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Gnome for the Holidays | home | Corbin the aviary aviator
The Dark Space Train Station
Have I ever mentioned how much I love Craig’s List? I really love it. I find so many good deals there but you have to be patient and quick. Patient to wait for the good deals and quick to act on them when they come. One way I’ve gotten quicker is with an Craigslist app. It’s faster than the RSS feeds and notifies me when items fitting my keywords are posted. Which came in handy Sunday when I responded to a post for wooden trains.
KidKraft Glow in the dark Space Train Station allows Corbin to ride the rails… into the final frontier! This wooden train set with a Sci-Fi twist includes 100 colorful pieces with dozens of pieces that glow in the dark, including vehicles, buildings, furniture, rockets, aliens and the UFO. Long, winding track takes space travelers from one end of the galaxy to the other. With this exciting space-themed train set, Corbin gets to explore deep space and go on wild adventures without even leaving the house.
We’ll be saving this one for Corbin’s birthday in December but I think he’ll really get a kick out of it. One, he’s expressed more interest in “rockets” and “robots” lately and two, the playboard is foldable which means we can set it up on the floor giving him more layout space when friends come over or if he wants to play somewhere other than the train table. Combine this set with the deal I got a few months back and Corbin has a pretty respectable train collection. Unfortunately we still don’t have enough Switch & Cross Track pieces to give us true flexibility but I keep my eye on craigslist, so there is still hope.
Share on Twitter or posted to Corbin @ 1:46 pm
be the second to comment
At 4:01 pm on December 21, 2013, lindsay commented:
I am looking for one of these ,if anyone has one they would Like to sell. Boycelindsay@rocketmail.com
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Because this will always crack me up.
(Gabe, Daria, and Claudia, Fall, 2019)
Posted by Lisa at 9:21 AM
Unless You Become As Little Children...
You're Going to Miss a Lot of Funny Stuff
Our two resident families (Michelle and Cathy's) came over last night after Chloe's baptism so we could have a little celebration of the great event. In heaven they were singing in joy before the Heavenly Throne for a new soul made perfect before God; on earth the closest we could come was dinner and dessert in the company of some of Chloe's greatest earthly admirers. Toward that end, I was standing at the stove dropping dumplings into a big pot o' chicken soup, when I heard our little Ella (Michelle and Ben's three year old) giggling and snickering -- at this:
Never underestimate a child's point of view, my friends.
It's a good guarantee that you won't take yourself too seriously.
The world is here. Not on CNN.
Posted by Lisa at 10:02 AM
Added January 14th, 2021
The first child of our seventh child, third daughter, Catherine, and her husband Louis. Our newest grandbaby, we now have more grandchildren than children; Chloe is number eleven, and she is just simply precious. Baptism this afternoon! Welcome to the world, Chloe! Can't wait to welcome you into God's family later!
Sepia Saturday: "U" is for Uniforms
Doesn't everyone love a man in uniform? For most red-blooded Americans, there's a visceral response of admiration and respect for the military bearing and spit-spot gear and regalia -- especially in full dress! A man in uniform implies a certain commitment and command, and for some of us that proof of virtuous masculinity, unapologetically displayed in public, is a beautiful thing. We can at least hope that the man lives up to the uniform! But if the symbolic factor doesn't appeal to some, I think most would have to admit at least an aesthetic appreciation. It's all in a range of perspectives that has probably varied over the centuries and from place to place, but I do think that just for pure grandness and attention to detail in a world that is stubbornly casual, a man or woman in uniform garners respect -- even if it's grudging.
My Uncle John, early '50s?
Our family photo album is peppered with several generations of military men in several
branches of the armed forces. You can't miss them! They jump right out at you, our men in blue -- and khaki -- and olive drab -- and camo. They make su proud. And like almost nothing else, a military career implies stories -- history, general and personal. Most military folks participated, in one way or another, in world-shaping events. If the pure handsomeness of a military mugshot doesn't stop you in your tracks, curiosity ought to. I know almost nothing, for instance, about my Uncle John's military career, but coming across his photo, I can't help but wonder! He was so handsome! But where was he stationed? What was his specialty? How long was he in the Army? Knowing his basic bio, I'm thinking he was active in late WWII or maybe the Korean War, and doing a quick research on the patch on his arm, it looks like he was 101st airborne (correct me if I'm wrong, please!) If he was a pilot, though, I never knew about it. I know the basics and the outcome of that conflict; I wish I knew our family's part in it, too!
My grandfather, mid '40s?
My grandfather (Uncle John and my mother's Dad) was a Coastie. The famous family history is that he won a medal of honor, saving the lives of sailors trapped below deck when their ship was blown up by the Nazis in New York harbor during WWII. How cool is that? And how many Americans know that even happened, right? For morale purposes most of these attacks so close to home were kept quiet at the time, but not all. In less than seven months during 1942, 233
US ships, including merchant ships and tankers, were sunk off of US shores and in the Gulf of Mexico, most in American waters in the Atlantic. As recently as 2019, the US Department of Environmental Conservation was working to extract the remaining oil from a British Tanker (The Coimbra) from its wreck at the bottom of New York Harbor. Over 2 million gallons of oil were lost, and 36 men died in the German U boat
attack. The explosion rocked nearby buildings and the resulting wall of flame was visible for miles -- so this is one German attack that the government couldn't hide from the people! At any rate, the lesson here: don't ever get too comfortable, thinking the enemy cannot approach our shores. My grandfather could have told you something about that!
It looks to me that, in the picture above, my grandfather's wearing the now-defunct "dungarees" that were worn for work in the Coast Guard and Navy up until the 1990s. His cover (the word for a military hat) looks like he was an officer, doesn't it? But I have no idea what his rank was when he left the Coast Guard. (I need to see if my Mom remembers!)
My Dad, with his Dad, right around 1950
My Dad, now, was a Navy man, and we have many photos of him in his officer's uniform, especially his service khakis, but it's the shots of him as a young enlisted in his bell bottoms and iconic sailor hat that tickle me. And he always looked so handsome in his Navy dress blues. The biggest tale he had to tell, as a communications officer (CWO4), was the quick round trip he made aboard ship on the way to the Bay of Pigs during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October, 1962. If you know your history, you know it was a pretty hair-raising deployment that turned into a big sigh of relief -- and it was the closest my Dad ever came to being in conflict during his long military career -- except, of course, when at home with us seven kids.
Officer Dress Blues
I think this commemorates when he
made Chief Warrant Officer.
Enlisted Dress Blues
Dad aboard an aircraft carrier he served
aboard in the mid '50s.
All brushed and polished and at their very best in their enlisted Dress blues.
My Dad with his buddies meeting Pope Pius XII in the mid-fifties.
(I've shared this one before, but I just love it, so have to pull it out again.)
Cpt. Paul Davis, USMC
with my favorite accoutrement,
our granddaughter, Lilly
The next generation of military men photos to be found in our family album feature our son, Paul, formerly (if you can say that) a United States Marine Captain. I grew up a Navy brat, but I'm not shy about admitting (especially since the Navy and the USMC are connected at the hip) that the Marine Corps dress blues are, to me, the most impressive of all military uniforms. I'm Paul's mom and I've had to stop myself from instinctively saluting when I've seen him in his dress blues. It's a stunning uniform in its simplicity and dignity! There's so much history and attention to detail in this sharp uniform, too, that you can't help but appreciate once you know a little about it. Here are just a few details:
* The gold buttons worn on the dress blue coat feature one of the earliest Marine Corps emblems -- the eagle and anchor with an arc of 13 stars -- and have been a part of the uniform since 1804, making them the oldest military insignia in continued use.
* In 1868, the current emblem of the Marine Corps -- the eagle, globe, and anchor -- was adopted. The eagle represents our proud Nation, of course, the globe represents its worldwide presence, the anchor connects the Corp to its naval heritage and its ability to access any coastline in the world.
* The saber that is a mandatory feature of the dress blues, is the oldest weapon still in use by the U.S.
military, and the Corps has two that may be worn as part of the dress blues. Of these two, one is the Mameluke-hilted sword, that honors Lt .Presley O'Bannon, who in 1805 marched 600 miles across the North African desert to capture the Barbary Coast town of Derna, where the American flag was hoisted for the first time over foreign soil. This is the battle mentioned in the marines' Hymn: ...to the shores of Tripoli."
* It's also a part of Marine lore that the blue of the uniforms connects them to their Naval roots, and the red trim is in recognition of the Marines who served aboard the Bonhomme Richard, the famous Revolutionary War ship commissioned by the French and captained by John Paul Jones. The red stripe on the seam of each trouser leg honors the Marines who fell in the Battle of Chapultepec during the Mexican War of 1847.
* The "quatrefoil," the ornate, cross-shaped braid on top of the Marine cover, allowed them to be distinguished from the enemy by their own sharpshooters high up in the ship's riggings. The standing collar is the remnant of the original high collar made of leather worn to repel swords strikes to the neck -- thus, the origin of the term Leathernecks.
(More on USMC uniforms here! Quick info on Navy uniforms here! Army here! Airforce here! Coast Guard here! -- and Space Force!)
No doubt whatsoever, there is equal history and interest regarding the uniforms of the other branches of service, and I've barely breached the tip of the iceberg regarding the several types of service uniforms for different tasks and levels of formality in each branch, not to mention the differences in military women's uniforms (which would be a fascinating thing to research!). To avoid writing a book, though, I narrowed the conversation by chiefly referring to the uniforms I personally know and love because they stand so tall in my mental photo album. It's a fascinating topic, regardless! God bless all our family Veterans, living and who have gone to their reward. And our respect to all Military personnel and all Veterans of all services always.
Now, for the most fun a history buff can have on the internet, run over to Sepia Saturday to find Untold Riches of the letter U in history this week!
I’ll Tell You How the Sun Rose
A Ribbon at a time –
The Steeples swam in Amethyst –
The news, like Squirrels, ran –
The Hills untied their Bonnets –
The Bobolinks – begun –
Then I said softly to myself –
‘That must have been the Sun!’
-- Emily Dickinson
Claudia, Cecilia. Her Mother, Michelle, was our first little girl after four boys -- and she was our first sunshine. (Because if you call boys "sunshine," you might get decked.) So, here's Claudia, one of 13 rays of sunshine, one of nine granddaughters -- as of tomorrow... Stay tuned.
When You're Working on a Project
...and people are looking over your shoulder.
No Pressure.
Those Moments
When you try to impress the girls...
And it doesn't work.
* William with his youngest niece (to date), Dominic and Monica's youngest, Clara Bernadette.
Labels: Grandbabies
Filed under: Poems that you read twice. Or three times.
The Convert
BY G. K. CHESTERTON
After one moment when I bowed my head
And the whole world turned over and came upright,
And I came out where the old road shone white.
I walked the ways and heard what all men said,
Forests of tongues, like autumn leaves unshed,
Being not unlovable but strange and light;
Old riddles and new creeds, not in despite
But softly, as men smile about the dead
The sages have a hundred maps to give
That trace their crawling cosmos like a tree,
They rattle reason out through many a sieve
That stores the sand and lets the gold go free:
And all these things are less than dust to me
Because my name is Lazarus and I live.
*Second time understanding "Lazarus," right?
Now try a third time, understanding the title of the poem...
Simple Woman Monday
What I'm seeing... A sunny day finally! Every day for the past week has been foggy, cloudy, drizzly, and gray. Bleh. Nice to see blue sky today!
What I'm hearing... The house is perfectly quiet right now, except for Dawsey snoring on my knee here --- and Dan's desk chair occasionally rolling on the wood floor in the library. I just finished listening to a Catholic Family Podcast about Rock and Roll. Our son Kevin's venture, you can find these on YouTube (at least for the time being -- I think he's phasing out of that platform and moving over to Podbean). Really good stuff, though, and I don't say that just because he's my son. Good, informative stuff and great to listen to while I go around doing my chores. Conversations about some of the most practical points of interest of our day, interviewing priests and topic experts from all walks of life. He's just getting it started, so do please run over and give him some support! You can find him here.
What I'm wearing... Grey middy skirt; striped olive green, mustard yellow, and rust orange knit shirt; grey sweater.
What I'm thinking... Goodness gracious. I don't know what to think these days! The international rumor mill is whirling like crazy! Remember the windmill in the old cartoon, caught in the gale of a storm, flying and flying around -- until, with a violent last swing and crash, it just *busts* -- and then the wind blows out, the storm fades away, the sun comes out -- the bats go back to roost and the birds begin to refeather their nests. (I had to go find it, now that I'm thinking about that old cartoon; Here it is if you want to watch it, too!) Anyway. Things seem kind of bleak right now, I'm thinking, but rumor mill is bound to bust and the sun will come back out. Maybe not the way we expect or when we expect it, but it will.
What I'm learning... Duolingo. Deutsch. Bet you can guess why. Also pondering getting a ham radio license...
What I'm hoping... That I can get my roots "touched up" at our neighborhood salon this week -- and not have to deal with mask wearing. (Ptooey) Last time my girl was definitely in the masks-are-ludicrous camp, but if it endangers her license now that Iowa laws have changed, she might have to insist, regardless of her personal beliefs. In which case (sigh), I may have to suck it up for her sake... But I don't like it one bit.
What I'm working on... Getting my house back in order after the busy Christmas/New Year's extravaganzas! It's amazing how organization disintegrates when everyone's busy partying and playing and eating and half the people, even when they clean up, don't know where things go. (sigh) It's all worth it, though. And I'm used to chaos.
What I'm planning... I have a statue hospital full of projects I hope to get working on this week -- as well as the pedestal that we're renovating for the new statue of Our Lady of Lourdes that I got for Christmas. And the boys finished the first step (the flat black first coat of paint) on the faux-tin ceiling panels that will go over the "bar" area in the pub. I get to do the next step (the copper color). At some point I will do this. Probably not this week.
Quote I'm pondering... "Half an hour's meditation a day is essential -- except when you're busy. Then a full hour is needed.' - St. Francis DeSales
A picture thought for today...
Our Revelers, a few seconds into 2021
Taking the photo: Michelle, and, L-R: Grandpa Davis, Nicole, our grandson Gavin, and Paul, with Gabe right behind Nicole; Monica and Dominic, with Monica's sister, Philomena right behind them; Louis and Cathy, with goofy William leaning in; Dan behind Ben, with Daria, Ella, and Claudia -- Yes, they stayed up until midnight! Where am I? Konked out. I like to bring in the new year rested, personally, myself. (Yeah. I know. But I'm not a "party pooper." I'm more a "party avoider" -- or at least a "late night party avoider." I like sleep.)
Celebrating the Liturgical Year: January at a Glance
One of the habits of our decades of homeschooling that I most miss is our morning reading time. (Popularly known around here as "togeth...
In the Header
Home in Winter
Who I am:
Big me in an elevator in Paris. Summer, 2018
Tucked into the rolling hills of Western Iowa, The Heartland, United States
Specs: Joyful Catholic. Happy Wife. Blessed Mom to ten on earth, one playing in God's garden. Thrilled grandmother to a quickly growing tribe of grandchildren! Retired Homeschooler of 25+ years, writer, and amateur painter. Working out God's will for me in the second half of my life.
The whole kit and kaboodle at the family reunion during the week of Fr. Philip's ordination, May 20018. All children, grandchildren, Dan's parents, my Mom, my sisters and one of my brothers.
Queen of Heaven
Pray for us, now and at the hour of our death.
God Bless Our Country
The Big Boys
Paul Joseph (33)
Grandchildren: Gavin (10), and Evelyn (6), Lilly (2)
Kevin Christopher (31)
Matthew Francis (in God's Garden, 31 years)
Frater Philip (born Jonathan Charles) (29)
Dominic Alan (27)
The Girls:
Michelle Frances (25, married to Ben,
Grandchildren: Daria, 4; Ella, 3; Claudia, 2)
Sr. Antonia (22))
Catherine Cecilia (20)
Anna Germaine (18)
The Little Boys:
Gabriel Joseph (16)
William Thomas (15)
Protector of the Holy Family, Pray for us!
Sign the Petition!
Our Help and Our Inspiration
The Daily Chesterton
"A yawn is a silent shout." No yawning; it's loud enough over here.
For pity's sake, don't start meeting troubles halfway. ~ St. Theresa of Avila
He who can reach a child's heart...
CAN REACH THE WORLD'S HEART ~ Rudyard Kipling
"Marriage...
...has less beauty but more safety than the single life; it is full of sorrows and full of joys; it lies under more burdens, but it is supported by all the strengths of love ~ and those burdens are delightful." ~ 16th c. bishop
We Love Our
Pray While You Work
by Dom Hubert van Zeller -- Click the image to read - then click the header to go to the text.
