Platoon (1986, Oliver Stone)

24/03/2024

Platoon is a 1986 film, written and directed by Oliver Stone, which deals with his time in Vietnam as a volunteer during the war and is inspired by the real experiences the director had between 1967 and 1971 during his military service.

The film won 4 Oscars out of 8 nominations and Oliver Stone was also awarded the Silver Bear in Berlin as best director. In 1998 the American Film Institute placed it in eighty-third place in the ranking of the one hundred best American films of all time, while ten years later, in the updated list, it dropped to eighty-sixth place. In 2019, it was chosen for preservation in the National Film Registry of the United States Library of Congress.

The bloodiest episode, as in many other films dealing with the Vietnam War, is inspired by the most atrocious event of that conflict, known to history as the My Lai massacre, in which American soldiers committed atrocities including rape of very young girls, indiscriminate killings of innocent civilians, destruction of the homes and resources of the inhabitants, believed to be allies of the Viet Cong, despite there being no evidence. From this perspective, the figure of the platoon commander, Lieutenant Wolfe, both for his inability to control his men and for other characteristics, can be traced back to the main person responsible for My Lai, the then US Army Lieutenant William Calley, convicted to several years of military detention for that very affair.

Due to an error by Lieutenant Wolfe, who gives wrong coordinates via radio, the platoon is decimated by friendly artillery.

In the last war action of his volunteer service, Chris escapes a deadly ambush by the Viet Cong who almost completely annihilate the platoon and the subsequent American bombing with napalm.

Initially Hollywood snubs the script as many producers are of the opinion that what three is to say about the Vietnam War has already been reported in highly successful films such as Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter, however the strength of Stone's script still attracts some producers who see enormous potential in him. He was then assigned to write a screenplay for another film, Stone accepted and wrote Midnight Express in 1977, thanks to which he won the Oscar for best non-original screenplay (first statuette for Stone) a fact that made all of Hollywood understand the Stone's enormous potential; it was therefore not difficult for him to find the producer to begin work on Platoon.

The film was shot, following the great example of Apocalypse Now, director Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece, on the island of Luzon, in the Philippines, starting in February 1986. The film's production was almost canceled due to the political upheavals in country, due to Ferdinand Marcos, dictator of the country. Upon arrival in the Philippines, the cast members underwent a two-week course of intensive training by Dale Dye (former Marine captain during the Vietnam War and interpreter of Captain Harris), during which they had to dig trenches and suffer forced marches and night "ambushes".

i want to know everything about you guys...what your favorite foods are, your favorite places to go, your favorite things to do with friends, your mbti type, your favorite books, poems, et cetera. such banal things people ask as icebreakers can actually say a lot about a person, and i want to get to know all of my mutuals and become proper friends with them ^^

AVAILABLE ON REDBUBBLE

I decided to open a Redbubble and this is the first piece I chose to work on is the Philippine Mouse Deer, better known as the Pilandok. Philippine mouse deer are found in Balabac and nearby smaller islands (Bugsuk and Ramos) southwest of Palawan in the Philippines. They inhabit moist forests, and shrubland, and often visit mangroves to feed. They have also been spotted along the seashore. Philippine mouse deer are solitary and nocturnal animals. However, sometimes they may occur in pairs for short periods of time. During the day, they typically take shelter in the dense primary and secondary forests and avoid movement. At sundown, they will wander into mangroves and more open areas to feed.

Parang atin ang gabi, para bang wala tayong katabi~

At tayo'y sumayaw na parang 'di na tayo bibitaw~

I saw this on quora and thought it was cool and wanted to share it on here.  Its a long read but crazy.  Its from Erik Painter

They did try. And they did capture Navajo men. However, they were unsuccessful in using them to decipher the code. The reason was simple. The Navajo Code was a code that used Navajo. It was not spoken Navajo. To a Navajo speaker, who had not learned the code, a Navajo Code talker sending a message sounds like a string of unconnected Navajo words with no grammar. It was incomprehensible. So, when the Japanese captured a Navajo man named Joe Kieyoomia in the Philippines, he could not really help them even though they tortured him. It was nonsense to him.

