Photo Journey

The End Of An Era?

2012-01-27T08:38:00.007-06:00

On January 19th, 2012, Kodak announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. For me, this is bad news, but not unexpected. The field of photography has been changing rapidly in the last 10 years, with new technologies literally destroying older, and better ways of doing things. Did you know that digital technology, (cameras, etc.), has not evolved enough to be able to match the quality and clarity of a good film camera? I read somewhere that you'd need a camera with approximately 150 megapixels to equal the clarity of a film camera with a good lens. And digital is making film obsolete? Let's not totally dispense with the old until the new is better. Digital also has a fatal flaw of not being able to reproduce colors as well as film can. Look through the pictures below and tell me if you've ever seen a digital image with colors this rich and vibrant. They were all taken on Kodak Kodachrome slide film, another film product that has fallen by the wayside and is gone.

Vehicles You Don't See Every Day

2012-01-26T08:31:00.008-06:00

I see a lot of automobiles on the road, classic cars, luxury cars, foreign cars - but these vehicles are one's you just don't see every day!

I think this is Cinderella's carriage.

It's a train. No, it's a truck. I don't know what it is.

It's a giant ear of corn masquerading as a Volkswagen.

A convertible hearse?

A Cadillac pickup?

This one is the most normal of the lot.

Layoff

2011-11-09T10:33:00.005-06:00

First off, I'd like to apologize for not posting much this past year. Regular readers of my blog will remember that my mother died of cancer last year; well, this past month, my father died of cancer as well. It's been a real trying time for the family, especially once you've lost both parents. After a death like this, people will say that life goes on. Maybe it does, but it does so in a much different way. While I try to figure out a way that works for me, I'm going to try and devote a little more time to writing and my blogs. And seeing as how this blog is touted as a blog with pictures, I thought I'd post this year's installment of my Fall tree. Every year I go back to the edge of my town and photograph this one tree. I've been doing it since the 1970's and it's something that puts a little stability and familiarity into my life. Perhaps I've needed it more these few years, but be that as it may, the tree is still there and when it begins to get cold, the leaves start turning different colors and dying off. Maybe it's symbolic of how life goes, I don't know. Here's the way it looked this year, a little earlier than normal, but as photographed on October 14th, 2011:

The Fifth Annual Ten Commandments Post

2011-04-14T22:22:00.007-05:00

It's hard to believe that this is already my fifth annual Ten Commandments post. Regular readers will know that this is my favorite movie of all time and I've seen it probably 40 times at least. While it might seem like there's nothing new under the sun to say about this movie that hasn't already been said, (probably by me), I still can't let this time of year arrive without passing on the good feeling I get anticipating this movie once again. When Spring arrives, I start getting that "itchy" feeling that Easter is near and it's time to make preparations once again for you know what. When the movie starts, from the opening where the baby Moses is found on the river; to the clashes between Moses and Rameses; the time Moses spent in the desert as an outcast: until the end when the Children of Israel are looking over into the Promised Land, there are many peaks and valleys in this movie to keep my attention. If you haven't seen it in awhile, you might think about viewing it with your family - make an event out of it.

The title screen above is not from the 1956 version of this classic, but from the first, silent version Cecil B. DeMille made back in 1923. I still haven't found time to watch this bonus feature that was included in my 50th Anniversary DVD set, but I will one day. For now, though, I'm getting ready for the big event - so let it be watched! I'll leave you with a scene from the silent version. It's where Moses comes down from the mount with the tablets containing the Ten Commandments in hand. He seems to be saying, at least in my opinion, "Thou shalt not miss watching The Ten Commandments this year! It may be your last chance!"

The Law In Illinois Is Clear On This

2011-03-04T23:01:00.008-06:00

I want to point out two different laws here in Illinois, see if you can spot the major difference between them. Just so I won't be accused of misquoting or misleading the facts or making things up, I will post post both laws in their entirety.

Number 1: Pertaining to Seat Belts:

(625 ILCS 5/12-603.1) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 12-603.1)
Sec. 12-603.1. Driver and passenger required to use safety belts, exceptions and penalty.
(a) Each driver and front seat passenger of a motor vehicle operated on a street or highway in this State shall wear a properly adjusted and fastened seat safety belt; except that, a child less than 8 years of age shall be protected as required pursuant to the Child Passenger Protection Act. Each driver under the age of 18 years and each of the driver's passengers under the age of 19 years of a motor vehicle operated on a street or highway in this State shall wear a properly adjusted and fastened seat safety belt. Every passenger under the age of 19 in a vehicle being driven by a person over the age of 18 who committed an offense against traffic regulations governing the movement of vehicles or any violation of this Section or Section 6-107 of this Code within 6 months prior to the driver's 18th birthday and was subsequently convicted of the violation, shall wear a properly adjusted and fastened seat safety belt, until such time as a period of 6 consecutive months has elapsed without the driver receiving an additional violation and subsequent conviction of an offense against traffic regulations governing the movement of vehicles or any violation of this Section or Section 6-107 of this Code. Each driver of a motor vehicle transporting a child 8 years of age or more, but less than 16 years of age, shall secure the child in a properly adjusted and fastened seat safety belt as required under the Child Passenger Protection Act.
(b) Paragraph (a) shall not apply to any of the following:
1. A driver or passenger frequently stopping and
leaving the vehicle or delivering property from the vehicle, if the speed of the vehicle between stops does not exceed 15 miles per hour.
2. A driver or passenger possessing a written
statement from a physician that such person is unable, for medical or physical reasons, to wear a seat safety belt.
3. A driver or passenger possessing an official
certificate or license endorsement issued by the appropriate agency in another state or country indicating that the driver is unable for medical, physical, or other valid reasons to wear a seat safety belt.
4. A driver operating a motor vehicle in reverse.
5. A motor vehicle with a model year prior to 1965.
6. A motorcycle or motor driven cycle.
7. A moped.
8. A motor vehicle which is not required to be
equipped with seat safety belts under federal law.
9. A motor vehicle operated by a rural letter
carrier of the United States postal service while performing duties as a rural letter carrier.
(c) Failure to wear a seat safety belt in violation of this Section shall not be considered evidence of negligence, shall not limit the liability of an insurer, and shall not diminish any recovery for damages arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or operation of a motor vehicle.
(d) A violation of this Section shall be a petty offense and subject to a fine not to exceed $25.
(e) (Blank).
(f) A law enforcement officer may not search or inspect a motor vehicle, its contents, the driver, or a passenger solely because of a violation of this Section.

Number 2: Pertaining to Residency Requirements to be Elected Mayor of a Town or City in Illinois:

(65 ILCS 5/6-3-9) (from Ch. 24, par. 6-3-9)
Sec. 6-3-9. Qualifications of mayor, city clerk, city treasurer and aldermen - Eligibility for other office.
No person shall be eligible to the office of mayor, city clerk, city treasurer or alderman:
(1) Unless he is a qualified elector of the municipality and has resided therein at least one year next preceding his election or appointment; or
(2) Unless, in the case of aldermen, he resides within the ward for which he is elected; or
(3) If he is in arrears in the payment of any tax or other indebtedness due to the city; or
(4) If he has been convicted in Illinois state courts or in courts of the United States of malfeasance in office, bribery, or other infamous crime.
No alderman shall be eligible to any office, except that of acting mayor or mayor pro tem, the salary of which is payable out of the city treasury, if at the time of his appointment he is a member of the city council.

Okay, did you spot the difference? I'll tell you, so as not to keep you in suspense. For violation of not wearing your seat belt, you will be subject to a fine of not more than $25. For violation of the second offense, which is not meeting the residency requirements to be elected mayor of a city in Illinois, there is no fine associated with this violation.

Now, explain to me how come Rahm Emanuel can break Illinois law and not be penalized? He clearly violated the law because he moved to Washington, D.C. for 18 months and rented out his residence to somebody else. He couldn't even stop at his own house when returning to Chicago because the people who have the lease for it wouldn't let him in. How can he maintain that he's lived in Chicago when he can't even provide a residence as his own legal province? I'd like to see the Illinois State Police enforce this law and go arrest him. Or at least fine him. The ISP is quite familiar with fining people who have "broken the law." And they are well up to the task of enforcing the law here in Illinois; you'd better believe it.

Water, Water Everywhere....

2011-02-19T01:03:00.011-06:00

I thought I'd collect up some of my fairly recent pictures that all have water as their basic theme or subject. The interesting thing about photographing water is that it is always in motion and ever-changing. It can reflect the sky or sun and take on their appearance, almost like a chameleon; or it can just look clear and pure and natural. Please enjoy them!

Covered Bridge
Minolta XD11, 35mm film

Foggy Morning Breakdown
Sony A230, digital slr

Follow The Leader
Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D, digital slr

Norris City Reservoir
Minolta XD11, Kodachrome 35mm slide film

Pounds Hollow
Minolta XD11, 35mm film

Water Relics
Minolta SRT-101, 35mm film

Strike A Pose - Vogue
Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D, digital slr

The Ohio River
Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D, digital slr

I Heard The News Today, Oh Boy

2011-01-07T21:46:00.003-06:00

How many of you remember what you were doing on September 11th, 2001, when the car bomb exploded outside of the State Department? Please feel free to leave a comment about your memories of this incident. You might remember that it was the day some big airplanes smashed into the World Trade Center towers and they fell down. It was a very sad day. Fortunately, not many were killed by the car bomb outside the State Department.

Henry David Thoreau

2011-01-07T07:42:00.007-06:00

To paraphrase Henry David Thoreau with which to describe my own book collection, "I have a personal library of 5000+ volumes, over 100 of which I wrote myself." This is a subtle reminder for those interested, that I have plenty of copies on hand of both my novels, The Wizard Of Destiny and This Paradise. In this day and age, any author less popular than Stephen King has to do some self-promotion if he wants his writing to be read by the general public.

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.... er, pushy.

One Word Or Two?

2010-12-22T06:47:00.010-06:00

I suppose it's only one word - PhotoShop, but whichever it is.... man, I love it! I found this older digital image of mine, one that wasn't very interesting initially, and went wild with all the different things I could do to it using that venerable Adobe program everybody is so familiar with. What's that you say - you're not familiar with it? Well take a look at the shot below and consider looking up where to get this program. It's sold on many online stores and can probably be found at your local big box computer store. I thoroughly enjoy bringing to life an old image that was fairly crappy to begin with. By using this powerful program, you, too can discover the joys of saving some of your old photos and making them into something much more interesting to look at.

Steakhouse

2010-12-22T02:11:00.015-06:00

Recently, I had an opportunity to visit Logan's Roadhouse once again. The main reason I like to go back is that their steaks are always tender; they can almost be cut with a fork! When you walk in the place to get seated, the first thing you notice is all the peanut shells all over the floor. They provide each table with a mini-bucket full of peanuts and it's customary to crack them open and throw the empty shells on the floor. Most people love the chance to be messy out in public, hence the fact that every time a server comes near your table, you hear the floor start to crunch as they walk past. Sort of like a radar signal alerting you to their approach. I'll admit that I don't follow the tradition. I feel that I don't throw trash on my floor at home and I'm certainly not going to do it somebody else's place. It doesn't seem sanitary. The young couple across the aisle from me had two kids and they were all eating the peanuts and tossing the shells. I noticed the young mother doing it and every time the waiter came crunching by, gave her a stern look. I think she got my meaning after awhile. I hated to be that way, but it was quite annoying to hear and hard to enjoy my meal with all the noise.

After you've made your order, but before it's served, they bring out their famous sweet rolls for you to munch on. I'll spread mine with a generous dollop of butter and it's hard to stop eating them. But, knowing that my main order is coming soon, I pull myself away.

This time, I tried their house steak, "The Logan." On the menu, they tout it as being their best steak, and I'll have to admit, it was very good.

Cooked to perfection, medium-rare as I requested, it was placed in front of me with the macaroni and cheese still sizzling in it's dish. It's hard to know just where to start when a sight like this greets you, but I grabbed a knife and fork and cut my steak up for a quick mouthful. I had waited quite long enough already for the taste of sirloin. I consider myself a carnivore and love meat and potatoes over desserts. Before long, my meal was finished and it was time to go. I'll have to get back there soon.

If you're ever driving down the road around lunchtime and come upon a restaurant that looks like this, stop in. I don't think you'll be disappointed with whatever you order. I'd suggest a steak, though, over the other items they feature on their menu. Bon appetit!

Old Portraits

2010-09-23T23:46:00.001-05:00

Recently, I purchased a new scanner and the great thing about it is that it can scan film negatives. So, I've been going through my collection of old negatives and finding lots of interesting images. Here are some portraits I did here and there and I think they turned out pretty good. Yes, looking back, they're not too bad. Photography is certainly a fun hobby to have!

Shawnee National Forest Photo Expedition

2010-08-02T03:55:00.016-05:00

Recently, I was part of a group of photographers whose combined efforts would encompass the Earth. There was a project called One Rokkor Around The World which was started on Flickr.com which consisted of one 50mm Minolta Rokkor prime lens which would be used by people all over the globe on their own Minolta film camera bodies and then passed on to the next person in the group. Each user would have two weeks with which to use the lens and document what their area looked like. The project is still ongoing, but you can see some of the pictures that have been posted so far to the group pool here.

Now, my area isn't the most picturesque, but we do have the Shawnee National Forest. It is very beautiful there and not that far from my home, so I considered it to be in my area. While taking pictures for the project, I travelled far and wide in search of scenes which represented my area. Here are some I found while driving all around the Shawnee National Forest area.

A little country church in Hardin County called Pleasant Ridge.

A view from down in the canyon at Bell Smith Springs.

The stone stairway leading up out of the canyon at Bell Smith Springs.

On the observation trail at the Garden of the Gods. A sudden storm developed while I was there.

One of the scenic vistas at the Garden of the Gods.

You can see an eagle flying high overhead above some of the rock formations at the Garden of the Gods.

Another beautiful view of the scenic overlooks found at the Garden of the Gods.

Here is the swimming area found at Pounds Hollow.

And lastly, the beautiful waters found around Pounds Hollow.

After The Storm

2010-06-16T03:12:00.027-05:00

When late Spring and early Summer storms move into the Midwest, they usually move quickly and carry heavy rains, strong winds and thunder and lightning. They are beautiful and they are breath-taking. They are powerful and they are unbiased. And they can be deadly. And then just as suddenly as they appear - they are gone. Here is one from birth to death.

The first thing that usually happens is the storm front moves into the area, turning a perfectly clear sky to blackness within minutes.

Black, swirling miasmas with fingery tendrils of everchanging wisps. Stealing the day and bringing mock night.

Spilling over the calm skies until nothing but blackness remains.

A seemingly living, breathing entity who's only desire is to paint everything in onyx shrouds.

Once the front moves through, hard on it's heels come the rains. Sometimes they can be quite heavy. A couple years ago, we once got a foot of rain in less than an hour. That's what causes flash flooding and death. Fortunately, my town seems to be on higher ground. I have seen the flood waters reach the edge of my town about 2 blocks from where my house sits. So, who knows how safe we actually are?

After the rains stop falling, there is a moment when everything pauses. The winds stop crying out and the water stops coming down in torrents. A butterfly flits wildly about looking for a place of safety and lands inside the leaves of a sheltering bush before the next wave hits. If there is to be a next wave this time. Sometimes there are second, third and fourth waves. In this case, when it was over, no more cells followed.

There are subtle reminders left behind of what these storms are capable of. A jagged limb lying on the ground. Sudden puddles where once there were none. A leaf that only a moment ago was alive and clinging to a tree in the warm afternoon sun.

Sometimes high above, although there is calm at ground level, there are signs of the violence these storms can unleash. Above are some Mammatus clouds which indicate extreme winds high above. These kinds of formations are dangerous for pilots and airplanes.

Once the danger has passed, what remains of the day starts struggling to reassert itself. The sun spreads a glow that slowly infiltrates through the haze of the trailing edges of the vanishing storm clouds.

And finally, the sun comes blazing forth with the promise of a new day to come tomorrow. All is forgiven and forgotten.

Why?

2010-06-14T23:26:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, ABC News released a story about how the "Obama administration" would be releasing information today, Monday, June 14th, 2010, that the United States government would stop sending checks of any kind and convert everything to "Direct Deposit." I reported that story to you here on this blog.

I watched 3 and a half hours of televised news today, Monday, June 14th, 2010, on four different news networks and there was not one single word mentioned about this announcement.

Why?

You Heard It Here First!

2010-06-13T17:27:00.006-05:00

In my June 1st, 2010 post located here, I wrote about Direct Deposit and how someday it might become the only method the government uses to pay it's citizens. How prophetic was that? Tomorrow, June 14th, 2010, the Obama administration will announce that all payments from the government will now be made to consumers electronically, i.e. "Direct Deposit." I knew it would be here eventually, but never suspected that it would come this soon. But, then, Barack Obama is on an agenda which seems to be time-sensitive, so everything is happening fast these days.

American citizens receiving payments for Social Security, unemployment insurance, veteran's benefits, IRS tax refunds, railroad retirement and government benefits will now find the money automatically deposited into their personal bank accounts. It's just like I predicted - call me clairvoyant!

Why the shift to direct deposits? According to ABC News sources, for two reasons. One, it will be easier and faster for consumers to get paid and, two, it will save taxpayers money – an estimated $303 million over the first five years and about $120 million each year after that. Do you think your taxes are likely to go down because of this maneuver? Me neither.

The article from ABC went on to say: For instance, despite repeated attempts to get recipients to convert to electronic payments, the Treasury Department still mails out more than 136 million benefit checks each year. I suppose that many checks per year means that a lot of people didn't want Direct Deposit; count me among those people. But, after all, it is America - where we have the freedom to choose which method we want. Right....? Freedom? Guess again.

Now, as part of President Obama's effort to eliminate waste and modernize government for taxpayers, that will change with Monday's announcement of a complete shift to direct deposits. Obama is changing a lot of things; and he's doing it quicker than anybody before him ever did. Oh, sure - the "Obama administration" will make it sound like they're only doing it for good reasons to help the American people, but don't let it fool you. It's his ulterior motives that have brought about the announcement and change.

"[The] announcement is a win-win for the American public because it makes government more convenient and cost-effective while generating significant savings for the country," said Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag. "This is precisely the type of smart, streamlined improvement that this administration is committed to making across government to boost efficiency and modernize how we do business."

That's a bunch of hogwash. What he plans on doing is eliminating the Post Office. Think about it for just a moment. If your telephone doesn't work and the internet goes down, (guess who controls the internet - the government.), just how will you communicate with loved ones or convey information from one part of the country to the other if you can't mail a letter? The ability to mail letters is one of our basic freedoms, don't let them legislate it away as simple "economizing measures."

Wake up, America! Before it's too late. If the "Obama administration" succeeds with their plans, (and who is really doing anything to stop them?), there won't be an election this November. This country, as you and I know it, will not be functioning in the way it used to. It simply won't be the United States of America any longer. Maybe in name only.

Do you want your family and loved ones to survive the coming "fundamental transformation?" You'd better start stocking up on foods that won't need refrigeration. Don't be caught without a way to feed your starving family - you owe them that much.

First Time At Mimmo's Pizza

2010-06-13T03:41:00.023-05:00

Mimmo's Pizza is located in my hometown of Norris City, Illinois, right on Division Street. They've been open for about a year now, but I hadn't heard about them until recently. And, loving pizza like I do, it was naturally only a matter of time until I paid them a visit.

It was just before the evening dinner rush as we made our way into the cozy little restaurant. I was treating my dad out that night, so we got their early to get a good seat and enjoy the air conditioning. I'd seen their front window before, but had never been inside. And yes, I do have their delivery number memorized!

Once we were seated inside, I began to look around at the place. They had a small salad bar that I'm sure would be well-stocked during lunchtime.

The decor was nice and what you'd usually expect to find in an Italian restaurant here in the midwest of the United States. Nice, solid chairs and tables, (although our table wobbled just a little bit), and prints emblazoned with scenes of Italy, clowns and pizza chefs.

Of course the only fixture in the place I was really interested in, was the pizza oven; which I could see through the window behind the front counter. The guy rolling the dough and making the pizzas was smooth in his work and knew exactly what he was doing. I've made lots of pizzas in my days and even worked at a couple pizza parlors, so I can recognize experience when I see it.

Soon the waitress brought our orders. My father had ordered the spaghetti and meatballs, but I wanted pizza. (What else!?) So, she placed the hot pan on the table first and then brought out his spaghetti. I noticed it had some large meatballs and looked very tasty. I ordered a thin crust sausage and mushroom pizza, so I only had eyes for the pie.

