I was going through my photos and found these of the 21st Century Toys (1/6th Scale) M2 Bradley that I had.  I have since sold it off to a fellow Flash Force member several years ago.  Photos were taken on the ramp and grounds of Reese Technology Center back in 2003-2004.  

Once cannot get over the SIZE of this thing!  The photograph of me with my M2 and Les M. with his Eurofighter shows how big it was.  And heavy too.  If it was built out of metal and was radio controled, then I would have needed help to get it in and out of the back of my pickup truck.  

And if I can ever get back on my feet again and have the $$ to spend on it, I would like to get another one to have if I can a good bargin.  New, these things retailed at Toys R Us for $250.00 appox.

Major Matt Mason Movie With Tom Hanks

I'm going to post this news on both of my blogs.  I am so totally geeked out over the POSSIBILITY of this even happening!  

Universal and actor Tom Hanks have optioned the rights from Mattel for their 1960's era action figure Major Matt Mason. 

This project is designed to be a "star vehicle" for actor Tom Hanks (Apollo 13).  Script will be written by Graham Yost.  Playtone partner Hanks and Gary Goetzman will be the producers.

For those who do not know about Mattel's Man In Space Program, otherwise known as Major Matt Mason; a American team of astronauts lead my the good Major in the white spacesuit.  The toy line first appeared in 1966 and was a 'major' hit in the massive buildup for the real manned moon missions.  Major Matt Mason toyline was retired in the early 1970s.

It was reported that Mattel executives Tim Kilpin and Barry Waldo came to the Playtone meeting with samples of the action figure and some of the gear that went with it.  It was also reported that Tom Hanks arrived with his own Major Matt Mason figure.  

___

Ref. Scifiwire.com news item posted 03/25/2009.  This is the link for it. ( http://scifiwire.com/2009/03/universal-to-adapt-matt-m.php)

Drug War Side Effects - Towns Digging Their Own Moats

Check out John Robb's latest posting (March 24, 2009) entitled:  "Journal:  Tribal Raids and Medieval Defenses."  Original news article by Dudley Althaus of the Houston Chronicle. 

Seems like that the town of Cuauhtemoc, Mexico, has a problem with the local bullies otherwise known as terrorists, drug runners, or good ole fashon pistoleros.

When 15 SUVs loaded with bad guys recently raided the nearby town of San Angel, Mexico, they took five men hostage. Four were returned unharmed.  The fith, a teenager was held longer in exchanged for the intended target that the raiders missed. 

To defend themselves (the police and military uanble to defend the small village), they dug themselves a moat around the town.  Including the all access roads.

President Felipe Calderon's war on the Mexican drug gangasters hasn't met much success since he started deploying 45,000 troops and federal police in December 2006.  The federal forces have been able to defeat the gunman in open combat, but not to extinguish the bloodshed or the crimes committed.  Narcotics-related violence killed at elast 6,000 people in 2008.  Crimes like kidnappings, extortions, and bank robberies are on the rise in many cities and out in the rural areas such as Cuauhtemoc, and San Angel.

While its not politically inspired, the gangasters' hit and run tactics are mirroring those used by insurgents when staging a revolution.  Thus, the Mexican government finds itself without adequate manpower to be everywhere at once.  

The gangs, known as Zetas - area in league with the Gulf Cartel.  The Gulf Cartel is located in Matamoros and other cities in and around South Texas.  The Zetas were originally Army deserters and they ahve been fighting other gangs to gain control fo the drug smuggling corridors and other rackets.

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Ref Trackback url (http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451576d69e201156e4c1fb4970c).

Original news article by Dudley Althaus, Houston Chronicle, March 22, 2009( http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6328994.html ).

The Secret Sun: Indiana Jones and The Lost Tracing Boards of Gnosis

The Secret Sun: Indiana Jones and The Lost Tracing Boards of Gnosis

Read "The Big Takeover" on Rollingstone.com

Please check this article out from Rollingstone.com.  Its entitled "The Big Takeover" by Matt Taibbi.  The subtitle is jsut as important, "The global economic crisis isn't about money - it's about power.  How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a revolution."

You might have to go over it several times as I did in spots.  But it tracks the big global economic collapse and names some names.

