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Strange Deaths

The Courts have lists of experts to call on, they don't summon any old charlatan.
I know that historically they called on people with experience rather than box ticking. I recall Churchill the firearms expert.

On the other hand not so long ago I attended a trial where the alleged IT 'expert' - about 25 - knew sod all. If they'd let me cross examine him I'd have reduced him to quivering jelly.
 
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It seems the 1st AD on the set of 'Rust', Dave Halls, has previously been fired from another production over gun safety violations.

"The producers of Freedom's Path confirmed to AFP on Monday that Halls had been dismissed in 2019.


It came after a crew member "incurred a minor and temporary injury when a gun was unexpectedly discharged", the statement said"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59055138
 
It seems the 1st AD on the set of 'Rust', Dave Halls, has previously been fired from another production over gun safety violations.

"The producers of Freedom's Path confirmed to AFP on Monday that Halls had been dismissed in 2019.


It came after a crew member "incurred a minor and temporary injury when a gun was unexpectedly discharged", the statement said"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59055138
It's looking worse and worse.
 
This Sky News page has photos and video of the crew at work. Baldwin and Hutchins are standing worryingly close together.

More interestingly though, there is mention of the guns and ammunition on the site. It sounds - to me, admittedly (and gladly) knowing little of such matters- as if the firearms situation was out of control.

Alec Baldwin film shooting: Photo emerges of Halyna Hutchins on set before fatal accident

Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies told the New York Times an "enormous amount of bullets" had been found on the set and an investigation was needed into the nature of that ammunition.

She also said it was incorrect to refer to the firearm used in the accident on the set of a western film as a "prop gun".

"It was a legit gun," Ms Carmack-Altwies said. "It was an antique-era appropriate gun."
 
My old manager used to say "Never trust anyone who calls themselves an expert."
I sometimes get called an 'expert' on cycling and it's a term I'm not comfortable with. I ride bikes, I've written about cycling for 25 years but I'd never choose to call myself an 'expert', as it feels like one then becomes a hostage to fortune. Unless I get a five-minute slot on C5 like a I did two decades ago – when I was paid £100 plus a night in a four-star hotel in London to talk about drugs in cycling. Yep, I might call myself an 'expert' in those circumstances!

As to the shooting on the film set, it boggles the mind that guns used on set are also used for shooting live rounds in down times. It's madness that anybody could think that might be a good idea. My favourite phrase? "What could possibly go wrong?" Unbelievable.
 
The Courts have lists of experts to call on, they don't summon any old charlatan.
Yeah, this is the only charlatan worth summoning!

maxresdefault-3.jpg
 
Yeah, this is the only charlatan worth summoning!

View attachment 47286
Y'know, there's a current Radio 4 series on slime which mentions the above hunky cove in the context of Lovecraft's supposed distaste for the female form and sexuality.

Slime: A Natural History

Book of the Week. Sirine Saba reads from Susanne Wedlich's ground-breaking new book which leads us on a journey through the three-billion-year history of slime.

Cthulhu pops up in Episode 2.
It's like the way M.R. James expressed his fear of spiders in his stories. Writers can't help it.
 
Yeah, this is the only charlatan worth summoning!

View attachment 47286
Y'know, there's a current Radio 4 series on slime which mentions the above hunky cove in the context of Lovecraft's supposed distaste for the female form and sexuality.

Slime: A Natural History



Cthulhu pops up in Episode 2.
It's like the way M.R. James expressed his fear of spiders in his stories. Writers can't help it.
The shot of Cthulhu reminds me of The Clash Of The Titans for some reason...
 
Y'know, there's a current Radio 4 series on slime which mentions the above hunky cove in the context of Lovecraft's supposed distaste for the female form and sexuality.

Slime: A Natural History



Cthulhu pops up in Episode 2.
It's like the way M.R. James expressed his fear of spiders in his stories. Writers can't help it.

