Music for a Lazy Saturday

The story behind Prokofiev's 'Lieutenant Kije's Suite' is charming, wonderful, funny and romantic. Click on the first underlined reference and listen to a wonderfully British eight-minute tutorial about the Lieutenant; then, if you're interested, click on the Kije caption below; better than Benicar!

Lt. Kije Suite

Can you cheat at Russian Roulette?

Surprisingly, yes.

Pусская Pулетка, (russkaya ruletka )is a lethal game of chance in which a player places a single round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against his or her head, and pulls the trigger. "Russian" refers to the supposed country of origin, and roulette to the element of risk-taking and the spinning of the revolver's cylinder, which is reminiscent of a spinning roulette wheel.

Because only one chamber is loaded, the player has a one in x chance of being shot; x is the number of chambers in the cylinder. So, for instance, if a revolver holds six chambers, the chance is one in six. That assumes that each chamber is equally likely to come to rest in the "correct" position.

However, due to gravity, in a properly maintained weapon with a single round inside the cylinder, the full chamber, which weighs more than the empty chambers, will usually end up near the bottom of the cylinder when its axis is not vertical, altering the odds in favor of the player. This only applies to swing-out cylinder type revolvers, and only if the cylinder is spun outside of the revolver and allowed to come to a complete stop before being locked back in. The number of pulls of the trigger before a round is expected to discharge is 3.5 (without spinning between the pulls) or 6 (with spinning between the pulls).
In this famous film sequence, (click the last sentence) was De Nero aware of that advantage?  It looks like 'maybe.'

The LaSalle - the prettiest American car ever?

The LaSalle was the first brainchild of Harley Earl, the legendary American auto designer. It was created as a sort of entry-level Cadillac - a little cheaper, more stylish, designed as an early 'hook' for upwardly mobile younger buyers. After initial success, the onset of the Great Depression gave the LaSalle a rocky survival road upon which the brand finally failed, but not before some spectacular iterations and a somewhat mysterious namesake. Was this the LaSalle of John Baptist de la Salle, an 18th century French priest, or of Robert de La Salle, a 17th century French explorer who claimed Louisiana and the entire Mississippi delta for his mother country.
Let's clear this right up. LaSalle University in Philadelphia is named after the French priest; their sports teams are called 'Explorers.' (Doncha luv it when a page of history refuses to lie flat?)
Anyway, here's a 1936 LaSalle convertible. You can't get much prettier than this!

                                                              

(30)