Finally

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus

 1-5About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

 6-7While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

An Event for Everyone

 8-12There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger."

 13-14At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises: 

   Glory to God in the heavenly heights, 
   Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

 15-18As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us." They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

 19-20Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told!

Blessings

 21When the eighth day arrived, the day of circumcision, the child was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived.

 22-24Then when the days stipulated by Moses for purification were complete, they took him up to Jerusalem to offer him to God as commanded in God's Law: "Every male who opens the womb shall be a holy offering to God," and also to sacrifice the "pair of doves or two young pigeons" prescribed in God's Law.

 25-32In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God: 

   God, you can now release your servant; 
      release me in peace as you promised. 
   With my own eyes I've seen your salvation; 
      it's now out in the open for everyone to see: 
   A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations, 
      and of glory for your people Israel.

 33-35Jesus' father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother, 

   This child marks both the failure and 
      the recovery of many in Israel, 
   A figure misunderstood and contradicted— 
      the pain of a sword-thrust through you— 
   But the rejection will force honesty, 
      as God reveals who they really are.

 36-38Anna the prophetess was also there, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was by now a very old woman. She had been married seven years and a widow for eighty-four. She never left the Temple area, worshiping night and day with her fastings and prayers. At the very time Simeon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.

 39-40When they finished everything required by God in the Law, they returned to Galilee and their own town, Nazareth. There the child grew strong in body and wise in spirit. And the grace of God was on him.

from The Message

... There

Almost ...

More Christmas ads

With my recent posts I'm not trying to get out of doing actual blogging (writing), I'm just sharing some fanciful holiday items.  No apology, just a note to the curious.

Closer still ...

And closer...

6 Christmas CDs

The meme has struck...

If you were trapped on a desert island and it was Christmas and all you had was a small generator, Christmas lights for your coconut tree, an endless supply of Christmas cookies and eggnog, your CD player and 6 Christmas CDs , which 6 albums would you want them to be?

I think I'd select:

• Merry Mancini Christmas
  
• The Jethro Tull Christmas Album
  
• December
  
• A Charlie Brown Christmas
  
• The Little Drummer Boy
• Celtic Christmas, Vol. 2

But that's just me.

Updated

Okay. I started thinking after I posted. I need to add one. Therefore taking one away.

I'll add: 3 Ships

I guess I'll take away Celtic Christmas, Vol. 2. Sorry.

If you'd like to listen to some Christmas shows of an eclectic radio show, take a listen to the following:

• A few Christmas favorites you've come to expect - Dec. 14, 2007
  
• Oy vey! It's Christmas! - Dec. 16, 2005
  
• Oy vey! It's Christmas! - Dec. 3, 2004
  

Christmas Ads of Yesteryear

These ads were culled from issues of the Plattsburgh Daily Press. The years range from the late 1930s through the 1940s.

Getting closer ...

image taken from: 

Plattsburgh Daily Press, Tuesday, December 19, 1939

A must read

Ben, over at his baseballcard blog, has been working on converting the poem, Casey at the Bat, to baseball cards.  I applaud him on his effort.

Please take a moment to visit his blog and read it.  Ben will be leaving that blog and moving on to other endeavours.  I've enjoyed his quirky takes on baseball cards, the industry and collectors.

Good luck, Ben.  And thanks.

On pins and needles

Or not.

Last week I got inoculated for the flu season. First time in many, many years. I had the nasal variety. I don't like injections / shots / vaccinations. I really don't. Ask just about anyone I know. They'll tell you the same.

The local Walgreens was providing the service, for a fee. I went in the afternoon, but there were too many cars in the parking lot for my comfort level, so I blew them off.

Angie suggested that she go with me and that she'd run interference. She did a good job and I'm better off. I guess.

On another note, I took Caroline to the doctor's office yesterday. Angie was tied up in meetings and didn't get there until before the doctor arrived. Which means that I got to check Caroline in, talk with the nurse and wait in an exam room for many, many minutes.

