For those that have seen it please bear with me whilst I quickly explain it using an excerpt from Wikipedia . I’ll also post a trailer for it.

“Equilibrium is a 2002 American science fiction film written and directed by Kurt Wimmer, and starring Christian Bale, Emily Watson, and Taye Diggs. The film follows Bale as John Preston, an enforcement officer in a future in which feelings and artistic expression are outlawed, and a society where its citizens are forced to take psychoactive drugs to suppress emotion. After accidentally missing a dose, Preston awakens and begins to uncover the suspicious inner workings of the regime governing the totalitarian state.”

Here’s the trailer.

So the reason I bring it up is because who else thinks this is the way the Progressive Left could be heading?

Everyone wears shades of grey so that they’re not offensive to any other group. Would they give up the Pride Flag though or would it be in shades of grey?

No new art is made so it doesn’t offends people, in fact it’s destroyed in the name of the Progress. Different ethnic groups must only create authorised art based on where you were born to avoid cultural appropriation.

Look at the comedy produced. Only the correct jokes can be made. Say goodbye to Dave Chapelle and others.

Books. They must follow the rules or not be made whilst all old books are destroyed.

Look at the things they destroy with DIE which is nearly everything people love.

“Evil is not able to create anything new, it can only distort and destroy what has been invented or made by the forces of good.” J.R.R Tolkien

Now I know what you might be thinking.

“But Vulkan, the progressive Left are ruled by their emotions. they don’t suppress them” I hear you shout.

I agree. Unfortunately those emotions are jealousy, envy and anger. Not very nice emotions, lets be frank. How long until they go further than trying to stop puberty in children and start stunting or blocking emotions which are already side effects when using some medications.

It’s common knowledge that the Left have more mental health issues so it’s not a huge leap to see them on more medications than those with Right or Moderate leaning political inclinations. (I would like to state that I don’t mean EVERYONE on the left has mental health issues or is on medication.)

Could they Progress enough where they decide that feelings need to go as well as your genitals? It certainly means that people would be more controllable. Eat the bugs unfeeling human. Obviously the rich would be exempt from taking and medication.

The part I pulled below from the film description really jumps out at me.

“After accidentally missing a dose, Preston awakens and begins to uncover the suspicious inner workings of the regime governing the totalitarian state.”

Christian Bale’s character is basically Red-Pilled and starts a mini-war on the Government (something I don’t recommend. Peaceful protests please) in a quest to be FREE to FEEL.

If you have never watched the film then please watch and and comment what you think. If the progressive Left got their way could you see them going this far to stay in power?

I could see them forcibly injecting people with some emotion inhibiting “vaccine” at the end of a gun which is why I’m now suffering with envy that Americans have 2A.

I’m aware that my thoughts at this moment are very hyperbolic. These scenarios should never (touch wood) ever happen. I just feel like I can see similarities between the emotionless people in the film that repeat the propaganda and are useless NPC’s and today’s progressive Left. Please comment on if you agree or disagree with me.

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On a lighter note the I thought the movie was brilliant. It introduced me to Gun-Kata.

It is described in the film as:

“Through analysis of thousands of recorded gunfights, the Cleric has determined that the geometric distribution of antagonists in any gun battle is a statistically-predictable element. The gun kata treats the gun as a total weapon, each fluid position representing a maximum kill zone, inflicting maximum damage on the maximum number of opponents, while keeping the defender clear of the statistically-traditional trajectories of return fire. By the rote mastery of this art, your firing efficiency will rise by no less than 120 percent. The difference of a 63 percent increased lethal proficiency makes the master of the gun katas an adversary not to be taken lightly.”

Either way it looks bloody cool.

Anyways I think i’ll wrap things up here. What I’ve written above will hopefully never come to pass but then again 15 years ago I didn’t think people would be mutilating children and cheering it on or having men beat on women as an Olympic sport so who the hell knows lol.

There’s another fantastic film from the 90’s that seems to have predicted the future a little and I think I might write about that as well.

Here’s a hint. MDK.

Please like, share your thoughts and Re-Stack. I appreciate it and you.

I hope I find you all happy and healthy.

Vulkan

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However it happened I'm glad you’re all here in my small little part of the SubStack Universe, now known as the SSU. (Funnily enough, a search of SSU bring up lots of images of half naked Eastern Asian men so I won’t be searching for that again lol.)(I also finally used the SubStack Ai picture generator thing.)

The last time I released a “look at me, look at my previous articles” post was back on the 1st March. Since then I’ve gained 175 new subscribers. Crazy. Also, take a moment and think about what has happened globally since the 1st March. It’s insane and hard to keep up with.

Anyways I’m here to write this and once again pimp out my previous stuff for you to peruse.

I hope there is something for you to enjoy. I’m not a journalist or a historian. I didn’t go to university, hell I barely scraped through secondary school with C grades as I got 90% on exams but didn’t bother doing the coursework. I wonder how my life would be if I hadn’t discovered the joys of girls and underage drinking when I became a teenager lol.

Anyways the first post I’m going to highlight is this one.

I had never before attempted a short story of any kind and I had been having fun on watch reading some of the stuff on DnD Beyond. Please have a read and tell me what you think. I value all criticism both good and bad but if you give me bad criticism you might get blocked……………………..thats a joke………..maybe…….……lol.

Now I’m a geek. I love Anime, video-games, comics and things like board games and DnD. So it’s devastating how the state of things I love has been treated by the Progressive Left. The worst part is that when companies are called out on their bullshit they refuse to do the one thing that might alleviate things a little. Own up and say sorry. For what it’s worth. CA did say sorry for their fuck up and it looks like Total War Warhammer 3 is going in the right direction.

The next thing that occurred to me whilst I was on watch, was the power of words. Words matter, especially here in the SSU. I love the word Serendipity and I bet if you think about it, lots of little serendipitous acts have happened throughout your life. Put it down to God or luck or karma. Comment below on a happy accident that happened to you.

When I finished my time on HMS Queen Elizabeth last year, to the detriment of my knee. I went back to teaching baby sailors and realised that I actually quite like teaching young minds. Especially when they bring up politics. I would try to point them in the right direction and I think a couple even joined the SSU.

Now we come to possibly my favourite piece and it’s only because it’s such a fantastic show. People might sneer or turn up their noses but Naruto has more lessons that can be learned by a kid than a lot of the crap that’s put out today. If you start watching Naruto I promise you wouldn’t regret it or your money back.

This was my first attempt at writing a short story set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe using original characters and places. Once again tell me what you think and if it’s bad, well then you know what happens……………I’m joking jeez.

It’s now saying I’m nearing the email length limit so I shall stop for now. I hope people that have newly joined read my older works and enjoy them.

Vulkan

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Angela Carini lasted 45 seconds against a biological man.

Angela Carini

It wasn’t shown here in the UK and no matter how much I’ve searched I’ve not been able to see the fight which lasted 45 seconds before she threw in the towel.

The Telegraph is reporting that she has suffered a broken nose. Thus ends her Olympic hopes and dreams of getting the Gold and all the prestige and sponsorship’s that come with it.

I think it is shocking that this has been allowed. If I was the other women I would just take a knee. I wouldn’t even touch gloves.

I should find it shocking that the MSN hasn’t even mentioned the fight but I’m not though I’m sure we’ll find out about it on The Daily Wire and other alternative news sources.

When I think about it I think I want this cheating man to take the Gold. Because if he does then it might open the eyes of people that had their heads in the sand before.

When we look back we started with Fallon Fox and ended up here at the Olympics and women and girls have been failed at every level.

What is it going to take? I read yesterday about this high schooler left paralysed. Will it take someone dying?

I don’t know what else to write as I’m raging inside at the future my niece has in store for herself. Judging by The Olympics, we’ve failed.

Vulkan

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“This thing all things devours: birds, beasts, trees, flowers; gnaws iron, bites steel; grinds hard stones to meal; slays king, ruins town, and beats high mountain down.” - Gollum

“Time is money” – Benjamin Franklin

A man who dares to waste one hour of life has not discovered the value of life” – Charles Darwin

The significance of the passage of time, right? The significance of the passage of time, so when you think about it there is great significance to the passage of time…. There is such great significance to the passage of time.” - Kamala Harris

Time.

In the hours after President Donald Trump realised he’d survived his assassination attempt, and his adrenaline levels had gone back to normal, do you wonder if he thought about the fact that the Time he had left on this planet was nearly extinguished?

Do you wonder if he thinks about the Time he has remaining? We all saw how his Granddaughter spoke of him. He should be using his remaining Time with them.

It got me wondering about my own Time remaining on this planet. I’m 38 so hopefully I still have at least another 40 years in this old body of mine.

I think about my accomplishments, of which there is nothing Earth shattering. I’ve lived, loved, seen the world, joined the military and that’s about it.

Not much when you compare to some of the greatest humans of our Time and History.

Alexander the Great

Alexander III of Macedon (July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20 and spent most of his ruling years conducting a lengthy military campaign throughout Western Asia, Central Asia, parts of South Asia, and Egypt. By the age of 30, he had created one of the largest empires in history, stretching from Greece to northwestern India. He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered to be one of history's greatest and most successful military commanders.^”

How awesome is that? I know it was a completely different Time in history but a 30 year today could still be living at home with Mum and Dad. Time well spent? That’s situational.

Let’s jump forward in Time shall we.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

“Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition resulted in more than 800 works representing virtually every Western classical genre of his time. Many of these compositions are acknowledged as pinnacles of the symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral repertoire. Mozart is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, with his music admired for its "melodic beauty, its formal elegance and its richness of harmony and texture". Born in Salzburg, Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. At age five he was already competent on keyboard and violin, he had begun to compose, and he performed before European royalty.”

Crazy isn’t it. I know I’m cherry picking but look at what Mozart achieved with the Time he had available to him. There’s nothing I like better than driving around with Classical FM on the radio.

Here’s on for all the aspiring authors on SubStack.

Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who is best known for writing the Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction.

Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18 during the year of 1816, the Year Without Summer, and the first edition was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20. Her name first appeared in the second edition, which was published in Paris in 1821.

So she spent her Time in the Swiss Alps with her husband writing this masterpiece that still has films and shows made about it today. I do love seeing and hearing from the budding and established authors, here on SubStack. Authors like who, not only being a mum to young children is releasing a novel in the next month or who I believe recently go the go ahead to have stories included in a Vampire anthology book. Both have spent their Time chasing their dreams and I find that very admirable.

I had a small look around the Internet on things about Time. Here’s what I found.

“Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to compare the duration of events or the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change of quantities in material reality or in the conscious experience. Time is often referred to as a fourth dimension, along with three spatial dimensions.

Time is one of the seven fundamental physical quantities in both the International System of Units (SI) and International System of Quantities. The SI base unit of Time is the second, which is defined by measuring the electronic transition frequency of caesium atoms. General relativity is the primary framework for understanding how spacetime works. Through advances in both theoretical and experimental investigations of spacetime, it has been shown that Time can be distorted and dilated, particularly at the edges of black holes.

Throughout history, time has been an important subject of study in religion, philosophy, and science. Temporal measurement has occupied scientists and technologists and has been a prime motivation in navigation and astronomy. Time is also of significant social importance, having economic value ("time is money") as well as personal value, due to an awareness of the limited Time in each day and in human life spans.”

Quite a mouthful and as you can see, Time is important for scientists as well as all the religious folk out there.

“Many ancient cultures, particularly in the East, had a cyclical view of Time. In these traditions, Time was often seen as a recurring pattern of ages or cycles, where events and phenomena repeated themselves in a predictable manner. One of the most famous examples of this concept is found in Hindu philosophy, where Time is depicted as a wheel called the "Kalachakra" or "Wheel of Time." According to this belief, the universe undergoes endless cycles of creation, preservation, and destruction.”

Does anyone today believe this? I think in the modern era, Humans have lost the……….will or desire to create beautiful things anymore. Our era is a cold and steel time. When was the last time we built a beautiful building?

I’ve also heard mention that every 80 years, Mankind goes through some sort of war. Ukraine/Russia and Gaza/Israel certainly point to this. That would certainly point to a wheel of time but on a very shortened Time frame.

The study of Time is known as Chronometry.

“Chronometry or horology (lit. 'the study of time') is the science studying the measurement of Time and timekeeping. Chronometry enables the establishment of standard measurements of time, which have applications in a broad range of social and scientific areas. Horology usually refers specifically to the study of mechanical timekeeping devices, while chronometry is broader in scope, also including biological behaviours with respect to time (biochronometry), as well as the dating of geological material (geochronometry).

Records of timekeeping are attested during the Paleolithic, in the form of inscriptions made to mark the passing of lunar cycles and measure years. Written calendars were then invented, followed by mechanical devices. The highest levels of precision are presently achieved by atomic clocks, which are used to track the international standard second.

Ultimately, Time is a finite resource. The average modern human lives about 80 years. That’s not long. Certainly not long enough to be on the Internet, crying and blocking over the fact just butt fucked you with a witty comment.

Spend time with your family. Pray to whatever God you believe in. Phone that friend you’ve been putting off because tomorrow your Thread could be cut prematurely. Mine nearly was back in 2021 when I was hit by a transit van whilst cycling to work. During my recovery, which s still going on today, I reached out to people I hadn’t spoken with in years and we’re all better of for it, especially in this time of the WEF and Bill Gates wanting to cull populations.

