their game interfering with the rescue, whether or not they will get back to the lander safely becomes a matter of reality.

The basic story of The Saturn Game is, in fact, quite simple: a planetary rescue.  Anderson adds depth by interweaving story segments from the characters’ imagined perspectives on reality.  Filled with archaic syntax and starring characterizations mythic in stature and tone, these segments appear and reappear like a sine curve.  Coinciding with the end of the story, the truth they come to is the heart of the story.  Not wanting to spoil matters, I will simply say that what seems odd, does converge to give the preceding juxtaposed pieces of text harmony and meaning.

The only real complaint about the novella is one which, unfortunately, results from comparison.  Having read Kim Stanley Robinson’ Mars trilogy, The Saturn Game’s science of planetary exploration, geology, and climatology feel half-baked—lacking in authenticity as it were.  I do not know enough of the sciences to say for certain whether Anderson knew what he was talking about or if he was simply appropriating the lingo for story purposes, but regardless, a simplicity exists which hurts rather than helps the story. Or, from another perspective, Robinson has spoiled it for everyone.

In the end, The Saturn Game is an interesting piece of science fiction for its play and examination of realities we know are not real yet willingly to participate in to create a perceived reality.  No better setting to elucidate this difference than the mortal danger of being the first group of intelligent astronauts to explore a planetary moon, the resulting story is the only one that could be told under the circumstances.  Anderson well known for his love of myth, fantasy and science fiction, it seems increasingly appropriate that such a story come from his fingertips.  The characters may be slightly wooden in profile, but their sentiments and conclusions take one more than one dimension.

Dark Souls Remastered Is Trash

More like Dark Souls Recycled.

Just finished watching Dark Night Of The Scarecrow (1981) and Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)...

What the Shadow of the Colossus Remake Doesn't Understand About Art [siegarettes]

Bluepoint's got a big bucket of particles effects and fur shaders for ya, all rendered at 4K 60FPS in HDR. That's gotta make a great game, right? Right?

Historic Areas of Istanbul

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/356

With its strategic location on the Bosphorus peninsula between the Balkans and Anatolia, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, Istanbul has been associated with major political, religious and artistic events for more than 2,000 years. Its masterpieces include the ancient Hippodrome of Constantine, the 6th-century Hagia Sophia and the 16th-century Süleymaniye Mosque, all now under threat from population pressure, industrial pollution and uncontrolled urbanization.

Brief synthesis

Strategically located on the Bosphorus peninsula between the Balkans and Anatolia, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, Istanbul was successively the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire and has been associated with major events in political history, religious history and art history for more than 2,000 years. The city is situated on a peninsula which is surrounded by the Golden Horn (Haliç), a natural harbor on the north, the Bosphorus on the east and the Marmara Sea on the south. The Historic Peninsula, on which the former Byzantium and Constantinople developed, was surrounded by ancient walls, built initially by Theodosius in the early fifth century.

The Outstanding Universal Value of Istanbul resides in its unique integration of architectural masterpieces that reflect the meeting of Europe and Asia over many centuries, and in its incomparable skyline formed by the creative genius of Byzantine and Ottoman architects.

The distinctive and characteristic skyline of Istanbul was built up over many centuries and encompasses the  Hagia  Sophia whose vast dome reflects the architectural and decorative expertise of the 6th century,  the 15th century Fatih complex and Topkapi Palace - that was continually extended until the 19th century, the Süleymaniye Mosque complex and Sehzade Mosque complex, works of the chief architect Sinan, reflecting the climax of Ottoman architecture in the 16th century, the 17th century Blue Mosque and the slender minarets of the New Mosque near the port completed in 1664.

The four areas of the property are the Archaeological Park, at the tip of the Historic peninsula; the Suleymaniye quarter with Suleymaniye Mosque complex, bazaars and vernacular settlement around it; the Zeyrek area of settlement around the Zeyrek Mosque (the former church of the Pantocrator), and the area along both sides of the Theodosian land walls including remains of the former Blachernae Palace. These areas display architectural achievements of successive imperial periods also including the 17th century Blue Mosque, the Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Mosque, the 16th century Şehzade Mosque complex, the 15th century Topkapi Palace, the hippodrome of Constantine, the aqueduct of Valens, the Justinian churches of Hagia Sophia, St. Irene, Küçük Ayasofya Mosque (the former church of the Sts Sergius and Bacchus), the Pantocrator Monastery founded under John II Comnene by Empress Irene; the former Church of the Holy Saviour of Chora with its mosaics and paintings dating from the 14th and 15th centuries; and many other exceptional examples of various building types including baths, cisterns, and tombs.

Criterion (i): The Historic Areas of Istanbul include monuments recognised as unique architectural masterpieces of Byzantine and Ottoman periods such as Hagia Sophia, which was designed by Anthemios of Tralles and Isidoros of Miletus in 532-537 and the Suleymaniye Mosque complex designed by architect Sinan in 1550-1557.

