Barak was Steve Dzurek, a guy I taught to use warbirds. I gave him the basics, a few very simple things to learn. In two weeks he was humiliating me in H2H. I then showed him Freehost. He soon was humiliating and teasin a lot of players in Freehost. He and I had a complex friendship/enemy thing going on for many years. In 1984, he was a mill-right in a steel mill. I was a welder. He was 275 lbs. I was 175. He was 6'4" I was 5'7" He was a "Skinhead." I was a "hippy." He was agressive and touchy and huge. I was aggressive and touchy and small. He used to pick fights with men at work and he left a lot of guys badly beaten. He never touched me because I am not big and other men wouldn't have liked it if he had touched me. But he used to come close to me while I was working and he would enfuriate me with his taunts and his threats. I hated his guts. I was scared of him and I considered many times taking a rod or bar of steel stock and clobbering him. I didn't. I spent many shifts working near that fuckin guy, wondering when he was gonna push me too far and I would have to clobber him. And if I had done that, I would have had to kill him as he would come back and make me into a dead guy. There were too many swasticas on his neck and arms, eh? 5 years I worked in the same plant with him. He beat up, perhaps fifty men in that time. Never me. Oh fuck did I hate him. I did my job, I did perfect work, high production and no mistakes, no flaws, no regects. Steve was very good worker too. I never got fired and niether did he. So I was stuck with that bastard. in year 3, one of the guys invited me to a party after work, pay day. I went. I didn't know who's house it was. IT WAS STEVE'S HOUSE. Another guy said, "Brad, he won't hurt you, he is an asshole to everyone, he doesn't have a hate-on for you, he has a hate-on for everyone, he won't hurt you, come along, have some fun." I went to the party. When I was drunk, Steve came over and said, "Hey, come on. I want to show you something." He took me into a room with hundreds of perfect model airplanes. We talked about airplanes and modelling. We became friends - or at least we agreed to treat each other with respect...... for the next couple years of work, were didn't argue. I wasn't afraid of him nailing me anymore, although still warey. We had mutual friends. I moved on and so did Steve. I still saw him occasionally. And after leaving the mill, we became friends, pals. I learned about him and he about me. Our friendship was very complicated. He would start arguments with me and it was like he was a fucking woman. Jesus, it was hard to take. He was a cocaine addict [stopped using later]. His moods were fucked up. Once I learned that, I got over his aggression yet again. At that time were were involved in Freehost. Some of you might recall the flames he and I exchanged. It never occured to me that Steved loved me. I mean he REALLY LOVED ME. His heart ached when mine did. Vise versa [like soldiers feel about each other when they have gone through hell together]. I never knew that until just a few months ago when my mutual buddy told me that Steve loved me. I never knew that until the day my buddy told me. Steve was a big fuckin butch guy. I don't think he was gay. But he had love enough for anyone of his friends. A light went on and then went off in the same moment. It finally clicked, I finally knew why Steve was one minute a bitch around me and the next, he was giving me stuff, taking me for a meal or some drinks, being nice to me. Then the next, he would be a bitch again and start with some bullshit. Listen, I don't care if a guy is like that, I mean I don't care if a guy is a big butch. Not even a little. If I had known he was sick a couple years ago [I had problems of my own], I would have gone to see him, he lived up in the boonies. I didn't know. I feel so bad. I would have let him know that he deeply moved me for many years, that he was my friend. Steve was generous. He was caring. He was hard working. He was handy with tools. He was well read. He liked crafts, building stuff, fixing things. He raised two boys that were his ex-girlfriend's sons. He wasn't their dad, but he was like a dad to them. He saw no reason to abandon those boys just because he and Sharon had broken up their love relationship. He was a very deep, very sensitive and very complex guy and I really miss him. I am sad I didn't see him while he was sick. He died Christmas Day, 2008.* *edit, I was mistaken...