I hope I find you happy and healthy. Remember, don’t waste the Time you have left.

Vulkan

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So, for me here in the UK, Joe Biden broke up with America via text.

The MSN will tell you he’s helped in the fight against Trump and I’ve seen Rachel Maddow call him a hero who walked away.

He’s not a hero. Not in the slightest and what the Democrats have done by SELECTING their candidate astounds even me, especially when they go on about “preserving our democracy”

My Note from 3 days ago is bang on I think.

So what next. Biden, or whoever is acting on his behalf now have 6 months until it’s likely that Trump wins.

My question to everyone who reads this is what damage and carnage can be done? Can Joe Biden issue any more executive orders? Is there other lawfare he could do?

Please comment as I really want to know.

I hope I find you happy and healthy.

Vulkan

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So here we go. I’m gonna post some intros and try and describe how they make me feel and what I can remember from watching them. I’m going to try and start with when I was young and then go along in the years. I’ll also try and explain the show a little bit as well for those that might not have ever seen it. I will fill up this article until I get the warning saying that it’s too long for email.

So we’re starting off with the earliest show I can remember. Everyone must know and love Thomas The Tank Engine. Created by the Rev. W. Awdry for his son in 1946, the show was released in October 1984 and finished in 2021. The first couple of series were narrated by Ringo Starr.

I also remember watching a few other shows around this age like Fireman Sam. This made me want to become a fireman but because I’m basically blind and need ultra super strength glasses I think this would have become impossible.

And other shows like Charlie Chalk. The Duck in the show was called Lewis T. Duck so naturally when I got my first dog I called him Lewis T. Dog.

Finally from this sort of 4-6 age bracket I’m going to go with Bertha. I remember watching this with my mother whilst she drank her tea and we both at our way through a packet of Rich Tea biscuits.

I'‘ll also give two honourable mentions of shows that came out in the 60’s I think that my dad would watch with me. Trumpton and Ivor the Engine.

I’m sure there’s more I missed and perhaps I’ll do another but now I’m going to move up to the ages of about 7 to 11.

First I’m going to get on to a couple of classics. Unfortunately they’re on Disney+ so unless you’re willing to pay that company your hard earned money then finding it elsewhere is your only bet. Spider-Man and X-Men. As a poor family we did’t have much money for comics etc so these were my first tastes of superheroes and the values that we all used to stand up for. Never forget Uncle Ben. “With great power comes great Responsibilty.

As you can see that was two excellent cartoons which taught some good lessons about courage, bravery and that we should always have a wise crack ready to go.

I also got into some classics at that age. I think this will really bring back some nostalgia for some lads who are around my age (38) and I hope watching these intros transport you back to being a kid again

First we have THUNDERCATS. HOOOOOOOOOOO.

We also have King Arthur and the Knights of Justice.

I also enjoyed Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors.

This was also my introduction to Dungeons and Dragons.

A couple more I think. I also enjoyed The Pirates of Dark Water.

And finally we end with something that I think every kid watched in the 90’s. We all wanted to be the Red Ranger until Tommy appeared and we all thought Kimberly was the most beautiful girl there was lol. It’s the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The best Christmas present I ever got as a kid was Atmosphere and the Megazord.

So there you have it. I hope it brings back some memories for some people. What di you guys and gals all enjoys? Please comment and tell me.

I hope I find you all happy and healthy.

Vulkan.

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Most of the ceremonies we have, including Royal Weddings and Funerals and things like Trooping the Colour are done in London, involving thousands of civilians and military personnel. For example, the late Queen Elizabeth II had an operation called OP London Bridge.

There are different OPs for the different members of the Royal Family. Please have a quick read of OP London Bridge and you’ll see how much planning went into it.

A lesser known ceremony is The Edinburgh Tattoo which starts on the 2nd August and ends on the 24th August. I nearly got trawled to help out with it but due to medical appointments I am unable to.

Now in this day and age there are a lot of people that will say that this is a huge waste of taxpayer money that could be spent on better things. In my younger days, I was one of them.

Today though, I would much rather spend the tax payer money on things like this than spending it abroad on foreign aid and the forever wars. With the current progressive Left trying their hardest to destroy our cultures and traditions it is especially important that money spent on things like this.

So before I go any further I should explain the other meaning of the word Tattoo. The term “tattoo” derives from a 17th-century Dutch phrase “doe den tap toe” ("turn off the tap") a signal to tavern owners each night, played by a regiment's Corps of Drums, to turn off the taps of their ale kegs so that the soldiers would stop drinking and retire to their lodgings at a reasonable hour.

With the establishment of modern barracks and full military bands later in the 18th century, the term "tattoo" was used to describe the last duty call of the day, as well as a ceremonial form of evening entertainment performed by military musicians.

Lets continue.

In 1949, as part of The Edinburgh International Festival of Music and Drama 'Something About a Solider' was performed at the Ross Bandstand in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens. The performance was produced by Lieutenant Colonel George Malcolm of Poltalloch. The same year, Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm also produced ‘The King’s Men’ on the Edinburgh Castle Esplanade for a standing audience of 2,500. Following these two productions, the new Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Sir Andrew Murray extended an invite to the General Officer Commanding the Army in Scotland. Asking him to present a military ‘show’ to be called the Edinburgh Tattoo. Informally, it was agreed that this would take place annually during the Edinburgh International Festival.

In 1950 the first Edinburgh Tattoo (now The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo) took place. The production included eight items and attracted an audience of 100,000 over its 20 performances. Lieutenant Colonel George Malcolm was the first Tattoo Producer with Brigadier Alasdair Maclean of The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders as Director of the first Tattoo.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and HRH Princess Margaret attended the final night of this inaugural production with legendary English conductor and impresario Sir Thomas Beecham conducted the combined military bands.

Fireworks were first used at the 1950 production. From 1950 onwards the tradition of finale fireworks was born.

Pipe Major George Stoddart (see pic above) performed as the first Tattoo Lone Piper. Going on to perform as Lone Piper for the next 11 years until 1961.

By 1961 sound recording equipment and expertise had greatly improved and the first twelve-inch stereo LP record was made. This was also the first year that the tri-service woman’s groups performed for the first time (the Women’s Royal Naval Service, Women’s Royal Army Corps and the Women’s Royal Air Force).

The 1965 production included ‘Operation 007: An unusual incident in the life of the Royal Marine Commandos’. A display that included the real world-famous James Bond Aston Martin Car and the Royal Marine Commandos.

In 1975, the old scaffolding stands were replaced with stands built using a new German Construction technique – these new stands were used for the next 36 years.

Elaine (right) at last year’s Tattoo with Lone Piper Megan Beveridge

In 1977, Officer Cadet Elaine Marnoch smashed through the glass ceiling to become the first female Lone Piper.

In 1984, the role of Tattoo commentator was shared for the first time. Identical twins, Lieutenant Colonels Stuart and Ian McBain shared the duty.

In 1992 The Highland Cathedral, one of the world’s most famous pipe pieces was performed for the first time at the Tattoo. 

1996 marked the first performance by the United States Army Silent Drill Display Team at the Tattoo.

2002 celebrated Her Majesty The Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Her Majesty The Queen also attended the 2002 Tattoo.

The Royal Navy were the 2005 lead service – 2005 also marked 60 years since the end of World War 2 and 200 years since the Battle of Trafalgar. Learn more about HMS Victory and the Battle of Trafalgar here.

2012 commemorated the 60th anniversary of The Queen’s Coronation. The Hoff also attended.

In 2018 ex RAF pilot Colin McGregor (Ewan McGregor’s older brother) performed a moving poem ‘High Flight’ – a special tribute to the late servicemen and women of the RAF. Laser technology was also used for the last time.

So I hope this has peaked your interest. People might sneer at something like this but it’s the traditions, pomp and ceremony here that we need to keep.

I hope I find you all happy and healthy

Vulkan

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The Edinburgh Tattoo from 2023.

And the Field Gun.

So my niece over the weekend was watching the two Sing films. I enjoyed them more than I thought but there was one song that particularly whose lyrics caught my ear (after hearing it for the 50th time. Toddlers am I right?) That song was Could Have Been Me sung by Halsey.

So I liked the lyrics and immediately started looking into who the original artist was.

I would like to introduce people to The Struts, a band from Derby in the UK that formed in 2012 (No wonder I hadn’t heard of them, I was deployed when they released their first album.) Here’s the original version.

In the office I usually like to have BBC Radio 2 on but since all the good presenters have left I’ve now let one of the other office workers put what he wants on and I tend to listen to podcasts like Tim Pool, The Quartering and The Liberal Hivemind whilst I read SubStack articles work really hard in the office. One song that I constantly find myself humming along to is this.

I also watch Guardians of the Galaxy over the weekend (It’s probably my favourite Marvel film) and I’m always reminded how that the early Marvel films had some classic soundtracks. Here’s my favourite.

Let’s watch the intro as well. Star-Lord. Take it away.

Going back to my niece for a second and she wanted this nursery rhyme played. People this is bloody dark!! It’s like the Brother Grimm wrote it!!

Who has a pooping song? I do LOL.

And my favourite Johnny Cash song.

The best Disney song from the best Disney film. Come at me if you don’t agree.

Followed by the Second best Disney film. RIP Robin Willaims.

Question time. How many white virgin monkeys does Aladdin own? Answers in the comments.

So there you go. Songs that I’ve listened to recently. What do you all think?

Please like, comment and Re-Stack. Everyone needs to be reminded of these songs lol.

I hope I find you all happy and healthy.

Vulkan

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I had never heard of her before but as I listened to Joe talk I learned that she may have been one of the earliest discoverers of anti-gravity technology. Here’s the segment from the JRE.

So anyways, my interest was piqued and and why wouldn’t it be? As a young lad I had loved Star Wars (before Disney got a hold of it) and think that we need more of FireFly and I knew I had to make sure her memory lived on, on SubStack.

Did she actually do it? Did she create this amazing tech. I have no idea but the boy inside, who loves Sci-Fi, who would love to fly in a spaceship before he dies, hopes she did. So please allow me to introduce Ning Li.

Ning Li (Chinese: 李宁, pinyin: Lǐ Níng; January 14, 1943 – July 27, 2021) was a Chinese-American scientist. Born in Shandong, she graduated from the Department of Physics of Peking University, and in 1983 she emigrated with her family from China to the United States.

I have managed to find another YouTube video about her and her work.

These are her papers below that the creator of the YouTube video linked. It’s gibberish to me but this might make sense to the more maths inclined Stackers like.

https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.43.457

https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.46.5489

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00665654

Finally Noah Logan who has written for the Huntsville Business Journal since 2021. A passage from his article.

I first learned about Dr. Ning-Li from a YouTube video that I watched shortly before summer. Titled “The Scientist That Discovered Antigravity Then Disappeared Completely” garnered more than 3 million views and was based on a Huntsville scientist. Over the course of the next 22 minutes, I listened intently as the video’s creator, who goes by the name Barely Sociable, told a story which seemed appropriate for a mystery novel. 

Here is his article about her.

https://huntsvillebusinessjournal.com/news/2023/07/30/solving-the-mystery-of-huntsvilles-brilliant-scientist-disappearing/

I’ll pull some more passages from it that I found most interesting but please read for yourself.

Not only was Dr. Ning-Li from Huntsville, she was also a trailblazer in her field of anti-gravity research. After migrating to America from China in 1983, Li began working at the University of Alabama Huntsville’s (UAH) Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research.

To say her work, referred to as “taming gravity,” could change the world is an understatement. Taming gravity would drastically change the way we transportate on every level. Humans could travel the world at ease and we could finally get our hands on those sweet hoverboards from “Back to the Future.” It would also transform how we power transportation and effectively end our reliance on fossil fuels. 

George informed me that while no one has called his phone before, I wasn’t the first person to contact him on the topic. He has received various letters from people in New Zealand, amongst other places, hoping to learn more about Dr. Li’s research. He can’t help but laugh when he recalls the one time he asked his mom about her work. 

“I asked her once,” he recalled. “I said ‘Mom, do you need to tell me something?’ She told me, ‘First off, you don’t know anything. Second off, if you even think you might know something, you forget about it.’ I said okay that’s fine.” 

Please read Noah’s article and tell me what you think in the comments. I’m really interested in what you all think.

Ning Li was struck by a car in 2014. Her husband, seeing the impact, suffered a heart attack that eventually killed him in 2015. Ning Li suffered permanent brain damage that resulted in Alzheimer’s disease shortly after. Li lived with George, her son, who took care of his mum for the last six years of her life before she passed away in 2021.

I’d like to reiterate that this isn’t an article claiming I’ve discovered anything new. I do have a few questions though. Especially in this age of “The Conspiracy Theory".”

1. Did Ning Li actually come closer than anyone to working out Ant-Grav tech, get taken by the American Government/Military and made to work on it exclusively?

2. Was there something more sinister behind her accident and decline?

3. Did she maybe even invent the tech and get a working copy and then had to dealt with so she didn’t release the details?

4. Was her situation like Marie Curies where her investigations may have caused her Alzheimer’s due to unknown and unforeseen effects?

If you have any theories then please comment and let me know.