Stuff We 've Talked About Enroute:
007 Mom (1)
100 Things I Learned the Hard Way (12)
Aht and Cultcha (10)
Amazing things (4)
Bad Haikus (5)
Bigs (12)
Blogging Nuts n Bolts (5)
Cartoon Saturday (2)
Catholic Trivia (3)
Celebrating the Liturgical Year (1)
Child Rearing (12)
Coffee/Mocha/Chocolate (23)
Crosses and Blessings (5)
Eye on the Sky (14)
Financial Need (1)
Fun Things To Do (31)
Grandbabies (5)
Hoot Cuisine (25)
How to Catch a Faerie (1)
Joys of a Large Family (9)
Joys of Parenting a Large Family (26)
Just Sharing (17)
Kidspeak (3)
Lisa's Take on Life (89)
Little-known Apparitions of Our Lady (2)
Littles (84)
Makes My Monday (28)
Mostly Wordless Wednesday (6)
Mugging Contest (1)
Mythical Holiday Creatures (4)
Notes From the Backseat (140)
Our Blessed Mother (56)
Pants vs. Skirts (1)
Prayers (28)
Preparing Ahead (2)
Quick Takes (33)
quizthing (20)
Quotes From Home (4)
Random Dozen (7)
Saints (121)
Saints From Large Families List (5)
Saints From/With Large Families List (2)
Sepia Saturday (2)
Shenanigans (9)
Simple Woman's Daybook (46)
Simply Lovely Fair (5)
Smart People's Take on Life (13)
St. Patrick's Day Shenanigans (3)
Stational Churches (7)
Stations of the Cross (1)
Thankful Thursday (4)
The Big Kids (40)
The Blahs (3)
The Boys and Michelle Singing (3)
The Boys' Singing (13)
The Cross on Mount Crucis (2)
The Holy Name of Jesus (2)
The Holy Souls (1)
The Month of Mary (8)
The Temperaments (1)
The Title of This Blog (1)
The Wonderful World of Teaching Sisters (3)
Too Much God? (2)
Wanderings (25)
Where We Live (71)
Winter Fun (16)
Works-For-Me-Wednesdays (14)
Blog Archive January (17) December (12) November (20) October (7) June (1) May (9) April (2) March (2) February (2) May (3) April (13) March (19) February (21) June (3) March (8) February (2) January (1) December (4) November (2) October (6) September (3) August (5) July (12) June (8) May (15) April (19) March (13) February (22) January (13) December (13) November (10) October (20) September (8) August (26) July (11) June (4) May (15) April (13) March (21) February (13) January (22) December (6) November (8) October (14) September (14) August (15) July (4) June (10) May (6) April (10) March (15) February (11) January (13) December (11) November (17) October (15) September (10) August (1) July (20) June (8) May (15) April (25) March (14) February (13) January (30) December (4) November (18) October (14) September (19) August (11) July (17) June (6) May (15) April (19) March (15) February (16) January (22) December (10) November (21) October (24) September (14) August (12) July (18) June (25) May (20) April (30) March (21) February (22) January (26) December (24) November (35) October (23) September (34) August (34) July (27) June (34) May (43) April (35) March (25) February (27) January (39) December (34) November (38) October (37) September (36) August (28) July (27) June (28) May (35) April (35) March (29) February (31) January (43) December (31) November (34) October (46) September (39) August (5) February (1)
O Mary, Conceived Without Sin,
Pray for us who have recourse to thee!
Prayer to St Valentine
for our children's choice of spouse
Heavenly Father, we ask You to guide our children in the choice of spouse. Don't let them be carried away by false charms or be fascinated by mere outward glamour, but guide their minds to look beneath and beyond all external attractiveness for the deeper things which alone are worth while.
Especially let the choice be of one who is a fervent Catholic, true in thought and word and deed to those ideals which are Yours, especially the value of their purity.
Dear Father of us all, give Your guiding help to our children, who are Your children, too. We will be letting them go soon, but please don't ever let our children go from you. Amen
St. Valentine, patron of romantic love, pray for us!
The most important work that you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes. ~ HB Lee
O, St. Joseph...
...whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the Throne of God, I place in thee all my interests and desires. O, St. Joseph, do assist me by thy powerful intercession and obtain for me from thy Divine Son all spiritual blessings; so that having engaged here below thy Heavenly power I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers. O, St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating thee and Jesus asleep in thy arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near thy heart. Press Him in my name, and kiss His fine Head for me, and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for us. Amen.
Prayer to the Little Flower
Dear Little Flower of Lisieux, how wonderful was the short life you led. Though cloistered, you went far and wide through fervent prayers and great sufferings. You obtained from God untold helps and graces for his evangelists. Help all missionaries in their work and teach all of us to spread the true Faith in our own neighborhoods and family circles. Amen.
Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas
Student's Prayer: Grant me, I beseech Thee, most merciful God, prudently to study, rightly to understand, and perfectly to fulfill that which is pleasing to Thee, in the praise and glory of Thy Name. Amen.* * * * * * Prayer to Know God's Will: Grant me grace, O merciful God, to desire ardently all that is pleasing to Thee, to examine it prudently, to acknowledge it truthfully, and to accomplish it perfectly for the praise and glory of Thy name. Amen.
Memorare of St. Anne
Remember, O holy mother, St. Anne, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided, for thou art a most merciful mother and aid all who are in distress. Inspired with this confidence, I take refuge with thee and beseech thee, by thy great perogative of being the mother of the Queen of Heaven and the Grandmother of the Saviour of the world, come to my aid with thy powerful intercession, and obtain from thine Immaculate Daughter this favor. In honor of the nine months during which thou didst bear the ever-blessed Virgin in thy womb and brought her forth without stain of original sin, I now pray nine Hail Marys, which I offer thee through my Guardian Angel. Amen.
For the benefit of anyone who wonders, this is where you are.
If you'd like to know where we're headed,
Everything written here is intended toward the honor and glory of God, for aid and encouragement in the vocations of wife, mother and homemaker, praying always for the intercession of Our Heavenly Mother, the Mediatrix of All Grace. Hoping to have a little fun, too... (Click on the above image for the story of the cross on Mt. Crucis!)
Picture Window theme. Theme images by jpique. Powered by Blogger.
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Atomistry » Chromium » Compounds » Chromic Hydroxide
Chromic Hydroxide »
Chromic Hydroxide, Cr2O3
Chromic Hydroxide, Cr2O3.Aq., is obtained by precipitation of a solution of a chromic salt by means of potassium hydroxide; if excess is used, the precipitate dissolves, forming a green solution from which the hydroxide is again precipitated on keeping or boiling. Such precipitate retains alkali which cannot be removed by repeated washing with hot water; it is usual, therefore, to employ ammonium hydroxide as the precipitating agent. Even in this case, excess of ammonia dissolves chromic hydroxide, yielding a reddish-violet solution: methyl-amine behaves similarly, but di- and tri-methylamine at once precipitate chromic hydroxide completely. When freshly formed, the precipitate appears to be a well-defined chemical compound, the solubility product of which, according to Bjerrum, is 4.2×10-16 at 0° C. and 54×10-16 at 17° C. in 0.0001 molar units. According to Weiser, however, the precipitate obtained by the addition of alkali to solutions of chromic salts does not contain any definite hydrate. In the cold, the freshly formed precipitate readily dissolves in acids, but becomes insoluble on keeping or heating; between these two extremes of solubility an indefinite number of hydrous oxides exists. By precipitating at temperatures ranging from 0° C. to 225° C., products have been obtained varying in colour from greyish blue to bright green. Since most of the chromic salts exist in two distinct modifications, the violet and the green, it has long been assumed that there must be two isomeric chromic hydroxides corresponding to these two series of salts. Such isomerides have not, however, been isolated. The properties of chromic hydroxide vary considerably with age, especially as regards solubility in acids and alkalies, and the "ageing" is accelerated if the precipitate is allowed to remain under alkaline solution; the rate appears to increase with hydroxyl-ion concentration and also with increase of temperature, and the change in properties appears to be due to change in the size of the particles.
Chromium hydroxide is not precipitated by ammonia in presence of tartaric acid or glycerol, probably owing to complex formation in the case of the former, but with glycerol a colloidal solution appears to be formed.
An alkaline solution of chromic hydroxide dissolves various metallic oxides. If the hydroxide is precipitated in the presence of other salts, for example, of magnesium, calcium, zinc, or lead, the hydroxides of these metals are also carried down; it has been observed that magnesium hydroxide is thus adsorbed far more readily by violet than by green chromic hydroxide.
Hydrated chromium sesquioxide is an amorphous, green, very hygroscopic powder, which on heating in the air first forms the "dioxide," and finally the green anhydrous sesquioxide. Whereas the hepta- and tetra-hydrates, Cr2O3.7H2O and Cr2O3.4H2O (the former being converted into the latter in vacuo), are soluble in dilute acids, the monohydrate, Cr2O3.H2O, is insoluble.
Colloidal Chromium Hydroxide
The hydrosol is obtained as a deep green solution by the peptisation of the hydroxide by means of chromic chloride, or by a solution of copper oxide in ammonia. As already stated, the freshly precipitated hydroxide forms an apparently clear green solution with excess of an alkali hydroxide. That the chromic hydroxide is peptised and not dissolved is shown by the fact that it can be completely filtered out by means of a collodion filter, leaving a colourless filtrate. The colloidal solution is stable while hot, but slowly yields a gel on keeping at ordinary temperatures.
When potassium hydroxide is added to solutions containing ferric chloride and chromium sulphate in varying proportions, the iron is not precipitated so long as the chromium is present in excess. This is due to the protective action of the colloidal chromic hydroxide, the latter being adsorbed by the ferric hydroxide which is thereby prevented from coagulating. If the iron is in excess, it is precipitated, bringing down the adsorbed chromium with it.
Both positively and negatively charged colloids have been prepared. The former results when the hydrated oxide is peptised with chromic chloride, or may be formed by hydrolysis of the chloride or nitrate; the latter is prepared by peptising the hydrous oxide with sodium or potassium hydroxide, or by adding sodium hydroxide to chromium nitrate solution in presence of arsenious acid and then dialysing.
Chromic oxide jellies may be formed by adding sodium or potassium hydroxide or ammonia to a solution of chromic sulphate or chloride containing sodium acetate; or by adding sodium or potassium hydroxide, but not ammonia, to a solution of chrome alum. The jelly is violet if prepared by the addition of ammonia or of a slight excess of the alkali metal hydroxide; if the latter is added in larger quantity the jelly is green. The jellies dissolve in hydrochloric acid, but re-form on neutralising the solution if sufficient sodium acetate is present.
Guignet's Green is an emerald-green hydroxide, having the composition Cr2O3.2H2O, obtained by heating to redness 10 parts of potassium dichromate with 18 parts of crystallised boric acid, and decomposing the double borate of chromium and potassium with boiling water. It is insoluble in alkalies and in nitric acid, and is only slowly dissolved by boiling hydrochloric acid, while by hot sulphuric acid it is converted into an insoluble sulphate. It is used industrially as a pigment.
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Tag Archives: aviation
Seamanship and Leadership
Finding New Ways to Fight, Pt. 2
January 29, 2018 Guest Author 1 Comment
How the Mad Foxes of Patrol Squadron FIVE are harnessing their most powerful resource – their people – in an effort to cut inefficiencies and improve productivity.
By Kenneth Flannery and Jared Wilhelm
The U.S. Military Academy’s Modern War Institute recently published a thorough primer by ML Cavanaugh on what it means to drive innovation in the military.1 The most important take away was the difference between the buzzword, “innovation,” and the people who actually do the dirty work of driving positive change within the force called, “defense entrepreneurs.” This series focuses on an operational U.S. Navy maritime patrol squadron full of defense entrepreneurs, and how their unit is taking the “innovation imperative” from on high and translating it to the deckplate level. Part 1 focused on the “Why? Who? And How?”; Part 2 reveals observed institutional barriers and challenges.
Deckplate Challenges
It often seems that the tasks most worth doing are the most difficult to achieve. Since beginning our innovation experiment, the squadron has been met with a variety of challenges to the implementation of our vision. Some of these obstacles are specific to the unique nature of the military, while others are more specific to the nature of large bureaucracies. Many challenges come from external sources that are largely outside of our control, while other challenges are self-inflicted.
One of our biggest hurdles has been thawing the “frozen middle.” This concept refers to the middle management contingent within the squadron that may be less eager to adopt new ways of doing things. Perhaps the most frustrating part about the “frozen middle” is that the very people who would benefit from embracing these changes are often the ones standing in the way. It is understandable and expected when organizations are resistant to an innovation developed outside of their ranks. All organizations have budgets to balance and bosses to answer to such that outside entities may be only a blip on their radar. For example, attempting to highlight the importance of one squadron in one community in one service of the Department of Defense can be understandably futile. More vexing are the people inside of one’s organization who seem to actively resist change at every opportunity. Frustrating as it may be, recruiting the members of the “frozen middle” is paramount for success. Buy-in from all organizational levels is required for original ideas to reach critical mass and become self-sustaining. Without support from the most resistant group, a new process will inevitably wither and die, even if it enjoys support from the top and bottom of an organization.
When VP-5 implemented the Innovation Department, the “frozen middle” quickly became apparent. The chief’s mess and the O-4 department heads, always looking out for undue risk to the Commanding Officer, were particularly averse to change. These groups bring a wealth of experience to the squadron and are absolutely crucial to the success or failure of our unit. However, that same hard-fought experience can sometimes saddle people with preconceived notions about “the way things are done” and other such attitudes which can stifle a creative environment.
Stopping new innovations from being implemented is often the path of least resistance for the frozen middle. VP-5 discovered that those who are averse to change will attempt to use their position of power as a roadblock. Often, it seems the frozen middle’s apprehension is rooted in a reluctance to put forth the effort necessary to change. Many of our innovations are designed to reduce the time and energy required to complete a task. However, at the onset, hard work is required to overcome the existing institutional inertia. Many times someone will cite comfortable catch-all words, such as “OPSEC,” or some unnamed instruction in an attempt to avoid putting up the innovation capital required for real change. However, it was the defense entrepreneur’s job to push past that initial roadblock. If a genuine concern exists, we may have to alter tack and reevaluate, but concerns raised about innovation must be the result of concrete analysis as opposed to institutional inertia.
We were not always successful in overcoming these barriers. On more than one occasion the squadron had projects come to a full stop due to an inability to get through to the frozen middle. One project in particular was a fairly lofty goal of adding the maintenance program OOMA (Optimized Organizational Maintenance Activity) on to our PEMA (Portable Electronic Maintenance Aid) laptops.
Under the current system, writing a MAF (Maintenance Action Form) requires access to the OOMA program which is hosted on the Naval Aviation Logistics Command Management Information System (NALCOMIS). In turn, maintainers and aircrew alike are limited to writing MAFs at computers or laptops with hardwired connections to NMCI. This means writing MAFs during preflight or post-flight requires a trip to the hangar, eating up valuable time. This is a burdensome and antiquated system, which results in poorly written MAFs and decreased MAF participation at large.
Requiring NMCI access for writing MAFs also presents a problem when departing on or returning from deployment. There is often a period of several days before NMCI connectivity is established which means MAFs must be handwritten. Once NMCI connection is established these MAFs are retroactively input into OOMA, requiring a significant number of man hours.
Implementing OOMA on our PEMA laptops would be a simple way to streamline the maintenance action documentation process. PEMA laptops would be present on the aircraft, decreasing travel time and putting the feedback solution at the source of the problem. Optimizing this process would increase discrepancy documentation and create more detailed MAFs, facilitating faster resolutions to problems. Ultimately, OOMA on our PEMA laptops could eliminate some of the administrative and physical challenges that lead to wasted man hours and late takeoffs.
This project was led by a 2nd and 3rd Class Petty Officer with assistance from the Innovation Department. These intrepid innovators worked diligently in conjunction with the offices of Program Management Acquisition-290, SPAWAR, and the PEMA Fleet Support Team, but were ultimately told this project was not currently feasible. Part of the reason given had to do with the speed at which NAVAIR moves, which was colorfully described as a “turtle in a sea of peanut butter.” This is a common refrain we have heard time and again, and one that begs the question, “are these extended timelines actually necessary, or have we become so accustomed to them that they are now an accepted norm?”
Another instance where we ran into trouble was with a much smaller project. This time we were seeking permission to insert a Bluetooth USB device into an NMCI computer in order to display a rotating informational PowerPoint on a TV in the maintenance spaces. One of these TVs already existed in the squadron’s duty office, and we wanted to place one downstairs to address a maintenance concern about sometimes being left out of the loop.