___

Ref.  ( http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover/print)

The Oath Keepers

Please read the following information. Then go to the Oath-Keepers blog and read it in greater detail. The following information should inspire all Americans fearful of their government has now gotten out of control.

1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.
2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrant less searches of the American people
3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.
4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.
5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.
6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.
7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.
8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control.”
9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.
10.We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

The Tea Party Revolution is brewing. This declaration from the Oath-Keepers. While gun sales are up, the sales of ammo for them has skyrocketed. There are shortages taking place now. The government has decided just to print up 10+ trillion dollars over x number of years - or is thinking about it... Remember that song from way back when? "The times they are changing"

Yes indeed, the times are changing indeed.
____
Ref. link: ( http://oath-keepers.blogspot.com/ ) & ( http://oath-keepers.blogspot.com/2009/03/oath-keepers-declaration-of-orders-we.html ).

Murtha is Unworthy For Navy Award

Check this out.  

On March 5, 2009 Congressman John Murtha was awarded the Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award by the Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter.

Murther does not deserve this honor. Please sign the petition to block this sick joke.  ( http://www.petitiononline.com/usmc2009/petition.html ).  

Vladimir Putin Undercover vs. Ronald Reagan

In a news article posted by Julia Alasheyeva (Sky News, March 18, 2009) "Undercover Putin In KGB Reagan Ruse."

A 20-year old picture has surface showing Vladimir Putin undercover as a tourist in Moscow when U.S. President and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev were walking around in Red Square.  Photograph taken by Pete Souza who is now working in the Obama Administration as President's Obama's official photographer; captured the moment.

Pete Souza recounted to Ms. Alasheyeva that he was surprised by the "pointed" questions these tourists asked President Reagan.  Including such quesitons going into human rights.

It was known that the KGB officers would be planted as bystanders when foreign leaders went out on meet and greet photo sessions with the 'common citizen of Moscow.'  

It is known that in the late 1980s, Mr. Putin was a KGB officer in Dresden, East Germany.  He was there from 1985 until the fall of the Berlin Wall.  He was later transferred back to Russia.  This was his only foreign posting as a KGB agent.

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Ref. "Undercover Putin In KGB Reagan Ruse." SkyNews.com, March 18, 2009 ( http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Russias-Vladimir-Putin-Snapped-In-Disguise-While-Working-As-KGB-Officer-During-Reagan-Visit/Article/200903315244360?lid=ARTICLE_15244360_RussiasVladimirPutinSnappedInDisguiseWhileWorkingAsKGBOfficerDuringReaganVisit&lpos=searchresults ). 

Littorial Combat Ships (LCS), USS Freedom & Independence classes.

This is a little unsual for me to be posting naval stuff.  But with the events happening at sea with China in recent weeks, I've been more of a naval researcher of late.  I am no expert in such matters.  I guess these two ships will be able to do their jobs.  But you konw something, I like the looks of both ships in this LCS class.  They are really kick ass looking.  

U.S. Navy releases name of Fourth Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado.  Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter announched on March 12, 2009 that the fourth Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) will be named USS Coronado.  This continues the practice of naming the agile LCSs after mid-size American cities.  This ship was named after Coronado, CA.  That is home to the Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI) and the Naval Amphibious Base(NAB).  Coronado has been home to the Navy since 1917. 

Two previous ships have been named for Coronado.  In World War Two, there was the Tacoma-class patrol frigate (PF-38) that took part in the New Guinea and Leyte battles durning World War Two.  The other was the AGF-11 ship that served as a flagship for the Third Fleet and was decommissioned in 2006. 

The Littorial Combat Ships (LCS) are designed to defeat what are known as littoral threats and provide access and dominance in coastal waters for missions such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and surface warfare.

There are actualy two different classes of hull forms for this project.  The first is a semiplaning monohull and the second is a aluminum trimaran - designed and built by Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics respectively.  These seaframes can be outfitted with reconfigurable payloads - called mission packages, which can be chaned out quickly.  Mission packages are supported by special detachments that will deploy manned and unmanned vehciles and sensors.

