this week in history

second Battle of Passchendaele 

Oct-26 to Nov-10 1917 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/

On October 26,1917 the first assault of the Battle of Passchendaele began. This battle finally broke the jugger knot of the German defence around the town. By November 10 the Canadian army captured the town and had down the impossible "again". This battle was the largest action the Canadian army had yet fought in the war and had prov en among the bloodiest.

Second Battle of El Alamin 

Oct-23 Nov-4 1942

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons

Seventy years ago today the German army launched a counter attack on the British army that had opened the second battle of El Alamein on the October 23, 1942. By October 26 the offensives had been bogged down in mine fields. the German army mounted a counter attack that lasted for several days but eventually petered out. The German line broke in early November forcing the Africa Corps into full scale retreat, with the British  eighth army hot on its heels. The picture above shows the actions of the British and German Armies on October 26th.

The Battle of Santa Cruz

Oct-25 to Oct-27 1942 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons

Today in 1942 the main action of the Battle of Santa Cruz took place in the South Pacific. This battle was the last carrier action of 1942. It ended with one American carrier sunk and one severely damaged.  On the Japanese side two air craft carriers were disabled. this battle was a Japanese tactical victory but left the imperial navy with no more operational ships left to face the Americans and even they reserve of pilots was gone. As for the US Navy the surviving carrier enterprise was back in service within 2 weeks and played a important part in the defence of Guadalcanal.  

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/85/Flyboys_Final1Sheet2.jpg

Overall a fair movie, especially considering the competition in recent years. I found the characters to be engaging and the struggles to be realistic. I also found it to be interesting that all the characters are based   loosely on real people. As a result it makes the film as a historical fiction more realistic. that's not to say that this movies doesn't have it's problems. Perhaps, the most annoying stylistically is the Fokker DR1's complete adoption of the standard German Fighter considering that it should not be in service for a another 6 months at the end of the movie and only 320 were ever manufactured. apart from this the plot varies from strong and interesting to weak and some what annoying. 

What i did like about the plot was the character development and understanding the pace of action compared do down time. another impressive feature of the movie was the visuals, they were spectacular. Especially the scenes of aerial combat. One more good thing was the music, its tone and pace just added a certain amount of fantastical feel that just sums up the way flight was seen at the time.

In closing I think the best thing they could of changed about the plot to make the movie better would of been to spend even more time developing the characters and seeing their struggles and slightly less time developing the romantic sub-plot. Of course that being said I did enjoy the refreshing way they ended the sub-plot. This was a good movie but not great, I would suggest watching it if your taste is war movies but it isn't the greatest. 

Newspaper blackout #2

Newspaper Blackout #1

Question of the Week

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/

True or False

The first airship was built on a lake.

Answer to Q of W.

The answer is D.The Antonov 225 at a maximum take off weight of 1.1 million pounds the airplane is longer then the the Right Brothers first 3 flights at Kitty Hawk and had 6 engines to power it through the air. It was originally built to carry the Russian space shuttle but has since been rebuilt as a cargo plane.

Writing Reflection 3

If I were to use my blog as a tool for university promotion I would almost definitely post a picture of my honor plaques and other awards on it. I would also include a picture of myself in cadets and another picture of myself volunteering at the Western Canada Aviation Museum. I would include these pieces in order to further emphasise my academic achievements and loyalty to commitments. There are probably many more ways that I could achieve this with my blog but these are the ones that are the most doable and the least braggy. Considering that my long term goals are to eventually hold a PHD in history a little self promotion is not exactly a hindrance in the long run. In closing although I have no plans to actually include these items in my blog they are still worthy additions and I may reconsider adding them later on.

comment 1: http://howdhreads.blogspot.ca/2012/10/personal-addition.html#comment-form

comment 2: http://www.samscreativethoughts.blogspot.ca/2012/10/surprised-at-how-exciting-it-is-to-see_764.html#comment-form

comment 3: http://taylorperistyblog.blogspot.ca/2012/10/life-big-question-1.html#comment-form

The first comment I posted was on a hockey poster for the lock out. I chose to write on this because unlike most people that I know I believe that if anyone is entitled to the bigger cut it's the players. Especially not the league or the teams in the south that are already on life support. Honestly though, I think the money gap should be used to make hockey games more accessible especially those in Canada who want to watch it. In the end it is just my opinion and I hope the whole mess gets settles soon.

The second comment I discussed was on Sam's blog. Like Sam, I am truly fascinated of the variety of page views I get and find it to be one of the more enjoyable things about having a blog. My only wish is that more people would leave comments to give me an idea of how I'm doing and to provide suggestion and criticism. So please leave comments !!!

The third comment I made was on Taylor's blog and the depth of it truly surprised me. I find questions like those intriguing and definitely worth asking even if you disagree with those who say it , it is always nice to see some one speak their mind, especially with big questions like this.

Overall I find the characteristics of a good comment is intelligence, the comment must provide some insight or some thought into the topic at hand. It should be creative and insightful and make the author of the original post as well as any other person who comments. The characteristics of a bad comment is threats , inappropriate use of language and non constructive criticism. These comments  are irritating to the writer and if anything detract the value of the post and irritate the poster possibly even to the point of hiatus. Please don't leave posts like this.   The main benefits on commenting on other peoples blogs are directly linked to benefits of receiving comments. Posting comments provide you the commentor with the valuable  ability to voice your opinions and receive answers directly from the original source eliminating confusion and harmful interpretation. As a recipient of comments they provide the poster with important insight into the opinions and  interpretations of their readers allow the writer to discover what  works and what doesn't to improve where possible.