R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 183
October 27, 2014
A Night at the Opera without the Marx Brothers — Sydney Opera House
Jutting out onto Bennelong Point
Today we begin our look at Sydney, Australia, with one of Sydney’s most recognizable landmarks — the Sydney Opera House. I’m sure you recognize this iconic structure, but you may not know the protracted and often bitter struggle behind the façade. The Sydney Opera House was under construction for over 14½ years and cost nearly 14.6 times the original budget. That’s almost 11 years beyond the projected completion date and, in today’s currencies, the cost works o...
October 24, 2014
Fun Photo Friday — Fun Shots of Sydney
Sydney Harbour Bridge at night — The “Coat Hanger”
Today’s Fun Photo Friday begins a new travel series. This trip began with three nights in Sydney, Australia and ended a month later when our cruise ship MS Oosterdam docked in Seattle, Washington. But before we begin our trip in earnest, let’s introduce your guides:
R. Doug Wicker — Your Favorite Author . . . I hope
Ursula Wicker — Your Favorite REALTOR® and Travel Guide
And for the rest of today’s Fun Photo Friday I present a smattering on my fa...
October 22, 2014
Bet You Thought I’d Forgotten to Blog this Trip
Sydney Opera House
Way back in mid-May I offered this preview blog of our month-long trip that began with three nights in Sydney, Australia, followed by a transpacific cruise to Seattle, Washington, aboard Holland America’s MS Oosterdam. Well, I didn’t forget. I merely got distracted by another cruise from Montreal to Boston, and current events such as the Malaysia 370 disappearance. Throw in a few gun blogs, a movie review or two, and other aviation-related news such as the Chicago Center fia...
October 20, 2014
A 1911 by Any Other Name Would Be . . . an M1991A1 — Shooting Review
Colt M1991A1 Government Model
A word for the shooting enthusiast: This review is geared toward novices in general and writers of fiction in particular. If you’re a shooter or a fan of the M1911 you’ll still enjoy it, but please bear with some of the more extraneous background stuff. For someone looking for a review of the M1991A1 with a purchase in mind, read through to the end for a detailed look at the fit, finish, and other particulars for this model.
Last Monday we took a look at John Brown...
October 17, 2014
Fun Photo Friday — WhiteKnightTwo Favorites
WhiteKnightTwo Panoramic
WhiteKnightTwo doesn’t only act as a launch platform. Something I didn’t mention in Wednesday’s blog is that WhiteKnightTwo is also built to handle the stresses of parabolic flight, which results in something approaching zero gravity.
Parabolic flight profile from Wikipedia article on Reduced Gravity Aircraft
You’ll notice that this is not for the faint of heart. While that Zero-G portion of the flight may look like fun, take a look at what awaits you and both ends of th...
October 15, 2014
WhiteKnightTwo
Something you don’t see every day — WhiteKnightTwo
On September 11 of this year we had a visitor come to El Paso International Airport. What you see above is WhiteKnightTwo, the launch vehicle for Virgin Galactic’s suborbital tourist thrill ride SpaceShipTwo.
SpaceShip 2 (center) suspended for a ride aloft on WhiteKnightTwo — Launch altitude 50,000 feet/15,240 meters; Upper diagram is of WhiteKnightOne and SpaceShipOne
Fortunately I was at work that day, and doubly fortunately Ursula was able to...
October 13, 2014
Historical Firearms — The Colt Model 1911
Colt M1991A1 — The “Modern” Model 1911 with Series 80 firing system
Next Monday I’ll be presenting a review of the firearm pictured here, but today I want to devote this blog to one of the most iconic and historically important handguns ever produced — John Moses Browning’s superlatively designed, stunningly beautiful achievement the Colt Model 1911 designed for the potent .45 ACP cartridge.
You’ve seen the 1911 before, by the way. In fact, whether you know it or not, you’ve seen it literally t...
October 10, 2014
Fun Photo Friday — Just in case you thought El Paso only gets great sunsets
Franklin Mountains
I’ve shown you dozens of El Paso sunsets. But that’s not all we get. Sometimes we luck out with mist shrouding the Franklin Mountains that split our city in two:
Filed under: Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker Tagged: El Paso, Fun Photo Friday, photography, R. Doug Wicker
October 8, 2014
No Longer Equalizing a Person of Interest — A Colossal Mistake?
As I write this I have just finished up the posts for my Montreal-to-Boston cruise aboard the MS Maasdam, the second season of The Equalizer was finally made available last Tuesday some six years after the release of Season One (as well as the complete set directly from the new distributor), we’re just over three weeks away from the fourth season opener of Person of Interest, and we’re just over two weeks away from the release of The Equalizer movie.
When last we discussed Person of Interest (...