The Navajo Code had to be learned and memorized. It was designed to transmit a word by word or letter by letter exact English message. They did not just chat in Navajo. That could have been understood by a Navajo speaker, but more importantly translation is never, ever exact. It would not transmit precise messages. There were about 400 words in the Code.

The first 31 Navajo Marines created the Code with the help of one non-Navajo speaker officer who knew cryptography. The first part of the Code was made to transmit English letters. For each English letter there were three (or sometimes just two) English words that started with that letter and then they were translated into Navajo words. In this way English words could be spelled out with a substitution code. The alternate words were randomly switched around. So, for English B there were the Navajo words for Badger, Bear and Barrel. In Navajo that is: nahashchʼidí, shash, and tóshjeeh. Or the letter A was Red Ant, Axe, or Apple. In Navajo that is: wóláchííʼ, tsénił , or bilasáana. The English letter D was: bįįh=deer, and łééchąąʼí =dog, and chʼįįdii= bad spiritual substance (devil).

For the letter substitution part of the Code the word “bad” could be spelled out a number of ways. To a regular Navajo speaker it would sound like: “Bear, Apple, Dog”. Or other times it could be “ Barrel, Red Ant, Bad Spirit (devil)”. Other times it could be “Badger, Axe, Deer”. As you can see, for just this short English word, “bad” there are many possibilities and to the combination of words used. To a Navajo speaker, all versions are nonsense. It gets worse for a Navajo speaker because normal Navajo conjugates in complex ways (ways an English or Japanese speaker would never dream of). These lists of words have no indicators of how they are connected. It is utterly non-grammatical.

Then to speed it up, and make it even harder to break, they substituted Navajo words for common military words that were often used in short military messages. None were just translations. A few you could figure out. For example, a Lieutenant was “one silver bar” in Navajo. A Major was “Gold Oak Leaf” n Navajo. Other things were less obvious like a Battleship was the word for Whale in Navajo. A Mine Sweeper was the Navajo word for Beaver.

A note here as it seems hard for some people to get this. Navajo is a modern and living language. There are, and were, perfectly useful Navajo words for submarines and battleships and tanks. They did not “make up words because they had no words for modern things”. This is an incorrect story that gets around in the media. There had been Navajo in the military before WWII. The Navajo language is different and perhaps more flexible than English. It is easy to generate new words. They borrow very few words and have words for any modern thing you can imagine. The words for telephone, or train, or nuclear power are all made from Navajo stem roots.

Because the Navajo Marines had memorized the Code there was no code book to capture. There was no machine to capture either. They could transmit it over open radio waves. They could decode it in a few minutes as opposed to the 30 minutes to two hours that other code systems at the time took. And, no Navajo speaker who had not learned the Code could make any sense out of it.

The Japanese had no published texts on Navajo. There was no internationally available description of the language. The Germans had not studied it at the time. The Japanese did suspect it was Navajo. Linguists thought it was in the Athabaskan language family. That would be pretty clear to a linguist. And Navajo had the biggest group of speakers of any Athabaskan language. That is why they tortured Joe Kieyoomia. But, he could not make sense of it. It was just a list of words with no grammar and no meaning.

For Japanese, even writing the language down from the radio broadcasts would be very hard. It has lots of sounds that are not in Japanese or in English. It is hard to tell where some words end or start because the glottal stop is a common consonant. Frequency analysis would have been hard because they did not use a single word for each letter. And some words stood for words instead of for a letter. The task of breaking it was very hard.