There isn’t much more information than this about her. It’s like there’s enough information to titillate (hell yes I got this word in there) the taste-buds, to maybe satisfy a normie, but we here on SubStack, we’re not normies. I did a lot more digging and there’s nothing that I could find. It’s strange. Well I think it’s strange anyways.

Anyways I hope this has piqued the interest of people who are interested in this kind of thing. ‘m just happy that all information about her, as far as I know, is all in one spot.

Please like, share and comment about what you think.

I hope I find you all happy and healthy.

Vulkan

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Here’s the Note.

Now I read and tried to reply to every comment and I’d say 95% of people agreed with the sentiment of my Note. The others though……. They were a mixture of:

• “ooo don’t you think that’s too harsh?” No I don’t. Not in the slightest. Here’s my reasoning, take it or leave it. Today’s activists use easily washable cornstarch paint, tomorrows idiot crazies, seeing that their messaging isn’t working use something worse, like acid. It’s better to punish them severely today rather than risk real damage to our priceless historical artefacts tomorrow. As a side note, lets see these idiots do a stunt like this to the Sphinx or The Great Mosque at Mecca and see what happens.

• “It was only orange coloured cornstarch” This one infuriated me the most. I DO NOT CARE IF IT WAS ONLY CORNSTARCH. Please see my above bullet point as to why I don’t care it was only cornstarch.

Now before I go any further I would like to point out that yes, I would like to see us using less oil but not in the way these idiots do. We need to phase the use out ONLY when we have a viable alternative. Do these psychopaths not understand what would happen if we stopped using oil tomorrow? Does dear Greta understand how many people would die? It’s in the number that would give Bill Gates a hard on he hasn’t had since that Island he frequented.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/just-stop-oil-what-happens-six-billion-might-die//#:~:text=But%20what%20would%20happen%20if,so%20oil%2C%20gas%20and%20coal.

Is that on the horizon? Nope. I maintain that we, in the West need to build more nuclear power plants to provide clean energy to people, lowering bills and limiting our dependence on countries that would do us harm or even try to blackmail us. Is that too much to ask?

Also stop pissing off people by sitting in the middle of roads. Imagine if your wife was in labour having an emergency or your Mum was suffering from a blood clot! These people will kill someone one day and they will say it’s an acceptable loss.

Now onto the main part of this piece. Stonehenge!! (I shall take information from various websites but generally go over the main points of Stonehenge.)

Stonehenge is a prehistoric megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around 13 feet (4.0 m) high, seven feet (2.1 m) wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connecting horizontal lintel stones. Inside is a ring of smaller bluestones. Inside these are free-standing trilithons, two bulkier vertical sarsens joined by one lintel. The whole monument, now ruinous, is aligned towards the sunrise on the summer solstice and sunset on the winter solstice.

Archaeologists believe that Stonehenge was constructed in several phases from around 3100 BC to 1600 BC, with the circle of large sarsen stones placed between 2600 BC and 2400 BC. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the bluestones were given their current positions between 2400 and 2200 BC, although they may have been at the site as early as 3000 BC.

One of the most famous landmarks in the United Kingdom, Stonehenge is regarded as a British cultural icon. It has been a legally protected scheduled monument since 1882, when legislation to protect historic monuments was first successfully introduced in Britain. The site and its surroundings were added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986. Stonehenge is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage; the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust of which I am a member.

Speaking of the UNESCO. Here’s a small part from their wiki page about World Heritage Sites.

“The destruction of cultural assets and identity-establishing sites is one of the primary goals of modern asymmetrical warfare. Terrorists, rebels, and mercenary armies deliberately smash archaeological sites, sacred and secular monuments and loot libraries, archives and museums.”

Hmmmmm.

Mike Parker Pearson, leader of the Stonehenge Riverside Project based around Durrington Walls, noted that Stonehenge appears to have been associated with burial from the earliest period of its existence:

Stonehenge was a place of burial from its beginning to its zenith in the mid third millennium B.C. The cremation burial dating to Stonehenge's sarsen stones phase is likely just one of many from this later period of the monument's use and demonstrates that it was still very much a domain of the dead.

Stonehenge evolved in several construction phases spanning at least 1500 years. There is evidence of large-scale construction on and around the monument that perhaps extends the landscape's time frame to 6500 years. Dating and understanding the various phases of activity are complicated by disturbance of the natural chalk by periglacial effects and animal burrowing, poor quality early excavation records, and a lack of accurate, scientifically verified dates.

Salisbury Plain was then still wooded, but, 4,000 years later, during the earlier Neolithic, people built a cause-wayed enclosure at Robin Hood's Ball, and long barrow tombs in the surrounding landscape. In approximately 3500 BC, a Stonehenge Cursus was built 2,300 feet (700 m) north of the site as the first farmers began to clear the trees and develop the area.

Charcoal from the 'Blick Mead' camp 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Stonehenge (near the Vespasian's Camp site) has been dated to 4000 BC. The University of Buckingham's Humanities Research Institute believes that the community who built Stonehenge lived here over a period of several millennia, making it potentially "one of the pivotal places in the history of the Stonehenge landscape."

The first monument consisted of a circular bank and ditch enclosure made of Late Cretaceous Seaford chalk, measuring about 360 feet (110 m) in diameter, with a large entrance to the north east and a smaller one to the south. It stood in open grassland on a slightly sloping spot.

The builders placed the bones of deer and oxen in the bottom of the ditch, as well as some worked flint tools. The bones were considerably older than the antler picks used to dig the ditch, and the people who buried them had looked after them for some time prior to burial. The ditch was continuous but had been dug in sections, like the ditches of the earlier causewayed enclosures in the area. The chalk dug from the ditch was piled up to form the bank. This first stage is dated to around 3100 BC

The second phase of construction occurred approximately between 2900 and 2600 BC. The number of postholes dating to the early third millennium BC suggests that some form of timber structure was built within the enclosure during this period. Further standing timbers were placed at the northeast entrance, and a parallel alignment of posts ran inwards from the southern entrance. The postholes are smaller than the Aubrey Holes, being only around 16 inches (0.4 m) in diameter, and are much less regularly spaced. The bank was purposely reduced in height and the ditch continued to silt up. At least twenty-five of the Aubrey Holes are known to have contained later, intrusive, cremation burials dating to the two centuries after the monument's inception. It seems that whatever the holes' initial function, it changed to become a funerary one during Phase two. Thirty further cremations were placed in the enclosure's ditch and at other points within the monument, mostly in the eastern half. Stonehenge is therefore interpreted as functioning as an enclosed cremation cemetery at this time, the earliest known cremation cemetery in the British Isles.

Archaeological excavation has indicated that around 2600 BC, the builders abandoned timber in favour of stone and dug two concentric arrays of holes (the Q and R Holes) in the centre of the site.

The holes held up to 80 standing stones, only 43 of which can be traced today. It is generally accepted that the bluestones (some of which are made of dolerite, an igneous rock), were transported by the builders from the Preseli Hills, 150 miles (240 km) away in modern-day Pembrokeshire in Wales. What made these primitive humans haul these huge stones, weighing two tonnes each so far. What was the driving force? I think it’s incredible what they achieved.

During the next major phase of activity, 30 enormous Oligocene–Miocene sarsen stones were brought to the site. They came from a quarry around 16 miles (26 km) north of Stonehenge, in West Woods, Wiltshire.

Later in the Bronze Age, although the exact details of activities during this period are still unclear, the bluestones appear to have been re-erected. They were placed within the outer sarsen circle and may have been trimmed in some way.

The Y and Z Holes are the last known construction at Stonehenge, built about 1600 BC, and the last usage of it was probably during the Iron Age. Roman coins and medieval artefacts have all been found in or around the monument but it is unknown if the monument was in continuous use throughout British prehistory and beyond, or exactly how it would have been used. A decapitated seventh-century Saxon man was excavated from Stonehenge in 1923. The site was known to scholars during the Middle Ages and since then it has been studied and adopted by numerous groups.

Stonehenge at the summer solstice

The earliest-known realistic painting of Stonehenge, drawn on site with watercolours by Lucas de Heere between 1573 and 1575.

So there you have it. A brief history on the construction of Stonehenge. I’ve added links etc for people to do follow up information if they are interested.

https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/world-stonehenge/stonehenge-timeline

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge

Please comment, like and subscribe!!!

I hope I find you all happy and healthy.

Vulkan

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I’m going to start by saying that I know a lot of people hate the fact that we here in the UK have a Royal family, that are rich for no other reason than the fact of the family were born too. It grinds some peoples gears and they want to abolish it etc. I think that’s a serious mistake. I love our British Monarchy.

It’s not the family per se that I love. It’s the history. It’s a history that goes back 1200 years into the past. That’s older than a hell of a lot of countries that are here today. It’s a history that includes castles, battles, honour, glory, death, art, armour, jewels. I’d hate for that to come to an end (plus the tourism money that comes with it.)

Over the course of that 1200 years there have been 63 monarchs starting with Egbert in 827 to our current king, Charles III. We have had many Kings and Queens, some of whom have had a negligible impact on the UK and some who have had a massive impact. In a previous article I’ve written about Elanor of Aquitaine.

Today I’m going to write about arguably our most famous monarch. Today I’m going to write about Henry VIII.

Henry VIII

Born on 28 June 1491 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, Kent, Henry Tudor was the third child and second son of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Of the young Henry's six (or seven) siblings, only three – his brother Arthur, Prince of Wales, and sisters Margaret and Mary – survived infancy. He was baptised by Richard Foxe, the Bishop of Exeter, at a church of the Observant Franciscans close to the palace. In 1493, at the age of two, Henry was appointed Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. He was subsequently appointed Earl Marshal of England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at age three and was made a Knight of the Bath soon after. The day after the ceremony, he was created Duke of York and a month or so later made Warden of the Scottish Marches. In May 1495, he was appointed to the Order of the Garter. The reason for giving such appointments to a small child was to enable his father to retain personal control of lucrative positions and not share them with established families. Not much is known about Henry's early life – save for his appointments – because he was not expected to become king, he was, for all intents and purposes, the Spare (and we know today a certain person who hates the fact that he’s the Spare) but it is known that he received a first-rate education from leading tutors. He became fluent in Latin and French and learned at least some Italian.

Catherine of Aragon

In 1502, Arthur died at the age of 15, just 20 weeks after his marriage to Catherine. Arthur's death thrust all his duties upon his younger brother. The 10-year-old Henry became the new Duke of Cornwall, and the new Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester in February 1504. Henry VII gave his second son few responsibilities even after the death of Arthur. Young Henry was strictly supervised and did not appear in public. As a result, he ascended the throne "untrained in the exacting art of kingship".

My opinion of this is Henry VII did not want any sort of assassination attempt on the young prince. Also remember that disease was rife back in those days and he might have been trying to protect his son from the unseen and as of then unknown enemy known as bacteria.

Henry VII renewed his efforts to seal a marital alliance between England and Spain, by offering his son Henry in marriage to the widowed Catherine. Henry VII and Queen Isabella were both keen on the idea, which had arisen very shortly after Arthur's death. On 23 June 1503, a treaty was signed for their marriage, and they were betrothed two days later.

Henry VII died in April 1509, and the 17-year-old Henry succeeded him as King. Soon after his father's burial on 10 May, Henry suddenly declared that he would indeed marry Catherine. The new king maintained that it had been his father's dying wish that he marry Catherine. I do not believe this was true and think Henry was advised to do this to avoid a costly war with the Holy Roman Empire and it’s leader, Emperor Maximilian I who had been attempting to marry his granddaughter Eleanor, Catherine's niece, to Henry. Henry's wedding to Catherine was kept low-key and was held at the friar's church in Greenwich on 11 June 1509.

On 23 June 1509, Henry led the now 23-year-old Catherine from the Tower of London to Westminster Abbey for their coronation, which took place the following day. It was an amazing affair: the King's passage was lined with tapestries and laid with fine cloth. Following the ceremony, there was a grand banquet, filled with the finest foods of the time and goblets filled with wines in Westminster Hall. As Catherine wrote to her father, "our time is spent in continuous festival".

Soon after marrying Henry, Catherine conceived. She gave birth to a stillborn girl on 31 January 1510. About four months later, Catherine again became pregnant. On 1 January 1511, New Year's Day, a son, Henry was born. After the grief of losing their first child, the couple were pleased to have a boy and festivities were held, including a two-day joust known as the Westminster Tournament. However, the child died seven weeks later. Catherine had two stillborn sons in 1513 and 1515, but gave birth in February 1516 to a girl, Mary. Relations between Henry and Catherine had been strained, but they eased slightly after Mary's birth.

It was these early deaths of his babies that made Henry obsess over having a male heir to carry on his bloodline. He was especially keen to have a son and a spare since he himself had been the spare himself.

Although Henry's marriage to Catherine has since been described as "unusually good", it is known that Henry, as most Kings of the time did, took mistresses. It was revealed in 1510 that Henry had been conducting an affair with one of the sisters of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. The most significant mistress for about three years, starting in 1516, was Elizabeth Blount.

Blount gave birth in June 1519 to Henry's illegitimate son, Henry FitzRoy. The young boy was made Duke of Richmond in June 1525 in what some thought was one step on the path to his eventual legitimisation.

