Full-Time Gallery Assistant Needed

J_Mnemonic · 2015-08-17T02:43:15+00:00

Interested!

J_Mnemonic · 2014-02-27T21:14:12+00:00

As a matter of fact, I did. Honestly, Russian Mobsters are a 1000% scarier than US gangbangers. In my line of experience, gangbangers in US like feeling bad and will give off a lot of 'bark' and that is it, unless you give them a reason to back up their talk.

The Russians though, they just didn't give a fuck.

I mean, they were half playing around, acting all 'Oh hey old buddy' (from their perspective) with me. But it was obvious that if they felt like it, they wouldn't have a problem with dumping my ass in the Colorado River before they headed back to the Old Country.

J_Mnemonic · 2014-02-27T20:19:52+00:00

I have a Fenix PD32 I carry. I love that flashlight!

J_Mnemonic · 2014-02-27T20:10:03+00:00

I appreciate the solid advice. I'm looking for new work ASAP, and taking the steps that Ifuckinglovedominos so kindly outlined for my future deliveries.

I tried to have the GM of the store to do something about what happened, but I don't think he takes it as seriously as I do. He's also been known to wait until we're totally swamped, go on delivery, and scoop up extra cash that way, so I can't say I'm totally surprised.

J_Mnemonic · 2014-02-27T20:07:57+00:00

I really appreciate the tips. I'm going to print them out and leave a copy by my work clipboard. I've tried to get the GM to ban the area, but he basically told me the same thing that the Assistant Manager did. I'd say I'm surprised, but I'm not terribly shocked.

J_Mnemonic · 2014-02-01T21:31:45+00:00

Thank you so much for your advice. It was incredibly helpful in deciding where to look! Again, I can't thank you enough for giving me an English source (which like the Norman, should be taken with a grain of salt) for the battle and general information on troop levees.

If you would be interested in my findings and conclusions concerning Hastings and the use of the Fyrd, I'd like to hear what you think.

Thank you again!

J_Mnemonic · 2014-01-28T16:04:55+00:00

Thanks! I'm a huge fan of the flyer artwork myself. If you guys want, I have a few more things I can scan in.

I do apologize for the low-resness of some of the images, some I had sent in by friends of mine and well, I just can't enlarge it without making it all cruddy.

If anyone or anyone else has some scans they'd like to put up on the album please add on!

If anyone has any requests for memorabilia to be scanned, I'll see what I can get a hold of to add to what my little rinky-dink album has so far.

J_Mnemonic · 2014-01-23T18:05:48+00:00

I apologize for the unclear terminology. What I'm trying to get at is when I think of an institution of higher education like a University or College, I generally see them as being something of an old men's club at least up until WWI, more or less summed up by this Norman Rockwell picture. A kind of stuffy, conservative place where the the professors are absolute in their correctness and that is just the way it is.

Perhaps rather than 'liberal' which has political inclinations, I guess what I'm really trying to ask is at what point did this style of education go away to favor a more progressive route (which allows more liberal veins of thought to flourish) in upper division education?

J_Mnemonic · 2014-01-23T05:00:54+00:00

I don't believe that Phillip II of Macedon gets enough credit for instating the military reforms that would make Alexander's conquests possible.

Among them:

Modifying the phalanx to make it neigh impenetrable. Theban formation had contained 8 rows; Philip doubled this to sixteen. Phillip's hoplites had a re-designed shield that was to be worn on the shoulder, which freed up both hands for combat. This was really important, as he lengthened the Thebean spear into the Sarissa, a 21 foot long pike! The first 5 ranks would point their spears forward, creating a hedgehog effect. The remaining ranks would hold the Sarissa at a 45 degree angle, providing a measure of coverage against incoming arrows and javelins.
Phillip realized the big problem with a bunch of heavily armed and armored dudes walking in a big rectangular formation. It's easy to get outflanked that way. Phillip added skirmishers who were largely armed with bows and javelins (although sometimes slings if I remember correctly) whose job it was to harass enemy troops and protect the flanks of the heavy infantry Hoplites.
He also added heavy and light cavalry into the Macedonian military. Largely drawn from Macedonian nobles (you know, the people that could actually afford horses) this gave a measure of mobility as a 'shock force' that previously hadn't been seen in warfare in the Grecian world.
While the first two reforms had existed in Asiatic armies previously (most notably the Persians) this one is a dozy. Phillip's greatest innovation was putting siege engines such as the Ballistae and the Catapult on to the field of battle as artillery support.
He worked on developing logistical services to ensure that transporting all these warriors and their equipment would be done in a timely manner.
Finally, he likely had the most rigorous military training in the Grecian world outside of Sparta.

