More questions

[chickenfeet]

rparvaaz asked:

1. What do you think about religion?

I'm an atheist. At least in the sense that I do not believe in a god or gods who take an active interest in whether their worshippers are homosexual or eat lobster or even kill each other in various horrid ways. If there is some metaphysical 'first cause' or whatever then I'm sure it will be profoundly uninterested in me singing its praises. I find it surprising that people find some comfort in neolithic goat herder superstitions but evidently they do. Fair enough. Just don't use them as an excuse to ban me from eating lobster or for perpetuating AIDS in sub Saharan Africa. k thx.

2. Do you have any 'guilty pleasure' books?

Yes, apart from the pr0n stash of course, I compulsively reread books about Stalingrad and the detailed design of various kinds of WW2 weaponry.

3. What is your level of interest, if any, in India?

I'm quite interested in an abstract, intellectual way. The history is fascinating. I'm not drawn to the 'exotic' side in the way the lemur is for example. I suspect that were I to visit I would be rather horrified.

4. Has life been as you expected it to be, or did it happen while you were busy making plans?

Certainly not as I expected but then I always had a hard time imagining life past about 35. I think I really, really expected to die young. I think things sort of happened without me either planning or not planning them.

5. Why do you read my journal? Not complaining, but am curious as I would have judged most of it as 'too frivolous for you'. :)

We all have a frivolous side. I read you mostly for the occasional insights into a number of Indian and international affairs I wouldn't see from anyone else. Your comments on the history of the independence movements in India are especially interesting. What is the Indian equivalent of "Fenian bastard"? Just kidding!

Comments

[knirirr.livejournal.com]

I compulsively reread books about Stalingrad

Have you read about Verdun, and if so, how did you think it compared with Stalingrad?

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I have read about Verdun. I think Stalingrad was more horrible in quite a few ways (horrible as Verdun was). Stalingrad was more of a one way ticket. At least there was some rotation at Verdun. I don't think Verdun has any equivalent of the last days inside the Kessel. There weren't thousands of civilians trapped by the fighting at Verdun. The temperature never dropped to -30. To name some of the differences.

[knirirr.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I have been to Verdun and read about it, and it seemed particularly horrible, but I wondered if Stalingrad would be worse. Presumably the hatred of both sides for each other made a significant contribution to the unpleasantness of the latter as well.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Presumably the hatred of both sides for each other made a significant contribution to the unpleasantness of the latter as well.

Very much so. Also worth noting that it was on the ground recovered during the Stalingrad counterattack that ordinary Red Army soldiers were first exposed to the horrors that the Germans had perpetrated in the occupied areas.

[rparvaaz.livejournal.com]

What is a Fenian bastard?

and, Me = Egomaniac

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

What is a Fenian bastard?

A certain kind of Irish nationalist. Perhaps unblinkered would care to comment? I was thinking of your perspective on the Indian independence movements versus mine, coming as we do in a sense from opposite sides, and no doubt having imbibed a set of received values however much we may have challenged them intellectually. I find the whole history and national myth issue endlessly fascinating.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

I think I'm more qualified to answer that than unblinkered - since, according to local (Glaswegian) definitions I is one. It's one of those descriptions that can't exist in isolation - without an Orange bastard there can be no Fenian Bastard: wouldn't it be nice if they cancelled each other out when they met?

The West of Scotland usage was synonymous with Catholic - any Catholic at all...

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Cold is God's way of telling us to burn more Catholics

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

Indeed.

[unblinkered.livejournal.com]

Whereas I am a Fenian c**t, apparently. If you ask very drunk squaddies, at least. Although I haven't been called that in a long, long time...either tempers have cooled or my accent has softened. I'm hoping it's the former.

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

Ah dear, that one never made much headway here - probably since I only usually heard it at football matches, where women used to be notable by their absence (except for the wee herries of course).

[unblinkered.livejournal.com]

I guess the usage is somewhat different between football supporters and English squaddies that have been stationed in the North. This would've been in the mid-90s, well before the Good Friday agreement.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Me = Egomaniac

1. What most attracts/repels you about western culture?

2. And if I asked the same thing about India?

3. What did you study at uni and why did you choose it?

4. What's your favourite vacation spot?

5. Do you like clowns?

WWII weaponry

[fearsclave.livejournal.com]

Seems that somebody's making FG42's again... (http://www.fg42.us/)

Re: WWII weaponry

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

What an oddly obscure choice.

Re: WWII weaponry

[fearsclave.livejournal.com]

Not all that obscure in some circles; the FG figured very prominently in parts of the first Call of Duty game (one of my big issues with those games is that "looting nifty German weapons" is a very effective way to win).

Also, the FG would be unrestricted in Canada and the equivalent in many US jurisdictions due to its length and semi-auto nature, so the guys who'd love to own a Schmeisser or a Stg but can't because of stuffy firearms laws may form a big part of its market.

I wouldn't want one personally (I think that it's perhaps one of Hermann Goering's worst attempts at military design, second perhaps only to his uniforms, or maybe the Me-110), but it'll probably do fairly well.

Re: WWII weaponry

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

According to my sources the FG42 could fire on fully automatic. In fact the (AFAIK) unique feature of its design is that it fired with a closed bolt in single shot mode and from an open bolt in automatic mode. I suppose the whole idea is no sillier than NATO adopting a full power 7.63 cartridge in the 50s.

Re: WWII weaponry

[fearsclave.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the originals were full-auto and scoped; Goring specced a One Gun To Fill Every Role, and wound up producing something that was mediocre as a rifle, support weapon, sniper weapon, etc...

And the history of NATO cartridge design is a fascinating one, all right.