I'm getting better about my phobia of doctors / hosptials / shots / blood. I know that there are still those who protect me by not introducing the topics, by asking the medical professional to clear the table of syringes, by suggesting that we watch "Dancing With the Stars" instead of "E.R." I thank each and every one of them.

A Thrilling Christmas

A few weeks ago were were in Sevierville for a wedding rehearsal. Angie was at the church and I took the kids down to the rehearsal dinner. We got there when we were supposed to, but got a call from Angie that things were taking a bit longer than planned. No problem, I tell myself. Sevierville is town full of fun things to do on a Friday night when both kids are hungry. So we went to the "As Seen on TV" store.

They've got a bunch of crap that you actually have seen on TV. And more. They had racks and bins of 99 cent DVDs. Being a sucker for them (as is my brother), I perused the racks and found 3 Christmas DVDs. One of them, A Thrilling Christmas, isn't so thrilling.

It had three episodes of TV shows from the '50s.

• The Adventures of Robin Hood
• Annie Oakley
• Crossroads

Over the next week I watched them, even forcing Angie to join me on one. We watched the Crossroads episode (The Wreath) first. Not very thrilling. I fell asleep.

Then I watched the Robin Hood episode (The Christmas Goose). Whiny kid is collecting holly on the new lord's land. His pet goose attacks the lord. The lord has the goose arrested and brought to trial. The kid whines so much you want Robin to put him out of your misery. A priest takes the goose's side and every one is happy by the end of the show.

The Annie Oakley episode (Santa Claus Wears a Gun) was much more thrilling. Shootouts and guns. And Santa Claus. A robbery and con job.

The transfer was very clean. The sound was good. Menu was, well, a menu. No great features.

Not very thrilling.

What a long strange trip it's been...

It has been almost two weeks since I've blogged. Some notable things have happened during that time. Let's see. Sickness swept through the house. My folks showed up just in time to help with taking care of us. The fridge died and we got a new one. Edison turned fourteen. And got some cool birthday presents. I found and purchased Van Morrison's A Night in San Francisco double CD on ebay. And am falling in love with it. Caroline has some new books. And she loves them. Angie and I went and saw the movie Fireproof. And I love her. I filled up the van's gas tank for $1.709 per gallon. The first snow of the season fell. And through all of the busyness of this time, I am reminded of Paul's writings about about our Father...

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!

Ephesians 3:20

Tell me a story

Caroline's bedtime routine is rather set. Potty time while the bath runs. Then the bath, pajamas, hair drying and teeth brushing. Sometimes reading, sometimes a bit of silliness. Then kisses and hugs. Climbing under the covers of her big-girl bed and a round of singing songs.

Tonight, as I asked her which songs she wanted to sing she said, "Tell me a story."

So, I told her a story of a little girl who went to a wedding with her daddy. She saw her mommy playing piano and the bride wearing a pretty dress. When a lady sang a song, the little girl and her daddy danced in the foyer. They went round and round with her head on his shoulders.

When the wedding was over, they went to the reception where the little girl ate strawberries, grapes, chips, crackers, M&Ms, cheese and bread. She smiled and laughed. Everybody had fun.

"That's Caroline," she said.

It was. It was a good day.

What's in a name ?

Guitar Hero World Tour has a Rock Name Generator. It asks you your name, your game persona, your favorite band and the instrument you play in the game. You may now call me Goran Earwarper.

What I do in my spare time...

or,

What? More blogs?

Yes, self promotion time. I've started two other blogs. Actually, I started one of them some time ago, in March of this year. It can be found at North Country Baseball and the subject is 19th century baseball in and around Clinton Co, NY. Transcriptions of local newspaper accounts of the national game.

The other I created yesterday to look back at the movie advertisements of yesteryear. It is called At the Strand. The Strand was a movie theater in Plattsburgh, NY.

