Robot Jazz

  I believe in homicide I rest my case, don't cast aside You better believe it That's the truth of it Take it or leave it Resign to it Homicide, homicide Homicide, homicide…  - ‘Homicide’ by 999 (1978) “Keep firing!” shouted Leonidov.  “Don’t let those fascists near the farm!” Leonidov felt the butt of his AK-74 pound deeper and deeper into his shoulder until a dull ache began to grip the right side of his body.  But there couldn’t be any letup. The West Germans were scouting the battalion’s left flank, attempting to find any weakness the fascists could use against his comrades. He wasn’t going to allow that to happen. As if to prove that to himself, Leonidov fired off a three-round burst from his weapon at an enemy soldier who was firing from behind a tree.  He was gratified when he saw his rounds stitch their way up the enemy soldier's exposed arm, causing the soldier to drop the rifle from his now mangled arm.  Leonidov fired another burst at the pain-st...

  In this city so proud Full of noises and crowds This once was a monument Now, it's a grave And they warned us about When reason gave out Now, it's too late for miracles There's nothing to save Armageddon Armageddon It came too soon - “Armageddon” by Planet P Project (1983) Private Lance Nigels starred intently at that “Woodland” camouflage pattern on the BDU (Battle Dress Uniform) trousers on the soldier seated beside him inside the M113 APC.  Black swirling to brown swirling to green swirling back to black again, round and round, he thought.  You can’t escape the black. Nothing can escape the black.   The M113’s Detroit V6 two-stroke diesel engine suddenly roared, as if in warning, and the entire vehicle lurched to a halt, causing the soldiers inside to bump into each other as they sat side by side on the twin benches that lined the interior of the aluminum hull.   The vehicle commander, perched on his elevated seat for better visibility from outside th...

  When someone says, "My, what a beautifully sunny day!" do you want to punch them? When the weatherman reports no rain in the forecast, do you become depressed? Do you celebrate the great indoors? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you might be a pluviophile .  I hate to do this, but let's begin with the definition of 'pluviophile' because I suspect the term might be unfamiliar to many.  Copilot defines a pluviophile as: Someone who enjoys rain and rainy days, finding fascination in the sights, sounds, and ambiance of rain. If you’re a pluviophile, you appreciate the gentle patter of raindrops on leaves, the misty atmosphere, and the cozy feeling that rainy weather brings. 🌧️☔ The term originates from Latin: “Pluvi” refers to rain. “Phile” denotes a person who loves or has an affinity for something. I am a proud pluviophile.  Ever since childhood, I have luxuriated on rainy days.  While the world is constantly urging me to embrace the out...

  Chapter 56 Ivan Feels the Heat By late summer, it was clear to the Soviet high command that the war was not going well.  Despite endless propaganda articles in Eastern Bloc periodicals, as well as select Western outlets sympathetic to the Soviet invasion of West Germany, it was clear to serious analysts that the Pact armies were beginning to lose the initiative. This was made abundantly clear when Soviet forces began a surreptitious evacuation of occupied Bishofroda.   "We were told that our forces' success on the battlefield required...how did they put it? Oh yeah. That it 'necessitated a redeployment of forces from Bischofroda to other areas to cement our great communist victory,'" remarked Sławomir Milko with a sardonic smirk on his face. A former colonel in the armed forces of Poland, Milko has been an outspoken critic of the USSR's ill-fated attack in the post-war years.  "So, with victory all but certain, my men were given the job of defending the...

  Well, this proved to be an unexpectedly short tour of duty for the venerable Haddo. If you recall, after successfully dispatching two Soviet subs in our previous patrol, we were tasked with sinking a Soviet carrier battlegroup.  Now, even with a state-of-the-art submarine, which would be a Los Angeles class boat for this period, that would be a tough mission to accomplish alone. With a dated Permit-class boat, the odds were already stacked against us.  To stack that deck even more against us, I would be taking Haddo  into such a fight with damage to the hull, dive planes, rudder, and one inoperable torpedo tube.  Yeah, I suspect the crew read the writing on the wall as well as I did... Nonetheless, duty is duty. So, we took our position in our patrol corridor. We had to wait a day or so, but the Soviet task force, which can be seen off of Norway above, finally arrived.   The initial sonar picture was busy, to say the least. After deploying the towed ...

  I will always be partial to Cold-War-Gone-Hot wargames for the simple reason that it was this genre that got me hooked on computer games way back when 8-bit machines roamed the land. Titles such as SSI's Reforger '88  laid the foundation for a lifelong love affair with this historic period.  And as the technology of home computers improved, so did the sophistication of the wargames.  One of the best of the subsequent 16-bit period was Microprose's Red Storm Rising . Based on the classic NATO vs. Warsaw Pact war novel of the same name, the game did a banger of a job capturing the essence of modern submarine warfare.

  [This was supposed to be posted for the week of Halloween, but my writing muse can be a stubborn thing! Sorry! Stay tuned for my entry on what games I am playing for Thanksgiving. It should be published in time for New Year's Eve!] One of the most underserved subgenres of science fiction is sci-fi horror.  Despite such iconic shows as The Twilight Zone  and The Outer Limits, and such popular movies as Alien and Event Horizon, sci-fi horror is the rarest of gems.  I suspect this is because in a genre that has, of late, been dominated by the so-called "hard science fiction" crowd that is so busy making sure that every test tube is polished that they leave no room for the metaphysical.  As horror classics such as The Exorcist  demonstrate, horror without metaphysics is just...the day's news.