Here is an example of a coded message:

béésh łigai naaki joogii gini dibé tsénił áchį́į́h bee ąą ńdítį́hí joogi béésh łóó’ dóó łóóʼtsoh

When translated directly from Navajo into English it is:

“SILVER TWO BLUE JAY CHICKEN HAWK SHEEP AXE NOSE KEY BLUE JAY IRON FISH AND WHALE. “

You can see why a Navajo who did not know the Code would not be able to do much with that. The message above means: “CAPTAIN, THE DIVE BOMBER SANK THE SUBMARINE AND BATTLESHIP.”

“Two silver bars” =captain. Blue jay= the. Chicken hawk= dive bomber. Iron fish = sub. Whale= battleship. “Sheep, Axe Nose Key”=sank. The only normal use of a Navajo word is the word for “and” which is “dóó ”. For the same message the word “sank” would be spelled out another way on a different day. For example, it could be: “snake, apple, needle, kettle”.

Here, below on the video, is a verbal example of how the code sounded. The code sent below sounded to a Navajo speaker who did not know the Code like this: “sheep eyes nose deer destroy tea mouse turkey onion sick horse 362 bear”. To a trained Code Talker, he would write down: “Send demolition team to hill 362 B”. The Navajo Marine Coder Talker then would give it to someone to take the message to the proper person. It only takes a minute or so to code and decode.

Calamian hog deer Axis calamianensis

Observed by ecoloveryael, CC-BY-NC

Cerf du Prince Alfred - Contrairement à la majorité des cervidés, les mâles ne semblent pas se battre pour les femelles en période de reproduction.

Lieu : Zoo d'Amiens Métropole

thank u so much for 100+ followers wahh TT im so overwhelmed weehehehe >7< )99 im so glad to find other people are as delulu as me <3 anyway really wanted another piece with my mc... i tried to do some hairstyles that were popular in 1920's Philippines but its hard to find TT i wanna think that my dolly is from my country anyways <3 (side note: i find that its so hard for me to do spotlight lighting so im taking the chance to do it as much as i can...) heres another piece inspired by deer dolly ! by ohproserpine <3

A Rare Visayan Spotted Deer Population In The Philippines

The Visayan spotted deer ("Rusa kuda") is a rare animal found only in the Philippines. It was previously thought to be extinct, but in 2015 it was discovered living in an isolated population on Bohol Island. The Visayan spotted deer (Tragulus formosus) is a species of deer found in the Philippines. The population of this deer is estimated to be between 2,000 and 5,000 individuals. Although it is a fairly common animal in the wild, its population density is low due to its shyness and tendency to avoid humans. The Visayan spotted deer is a medium-sized deer with a long tail and short ears. It has a reddish-brown coat with black spots on its back and sides. The males have larger spots than the females, and they grow two horns on their heads. The Visayan spotted deer is found in the foothills of the Cordilleras mountain range in the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Bohol, Leyte, Samar and Mindanao. Its habitat consists of dense rainforests and swamps. The animals are shy and avoid contact with humans, so it is not clear if they are in any danger from humans. However, their low population density means that they may be at risk from extensive deforestation or other threats to their habitat.

What Is The Threat To This Population?

The Visayan spotted deer population is currently threatened by hunting and habitat loss. The hunting of the deer is a major threat as it leads to their depletion in numbers and their continued decline in quality of life. Habitat loss is also a major threat as it reduces the number of trees and shrubs that the deer can use for shelter and food, which can lead to their extinction. It is threatened by habitat loss, hunting, and the illegal wildlife trade. The deer are particularly vulnerable to habitat loss because they inhabit primary rainforest habitats that are being lost at an alarming rate. The Visayan spotted deer is also susceptible to hunting as it is considered a delicacy in some parts of the world. The illegal wildlife trade exacerbates these threats as it fuels demand for exotic animal products, including skins and antlers, which can drive up prices and further threaten the species' survival.?

What Efforts Have Been Made To Save This Species?

1. There have been efforts made to save the species, including the establishment of protected areas and restrictions on hunting. 2. Conservation efforts aim to maintain populations of endangered animals while allowing for limited hunting and trapping for food, traditional medicine, and sport. 3. The goal is to eventually prevent extinction by breeding endangered animals in captivity or restoring their habitats.