Here are a couple of luscious-looking slices on my plate. They're not the first slices I took, I forgot to get a picture of those, but these are some right after I'd had a few pieces and burned the roof of my mouth. That always happens because I can't wait for it to cool properly. When the waitress had first taken our order I found out that Mimmo's only served Pepsi products. What's up with that? It seems like every pizza parlor always has Pepsi instead of Coca Cola, which is my favorite cola. It must be a conspiracy. I don't know, maybe I'll have to contact the F.B.I. to look into it. I'm certain they'll get right on it.
Now, I don't go out to eat that often, (you'd hardly know that if you're a regular reader of Photo Journey and have seen all the other restaurant critiques I've posted), so I had the brilliant idea to order a bigger pizza so that there would be some left to take home and snack on later or tomorrow. The large pizza was $10 something, but they had three larger sizes as well. The largest one, a 20" pie was only $3 more, so I figured it was a good deal. 20" was written in the same font as all the other sizes, so it didn't mean that much to me. All I was thinking was that I was about to have pizza.
Well, when the waitress laid it down on our table, I looked at it and it was huge! It took up nearly half of the tabletop! I don't think I've seen a pizza this big in 30 years:

I started eating and it was aromatic and very tasty. I can highly recommend Mimmo's if you're in the mood for pizza, pasta or subs. They offer all three. But, you know what I'll be having next time. Count on it. We finished eating about the time the place started filling up with the evening dinner crowd. We saw several people we knew, so it must be quite the popular place already. I hope everybody keeps going there and that they do a lot of local business. That will insure that Mimmo's will stay open for a long time to come. Seeing as how I live only four blocks from them, I'm sure I'll be calling their delivery service soon. We boxed up our leftovers and walked outside. Of course, I had to take one last look before saying goodbye. Be sure to look for this sign if you're ever through these parts:

One great thing about going out for pizza is that there is usually some left to box up and take home for later. Seeing as how I had ordered Pizza-zilla, there was plenty left. So, I'll be eating on this baby for awhile. One of the greatest sights mankind can ever know:

Mercury Blues

2010-06-03T05:06:00.013-05:00

I just learned of another terrible blow to the United States auto industry. Ford announced plans today to kill off it's 71 year-old Mercury division by the end of the year. Yet another great old marque lost in the last decade. It started with the loss of Chrysler killing off it's storied Plymouth brand and was followed quickly by the oldest U.S. auto brand, Oldsmobile, being ditched by General Motors. Just last year, GM announced it was shutting down Pontiac, Saturn and then the Hummer brand of trucks. And now, this.... No more Mercurys. Being a car guy my whole life, this is particularly distressing to me. I've owned a lot of those brands in the past and now I won't ever be able to buy another one unless it's old and used to begin with.

I'm telling you, people.... this world can't continue on like it's been going the last few years - something's got to give. It's time you gathered up your family members and made peace with them. While you still can. There's about to be some very bad times soon. Get ready before it's too late.

And now a look at a few of my old cars whose brand names have gone to that great junkyard in the sky:

My full-sized 1985 Mercury Grand Marquis LS

My 1974 Pontiac Grand Prix LX

And lastly, a 1969 Oldsmobile 98 LS

I also had a 1957 DeSoto, but they stopped making that brand back in 1961; so I guess you can't count those in this recent rash of closures. Still, a mighty storied car company in it's day, though.

Good Things Are Coming To You In Due Of Time

2010-06-03T01:42:00.016-05:00

After presenting a picture in my last post of the egg roll I recently enjoyed during a trip to a restaurant I hadn't tried before, it reminded me that I hadn't yet put up my pictoral review of said establishment. Well, let me now rectify this matter!

Said establishment being an authentic Chinese eatery called the New World Restaurant, located at the end of the mall on 1411 West Main Street, in Fairfield, Illinois. A friend of mine and myself stopped in for a late lunch about two weeks back and by arriving after the noontime rush, had the place all to ourselves for most of our meal. Our waiter, who also happened to be the owner took our drink orders, (we planned to eat at the buffet), and was quite cordial to us. We stepped up to the sumptuously-stocked buffet and availed ourselves of the huge variety offered there. Now, Chinese food has long been a favorite of mine and when confronted with the challenges of a buffet such as this, which had so many different choices, I knew I would really have to make my selections wisely. It is impossible to try eveything, so you have to go for your most favorite items first and let the chips fall where they may.

As far as I'm concerned, no proper Chinese meal should start without that venerable classic, and a dear favorite of mine, Egg Drop Soup. Based on chicken stock, it features lightly-beaten eggs drizzled into the boiling soup stock and allowed to feather out into tiny tendrils of chickeny goodness. It was such a good beginning that I ended up having two small bowls before I got properly started with the solid foods. I hope the picture below can do it the slightest justice, for it was wonderful indeed!

After I had ladled out a second helping of the egg drop soup, I started building my plate of favorites. There seemed to be just a little bit more to choose from than I had seen before in other restaurants, so it was a tough choice to narrow it down to just what would fit on one plate. I can't remember everything I had, but maybe by looking at the picture below, it will help jog my memory just a little bit.

Of course, you have to include at least one egg roll proper with your meal; which I did. Next came the required crab rangoons, a crispy delight of both myself and my sister as well. She's the one who really turned me on to them long ago. Next I chose an oregano chicken combination which smelled as good as it tasted. I also had a pork dish which had the tiny, whole mushrooms in it. (I could eat mushrooms in just about anything.) There were some breaded shrimp, chicken nuggets for sweet and sour chicken, and I also chose a fried chicken wing. You can't go wrong with chicken as your main meat and I try to cook with it as much as I can. Before I ate the egg roll, I was sure to pose it on a napkin and get a portrait of it.

I suppose the owner liked photography as well and must have seen me taking the pictures I usually do when trying out a new restaurant (I sound like a restaurant critic - honest, I'm not! I just love food) for he came over and struck up a conversation about my Konica Minolta digital slr. He asked about the need for different lenses and what filters I could suggest. The lens I had on my camera body at that moment was a great little zoom lens that covers wide angles from 18mm all the way up to a very useful 70mm short telephoto length. It's great for closed spaces such as indoor at restaurants. I informed him that with today's lenses, which come already coated with light-correcting properties, that there is no real need for u/v or haze filters. He seemed pretty intrigued with the particular setup I was using, so I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't have a mid-range digital camera similar to mine soon. After he had left me and my dining companion, she leaned forward and told me about the tragic history the man had gone through. His whole family had moved there and opened the restaurant and it had been doing well in the small community of about 6000 people. But a couple years later, due to an automobile accident, most of his family were killed. I think she said that only two members of the family remained alive; him and his neice I think. He shut the restaurant down for a while, which is understandable, but finally opened it back up due to popular demand. I'm thankful he did, for his menu is outstanding and the food was excellent.

We were almost finished with our meal when some mutual acquaintances walked in with grandkids in tow. It had been raining on and off all day, so they hadn't gotten to pick fresh strawberries like planned. The kids wanted Chinese food, so they ended up at the New World Restaurant like us and seated themselves at the table next to ours. We chatted back and forth for a while before finally finishing and receiving the check.

The owner brought out the prerequisite fortune cookies to cap off our meal with and, call me superstitious or whatever, but I always open mine, eat the cookie and then read my fortune. The title of this post were the words the slip of paper inside the crunchy cookie revealed. I don't know how accurate these things are - they can't really be very specific - so I usually read them and forget them a few moments later. This one had the usual lottery numbers below the message and one other thing you don't usually find in your average fortune cookie. At least, I never remember seeing anything like it before; and I've eaten a lot of fortune cookies. I still have all the fortunes to show for it, too. (I'm a collector of trivial items such as this.) Call me old fashioned if you must, but when I get a fortune cookie, I think of all those old Charlie Chan movies and expect urgent fortune cookie messages such as "Help! I'm being held prisoner in a Chinese laundry!" Maybe the times really are a' changing for, there in tiny, precise letters at the bottom of my fortune were the words: Want more? Visit www.myfreefortune.com.

I feel like it must be the Year of the Horse and I'm the old grey mare that should be put out to pasture already. I must be getting old.

Comment Moderation

2010-06-03T01:14:00.004-05:00

I didn't want to have to do this, but I'm afraid that with all the spam I've been getting on certain posts lately, I'm going to have to moderate my comments for awhile. Hopefully, I will soon be able to revert back to the regular way of allowing comments to just appear when they're written. Maybe when all the spammers realize they're not able to spam anymore, they'll stop doing it and I can go back to normal. That's my hope anyway. I do want to make it perfectly clear that this action has absolutely nothing to do with any of my regular readers or anything they might have done. I treasure each and every comment from anybody that goes to the trouble of leaving them; when they do it for a legitimate reason, that is. But, to write gibberish in a language I can't even make out is just not cool. And now for one happy picture before I go. This was one course of a recent lunch outing I made to a local Chinese buffet - yum yum! One egg roll:

Get Your Money On Time, Every Time

2010-06-01T18:29:00.011-05:00

Direct deposit is not for me. I firmly believe it is nothing more than an attempt to get people out of the habit of handling cash. I also believe that because of it, there could come a time when people will have to pay with a chip implanted in their arm. Don't misunderstand me, that technology is already here and being used. It's just that it could become the only method for payment someday and that worries me. What if the Government decides you don't need to eat any longer because you have nothing to add to society? Your chip will stop working and you'll be left out in the cold. You will eventually starve to death if you can't purchase food.

But this blog is about something else; it's about the attempt to get Direct Deposit in place and have everybody using it.

I like the feel of real money in my hands; I always have. The United States Government, however, wants you to believe that having real money in your hands is too dangerous and could lead to fraud, theft and who knows what else.

I served in the United States Army and got an injury that will impact me negatively for the rest of my life. Because of this, I get a small disability check from the Government every month. Not a month goes by where I don't get the above slip inserted into the envelope that carries my check. You'll notice the top line says it all - "Get your money on time, every time." Well, I believe I should get my money on time and every time, no matter what method is used to deliver it to me. If the Government uses one of their departments to deposit it directly into my account, that's a part of the Government. If they employ the United States Postal Service to mail it to me, that's another arm of the Government. I should be able to expect either method to work correctly so that my check gets to me "on time, every time." In fact, I demand that both methods work equally as well and that I be allowed to choose which one I want.

For the United States Government to tell me point blankly that unless I use direct deposit I might not get my check on time every time - that's the same thing as them admitting that mailing it to me is not reliable. Everyone knows how reliable the United States Post Office is, don't we? Not very reliable at all. The United States Government should do their job and make sure the Post Office is efficient - it's their obligation to do so by taking our money from us in the form of taxes. For them to allow the Post Office to falter and become disreputable and unusable is nothing more than a crime. Of course, I know why they're doing it. See the opening statements I made above about direct deposit and the phasing out of cash.

So, all I ask you is to look at these little "nudges" from the United States Government, think about them and then ask yourself that by doing devious little things like this, where are they taking America? Is it really somewhere you want to be?

Turko de Mayo

2010-05-08T01:36:00.008-05:00

How do holidays get started; does anybody really know? Well, tonight I celebrated Turko de Mayo by cooking a big turkey dinner and having some friends over. It was like Thanksgiving dinner, but on a smaller scale and in May instead of November. Maybe I ought to get with the Turkey Council on this. I'm sure they'd be all for a second holiday for which to have a reason to eat turkey.

Anyway, I made mashed potatoes and turkey gravy, green beens, stuffing and cooked this succulent-looking 13-pound bird you see below:

Below you can see the plate I fixed with the mounds of mashed potatoes and gravy toward the back, (my favorite after the turkey itself!), and some other traditional Thanksgiving foodstuffs. I thought about baking a pumpkin pie, but a thunderstorm came up and my oven is electric, and so I didn't. But, that didn't matter to me. I never have room for any pie after eating all this stuff anyway! Thanksgiving dinner has always been my most favorite meal and now with the advent of Turko de Mayo, (which you can bet I'll be celebrating again next year!), I'll have two days to enjoy my favorite meal of the year! Ole!

The Turko de Mayo name is a trademark created by me, so you can bet you heard it here first!

Sunsets

2010-04-21T15:24:00.015-05:00

I've always been a fan of sunsets, so throughout my picture-taking life, I've snapped a lot of them. Here are some of my more recent ones for you to enjoy.

While not exactly a sunset picture, the image below was taken just after the sun had gone down. I thought it would go with the colorful scheme of a sunsets post.

The Ten Commandments Time Of Year

2010-04-01T01:01:00.010-05:00

One thing that always puts a demarcation point squarely at the end of Winter and heralds a new beginning with the arrival of Spring is the annual showing of The Ten Commandments on ABC-TV. With the world changing literally every day, I'm thankful that they still show this classic film every year without fail for all of it's fan. And I would have to consider myself as one of the most staunchest of fans for this movie. Regular readers of this blog will note how I've always listed The Ten Commandments as my favorite film. That hasn't changed over the years. One thing that has changed, however, especially since last year's showing, was the death of the beloved leading actor in the movie, Charlton Heston. He will be sorely missed for his abilities and the characters he brought to life and will be fondly remembered for all the great films he made. And to think that one of his most memorable roles happened toward the beginning of his career instead of later on. Well, I won't go on and on with things I've probably said before. I'll just remind you not to miss the annual showing and to enjoy the film like I always do. It's an event around my house. I'll plan out a special meal and have it ready for the movie's start. Below is a screen capture from my new DVD version of the film just to get you started. You really should pick up the DVD for your own collection - it's a must have!

One more image before I go. Below is some of the gorgeous location photography that Cecil B. DeMille created especially for the movie. It is what I consider to be an iconic scene and one I remember well from having watched it so many times throughout the years. I've even edited it for use as the wallpaper on my computer monitor. It's up right now! So, pop some popcorn, kick back and put your feet up and get ready to watch the greatest motion picture ever made. You know I'll be watching it!

My New (Old) Camera

2010-01-25T04:18:00.010-06:00

I'm still here! Family matters have demanded my attention for the last couple months and I haven't been able to blog with any regularity. But, things are getting a little more back to normal and I just had to post this little item about my new camera.

Pictured above is what it looks like - this is the actual camera body I bought used on Ebay. It's a Pentax K1000 and it comes with the strap but no lens. I haven't gotten it yet, so the above picture is the actual one that was used on the auction's page to get people interested in it. It got me plenty interested in it! A little story behind why I bought it.

A friend of mine gave me a great little Pentax 28mm wide angle lens, but as it's a K-mount, I didn't have anything that it would fit on. I've been wanting to use it, so I did a little research to see what Pentax cameras it could mount on. I found out that pretty much every Pentax film lens will fit on just about every Pentax film camera they ever made. That's why they've been around so long and why people always remember using a Pentax. The Pentax K1000 was introduced in 1976 and they made it virtually unchanged until 1997! The reason it was so popular is because it is totally a manually-operated camera - no automatic shooting modes. This made it cheap and popular with schools who would buy up bunches of them for beginning photography students. They were easy to master and quite well laid out, even in their simplicity. Another reason I finally bought a used one, (for $20 no less!), was that in 1977 and 1978, when I was looking to make the move into a really good 35mm camera over the ones I had been using, I began to look around for something that would fit my needs. Olumpus had one called the OM, Minolta had a revolutionary camera that would shoot in all operating modes and manual, too, called the XD11. And the Pentax K1000 looked attractive to a 17 year old for it's smaller price. I ended up getting the Minolta XD11, which I have talked about before here on Photo Journey, and the Pentax and Olympus just settled into being what almost was. When I found out that a Pentax K1000 would take the lens I had, I jumped at the chance to finally get the camera I almost bought over 30 years ago! I can't wait for it to arrive so I can start to shoot some film with it. Below is the lens I have that was given to me:

This lens is an expensive and well-made wide angle lens, an SMC Pentax-A 28mm, f/2.8. Another great thing about this lens is that it came with a 2x tele-converter, which I'm sure the original owner purchased so that he could use it in tandem with this wide angle lens and bring the focal length up to the range of a normal, prime lens. 28mm times two equals 56mm, which is well within the range of normal lenses. They run from about 45mm to 58mm and make subjects appear to be normally proportioned on film. So, I'll have a lens that is equal to the normal shooting distance and it can double as a wide angle lens when I want to include more in my frame. I can't wait to try out everything when I get it all together!

Below is what my new camera will look like with the 28mm wide angle lens on it. I have digitally manipulated two different images so that it resembles what my new rig is going to look like. There's nothing quite like shooting with a film camera in the manual mode! One other thing I really like about my new K1000 - it can be used without having to put batteries in it!

April 1st, 2010 update - Here's my new camera:

You Can Fix The Healthcare Crisis Yourself

2009-12-23T21:46:00.001-06:00

I just had to relate this incident because it made me so mad! Yesterday, I saw a liberal blog where they were proud to announce the fact that, by getting 75,000 people to sign a petition, they were able to get GEICO insurance company to pull their sponsorship from the Glenn Beck program on the FOX News channel. This is so ridiculous! I have GEICO insurance and immediately wrote to them to see if it was true. Because if it is, I'm going to drop buying my insurance from them because of it! What kind of company can you be that will kowtow and bow to the wishes of so few of a number of people as that? Which brings me to the other reason I'm posting this. So many people are saying that what Obama promises in his Universal Health Care Plan will be good for America. Well, I don't think so. But, that doesn't matter. And it doesn't matter what anybody thinks about what his plan is or isn't about. Just like the liberals who got GEICO to drop their sponsorship of a tv program, we Americans have that same power to fix the health care crisis ourselves! That's you and me, people.

Yes, you and I can make a difference and fix the crisis! Most people complain about the bad things insurance companies are doing and maybe rightly so. The simple solution, of which we need no "bountiful help on high from the government or Obama," is to simply let our money do our talking. Protest the insurance companies with bad policies and get insurance from those with policies you like. The liberals swear that this is a very effective tactic to use.

If you think that all insurance companies are bad and you can't do what I suggest, you're probably right. There just isn't a fix for the health care crisis. But, that includes Barack Obama's proposed solution also. It will prove to be just as ineffective because you can't fix the problem. America has the best health care system in the world and Obama wants to bring it down to the level of the rest of the world. You have to ask yourself why he's doing this and things like this?

It's certainly not for the good of America or the American people. What are you going to do about this problem?

Beatlemania 09-09-09

2009-09-09T12:48:00.011-05:00

Well, today as you know, was the day that Apple Records were due to release the entire Beatles album catalogue in glorious remastered sound. And of course, I had to attend the festivities. (i.e., buy some albums!) Just yesterday I sent off about $200 for a new scanner, which I've needed for a while now, so my finances were a little short. But I did have enough to buy my two favorite albums, The Beatles first one and their last one. I speak of course about Please Please Me and Abbey Road. Please Please Me was their first album, which they recorded in a day and Abbey Road was the last album they recorded together. Apple was also releasing the new Beatles Rock Band game, which I'm not really interested in. I'm already in a real rock and roll band, you see!

The first thing that greeted me upon entering into the store was.... The Beatles themselves! It was great to see them again, even if it was only in a poster advertising their new game.

Back in the record department, (cd department?) I saw plenty of the Rock Band game boxes lining the shelves, such as the one above. I've seen clips of it, so if you're into that kind of thing, it looks like it will be the best experience yet.

Moving on to more important things, (at least to me, anyway!) were the actual audio recordings of The Beatles, what in my younger days used to be called "albums." This particular store devoted an entire end cap to display their remastered albums and you could find all of them but two. The White Album, which is a double album and The Past Masters, Volumes 1 and 2 which is now also a double album, were back on the shelf, along with some copies of "1," their greatest hits collection. I knew how much they were and how much I had to spend, so I had selected the two I would be able to afford before I even left the house. I oogled at the display, (a lot!), got some pictures so I could blog about the experience, and then selected my two albums. I paid for them in the electronics department and then I was on my way.

Outside in the parking lot, I couldn't resist taking a picture of the two latest additions to my Beatles Record Collection. I have all of their original albums, sometimes in almost every format they were released, and even the cd copies of the albums that were released in 1987. After I got my pictures of the new albums, I hurried back home so I could listen to them. Starting with their first release, (naturally!), I was amazed at how clear everything sounded! Especially their voices! Let me just say that these new discs are worth every penny, so now is the time to get those Beatles songs you always meant to get! (If you don't already own some of the older ones!) As I type this, I am preparing to be assaulted by the sound experience that will be Abbey Road in all it's remastered glory, so I'll just say goodbye for now. You say hello, but I say goodbye. (To listen to more music!) Remember.... all you really need is love!

