"Old" vs. Young - USS Indy get's bombed!

Mel pointing to the area where he was sleeping to DJ

On this date in in 1945,  DJ,s dad was sleeping on the tail of the USS Indianapolis when the ship was  torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.  The torpedo tore off the front part of the ship which acted like a huge shovel as if plowed through the water. The ship sank in 12 minutes.  300 men went down with the ship leaving 880 floating in the water facing exposure, dehydration and serious, hungry shark attacks. Mel says he could look down in the water and see sharks below their feet circling.  The Navy did not even know the ship was gone for four days and there were massive cover-ups and bone head blunders.  Of the 880 that made it off the ship only 317 were rescued 5 days later.

There is a fantastic book called In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors which has photos of DJ's dad.

I read a number of reviews and this one says it perfectly.

Mel - top right on the USS Indy

This is an outstanding book, very well written, on one of the most tragic events in US naval history, the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. The book is a "page turner" and you will barely be able to put it down. The events following the sinking of the Indy, are in a word, terrifying! I highly recommend this book to those of us baby boomers who grew up hearing the stories of WWII vets, and were fortunate enough to know some of them. The shear terror and horror, the sacrifices these men made will bring you to tears! It is an emotionally gut wrenching story, so beautifully and carefully told by the author, that I can highly recommend it to all WWII buffs, and people who may have not have lived thru the era, and wish to experience the huge sacrifices and selflessness these men showed during the waning days of World War Two.

When I finished reading the book which really is a "page turner" I just said . WOW, amazing!  The interesting thing is was that the caption was court-martialed and made the scape goat, he committed suicide.   

When Hunter Scott (12) was watching JAWS he became fascinated with the story and and decided to do research paper for his school.  He found zero information about the USS Indy at his school or at the University library.

Scott continued with his research anyway, and finally finished his project. It went up to the state finals but was rejected due to his project containing a spiral bound notebook, including memoirs from the survivors. Despite this rejection, Scott went on to the US Congress with survivors of the USS Indianapolis to argue that Capt. Charles Butler McVay III was innocent.

IN 2000, 55 years after the sinking, President Clinton and members of congress cleared McVay's name.
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The NFL is thinking about expanding from 16 to 18 games for the season taking two pre-season games away and making them . . "season" games.   I understand their idea - money - unlike Green Bay many NFL teams only get 15,000 tops to pre season games and no one watch's them on TV.  Heck - Green Bay sells out PRE Pre season games and they get 40,000 for a meaningless scrimmage.

I would hate having two extra games because it would mean two more Sundays during beautiful fall weather where I'm "forced" to sit inside and watch football. Of course if they moved the season back two weeks so in late February when there is no reason to even look outside I would have football . . . . that is a different story.

balderdash is thinking of going to Philly for the 1st Packer game vs. Philadelphia IN Philadelphia.  I've always considered Philadelphia one of the strongholds for the Taliban as they do not let woman attend sporting events unless they prove they have a certain amount of testosterone.

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Big Brother is basically just like Survivor, just indoors!  What happened last night is something that FINALLY happened on a reality show.  The guy getting kicked out, spilled all the secrets to the other contestants.  It is something I would do when I would have gotten booted.  No taking secrets to the grave, spill the beans and create utter chaos as you close the door behind you!  Too funny!  Hell, I would even make crap up as I left!

Speaking of Survivor.  This next season which starts Sept 15th is OLD (over 40) vs. Young (under 30) and Jimmy Johnson just got a little safer.  What guy would want to kick out Jimmy when he could talk football with the dude.

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New York Style Pizza - thin crust

The round, thin-crust stuff that most people in the U.S. think of as "pizza." It ,of course, originated in New York City in the early 1900s and it is wide, thin and foldable. New Yorkers generally fold it while eating. Also referred to in New York as a "regular" pie or a "regular" slice. The default regular slice is a "plain" slice, i.e., no toppings, only cheese. It is traditionally hand-tossed and light on sauce.

The most notable difference between New York style and most other American pizzas is its thin hand-tossed crust, made from a high-gluten bread flour. The flavor of the crust has sometimes been attributed to the minerals present in the New York City tap water used to make the dough. Some out-of-state pizza makers even transport the water cross-country for the sake of authenticity.

This style of pizza tends to dominate the Northeastern states, with many shops advertising New York-style pizza. It is sometimes also known as "Italian pizza" since it reflects the variety of pizza made most commonly in Italian-American-owned pizza shops.

Outside of the Northeast, many pizzas are described as "New York style" - including some by major pizza chains such as Pizza Hut. One large pizza chain, Sbarro, markets New York-style pizza, but cuts it into 6 slices, instead of 8.



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have a great weekend
Rod