We already knew Bluetooth devices were prohibited in NMCI computers so we reached out to the Information Assurance office for guidance about how to request a waiver, or if a waiver process even existed. In return, we received a curt e-mail informing us that USB devices were not allowed in NMCI computers, which was stated in the NMCI USB policy and also on the IA form everyone signs to gain access to NMCI computers. We responded to clarify, that indeed we already knew about the prohibition, but were asking if it possible to change the instruction. Ten months later we have yet to hear a response.
Innovation Breakthroughs
These experiences taught us that we needed a new way of approaching things that relied less on external forces and instead emphasized our own ability to create. One way VP-5 chose to thaw the “frozen middle” has been to outpace their skepticism. That is to say, rather than waiting for approval to pursue a particular initiative, we would simply go ahead and continue to work on a project until directed otherwise. The squadron would always inform the appropriate authorities and members of the chain of command, but we didn’t seek their explicit approval. When asking permission to do something, the answer was often “no,” even though there was rarely any substantiating reason for that “no.” Instead of asking, we started informing the Chain of Command of our projects and ideas. By doing this it seemed that we flipped the easy answer from “no” to “yes.” Employing this “Full Speed Ahead” tactic yielded many successes, including the creation of a new qualification program and incentivizing sailors to become innovators.
One hard won success for VP-5 was the development of the “P-8A Enlisted Engine Turns Program.” This program, long established in the P-3 community, allows a select number of enlisted maintenance personnel the opportunity to earn their “Enlisted Turn Operator” qualification. This qualification allows each operator to perform a variety of low-power engine operations for maintenance evolutions. Prior to the development of this program, these low-power turns required at least one pilot. This placed an unnecessary burden on the pilot cadre, which became particularly apparent when operating on detachment where extra pilots are few and far between.
To establish this program, VP-5 adopted a draft version of an Enlisted Turn Operator instruction from VP-30, the P-8A Fleet Replacement Squadron, and made it an official squadron instruction. The program now boasts an official curriculum consisting of written personnel qualification standards, simulator events, and aircraft events. To date, VP-5 has created four Enlisted Turn Operators, two of which had the distinction of being the first two P-8A Enlisted Turn Operators in the fleet. Throughout the process of establishing this program, the defense entrepreneurs clearly communicated their intentions up through the chain of command, and illustrated how they were mitigating the risk in this endeavor. The innovators gave the VP-5 chain of command the opportunity, but never a reason, to say “no.”
Another success for the VP-5 Innovation Department was incentivizing innovation. The Innovation Department first began to coalesce when the squadron was forward deployed to the 5th and 7th Fleet areas of responsibility. Throughout the six-month deployment the innovation movement seemed to be gaining steady momentum, and it was during this very early time that some of our most successful endeavors were developed. At the close of deployment in the spring of 2017, VP-5 shifted back stateside and continued to build this foundation. The Innovation Department was formally enshrined in a new instruction, detailing organizational roles and responsibilities, and we had regular innovation meetings with respectable showings. Unfortunately, interest and participation in the Innovation Department from the junior enlisted and junior officer ranks began to wane. At one meeting, attendance was limited to the box of doughnuts that had been brought for the no-show participants. This was a low point for the defense entrepreneurs. The lull in participation could have been due to a variety of factors, such as the return of family responsibilities, outside hobbies, and perhaps even an element of boredom. As time went on the new innovation initiative began to lose its luster.
Some of this can be expected in any organization trying to introduce a new culture, but some may be due to the career timing structure of the military. Sailors in VP-5 spend between two and five years in the squadron. Officers find themselves on the left side of that spectrum, while enlisted personnel are normally toward the right. To a newly minted lieutenant junior-grade or petty officer, a three to five year tour may seem daunting, but it can be a relatively short stay when all of the various qualifications and certifications that sailors must achieve during their time in the squadron are considered. Therefore, there may be little incentive for a sailor to invest their time and energy on an innovation that may not come to fruition before their tour is over. The temptation to accept the status quo to appease an immediate superior is too attractive for many. Although there will be those who naturally appear to think outside the box and resist the status quo, it is the responsibility of leadership to properly incentivize innovation.
VP-5 incentivized innovation by rewarding sailors who have contributed to innovation projects with awards and 96-hour liberty passes. While these may seem like superficial benefits, giving a sailor free time and recognition are the most immediate impact that a commanding officer can have on their subordinate’s life. It is necessary that more significant items, like promotions and advancements, are influenced at least in part by what a sailor has done to push the U.S. Navy into the 21st century.
Continuing the Fight
The concept of innovation is obviously not unique to the military. It is preached in boardrooms throughout the country as a way to cut costs, increase productivity, and generally rise above the competition. The companies that fail to adapt to changing environments often find themselves out of business. This same principle applies to the profession of arms. However, if we ever find ourselves “out of business” the opportunity to start over may not exist. Rarely are we afforded second chances to get it right. The time to find better ways to adapt and overcome is now.
Lieutenant Ken Flannery is a P-8A Poseidon Instructor Tactical Coordinator at Patrol Squadron FIVE (VP-5). He may be contacted at kenneth.flannery@navy.mil.
Lieutenant Commander Jared Wilhelm is the Operations Officer at Unmanned Patrol Squadron One Nine (VUP-19), a P-3C Orion Instructor Pilot, and a 2014 Department of Defense Olmsted Scholar. He may be contacted at jaredwilhelm@gmail.com.
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[1] https://mwi.usma.edu/wear-pink-underwear-like-churchill-nine-principles-defense-entrepreneurship/
Featured Image: OAK HARBOR, Wash. (Oct. 21, 2016) Lt. Cmdr. Matt Olson, Patrol Squadron 30, right, talks Michael Watkins, a reporter with Whidbey News-Times and retired Navy Chief, through flight procedures in a P-8 simulator during a media availability on Naval Air Station Whidbey Island’s Ault Field. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class John Hetherington/Released)
aviationfeaturedInnovationmaritime patrolpatrol
Current Operations, Seamanship and Leadership
September 20, 2017 Guest Author Leave a comment
By Kenneth Flannery with Jared Wilhelm
The U.S. Military Academy’s Modern War Institute recently published a thorough primer by ML Cavanaugh on what it means to drive innovation in the military. The most important takeaway was the large difference between the simple buzzword “innovation,” and the people who actually do the dirty work of driving positive change – oft-cited as “innovation”– within the force: “defense entrepreneurs.” This series focuses on an operational U.S. Navy Maritime Patrol Squadron that is full of defense entrepreneurs, and how their unit is taking the “innovation imperative” from on high and translating it to the deckplate level. Part 1 focuses on the “Why? Who? And How?”; Part 2 reveals observed institutional barriers, challenges, and a how-to that other units could use to adapt the model to their own units.
The Innovation Imperative
Today, the U.S. Navy remains the most powerful seafaring force the world has ever known, but there is nothing destined about that position. To maintain this superior posture, we must find leverage that allows us to maintain an edge over our adversaries. One of our most powerful levers in the past has been our economy. We were once able to maintain supremacy simply by outspending our rivals on research, development and sheer production. While the United States still has the largest military budget of any nation, that budget is increasingly stretched to counter threats in a dizzying array of locales to include the South China Sea, Arabian Gulf, or even an increasingly vulnerable Arctic. Additionally, the rest of the world is catching up economically. Some assessments indicate that China will have the largest economy in the world by 2030 and they are already producing their own domestically-built aircraft carriers. It isn’t just China on our economic heels; by 2050 the United States could have slid to third place behind India as well. Finally, our adversaries’ continual embrace of technological theft and espionage involving some of our most expensive proprietary platforms has shrunk the technological gap that the U.S. enjoyed for multiple decades. These realities make it clear that the U.S. must find a new way to counter opponents besides technological advantage.
Much like the Obama administration’s “Pivot to Asia,” the Department of Defense is experiencing what some might call a “Pivot to Innovation.” Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s “Defense Innovation Initiative” and “Third Offset Strategy” both signal a reinvigorated focus on maintaining and advancing our military superiority over both unconventional actors and near-peer competitors alike.
In alignment with Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson’s intent, VP-5 is investing time and manpower in the idea that that new counterweight will be the innovative ideas of our Sailors. Just as nuclear weapons and advancements like stealth and Global Positioning Systems kept the U.S. military on top during the conflicts of the Cold War and Post-Cold War eras, it will be our ability to rapidly assess challenges and implement solutions that will guarantee our security in the future. This will require a reimagining of how we currently operate and how we are organized. Our squadron believes the key to this revolution lies with its junior enlisted and junior officer ranks.
Tapping the Innovative Ideas of the Everyday “Doers”
VP-5 is taking a multi-pronged approach to molding an innovation-friendly climate to best tap the ideas of those accomplishing the mission on a daily basis. Patrol Squadron FIVE (VP-5) is currently experimenting with a dedicated Innovation Department in our command structure, but this isn’t the first time that the squadron has embraced change to maintain the technological and fighting advantage over adversaries. The unit is based at the U.S. Navy’s Master Anti-submarine Warfare facility at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, FL, where we became the second squadron Fleet-wide to transition from the P-3C Orion to the P-8A Poseidon aircraft. This successful transition was based on new training and simulation technologies, but also on a rich history that spans from our founding in 1937 to involvement in World War II, Kennedy’s blockade of Cuba during the Cold War, the Balkan Conflict, and our recent involvement in the Middle East. Throughout this time, we have used no less than five different types of Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
The VP-5 Mad Foxes. Courtesy Ken Flannery
Just as the transition in 1948 from the PBY-5A to the PV-2 brought new tools to the squadron’s warfighting capabilities, today we are augmenting the new technologies of the P-8A with a change to our organizational structure and business practices. A traditional operational naval aviation command administers a standard set of departments including Operations, Training, Safety/NATOPS (Standardization), and Maintenance. By implementing a new Innovation Department led by a warfare-qualified pilot or Naval Flight Officer lieutenant (O-3), VP-5 seeks to elevate the innovation construct to a position alongside the traditional departments required for squadron mission accomplishment. In addition to the lieutenant department head, the Innovation group is staffed by an additional lieutenant and a Senior Chief. Its mission statement reads:
“Lead Naval Aviation in accomplishing our mission by sustaining a culture based on process improvement and disruptive thinking. The force that knows the desired outcome, measures progress in real time, and adapts processes to overcome barriers has a sustainable advantage over adversaries who tolerate their deficiencies. Similarly, the force that can innovate transforms the battlespace to their advantage.”
The establishment of the Innovation Department sends a strong signal to the department heads and the senior enlisted that innovation is a priority, but it may not necessarily trickle down to the average junior enlisted Sailor that VP-5 is a different type of squadron. To ensure the culture reaches everyone, we have implemented large “Innovation Whiteboards” throughout the squadron and encourage all members to post ideas and suggestions. Sailors can see what others have posted and leave reactions of their own. Similar to the “CO’s Sticky Note Board” on the USS Benfold (DDG 65), the ideas written on the whiteboards are then compiled for further action by the Innovation Department.
Whether an idea has been generated via a whiteboard or suggested by means of a more traditional route, the next step in the process is to create a “Swarm Cell.” Swarm Cells are small groups of people that aim to rapidly implement solutions to the problem being addressed. These groups follow a predetermined set of procedures that begin with specifying the desired output. Starting with a clear description of the end result discourages the Cell from veering off course or diluting their product with superfluous features that do little to help the original problem. The Swarm Cells then move to address the actual problem or process for which they were created, all the while making sure that their efforts lead them toward the desired output. Next, the Cells measure their progress to decide if the desired output has been achieved. From there, the members of the group can choose to share their knowledge or revisit their solutions if they have determined that they have not met their output goals.
These Swarm Cells are not on an innovation island. The squadron strives to provide support and guidance for those working to realize their ideas and provides each Swarm Cell with an Innovation Accelerator. This Accelerator may be an official member of the Innovation Department, but is not necessarily so. If the Swarm Cell is like the train conductor, deciding the destination and exactly how fast to get there, the Innovation Accelerator is the train track, allowing room for minor deviations, but keeping the train on course to its final goal. Accelerators need not be intimately involved with the minutiae of their Swarm Cells, and as such may be facilitating two or three different Cells concurrently. By asking simple questions the Accelerator can refocus the team:
1. Has the Cell outlined a clearly defined output?
2. Is the Cell working to achieve that vision, or have they allowed distractions to creep in?
3. Are they continually measuring their progress along the way?
Again, in VP-5 innovation belongs to everyone. Sailors of all ranks and pedigrees are encouraged and expected to turn a critical eye to established procedures in an effort to push our squadron into the twenty-first century. However, change for the sake of change is not one of our objectives. To guard against this, the product or design is subjected to an internal Shark Tank once each Swarm Cell is sufficiently satisfied with their work. These Shark Tank events are open to all hands and are designed to prod for weak spots in the proposal and introduce the idea to the whole team. The Swarm Cell’s program or improvement is critiqued from every angle to determine its overall benefit and structural integrity. These sessions are designed to be thorough in order to weed out underdeveloped initiatives or those that may not provide a quantifiable benefit. If a program passes muster, it continues in whatever form is appropriate, whether that is a new or revised squadron instruction or perhaps a meeting further up the chain of command.
Meaningful Results
Our modest foray into innovation has already begun to bear fruit. One of the most promising results of the innovation process has been the development of a dedicated command smartphone application called Quarterdeck. What started as a search for a better way to communicate has blossomed into a robust “app” which boasts capability far beyond that which was initially envisioned. Currently available on the Droid and Apple App stores, the application meets or exceeds DoD information assurance requirements and includes features like flight schedule postings and peer-to-peer instant messaging, among many others. Thanks to motivated junior officers who attended the 2016 Aviation Mission Support Tactical Advancements for the Next Generation (TANG) at Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx) in Silicon Valley, the Adobe Company is now conducting market research, has shown interest in acquiring the hosting rights for the app, and is currently developing a professional version based on the VP-5 prototype.
The application developed by the Mad Foxes’ Innovation Department. (Courtesy Ken Flannery)
Another of our most promising innovation programs appeared to be headed toward realization before being dismissed due to concerns about running afoul of the Program Management Aviation (PMA) office. The plan was to implement an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) to replace the existing system of paper flight publications. This innovation would use tablet computers and digital flight publication subscriptions to save each squadron approximately $17,000 annually. PMA is currently developing a parallel program, but the estimated fleet delivery date was still at least a year away at the time our project was initiated. Our program would be able to deliver tablets within months. Every detail of the program had been meticulously researched, and drew heavily upon long established, similar programs used by the airlines.
The EFB program was widely supported among VP-5 junior officers, Fleet Replacement Squadron instructors, our own CO and XO, reserve unit squadrons manned by commercial airline pilots, and even had the interest of Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Group (CPRG). Unfortunately, information security concerns rooted in a risk averse culture combined with the lack of official approval from higher authorities halted the project prior to purchase. Even though our organic EFB proposal was not accepted, our efforts to address the issue sparked broader interest and pressured PMA to move up its timeline. It is a testament to the power of this innovation process that it could conceive and develop a product that rivaled a parallel effort of the standard acquisition pipeline and a regular program office. Tablets are now forecast to be delivered to the fleet by the end of this year.
Other achievements include a redesign of the Petty Officer Indoctrination course, a Command Volunteer Service Day suggested, planned, and led by an E-3, and an “Aircrew Olympics” which pitted two combat aircrews against each other in a variety of mission-related tasks. These ideas were all generated and executed from within the junior enlisted ranks.
We do not intend to suggest that a smartphone application or volunteer service holds the key to dismantling Kim Jong-Un’s nuclear program or China’s grip on the South China Sea. What we are trying to do is develop a framework in which creative solutions can be cultivated. Not every idea is going to be a grand slam, but before you can hit a grand slam you have to get people on base. The most important point we’ve learned is that the ideas are out there, we can cultivate them, and we’ve so far proven that we have “defense entrepreneurs” that can see these innovative ideas through from the white boards to implementation.
Formalizing an innovation process within a squadron is a new way of doing things and this new approach has been met with a variety of challenges. From stubborn, bureaucratic restrictions to “innovation stagnation,” the innovation construct at VP-5 has faced hurdles along the way and been forced to adapt. In the next installment of this series, we will explore some of these obstacles and describe the ways in which the Innovation Department has evolved as a result.
Lieutenant Commander Jared Wilhelm is the Operations Officer at Unmanned Patrol Squadron One Nine (VUP-19), a P-3C Orion Instructor Pilot and a 2014 Department of Defense Olmsted Scholar. Hey may be contacted at jaredwilhelm@gmail.com.