In 1510, France, with a fragile alliance with the Holy Roman Empire in the League of Cambrai, was winning a war against Venice. Henry renewed his father's friendship with Louis XII of France, an issue that divided his council.

Shortly thereafter, however, Henry also signed a pact with Ferdinand II of Aragon. After Pope Julius II created the anti-French Holy League in October 1511, Henry followed Ferdinand's lead and brought England into the new League. An initial joint Anglo-Spanish attack was planned for the spring to recover Aquitaine for England, the start of making Henry's dreams of ruling France a reality.

On 30 June 1513, Henry invaded France, and his troops defeated a French army at the Battle of the Spurs – a relatively minor result, but one which was seized on by the English for propaganda purposes. Soon after, the English took Thérouanne and handed it over to Maximillian; Tournai, a more significant settlement, followed. Henry had led the army personally, complete with a large entourage.

These campaigns had given Henry a taste of the military success he so desired. However, despite initial indications, he decided not to pursue a 1514 campaign. He had been supporting Ferdinand and Maximilian financially during the campaign but had received little in return; England's coffers were now empty and the thought of raising taxes didn’t please many people. With the replacement of Julius by Pope Leo X, who was inclined to negotiate for peace with France, Henry signed his own treaty with Louis: his sister Mary would become Louis's wife, having previously been pledged to the younger Charles, and peace was secured for eight years, a remarkably long time in that period of Human history.

Henry met King Francis on 7 June 1520 at the Field of the Cloth of Gold near Calais for a fortnight of lavish entertainment. Both hoped for friendly relations in place of the wars of the previous decade. The strong air of competition laid to rest any hopes of a renewal of the Treaty of London, however, and conflict was inevitable.

We’ll now move on to what Henry is really famous for. His six wives.

English historian and House of Tudor expert David Starkey describes Henry VIII as a husband:

What is extraordinary is that in the beginning of Henry's marriages, he was usually a very good husband. He was very tender to them, research shows that he addressed some of his wives as "sweetheart." He was a good lover, he was very generous: the wives were given huge settlements of land and jewels. He was immensely considerate when they were pregnant. However, if his current wife did not please him or did anything to fire his short temper, there would be consequences. Two of Henry's wives were beheaded by his command.

Catherine of Aragon (16th December 1485 - 7th January 1536)

Catherine of Aragon was Henry's first wife. In modern sources, her name is most commonly spelled Catherine, although she spelled and signed her name with a "K," which was an accepted spelling in England at the time and is still used today.

Catherine was originally married to Arthur, Henry's older brother. She was a year older than Arthur and six years older than Henry. After Arthur died of sweating sickness in 1502, a papal dispensation by Henry VII was obtained to enable her to marry Henry, though the marriage did not occur until he came to the throne in 1509, when Henry was 17 years old and Catherine was 23.

Over the years Catherine had many still-borns and miscarriages, eventually giving birth to a daughter, Mary, in 1516.

It is said that Henry truly loved Catherine of Aragon, as he professed it many times. However, Henry became concerned he did not have a son to continue the Tudor dynasty.

As I said above, Henry took many mistresses’ including Elizabeth Blount, who gave birth to his son, Henry FitzRoy. He also had an affair with Mary Boleyn (We’ll come to her sister shortly) – the daughter of Thomas Boleyn, English Ambassador to France.

By the late 1520s, it was clear Catherine (now in her mid-40s) would not bear any more children, and Henry, increasingly desperate for a legitimate son, planned to marry Anne Boleyn who he desired above all else and had been writing love letters to her and sending her gifts.

Henry, at the time a Roman Catholic, sought the Pope's approval for an annulment on the grounds that Catherine had first been his brother's wife. He used a passage from the Old Testament (Leviticus Chapter 20 Verse 21): "If a man shall take his brother’s wife, it is an impurity; he hath uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless."

The Pope said no and this would set off events that are still felt today. Despite the Pope's refusal to annul the marriage, Henry separated from Catherine in 1531; Catherine was 45, Henry was 40. He ordered Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, to convene a court. On 23 May 1533,^[11] Cranmer ruled the marriage to Catherine null and void. On 28 May 1533, he pronounced the King legally married to Anne (with whom Henry had already secretly exchanged wedding vows). This led to the Reformation and England breaking from the Roman Catholic Church, the establishment of a Church of England separated from the jurisdiction of that Church.

Shortly after marrying Anne Boleyn, Henry sent Catherine away. She did not see Henry, or their daughter Mary, again before her death in isolation at age 50.

Anne Boleyn (1507 - 19th May 1536)

Anne Boleyn was Henry's second wife and the mother of Elizabeth I, arguably our greatest Queen. Henry's marriage to Anne and her later execution made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval at the start of the English Reformation. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn and Elizabeth Howard.

She was dark-haired with beautiful features and lively manners; she was educated in Europe by Margaret of Austria. She then moved to France, and lived there for some years, largely as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Claude.

Anne resisted the king's attempts of letters to seduce her and refused to become his mistress as her sister Mary Boleyn had been. It soon became the one absorbing object of the King's desires to secure an annulment from his wife Catherine of Aragon so that he could marry Anne.

As I wrote above, it became clear that Pope Clement VII was unlikely to give the King an annulment, so Henry began to break the power of the Catholic Church in England for the current obsession he had with Anne Boleyn. This sparked what became the English Reformation.

On 14 November 1532, Henry and Anne hosted a secret wedding service. Henry was 41, and Anne was in her late 20s. She soon became pregnant and there was a second, official wedding service in London on 25 January 1533. On 23 May 1533, Cranmer declared the marriage of Henry and Catherine null and void. Five days after this, Cranmer declared the marriage of Henry and Anne to be good and valid. Soon after, the Pope gave sentence of ex-communication against the King and the Archbishop for disobeying his official edicts.

Anne was crowned Queen consort of England on 1 June 1533, and she gave birth to Henry's second daughter Elizabeth (arguably our greatest Queen) on 7 September. By 1536, she had suffered several miscarriages, and had failed to give birth to a son. This caused Henry to worry once more about his legacy as he had with Catherine. He started looking for another mistress. Whilst this was ongoing, Thomas Cromwell, Anne’s former ally plotted her downfall.

Despite unconvincing evidence, she was found guilty of engaging in sexual relations with her brother, George Boleyn, and other men, and Anne was beheaded on 19 May 1536 for adultery, incest, and high treason after Henry had his marriage to her annulled just two days before. Thus ended the life of wife number two.

Jane Seymour (1508 - 24th October 1537)

Jane Seymour was Henry's third wife. She initially served Catherine of Aragon as maid-of-honour from 1532 and was then one of Anne Boleyn's ladies-in-waiting.

She was of lower birth than most of Henry's wives, only being able to read and write a little, but was much better at needlework and household management, which were considered much more necessary for women at the time.

In January 1536, the King took an interest in the demure and fair-haired Jane, the complete opposite of Queen Anne. When Anne was arrested for treason in May 1536, Jane was quickly moved into royal apartments.

Jane married Henry on 30 May 1536, at the Palace of Whitehall, Whitehall, London, eleven days after Anne Boleyn's execution. Jane was 28 and Henry was 44. As Queen, Jane was known for her peaceful and gentle nature.. She managed to repair the fraught relationship between Henry and his daughter Mary who restored her tot he line of succession.

Almost a year and a half after marriage, Jane gave birth to the male heir that Henry had desired all these years, Edward. Unfortunately God giveth and God took away in Henry’s eyes as Jane died twelve days later from postpartum complications. Jane was the only wife to receive a royal burial. When Henry died, he chose to be buried next to her in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Many people have offered to pay for a better burial place for Henry and Jane as their tomb is occupied by Charles I.

Anne of Cleaves (22nd September 1515 - 16th July 1557)

Anne of Cleves was a German princess, Henry's fourth wife and queen consort of England, although not crowned, for just six months in 1540, from 6 January to 9 July.

In 1539, Henry VIII's chief minister Thomas Cromwell formed an alliance between England and Cleves, and Henry began considering Anne as his fourth wife. Anne of Cleves' portrait was painted by Hans Holbein the Younger and sent to King Henry to evaluate. Her brother William did not allow Holbein to paint whilst looking directly at the face of Anne and her sister Amalia's, so they had to wear veils whilst being painted. Henry liked Anne's portrait and wanted her sent to him. When she arrived, Henry was not impressed. Henry complained that she did not look like her portrait.

Her pre-contract of marriage with Francis I of Lorraine was cited as grounds for annulment six months later. Anne did not resist the annulment, claiming the marriage had not been consummated, and was rewarded with a generous settlement including Hever Castle (such a beautiful place), the former home of the Boleyns.

She was given the title of "The King's Beloved Sister" and was a lifelong friend to him and his children; Anne of Cleves was approximately the same age as Henry VIII's eldest surviving daughter Mary. She outlived the King and all his other wives, dying at Chelsea Old Manor on 16 July 1557. She is buried in Westminster Abbey. Another fallout of Henry’s failed marriage to Anne was the falling of grace of Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell was now surrounded by enemies at court, with Norfolk also able to draw on his niece Catherine's position. Cromwell was charged with treason, selling export licences, granting passports, and drawing up commissions without permission, and may also have been blamed for the failure of the foreign policy that accompanied the attempted marriage to Anne. He was subsequently attained and beheaded.

Henry came to regret Cromwell's killing and later accused his ministers of bringing about Cromwell's downfall by "pretexts" and "false accusations"; over important issues and policies, he had always been liable to be "bounced" into a hasty decision by the intrigues of the factions within his court. On 3 March 1541, the French ambassador, Charles de Marillac, reported in a letter that the King was now said to be lamenting that,

“under pretext of some slight offences which he had committed, they had brought several accusations against him, on the strength of which he had put to death the most faithful servant he ever had.^”

Catherine Howard (1523 - 13th February 1542)

Catherine Howard, was Henry's fifth wife, between 1540 and 1542. She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, cousin to Anne Boleyn (that should have been a warning sign) and second cousin to Jane Seymour. She was raised in the household of her step-grandmother Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk. Her uncle the Duke of Norfolk was a prominent politician at Henry's court; and he secured her a place in the household of Henry's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, in 1540, where Catherine caught the King's interest.

She married him on 28 July 1540 at Oatlands Palace in Surrey, just 19 days after the annulment of his marriage to Anne. He was 49, and she was still in her early twenties, so she would be around 20-21 years old. This makes me wonder how much she would have been forced to do it for political reasons.

Field armour of Henry VIII when his waist was 51 inches.

At 49 years old Henry was obese, with a waist measurement of 54 inches (140 cm), and had to be moved about with the help of mechanical devices. He was covered with painful, pus-filled boils and possibly had gout. His obesity and other medical problems can be traced to the jousting accident on 24 January 1536 in which he suffered a leg wound.

On 1 November 1541, Henry was informed of her alleged adultery with Thomas Culpeper, her distant cousin; Henry Mannox, who had given her private music lessons while she lived with her step-grandmother; and Francis Dereham, the Duchess's secretary, with whom had she apparently had a sexual relationship. Catherine was stripped of her title as Queen in November 1541 and was beheaded in February 1542 on the grounds of treason for committing adultery.

Catherine Parr (August 1512 - 5th September 1548)

Catherine Parr also spelled Kateryn, was the sixth and last wife of Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Parr of Kendal and his wife, Maud Green.

Catherine showed herself to be the restorer of Henry's court as a family home for his children. She was determined to present the royal household as a close-knit one to demonstrate strength through unity. Perhaps Catherine's most significant achievement was her role in getting the Third Succession Act passed, confirming both Mary and Elizabeth's place in the line of succession for the throne despite the fact that they had both been made illegitimate by annulment of their respective parents' marriages.

At the time of the passage of the act, Catherine Parr was 31, Mary was 27, Elizabeth was 10, and Henry was 52. Such was Henry's trust in Catherine that he chose her to rule as regent while he was attending to the war in France, and in the event of the loss of his life, she was to serve as regent until nine-year-old Edward came of age. However, when Henry died in 1547, Edward Seymour (brother of Jane Seymour), 1st Duke of Somerset effectively took up the position, being appointed Protector by the Regency Council.

Catherine also has a special place in history, as she was the most married queen of England, having had four husbands in all; Henry was her third. She had been widowed twice before marrying Henry. After Henry's death, she married Thomas Seymour, uncle of Prince Edward, to whom she had formed an attachment before her marriage with Henry. She had one child by Seymour, Mary Seymour, but died shortly after childbirth, at age 35 or 36. Seymour was executed for treason in 1549. She is buried at Sudeley Castle in the town of Winchcombe.

Henry VIII in 1940 by Hans Holbein the Younger

The 1539 alliance between Francis, King of France and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles had soured, eventually degenerating into renewed war. With Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn dead, relations between Charles and Henry improved considerably, and Henry concluded a secret alliance with the Emperor and decided to enter the Italian War in favour of his new ally.

An invasion of France was planned for 1543. In preparation for it, Henry moved to eliminate the potential threat of Scotland under his young nephew, James V. The Scots were defeated at Battle of Solway Moss on 24 November 1542, and James died on 15 December.

