The Casual Observer

D-Day: Then and Now

By Dean McCleland in Historical, Military History 27 August 2014 0 Comment

D-Day was the largest military operation ever in history. Maybe this is not true as regards the sheer number of men involved but more so in terms of the amount of equipment: ships, tanks and aircraft. Not only that but the area into which these forces were operating was a mere 70kms as compared with 1500kms on the Eastern Front.

This was the Second Front that the Russians had been demanding since 1942. Whereas the Americans and the British understood that a naval landing into the heart of German controlled France would result in a titanic struggle which if unsuccessful would set back the Allies plans for the ultimate defeat of the Germans by years, if not forever.

Can a Tarot Card Reader Answer a Troubling Question?

In the terminal stages of breast cancer, my mother-in-law was placed in a hospice. Barely two days later, she was dead. Was there any nefarious reason for her precipitous demise?

Before I commence the blog, may I make an admission? Neither am I religious nor am I spiritualist. In fact, those that know me will attest to the fact that my views are diametrically opposed to such beliefs being both an atheist and profoundly sceptical of spiritual forces.

Vintage Cuba prior to Castro’s Ascendance to Power

By Dean McCleland in Historical 25 August 2014 1 Comment

This series of photographs by Ramiro Fernandez entitled Cuba Then highlights the cosmopolitan character of pre Castro’s austere Cuba. From an undemocratic dictatorship with a teeming mass of illiterate unemployed fun-loving people, Castro effectively transformed Cuba into an undemocratic socialist dictatorship under his personal control and a dour shackled people. The teeming mass were provided with low paying jobs with no promotion prospects and no chance of freedom.

Pedestrian Crossings in China

By Dean McCleland in Other Galleries 24 August 2014 0 Comment

In this pedestrian crossing, China has taken the separation of people and vehicles to a new level

Report back on the Five Assegaais Hike in August 2014

By Dean McCleland in Hiking, Personal 24 August 2014 1 Comment

Deterred by blustery winds and icy cold conditions combined with a huge dollop of lassitude meant a truncated hike. Unlike the Quo Vadis Hiking Club of yore where despite the inclement weather or raging floods, the members would embark upon a hike with alacrity, it would not so be on this occasion. Never in the annals of the Club did I believe that such lassitude would prevail.

Never before could the Quo Vadis have been accused of disinclination to get up let alone hike. The disinterest was palpable on Saturday morning. Everybody procrastinated. With an icy blustery wind scything through the huts, nobody dared to rise. Even though my sleeping bag was rated to minus five, I was shivering. I dozed fitfully aware of the cold at all times. Having endured an uncomfortable night when I would awake every few hours due to the penetrating cold, I was not over enamoured to get moving. Inertia pervaded us all.

Final Photographs of some Famous Icons

By Dean McCleland in Historical 19 August 2014 1 Comment

In most of these cases there was no indication that these famous people would be dead within days if not hours if these photos being taken. In some cases the debauched lifestyle of the icon such as an Amy Winehouse predisposed them to a premature exit to the afterlife whereas for others such as John Lennon their demise was untimely and unpredictable.

Most were sadly mourned including the mass murderer Adolf Hitler but some more than others. Each in their own way left an indelible mark on history.

In the main photo above, John Lennon former Beatle and prolific song writer is shown signing an autograph for Mark David Chapman who is also shown. Chapman who returned a few hours later to Lennon’s apartment, shot and killed Lennon who was returning home with Yoko Ono.

Was the English Idyll of Yore a Myth?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 18 August 2014 0 Comment

Does the romantisised imagery of verdant fields, sylvan lined cobbled streets and stone walled meadows belie the real England obscured beneath such idealistic mythology?

Being an avid reader of history and subscriber to history magazines such as the BBC History Magazine, I possess a smidgeon of an insight into the medieval world. The error that ordinary people make when they conjure up visions of the “good old days” is that they extrapolate what the Tudor reign would be like by means of picture postcards of the English countryside idyll of half a century ago.

The Week in Mzanzi’s Politics: 15th August 2014

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 16 August 2014 0 Comment

A tongue-in-the-cheek look at this week’s political events that mattered. The author has taken slight literary licence with the facts but only 10% are claimed to be exaggerations of the truth. As stranger things have happened, even that portion may well represent reality.

As the old adage goes, a week in politics is like an eternity. Undeniably the reason for this maxim is that the unexpected frequently occurs transforming yesterday’s hero into today’s enfant terrible. Such was this week.

Sublime pictures of the Lunar Perigee on 10th August 2014

By Dean McCleland in Other Galleries 14 August 2014 0 Comment

In astrological terms the phenomenon of the moon being simultaneously full whilst at its perigee ie its nearest point to earth is known as a supermoon. In scientific terms it is known as the perigee-syzygy of the earth-moon-sun system. This makes the moon appear to be 14% larger and 30% brighter than it usually is.

This selection of photographs from across the world illustrates the sublime almost too-perfect images contained in this blog.

Vicissitudes of Time

By Dean McCleland in Inspirational, Other Opinion Pieces, Running 13 August 2014 0 Comment

The arrow of time operates in only one direction: into the future. Like sands in an hourglass, they flow relentlessly ever onwards waiting for no one. Shouldn’t we be embracing it and utilising it as if it were precious before it is too late, like in all these examples, where with the inexorable passage of time, it has slipped from our grasp, never to be regained.