Criterion (ii): Throughout history the monuments in Istanbul have exerted considerable influence on the development of architecture, monumental arts and the organization of space, both in Europe and the Near East. Thus, the 6,650 meter terrestrial wall of Theodosius II with its second line of defence, created in 447, was one of the leading references for military architecture; Hagia Sophia became a model for an entire family of churches and later mosques, and the mosaics of the palaces and churches of Constantinople influenced both Eastern and Western art.

Criterion (iii): Istanbul bears unique testimony to the Byzantine and Ottoman civilizations through its large number of high quality examples of a great range of building types, some with associated artworks. They include fortifications, churches and palaces with mosaics and frescos, monumental cisterns, tombs, mosques, religious schools and bath buildings. The vernacular housing around major religious monuments in the Süleymaniye and Zeyrek quarters provide exceptional evidence of the late Ottoman urban pattern.

Criterion (iv): The city is an outstanding set of monuments, architectural and technical ensembles that illustrate very distinguished phases of human history. In particular, the Palace of Topkapi and the Suleymaniye Mosque complex with its caravanserai, madrasa, medical school, library, bath building, hospice and imperial tombs, provide supreme examples of ensembles of palaces and religious complexes of the Ottoman period.

Integrity

The Historic Areas of Istanbul include the key attributes that convey the Outstanding Universal Value of Istanbul as the parts of the city that had escaped major changes and deterioration in the 19th and 20th centuries and were already protected by national legislation at the time of inscription.

Vernacular timber housing in the Süleymaniye and Zeyrek quarters, was recognized as vulnerable at the time of inscription. Despite the threat of pressure for change, many efforts have been executed in order to conserve and strengthen the timber structures within the site since then. Changes in the social structure within the area have also affected the use of those structures. The urban fabric is threatened by lack of maintenance and pressure for change. The Metropolitan Municipality is attempting to rehabilitate the area to revive its degraded parts. The revival of the Süleymaniye and Zeyrek quarters is a long project which demands a long and careful process of cleaning, conservation and restoration. The Suleymaniye Complex has retained its structural and architectural integrity, except some minor changes in the commercial part of the compound. Zeyrek Mosque, originally the Church of Pantocrator, has suffered from several earthquakes.

The integrity of the major monuments and archaeological remains within the four Historic Areas are largely intact but they are vulnerable due to the lack of a management plan. With the management plan, which is under approval process by related authority, it is aimed to address all the issues and solve the problems within the site gradually.  

The setting of the Historic Areas of Istanbul and the outstanding silhouette of the city are vulnerable to development.

Authenticity

The ability of the monuments and vernacular housing to express truthfully the Outstanding Universal Value of the Historic Areas of Istanbul has been compromised to some extent since inscription in terms of their design and materials. The conservation and restoration works in the setting of the Historic Peninsula are being led and followed by the central and local authorities as well as newly established institutions with the financial funds provided by the legal amendments.

The setting and distinctive skyline of the Historic Peninsula continues to express the Outstanding Universal Value of the property. However the ongoing ability of the wider maritime setting to do this depends on ensuring that development does not compromise views of the skyline.

Protection and management requirements

The Historic Areas of Istanbul is legally protected through national conservation legislation. There is no specific planning legislation to protect World Heritage sites. The management structure for the protection and conservation of the properties includes the shared responsibilities of national government (The Ministry of Culture and Tourism General Directorate of Cultural Assets and Museums, General Directorate of Pious Foundation) local administration and several state institutions. The approval of the Conservation Council has to be obtained for physical interventions and functional changes in registered buildings and conservation sites.

The Site Management Directorate for Cultural and Natural Sites of Istanbul was established within the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in 2006 to coordinate management planning processes for World Heritage Sites of Istanbul. The work of the directorate is supported by an Advisory Board and a Coordination and Supervising Board. A site manager has also been appointed. A department was also structured under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to coordinate the management issues of the World Heritage Sites in Turkey and to collaborate with relevant authorities for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention and the Operational Guidelines.

The first conservation plans for Zeyrek, Suleymaniye and the Land Walls were prepared and approved in 1979 and 1981. A new conservation plan including World Heritage sites was endorsed by the Council of İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality and submitted to the Conservation Council for approval. The impressive skyline of the Historic Peninsula with the Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia and Süleymaniye is preserved by planning measures. The legal protection and the management structures are adequate for ensuring the proper conservation of the properties. The national government has allocated a large amount of funding for restoration and conservation projects within the site as part of the European Capital of Culture campaign, in addition to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's, the Istanbul Special Provincial Administration's, General Directorate of Pious Foundation's and the local administration's annual budgets.