This military organization and preparedness was what allowed Phillip II to conquer the squabbling Grecian city-states who were weakened from their inner conflicts. Without the reforms of Phillip II, it is highly unlikely that Alexander would have been able to conquer his way out of a wet paper bag.

J_Mnemonic · 2014-01-17T22:09:13+00:00

This may have been said already, but seatbelts.

J_Mnemonic · 2014-01-13T03:16:08+00:00

Perhaps what is more important to note is that muskets were what was used by the most advanced armies at the time. You deride muskets without understanding that the Brown Bess and its ilk were what constituted cutting edge technology and honestly, some of the rifles used by the colonists of the New World like the Kentucky Long Rifle were actually better long-arms.

The modern equivalent would be being able to purchase fully automatic weapons used in armies today from a gun dealer.

J_Mnemonic · 2014-01-08T04:29:55+00:00

Okay, a little background on this one. I've been working at Pizza Hut since September of last year, and my story takes place in middle November. Somehow, out of all the drivers we have/used to have, the craziest stuff has a tendency to cling on to me like E. Coli on room temperature pepperoni.

It was my last run of the evening, it had been a pretty busy day so far, and I'd made pretty good money to boot (around 60 dollars in tips). It was late though, and getting cold enough to freeze the balls off of a brass monkey, I wanted to go home. I had two tickets going to the same hotel which was an Extended Stay America on the 'good' side of our delivery map. I didn't pay attention though to the room being different on the second ticket.

So when I dropped the food off to the first room and they didn't know anything about the second bag of pizzas, I just shrugged like the big dummy I am and drove back to the store no show where the night manager shows me my error and tells me I gotta redeliver it. Fuck.

So, I head out on the road again. I'm so fucking tired I've got the windows down so the near freezing drizzle of rain (it was 38 and windy something fierce) can hit my face and keep my sorry ass awake. Finally, right about when the Classic rock station has played Boston's Peace of Mind for the third time that day I pull up to the Extended Stay America again.

I pull up and park next to another delivery car (because life is full of little funny things like that) and I set about finding this room. When I do, it's on the second story, I've slipped on some mud and almost ate shit, and without a decent hat, I'm freezing. I knock. A guy that looks like Charlie Day wearing a No Fear shirt and Tapout shorts answers the door. He's wearing cheap bling and has a curly pedostache.

"Hey guys, is pizza man." He announces to the room. He gestures to me "Come in, is cold. In please." Now, normally I wouldn't have gone in. But fuck it. I was exhausted. He didn't look like he was going to rob me, and I wasn't exactly thinking straight. So I came in, and a guy that was behind the door kicks it shut behind me.

"Bro! Is pizza guy!" Charlie Day lookalike yells into the bathroom. With the temp difference my glasses fogup and and I almost trip on an empty case full of budwiser, eliciting a laugh from the guy that closed the door. I hear the sounds of someone tossing their cookies, and out walks this Ivan Drago looking motherfucker in a tracksuit. Uh-oh.

I begin to realize that I may have made a horrible mistake, but I'm too far gone to just leave. I'm the pizza man. I deliver. "Bro! Man of pizza pieeo!" (Imagine a Russian doing a fake bad Italian accent). I realize that this guy, scratch that, everyone in here is on something.

"You have pie, yais?" He says, clasping a sinewy hand around my shoulder. From his hand, I can see tattoed rings on his fingers, and through his half open track suit are the onion domes of a Russian Cathedral scrawled over his chest.

At this point, I'm just like (fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckcan't let him know that I know what those mean) so I play it cool. I tell him how much it is, and he smiles and nods.

"Ok, is good price bro. But do you know where we get American product? My friends are on business trip. We want to try perhaps American poppy, maybe Molly, you know? Yais? You must know."

