Friday, September 30, 2022

The Friday Link for 9/30/22

This week we go into the history of the Civil War, and one of the most important overlooked elements of the war, the end of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.  

When you look at the Civil War, Gettysburg was where Lee realized he couldn't win the war on bravado and determination, the fall of Georgia and Vicksburg broke the spirit of the South, but I think it was when the Confederate Army of Tennessee was defeated that Lee knew the gig was up. There were not going to be any reinforcements so when his army lost a man, that was it.  There was no replacement.

What I didn't know until this week was how badly Confederate General John Bell Hood mismanaged the Army in the final few battles.  They pretty much did themselves in.  They tried to draw Sherman and his army out of Georgia, but instead, Sherman and Grant sent a few different military corps/brigades to deal with the Confederates. The plan was the Union forces would meet up at Nashville and repel the expected Confederate strike. 

Nashville fell fairly early in the Civil War, with the Union having control of the town in 1862.  The feeling Hood had was if they could retake the city, it would galvanize Southern pride and help get more people to fill in the quickly depleting ranks of the Confederate forces.  It didn't go as planned.

Three consecutive battles pretty much wiped out the Army of Tennessee, Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville.

Spring Hill was more of a monumental blunder by the Confederates.  They had the Union forces trying to get to Nashville cornered, but they failed to notice the northern troops had slipped away in the middle of the night. Hood was furious at the miscommunication which in turn left the road to Franklin open. 

The Battle of Franklin really was the end for the Army.  The north had high ground, and although the Union forces had a weakness in how they were stationed on the south side of Franklin, it ended up being a massive trap for the Confederates.  They chased the first line of Union forces back to their secondary line and when the Union forces were across, the North opened fire with everything they had at point-blank range.  On top of that, the Confederates were unaware of a third Union line hidden behind a hill, giving the North a massive advantage.  Not only did the Union kill Confederates at a 3-1 ratio (troops they could not replace), but they also took out a shocking amount of Confederate generals, a large portion of their command structure.  My guess would be, in an effort to make up for the mistake at Spring Hill, the officers rode to the front line to meet their demise. 

Nashville was almost a predetermined outcome, and if not for the reluctance of the commanding officer General George Thomas, Union forces would have routed the Army of Tennessee earlier.  A lot of Minnesota troops fought in Tennessee and there is a painting of the soldiers at Nashville in the Governor's office at the Minnesota Capitol. 

Here are three different videos which will take you through the timeline. Enjoy a forgotten piece of Civil War history.  


I love seeing Confederates lose! 

Have a great weekend everyone.  Get vaccinated and stay safe! 








Friday, September 23, 2022

The Friday Link for 9/23/22

This week's Friday Link is a return of 'True Facts with ZeFrank.'

I first came across these videos in an unexpected place, the Minneapolis Institute of Art.  They were playing 'True Facts' about the Owl.  Their point is not only do we consider art painting, sculptures, singing, textiles, theater, and more traditional art categories.  It's also comedy, and good comedy is indeed an art. 

Three for you this week, and a warning, the first one is a hoot, but it is also a little more adult at a few points.  You've been warned!!!

Let's find out more about Killer Surfing Snails! 


Next up is the latest entrant from ZeFrank, Parasitic Birds.  This is also a good time to point out these videos are jam-packed with actual information.  Enjoy! 


And last up The Incredible Tardigrade! 


Have a wonderful and safe Weekend! 

Get vaccinated, and wear a mask in crowded areas.  And remember your flu shot too! 





Friday, September 16, 2022

The Friday Link for 9/16/22

This week let's start with a sad story, the decision by evil men to use poor Christian refugees as puppets in their political game.

Republicans tricked the Christian refugees, shipped them against their will to Martha's Vineyard off of the Massachusetts coast, and just abandoned them there.  They never called anyone to tell them they were coming, and they even went so far as to ensure these refugees would have been thrown out of the USA by creating a no-win situation for them. 

