70th Anniversary of D-Day

[jimmy olsen]

My Grandfather fought with Patton's Third Army in France/Germany. He was a company cook IIRC.

[Duque de Bragança]

Flanby delivered some banal, boring speeches along with a common barbarism among (wannabe) pedants, un faux imparfait du subjonctif.

The Nazis lost, stop it.

Well, that's not the way I would describe Merkel (among others) falling nearly asleep during the speech but then the temperature was hot for Normandy, the chair comfy and the eyes closed.
Sarkozy was laughing at times OTOH

[Valmy]

That's Hollande's nickname?  That's awesome. 

[Duque de Bragança]

That's Hollande's nickname?  That's awesome. 

That's Caramel pudding (Flanby is a famous brand) for the non-Francophones. Given by Fabius, no less.

[Zanza]

Well, that's not the way I would describe Merkel (among others) falling nearly asleep during the speech but then the temperature was hot for Normandy, the chair comfy and the eyes closed.

At least she seems to have brought Putin and Poroshenko together. That's her job and more important than listening to some festive speeches.

[Syt]

Well, I'm glad the invasion happened. Otherwise we might all be speaking Russian.

[Grey Fox]

Flanby delivered some banal, boring speeches along with a common barbarism among (wannabe) pedants, un faux imparfait du subjonctif.

The Nazis lost, stop it.

Well, that's not the way I would describe Merkel (among others) falling nearly asleep during the speech but then the temperature was hot for Normandy, the chair comfy and the eyes closed.
Sarkozy was laughing at times OTOH

I miss Sarko.

[derspiess]

That's Hollande's nickname?  That's awesome. 

That's Caramel pudding (Flanby is a famous brand) for the non-Francophones. Given by Fabius, no less.

Is it similar to flan?

[mongers]

Being just under 100 miles north of Utah beach and the rest of normandy landing sites, there are airfields built and used in the invasion in all directions hereabouts. As well as other military structures disappearing back into the landscape.

So I'm often reminded of D-day on a weekly basis.

[Caliga]

My granddad had some cool WWII-related stories to tell but it was all second-hand or home front stuff.  When I joined Odd (should be "Old") Fellows in the early 90s we had quite a few WWII vets in the lodge and had all sorts of cool stories to tell.  I think three of them were fighter pilots (two Navy, one USAAF). 

The most interesting stories were from a guy who was an Army  field artillery sergeant (forget what unit) and he was involved in a lot of the heavy fighting in Western Europe 1944-45.  He said he saw a few "impressive" tank battles.

You're in the Odd Fellows?  I didn't know there even were any of those anymore...

My grandfather didn't like to talk about the war.  He was on at least one bombing run where his plane got shot up and some of the other crewmen were killed.  It was after that he somehow managed to get transferred to a ground job.  His twin brother, OTOH, loved to talk about the war, and it's not like his experience wasn't traumatic either... he was a PBY Catalina pilot in the USN and was shot down off the New Guinea coast at one point.

[Grey Fox]

That's Hollande's nickname?  That's awesome. 

That's Caramel pudding (Flanby is a famous brand) for the non-Francophones. Given by Fabius, no less.

Is it similar to flan?

Yes.

For you, its the same thing.

For Duque, Flans have flour, Caramel Pudding doesn't.

[derspiess]

You're in the Odd Fellows?  I didn't know there even were any of those anymore...

Considerably fewer than there were a generation or two ago, but we're still kickin'.  Some lodges have closed down or consolidated, and some are quite active.  The upside is that most lodges' investments and assets have remained intact or have grown.  So there are a lot of funds available for member benefits, dinners/social activities, and sponsorship/charity. 

IOOF used to be huge, rivaling (at times surpassing) membership in Masonic lodges.  But we're a shell of what we used to be. 

[Caliga]

Is that the one that's basically just a closed social club for drinking, or am I thinking of the Elks?  I know they all do some charity work on the side, but I thought there was one that didn't have degrees, ritual, shit like that.

[derspiess]

Is that the one that's basically just a closed social club for drinking, or am I thinking of the Elks?  I know they all do some charity work on the side, but I thought there was one that didn't have degrees, ritual, shit like that.

That might be Elks, dunno.  We don't have any official prohibition against alcohol but I've never seen any in the Lodge.  Maybe when we go out to eat some of us will order a beer or two with our meal (which is apparently frowned on by some members but whatever).

And we have a ton of rituals.  Only three degrees for the basic level, but there are other internal IOOF groups you can join that have their own degrees & ranks (including the official "semi-military" wing, the concept of which is hilarious).

[The Brain]

What is: Elks?