Not much talk, just the ads and some links to the movies.

And sleep. I wish.

Celery King

from the November 13, 1903 Plattsburgh Sentinel and Clinton County Farmer newspaper.

Living in the Past

Yesterday I had the tires replaced on the Honda. I had some time at the mall. I picked up some items for Angie. I visited the game stores, had some Chik-Fil-A's chicken strips while I read some more of my Brother Cadfael book, looked through the CD/DVD store. Many things caught my eye, but I passed. Having a bit more time, I remembered that there is a sports memorabilia store. They had many nice (but overpriced) items. I looked through their open cards. I found two that I liked. Fifty cents each. I liked the price. So, now I have a pair of 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter cards. Even though they are last year's cards, I selected them because these players are in the 2008 World Series. And the cards just look good.



Allen & Ginter printed their original cards in 1887. I think that Topps has done a good job with recreating the feel. I especially like the text on the back of the cards. Numbers are spelled out.

For much more on the 2007 Topps A&G, please see the about.com entry.

Will I get more? No, probably not. These are pretty to look at, and I don't just have that much time or money to get the complete set.

Credit where credit is due: The baseball card images in this post are copyright the Topps Company, Inc. and are displayed with the intent of fair use and because I really like them.

Philadelphia Base Ball, old school

From the book, Athletic Sports in America, England and Australia by Harry Clay Palmer. This book has quite a few anecdotes and stats/records that some will find interesting. Others will glaze over. It was published in 1889. You do the math.

Right now, it is the middle of the 7th inning, in game 3 of the Series. The Phillies are up 4-3. I'm headed for bed.

The first pitch has been thrown

and it was a strike. The World Series has started.

So, I tossed together a quick survey. You can take it here.

I would have liked to have seen the Red Sox go against the Dodgers, just for the Mannie controversy.

But I liked the pitching of the Rays in game 7 of the ACLS.

I'm not sure who I'm rooting for, yet. I generally like the NL, but I also like the underdog.

So, Vegas has the Rays winning. We'll see.

Take the survey. Have some fun.

William Henry "Wee Willie" Keeler

Recently, on a 19th century baseball mailing list, a request came across for information on any living family members of "Wee Willie" Keeler.

I've heard the name before, but wasn't readily familiar with him. I won't rewrite all of his feats, but he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939, having played from 1892-1910, with a lifetime batting average of .341 (or .343, or .345, depending on which site you look at).

So, to find if there are any living family members, it makes sense to look at the family.

I went to wikipedia to get some basic information about him (born March 3, 1872. died January 1, 1923, both in Brooklyn, NY). Then I hopped on Ancestry.com and found some census records.

1880
I couldn't find the family in the 1880 census, either at Ancestry.com or at FamilySearch.org.

1890
The bulk of the 1890 general population census is missing. I didn't even try to look for it.

1900
His parents (William and Mary) were born in Ireland. He and his brother, Thomas, were born in New York. But the 1900 census says that he was born in 1873 (not 1872 as other sites claim) and is 27 years old. His occupation was "professional ball-player" working 8 months out of the year. The family lived on Pulaski Street in Brooklyn. Other information to be gleaned from this census is that his parents were married for 38 years, making their marriage date to be about 1862. Mary had 5 children, but 2 of them had died.

Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Brooklyn Ward 21, Kings, New York; Roll: T623 1058; Page: 4A; .

1910
A decade later, Mary has died. Both boys still live with their father on Pulaski Street. William is now 38 years old and continues to be a "professional player" in the industry of "baseball".

Source Citation: Year: 1910; Census Place: Brooklyn Ward 21, Kings, New York; Roll: T624_969; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 519; Image: 956.

1920
William has moved out of the family house and is a boarder on Gale Street, still in Brooklyn. His age is listed as 48, which is consistent, since this census was enumerated in January of that year. He's a "ball player" in the "American League", despite not having played since 1910. And that was with the New York Giants, a National League team. Of the 19 seasons that he played, 12 of them were for NL teams.

