PANCAKE GIRL!
She has abilities other than stalking!
...and she really likes her job.
Episode 8 displays some of the best and the worst of RWBY.
The usually good voice work seemed a bit off this time around. However, that, a moment of somewhat forced character development and a patch of exceedingly cheesy dialog is rather compensated for by 13 minutes of absolutely kick-ass action...which is further enhanced by the completely unexpected awesomeness of Pancake Girl (Nora Valkyrie).
Even with the rough start, this was easily the best episode since the pilot and the first where everyone (even Jaune) got to shine.
This show is not just a collection of random anime tropes. This episode actually has much more in common with early '90s Hong Kong martial arts flicks...
...also Chuck Jones, (but the less said about that the better).
I laughed. I winced. I cheered. I groaned. This is an odd and uneven show but it is amusing me thoroughly.
1
If you've watched Oum's "Dead Fantasy" series, you know that it's in fantastical battle scenes like this where he's in his element.
They're worth finding (Oddly, they're not on HIS YouTube channel).
Posted by: Mauser at Fri Sep 6 03:42:00 2013 (TJ7ih)
2
I think Pancake Girl needs to cut down on the caffeine a bit.
Posted by: Siergen at Fri Sep 6 21:57:01 2013 (Ao4Kw)
3
Not necessarily.
It could just be a sugar rush.
That pile of pancakes was bigger than her head. That's a LOT of syrup, so ingested the equivalent of a whole BOX of Apple Jacks.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Fri Sep 6 22:54:22 2013 (F7DdT)
What's Wrong With This Forecast?
So..In the mad dash between work and class I encountered a report on the Weather Channel.
It seems that Tropical Storm Gabrielle is bringing horrendous flooding to Hispaniola and particularly Puerto Rico...but is unlikely to affect the United States in any way.
RFS Moskva
Apropos of nothing...nothing at all, I feel the sudden urge to leave this here.
RFS Moskva is the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet. This class was intended as a mass produced compliment to the much larger and more expensive Kirov class ships. In the end the production run was cut short due to the fall of the U.S.S.R.
Moskva is one of only three ships of her type in Russian service. Next to RFS Peter the Great, these 3 ships are the most powerful surface combatants in the Russian navy, sporting 16 supersonic antiship cruise missiles with thousand pound warheads. This means that this very visible, expensive and powerful unit is a politically significant asset. Sending her to command the Eastern Mediterranean squadron in Tartus is not done lightly and is a signal of considerable national resolve.
Russia has two interests in Syria. The naval base in Tartus is one of their last overseas bases and is exceedingly important to them strategically. Furthermore the Al-Qaeda affiliated rebels are closely allied with the extremists who have been killing Russian civilians throughout the Caucuses in great numbers. If Syria's nerve gas and other weapons fall into rebel hands those materials can be expected to be killing Russian citizens in short order.
So the Russians have some quite compelling reasons to be there.
So...a bunch of US and Russian Navy ships in close proxmity and at cross puropses, with the Americas firing missiles over the Russians; Former Senator Fred Thompson has thoughts on that scenario....
UPDATE: Pete Zatciev points out in the comments that Russia has abandoned the Tartus Base. In my defense the Wikipedia page says the Russians are denying this....(and they may well be) but it does look like the base was largely abandoned back in June and the Russian Federation navy is just patrolling outside it.
1
So, what do you think about the concept of a "missile cruiser"? Seems like nowhere near as capable or versatile as a carrier. Is it even good for anything?
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Wed Sep 4 13:35:21 2013 (RqRa5)
2
If you're talking about this particular ship, she is a bit old and doesnt have the ABM and AAA capabilities of our destroyers. However, it is in some ways more powerful. The 16 humongous SSMs are designed to take a carrier out. The 130mm gun is one of the most powerful naval rifles in service today with good shore bombardment and even anti missile capability. The ship has a respectable antiaircraft capability. A carrier is more versatile to be sure and has vastly more firepower, but this is still a a potentially useful ship and it can be risked where the Russian carrier can't.
I understand Moskva has been fitted with extensive flagship facilities. A flagship may not seem important in an age of satellite communications
but they have proved their utility to the USN which is why we still have
a few old slow amphibious command ships as flagships.
Finally, because this is a big prestige unit, sending her to Syria sends powerful political signals.
If your asking about big non carrier ships in general, then I think there is a place for them, something needs to escort the carriers and a bigger ship can carry more missiles. Since the 1970s the USN has periodically tried to get big surface combatants to carry big radars and lots of missiles. Ships can be detached from a carrier task force for independent duty and a surface action group can carry surface to surface missiles into areas a carrier might not be available for. Nowadays there is also ABM patrol, with a ship on station to defend against ballistic missiles.