The Third LCS ship, USS Fort Worth, is the monohull design like that of the USS Freedom.  So far of all the LCSs, only the USS Independence trimaran is operational.

Ships of this class (USS Freedom, LCS-1; USS Independence, LCS-2; USS Fort Worth, LCS-3; USS Coronado, LCS-4).

General Specifications for the USS Freedom are-

Length:  378.3 feet (115.3 meters)

Beam:  57.4 feet (17.5 meters)

Draft: 12.1 feet (3.7 meters).

Propulsion: (2) Rols-Royce MT30 36 MW gas Turbines, (2) Colt-Pielstick diesel dengines, and (4) Rolls-Royce waterjets.

Speed:  45 knots(52 mph or 83 km/h).

Range:  3,500 nautical miles at 18 knots.

Endurance:  21 days.

Crew: 15 to 50 core members plus 75 mission specific crew (Blue and Gold crews rotating like they do for the Missile submarines).

Wepaons:  BAE Mk 110 57mm gun, RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles, Honeywell Mk 50 Torpedo, NETFIRES PAM Missile in ASW module, (2) .50 cal machineguns.

Aircraft: (2) MH-60 R/S Seahawks, (1)MQ-8 Fire Scout.

General Specifications for the USS Independence are-

Length:  417 feet (127.4 meters)

Beam:  104 feet (31.6 meters)

Draft: 14.76 feet (4.5 meters).

Propulsion: (2) gas Turbines, (2) diesel engines, and (4) Rolls-Royce waterjets. A retractable Azimuth thruster. (4) diesel generators

Speed:  47 knots(54 mph or 87 km/h).

Range:  4,500 nautical miles at 20 knots.

Endurance:  20+ days.

Crew: 40 crew (8 officers, 32 enlisted).

Wepaons:  57mm Bofors gun turret. (4) .50 cal machineguns (2 forward, and 2 aft).  Evolved Sea RAM 11 cell missile launcher.  Mission Modules.

Aircraft: (2) MH-60 R/S Seahawks, (1)MQ-8 Fire Scout.

_____

Ref. 

Press Release #162-09. March 12, 2009.(http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12550)

Wikipedia, USS Freedom (LCS-1), ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Freedom_(LCS-1)).

Wikipedia, USS Independence ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Independence_(LCS-2) )

Its Global Cooling - NOT Warming Stupid!

Found this on Drudge Report and followed the link to WISN.com. Article entitled "UW-Milwaukee Study Could Realign Climate Change Theory." The sub-heading is even more important for the reader to understand: "Scientists Claim Earth is Undergoing Natural Climate Shift."

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee think that their study of global climate change is going to upset the whole cliamte change world upside down. (However, will it stop the political movement claiming Global Warming is harming the planet? I doubt it. IT has become almost a religon now). The scientists at the university used a math application called synchronized chaos and then applied that to the weather and climate date for the past century.

The air and ocean systems are synchronizing with one another. This will begin a climate shift.

Dr. Anastasios Tsonis told the reporter, "In climate, when this happens, the climate state changes. You go from a cooling regime to a warming regime or a warming regime to a cooling regime. This way we were able to explain all the fluctuations in the global temperature trend in the past century. The research team has found the warming trend of the past 30 years has stopped and in fact global temperatures have leveled off since 2001." (I added the italics to that last sentence). The most recent climate change is thought to have occured about the year 2000.

Tsonis said he thinks the current trend of steady or even cooling earth tempeartures may last a couple of decades or until the next climate shift occurs.
_________
Ref. Drudge Report>WISN.com>Milwaukee Weather ( http://www.wisn.com/weather/18935841/detail.html ).

A Trillon Here, A Trillon There.

A Trillon here, a trillon there.  Pretty soon, we'll be talking about real money.

Want to know what a Trillon Dollars look like?  There was this link on Coast to Coast AM that you need to take a look at and bookmark it for future reference.  From Page Tutor.com (http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html)

Flash Force 255 Pictures of Mine

OK, here are some forgotten pictures that I sent in to Flash Force HQ way back when.  This was when I had the M2 Bradley APC and the OH-6 Littlebird helo from 21st Century Toys.  