What Needs To Be Done To Save This Species?

1: Reduce CO2 emissions The deer are susceptible to climate change due to their reliance on forests for survival. To reduce CO2 emissions, the government has invested in renewable energy projects and established green infrastructure such as rain gardens which help conserve water and improve air quality. 2: Save and protect habitats Habitats that the spotted deer rely on for their survival are being destroyed by human development and agriculture. The spotted deer is protected under the Philippine Wildlife Act of 1992, but additional protections are needed to ensure its long-term survival. 3: Educate the public about the importance of conserving wildlife The government has designated areas within protected areas where hunting is not allowed to protect the dwindling population of Visayan Spotted Deer. Education about the importance of conserving wildlife is essential to help protect this species from extinction. 4: Advocate for stricter environmental laws Stricter environmental laws could help protect the remaining Visayan Spotted Deer population by preventing habitat loss and hunting, two main threats to their survival. Additionally, these laws could help promote better forest management practices that would benefit the deer and the surrounding environment.

What Are The Future Plans For Saving This Species?

Step 1: Identify the Threats to the Species Hunting has been the main threat to the Visayan spotted deer for centuries. Hunters target this species for its antler and meat, which are prized in many parts of the world. Habitat loss is another major issue facing this species. The deer rely heavily on forests and other dense vegetation for refuge from predators and weather conditions. As these forests are cleared or degraded, the deer are at risk of becoming extinct. Invasion by invasive species also poses a significant threat to the Visayan spotted deer. These non-native plants can outcompete native plants, disrupting forest ecosystems and reducing prey availability for the animals living there. a concerted effort is needed from all stakeholders to protect this endangered species Step 2: Develop a Plan to Address the Threats One way to address the threats to the survival of the Visayan spotted deer is through conservation efforts. Habitat loss and fragmentation can be prevented by creating protected areas, promoting sustainable use of natural resources, and developing community-based conservation programs. Hunting and poaching can be minimized by implementing hunting regulations, increasing law enforcement efforts, and providing incentives for wildlife tourism. Step 3: Execute the Plan The government of Mindanao has developed a conservation plan that includes increasing hunting restrictions and conducting predator control measures. In addition, they are developing legislation to protect critical habitats for deer.

Conclusion

The Visayan spotted deer is a beautiful and endangered species that deserves our protection. We must do all we can to protect this amazing animal from extinction. - Philippine Spotted Deer Facts – Distribution, & Behavior - Philippine Sambar Deer: What to Know Awesome Russian Deer With Fangs Read the full article

If you take requests, could you share some facts about the Philippine Eagle?

Philippine Eagle aka Monkey-eating Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes, endemic to the forests of the Philppines

CRITICALLY ENDANGERED.

While not the largest eagle in terms of weight, they are considered the largest eagle in the world in terms of length and wing surface area.

They are endangered due to loss of habitat (deforestation).

Once considered to be closely related to the Harpy Eagle, DNA analysis concludes that they are actually much more closely related to the Snake Eagles (like the Bataleur).

Despite the nickname, they feed on a wide variety of mid sized animals, like monitor lizards, flying lemurs, small deer, etc, as well as monkeys.

photographs: Shemlongakit, HCruz985, Rich Lindie

Name: Fried Eggs Worm (Archipheretima middletoni)

Debut: Real Life

What the! Whuzzah! That's a! WOW! This is how I felt upon learning about Fried Eggs Worm for the first time, and I hope you feel the same way, because MY GOODNESS! In this world, there exists an earthworm, which is a deep blue, and has spots that look just like sunny-side-up eggs. Sometimes it looks like the yolk was punctured and spilled out! Better hope a Toast Worm is nearby to sop that up!

I could not BELIEVE I had not learned about this creature until just a few months ago, and I could not let it be obscure any longer. This is one of the most incredible creatures, and now you know about it, too!