Featured Image: A P-8 assigned to VP-5 (U.S. Navy photo)
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An Information Dominance Carrier for Distributed War at Sea
August 30, 2017 Dmitry Filipoff Leave a comment
Future Capital Ship Topic Week
“These three forces – the forces at play in the maritime system, the force of the information system, and the force of technology entering the environment – and the interplay between them have profound implications for the United States Navy.”- A Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority.1
A capital ship’s capabilities has always revealed what is most decisive in naval warfare. In the next high-end fight, what will be most decisive is the ability to secure decision superiority in a contested information environment fraught with uncertainty and change. The understanding of how information will be contested and employed in future war remains in flux. The value of information in guiding fleet tactics and force structure is already being realized by China in unconventional ways. But what will emerge from an understanding of the future threat environment is that capital ships, especially aircraft carriers, can take the lead in contesting the electromagnetic domain itself.
China’s Presence and Information Advantage
“U.S. Navy Warship 62, this is Chinese Navy Warship 575. Copy that, I will be staying along with you for the following days. Over.” Chinese frigate to USS Chancellorsville in the South China Sea.2
China is winning the battle of presence in Asiatic waters. According to the Commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Scott Swift, the level of presence the U.S. Navy will reach this year in the South China Sea is on track for 900 ship days,3 and that figure is higher than usual due to an uptick in strike groups operating in the region. The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) now shadows every U.S. warship that transits the South China Sea,4 FONOPs or otherwise, meaning the PLAN has likely surpassed the U.S. Navy in how much forward presence it maintains in key waters in Asia.
However, the PLA Navy is just the tip of the iceberg. China’s robust standing naval presence is augmented by coast guard units and potentially hundreds of paramilitary fishermen (maritime militia) and commercial vessels. China frequently leverages these forces for escalation, such as how the number of Chinese ships around the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands’ contiguous zone surged to about 230 ships less than a month after The Hague ruled against China’s South China Sea claims.5 In recent years there has been a consistent presence of about 70-90 Chinese ships around disputed East China Sea waters, up from virtually nothing a decade earlier.6
Japanese Coast Guard data on the numbers of Chinese vessels that entered the contiguous zone or intruded into territorial seas surrounding the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands. Note the spike in activity in August 2016 and the virtually nonexistent level of presence prior to 2009 (Click to expand).7 (Japanese Coast Guard)
These paramilitary forces will readily provide escalation and wartime advantages for China, especially in the area of information. These units will likely exploit the protection rights of non-combatants to secretly contribute intelligence to China’s military in a theater of active hostilities. This will pose difficult legal, diplomatic, and military dilemmas and test the limits of rules of engagement. Fears over paramilitary units will exacerbate suspicions of thousands of civilian vessels and add new layers of complexity to the operating environment. Widely dispersed paramilitary units could provide early warning and conduct battle damage assessment without incurring the risk of emitting the unique signatures of military-grade equipment. Regardless of the fact that the majority of USN and PLAN assets reside outside forward areas during peacetime, this robust paramilitary presence would provide China with some sense of informational continuity in the transition between war and peace. It is an information-focused distributed fleet on the cheap.
The rise of China’s maritime might is causing a significant shift in the operating environment the U.S. Navy considered itself the lone master of for three-quarters of a century. This displacement is jeopardizing the credibility of U.S. security guarantees in the region and allowing China to more confidently intimidate its neighbors. It is also a direct challenge to the U.S. Navy’s core missions of upholding the fundamental principle of freedom of navigation and offering avenues of access for American power. The level of U.S. Navy forward presence will only grow more inferior as China continues its large-scale and comprehensive maritime buildup. America’s grip on maritime superiority in Asia is weakening, and the U.S. Navy must undergo a major transformation to stay on top.
Establishing a Vision of Networked War at Sea
“DO NOT – REPEAT NOT – BELIEVE WE SHOULD SEEK NIGHT ENGAGEMENT. POSSIBLE ADVANTAGES OF RADAR MORE THAN OFFSET BY DIFFICULTIES OF COMMUNICATIONS AND LACK OF TRAINING IN FLEET TACTICS AT NIGHT.”-Admiral Willis Lee responds to Admiral Raymond Spruance’s query on whether to attempt a night engagement on June 17, 1944, two days before the Battle of the Philippine Sea.8
A transformation is already underway as navies around the world seek to conceptualize what warfighting at sea will entail in the information age. A common vision must be founded on a basic understanding of how various aspects of war have been evolved or outright revolutionized by modern technology. Technology has turned the electromagnetic spectrum into the centrally contested domain that critical warfighting functions depend on across the entire breadth of their execution.
Networks are not only tools but battlefields. Winning in the electromagnetic domain will determine whether critical intelligence is transferred, instructions are conveyed, and if the complex process of accurately targeting modern weapons is completed. Electronic warfare, cyber warfare, and ISR will largely be directed at understanding, confusing, and then deconstructing the system of systems that forms the adversary’s battle network. The fundamental trust that operators place in their equipment and each other will be a prime target. Degrading this trust could cripple a force out of proportion to actual losses.
A key element of the U.S. Navy’s effort to adapt to this new environment will be widely distributing its combat power to gain sea control rather than closely aggregating units together as has been common practice for generations. Up until recently, fleet combat required physically concentrating forces for concentrating their firepower. Distribution reflects how the technology behind network-centric warfare has made it feasible to disaggregate ships yet still aggregate their capabilities. Distribution better postures a fleet for electromagnetic maneuver by deconflicting the electronic warfare capabilities of friendly units and forcing an adversary to spend more time localizing contacts across a large expanse of ocean.9 But managing the networked functions of a distributed fleet is a hard enough challenge that will grow even more difficult when the electromagnetic domain is contested in wartime.
Command and control grows more strenuous with greater distribution. U.S. and allied assets will already be dispersed throughout the battlespace in some manner at the onset of sudden war, and will have to be quickly maneuvered into some viable operational structure. The task of organizing a dispersed naval force across a large theater as hostilities break out will be critical not just for success but for survival against a near-peer opponent.
This challenge reveals how gaining momentary surprise at the onset of full-scale networked war at sea can reap strategically disabling blows. Even brief victories against networks will quickly translate into the sudden and decisive destruction that has always characterized war at sea. This grim possibility will be all the more important to guard against when the Navy is asked to project power against adversaries that will enjoy the benefits of operating close to home, such as land-based anti-ship capabilities that enjoy inherently steep logistical and survivability advantages over naval forces.
CSBA graphic from 2010 on China’s principal PLA air-defense units and anti-ship ballistic missile sites. (CSBA)10
Distribution enhances survivability by attacking left of the kill chain, the complex process of targeting modern weapons. By making the adversary’s information gathering and decision-making processes the focus, distributed warfighting emphasizes deception. Deception and distribution will exacerbate the severe challenge of processing the copious amounts of information gathered by powerful, modern sensors. For example, a P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft can generate up to 900 gigabytes of data in a single mission.11 Overstimulating sensors can fray nerves and induce an adversary to make decisions to their own detriment, such as radiating active sensors which can compromise stealth, unknowingly maneuvering into firing envelopes, and even firing salvos of hard-to-replenish missiles at ghost contacts.
Gathering intelligence on the wide variety of unique signatures and capabilities that compose an adversary’s electronic order of battle will be pivotal in facilitating wartime adaptation. Threat libraries will be rapidly updated as adversaries reveal the true extent of their electronic capabilities. This intelligence will be fed into a fast-firing cycle of iterative adaptation where superior electronic capabilities will be fielded via something as quick as a software update.
Operators will strive to understand the implications of a variety of actions and inaction amidst a constant struggle for electromagnetic context. Ships will carefully regulate emissions to avoid detection, yet emissions are paradoxically important for delivering effects, managing command and control (C2), and updating situational awareness. Employing a powerful emitter such as a SPY radar can pose a liability, and ships that feel compelled to radiate and communicate for the sake of enabling their own defense can compromise friendly units and become more susceptible to follow-on attack.
An analogy for surviving modern naval combat can then be drawn from Dr. Stephen Biddle’s description of the revolution in land warfare that transpired in the early twentieth century:
“…the complexity of the earth’s surface offers enough cover and concealment to substantially shield land forces from the increasing potential lethality of modern weaponry. However, to operate a mass military of potentially millions of soldiers in a way that can exploit the natural complexity of the earth’s surface for cover and concealment means accepting tremendous complexity in tactics and operational art. Relative to, for example, Napoleonic tactics where armies could be lined up in shoulder-to-shoulder linear formations and simply marched towards an objective, if you’re going to use the complexity of the earth’s surface to provide cover in ways those massed shoulder-to-shoulder formations couldn’t do, then you’re going to have to break down those massed formations into small handfuls of soldiers few enough in number that they can fit into the folds in the earth that create what militaries ironically call dead ground, where dead ground is of course where you can live…”12
The mass, attrition-based Napoleonic formations of today are the capital ship-centered strike groups, and the “small handfuls of soldiers” are a networked fleet’s dispersed surface action groups. The protective “folds in the earth” are the various nuances of the electromagnetic domain that is being contested and manipulated. Making sense of these nuances within the spectrum in order to recognize opportunities to deliver effects will define the competition.
The wartime implications of the latest technologies are often not fully understood before they are fielded, but having a common vision of future war at sea serves as a necessary foundation for training, equipping, and operating a navy. The extent to which such a vision is being jointly established and acted upon in a coordinated manner by the various communities within the U.S. Navy is unclear.
The surface Navy is in the early stages of operationalizing its distributed lethality concept that envisions numerous surface action groups operating offensively to achieve a cumulative sea control effect. This stands in stark contrast to the strike group constructs that have been the focus of surface ships for generations, where combatants specialized in escorting capital ships in mainly defensive roles. A new distributed operating concept for surface combatants should be facilitating a Navy-wide appraisal of what this means for all other communities and how the Navy interfaces with the joint force more broadly.
To the Navy’s credit, Naval Warfare Development Command recently convened stakeholders from across the naval enterprise to contribute to the development of a forthcoming Distributed Maritime Operations concept (DMO) that could serve as a focal point for force development.13 Where there is room for improvement is in articulating what role capital ships, especially aircraft carriers, will play in a distributed fleet.
Aviation-Centric Information Dominance CONOPS for the Distributed Fleet
“At sea better scouting – more than maneuver, as much as weapon range, and oftentimes as much as anything else – has determined who would attack not merely effectively, but who would attack decisively first.” CAPT Wayne P. Hughes, Jr. (ret.)14
The idea of a distributed fleet aggregating its capabilities through networking is not itself new.15 What is novel is the confidence in the ability of the scouting and communication enterprise to provide the information needed to effectively use high-tech weapons at ranges that were once considered extreme. But confidence is not capability, as evidenced by the decision to pull the anti-ship Tomahawk missile from the Navy’s inventory due to a lack of such confidence in the 1990s.16 Now within a decade an anti-ship Tomahawk will be back in the fleet, featuring a 1,000 nm range and offering a widely distributed sea control capability alongside other forthcoming networked missiles.17 The question is whether the Navy will be able to scout and communicate well enough to employ these weapons at range, especially when distributing the fleet compounds the information-related challenges of operating within a contested electromagnetic domain.
As warships spread out to confound an adversary’s situational awareness and offer options to deliver fires, capital ships will make scouting, secure information transfer, and deception their primary missions. The natural advantages aviation enjoys in electromagnetic and physical maneuver will make the aircraft carrier central in conducting these critical missions. By taking the lead in contesting the spectrum, the capital ship will animate the networked fleet by securing decision superiority.
Aviation’s Key Advantage
Electronic action is still bound by physical limitations. Aviation can act as the connective tissue of an ocean-going battle network because altitude has a corresponding effect on detection and communication capability via a superior ability to peer over the horizon compared to a ship. This extra dimension of maneuver introduces more flexibility for managing the risks of sensing and communicating, making aircraft the scouting and information transfer asset of choice.
A high-flying aircraft with a powerful radar can sense surface contacts further out than surface contacts could sense one another over the horizon. An aircraft can emit or transmit, drop to lower altitude, and then relocate faster than a ship to mitigate risk and get information to where it needs to be. Aircraft can use their speed to maximize the use of line-of-sight communications whose considerable bandwidth and jam-resistant advantages will prove indispensable in a contested information environment.
These physical properties will allow aircraft to facilitate fleet connectivity by forming sensing and communication pathways through maneuver. Commanders will have a flexible means to augment the scope and focus of information that is being collected and shared throughout the force. Airborne sensor fusion will help commanders prioritize information flows to meet rapidly emerging needs. These characteristics hold significant tactical and operational implications for the distributed fleet.
Engage-on-Remote, In-Flight Retargeting, and Command and Control
The technology that makes distributed operations possible will be for naught if an evolution in tactical thought does not accompany it. A primary challenge of distributed warfighting will be delivering the information needed to employ the engage-on-remote and retargeting capabilities that are the hallmark of a distributed fleet’s combat potential.
Retargeting and engage-on-remote make weapons more reliable and fleets more flexible. The engagement process is transformed from a linear kill chain into an expansive kill web. Networked units can leverage capabilities from across the force to meet individual needs. Platforms will be able to fire without emitting, improving survivability. Salvos can build density as missiles from across the distributed fleet are aggregated.
But engage-on-remote and the long range of potential exchanges means that sailors will have to get used to firing weapons with incomplete information. The passage of time and the dynamic nature of the contested spectrum means that the information that precipitated an engagement will often not suffice to complete it. Retargeting will prove decisive by allowing new information to be fed into a live engagement. It will help keep firepower discriminate, resilient, and long-range while mitigating the risks of operating with less information.
Retargeting and engage-on-remote will dictate a fleet formation because a distributed force is not formless, but rather than an extended strike group of sorts. The ability to leverage engage-on-remote and retargeting capabilities from across the force will be a function of fleet connectivity and weapons range. The distance between platforms and payloads will affect the timeliness of information transfer, and weapons range will dictate the maximum extent to which forces can disperse from one another yet still combine their fires effectively.
An animation of a hypothetical scenario demonstrating the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC). (JHU APL)18
The wide-ranging tactical flexibility that can be gleaned from retargeting and engage-on-remote is directly correlated with the ability to transfer information. Ideally any sensor or communicator will support any shooter or payload, but passing information between them all will be difficult when that information is contested and loses relevance with time. The ability to fire and contribute information without radiating organic sensors opens up numerous tactical options, but using this capability will mean the man on the scene will have to rely on a man not on the scene. Therefore these capabilities combine to fundamentally change the perception of time, timing, and opportunity for a fleet.
This will aggravate the challenge of precisely conveying commander’s intent and delegating the appropriate level of initiative to networked forces. Much of the public writing on distributed lethality has argued for delegating authority to the man on the scene, but that man will be just one more node in a network. They may not fully realize the tactical possibilities at hand compared to someone with better situational awareness and a broader view of how the fleet’s combat power is distributed. The organic sensors of ships cannot be trusted to independently target payloads that need to travel hundreds of miles through a contested information environment, especially when ships operate under EMCON. Launching a salvo will be a momentous decision as a large amount of a ship’s or surface action group’s magazine could be depleted in a single exchange, requiring confidence in information and the larger operational situation.
Aviators will become the tactical controllers of warship-based capabilities in a distributed fleet because their maneuver advantage translates into a superior ability to facilitate broad situational awareness, sensor fusion, and fleet connectivity. They will have more context and ability to make decisions, execute quick workarounds, and gather additional information versus warships that are tightly controlling their emissions while proximate to the adversary. Aviation-based network nodes can shift schemes of maneuver to help commanders balance the need for information up the chain of command with the need for initiative down the chain of command.
The fact that only aircraft can realistically trail and intercept missiles in real time means they can provide more inputs to facilitate retargeting, and could close with inbound enemy salvos to target their datalinks. Aviators (with automated decision aids) will manage information flows between sensors and communications to make numerous inputs into the engagement process as it is transpiring. Because corrupt information will be commonplace in the next high-end fight, and because autonomous machines cannot be entrusted with life-or-death decisions, humans must own this process. In-flight retargeting is a weapon’s insurance policy, and aviation can be its guarantor.
In this particular sensor-to-shooter construct, aircraft become the primary sensors and communicators because they can facilitate fleet connectivity through maneuver, and ships become the primary shooters. Since firing without emitting makes units less susceptible to detection, warships will become more survivable. This is preferable because aircraft are more numerous and replaceable than ships. But employing a dynamic ship-to-aircraft information interface will involve a steep learning curve. Speaking on the challenges of making the Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA) capability a reality, then-Captain Jim Kilby remarked that it involves “a level of coordination we’ve never had to execute before and a level of integration between aircrews and ship crews.”19
Aviation will also facilitate C2 by helping commanders with early-warning, battle damage assessment, and keeping tabs on one’s own forces. Having more time to react to threats will be key in crafting a tailored response from various tools that each have their own electromagnetic implications, rather than making commanders feel compelled to go all out to defend against the possibility of imminent destruction. Learning the status of dueling enemy and friendly ships can be risky, but when a ship under EMCON explodes in the ocean, does it make a sound?
