Cat owners know this truth.

Battleship North Carolina (BB55) doing her impression of KMS Tirpitz during a rare snowfall on Wilmington NC.

Me playing with the replica 16” shells under turret 2 of battleship North Carolina (BB55).

This picture is a lot more bearable if you imagine the red stripes are tire tracks.

“Ich bin kein Nazi!”

I hope I don’t appear disconnected from current events. I just try to post interesting, positive or funny things to shed a little light in all the gloom we find ourselves mired in lately.

Random fact: the real HMS Surprise (from the books/movie) was originally the French frigate Unité. She was captured by the Royal Navy in 1796 and classified as a sixth rate 28 gun “jackass” frigate. She was eventually sold in 1802, which is somewhat reflected in the Aubrey/Maturin novels.

Total 007 Jaws vibes.

“The smoking lamp is lit in all authorized spaces.” In the age of sail, sailors loved their pipes. Having a bunch of half drunk guys with pipes on a wooden ship was not a good idea. So they were allowed to gather next to the cook while he had his fires going and his lantern lit. #NavalHistory

Quarantine station remnants on the Cape Fear River. Ships would be held here for inspection/decontamination before being allowed to sail upriver to the port of Wilmington. Photo from my personal collection.

A typical common sailor’s wooden plate from the age of sail. This gave rise to the saying “three square meals a day.” #NavalHistory

The lead line, typically with sticky tallow on the end. In the age of sail, these would be cast out alongside the ship until if/when they hit bottom. The depth could then be told, along with the consistency of the sea floor. The depth was told by marks and deeps. #MarkTwain #NavalHistory

PT boats, the “plywood mosquito fleet” were, in fact, built with multilayered mahogany. Their armament was widely varied, and steadily increased as the war progressed. The boats ran on 100 octane aviation gasoline and could reach speeds in excess of 40 knots. #ww2 #USNavy #navalhistory

A sailing ship log and line, used for 4 centuries. Heaving the weighted end into the water caused it to drag & stream away, pulling out a line which had knots at regular intervals. Using a 32 or 16 sec. hourglass, a sailor would stop the line & judge the ship’s speed in “knots.” #navalhistory

“I love trains. They make me think of places I know I’ll never see.” Michael Collins

Scoreboard for USS North Carolina (BB55). Photo from my personal archive. #WW2 #USNavy #NavalHistory

I got two girls a year later, JJ and Susie. I couldn’t leave them behind.

“Oh Christ he’s taking another picture of us.” My rescues Ricky and Larry napping. #CatsofBluesky

“Star Trek The Animated Series” was an animated cartoon from the 1970s featuring original cast members and writers no longer constrained by budget limitations. It was also the first #StarTrek series to win an Emmy Award. M’Ress says hello.

Seeing Tokyo have a massive fireworks display for a foreign country’s birthday out of courtesy and respect. 😵 “Yeah we know we killed each other and you nuked us twice by we don’t do that shit any more. “Seriously. Don’t do that shit any more.”

In 43 a.d. the Roman Empire founded a little village by a river in Brittania, and named it Londinium. Not a bad start for a little burg on the water. #London #England

Scotty was a great engineer, but U-96’s Chief could pull miracles out of his ass with a handful of wire and a monkey wrench. #DasBoot #WW2 #Submarines

A snapshot of Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, commander of U-96, taken during a depth charge detonation, hence the motion blur. Photo by Lothar-Günther Buchheim, war correspondent and author of “Das Boot,” based largely on U-96s 7th patrol. #Submarines #WW2 #NavalHistory

Have finished “A Sea of Words” and am starting ”Harbors and High Seas,” both by Dean King. The first deals with terminology and the second geography of Patrick O’Briens Aubrey/Maturin series. Apologies for the naval tag but i think it’s pertinent . #NavalHistory #Literature

For the benefit of those with flash photography, I offer... ...A FIVE SECOND POSE. #RatedRPegastar #mlpfim

GET THE TABLES!

“Nonsense! Name a shrub after me. Something prickly and hard to eradicate.” #MasterAndCommander

Izma and Kronk in the dark in “The Emperor’s New Groove.” This classic eyes in the dark gag was actually the first time Disney had ever utilized this in their films; it was more of a Warner Brothers staple. #Disney #Animation