Finding a balance between change and preservation is a delicate issue in the Historic Areas. The Management Plan, which is currently being prepared in collaboration with all stakeholders in conformity with the related legislation, will address this issue. It will address the traffic and transport plan for the city, the urban regeneration strategy and tourism management, and will provide a proper framework to ensure that construction and infrastructure projects respect the Outstanding Universal Value of the property. It will also include policies for conservation, standards for restoration and rehabilitation, management responsibilities, accessibility, visitor management, policies for increasing the perception of the site, increasing the quality of daily life, risk management, awareness raising and training.

Barry Lituchy on American support for Croatian fascists

 

Barry Lituchy is a history professor at Kingsborough Community College.

Now reading How In The World?: A Fascinating Journey Through The World Of Human Ingenuity by Reader's Digest Association...

At least Dostoevsky's The Idiot received a good film adaptation

A still from The Idiot (1958), directed by Ivan Pyryev

Although I've been asked to make another post about current events, and especially about what's happening in Ukraine, I don't really want to do this yet. I'm not entirely against doing this, but I've already made two posts about the happenings in Ukraine. There's also the fact that I don't really want to be associated with an embarrassing country like the Russian Federation. However, I can say a few things at this time. First of all, the performance of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine continues to be poor because the Russian Federation is a sickly, right-wing oligarchical state. Contrary to the belief of some conspiracy theorists and reactionaries that oppose the authorities in the USA, Vladimir Putin is not the greatest conservative leader that has ever lived, and he doesn't have some master plan. The only plan that he had was to continue to provide Europe, and especially Germany, with cheap Russian oil, cheap Russian natural gas, and, um, cheap Russian prostitutes. The Americans and the English have wrecked this plan of his for the time being by overthrowing the government of Ukraine in 2014 and by using the new fanatical anti-Russian government in Ukraine to provoke Russia and to act against Russia. Still, eight whole years had passed before Putin did anything significant, and, when he did act, he acted so badly and with such restraint that the anti-Russian regime in Kiev has gotten bolder. After one year of hostilities, Putin has failed to defeat the Third World country known as Ukraine, he has failed to overthrow the anti-Russian regime in Kiev, and the regime in Kiev, which nurtures Nazis, is now not only banning and destroying anything that's Russian in Ukraine, it's also calling for banning anything that's Russian in other countries, and the NATO military alliance is glad to support this. Meanwhile, Putin is only concerned about how to get McDonald's and The Coca-Cola Company to return to Russia and to continue selling junk food to the dumb Russian masses. Well, Russians are about as intelligent and as organized as the monkeys in the film Jumanji (1995). I've also heard that the Nazis in Ukraine have begun to build a Death Star. Progress on this top-secret project has been slow because Ukraine is a poverty-stricken country with a very bad education system. Let's not forget that prostitution is a profession in Ukraine. Still, the Ukrainian Nazis are determined, and they've been using materials such as wood, stones, mud, cardboard, and plywood for the construction of their Death Star so far. It's entirely possible that the Americans will provide them with some cheap metals in the near future. What's also worth mentioning is that the Ukrainian Nazis have found a willing recruit in Luke Skywalker. Luke has already volunteered to command the Ukrainian Death Star in the future, and he will become the admiral of the Nazi air fleet of Ukraine. When the badly-designed and badly-built Ukrainian Death Star becomes operational sometime in the future, it will not only be able to fire its superlaser at the Kremlin, where Putin will be hiding and shivering in one of the closets, it will also be able to fly around the world at a maximum speed of a half a mile an hour and to fire at and eliminate liberals, communists, and other leftists in various countries. Fortunately, by the time the Ukrainian Death Star reaches Canadian airspace, I will be long gone, just like a Belgian refugee. Although I wouldn't call myself a leftist because I'm not a political person, I still don't want to take any chances. Since Canada has been turning more and more into a Third World country, I think that it's time for me to flee to the best place on Earth. No, I don't mean to Disneyland. I mean to Wakanda. The energy dome of Wakanda will definitely protect me from the Ukrainian Death Star. In fact, I've already begun to practice perfecting my "Wakanda Foreva!" hand gesture. This is pretty much all of the intelligence that I'm willing to share about the happenings in Ukraine at this time.

