Campy's "WICKED BEAT"

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

This is the Wicked Cool Link of the Week!

World War II Aircraft: A Small Tribute to WWII Veterans

Click on the link below...

http://www.stclairphoto-imaging.com/360/P51-Mustang/P51_swf.html

It provides a 360 degree view of a WWII P-51 Mustang cockpit. It takes a few moments to load but it is very well worth it! Skip provided us with the Wicked Cool link of the week!

P-51 Mustang from outside:

P-51 Mustang

Wow!

Just think of the history... probably some of the gauges have been updated due to FAA rules, however it doesn't change the fact that most of the flying done back then was purely and literally by wire or cable as it is.

One of my most impressive memories of WWII Aircraft was when I got to tour a B-24 Liberator and a B-17 Flying Fortress in Spokane, about three years ago, and actually walk, crawl, and sit where the actual crew and pilots did. The pilots really were steering, pushing, and pulling the plane's control surfaces via cables! Not only were these guys brave, they were cold, wicked strong, and had "nards" the like and size of 20 pound lead cannon balls. I became fully cognizant of the fact that when these guys got shot at, the 1/8th inch thick riveted to hollowed out aluminum holed frame bays, just let the bullets pass through... by the thousands, and these air craft just kept on flying if not by pure luck by pure brute, and I mean BRUTE strength!

B-24 Liberator

B-17 Flying Fortress

Just think... One of the reasons the Allies won the war was America's collaborative determination and ability to turn her industrial might to making these war planes by the thousands! The Veteran's say that the sky used to be so full of these planes that the noise was deafening, and that the sun would be blocked as they passed overhead for what seemed like an hour as women flew these aircraft to where ever they were needed from the factories! Sadly, now there are only less than a handful known to be flying in the entire world!

B-24 Factory

B-17 Factory

I learned later that day that the restoration society was offering hour long public flights for $400. I hemmed and hawed, toed the ground, thought about the check book, and the credit card, and my responsibilities to the family, projects on the boat, the house and decided not to partake in the flight. Reflecting on that moment now, I realize that there were and are many things I have squandered $400 on and should have taken that opportunity to fly in an actual museum to World War II.

Probably wouldn't have had the "nards" to be a WWII crew member now would I?

Bibliographic special thanks to:
1. 360 degree view of P-51 Mustang received via email and located at:

http://www.stclairphoto-imaging.com/360/P51-Mustang/P51_swf.html

2. North American P-51 Mustang picture found using Google Image search and located at:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/north-american-p-51-mustang.htm

3. B-24 Banking picture found using Google Image search and located at:

http://www.richard-seaman.com/Wallpaper/Aircraft/Bombers/B24Banking.jpg

4.B-17 Flying Fortresses picture found using Google Image search and located at:

http://www.richard-seaman.com/Wallpaper/Aircraft/Bombers/FlyingFortresses.jpg

5. B-24 factory picture found using Google Image search and located at:

http://www.aviation-history.com/consolidated/b24-factory.jpg

6. B-17 factory picture found using Google Image search and located at:

freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com

Campy Out!!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

And yet another ________. Feel free to fill in the blank....

Don't know where this came from other than from another friendly email buddy. ( Thanks Mike) Makes me want to run for Congress!

Come on man!

Campy

George Takei Speaks Out! (Strong Language) but right on!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Review: "Love and Other Drugs"

Sue and I went to see "Love and Other Drugs" yesterday.

It's a movie not so much about Young Onset Parkinson's Disease (YOPD), as it is about being a young beautiful, 27 y/o woman living who is living in the “now” as she is faced with an incurable progressively debilitating disease. This movie IS NOT FOR KIDS!

The Official Write Up

Love and Other Drugs (2010) More at IMDbPro »

Maggie (Hathaway) is an alluring free spirit who won't let anyone - or anything - tie her down. But she meets her match in Jamie (Gyllenhaal), whose relentless and nearly infallible charm serve him well with the ladies and in the cutthroat world of pharmaceutical sales. Maggie and Jamie's evolving relationship takes them both by surprise, as they find themselves under the influence of the ultimate drug: love. Written by Twentieth Century Fox (Link to Love and Other Drugs)

The Bad

While I didn’t mind the sex scenes and strong language, Anne Hathaway’s Maggie, is good scenery; I did pause to think that this movie would be a totally different story if made from the perspective of a man who had YOPD. I became a bit obsessed (yes… I have YOPD) during the movie thinking that this young attractive woman did not have to control her sexual urges; she had many partners from which to choose from in order to satisfy her seemingly insatiable sexual urges. Impulsive behavior in the form of acting on urges may have been Maggie’s nature pre-existing her PD diagnosis, or Maggie’s choice of dealing with the profound sense of loss of control that accompanies people with PD (PWP), or Maggie may have been a victim of the side effects of some PD medicines. This sexual compulsion as well as gambling, shopping, and drinking to excess are well documented, not well understood, statistically affect males more than females, and may in the extreme case end sadly in suicide.

I couldn’t help but think, if this story was told from the perspective of a man with YOPD, I feel I can quite safely say the man would have probably and most sadly ended up in jail, rehab, or worse. It is quite odd to think that a woman would be as receptive to a man with the same sexual voracity experienced by Maggie, for whatever the reason, naturally, emotionally, or chemically induced. But then again, this thankfully and wonderfully a Hollywood story! In my thankfully never to be published reality show, Maggie under most circumstances also would have ended up legally detained or in a mental disorder treatment facility as well.

The Good

It was appropriate to see Maggie accurately show the subtle signs of Parkinson’s, the left hand resting shake, the morning stiffness, as well as have a couple of bad “off” days caused by her being either emotionally compromised or from her medications not working that day. It was “real” to see that she smoked marijuana and drank alcohol; both substances are known to mitigate the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. It was also very real for me to see sit through her attempt to open of a medicine bottle over a sink. I sat in fear just knowing that she would open the bottle only to dump the remainder of her needed pills down the sink. Pills can, with difficulty, be picked from the floor but not from the drain or a toilet’s watery death trap. In Maggie’s case it turned out she was out of her much needed medication, another very real fear that I live with each day. She coped with this loss by drinking a boat load of vodka in her attempt to either mitigate her PD symptoms, drown her loss, or both.

The movie is dated to about the 1997/1998 time frame, when Viagra hit the market, and as such is probably appropriate and accurate with respect to the treatment of Parkinson’s. In the past 10 years major leaps have been made in Parkinson’s treatment especially in the area of YOPD, thanks to Michael J. Fox’s hard work spreading the word and raising much needed research money. Bearing that in mind it was refreshing to see Maggie stumble upon a small Parkinson’s group and gain a sense of hope and energy from the group. On the other hand it was also very real to have her “boyfriend” Jamie show up at the Parkinson’s group meeting only to talk to a husband, and now long time care taker of his wife with Parkinson’s. His advice to Jamie is pointed, “Pack your bags and run now!”

This husband, now turned care giver of a person with Parkinson’s, advice is the basis for the rest of the movie. How does “Love” for a person known to have Parkinson’s and the as yet unknown and untold selfless personal investment and sacrifice in someone’s long termed illness, the inevitable years of thankless care, and being faced with the impending physical and potentially mental demise of that person fit into a young professional, upwardly mobile, highly rewarding, financially lucrative, and active lifestyle?

To find the answer:

1. 1. Watch the movie if you want the feel good Hollywood answer… or

2. 2. Ask my wife for the real day to day answer from someone who is living it.

Roger out!