Perhaps the reason for its obscurity is that it was only "formally" discovered and named rather recently, in 2009. Of course, the people who had been living in its native range in the Philippines had known about it long before that! How could they miss it, really? I will remind you: this worm has Egg Imagery all over its body.

Some local folklore suggested that these silly little wigglies might be the juvenile form of an eel species from a nearby river, and if you're familiar with eel development, something that strange doesn't seem all that out of character for an eel. The truth is, the Fried Eggs Worm is quite out of character for an earthworm! It is more of a leaflitterworm, because instead of burrowing in the soil, it burrows in the leaf litter. It is thought that the funny spots might help it camouflage in there by resembling light pouring through the leaves, kind of like a baby deer's or tapir's spots!

The Fried Eggs Worm does not spend ALL of its time in the leaf litter. Oh, no. It isn't even born in there. It's born in a doggone TREE. Their babies have been found in the leaf axils of the pandanus tree, meaning their parents CLIMB TREES in order to reproduce. Arboreal annelids! These limbless tubes are better at climbing trees than we are, and we're apes! And more ridiculous still, so far only one baby worm has been found per tree. These babies might each get an entire tree all to themselves with no competition. Is that really necessary? I think Fried Eggs Worm may be showing off, but it has every right to do that. I hope it continues!

Fried Eggs Worm should be the new Easter mascot. Nothing against rabbits, but they're one of the most popular animals. They have enough, I think. And they're not Egg at all! They don't lay eggs, and they don't have any visual egg motif. Fried Eggs Worm, however, lays eggs, and is covered in egg iconography! Second only to Fried Egg Jellyfish.

In conclusion, this eggcellent creature worms my heart, and I hope you feel the same way, especially if you did not know of them before! It feels representative of the fact that we will never know every creature of this world, and there will always be more to learn!

If you're a REALLY devoted Fried Eggs Worm Superfan and want to show it to the world, use this simple guide to steal their look!

-blue

-egg

How would the cats get rid of the bile to prepare a prey item for food? The liver is one of the best items to use for gravy--my family uses our roasted Turkey's liver as a gravy base every year and to have to throw it out cause someone fucked up while on kitchen duty would suck.

Not all animals will actually have gallbladders, but removing one from the liver is as easy as just chopping it off when you get to the processing part. It'll be down on the bottom of the liver, usually pear-shaped, and a dark greenish color. Sorreltail, a sapient cat with her great sense of smell, could tell it apart from the surrounding meat with her eyes closed.

I do have to stress, though, you CAN eat bile. You don't have to have the cats toss that, that is a thing they can eat. Again it's not nail polish remover like the Erins think it is. It's bitter, but it's used in human food. You just balance out the bitterness with spice and sweetness.

This is papaitan, from the Philippines, made with tripe and bile,

Bile is also said to have anti-inflammatory effects and be a generally healthy food, too. I can see ShadowClan in particular really liking to cook with this, especially for a sick cat. They like bitter and spicy tastes a lot more than other Clans. Their version of chicken noodle soup.

Also; a lot of animals do not have gallbladders. Here's a short list of common prey animals and their gallbladder status;

Rabbits = No

Rats = No

Mouse = Yes

Shrew = Yes

Deer = No

Pigeon = No

Quail = Yes

Carp = Yes BUT DO NOT EAT THESE CARP GALL BLADDERS CAUSE FOOD POISONING. ALL species, everywhere. This includes goldfish. Your cat will live if they swallow a goldfish or eat a gallbladder once or twice, but it will make them sick. Process this fish before a Clan cat eats it.

(Side note: It's actually kind of funny how carp keeps coming up as The "Fuck You" Animal in all of these. They're full of seizure-causing anti-nutrients, their gallbladders are poison, what am I going to find next?)

