The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[Canoerebel]

4/16/45

Catching up to the turn John sent early this morning. He's out of town until Monday.

Korea: Allied shock attack hammers shattered enemy troops retreating from Keijo.

Manchuria: Australian amphibious force takes Antung, the first base to fall in Manchukuo.

China: Big and strong Japanese stack nearly destroys weak Indian division while main Allied western army stack does similar work against 23rd Division. The race is on to close the Kaifeng Pocket before the heart of John's army - some 94k soldiers including four good divisions - can escape. I think I can do it.

Yellow Sea: Strong enemy combat TF enters the Yellow Sea for no reason I can discern except to Banzai.

Strategic Bombing: Effective raids vs. Sapporo (unopposed) and Shimonoseki (opposed, and my sweeping fighters were all grounded) doing heavy damage. I lost a decent number of bombers, but overall the past two weeks have been very effective with modest bomber losses.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

4/16/45

Catching up to the turn John sent early this morning. He's out of town until Monday.

Korea: Allied shock attack hammers shattered enemy troops retreating from Keijo.

Manchuria: Australian amphibious force takes Antung, the first base to fall in Manchukuo.

China: Big and strong Japanese stack nearly destroys weak Indian division while main Allied western army stack does similar work against 23rd Division. The race is on to close the Kaifeng Pocket before the heart of John's army - some 94k soldiers including four good divisions - can escape. I think I can do it.

Yellow Sea: Strong enemy combat TF enters the Yellow Sea for no reason I can discern except to Banzai.

Strategic Bombing: Effective raids vs. Sapporo (unopposed) and Shimonoseki (opposed, and my sweeping fighters were all grounded) doing heavy damage. I lost a decent number of bombers, but overall the past two weeks have been very effective with modest bomber losses.

Really Dan....Do you mind. We are trying to have a serious political discussion here and you kept interrupting. [;)]

[Canoerebel]

Yeah, I noticed!

That discussion is so far beyond what I know about the topic that I am unable to comment or to feign a slight comprehension.

[paullus99]

I'd say, at minimum, CR is going into Post-War Asia with a United Korea & quite possibly at least a Pro-West Southern China.

Perhaps we might see the Korea situation play out in this timeline as a "North & South China."

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: paullus99

I'd say, at minimum, CR is going into Post-War Asia with a United Korea & quite possibly at least a Pro-West Southern China.

Perhaps we might see the Korea situation play out in this timeline as a "North & South China."

Man, I hope we stay out of that one!

[JohnDillworth]

I'd say, at minimum, CR is going into Post-War Asia with a United Korea & quite possibly at least a Pro-West Southern China.

Perhaps we might see the Korea situation play out in this timeline as a "North & South China."

The proletariat will believe what they are told comrade. Japanese bombs, Capitalist bombs. It matters not to the peasants.

[JohnDillworth]

Who's next?

[paullus99]

It just depends on how the KMT & Communist forces interacted during the large-scale conflict in China - especially given the vast numbers of Western Troops involved as well.

I'll just put it out there that the dynamic would have been significantly different...thus we might have seen a very different outcome in attitudes towards the West.

[MakeeLearn]

Postwar...

[Canoerebel]

I spent the early morning hours one day in November writing a story, posting progress reports in my AAR.

That story is slated for the Spring 2018 issue of my magazine, as set forth below. It is substantially the same as the version I posted back in November.

A few comments by Forumites back then made an impression, including "Good morning, Mr. Sunshine" (I think that was by Jwolf or Acepylut). Also, somebody recommended omitting the Byron Reece poetry quote. I considered doing so - I saw the merit in doing so - but ultimately decided to leave it intact.

I read this story aloud to a class of older folks back then and received a pretty enthusiastic response. So I think readers will enjoy it.

I'm under no impression that I'm destined for fame or fortune as a writer. I'm clearly not. But I am thankful that when I work hard and do my best, I'm capable of creating things that don't prompt massive letter-writing campaigns to have me sacked.

[AcePylut]

A Dr. Zhivago reference - awesome! I was just thinking of that movie last week. Wierd.

[Canoerebel]

There's a scene in which Yuri enters a small, hushed library and unexpectedly finds Lara seated, highlighted by a sun ray, a sunflower on her desk. No wonder Yuri was a poet.

[Canoerebel]

This is the scene.

[JohnDillworth]

I enjoyed that Dan. You mention stopping time. great art or beauty can stop time. Time is a bit of a human construct so human creation can stop it I suppose. I kind of keep a mental list of music that seems to stop time. Mozart can do it. Schubert, who did not live long enough, could do it too. 2nd movement of the Quintet In C. But I will give you a better example that everyone will know. Schuberts Ave Maria. A good performance of that will make the hair on your arms stand up. Every hear Johnny Cashs version of "Hurt"? yeah...that too

[Canoerebel]

I haven't experienced music stopping time, John, but I recognize what you're saying. There are times that music brings stinging tears to my eyes.

