Author Archives: Alaska

Can a Song be Composed Entirely of Hooks?

Posted on August 19, 2018 by Alaska

I dunno about you, but Blood of Bannockburn by my current go-to earworm band, Sabaton, sounds pretty hook-filled to me. Below’s my Youtube playlist of the earwormiest of their oeuvre I’ve found. The first one includes lyrics by Audie Murphy. … Continue reading →

Posted in Kewel! | Leave a comment

Saving Western Civilization, One Mind at a Time

Posted on April 9, 2018 by Alaska

I’ve mentioned my high-school choir teacher David Pool once or twice before; a Juilliard grad, he was known for taking insecure nerds, geeks and social outcasts and turning them into self-confident young men and women, starting by treating us first … Continue reading →

Posted in Heroes, Comrades and Brothers, Kewel! | 1 Comment

7mm Dakota Specialty Pistol Article [Images restored March 2021!]

Posted on April 8, 2018 by Alaska

Who can argue with a 600-plus-yard pistol for elk? (And yes, I know about Elmer Keith and his .44 Magnum as a long-range elk gun. You and I are not Elmer Keith, and this is not about that.) Ages ago … Continue reading →

Posted in Have Gun, Will Travel, Heroes, Comrades and Brothers, Kewel! | Leave a comment

Accelerate and Disobey

Posted on April 5, 2018 by Alaska

Spivonomist had a favorite EP from the ’80s he’d lost, but he found the track after 18 years of trying to remember the band. There’s got to be a German portmanteau word for the specific feeling of satisfaction in such … Continue reading →

Posted in Kewel! | Leave a comment

Roman Dodecahedron

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Alaska

One of these and some cordage would be a bloody useful piece of kit for the pocket or backpack. For the last 20 years I’ve kept a pair of cheap Wal-Mart glove liners (usually seasonal items, about a buck a … Continue reading →

Posted in By Ourselves, For Ourselves, Kewel! | Leave a comment

We the People

Posted on March 24, 2018 by Alaska

I’ve always loved this song. Seriously — crank the bass for best effect. Beware; it can get dusty when the bell rings.

Posted in Kewel! | Leave a comment

Belgrade, 1926

Posted on March 22, 2018 by Alaska

Eric Ambler’s A COFFIN FOR DIMITRIOS (1939) is one of my favorite novels, for the noir atmospherics alone. (That I number more than one fellow as casually amoral and exotic as Dmitrios Makropoulos among my professional colleagues just adds relish … Continue reading →

Posted in Evil walks the earth, Kewel!, Useful Idiots | Leave a comment

UPS’ drone army

Posted on March 22, 2018 by Alaska

This is a very interesting chart from a very interesting article about surprise and first-strike capability. Also, nanoexplosives. (!!) Emphasis mine. This brings us to another area where U.S. systems are outranged: ground vehicles. Researchers at the University of Virginia … Continue reading →

Posted in Armageddon, Life in the Atomic Age, The Government is Not Your Friend | Leave a comment

Orville Bierkle’s War Diary

Posted on March 21, 2018 by Alaska

Somehow it seems I haven’t posted a direct link to Sergeant Orville A. Bierkle’s Korean War diary here — thought I had, but can’t find any such post. So here is the link. If I can figure out how to … Continue reading →

Posted in Have Gun, Will Travel, Heroes, Comrades and Brothers | Leave a comment

Sokath, His Eyes Opened

Posted on March 20, 2018 by Alaska

This Monmouth poll yesterday deserved to receive more attention than it did: Majority believe ‘deep state’ manipulates U.S. policies. “The majority of the country believes a group of unelected government and military officials secretly manipulate national policy, according to a … Continue reading →

Posted in The Government is Not Your Friend | 1 Comment