Huntsville, AL

[Caliga]

AAR, Part III: ADDENDUM

I forgot to say more about the museum and von Braun.  Basically, no mention was made of his contribution to the German war effort in WWII nor his former membership in the Nazi party.  For example, there was both a V-1 and a V-2, but no mention that these were terror weapons used to successfully kill tens of thousands of civilians in Allied-occupied Europe (mostly Britain).  I found this to be in extremely poor taste.  I mean, I get that he's a bit of a hero in those parts and he made a major contribution to the US space program, so I'm not saying he should necessarily be demonized, but doesn't the museum have an ethical obligation to at least mention these issues and address them in some way?  I was shocked that they chose to deal with this issue by being completely silent.

[Admiral Yi]

"Billy Bob, looks like we got another hippie agitator.  Better fetch the taser."

[Ed Anger]

AAR, Part III: ADDENDUM

I forgot to say more about the museum and von Braun.  Basically, no mention was made of his contribution to the German war effort in WWII nor his former membership in the Nazi party.  For example, there was both a V-1 and a V-2, but no mention that these were terror weapons used to successfully kill tens of thousands of civilians in Allied-occupied Europe (mostly Britain).  I found this to be in extremely poor taste.  I mean, I get that he's a bit of a hero in those parts and he made a major contribution to the US space program, so I'm not saying he should necessarily be demonized, but doesn't the museum have an ethical obligation to at least mention these issues and address them in some way?  I was shocked that they chose to deal with this issue by being completely silent.

NASA don't care about no Limey bastards. You carpetbagger.

[CountDeMoney]

Yeah, no shit.

Don't worry about it, Cal.  He worked it off.

[Malthus]

AAR, Part III: ADDENDUM

I forgot to say more about the museum and von Braun.  Basically, no mention was made of his contribution to the German war effort in WWII nor his former membership in the Nazi party.  For example, there was both a V-1 and a V-2, but no mention that these were terror weapons used to successfully kill tens of thousands of civilians in Allied-occupied Europe (mostly Britain).  I found this to be in extremely poor taste.  I mean, I get that he's a bit of a hero in those parts and he made a major contribution to the US space program, so I'm not saying he should necessarily be demonized, but doesn't the museum have an ethical obligation to at least mention these issues and address them in some way?  I was shocked that they chose to deal with this issue by being completely silent.

They should play the Tom Lehrer song at the display. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDjmEj25k5U

[Caliga]

I wonder if the approximately five Jews who live in Huntsville agree with me on this one.  They probably do but are afraid to come out of hiding and say so.

[Syt]

The first thing I saw was a SR-71 Blackbird parked in front of the entrance, which was pretty neat to see in person... I've seen the F-117 before, which is dwarfed by the SR-71.  To me the Blackbird looks like something Batman would have flown around in.

It was the X-Men's plane of choice. At least in the 80s, when I read the comics.

[Syt]

They probably do but are afraid to come out of hiding and say so.

[Caliga]

AAR, Part IV

Friday, April 26th
After the Rocket Center we headed off to dinner at a place called Dreamland BBQ, which is an Alabama chain that Lusti recommended to me.  As a complementary appetizer, the waitress brought us out... slices of white bread and a small tub of barbecue sauce to dip it in.   I'd never seen anything like that before, and honestly it wasn't too bad, but I still am not sure if this is a Dreamland thing, or an Alabama thing, or what.  We then split a BBQ baked potato, which apparently is a big thing down there: basically a loaded baked potato stuffed with pulled pork.  It was pretty damn good.

For dinner we both had pulled pork sandwiches; Princesca got a side of potato salad and I got a side of beans with mine.  Neither side was anything remarkable.  The pork in the sandwiches was definitely on the dry side, but I like it that way so I thought the sandwiches were good.  The BBQ sauce here was essentially a St. Louis-style sauce but unusually spicy... I liked it.  For dessert, we split a banana pudding.  Now, this pudding was the SHIZNIT... definitely the best I've ever had, anywhere.

One other observation: as everyone knows, there are obvious similarities between the "African American" accent and the Southern accent.  In Kentucky, it's still obvious when you listen to people talk (even if you can't see their faces) whether they're black or white assuming they have one accent or the other.  At this restaurant, our waitress was white but her accent wasn't really distinguishable from a black dude accent (and no, she wasn't a wigger  ).  After I noticed that I was kind of on the lookout for it the rest of the trip and noticed other occasions of it as well.  I guess that makes sense, since I would guess around half of the people in Huntsville are black--most of the patrons at Dreamland when we were there were black.  AH LOVE ME SOME RIBS Y'ALL

btw: Dreamland is famous for its ribs, which is something I think lusti told me, but I forgot to order some when I was there.

[lustindarkness]

btw: Dreamland is famous for its ribs, which is something I think lusti told me, but I forgot to order some when I was there.

Like I told you, after the fact it seems: for like 50 years until just a few years ago, all they had was ribs and a bag of sliced bread. They added the other items and sides some years ago. And yes, their banana pudding is to die for.

[Ed Anger]

Now I'm wanting some banana pudding. 

[katmai]

Now I'm wanting some banana pudding. 

Only if it has 'nilla wafer crust.

[Ed Anger]

Now I'm wanting some banana pudding. 

Only if it has 'nilla wafer crust.

Of course. Using store brand wafers is a disaster waiting to happen. Or worse yet, dollar store vanilla wafers.

[The Brain]

AAR, Part III: ADDENDUM

I forgot to say more about the museum and von Braun.  Basically, no mention was made of his contribution to the German war effort in WWII nor his former membership in the Nazi party.  For example, there was both a V-1 and a V-2, but no mention that these were terror weapons used to successfully kill tens of thousands of civilians in Allied-occupied Europe (mostly Britain).  I found this to be in extremely poor taste.  I mean, I get that he's a bit of a hero in those parts and he made a major contribution to the US space program, so I'm not saying he should necessarily be demonized, but doesn't the museum have an ethical obligation to at least mention these issues and address them in some way?  I was shocked that they chose to deal with this issue by being completely silent.

How would you spin SS officer working slaves to death, oh wise Cal?

[Caliga]

after the fact it seems