1992
Song Saturday: Early Warning

“Too young to know, too old to listen…”
Saturday evening’s playlist submission is Early Warning by Australian band Baby Animals. The second track from their debut album Baby Animals, it was released on April 21, 1991, as their debut single. Written by Suze DeMarchi, Dave Leslie and Eddie Parise, the song was nominated for Single of the Year and Song of the Year in 1992 by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The album was awarded Album of the Year at The Arias Awards.
I discovered this band when their third track Painless was released in the US in November 1991. Suze’s voice is stunning and powerful and, her band is as hard rocking as any from Downunder. I bought the CD and there’s not a bad song on it. It deserved Album of the Year. They broke up in 1996 but, reformed in 2007. They continue to perform and record.
Baby Animals Channel From 1992
MTV’s Video From 1991
Throwback Thursday: Sverdlovsk Anthrax Leak 1979

Forty-one years ago, today, spores of anthrax were accidentally released from a Soviet military research facility near the city of Sverdlovsk, Russia (now Yekaterinburg/Ekaterinburg).
On April 2, 1979, there was an unusual anthrax outbreak, which affected 94 people and killed at least 64 of them, in the Soviet city of Sverdlovsk, roughly 850 miles east of Moscow. The first victim died after four days. [T]he last one died six weeks later. The Soviet government claimed the deaths were caused by intestinal anthrax from tainted meat, a story some influential American scientists found believable. However, officials in the Carter Administration suspected the outbreak was caused by an accidental release of anthrax spores from a suspected Soviet biological weapons facility located in the city (Military Compound 19). The US believed that the Soviet Union was violating the Biological Weapons Convention signed in 1972 and made their suspicions public. But, the Soviets denied any activities relating to biological weapons and, at numerous international conferences, tried to prove their contaminated meat story. It wasn’t until thirteen years later, in 1992, that President Boris Yeltsin admitted, without going into details, that the anthrax outbreak was the result of military activity at the facility. [Russia] allowed a team of Western scientists to go to Sverdlovsk to investigate the outbreak. The team visited Sverdlovsk in June 1992 and August 1993 […].

Although the KGB had confiscated hospital and other records after the incident, the Western scientists were able to track where all the victims had been at the time of the anthrax release. Their results showed that on the day of the incident, all the victims were clustered along a straight line downwind from the military facility. Livestock in the same area also died of anthrax. After completing their investigation, the team concluded the outbreak was caused by a release of an aerosol of anthrax pathogen at the military facility. But, they were unable to determine what caused the release or what specific activities were conducted at the facility.
“Clogged filter, I removed it. Replace the filter”. [A] reminder on a piece of paper left [by a] factory worker […] to his mate when he went home on Friday evening…
Colonel Nicholas Cheryshev, shift supervisor at the plant, […] was in a hurry to go home and, for some unknown reason, was not aware of the lack of filter. In the end, the workers on the night shift, finding entries in the log window, quietly launched [the] equipment. [For] more than three hours, the plant was [throwing], into the air [of] the night sky of […] Sverdlovsk, portions [of] dried culture of anthrax. When the lack of bio-security was discovered, production was urgently stopped, […] the filter [replaced] and [they], quietly, continued working.
It was an accident at a clandestine biological weapons lab that allowed deadly anthrax spores to contaminate Sverdlovsk’s air, as evidence unearthed later would show. Over the years, as DNA sequencing technology has improved, scientists have been piecing together more and more information about the anthrax strain.
This facility has not been closed. It just went underground…literally. ~Vic
Sources & Additional Reading
Sverdlovsk Anthrax Leak (Adam Smith Institute)
1979 Anthrax Leak (PBS: Frontline)
How DNA Evidence Confirmed A Soviet Cover-Up (The Atlantic)
The Tragedy of Sverdlosk-19 (Weapon News)
Biohazard Book (Wikipedia)
Sverdlovsk Anthrax Leak (Wikipedia)
TV Tuesday: Harsh Realm 1999

Twenty years ago, today, the science fiction series Harsh Realm debuted on Fox. Created and developed by Chris Carter (The X-Files & Millenium), it starred Scott Bairstow, D.B. Sweeney, Terry O’Quinn, Rachael Hayward, Max Martini, Samantha Mathis and Sarah-Jane Redmond with Cameron K. Smith as a Republican Guard Soldier (Smith had fourth billing but, much of his acting history is uncredited) and, Vinnie as Dexter the Dog (seventh billing in the cast list). Filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, it was loosely based on the Harsh Realm comic book by James Hudnall and Andrew Paquette.
Tagline: Are you ready to play?
From Wikipedia:
Harsh Realm is a virtual reality game created by the U.S. Army, programmed to minutely replicate the real world for training simulations. In the world of Harsh Realm, a small nuclear bomb is detonated in the program’s version of New York City, killing four million people and thrusting its participants into a post-apocalyptic disaster scenario. Lieutenant Tom Hobbes is unknowingly thrust into this world by his superiors with one mission: to kill “General” Omar Santiago. Along the way, he meets fellow soldiers sent into the game and alternate versions of people he knows in the real world (including Dexter, an alternate version of his real world dog). It is in this world that Hobbes must survive, defeat Santiago, save the real world and, somehow return to his real life and his fiancée, Sophie Green.
From IMDB:
Lt. Hobbes, a young idealistic Marine who’s about to get married, is sent into a [virtual reality] war game simulation where he is to terminate a renegade General who has taken control of the program. [He] also learns that he is actually trapped in the game, along with numerous other soldiers previously sent to kill Santiago. Meanwhile, Hobbes real life fiancee investigates his disappearance with the help of a mysterious female ally with an agenda of her own.

