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Tuesday, July 05, 2011

RANDOM THOUGHTS #47

Steve Cole muses: Just thinking to himself.

1. The genesis of Napoleonic tactics came a century early with the battle of Blenheim in 1704. The French began using mass bayonet charges (which worked even better with Napoleon's larger army of draftees) while the British were using smaller, nimble groups of infantry firing aimed volleys (a tactic that Wellington mastered, and which became the Thin Red Line 40 years after Wellington at Balaclava). Most of all, the ability of the British General Marlborough to suddenly move his Army hundreds of miles was to inspire every one of Napoleon's operations.

2. The British Profumo scandal (a cabinet minister resigned after it was discovered he'd had an affair) was in 1963. I was old enough at the time to actually know what the news story was about. It dominated the news for an entire week.

3. I was shocked to learn that "Lincoln's Gettysburg Address Youtube Video" is actually a fairly common search on Google. Maybe I shouldn't have been shocked.

4. My favorite team in World Cup soccer is the Manilla Envelopes. They have the season in the bag if they don't fold. They've only been licked once.

5. I wonder if Dave and Cody (the two guys on Dual Survival) could escape from Terry Grant (Mantracker) in the forests of Canada. I would love to see Mantracker find Cody's barefoot prints on the trail and wonder what kind of idiot is running around Canada barefoot.

6. I hope that, in five years, it will be possible to do CGI shows so cheaply that we could see new episodes done for canceled live-action series. I'd love to see more episodes done for Firefly and Stargate Universe, for example.

7. Half of the commercials on my XM radio station are for truck lines trying to hire experienced drivers, promising high pay, high miles, weekly time at home, medical insurance, and no end of other things. If the economy stinks so bad, why are truck lines so busy?

8. I gave AMC's THE KILLING a try just because the writing on some of their other series was so good. I found the first few episodes boring and depressing (with the exception of Michelle Forbe's inspired acting) but by Episode 8 I was begging for more. Episode 10 provided a major turn in the case but Episode 11 was a time-wasting side-trip that did not advance the plot. I am outraged to have to wait another week to get anywhere with the plot. As it is, the final episode will be the night before I leave for Origins, and I'm planning to not leave home without seeing it.

9. I spent some time telling Leanna and Petrick that if it was up to me, when Brenda Johnson retires from THE CLOSER, I'd keep the cast together and just have Captain Raydor take over Brenda's major case squad. Turns out, that is just exactly what is going to happen. Great minds think alike! It upset me to think of such a great bunch of actors who would be out of work when their chemistry was so perfect.

10. Why is the Casey Anthony case even ON television, let alone dominating the news. Whenever I turn on FOX to find out what Obama is up to, all I get is drivel about this woman who killed her kid. Sheesh. Just put her in front of a firing squad and get it over with.