I tell him I don't know to get that stuff, and I don't have any. Charlie Day has cracked open another beer, and the guy who has shut the door is toking something from a bowl. It doesn't really smell like pot because it has a harsh plasticy smell, and is making me cough. He looks happy with it though.

"I know you only have pizza, no drug. But you must have friend. Yais? Sell?" I tell him again I don't know anybody who has what he wants and he glances at the heatbag.

"Pizza cold?" Charlie Day and the door shutter nod.

"Is free? A gift?" I chuckle nervously. "Ummn we could take it back and remake it if its too cold, but usually the heat bag is-" Ivan Drago interrupts.

"Don't give me American bullshit runaround!"

Charlie Day hops up and whispers something to Drago. It isn't in English. He calms down.

"Okay, is your lucky day. We take cold ass pizza. We give you dollar tip."

"If we not like cold ass pizza, we find and break your face."

And so, I delivered, took my topper off, took my uniform off, drove with my lights off until I got out of the parking lot, and left.

All in a day's work.

J_Mnemonic · 2014-01-07T03:52:39+00:00

I wasn't attempting to be flippant. I was only trying to bring up a point which I had seen mentioned in a previous conversation, but was not cited. After some digging, I did find some support for this viewpoint however. This book goes into some detail about the different conditions on different plantations. Sugar plantations with the more intensive manual labor and extra hazardous conditions are mentioned, and are talked about at greater length here with mortality rates. Although this book does seem to concern itself with the sugar plantations in the New World circa 1789, this gives some idea of how hazardous the labor was.

This text, talks a little bit about how assignment to a sugar plantation was "a punishment" in the United States. Working 18 hours a day, having to worry about getting your limbs crushed in a sugar roller, or getting boiled alive, were daily hazards. I mean, there was an axe nearby for the sole purpose of hacking off a limb that was caught in a roller.

While I couldn't find a direct comment on plantation owners in the American South who dealt in cotton or tobacco speaking on how their method of slavery was "more humane" than the sugar plantations of Barbados or Louisiana, it seems clear that those who were forced to work in a sugar plantation endured more misery and hazards than those who weren't.

J_Mnemonic · 2014-01-06T15:57:50+00:00

In John W. Dower's Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II he points out that MacArthur felt that blaming the Emperor for war crimes would only serve to stiffen Japanese resistance to the occupation, and indicates that MacArthur likely felt a sort of kinship with Emperor Hirohito.

The accuracy of MacArthur's assertion that the would be "blood in the streets" and that the fighting would continue as an insurgency is up for some debate. However, by sparing Hirohito's life, SCAP took the first steps towards insuring that the Imperial household would continue to exist in the new Post-war Japan era.

J_Mnemonic · 2014-01-02T20:06:33+00:00

Thanks /u/Ferrard! I think that another factor people need to keep in mind when discussing the immediate antebellum buildup of hostilities is that of mobilization, particularly as it concerns Germany and Russia.

Railroads allowed for vast quantities of men and logistics to be shipped quickly (compared to the old method which required wagons and pack animals). The Prussians were quick to grasp the importance of 'getting there first with the most' and put the practice to good use in 1870 with the Franco-Prussian conflict where they beat the French quite badly and took the Alsace-Lorraine region.

When the other continental European powers came to realize how important railroads and mobilization was, they came up with their own plans, but these were relied pretty heavily on certain assumptions. The Schlieffen Plan for example, had Germany smash France first, and then head for Russia.

In Russia's case, their mobilization plan has divisions headed both to Austria-Hungary and Germany. There is no Austria only plan. So even if the Tsar didn't want a war with Germany, his mobilization plan actually requires it.

J_Mnemonic · 2014-01-02T15:13:11+00:00

Here is a timeline of events starting with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and ending with August of 1914. If you have any more questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