The OH-6 Littlebird helicopter was photoshoped so that the camera tripod that it was sitting on was removed from the picture.  And thus, I had a "in-flight" shot of the model.

The Bradley was photographed in front of the fire department building on the ramp of the former Reese Air Force Base (now Reese Technology Center).  

Also, several years ago, the V-22 Osprey was here in Lubbock, Texas, conducting high wind stress tests.  And ironies of irony, it was one of the calmest springs that we had had in years.  Anyway, I took several pictures and since I did not have a action figure in the "official" uniform of Flash Force, I photoshoped one figure and pasted it into the real world photo of the Osprey that I took.  I was quite happy with the way that it came out.

If one will note, the title image for this blog is of my M2 Bradley and a Typhoon radio control turbine jet that my friend Les Morrow built.  Both are now sadly gone from our respective grasps.  I sold off the Bradley and Les eventually sold his Typhoon to get another jet model airplane.  Both models were photographed on the main (or center) runway out at Reese Technology Center.

Flash Force 10th Anniversary

My, my how time flies by. Decided to check in on the guys and discovered a special alert message for all of us ISOC personnel - International Special Operations Command (i.e. "Flash Force"). I was the 255th person to sign up to be a member of Flash Force and hence the title to this blog was born (unknowly at the time). In the beginning, I saw this blog to be my hobby blog where I can post stuff about my G.I. Joe size action figure collecting and other hobbies like radio control model airplanes. But it has evolved into something a bit more than that now (my blog that is).



Title: Flash Force Anniversary
Date: Friday March 13, 2009

Notes: On this day in 1999, Flash Force was first established. Inspired by fans of the Command Headquarters (formerly Brigade Headquarters) website, this group has enlisted more than 300 members and has established a presence in over 12 nations. Thank you to all of you for your support over the years!


If one were to go to (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flashforce/) they will find a fine online organization. This is part of the introduction on the front page: Flash Force is a recreational hobby group and not affiliated with any government agency. Many of the persons, places, and situations described in group messages are fictitious and sent in support of recreational activities or online role-playing games.

I got involved with this group by following the construction updates that this website was putting out on the web back then. Seems there was this crazy guy(Teddy M. Terstegge) who wanted to build a 1/6th scale Blackhawk helicopter for himself. And he did. It was given the name "Midnight Magic" if I remember correctly. And it was so cool looking. I loved following along with the updates that he maded back then. It was not a radio control model - just a static model good for posing for photos with. Most of the other members of Flash Force purchased the OH-6 Littlebird helicopter put out by 21st Century Toys.



Hasbro, 21st Century Toys, Dragon Action Figures, and other companies produced a lot of amazing toys for children and the 1/6th scale collector in the past 12 years. With the high costs of oil lately, the bigger items like a true 1/6th scale M2 Bradley APC for example, just became too expensive for folks to buy anymore. I just loved going to Toys R Us to see the action figure aisle and be amazed at what was being offered.



(Pictures: The top picture is of my control tower model that I set up at the 3rd Annual T-38 Jet Rally and this photo appeared on the front page of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. This would have been back in August of 2001 or 2002 I think). The bottom one is by Teddy M. Terstegge who photoshop his "Midnight Magic" into this flying scene.

UPDATE:  With some much needed rest, I've gone back in search of the weblink for the Blackhawk helicopter project and found it.  I ahve added that link to the Reference section below.  I also rediscovered some pictures that I had created and sent in to Flash Force headquarters and that I have downloaded and will display them in a followup posting soon.
___


Ref. Flash Force Main Website ( http://www.flashforce.org/home.html).

The Great Blackhawk Project link( http://www.flashforce.org/public/general/hawkproject/hawkproject.html).

Building Custom 1/6th Scale Models - to the Xtreme!

Peter Shaw of the United Kingdom loves railways and military stuff and decided to combine the two together into a special project.  He was going to build himself one of those German Dora class rail guns.  Just think of that WW2 flick "The Guns of Navarone."  

Built by the Krupp Steel Industries in the late 1930s.  The 1000 ton monster was carried on parallel tracks.  The 80 cm (2 feet, 8 inches) shell weighing 7 tons.  Being fired from a 30 meter barrel and the shell can be fired over a distance of 29 miles at a velocity of 2,700 feet per second. The shell could penetrate up to 30 feet deep into earth making a crater over 90 feet in diameter.