Lastly, an aviation-centric C2 scheme will build upon the natural advantages of undersea forces. Submarines will be able to penetrate further into the battlespace than surface ships, improving their chances of discovering high-quality information about the adversary. Securely getting that information back to the fleet via aviation-based network nodes will make the risk worth it, and engage-on-remote and retargeting can impose a daunting tactical problem by forcing adversaries to localize a submarine that is firing missiles or deploying decoys at range.
Deception and Softkill Countermeasures
One of distributed lethality’s maxims is “If it floats it fights” but if it floats it should also deceive. Deception will enhance survivability, gather intelligence on the enemy’s electronic order of battle, and facilitate strikes. Superior deception earns decision superiority.
Deception-enabling capabilities can be distributed throughout the fleet by fielding a greater variety and quantity of decoys. These can include long-range decoy missiles that mimic the profiles of aerial platforms and conduct offensive electronic warfare, as well as shorter-range launched decoys and floatable payloads that can take on ships’ signatures. These systems often weigh less and take up less space than hardkill systems, making them easier to distribute en masse. For example, the ADM-160 Miniature Air-Launched Decoy (MALD) missile is about half the length and a tenth of the weight of a Tomahawk cruise missile, and has a 500-mile range.20 Such a decoy missile could enable an advanced fleet-wide deception capability by being fitted into launch cells, box launchers, and wing pylons.
Two Miniature Air Launch Decoys sit side-by-side in the munitions storage area on Barksdale Air Force Base, La., March 21, 2012. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Micaiah Anthony)
Aviation can enhance fleet deception by flexibly deploying, retargeting, and transporting a large variety of decoys on demand. The extent to which the platforms themselves are actively at the forefront of deception should be minimized. Operators should strive to delegate as much deception as possible to decoys and unmanned platforms that can take on the risks of raising a higher electromagnetic profile. Deception plans involving decoy saturation would allow for momentary opportunities to break EMCON and gather information as an adversary reacts to the deception. Decoy missiles could act as penetration aids to improve the lethality of salvos and help aircraft scout risky areas. Aircraft can manage decoy missile datalinks in-flight to maximize their usefulness.
Lastly, softkill countermeasures can have far more favorable cost-exchange ratios against missiles compared to hardkill measures, allowing a distributed fleet to conserve munitions and improve survivability. Aviation assets could maneuver on short notice to deploy softkill payloads along the axis of an inbound salvo to dilute it at a distance from the intended target. These comparatively small and lightweight payloads would allow a capital ship, via an interoperable aviation platform, to flexibly deploy defensive countermeasures over a large area and replenish other ships’ decoy and softkill inventories on demand. This capability will be critical because a distributed fleet will often struggle to mass defensive firepower in a timely manner.
Wartime Adaptation and Augmentation
Capital ships themselves still possess unique advantages in information age warfare. Capital ships will play a key role in facilitating frontline wartime adaptation because they will field the largest afloat concentration of intelligence, cryptologic, and cyber expertise in the battlespace.21 As information is continuously gathered and transferred by aviation across the distributed fleet, capital ship-based expertise will lead the effort to process that information to discover vulnerabilities and devise fixes and exploits. Capital ships will in turn use their superior reach back capabilities to act as a conduit between the forward-most warfighter and national-level assets that can aid adaptation, such as Navy and DoD threat libraries.
Aviation can take those exploits and fixes back to the distributed fleet and the enemy from the capital ship. This will be especially poignant for sustaining a deception advantage, where both sides will place priority on unmasking the other’s means of deceiving. Fresh updates based on the latest intelligence could be patched into modular decoy payloads at the capital ship, and then aviation can transport these enhanced decoys back out to the fleet via a platform that is interoperable with capital ships and surface combatants.
V-280 concept. (Bell Helicopter Image)
Such a ubiquitous and modular aerial platform will allow the capital ship to compliment warship needs in a variety of ways. Aside from aiding various warfare- and information-related missions, having an aerial platform that can land on almost anything will open up options for augmenting logistics and personnel on the fly. It will also enhance capital ship survivability by allowing the surface force to take on some of the burden of sustaining aviation assets.
Unmanned systems can play a role by conducting a variety of the missions described, whether information transfer, sensing, or deploying decoys and softkill countermeasures. Because of their relatively small size and weight, the sensors and payloads required to conduct these missions can be fielded by unmanned systems in the nearer-term compared to heavier offensive weaponry. Additionally, automation alone will improve communications security because more automation means fewer operator inputs are needed. Because robotics has shrunken platform size, future capital ships will be able to easily host small undersea, amphibious, and surface unmanned systems to extend their reach into more domains than before.
“The competition is on, and pace dominates. In an exponential competition, the winner takes all. We must shake off any vestiges of comfort or complacency that our previous advantages may have afforded us, and move out to build a larger, more distributed, and more capable battle fleet that can execute our mission.” The Future Navy.22
Wayne Hughes offers an important caveat to all of this, that “tactical complexity is a peacetime disease” and that “the temptation to equate complex tools with complex tactics will be almost irresistible.”23 As with what happened in WWII and elsewhere, the Navy and the U.S. military writ large will run the risk of employing tactics and technologies that are not yet fully inculcated into the force if war breaks out. Given the current pace of change, that risk may never go away.
What should be clear, at least for now, is that there is still a place for capital ships in high-end warfighting. The distributed fleet of tomorrow can become real if capital ships dedicate themselves toward prosecuting the most important and elusive target of all: information.
1. A Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority, Version 1.0, U.S. Department of the Navy, January 2016. http://www.navy.mil/cno/docs/cno_stg.pdf
2. Helene Cooper, “Patrolling Disputes Waters, U.S. and China Jockey for Dominance”, The New York Times, March 30, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/31/world/asia/south-china-sea-us-navy.html
3. Andrew Galbraith, “U.S. Commander says ships on course for more days in South China Sea”, Reuters, June 15, 2017. http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-usa-defense-idUKKBN1961GT
4. Anders Corr, “Chinese Warships Shadowing U.S. Navy: ‘New Normal’ In South China Sea”, Forbes, July 3, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/anderscorr/2017/07/03/chinese-warships-shadowing-u-s-navy-new-normal-in-south-china-sea/#709a12186029
5. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, “Protest Against the Intrusion of Chinese Coast Guard into Japanese territorial waters surrounding the Senkaku Islands”, August 6, 2016. http://www.mofa.go.jp/press/release/press4e_001227.html
6. Lyle J. Morris, “The New ‘Normal’ in the East China Sea”, RAND, February 27, 2017. https://www.rand.org/blog/2017/02/the-new-normal-in-the-east-china-sea.html
7. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, “Trends in Chinese Government and Other Vessels in the Waters Surrounding the Senkaku Islands, and Japan’s Response – Records of Intrusions of Chinese Government and Other Vessels into Japan’s Territorial Sea”, August 3, 2017. http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/page23e_000021.html
8. James D. Hornfischer, The Fleet at Flood Tide, pg. 171, Bantam Books, New York, 2016.
9. Jim Loerch, “Empowering Electronic Warfare to Save Carrier Strike Groups”, Signal, September 2016. https://www.afcea.org/content/?q=Article-empowering-electronic-warfare-save-carrier-strike-groups
10. Jan van Tol, Mark Gunzinger, Andrew F. Krepinevich, and Jim Thomas, “AirSea Battle: A Point of Departure Operational Concept”, pg. 65, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, 2010. http://csbaonline.org/research/publications/airsea-battle-concept/publication
11. Michael Glynn, “Information Management and the Future of Naval Aviation” Center for International Maritime Security, September 19, 2015. http://cimsec.org/information-management-and-the-future-of-naval-aviation/18870
12. Mina Pollmann and Matt Merighi, “Sea Control 130 – Stephen Biddle on Future Warfare in the Western Pacific”, Center for International Maritime Security, March 22, 2017. http://cimsec.org/sea-control-130-stephen-biddle-future-warfare-western-pacific/31485
13. Naval Warfare Development Command Public Affairs, Advanced Warfighting Summit Focus On Enabling Distributed Maneuver, Naval Warfare Development Command, May 19, 2017. https://www.nwdc.navy.mil/PressRelease/10.aspx
14. Wayne P. Hughes, Jr., Fleet Tactics: Theory and Practice, pg. 173, Naval Institute Press, 1986.
15. Hughes, pg. 196.
16. Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen, “Naval Weapon of Choice”, Naval History Magazine, U.S. Naval Institute, February 2016, Volume 30, number 1. https://www.usni.org/magazines/navalhistory/2016-02/naval-weapon-choice
17. Sam LaGrone, “WEST: U.S. Navy Anti-Ship Tomahawk Set for Surface Ships, Subs Starting in 2021, U.S. Naval Institute News, February 18, 2016. https://news.usni.org/2016/02/18/west-u-s-navy-anti-ship-tomahawk-set-for-surface-ships-subs-starting-in-2021
18. Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, “Air and Missile Defense: More than Two Decades of Sensor Integration Efforts at APL.” http://www.jhuapl.edu/ourwork/airdefense/CECvideo.asp
19. Sam LaGrone, “The Next Act for Aegis”, U.S. Naval Institute News, May 7, 2014. https://news.usni.org/2014/05/07/next-act-aegis
20. Raytheon, “MALD Decoy.” http://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/mald/
21. John Gordon et al. Leveraging America’s Aircraft Carrier Capabilities, pg. 15, RAND National Research Defense Institute, 2006. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2006/RAND_MG448.pdf
22. The Future Navy, U.S. Department of the Navy, May 17, 2017. http://www.navy.mil/navydata/people/cno/Richardson/Resource/TheFutureNavy.pdf
Featured Image: SOUTH PACIFIC (June 29, 2017) Ships assigned to Carrier Strike Group 5 sail in formation during a coordinated live-fire gunnery exercise. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nathan Burke/Released)
aircraft carrieraviationC2deceptiondistributed lethalityfeaturedISR
Publication Release: The Future of Naval Aviation
August 25, 2016 Guest Author Leave a comment
In August of 2015 CIMSEC published a Call for Articles soliciting analysis on the future of naval aviation. The following month, contributors responded with submissions that assessed the impact unmanned aviation will have on threat environments, the evolution of the carrier air wing, and other topics related to naval aviation. This compendium consists of the articles that featured during the topic week.
Ben Ho Wan Beng
Jon Paris
Tim Walton
Greg Smith
Michael Glynn
Peter Mairno
Wick Hobson
Matthew Hipple
Matthew Merighi
What’s the Buzz? Ship-Based Unmanned Aviation and its Influence on Littoral Navies in Combat Operations by Ben Ho Wan Beng
Parallax and Bullseye Buoys: The Future of Naval Aviation by LT Jon Paris
The Evolution of the Modern Carrier Air Wing by Timothy A. Walton
Trusting Autonomous Systems: It’s More than Just Technology by CDR Greg Smith
Information Management and the Future of Naval Aviation by Michael Glynn
Aiding India’s Next Generation Aircraft Carrier: A Review by Peter Marino
Naval Aviation Week: The Conclusion by Wick Hobson
Be sure to browse other compendiums in the publications tab, and feel free send compendium ideas to Publications@cimsec.org.
Featured Image: A Major from the USMC, serving with 801 NAS, landed on the flight deck of HMS Illustrious, as part of Exercise Neptune Warrior. (Billy Bunting/UK MOD)
aviationfeaturedU.S. Navyunmanned
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Cirrugator-Demo
www.cirrugator.com
Web application for boat tracking, race analysis, and routing
This page demonstrates mainly the routing feature of Cirrugator. It is only an excerpt from the full Cirrugator site, showing the most recent data available. In addition it offers some guidance to better understand these complex options and graphs, including the use of historic data (recommended for a first look) rather than most recent data. For even more details and your own in-depth analysis go directly to Cirrugator's home at www.cirrugator.com.
Click the 'Show Guidance' link to read an explanation of what you see on the graph and how to interpret it, click the link again to hide the text.
Datapoints are mouse-sensitive: rest the mouse pointer over them to get details. Some also respond to clicks.
For a first look you may choose the historic data with interpretation instead of the most recent data (the startup default). You may use these links to switch back and forth at any time.
Best Routing for Cirrus Show Guidance
This chart shows the track of Cirrus from Start (green ball) as a red line, whereby the big, round, red dots represent Cirrus' positions as reported during the roll calls. From the last known postion a red line with red diamonds begins which ends at the Finish (yellow ball). This diamond line is the projected best route for Cirrus given the weather situation and Cirrus' performance in dependance of wind speed and wind angle (also known as "her polars"). There may be additional diamond lines in other colors, which are the 2nd, 3rd,... best choices for sailing. There may also be square dots in red and other colors. For an explanation look at the historic data with interpretation examples.
The black lines, sometimes shaped like half-circles but mostly quite irregular, are the "isochrones". These are lines connecting all the locations which Cirrus could reach within 1, 2, 3,... days (the thin black lines are fractions of a day) beginning at the point where the routing starts. In the ideal case the best route crosses these isochrones where their separation is widest, i.e. the distance crossed is greatest. But not always! Cirrugator can figure out wether an early sacrifice will be rewarded later, and vice-versa.
The thin red arrows represent the true wind speed and true wind direction; the longer the arrow the higher the wind speed. This is the wind which Cirrus would experience if she were sailing the best route at the forecasted speed, as this wind is calculated from the true wind field determined from the grib files. It is called "moving grib" in Cirrugator parlance.
The bottom graph shows boatspeed, and true/apparent wind speed/direction along the projected best route. Look for situations where the apparent wind angle (blue round dots) reaches deep angles marked by the (light-)blue bands at the bottom and top ends of the graph. This is the famous DDW - Dead Down Wind - situation, which is not only difficult and dangerous to drive, but also NOT the fastest course. Cirrugator can be configured to avoid such bad courses for most of the times, avoiding the tendency for "sailing on the edge".
GRIB Ref. Date (UTC):
Time to go (red route):
15.00 days
Last position at:
2010-06-18 2100 HST
ETA (red route):
GRIB Weather Show Guidance
This graph shows wind arrows overlaid on a chart, whereby the arrow direction gives the wind direction and the length the wind speed. The information is transferred in computer files, called GRIB (Gridded Binary) files for the technology on how to condens information into these files. The data result from huge global weather calculation programs run by the US Weather Service, of which we take the portion relevant to us. The data are calculated at a specific time (GRIB Reference Date), and are valid for a specific time (GRIB Valid Date).
We obtain these files by sending an email request to a server (from Sailmail, or directly from NOAA), and the server responds by returning an email to us with the requested grib file attached. The file is then decoded by Cirrugator and used in the routing calculation. We use a forecast range of up to 10 days, i.e. we get one file with a single Valid Date chart for each of 10 consecutive days. Although, as is well known, the forecast quality of the later days leaves a bit to be desired, this is still the best information available.
Find more details on the Cirrugator Help site.
File: gfs20100724080500868.grb
GRIB Valid Date (UTC):
2010-07-24 0000 ( + 0 d)
Weather Fax Show Guidance
These are the 'Pacific Surface Analysis' and '48-hour Surface Forecast' weather faxes, which are sent out by the US National Weather Service with an update every 6h and 12h, resp.. They are key sources of weather information, complementing the grib files shown above.
They are indeed sent as a fax by shortwave radio, with the typical chirping noise of a fax machine coming from the loudspeaker. We record it via the sound-input of a computer. They are also available on the internet but due to the size of the files, and our VERY slow internet connection both via radio and satellite phone (remember the days of 1200 baud modems? We wish we were as fast as that!), we prefer the standard fax and use the internet for the grib files.
To download these files yourself find the correct NOAA's marine weather pages and look for the heading SURFACE CHARTS. There you have the analysis (you want Part 1) and forecasts. And a whole lot more under the other headings...
When you compare weather faxes and grib charts, pay attention to the dates: we may not always be able to print matching dates!
Left: Pacific Surface Analysis (File: PYBA90.gif)
Get the most recent one from http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/PYBA90.gif
Bottom: 48-Hour Surface Forecast (File: PWBI10.gif)
Get the most recent one from http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/PWBI10.gif
Corrected Time and PCR rating Show Guidance
The left-side graph is straightforward, showing the DTG (Distance To Go) versus the elapsed time: Pick any boat and extend its line from the upper left end to where it crosses the bottom axis, and you know when it will probably arrive at the finish line. You can do the same with the other boats and see who arrives when. But it tells you nothing about the performance of a boat against expectations and against the fleet after PCR corrections.
