Conceptualization is Easier Than Actualization

This is a phrase I've been throwing out for a while and I wanted to post it here to both explain it and "anchor" it in case it takes off. It's not strictly research related - I use it more in IT, but it is research that makes me write this today. Put simply; it is easier to think of something than to put it in place. I run into a lot of clients who think that migrating X project will be simple, or that because they want to be able to do something, it should be easy to implement. The same happens with research. The vast majority of people have never researched in any sort of archives and have no concept of what needs to happen. Internet search engines like Google give a false idea of what is possible; people say "I want everything on this ship!" not realizing that you've got many different areas to search because different commands created their own records. A ship generates their deck logs, but the shipyard tracks alterations performed, and the task force commander tracks which ship did what in a particular action. So, if you want a somewhat long way of saying I'm more of an idea rat, then remember "It's easier to conceptualize than actualize."

Distant, but related

One of the nice things about being an American is the effort that was made in the past to make data available to American citizens. Top Secret eventually becomes public, and works that were funded with tax pay dollars are released to the public domain so that pretty much anyone can find and post photos like this without having to worry about licensing fees:

That's part of a bunch of images I scanned in of the raid on Nauru in December of 1943, by the way. These photos were shot by Navy personnel whose pay was funded by the American taxpayer, so that work now belongs to Americans and is public domain. Archives for the Royal Navy are not treated the same way, which is why there are fewer photos and models of their ships, for example. It just costs a hell of a lot more.

So this troubles me. It's a reversal of that sought by the medical publishing industry in order to lock in profits: NY Congresswoman Wants to Deny Americans Access to Taxpayer Funded Research.

Tax-payer funded works ought to be public domain, and freely available, particularly medical information that can save lives. These photos and documents that I find and post are useful and interesting to few, but only in my wildest dreams could I suppose that they might save a life.

Reflecting

I sit alone in a room thirty minutes from the gun that announced the United States entry into the Second World War. I'd like to visit, but I am here for work and there is not enough time. Instead, I worked on USS California's Damage Report for the attack on Pearl Harbor, which was seventy years ago tonight. Pearl Harbor was the true turning point of the war, as it ended a charade and any quibbling over whether we should get involved. But it was also a day where a lot of people had their lives torn from them or were horribly wounded. Some gave their lives, some struggled in a panic to survive and were tragically unsuccessful. Many we lost; their bodies too destroyed to identify. Life goes on, and I am able to sit in this room and be too busy to properly pay my respects partially because of their sacrifices. But they are not forgotten. To those who survived, to those who died, and to those somewhere in between; you are in my thoughts nearly every day. I run this site in a large way because I feel it is the best way I am able to give my thanks and my respect. Helping others learn about that day helps keep it in our memory. You have my respect, and my thanks.

CVE Update

I touched on my Hasegawa 1/350th Gambier Bay build here back in early July and then again in mid July, but it got set aside due to modeling burn-out for a bit. With the Annual IPMS Seattle Christmas meeting looming I needed to show *some* progress for Internet Modeler Chris to see, so I picked it back up on a study break last night and worked on finishing the port side. So here is the port side before and after, showing what became a wad of tape after the Ocean Gray and Black were sprayed on the hull and then the paint. I still need to do the starboard side, aft surfaces, and bow section under the flight deck. Once that's done it's on to the decks and overhangs.

Scattered leaves

As I prepare for my trip tomorrow to NARA II to try and answer, amongst other things, the appearance of Battleship Arizona during the attack, I am looking for some files on Radio Direction Finders to see if there any I have found but not posted. I came across this, one of the few documents I've found in the NARA Seattle Naval records on Arizona that still survives there:

Arizona's Roster of Officers for December, 1941. It's nearly 70 years old now. It would be a lot of work to post it as HTML, but it seems a shame to leave it where no one else can see it and perhaps make a connection to this ship and the human cost associated with her history. The wind is blowing the yellowed leaves from the branches out my window as those still green hang tight.

Picture Post - Fort Casey Coastal Artillery - Battery Henry Kingsbury

While looking through my records for something else I stumbled across this tidbit I'd forgotten I had scanned in:



I have a connection to Fort Casey; having spent time there as a kid (Fort Flagler as well for that matter). It's a single-piece scan, so there's not a lot I can do with it. But, while preparing it to post I figured I'd cover the steps I used, since I do post blue-prints on a regular basis. I could just post them in all their blue glory, but I know people like to print things, and I'd hate to be the reason a few printer ink cartridges choked and died, so I always make them black and white for better printing.

The process is below, and is based on the ancient Photoshop (6) I use. Invert the image, set a white point to make most of the remaining background color go away, then grayscale and level the file to darken the dark and whiten the white and remove the noise.



Takes no more than 30 seconds once you know how to do it; the harder part is cleaning up the borders and holes.

You can read more about these guns here (and you might even see a familiar drawing!):
http://www.cdsg.org/HDPSdata/kingsbury.htm
http://fortwiki.com/Battery_Kingsbury
They were a great place to run around in as a kit!

Projects

So, this December marks the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. As such, I'm going to try and wrap up some Pearl Harbor projects by then. BB-44 USS California's damage report is under way and I hope to have both it and Nevada's done and posted by December 7th. I'll also be flying to NARA College Park in less than a month to try and solve the Arizona question.

Busy otherwise... not leaving me much in the mood to be wordy....