Henry now hoped to unite the crowns of England and Scotland by marrying his son Edward to James's successor, Mary. The Scottish regent Lord Arran agreed to the marriage in the Treaty of Greenwich on 1 July 1543, but it was rejected by the Parliament of Scotland on 11 December. The result was eight years of war between England and Scotland, a campaign later dubbed "the Rough Wooing". Despite several peace treaties, unrest continued in Scotland until Henry's death.

Despite the early success with Scotland, Henry hesitated to invade France, annoying Charles. Henry finally went to France in June 1544 with a two-pronged attack. One force under Norfolk ineffectively besieged Montreuil. The other, under Suffolk, laid siege to Boulogne. Henry later took personal command, and Boulogne fell on 18 September 1544.

However, Henry had refused Charles's request to march against Paris. Charles's own campaign fizzled, and he made peace with France that same day. Henry was left alone against France, unable to make peace. Francis attempted to invade England in the summer of 1545 but his forces reached only the Isle of Wight before being repulsed in the Battle of the Solent. This battle is most famous for the sinking of the Mary Rose.

The Mary Rose

As a side note, taken from Wikipedia: On the morning of 11 October 1982, the final lift of the entire package of cradle, hull and lifting frame began. It was watched by the team, Prince Charles and other spectators in boats around the site. At 9:03 am, the first timbers of the Mary Rose broke the surface. A second set of bags under the hull was inflated with air, to cushion the waterlogged wood. Finally, the whole package was placed on a barge and taken to the shore. Though eventually successful, the operation was close to foundering on two occasions; first when one of the supporting legs of the lifting frame was bent and had to be removed and later when a corner of the frame, with "an unforgettable crunch", slipped more than a metre (3 feet) and came close to crushing part of the hull. It’s amazing to see and I recommend coming down to Portsmouth for a day out to see it if you are ever in the UK.

Now back to Henry VIII. Financially exhausted, France and England signed the Treaty of Camp on 7 June 1546. Henry secured Boulogne for eight years. The city was then to be returned to France for 2 million crowns (£750,000). Henry needed the money; the 1544 campaign had cost £650,000, and England was once again facing bankruptcy which is nothing new.

As mentioned above, by the later stages of his life, Henry was very obese. His obesity and other medical problems can be traced to the jousting accident on 24 January 1536 in which he suffered a leg wound. The accident reopened and aggravated an injury he had sustained years earlier, to the extent that his doctors found it difficult to treat. The chronic wound festered for the remainder of his life and became ulcerated, preventing him from maintaining the level of physical activity he had previously enjoyed. The jousting accident is also believed to have caused Henry's mood swings, which may have had a dramatic effect on his personality and temperament.

Henry's obesity hastened his death at the age of 55, on 28 January 1547 in the Palace of Whitehall, on what would have been his father's 90th birthday. The tomb he had planned (with components taken from the tomb intended for Cardinal Wolsey) was only partly constructed and was never completed (the sarcophagus and its base were later removed and used for Lord Nelson's tomb in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral). Henry was interred in a vault at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, next to Jane Seymour. Over 100 years later, King Charles I (ruled 1625–1649) was buried in the same vault which many people hate. There has been numerous people who have offered to pay to have Charles removed to his own grave but it has always been rebuffed.

Upon Henry's death, he was succeeded by his only surviving son, Edward VI. Since Edward was then only nine years old, he could not rule directly. Instead, Henry's will designated 16 executors to serve on a regency council until Edward reached 18. The executors chose Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, elder brother to Jane Seymour (Edward's mother), to be Lord Protector of the Realm. Under provisions of the will, if Edward died childless, the throne was to pass to Mary, Henry VIII's daughter by Catherine of Aragon, and her heirs.

If Mary's issue failed, the crown was to go to Elizabeth, Henry's daughter by Anne Boleyn, and her heirs. Finally, if Elizabeth's line became extinct, the crown was to be inherited by the descendants of Henry VIII's deceased younger sister, Mary, the Greys. The descendants of Henry's sister Margaret Tudor – the Stuarts, rulers of Scotland – were thereby excluded from the succession. This provision ultimately failed when James VI of Scotland, Margaret's great-grandson, became King of England in 1603. Edward VI himself would disregard the will and name Jane Grey his successor.

Henry’s Armorial during the latter half of his reign

So there you have it. Henry VIII. Arguably our most famous monarch. He had a massive impact on British history with the main thing being the Reformation where, in his desire to marry Anne Boleyn, he took the UK away from the clutches of the Pope. That is a huge article in itself. It would be interesting to read about it from someone who is a church goer.

I have made this article using various websites and books. If you’re ever in the UK then I recommend taking a Tudor Tour as they’re very interesting. The TV show with Johnathan Rhys Myers is also pretty good and, even if it dramatised lots of things, helped renew peoples interest in the Tudor Period. Plus it has Natalie Dormer.

So there you go. I’m done now. This has taken me ages to do due to work and physio etc. I hope you enjoy and learn something. Please like and share and comment if you have any questions or have been to anything to do with the Tudors.

I hope I find you all happy and healthy.

Vulkan

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Before that some back story. Before I joined the military I worked on a dock yard in a small town in the south East of the UK. Everyone knew everyone’s business. I hated it. I needed to leave.

Now I’m older I realise that my hometown is great to raise a kid as there’s not much serious crime that happens, it’s quiet and there’s enough for young families to do bits together but when that kid reaches about 14 then there’s not much for a 14 year old and older to do.

Get to 14 and you’re itching to spread those wings a little. I know I did and I did eventually do it.

I find it very sad that there are some people in my hometown who have never been outside that bubble when there’s a whole world to explore. Don’t get me wrong, they’re very happy but I’ve always found it………….small maybe.

Anyways. 23 year old me worked at a dockyard, dreaming of travelling the world. I was the youngest that worked there and there was just one rule.

BBC Radio 2 or silence. (Brits will find this funnier than anyone else.)

BBC Radio 2 is a radio station, predominately for old people. It is the most listen to radio station in the UK and plays the widest selection of music on the UK radio airwaves. I grew to love it as the years went by.

You had Ken Bruce from 09:30 until midday and he had his Popmasters quiz which was bloody hard. He presented from 1986 and 2023.

You had Steve Wright who presented his show from 14:00 until 17:00. His show was always full of energy and his songs showed that. He sadly passed away in February 2024.

Finally we come to Simon Mayo. He hosted the 17:00 until 19:00 Drivetime show. The part of his show that everyone looked forward to was the Confessions segment which he had going since the 1990’s. Hence the title of this article. Some background first!!

From Wikipediea. - Mayo, who had hosted the show since 1988, started the feature in August 1990, partly due to the rising interest in his own Christian faith, and it caught on very quickly. Listeners would write in to "Father Mayo" and "confess" to their "sins", and each morning at 8:35 am Mayo would broadcast one to the nation over Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni's Adagio for Organ and Strings in G minor.

The "confessions" were often humorous and sometimes lacking in taste or scruples. At the peak of the feature, Mayo received more than one hundred confessions a week. Some were sincere confessions and Mayo discounted any which admitted to crime, adultery, overt cruelty or other more serious activities.

After completing each confession, Mayo would ask his crew - consisting of weather and travel presenter Dianne Oxberry, newsreader Rod McKenzie, or their respective stand-ins if they were away, and the day's "special guest producer" played by the show's own producer Ric Blaxill - whether they would "forgive" the confessor or not.

This then carried on when he moved to Radio 2. I would cry with laughter as he read out people’s Confessions. I brought the book when it came out which I will link below if anyone is interested. I will earn no money from linking it obviously but it’s worth a read!

So after reading the book again I thought I would post a couple of my favourite ones and you, my readers, can decide if the Confessor is forgiven or not. I think I’ll also include one of my own stories and the SubStack collective can decide if I am forgiven or not.

So here we go. Number 1.

“Always check your mirrors”

“Dear Simon,

This story goes back to the late 1970s, when I was twenty years old, and although I have told a few people, it is still one of those moments that makes me put my head under the covers at night and go, OH NO!

I had been going out with a girl, let’s call her Alison, for a couple of months when she passed her driving test, so she suggested that instead of going to the usual places on a Friday night, she would borrow her dad’s car, pick me up and we’d go to a country pub for a meal and a drink.

The following Friday there was a knock on the door and there she was, looking great, and ready to take me out on the town. The night itself was a typical November one, cold, dark and absolutely pouring down, and as Alison wanted to talk to my sister about something she suggested I wait for her in the car. So I ran to the car and jumped in.

From my vantage point I could see Alison and my sister chatting away and I settled down to wait. However, I quickly realized that I desperately needed to break wind, which I did very loudly and with a terrible secondary effect. The car filled with the foul smell immediately and I knew that when she returned to the car she would know what had happened, and this might put a damper on the evening before it had even begun.

So I wound down the passenger window and started to fan, then scoop, air from inside the car into the cold November evening. I could now see Alison finishing up her conversation with my sister and starting to run towards the car. Now in panic mode I was actually blowing air out of the car, but somehow I managed to get the window closed a micro-second before she opened the driver’s door. Hooray, I thought, the moment is saved, just in the nick of time!

Until, that is, Alison opened her mouth, and uttered a sentence that will live with me for the rest of my life.

In a very clear, conversational tone, she said, ‘Have you said hello to Mum and Dad?’ I felt my blood turn to ice. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I felt physically sick as I turned my head to see her mother and father, whom, incidentally, I had never met before, sitting silently on the back seat.

We drove in silence to a local church meeting where she dropped her parents off for the evening, then we went on to the pub. Alison commented a couple of times during the evening that I seemed quite distant, but I told her I didn’t feel very well and we were home by 10 p.m.

Alison and I went on to marry and then divorce, and in the entire time we were together that story was never mentioned by anyone involved. Both of her parents have now passed on and I have not seen her for fifteen years, but even writing this has brought back the horror again. However, I feel a certain relief at having finally confessed.

Any chance of forgiveness?

Mike

So there you go. That’s Confession number 1. Should Mike be forgiven? Comment and tell me what you think.

Now for Confession number 2.

“When The Red Robin Went Bobbing Along”

Dear Father Simon and the Gathered Forgivage,

A great weight has lain upon my chest since the summer of 1989 when I was the manager of a DIY store in the north of England. Please hear my sin.

Every morning my assistant manager, Ryan, and I would arrive at the store slightly early to wake up the computers and ready ourselves for the day ahead. Once preparations were done, we would sit down for a quick coffee before the chaos of the day set in. The office where this brief respite took place was on an upper floor of the building and had a window that overlooked the staff car park; this was particularly useful as we could witness the arrival of the rest of the store staff as we relaxed.

Almost without exception, Karen, one of the section managers, was the first to arrive. Day after day, week after week, we watched as she coaxed her small red Reliant Robin into a space to our right–but, oddly, she only ever came to a complete stop once she had bumped the front wheel up against the small kerb that bordered the car park. We watched this process unquestioningly for many weeks.

Each day the same manoeuvre took place: a sharp turn into the space, a burst of acceleration and the little car would surge forwards, stopping only when it came into contact with the solid stone kerb.

One dark morning, while nursing his steaming cup of coffee and watching the familiar routine of Karen’s arrival, Ryan said, ‘I wonder what would happen if someone moved that kerb?’ We both stopped what we were doing, our eyes met and nothing more needed to be said. A smile crossed our lips; a plan was hatched!

Within fifteen minutes of close of business that night, we had hauled out the solid stone kerb in front of Karen’s space and replaced it with a strip of grey polystyrene, which we had selected from the warehouse. We then headed home eagerly.

Next morning, Ryan and I arrived as normal. We fired up the computers, got ourselves a coffee and positioned ourselves expectantly at the office window. Sure enough, bang on time, Karen appeared on the horizon. The little red Reliant Robin glinted in the morning sun as it glided gracefully across the car park towards her usual spot. She made her well-rehearsed turn and added the final burst of acceleration. The little car obediently jumped forward towards the expected, but absent, kerb………..

Father Simon, I fear I require forgiveness from several parties here.

First, obviously, from Karen herself, who was waiting for the kerbside bump that didn’t come and proceeded to direct her Reliant Robin, which frankly had more power than we’d given it credit for, off the edge of the car park, through a fence at the edge of the grounds, down the grassy verge and directly into the river that ran alongside the store.

Secondly, I feel I should spare a thought for the AA man who had to call another AA man because the van he’d brought wasn’t big enough to pull the Reliant back up the hill out of the river.

But thirdly, and most importantly, I must seek absolution from the horrified fisherman, who was just sitting on his basket that quiet summer morning, minding his own business. He ran like I have never seen a man run before, as he mercifully spotted the Reliant heading down the verge towards him at some speed, eventually ploughing straight through his equipment and basket on its way to its watery halt … Can you possibly find it in your hearts to absolve me and Ryan of our sin?

Graham

PS We never did find the fisherman’s basket.”

So there you go!! Should Graham be forgiven for this hilarious prank? You decide!!

Finally we’ll end with one of mine. This occurred when I was but a young lad of fourteen years old in the year 1999. Yes the 90’s was the best decade.

Anyways one Friday evening, my dad decided that he alone would take me and my two younger brothers to our nearby Tesco to get the weekly shop (back when it was affordable)

I was fourteen, Phil was eleven and Mikey was 7.

Now you have to understand that me and my brothers were pretty much like the brothers from Malcolm in the Middle so my dad was taking on a huge risk.