Special twin railway engines with low speed gear was able to move the gun carriage an inch forward at a time if needed. First combat of the Dora took place at Sevastopol on the Eastern Front and in June 1942, the gun fired for the first time. A spotter plane like the Storsch was used to fly over the target area and report back on the locations where the shells hit the target area.

For transport to a combat area, the whole thing was disassembled and reassembled at a new location.

Check out this link to see his slide show of the building of this monster project.  

___

Ref. Peter Shaw 1/6th Scale Dora Railgun ( http://www.vonabt.co.uk/models/Dora/DoraBuild.htm) and (http://www.vonabt.co.uk/models/Dora/index.html) & main gateway to website ( http://www.vonabt.co.uk/).  

History links of the Dora railgun cannon (http://www.vincelewis.net/dora.html).  

U.S. to Taiwan - "No" to any F-16s

(Based on a article by Ralph Jennings in Taipei, posted on Reuters.com March 10, 2009).  

Reuters reporter in Taipei, Ralph Jennings, reports that the U.S. government has decided not to sell any F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan for fear of upsetting China.  That was a statement that Taiwan's parliament speaker made on Tuesday.

The White House has blocked the $4.9 billion deal for 66 advanced F-16s last year and there was little hope of it being revived this year said Wang Jin-pyng. "The U.S. doesn't want to give them to us."

China has long claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong's Communists won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists (KMT) fled to the island.  

While relations have improved between the two, Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its rule by force someday and it opposes all U.S. arms sales to the island.  Washington recognizes China diplomatically and is seeking to improve relations with the Asian economic powerhouse.

Taiwan first asked to buy new F-16s in 2007 after approving substantial funding for the aircraft.  Wan said Taiwan's' current fleet is 16 years old.  

The U.S. Pacific Command said in July that U.S. policymakers saw no pressing need to sell advanced arms to Taiwan.

That is basically what the news article reported on the matter.  

As for what I have to say about this news event - I think it sucks!  Back in my college days (1978-1983), I viewed our nation turning away from Taiwan as a stain on our nations honour.  China is holding so much of our nation debt now, we have to bow to their wishes as far as the island of Taiwan is concerned. I do not like this current state of affairs we find ourselves in.

And added on top of this the recent incidents in the Yellow Sea between U.S. Navy ships and elements of the Chinese Navy.  

We are witnessing China test our new U.S. President Obama like they tested President George W. Bush back when he was a newbie.  

_______

Ref. "U.S. declines to sell F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan:  MP"  (http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5292WJ20090310).

USNS Impeccable & USNS Victorious vs. the Chinese Navy

AP and Reuters both had reports about five Chinese ships that harassed a U.S. surveillance ship in the South China Sea this past Sunday. At the time of the incident, the USNS Impeccable was about 75 miles of Hainan, China - in international waters.

Said Chinese vessels "...shadowed and aggressively maneuvered in dangerously close proximity to the USNS Impeccable (T-AGOS-23), in an apparent coordinated effort to harass the U.S. ocean surveillance ship while it was conducting routine operations in international waters," the Pentagon said in a written statement.

Two of the Chinese vessels came by the Impeccable within 50 feet, waving Chinese flags and told the U.S. ship to leave the area.

USNS Impeccable sprayed its fire hoses at one of the vessels in order to protect itself which cause the Chinese crewmembers to disrobe down to their underwear and continued to close to within 25 feet of the Impeccable.

And when the Impeccable alerted the Chinese that it was seeking a safe path to depart the area, two of the Chinese ships stopped "dirctly ahead of USNS Impeccable, forcing the Impeccable to conduct an emergency 'all stop' in order to avoid collision. The Chinese dropped pieces of wood in the water directly in front of Impeccable's path.

Turns out that THIS is the third such incident over the past week. The first one was last Wednesday when a Chinese Bureau of Fisheries Patrol vessel used a spotlight to illuminate the ocean surveillance ship USNS Victorious (T-AGOS-19). This incident took place 125 miles from China's coastline in the Yellow Sea. The Chinese ship crossed the bows of USNS Victorious at a range of 1,400 yards in darkness without notice or warning.