Les Paul, 1915-2009

2009-08-14T14:18:00.007-05:00

Les Paul died yesterday. In case you don't recognize the name, Les Paul invented the guitar that bears his name, the Les Paul guitar, by Gibson. Les perfected the design that would allow guitars to be amplified without the need for a hollow body to bring out the volume. Be creating a solid-body guitar, gone was the ring and distortion created from trying to amplify an acoustic guitar in live situations, such as concerts. Had he only done this his name would be remembered. But he also perfected sound-on-sound recording techniques, which let to multi-track recording. Something that allowed groups such as The Beatles to flourish in the 1960's and onward. I always respected Les Paul as a guitarist himself and would have to say that the Les Paul guitar is my favorite type of guitar. I've played many of them throughout the years in bands I have been in. My condolences go out to his family at this time of his passing. His memory will live on thanks to his contributions to the field of music. Below you can see an example of my favorite choice of guitar in this group shot of a band I was in:

Isaac Asimov

2009-08-13T17:23:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite writers is Isaac Asimov, who wrote the Foundation Trilogy and about 600 or so other books. He was a very prolific author and had a unique grasp on the science fiction field. A common theme for some of his characters, in several different books, is that these people believed in this one statement: "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." I'm sure you know what that means. Another phrase I like, personally, goes like this: "The pen is mightier than the sword." Now, I know you know what that means. I firmly believe that the written, and spoken word to a certain extent, is far more effective than anything else. More effective than the "sword" or "violence" specifically. Change can come about through peaceful exchange of words much more effectively than using any other method. So, people - let's keep it peaceful and fight for our America in the only way that will actually do any good - through peaceful, orderly discourse. We're not all a bunch of "wing-nuts" like the liberals believe us to be.

Listen

2009-08-12T19:02:00.010-05:00

Let's say that you and I are on vacation, taking a cruise ship to Acapulco. I happen to find out that the ship is sinking and you don't know about it. Naturally, I want to try and help you, as I would want to help anyone else who could potentially drown if the ship goes down. I find you and tell you to put on a lifejacket because the ship is sinking.

Okay, what did I just do that was wrong?

If you happen to be an elitest, you would call that "fear-mongering."

If you have to ask what an elitest is, you're not one of them. That's just their newest game. Make up bad names for everybody else, so that they will look good themselves. They like to think of themselves as the only truly normal, rational Americans. They like to tag everybody and everything that's different than what they do as being bad. If it isn't a part of their channeled thinking of how life is supposed to be lived, then they label it with a bad name and by the very repeating of these names, others will automatically think like they do or risk being branded a "fear-mongerer" themselves! And that the people on the other side of the spectrum to these elitists are all rightwing extremists and bad for America. They lump everybody else who isn't trying to be one of the "beautiful people" as "nutjobs," "fear-mongerers," "un-democratic" or just plain stupid. That would be you and I they're calling those names.

So, by pointing out obvious truths, (at least if you haven't got your head up your butt), about what Obama and his people are doing to bring down this once-great country of ours, that does not make me a "fear-mongerer." And it doesn't make anybody else one, either.

Since when did the United States government have the right to dictate the hiring and firing of CEO's?

Since when could the United States government take over huge corporations such as General Motors and Chrysler?

Since when did the United States government need to convince the American people that a new health care bill would be good for us? They never felt the need to convince us of anything before - they just passed it, whether we wanted it or not. So, what is behind all the propaganda and lies and disinformation about the new Universal Health Care Plan?

Cap and Trade is un-American.

We are losing jobs at an alarming rate. What is being done about it? If anyone can tell me, don't hesitate and post it in a comment.

If you think Obama cares about America, where do you get this information from? Please show me the proof of it. When a country's government takes over it's industries and infra-structure, this is called, by the very definition of the word, Socialism.

The United States of America was founded as a free country. It was never meant to be a Socialistic country. If you are reading this, there are things that you specifically cannot do now that you could do before. Don't believe me? I could name many:

You don't have the freedom to get in your car and go somewhere without the threat of being stopped by the law. Why, the simple act of leaving your driveway involves potentially breaking a thousand laws! Do you consider that freedom or safety? If you were so worried about safety, I would have heard you talking about it before, you elitists, but you never said a word. So, I don't want to hear anything you've got to say about it now, either. You gave up your rights to speak by crawling in to bed with them who are bringing down our country. It's just another instance where they took away one of your freedoms.

You can't buy a battery for your Minolta SRT-101 camera. They use Mercury batteries and the United States Government has deemed that the use of Mercury is hazardous to your health and the planet. But yet.... they are forcing us to change our lights to the new flourescent "corkscrew" type of bulbs. Guess what? They have Mercury in them. Well, I guess they're not concerned about our health after all. Do you seriously believe they care about our health and welfare? Seriously!?

I am a veteran of the U.S. Army. Other people who have served this country in the same manner have fought and died for our freedoms. You can't smoke in an American Legion or a Veteran Of Foreign Wars club. Why is that? That's what those people died for, so that we would have the freedom to do things such as this. You say it's a health issue? If the United States Government was really concerned about our health and well-being, don't you think they would stop the biggest pollutants to our lungs? Well, yes.... if they really cared about us. But they don't. You ask, what am I talking about? Petroleum-engined automobiles spew out much more pollution that is harmful for humans than smoking cigarettes will ever do. Would you rather be locked in a garage with a smoker or a running automobile for 24 hours? You see the difference. The United States government has deemed that smoking is hazardous to our health. But, collecting tax money on cigarettes is a pretty all right thing to do. If cigarettes were truly so bad and evil and hazardous, they would outlaw them. That is, if they were really concerned about our health.

Wake up, America, before it's too late and all your freedoms are gone. Do you really want to live in a world ruled by elitists whose only care is about themselves? Your lives mean nothing to them. If they mean something to you, stand up for your freedoms. Inform yourself and speak out. And for God's, and all our sakes, stop Obama from passing any more ridiculous laws that ruin our country. Tell him no, we don't want his idea of a health care utopia.

High Dynamic Range

2009-07-29T12:09:00.017-05:00

I've just discovered a new form of photography and I have to share it with everyone. I'd been seeing and hearing about something called "HDR" all over photo sites I visit and finally looked into just what it stands for. It stands for High Dynamic Range and it refers to a technique that brings out all the detail in a picture, the detail all over the picture, and in an evenly balanced way. It's amazing, actually!

The picture just below employs this technique and involves using software that has HDR capabilities:

This is the street where I live in Norris City. By combining three differently exposed images of the same exact scene, the HDR software, which in this case is Adobe Photoshop CS2, combines the three images and choosed the best exposure settings for each specific spot in the picture. It lightens up the darkest areas and tones down the sky, which almost always has blown highlights in the lightest of places, and melds them together in such a way that everything looks perfectly exposed. I don't know how it does, but it does.
I also found out that there is a similar process that results in finished images looking the same way, but you start with only one original image. It's called Tone Mapping. Say you have one good exposure of something and want to improve different areas of it. You can take that one photo in your photo-editing software and make 3 different exposures which bring out the darkest, medium and lightest areas to best effect. By then combining them back together using the HDR software, you still get an image with loads of detail in all areas. The picture below was one I was pretty happy with as far as the exposure settings went:

And here is that same picture - which I thought had lost some detail in the darkest and most washed out places - after being subjected to the Tone Mapping process using the HDR software:

Pretty neat, huh?

Here are some of my other pictures I have Tone Mapped and you just wouldn't believe the improvement over the original digital file!

All in all, I'd say if you haven't tried this process yet, you need to look into it. The difference it can make in what you thought was an old, lifeless image can be startling!

Corporate Greed

2009-07-29T11:30:00.004-05:00

Has this ever happened to you? One day, you'll be doing something with your computer on the internet and everything works fine. And then, the very next day, what was simple and easy to do yesterday, no longer works for you today. Don't you get tired of this? My computer is only a month old, so it's got the latest of everything available. It worked fine for a short while, now every day, something else stops working. I go to upload a file over at the Internet Archive.org - yesterday morning it uploaded a file perfectly, without a single issue. Last night, I tried uploading a similar file and nothing. I'd go to enter the name of the item and click on the "next" button and the screen would flash and take me right back to the same screen. Only the "add a title for your item" box would be empty. It wouldn't accept anything you typed into it. This is so frustrating. You try the help section on the website you're attempting to use and all anybody can do is suggest "have you tried Firefox?" I use Internet Explorer. It works. It worked yesterday morning, so it should have worked yesterday evening. I don't want to install another program that can develop even more issues; one's that I don't have a clue of how to start fixing myself.

The problem is corporate greed. The huge computer and internet companies keep "upgrading" everything so that what you have won't work anymore. All for the sake of the allmighty dollar.

Well, listen up, buckos.... that's going to be changing if you don't straighten up and fly right. There's a reason why greed is one of the seven deadly sins.

No Smoking Permitted In Federal Buildings

2009-06-25T18:18:00.006-05:00

Executive Order 13058, "Protecting Federal Employees and the Public from Exposure to Tobacco Smoke in the Federal Workplace," was enacted on August 9th, 1997. It bans smoking in all Executive Branch facilities, (i.e. the White House), and all interior space owned, rented or leased space by the Executive Branch of the federal government. That would be the United States Federal Government - the people we elected - that government.

Fact 1: The President of the United States Of America Barack Obama is a cigarette smoker.

Well, that's really the only fact you need to know. Just where does he smoke? Does he go outside like the rest of the American citizens have to, or does he break the law? You have to ask yourself which one you think is right. I'm betting that Obama doesn't always have to keep going outside to light up. But, you ask - he's breaking the law! Exactly. Apparently, he feels he's above the law. Why else would he keep circumventing the United States Constitution like he does? Do you really need to know anymore about this man? You already know what he's doing to this country. Stand up for your God-given Constitutional rights and voice them wherever they can be heard. While you still have the freedom of speech to do so.

We need to get our America back.

Cartoon Babes, First Edition

2009-06-22T20:22:00.006-05:00

This is something I've been wanting to do for awhile now, so I'm finally doing it now that blogger is working again.

I will be spotlighting various animated characters that I think are drawn to be fabulous cartoon babes. The first one is from the 2000 movie The Road To El Dorado. Two adventurers during 16th century acquire a map supposedly leading to the fabled golden city of El Dorado. Through a couple mishaps and adventurous turns, they do indeed end up at the doorstep of El Dorado. There they meet one of the native Mayan women who helps them with their charade of pretending to be gods. Her name is Chel and she is voiced by Rosie Perez. With Rosie Perez fleshing out how the character sounds and acts, the animators did their part in the "fleshalization" of Chel. She is truly something to look at and in every since of the word, a "babe!" Enjoy this full-length portrait of her below and if you can find the movie, buy it. It's a great one to watch over and over! I've added it to my personal dvd collection and have watched it at least a half-dozen times or more - it's that engrossing of an adventure/comedy flick! I also just found out that it was inspired by all those "road movies" of the 1940's that Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour starred in. You remember, The Road To Zanzibar, The Road To Morocco, etc.?

The Ten Commandments 50th Anniversary Edition

2009-06-21T21:15:00.008-05:00

Well, as you can see by the above picture, I finally have gotten my copy of the 50th Anniversary Collection version of The Ten Commandments! I had procrastinated for long enough. This special edition also has the 1923 silent film version of The Ten Commandments, so I'm sure it will contain some more blog fodder. (Even if Charlton Heston isn't in it!) But, his version is my favorite, mind you. The above scene is just after the part where Yul Brynner has tried to insinuate that Heston's character of Moses has been treasonous to the Pharaoh. Heston encounters with his classic line, "The strong make many.... the starving make few.... the dead make none." Case closed! That line is just too cool. And something else that has stayed with me since I first saw it in 1966, that evil-looking mountain Paramount uses for this movie alone to show their logo over the top of. That's one bad mountain! Stay tuned because there will be more posts about Charlton Heston and The Ten Commandments, my favorite move. Have no fear on that score! You have to have this movie in your collection.

Forced Vacation

2009-06-18T14:02:00.002-05:00

And, if that wasn't enough, now Google blogger won't seem to allow me to upload any photographs. My blogs all rely on photographs, so I suppose until somebody straightens this out, I won't be able to post anything on Photo Journey temporarily. If it's not one thing, it's always a half a dozen others.
You'll all remember how lightning struck my computer a couple weeks back and I had to buy a new one. Well, my car had "issues" and it had to be taken into the shop for repairs. It's supposed to be around the tune of $700. (Not my favorite tune, mind you!) They were okay with me paying half tomorrow (when it's supposed to be finished), and the rest in a week or so. Well, today I find that I lost my job and I get my car insurance statement which will be due at the end of this month. Will it never end!?

Don't despair. I'll try to be back soon!

The Real Me

2009-05-29T01:59:00.018-05:00

I always wonder if the readers of my blog ever wonder what kind of guy I am? From the different subjects in my posts, it may be hard to pinpoint exactly what I'm like. I like to feel I'm the way I am because that's what gets me through my life the best way. I love living life and doing all that I can in this life of mine. Read on for some insights into this life we're all trying to live these days.

Yes, I like the outdoors. If I didn't have a computer, I would probably be out most of the time. (But, it's hard to see a monitor in the bright sunlight!) Ever since I was a little boy, being out too long in the sun would cause my dark brown hair to get blonde streaks in it. Now, the picture above shows me as being totally blonde, but that's not because of the sun. I wanted to try something different and had my hair bleached that color. Don't be afraid to try something you want to do in your life just because you think people might laugh at you. What you think in your heart means much more than what other's think is best for you.

Sometimes, I can seem quite sarcastic, but it's only my way of laughing at life. Usually, my sarcasm is based on humor because I like to think that if people are smiling while you're talking to them, they might be more apt to listen to what you're saying. So, don't let them down. Say something important once in a while!

You know.... If I was to say that because I'm a white w.a.s.p. male and that because of that and my experiences I would be able to do things better and make more informed judgements than say.... a Latino woman, I would be branded "a racist." At least, that is the definition of "a racist" in this politically correct world we live in, so I suppose it must be right. Now that you know exactly what denotes "a racist," you'll also know why Sonia Sotomayor is too much of "a racist" to sit as a member of the Supreme Court. The members of that body are supposed to be above things like ethnicity, color, creed, race and gender and just rule on points of law as they are defined in the United States Constitution. And that is why we don't need or want somebody as racist as that deciding what we already know to be our God given rights. Am I not right on this?

Ah.... the good life. That's me yachting in the above picture. It was the first and, so far, only time I've gotten to be on an honest-to-goodness expensive yacht. (It wasn't mine, either!) I've never even been able to buy a bass boat. But, that hasn't mattered in my life. I have my family and friends, I work hard and I like to think that I live my life like it means it's worth something. I try to contribute to the human race in my own way and make it a better place when I can. Yes, that was me playing my guitar for free in a nursing home to entertain the residents the other day. Yes, that was me noticing that the clerk had given me too much change for what I had purchased and taking it back in the store to give it back and make sure she didn't come up shorthanded at the end of her workday. And, yes that was me assisting a car accident victim because nobody else was around.

What I'm mostly trying to say is that your life can be blessed with riches, but only if you decide what is worth more to you and then going after those things.

I hear so many stories about politicians who have never worked a real job in their lives and wonder just how they come up with the ridiculous laws they do. For instance.... do we, as Americans, need to allow amnesty to all the illegal aliens that are here just because politicians think it's the right thing to do? If we were in a country like North Korea or Zimbabwe, illegal aliens would be shot on sight. There's a right way and wrong way to move to a new country; and when you do so, it's with the prerequisite that, if you come to the United States to live this life, you do not bring your old life here and change us around to your way of thinking. If your old life is so good, stay in it and don't come here. That's not a racist way of looking at things, it's just the way it has to be or you won't have a viable country for very long. My ancestors were Vikings and we adjusted quite nicely since we've been here. You'll note that I don't pillage and plunder anywhere near as much as they used to! (Although, there are sure times I'd like to! Why can't I have my heritage, too? Everybody else gets to have theirs!)

Every year at Easter, I watch my favorite movie - The Ten Commandments. Which is not to say that the above picture is my statement that I feel I'm as holy as Moses. I'm not - I'm just an average, ordinary guy. But, I do believe in God and I believe that he blessed the United States of America and all the people in this great land. I am truly proud to be a free citizen of the U.S.A. and will fight anyone who tries to take that freedom away from me or my family. I served in the United States Army for the freedom to believe that way. And you can darn well bet that I'm not changing my mind on this issue even though the federal government or the state of Illinois tries to legislate otherwise. There are certain things that are right and wrong and I was raised to know the difference. Calling it the law or for safety reasons does not make something right.

No fear. Look at the above picture and you'll see me holding a branch with thousands of bees on it. I'm wearing no protective clothing except for the gloves. I didn't consider it stupidity at the time and I still don't. There are just certain things you know that if you treat them right, they'll treat you right. It's like our planet. However we treat it, it still revolves and allows life to flourish. No matter what we do, it always adjusts so that we can survive. This next phrase I'm going to say may sound quite scientific and be above some of your heads, if it is, I apologise beforehand. Global Warming is nothing but a bunch of hooey. Well, maybe it's not so hard to understand after all. All us normal people get it. Planet Earth has been through ice ages and drought spells before and has always pulled through. Let it do it's thing and stop worrying about it. All we as humans need to be concerned about is getting along with each other. It starts with you and the people you come in contact with. Put yourselves in their shoes and try to treat them like you would want to be treated and things will be a whole lot easier. Trust me on this, it works.

Hank Williams, Jr. sang years ago, "We can skin a buck, we can run a trout line, and a country boy can survive." Now, I wasn't born and raised in the country, but I've spent lots of time out there enjoying it. The above picture shows me in my "Great White Hunter" mode. When I go camping, I do it right. I carry in my tent and sleeping bag, pots and pans, hunting knife and utensils and my rifle. I have meat for supper if the hunt goes well. But, whatever I shoot, I know how to clean it, cook it and eat it. The early pioneers used to live or die while using these same techniques. They survived if they took these methods to heart and died when they didn't. True, there were Indians and other natural dangers they had to contend with, but we have just as many hazards, if not more, to contend with these days. Have you ever been stranded in your car in certain sections of Chicago? You don't want to do that. Have you ever seen a cop trying to plant drugs in your car so that he can have something to arrest you for? Not a pleasant experience. But, whatever life has to throw at you, just try to be prepared for it and your chances of survival will go up greatly. Previous posts on this blog about Survival Kits, Emergency Cooking, Disaster Preparedness and Earthquake Safety Tips can be found at the highlighted links. You can bet that me and my family will be better off than most people if anything should happen here in America. Don't let you or the ones you love down in a crisis - be prepared!

Well, there you have it. Now you know a little bit more of what I'm like. Maybe you've also learned a little something about yourself that you didn't know before. If you've learned anything, please just try to be happy and true to yourself, your family and your loved ones. They are what matter the most.

New Show Alert - Fourth And Long

2009-05-29T01:26:00.014-05:00

I had seen some previews for a new television show that was premiering on May 18th, 2009 and thought it looked interesting. Being a football fan my entire life, the fact that it was about football made it even more appealing. It stars the Dallas Cowboy's great wide receiver Michael Irvin and the theme of the show is about 12 athletes competing to see who will be good enough to win and go on to win a spot on the Dallas Cowboys real roster. It started it's 10-episode run on May 18th, on Spike TV, and I've read that it will end with enough time for the winner to be able to report to training camp this year.

Quite frankly, I didn't expect it to be the best television show I'd ever watched, but since it was about football, it should at least be able to hold my interest. Well, last night I watched the first two episodes, (which I had to miss when they were broadcast, but I taped them), and I have to say this - I was blown away by the show! What can I say but that it keeps my interest, it shows me behind the scenes of just how much work it takes to be able to play the sport and it is inspiring to boot! Michael Irvin and his two co-stars, former Cowboy player Bill Bates and former Cowboy coach Joe Avezzano come across as being totally sincere in what they are trying to do with the 12 players and special appearances by former Cowboy greats help reinforce different lessons they're trying to teach the 12 men.

