3--2-1 .

VANDOO · 6th November 2015, 07:24 AM

WE ALL ENJOYED OUR FIRECRACKERS/ FIREWORKS. THE THREE MOST READILY AVAILABLE IN MY EARLY YEARS WERE THE CHERRY BOMB, M-80 AND SILVER SALUTE THEN THEY WERE BANNED. ALL THREE OF THEM HAD THE GREEN WATERPROOF FUSSES AND WOULD EXPLODE UNDER WATER. THE FIRST ONE I REMEMBERED BEING BANNED WAS THE GIANT AND AFTER THAT THE TORPEDO ( A CHERRY BOMB SIZED BALL THAT EXPLODED WHEN THROWN AGAINST SOMETHING. IT WAS THE MOST DANGEROUS AS IT COULD GO OFF ACCIDENTALLY BY SITTING ON IT OR BUMPING AGAINST SOMETHING WHILE IT WAS IN A SACK OR POCKET. THE BABY GIANT WAS BANNED NEXT AND LATER THE CHERRY BOMBS AND THE M-80. WE GREW UP BLOWING UP STUMPS AND BIG ROCKS WITH DYNAMITE SO FIRECRACKERS JUST SEEMED LIKE TOYS TO US BUT WE STILL KNEW WHAT THEY COULD DO SO WERE CAREFUL AND NO ONE EVER GOT SERIOUSLY HURT.
WHILE DRIVING AROUND IN OZ IN THE 1980'S I USED TO LISTEN TO JOHN WILLIAMSON AND ONE OF HIS SONGS WAS "CRACKER NIGHT" THIS REMINDED ME OF THAT.

Rick · 6th November 2015, 04:13 PM

Speaking of things that go boom! Anyone else here have a Big Bang Carbide Cannon in their youth?

I started shooting when I was 8 with my Mother's match grade .22; she was a competitive shooter at Wellesley College (imagine that)!
My first firearm was an Iver Johnson 12 ga. that I 'found' in the trunk of an old rustbucket in a junkyard. It made a great sawed-off shotgun.

First pistol I shot was a Walther ppk at about age ten; one of my older brother's pals had one and he rode his bike over to the house with it in his jacket pocket.
I bought my first shotgun (Remington Wingmaster pump) at the age of 14; all I had to show the guy in the gun shop was the $$$.
Good old days and a different world back then.

Anyway, we used to launch old golf balls skyward from a heavy pipe with M80's; those green fuses were great weren't they Barry?

I couldn't help but think of Michael while I was writing this.

fernando · 6th November 2015, 04:49 PM

Great personal records, guys.
Eventually i was also ten years old in the (late) fifties, but in this part of the world, actually Alan's antipodes, life was not so thrilling and the fire cracks offer was not so diverse; which turned out to be a good thing, as i was born so poor i couldn't afford to buy them; only by Carnival some cheap microscopic 'snaps', almost soundless, composed of a sphere the size of small buck shot involved in fire powder, wrapped in thin paper, all the size of a fingernail.
Whereas in the bone area i am not behind competition; a couple broken ones showed me how fun it was. Until i grew up and had another couple sawed off, to remind me that real fun was yet to come. The only odd part is that i couldn't tie my shoe laces any longer; but having changed to the velcro soultion, problems ended

.
I will skip the animal chasing part; will leave it for the tough guys

.
But i don't find it hard to understand that Authorities currently restrict the use of manual fireworks; statistics show that the number of guitar players has decreased; you need all fingers to play the thing

.

.

