My blogs

Submarine Matters

About me

Gender	Male
Industry	Communications or Media
Occupation	Writer via political, intel & military blogging.
Links	Wishlist
Introduction	Pete has an MA (Strategic Studies, High Distinction average); more than 40 years experience on international political, military and intelligence matters. Lived in Australia, what was West Germany, Fort Hood Texas, Washington DC, travelled through most US states eg. Pease FB-111 nuclear bomber base in New Hampshire, in 1985. London, most of UK. Visited most NATO countries in Europe, never Warsaw Pact, Mumbai when it was Bombay, Southeast Asia, Hawaii, Tahiti during the nuclear tests, etc. Find my website on the National Library of Australia's electronic "Trove" Archive here https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/6972267 Can't keep those pesky MonaLisa Twins away - they wrote and composed "I bought myself a politician" https://youtu.be/_QAKz_cxTlQ?si=POn7WwtIphF-7SKF and "Any other day" https://youtu.be/G2dDBSr3L_E?si=JrJsch35MCelZZNC . I admit I now have a "thing" about them :)
Interests	My interests are very varied history, geography, politics. Centrist politically. Atheist irreligiously. Conditionally a constitutional monarchist https://youtu.be/NzfY691YTxI?si=Uor care about poor ill King Charlie and Princess Kate. After a Guards' fanfare, here's Zadok the Priest - the Coronation Anthem https://youtu.be/t2YVnJb9Ka8?si=i5xQYwm2EYW-xxkn&t=26s : I admire the polymath Professor Alice Roberts https://youtu.be/px0LIhPIWXs?t=15s and Princess Kate of course https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RoKPgZx8zSQ . Like all sports as long as they're Grand Slam Tennis and Tour de France. I like all music - except punk rock - terrible haircuts. Getting increasingly interested in car technology - its politics, tech and competition - rise of China - much more accessible than subs. Favourite music includes Leonid & Friends (L&F) from Russia with love :) https://youtu.be/zVwOb8KU1aM?si=f-WQOraIlVK-vVL6 ; Sing for Ukraine (sexy :) https://youtu.be/tJ7JcweIOZ4?si=gxfWEaMYeEft7Ykx : the MonaLisa Twins from Vienna with a surprise https://youtu.be/6W_XUKvFJRI?si=_LvDIo-oZAPEYuh : on the road to Austin, Texas https://youtu.be/cvChjHcABPA?si=60300uWcG43FsShH : peaceTIME aerospace theme music https://youtu.be/SkiY1a-ljYE?si=sfixPNwkezCWfuUQ : Last Of The Mohicans rare instrumental https://youtu.be/iieaUv3kfBQ?si=spCzn1edmQMBSkRR ; L&F again https://youtu.be/3RqgoH6Yt3c?si=tp8ZHRvse0K6PrKm . Here's 3 more "Twins" - love em :) https://youtu.be/i7kE_Ka1fqw?si=QqWsCbBPmLbd6s5a : https://youtu.be/Bs79I7d1Jfc?si=DhMFGW8krzl6CVAN and https://youtu.be/bZZsg1JJ6Ws?si=_csqh-hGn7tglHCk See more "Favourite music" in the formal category below. And then there's Jim Carrey https://youtu.be/yHDSnWCmlkw?si=wiJhPmm5rI2_IMSR A typical Aussie in natural habitat - poo expert :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG_hkSj99gM This other bloke hopes to be a comedian Feb 2026 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ogfpHL-6q8w