Having finished to read Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov (1880) recently, I got a minor impulse to review it and some other books that I've read in the last year or two. I bought The Brothers Karamazov more than a decade ago in paperback form. The paperback that I bought is by Bantam Books. I began reading the novel not long after I bought it, and I didn't stop until I finished reading 88% of the novel. I don't remember why I stopped reading it. Perhaps I lost interest in reading it and wanted to read other books. Well, I resumed reading The Brothers Karamazov a few months ago, and now I'm done reading it. I acquired a copy of the novel in electronic form for my collection on Google Books and then sold the paperback that I bought on eBay. The Brothers Karamazov is not the first novel by Dostoevsky that I finished reading. I finished reading The Idiot (1869), which is also a thick novel, at the beginning of 2021. Actually, in the case of The Idiot, I listened to an audiobook that I bought on Audible. I think that I enjoyed reading The Brothers Karamazov more than I enjoyed reading The Idiot, but, since both of these novels are major classics, I don't have anything negative to say about The Idiot. The Brothers Karamazov is simply a more impactful novel for me. One of the novel's chapters, The Grand Inquisitor, is so memorable and so famous that some publishers sell it separately as a book. The Brothers Karamazov also has a memorable ending. Like Dostoevsky's other novels, The Brothers Karamazov is an examination of the Russian mind. In my opinion, Dostoevsky was very good at psychology, and he knew the behavior of Russians very well. Some of the characters in the novel are stereotypical Russians. In fact, Dostoevsky was so good at characterization that I sometimes felt uneasy when I was reading the novel. For example, Fyodor Karamazov, the father of the four brothers, is in some ways like my so-called father. I don't like to think about the vicious Russian monkey man that is my father, but, unfortunately, I was reminded of him when I was reading the novel. My so-called father is a bigot and a bully. I already mentioned in an earlier post that Russians are big time traitors. They're also idiotic, sadistic, unreliable, devious, apathetic, and dishonest. I can say, for example, that my so-called father cheated on his wife more than once, and, to this day, he feels no regret about this. In fact, he's proud of this. But Fyodor Karamazov isn't the only familiar and well-realized character in the novel. There are other characters too, like his four sons. There's Dmitri Karamazov, who's a sensualist and somewhat of a brawler. There's Ivan Karamazov, who's an intellectual. There's Alexei Karamazov, who's a religious person. And there's Pavel Smerdyakov, who's the illegitimate son. Smerdyakov hates Russia, and he's the one who kills his father. Still, the one who's convicted for the murder of Fyodor Karamazov in court is Dmitri, the eldest son. The Brothers Karamazov isn't only a novel about Russia, and it doesn't only feature Dostoevsky's observations and, shall we say, his wisdom. It's also a piece of propaganda, just like most other books. Since intellectuals, socialists, nationalists, and other opponents of the Russian autocracy were very much a problem for the Russian authorities in the 19th century, I'd say that Dostoevsky promoted two things that the Russian authorities were in favor of. He promoted Russian patriotism and the Russian Orthodox Church. Since he supported these things in The Brothers Karamazov and in his other novels, he naturally mildly attacked and criticized intellectuals, atheists, and socialists. It's also because of this that so-called classic Russian novels, the novels that got published in Tsarist Russia, are readily available in Western countries and in most other countries in the world. Russian novels that got published in the Soviet period (1922-1985) aren't available in the West, and the few that are available are ones that are either critical of the Soviet Union or that simply attack and lie about the Soviet Union. I guess that I don't have to mention that The Brothers Karamazov is a great novel. I guess that it can even be called the greatest novel of all time. But a great film adaptation of this novel still hasn't been made anywhere in the world. However, a great film adaptation of The Idiot has been made. It's the 1958 Soviet film that's directed by Ivan Pyryev. I'm quite satisfied by the fact that I've already read two of Dostoevsky's great novels. I'm still slowly reading Crime and Punishment (1866), and I must admit that I haven't yet finished reading any of the novels by Leo Tolstoy. I'm currently reading War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1878). Another classic Russian novel that I finished reading not that long ago is Mikhail Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time (1840). Lermontov's novel didn't leave much of an impression on me, and it's obviously not as complex as the thick novels by Dostoevsky or Tolstoy, but it's still a well-written classic that's easy to recommend. The other classics that did leave an impression on me are the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. I listened to the Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes in 3 volumes on Audible. I can say that Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories are quintessential Western literary works. They're about an incredible individual (the great detective Sherlock Holmes), they're easy to read, and they're entertaining. Holmes's "superpowers" (his methods of deduction and examination) are introduced and explained in the first novel, which is A Study in Scarlet (1887). Of course, for someone like me, the Sherlock Holmes stories aren't only entertaining literary works. Since I have a fine knowledge of history, they're also captivating because they're set mostly in Victorian England. They feature descriptions of the England of that era. In fact, I enjoyed listening to the audiobooks so much that now, about two years later, I'm again slowly listening to the audiobooks. I think that I already mentioned in an earlier post that I enjoyed reading Michael Herr's Dispatches (1977), which is a well-written and memorable book about the Vietnam War. Dispatches was published in the 1970s, which was a time when American writers could still write good books. Another excellent book from the 1970s that I read soon after I finished reading Dispatches is The Mothman Prophecies (1975) by John Keel. I'm not recommending this book because it convinced me that Mothman exists. I'm recommending it because it's well-written and memorable. I think that Mothman, like Bigfoot, is just another fictional creature that got invented in order to act as a distraction for the masses. Since many people, especially right-wingers, are happy to believe in the supernatural and in fantastic tales, such probable fictions can be very effective. I enjoy reading such tales as curiosities and not as something that should be believed. Erich von Daniken's book Chariots of the Gods? (1968) is another book in this vein that I unfortunately bought and read. It's one of those books that puts forward the ancient astronauts theory. Having read a few such books already, I'm unconvinced by this theory. Perhaps it's true that humans were created by highly advanced aliens a long time ago, but this can't be proved because there's no serious evidence to support this theory now. Even if the ancient astronauts theory is legitimate, I think that humans were created way before human civilizations existed. I found Daniken's book to be rather bland and not that interesting to read because I had read Jim Marrs's Our Occulted History: Do the Global Elite Conceal Ancient Aliens? (2013), which is a much more interesting book, before reading Daniken's book. But reactionaries and conspiracy theorists will almost certainly like it. James P. Hogan's science-fiction novels Inherit the Stars (1977) and The Gentle Giants of Ganymede (1978) are also more interesting than Daniken's book. I am curious, however, about why the establishment, at least the lunatic radical right of the establishment, promotes the ancient astronauts theory. Is it because they think that it's legitimate? Do they want to create a new belief system out of it? Or is it simply another distraction for the masses?