The gallbladder in fish is really easy to find btw, they're usually massive, round, and dark green. If you gut fish regularly it's like... right in the "chest." Also you can poke it open and soak little paper squares in it and then they spin around in water, it's very cool

Bile is for the breakdown of fats, and a gallbladder is for the storage and concentration of bile. Generally, herbivores are more likely to lack gallbladders, because their liver just dumps the weak bile they have directly into their intestines. The mystery of why rats don't have gallbladders has actually vexxed scientists for like 100 years, btw.

Some herbivores (deer especially) have a very tiny "pouch" for bile called a diverticulum. But unlike the gallbladder, it doesn't concentrate it, just stores a little extra. Some hunters will nick this and think they tore open a gallbladder, but they did not.

Trick or treat!

ID: three stuffies on a bed. there are more at the back. End ID.

plushies !!!!! how cute, lemme offer an animal that is very plushable: pilandok, otherwise known as the philippine mouse-deer :D it's endemic to balabac and some islands in palawan, and it's very cute.

ID: a pilandok, which looks something like a very small deer with stick-like legs and a much larger and rounder body. End ID.

i have a plushie of a pilandok (he's a mascot of a printing company) but i can't get him rn :(

Dangkaw

Legend from the Ilokano People of the Philippines

In the olden times, there was a hunter named Dangkaw. He was widely known for his skills of hunting different animals in the forest. No one could equal the number of animals he brought home from a hunt. One day, he went hunting again in the forest. He saw a deer which he shot and killed. When he was going to pick up the deer he had killed, a beautiful woman appeared. This beauty was a fairy of the forest. She was very angry with Dangkaw for his killing the deer. She said that he must be punished. She ruled that he live in the forest, not with his family. Dangkaw had to go home accompanied by the fairy who turned invisible. He explained to his wife what had happened and bid her good-bye. He returned to the forest and the fairy reappeared. She told him that he would stay there forever and that he was going to take care of the animals in the forest. Dangkaw and the fairy got married and they stayed in the forest taking care of the different animals in the forest. The people say that when the hunters go to the mountain or the forest and they hear a shout, they would not catch anything and all the animals would leave. Even to this day, the hunters say that when they hear a shout while hunting, they cannot catch anything. So they say that Dangkaw is still there guarding the animals. From Philippine Folk Literature Series: Vol. III, The Legends (2002), compiled and edited by Damiana L. Eugenio, published by The University of the Philippines Press (shopee, amazon)

mirror selfie

i've only talked about merfolk, so i'd like to share some other monsters/mythical creatures i find really neat that'd be fun for a monster!reader :) also i like rambling uhhh whoops

kitsune - kind of surprised i haven't seen anyone else talk about kitsune before, they're just so interesting and really cool... i mean fox spirits that can take the form of a human and have all types of cool shit they can do sounds awesome

fauns/saytr - they're both kind of similar (fauns which are from roman mythology were inspired by saytr which are from greek mythology iirc) so i decided on putting them together. saytr have horse features while fauns have goat features, and i love the whole having animals legs. just imagine seeing this tall ass dude with fluffy goat (or horse) legs and hooves but the rest of his body is human, very fun to think about

manananggal - while typically depicted as female, they can also be male! they're basically bat-vampires that come from the philippines that can detach their upper bodies to fly around and feed on humans with their spines just hanging out. they are just. terrifying and so goddamn cool

only put three cause there are just so many neat monsters and i don't want to absolutely flood your inbox with word vomit

-🪸

Nah dude, please vomit words into my inbox bc then I have an excuse to word vomit onto the page lol :D

I always thought that satyrs were the ones with goat legs and fauns had like deer legs :/, fun fact I once dressed up as a minotaur for a class halloween party like 3-4 years ago, made like furry legs and everything, but I unfortunately lost the pictures when I went to get my phone screen fixed and they decided to wipe my data :(

I fucking love the manananggal, they're so creepy and the fact they eat like pregnant women's unborn kids is creepy as fuck lol