Favorite movies	Cold War SpyOps NATO Germany https://youtu.be/P3fGURuThxo?si=us17Wk7rIJ05Pgxh ; Inside Espionage "Spies of Terror" great French DGSI / DGSE series; "Down Periscope" recommended by Shawn https://youtu.be/lTyxmVou27w?si=OPvdrTqPhmmh1MR0 : "The Crown" series: "The Angel" Egyptian-Israeli double agent extraordinaire: "Queen's Gambit" & "Bodyguard" both on Netflix. "The Spy" (great series, where "Borat" plays dead serious character) : "Baghdad Central" series; "The Right Stuff"; "The Graduate" https://youtu.be/grSyetZVOD0 : "Dr. Strangelove" https://youtu.be/A9ihKq34Ozc : earlier 1961 version of "West Side Story" https://youtu.be/j7TT4jnnWys?si=o6O_GOkyaFVS8jlE ; Dr Zhivago https://youtu.be/M1iQ5hQTR5s?si=G32u2AFGrOEexSau : "The Deer Hunter" https://youtu.be/9Bbm-7vdlbs ; "Forrest Gump" https://youtu.be/w4qINY8KYpM : "Young Frankenstein" https://youtu.be/RyU99BCNRuU : "Das Boot" ; "Amadeus" https://youtu.be/th_ro9CiASc ; the late Sam Neill Stars in "Reilly, Ace of Spies" https://youtu.be/kvhzLDw4s98?si=tPRL6tPBED2WrJgO ; "The Bureau" (DGSE series, brilliant), "The Looming Tower" (AQ, but mainly FBI vs CIA); "Peaky Blinders" series; "Outlander" (TV, time travel), "Killing Eve", "The Americans" (Sov illegals series); "Berlin Station" series; "Homeland" ; "Mad Men" series; "Life of Brian" ; "Bridge of Spies"; "Master and Commander"; "Good the Bad and the Ugly"; "Lawrence of Arabia"; "Empire of the Sun" https://youtu.be/i_WiDVA1kLY?si=g-DKptJeIKjyKrUf ; "Zero Dark Thirty"; "Year of Living Dangerously" https://youtu.be/IL6BqLMZJyA?si=MZUhc5rnBCJNuDsO ; "Young Einstein" https://youtu.be/WtP4yQNpNF4?t=17s ; "National Lampoon Christmas Vacation" ; "Animal House" https://youtu.be/KWjtI6n5xWM?si=B5GofnN_hiiDA7mM : In memory of my late Dad, a true soldier scholar who was interviewed 25 seconds into this Video https://australiansatwarfilmarchive.unsw.edu.au/archive/667-henry-john-coates
Favorite music	https://youtu.be/m2uTFF_3MaA?si=YDOcpnnwY771QW7t ; Twins "Africa" :) https://youtu.be/kp6w-i5znag?si=B6xM6SHsR5bpdwpj https://youtu.be/zVwOb8KU1aM?si=xUEd_RMVfYrWHg8p : SF https://youtu.be/P57vbIZfYGw?si=bGPWty_KyLTLSzQH ; Beatles https://youtu.be/CGj85pVzRJs?si=MMszWXAGx8qn-KUM 64 https://youtu.be/wUDRIC5RSX4?si=q7p7Nf31A_4yewWA : Skye https://youtu.be/-zQoQ1ckFxI?si=ryOaFj7Tym56It91 ; What a Feeling https://youtu.be/dsCl2kXJca4?si=zikuWytMCYTTZ-kK : Bach’s BWV 1056 https://youtu.be/zc5lhK00GSg?si=k8E7HVoG5lJBJSCV ; Roxette https://youtu.be/nug4fi_L4JY?si=bEGFlPhal9D80dhx ; Janis Joplin https://youtu.be/3SL0oRcD7t0?si=WdSuRDrPz-99uD-L ; Call Me Maybe https://youtu.be/uCeMZccDMA0?si=ppzE2yGVUajK74SC : Classical Gas https://youtu.be/EEzyrpfrPEI?si=O--NGFy5ariN4hyq : Linda https://youtu.be/D090T2MSxKY?si=rKSgrH5E9_zDdV52 ; Echoes https://youtu.be/QnC6l56g_V4 : Ukraine shall not perish https://youtu.be/einTXaSeGAI : Siberian folk dress https://youtu.be/OtzcK4mj6Do?si=CLJjT-P-MB08Rlig : Cheryl https://youtu.be/55YrUmhhW14 : Jesu Joy https://youtu.be/xbQktZ1pOSk?si=-XrLWZyIhr5gWzTa ; Streets of London https://youtu.be/SpLMpu2-MXo ; Amy Rehab https://youtu.be/gUjMNyfu_ak?si=iX5CDLGhlJJn6lhT ; Stevie Nicks https://youtu.be/WM7-PYtXtJM?si=Kzx76et1ACgrsnvL ; Seekers https://youtu.be/wZf41UudAbI?t=30s : LedZep https://youtu.be/QkF3oxziUI4?si=Rn1JASa0SPj7fs5Q : Animals https://youtu.be/N4bFqW_eu2I?si=95iVjecR1nBYCa0Y : US Civil War https://youtu.be/78SOjurJkHk?si=oVQA7clFP9Y-uhEL ; Blondie mix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGU_4-5RaxU&list=PL-zg4Vo : Peter, Paul and Mary's "Jet Plane" https://youtu.be/IVEATF7VNTk ; Wagner's Pilgrims https://youtu.be/xALV8Er0Mf0?t=2m : Dido https://youtu.be/ryaDOcEej2Q : Unofficial Aussie Anthem https://youtu.be/rjkrjYitgeA ; Twins https://youtu.be/JrnDsw2yaWE?si=AwSXbAiyl08iDfzw ; Cheryl again https://youtu.be/iWBebX4M-Nw?si=7wqiFRaVAz9KzJGU&t=1m4s
Favorite books	"Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter (APDR)" magazine/website ; All novels by young ex-CIA Officer David McCloskey in order "Damascus Station" "Moscow X" "The Seventh Floor" and "The Persian" : "Trinity" Klaus Fuch's treachery ; Luke Harding's "COLLUSION: How Russia Helped Trump Win the White House" (Nov 2017) ; "Revealing Secrets" [Aussie SigInt]; Vipin Narang's "Seeking the Bomb"; "The Hacker and the State" by Buchanan; "History of the Five Eyes" by Richard Kerbaj : "The China Mirage: The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia" : "Warrior Elite" by Robert Macklin : "Super Nuke!" by C.C. Jett, (best example of an SSN construction project) : Most novels by UK's Stella Rimington (late-DG MI5) : "My Beautiful Spy" by Colin Falconer ; "Agent Storm: My Life Inside al-Qaeda" ; "In the Enemy's House" by Howard Blum ; Man Without a Face" (autobiog by Stasi-External's long-time boss, Markus Wolf): "One Crowded Hour" fictionalised in "Highways to a War" by Christopher Koch; "Agent Running in the Field" last le Carré, "On Her Majesty's Nuclear Service" by Eric Thompson; "In Extremis" by Hilsum; "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" by T E Lawrence; "Under Pressure" by Humphreys (very funny); "Che Guevara" by Jon Lee Anderson ; "The Skripal Files" by Mark Urban, "Nine Lives" (MI6 agent in AQ); "Monkeys in the Dark" by Blanche d'Alpuget ; "Hemingway's Secret Adventures" by Reynolds; "Gideon's Spies" (Mossad); "The Spy and the Traitor", "Agent Sonya" and all other books by Ben Macintyre; "Family of Spies" (Walker ring); Adam Brookes' "Night Heron, Spy Games & Spy's Daughter"; "Stasiland" & "All That I Am" both by Anna Funder; "Deep Under Cover" by Jack Barsky; "Running Critical" (Rickover); "The Rickover Effect" by Rockwell; "Year of Living Dangerously" by Christopher Koch; "Blind Man's Bluff"; Run Silent Run Deep; "Agents of Innocence" by David Ignatius; Polmar & Moore's "Cold War Submarines"; all novels by Tom Sharpe eg. the anti-Apartheid "Riotous Assembly".