I've got to say that a certain YouTube channel (Internet Pitstop), which I discovered in 2022, made me think about video games, anime, and other things in a slightly different way. I know that many great video games succeed at having a world or environment that can draw in a player because it features spaces, sounds, and music of much appeal. For example, in Dark Souls II (2014), in the coastal town of Majula, it's pleasing to stand and look at the sea while listening to the sound of the waves and the music theme for Majula. In fact, sometimes, when I'm doing something that's not demanding, I like to turn on Dark Souls II and load a save file in which my character stands near the monument on the cliff by the sea in order to look at the lovely view and listen to the music. Similarly, when I played Chrono Cross for the first time, I enjoyed looking at the scene in which Serge and Kid sit by a campfire and reminisce about the past. While this scene is taking place, the music track 'The Girl Who Stole the Stars' plays. It's a memorable scene that is simply pleasant to look at. Well, as it turns out, there are such scenes or views in many other video games, but I didn't stop to appreciate them for a long time before making this post. I turned on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) a while ago in order to look for some places where it's relaxing to stay and listen to the music and the sounds, and I quickly found several locations. One of the locations is by Shoqa Tatone Shrine. There's a campfire and a cooking pot there on the beach, under a cliff, on the shore of Faron Sea. It's quite nice to stay there in order to listen to the music, to the sound of the fire, and to the sound of the waves. Another nice location is on Mount Granajh, near the Suma Sahma Shrine. There's a campfire there in the remains of a wooden house. Not only is the view lovely, but the music that plays there is relaxing. Another nice location is on a hill on the west side of Deya Lake in the Faron Region. There are trees there growing in some water. There's a stump where you can collect a korok seed, and the water features many floating leaves. Well, Breath of the Wild is full of fantastic scenery, but I rarely stopped to seriously appreciate it before. By the way, I've already finished playing this game twice since I bought it in 2017 for my Wii U. I can load a save file anytime I want in order to travel wherever I want to in its open world. I think that if this great video game hadn't been available for the Wii U, it's possible that I would have already bought a Nintendo Switch in order to play it, though its performance on the Switch is noticeably worse. I'd also like to play Super Mario Odyssey (2017), which is available only on the Switch, but I don't want to play it as much as Breath of the Wild. Therefore, I still don't own a Switch. Why this is the case is something that I have already gone over in an earlier post. But I must admit that the people at Nintendo have learned from their mistakes during the Wii U phase. They've allowed the release of many different video games on the Switch in order to boost sales, and they've even released some excellent Wii U games (Pikmin 3, The Wonderful 101, Mario Kart 8) on the Switch, which is also nice. Although Nintendo has done this and other things in order to attract buyers, I still don't have an urge to buy the Switch. I have a Wii U, and few Switch exclusives appeal to me. For those people that haven't yet noticed, I must say that I'm not a dedicated video game player and I don't play most of the latest video games. Almost all of the video games that I play are old great games. But it's possible that I will buy a Switch, perhaps in used condition, after the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023). If Tears of the Kingdom will be as good as, or even better than, Breath of the Wild, I will definitely want to play it.

Cleopatra (1888) and The Mermaid (1901) by John William Waterhouse.

Sailor Moon Anime Scenery

The original Sailor Moon anime had some seriously stunning backgrounds. Just take a minute to appreciate the gorgeous pastel colors, the scenery is so simple and yet truly beautiful... ♥ 

https://geekxgirls.com/article.php?ID=11405

Now listening to Blue Thunder by Arthur B. Rubinstein and Miami Vice II by various artists...

On St. Andrews Avenue in North Vancouver. Autumn of 2018.

