Brett Holman
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airminded.org
Brett Holman
@airminded.org
3.9K followers 1.4K following 3.8K posts
Independent PhD historian (aviation, bombing; #WW1, #WW2; Britain, Australia; emotions, spectacle); books (Home Fires Burning (WW1 air raids on Britain; in progress), The Next War in the Air). Naarm/Melbourne, Australia. He/him. airminded.org
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Kobo #HistBookChat
David Cordingly, Cochrane the Dauntless: The Life and Adventures of Thomas Cochrane.
December 11, 2025 at 10:01 AM
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It's this one
The pub in Wake In Fright (1971).
December 11, 2025 at 4:50 AM
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In 1913 a phantom airship buzzed the trawler Othello and circled it twice before flying off

airminded.org/2013/03/05/w...
There was also no air defence capability save for the machine guns of the naval vessel. The LÉ Yeats has no air radar capability. It is understood that deck look-outs who were working on the ship spotted the drones, which were lit up against the night sky.
December 5, 2025 at 3:15 AM
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Braudel in the archives: EXTREMELY relatable
to use a camera to photograph documents and for the next three years he spent his winter holidays in Mediterranean archives 'making kilometres of microfilms' which he then read in Brazil during the term: 'I was shooting 2,000-3,000 photos a day.' Before long, his thesis became unmanageable.
November 30, 2025 at 2:58 AM
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Key scene in Brief Encounter (1945), most film critics don’t understand this
A large scale model of what looks like a Gloster Gladiator in RAF camouflage. Also in the scene is a young boy sitting up in bed, probably to do with the plot or something.
November 29, 2025 at 5:25 AM
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Post something random
Detail of a painting show the head of a terrified horse.
November 27, 2025 at 10:15 PM
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Introduce yourself in four spaceships
Moon Rocket (Destination Moon). Eagle Transporter (Space: 1999). Gunstar (The Last Starfighter). Argo (Starblazers).
November 26, 2025 at 11:09 PM
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Ha, you're exactly right
message to Supt.s
November 26, 2025 at 3:38 AM
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OK, I give up. Anyone have any idea what this is supposed to read? They're from the same document, initials from the context but seem to be stylised/overlapping
A squiggle plus the date "28/9/17". A squiggle.
November 26, 2025 at 2:45 AM
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Kobo #HistBookChat
Anna Whitelock, The Sun Rising: James I and the Dawn of a Global Britain.
November 24, 2025 at 2:09 AM
airminded.org
Post a movie where you are from
Still from Romper Stomper (1992), with Footscray and Melbourne CBD in the background.
November 23, 2025 at 7:42 PM
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And this young fool, he just said to me
"It's Liberty or Death"
And he looked a rather tasty one, I just could not help it singing
Right there's another one, don't you frown
Chew the meat and hold it down
It's a tale they won't believe
When I get down
When I get down
When I get down to Hobart Town
Weddings Parties Anything frontman Pope Leo XIV.
November 23, 2025 at 3:26 AM
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Readings, Carlton #HistBookChat
Midge Gillies, Atlantic Furies: The Women Who Risked Everything to be the First to Fly; Rachel Perkins, Stephen Gapps, Mina Murray and Henry Reynolds (eds), The Australian Wars: The Truth About the Bloody Battles Fought to Establish the Nation; Fiona Skyring, Riots: Returned Soldiers and Public Disorder in Australia at the End of World War I.
November 23, 2025 at 1:52 AM
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Pretty sure there's a Churchill quote about wallet inspectors that's relevant here
Russia would commit to making no future attacks, something the White House views as a concession.
November 21, 2025 at 12:43 AM
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My suspicion is that this is meant to be the Beatles. But I sure as hell would not want to bet my life on it
The image showcases a 1000-piece puzzle, sealed in plastic wrap, prominently displayed on a white shelf in a shop window. The puzzle box features a pop-art style illustration of four men, reminiscent of a band. The central figure has his arms crossed. The artwork is characterized by bold outlines and a vibrant color palette, including shades of yellow, red, black, and blue. Above the central image, the box's branding is visible: "THE OFFICIAL Steve Kaufman COLLECTION PURE POP".
November 16, 2025 at 6:22 AM
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cartoon dog with a ball in its mouth, as its owner attempts to take it: "Pls throw??" "NO TAKE!!" "ONLY THROW"
November 16, 2025 at 12:21 AM
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Got a trackback on Airminded today from an old-school 911 truther (also a nuclear weapons and a conventional bombing denier). Bless
911 was accomplished largely if not wholly by using exotic military weaponry and technologies of "full-spectrum dominance". Except for DEW, no explanation proposed in the quarter-century since the attack fully (or even partly) accounts for all known evidence. Sick of being deceived, we begin there, leapfrogging the slew of rabid, oafish misleaders and disregarding the pernicious, ongoing psyops as entirely insufficient for scientific explanation nor worthy of further attention. Most people remain utterly clueless that the "Star Wars" technologies President Reagan introduced in 1983 (AKA "DEW" Directed Energy Weapons) have been weaponized and are in-use daily upon humanity. Directed Energy Professionals Society DEPS.org has been online since 1999 with huge military contractors (dsiac.dtic.mil) not hiding but selling books, classes, memberships in Their Big Club for DEW makers, weapons that use energy concentrated into beams, that are made to light fires, dissolve materials (and people), and worse. Every Worlds Fair has 'mysteriously' burned. Every major city has 'mysteriously' burned. Maybe DEW explains it all: Maybe DEW is much older than realized (and/or maybe solar ray weaponry was used before; Archimedes noted concentrated solar rays for war). We know there were airships; imagine a blimp with an huge lense floating over San Francisco in 1906, (and every other city at one time or another), blasting away...suddenly much is Perfectly explained and all mysteries and inexplicabilities vanish. DSIAC.DTIC.MIL evidences the military seriousness of the endeavor. Compelling evidence shows Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings were not "nuclear" (where is any 50,000 year half-life toxicity?) but were actually DEW hits covered by nuclear mumbo. explores the fakery there (particularly how the nuked clouds never dispel or even distort post-blast in any film). All supposedly fire-bombed corpses in Dresden have clothing intact, hair unburned, yet flesh cremated down to ash, proving they were cooked from their insides out and that no fire was involved. The rabbit hole is Massive and Deep. With DEW, Spontenous Human Combustion becomes suddenly perfectly explicable.