So yeah I think the idea of a cruiser or at least a large surface combatant is still viable. A navy needs several types complementing each other.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Wed Sep 4 15:29:44 2013 (F7DdT)
Yes, carriers are very capable. They're also extremely expensive. USS George HW Bush (CVN-77) cost $6.2 billion just to build, not counting the cost of her air wing (which is probably at least another billion).
You'd think we could build missile cruisers for less than that, but the planned "Zumwalt" class is supposed to come in at $7 billion each. Amazing, isn't it? These days it seems like the Navy has joined the Air Force in building everything out of platinum.
Part of the problem is class inflation. The Ticonderogas were (IIRC) the last ship class that the US Navy called "Cruisers" and they came in at 9800 tons.
The last group of Arleigh Burke "destroyers" were 10,800 tons. A modern American "frigate" comes in at a size which, in WWII, would be considered a "light cruiser". (The Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates are 4200 tons.)
I don't think the US Navy has anything any more which would meet the WWII definition of a "destroyer", let alone the smaller "destroyer escort". Pretty much, the only armed ships the US owns like that belong to the Coasties.
6
Part of the reason, I think, is the AEGIS system. The amount of equipment required, and in particular the size of the antennas, imposes a minimum size on the ship. And an escort ship for a carrier that doesn't have AEGIS (or something like it) is pretty useless. What I don't understand is why those ships get called "destroyers" instead of "cruisers".
7
Man, that thing's a Navy Cross just waitin' to happen.
Scary thought: a WWII Destroyer outguns any ship in the current US fleet.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Wed Sep 4 22:01:15 2013 (ifb6Y)
8
It's a nice thought, but it isn't true. A WWII destroyer usually had 8-12 guns depending on model, but they only fired once every 10-15 seconds. A modern 3-inch gun mount can fire 80 rounds a minute.
9
I was thinking that a ship like that is going to be vulnerable to guided torpedoes, while her offensive weaponry is going to have trouble penetrating ABM defences. BTW, AFAIK Moskva isn't going to visit Tartus, which was wholly abandoned recently (in a surprise move Russians relocated all the base personnel to Cyprus, where they berth and service the so-called "BDK" ships, which shuttle to supply Assad). So Tartus now is a former base, like Kamran. And I don't see anyone expecting Russia go to war with Laos or Cambodia over Kamran.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Thu Sep 5 12:39:30 2013 (RqRa5)
10
The P-1000 is a supersonic low altitude missile so it gives a very brief window in which to intercept it. Given that it's supposed to be fired in salvos its quite possible one or more might get through. Wikepedia says Russian tactics involve firing about 8 per carrier targeted.
I had not heard anything about Tartus being abandoned. I hadn't heard that and keep hearing about it...but you're right.
Thanks for pointing that out Pete. I shall dine upon the flesh of the Crow bird this evening.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Thu Sep 5 13:19:07 2013 (F7DdT)
11
Make no mistake, they still support Assad, and not just in UN. Someone high up merely decided not to receive Tomahawks while at the base, and thought it were much less likely for U.S. to bomb Cyprus. They roll one BDK at a time into a Syrian port, roll containers and pallets off it quickly, bolt back out to sea.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Thu Sep 5 13:42:52 2013 (RqRa5)
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Oh I agree. They wouldn't be patrolling off the Syrian coast or sending the Black Sea flagship if they didn't.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Thu Sep 5 17:11:14 2013 (F7DdT)
13
Steven sez: "A WWII destroyer usually had 8-12 guns depending on model, but they only
fired once every 10-15 seconds. A modern 3-inch gun mount can fire 80
rounds a minute."
The 5"/38 on the US Navy's Sumner-class DDs could fire at 15 rounds/minute. There were six of them per ship. And, by the way, they were larger rounds to boot.
I'll stand by my claim, thanks.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Thu Sep 5 22:43:07 2013 (ifb6Y)
1
At this point, he's gotten away with everything, pretty much. He's probably seeing just how far he can go. I'm not sure what it would take to get the press to report on something negative about him. The Onion was prescient when they wrote that story about the media trying to figure out how to report on him brutally murdering two people.
Posted by: RickC at Wed Sep 4 18:57:57 2013 (swpgw)
2
The radio this morning had audio of Obama doing the verbal equivalent of that hang-dog drawing in the dirt with the toe of your shoe thing that urchins used to pull while trying to weasel their way out of an obligation or chore or what have you. Basically conceding that he wasn't expecting to win congressional approval for his meaningless burst of clarifying ultraviolence. Since the rest of the coverage emphasized the uncertainty of the vote, I can only conclude that he *wants* to be told "no".