Raf · 9th November 2015, 10:29 AM

I chose the words romantic and kinaesthetic with some care. The classic definition of romanticism being action contemplated in repose. That is a reflection on an experience containing an element of danger, but one of which you are no longer a part. It started in the late eighteenth century with the pursuit of the sublime in nature; wild, uncultivated and terrifying and ends up in the nineteenth century with the gothic novel and a confused aesthetic based on experiences that were often entirely imaginary. Hence the century is shot through with revivalist styles of one kind or another. Not unique to this century as we see a similar thing happening in the sixteenth century with the revival of chivalry. Romantic reflection on the past is thing that occurs at the point at which something is about to become lost.
Kinaesthetic, as in aesthetic as referring to the senses, but also kinetic, as referring to movement which taken together describe the sensation of the pleasure in handling things and things that move. Implying an aesthetic that is developed or understood through an actual tactile experience as opposed to simply looking at something. One based on real experience of materials, process and activity. Things that I would have thought relevant to a study of ancient arms and amour and also say something about why we like the things we do. Which of course is also described by the reflections of contributors whose personal history becomes part of the how they understand the subject and how an aesthetic is formed. Whether they are acceptable or desirable from a modern standpoint is entirely irrelevant. But it does explain why I think a debate about ancient arms and amour can never be wholly academic.

fernando · 9th November 2015, 08:00 PM

Thank you for your post, Raf.
Perhaps i wasn't sensitive to the point of considering your original post as relative to the theme of ancient arms and armour ... notwithstanding the romantic and kinaesthetic introductions. In any case, as a topic in itself, with its contents, is better placed in the Ethno Miscelania section, once we have one available.
On the other hand, it is more than visible that, the majority of discussions that take place in these fora, is far from being locked into an academic ambiance.
It is however interesting to notice that, your last post may hardly be found distant from an academic one; however naturally worth to appreciate.
All the best.

.

Raf · 10th November 2015, 04:45 PM

Thanks for that . I will try to be less oblique in future.

ariel · 16th November 2015, 01:34 PM

Political correctness goes amok these days. I just read that a 9 yo boy who wrote a love letter to a 9 yo girl was officially accused of being a sexual harasser. In one of my ( purely medical) papers I referred to a 5 yo patient as a girl. A highly respected medical journal demanded changing it to "a 5 yo woman".
My kids grew around all things sharp and pointy, thank Heavens, and I took them to the Gun and Knife shows when they were 6 or 7. They are likely to be the only human beings in our university ivory tower town to know the meaning of such words as shamshir, panabas and shibria. Tofu steaks are the next step....

I think that the Y-chromosome is slowly but surely vanishes from the genetic composition of the so-called "industrialized" societies.......

No wonder that pharmaceutical companies are so successful in promoting the diagnosis of " low testosterone syndrome": they are undoubtedly correct in identifying its epidemics.

A. G. Maisey · 16th November 2015, 08:19 PM

I think that the Y-chromosome is slowly but surely vanishes from the genetic composition of the so-called "industrialized" societies.......

I agree absolutely Ariel.

Not only do I agree, but this phenomenon is able to be predicted from two existing bases:-

1) behaviour of animals when overcrowding in an animal population occurs

2) human behaviour in times of peace

Before everybody jumps on me and tells me that we are currently at war and points at the prevalence of acts of terrorism, I would suggest that the 38 million people killed in WWI, and the 60 million people killed in WWII rather indicates that although we do currently have problems, we are now, and have been for some time, living in an era of peace.

Other things can be reasonably predicted from the above two bases also, but we won't go there.

Incidentally, the editor of your "highly respected medical journal" was way out of his depth, both politically and grammatically when he insisted on referring to a 5 year old girl as a "woman".

The word "woman" means a mature human female.

In Old English the word "woman" did not exist, the word used was "wifmon, or wif", which gives the Modern English "wife", a married human female.

Surely your editors were not suggesting that a 5 year old girl was fit for marriage?

If these editors were trying to achieve some misguided form of political correctness they should have insisted on the use of "female", not "woman".

Words are important, and should be chosen with care.

fernando · 16th November 2015, 08:26 PM

Different perspectives, different ways of being in life, different cultures.
My heir happens to be a female; society environment determining which are the right toys per gender, i didn't have much difficulty to discourage her from playing with toy weapons, nor my options included narrating my war memories to put her asleep; notwithstanding that she is now a grown up and appreciates my present passion for antique arms ... in their non lethal aspect. I am glad that i live in a less industrialized area of the globe and the chromosomal levels are not yet so unbalanced

.
I must say i hesitated before feeding this line of conversation; i have a feeling that it will lead to a more than political incorrectness.
Herewith my regret

.