The next day, a Chinese frigate crossed the USNS Impeccable bow's at a range of about 100 yeards. This was followed two hours later by Chinese Y-12 Aircraft whivh conducted Eleven (11) fly-bys of Impeccable at an altitude of 600 feet and ranges from 100 to 300 feet away from the Navy vessel. Then the Chinese frigate showed up again to cross Impeccable's bows yet again - this time out to aobut 400-500 yards away. Again no "rendering of courtesy or ntoice of intentions."

And then on Saturday, a Chinese inelligence collection ship challended USNS Impeccable over the bridge-to-bridge radio, "calling (Impeccable) operations illegal and directing Impeccable to leave the area or 'suffer the consequences."

USNS Impeccable is an twin hull Ocean Surveillance Ship, a part of the Military Sealift Command's (MSC) Special Mission Ships Program. Now, these ships are operated by civilian mariners who work for private companies under contract to MSC. The USNS Impeccable was launched in 1998, and commissioned into the US Navy in 2001. While underway, it deploys a LF passive sonar that requires a combined crew of merchant marines, surveillance towed array sensor system operators (SOC) techs, and regualr U.S. Navy sonar technicians.

____

Ref. Unregistered News.com: http://www.unregisterednews.com/2009/03/09/usns-victorious-harried-by-chinese-y-12-aircraft/

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USNS_Impeccable_(T-AGOS-23)

Raiders of the Lost Ark Transcript

Anybody who has been following my blog for any length of time will know that I am a BIG Indiana Jones fan.



I was visiting The Raider website and there was this posting to Mystery Man on Film's blog and he had a transcript that was or a meeting between George Lucus, Steven Spielberg, and Lawrence Kasdan. Check below for the links. The transcript is in Adobe pdf file format.



Quoting Mystery Man on Film's blog: "Some background first. Spielberg suggested that Kasdan write Raiders because he admired his Continental Divide script. Lucas agreed. Now, imagine with me: Lucas had just released Star Wars, the biggest film in the history of Hollywood and a cult phenomenon. Spielberg had just released Close Encounters of the Third Kind and before that, Jaws. Now Kasdan was called in to have a story conference with the biggest names in Hollywood who wanted to talk about their next blockbuster. The conference took place at the L.A. home of Jane Bay, who was Lucas’ assistant. They had 5 consecutive 9-hour days to talk about the story. This .pdf is a transcript from taped recordings of those meetings."

Indiana Smith was one of the earlier versions of the famed explorer. It just doesn't have any Zing! But, as far as spoofing, then Indiana Smith would be a great name indeed.


Again, quoting Mystery Man on Film: "... Spielberg and Lucas were idea machines. They could’ve sat there coming up with Indiana Smith ideas forever. There were enough ideas generated in these meetings for two films, which they actually used for two films."

And this is going to be my last quote from Mystery Man's website. It covers the background history of Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood: "Interestingly, the discussion about Marion was hardly as thorough as the one about Indy. For a while, they weren't sure what kind of girl to have as a counterpart to Indy. Lucas had first described the love interest as a blonde double-crossing German agent, which they ended up using in Last Crusade.

"Spielberg said, “She should have hair like Veronica Lake. You only see one eye at a time.”There was talk about a big name professor who taught Indy everything he knew. Then there was the idea about this German girl, and for the sake of expediency, Kasdan suggested that Indy instead have an affair with the mentor’s daughter, which they loved.

"And then Lucas and Spielberg were off and running with ideas about how’s she’s been left in Peru and has this bar and is trying to get money together to get back to the States and loves (and resents) Indy to no end. In fact, Kasdan said he wanted Indy and this girl to already have a history when they meet because, “I like it if they already had a relationship at one point. Because then you don’t have to build it.” Hehehe…

"Then the discussion turned to how old Marion and Indy were at the time of the affair: (NOTE: G = George Lucas, S = Steven Spielberg, L = Lawrence Kasdan).

