June 6th, 1944...

 ...D-Day...also known as Operation Overlord, the decisive start of the liberation of German held Europe during World War II via the beaches of Normandy, France.

There were five targeted beaches for landing points that morning: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.

None of them were easy of course...enemy forces were poised to kill the liberators from superior vantage points as the vulnerable soldiers disembarked their landing boats.

But Omaha beach was the meat grinder.  Overall kill rate at Omaha was 8% of all landing forces...that's 2,811 men killed out of a little more than 34,000.

But those are summary numbers taken days after the victory had been won.

What was the kill rate on Omaha when the first companies - Able, Baker, Charlie - made the initial attempt to storm the beach at 6:30 in the morning?

Upwards of 90%

Think of that for a moment:  You're a 20 year old kid weighed down with 50 lbs of equipment on  your back when they drop the door of your landing craft...

...that is still in 8 feet of seawater and 20 yards from shore.

You obediently race off the relative safety of the landing craft and into the frigid waters where  you discover with a shock you can't touch bottom.

Panicked, you realize you're in over your head and rapidly sinking to the ocean's floor.

If you're quick witted enough you struggle to shed your 50 pound pack of gear that's supposed to help you survive this mission and bob to the surface to catch a gulp of life giving air.

As you do the water is strafed by machine gun fire from the bluffs high above  you, and instead of catching  your breath you take a bullet in the throat.

It took less than 30 seconds for you to die and you didn't even reach the beach.

I'm sorry, but it's not possible for most of us, sitting in the comfort of our homes, leading our sedentary lives of peace and safety, to grasp the terror of that morning on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France.

That any of that first wave of the liberation force was able to traverse the deadly stretch of sand from the shoreline to the bluffs is - well, depending on your spiritual view of the universe, either a miracle or some unexplainable quirk of fate.

But in spite of the overwhelming odds against them and the mounting evidence of tragic failure all around them, those soldiers kept coming, kept disembarking, kept dying there in the blood red surf with only 1 out of 10 being able to inch their way to safety.

It staggers the imagination to try and conceive of the deadly reality of that morning, but they experienced it.

In spite of the impossible odds against them, they established a beach head and the objective that was supposed to be achieved that morning was finally realized over the course of several days.

Those men who paid in blood, who forfeited their lives, who gave up their families, their hopes, their futures so the evil of Hitler's Nazi Germany could be defeated...

Those men deserve our undying thanks, respect and reverence.

So on this early summer day, 74 years removed from the unspeakable horror of that awful time of unmatched bravery and ultimate sacrifice, take a moment to give thanks to God in heaven for heroes such as them.

We - and much of the world - are free because of what they did on that terrible, glorious day.

NEVER FORGET

Happy Birthday...

...Barbie...March 9th, 1959, The American Toy Fair in New York City.

The original #1 1959 Barbie doll (full name: Barbie Millicent Roberts; hometown: Willows, Wisconsin) was 11" tall and the first mass produced toy doll with adult features.  Prior to her introduction, dolls were typically babies or children.

However, Ruth Handler, co-founder with her husband of Mattel in 1945, noticed her daughter (Barbara!) playing with paper dolls cut to look like adults.

That, I suppose, it's what's known as inspiration.  Well, that and an already in production German doll known as "Lilli"...

...based on a cartoon strip that ran in a German tabloid, "Bild".

Look familiar?

Even if you don't understand German, I'm sure you can get the gist of the cartoon strip...Lilli was a racy, high end call girl type, and the one panel cartoon always showed off her long legs, curves and her wit.

In one she's wearing a bikini and a German policeman has just told her bikinis are not allowed in public so she'll have to take it off, to which she replies, "Oh?  And which part would you like me to remove?"

The comic strip was so popular they made Lilli dolls that were marketed to men and sold in tobacco and liquor shops...they were made to be hung from the rearview mirror in your volkswagen...

So the entrepreneurial Ms. Handler bought the rights to Lilli, tweaked her a bit (not much, obviously) and marketed her to American girls.  (In fact, Mattel became the first toy company to advertise specifically to kids when they bought commercial time on the Mickey Mouse Club show.)

Let the controversy begin...some folks said it was great that girls had a beautiful role model that worked as an airline stewardess, doctor, pilot, etc...

...while others bemoaned the emphasis on physical beauty and material possessions (you have to admit, she had a hot ride and lived in cool digs...)

No matter what your opinion is, Barbie was a smash success.

At a time when you could buy a gallon of gas for 25 cents and the average annual wage was $5,000...

...you could buy a Barbie doll for $3.00 and they've sold millions of them through the years.

Of course today you'll need a few more greenbacks if you want to own an original 1959 #1 Barbie.  Depending on condition and accessories, you'll shell out anywhere from $7,000 to $12,000.

Ladies, kind of makes you wish you'd held onto her and taken a little better care of her when Mom gave you one back in 1959, hey?

Anyway, happy Birthday Barbie...

...looking fine at 59...but p.s., you can do a lot better than Ken...

later, mcm fans...

At Last, Welcome...

...to one of the two ugliest months in Michigan...and yet, I am almost inexpressibly pleased we are finally exiting what has felt like a very long winter and MARCHing steadily toward Spring.

Yes, winter has a severe and pristine beauty all its own...