Today I passed three churches on one road which all had similar signs, either 'All are welcome here' or "Immigrants welcome.' Abbot and Desantis could have called those churches, or one of the hundreds of thousands of churches nationwide and they would have likely welcomed the needy with open arms, fed them, sheltered them, and gotten them clothes and health care. And they would have figured out a way to get them into society. You know, being Christian.

Instead, a bunch of jackasses couldn't pat themselves on the backs fast enough as they snickered, proud of doing Satan's work.  And they all claim they are Christian.  

Listen to what these poor HUMAN BEINGS had to go through. 


It's amazing how evil some people have become.  It's disturbing the amount of "Christians" who gleefully applaud this disgusting behavior.

Changing subjects and tone, were you aware there once was a September 29th (well actually now in October) festival that rivaled Christmas?  Get your Michaelmas stockings out!


And to try to put a smile on your face, any time Steve Martina and Martin Short are together, they are spectacular. Add in Selena Gomez and the Emmy's and it's pretty funny. 


Have a nice weekend.  Remember COVID is still out there and be careful! 





Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Minnesota State Fair, Art

Every year I post the best of the art pieces from the Minnesota State Fair and this year was great.

This year I'll start with the Fine Arts exhibit.  The below poster was the official poster of the 2022 State Fair and I think it's great. 


The next five pieces were, in my opinion, the best five art pieces at the fair.  They are posted from best to fifth best.  That sculpture was stunning






Here are the rest of the fine arts pieces in no particular order. 





Howdy!










I also wanted to include this exception floral arraignment which won quite a few awards.  Just beautiful!


The seed art is always a crowd pleaser.  We waited in line for 30 minutes to see it and it did not disappoint. 









Finally in the general competition categories there were a few pieces which were pretty good too.  





I love that skull quilt.  Another great fair.  It was fun to be back out into it. I'll leave you with a nice view of Minneapolis and St. Paul from the Space Tower! 












Friday, September 9, 2022

The Friday Link for 9/9/22

Tonight I start with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

It really is remarkable to think that there are people who are near 70 years old and they have known no other chief British monarch other than Elizabeth. She had a good run.  She always seemed like the voice of comfort and reassurance to her subjects, while running the monarchy with a strident determination.

James Corden had a lovely tribute to her on Thursday night's show. 


Queen Elizabeth also became a mainstay of comedy. Between The Kids in the Hall and Jon Stewart doing the "HELLO," to the jokes with a reverence that came from British comedy, she was a common topic in comedy for the last 50-plus years. Nothing highlights the love/comedy adoration element from Britain more that the classic Mr. Bean reception line skit. 

Warning - there are some adult themes here.
 

Also tonight the fascinating history of Caesar Salad. For some reason, two of my favorite YouTube channels  (Tasting History and The History Guy) both had segments talking about the history of Caesar Salad. Frankly I never knew the salad wasn't some old traditional food from Italy, but rather an invention from Tijuana, Mexico.  Here are both of the clips, with Max Miller actually making an older version of the recipe and The History Guy elaborating further on the overall history of the dish.



Have a wonderful weekend.  Get boosted and stay safe. 




Wednesday, September 7, 2022

The Flowers of the West

Of course I took a lot of pictures of flowers while I was out west.  One problem I had was the new phone was having issues getting zoomed-in shots. Some really pretty pictures never happened.

Enjoy these photos.  This first one is one of my favorite all-around photos, taken in Zion National Park.





Las Vegas has a lot of gorgeous flowers, and although some of their larger setups have a lot of fake flowers in them, they do also have some exquisite floral arraignments around the hotels.  These four images were taken at the Bellagio. 





These next few images were from when I was lost in the desert at Escalante National Monument. 






One from at Bryce. I like that it's simple.






Many of the remaining images (but not all) are from around the Grand Canyon.



This is a hummingbird moth.  They were all around the visitor center at Grand Canyon.