Posted by: Mitch H. at Fri Sep 6 12:11:32 2013 (jwKxK)
Here's the thing.
I had like 14 tabs open and was looking for info on cycler times between Earth and the main belt so I have NO idea what site this pop-up spam scam was lurking on...but I gather that they're preying on space geeks.
1
Reading Buzz Aldrin's original PhD thesis on cyclers was on my bucket list for a long time. To think that Buzz was not just the 2nd on the Moon, but also a real scientist... I mean all astronauts and cosmonauts presented PhDs, but Buzz's was a real deal that may one day save the humanity, not just a rubberstamp PhD. Ironically, it competes, in a way, against a fellow astronaut Lopez-Alegria's PhD thesis that aims to alleviate the need for cycler by using exceedingly tricky plasma phisics. My Russian colleagues are evenly split on the feasibility of VASIMR, in particular if the magnetic field is going to be straightened or not and if electrons are going to separate. Unfortunately, my highly prestigious phisics diploma does not help much after decades of disuse, but it does look like Buzz may just win in the end. His physics definitely works, while Lopez-Alegria's maybe, maybe not.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Sun Sep 1 14:19:35 2013 (RqRa5)
2
Wasn't there a malicious site that actually WOULD hold your computer hostage with some downloaded malware?
BTW, RWBY is up to episode 7.
Posted by: Mauser at Sun Sep 1 21:40:51 2013 (TJ7ih)
1
I recently saw a video made from the original series, and it's amazing the number of skirt-flips and panty shots Yuki (Nova) was subjected to that apparently never made it into the English version...
Also a lot more crudely animated than I remembered.
Posted by: Mauser at Sun Sep 1 00:53:28 2013 (TJ7ih)
"I've started watching Attack on Titan again. Watching a giant bite the head off somebody, then pull them apart and eat them is so much less disturbing than watching that poor girl in Watamote humiliate herself. "
Full disclosure: Actual monsters in Attack on Titan are considerably less cute than this .gif implies.
In other news: We can now re-size .gifs in Minx. Wo0t!
Some of his commentors ask a perfectly logical question. 'Who gassed the civilians?' It is widely assumed that Assad did it and indeed he may have. His motivation for doing it on the anniversary of the 'Red Line Speech' would be to show himself to be powerful enough to stand up to the US and gaining the 'badass cred' so important in that part of the world.
However, Al-Quaeda has a more straightforward motivation. They want Assad bombed and his airforce neutralized. We know from painful experience in Iraq that Al-Quaeda is quite capable of using Sarin gas shells to kill (Iraqi nerve gas shells were used as ICWDs). We know that the rebels have overrun some Syrian arms caches. The attack, while horrific was rather small considering the risk. It was not a tide turning attack but an attack on a small group of noncombatants..mostly women and children. This is unlikely to hurt the rebels materially and can only serve to strengthen their resolve and gain them international support. It also could bring about an attack on the Assad regime by the US....which seems to be happening.
The circumstances of the attack are unclear, but it appears to have been
confined to a small area in a refugee camp. This is the sort of gas
attack the rebels might be able to pull off.
I dunno who did it, but such ambiguity might be used by the President to not end up being Al-Quaeda's air-force in Syria.
UPDATE: Well....Derp.
Hopefully the Final Nidal Hassan PostAce links to and comments upon a report that describes how Hassan's violent tendencies were well known and ignored. This is well known...the news here is that it's being covered by Mother Jones. I urge you to read both Ace's post which adds a good bit of context and the full Mother Jones article, which indicates that the dereliction of duty was even worse than was previously known.
1
Heard a news story yesterday quoting one of his defense counselors who has utterly baffled by Hassan's failure to defend himself. The quote was basically, "We don't know why he did it. He could have taken the stand and explained his actions, maybe apologized, and it would have helped his case. I don't understand what he's thinking."
This man must have had earplugs in during the trial.
Posted by: Ben at Thu Aug 29 08:17:09 2013 (Oftf2)
Varioius Links
I'm not going to work today because of my sprained ankle.
I REALLY should have adjusted the alarm clock to take that into account.
Now that I'm up here are various links I found interesting.
1
Joe McCarthy might have been a nasty paranoid fear-monger, but he was also - at least partly - right.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Wed Aug 28 04:58:10 2013 (PiXy!)