Source Citation: Year: 1920;Census Place: Brooklyn Assembly District 5, Kings, New York; Roll: T625_1151; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 259; Image: 334.

I couldn't find any more from a quick search on Ancestry. World Connect at Rootsweb.com wasn't fruitful.

Then I did some general web searching (google is your friend).

Here are some sites about William Henry "Wee Willie" Keeler...

• Official Site of "Wee" Willie Keeler
• Baseball Hall of Fame player page
• Baseball-Reference.com - statistics
• Wikipedia page
• The DeadballEra.com - Obituary
• FindaGrave.com

These sites helped me find out a bit more, specifically the obituary and the FindaGrave pages.

From the photos on the FindaGrave site, it appears that he had two other siblings (Ellen and John), both dying young.

From this information, there does not appear to be any direct descendants of "Wee Willie" Keeler. I have made only cursory glances to try to find when and where his parents came to the US. There is more research to be done, but I figured that I should set out what I have learned already.

Favorite Films - War

Not wanting to debate the concept of "should we be glorifying war on film", I present my five favorite war movies (in no particular order).

• The Great Escape
• Braveheart
• Glory
• Saving Private Ryan
• Gettysburg

I thought about tossing in Kelly's Heroes, but that might fall in another category.

A year and a half later...

So, I'm following up on a post from a year and a half ago. Tonight I scanned in a color photocopy of 4 different covers of Louis L'Amour's The Tall Stranger. Here are two of them.

The quality isn't great. Many, many moons ago I used a color photocopier. Since then, it has hung in my office, having the opportunity to be faded by the sun, bad lighting, etc.

I dug around on the 'net and found a few other covers. Rather than have another long entry full of photos, I decided to upload them to a Picasa web folder. There's another site, LouisLAmourCollector.com, that has some great info about all things Louis. This link is for The Tall Stranger.

Remember, books aren't just for looking at. This one is a decent read, as are most of his titles.

Bits and Pieces

This summer I have had occasion to encounter some interesting things.

I present them here, without commentary...

A Family Reunion

So, this last week was a whirlwind of happenings. Most notably, my aunt, Shirley Robinson, passed away.

I have felt a little bad about not blogging about it, but I couldn't find the right words to express my feelings. I don't know that I have found them yet. Others have written and spoken some of the thoughts that I had. For the time, I'll let them speak for me.

I took a plane ride from Knoxville to Detroit to Ithaca on Tuesday. Then a rental car drive up to Waterloo. I was soon met by family. The hospitality and food were wonderful. I missed the first segment of the visitation, but was able to meet many of Shirley's coworkers and friends.

Wednesday brought the funeral service, graveside service and then a reception. My thanks goes out to those that participated in the services and provided more good food for the reception. After leaving the church, the family retired to Shirley's house for photos, conversation and more food.

Yup, that's us. Not all of my cousins could attend, so that's not all of us, but it is a decent sampling. Yes, I'm wearing a tie. My cousin, Karen (of the "I slept with my cousin fame") is next to me wearing sunglasses, but not a pointy hat.

The evening ended early for me, as I had to be up at 3:00 a.m. to drive to Ithaca to catch a 6:00 a.m. flight.

At the Detroit airport I was able to walk to Concourse A to look at a few shops. The Motown store and the Henry Ford store had a few smashed penny machines. I ignored the contents of the stores and quickly made change. One of the machines at the Henry Ford store was out of commission. I smashed a total of 10 pennies (2 extra for Bettie), but I seem to have lost one from the Motown machine. So, I came home with 7 new smashed pennies.

And lots of memories of a great woman.

Because Angie asked for it....

Angie left a comment on my previous entry. She said,

Too bad you didn't save the "sexy" flyer to scan and blog! :)

I didn't, but the power of the Internet pays off.


