Capitaine Vengeur

The USAF still misses his panache and his moustache. Irreplaceable. :salute:

France had very uneven performances these last years: not qualified in 1994, winner in 1998, fired out at first shots in 2002, semifinalist in 2006... If we stay on the same logical curse, we shall be ridiculous this year and awesome in 2016. It's amazing that here, we can't do anything good without a good kick in the butt for some times!

I have enjoyed all of the last Clint Eastwood's movies (safe for "Gran Torino" I have not seen yet, and "Mystic River" I felt very bad watching at). They are often based on true stories: I didn't know the pitch of "Changeling" and learnt something there (knew about the LAPD's bad reputation at that time but naught about Gordon Northcott), and I found his work about Iwo Jima very accurate. Old Clint is definitely a great film director, with high sensibility (his movies seem to please women as much as men, which is not that usual). I nonetheless found the drawing a little thick in that movie, sentimentalism rather than sensitivity. I think of that moment just after victory when a raw caricature of Boer embraces one of the surprised Black bodyguards, a veteran of ANC.

Agree. A friend posted me just this week-end about the coconut crab. I've never heard or read anything before about this ugly beast. I wouldn't say that I damped my sheets that night, but... Brrrr!

Heard something like that at one of our Jewish comics: "It's said that it's a Iceberg he has sunk the Titanic. I want to clarify for the antisemites: Iceberg, he is not a Jew!" Oh, another quote I like from another one of our Jewish comics: I hate to discuss with Jews. Always bad news: antisemitism, terrorism, Intifada... One the other hand, I enjoy discussing with the antisemites. Always good news: the Jews control the movie industry, the Jews control the media, the Jews own all the money... By the way, we, Jews all over the world, each year beginning, we all receive a letter to inform us: "Good news: we still own all the money!"

Colleville-sur-Mer, on the heights over Omaha Beach: 9387 graves (including Teddy Roosevelt Jr), possibly the largest American Military Cemetary outside the US. Every US President has passed there at least once. First shot of "Saving Private Ryan". The neighbouring graves of two brothers are said to have inspired the movie, and I've heard during a visit that the names Ryan (Matt Damon) and Miller (Tom Hanks) have been chosen by Spielberg because being the two most represented in this cemetary.

Albert Einstein once said that if rats, these very intelligent and socially organized animals, were bigger, they would rule the World. I wonder if they would fly planes against humans, or just place such Gremlins kamikaze saboteurs on the human planes.

Take-offs I can stand, flying I can stand, but I've never learnt how to land in one piece. Am I: a- A basic dumbass? b- A kamikaze terrorist saving money on flight lessons? c- A liberal waiting for some state employee to land the plane?

So hard to think that for some weeks during a promising summer, my so green, beautiful and peaceful province has been nothing that infernal noise, smoke, ruins of 800-year-old churches, wreckages of flaming tanks, columns of refugees, dead cows everywhere... Like everywhere else in Europe, the soldiers soon left, but the ruins stayed for years. Here at least, the soldiers often come back. Here's a picture of the ceremonies yesterday, with US paratroopers parading in Sainte-Mère-Eglise. If you look closely at the bell tower, you can see a piece of cloth still hanging. The parachute with Private John Steele's dummy (82nd Airborne) hang here all year long and for ever to remember what happened during a famous night.

A Lady from the high society converses with the local garrison's Colonel. - Well, Sir, I plan to give a garden-party tonight. Oldest gentry only. Could you make her more attractive by lending me one of your young officers in evening dress uniform? Oh, of course, he should be someone spotless, someone of our world, you see: not a grant-holder from the working class, Jew, Irish, people of that sort. - Certainly, Milady. I can see exactly what you need. That evening, the party is on her way, gathering the best aristocratic society of the city, when somebody rings the bell. The Lady comes to welcome her new guest and discovers... a tall dark-skinned officer in impeccable uniform, of the darkest tone! The shocked Lady, about to faint, begins to stammer: - B... B... But! There must be a mistake! The... The Colonel must have mistaken, forgotten what I had requested... - Oh no, Milady, certainly not, the officer answers with a large white grin. Colonel Levi never forgets anything.

... which will make them easy to be recognized, warned to lie, and shot at by the police if disobeying. How can policemen lock on a bad-looking, armed, dangerous guy in a crowd of bad-looking, armed, potentially dangerous guys? UK, Uncleal is right, the model of the gun is not indicated, as long as I can read. Was it a hunting rifle, something like that? Could you give more infos as you will obtain them?

