Category: History

020423 • Thrift Store Finds

Brandenburg Concertos • I easily have twenty or thirty different renditions of these concertos… but there is a reason it is such a staple of classical music. This two-disc set was in perfect condition, down to the booklet, and only a buck-fifty. It’s sad to me that nobody even knows what this is, and what is considered good music anymore.

Great American Showpieces • This is a timely find as I’ve been listening to a lot of American composers lately.

Not I • This author has written other books on the war, I’d thought he was just another historian, but rather, he’s a survivor of it. I’ve read another first-hand account from a young person’s perspective, it is a part of the war most people don’t even consider.

Mozart / Salieri Concertos • I used to not like the flute in orchestral or small group performances, but after John Williams’ “Rey’s Theme” from The Force Awakens (Never watching that movie again), that one piece changed everything for me. It’s amazing, the power one piece of music can have on one’s view of things.

“Overthere”

I bought this for a dollar at Mile High Flea Market in the early 1980s. I remember some guy walking up to me and offering me two dollars for it, and I wisely refused. This person, I can imagine, either thought that I was going to abuse this unique antique since I was just a little kid. That’s fair. Or, he wanted to sell it for a lot of money. I’m not actually sure what this is worth, but it is most likely from the time period, which puts it at over a hundred years old.

It’s basically a drawing (original?) that has been sealed onto wood with some sort of clear coating. This kind of artwork is something that was common at the time, especially on postcards, and I think it is a pretty good piece of artwork. Imagine a time before television and radio, where the only knowledge of anything came through heresy, books, and newspapers, what this kind of image impressed on a person.

Thanks to my many bookshelves, I have only two pieces of art on my wall, and this is one of the two. I’m never taking it down!

Links • Geopolitics, History, and Current Conflicts

Here are the sources I follow daily for information and analysis of Geopolitics, history and current conflicts:

Preston Stewart – US Army veteran with a focus on both current and historical topics.

Ryan McBeth – Army veteran with incredible analysis not found in normal media, debunking common assumptions.

Andrew Bustamante – Former CIA operative who offers insight nobody else can provide.

Combat Veteran Reacts – American combat vet with news and current map analysis.

Artur Rehi – An Estonian soldier/YouTuber with great insight into the Russo-Ukraine war.

Anders Puck Nielsen – Military analyst based in Denmark.

James Ker-Linsay – Professor from the University of Kent, who holds a PhD in International Conflict Analysis.

Konstantin Kisin – Russian-English author and podcaster.

Patrick Bet-David – Host of the Valuetainment podcast on YouTube, focusing on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and capitalism.

TIKhistory – TIKhistory is a YouTuber who creates detailed and accurate historical documentaries that aim to put TV documentaries to shame. With a focus on World War 2 and similar topics, TIK seeks to dispel the myths and distortions of the past so that we can learn from it and not make the same mistakes again.

Binkov’s Battlegrounds – Ever wondered how any given two countries would fare in a war? Or how certain weapon systems fared against each other? Or simply how missiles or stealth or anything military related actually works? Binkov gives you those answers!

Mark Felton – Mark Felton Productions is a STRICTLY NON-POLITICAL history channel presenting films by leading military historian and author Dr. Mark Felton on a variety of fascinating historical subjects, with particular focus on WWII and the Cold War.

Paul Warburg – He has replaced Peter Zeihan for me, in providing YouTube geopolitics discussed on long walks with a GoPro.

Jack Carr – Former Navy SEAL sniper and #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Terminal List series and the Danger Close podcast.

Shawn Ryan – A former SEAL, and hosts a great conversational podcast: The episode he did with the World War II flamethrower vet was the best I’ve heard.

MilitaryLand.net – Daily details regarding the war in Ukraine.

Jake Broe – Air Force Veteran and Pro-Ukranian YouTuber.

Denys Davydov – Ukrainian pilot with news and current map analysis.

The Russian Dude – Daily updates on Russian-Ukrainian war. 9-12 minute summaries of all the major events that happened that day, including footage from Ukraine.

Vlad Vexler – Moral philosopher with deep analysis on the Ukraine war and associated topics.

NFKRZ – A Russian YouTuber who has fled Russia, and vlogs about current events regarding Russia and life after leaving it.

Natasha’s Adventures – Natasha is from the Far East, right next to China and Japan, but fled Russia recently. Interesting long-form videos on life in Russia and beyond.

IN THE DOGHOUSE:

Zeihan on Geopolitics – Geopolitical strategist with insight on global issues. Many of his predictions are spoken with great confidence, but don’t come to pass.

Neil deGrasse Tyson – I can’t say whether his astrophysics is faulty; but once he ventures out of his realm of expertise, he loses scientific analysis and only believes things through an emotional lens. On one scientific topic that he was losing an argument on, his defense was, and I quote: “Why do you care! Why do you care! Why do you care!” That kind of passionate view on a scientific topic destroyed his credibility, in my view, and makes him more of the “Bill Nye, the Science Guy” of astrophysics.

102922 • Thrift Store Finds

We only went to two thrift stores, and I went to a third. We’ve been to zero for a long time, so this was fun. Almost made it to a fourth store, but something came up and we had to call it a day. Amazing that I found no music, but that’s okay as I have plenty keeping me busy.

• Western Apache Raiding & Warfare • I have read a bit of this already, it is full of first-hand accounts, including the 100-year-old woman, born in 1830, daughter of an Apache chief!

• War at Sea • Full of fantastic paintings by the same artist, illustrating a history of the World War at sea.

• United States Navy Destroyers of World War II • The different classifications for ships has been explained to me a lot, but I still don’t understand exactly what the differences are, which is made far more difficult in that different countries have different definitions, and there are a lot of gray areas. But it looks to be very interesting and I wasn’t going to see it again if I passed it up.

• Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia • I almost didn’t get this one, but it goes into a lot of authors and has a lot of great book covers in it. Maybe I’ll keep it, maybe I won’t. But I will read it!

• Hellfire Boys • This looks to be a very interesting book on the logistics of trying to kill and maim the enemy in new, innovative ways. So glad I wasn’t a part of this war.

• Churchill By Himself • A big book full of quotes big and small and in context. Not many people can have a book like this made about them, and this is the only one I know of like this. There might be one on Abraham Lincoln in my dad’s library, but other than that, this is it!

• Grant • I saw this when it was on television, and it was great. Thanks to this, I have an interest in learning more about Grant. Picked it up on DVD at Walmart for three bucks!

• Act of Valor • I did see this a long time ago, and all I remember is that all of the action was really, really good. After watching Open Range last month, a movie I saw years ago and only remembered it as boring, that movie upon re-watch was very good, so maybe this will be the same for Act of Valor. Also, I’m far more interested in this kind of movie after American Sniper, 13 Hours, 12 Strong, Lone Survivor, and Hurt Locker.

• Lone Survivor / American Sniper • I didn’t have a copy of Lone Survivor and only the DVD of American Sniper. Considering that all of the Blu-rays I found today were two dollars or less, it was time to get them.

• Lord of War • I watched this years ago, and every once in a while catch a little bit of it on cable. It’s a bit depressing, but interesting and like I said, it was two bucks.

• 1883 • Paid full price for this at Walmart today, on the strength of Yellowstone. Just finished the first episode, and it’s very good so far. I don’t buy full-price, new Blu-ray series very often, it has to be something I know will be really good.