We drive to the shop with no incidents. We collect our trolley. Mikey is placed in the seat, much to his displeasure, Phil hangs off the front and I’m left to push. Now this was all fine at first but as my dad filled the trolley it slowly got heavier and heavier.

I asked Phil if he would get off the front. He refused. I asked again. He refused. I asked my father to get him off but he was consumed by the list and so he ignored me. I then took matters into my own hands.

I allowed the trolley to get away from me and then yanked it back to me as hard as I could. I heard a thump and then Phil started crying. I looked around and he’s on the floor with my dad hurrying over. Phil’s chin is bleeding profusely and my dads holding him. We hurry to the checkout and they give him a towel to put over my brothers chin. As of yet he doesn’t suspect me.

We end up at the local A & E, minus the shopping as we had to leave it at the Tesco, so that Phil can have his chin glued back together. When we do get home my mother is sympathetic to Phil and I still haven’t got blamed so to me the jobs a good’un.

The next day my Mum, Dad and brothers went shopping without me which was fine by me.

So SubStack collective. I seek forgiveness for my sins as written. To be fair everyone knows about it and both parents admit that at the time they did suspect that I had maybe done something but had no proof as to how I had managed it.

So there you have it. I hope some of these make you laugh. Maybe I’ll start he SubStack Confessions series. You can all DM me a confession and I’ll post one a week and see if the SubStack Collective forgives you.

I hope I find you all happy and healthy.

Vulkan

P.S. Below we have the link to the book. If you use your preferred search engine and look for Simon Mayo confessions podcast it should bring up more.

https://amzn.eu/d/3SxU31b

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I do most of my writing during my lunches and spare time during the working day. There’s a saying in the Royal Navy. Never poop on your own time, always poop on the Kings time.

Anyways when I teach and I have a new course I always start the week with introductions and it got me thinking.

So here I am with this short post. I would love to know about you!! Do you have a funny story? Do you have an awesome moment that happened to you? Favourite place you’ve travelled to and why?

I’ll start us off with some examples.

So I’ve started an all day drinking session on a Saturday, in the UK and woke up Sunday morning, in the Netherlands, with no idea how I got there. I think I got a ship over and my mother recalls me getting my passport at about 5 in the afternoon.

Emilia Clarke once touched my arm, whilst I was wearing my ceremonial number 1 uniform and told me that she’s always liked a man in uniform. Lads, I’m sorry to say I did not acquit myself well. I could feel myself going red, which made her smile more and I think I just babbled out some gobbledegook which made the guy next to me piss himself with laughter.

I’ve been to South Georgia and got chased by a male elephant seal as my mate though it would be clever to go as close as possible to it with his Go-Pro in a stick.

So there you go. I hope I hear from you all that read this. Please comment. Please subscribe.

I hope I find you all happy and healthy

Vulkan

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.

I had a sports regime that kept me very trim. I was very broad (swimming) and muscly (weight training) but slim due to the running. It never helped with the ladies mind you. Wearing glasses in the 90’s put you in the nerd bracket (which I was) but it didn’t bother me too much lol.

The problem with all the sport that I did is that I now suffer heavily with my knees and more so since my accident in October 2021 means I’m probably going to be medically discharged from my job.

It doesn’t bother me though. The main point is that growing up I loved the sports. I loved winning. I loved competing.

I’m not going to lie. It did bother me when I first started hearing about participation trophies when I left school and my sporting career started to fall away as I entered the workforce. I will talk about why I dislike participation trophies in a bit.

I think my love with competing would have first started with me competing against my little brothers with silly things like drinking something the fastest etc. Everyone with siblings will understand. (comment any funny competing stories in the comments.)

The reason I bring this up is that I recently watched an episode of Bluey where the kids were playing pass the parcel and there was a prize in every layer. I hadn’t heard of this and I was just as outraged as Lucky’s Dad when he questioned it. I asked my sister and she confirmed that a lot of parents do this now.

Even something as simple as a participation trophy in pass the parcel is detrimental to………..everyone. Losing is a good thing just as much as winning is a good thing.

Lets look at why losing is a good thing in a sports context.

1. Losing helps athletes develop resilience and perseverance: Losing can be the hardest thing to happen to you at that particular moment, but it’s also an opportunity for athletes, especially young athletes, to learn how to bounce back from disappointment and continue working hard. This resilience and perseverance will be valuable skills not just in sports, but in all aspects of life.

2. Losing teaches young athletes how to handle adversity: Sports, whilst fun, can be unpredictable, and athletes will inevitably face adversity at some point. Losing can be a good opportunity for them to learn how to handle difficult situations and come out stronger on the other side.

3. Losing helps athletes learn from their mistakes: No one likes to lose (especially me), but it’s often through losing that athletes can identify areas where they need to improve. By analysing what went wrong and working to fix those mistakes, athletes can learn valuable lessons that will help them become better players.

4. Losing can help athletes appreciate the value of hard work: Winning can sometimes come easily, but losing often requires putting in extra effort and dedication. By experiencing the hard work and determination it takes to come back from a loss, young athletes can better understand the value of putting in the necessary effort to succeed.

All of this is doubly important for younger, up and coming athletes. The lessons they learn from coaches and mothers and fathers and how they handle these lessons will shape how they grow in the future. Even something as basic as losing at pass the parcel or other young child party games, teaches those youngsters how to deal with losing. Having a participation trophy, like say, a prize in every layer of pass the parcel undermines that and doesn’t allow these young children to learn about what it means to lose.

Which brings us onto the other side of this coin. Winning. I love winning. Since my sporting career has now basically ended since I was hit by a transit van in 2021, I now take great pleasure in winning at things like Mario Kart or family quiz nights or being the best at karaoke. (see below for one of my songs.)

So as we did with losing, lets look at the benefits of winning.

1. Winning builds confidence. The old cliche that “Show me a loser and I’ll show you a loser” is often cited here. Winning builds self-confidence, especially when that winning represents a true accomplishment; (i.e., I’ve beaten a worthy opponent). However, lets also remember that winning against other teams or individuals of much lower skill levels normally does little to bolster self-confidence (like when that group of young lads beat the USA football (soccer for you heathens) team………Yeah I went there LOL.)

2. Winning, especially at sports gains one access to rewards and special privileges (especially if you win at Elections and you have a D by your name.) Clearly winners and highly skilled athletes often get better fields, more recognition, greater prestige, more fans, more rewards, trophies and ribbons, and perhaps even local TV and media coverage. Lets link this to how our ancestors used to be. A strong man who brought back plenty of meat for his tribe would have higher prestige and get his pick of the stronger women and thus bearing stronger sons and daughters. It doesn’t even have to be just sports. An actor or actress might beat out the other competition to star in a film that nets them an Oscar or some one wins on a TV quiz. Winning takes place over all industries. Business’ winning contracts etc.

3. Winning increases in importance as kids get older. Prior to the age of 12 years, research clearly shows that 75% of the youngsters would prefer to play for a losing team than sit on the bench of a winning team. However, during the teenage years, win-loss accomplishments do, in fact, influence the respect which a young athlete has for his or her coach. This could be to do with the fact that in most boys, puberty has started and with that, a desire to do well so that they can impress the girl that they fancy. I can attest to this but alas I never got the girl.

4. Winning builds spirit, cohesion and team spirit. The research and science(tm) has not yet established if winning fosters team spirit or if team spirit fosters winning. Intra-squad competition often produces better performance with lowered levels of team spirit.

5. Winning increases motivation. This in turn can lead to your team wanting to maintain. They train harder, not wanting to lose the recognition or the recognition that comes with winning. The extra training builds more self-confidence, makes you more healthy and gives you better self-determination.

So there you have it. Some reasons why it can be good to lose and reasons why it’s good to win. ME personally. I hate losing. I’m a bad loser. I also have to admit that I can be a bad winner as well. Especially when I’m playing Mario Kart or Super Smash Bros. I hate playing Monopoly against my mother as she ALWAYS wins and I swear she cheats.

Speaking of cheating. I cried with laughter when I first saw this.

What are you most competitive at? Sports? Video games? Drinking? Cooking? Everyone has that one family member who they hate to lose to. Who is it?

I hope I find you all happy and healthy.

Vulkan

P.S. WINNING!!!!

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"It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor of Mankind has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the master of mankind by the will of the gods and master of a million worlds by the might of His inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the vast Imperium of Man for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day so that He may never truly die.

Yet even in His deathless state, the Emperor continues His eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the Warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Emperor's will. Vast armies give battle in His name on uncounted worlds. Greatest amongst His soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Imperial Guard and countless planetary defence forces, the ever-vigilant Inquisition and the Tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat to humanity from aliens, heretics, mutants -- and far, far worse.

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods."

Ed stood at attention, murmuring and repeating the prayers that the Adeptus Ministorum Crusader was calling out. He watched the woman call out the prayers to the Emperor, dressed in a simple brown robe tied at the waist with an ornate belt. A scabbard hung at her waist which carried her power sword. It was said that she trained with the Adeptus Astartes to improve her skills in sword craft. She had brown hair tied into a simple ponytail and she surveyed the room with her fierce brown eyes.

Their eyes met for a split second and Ed lowered his own. All the regiments that had taken part in the battles to cleanse the Forge World Beta Cornix were arranged in ranks within the hanger of their ship. The Commissar’s were in front of a large raised stage, facing the ranks of troops. Prayers would occur, awards and honourable mentions also, all to raise the morale of the troops until the next battle and the next war.

Servo skulls flew around the hanger, the Crusaders words blaring from the speakers lodged into the mouths. Flags and banners hung from the ceiling, detailing past victories. Ed looked down at the medal on his chest commemorating the victory. It was nice to receive it but deep down he knew he was lucky. All Guardsmen and women that survived a campaign were lucky.

Suddenly there was a clang and slowly, with a whoosh of air, the hangar doors started to open. The Crusader stopped talking and looked up and a fervour entered her eyes. She licked her lips as heavy thumps entered the hanger. Everyone turned to look.

Three giant men had entered and were walking up towards where the Crusader stood on her raised stage. They were clad in golden ornate armour and each held a spear. Two were helmed and carried a large chest between them that would have taken at least four men to carry. The front giant held his spear in one hand and a large scroll in another. They oozed lethalilty and death and Ed could see the leaders eyes darting around taking in everything, looking for threats even amongst supposed allies. “Custodes” the man next to him whispered fervently.

The Crusader dropped to one knee as they approached the raised dais, her head bowed. The three Custodes in golden armour looked down upon her.

“Rise Crusader” the helmless Custodes said, his voice a low baritone. She rose but kept to one side, watching as all three turned to face the mass ranked of men and women in front of them. They surveyed the crowd before them and Ed wondered what demi-gods like that could be thinking. The helmless one approached the edge of the stage.

“Soldiers of the Emperor.” he said, “you have fought well these last few months, killing the xenos and cleansing the Forge World of filth so that it may continue to supply our armies with the arms and armour to fight the Emperor’s wars.”

He looked around, meeting the eyes of everyone he could and everyone seemed to stand a little straighter when the deep black eyes met their own. Ed guessed the Custodes eyesight was much better than his own since the Custodes had been created using the gene sciences that had also created the Adeptus Astartes.

“We have had the honour of standing in the presence of the Emperor Himself” the Custodes continued. “For many of you stood here now, that is something that will never happen, so me and the other members of my brotherhood come to honour you in His name and present rewards for your courage and bravery.”

Everyone looked around, wondering what the rewards could be. The Custodes smiled and called out a name. A look of shock passed over a Commissar facing them and he turned. The Custodes beckoned him up onto the stage. He was presented with a Power sword to replace his chainsword and saluted the Custodes as he left the stage to take his place facing the troops.

More names were called out, their accomplishments called out were rewarded with promotions and rewards. Some received weapons or armour, higher ups received land and estates on planets, some received credits.

Ed was surprised when his name was called.

“Trooper Knoll” The baritone voice rumbled out. Ed looked to his left to see Sgt Wend gesturing to him to move up onto the stage.

Ed slowly marched up to the stage, moving closer to the Custodes. Up close they were huge, taller even than what the Space Marines he had seen had been. They were broad too, the armour making them even broader with the huge shoulder pauldrons. Eyes going over the armour, Ed could see that the detail was exquisite and that he would never own anything half as beautiful as the armour they were wearing. The spears that the other two were holding looked deadly and Ed knew that if they wanted it, the whole hanger of men and women could be dead in minutes.

Ed knelt down in font of the Custodes, head bowed, exposing his neck. “Trooper Knoll.” the baritone voice said. “You have displayed courage during the last few campaigns. You have fought and killed the enemies of the Emperor and for that you are commended. You shall be promoted to sergeant and gain your own squad of troops to lead and grow. I present to you this chainsword and plasma pistol as an extra reward for your courage and bravery. Rise”

Ed looked up, unable to believe his ears. He looked up into the face of the Custodes who, despite the occasion, still had a grim look on his face. In his hands he held some sergeant patches, a brand new chainsword and a plasma pistol in a holster. He didn’t move and the Custodes finally said “take them” with a hint of humour in his voice.

Ed reached out and took them, his hands trembling. “Thank you my Lord. I promise to honour the Emperor and kill more enemies of the Imperium with them.”