At the beginning of each episode, Michael tells them what that day's training will consist of and why it's so important. During the course of the episode, a former Cowboy will reinforce this with his personal spin on why it matters. What everything boils down to seems to be that if you want something bad enough, you will find it in yourself to attain your goals. That's a good lesson for life in general as well! The only drawback I can see with the show so far is that it's only going to last for 10 episodes. It's such an eye opening behind the scenes look and downright pleasure to watch, I would have hoped that it could last even longer; especially after seeing the first two episodes. But, irrespective of whether or not the winner actually attains a spot on the Cowboy's roster this year, I think that each and every one of the 12 will learn a little bit more about themselves and how to go about getting the things they want out of life with a more focused drive and determination.

Who knew that Michael Irvin and the rough sport of football had so much potential to inspire!? Count me as an even bigger fan now!

Don't Tread On Me. (And I Mean It!)

2009-05-22T00:25:00.008-05:00

Just a quick note to explain why I haven't posted anything for awhile. Two weeks ago, a powerful thunderstorm moved through my area and lightning struck my computer, rendering it totally unusable. But, I'm back online now with a new computer and equipment from my internet provider, (which got taken out, too). As you can see, I've got one of those Gadsden Flag stickers on my bumper, which I blogged about here. Be sure to get one of your very own!

Does it look familiar? Oh, no.... now the State Police are gonna start profiling me as a terrorist!

Of Butterflies And Things

2009-05-04T21:50:00.015-05:00

Just a short post to note that somebody who studies Monarch Butterflies passed through town today for a look at my little winged paradise. Nathan Miller, above on the right, is traveling from Ontario on his way to the Gulf of Mexico taking samples of milkweed and getting specimens of Monarchs where he can. He happened to see my reports of Monarchs on BugGuide.net, and got in touch with me. Although it had been raining here on and off for three days, the sun broke through just about the time Nathan drove into town. We didn't see any Monarchs, but he was amazed at the variety of Butterflies that popped out in such a short time. We saw several Sulphurs, Cabbage Whites, Pearl Crescents and the first Eastern Tailed Blues I've seen of the season. One of them is pictured below. Nathan says he might be back through my area in late May, so hopefully, the Monarchs will be out by then.

Road Construction Bonus

2009-04-20T00:52:00.001-05:00

Just a little bonus - a 1:64 scale steam roller framed by the real-life version in the background.

Road Construction

2009-04-19T20:54:00.031-05:00

It's not often you get to see the road in front of your house being repaired. That's why I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get some shots of the process. I have to say, the crew that did this particular job, E.T. Simonds out of Carbondale, performed the task in unison like a well-choreographed ballet. Their equipment was moved in so they could start on a Monday, but it rained for two days and they didn't get started until Wednesday. But, they paved the two lane road that went in front of my house and for about 3 or 4 miles in length in just 3 days! I thought it was pretty amazing.

They started by laying down a good coating of oil on top of the old road's surface. You can see that layer above, along with a truck holding the asphalt mixture.

Here is one of the many trucks that would line up with the asphalt mixture dumping it into some kind of conveyor machine on wheels. The conveyor would place it into the actual vehicle that would spread it on the road in a fairly smooth coat.

Those trucks would really raise their beds high into the sky to make sure all of that sticky, black stuff would come out!

Here you can see the conveyor machine dumping the black substance into the asphalt-spreading machine. It chewed up and spit out this mixture at a pretty fast clip and therefore had to keep being filled.

Here is the process as it moved down the road. In this shot, they are moving from the right to my left.

This is a shot of the machine that put the asphalt down. A couple guys rode on the back of it - I presume to see that it kept going in a straight line.

Another view of the conveyor machine filling up the asphalt hopper.

Once the asphalt was laid down, it looked pretty smooth to my eyes. But....

They had two heavy rollers following along behind, pounding it down even smoother and more compact.

Here is a close-up of one of the rollers. Of the two, you could feel this one coming blocks away because it had "oscillating action."

It said "oscillation" right on the side of it and felt like an earthquake when this thing went by. And trust me, I know what earthquakes feel like!

Both rolling machines were driven by women and as I took pictures, this one asked as she drove by, "Are those pictures going to be on the internet?" She had driven on past before I could answer, "Well.... maybe!" I wonder if she's single?

Tea Time

2009-04-05T10:07:00.005-05:00

You've probably heard the term "Tea Party" being used in the news these days. Just so you know that I'm up on things and "hip," I love tea. And everything it stands for. You can see my tea of choice above - iced tea.

Don't Tread On Me

2009-03-19T17:57:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to post this so you could get a good look at it. If you remember your high school history lessons, you'll know it is the Gadsden Flag, made famous in our Revolutionary War. The one where we fought for that little thing called "freedom." You may remember it well!

You're probably going to be seeing a lot more of this particular symbol in the coming days and weeks because the federal government of the United States has now decided that it stands for domestic terrorism! Exactly why are we paying these guys and gals!? To try and get us to fall for propaganda such as this?

You haven't heard the last of this story.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

2009-03-19T17:25:00.003-05:00

I just had to comment on this amusing little exchange.

A user over on the Joepedia wiki made this little comment on his user page:

"I get around - mostly minor edits, so the only reason I have a username is that nobody respects a string of numbers."

I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I made a reply to this statement. When you realize the user name he chose for himself is "ButtButt," you'll see why I had no choice but to say:

"Good point about people not respecting strings of numbers. Now, a name like ButtButt is something they certainly will respect!"

Do people actually use that thing between their ears anymore?

Meet George Jetson

2009-03-19T17:10:00.005-05:00

Baby Boomers like myself probably remember The Jetsons better than anybody else. It was a cartoon set way into the future and depicted a society where humanity didn't have to work much anymore and when they did, they simply had to push buttons and computers did all the work. The only problem with that vision is that the reality is much different. Now we have computers that can "push the button," so to speak, without the need for human involvement. A good point to illustrate this is this:

I was "promoted" to being an administrator over on the great Wikipedia project, in one of the little side-wikis known as the Hot Wheels Wiki. The first task I was told to always be sure and do was to greet new users when they first appeared. It was imperative that this be done, so as to make sure users would stick around to do more work, editing the wiki and uploading new pictures. Well, I agreed to take on this charge and loved the responsibility of doing this important task. It was nice to be able to greet each new user personally, and with helpful suggestions that would get them up and running on something that can be complicated. If I had only had some of the hints that I'm aware of now when I joined, there could have been a lot less trouble.

But now, the great staff of Wikipedia has been upgrading everything and adding new features. One of them is, you guessed it, automatic software that greets every new user within 1 minute - 60 seconds - of when they first join. Now, this might be a good thing, but I enjoyed doing that task myself and making each greeting a personal thing, from a real person and not a "'bot." What is a person to do when progress keeps making people obsolete? I'm practically not needed anymore over on the wiki, thanks to all the new features.

What was the purpose of humanity again? Are you now or have you ever been?

Diecast Copies

2009-03-17T12:42:00.015-05:00

Did you know that there are diecast companies that copy other companies' designs? Sad, but true. Rather than go to the expense of creating their own original designs, they'll just copy somebody else's that has already been released. Personally, I can't conceive how a person or company in a creative field such as this could ever even think about copying somebody else's work. Where's the joy of creation? Anyway, it does happen more often than you'd think, so it will probably continue to happen for just as long as diecast cars and trucks are made. Here are a few notable examples.

Above you will see a fine Porsche 911 Turbo cast in 1:64 scale, made by Tomica. Below, you will a pretty good copy of the same exotic car, only this one was made by Welly.

Here's an ambulance model made by Hot Wheels, called an "American Ambulance." Below you will see an almost identical copy, even down to the tampo design, made by Maisto. You tell me, was this intentional or not?

This is the Deora, made by Mattel in 1968. Below you can see a copy of it from Argentina. It was made by a company called Muky, and as far as I can tell, they named it "Furgon."

Pretty similar, eh? If you like copies, some of them are quite well made and sport features sometimes not found on the original versions. So, keep your eyes open as they "send in the clones."

You Say It's Your Birthday - Well, It's My Birthday, Too, Yeah!

2009-03-08T07:22:00.019-05:00

As promised, here are some pictures from the night of my birthday. The place where I deejay is what used to be called a roadhouse. The name of the bar is Lonzo's Place and you can play the jukebox, get in a game or two of pool, sit at the bar and drink, order pizza or shake your booty until it hurts. I love that place!

The night started out slow, with the pool players keeping it mellow over in the corner. But it built until everybody got really loose. I'll mostly leave the pictures to talk for themselves, as they are self-evident in their nature!

Here you can see the girls are starting to shake their booty. Alcohol will do that.

Table tops were just made for dancing.

Please remember to tip your bartenders!

This was the spinning disco light. I love this shot - it was a hand-held, timed exposure.

Yours truly, with Miss Budweiser or something. Anyway, she was flat chested.

Don't ask.

Strike a pose! Vogue.

At the end of the night, these two guys became brothers. It's the alcohol, I tell you!

All in all, it was a fun night and turning 48 didn't seem that much of a big deal. Just wait until 50, though.

Diecast Mystery Trucks

2009-03-06T11:19:00.019-06:00

I was going through my old diecast vehicles and came across two different trucks of indeterminate age that I had forgotten all about. I can't remember where or when I got them and they have no company name stamped on the bases. The first one was just the semi cab of a tractor-trailer rig and it was in pretty rough shape. It was so bad, I decided to restore it and bring it back to life. I would, however, like to know what company made these two trucks, or even what real-life models they are based on. If anybody can help me, please leave a comment. I will post a few different views of each truck for help in identification purposes.

Here is the first one, just the cab of a semi rig. It was originally painted bright red, but most of the paint has been worn off. The axles are rusty and the chrome on the face of the wheels is rubbed off.

This top view shows more of what the original paint looked like. There was still some left, but not much.

Here is a view of the plastic base. Just to the left of the tiny hole toward the top left, there were the tiny words "Hong Kong," so I'm assuming it was made there. The tiny hole was the secret to getting it to come apart so I could strip the old paint off and give it a general cleaning, inside and out. By putting a tiny screwdriver in the hole, I could disengage the grille unit, which pushed out the front of the truck.

Here is what my unknown truck looks like with 3 coats of paint. I have one more final coat to go, some detail painting, and then a coat of gloss finishing paint. It's already starting to look much better! I think the new wheels really set it off, what do you think? Again, if anybody recognizes this model and can tell me who made it or what it's based on, please let me know. It looks like it's based on an American-made truck of some kind to me.

The second truck was in much better condition. It's a box truck with opening doors in the back. Everything about this vehicle was shiny, non-rusted or clean, so I'm not going to be doing anything to it. The "ice cream" decal on the driver's side was slightly askew, but that's the way it came.

On the other truck, there was no emblem on the front of it. But, this one has a flying wings symbol just above the grille. I'm not sure whether it represents the company that made the original truck this one was patterned after, or a logo for the toy company that cast it. Either way, maybe somebody can recognize it. The truck itself resembles an Isuzu or a Hino, to me.

On the plastic base of the ice cream truck were the words "Made In Hong Kong." They are a little hard to see, but they are stamped in the area right between the two rear axles.

The passenger's side decal was straight and looked much better. If anybody recognizes what this truck is supposed to be or who made it from this profile, please let me know. I hope these views are good enough for someone to be able to identify these models. Perhaps the style of wheels will give a clue as to who produced them and when. If nothing else, please just enjoy looking at these two heavy duty workhorses in 1:64 scale!

March 8th, 2009 Update: Having cast out various threads onto the internet, I think I can now safely say I know what these two vehicles are. The first one, the red one I'm restoring, was made by Universal in the early 1980's, and represents an International Transtar. The second one, the yellow ice cream truck, was made by Welly, and is supposed to be a Japanese Hino. Thanks to everybody who helped out on this!

Authentic Cuisine

2009-02-28T07:08:00.017-06:00

The day before my 48th birthday, I felt in sort of celebratory mood. My brother, who had just flown in from a year in South Korea; and his wife, who had stayed at my house that entire year; all went to the city for some dining and shopping. His wife and I had been to the city a couple times during that year and had noticed a nice-looking Greek restaurant that we wanted to try out. And we had already stopped at a certain Mexican restaurant on our last visit, so we knew it was good. We planned on arriving around lunch time, filling the entire afternoon with shopping, then eating dinner before we left for home. This would allow us to have Greek for lunch and Mexican for dinner.

We arrived at the Greek restaurant, called Acropolis, at the end of the lunch rush. We had a short wait of about five minutes before we were seated, so we didn't mind. Once seated and after having placed our order, we planned on dining at a leisurely pace so as to kill even more time. Several courses came and went and I have to say that I enjoyed them all.

I chose Gyros tortellini in a white garlic sauce as my main dish, plus I had a Gyros sandwich on the side. The sandwich was as good as I had eaten anywhere else, but the tortellini was a new taste sensation. It was one I'll have to revisit soon, let me tell you!

Above is the front facade of the Acropolis, which featured "Authentic Greek Cuisine." After finishing there, the three us proceeded to shop till we dropped.

After we had gotten everything we needed from at least a dozen stores or so, we headed further down the main road to where the Mexican restaurant was located. It was called "Acapulco," and featured "Authentic Mexican Cuisine."

That was the third time I had eaten there and it was as good as the last two visits.

Having grown up near the border of Mexico in Southern Arizona as a child, I have been accustomed to Mexican cuisine most of my life. One thing I miss not living there anymore is when you go in just about any restaurant out there, as soon as you've been seated, they bring tortilla chips and salsa. The Acapulco restaurant did as well, and it was a miniature flashback to my childhood - I can practically eat my weight in those things! And the hotter the salsa is, the better to my liking.
For my main course here I chose the numero once dinner platter. That's number 11 to all you Yanks. It featured a beef burrito, a taco and an enchilada. I was still kind of full from lunch, so I forgot to order the usual frijoles refritos (refried beans), topped with grated mild cheddar cheese.
All in all, it was a veritable world cuisine day that satisfied our palates to a "T." If you're ever in Evansville, Indiana, I highly recommend you stop at either of these establishments and taste their fare. They are both located on Green River Road and are easy to find.

Dining at both these places made a good start for my birthday the next day. I had to work the night of my birthday, but being as I'm a deejay in a club, it's almost like playing and they pay me for it! I have plenty of pictures to post of the night and you'll be able to see that everybody, including myself, had "nothin' but a good time!" As soon as I get my brother and sister-in-law on their way back home to Utah on Monday, I'll post my birthday pictures. Stay tuned!

A New Station Wagon On The Block

2009-02-23T18:10:00.003-06:00

This is just a short post to show off a new Hot Wheels Station Wagon model that came out. It's a '70 Chevelle SS Wagon and is pictured below (it is on a used station wagon lot in the front):

Spam

2009-02-10T21:28:00.006-06:00

Today's post is about Spam. And no, I'm talking about that wonderful meat, the kind with who know's what's in it and that Monty Python sang about back in the 1970's; I'm referring to the junk e-mail that always clogs up my Outlook Express. I'm sure everybody gets a ton a day and it's a chore just to stay ahead of it. The point I'd like to speak about today, is not just that it's annoying to receive so much, it's that there's a certain kind that really annoys me. They are the kind that look like they came from - me!

Yes, I routinely send myself news about penis enhancers, sales receipts from Amazon, offers to get a Phd., monthly newsletters and invoices and alerts from banks I don't even go near. As if! I don't know how the spammers figured out this little trick, to make spam look like it came from me so that I'll look at it, but it certainly needs to be looked into by somebody that regulates interstate commerce. I mean, this needs to be nipped in the bud! (As our old friend, Barney Fife was always saying). I most certainly do not send myself bills or statements, offers (no matter how enticing they sound!), newsletters, purchase confirmations, eBay alerts, or the one that shows the most chutzpah - an e-mail from me to me and all it says in the subject line is "Hi." Would I bother to send myself a message that just says hello? I don't think so.

So, in closing, I'd like to hope that the spammers get past this little gimmick, and soon, and that this annoying practice ceases and desists.

Oh, and there's one other kind of spam I won't ever fall for, never in a million years. If you want to catch my attention and have even a slim chance of me looking at your message, don't - whatever you do - don't address it as being from [no sender] and containing the subject line [no subject]. I mean, would you look at something that's about nothing from nobody?

I didn't think so.

Keep up the boycott of Wal-Mart, and together we might send them a message. Although, at this point I've forgotten what it might have been, seeing as how other places I shop instead of Wal-Mart keep going out of business. Whatever, it's still a relevant thing to do. We'll show that giant corporation that David can still put a knot in his kneecap. And who knows, maybe they'll get back to selling real merchandise once more, and things that people actually need. Aloha.

8 Dead In Illinois

2009-01-15T22:24:00.007-06:00

I have sad news to report in this blog. There have been more notable deaths here in my home state of Illinois and it's a sad occasion to write about. Over the weekend, there were two separate fatal incidents involving cows and automobiles and I just had to tell about this senseless tragedy.

At approximately 7.50 p.m. on Sunday, January 11th, 2009, cows belonging to West Farms got loose onto Route 141, at the intersection at Cottonwood Road. In the first incident, a van with six occupants collided with the herd of cows, leaving 5 dead and 1 injured. No injuries to any of the motorists were reported, but one cow, who should have been life-flighted for further attentions, was dispatched by one of the responding officers. Then, later in the night and further down the road apiece just east of the first scene, at approximately 12.20 a.m., a second crash occurred involving a tractor-trailer which hit and killed two cows. About a dozen cows were loose in the second incident and officers from four different departments, including one fire department, were employed to corral the loose cows and reroute traffic. Illinois Department of Transportation crews were on the scene the next morning to retrieve the bodies of the dead victims. Pending notification of the families of the deceased, no names have been released except one. Bossie the Cow, aged 5 1/2, was one of the victims of the second accident and will be missed by all who loved her and her milk. Your ever-roving photographer managed to capture this image at the scene of the second tragedy:

Now, if I can just locate Crosby, Stills and Nash's e-mail address. I have a good song idea for them.

Live'r Than You'll Ever Be

2009-01-04T05:02:00.013-06:00

I thought it was high time I showed what my current band looks like when we're live on stage. The name of the band is Deuces Wild, and was created by the drummer, Jim, several years before I joined with him. Him and I have been playing together for 4 or 5 years now and our current bass player joined us late last year. He is also my cousin Kenneth Ray! Here we are playing a recent gig at the American Legion. It was a great show!

He we are together onstage.

Jim, on drums, and me on lead guitar.

Jim Garrett, our drummer and founder.

Kenneth Ray Jackson, our bass player and newest member.

Kenneth Dwain Harrelson, (that's me), playing a power chord.

The lyric "He's gonna be an angry young man someday," comes to mind for this picture.

Well, that's what it looks like when we play live. We have a pretty slimmed-down setup when we don't have much room for speakers and sound equipment. Most stages in our area are not very big. I hope all you rockers out there enjoyed the show! Oh, and these pictures were taken by the bartender's girlfriend, Tiffany. Thanks, Tiffany!

Michael Crichton - Dead at 66

2008-12-30T00:14:00.007-06:00

To say the least, I just received a shock to find out that one of my favorite authors has died recently. Michael Crichton, author of The Andromeda Strain, The Congo, Jurassic Park and many other great novels in my personal collection died on November 4th, aged 66, of cancer. I am at a total loss of words to explain how much his work has meant to me. If you haven't noticed, there's always been at least one of his novels on my "books I've read recently list" along the side of this blog. The most current one was State Of Fear, which I happened to acquire in a first edition hard cover. To say that he meant a lot to me would be an understatement. I have read and enjoyed his books for my entire adult life. I even have a techno-thriller novel currently in pre-production that I have been working on. I need to finish writing that book, now for sure. Rather than babble on here, I'll just post this message I found on his website, posted by his family:

In Memoriam

Michael Crichton

1942 - 2008

Best-selling author Michael Crichton died unexpectedly in Los Angeles Tuesday, November 4, 2008 after a courageous and private battle against cancer.

While the world knew him as a great story teller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us -- and entertained us all while doing so -- his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes. He did this with a wry sense of humor that those who were privileged to know him personally will never forget.

Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an inspiration to students of all ages, challenged scientists in many fields, and illuminated the mysteries of the world in a way we could all understand.

He will be profoundly missed by those whose lives he touched, but he leaves behind the greatest gifts of a thirst for knowledge, the desire to understand, and the wisdom to use our minds to better our world.

Michael's family respectfully asks for privacy during this difficult time.

I couldn't have said it better. I'm going to miss Michael Crichton.