...but I am so over it now...and even though March is the ugly duckling of the calendar, yet it blossoms into verdant spring and segues into gorgeous summer...

...can't wait...

(November...the other ugly month)

Was looking at old photographs the other day and came across one of my all time favorites...

Karen's dad snapped that pic as I carried her across the threshold on our wedding day...going on thirteen years ago.

Her dad's in heaven now, but every time I see this picture I remember him taking a couple of steps back to frame the shot, clicking the shutter, then lowering the camera and smiling at us as Karen and I took our first steps into married life together.

Wonderful, wonderful memory...

It was a long week at work, starting with system issues last weekend and progressing through the usual maintenance and deadline excitement...

...but it ended on an interesting note...was contacted by an old acquaintance from many moons ago about providing some IT advice to an up and coming company he's been part of for a couple of years now.

It was an enjoyable meeting and took me back to when the company I'm with today was a tenth of the size it is now...and how much fun it was helping to build it through the years.

Well, mostly fun...at the time a lot of that "fun" came disguised as stress in the form of unreasonable demands and crushing deadlines (see above illustration).

But here's the thing...most of life is educational if you're open to that concept.

A few things in life are downright revelatory...but most of those revelatory moments are perceived at first as bad, even catastrophic.

Yet it's from those defining, challenging, revelatory moments that a clear choice is presented:

You can either fold up shop and quit, or else you can form new ideas, embrace a stronger resolve, take a new direction, commit yourself to persevere and ultimately, achieve success.

I can tell these guys are at one of those crossroads, and I'd bet the mortgage they are going to take the high road to success.

And while I shan't be a part of their story, I was able to connect them with someone who may end up being part of their team.  If I was twenty years younger, I might be envious...

Watched an absolutely fabulous movie last night...

...and yes, some of my opinion is based on my love of train travel...couldn't pick a better setting in my opinion...on the other hand, I've seen the 1974 version of this story and while it's enjoyable, it's nowhere near as well done, as visually rich, as thoroughly entertaining as this version is.

For once - for once! - an A-list ensemble cast is not wasted in a sprawling, disjointed mess - which is, let's face it, what usually happens...even if the disjointed mess is still acceptable fare as it is for example in It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963).

This is well acted on every level, and the credit has to go to Kenneth Branagh who both stars as the brilliant detective, Hercule Poirot, and directs this wonderful movie.

A "ripped from the headlines" murder mystery when it was written by Dame Agatha Christie back in 1934...

...based as it was on the Lindbergh baby kidnapping and murder...it has become over time perhaps her best known novel.  Indeed it has been translated into film at least 4 times, and this one is arguably the best.

Even if you're not a murder mystery fan, do yourself a favor and give this a look.  Branagh is superb as the quirky, genius detective, doomed as he is to always and only "see the world as it should be...so when it is not, the difference sticks out like the nose in the middle of a face...it makes most of life unbearable...but it is useful in the detection of crime...eh...would you mind straightening your tie?  just a little...eh, thank you..."

And if you are a murder mystery fan, take note...Mr. B drops a strong hint near the end of the adventure we might be treated to a movie version of Death On The Nile.  If Kenneth Branagh will star and direct again, I'll take my tickets now, please.

But today, a beautiful, sunny Saturday beckons, so...

later, mcm fans...

MCM TV...

...heaven...that's my 1959 GE Slimline (formerly) black and white TV, retrofitted with a Philips color tube by Justin Rubsam...

...shown here in his workshop putting the finishing touches on my set.

Justin owns Stellar TV out of Sacramento, CA.  Check out his site, as he gets involved in some very interesting projects.

A recent endeavor found him providing 11 TV sets for David Copperfield's private museum of magic.

Mr. C is highlighting the influential magicians from his youth in separate displays on period correct television sets; enter Justin and his expertise.

In the "considerably less exotic" department, my set is being shipped back and should arrive in my friendly confines sometime next week...pretty excited about that.

A view of the innards...

Justin had to deal with the electronics as well as the design / carpentry aspect of the case to get all this to fit / work...plus he upgraded it with an HDMI connector so it will easily hook up to our DirecTV system.

Should be perfect for our living room near the fireplace...tune in for time travel back to I Love Lucy and The Jackie Gleason shows (neither of which I ever watched)...probably more likely to watch some old movies on cold winter nights by the warm fireplace.

Hatari, anyone?

"DANGER!" in Swahili...

Pursuant to all our furniture rearranging, Karen has populated our art deco display case with part of her Cameo Rose china collection:

...really looks spectacular...I know her mom would love it if she could see it now.

Other than that, nothing much new to report...stuck here at the north pole, though we are experiencing the famous January thaw at the moment...

...wishing the thaw could be followed by Spring but sadly we're a couple of months away from that.

There were a couple of years, several years back, when we were fortunate enough to enjoy a winter getaway to someplace warm...but in recent years work has conspired to make that an impossibility...too many "crisis projects" that make being gone for a week in December / January / February impractical...but I miss Palm Springs...

...and the Desert Riviera Hotel...75 degrees and sunny in January...oh yeah...the owners, Rick and Martha, are fabulous folks who make you feel right at home...

I miss them and luxuriating at their lovely hotel...have to make a point of getting back there soon.

But for now, it's a Wednesday night in the not so frozen north, 1/3rd of the way through January, so...

later, mcm fans...