6th November 2015, 07:24 AM	#1
VANDOO (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: OKLAHOMA, USA Posts: 3,138	WE ALL ENJOYED OUR FIRECRACKERS/ FIREWORKS. THE THREE MOST READILY AVAILABLE IN MY EARLY YEARS WERE THE CHERRY BOMB, M-80 AND SILVER SALUTE THEN THEY WERE BANNED. ALL THREE OF THEM HAD THE GREEN WATERPROOF FUSSES AND WOULD EXPLODE UNDER WATER. THE FIRST ONE I REMEMBERED BEING BANNED WAS THE GIANT AND AFTER THAT THE TORPEDO ( A CHERRY BOMB SIZED BALL THAT EXPLODED WHEN THROWN AGAINST SOMETHING. IT WAS THE MOST DANGEROUS AS IT COULD GO OFF ACCIDENTALLY BY SITTING ON IT OR BUMPING AGAINST SOMETHING WHILE IT WAS IN A SACK OR POCKET. THE BABY GIANT WAS BANNED NEXT AND LATER THE CHERRY BOMBS AND THE M-80. WE GREW UP BLOWING UP STUMPS AND BIG ROCKS WITH DYNAMITE SO FIRECRACKERS JUST SEEMED LIKE TOYS TO US BUT WE STILL KNEW WHAT THEY COULD DO SO WERE CAREFUL AND NO ONE EVER GOT SERIOUSLY HURT. WHILE DRIVING AROUND IN OZ IN THE 1980'S I USED TO LISTEN TO JOHN WILLIAMSON AND ONE OF HIS SONGS WAS "CRACKER NIGHT" THIS REMINDED ME OF THAT. Attached Images

6th November 2015, 04:49 PM	#3
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	Great personal records, guys. Eventually i was also ten years old in the (late) fifties, but in this part of the world, actually Alan's antipodes, life was not so thrilling and the fire cracks offer was not so diverse; which turned out to be a good thing, as i was born so poor i couldn't afford to buy them; only by Carnival some cheap microscopic 'snaps', almost soundless, composed of a sphere the size of small buck shot involved in fire powder, wrapped in thin paper, all the size of a fingernail. Whereas in the bone area i am not behind competition; a couple broken ones showed me how fun it was. Until i grew up and had another couple sawed off, to remind me that real fun was yet to come. The only odd part is that i couldn't tie my shoe laces any longer; but having changed to the velcro soultion, problems ended . I will skip the animal chasing part; will leave it for the tough guys . But i don't find it hard to understand that Authorities currently restrict the use of manual fireworks; statistics show that the number of guitar players has decreased; you need all fingers to play the thing . . Attached Images

9th November 2015, 08:00 PM	#5
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	Thank you for your post, Raf. Perhaps i wasn't sensitive to the point of considering your original post as relative to the theme of ancient arms and armour ... notwithstanding the romantic and kinaesthetic introductions. In any case, as a topic in itself, with its contents, is better placed in the Ethno Miscelania section, once we have one available. On the other hand, it is more than visible that, the majority of discussions that take place in these fora, is far from being locked into an academic ambiance. It is however interesting to notice that, your last post may hardly be found distant from an academic one; however naturally worth to appreciate. All the best. . Last edited by fernando; 9th November 2015 at 08:13 PM.

16th November 2015, 08:19 PM	#8
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,079	I think that the Y-chromosome is slowly but surely vanishes from the genetic composition of the so-called "industrialized" societies....... I agree absolutely Ariel. Not only do I agree, but this phenomenon is able to be predicted from two existing bases:- 1) behaviour of animals when overcrowding in an animal population occurs 2) human behaviour in times of peace Before everybody jumps on me and tells me that we are currently at war and points at the prevalence of acts of terrorism, I would suggest that the 38 million people killed in WWI, and the 60 million people killed in WWII rather indicates that although we do currently have problems, we are now, and have been for some time, living in an era of peace. Other things can be reasonably predicted from the above two bases also, but we won't go there. Incidentally, the editor of your "highly respected medical journal" was way out of his depth, both politically and grammatically when he insisted on referring to a 5 year old girl as a "woman". The word "woman" means a mature human female. In Old English the word "woman" did not exist, the word used was "wifmon, or wif", which gives the Modern English "wife", a married human female. Surely your editors were not suggesting that a 5 year old girl was fit for marriage? If these editors were trying to achieve some misguided form of political correctness they should have insisted on the use of "female", not "woman". Words are important, and should be chosen with care. Last edited by A. G. Maisey; 16th November 2015 at 08:31 PM.