America, Land Of The Free

2008-12-28T09:03:00.022-06:00

With a new year fast approaching, I thought this would be an appropriate time to say how proud I am that I live in a country where I enjoy the freedom to blog and share my opinions with the world. People can't do that in every country. The United States of America was formed so that people who chose to live here could have the freedom to live life as they choose, without a tyrannical monarch ruling their every movement. There's a reason why the U.S.A. is called the "land of the free and the home of the brave."

So that we can continue to enjoy our freedom, men and women throughout the history of this great nation have given the ultimate sacrifice, their lives, just so that we can stay free. There's a reason why we, as a nation, erect so many monuments to these fallen brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, fathers and uncles, and why we equate the name "hero" with them. It's to honor those who have died fighting for this great society. Who among you cannot be awed and humbled when standing in front of the rows and rows of headstones at the revered Arlington Cemetery?

And the flag that always waves atop the Iwo Jima monument:

Or the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier? A monument honoring a nameless soul who died fighting for what he believed in:

And now, some of my antecedents, (which I don't often show in public!) What many on here may not realize is that I served in this nation's Armed Forces, when I was a member of the US Army:

I also did a short stint in the Navy, when I served aboard the U.S.S. Martini:

And, in my younger days, I was a cowboy who fought in the wild, wild west:

Just so nobody thinks I'm making light of anything, I want you to know that I was proud to have served this country while I was in the Army. I felt that I was helping, in a tiny way, to preserve the freedoms that we have known and loved for over 200 years. Freedoms for which others have died to protect. So, it saddens me when I see something like what I saw this past Monday. I was out Christmas shopping (thank goodness we still have some freedom to worship the way we want to....) with my sister-in-law, when an Indiana State Trooper pulled me over in the Toys R Us parking lot. The offense I was potentially guilty of? Not wearing my seat belt! How insignificant can you get? Now, a short bit later, we were almost ran down while crossing the road on foot by an angry woman in an SUV. Where were the police to help save my life in that instance? They were nowhere to be seen. I'll tell you why. They're not interested in saving our lives. They're busy earning all that overtime pay, which the United States Government grants to states if they will enforce the seat belt law.

It would seem to me that in the "Land of the Free," we would have the right to decide for ourselves whether or not to wear seat belts. Isn't that the very essence of freedom? Not to have some tyrannical power telling us every little thing that we can and can't do in our ordinary lives? Our government has become exactly what we were running away from when we formed the United States in the 1776. Are you sick and tired of seeing freedom after freedom of yours being taken away by some law that they say is ostensibly designed to help keep you "safe?" Know this - the United States Government or your state governments are not interested in saving your lives. They couldn't care less if you should live or die. They just do what they're told to do so that the tax money or the grant money will keep coming in. Remember that little phrase you learned in high school? That our form of government was "of the people, by the people and for the people?" That means that you and I are the boss. I think it's high time we start exercising our executive powers and tell them we don't want any more new laws that are designed to "protect" us. And, it's high time we tell them to reverse a few that are on the books already because they're not actually worth the paper they're printed on. In a free society, we have the right to decide matters that affect our own lives. So, all those laws saying it's illegal to smoke in a bar, but it's not bad enough to just outlaw cigarettes, should be repealed. If smoking is so harmful to people's health, why aren't they just outlawed? I'll tell you why. The government gets too much tax money from the sale of cigarettes. Doesn't that sound hypocritical to you? Oh, they don't care whether you die from smoking, they just want their money. And they don't care whether or not you die in an automobile accident. If they did, they would be going after the people that cause the accidents, the wreckless drivers, instead of the helpless victims of potential accidents. If they actively pursued the causes of most automobile accidents, the drivers that are the ones that kill and maim regularly, it would be much safer for ordinary people to drive these roads in America. Don't let them tell you that seat belts save lives and that it's the only reason they force you to wear them by passing laws to such effect. Studies have proven that the mandantory wearing of seat belts has not resulted in a decrease in traffic fatalities. There are also studies which prove cracking down on wreckless drivers improves traffic safety. I mean, that one is obvious to me, as it should be to you.

So, are you going to continue taking whatever the United States Government force feeds down your throat in the name of safety? I'm not! I am an American and I have the freedom to decide for myself how to live my life and to keep it safe. And I'm going to do everything I can to prove it in the coming year. The first thing is to try and get rid of that ridiculous seat belt law which hasn't saved any more lives than before it was "the law of the land." That's got to go. It's time for every good American to take back control of their own life. You have that right guaranteed to you in the Constitution, you know. And if you value your freedom and want to be able to have selection in where you shop, stop going to Wal-Mart or there won't be any other stores left and they can then charge whatever they want. There goes your bargains. You've already lost the selection that Wal-Mart used to offer, so that's no longer an attraction for them.

Caution: This Post Contains Random Pictures Of Camels

2008-12-24T06:38:00.031-06:00

Meet Charlie the Camel:

I probably should explain myself just a little. See, I live in a town so small and boring that we don't have anything here but two tiny diners, two convenience stores and a Dollar General Store. With a population of only about 1100, there's nothing in the way of entertainment, (unless you count the American Legion), and certainly nothing with which to occupy yourself when it comes to free time. Culture? Bah, humbug! So, that's why it surprised me when I heard my mother say something about 'seeing the camels.' Camels....? Here....? In Norris City....? Unbelievable! I only knew that this was something I had to see!

I may have mentioned it before on this blog, but my brother is in the Air Force and got stationed over in South Korea for a year. It was decided that his wife would be better to stay with some family members rather than be on her own in a place she wasn't familiar with. (She was born in Canada.) So, she came to stay at my house because it seemed like the most logical. In order that she doesn't get bored to tears, which is easy to do around my town, the family has been coming up with things to do to entertain her. When my mother mentioned taking her to see the camels at the miniature pony farm, I volunteered to go along and get pictures. I try to keep my brother updated on things involving his wife, so anytime something of note happens, I get pictures and e-mail them to him. That Saturday afternoon, the weekend before Christmas, was when the place we were going to was having their annual "open barn" event, so the three of us bundled up and headed out to Bryant's Miniatures.

Of course, after having heard that they had camels, the first thing I made sure to do after parking was to go hunt up an appropriate model for my shutterbug aspirations. It turned out to be the previously-mentioned Charlie the Camel. He is seen here below wondering why I didn't have any peanuts to feed him.

He was quite friendly and allowed himself to be petted. Here is my sister-in-law doing just that:

Of course, they had all sorts of other animals, such as llamas, donkeys and doves. (Oh, my!)

There was even a scrappy rooster running around on the loose!

Apparently, every year this place has an open house and admittance is absolutely free! They offer pony cart rides for young and old, you can pet and feed the animals, they have entertainment and even platters of snacks galore. I, of course, availed myself of the raisin cookies.

The raisin cookies were so good, that when I got home I made some of my own. Gotta love them raisin cookies! Another random camel image:

Did I mention that the llamas were quite friendly?

As part of the entertainment, they had flown Santa down from the North Pole for a special afternoon appearance. I don't know how he found the time to come down to my little town, in what must surely be his busiest time of the year, but there he was, posing for pictures and ho ho ho-ing:

Santa even brought his guitar and performed instrumental Christmas songs. Now, Santa doesn't particularly sponsor one product over another, but he did use a Rogue acoustic guitar and a Peavey sound system that sounded pretty good. And don't let the beard fool you - he had a harmonica concealed under there and used it to perform the melodies of the songs he played. Who knew the man had such a wide variety of skills? Santa was really jammin':

ALERT! - shameless The Ten Commandments reference - ALERT! They also had a room where they displayed their miniature award-winning carts. The walls were filled with ribbons and trophies and there were tiny recreations, which were all usuable, of stagecoaches, sleighs, silkies, royal coaches, buckboards, fire wagons, and scads I don't even know what to call. But, the most amazing thing was they had two chariots! You'll all remember how much of a role chariots played in my all-time favorite movie! Of course, these were Roman-type chariots instead of Egyptian, but they were chariots none-the-less:

All in all, it was quite an entertaining little foray only a mile or two outside of the city limits. I might have to go back next year to see the camels even though my brother's wife won't be staying with me! Before I go, though, one last random image of Charlie the Camel:

They're Not Just Toy Cars Any More!

2008-12-15T03:28:00.018-06:00

Lately, I have been excavating through my Hot Wheels collection and finding out that there are some old ones I have that are worth quite a lot of money! I found a Hot Wheels Road Grader, still in it's original package, (like most of mine are), and the price sticker was still on it. When I purchased it in 1988, it cost me .77 cents. Today, I have seen where it's worth $45! So, what I thought was just some old diecast cars that I couldn't part with might turn out to be a collection actually worth something! Now, they're not all Hot Wheels, of course. I have some Matchbox cars, and other brands such as Road Champs, Johnny Lightning, Sun Toys, Zylmex, Yatming, Corgi Junior, The Lindberg Line, Playart, Summer Toys, Zee Toys, Majorette, Ertl and my newest discovery - Maisto Diecast cars. I even have some that are so inexpensive, (i.e. cheap!) that they don't have the name of the manufacturer on the base!

So, having figured out that I need to think of them as more than just toys, I have started photographing my collection and posting them here and there on the internet. You probably remember seeing a few of them on this blog in past post. But, taking pictures of a tiny car or truck just sitting there can get somewhat repetitious and boring at times. So, to jazz things up a little, I have been thinking of themes and backgrounds for various cars and posing them in such a way as to make them look more like real cars. This is probably why I like models that look like real cars rather than custom cars that were either one-offs by customizing kings like Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, George Barris and Boyd Coddington, or just made-up designs to look fascinating. Here are a few that turned out interesting and I'll tell a little bit about them underneath each image.

Here is a Hot Wheels Dairy Delivery truck that I photographed just last night. I even created the Milk Advertisement seen on the billboard behind it! I thought it was pretty good, so if the Milk Council feels a need to use it, feel free to contact me about it!

The first car I ever bought, back when I was 17 years old and still in high school, was a huge, mile long 1967 Cadillac Fleetwood. They made less than 3500 of this model and had I only known it was so rare, I probably would still have it today. But, nevertheless, I have always had a fondness for Cadillacs, so I wanted to make the Hot Wheels Cadillac V-16 Concept car above look classy. I posed it on the big city streets like they use in the current crop of Cadillac commercials on television.

I liked those big city streets, so I put a Hot Wheels 1964 Lincoln Continental in the same setting. Don't you just love convertibles!?

This is a Hot Wheels Dodge Charger Stock Car. What better place to find a model such as this but on the racetrack!?

Here is a Hot Wheels 1957 Thunderbird. I own a Ford Thunderbird, so I thought this one would look good on the track as well.

This is a Hot Wheels convertible truck known as a Dodge Sidewinder. I tried to photograph it in such a way as to make it look like it was travelling through the city at a great rate of speed.

This one is a Hot Wheels casting of an Airport Rescue vehicle. Where else would you find one but on some airport runway somewhere? Hopefully no flights were landing when the picture was taken.

Speaking of flying vehicles, here is a Police Helicopter from my newest find - Maisto Diecast. They are quite interesting and have some rare models. I just discovered them this year, so I suspect Maisto is a fairly new company.

I have also taken to buying 2 or 3 identical models of cars I really like so that I can have one for my collection and at least one to customize. Pictured above is a Hot Wheels 1965 Ford Mustang Fastback. I have several of them and this is one that I drilled apart, stripped the paint and repainted it in gloss black. For a hot car such as this, I figured it would look good making a pass down the quarter-mile dragstrip. Hence it's blurred wheels as it sped past me.

And lastly, a set of Hot Wheels that were released in 2003 called the Wild Wave Series. You had to buy each one separately and when you had all five, you had the complete set. Since they featured a surf theme, complete with surfboards, what better place to photograph them than at the beach? Here they are all posed by the shore, with their boards drying in the sun. It looks like their owners just finished surfing and have went to the hamburger stand for some food. This was the first scenic picture I took of my cars and the pleasure of coming up with a theme and a picture for the cars continues to grow. I have lots of fun trying to think of a theme for certain cars and the next one I have in mind will feature a military Jeep flying over a sand dune on it's way through the desert. If you want to see more of my cars, you can check out the Hot Wheels Wiki, the Matchbox Cars Wiki and a wiki I started myself, the Maisto Diecast Wiki. These are all interactive sites where anybody can add and change content. It's a great place to hang out and study the cars or add new information and pictures of vehicles not already represented there. So, be sure to check those places out sometime!
And remember, you can find all kinds of 1:64 scale diecast cars and trucks like I do at lots of places other than Wal-Mart.

My Latest Novel

2008-11-14T14:52:00.006-06:00

I haven't been doing much lately, but I did get some good news yesterday. I received the page proof for the cover of my new novel. And, boy did they ever come close to the description I sent in of what I had envisioned for it! I can't wait to see it when it's finally published and I can hold a copy of it in my hands. But, for now, I was able to order some galley copies - actual books, but with a blank white cover on the outside - and those should arrive before it's released to the general public. I know you'll be able to order copies of it from my publisher's website, PublishAmerica, and any online bookstore, but you will also be able to find it in local bookstores, too. Or you can contact me. I'm sure I'll have some copies available for purchase later on. Until then, please just look over the front cover below and ingest it's period ambience like I'm doing!

I hope it's not available for sale at Wal-Mart, by the way.

Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?

2008-11-09T11:55:00.020-06:00

Doesn't the above image just make your mouth water? Chances are, if you're like me and like good food, it will. It's an image of my homemade Beef Stew. I love to eat, so therefore I have to cook. And cooking is so much more fun when you make exciting dishes like Beef Stew or other recipes that take a lot of skill. In today's post, I thought I'd show a few recipes that I have cooked and enjoyed. Some of them are my own creations, so if you see anything that looks good, don't hesitate to ask for the recipe.

This is a nice, light dish you can serve as a meal in itself when it's hot. I call it my Five Star Ham Salad.

Here is a Golden Puff Batter recipe that I got from sister. I use it to make homemade chicken nuggets or chicken planks. Tastee! I could eat my weight in them.

Here, of course, is a nice Lasanga that I made Thursday night. Love that Italian food.

Pizza is usually credited as an American dish, but it really goes back to the ancient Etruscans, in Northern Italy. It is my favorite food because you can have it so many ways. I make my own crust and sauce. It's better that way.

Who doesn't like a good Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich?

Here is a lovely creation called a Mediterranean Beefsteak Sandwich. Quite nice tasting, actually. With a hint of Italy.

Here is a Stuffed Chicken Breast recipe that I created and it always goes over well when I serve it for guests. It's got stuffing and bacon on the inside, as well as mushrooms.

Now, here's a dish that I'm proud to have created! I call it Cornholios. It's made using flour tortilla shells and other ingredients, and boy is it spicy!

A more traditional Spanish recipe, Chicken Enchiladas. I grew up only a few hours away from Mexico in Southern Arizona, so I acquired a taste for Spanish food at a young age. The spicier it is, the better I like it!

Homemade Biscuits are always great for breakfast!

I have apple trees in my backyard, so what could be better than fresh Apple Cobbler when they're in season? I just go in the back, pick an armload of apples off the tree and voila! A dessert that tastes great with melted vanilla ice cream on top.

And, lastly but not least, these are called Irish Mist Brownies. They're rich and chocolatey, but they're good! Don't forget - I don't buy any of my cooking supplies at Wal-Mart, so neither should you.

The Frost Is On The Pumpkin

2008-10-27T13:11:00.006-05:00

Well, it's not really - I just like saying that phrase. Who doesn't like saying it? Even though it hasn't frosted yet, today was a special time of the year for me. Yes, it was my annual pilgrimmage to a place on the edge of the little town I live in to preserve on film a certain tree in all of it's autumn splendor. I've been photographing this same tree since the late 1970's and every year, toward the end of October when the leaves have turned, I trek over there and get another picture. Or actually, it was 50 pictures this time. (Past years photographs can be found in a previous post here.) I always take several different poses and camera settings to make sure I get some usable frames, and this year was no different.

Judging from the way the leaves on it had turned, I could have gone there two days ago or waited until two days hence and it still would have been in it's prime radiance. After 30 years of having many a rendesvous with this tree, you get to where you just know these things. Today's conditions didn't disappoint me, either. In the hour just before high noon, I managed to capture it on the clear, sunny day we had today, with hardly any wind. It turned out quite well enough to add to my album of other shots of this tree. And here, at last, is that tree I visited again today. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do:

Update: I went back a few days later and got a couple shots when the sun was lower in the afternoon sky. Here is what those looked like:

Doug McNew, R.I.P.

2008-10-14T16:39:00.011-05:00

It came as such a shock when I heard the news that a good friend and former bandmate of mine, Doug McNew, had been killed in a motorcycle accident on July 10th, 2008. His mother, Pat, happens to be my banker and she always kept me updated on what Doug, his wife Rachel and his son Gage were up to. So, when she told me the news that her son had been killed in a motorcycle crash, I couldn't believe it. It absolutely floored me. Doug was such a nice guy and was great to be around. His life ended way too soon.

In 1990, Doug and a couple friends of his who all lived in his hometown of Carmi, Illinois, formed a band called Apache Rattle. The other two members of this band were Brian Mallow, on drums and Jess Hurlbert, on bass guitar. They weren't together very long until I was asked to join with them at which time, the band got a new name. I remember we chose a name specifically because all four of us could choose part of the name. That name turned out to be Mr. Speakeazy. Doug was our lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, with Brian, Jess and myself on lead guitar. We had some good times and played lots of gigs all over Southern Illinois. The one thing I specifically remember about the band was that we all got along so well together. Doug especially had a nice personality, funny and outgoing, one that suited being the front man of a rock and roll band. Mr. Speakeazy lasted for a year or so and we all drifted our separate ways, as things like this are prone to happen. I didn't hear much out of Doug during the ensuing years, but always knew what he was up to thanks to his mother's updates. That's why it came as such a shock to me to find out that he had passed. Checking around the internet showed me that he had kept up his musical aspirations. And with a great voice like he had, which was suited perfectly for rock and roll, I'm glad that he did. I only hope that he was able to achieve a level of success where he could enjoy it with himself and his bandmates and his family.

So, in special tribute to a fallen friend, I'm posting a couple songs by Mr. Speakeazy, featuring Doug McNew on lead vocals. They were all recorded in 1991 during the height of the band's heyday. Here is She Talks To Angels, Louie, Louie and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. Doug might be gone, but I know his family or friends will never forget him. Rock on, Doug.

I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas

2008-10-11T03:34:00.006-05:00

I was doing some research for my other blog, Music For Every Mood, and happened to remember that I had recorded the song I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas, the old Gayla Peevey song from 1953. Well, all you fans out there of the mighty Hippo can rest easy, while you listen to my version of this Christmas classic, which I recorded on November 26th, 2000 in one take. May you know the joy and freedom that the impending holidays can provide! And, may you not shop at Wal-Mart and still know the ecstasy of the season.

Best Of The Beatles

2008-10-07T21:45:00.014-05:00

If anyone has read my profile, then they'll know that my all-time favorite band is The Beatles. And they have been since January 1964, when I Wanna Hold Your Hand hit the top of the American Rock and Roll charts. It was that song and that moment, when yours' truly, at the ripe old age of 2, heard this new group called The Beatles and became aware of music. And thanks to The Beatles, I am a professional musician today, playing lead guitar and singing in a rock and roll band of my own. On Saturday night, October 4th, 2008, I got to hear a member of The Beatles live in person! How cool is that!? You might have already realized that it wasn't John Lennon or George Harrison. But, it wasn't Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr, either. No, the Beatle I'm talking about was their drummer from 1960 to 1962, their formative years when they learned to rock and roll hard, loud and fast. Pete Best was their drummer during this period and it was when they became known for their loud and energetic stage performances. If anyone has heard bootlegs from this period, they know what I'm talking about.

Pete Best was dropped from The Beatles and they got Ringo to replace him. Pete carried on in rock and roll for about 6 more years before settling in to a regular job as that of a civil servant. But once Rock and Roll gets in your blood, you can't really ever get rid of it, and he got back into the music scene in 1988. He has been back in it now for 20 years. With his group, The Pete Best Band, he travels all over the world and rocks just like he did back when he was in The Beatles. When I saw him, it was practically in my own back yard, but what a show him and his band delivered!

