UPDATE:  Project completed.  Giant drill penetrates man’s driveway.  Community shocked amused.  Halloween saved.  Dentists everywhere rejoice!  Good job Peter, we’re looking forward to next year.

11/1/2010 – We did it. It was probably the hardest project I’ve done yet, but with the help of a lot of very talented people, we pulled off an amazingly huge prop for Halloween last night. Here’s a shot from this morning to show what we built:  Amazingly, we built a bigger prop than the concept art showed. It’s massive. The drillbit alone is 11 1/2 feet long. From the tip of the drill to the base of the cylinder is about 25 feet. The tip reached very near the top of my two story house. There will be more photos and video over the next few weeks, but I just wanted to put this up to let everyone know we got the project done. Read more »

I was right!  As warned in my previous post, the Russian’s are proudly gearing up their Soviet attitudes, as evidenced  in this year’s Victory Day parade.  This Soviet veteran (along with his fellow comrades) was not only photographed at the celebration in Red Square, but he’s toasting with Vodka to honor the modern Russian military.

You see that patch on his arm?  That’s CCCP (Союз Советских Социалистических Республик) along with the Soviet Union Navy ensign flag.  Now why would he be toasting the (non-Soviet) Russian military?  Hmmm…?  Maybe his new comrades are “like minded”.

Seen in the parade photos are MiG-29 and Su-27 Fighters, Ilyushin Il-78 Tankers, Tu-95 and Tu-160 Bombers, Topol-M Missile Launchers, Msta-S Howitzers, T-90 Tanks, BTR-90 Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Ka-50 Attack Helicopters, Sprut-SD Tank Destroyers, and of course Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Tons of great pictures from this years Victory Day parade.

Welcome back [Soviet] Russia!  We missed you…

May 9th, 1945 (Victory Day) – the day that Nazi Germany capitulated to the USSR.  It became an official Soviet holiday in 1965, and continues to be celebrated even after the fall of the USSR.  Traditionally, ceremonial military parades are held on the day, such as the one in Moscow on the Red Square.  However, on May 9th, 2008, the Russian Federation returned to the Soviet Union tradition of showing off its mobile nuclear weapons during the Victory Day parade, declaring their return to super-power status (Также неизбежное поражение тех американских капиталистических свиней).  This is the RT-2UTTKh Topol-M Mobile ICBM, NATO Designation SS-27 Stalin.

This is a brand new “modernized” version of the weapon system, with a whole new kind of ICBM.  Want to know why you should be concerned? Read more »