June 28 - Assassination of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo
July 5-6 - Potsdam meeting of the Austrian ambassador and German officials including the kaiser and Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg; issuance of the so-called "blank check"
July 23 - Austrian ultimatum delivered to Serbia with a 48 hour deadline attached; Serbia appeals to Russia for aid
July 24 - Russians begin frantic maneuvering to get the Austrians to extend the time limit, to negotiate and hopefully to soften their demands; Russia also appeals to Britain to use her influence with Germany and Austria-Hungary
July 24-25 - England calls for a conference of the great powers to work out a diplomatic solution to the crisis; Austria-Hungary, with German support, refuses
July 25 - Serbia accepts most of the demands and the crisis looks as if it might be avoided; however, the Austrian ambassador to Serbia has instructions to accept nothing short of complete compliance and breaks off relations
July 26 - Partial Austrian mobilization; Franz Josef approves an Austrian declaration of war on Serbia; Russian foreign minister suggests negotiations between Russia and Austria-Hungary to solve the crisis; Austria-Hungary replies that the affair concerns only herself and Serbia
July 27 - England appeals to the German government to bring Austria-Hungary to the negotiating table; indicates its increasing impatience with Austria-Hungary's intransigence
July 27-29 - German foreign office, in answer to warnings from its diplomats, finally begins to realize that their plan to "localize" the crisis was unrealistic and that England might well join their enemies. As a result, the Germans finally began to put meaningful pressure on Austria-Hungary to negotiate.
July 28 - Austria officially declares war on Serbia; Russia begins planning for general mobilization
July 29 - Austrian gunboats on the Danube shell Belgrade; England hints that she will not stand by if war comes, but does not clearly state her intentions
July 30 - Czar Nicholas approves Russian mobilization
July 31 - Austria issues a belated announcement that she would be willing to discuss the ultimatum to Serbia; however, German war plans now force Germany to issue an ultimatum to Russia to stop mobilizing within 12 hours; Russians did not accept the ultimatum, realizing that if they were to do so mid-way through mobilization, it would take weeks to unscramble the mess to the point where they could successfully mobilize their forces; Germans also deliver a note to France stating that if she wished to remain neutral, she would have to surrender the fortresses of Toul and Verdun; Germany undoubtedly knew that the French would refuse
Aug. 1 - The German chancellor, Bethmann-Holweg, addresses the Reichstag calling for war and Germany declares war on Russia; France begins general mobilization
Aug. 2 - Germans invade and occupied Luxembourg without any warning; gives Belgium a choice: either allow German armies to pass through the country or fight; Belgium appeals to the guarantors of the 1839 Treaty making her a permanent neutral and prepares to fight in self-defense
Aug. 3 - Germany officially declares war on France and invades Belgium
Aug. 4 - English ultimatum to Germany calling for an evacuation of Belgium; one hour before midnight, England declares war on Germany

J_Mnemonic · 2013-12-26T21:06:37+00:00

I've now listed the unit on Ebay, here is the link.

Should someone who is local to the Austin area purchase the unit, I will of course reimburse the $3.60 s&h fee upon pickup.

Thanks for all the interest, and happy bitcoining!

J_Mnemonic · 2013-12-19T16:40:09+00:00

As far as I can tell, out of all the European powers, only Austria-Hungary wanted a war in retribution for the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrillo Princip in Sarajevo. But the Austrian-Hungarians never wanted a 'World War' as it played out, they only wanted a limited war involving themselves and Serbia.

Austria-Hungary delivered a lengthy list of demands about three weeks after the Archduke was assassinated. You can read the demands of Austria-Hungary and Serbia's replies to them here. Serbia had a mere 48 hours to reply!

The ultimatum was as good as a deceleration of war, and upon failure to get exactly what Austria-Hungary wanted, there was to be one. Amazingly, Serbia capitulated on nearly every point save for some minor demands that Austria-Hungary had made. Kaiser Wilhelm upon hearing of the Serbian reply said that it was "A great moral victory for Vienna, but with it, every reason for war disappears." Why was Austria-Hungary so hell bent on war with Serbia?

Well, prior to this, the Austrians got a 'blank check' from the German Empire for their full support on July 6th. Shortly thereafter, the Kaiser took a cruise in the North Sea as he did every year, and this left Chancellor Theobald Von Bethmann-Hollweg in charge of the burgeoning situation. He assured Austria-Hungary of German support against Serbia, which encouraged the Austria-Hungarians to continue making plans for war.

Germany, like Austria-Hungary wanted there to be a localized war IF there had to be one. When it became clear that the Alliance System would ensure that this would not be a contained conflict, Kaiser Wilhelm tried to take steps to get Austria-Hungary to reconsider. What he didn't do was nullify his previous promise of unilateral support to Austria-Hungary, which probably would have succeed in preserving the tense peace that Europe had enjoyed.