The Gathering, a local church pastored by Gene Wolfenbarger, is very proactive in advertising their church programs. In October of 2007, they had a four week series titled Red Hot Sex. They sent out the above flyer. It attracted much media interest, a lot of water cooler talk and the ire of many.

I downloaded and listened to the first sermon in the series. It was good, but I didn't find it great. Sort of a mix of sermons I've heard before, books I've read before and common sense. I didn't go back to download the last three in the series.

So, Angie... you asked for it, you got it.

What's wrong with this picture?

Aside from the fact that his parents let him dye his hair green.


This is a portion of a piece of advertising literature from a local church. They mail them out about every two weeks or so. I look at them to see what they're doing, to see how 'slick' their promo material is.

This one caught my eye because the kid is playing a bass. It is a left handed bass (think Paul McCartney). And it has 5 strings. No, wait. It has 4 strings, but 5 tuning keys. Call it creative Photoshopping. More is better, right?

Can I really trust a church that will doctor photos? Well, probably, but something doesn't feel quite right.

You can't make this up

This story appeared in today's edition of the Knoxville News Sentinel. I have left off the part where it names the two suspects as a courtesy to them.

Two suspects arrested in Seymour burglary

SEYMOUR - Two men have been arrested for their alleged roles in a Seymour burglary that was thwarted by a woman who beat them off with a musical instrument, according to the Sevier County Sheriff's Department.

The incident happened just after 9 a.m. Saturday at a home on Maryville Highway when two men forced their way inside while a "female and her young child" were asleep, a press release states.

The woman confronted the men with "part of a brass musical instrument and assaulted one of the suspects," who fled, the release states. The type of instrument wasn't immediately available.

Need I say more? I didn't think so.

Link to original story.

Mojos Rock Shoppe

There's a new guitar store in Knoxvegas. I was privileged to meet one of the owners, Jason Raggett, on Thursday night. Angie and I were representing DSAG at the VIP Night of the WIMZ Classic Rock Art Show.

Scott Segelbaum, of Rock Art Show, put the show and sale on. WIMZ hosted it and a portion of the proceeds will be given to DSAG. We are very grateful for for the support that they provide.

Jason's store is opening at: 12740 Kingston Pike, Suite 102 in Knoxville. He can be reached at (865) 671.2450.

They deal in vintage, unique and boutique guitars and amps. Jason had about 10 guitars at the art show.

They had some very sweet Fenders and Gibsons.

I was extremely taken by this Fender Custom Shop Esquire...


They also carry amps, including this original Fender Tweed...


No, I don't know all the model numbers or specs but I do know that I like guitars. Jason was kind enough to spend some time with me, talking about their history and their philosophy. It seems like the right kind of fit for Knoxville.

I haven't been to Mojos Rock Shoppe yet, but I will. And I'll take Edison. Hopefully he'll love it as much as I will.

Next set of favorite films

And the categories are: Musicals and Christmas

Hmmm.... There could be some crossover here.

Let's do the musicals first. No, wait, the Christmas ones.

• A Christmas Story
• Christmas Vacation
• White Christmas
• Elf
• It's a Wonderful Life

And now the Musicals.

• West Side Story
• The Blues Brothers
• Holiday Inn
• South Pacific
• Singin' in the Rain

You might already be thinking, "What? No Peanuts Christmas?" Although one of my favorites, I don't consider it a film. It is an animated TV special. One half hour of goodness, but not a film.

You also might be thinking that The Blues Brothers doesn't equal a musical. My list, my choice. That's what the comments section of this blog is for. Make your own list.

Quirks and Catchup

A while ago, my brother tagged me to present 5 quirks about myself. I'm also supposed to tag some others. But, I was tagged late in the game and so the people that I would have tagged have already been tagged. So, I'm breaking this chain letter of a fun idea. Yes, I won't win the lottery, I won't win the world cruise, famine and pestilence shall fall on me from the sky. I can live with that.