Sometimes that's for sentimental reasons: a song that meant something to us in youth or when we first fell in love, or patriotic songs. Just one example of that is Glenn Miller's rendition of Chattanooga Choo Choo, which brings to mind my parents, of the WWII generation, dancing when I was a little boy.

But sometimes it's the sheer beauty of a composition or arrangement or performance. Some of Tchaikovsky's works do that for me. And I think it would happen more often if I lived in a place where I could readily access live performances, for I've noticed that it happens almost without fail when I'm sitting in a theater or concert hall on rare occasions.

If you make me sit through loud rock concerts (including Christian rock), the tears are for another reason altogether. I hate noise.

[JohnDillworth]

[/quote]

And I think it would happen more often if I lived in a place where I could readily access live performances, for I've noticed that it happens almost without fail when I'm sitting in a theater or concert hall on rare occasions.

When I was in college, Leonard Bernstein was the conductor of the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fischer Hall. On Friday afternoons he would rehearse the orchestra. Closed rehearsal.....unless you were a college student where your ID would get you in for $4. Many Fridays I would attend these rehearsals with many, many of the greats. I feel like I grew up when giants walked the earth. Not a week goes by I don't think of one of those rehearsals. What an extraordinary privilege and how lucky I was

[Canoerebel]

Via YouTube, I regularly listen to symphonic performances, especially Bernstein's handling of Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony and the Seoul (Korea) orchestra's handling of Tchaikovsky's 6th. (One aspect I like is comparing the Seoul conductor's handling of his business compared to Bernstein's - very different styles).

John, here's a comparison of your environment (Bernstein on Friday's) compared to one of my favorite memories.

In October of about '08 or so, I was mountain biking on a long, dusty dirt road in the flat woods at Berry College, at 28,000 acres the largest college campus in the world. As I peddled along, a terrific thunderstorm hit. In seconds, I was shivering while peddling through the thickest of Georgia red-clay mud. The closest "oasis" was Frost Chapel on Berry's Mountain Campus. I peddled up the to the front porch, found the door open, and entered the sanctuary. I was the only person inside the hushed chapel except for a young coed who was practicing a solo. She didn't know I had entered the building. She didn't know she had a single, sodden, disheveled bike rider as an audience. I stood in the quite warmth of the chapel, grateful to be out of the storm, and listened to her sing beautifully. A half hour later, the storm ended, I got back on my bike, and peddled across the wet woodland roads to my old pickup truck.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

I haven't experienced music stopping time, John, but I recognize what you're saying. There are times that music brings stinging tears to my eyes.

Sometimes that's for sentimental reasons: a song that meant something to us in youth or when we first fell in love, or patriotic songs. Just one example of that is Glenn Miller's rendition of Chattanooga Choo Choo, which brings to mind my parents, of the WWII generation, dancing when I was a little boy.

But sometimes it's the sheer beauty of a composition or arrangement or performance. Some of Tchaikovsky's works do that for me. And I think it would happen more often if I lived in a place where I could readily access live performances, for I've noticed that it happens almost without fail when I'm sitting in a theater or concert hall on rare occasions.

If you make me sit through loud rock concerts (including Christian rock), the tears are for another reason altogether. I hate noise.

Not the sentimental type at all but saw a flash mob performance of Beethoven's Ode to Joy (9th?) that just made me a little verklempt. Not even into classical but there something about it....

[RangerJoe]

Those are some very pretty pictures. They would make some challenging puzzles!

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

I haven't experienced music stopping time, John, but I recognize what you're saying. There are times that music brings stinging tears to my eyes.

Sometimes that's for sentimental reasons: a song that meant something to us in youth or when we first fell in love, or patriotic songs. Just one example of that is Glenn Miller's rendition of Chattanooga Choo Choo, which brings to mind my parents, of the WWII generation, dancing when I was a little boy.

But sometimes it's the sheer beauty of a composition or arrangement or performance. Some of Tchaikovsky's works do that for me. And I think it would happen more often if I lived in a place where I could readily access live performances, for I've noticed that it happens almost without fail when I'm sitting in a theater or concert hall on rare occasions.

If you make me sit through loud rock concerts (including Christian rock), the tears are for another reason altogether. I hate noise.

Not the sentimental type at all but saw a flash mob performance of Beethoven's Ode to Joy (9th?) that just made me a little verklempt. Not even into classical but there something about it....

But do you guys experience frisson?

In my experience, once you start... it intensifies throughout life to the point where even just the hint of something that would do it touches it off.