Canada's Streamlined Engines - Wonders of World Engineering

https://www.wondersofworldengineering.com/canadian-streamlined-engines.html

WE are living in a day of changing locomotive fashions. Because of the competition of travel in the air and on the roads, the incessant demand is for speed, speed, and yet more speed on rails. So far as it concerns locomotive power, this demand is affecting not only the interior of the steam locomotive, but also its exterior. For it is realized - as it has already been realized in the design of aeroplanes and of racing motor cars - that in the higher ranges of speed, the influence of air resistance on the moving vehicle is considerable. Maximum speeds can still be increased’ if proper attention is paid to streamlining.

Steam locomotive externals are rapidly changing in this way, and the engine that forms the main subject of this chapter - No.6400 of the Canadian National Railways - is a typical example of progress in modern locomotive design. From the early days of railways the locomotive in Great Britain has always been thought of as something more than a mere piece of machinery. Trouble has been taken by locomotive engineers to develop a graceful outline and to conceal the working parts as much as possible.

Distinctive colours have been used by different railways for their engines, and these well-kept liveries have had some publicity value. What is more, this “cleaned-up” exterior, as the Americans have described it, is proving of value from the streamlining point of view. American locomotives, on the other hand, as well as those on the mainland of Europe, have kept a large proportion of their “works” outside. One of the advantages of having the “works” outside as much as possible is increased accessibility. Only in recent years has there been a definite move on the North American continent towards the improvement of locomotive externals.

This move has coincided with the demand for railway speeds higher than ever previously known. For continuous running speeds of 80 miles an hour or so, and maximum speeds up to 90 and even 100 miles an hour, fully streamlined locomotive exteriors have become necessary. It is the streamlined casing which makes the outline of No. 6400 and her four sisters differ entirely from that of other engines on the Canadian National system.

It has been ascertained from experiments in wind tunnels that complete streamlining cuts down air resistance by 40 to 45 per cent at high speed and that the power output necessary for a completely streamlined locomotive, when all resistances are taken into account, is less by 10 per cent at 80 miles an hour and by 12½ per cent at 110 miles an hour than that required for a non-streamlined engine of the same type. The streamlining of No. 6400 of the Canadian National Railways, however, is only partial.

Considerable advances in speed are being made on North American railways, and in these advances the two great railways of Canada - the Canadian National and the Canadian Pacific - may well claim to have taken a lead. In recent years, however, they have been outstripped in the race by various railways in the United States. The enormous size of the modern American locomotive, and the reasons for it, must now be explained, for No. 6400 of the Canadian National Railways, and others of her class, are - at the time of writing - the largest and heaviest streamlined engines so far built. This monster machine, in full running trim with tender, weighs 296 tons, compared with the 166 tons of one of the London and North Eastern Railway’s Silver Link streamlined engines with tender. No. 6400 is carried on sixteen wheels and her tender on twelve, as compared with Silver Link's twelve wheels and eight-wheeled tender. Yet the track gauge of 4 ft 8½-in on which the two engines run is identical.

One reason for this difference in weight and size is that railway pioneers in America were not handicapped as were those in Great Britain, who had to carry their lines through valuable land. In America more space could be spared for the tracks, and level crossings, in many instances, took the place of bridges. These conditions permitted the development, on a more ample scale, of the rolling stock. Thus the American locomotive designer can plan an engine extending up to 16 feet above track level, compared with the 13 feet or so which is possible on a British railway.

The American engine may also be proportionately wider, but must still clear tunnels, bridges and the various other structures that are closely adjacent to the line. In view of the limited dimensions to which railway locomotives must be built, because of these loading gauge restrictions, this extra space has a remarkable influence on locomotive development.

But it needs more than the mere fact of an ample constructional space to justify the building of locomotives of such enormous size. This justification is found in the weight of modern American rolling stock. Partly because of the haphazard methods of railway operation in the early days of North American railways, leading to frequent and disastrous accidents, the travelling public demanded that coaches should be built entirely of steel, to give them a better chance of survival without telescoping in the event of collision or derailment.

This process of strengthening has gone on steadily with the building of vehicles of greater weight and size, and to-day the cars composing a modern North American express are from 70 to 80 feet long, are carried on two six-wheeled bogies, and weigh 75, 80 or even 85 tons apiece. Compared with this, a British twelve-wheeled dining or sleeping car weighs at most 43 to 46 tons, and an ordinary main-line corridor coach from 30 to 35 tons.

An important express in Canada may load up to twelve, thirteen, or fourteen heavy steel cars, and occasionally even more, with a total weight behind the engine tender of 1,000 to 1,200 tons, whereas in Great Britain express trains weighing as much as 600 tons are rare. Because of the length of many North American journeys, the proportion of sleeping-car accommodation in the long-distance trains is high. This helps to increase the proportion of the “tare” or empty weight of the stock to the number of passengers that it carries. Thus the tractive power of a modern express locomotive in Canada must be considerable and the proportions of No. 6400 are thereby explained.