They were touring in release of a new album, if you can believe that, and they played three songs from it during the show. They were awesome songs, enough so that I had to buy his new cd, Hayman's Green, after the show! But what really got the packed house off their feet and rocking were the songs they did from The Beatles' early days, when they stormed up and down Germany and England and started setting the world on fire, one crowd at a time. They played such early Beatle staples as Three Cool Cats, Roll Over Beethoven, Dizzie Miss Lizzie, I Saw Her Standing There, Some Other Guy, Twist And Shout, Till There Was You, My Bonnie, Rock And Roll Music and many more. But what really knocked me out was their note for note rendition of a song The Beatles, with Pete Best on drums, performed at their Decca audition on New Year's Day of 1962. Namely, Besame Mucho. Only their guitars didn't get buried in the mix like John and George's did all those years ago - this version rocked! Here is the Pete Best Band on stage:

Here's their lead guitarist:

Their bass and rhythm guitarist:

And second drummer Roag, Pete's younger brother:

And here is the man himself, drumming with so much intensity:

After leading the crowd through rousing renditions of Twist And Shout, My Bonnie and I Saw Her Standing There, they came back for an encore of Johnny B. Goode. The show lasted about 90 minutes, but I still felt it was over way too soon! After it was over, they came out and graciously signed autographs, all five of them. I got them all to autograph their new cd, which I purchased from their table and Pete signed two albums, (yes those 33 1/3 rpm black things!) from my collection. I didn't see anybody else with rare albums like mine, in fact, there weren't any others at all! Several people asked to see my albums, which I proudly showed them. I had 3 with me and they all featured pictures of The Beatles on the cover, when Pete was a member of the group. One of the albums which Pete autographed was the one at the top of this post. He signed his name in the bass drum area. How cool is that!? Here's Pete autographing my cd:

And, finally, here is the whole band at the autograph table. Some younger fans were getting their picture taken standing behind them, but I got my picture any way! They were all pretty nice about signing autographs and I can confirm that they rocked the house! Here they are, freshly cleaned up just after the show:

All in all, I can highly recommend The Pete Best Band and their new cd, Hayman's Green. I've not stopped listening to it since Saturday night after the show. It's almost Wednesday morning as I write these words and the songs on this album still blow me away every time I hear them. Such feeling and poignancy! It's contemporary sounding and it's classic sounding at the same time. But, most of all, The Pete Best Band have their own sound and it rocks! Buy this cd if you get the chance, you won't be disappointed!

Oh, but please don't buy it at Wal-Mart. Buy it from Pete's website and help him out more. He would appreciate it and you will too, after you listen to it!

I Love Lucy - I Really Do!

2008-10-07T16:02:00.004-05:00

This is just a short post to share with you something I found quite interesting. Growing up, I always watched and was a fan of the old television series, I Love Lucy. Who hasn't seen it or are familiar with the plotlines: Wacky wife always gets into trouble and her Cuban husband still loves her. The show debuted in 1951 and has not been off the air in repeats since. Of course I bought all the episodes on DVD, which everybody should own this classic show, and I watch them all the time. On one of the sets they had the original studio session for when they recorded the show's classic opening theme and as you listen to it, you can hear that it was take 2. So, here is that instantly familiar take 2 version of a tune you probably know by heart - the I Love Lucy Theme, Take 2. Enjoy it!

If you do go out to purchase the DVD season sets, whatever you do, don't buy them at Wal-Mart! Don't buy anything there.

Tri-State Book Fest

2008-10-07T14:39:00.017-05:00

Well, my second novel isn't out yet, but I did get invited to attend a local author's book fest. It was called the Tri-State Book Fest and it was held in Evansville, Indiana and covered the three states of Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. The event took place this past September 27th, and lasted from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. in the afternoon. Of course I stayed until the very end. There were some authors who started packing it in around 3.30, but not me! The weather was perfect and turnout for it seemed pretty good.

It is an annual event for my area and it was the first one I was ever invited to. Actually, I hadn't heard of it before because it had previously always been held in Kentucky. This year's event was held at the Washington Square Mall, pictured below:

It was a nice setting to host a book fest and the accommodations were excellent. There was plenty of wide open spaces for merchandise to be sold and for the authors to sit at:

I mentioned that my latest novel that was accepted to be published didn't quite get out in time for it to be available at this event, but I did have several copies of my first novel, The Wizard Of Destiny available, which I blogged about here and you can purchase here. My dad has taken to writing in his retirement and his second book did get published in time for him to premiere it at the book fest. The people that organized the event grouped him and I at the same table, so that was pretty handy. If one of us had to step away to get something, the other was there to man the books. There were several places to get food and drink all around us, and the cookie shop to my front and right had my attention, let me tell you! A fellow author was kind enough to use my camera and snap a picture of my father and I together, so here we are, courtesy of Dawn Knight:

For doing this favor for me, I took her picture and emailed copies for her own personal collection.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable event for me and I had a great time. Although I only sold one book, I did get to meet and talk with several of the 70 authors that were present. I found them all to be nice people and it made for a friendly atmosphere to mingle with other writers and the public at large as they drifted among the tables finding books that interested them. I ended up buying three books myself, from other authors, so I lost money on the deal. But, having acquired three new books for my collection more than made up for this loss, so I figure I came out on the winning side anyway. I know I'll be sure to attend the one next year and who knows, I might have a couple more books out by this time next year! If I do, my regular readers will be sure to hear all about it right here.

My Second Novel

2008-08-26T03:59:00.007-05:00

I just wanted to let my regular readers of this blog know that, recently, another one of my manuscripts has been accepted to be published. It should be out in a month or two, so watch for it. It will be called This Paradise, by Kenneth Dwain Harrelson. It's a period piece, set in The Great Depression, and it's about a drifter that goes to work at a small husband and wife farm. It's in the same vein as John Steinbeck used to write, but no wonder - him and I share the same birthdate! (Just not the same year, however....) A gazebo is part of the central theme.

I'll probably have more to tell about it later - when it gets near publication or just after it's published with a cover image. Be on the lookout for it wherever fine books are sold! (And average ones, too!)

The Art Of Control

2008-08-17T00:56:00.005-05:00

Today's blog is something that has been on my mind for 20 years or more. It is my contention that it either can't be answered because most people do not know the answer, or that the people who do know the answer can't or won't say anything. Does this have you intrigued, or does it have you thinking it's more of that conspiracy theory drivel you've been cautioned about not listening to from so many sources? It's not a conspiracy theory, I can dispell that immediately.

No, what I have been searching for an answer to for all these many years is simply this: Back when I was in grade school, which was during the late 1960's and early 1970's, the word that described someone who was in the process of going from one place to another was said to be and was spelled like this: "travelling." Notice I used 2 letter "L's" in this word. I can still hear my spelling teacher saying that when you have a word that ends in "L" and "ing," I was to add another "L." When it was to be divided between two lines such as "travel-" and "ling," the division would come squarely between the two "L's." Can anybody else remember being taught this rule of the English language?

Sometime in the 1980's, I can't pinpoint the year exactly, the second "L" was dropped from the word "travelling." The spelling "traveling" has since taken over and supplanted the spelling "travelling," and the old spelling is apparently not used anymore. (How would you divide the 2 "L's" between 2 lines now?) Remember the group "The Traveling Wilburys?" That's about the time I first began to notice the change. Here's where I come up against a brick wall. Maybe I can see where cutting down on letters could save space, so the why can possibly be answered in this manner. I say "maybe" only because I didn't know we were running out of space for letters, yet. But the reason for why it might have been changed doesn't answer the rest of it. It's the "who," "what," "when" and "where" that I'm interested in finding out. Such as:

Who handed down the directive that this change in spelling take place? And what authority did they have in doing so?

What was the purpose of taking a perfectly good word that everybody knew how to spell and changing it?

When did this change in spelling take place? Exactly what year? And,

Where did this change come from? It had to have started with one person. Things like this don't just fall out of the sky written in stone for all to follow and obey. Think about that. Millions of people didn't just wake up one morning and decide that the spelling of "travelling" needed to be changed. It had to have started with one person. Who was that one person who changed the spelling of "travelling?"

And now some random ramblings on my part to illustrate why this is so important to me, and why it might mean something to you, too.

I am not aware of any "official" organization or government bureau that is in charge of the "caretaking of the English language." Do you have to have a degree or a license to be able to bring about changes to words in the English language? Do you merely get appointed to the position? Or, can any person off the street just come in and change words whenever they feel like it? If so, I'd like to have a crack at this job!

Can anybody tell me who's in charge of changing the spelling of English words? I'm pretty sure no one will be able to give me an answer that tells me the who and explains the why, what, when and where, also.

Why is this important to me? I'll tell you why and let you see my reasoning. I used the version of "travelling," which I was taught as a youngster, in my first published novel, entitled The Wizard Of Destiny. The book was published before I even noticed that the spelling of that word had been changed to "traveling." I used the spelling of "travelling" because I wanted that spelling and not "traveling." I invested a lot of good years being forced to go to grade school so I could learn something. And I did learn something. I learned how to correctly spell "travelling." But, now that spelling is not correct any more, it seems. It seems like the time I spent learning how to spell "travelling" was wasted. The time I spent learning how to spell "travelling" will never be given back to me or restored in any way. I feel cheated. Wouldn't you feel cheated if you'd spent long years of your life doing something that you were forced to do, by law, only to grow up and find it no longer means anything or applies?

For what purpose was the spelling of "travelling" changed? In the early days of the English language, words got used and misused and, over the centuries, their correct spellings got changed and adjusted. But, this kind of thing happens a lot and was common in a world where there was so much isolation between people. It stands to reason that words are going to get changed when the people who use these words don't necessarily spend a lot of time with other people who use these same words. If somebody didn't tell you that "Pennsylvania" was spelled with two letter "N's" after "Pe-," how would you know that "Pensylvania" was incorrect? And how would you know what the correct spelling was if, when you did see it being used, you saw a multitude of different spellings employed such as "Pennyslvania," "Pensylvania," "Pennfylvania," "Penfylvania," "Pennsylvanya," "Pennfylvanya," etcetera. You can see how confusing this could be if nobody was corrected and everybody repeatedly used a different spelling! But, in this day and age, where people are so connected with the internet, newspaper, radio and television, this shouldn't be a factor and shouldn't be happening. Oddly enough, it is happening! I'd like to know why? The English language should not have to be "tweaked" anymore. It is what it is and it doesn't need to be continually refined and changed. I found an interesting link about how the spelling of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania got changed from 1890 to 1910, by the United States Post Office, no less! I will speak more about the Post Office below. But, here is the link about how the citizens of Pittsburgh themselves had to reclaim the dropped "h" on the end of the name of their beloved city.

And now the United States Post Office. If you are over 40 years old, you probably remember that when States were abbreviated, the abbreviation consisted of three letters, followed by a period. Examples are these are: Ill., Neb., Cal., Nev., etcetera. If you're under 40 years of age, probably the only way you know how to abbreviate States is like this: IL, WA, MS, (is that Mississippi or Massachusetts or Missouri? Who can remember?) Well, you know what I mean. It's a confusing system at best. But this is something I know what I'm talking about, because I was an employee of the United States Post Office when the change from Ill. to IL came about.

Around the year 1990, the United States Post Office started getting computerized machines to sort the mail faster than humans could do it. Evidently, however, the machines had a problem with abbreviations, so they adopted a new code to be implemented for the way you addressed your letters. This was only to be used so that the new machines could do their job better, not meant to be used for any other purpose. But, now.... and you are as aware of this as I am, the 2 letter State codes have supplanted every abbreviation for States and in most cases, the complete original spelling of States isn't even used any more! Why has this happened and why have the 2 letter State codes filtered down into common usage so quickly and absolutely? Do you remember being taught in grade school that when addressing a letter, you used 2 spaces between the end of the state you lived in and where you placed the 5-digit Zip Code? Now, there has been one of those spaces removed. Taken away. Who thought this up, when did it happen and why didn't I get the memo on this correct new way of doing it? Did you get a letter in the mail saying you had to change the amount of spaces you used between the state and zip code? No, of course you didn't. Nobody did. It wasn't written into law or anything official like that. And it's not some commandment you were ordered to follow. So, why does everybody just use one space between the state and zip code now? People weren't forced to change, but yet they have. Why?

You really should be concerned with changes like this so that, if nothing else, you can learn how to spot changes when you face them and be able to recognize them as such. Changes only happen when people let them and there is no reason for the English language to keep changing in this enlightened day and age. Don't just accept things at face value all the time. Ask who, what, when, where and why has the change come about. Ask yourself, is it good for me to just fall in line with what everybody else is doing so I don't seem out of place, or should I really find out why something has changed so I can see whether or not it's something I really need or want?

And while you're thinking about all manner of things being changed right under your noses for no apparent purpose, please remember to not ever shop at Wal-Mart for anything.

Electra Glide In Blue

2008-08-07T16:55:00.008-05:00

As a child, I remember that, as a family, we went to a whole lot of motion pictures. We saw all kinds of genres, including westerns, science fiction, dramas, comedies and even epics such as The Ten Commandments, during it's 10th anniversary re-release. I remember seeing my first naked woman in 1967, in some biker movie at the drive-in, just before the ratings system we have today was a known commodity. I remember being pushed down into the backseat of our family station wagon because The Sterile Cuckoo was not a documentary movie about birds or nature. I also remember being scared to death from a movie that was about a bird - a giant vulture, in The Vulture, from 1967. But, mainly, I remember going to a lot of John Wayne movies because my mother was a big fan of The Duke's. Any time he had a new movie come out, we were sure to pack up the car and go see him - whether it was at the drive-in on the outskirts of the town I lived in, or in the little theater in the downtown section by the supermarket. I can remember seeing Big Jake, The Cowboys, and several others in that period beginning in the mid-1960's to the 1970's. And being that the town I grew up in was only about an hour from where the Duke himself lived, I remember getting to preview one of his movies around 1972 before it was released to the general public in 1975 - Brannigan. But, that's another story for another time.

It was the summer of 1973 and I was 12 years old. We were at the downtown indoor theater and John Wayne was putting bad western guys in their place from behind his badge as Cahill - US Marshall. I can remember that before any picture would start, I would watch avidly as the trailers for upcoming movies would be flashed upon the big screen. Most of those pictures I never got to see for some reason or another. Pictures like The Hindenburg, The Godfather or Electra Glide In Blue. They looked so fascinating that I wanted to see them but, I never got to. Especially the last one - that one looked very intriguing. I never got to see any of them that is, until today. Today, I finally got to see Electra Glide In Blue for the very first time in my life. For those who don't know, the picture was about a short guy who was a motorcycle cop and he longed to be a detective so he could trade in his motorbike and not have to waste his life away cruising on the long, desert roads of Arizona. It starred Robert Blake, who was excellent in the role.

The movie was produced by James William Guercio, the same man who managed the rock group Chicago at the time. I've always admired that group. Chicago was featured on the soundtrack, and in addition, four of the members of the group got to appear in the movie as well. A short description of the movie from Wikipedia:

"Blake plays a motorcycle cop named John Wintergreen who patrols the rural Arizona highways with his partner, nicknamed "Zipper" (Billy Green Bush). Wintergreen is a rookie cop who resents being in traffic enforcement and wants to be transferred to homicide investigation. Wintergreen is laid-back but upright about enforcing the law, while Zipper is alternately lazy (preferring to read comic books in the shade) and hardnosed about busting hippies, even going so far as to plant evidence on a young man whose van they were searching."

Blake does eventually get transferred to homicide for a short period of time and solves a murder. The movie itself was filmed in Monument Valley and looks gorgeous, almost like a western. I suppose Blake on his motorcycle was symbolic for the cowboy hero on his horse.

DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU INTEND ON SEEING THE MOVIE FOR YOURSELF NOW, FOR I'M ABOUT TO SPOIL THE ENDING FOR YOU.

As I sat there, finally watching the motion picture that I could still remember so vividly from only that short promo I saw for it once back in 1973, it seemed like there was something missing. Why exactly did this motion picture stick in my mind so intensely? Why did I remember this film particularly, from only the brief trailer that must have been made for it? Then, it got to the end of the picture and the final scene unfolded - and the image that was clearly burned into my brain some 35 years ago burst from the screen in front of me. Robert Blake had stopped the van mentioned previously and, upon recognizing him, let him off with just a warning that he get a front bumper on his vehicle. As the hippie and his partner drove off, Blake realized he still had the guy's driver's license in his hand, so he remounted his trusty Harley Davidson Electra Glide and went after him to return it. As he neared the back of the Volkswagen Bus, the hippie driver's travelling companion stuck a double-barrelled shotgun out of the back window and shot Blake squarely in the chest, probably killing him instantly. The whole final scene of the movie was Blake falling off his bike and the momentum of his chase speed carrying it further down the road on it's own. This was the scene I remembered from all those years ago. Closure at last! The end of the movie played out, some 7 or 8 minutes of it, with a camera shot showing Blake dying in the middle of the road, while the vehicle carrying the camera continued on down that road looking back at the Arizona landscape and the highway and the image of Blake's body getting smaller and smaller until you couldn't see it any longer. The last thing you do see is what appears to be a vulture and it flies back toward where the body is lying and the producers of the movie freeze frame the bird when it gets just above one of the rock mountain formations seemingly growing up out of the back end of the highway. Then the credits roll and it's all over. What a powerful movie, and I'm glad to have been able to finally see it after all these years! I can highly recommend it. If you do choose to see it, buy your copy from anywhere but Wal-Mart.

Survival Cooking

2008-07-13T22:56:00.021-05:00

I recently heard of an interesting Boy Scout method for cooking meals during campouts. It seems like a great alternative to building a roaring campfire. What with so many forests fires burning out of control in the news these days, you can see the benefits this type of cooking can have. I have also tested this method thoroughly, so can conclusively confirm that it works. It works well! I cooked bacon and eggs and they were quite comparable to anything you'd get cooked on a campfire or in a good restaurant. Here are the step-by-step instructions so that you can try it at home and be just as amazed as I was at this ingenious method for cooking.

It starts with those things that fall in your lawn from Gumball trees and clog up your lawn mower every year. You can see one pictured above, what is commonly known as a gumball. That will be your heat source. It is also advised that you allow them to dry for awhile before you use them - they don't work when they're green. Your oven, or stove top, if you prefer, is shown below:

I used those large cans that vegetables come in, or peaches, just anything - it doesn't matter what was in the can to begin with. You remove the label and wash them up and with one end already removed, you don't need to do anything else to it. It's ready to be employed as your stove. I got mine from a local restaurant, who were more than happy to have me haul away some of their trash!

The secret to getting the gumballs to burn better and longer is you use cooking wax. Melt up some of it on your stove at home and dip the gumballs in it. I used a regular-sized can so I wouldn't have to ruin one of my good pans. Make sure you remove the paper label and wash it thoroughly before placing it on the stove. (Or your gumballs might smell like whatever was in the can once you light them!) Once dipped and allowed to cool on wax paper, they are then ready to be used as your fuel source for the Gumball Cooker, as I like to call it. I used metal salad tongs to dip the gumballs in the hot wax and then set them to dry. You have to be careful not to burn yourself, so I'll point out which steps in this whole process where it's likely and you can be prepared with gloves, pot holders or whatever you need to protect yourself with. If a method of cooking can't be safe while you're using it, it's not a very good method, if you ask me. I did up about a dozen gumballs, figuring it would be enough for my test. Now that I know it works, I'll be doing up a bunch more. You never know when your stove might stop working and you need a ready source of fuel for cooking your food. If a natural disaster should happen, or any kind of widespread catastrophe, you'll already be prepared with a good method available to you and your family.

With my gumballs all waxed up and my cans ready to go, it was now time to put my test into action. I selected a nice level place in my backyard where there wasn't any grass to catch on fire and took all my gumball cooker parts with me. A few more parts were improvised when I was on the spot and actually trying to cook, so I'll detail those for you. Another thing I had premade was a little dish made out of tinfoil. I doubled it over twice and crimped up the edges to make a border around it. It turned out that the shape I used was a good thing, as it was not round but long. This allowed two gumballs to fit in it nicely, which turned out to be the optimum amount to use for cooking. They put off just the right amount of heat to cook with, where I think 1 gumball would have taken longer and any more than 2 would have caused the fire to be too hot and burn whatever you're cooking. But, 2 worked out nicely and I placed them in my tinfoil trough, like you see pictured below:

You can see the first one in my tinfoil trough and the wax that pooled up below it when it was drying on the wax paper. It is okay to leave this wax attached to the gumballs as it doesn't affect it in any way and it saves time. Just make sure to use 2 gumballs for your heat source.