November 14, 2025 at 12:17 AM
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"Last of the 8 speed Malvern Stars"
This image captures a utilitarian and cavernous underground bike parking facility, characterized by a series of imposing concrete arches and pillars that create a repetitive, almost monumental, architectural structure. The dominant features are the massive, flared concrete arches and their supporting pillars, stretching into the depth of the scene. They are a dull, mottled grey-brown, showing signs of wear, moisture stains, and efflorescence, particularly on their undersides where patches of white and darker streaking are visible. The concrete texture is rough and granular. Beneath these arches, rows of metallic bike racks, curved in a "U" shape, are neatly arranged along the right side of a concrete pathway. A multitude of bicycles of various types—road bikes, city bikes, and those with child seats or baskets—are parked in these racks, some leaning, others upright.
November 13, 2025 at 12:49 AM
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Don't often get a chance to come onto the campus proper, even though the office is less than 10 minutes away on foot
The image depicts a tall clock tower made of beige stone, viewed from an upward angle. The clock on the tower is visible, encased in a square frame with traditional clock hands and numbers. The tower is part of a larger stone building featuring Gothic architectural elements, such as pointed-arch windows and decorative stonework. The sky above is overcast, with thin layers of clouds, creating a soft, diffused lighting over the scene. The main object is a robust, tapering stone monument, likely a war memorial, centrally positioned in the image. It is constructed from a light, weathered grey-beige stone. The monument's design features a wider base that narrows towards the top, culminating in a subtly flared capital. Ornate, gothic-inspired carvings adorn the upper section of its main body. Four dark, speckled grey plaques, shaped like heraldic shields, are affixed to its sides. On the visible front, the top plaque clearly reads "DE IMPERIO," while the lower one lists conflicts: "WORLD WARS 1914-1945" and "POST-1945" (with another unreadable line above the dates). The visible right side displays "DE ACADEMIA" on its upper plaque and "MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY RIFLES" on the lower. A wreath, composed of striking red and green foliage (possibly native Australian flora), is placed on the lowest step of the monument's base. This image presents a majestic, historic building, grandly framed by lush green trees, under a diffused, cloudy sky. Its facade is a symphony of neoclassical or Victorian architectural elements, featuring ornate detailing. The ground floor displays three large, deep-set arched windows, with the central one being slightly taller and more prominent, reflecting muted light from the sky. Flanking these are robust, fluted columns, which continue upwards to define the structure of the second floor. Between the two floors, a highly decorative frieze runs across the entire width, rich with sculptural reliefs of garlands, figures, and geometric patterns. Perched atop this classical grandeur, a starkly modern, luminous sign spells out "DESIGN" in bold, sans-serif, pale teal letters. This sign is mounted on a contemporary, lattice-like structure of dark metal beams. Dominating the foreground and sides are several large, mature trees with dense, vibrant green foliage. The image shows a modern building with an intricate facade made up of numerous horizontal metallic slats. These slats are arranged in a wavy pattern that creates an undulating effect across the structure's surface. The building's corner is rounded and rises prominently against a partly cloudy sky. The slats vary in orientation and spacing, contributing to a dynamic, textured appearance. A small tree with fresh green leaves is visible at the bottom right corner, adding a touch of natural contrast to the otherwise industrial scene.
November 13, 2025 at 12:42 AM
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Dr Naomi Wolf: "No! No!!"
November 7, 2025 at 2:58 AM
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If they are, I was definitely one! Exhibit A (and I'm not even an autograph guy):
Title page of Robert Zubrin, The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must. Inscription: "To Brett, See you on Mars! (initialled) RZ March 17, 2000"
November 5, 2025 at 9:26 PM
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Kobo #HistBookChat
Vladislav Zubok, The World of the Cold War: 1945-1991
November 4, 2025 at 8:24 AM
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Neat! Seems more flying saucer than mystery airship, though: www.bonnydoonvineyard.com/wines/
Story: In 1954, the village council of Chateauneuf-du-Pape was quite perturbed and apprehensive that flying saucers or “flying cigares” might do damage to their vineyards, were they to land therin. So right-thinking men all, they passed an ordinance prohibiting the landing of flying saucers or flying cigares in their vineyards. The ordinance further states that flying saucers or flying cigares that did land were to be taken immediately to the pound.
October 28, 2025 at 11:46 PM
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Birmingham Daily Mail, 7 Jul 1917
ANOTHER RAID on the Rudge Depot for bicycles. During the last few days we have experienced such an unprecedented demand for our Overstone and Universal cycles that we feel obliged to ADOPT a very unusual procedure to be able to continue the sale for the promised 14 days without fear of REPRISALS That is to supply brand new stock at the reduced prices advertised last week. So take our advice and see the following models WITHOUT DELAY.
October 28, 2025 at 6:14 AM
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Avenue Bookstore, Albert Park #HistBookChat
Emily Gallagher, Playtime: A History of Australian Childhood; Peter Marshall, Storm's Edge: Life, Death and Magic in the Islands of Orkney.
October 26, 2025 at 6:36 AM