6th November 2015, 04:13 PM	#2
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,375	Speaking of things that go boom! Anyone else here have a Big Bang Carbide Cannon in their youth? I started shooting when I was 8 with my Mother's match grade .22; she was a competitive shooter at Wellesley College (imagine that)! My first firearm was an Iver Johnson 12 ga. that I 'found' in the trunk of an old rustbucket in a junkyard. It made a great sawed-off shotgun. First pistol I shot was a Walther ppk at about age ten; one of my older brother's pals had one and he rode his bike over to the house with it in his jacket pocket. I bought my first shotgun (Remington Wingmaster pump) at the age of 14; all I had to show the guy in the gun shop was the $$$. Good old days and a different world back then. Anyway, we used to launch old golf balls skyward from a heavy pipe with M80's; those green fuses were great weren't they Barry? I couldn't help but think of Michael while I was writing this.

9th November 2015, 10:29 AM	#4
Raf Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 252	I chose the words romantic and kinaesthetic with some care. The classic definition of romanticism being action contemplated in repose. That is a reflection on an experience containing an element of danger, but one of which you are no longer a part. It started in the late eighteenth century with the pursuit of the sublime in nature; wild, uncultivated and terrifying and ends up in the nineteenth century with the gothic novel and a confused aesthetic based on experiences that were often entirely imaginary. Hence the century is shot through with revivalist styles of one kind or another. Not unique to this century as we see a similar thing happening in the sixteenth century with the revival of chivalry. Romantic reflection on the past is thing that occurs at the point at which something is about to become lost. Kinaesthetic, as in aesthetic as referring to the senses, but also kinetic, as referring to movement which taken together describe the sensation of the pleasure in handling things and things that move. Implying an aesthetic that is developed or understood through an actual tactile experience as opposed to simply looking at something. One based on real experience of materials, process and activity. Things that I would have thought relevant to a study of ancient arms and amour and also say something about why we like the things we do. Which of course is also described by the reflections of contributors whose personal history becomes part of the how they understand the subject and how an aesthetic is formed. Whether they are acceptable or desirable from a modern standpoint is entirely irrelevant. But it does explain why I think a debate about ancient arms and amour can never be wholly academic.

10th November 2015, 04:45 PM	#6
Raf Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 252	Thanks for that . I will try to be less oblique in future.

16th November 2015, 01:34 PM	#7
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Political correctness goes amok these days. I just read that a 9 yo boy who wrote a love letter to a 9 yo girl was officially accused of being a sexual harasser. In one of my ( purely medical) papers I referred to a 5 yo patient as a girl. A highly respected medical journal demanded changing it to "a 5 yo woman". My kids grew around all things sharp and pointy, thank Heavens, and I took them to the Gun and Knife shows when they were 6 or 7. They are likely to be the only human beings in our university ivory tower town to know the meaning of such words as shamshir, panabas and shibria. Tofu steaks are the next step.... I think that the Y-chromosome is slowly but surely vanishes from the genetic composition of the so-called "industrialized" societies....... No wonder that pharmaceutical companies are so successful in promoting the diagnosis of " low testosterone syndrome": they are undoubtedly correct in identifying its epidemics.

16th November 2015, 08:26 PM	#9
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	Different perspectives, different ways of being in life, different cultures. My heir happens to be a female; society environment determining which are the right toys per gender, i didn't have much difficulty to discourage her from playing with toy weapons, nor my options included narrating my war memories to put her asleep; notwithstanding that she is now a grown up and appreciates my present passion for antique arms ... in their non lethal aspect. I am glad that i live in a less industrialized area of the globe and the chromosomal levels are not yet so unbalanced . I must say i hesitated before feeding this line of conversation; i have a feeling that it will lead to a more than political incorrectness. Herewith my regret .