This is where the right-side graph comes in, which is quite powerful and simple - albeit a bit confusing on first look. Different from the left graph, its bottom axis shows the corrected time. The correction of the finish time by using the pcr-rating simply says that if a boat were going at its expected speed, the corrected finish time would be exactly zero. If all boats were going exactly at their PCR speeds, then a single vertical line would extend from the top to the bottom at corrected time t=0.0. Deviations to the right means a boat is going slower, to the left it is going faster than expected. So you can judge how well a boat is doing given what it is supposed to be able to do. Since now only the deviations of the boats against their expectations are plotted, the lines are spread over the full width of the graph, making it somewhat less crowded and providing a ranking in addition.
Ranking Show Guidance
See how a particular boat performs over time and trades places with the other boats. This is most easily seen for the reference boat (thick red line with round red dots).
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Fluid London Goes Walkabout
Recently, the nice people at Walkabout offered four members of the Fluid team the opportunity to hang out at their Temple Walkabout venue for the evening, entirely on the house (I told you they were nice). It would have been highly unprofessional to turn down such a cordial invitation and so myself (Christian), Arthur, Laura and Claire dutifully accepted the offer. Here is what the four of us thought about our evening:
Christian Rose-Day:
Last time I was here, I was thrown out. I say thrown out, I mean I was told that my crossed-eyed swaying in the centre of the dancefloor was cause to politely suggest that I should probably go home to bed. Perhaps my weak grip on the pint of Fosters I was spilling was a giveaway.
Regardless, that epoch has long since been buried in the rubble of time and I am now ticking a different box when filling out the ‘age’ section of any form or questionnaire. I’m also wiser (hopefully) and less inclined towards raucous behaviour prompted by a rampant lager binge. No, it’s all ales and ciders for me now. Hence, I was sceptical about what an oldie like myself could possibly get out of a visit to Walkabout, despite the kind offer extended to us.
Well, three pear Kopparberg ciders and a rooftop full of good British sunshine later and I was convinced that I had misjudged my former conceptions of Walkabout. My first ever taste of kangaroo also had a part to play in this assumption, being that it was a leaner, more compact competitor to a beef burger, although the burger buns and fries were woeful in comparison to the meat. The view across the coach car park that is Embankment and out over the River Thames must also get a mention here because there aren’t many land-based venues on the north bank that can beat it. Well done Temple Walkabout, and well done the Temple Walkabout table staff stationed up on the roof terrace. Their manners are as alacritous as that of a kids’ show host.
It was only when the sun dipped and we went inside [weird exit policy which means roof-dwelling punters who need the loo must walk around to the front door to enter] that I began to feel a tad old. It was a Monday night and Temple Walkabout was rammed full of youngsters from every corner of the globe dancing to what is probably played on Radio 1 (certainly not Radio 6 Music). I think I was the only person there who wasn’t asked for ID. The theme for the night was allegedly Spanish/Brazilian but none of us recalled any salsa music. Perhaps the Spanish/Brazilian element was down the customers, who were clearly from climate more clement than ours.
Laura Collins:
“....where beer does flow and men (and women!) chunder...”
The eve of my 23rd birthday was spent in Walkabout. The day I turned 23 was spent mainly in the bathroom. For one night only, I had embraced not only the Australian attitude to having a good time but rather a lot of their shots as well. Needless to say, the thought of setting foot in a Walkabout again sent a few shudders through me and brought back a few nauseating memories.
For that very reason, I am proud of my recent actions. I had a refined night at Temple Walkabout. On a regular Monday in July (a few too many years on from my 23rd birthday) I hadn’t envisaged spending my night in Walkabout but after hearing this particular venue had a roof terrace, I was game. After all, sitting outside in the rare English sunshine meant I didn’t have to go near any shots or dance on any tables. And am I glad I dislodged any preconceptions out of my mind. My night in Walkabout was a pleasant surprise. Not only did I learn that it’s not all sticky floors, pints of snake bite and far too many drunken companions, I also tasted a bit of Australian culture – well, the national animal anyway. That’s right, I tucked into a kangaroo salad. Admittedly, visions of me in Australia zoo stroking the joeys did come flooding back, especially when the waitress reminded me that kangaroos were on the Australian currency, but I thought I would embrace the moment anyway – that’s what I did last time after all. The kangaroo was bloody ace (in my best Australian accent) and the service that came with it was top notch. Plus, on the roof terrace I could listen to the sound of the birds and the River Thames rather than the familiar cries of Kylie Minogue and Men at Work ....who “come from the land down under”.
Arthur Browne:
Temple Walkabout is certainly jiving on a Monday night - it would appear those £1.50 drink deals are a winner in central London. There was something very pleasant about a few lazy drinks up on the terrace overlooking the river, followed by a descent into a lively space with a vast bar and a healthy mix of drinkers and dancers. What won my stomach over might surprise you. It was neither the Aussie beverages nor the Kangeroo burger - nope, try the most generous slice of chocolate cake seen in many a moon plus two dollops of ice cream. It might have made me feel like I deserved to walk home but it was without doubt a dessert to do the word 'decadent' justice.
Claire Williams:
I must be getting old.
It used to be that Friday was the night to go out. I’d never miss a Friday night in town. I’d get together with the girls – we’d dress, paint our faces and fog the bathroom out with hairspray, deodorant and all manners of toxic ozone destroying sprays – and we’d stagger out (already half-cut, having drunk cheap wine straight from the bottle like the classy girls we are), ready to paint the town bright red.
Then, out of nowhere, Fridays were out (pubs and bars mysteriously empty, save for the resident drunks in the corner who were delighted for our company), and Saturdays were in. No one told us, and like people turning up at the wrong place for the party we continued going out on Friday, dismayed by the lack of people (“has everyone moved? Is Shoreditch no longer cool?”), until by chance we stumbled into the busiest pub on the way back from our ‘Gym Saturdays’ – and didn’t leave until 4 in the morning. (Just as Friday nights out became a thing of the past, so therefore did ‘Gym Saturdays’. And thank God. I’ve never liked the gym.)
And then, with no rhyme or reason, Thursday became the new Friday. Rolling in still drunk Friday morning became acceptable behaviour, and many a grumble was shared over pints of water and soluble aspirin.
So it is – Thursday is the night to go out. I’m used to that. I’ve changed my routine and it makes my week longer. I’m happy. So what is this – I venture out on a Monday night (oh Monday, a night contentedly dedicated to Eastenders and a tub of ice-cream) to meet some Fluid people for a bit of a (quiet, reserved) knees up at the Temple Walkabout venue. And lo and behold, the place is jam packed! Is Monday the new night out?! Do I have to change my routine – yet again?!
Posted by Christian Rose-Day at 16:50
Labels: Al Fresco 0 comments
Cilla Black Pole Dancing With Dale Winton?
By Anna Parkin
Soho’s chicest gay club, The Shadow Lounge, celebrated its 9th birthday last week with a glittering party for members and VIPs. I felt honoured to be attending the exclusive event as The Shadow Lounge is known for having a strict door policy and, well, being a lady, I wouldn’t be much use to any amorous revellers looking for love.
It was fairly quiet when my guest and I arrived so we managed to blag ourselves a cosy candlelit alcove complete with faux floral decoration. We were in prime position for ogling the handful of merrymakers on the largish dancefloor as they strutted to Ibiza remixes of Kylie, Cheryl Cole and Lady Gaga.
The press release had promised a host of stars would be attending, and I’d been hoping to see famous fag hag Cilla Black pole dancing with a luminous Dale Winton. Instead I got a who’s-who of reality television. Not that I’m complaining, I think I made up about 70% of the viewing figures for Paris Hilton’s Best British Friend.
As we sipped on warm white wine, our alcove got cordoned off with a rope, making us feel like real stars, or at least previous X Factor finalists. We invited the superb comedian Stephen K. Amos (pictured with me here) into our booth for a chuckle, and Australian heartthrob Daniel O’Connor (pictured above) came for a chat to tell us about making the move from soap opera Neighbours to London’s Gymbox where he now works. The scantily-clad waiter kept coming back to remind us we would have to move should a celeb arrive. With a sigh, I got my bag together just as BB9 stud Rex Newmark made his way through the doors.
By this point The Shadow Lounge was brimming with handsome males, generally well-dressed and in their twenties or thirties, although there were a few glamorous women too. The entertainment was in full swing, as the hunky Shadow Lounge dancers took to the stage leaving little to the imagination in their tight gold hotpants. There was gyrating, poking, caressing, licking and even kissing, although not much dancing, during their raunchy performance, which left most of the audience either blushing, laughing or lusting.
After their ‘cheeky’ performance, the dancers descended on the crowd to woo their adoring public. The pop hits kept playing and the cocktails carried on flowing until three in the morning as celebrities and civilians joined forces on the dancefloor, showing those so-called dancers how it’s really done. Roll on next year when The Shadow Lounge hits double figures… Cilla and Dale don’t know what they missed.
Labels: Clubs 1 comments
Sherlock Is On The Wine
By Rebecca Brett
‘We’ve got a brand new wine list, would you like to come and try the new additions?’ is not a line that I hear that often but when someone did say it I, of course, politely declined. Yeah right, I was there faster than you can say Sauvignon Blanc.
I could even take a +1, so my boyfriend (and fellow wine-lover) and I plodded off to the Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes Hotel with deerstalker and magnifying glass in hand. I was expecting the hotel, which is – of course situated on Baker Street - to have hordes of tourists milling about and taking pictures in the hotel but it was in fact the opposite. The place was a haven from the busy road outside.
We arrived with lots of other wine lovers (or journalists, if you will) to sample the menu. We sat in groups of five, with the bottles of wine just in my sights and only the extremely lovely and very knowledgeable Giles Jenkinson in the way of me grabbing a straw and trying them all by myself. He was there from a company called Matthew Clark – a drinks supplier who supply the Park Plaza chain and who won the International Wine Challenge Awards’ ‘Wine Educator of the Year’ 2009.
So we weren’t just going to get stuck in to the wines. We were going to be educated about them first. Wow, there’s a lot to learn. Grapes, tannins, oak barrels, grape skins, reserves, vineyards, hints and noses… the list goes on. Erm, when can we drink the wine please?
Whoop, here goes – eight wines, three white, four reds and one dessert wine. The first, Cloudy Bay, was already a firm favourite between the two of us so it was good to drink it away from home and with a delicious seared king scallop, pea puree and crispy pancetta. Beats the Doritos we usually tuck in to while drinking the New Zealand white.
Of the other two wines, my favourite was the Klein Zalze Chenin Blanc from Stellenbosch, South Africa. There was a red from the same region too. Things got a little hazy after the third glass but if my memory serves me well then I think it was a Pinot Noir, which went deliciously with the roast duck canapé.
This is the thing with wine tasting. I start off being thoroughly interested in every minor detail about the grape, where it came from, who made it, how they made it and then with each glass the interest dwindles. What’s that? Use the spittoon? That’s like tasting a delicious chocolate cake and then spitting it out. Sacrilege.
So with the whites done, I was looking forward to the roses, I’m not a huge fan of the pink stuff but I’ve been to wine tastings before vowing to go straight to the shop and buy the ones we had sampled. But we didn’t try them on the night which I thought was a bit of a shame. So it was on to the reds, I mentioned the Pinot Noir but there was also a Chablis and a Chateau Neuf Du Pape but the best of the bunch (haha) was the Robert Mondavi Napa Cabernet Sauvignon served with a delicious morsel of rib eye steak. Wines like those just increase my wanting of heading to California to bathe in grapes and sunshine.
To wash down a dessert of tarte tatin was the dessert wine, a French Domaine du Seuil Cerons. Dessert wines confuse me somewhat, hardly anyone drinks them and if I’m having a cheese plate I much prefer a ruby port to wash the brie down with. Mixing sweet apples with a sweet wine shouldn’t work but it did.
In fact, it was bloody delicious so when Giles informed us we could stay around afterwards and finish off the wines I went straight for the smallest bottle (unlike me) of the sweet stuff.
With all wines tasted, all bottles emptied and all samples of the menu from the AA Rosette award-winning Sherlock’s Bar and Grill (pictured above) eaten, we staggered off on to the busy Baker Street to go home. One wine tasting: done. One tipsy boyfriend: done. One wishing that the wine tasting included a stay at the four-star boutique hotel: done.
Labels: Wine 0 comments
Bond Always Had Good Gadgets
By Anastasia Hancock
24 London: the name says it all. 24 London were the team behind the launch of new Soho nightclub, Bond. Half past six on a very sunny weekday evening, and I stepped off busy London streets awash with post-work tipplers and the early evening commuters into the depths of a nightclub in full swing, complete with DJ, cocktails, and a crowd that looked like it had spent the majority of the day spraying on the fake tan and carefully selecting an outfit that would see then through a hard night’s clubbing. So this is what they mean by ‘24 hour London’.
A couple of delicious cocktails later, all made with the signature Cîroc vodka (interestingly this brand distinguishes itself from your everyday vodka because it’s derived from French grapes), and I could almost believe I had somehow stumbled into a continuum, and it was in fact the early hours of the next morning. Until I went to the ladies, that is, and had to pass by the adjoining coffee shop, bright sunlight beaming through the open doors.
The event was to showcase Bond’s new ‘cutting edge technology’, which featured interactive technology designed to give the ‘wow factor’ to any night out. This involved interactive tabletops allowing punters to send over a ‘virtual’ drink to anyone they took a shine to (I’d prefer an actual drink myself, but perhaps the romance of the gesture is lost on me), while staff take pictures of happy clubbers to upload onto the walls of the club itself. Impressive stuff, if vaguely reminiscent of the waiter-less Asian restaurants dotted around the capital which boast similar computerized dining tables which allow you to order food yourself.
The walls really came into their own, though, during a demonstration of what happens when some flush clubber orders a whole bottle of Cîroc vodka. The watching crowd parted as a suitably leggy waitress walked through the crowd bearing aloft the bottle, just as a low budget son et lumière display lit up the club with images of the brand. Subtle it was not.
Labels: New Launch New menu New Refurbishment 0 comments
Supermarket + Farmers’ Market = Union Market
When I was younger I used to revel in going to the supermarket with Mum for the weekly shop. It was a chore which my two elder sister’s abhorred, so while they were reading Bunty, kissing/throwing stones at boys or playing Cluedo, I went off with Mum to Tesco – where I buy my best clothes.
Back in the day, all meals were planned for the week and they’d be a huge shopping list that the sisters used to add to… but I was the one who was there, “Oh did you want bourbon cream biscuits… I got custard creams instead.” We’d spend an hour and a half snaking our way up and down the aisles until the trolley was full of treats to fill the fridge, freezer and dry store.
Who does that anymore? Who has time for a weekly shop? Who goes to a supermarket and buys a trolley load for the week. I know that if I did it everything would be gone the next day and I’d have a burning hole in my pocket.
These days, I shop on a daily basis. Not because I am a fat porker but because who knows what I’ll want for dinner on Tuesday let alone tonight. Food shopping still excites me, just like when I was a nipper. Perhaps that’s why I do it every day. My favourite place to food shop is Borough Market; the smells, the freshness, the variety and best of all the way you can try before you buy. Can’t do that at a supermarket, or can you?
Enter Union Market. Bringing the best of both foodie worlds together, supermarket and farmers’ market colliding to make the ultimate in the food-shopping arena.
My friend and I went to the opening of Union Market in Fulham Broadway on a quiet Wednesday night. I was expecting some kind of tented area with farmers selling their wares. How I was wrong. Union Market is where TGI Friday’s used to be, just next to Fulham Broadway tube station. Do you remember the dark and dingy box with ‘crazy’ staff racing around in red and white striped shirts? It’s gone. It’s all gone and in is place is something that you have to see to believe. Low ceilings are gone. Cramped tables are gone. Cocktail bar… it’s gone.
In it’s place is a bright, airy space with high ceilings, nay, windowed ceilings that date back to 1905 – Why Mr TGI would ever cover up the beautiful glass atrium is a myth to me. In place of tables and chairs are food stalls. Fresh charcuterie, a temperature controlled cheese room with fromage from the delectable Neal’s Yard, a bakery, a chocolatier, a colourful fruit and vegetable stall, an antipasti deli, a winery and more… all under one roof.
Imagine the delight on my face when I realised that this was no tent, this was a foodie heaven. Everything we could see before us we could sample. Olive? Don’t mind if I do. Parma ham? Yes please. Fresh baked bread? Go on then. Gin and Tonic? Oh if I must.
Ok so in reality you probably won’t be able to charge in to Union Market demanding free gin, which is amazing by the way (oh, hello Miss Smug) but you should try it via buying a bottle of the stuff, the delightful London-made Sipsmiths Dru Gin.
