Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Lifting the Iron Curtain (1) “Minefields at the Border “
Lifting the Iron Curtain Part 1: Minefields at the border The Cold War was still very hot in the late sixties. Tensions simmered, and nobody really know how the future was going to play out. As a teenager, I read books on Karl Marx, Nikita Kruschev, and Stalin. I read about the Katyn massacre, and…
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Learning to Fly Helicopters (1) “Seduction “
Learning to fly Helicopters Part 1: Seduction When a chap has already logged several thousand hours fixed wing, and then starts getting involved with helicopters, people will ask ‘why?’. When on top of that, he has previously been unkind about helicopters, people will be doubly intrigued. My quiet opinion, along with a great many fixed…
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Of Helicopters and Humans (25) “Benjy, the Groundsman “
Of Helicopters and Humans Part 25: Benjy the Groundsman (a true story) Many moons ago, and many complete elliptical orbits around our medium class Sun, I was instructing hairplanes and heli-whoppers in a faraway country. It tended to be wet there, and the grass grew often and tall. We had a good old boy there,…
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A Blip on the Radar (39) “I could have been a Librarian “
Forgetting to undo one tie-down… the one millionth pilot to make this same old mistake A Blip on the Radar Part 39: I could have been a Librarian There was a period of time in Oz and New Zealand, when, if I understand correctly, Federal student loan programs were very readily available for those wishing…
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Of Helicopters and Humans (24) “Of Vomit and Mischief “
Of Helicopters and Humans Part 24: Of Vomit and Mischief I have worked as a flying instructor (fixed wing and heli-whoppers) in widely different parts of this funky blue dot. It’s been rather interesting. What sticks in my tiny mind are a great many different things, one of which is the wide variety of…
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Of Helicopters and Humans (23) “Those Dang Dangerous Helicopters “
Of Helicopters and Humans Part 23: Those Dang Dangerous Helicopters I always ask the ground staff to let me know if I’ve got a “First Time Flyer”. A virgin chopper-rider. After all, if they have half a brain, they should be nervous. Maybe a touch of ‘terrified’ even. “What, leaving the ground? In that thing?…
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To My Regular Readers (all two of you)
So WHY scribble? And dream? Perhaps we just vent the soul? Click HERE Serious? Us two? Sure! Always! Got a pickle sandwich…? In regard to some well-meaning writers and other friends of mine, who seem vexed with my indifference to a whole host of things they seem to prize highly… To wit: advertise on my…
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Of Helicopters and Humans (22) Sounds like a stupid thing to do
Ah-ah! Do not sneer… It’s way easier to do than you might think… Of Helicopters and Humans Part 22: “Sounds like a stupid thing to do “ With a sigh I left someone dear and floated off into the mist and fog with oars bent for Loyang and Kuangling’s bells and treeline fading this…
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Of Helicopters and Humans (21) “People who fly in glass helicopters, shouldn’t fly low “
Of Helicopters and Humans Part 21: “People who fly in glass helicopters, shouldn’t fly low “ This bird of the immortals born for the wind With turquoise lapels and robe of green Regards my feathers as peculiar as I twitter away thinking I can sing (Wei Ying-Wu, Chinese poet, AD 773) A foggy morning in…
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