Thanks. We gotta do one of those missing man formations. I don't know how to organize one. On december 25 it would be nice. We have different time zones and that is a busy day. What should we do? I bet there are lots of you who remember him online being one skillful bastard... And the teasing on channel 100. And the kind things he said in forum and they ugly things. Like I said, complex guy. But every man of us is. He liked the spitfire. ALL of them, the later the better. Maybe a whole buch of players all in spits would be beautiful. I would like to make a avi or something of the .record thingie. Does .record work? I think our mutual friend would tell Steve's mom and her people that Barak was loved/hated/feared and valued in our community while he was here.
.record works. playing track have some problems: gotta use old versions of fhl for that. you can arrange a missing man formation.
I remember barak well. He was also -Wulf- from 403 RCAF "Wolf" Squadron. Many times I flew with Buzz, acadia, and Wulf. It was buzz who sent me an invite to join the squadron and got me started playing this game. That was 7 years ago, wow. At first I had to fly a lot of li2 missions, got yelled at for not dropping paras high enough, etc. barak reminded me of myself a little bit...he was intolerant, like Frank from Blue Velvet, at least online he was a little "Frankesque". But I liked it. How many times I almost pissed my pants when he would say: "look, the field is closed, we need a fuckin li!! like DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" When I saw the "DUHHHHH" with H's all the way across the screen I cracked up. There were times I laughed so hard that I lost control of the joystick and just crashed, it was hilarious. Best times I ever had in this game. He cracked me up hard. He used to smoke dope when he was playing, at least that's what he told me, that he was high sometimes while playing. I seem to remember he stopped playing about the same time that buzz and acadia and about 15 other guys from 403 squad stopped playing, about 2-3 years ago when everything went to shit in this game. 403 doesn't even exist anymore. What a shame. It used to be so great here, 403 squad playing every night, always doing raids. I think he got into trucking as well? I seem to remember something like that about barak. I'd do a missing man formation, but I can't even get this game to work. Maybe we should do a 175 aircraft missing man formation. You know, just uncles, gandhi, and roland garros flying around, 3 guys online and all others "can't connect to server" lol. How appropriate. NOT how many guys have we lost here? 1. Dance 2. Pedzel 3. Barak "Wulf" Okay barak, A big <S> to you and thanks for the laughs. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Man, that really struck home. ---------------- -------------------------------- --- ----------------------------------------------- --------- ----------------------------------------- Hope you're in a better place Barak.
Yeah, he was driving too. He told me he hurt his back at work and had to go on worker's compensation. That's what he said. I heard from my mutual friend that two or three years ago he found a cyst on his back, his spine. I think that was the 'hurt in his back...' I am torn up by this. One day he showed up at my house and gave my then 11 year old son a big box. BIG box. In it was a LOT on crunched up newspaper. My son was delighted. In that box were about 20, all different colour schemes, 1/48 scale F-101 and CF-101 Voodoos. For years my son had those arranged in his room. I think steve new back in about 2001 or 2002 that his time was fast approaching. Becuase that is the sort of thing a man who knows he is going to die will do. Give some favorite things away to someone who would love to have them. My son defeinely loved to have those. Anthony, my son, will never forget that Steve either. Man you should have SEEN those models, even the fuckin straps in the cockpits were hand made...... I am shook up. I a m s h o o k u p Steve is dead. A lot of my friends are dying at 50........ CLICK!!!!!!!!!!
Didn't know him very well, but I believe I enountered him and one of his squad mates in a 190 at very high alt once ... and then mouthed off to him because I was displeased with his style of flying; he kept his cool though, hehe. We could have one of those missing man formation events each year, right? To remember all those we've lost over the years. Very sorry for your loss, biles.
All these people we've flown with, all these names we used to know, came and went. Sometimes we don't know where they've gone... I remember Barak, remember Niles/Biles/Hezey vouched for him. He was fun to fly with, a bit hot headed, but he had his heart in the right place. Such a shame he passed away. -Z On an unrelated note: anyone heard from Grobar lately? I somehow remember him not being well either.