Whole Europe has been a giant battlefield for so many years. In my city of Le Havre (heavily bombed by RAF on September 5, 1944 - 5000 killed in a night of terror), we still find one big air bomb about every three years since I'm living here. Large lots of blocks evacuated each time, no victims I've heard of to that day. In the surrounding area of my hometown of Rheims, the danger comes from WW1 shells that heavily rained from both sides for a while. Urbanized and cultivated areas have been cleared for long, after having taken their quota of victims, but numerous wild areas still give their annual harvest of rusted cylinders of death. Some are really huge, but the danger comes from the smallest ones (37 to 75mm) that a child could handle. Condolences to the German bomb disposal experts. All of these professionals are pure heroes.

It should be a good, politically neutral thing to name ships only after those exemplary men who have earned the Navy Cross or the MoH, but don't forget that even Navy-Cross-holder Randy Cunningham has tarnished his own name in politics.

You've learnt me more about inter-connections between major Celtic languages than my Breton friends had! I've read many things about the Republic seeking "progress" at all costs against Breton and other regional traditions (quotes from an article from a die-hard Republican "journalist" about the Bretons, ending 19th Century: "Those dark Helots, those niggers of France...", "The Breton doesn't think, he prays, and by that way, falls into the most slavish abjection...", and so on ad nauseam). Fortunately, many langages were strong enough to resist, especially Catalan and Basque (thanks to resistance on both sides of the French-Spanish border), Corsican (strong identity, never bully a Corsican, he could be able even to march on Moscow), and Alsacian (resisted to attempts of assimilation by one French Republic and two German Reiches; brave enough).

Speaking about Celts, that was quite the same way the French Republic used towards the Bretons of Brittany. By the end of 19th Century, French was only a optional few used second langage to most rural Bretons, and the new Republic wanted to achieve national unity through the langage. Many former pupils still remember of the warning displayed in schools until about mid-20th Century, and which is still colloquial in French: "It's forbidden to spit and to speak Breton". As for Wales, lashing was the common sanction. The langage has kept many defenders, and nowadays, there are many recognized schools where teachings are in Breton (named diwan schools).

The story is pathetic, the cost is horrific. What a waste of lives.

A quite poor view from the balcony of the hotel where I spent that night in Sofia, on the heights surrounding the city (you can guess her on the feet of the hill and on the faded horizon , the sun was setting). The name is SkyWay. The hotel is fairly comfortable, and the pool is welcome in the evening. I couldn't say you the tariffs, as I was on an all-included tour.

Agree about the stubbornness. During that time (and anytime, after all), the Bulldog was much more the symbol of the British than the Lion was. You kick his ass, he still has teeth. You kick his teeth, he still has muscled gums. I remember that from 1940 on, the first pictures in the British weekly news always faded in-fade out Churchill's face, than a bulldog's face.

Some chosen pictures of Sofia from my retrieved key, all of them shot in the same central area of the city: 1- The late Royal Palace 2- The National Theatre 3- The Russian Church St-Nicholas 4- The Cathedral St-Alexander Nevskiy 5- The Bulgaria Central Park 6- The main Ministries alley A last warning often repeated by the Bulgarians: Beware of the Gipsies !! (many of them in Sofia)

I've spent a swift one-week tour in Bulgaria in summer 2008. I've not been really impressed by Sofia, found it quite a tasteless city. I've enjoyed much more the second-ranking city, Plovdiv (nice hilly Old Town, seen many students in Arts at work in the streets), or Varna and Bourgas on the coast. The peninsular small town of Nessebar, full of Byzantine churches, is a nice place for a stay, and there are some other of these old peninsular villages I've not visited on the coast (Sozopol, for example). Half-less salty than any common sea, the Black Sea is a really enjoyable surprise for swimming. Some smaller towns are quite pleasant too. In the area of Veliko Tarnovo (interesting fortified hill), you can find some nice villages kept in a very traditional while sanitized looking, intended as residences for the wealthy Bulgarians (spent nights at Arbanasi, and Khoprivzhitza further away). If you plan to stay in the West around Sofia, of course don't miss the unique Rila Monastery, which in addition is not far away from the Macedonian mountains (spent that night at the winter resort of Bansko). Not an unforgettable tour, but a rather nice one: fine weather, various landscapes, limited but nonetheless interesting cultural heritage, quiet people (caution: few anglophones over 30), and still few tourists compared to many other destinations. Good rating. Have a fine stay there.

This bunch of young pisspot faces is the most excellent advert I could imagine for using condoms!

My best wishes for 200 more years! Viva el 25 de Mayo!

File Name: Pilot pics, Israeli-Arab Wars File Submitter: Capitaine Vengeur File Submitted: 11 May 2010 File Category: SF/WO* Hanger/Menu/Loadout Here are some pics of Israeli (mostly), Egyptian, Syrian, Jordanian and Soviet pilots, for you to know which face is looking into the mirrors of your Mirage/MiG/Hunter cockpit. Enjoy. Click here to download this file