2
Meh, McCarthy was less right than lucky. Say what you will about Nixon, but the man did his homework. McCarthy never did, he just blindly splashed around on his way to an alcohol-soaked early grave. He had nothing to do with the Hiss matter - that was the House committee, not the Senat - rather, he went around accusing random shadowed corners of the State Department of harboring secreted Marxists. He might as well have stomped about Washington with a commie-detecting dowsing rod - yeah, he would have found a few spies, if only by sheer coincidence.
Posted by: Mitch H. at Wed Aug 28 10:37:06 2013 (jwKxK)
3
McCarthy, we now know, was alarmingly right, to the point of almost 100%. His finger pointing was so accurate that I wonder if someone leaked information from the Venona project in frustration over the whole "They can't know that we know that they know that we know that they know!" mindset that gave the Soviets the bomb....
Posted by: Robert Mitchell Jr. at Wed Aug 28 15:23:28 2013 (Omb+U)
4
I find that leaving my alarm clock set at the normal time on days when I don't work is helpful, because otherwise it tends to mess with my circadian rhythms. It keeps me from sleeping an extra 3 hours, then being up late that night and tired the next day.
Posted by: RickC at Thu Aug 29 19:09:09 2013 (swpgw)
1
Man, if it weren't for bad luck, you wouldn't have any, would you?
I assume you have a cane and/or crutches now.
Also, you probably know that there's all kinds of youtube videos on how to fix those crappy gas cans, not that you probably would've been able to do it then, but you should fix yours when you get the chance.
Posted by: RickC at Thu Aug 29 19:13:22 2013 (swpgw)
Hobby Space News of the commercial space industry A Babe In The Universe Rather Eclectic Cosmology Encyclopedia Astronautica Superb spacecraft resource The Unwanted Blog Scott Lowther blogs about forgotten aerospace projects and sells amazingly informative articles on the same. Also, there are cats. Transterrestrial Musings Commentary on Infinity...and beyond! Colony WorldsSpace colonization news! The Alternate Energy Blog It's a blog about alternate energy (DUH!) Next Big Future Brian Wang: Tracking our progress to the FUTURE. Nuclear Green Charles Barton, who seems to be either a cool curmudgeon, or a rational hippy, talks about energy policy and the terrible environmental consequences of not going nuclear Energy From Thorium Focuses on the merits of thorium cycle nuclear reactors WizBang Current events commentary...with a wiz and a bang The Gates of Vienna Tenaciously studying a very old war The Anchoress insightful blogging, presumably from the catacombs Murdoc Online"Howling Mad Murdoc" has a millblog...golly! EaglespeakMaritime security matters Commander Salamander Fullbore blackshoe blogging! Belmont Club Richard Fernandez blogs on current events BaldilocksUnderstated and interesting blog on current events The Dissident Frogman French bi-lingual current events blog The "Moderate" VoiceI don't think that word means what they think it does....but this lefty blog is a worthy read nonetheless. Meryl Yourish News, Jews and Meryls' Views Classical Values Eric Scheie blogs about the culture war and its incompatibility with our republic. Jerry Pournell: Chaos ManorOne of Science fictions greats blogs on futurism, current events, technology and wisdom A Distant Soil The website of Colleen Dorans' superb fantasy comic, includes a blog focused on the comic industry, creator issues and human rights. John C. Wright The Sci-Fi/ Fantasy writer muses on a wide range of topics. Now Read This! The founder of the UK Comics Creators Guild blogs on comics past and present. The Rambling Rebuilder Charity, relief work, roleplaying games Rats NestThe Art and rantings of Vince Riley Gorilla Daze Allan Harvey, UK based cartoonist and comics historian has a comicophillic blog! Pulpjunkie Tim Driscoll reviews old movies, silents and talkies, classics and clunkers. Suburban Banshee Just like a suburban Leprechaun....but taller, more dangerous and a certified genius. Satharn's Musings Through TimeThe Crazy Catlady of The Barony of Tir Ysgithr アニ・ノート(Ani-Nouto) Thoughtful, curmudgeonly, otakuism that pulls no punches and suffers no fools. Chizumatic Stephen Den Beste analyzes anime...with a microscope, a slide rule and a tricorder. Wonderduck Anime, Formula One Racing, Sad Girls in Snow...Duck Triumphalism Beta Waffle What will likely be the most thoroughly tested waffle evah! Zoopraxiscope Too In this thrilling sequel to Zoopraxiscope, Don, Middle American Man of Mystery, keeps tabs on anime, orchids, and absurdities. Mahou Meido MeganekkoUbu blogs on Anime, computer games and other non-vital interests Twentysided More geekery than you can shake a stick at Shoplifting in the Marketplace of Ideas Sounds like Plaigarism...but isn't Ambient IronyAll Meenuvians Praise the lathe of the maker! Hail Pixy!!