The arrangement of the wheels which carry this streamlined giant first needs consideration. At the leading end of No. 6400 is a four-wheeled track, or bogie, pivoted under the centre of the engine smokebox, to enable the engine to traverse smoothly and easily the curves in the track. Of such immense size is the firebox, that the rear end of the engine also requires a four-wheeled bogie for its support. Between the two bogies are the four pairs of coupled wheels.

So that the power developed in the cylinders may be taken up at the rails, and not dissipated by slipping, it is essential that there shall be adequate adhesion, or grip. Six wheels or three coupled axles are more common in passenger service, but the weight borne by three axles would not provide adequate adhesion in so large and powerful a locomotive as No. 6400. Her four pairs of coupled wheels carry as much as 105½ tons of the engine’s weight, or an average of nearly 26½ tons on each pair. The second pair of coupled wheels from the leading end are the driving wheels proper ; the coupled wheels are 6 ft 5-in in diameter. Roller bearings are provided to all axle-boxes.

Rckoning from the chimney end, with the four wheels of the leading bogie first, then the eight coupled wheels and finally the four wheels of the trailing bogie, we have an engine of the 4-8-4 wheel arrangement. The nearest approach to this in Great Britain is the Cock o’ the North class of the London and North Eastern Railway, having the 2-8-2 wheel arrangement and similarly using eight coupled driving wheels.

Mechanical Stoking

These provide adequate adhesion for the extremely heavy gradients round the East Coast from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, but single pairs of wheels front and rear, with liberty for limited radial movement, are used instead of the two bogies. Compared with 4-8-4 No. 6400 of the Canadian National Railways, which weighs 170 tons without tender, Cock o’ the North of the London and North Eastern Railway weighs but 107 tons.

American and Canadian locomotive engineers are not generally in favour of the British plan of dividing up the cylinder power of modern locomotives into three or four units in place of two. One advantage of three-cylinder or four-cylinder propulsion is that the engine is better “balanced”, especially when running at high speed; against this division must be set the matter of greater complication of working parts and higher constructional cost. In Great Britain the division of cylinder volume into three or four units has been partly necessary because, with the limited space in which to build, two cylinders of sufficient size could not be mounted outside the engine frames in the clearance available.

No such limitation besets the Canadian locomotive designer, and No. 6400 is equipped with two exceptionally large cylinders with a diameter of 24-in, and a piston travel, or “stroke”, of 30-in. The motion operating the piston-valves is of the Baker-Pilliod type, arranged so that the steam supply to the cylinders can be cut off, when the engine is well under way, early in the stroke. The higher working pressure offers a correspondingly increased capacity for expansion.

Steam is generated in the giant boiler of No. 6400 at the high figure of 275 lb per square inch. Hitherto the highest pressure in British locomotives (with the exception of the experimental No. 10000 of the LNER, which carried a water tube boiler of special design) has been 250 lb per square inch, as in the LNER streamlined Pacifics of the Silver Link type, the LMS Pacifics and Royal Scots and the GWR Kings. At the rear end the boiler barrel of No. 6400 is 7 ft 2-in in diameter; at the front end it tapers to
6 ft 6-in.

The firegrate has an area of 74 square feet, and it would be beyond the power of any fireman to feed it by hand. Mechanical firing is therefore provided, the coal being brought forward by a worm and screw gear from the tender on to the firegrate, at a speed which the fireman can regulate according to the demand for steam. Inside the firebox two “thermic syphons” provide for rapid, circulation, and assist the process of steam-raising. After generation the steam is superheated, as is the practice on all modern locomotives. The object is to prevent cylinder condensation at the end of the stroke.

Coupled to No. 6400 is a tender which fittingly matches this enormous machine. Carried on twelve wheels, it accommodates 11,700 gallons of water and 20 tons of coal, and has a little over twice the capacity of the eight-wheeled tenders fitted to the Pacific locomotives of the LNER, which were the largest in Great Britain early in 1937. As the photograph above reveals, No. 6400’s tender consists chiefly of a large barrel-shaped water-tank, on top of which is placed, at the leading end, the hopper containing the coal. The driver’s cab and the tender front are connected in such a way that the crew is completely enclosed - a provision greatly appreciated when the engine is travelling at full speed through the intense cold of a Canadian winter. One novel feature of the tender is a “track sprinkler”, whereby a fine spray of water can be directed on to the track at places where it is dusty, so that the dust may be kept down and prevented from entering the carriages.

The total length of engine and tender falls short of 100 feet by only a narrow margin - the figure is 94 ft 8-in. By the ordinary tractive force calculation the maximum tractive effort that No. 6400 can exert, at 85 per cent of the working pressure (the customary allowance), is 52,450 lb, or nearly 23½ tons - a mighty pull indeed. The general arrangement of the streamlining of No. 6400 was decided after exhaustive tests had been made with models in a wind tunnel at Ottawa. The casing is really “semi-streamlined”, for the cylinders, motion and wheels have been left uncovered to permit of easier access for examination and repairs.

