Mr-Williams.Net

Mr. DiLella put me onto this site. They publish articles about once a week, and so far they’ve all been…well, damn interesting.

This is the beginning of the latest article, which covers an army testing accident with a VX nerve agent. I’m glad I don’t live near Skull Valley. Get the rest of this article here.

It was half past midnight on March 17th, 1968. Keith Smart, the director of epidemiology and ecology at Utah’s Dugway Proving Grounds, was awakened by the ringing of a phone. On the other end was Dr. Bode, a professor at the University of Utah, and the director of the school’s contract with Dugway. There was a problem. Calls had been coming in. About 27 miles outside of the base, in the aptly-named Skull Valley, thousands of sheep had suddenly died. There were some survivors among the flocks, but it was clear that their hours were numbered. Veterinarians were dispatched to euthanize the few remaining animals.

Army officials began drafting their official denial. A few days earlier, one of their planes had flown high over the Utah desert at Dugway with a bellyful of nerve agent. The plane’s mission was simple: using a specially rigged delivery system, it was to fly to a specific set of coordinates and spray its payload over a remote section of the Utah desert. This test was a small part of the ongoing chemical and biological weapons research at Dugway, and it was one of three tests held that particular day. The flight would soon prove to be far more important than anyone could have guessed at the time.

I loved playing Space Invaders when I was a kid.

Obviously someone else loved S.I. more than I did. Here’s the ultimate tribute to Space Invaders in stop motion animation. I post this here as inspiration for any art/computer/animation student wanting to have fun, make a video, and practice those directorial skills.

Here’s a link to the blog entry explaining the process of this tribute.

-Mr. W.