At the left edge of the picture, you can see a hole in my can. I knew the fire had to be able to "breathe," so I made four holes along the bottom edge of the can. But, once I had started cooking with this setup, I found it needed more air than these four holes would allow. I ended up making a little stand of twigs to rest the can upon, so as to get it up off the ground just slightly, and this worked great. So, the holes I made in the can weren't needed at all. You can save yourself this extra step for you won't have to do this to your cans. Another thing I found out is that if the wind is blowing, try to block it off with a log or something so it doesn't blow some of your precious heat out from underneath the open edges.

I did come up with an idea about continuous heat and it involves making a hole in your can, but I haven't tried it out yet, so it's up to you if you want to go ahead and do it yourself. But, I reasoned that if I had one hole near the bottom, (opened end) of my can that was big enough for some barbecue tongs to put a gumball through, I could always keep two gumballs burning and when one starts dying down, replace it with a fresh gumball. In this way, I figure I can keep constant heat going upward and this would allow me to cook something like stew or boil water for noodles - any number of things that have to cook longer than 10 minutes, which is all the time it took me to prepare my bacon and egg. Below you can see how I propped up my can so that the fire could get the proper air it needed: (You can also see the bacon as it starts to sizzle!)

By propping it up this way and having a lip around the tinfoil trough, (which allowed the heat to be funneled upwards towards the cooking surface), it also had the advantage of masking the fact that you're using fire to cook with. I imagine it would be next to impossible to see any light escaping from this cooker at night. This added benefit is probably a very attractive feature to some of you out there.

Above, you can see that the bacon is cooking quite nicely. After about five minutes, it ended up cooking about halfway done with the first 2 gumballs I had lit underneath it. When they began to die out, I turned the bacon over and put 2 fresh gumballs underneath and finished cooking. The bacon did tend to stick a little bit, so I had to be careful that I didn't burn myself as I was holding the can steady while turning the slices over. Good gloves or oven mitts are always welcome! Next time I'm going to try using some Pam or other cooking spray to keep my food from sticking. Be sure to use that when you do it, too, and that will make it even easier. The bacon had also begun to shrink by now, so there was room to put my egg on with it. This turned out to be just the right moment to do so, for the egg and the bacon finished cooking at the same time. Now, here's where I would have needed some gloves again, or some protection from the hot can. This method of cooking gets extremely hot, so be careful you don't burn yourself as you're taking your finished food off the cooking surface to your plate or lifting the can off to put new fuel in the tinfoil trough. That's why I think a good hole at the bottom would work well - that way you wouldn't have to keep taking the can off to put on new gumballs and losing some of the heat that you had built up for cooking. So, be sure and try putting a hole in your can for this reason.

Now, as you can see, the egg is about finished cooking, as is the bacon. The egg has those nice, crispy edges - which I like - and the bacon is getting crunchy. Of course, if you prefer it a different way, feel free to experiment and try anything you like! That's the joy of this post. Since it works, and these pictures prove that, you don't have to worry about that aspect, just go to cooking something and having a great time with it. I plan to try barbecueing some Spam and then boiling water for a rice dish I want to try on my next campout. Because, I know I can cook food on a campfire and using Sterno or canned heat - those methods are sure things. But to have an alternate method like this that's so simple and easy, it's just great knowing it's there for you. And, as they say, the proof's in the pudding. Below you can see just what my breakfast looked like once it was finished and removed from the Gumball Cooker:

Doesn't that just look tasty!? I can confirm that it was every bit as good as it looks! Taste-ee! By all means, do try this at home and feel free to post a comment with your results. Let everybody see how easy it can be done.

Keep in mind that I didn't buy any part of this great experiment at Wal-Mart. You, too can shop and get everything you need without going to Wal-Mart.

The Time Is Here

2008-07-10T05:06:00.010-05:00

To quote Ricky Ricardo when their baby Little Ricky was about due, "The time is here!" As I said in a post from a few days ago, it's a very good idea to be prepared in the event of an emergency. Because in this day and age, not only could you experience a natural disaster such as a tornado, fire, flood or hurricane, you also have to deal with the threat of an economic collapse. Such a thing is very possible. Have you bought anything recently? Have you noticed how everything is going up in price? How long do you think this can go on before the bubble bursts?

Sure, you may have heard people like me mention something about being prepared before, but tonight I heard for the very first time, this same message from a very important and unexpected source: The United States Government. Yes, you heard right. As I was driving home tonight from a gig I had at the Moose Lodge, I heard a public service announcement that asked whether or not you had enough fresh water and non-perishable food items to last for a 72-hour period. Where have you heard that phrase before? Yes, that's the exact same timespan I was advising you to be prepared for on June 30th, 2008! Here's the kicker - this public service announcement was paid for by the United States Department of Homeland Security.

Be afraid, be very afraid. But.... get yourself prepared so that your family doesn't suffer during any hard times we could possibly be subjected to. Please take this seriously. And don't forget what I said about not shopping at Wal-Mart! Wal-Mart is bad for you.

It's A New World Order

2008-07-06T18:41:00.011-05:00

Of course, I'm quoting lyrics from the song by Ministry, called "N.W.O." But now that that's been dispensed with, we can continue.

Today, I was contacted by the United States Government.

That contact was in the form of an e-mail and it was to enquire about the use of one of the insect pictures that I had taken and posted on BugGuide.net. Specifically, a Bombus pensylvanicus, or as it's more commonly known, the American Bumble Bee. You can see my bee right here.

This fellow was affiliated with the National Biological Information Infrastructure, (NBII), and was asking how he could obtain the correct permissions to use one of my "excellent photographs" (his words), on their website, pollinators.nbii.gov. He asked all the right questions and promised appropriate credits and asked what my image use requirements were to be able to use/reproduce my image on their website.

Now, I don't know about you, but in this day and age, I tend to be just a little bit leery when any branch of the United States Government seeks me out on their own initiative. Even if it is for something so seemingly innocuous-sounding as using my bee picture on their website. Wouldn't you feel that way, too? Regular readers of my blog may have an idea of just what I'm talking about in respect to this.

It's always nice to be given a compliment, who doesn't enjoy that? So, I did a little research online to see if there really was such an organization as the NBII, or a person with the name that had been attached to the e-mail I received. I found out that this person was also affiliated with The Ecological Society of America, which has a street address located in Washington, D.C. Seemingly confirming that this was not a scam of some kind. So far, so good.

Just a little more research, however, brought up other affiliations with the NBII and him. Organizations such as:

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

World Conservation Union

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

ComisiÃ³n Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO)

United States Trilateral Committee

Consortium for Conservation Medicine

Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)

Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (I'd love to sit in on their meetings!)

National Atlas of the United States

Conservation International, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science (CI-CABS)

The Gaia Institute

Natural Resources Defense Council (be sure to look them up.)

Nature Network (relays live imagery and sound from cameras placed in natural settings throughout the world!)

The Nature Conservatory (another one to look up.)

Wildlife Information Network (seeks to make " . . . information on the health and management of captive and free-ranging wild animals and their habitats readily available to wildlife professionals and decision-makers worldwide.")

Wildlife Trust (empowers local conservation scientists worldwide to protect nature and safeguard ecosystem and human health.)

Horne Engineering Services, Inc.

U.S. Bureau of Land Managment (BLM)

U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. Department of Energy (DoE)

Enviornmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Federal Geographic Data Committee

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Global Change Master Directory (NASA-GCMD)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

The National Park Service (NPS)

U.S. Forest Service

National Science Foundation (NSF)

The Smithsonian Institution

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

U.S. Coast Guard

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (funny how they have their finger in everybody's pie!)

All in all, there were lots of links for this guy and his NBII organization, dozens more than I even mentioned. This is a lot of affiliations, perhaps too many. I'm sure the conspiracy-minded among you could make a lot out of some of the groups in the above list. Be sure to research any and all of them that you're curious about.

I did one final thing and Googled the guy's name in particular. The first entry that came up was some kind of experiment he had participated in. This is the title of the paper that was published in relation to that experiment: "Using Fecal Glucocorticoids to Assess Stress Levels in Captive River Otters (2008)." I don't know about you, but that sounds like the kind of thing Hitler was doing back in the 1940's on humans. Maybe I should be very careful with whom I allow the use of my pictures on their websites.

One other thing before I sign out. You'll all remember not to shop at Wal-Mart, right? Yes, my campaign to boycott them is still in effect. The picture below has nothing whatsoever to do with them. It's just a weird little thing I discovered when I was using the online Sim City 4 Terrain Generator to create a custom landform upon which to build a city. It must surely be an oversight on their part, but for some reason, you cannot pull up the terrain for a place called Jekyll Island. You can clearly see it's blanked out - the little island just to the right of center. If you don't know where that is, it's the place where a secretive meeting took place in 1910 and members of the US government and the biggest financiers of the day created the Federal Reserve System. Apparently, it's still an exclusive place for politicians and the uber-rich. I wonder just what's going on there that would prevent Maxis and the makers of Sim City 4 to not be able to include this little island on their Terrain Generator? Be sure to have your 72-Hour Survival Kits ready.

Be Prepared

2008-06-30T13:42:00.008-05:00

Everyone is familiar with the old Boy Scout motto of "be prepared." But, in this day and age, it is especially a good idea to be prepared for emergencies. Recently, my area of Southern Illinois had a series of earthquakes that shook the area and got us all to thinking about disaster preparedness.

If you weren't aware of this, this locale was the scene of the most devastating earthquake in recorded history for the United States. Between December, 1811 and February, 1812, a series of quakes hit the town of New Madrid, Missouri, culminating with the biggest one on February 7th, 1812. This earthquake literally reshaped the North American continent. By comparison, the great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 was felt moderately over 6,000 square miles, while the New Madrid Earthquake was felt over 50,000 square miles. It even rang bell towers as far away as Boston, cracked sidewalks in Washington D.C. and toppled chimneys in Maine, it was so severe.

So, it can happen literally at any time. People in this area also have to contend with tornadoes, floods, famine and almost every other Biblical plague that can be thought of. With this in mind, I have compiled an informative Earthquake Survival Tips document and a handy list for a 72-Hour Survival Kit. To quote from the first paragraph of the 72-Hour Survival Kit:

"What will you do if disaster strikes your neighborhood: a fire, a riot, a flood, a tornado, a hurricane or an earthquake? The most critical need for help after the disaster is during the first 72 hours, yet community and government assistance will probably not be available during this period. You and your family will be on your own."

Knowing this and being prepared for it will go a long way toward your families' safety and survival. And in this day and age with so many potential threats: Economic collapse, terrorist attack (real and imagined), civil unrest, pandemic (real or imagined), or any of the natural disasters that can befall us at any time, the better you and your family are prepared to cope with these conditions in those first hours after something happens, the better your chances will be of surviving. I can't stress this enough.

And one more thing: This is the final paragraph in my 72-Hour Survival Kit:

"Your plan is like a plant. If you ignore it will die. To keep your plan healthy, you should go over it with each family member at least once every six months. One way to do this is to make a night of it. Pick one night to go over the plan, practice escape routes and contact procedures, call your out of area contact (they’d probably like to hear from you), change the batteries in your smoke detector, and cycle the food and water in your 72 hour kit. This is a fun way to ensure that your family is prepared to react in the event of a disaster."

As Bob Dylan said it so poignantly back in the 1960's, "Oh, the times they are a' changin'."

You can use these handy links to download both documents in Microsoft Word format. They are extremely small files, so the seconds it will take to get them and print them out will add potential years to your families' lifespans.

72-Hour Survival Kit

Earthquake Survival Tips

Oh, and one final word of caution. As you go shopping to purchase these life-saving supplies, do yourself and all of us a favor by not buying these things at Wal-Mart. Who knows what they may be contaminated with considering most of it will probably be a product of China!

Independence Day

2008-05-08T04:28:00.001-05:00

Independence Day, 2008. Be prepared. Don't shop at Wal-Mart. You've been told.

Charlton Heston, Part Two

2008-04-18T21:23:00.012-05:00

By way of my own special tribute the legendary actor Charlton Heston, I have become one of the characters he portrayed. I guess that needs to be explained a little better.
My sister recently bought a game system called the Wii. If you haven't heard about it, it's the one that has special controllers where, when you swing them, it mimics your actual movements for such games as tennis, golf or bowling. Needless to say, the favorite game at her house seems to be bowling. Whenever I visit her lately, we always seem to end up having heated bowling tournaments. If your front room has started to look like this recently, then you know what I'm talking about:

Yes, the above picture was the "Holiday Bowling Classic," held on this past Easter Sunday. Below you can see what the game looks like as you're playing it:

Well, to finish the story, everyone up at my sister's house has created their own avatar to use when they play. She kept asking me if I wanted to create my own, but I always just used one of the generic characters provided. When Charlton Heston passed away a few weeks ago, it inspired me to finally create my own character. But, where most everybody else tried to recreate, in digital form, an image of themselves more or less; I had to be me and create a true character. One that wasn't myself. My immediate thoughts went to that classic character, one which I had played before on Hallowe'en, Moses - as portrayed by Charlton Heston. While at her house, I pulled up a quick picture of Heston, as Moses, (courtesy of an earlier blog of mine), and used it to recreate as best I could, the face of Heston's Moses for my avatar in Wii bowling. The results I managed to achieve are pictured below:

And, wouldn't you know it? When my Moses character begin playing his first matches, he beat every contender! It also didn't hurt that I had a slew of ready-made phrases for him to use to describe each shot - such as "the parting of the red pins," "Moses found favor in the eyes of the Lord (to play a good game)," "Who is on the Lord's side?", "I shall smite thee in the name of the Lord," "Let my pins go," etc. You get the idea. I think I made a good choice in making this character my avatar. And, not only that, I get to honor the man I always liked as an actor - Charlton Heston. Let me know if you have any similar experiences with the Wii Entertainment Center.

Oh, and if you're inspired to purchase your own Wii game system, please try to find a place to buy it other than at Wal-Mart. You know why.

Charlton Heston, 1923-2008

2008-04-14T19:48:00.016-05:00

Charlton Heston was the quintessential American actor who played in films, the theater and on television. I'm not ashamed to admit that he was my favorite actor of all time. Regular readers of this blog know how I feel about his portrayal of Moses in The Ten Commandments. He was born John Charles Carter, here in my homestate of Illinois, on October 4th, 1923. He passed away last week, April 5th, 2008, of an Alzheimer's related illness. His family released this statement: "Charlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life. He was known for his chiselled jaw, broad shoulders and resonating voice, and, of course, for the roles he played. No one could ask for a fuller life than his. No man could have given more to his family, to his profession and to his country." I think this pretty much sums up my personal feeling about the man.

Heston in Ben Hur, for which he won an Oscar

Several of his movie roles which I like are:
Dark City (1950)
The Naked Jungle (1954)
Secret Of The Incas (1954)
The Private War Of Major Benson (1955)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Touch Of Evil (1958)
Ben Hur (1959)
El Cid (1961 )
The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962)
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
The Agony And The Ecstasy (1965)
Will Penny (1968)
Planet Of The Apes (1968)
Number One (1969)
Beneath The Planet Of The Apes (1970)
The Omega Man (1971)
Skyjacked (1972)
Soylent Green (1973)
Airport 1975 (1974)
Earthquake (1974)
Midway (1976)
Gray Lady Down (1978)
Alaska (1996)

This is far from being his total filmography, but it gives you a good idea just how popular of an actor he was.
One of his earliest television roles was that of the great American patriot James Otis, which he portrayed on the series Studio One, on November 12th, 1951. You can download and watch this performance for free at the Internet Archive. I highly recommend it!

I know it's just not going to seem right next Easter when I watch The Ten Commandments now that Charlton Heston is gone. I'm sure going to miss him. And remember, if you go to buy some of his classic performances on video or DVD, be sure to shop at a place other than Wal-Mart.

The Joys Of Wal-Mart

2008-04-05T13:10:00.006-05:00

After I had tried to upload another group of pictures to my Wal-Mart photo album this past Wednesday, like I had done for almost two years, and found out they no longer accept them and then allow me to pay for them when I get to the actual store, I closed my account. Or rather, I should say I attempted to close out my account.

I deleted all my online photos and albums that held them and then clicked on the link to cancel my account. The next day, I got a nice little e-mail from somebody named "Monique" saying that she was sorry I had troubles and which order was it that I wanted to cancel? I had clearly stated, with simple English words, my desire to end my account with them, not cancel an order. I couldn't make an order any longer, so how could I have one that needed cancelling? I wrote back to "Monique" and politely told her that maybe this was the reason why more and more people were refusing to shop at Wal-Mart any longer. I mean, it was her department and she didn't even know the difference between "cancel an account" and "cancel an order." As consumers, we don't have to take this.

So, what happens after the whole incident? Today, Saturday, at noon exactly, I get a call from a pleasant-sounding man, who spoke perfect English because he was an American, and who also sounded like more than just a phone-operating schlep. This guy was pretty far up the management chain, let me tell you. He didn't give me his name, but he did ask to make sure it was my account that I wanted to close and he said it would be done. At the end of the telephone conversation, he asked if there was anything else and I said yes. I told him, politely and in a soft voice, (I have laryngitis and can hardly speak very loud), the reason why I had to close my account, being because of their new policy to not accept cash. He apologised for this saying that it was because there had been some orders that people had made and then not picked up. And then he said, "and other reasons, too." He didn't explain exactly what those other reasons could have been. What other reasons can there be? I would like to get some debate going on this issue, so if any of my good readers can think of any other possible reasons, please leave a comment for me.

After he told me about their policy of having to stop accepting cash for online photo orders, I told him that Wal-Mart had just reduced their selection of items to buy that, in the process, they stopped carrying those things I used to purchase. With hardly anything left on their shelves that I would need to buy, I no longer had any reason to shop with them any more. And, it's true. I won't be setting foot inside a Wal-Mart store any more.

Here's what I will be giving up, but I guess I'll just have to adjust to living without these wonderful conveniences:

The joy of waiting in one checkout line behind twenty other customers because they won't open any of the other 19 checkout lines in the middle of a busy day.

I won't have to worry about getting my layaway out on time anymore - they no longer offer layaways.

The thrill of being treated like a criminal as I walk out the door when "the man" asks you to stop so he can see your receipt.

All the great exercise I used to get trying to track down somebody that worked in the store, someone who wasn't stocking the shelf where I was trying to look, or who wasn't on break, or who wasn't the one person at the only checkout line up front.

The pleasures of playing "treasure hunt" every time I went to the same Wal-Mart, because they constantly keep moving everything to a different location.

The pleasant conversations with any employee I could actually find when asking about a certain product which every employee seems to know nothing about.

The surprise and wonderment of always finding that the item I bought last month is no longer carried, but two other brands of the same item are.

The fun of trying to return that item I bought last month because it stopped working and being told I can't exchange it for an identical working model because they stopped carrying it.

The exhiliration of being told that the item I want, (hightop tennis shoes, headphones, cd cases, economy-size bottle of baby shampoo, non-slimline jewel boxes, blank vhs tapes, blank high-quality cassette tapes, Christmas cards with "Christ" -ian themes, blank journals, 100 speed film for my cameras, my favorite brand of breakfast cereal, any article of clothing not made for a 14-year old, a pair of jeans that will last more than one washing and not rip out, etc.) is something that nobody else in the world wants so that's why they have stopped selling them at Wal-Mart.

All the time I will save looking through their music department because it's pointless - they don't sell any group I'd want to hear anyway.

Having to wind my way through the group of Mexicans out front waiting to be picked up for work.

And lastly, all the "beautiful people" that seem to populate Wal-Marts in this day and age.

How will I ever live without Wal-Mart?

What The Heck Is It?

2008-04-04T01:29:00.006-05:00

I just happened to notice something moving around in my backyard Tuesday, right before the sun went down. At first, I thought it was a chicken. It was big, white and plump like a chicken, but it wasn't a chicken. You need to know that I live in the city limits, but there are all kinds of animals that happen to pass through my yard on different occasions. I've seen Skunks, O'Possums, Raccoons, Squirrels, Deers, Doves, Quails, Hawks and who knows what other critters. Here is what I saw that Tuesday afternoon:

It wouldn't let me get very close to it, and in this view, it had left the back edge of my yard and flew up on my neighbor's garage roof - about 10 feet past my property line. I chased it to get a better shot, but all it ended up doing was flying back into my yard, to the top of a tree, the tallest one in that whole area. After I studied the pictures, I thought it was a turkey. The above photograph was even broadcast on the local television station about two hours later! My cousin called today to say that she had seen the picture. Then, somebody told me they thought it was what is called a "guinea." Well, maybe. The very next morning, it was back again! After chasing it again for about a half hour, I did manage to sneak up on it once from behind some bushes to get this clearer shot of it's face.

