August 2011 Articles (55)

Finding new uses for obsolete or old munitions have been a part of warfare for centuries. But during World War II, Axis powers found new uses for explosives in ways that proved devastatingly effective.

On the morning of December 7, an anonymous Nakajima B5N "Kate" flew over Pearl Harbor amid the flak,…

Even the 30's tunes are in a 20's style this month. Don't ask me why, I've just been in a 20's mood lately and I can't explain it. Maybe it's the screwy 1929-type behavior of the stock market! So put on your raccoon coats, crank up the Stutz or the Duesenberg or the Pierce-Arrow, and when you get to the "jernt," the password is "swordfish." Tell 'em Pils sent yez. 

http://pilsnerspicks.blogspot.com/

On Saturday Matinee, we showcase full-length films from or about the diesel era. If you have any favorites you would love to see on the next Saturday Matinee, shoot me a message or comment in the box below.

On this rainy Saturday, we're playing another noir classic.  This time, it's T-Men from 1947. 

The story is about two US Treasury agents who go undercover in an attempt to break a counterfeiting ring.

The agents try to join the gang…

A sneak peek of the inside of the previously seen Obedience building :…

Amazon.com has a contest to help burgeoning film makers get their projects made. One of the finalist is 'Sky Pirates' by Gary Dragan Milin. The test movie is made with voice actors, music, and storyboards. The synopsis is as follows: 

In 1940, a US airship is sent on a top secret mission into the uncharted African interior in order to intercept a Nazi Zeppelin involved in an archeological expedition that could make Hitler’s armies invincible.

The film is almost an…

Lagonda brand was founded at the beginning of the 20th century by Wilbur Gunn, an American born in Springfield, Ohio, who emigrated to England.

The strange name “Lagonda” comes from Anglo-French contamination of the name Ough Ohonda, given by the American indians to the river that runs through Springfield. Lagonda made itself a fairly good name in some competitions. It even…

Dressed for flight, American aviators stationed in Toul, France kill time in the duty hut while awaiting the signal to take…

Wallis Barnes, inventor of the famous bouncing bomb, turned his attention to more conventional gravity bombs, but of tremendous size. The results were the Tallboy and Grand Slam (above) penetrators, the Earthquake bombs of World War II.

Conventional air dropped ordnance, both bombs were…

Welcome to Two Fisted Tuesdays, Dieselpunks' weekly beat on the mean streets.

Starring Gerald Mohr and starting with the famous lines, "Get this and get it straight! Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave." The Adventures of Philip Marlowe runs about 25 minutes without commercials. You can listen to this blast from the past in MP3 format for free at the link below.…

Lights out, everybody.

On Miskatonic Mondays, we celebrate the "weird" fiction of HP Lovecraft and the genre of otherworldly horror that it spawned.  Today, the spotlight is on the transdimensional creatures known as The Hounds of Tindalos.

"They are lean and athirst!" he shrieked... "All the evil in the universe was concentrated in their lean, hungry bodies. Or had they bodies? I saw them only for a moment, I cannot be certain."

- Frank…

Via: The Old…

A visual for World of Darkness : Gotham, a RPG website.

World of Darkness: Gotham is an oWoD free web-based chat RPG featuring Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and Mage: The Ascension. You can check out the project at the following links:…

Howard Phillips Lovecraft was born today, August 20th, 1890.

He taught us how to use words like "eldritch" and "cyclopean," he taught us that fighting the supernatural will make us go insane, and he taught us that yes, there is a god way up in the sky, but that god doesn't care about us and probably made us by mistake anyway.

Here's to you, little Howie.  Hope you had a good one.…

On Saturday Matinee, we showcase full-length films from or about the diesel era. If you have any favorites you would love to see on the next Saturday Matinee, shoot me a message or comment in the box below.

This weekend, we're showing the noir classic, DOA starring Edmond O'Brien and produced by Leo C. Popkin. The frantically paced plot of DOA revolves around a doomed man's quest to find out who has poisoned him – and why – before he dies.

The movie…

Meet a gorgeous Italian: 1936 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900A:



First introduced in the 8C 2300, the Vittorio Jano designed eight cylinder engine scored at least one victory in every major race and championship. In its initial 1931 configuration, the engine displaced 2336 cc, it grew gradually to 2905 cc, primarily by increasing the stroke. The engine was created by…

On Knights of the Air, we discuss the heroes and the technology that changed the horizon of warfare during World War I.  In today's issue, we are showcasing a gallery of original posters from The Great War that advertise the German machines that took to the skies.

Albatros was Germany's…

The Allies needed to strike at the industrial heart of Germany. The Ruhr River Valley was a main artery for the Nazi war machine, keeping it alive in part by harnessing the power of the river through a series of dams. Take out those dams, the Allies wondered, and the blood would…

"The Economist" of 13 August 2011 includes a wonderful obituary for Nancy Wake who died on 7 August, aged 98. Read here.

Australian Nancy Wake was a member of the French resistance in WWII and later special agent for the British Special…

Welcome to Two Fisted Tuesdays, Dieselpunks' weekly beat on the mean streets.

Starring Gerald Mohr and starting with the famous lines, "Get this and get it straight! Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave." The Adventures of Philip Marlowe runs about 25 minutes without commercials. You can listen to this blast from the past in MP3 format for free at the link below.…

From what I can tell this new movie is going to be a fusion of Dieselpunk and Samurai. I hope it's as good as the…