This time the Custodes did smile. “Very good Sergeant Knoll” he intoned and inclined his head in a small nod of respect.

Ed made his way back to his position, standing a little bit taller. His hand still clutching his gifts from the Custodes. He took his place and watched as the last few names were called out.

As the last man took his place back in the lines the three Custodes all faced them once more. The one who had done all the talking spoke once more.

“Thus ends this small ceremony. Now me and the others from my Brotherhood bring news. There is a new war to fight. The heretics of Chaos have taken a system and we must free it. We will do so in His name. May you all walk in the light of The Emperor. Fight in His name. Win in His name and remember, only in death does duty end.”

The Custodes left the stage and made for the exit of the hangar, everyone’s eyes watching them as they left.

Ed gulped as the troops received the order to fall out and his squad mates came and congratulated him. He would be in charge of his own squad and sooner than he reckoned. He glanced down at the new plasma pistol in his hand. He would cherish this gift for the rest of his days. Sgt Wend patted his shoulder. “Good going Ed, you deserve it.”

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I love Muse. Who would have ever thought that a simple lad from Devon would get engaged with Kate Hudson. How did that happen.

Stereophonics!! He’s got bigger eyebrows than me!!

I only discovered Jim when X-Men came out which I’m sure is the same for a lot of people. I might have attempted to sing this to a girl I liked. It didn’t work out.

Songs from when I was a lad driving in the car with Mum and Dad. All on cassette tape.

And finally some songs me and my 3 year old niece have been enjoying (by that I mean what she’s been enjoying. You’ll be surprised.)

She calls her the Princess lol.

Yes This next song I’m as surprised as you.

And finally we’ll finish with a song that I even wrote an article about. Go and check it out.

I hope you enjoyed some of those songs. Let me know what you think.

I hope I find you all happy and healthy

Vulkan

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Also there’s plenty of people on here ALREADY writing about these subjects, giving you their facts and opinions and I look at the knowledge and think think to myself I don’t need to regurgitate what’s already been said. So why bore you with ANOTHER boring article about death and destruction when we could talk about something which I know most people love. If you don’t then what’s wrong with you!!! (It occurs to me that their’s probably plenty of articles about cheesecake too but shush.)

So, here we go. Cheesecake. I love cheesecake. It’s delicious, comes in so many flavours. The bases are amazing, toppings are awesome. I’m drooling at the thought. I’m guessing that people who read this have their own recipes or favourite places to go and eat some so if you do then please!! I’m begging you. Share the wealth. Add them to the comments for the future me to make and eat.

Now for the Americans that read this, especially you New Yorkers, you didn’t invent cheesecake. I’m sorry. Just like Gus says from My Big Fat Greek Wedding about the Greeks inventing everything, the Greeks might have written down the first cheesecake recipe.

The first “cheese cake” may have been created on the Greek island of Samos. Physical anthropologists excavated cheese molds there which were dated circa 2,000 B.C. Cheese and cheese products had most likely been around for thousands of years before this, but earlier than this goes into prehistory (that period in human history before the invention of writing) so we will never really know which is a shame. In Greece, cheesecake was considered to be a good source of energy, and there is evidence that it was served to athletes during the first Olympic games in 776 B.C. (Can you imagine The Rock smashing in a cheesecake before Wrestlemania) Greek brides and grooms were also known to use cheesecake as a wedding cake.

Let me also take you back in history to 230 A.D. The writer Athenaeus is credited for writing the first Greek cheesecake recipe in 230 A.D. (By this time, the Greeks had been serving cheesecake for over 2,000 years apparently but this is the oldest known surviving Greek recipe!) It was also pretty basic - pound the cheese until it is smooth and pasty - mix the pounded cheese in a brass pan with honey and spring wheat flour - heat the cheese cake “in one mass” - allow to cool then serve.

As the Romans expanded their empire (See ladies. The Tik Tok trend is true. We do always think of the Roman Empire), they brought cheesecake recipes to the Europeans. Great Britain and Eastern Europe began experimenting with ways to put their own unique spin on cheesecake which is awesome. In each country of Europe, the recipes started taking on different cultural shapes, using ingredients native to each region. In 1545, the first cookbook was printed. It described the cheesecake as a flour-based sweet food.

Even Henry VIII’s (hmmmm maybe I’ll do an article on our most famous King) chefs did their part to shape the cheesecake recipe. Apparently, his chefs cut up cheese into very small pieces and soaked those pieces in milk for three hours. Then, they strained the mixture and added eggs, butter and sugar.

It was not until the 18th century, however, that cheesecake would start to look like something we recognise in the United States and the western world today. Around this time, Europeans began to use beaten eggs instead of yeast to make their breads and cakes rise. Removing the overpowering yeast flavour made cheesecake taste more like a dessert treat. When Europeans immigrated to America, some brought their cheesecake recipes along.

Cream cheese was an American addition to the cake, and it has since become a staple ingredient in the United States. In 1872, a New York dairy farmer was attempting to replicate the French cheese Neufchatel. Instead, he accidentally discovered a process which resulted in the creation of cream cheese. Three years later, cream cheese was packaged in foil and distributed to local stores under the Philadelphia Cream Cheese brand. The Philadelphia Cream Cheese brand was purchased in 1903 by the Phoenix Cheese Company, and then it was purchased in 1928 by the Kraft Cheese Company. Kraft continues to make this very same delicious Philadelphia Cream Cheese that we are all familiar with today. (Philadelphia cream cheese is what I use in my own cheesecakes.)

Of course, no story of cheesecake is complete without delving into the origins of the New York style cheesecake (I love me some New York Style. I grate chocolate over the top). The Classic New York style cheesecake is served with just the cake – no fruit, chocolate or caramel is served on the top or on the side. This famously smooth-tasting cake gets its signature flavour from extra egg yolks in the cream cheese cake mix.

By the 1900s, New Yorkers were in love with this dessert. Virtually every restaurant had its own version of cheesecake on their menu. New Yorkers have vied for bragging rights for having the original recipe ever since. Even though he is best known for his signature sandwiches, Arnold Reuben (1883-1970) is generally credited for creating the New York Style cheesecake. Reuben was born in Germany and he came to America when he was young. The story goes that Reuben was invited to a dinner party where the hostess served a cheese pie. Allegedly, he was so intrigued by this dish that he experimented with the recipe until he came up with the beloved NY Style cheesecake. Of course if there is anyone from New York and reads this wishes to correct me then please do in the comments.

So there you go. Obviously cheesecake has gone from strength to strength in the years since. It’s my dessert of choice 90% of the time. Hell I’ve even been known to order my dessert first on occasion which always trips up the waitresses.

Do you have a favoured recipe? Do you have a favourite cafe or restaurant that serves? Share the love please.

I bake a mean white chocolate cheese cake. It’s not often I make it though. It’s very sickening. I use chocolate digestives for the base and Milky Bar white chocolate in the cheese.

I don’t know about you but I’m dying for one so on my way home I might go and buy a slice for my dessert tonight.

I hope I find you all happy and healthy.

Vulkan

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Now I had never seen or read about this before but I saw that this had happened before starting in December 2020 in Utah. The reason I hadn’t heard about it was because I was serving in Bahrain at the time and didn’t really look at the news outside off the Gulf. When I saw the news this week I immediately went to SubStack as SOMEONE would surely be writing about this and what it could be or theories about them but I have seen nothing. So here I am bringing it to the attention of people I think are a lot smarter than me.

Is it aliens? Very unlikely. Is it Art? Most likely though the coordination to have them set up would be fantastic and worthy of a small scale TV series. What do you all think?

The Utah monolith was a metal pillar that stood in a red sandstone slot canyon in northern San Juan County, Utah. The pillar was 3 m (9.8 ft) tall and made of metal sheets riveted into a triangular prism. It was placed approximately between July and October 2016; it stood unnoticed for over four years until its discovery and removal in late 2020. The identity of its makers is unknown at this time but if it is an artist then they must have incredible patience knowing that their creation might not get found for years.

I won’t write the whole article on its discovery and what happened but will move on to it’s removal. The Utah division of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said that it received credible reports that the monolith was removed on the evening of November 27, 2020, by a then-unknown party, now known to be the Moab-based re-creationists Andy Lewis, Sylvan Christensen, Homer Manson, and an anonymous companion. Several adventure photographers posted details and pictures about the dismantling and removal of the monolith. One witness reported that the four men had pushed the monolith over without tools, while onlookers watched, saying "this is why you don't leave trash in the desert" before breaking it apart and carrying away the pieces in a wheelbarrow. The group referred to the conservation ethic of "Leave No Trace". Photos of the site afterwards posted by visitors showed that all was left was a triangular metal piece (see photo), and witnesses reported seeing a pickup truck driving away from the site, carrying an object, as they approached.

Shortly after the discovery of the monolith in Utah, over two hundred additional monoliths which resembled the Utah monolith began appearing at various locations across the world. In some cases, local artists came forward to claim responsibility for them, citing the Utah monolith as their inspiration. Other monoliths were created and installed by small businesses for promotional purposes. I won’t put every single one but I will add some from the list.

India had two monoliths.

Austria had 4 including one that appeared in a snowy field with no other tracks around it.

France had 4 including one where the artistic welder Ludovic Liaigre later revealed himself to be the creator.

Slovakia had 2 appear.

Many have appeared all over the USA and Canada.

One has even appeared in Iran, not normally a place you associate with following trends etc.

I shall end this article, hoping that it is aliens. I know it’s not, it’s just artists and copy cats but a guy has to dream about intelligent aliens making contact in my life time.

Comment below on what you think whether it’s serious or funny, especially funny as I think we can all do with a laugh. Maybe another time I’ll write some of the Navy stories I have but some are so grim (sailors will do anything for the laugh) that I think you’d all unsubscribe and think all sailors (yes it’s not just us that do this) are disgusting.

Anyways, I write most of my articles on my work laptop whilst in the office. Work smarter on the King’s time I always say and read most of the articles people release on my phone. Due to Easter (Trans week of visibility) Leave I had two weeks off. I’ve settled back in the office and re opened SubStack and realised that I still had this article outstanding from the day I started writing.

A lot has happened in the world in the last month!! Jesus doesn’t time fly!!

Anyways I hope I find you all happy and healthy.

Vulkan

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Good afternoon my good fellows. It’s Monday 26th February and I hope you all had a grand weekend. Last week I was at the medical centre for my knee and for once I looked up at the board in the entrance way. A big display to HMS Hood is there and I immediately knew I had to write about it in the same vein as that of my previous article featuring HMS Victory.

So I will once again recount the story of one of the Royal Navy’s more famous ships. Please bear with me. I hope you enjoy it.

HMS Hood (pennant number 51) was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy. HMS Hood was the first of the planned four Admiral-class battlecruisers to be built during the First World War. Already under construction when the Battle of Jutland occurred in mid-1916, that battle revealed serious flaws in her design, and despite drastic revisions she was completed four years later. For this reason, she was the only ship of her class to be completed, as the Admiralty decided it would be better to start with a clean design on succeeding battlecruisers, leading to the never-built G-3 class. Despite the appearance of newer and more modern ships, HMS Hood remained the largest warship in the world for 20 years after her commissioning, and her prestige was reflected in her nickname, "The Mighty Hood".

The Admiral-class battlecruisers were designed in response to the German Mackensen-class battlecruisers, which were reported to be more heavily armed and armoured than the latest British battlecruisers of the Renown and the Courageous classes. The design was revised after the Battle of Jutland to incorporate heavier armour and all four ships were laid down. Only HMS Hood was completed, because the ships were very expensive and required labour and material that could be put to better use building merchant ships needed to replace those lost to the German U-boat campaign.

The additional armour added during construction increased her draught by about 4 feet (1.2 m) at deep load, which reduced her freeboard and made her very wet. At full speed, or in heavy seas, water would flow over the ship's quarterdeck and often entered the mess decks and living quarters through ventilation shafts. This characteristic earned her the nickname of "the largest submarine in the Navy". The persistent dampness, coupled with the ship's poor ventilation, was blamed for the high incidence of tuberculosis aboard.

The main battery of the Admiral-class ships consisted of eight BL 15-inch (381 mm) Mk I guns in hydraulically powered twin gun turrets. The turrets were designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from bow to stern and 120 shells were carried for each gun. The ship's secondary armament consisted of twelve BL 5.5-inch (140 mm) Mk I guns, each with 200 rounds. They were shipped on shielded single-pivot mounts fitted along the upper deck and the forward shelter deck. This high position allowed them to be worked during heavy weather, as they were less affected by waves and spray compared with the casemate mounts of earlier British capital ships. Two of these guns on the shelter deck were temporarily replaced by QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk V anti-aircraft (AA) guns between 1938 and 1939. All the 5.5-inch guns were removed during another refit in 1940.

The ship's main battery was controlled by two fire-control directors. One was mounted above the conning tower, protected by an armoured hood, and was fitted with a 30-foot (9.1 m) rangefinder. The other was fitted in the spotting top above the tripod foremast and equipped with a 15-foot (4.6 m) rangefinder. Each turret was also fitted with a 30-foot (9.1 m) rangefinder. The secondary armament was primarily controlled by directors mounted on each side of the bridge. They were supplemented by two additional control positions in the fore-top, which were provided with 9-foot (2.7 m) rangefinders, fitted in 1924–1925.

