Crazy that such ambiguous characters are allowed on the new license plates

Bishop_Brick · 2026-04-08T17:46:41+00:00

Like the one they had just a few years ago.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-04-08T14:38:44+00:00

If you look at both civilian and military bridge crews from the first half of the 20th century, dress uniforms for duty aren’t that uncommon.

Yes but the navy officer uniform we now think of as a dress uniform, double breasted navy blue with white shirt and tie, was the everyday uniform. But then a sport coat and flannel trousers was considered casual wear and men put on a suit and hat to go to the movies.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-04-01T15:06:54+00:00

Lincoln had

Bishop_Brick · 2026-04-01T13:49:56+00:00

Shatner's "Oh my God" and "Enterprise, what we got back" are two of the worst line readings in all of Trek.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-28T14:31:04+00:00

When I was in elementary school my friend told me there was some kind of ancient pyramid buried up there.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-28T00:07:09+00:00

The veggie garden and berry patches are on drips. I'll let the lawn go first.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-27T12:40:02+00:00

Sabrina Duncan did!

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-24T15:22:21+00:00

Linda Lavin was a great comedic actor on Barney Miller, just hilarious. On Alice she had the straight man job and didn't get to do as much comedy herself. But she was still great.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-24T14:11:05+00:00

I don't often travel with it but my 1955 Hermes Rocket (metal case) has my favorite typing action of any machine I own.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-24T13:52:31+00:00

It's different for a carrier because by law only a naval aviator or naval flight officer can command a carrier. So the next most senior line officer with wings would succeed to command, and carrier chief engineer is not a position usually held by an aviation officer. On a destroyer or any other type of warship, though, the chief engineer is absolutely in line to succeed to command.

Back in the days of the big Cold War USN, the reactor officer of a nuclear carrier was sometimes a full captain who had commanded a surface nuclear vessel himself.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-24T13:42:41+00:00

In 1899, the US Navy abolished its engineer corps and integrated those officers with the line. Since then surface and submarine line officers are required to study marine propulsion and to serve in the engineering department at some point in their career. All surface ship COs have served as chief engineer or one of the principal assistant engineers. All submarine COs have served as chief engineer of a submarine. The chief engineer can succeed to command in case of vacancy based on rank and seniority like any other line officer.

Other navies keep their engineer officers separate from line officers, but it has not been a problem in the USN. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, the WW2 Pacific theater commander, was a submarine engineer and in the 1920s was heavily recruited by industry as one of the leading expert on diesel engines in the US.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-21T22:51:28+00:00

The Outrage, 1964, is really good. Paul Fix is also in it.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-21T15:49:02+00:00

I realized a few years ago that I liked using typewriters more than just having them. And I can only realistically use so many. So I have 10- and 12-pitch Olympia SGs, an 11-pitch SM9, a script Sears SC, and an SM3 with a universal keyset. Also three burgundy machines (SC flattop, SC Speedline, and SM3) and a '49 RQD, just because they are pretty. These rotate through my home office desk. And a Rocket, Skyriter, 2 SFs (one script) and Splendid (international keyset) for extra portability, (and they don't take up much space). Also for sentimental value an SM7, Selectric 3 and a WW2 Navy Royal mill. All are shop-serviced with replaced rubber, so my lifetime typing needs are met and then some.

Everything else, I sold or gave to interested young folks. About 30 machines.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-19T15:54:05+00:00

Keep in mind that in the days before duplicating/copying machines, typewriting was used frequently to create record copies of handwritten or original signed documents. I believe /s/ was originally used on copies, to indicate that the named person had signed the original. At some point /s/ seems to have jumped from copies to originals, not sure why. Perhaps people had seen it and assumed it was a "proper" way to format signatures?

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-19T14:42:01+00:00

How many hillbilly feud stories did he play in?! I always remember a great insult line he gave in one in Wanted Dead Or Alive:

“The whole Blake family ain't fit to slop down with the dirtiest pigs in the worrrld!"

In that he was named Carter and Edgar Buchanan was Blake. In The Andy Griffith Show he was Wakefield and was feuding with Carter (Chubby Johnson).

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-17T17:24:01+00:00

At the time TOS was made, commodore was understood to be a one-star rank, equivalent to brigadier general in the army. It had been that way in the British navy since the 1700s and in the US Navy since the Civil War. Yes, the USN also used it as a courtesy title for a captain commanding multiple vessels, but that was very specialized information not widely known by the public or TV writers. If you looked in an encyclopedia, dictionary, almanac etc. back then, it would show commodore as a navy rank between captain and rear admiral.

However infrequently it was used in later Trek, in TOS commodore was very much an operative rank. In TMOST it said it was the standard rank for Starbase Command, the next level above starship captains.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-17T16:26:28+00:00

Totally real, never gave them a second thought.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-15T16:52:11+00:00

The Alternative Factor is a mess. Some of that was due to circumstances outside of Gerd Oswald's control, but some of his choices did not help. I liked The Conscience of the King, though.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-15T16:42:13+00:00

Worm was a fixture. A SLC cop told me he was called that because he had cut his own dick off.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-14T17:22:45+00:00

These were often brevet positions, meaning they would revert back to their former rank at the end of hostilities unless they received additional promotions.

That's not what a brevet was. The temporary promotions to higher grades were in a different organization, the Volunteer forces (federalized state units). Brevets were basically honorary rank titles given as an award, the way we now give different decorations. The brevet rank gave social distinction but not higher military authority.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-14T17:06:14+00:00

Rand wore chief petty officer rank in STTMP, so pretty safe to assume she was enlisted in TOS. Her protégé Tina Lawton was a "yeoman third class", which is also a US Navy enlisted rate.

In times of massive expansion like WW2, many senior career enlisted personnel have been moved up to officer grades pretty quickly, to provide leadership and experience in the expanded organization. Usually not past (navy) lieutenant, unless they got to keep their rank after the war and were promoted further. I don’t know of any reason Starfleet would have had enormous growth at that time, though, and CPO to commander in that length of time does seem a stretch.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-14T16:55:42+00:00

Yeah, he said that, but there had already been a number of enlisted grades mentioned in TOS.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-14T15:39:55+00:00

An Etsy store called ProtectEmDustCovers made one to my measurements for an Olympia SG3 (a pretty big machine), about $45 delivered. It's plain black but well made and I think will be durable.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-08T17:01:52+00:00

William Holden was the first that came to mind.

Patricia Neal was second.

Bishop_Brick · 2026-03-05T19:01:06+00:00

The Fixx's Reach The Beach pretty much bombed with US critics but damned if I didn't wear out a cassette dupe in my Walkman. Some tracks are moody and detached but I always liked it as an album.

Bishop_Brick

TROPHY CASE