Field of Glory

My brother has been kind enough to give me an excellent deal on the rule book and three of the army books. So I should have them shortly.

For those of you who don't know what Field of Glory is, it is a miniatures game using 10-15mm figures representing armies from historical cultures spanning the time frame of 4000BC to AD 1500.

FOG, as it is known in the gaming circles, is very well supported by my FLGS, Great Hall Games, with plenty of opponents and a thriving map campaign.

So what army am I going to build? Well, I'm thinking of maybe starting with an ancient Britain list or maybe a Scots-Irish list. Something that would go up against the Romans easily. I am also planning on looking into the history of the Welsh and see what I can come up with there.

Of course I will eventually build an Early Imperial Roman legion, aka "movie" Romans. Or possibly some Hellenic hoplites, aka Greeks from the classical age meaning Alexander or earlier.

I am also up in the air about which scale to use. I can go 15mm or 10mm. If I go 15MM, I am used to the scale after building my US Infantry Company for Flames of War. And there are some superb models out there. For instance Corvus Belli make some beautiful sculpts.

Here are some Celt swordsmen.

and here are some Early Imperial Romans.

I am also thinking of 10mm figures, Magister Militum produces fine sculpts as well.

Here are some 10mm Early Imperial Romans.

The 15mm figs look nice as do the 10mm figs. My brother suggested I get a pack of the same type of troop and paint them up to see which I like best.

So that is what I will be doing over the fall and winter months before I dive into my next Flames of War army.

Memorial to Darrell "Shifty" Powers

Memorial to Darrell Powers

Another powerful story. I hope our Leftist Government reads it, not that any of them would care a bit.

I can't verify the story below but I can verify SSgt Darrell Powers, late of Co E 2/506th PIR, 101st Division, died 17 June 2009 in Virginia.

Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.

I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn't know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle", the symbol of the 101st Airborne, on his hat.

Making conversation, I asked him if he'd been in the 101st Airborne or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made.

Quietly and humbly, he said "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so, and was in until sometime in 1945 . . . " at which point my heart skipped.

At that point, again, very humbly, he said "I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . . do you know where Normandy is?" At this point my heart stopped.

I told him yes, I know exactly where Normandy was, and I know what D-Day was. At that point he said "I also made a second jump into Holland , into Arnhem ." I was standing with a genuine war hero . . . . and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day.

I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France , and he said "Yes. And it's real sad because these days so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can't make the trip." My heart was in my throat and I didn't know what to say.

I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach, while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I'd take his in coach.

He said "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and still care is enough to make an old man very happy." His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are brimming up now as I write this.

Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer.

There was no parade.

No big event in Staples Center .

No wall to wall back to back 24x7 news coverage.

No weeping fans on television.

And that's not right.

Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own quiet way.

Rest in peace, Shifty.

So close.

And yet so far.

The Texas Longhorns fell apart tonight and lost the baseball national championship. Oh well it is only a game, and I didn't even throw or break anything.

There is always next year and always football (I know Cruft, you hate football.)

YAY AT&T/Apple!!!

As you know Apple just released the iPhone 3G-S, now AT&T has shortened the time needed to become eligible for the upgrade price if you bought a 3G iPhone in July, August or September of last year.

What does this mean, it means I am now eligible for the upgrade price for the new iPhone 3G-S. Now I just need the $199.00 plus the $18.00 upgrade fee.

My new ride

I will soon be the proud owner of a 1972 BMW R75/5 motorcycle. This motorcycle has been in my family since about 1974 when my dad bought it. My mom had it in her garage for the past 10 or so years, and will soon be in mine.

There will be much work needed to be done. I figure at least the carbs need to be rebuilt, and all the rubber tubes on the air shocks will need to be replaced and of course new tires.

Once I get it down to Austin, I will get some pictures of it posted and keep y'all up to date as the work progresses.

See ya in the funny papers

NEED MONEY!!!!

So Apple has done it again! My former employer has pushed out more Aluminum and Plastic covered crack.

13" MacBook Pro

That's right I said MacBook Pro and 13" in the same line, and no I didn't stutter.

The "New" 13" MacBook Pro; what makes this a MBP? Spec wise it isn't much different from the previous unibody 13" MacBook, slightly faster chip, same GPU and shared memory, same max RAM. What is different, and thus the "Pro" tag, the screen is now the higher grade OLED, the new industry standard mini-monitor connection, back lit keyboard, and FIREWIRE is back. And the price tag is not bad either; at $1199.00, it is only $200.00 more then the white MB. Add to that AppleCare is still the MacBook price of $250.00 instead of the pricier $350.00 for the 15" and 17" MBP.

All this makes the "little" MBP the laptop for me. I really miss my old 12" G4 PowerBook and this updated 13" model should fit the bill nicely.

iPhone 3G*S

It looks the same on the outside, but is completely different on the inside.

It has a brand new 3MP camera with auto-focus that can also video capture at 30 fps. Not only can you capture video but you can also edit the video right there on the fly with all the elegance and panache on would expect from Apple.

The iPhone also now has an actual magnetic compass that is used by the map app and gives you your orientation on the map. This feature will be available to other app developers as well. And speaking of maps the 3.0 OS will allow integration of the Google Maps in other to other apps as well.

The iPhone is also getting a longer battery life. It is now on par with other cell phones as far as talk/standby time, but is still has features that make it a class unto itself.

There are many, many new features and wizgogs with the new iPhone. I will just have to go play with one to see all the great reasons why I need more money.

To the old geezer.

Happy birthday to me. Another year older and another year bolder.

Now where are all my presents.

Thanks to Cruft, Jay and Donna for their appropriately timed gifts. All well thought out and will be put to good use.