The armour scheme of the Admirals was originally based on that of the battlecruiser HMS Tiger with an 8-inch (203 mm) waterline belt. Unlike HMS Tiger, the armour was angled outwards 12° from the waterline to increase its relative thickness in relation to flat-trajectory shells. This change increased the ship's vulnerability to plunging (high-trajectory) shells, as it exposed more of the vulnerable deck armour. Some 5,000 long tons (5,100 t) of armour were added to the design in late 1916, based on British experiences at the Battle of Jutland, at the cost of deeper draught and slightly decreased speed. To save construction time, this was accomplished by thickening the existing armour, rather than redesigning the entire ship. HMS Hood’s protection accounted for 33% of her displacement, a high proportion by British standards, but less than was usual in contemporary German designs (for example, 36% for the battlecruiser SMS Hindenburg).

Construction of Hood began at the John Brown shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland, as yard number 460 on 1 September 1916. She was launched on 22 August 1918 by the widow of Rear Admiral Sir Horace Hood, a great-great-grandson of Admiral Samuel Hood, after whom the ship was named. Sir Horace Hood had been killed while commanding the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron and flying his flag on HMS Invincible—one of the three battlecruisers which blew up at the Battle of Jutland. To make room in the shipyard for merchant construction, HMS Hood sailed for Rosyth to complete her fitting-out on 9 January 1920. After her sea trials, she was commissioned on 15 May 1920, under Captain Wilfred Tompkinson. She had cost £6,025,000 to build.

With her conspicuous twin funnels and lean profile, HMS Hood was widely regarded as one of the finest-looking warships ever built. She was also the largest warship afloat when she was commissioned, and retained that distinction for the next 20 years. Her size and powerful armament earned her the nickname of "Mighty Hood" and she came to symbolise the might of the British Empire itself.

Shortly after commissioning on 15 May 1920, HMS Hood became the flagship of the Battlecruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral Sir Roger Keyes. After a cruise to Scandinavian waters that year, Captain Geoffrey Mackworth assumed command. HMS Hood visited the Mediterranean in 1921 and 1922 to show the flag and to train with the Mediterranean fleet, before sailing on a cruise to Brazil and the West Indies in company with the battlecruiser squadron.

Captain John Im Thurn was in command when HMS Hood, accompanied by the battlecruiser HMS Repulse and the Danae-class cruisers of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron, set out on a world cruise from west to east via the Panama Canal in November 1923. The objective of the cruise was to remind the dominions of their dependence on British sea power and encourage them to support it with money, ships, and facilities. They returned home 10 months later in September 1924, having visited South Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and some smaller colonies and dependencies, and the United States.

HMS Hood was given a major refit from 1 May 1929 to 10 March 1931, and afterwards resumed her role as flagship of the battlecruiser squadron under the command of Captain Julian Patterson.

Captain Irvine Glennie assumed command in May 1939 and HMS Hood was assigned to the Home Fleet's Battlecruiser Squadron while still refitting. When war broke out later that year, she was employed principally to patrol in the vicinity of Iceland and the Faroe Islands to protect convoys and intercept German merchant raiders and blockade runners attempting to break out into the Atlantic.

HMS Hood was due to be modernised in 1941 to bring her up to a standard similar to that of other modernised First World War-era capital ships. She would have received new, lighter turbines and boilers, a secondary armament of eight twin 5.25-inch (133 mm) gun turrets, and six octuple 2-pounder "pom-poms". Her 5-inch upper-armour strake would have been removed and her deck armour reinforced. A catapult would have been fitted across the deck and the remaining torpedo tubes removed. In addition, the conning tower would have been removed and her bridge rebuilt. The ship's near-constant active service, resulting from her status as the Royal Navy's most battle-worthy fast capital ship, meant that her material condition gradually deteriorated, and by the mid-1930s, she was in need of a lengthy overhaul. The outbreak of the Second World War made removing her from service near impossible, and as a consequence, she never received the scheduled modernisation afforded to other capital ships such as HMS Renown and several of the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships.

HMS Hood and the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal were ordered to Gibraltar to join Force H on 18 June where HMS Hood became the flagship. Force H took part in the destruction of the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir in July 1940. Just eight days after the French surrender, the British Admiralty issued an ultimatum that the French fleet at Oran intern its ships in a British or neutral port to ensure they would not fall into Axis hands. The terms were rejected, and the Royal Navy opened fire on the French ships berthed there. The results of Hood's fire are not known exactly, but she damaged the French battleship Dunkerque, which was hit by four fifteen-inch shells and was forced to beach herself.

HMS Hood was relieved as flagship of Force H by Renown on 10 August, after returning to Scapa Flow. On 13 September she was sent to Rosyth along with the battleships HMS Nelson and HMS Rodney and other ships, to be in a better position to intercept a German invasion fleet. When the threat of an invasion diminished, the ship resumed her previous roles in convoy escort and patrolling against German commerce raiders. HMS Hood, HMS Renown and HMS Repulse were deployed to the Bay of Biscay (an awful stretch of water if the weather is bad) on 5 November to prevent the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer from using French ports after she had attacked Convoy HX 84, but the German ship continued into the South Atlantic.

In January 1941, the ship began a refit that lasted until March; even after the refit she was still in poor condition, but the threat from the German capital ships was such that she could not be taken into dock for a major overhaul until more of the King George V-class battleships came into service. Captain Ralph Kerr assumed command during the refit, and Hood was ordered to sea in an attempt to intercept the German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst upon the refit's completion in mid-March. HMS Hood was ordered to the Norwegian Sea on 19 April when the Admiralty received a false report that the German battleship Bismarck had sailed from Germany. Afterwards, she patrolled the North Atlantic before putting into Scapa Flow on 6 May.

When Bismarck sailed for the Atlantic in May 1941, HMS Hood, flying the flag of Vice-Admiral Lancelot Holland, together with the newly commissioned battleship HMS Prince of Wales, was sent out in pursuit along with several other groups of British capital ships to intercept the German ships before they could break into the Atlantic and attack Allied convoys. The German ships were spotted by two British heavy cruisers (HMS Norfolk and HMS Suffolk) on 23 May, and Holland's ships intercepted Bismarck and her consort, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, in the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland on 24 May.

The British squadron spotted the Germans at 05:37 (ship's clocks were set four hours ahead of local time—the engagement commenced shortly after dawn), but the Germans were already aware of their presence, Prinz Eugen's hydrophones having previously detected the sounds of high-speed propellers to their southeast. The British opened fire at 05:52 with HMS Hood engaging Prinz Eugen, the lead ship in the German formation, and the Germans returned fire at 05:55, both ships concentrating on HMS Hood. Prinz Eugen was probably the first ship to score when a shell hit Hood's boat deck, between her funnels, and started a large fire among the ready-use ammunition for the anti-aircraft guns and rockets of the UP mounts.

Just before 06:00, while HMS Hood was turning 20° to port to unmask her rear turrets, she was hit again on the boat deck by one or more shells from Bismarck's fifth salvo, fired from a range of approximately 16,650 metres (18,210 yd). A shell from this salvo appears to have hit the spotting top, as the boat deck was showered with body parts and debris. A huge jet of flame burst out of Hood from the vicinity of the mainmast, followed by a devastating magazine explosion that destroyed the aft part of the ship. This explosion broke the back of HMS Hood, and the last sight of the ship, which sank in only three minutes, was her bow, nearly vertical in the water. A note on a survivor's sketch in the possession of the British Naval Historical Branch gives 63°20′N 31°50′W as the position of the sinking. HMS Hood sank stern first with 1,418 men aboard. Only three survived: Ordinary Signalman Ted Briggs (1923–2008), Able Seaman Robert Tilburn (1921–1995), and Midshipman William John Dundas (1923–1965). The three were rescued about two hours after the sinking by the destroyer HMS Electra, which spotted substantial debris but no bodies.

HMS Prince of Wales was forced to disengage by a combination of damage from German hits and mechanical failures in her guns and turrets after HMS Hood was sunk. Despite these problems, she had hit Bismarck three times. One of these hits contaminated a good portion of the ship's fuel supply and subsequently caused her to steer for safety in occupied France where she could be repaired. Bismarck was temporarily able to evade detection, but was later spotted and sunk on 27 May.

Memorials to those who died are spread widely around the UK, and some of the crew are commemorated in different locations. One casualty, George David Spinner, is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval memorial, the Hood Chapel at the Church of St John the Baptist, in Boldre, Hampshire, and also on the gravestone of his brother, who died while serving in the Royal Air Force in 1942, in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal, Kent.

In 2001, British broadcaster Channel 4 commissioned shipwreck hunter David Mearns and his company, Blue Water Recoveries, to locate the wreck of HMS Hood, and if possible, produce underwater footage of both the battlecruiser and her attacker, Bismarck. This was to be used for a major event documentary to be aired on the 60th anniversary of the ships' battle. This was the first time anyone had attempted to locate HMS Hood's resting place. Mearns had spent the previous six years privately researching the fate of Hood with the goal of finding the battlecruiser, and had acquired the support of the Royal Navy, the HMS Hood Association and other veterans groups, and the last living survivor, Ted Briggs.

The search team and equipment had to be organised within four months, to take advantage of a narrow window of calm conditions in the North Atlantic. Organisation of the search was complicated by the presence on board of a documentary team and their film equipment, along with a television journalist who made live news reports via satellite during the search. The search team also planned to stream video from the remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) directly to Channel 4's website.

After footage of Bismarck was collected, Mearns and the search team began scanning a 600-square-nautical-mile (2,100 km2) search box for HMS Hood; completely covering the area was estimated to take six days. Areas that Mearns felt were more likely to hold the wreck were prioritised, and the side-scan sonar located the battlecruiser in the 39th hour of the search.

Hood's wreck lies on the seabed in pieces among two debris fields at a depth of about 2,800 metres (9,200 feet). The eastern field includes the small piece of the stern that survived the magazine explosion, as well as the surviving section of the bow and some smaller remains, such as the propellers. The 4-inch fire-control director lies in the western debris field. The heavily armoured conning tower is located by itself, a distance from the main wreck. The amidships section, the biggest part of the wreck to survive the explosions, lies inverted south of the eastern debris field in a large impact crater. The starboard side of the amidships section is missing down to the inner wall of the fuel tanks and the plates of the hull are curling outward; this has been interpreted as indicating the path of the explosion through the starboard fuel tanks.

In 2002, the site was officially designated a war grave by the British government. As such, it remains a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act of 1986.

Some relics from the time of HMS Hood's sinking still exist. A large fragment of the wooden transom from one of HMS Hood's boats was washed up in Norway after her loss and is preserved in the National Maritime Museum in London. A metal container holding administrative papers was discovered washed ashore on the Norwegian island of Senja in April 1942, almost a year after the Battle of the Denmark Strait. The container and its contents were subsequently lost, but its lid survived and was eventually presented to the Royal Navy shore establishment HMS Centurion in 1981.

Other surviving relics are items that were removed from the ship prior to her sinking:

Two of HMS Hood's 5.5-inch guns were removed during a refit in 1935, and shipped to Ascension Island, where they were installed as a shore battery in 1941, sited on a hill above the port and main settlement, Georgetown, where they remain. The guns were restored by the RAF in 1984.

The Ascension Island guns saw action only once, on 9 December 1941, when they fired on the German submarine U-124, as it approached Georgetown on the surface to shell the cable station or sink any ships at anchor. No hits were scored, but the submarine crash-dived and retreated.

As a result of a collision off the coast of Spain on 23 January 1935, one of HMS Hood's propellers struck the bow of HMS Renown. While dry-docked for repairs, HMS Renown had fragments of this propeller removed from her bilge section. The pieces of the propeller were kept by dockyard workers: "Hood" v "Renown" Jan. 23rd. 1935 was stamped on one surviving example, and "Hood V Renown off Arosa 23–1–35" on another. Of the known surviving pieces, one is privately held and another was given by the Hood family to the Hood Association in 2006. A third piece was found in Glasgow, where HMS Hood was built. It is held by a private collector and stamped HMS HOOD v HMS RENOWN 23 1 35.

So there you have it. I hope you enjoyed the read. Perhaps I’ll do another one in the future if it takes my fancy. The Battle of Jutland springs to mind.

I hope I find you all happy and healthy.

Vulkan

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I’m taking my mother and father out for dinner this weekend as they’re driving down from my hometown.

It’s Mother’s day here in the UK soon. She wanted vouchers for some castle so that’s what she’s got.

I’ve continued to watch Naruto Shippuden in the evening’s once I finish work. In Japanese, "Shippuden" (literally "Hurricane Chronicles") can be translated as "chronicles of a whirlwind" or "chronicles of a hurricane."

I’m back to doing more teaching as a new class of young sailors have come through the building and are in the practical part of their course. I wrote about teaching.

I’ve also cooked a couple of stews this due to the weather. Very very delicious if I must say say so myself.

DM’s were also unlocked this week by SubStack and I had the pleasure of giving me a very nice GOOD MORNING FUCKNUT. Go and follow him. He has such a way with words and is hilarious. Speaking of words.

Anyways I hope you all have a great weekend.

I hope I find you all happy and healthy.

Vulkan

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