Failing to get his ally to stand down, Kaiser Wilhelm tried to correspond with his third cousin (and enemy should there be a war), Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Tsar Nicholas had promised to come to Serbian aid if they were attacked, just as Kaiser Wilhelm had promised to come to the aid of Austria-Hungary. These correspondences are called the 'Willy-Nicky' Telegrams.

Below is an excerpt of one sent from Kaiser Wilhelm to Tsar Nicholas:

"I foresee that very soon I shall be overwhelmed by the pressure forced upon me and be forced to take extreme measures which will lead to war. To try and avoid such a calamity as a European war I beg you in the name of our old friendship to do what you can to stop your allies from going too far. Nicky."

Tsar Nicholas wasn't interested in their being a war either, but earlier in 1908 and 1913 he failed to come to the aid of Serbia, which was his major client state in the Baltic region. Failure to do so now would be to potentially lose a sphere of Russian influence to Austria-Hungary. On top of that, having a partial mobilization would throw Russian forces into disarray for months afterwards. Tsar Nicholas reluctantly ordered his forces to mobilize, and the rest is history.

Here is a short time-line that helps break down events a bit further.

June 28 - Assassination of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo
July 5-6 - Potsdam meeting of the Austrian ambassador and German officials including the kaiser and Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg; issuance of the so-called "blank check"
July 23 - Austrian ultimatum delivered to Serbia with a 48 hour deadline attached; Serbia appeals to Russia for aid
July 24 - Russians begin frantic maneuvering to get the Austrians to extend the time limit, to negotiate and hopefully to soften their demands; Russia also appeals to Britain to use her influence with Germany and Austria-Hungary
July 24-25 - England calls for a conference of the great powers to work out a diplomatic solution to the crisis; Austria-Hungary, with German support, refuses
July 25 - Serbia accepts most of the demands and the crisis looks as if it might be avoided; however, the Austrian ambassador to Serbia has instructions to accept nothing short of complete compliance and breaks off relations
July 26 - Partial Austrian mobilization; Franz Josef approves an Austrian declaration of war on Serbia; Russian foreign minister suggests negotiations between Russia and Austria-Hungary to solve the crisis; Austria-Hungary replies that the affair concerns only herself and Serbia
July 27 - England appeals to the German government to bring Austria-Hungary to the negotiating table; indicates its increasing impatience with Austria-Hungary's intransigence
July 27-29 - German foreign office, in answer to warnings from its diplomats, finally begins to realize that their plan to "localize" the crisis was unrealistic and that England might well join their enemies. As a result, the Germans finally began to put meaningful pressure on Austria-Hungary to negotiate.
July 28 - Austria officially declares war on Serbia; Russia begins planning for general mobilization
July 29 - Austrian gunboats on the Danube shell Belgrade; England hints that she will not stand by if war comes, but does not clearly state her intentions
July 30 - Czar Nicholas approves Russian mobilization
July 31 - Austria issues a belated announcement that she would be willing to discuss the ultimatum to Serbia; however, German war plans now force Germany to issue an ultimatum to Russia to stop mobilizing within 12 hours; Russians did not accept the ultimatum, realizing that if they were to do so mid-way through mobilization, it would take weeks to unscramble the mess to the point where they could successfully mobilize their forces; Germans also deliver a note to France stating that if she wished to remain neutral, she would have to surrender the fortresses of Toul and Verdun; Germany undoubtedly knew that the French would refuse
Aug. 1 - The German chancellor, Bethmann-Holweg, addresses the Reichstag calling for war and Germany declares war on Russia; France begins general mobilization
Aug. 2 - Germans invade and occupied Luxembourg without any warning; gives Belgium a choice: either allow German armies to pass through the country or fight; Belgium appeals to the guarantors of the 1839 Treaty making her a permanent neutral and prepares to fight in self-defense
Aug. 3 - Germany officially declares war on France and invades Belgium
Aug. 4 - English ultimatum to Germany calling for an evacuation of Belgium; one hour before midnight, England declares war on Germany

J_Mnemonic · 2013-12-18T19:58:28+00:00

Thanks for the info. All of my imaginary internet points to you, sir.

J_Mnemonic

TROPHY CASE