Product Endorsement
They are very good electric razors…not cheap, but good. I’ve been using mine for about six months and still like it.
Using ultraviolet photography, medievalist Grigory Kessel discovered a fragment of the Christian gospels written in Old Syriac.
He discovered one of the earliest translations of the Gospels, made in the 3rd century and copied in the 6th century. The 6th century text was later erased and copied over hundreds of years later.
Image courtesy Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) / Vatican Library.
Is there a Score Card?
Identify the Aircraft
In the Days of Fighting Sail
The Irish Currach
The currach is a traditional Irish boat built from a light wooden frame covered with tarred leather or canvas. They were usually 4.80 to 5.50 m long and slightly less than 1 m wide. Depending on the purpose for which they were built and where they were built, they could be seaworthy with a keel and sail or flat as a river or coastal vessel. It is not known exactly when they first appeared on the coasts of Ireland, but they seem to have been around since the Neolithic period.
A modern Kerry currach
Used for fishing or transport, they could also be used for other purposes. Pytheas of Massalia is said to have used one around 340 BC during his exploration of north-western Europe. Whether he actually did so is questionable, since his account of the voyage has been lost and other ancient authors like to portray him as a liar and label his observations as fictitious. Today’s researchers, however, believe him to a large extent.
Pytheas on his voyage to Thule in 340 BC, by Stephen Biesty 2011
In chapter 4 of the Navigatio Sancti Brendani, the author describes how St Brendan and his monks built a curragh for the planned sea voyage in 565 and 573 AD across the open sea to the “Isle of the Blessed”. The material is described in detail: resin-soaked ox hides tanned in oak tan for the covering, ash wood for the frames, and oak wood for gunwale, oars, oars, and mast, all made waterproof with (sheep) fat. Then a hull was constructed from longitudinal and transverse frames joined with leather strips, the skins pulled over them and sewn together with flax fiber threads. Oars, mast, leather straps (for the shrouds and sheets), leather sails, as well as spare skins, woods, and grease completed the equipment.
Book illustration Manuscriptum translationis germanicae Cod. Pal. Germ. 60, fol. 179v (University Library of Heidelberg, Germany), written around 1460 AD. St. Brendan in a currach.
A similarly constructed boat is described in the mythical tales Immram Curaig Maíle Dúin (“The Voyage of the Boat of Máel Dúin”) from the 10th century and Immram Brain (“Bran’s Voyage”) from the 8th century. The currach survives to this day and caused quite a stir in the 17th century when an attempt was made to recreate a seagoing one. Captain Thomas Phillips, described and drew it as follows: “A portable vessel made of wicker, commonly used by the wild Irish”. The ocean-going vessel is about 6m long and has a keel and rudder, a ribbed hull, and a mast in the middle of the vessel. Because of the keel, the ship is built from the bottom up. A fairing (probably made of animal skins) was added, with the sides supported by poles in the gaps.
The mast is supported by stays and double shrouds on each side, the latter sloping down to an outer plank that serves as a chain stay. The forestay runs over a small fork above the yard, which carries a square sail: a branch is tied to the top of the mast. The stern is topped by double half-rings which could support a cover.
Captain Thomas Phillips – Currach, 17th century
Phillips’ sketches suggest that such a vessel was by all means common in his time and probably in use earlier. The keel would improve the handling of the boat, but the hull would remain flexible.
A modern Donegal Sea Currach
Today’s currachs are sturdy, light, and versatile vessels. Their framework consists of a truss formed by frames and stringers and surmounted by a gunwale. There is a stem and stern post, but no keel. For this it is rowed but can also have a mast and sail, but with a minimum of rigging. The outside of the hull is covered with tarred canvas or calico, a substitute for animal skin. They are used for, recreation, fishing, ferries, and for transporting goods and livestock, including sheep and cattle.
In 1976 the late Tim Severin built a currach as described in the Navigatio Sancti Brendani. Then sailed it from Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland to Peckford Island, Newfoundland, Canada in the summer of 1976 and the summer of 1977. The boat is now in the Craggaunowen Museum in County Claire, Ireland.
A Whale Tale
Parting Shot
Looks like an Embraer 145 with the Erieeye radar for AEW. It has some other fancy gear on it too, and IDK who it belongs to.
-Kle.
Interesting note about the cattle mRNA thing. I think it was Saturday that an Insty post had, within the comment thread, one comment saying the cattle mRNA injections were to start in April. The commenter had a link to a GAB site discussing it. As I don’t have a GAB account and don’t visit it, I could not say what info might be there.
Identify the Aircraft:
Saab GlobalEye AEW&C based on Bombardier 6000 business jet
Quite right!
It is bizarre how the Bombardier version has all the same weird little winglets and stuff as the Embraer version, but after looking at both, the flight deck windows really give it away.
-Kle.
Good call again, Surly.
Flight deck windows?
No no no! It’s the “carrying handle” that distinguishes the full-auto Saab-16 from the civilian-market Bombardier.
Just like they criticize the Armalite-15/16
Must be fun to land in a stiff crosswind.
I don’t see a charging handle.
I thought someone at the factory forgot to cut the mold-sprues off the top of the fuselage part.
The Irish Currach- 16-18′ long and a little wider than a canoe, it does look like later ones were built bigger.
As with the Norse and their long ships, those stalwarts accomplished astounding feats of seamanship.
…besides having the courage to head into the wind over the horizon.
That too.
Works fine in cold water. Warm water, like the sub-tropicals and lower temperates, the leather will start rotting no matter how much it’s been sealed and treated.
Braun, otherwise known as ER’s – aka “Electric Razor” – makes us green and renewable! Too bad it doesn’t come with a mini solar panel recharger, then we’d check all the right SJW boxes. Yes pricey, but always best to buy the higher quality gear that lasts, otherwise replacement ends up costing more. Might give the Braun S9Pro a try.
That “Chart”…the Nefarious Nebula of The Locust Swarm made up of companies who have forgotten their main charter of making and supporting things people need, instead they want to infiltrate all aspects of life. No rational person wants their brand of idiocy.
“medievalist” – My new word for today. Very cool…also shown in National Treasure 2 on the diary pages. How many other documents will they start doing this on to uncover hidden text?
I have a cordless razor.
I drag it across my skin and it gives me a shave as close as a blade, or four.
My 20 yo electric shaver still works but certainly time for a new one, otherwise it’s my Harry’s blade and shave cream.
I find it convenient to shave in the shower using bar soap.
No sink cleanup.
RE: these “wild Irish” Cap’n Phillips references.
Is there more than one kind?
At least one of them is a rose. Can’t speak for any others.
Committee 300 is a piece of work… against itself some times… There is a small hand built currach in the Deutsches Museum in Munich from the early 20th century. I saw the Saab 340 version of the AEW bird a few years ago. The Erieye system has one major shortfall, it’s blind front and rear in a 60 degree arc, so you have to ‘orbit’ to get a coherent picture of the air/water space. And it’s a ‘busy’ aircraft, when you throw the other toys on it. E-2Ds from the USN are still better, if not as long legged.
I’ve always favored the E-2 family because of the design and engine reliability. They can be mid-air refueled, or you can rotate aircraft on station to deal with crew fatigue. As a P-3 guy, you understand long-duration patroling and crew fatigue.
There’s been tremendous tech advances viz. ancient text translation. Let’s see what comes out of Pliny’s (?) library.