Reminds me of Ramsey Campbell's description of his grim childhood in the introduction to his cult classic horror novel The Face That Must Die. I won't go into details, but he did grow up to be happily married once out of the grip of his mother's influence, so it's not necessarily a given that writers leave their psychology on the page.
 
As to the shooting on the film set, it boggles the mind that guns used on set are also used for shooting live rounds in down times. It's madness that anybody could think that might be a good idea. My favourite phrase? "What could possibly go wrong?" Unbelievable.
Yup, the gun/ammunition situation was out of control. Nobody was stopping people using the guns with real ammo to pass the time.
One suspects the inexperienced armourer was not up to saying 'no' to people.
 
I sometimes get called an 'expert' on cycling and it's a term I'm not comfortable with. I ride bikes, I've written about cycling for 25 years but I'd never choose to call myself an 'expert', as it feels like one then becomes a hostage to fortune.
The problem with calling yourself an 'expert' is that people try to catch you out, then say 'you're not an expert'.
 
The problem with calling yourself an 'expert' is that people try to catch you out, then say 'you're not an expert'.

I'd say the actual problem was that while you can call yourself an expert if you know your subject inside out, there's always an amateur who can call themselves an expert when they really don't know much at all. Talk is cheap. It can be tricky to tell the difference, especially if you're under pressure at work... on a film set, for example.
 
Reminds me of Ramsey Campbell's description of his grim childhood in the introduction to his cult classic horror novel The Face That Must Die. I won't go into details, but he did grow up to be happily married once out of the grip of his mother's influence, so it's not necessarily a given that writers leave their psychology on the page.
You do know he's a horror writer? :chuckle:
 
I'd say the actual problem was that while you can call yourself an expert if you know your subject inside out, there's always an amateur who can call themselves an expert when they really don't know much at all. Talk is cheap. It can be tricky to tell the difference, especially if you're under pressure at work... on a film set, for example.
The problem here might not have been how proficient the expert was, rather that she wasn't up to supervising the guns.
Allowing crew members to randomly shoot the guns and ammo that she was in charge of was abdicating responsibility.
She shouldn't have trusted anyone else to touch them.
 
The problem here might not have been how proficient the expert was, rather that she wasn't up to supervising the guns.
Allowing crew members to randomly shoot the guns and ammo that she was in charge of was abdicating responsibility.
She shouldn't have trusted anyone else to touch them.
I would imagine an experienced armourer would have all the guns and ammo under lock and key when not being used in the production, I know I would in that position.
 
I would imagine an experienced armourer would have all the guns and ammo under lock and key when not being used in the production, I know I would in that position.
I would too.
Of course. The armourer is responsible and accidents are on their head. You'd be mad or just incompetent to let the guns out of your sight.
 
It now transpires that Baldwin’s revolver was a fully-functional, i.e. not manufactured or adapted solely to fire blanks, copy of a Colt Single Action Army revolver in .45 “Long” Colt calibre. The revolver was made by Pietta, an Italian company with a major presence in the USA.

Pietta make a wide range of repro revolvers. The one used in the fatal incident may, repeat may, have been one of these. (This is a guess by me, and not based on any info.)

The operation of the Colt SAA is primitive by today’s standards. Unlike today’s revolvers, the cylinder does not pop out of the frame to facilitate loading/unloading cartridges and quick safety inspections.

FF to about 1:00 to see the operating system:


This photo is allegedly the last one taken, shortly before the incident:

Baldwin-Rust-Fortean.jpg


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-n...arges-table-baldwin-shooting-prosecutor-says/

maximus otter
 
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Yup, the gun/ammunition situation was out of control. Nobody was stopping people using the guns with real ammo to pass the time.
One suspects the inexperienced armourer was not up to saying 'no' to people.
I can well imagine "important" people telling her "gizza a gun then love" would get their way, to be fair. Comes with employing people with insufficient knowledge and experience, as you say.
 
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