Looking at this view, I revert to my original assumption that it's a turkey. If it decides to move into my backyard, it can stay and more the welcome to. At least until next Thanksgiving, that is!

If you need to go to the store today, please try to buy at least one item at a store other than Wal-Mart. It can be done. There are people that work at the other stores in your community that need to live, too. And think how good you'll feel knowing that you're giving them much-needed business, and that it's actually helping to put food on their table! A little kid might not go hungry tonight because of you. The good thing about helping in this way is that it doesn't take any more time or cost you any more money than you were already going to spend. Maybe if more people did this, we could revitalize our towns.

The Camel's Back Has Been Broken

2008-04-03T23:50:00.007-05:00

As a practicing photographer, there are times when I need photographs fast. That is, actual pictures I can hold in my hand and work with. And, I had found a great online tool that really fit in with my needs. At Wal-Mart's website, they have an online photo-uploading tool where you can upload your pictures, choose the 1-hour developing option, and then go pick up your pictures. Seeing as how there is no Wal-Mart store in the small town where I live, I always have to drive either 15 or 30 minutes to the nearest one. At least one night a week, this isn't a problem for me, as I have a regular musical gig that I play my guitar at in Fairfield, Illinois - the site of the store that's 30 minutes away from me. I would simply upload the pictures before I left that afternoon and usually after running all my errands and getting in Fairfield, they would be ready and waiting for me to pick up and pay for. And now for the rest of the story....

This method worked so well for me for over a year until yesterday. I uploaded some pictures and planned on picking them up once I arrived in Fairfield. They uploaded fine, but when it came to the normal checkout part of the transaction, gone was the choice to pay for them when you pick them up. That's right - they no longer offer that as an option. All they accept is one of their own gift cards or a credit card as payment. Knowing that I don't like to have my personal information such as this floating willy-nilly all over the internet, just waiting for some unscrupulous person to intercept it and use it to their advantage, (oh, these types are out there, all right - believe me!), I don't like to pay using those kind of methods. What was wrong with cash when I picked them up? I've never had more than a $20.00 order at one time, and instead had smaller orders, but more of them. So, why did Wal-Mart stop accepting the "bill-me-later" option that is still mentioned on their website as a method of payment? There are several reasons but I'll tell you why.

You may remember an earlier post of mine, here, about the trouble I had trying to by an ordinary pair of headphones from Wal-Mart. In that story, I related the incident of trying to ask one of their sales representatives where they kept their headphones. I was told by this person that, "they say nobody wants headphones anymore." However, she didn't know who "they" were, so that wasn't any help in my trying to convince her that she was wrong and that people did, in fact, still use headphones and not "earbuds." In a similar incident two weeks ago, I searched for a CD Case, something to hold and protect about 100 cd's in their cases because I deejay car shows at times and need something bigger to carry all my oldies cd's in to these events. Well, in Wal-Mart and indeed no other store in Fairfield could I find one. I was told the exact same thing - nobody uses them anymore. Surely I'm not the only person in the world that works as a deejay - whose tools are their music and their headphones!

There was a time when I could find cases to hold my music, be it in albums, 45 rpm's, 8-tracks, cassettes or cd's. You needed something to hold your music in, you bought a case for it, it was that simple. And these cases could be purchased in many places in Fairfield and towns everywhere else. But, this was before Wal-Mart moved into town. Now, the places in Fairfield that used to sell music and musical supplies such as cases, have all went out of business because they couldn't compete with - guess who? Give yourself a pat on the back if you said "Wal-Mart." Everyone has heard of the stories of how when a Wal-Mart moves into a community, the small "mom and pop" stores go under. This is nothing new and I need not detail it again. Just understand that it is a fact and it happens everywhere. And as a matter of fact, Fairfield had a Wal-Mart already before this latest one was put in. This new one is a "Supercenter," one that stays open twenty-four hours a day! The old one wasn't a supercenter, just a regular store that closed every night and then opened back up the next morning. Wal-Mart convinced the city of Fairfield that it needed a supercenter instead and got the financial tax breaks that allowed them to build another store.

The word "Supercenter." What do you think that means? Wouldn't any normal person think that it meant something better than the average store? That's what I would take it to mean. However, once these "Supercenters" get in a community and drive all the small stores out of business, they start offering less and less items in their inventory. Having been a regular shopper at their old Wal-Mart, I was quite familiar with all the products they sold and all the ones I bought there myself. When the new "Supercenter" opened, I noticed several of the items that I used to purchase were no longer sold at this newer, more "super" Wal-Mart. Have you been to a Wal-Mart lately? Chances are, you have. Look around - are there things you used to buy that aren't on their shelves any more? In just this year alone they have closed their section where material and patterns to make dresses and the like were housed and even shut down their layaway section! The layaway section at Wal-Mart was always one of their selling points when their founder, Mr. Sam Walton was alive and in charge. He always believed the customer came first and that he would sell American-made items to keep Americans working. He believed in that and that's why Wal-Mart became so big. Since his death, things have really changed. Practically everything is "Made in China," yes, the very same country that makes all that stuff you hear about on the news that is always being recalled because it's hazardous or poisionous! And since his passing, there is much less selection on the shelves and have you noticed their "low prices always" have started creeping up higher than any store ever had them at before? And to top that off, now this "Wal-Mart Supercenter," which is supposed to stay open 24 hours a day, closes at the regular time the old one did and opens back up each morning. Let's see, same hours, less merchandise, less conveniences such as layaway - tell me again how this "Supercenter" concept is better?

The practice of not accepting a payment of cash to pick up my pictures like I used there last month, (when, apparently, it was agreeable for them to do so), has suddenly changed. Have you noticed a general decline in a variety of places that are getting away from the practice of wanting to accept cash? Why do you think this is? It's not because they can make more money if they accept credit cards. It's a fact that they have to pay a small transaction fee for every credit card purchase that is made. So, why would any store want to make less money? I have one word to say and you've heard it from me before. "Amero."

In Europe, they have created something called "the European Union," a group of countries all banded together for trade purposes. Their new method of currency, which supplanted the monetary system in the countries of all it's participants, is called the Euro. Doesn't that sound familiar? Euro. Amero. They are similar. In every way. There are those in our government right now, from President George Bush on down, who are trying to bring about an "American Union," and create a new monetary system for Canada, the United States and Mexico. This new monetary unit is to be called the "Amero." They are actively working on bringing this about. How better to impliment something such as this than to make our American dollar harder to use and spend or worth less than it's ever been? For further insight on this scheme to do away with our dollar, which by the way, contradicts our Constitution, search for "The NAFTA Superhighway," "Kansas City SmartPort," or even "GATT."

You may have heard the phrase "cashless society." All that means is that any money you have will be held by everybody but actually you yourself. If there's no cash, you won't need any to pay for that hamburger you want for lunch. You'll just use the money in your account somewhere and pay for it with a credit card. You ask, "what's wrong with that?" Aside from the fact that it's actually costing you more money for everything you purchase with a credit card, have you ever heard of computer glitches? If you're reading this, chances are, you have. On a good day, a computer can have a problem and lose all it's information - forever. We all know this to be the truth. And computers that have your accounts on them can have glitches just the same. Just think if the worst possible scenario arose and someone had a score to settle with you and could access your account information. Do you think the Golden Rule would stop them from taking everything you have in that account? Not on your life. Forget about all those "conspiracy theories" you hear, about a "New World Order" taking over everything. All that needs to happen is one unscrupulous person to come along and your account, along with every penny you've earned, could be wiped out. That is why a cashless society is something you or I do not want to see come about. Well, I certainly know I don't want my money under somebody else's constant control. I can only assume that you would feel the same way about your finances.

So, please think about it the next time you have a twenty-dollar bill in your hand. Feel it. It feels good having money in your hands, doesn't it? If it's a feeling you'd like to continue having, please understand that you can't continue having it if you don't speak up about it. I'm speaking up about it right now, because I like money and I want to keep on liking the feel of real money in my hand. (However infrequent that might actually be!) And one of the ways I'm speaking up is by telling you here. Another way is to stop giving my business to the stores that are actively getting away from wanting to accept my perfectly legal and tender cash. Such as Wal-Mart. That is why I will never set foot in a Wal-Mart again. I can still buy shampoo, and anything else I need, at plenty of other places!

Things Are Tough All Over

2008-03-27T19:30:00.005-05:00

Read this little item and you'll realize how things like this could happen right here in America and how they are probably already happening anyway.

In England, the pork industry is currently facing a crisis. This is due to massive increases in feed prices caused by rocketing world wheat prices. The majority of farmers are now selling every pig they rear at a loss of up to £26. Anyone knows that you can't take such a loss as that and stay in business for very long. The industry as a whole faces potential losses of £200 million in the next year. A recent National Pig Association survey showed that 95% of pig farmers in England are considering stopping production if the price they receive does not improve. This will lead, ultimately, to a shortage of pig meat in the long term and potentially steep rises in the retail price of pork, sausages, bacon and ham.

Consumers there also benefit from the most stringent food safety requirements of any in the world. If their homegrown pork supply was to disappear, it would have to be supplanted by imports from the European Union, where a whopping 70% of their goods would fail the British standards. Does this sound familiar? We here in America are seeing more and more food import items supplanting the familiar brands we've grown to know and trust on our own supermarket shelves. And how many news stories have there been in the last year about recalled food items, which are shipped predominantly from China? Ask yourself this: Why are the standards for food quality and safety going down the drain in places all over the world? That is the $64,000 question.

To read more about the plight of the English pig farmer and hear a song that 30 members of their farming community got together and recorded to bring attention to this problem by clicking here. The group that did the recording of this song are pictured above. It is a delightful takeoff on the old Tammy Wynette song, Stand By Your Man. They have rewritten it with pig-influenced lyrics and titled it, Stand By Your Ham. You can also sign a petition there to register your support of their cause. Or you can download the song from this handy link right here. Either way, this is an important issue for any citizen of Planet Earth. Make a difference by becoming informed.

Farewell To Beulah Kershaw

2008-03-24T16:59:00.012-05:00

A little over a year ago, I lost a good friend and fellow musician. Beulah Kershaw - poet, musician, songwriter, author and performer - well-known in the music field as Disco Beulah, was born on January 14th, 1914, in Florida, Missouri - also the birthplace of another famous American writer, Mark Twain. On February 22nd, 2007, she passed away at age 93. In that span of time, she accomplished many things. While it seems like her whole life was devoted to musical endeavors, that wasn't always the case in her younger years. She was a staunch Republican and helped in several campaigns. In fact, due to her local efforts in Southern Illinois, she was even invited to President Eisenhower's inauguration ball in Washington D.C., in the 1950's. In later years, however, her music began to take precedence.

I first became aware of her about 1980, which by this time, she was already almost 70 years old. She had recorded a song called A Woman In Love and it began to get lots of airplay on Chicago radio station WLS. The deejay who premiered it was Larry Lujac and thanks to him, Beulah's audience widened considerably. Now, she was no longer just a hit in her immediate area around Crossville, Illinois, her voice was beaming out all over the nation. From there, it was only natural that television executives would hear of her and she was offered a chance to be on the NBC television program Real People, in 1981. This appearance brought her even more attention and worldwide fame. I have personally seen a sheet that detailed countries located all over the world from which she received royalties, and it numbered in the dozens! Such was her widespread appeal.

I first met her in person in 1988. I had heard several of her records, from my personal collection no less, and had written a song that I thought would be perfect for her to record. I got up the nerve and drove to her house, (it wasn't far from where I lived) and knocked on her door. Gracious person that she was and always had been, she asked me to come in and sit down. On that first meeting, she played several of her songs for me, my own personal concert you might say, and I was enthralled. I think I had to come back a few other times before I got up enough nerve to ask her about my song. But, when I did, she agreed to work on it. I went back a little while later and she debuted it on her piano for me. I am proud to say that I have a recording of her doing my song! During this time, a friendship developed and we got together several times to jam - her on piano and myself on guitar. She even made a few recordings on a cassette that was just for me. Another way in which her kindness was readily apparent.

We wrote back and forth throughout the remainder of her life and I stopped in to see her whenever I was in her neck of the woods. I recall an article in our local paper that told about a show she did at a local nursing home toward the end of 2006. She was performing until almost the very end of her life. That's why it came as such a shock when I heard she had passed away. I thought she would be singing and playing a piano somewhere forever. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

Beulah in her political period of the 1950's.

I had collected all my recordings of hers, the ones she had made for me and ones I had recorded myself and burned them on a cd to give to her. Unfortunately, I never got the chance. The funeral was to be held in the town next to mine, so I placed the cd in my jacket and went to pay my respects. Once I got there, it was a little early still, I sat down in the back of the chapel and bided my time. After getting several stares from the family members seated up front, her niece came back and spoke to me. I mentioned that I had been a fellow musician friend of hers and was invited me to sit up front with the family. Apparently, Beulah passed on her cordial qualities to another generation. As people came through to pay their respects for her, somebody mentioned something about her music. Knowing I had a bunch of it in my pocket, I spoke up and said as much. The family was intrigued, especially when I told them about the song she had recorded of mine and in tribute to her, they requested the funeral home personnel to play the cd over their sound system. There was hardly a dry eye in the house, mine included, as song after song from her wonderful career played throughout the building. I was glad that I had thought to bring it because it turned out to be one last great tribute to an artist that many had loved and adored, and it gave her family members a chance to hear some things they hadn't heard before. Before it was all over, one of them asked me if they could get a copy of the disc. I ended up giving it to her, as I had another copy, and she made duplicates for the other family members later that evening. From the funeral home, we drove to the town she had lived in and there the funeral was held out in the open countryside. The rain was coming down in buckets and the wind was blowing quite briskly, so it was a bittersweet sendoff for her. Below, you can see what the countryside looks like where Beulah Kershaw was laid to rest.

So, in my own way, I would like to say farewell to a dear friend and a fellow musician. She was a wiz on the piano, of that there was no doubt. To prove it, please download this short collection of hers that I have compiled to share here. It is these following tracks:

1. All I Do Is Cry - the song I wrote especially for her

2. A Woman In Love - her big hit, recorded on a tape just for me

3. It Hurts To Be Hurt - another of her popular songs she recorded for me

4. Real People - her appearance on the NBC television show

5. A commercial for her songs and books, from a local radio station.

Be sure to download and listen to this collection of Beulah Kershaw songs. Click on this link here to get them.
One final thing I want share is that to prove she had a broad influence, here is a track from a rock and roll band I was in where we covered one of her songs. I regret that she never got to hear it herself, but I'm sure she would have been pleased to know that her music transcended genres. Click here to get A Woman In Love, by Terror In Tucson.

I hope this little remembrance of her will give her a smile if she's looking down in this direction. Farewell, Beulah.

April 13th, 2010 Update:

Beulah Kershaw's niece Dorothy has kindly telephoned me to let me know that, as she was going through some of Beulah's belongings, she came across some unopened boxes of her records, tapes and books. They were all in new condition and still in the shrink wrap, (tapes), and that if any of her fans would be interested in acquiring what will probably turn out to be the final copies of Beulah's music or writing, to just give her a call. I told her there might be a 45 or two that I might not have in my collection that I'd like to have, so I'm going to call her up once she gets it all just a little more organized. But, don't wait! If you're interested, call her as soon as possible, for these won't last forever. For those of us who remember Beulah fondly, these recordings and writings will be something with which to remember her by and a interesting piece of history as well. Dorothy resides in Crossville, Illinois, the town where Beulah lived for many years, and can be reached by calling this number: 1-618-966-3638.

Big Guns

2008-03-24T16:20:00.007-05:00

Did I ever mention I used to play trumpet in a jazz band? If not, I did so for a period in 2001. I wish that band had never broken up, but it was only comprised of parents that had gotten together to perform at their children's school. I really loved that group. In memory of my belated jazz career, I'm rolling out the big guns on this track. (Notice the witty tie-in with the picture above.) Here is yours truly performing the classic jazz road song Route 66. It features me playing the piano and guitar, and I'm even the entire horn section! Plus, I get to play all the solos, which is always fun. Please enjoy this interpretation of Route 66, by Kenneth Dwain Harrelson.

So Let It Be Watched

2008-03-24T09:22:00.013-05:00

I just had to post this quick update. As you are probably aware, Easter was yesterday and it was the time of the annual viewing of my all-time favorite movie - The Ten Commandments.

I have to relate two of my favorite lines from it. One is when the Pharaoh Sethi, played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke is playing hounds and jackals with Nefretiri, portrayed by Anne Baxter, and his Priest Jannes, the great character actor Douglass Dummbrille, is petitioning him about Moses. Jannes comments that Moses is stealing the grain from the temple granaries and Sethi pats him on the stomach and says "You don't look any leaner." This is too funny!

The next great line happens right after this in the motion picture. Rameses, played by Yul Brynner, comes in and tells Sethi that Moses is trying to raise an army against him, using the Hebrew slaves and the Ethiopians. Sethi goes to see why Moses didn't obey his command to come to court and finds Moses, who is perfectly characterized by Charlton Heston, hard at work raising an obelisk. After it's safely in place, Rameses does the whole weight thing on the scales as an analogy for all the things Moses has done wrong. Moses picks up one brick and says "The strong make many.... the starving make few.... the dead make none. So much for accusations." And then he places the brick on the scales and it outweighs the other side completely. This particular line is one that has stayed with me ever since I saw it in the theaters on it's intial rerelease in 1966.

This is just a perfect example of the brilliance of everyone involved with the movie - the director, Cecil B. DeMille, the writers and Charlton Heston's acting abilities, along with the rest of the cast. Is there any wonder why this wouldn't be my favorite movie? Now, if only they would release an authentic soundtrack album for it.

And one final picture before I go. Here's me dressed as Moses one year for Hallowe'en which I photoshopped and added in the desert background. I really like this movie!

Do It Yourself Ark Kit -or- Chemtrails 101

2008-03-21T00:07:00.006-05:00

Have you looked up into the skies lately and seen those trails that jets are leaving behind? They're not normal contrails, despite the fact that others try to say that's all they are. Contrails dissipate after a few seconds, that is a provable fact. These trails stay up there all day! If you've never heard the term Chemtrails, you need to realize that something is being sprayed up there above your head. I don't know who is doing it or the reason behind it, but I do know that someone is messing around with the weather. How else do you explain the fact that ending yesterday, in the span of only a day and a half, we got 11.64 inches of rain here in Southern Illinois? We got a foot of it, the equivalent of 3 months worth of rain in less than 2 days! That is not normal and anyone that has lived here in this area or has a brain in their head will agree with me. When will people wake up and discover the things that are being done all over this world right in front of their very eyes? This country called The United States Of America won't be around for very much longer, if this keeps up. Not like it used to be anyway. When it crashes, you can't say you weren't warned about it. Or will enough people wake up and prevent the loss of our beloved free country? Only time will tell.

To end on a humorous note, I have included this cartoon below. But, don't let it distract you from the truth. Smile! (While you still have the freedom to do so.)

"The woodpecker has got to go!"

12-02-46-33-9-78 26-0-0-01

2008-03-11T00:10:00.003-05:00

Moody Blues - Tuesday Afternoon.
March of Dimes.

IBM 704 And Me

2008-03-10T13:48:00.006-05:00

This is just a short post because I want to mention a project I'm working on that I hope to upload soon. I am currently compiling an album of early computer music, and it goes back to the early days of the 1950's and 1960's when computers were first being programmed to play and sing music. This is an exciting project for me and I hope it will be received well. As a sort of preview for this project, I now offer a track from the album which you won't be able to find anywhere else. And I do mean anywhere. It features a duet sung by a 1962 IBM 704 computer, like you see pictured above, and myself. Yes, you heard right! A duet sung by an IBM computer "voice" and my voice harmonizing together and performing the old standard Daisy, Daisy (A Bicycle Built For Two). I ask you - where are you going to find entertainment of such high and unusual quality but right here on this blog? Download this track from the forthcoming compilation album entitled "A History Of Computer Music," featuring the IBM 704 computer and myself singing Daisy, Daisy (A Bicycle Built For Two). You won't want to miss this one (zero zero one)! If this project sounds interesting, please don't hesitate to drop me a line about it in the comments section.