Trivia Bits:
♦ Notable director for one episode: Kim Manners (Supernatural)
♦ Notable writer for one episode: Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files)
♦ Notable composer for the series: Mark Snow (The X-Files & Starsky & Hutch)
♦ Gillian Anderson is the narrator of the Harsh Realm training video in the first episode.
♦ Thomas Hobbes is named for the philosopher Thomas Hobbes, who believed in predestination and that people are inherently selfish and power-hungry.
♦ Hobbes’ dog, Dexter, is named after the protagonist from the Harsh Realm comic book series upon which the show is loosely based.
♦ Many [have] wrongly speculated that [the] widely-publicized lawsuit brought about the series’ sudden cancellation. It was actually a struggle between Carter and Fox that got the series cancelled (after nine episodes).
♦ The term “harsh realm” originates from the grunge speak hoax of 1992 […]
♦ The theme music contains samples of speeches given by Benito Mussolini.
♦ Music from artists Prodigy, White Zombie (Rob Zombie) and Moby are featured in some episodes.
The Lawsuit
Critical Reception
Nominations
Pilot Episode
30-Day Song Challenge: Day 19

A song that makes you think about life…
Three songs, submitted for your approval.
“There’s no free rides, no one said it’d be easy…
The old man told me this my son I’m telling it to you…
Days turn to minutes…
And minutes to memories…
So, suck it up and tough it out…
Be the best you can…”
Though I am not really a Springsteen fan, I love this song.
“You might need somethin’ to hold on to…
When all the answers, they don’t amount to much…
Somebody that you could just to talk to…
And a little of that Human Touch…
Do you think what I’m askin’s too much?”
“There’s a light at each end of this tunnel…
You shout, ’cause you’re just as far in as you’ll ever be out…
And these mistakes you’ve made, you’ll just make them again…
If you only try turning around…
But you can’t jump the track, we’re like cars on a cable…
And life’s like an hourglass, glued to the table…
No one can find the rewind button now…”
Late add…
30-Day Song Challenge: Six Day Bundle

Fellow blogger Britchy at Bitchin’ In The Kitchen challenged all of her readers to join in. I could not resist this fun as I am a music nut. That being expressed, I sit on day six so, this first post is a catch-up. Tomorrow, I will join the normal festivities for day seven.
So, without further ado…here we go.
Day One
A song with color in the title.
Oh, my, my, my…this immediately popped into my head. This was released in 1983…my junior year of high school.
Little Red Corvette
Day Two
A song with a number in the title.
Black Lab appeared on the Alternative Rock scene in 1997 with their début album release Your Body Above Me. This song is particularly haunting to me and I could listen to Paul Durham sing all day long.
Ten Million Years
Day Three
A song that reminds you of summer.
Dear Lord…the summer of 1984, the year I graduated. Myrtle Beach, alcohol & Prince. This was released ahead of the album Purple Rain‘s release and the movie of the same name. Have mercy… As a side note, Wendy in the background playing guitar in stockings and high-top tennis shoes is just bad ass.
When Doves Cry
Day Four
A song that reminds you of someone you’d rather forget.
I love this song but, the person that it reminds me of…I wish I could rip them out of my head.
Set Fire to the Rain
Day Five
A song that needs to be played loud.
Oh, yeah…also played extensively at the beach for graduation…the louder, the better. We wore out a cassette tape.
Fantasy
Day Six
A song that makes you want to dance.
Honestly, this one is hard…too many to choose from. I will go with…
Say It Right
Thanks, Kristian for rolling the ball to Britchy. ~Vic
National Buy Nothing Day
November 23 is a busy, busy day of 10 celebrations. I will highlight Buy Nothing Day as our consumerism is out of control.
This observance always falls on the day after Thanksgiving, coinciding with Black Friday. Some of the ways to observe are pretty funny:
♦ Cut up your credit cards.
♦ Do the whirl-mart…the act of pushing your empty cart around, disrupting other shoppers and buying absolutely nothing.
♦ Do a Christmas Zombie Walk…become the expression of obsessed Black Friday shoppers.
It appears the Canadians have the distinction of starting the movement as a protest in 1992. Vancouver artist Ted Dave founded and organized it in September. It was moved to the Friday after Thanksgiving in 1997.
Just stay home. Do you really need to spend that money and deal with all the frenzy? Just so you know, this Black Friday is on a full moon. Watch out.

Also celebrated:
National Cashew Day (Yum!)
National Eat A Cranberry Day (More yum!)
National Espresso Day
National Day of Listening (Day after Thanksgiving)
National Native American Heritage Day (Day after Thanksgiving/Yeah!)
Black Friday (Boo!)
National Flossing Day (Day after Thanksgiving)
Maize Day (Day after Thanksgiving)
Your Welcomegiving Day (Day after Thanksgiving)