"G — I was thinking that this old guy could have been his mentor. He could have known this little girl when she was just a kid. Had an affair with her when she was eleven.
"L — And he was forty-two.
"G — He hasn't seen her in twelve years. Now she's twenty-two. It's a real strange relationship.
"S — She had better be older than twenty-two.
"G — He's thirty-five, and he knew her ten years ago when he was twenty-five and she was only twelve. It would be amusing to make her slightly young at the time.
"S — And promiscuous. She came onto him.
"G — Fifteen is right on the edge. I know it's an outrageous idea, but it is interesting. Once she's sixteen or seventeen it's not interesting anymore. But if she was fifteen and he was twenty-five and they actually had an affair the last time they met. And she was madly in love with him and he...
"S — She has pictures of him.

"And now consider the dialogue of that scene in the film:
INDY: I never meant to hurt you.
MARION: I was a child! I was in love.
INDY: You knew what you were doing.
MARION: It was wrong. You knew it.
INDY: Look, I did what I did. I don't expect you to be happy about it. But maybe we can do each other some good.
MARION: Why start now?
INDY: Shut up and listen for a second. I want that piece your father had. I've got money.
MARION: How much? (End Quote)"

Have fun reading it.

____



Ref. The Raider.net ( http://www.theraider.net/)
Mystery Man on Film blog ( http://mysterymanonfilm.blogspot.com/2009/03/raiders-story-conference.html).
Transcript link itself ( http://www.sendspace.com/file/cnoe3r ).

Florida Jets 2009

I wanted to change things up around here and decided to post this link to RC Universe's coverage of the 2009 Florida Jets.  (http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8549023/tm.htm) Check out the pictures there.  

I could make a cheesy statement about why I like jets here, but will let the reader make up their own when you view the pictures there yourself.

Financial News for Home Loans and Loan Modifications

Here is the information that was released recently about how mortages and loan modifications, and other options will work in the future under the Obama Administration.

Check on the link below to view pdf files on the subject matter.

___

Ref.  Financial Stability  (http://financialstability.gov/ )

The New Starship U.S.S. Enterprise as Desktop Wallpapers

Over on the trekmovie.com webpage, I was looking through the past pages and came across the wallpapers posting. This is the link to that page.( http://trekmovie.com/2009/02/23/first-look-at-tobias-richters-uss-enterprise-wallpapers/ ). It was originally posted on February 23, 2009 by Thorsten Wulff.

Tobias Richter is a big Trek fan and veteran CG artist and the owner of The Light Works graphics studio in Cologne, Germany. His model of the new Enterprise is based solely on reference material available (the official image released, the three trailers, and even the toy images). These are as accurate as it is going to get until the movie comes out in May.
Read more about Tobias Richter and the Enterprise Wallpapers over on Trekmovie.com.

The images with this posting are credited to the trekmovie.com website and Tobias Richter.

Glenn Beck and State Sovereignty Rights

Check out this Glenn Beck YouTube interviewing NH Representative Dan Itse about State Sovereignty Rights (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I36vH_uTbic ).  This was originally aired on February 13, 2009.   As of that airing, there were 20 states that had some sort of legation dealing with sovereignty.

Paper Modelling

Have you ever attempted to make one of those paper models look like what the photographs in the magazine (or nowdays, online)? Sorta like the picture above? Yeah, me too and failed every time that I tried. And everynow and then, I get the urge to try again.

Just discovered this website and included in it was this model of the Ark of the Covenant scale almsot scale to the correct dimensions for one's 1/6th scale Indiana Jones figure. See the related link below.

On Paper Replika.com there are many subject items to choose from. There is even a Star Wars section. There is even a papermodel of the UFO that crashed at Roswell in 1947 (based on the testor's kit it looks like to me). Or how about the Discovery from the movie "2001 A Space Odessey." Pretty neat.

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Ref. Paper Replika.com (http://paper-replika.com/)

Ark of the Covenant-( http://paper-replika.com/index.php/Ancient-History/Ark-of-The-Covenant.html).

Discovery from movie 2001 ( http://paperkraft.blogspot.com/2009/03/discovery-one-papercraft.html)

Roswell UFO Crash ( http://paper-replika.com/index.php/Others/Roswell-UFO-Paper-Craft.html).