We made our way around the huge 5000 square foot hall (yep, I measured it) visiting every counter probably more than twice but I wouldn’t like to keep count. And I can safely assure you that after great trials and tribulations that the food here is top notch and the variety of foods I ate you can buy here is phenomenal.
From just-made quiches and sandwiches for lunch to huge hunks of meat and all the veggie trimmings for dinner, and because the store opens at 7am for coffee and bakery goods, you can even go for breakfast. There are even take-out foods for if you are on the go, not the greasy sausage roll or limp chicken wing you get at Asda but the likes of stuffed aubergines, chicken thighs stuffed with orange and rosemary or fishcakes rolled in breadcrumbs. I’ll take them all please.
But it wasn’t just the food that impressed us, the people who worked there were incredible. The chocolate provider was no Thornton’s pro; Damian Allsop is a chocolate God whose previous experience includes working as executive pastry chef at Gordon Ramsay’s The Aubergine and Giorgio Locatelli’s Locanda Locatelli. And you could say his chocolate is healthy, that’s what I told myself anyway- while I was shoving barrel-loads in to my mouth, because Allsop uses water (yep good old H20) instead of cream to make his delicious bites of heaven.
As I said before, the cheese comes direct from Neal’s Yard. Now I don’t know who Neal is but he’s sure done a good job of training up the guys who work behind the counter. We got talking to Rachel – a student who applied for the job as cheesemonger without having any real interest in cheese. After a half day course and some extra training here and there she is now the proud owner of cheese knowledge like nothing I have known before. She could tell us how it is made, why they have the texture/flavour/smell they do, where they were made, she probably even knew the cow’s name that made it but we didn’t press her for the information. Daisy, I imagine.
So they know their stuff, they’ve got the right stuff and it will make you stuffed. As we were walking in, the guy on the olive counter joked that they weigh you when you go in and again when you leave, charging you for the extra weight you have added. Thankfully they didn’t. Hello over-the-overdraft – oh how I’ve missed you.
We were told that there is also a state of the art kitchen that will be providing freshly prepared food at the very centre of the store. Although it was so busy for the opening that the throngs of people were probably standing in the spot where the likes of weekend brunches, cream teas, full English breakfasts, light lunches or a glass of wine would be served.
It’s too bad, I’ll have to go back and see what the place looks like on a normal day. I don’t mind, I have to shop every day after all.
With Union Market, shopping just ain’t what it used to be. I’m just looking forward to the next opening and hoping it’s somewhere closer to home. Balham Union Market please.
Mastering the art of dim sum with Angela Malik
Last week I had the pleasure of a hot and sweaty tube ride to Acton. I didn’t realise how far west it actually is, nor did I realise what a quaint little high street it has.
It seems as though things in Acton, home of the first ever Waitrose, are a-changing. Nestled between a quirky pub with hordes of punters outside and a trendy artesian bakery is the Angela Malik school and shop.
Peeping in through the window, what at first looks like a traditional English tea shop selling cakes and picnic sets turns out to be a mix up of the aforementioned with flavours of the eastern world. Then tucked away at the back is a kitchen, ready for beginners or people wanting to learn more about conventional Asian cookery.
And this is where I fitted in, being an absolute novice when it comes to the world of creating dim sum, I was there to meet Angela and cook up a storm in the kitchen. Either that, or make the kitchen look like a storm had hit it.
Angela Malik, an alumni of Leiths, and with valuable experience at Bibendum and Vong, is the lady behind the school. Asian food and teaching people about Asian food is what she is passionate about, so after making her mark as a chartered accountant, she realised that the daily grind of a 9-5 wasn’t for her and in 2005 shut the numbers shop up and started working towards the shop of her dreams. Looks like dreams come true.
After a wander around the little shop checking out the mix of cordials, chutneys, jams, breads, cheese and crackers with the Asian influence of poppadoms,
Indian pesto herbs, spices, noodles and fish sauce, it was time to start cooking.
The initial part of the lesson was a little tedious, talking about the different taste sensations on the tongue… salt, sweet etc. Hmmm, I think I did that at primary school. But it all makes sense when Angela tries to include all of these taste sensations with every mouthful when she cooks. Something that I took for granted before the class started.
Pinafore on and we’re ready to start cooking, all the ingredients are set out in front of us for the first lesson of steamed spiced pork and water chestnut siu mai dumplings. Sounds hard. Is not.
Using a bamboo steamer, something that I’ve had at home for years but never used for fear of setting it on fire, Angela went through firstly mixing together all the ingredients for the fillings then stuffing a small amount in to wonton wrappers then putting in to the steamer over hot water for ten minutes until cooked through. In the words of the meerkat from the adverts – ‘simples.’
Next up, stuffed Gyoza dumplings. The same principal goes with the mixing but we learnt different techniques for sealing the dumplings in gyoza skins then cooking them by frying and then steaming. This does involve throwing water on to hot fat, which should come with a burns warning, but the result is just as delicious as the previous ones.
I’m used to eating at the likes of Yauatcha, Dim T and Ping Pong and what I usually eat at this venues was right in front of me. And I made them! I couldn’t believe how simple it was to make dim sum. OK, so we had a chef extraordinaire there to help us but the thought of going home to recreate the little mouthfuls of deliciousness doesn’t seem so daunting now.
Bamboo basket, here I come.
Labels: Cookery Classes 0 comments
Chap Advice: 3 Surefire Ways To Snare A Hottie
By Christian Rose-Day.
So, in honour of our new Hot Girl Top 10 Bars, Clubs, Pubs & Restaurants, here are three supplementary ideas to help a young chap in the pursuit of London’s finest fillies.
(1) Does a ratio of 70:30 women to men sound enticing enough? Then you need to get yourself down to one of the fun Blitz Parties that happen at Shoreditch Studios every month or so (pictured above and right). Every single lady there is not just hot, but vintage hot. Perfect rolled hair, pencil lined calves, thick red lipstick and more polka dots than you could shake a stick at. Plus, you get to wear a whole tub of Brylcreem and sport a genuine moustache. Guaranteed good times, and you don’t need to be a mathematicians or statisticians to realise that this is a no-brainer in the numbers game.
(2) Wheeler's of St James's, the Italian restaurant masterminded by celebrity chef Marco Pierre White and hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, has recently opened its bar to non-diners. Nothing too sexy about that, you might assume. That is until you find out that an actual real life model agency hosts drinks here every other Wednesday, attended by actual real life models. See you Wednesday then!
(3) A good mate of mine passed this little tip onto me after successfully completing it himself. It’s crafty, but it works, allegedly. You need to get yourself along to one of the larger, more established gay nights at places like Shadow Lounge, Heaven, or Fire, preferably with one or two of your gay mates. You need to make sure you go on a night which welcomes girls (or faghags, for want of a better word) because they will have their guard down and you’ll find it really easy to chat with them. They will then see you as a ‘challenge’ to be converted and if you play the hetero-curious cards right, c’est voila!
Images courtesy of professional photographer, Julian Dodd.
Labels: Sexy Ladies 0 comments
Farringdon’s New Lounge Bar
By Leo Owen
“No matter where you are in London it takes at least half an hour to get anywhere,” a rule I recall being informed of when I first moved to the city and one that was proved incorrect for the first time this evening. Entering the postcode for Eastside Inn into Google Maps I am pleasantly surprised when I realise it's a mere 15 minute walk from my current abode and a direct one at that.
Virtually arriving as the celebrations kick off, I am amazed by how busy the venue is already. To the right of the main restaurant is the entrance to this new, more intimate, light and airy lounge bar – a long thin room heavy on the wood, mirrors and soft lighting all clad out in mulberry and black. Naturally gravitating to the bar, little sis and I begin with the house speciality cocktail, the Amelie. Unfortunately, there's only one “mixologist” (strangely reminiscent of a more adept Manuel), so the wait for drinks is noticeable, but then this is the launch night and he has his work cut out. I'm certain it wont be like this every night. Occupying myself, surveying the room, I am amused by the unnaturally high number of suited men clutching pretty coloured cocktails in martini glasses, some looking a tad self-conscious.
Never one blessed for my ability to sip a drink, my Bacardi, strawberry, cucumber, honey and Prosecco concoction has slyly slipped itself down my throat within minutes and I'm eager for the next. These things are delish! Upping the stakes seems like a good game plan, so to save hassling the chap behind the bar too often, we order two drinks each. A Butterfly Martini, Smokey Rose, Goa and Jungle Fever are among the deceptively strong culprits that later leave me wishing I'd stuck to one drinks order at a time; The arrival of a monstrously huge bottle of Rose, which is making the rounds, makes decisions about what to sip next even more tempting.
There are a few tasty but scarce canapés circling the room, and we sample soft goats cheese and rabbit on French toast, shredded pork croquettes, vegetable spring rolls and spinach cheese pockets. I begin to wish I could eat more of them as I sink lower into my comfortable window seat.
Eastside Inn’s new addition is aptly categorised a “lounge bar” (background music quietly discernible over the natter of chatter). As the minutes pass, I’ve certainly become a lounger and am pleased to stumble, grinning, into the cool air and begin the uncharacteristically brief journey home towards my bed.
Spain V The Netherlands, The Final: The Ultimate World Cup Pub (bar & restaurant) Crawl
By Anthony Lord
So it's over and done with for another four years. And apologies to all those loyal readers out there for only getting the final blog up a couple of days after the final match, but these last 30 days have taken their toll. It's taken me over a day and a half to recover from one of the best sporting experiences of my life.
It's apt that I get to blog about the final of the 2010 World Cup for the Fluid World Cup Pub Crawl seeing that I was the one who kicked off the binge in what seems ages ago, but it was only 11 June. Since then many great venues have been visited, hundreds of pints supped, and many a South African themed snack munched on in the name of 'research'.
As a South African, that opening game for me was a biggie, but alas the The Horatia didn't deliver. In contrast, The Walkabout at Temple was pumping for the final. The story starts three weeks back when my housemate and me ventured out on a Sunday to watch Brazil's final group game. We'd heard the The Walkabout at Temple was popular with Brazilians, and the rumours were right. ‘Twas a good night. That night we met a couple of lovely Spanish ladies, and we partied Brazilian style together. But they reckoned the Spanish can party better. We were sceptical, so agreed to meet up for the Spain's next game. And boy were they right.
Fast forward to the day of the final, and a promise made that if Spain got to the final, we'd watch with our Spanish beauties, wherever they wanted to watch. And guess what, they chose The Walkabout at Temple. We got there after 5.30pm and there was already a queue. But admittedly that's where the party started. The Spaniards in London were up for this, chanting Matadors, vuvuzelas, and even the passing cars hooting.
It was packed in the main bar, so we went to the smaller, second bar. Nice and cool for this heat wave, no waiting at the bar, easy access to the toilets, and to be honest, sure there wasn't the atmosphere as there was in the main bar, but the actual game wasn't much to talk about so where we were was perfect.
When Spain scored, and when the match ended, mayhem erupted. We rushed to the main bar singing songs I didn't understand; I just wanted to join in. After the trophy was handed over we went outside to continue the party. Embankment had come to a standstill; cars struggled to get down the road.
We decided to go have a look at Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly, and I'm glad we did. Both were heaving with jubilant Spanish. Swimming in fountains and climbing up statues, might as well have been in Madrid.
All in all, a great way to end a great tournament. It was also fitting to end Fluid London’s Ultimate World Cup Pub Crawl in what is probably the best venue to watch sport in London. You are always guaranteed enjoying whatever game you are watching with fans from the countries involved. And that is what London is all about.
Bring on Fluid Brazil!
Labels: World Cup 0 comments
Camden’s New Roof Terrace
Words by Greg Hall. Images by Julian Dodd
If Al Gore were to jump off the tube at Mornington Crescent looking for a good time
in his glad rags, it would probably warm the cockles of his heart to know he can schmooze on the recycled roof terrace at KOKO, one of London’s prime hotspots.
In fact, Mr. Gore would find the launch of the Lounge Bar’s outdoor area to be a convenient truth if he fancies some fresh air to go with his drink. As a general idea; the creation of the patio area makes some welcome room from the crowded, dimly lit, yet lavish lounge. However the environmental twist has made this move much more benevolent. The use of regenerated rubber tiling (made from car and truck tyres) has without doubt never been placed in such a funky setting. I’m also sure that it had never been adorned with such a diverse display of flamboyant footwear as it was the other Friday night.
KOKO doesn’t stand alone in having eco-aware policies. Numerous venues in London are following this fashion. Some more progressively than others; Surya has its own solar and wind turbine system and is literally powered by the dancing feet of clubbers. The phrase ‘dance till you drop’ has never had such monumental ramifications.
But getting back to KOKO; in what has become a splendid British summer, this inaugural al fresco event held at altitude was tinged with opulent imagery as a balmy night drew in over the capital. The born again balcony gleamed under the memorable KOKO sign, as the prominent haze of purple lighting shimmered on the wondrous white walls, bouncing down on us rooftop revellers while we overlooked the ever constant ebb and flow of the lumbering urban landscape. So yeah, it was a pretty decent place to have a beer.
On an aesthetically understated, sleek veranda, the atmospherics were average. However, things livened up in the adjacent Lounge Bar as the handball hoopla and penalty shootout drama of the World Cup Quarter final between Ghana and Uruguay broke out like an intense rash.
Passers by would have heard the groans of oohs and ahhs in harmonious unison from the top of KOKO as Africa’s popular Black Stars were blighted by the Gods of football. Their spot kick demise to the South Americans was a process of elimination that we English are too well accustomed.
It may not have been as riveting as the gig nights that KOKO is well known for, but it’s hard not to have fun in this luxurious labyrinth. I think a shout out has to go out to my friend Luke’s tattoos. Emblazoned across his forearms in decadent Roman lettering and numerals are his name and date of birth, and no he doesn’t have amnesia. They always seem to attract attention from randoms. I have dubbed these beauties; ‘The ICE BREAKERS’. At KOKO, just like on many night outs, they encouraged banter filled small talk which always tends to be fruitful. On this occasion the fruits bared were shots on the house and an invite to a private party upstairs. All in all this typifies the sort of enjoyment one can have in KOKO, as it attracts a laidback, upbeat youthful crowd.
We should all coco that the environment is a pressing prevalent issue. KOKO certainly knows it, though the primary aim for them is to provide an entertaining evening out.
Platform Cider Tasting
Pacing outside WHSmith in London Bridge Station, I can't help but feel the irony of the text message I sent some 40 minutes earlier, warning my now very late date, that I myself was running a few minutes over. I'm starting to worry I'll miss the highlight of the start of a busy evening but thankfully Kirsty arrives and we rush, just making the beginning of the presentation and cider tasting.
As a huge cider fan and a bit of a self-confessed “cider snob” (I hear mistaken cries of “Surely that doesn't exist!?”), I almost pulverised my mousepad hitting “send” in response to the press release. Luckily for me, farmer Barney Butterfield produces a mouth-watering range of ciders and co-owns Platform where some of these gems are served up. Proud of recently being awarded best Scrumpy at the CAMRA awards (Campaign For Real Ale), Barney is keen to explain the cider-making process and some of its history, in order to dispel some of the myths surrounding one of the oldest, most natural tipples.
Ushered upstairs into a room with a farmhouse feel, we circle Barney, sitting in small groups around tables with swilling vats, glasses and water. An impressive wine rack holder takes up most of the back wall but it's the bottles on the table behind Barney that most interest me.
Our first taste is of the Devon Scrumpy, fermented in modern conditions using the most expensive way of pressing apples, this is a clean simple milky honey-coloured cider. Vastly preferable to the average carbonated shite found in most pubs, the Scrumpy may be 0.5% stronger but isn't a patch on the Old Kirton.
Barney warns us that, being straw-pressed, it might not be to everyone’s taste and he's not wrong to put out the disclaimers as it's certainly an acquired taste. Having done the rounds at CAMRA festivals, the artificial toxic colour reminiscent of an orange Panda Pop doesn't perturb me and the sharp acidic initial taste with a stomach-rotting vinegar bite that inexplicably turns to sweetness is bizarrely satisfying. It seems both my companion and I are the 1:10 people Barney normally finds appreciative of this strange beverage – perhaps a clue to the source of our friendship.
Suitably wooed, Barney pulls out the perception-challenger, the Vintage “2 Year Strong Cider”. Fermented in old rum barrels with smells reminiscent of Whisky and the Caribbean, at 8% it's smoother than the previous offering and more of a treat cider, served in a screw top wine bottle.
The final two ciders are more familiar fare for the stereotypical dirty white cider drinker but only in that they are fizzy. Shaky Bridge is a filtered Scrumpy sweetened with sugar that smells and tastes like pure apple juice or Appletiser, while Redvers Buller is a 6% blend of the straw-pressed and Vintage, smelling of Refreshers and aiming to please less adventurous cider drinkers.
