Remembering Russell Means

Russell Means : b. 10th Nov 1939 in Pine Ridge South Dakota, d 22nd October 2012.

It was announced yesterday that Russell Means has died. He was a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe and  a member of the American Indian Movement for many years. He spent most of his working life fighting for Indian rights.

In 1990 he turned to acting, in particular he played Chingachgook in the 1992 film The Last of the Mohicans, directed by Michael Mann and starred with Daniel Day Lewis and Madelaine Stowe. Russell's performance impressed me and continues to impress whenever I watch the film.

Discovery - Battle Castle

In the UK, Discovery channel is showing a programme "Battle Castle with Dan Snow".

This is a series of programmes on the building of and sieges of a number of castles. The castles are:

1. Krak des Chevaliers, Syria
2. Chateau Gaillard, Normandy, France
3. Dover Castle, Kent, England
4. Conwy Castle, Wales
5. Malbork Castle, Poland
6. Malaga Castle, Andalusia, Spain.

I missed the first. The second programme, Gaillard, is being shown this week and I found it to be very interesting, a little loud but good. The third and subsequent castles will shown on Thursdays.

Bodrum Castle

Going through my holiday snaps I came across these two photos of Bodrum Castle taken from the east bay. I think these show what the castle must have looked like before the artillery based modifications of the early 16th century.

Le Fardier de Cugnot

This photograph is of a replica of the steam fardier (fardier a vapeur) built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (1725 - 1804)

A fardier was a two-wheeled horse drawn cart, very heavy build, used for transporting very heavy equipment such as cannon barrels. In 1769, Cugnot built a fardier that used a steam engine for traction, making this the first engined road vehicle. Tests were conducted in 1770 and 1771, not a great success so the French Army did not follow up.

This replica has been photographed in front of the Monument to Cugnot in his home town of Void-Vacon (Meuse). There are some films on YouTube of a replica steaming around some streets.

Birthday book

Wow - a second birthday book

I have a lot of reading to do..

Belle Isle

I was considering my travel plans for 2013 and trying to find a picture of Vauban's work on Ile d'Aix when I came across this watercolour, painted by Arnuad d'Aunay, of the Vauban works on Belle Isle. A very fine picture, makes me want to go, maybe 2014.

Military Technology

I have been catching up with some recent copies of "The Economist". In their issue 15th - 21st September 2012 under the headline "Autonomous Helicopters", the paper reports on developments within the US military.

We have seen unmanned drone flights for some time, control is by personnel sitting at a remote control centre using cameras and joysticks. This is different. Two Kaman K-Max helicopters have been modified to fly without pilots. They carry cargo in slings underneath the aircraft, the flight pattern is pre-programmed with one or more cargo drops and away it goes. Trials are being conducted in Afghanistan to supply remote Marine bases and is a success.

Cameras could be fitted to allow remote control. This would also greatly increase the civilian uses of the system, such as search and rescue, traffic control or emergency pipeline inspection.

If you wish to see the helicopters there is video on Kaman's website.