The front appearance of No. 6400 differs completely from that of most other Canadian or American locomotives. The usual circular smokebox front, carried on a saddle, is concealed by a rounded nose. This is extended downwards almost to rail level by an apron which takes the place of the ordinary cowcatcher, or lattice arrangement of steel bars, designed to clear the track of obstructions.

Recessed into the nose is the powerful electric headlight such as is carried by all North American locomotives; inside it is the small turbo-generator which supplies current for this headlamp and other lamps carried on the engine, and also for the air-brake compressors. When it is necessary to couple the chimney end of No. 6400 to a train, or to attach a pilot locomotive, a coupler appears from behind a door in the lower part of the nose, where normally it lies out of action.

Another lengthy casing extends along the top of the boiler from the chimney end right back to the cab, and is the chief contribution to the unusual appearance of the locomotive. Built into this are the chimney, dome, sand-boxes and safety valves, which are usually mounted above the top of the boiler.

If certain special precautions had not been taken, especially when the engine was being worked at high speed on a short cut-off, the exhaust steam from the chimney would drift along the top of this streamlined casing and obscure the front windows of the driver’s cab. Special louvres have, therefore, been formed in the rounded nose, and through these a strong current of air is forced when the engine is travelling fast. This draught is carried upwards in such a way that it catches the exhaust emerging from the chimney and lifts it high above the cab.

Further provision for the driver’s unobstructed view ahead is made by the fitting of a revolving disk of high-grade glass which forms part of the front window of the cab on the driving side, and this ensures a clear view in all weather conditions. Rain and snow are thrown off through centrifugal force.

Certain safety regulations did not permit the concealment of the whistle behind the streamlined casing, and it is therefore mounted in a prominent position abreast of the hidden chimney. The hooter of No. 6400 is operated not by steam, but by compressed air from the brake reservoir.

To such an extent is the publicity value of a smart locomotive now realized in Canada and the United States that cheerful colour schemes have become a standard feature of locomotive finish in North America. No. 6400 is no exception to this new rule. The front of the locomotive is painted black, but the long, narrow panel or “apron” of the running board, extending the whole length of the engine, is finished in the standard green shade of Canadian National passenger cars, with gold stripes above and below. These gold stripes begin at the front of the nose and sweep round to the running-board apron in graceful curves which accentuate the streamline effect.

In the middle of the apron, immediately above the driving wheels and in the middle of the nose below the recessed headlamp, appears the number “6400” in bronze figures on a red background. The numbers, on raised plates on either side of the upper part of the smokebox, correspond in a way to motor-car number-plates, and are illuminated at night from within.

The cab sides and the tender also are painted green, and on the side of the coal hopper on the tender appears the Canadian National “trade mark” - a rectangular panel, set at an angle, with the words “Canadian National” in gold on a red background. Above the running board, the “jacket” of the engine, including the outer covering of the boiler and the streamlined casing above, is of specially planished steel which needs no paint, but is rubbed with an oiled cloth to retain its natural bluish-grey colouring.

A 533-Miles Working

Five engines of this class are in service, and their principal task is to operate the fast and heavy passenger services between Montreal, Toronto and the United States border at Sarnia. This is a through locomotive working of 533 miles, and in Great Britain would be equivalent to running a locomotive unchanged with the “Flying Scotsman”, the “Aberdonian” or the “Royal Highlander” for the entire journey between King’s Cross or Euston and Aberdeen. At present the longest British locomotive workings are those of the LMS between Euston and Glasgow, a distance of 401½ miles.

It is in connexion with these lengthy Canadian through workings that the large size of No. 6400’s firegrate is of such value. Despite the fact that North American fuel is inferior in calorific value to the fuel used in Great Britain, it is possible, with the help of mechanical appliances for “shaking up” the grate while the engine is running, and so getting rid of ash and preventing the coal from clinkering, to keep a good, clean fire for an indefinite distance. The mechanical firing ensures also that no undue strain is imposed on the fireman. One engine-crew does not work the engine throughout this 533-miles run, but crews are changed at the important divisional locomotive points, while the engine herself uncomplainingly carries on.

The Canadian National tracks do not come to an end at the border station of Sarnia. The Grand Trunk Railway which, after its absorption by the Canadian National, provided the greater part of the Canadian National tracks in the Eastern States of Canada, also penetrated well into the United States. Thus to-day the Canadian National tracks extend almost as far as the great Middle West city of Chicago.

The “International Limited” and the “Inter-City Limited” expresses of the Canadian National Railways connect Montreal and Toronto directly with Detroit and Chicago. Beyond Sarnia the trains are taken over by other large 4-8-4 express locomotives somewhat similar in design to No. 6400.