Barney recounts sampling 130 ciders when judging at the 11 County Cider Show and we're suddenly worried; our empty stomachs are no match for his potentially lethal produce and as much as I want more, I need food – luckily, downstairs an array of food especially devised to complement the drinks awaits.
Leaving the farm, we enter a trendy chilled-out zone, our speedy entry somehow concealed; Zero 7 perfectly harmonisers with plush but simple décor, combining a luxurious long wooden bar, comfy chairs, a kitsch frieze, giant disco ball and inventive light shades – old bird cages covered in mesh jersey fabric. Being a fashion enthusiast, Kirsty is particularly taken with the lights, recalling modelling for Henry Moore's family some years earlier at Kew Gardens wearing a similar material, in order to appear mummy-like.
A chatty vegan hands out delicious cocktail sausages stuffed with mash, mini cheeseburgers and pork and apple sandwiches. Approving of Kirsty's distaste for meat, she swings the bubble and squeak, sun-dried tomato crackers, fried courgettes and frozen apple crush our way and we're soon supping on cider again. Clearly proud of his produce, and rightly so, Barney introduces himself and an animated discussion begins about how cider is defined and the need for reclassification.
By the end of the evening Barney knows more about worldwide cider availabilities and I finally understand why the producers of mainstream ciders liked Strongbow, Magners and Bulmers push for their tasteless ciders to be served chilled. Leaving Platform for the next item on our ambitious agenda, having tasted Barney's cider range, I almost wish I'd been born a West Country worker with half my salary paid in cider.
For more information, check out www.sandfordorchards.co.uk.
Labels: Cider 0 comments
Spain V Germany: The Ultimate World Cup Pub (bar & restaurant) Crawl
By Cat McGovern
I’ve often walked past Bistro K, power walking my way to Hummingbird Bakery and Snog at South Kensington. I’ve always been intensely intrigued but never actually ventured in, until now. Fortunately tonight I’m watching the football here, so I can see what really goes on within. Tables sit on the terrace and overlook the busy Old Brompton Road with a huge white parasol protecting customers from the elements. Pushing open the glass doors, we enter into a sleek and surprisingly very big venue with beautiful front windows that make it easy to people-watch whilst eating.
We go to our table, which is right in front of the 50-inch plasma screen, and order some wine. I try to pronounce it and fail, so instead feebly point at it on the menu and hope for the best. The boyfriend scoffs, “Well, it’s Gewürztraminer obviously.”
“Riiiight. OK, yes, that please.”
It’s quite an unusual wine, hectic in flavour and aroma. Lychee, kiwi and honey scented, almost like a dessert wine, it really is an interesting tipple.
When the bread is placed on our table, I let the boyfriend chomp it because everyone knows that if you eat bread on an empty stomach, you fill up too quickly. I watch him take delight in every morsel. I’m jealous, so I cave, and take some myself. You know a place is going to be good when the bread is spectacular. Whoops, just got through three bits, better slow down.
Our starters arrive just in time before I’m given the chance to eat all the bread. I’ve gone with crab salad, whereas the boyfriend has a cucumber gazpacho. Both are very professionally presented and I dig in eagerly. The salad is light with a tang of acidity in the dressing. The smooth avocado mousse blends excellently with the crab. The juxtaposition of the delicate flaked crab with the crunchy vegetables is sublime. I peer over at the gazpacho longingly. The boyfriend takes pity on me and offers me a bit. Essentially it’s a cucumber soup with ribbons of cucumber and a horseradish cream; a perfect summer dish.
3 minutes into the match and there’s a pitch invader. ‘Wa-hay!’ shouts the boyfriend.
The mains are presented to us without much time to breathe: organic poached salmon and stuffed chicken breast. The salmon tastes so pure, it’s quite simply the best salmon I have ever had. Already great on its own, the addition of the hollandaise really brings the fish alive. Their accompaniments, crushed potatoes served in a brass pot, are amazing. The chives, butter, and sea salt make for a great potato treat.
I’m not even three bites into my main and the boyfriend’s wine, which goes with his chicken, is placed on the table. I say placed, I mean poured all over my back and my main. And it’s red wine. I am sufficiently soaked from my hair to my hips and they don’t even have hand dryers! I soldier on and a replacement main is brought out, thank goodness it’s so wonderful or I might’ve walked out in a huff. Unfortunately, during this kerfuffle, the boyfriend has eaten his main. Greedy so and so, but I try some of the fancy sauce that he’s left behind: a foie gras foam that is rich and indulgent, two things I really like.
I look up occasionally to see what’s going on in the football, and the answer is: not much. The boyfriend agrees and digs deep into his strawberry panna cotta, served in a martini glass. It’s very sweet with a layer of strawberry on top and a fluffy vanilla mousse beneath. The second dessert, the raspberry soufflé, is not as impressive as the other dishes. Although it is cooked perfectly, I don’t think the tartness of the raspberry is fitting for a soufflé.
By half time, we’ve already eaten our whole meal. All served speedily with little time to contemplate. Fortunately for me, all dishes have been very light because normally by dessert I am crying for the food to stop coming. But in this case, I am content.
An Irish coffee cocktail somehow makes its way to our table and, as I’m not a fan of coffee, I politely take a sip and subtly move it over to the boyfriend.
As we’re finished and I’m more than a bit wet, we decide to head off and catch the second half at home. Hopefully it will be more exciting this half, let’s wait and see.
Proud Cabaret’s New Look
By Faye Armstrong
Is it considered weird to exit a party without broadly announcing your departure? I was informed by my friend Claire that my stealthy disappearance from such an event a few weeks back was seen as socially odd and had been a topic of conversation ever since.
In my opinion, reluctance to make a big deal out of leaving a party is common. Those who practice it wish not to create an air of mystique, but are rather just abiding by the assumption that none of the assembled gives a hoot about whether they stay or go, which renders any goodbye completely unnecessary. To loudly state you’re leaving with a comprehensive goodbye presumes that others care about your presence. For those who are the charismatic epicentre of a party, whose absence would be felt, this may be a truth, but for those of us who loiter on the sidelines it makes sense to make a peripheral exit if you only play a peripheral role.
And so, batting back-and-forth our ideas of what is considered appropriate party etiquette, Claire and I entered into yet another minefield of rules; this time not a friend’s birthday party but a showcase evening at one of London’s most treasured supper-clubs: Proud Cabaret.
Decadence at it’s very best, Proud Cabaret is a portal to a 1920s speakeasy and makes a point of dragging its guests out of their 21st Century London stupor into a sea of tassel shaking burlesque, cabaret, and jazz.
The showcase evening had basically been devised to show off the redesigned venue (what’s that they say? If you’ve got it, flaunt it?) as well as its principal for being: the updated entertainment.
I was seated front and centre (not my usual tangential spot) and as the feather yielding entertainment came at me I had to war with my primal instinct to commence flight. Staying glued to my chair, I was eventually glad to be so close, minus the feather-to-face incident.
Close proximity meant that I missed not a second of the show: hula, en pointe burlesque, scarily good dancing from the Globe Girls, and a drag queen cabaret act who performed Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ better than the former Destiny’s Child star herself.
I managed to divert my eyes from the spotlight antics and take note of the venue itself. It’s dark and it’s obtrusively furtive. It’s a strange exercise in nostalgia for the days of Prohibition and yet it’s nothing like how a true 1920s speakeasy would be. The sought-after hideouts of that time would have attempted to be as inconspicuous as possible; a few chairs, a few tables, perhaps a few posters on the walls. These places didn’t want to be found, didn’t want to be loud. Proud is loud, and proudly so. It’s intemperate, with luxurious purple velveted booths, an expensive (well it looked expensive) wooden floor and heavy floor-to-ceiling drapes. The white linen tablecloths showed no sign of creases and the heavily framed mirrors reflected images of wrought iron screens and imposing candlesticks. The surroundings were as spectacular as the show itself.
A few glasses of champagne and more than my fair share of canapé tasters later, and it was time to leave. As growing up is all about building an arsenal of graceful moves, and no longer wanting my personality to be illegible to the world, I decided there was no other alternative but to smile awkwardly, wave my hand in a rhapsodic gesture, and mouth the word ‘bye’ to the congregated Proud staff. My reward was a jumble of sentiments encouraging me to “come again” and “don’t stay away too long”. I may never be the centre of attention but the nice Proud folk certainly believe that the peripherals - and all who occupy its space -are part of the bigger picture.
Bringing BYOB up to date
By Kelly Parsons
Bring Your Own Booze: conjure up an image of the local curry house? Those associations will soon be consigned to the restaurant dustbin of history if wine lovers, Khadine and Christopher Rose, have their way.
They have persuaded some of London’s leading restaurants – 50 at the latest count – to sign up to their recently-launched brainchild, BYO wine club, and allow wine enthusiasts to bring their own special bottles for no, or a substantially reduced, corkage fees.
Restaurants already on their growing list include perennial favourites like Angelus, L’Oranger, Le Cafe du Marche, Wodka, Boisdale, and Le Cafe Anglais, to top Michelin-rated eateries such as Tom Aikens (pictured here), Apsleys at The Lanesborough and Rasoi Vineet Bhatia.
For restaurants, listing on byowineclub.com is free, but by invitation only, and they must meet the club’s high quality standards. The founders expect to have over one hundred participating across London by the end of 2010.
“My husband and I were thinking about how wonderful it would be to bring a favourite bottle of wine from our collection to dinner at some of London’s best restaurants. After speaking with a few restaurant industry friends, BYO Wine Club was born,” explains co-founder Khadine Johnson Rose, who has a background in the drinks business, having worked as a brand ambassador for Remy Martin and several Diageo brands.
While the club is undeniably aimed at reducing the costs of eating and drinking out, it is a far cry from the traditional concept of sticking a bottle of cheap plonk or a few tins of beer in a carrier bag and rocking up to a low end restaurant which can’t afford an alcohol licence. This new take on BYO is aimed at diners who want to drink fine wines but resent the significant mark-ups charged by decent eateries, which often mean they will drink far better wine at home than they do when out for a meal. To that end, annual membership costs just under £100 a year, although there is currently a special launch rate of £75.
So what’s in it for the restaurants? Surely wine is one of their biggest money-spinners? Clearly the impact of the economic downturn has forced many to get a bit more creative in an attempt to fill empty tables. “Participating restaurants can attract and retain wine enthusiasts - a high-spending restaurant-going audience,” says Rose. Some venues also impose restrictions in their listings, including a corkage fee (typically between £5 and £15), minimum spend, weekdays only and other limitations.
The club also provides a set of clear etiquette tips and common sense do’s and don’ts for members to abide by. It’s absolutely forbidden to bring homemade wine or boxed wine, beer, cider, alcopops or spirits. Other recommendations include discreetly presenting your bottle of wine to the Maître d' or wait staff, preferably in the tote provided to members on joining, or at the very least discarding any carrier bags or other packaging before entering the restaurant and presenting the bottle on its own.
Rose also says members should endeavor to bring wines on par with at least some of the wines on the restaurant's own list. “If you feel the need to bring a truly inexpensive bottle, it's best to do so at a comparably inexpensive restaurant,” she says. She suggests that, where possible, members should avoid bringing exactly the same wine that is on the restaurant's list. “Also, consider offering the sommelier a taste of your wine - it's just a nice thing to do,” she adds.
What's Fluid London?
Welcome to the Fluid London blog, a sideways look at London’s eating, drinking and socialising culture. Everything from bars, restaurants, pubs to clubs, with all the lovely little gaps in between.
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SMS4PC grow the business in Europe
Today officially launched the new service SMS4PC in the international market. The service makes it possible to send SMS from your PC to many recipients at once, making it easier for companies in various industries to communicate with their staff and their customers via their mobile phones.
Sales of SMS4PC is already underway and is growing by about 30% per month, and has customers all over Europe. The business concept is simple: By highlighting the benefits of communicating via text messages over e-mails and phone calls will increase sales. The service is used in email clients like Microsoft Outlook, which is part of the interface or in a standalone "app" from the computer.
The first SMS service in the Google Chrome App Store
During the first quarter of 2011, SMS4PC, which is now app-based (Ie. you download and install an application locally on your computer) to develop an intelligent cloud service. Integration with Google Chrome and Google App Markets are also planned, and the service is expected a bright future.
It is the Swedish mobile company Mobispine that develops and sells the service SMS4PC. CEO Joakim Hilj already has a number of successful projects behind him - including the co-founder of the largest consultant broker for IT professionals, eWork Scandinavia AB, and Mobispine AB together with serial entrepreneur Joacim Boivie.
"The type of service that SMS4PC represents is not unique to the market", says Joakim Hilj, CEO of Mobispine. "But our offering and market strategy is unique. Our target customers are industries where the safe and rapid transfer of information is paramount. SMS is still the single most widely used mobile application and we have taken advantage of that when we developed the service, " he continues.
Now also company bundles
Operators previously integrated Mobispine SMS platforms are Vodafone, Telenor, TeliaSonera and Tele2. With the launch today SMS4PC further developed from being merely a product of the major operators' package deals to become a full-scale stand-alone services that are sold directly to users via the website www.sms4pc.com.
Customers who already use SMS4PC are primarily companies in the IT, financial, staffing and transportation industries.
Posted by Joakim at 1:26 PM 80 comments:
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The Celebrated Thanksgiving Ape
Posted on November 26, 2015 by Mike Glyer
Intro by James H. Burns: For a generation of New Yorkers and indeed, folks all around the country, Thanksgiving became not just about family and friends, and the Macy’s parade (and football!), and early dreams of mistletoe, but a journey alongside Carl Denham, and Ann Darrow, and Captain Englehorn, through what remains one of the finest celluloid fantasies….!
(Besides, it’s also a chance to remember, again, my good friend, Chris Steinbrunner, who helped program that Thanksgiving wonderment, and was responsible for all so much else in the worlds of imagination!)
A Trilogy of Kong by Mike Glyer: James H. Burns’ trilogy of fine articles at The Thunder Child recalls the era when a New York City TV station persuaded whole families to park in front of the set on Thanksgiving and watch King Kong for the zillionth time.
King Kong in the City: A Thanksgiving Tradition: Burns tells about his father’s affinity for the famous ape movie, and his personal memory of discovering the film on Saturday morning TV in the Sixties. The station was New York’s channel 9 (the former WOR-TV) and in the next decade it broadcast the movie every Thanksgiving, before long adding the sequel, Son of Kong, and 1949’s Mighty Joe Young, another stop-motion animation picture from Kong’s creators. The annual tradition lasted until 1985.
Chris Steinbrunner: A Renaissance of Fantasy: Chris Steinbrunner, an executive with WOR-TV, is according to Burns “one of the great unsung heroes of fandom, who helped run many of his era’s conventions, was an Edgar-award winning author, wrote one of the very first books on science fiction and fantasy movies, published many books (with Centaur Press)… and produced what may well be a lost 007 special!…” Burns says, “My old pal was a pretty neat guy, and a while ago, I was stunned that save for a short Wikipedia entry, there was virtually none of Chris’ history on the web.” Articles like this surely will keep him from being forgotten.
One of the great times Chris and I were together came early one morning in 1983 when we ran into each other high atop the Empire State Building, gathered on the Observation Deck for a special press party commemorating King Kong’s fiftieth anniversary. With the men in suits and the ladies elegantly attired, champagne was poured as we looked towards the bi-planes in the distance, booked especially for the event, that buzzed as though in a dream, above the shores of Manhattan.
When someone asked Chris about Kong Thursdays, he replied, as he almost always did, with a quick pause, a sudden smile, and said: “King Kong on Thanksgiving…? Whoever would have thought of such an odd idea?”
Meanwhile, At the Empire State Building: The third installment is about the Empire State Building and Fay Wray.
This entry was posted in Like Show Business and tagged James H. Burns, King Kong by Mike Glyer. Bookmark the permalink.
2 thoughts on “The Celebrated Thanksgiving Ape”
Pingback: On the Friday After Thanksgiving: Enchanting Chances, And Cosmic Dances | File 770
Tim Walters on November 27, 2015 at 5:58 am said:
I am glad James H. Burns’ excellent “King Kong in the City” trilogy remains available on The Thunder Child website.
The episode of MAUDE that Jim references in part one is “Vivian’s Party.” Maude’s husband Walter (Bill Macy) is ecstatic when he learns Fay Wray may be attending a party hosted by their friends next door. Walter claims to be the “only man in the world who has seen KING KONG 153 times.”
Coincidentally, the MAUDE segment originally aired on a Monday night in November 1974, just ten days prior to Thanksgiving!
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