1. When reading a book, I will see how many pages there are, how many I have left to read and how many I read at that sitting and then figure out (rough) percentages. Ex. In 200 page book, if I read 20 pages, then I've read 10 %. Then, the next time I read it, if I get through 60 pages, I've read 33 % of what's left and 40 % of the total.
2. In my mind, I'm a completest. I collect sports cards of Orel Hershiser. I'd like to have every card that was created for him, but the practical side of me says, "No. It costs too much money for a special autograph/relic card that they made only 10 of."
3. I like to put disordered magazines into place at the grocery store. House Beautiful should not be on top of the Sports Illustrated. Muscle Cars should not be behind Soldier of Fortune.
4. I prefer Coke products instead of Pepsi products.
5. I like lists to be of an even number and this is just killing me. (Not really, I just couldn't think of another quirk right now. I'm sure that my readers can come up with one.)

And now for some catch up. I'm recovering rather well from the hernia surgery. I need to say thanks to Mom and Dad for sending me the Murdick's fudge. Very tasty. Thanks.

I've read a few more books and started a few more.

I'm currently in second place in the Fantasy Baseball league I play in, with the playoffs starting next week. Fantasy Football will be drafting this coming weekend.

I was able to finish up the Buffalo Bill TV series on DVD before turning it into McKay's books for credit. Here's some dialog from one of the later episodes. Max Wright plays station manager Karl Shub. His rebellious teen aged son returns home and is living in the back yard.


Son: If that dog barks in the middle of the night and wakes me up, I'm going to kill it.

After the son walks off, Karl turns to one of his co-workers.

Karl: The joke's on him. The dog died two weeks ago.


It works better on DVD.

Bristol was good. Angie posted the best photos. And the best text. I've got nothing.

So, I should post entries more frequently. Just to scoop her.

For now, you can call me Mr. Liq. Or Mr. Lick. Your choice.

A Book Geek Test

From the FoggyGates -A Bookish Blog come a Book Geek Test.


Yes, I passed. Or failed, depending which way you score it.

My father scored more than I did, I'm sure.

Favorite Films - Sports

Time for another short list. The topic is Mark's favorite films. The category is Sports. In no particular order:

• Chariots of Fire
• Field of Dreams
• The Rookie
• Eight Men Out
• A League of Their Own

Now, most of those deal with baseball. Hmm. I bet you didn't see that one coming. I guess I could have included Rocky, Hoosiers or 61*. But I didn't.

A 2 for 1 sale

If you read my wife's blog, you know that I'm scheduled for bilateral hernia surgery on Wednesday. I'll get through this and I thank you in advance for your prayers.

I made it through the lab work yesterday (thanks to prayer, God's faithfulness, Angie's hand holding and a kind and gentle medical professional). It wasn't fun, but was necessary.

I have had the opportunity to visit several hospitals over the last few years and I have just started to notice something.

In the lobbies, hallways and other areas, there are often pictures and plaques showing the history of the hospital.

This Hospital was founded by
Mr. and Mrs. Deeppockets in 1913,

in memory of their kitten, Fluffy.

That's nice and all. But then there's the cabinets full of surgical instruments that date from the time of the Inquisition with all the (in)appropriate info on them.

This rusty saw was used to remove the leg of patients when they came to have an ingrown toenail removed. It used to take 13 nurses to sit on a patient because sedatives had not yet been invented.

Now, really. Who needs to see that sort of stuff? Have a special room (broom closet) devoted to historical medical instruments, with a big warning sign that says:

Enter at your own risk. There are nightmares inside.

So, tomorrow I head in. I know that it will be alright. I know that God is with me. I know that I am loved. I also know that I don't look forward to it.

Favorite Films

I've been thinking about movies lately. A few years ago, I compiled a list of my favorite 100 films. So, I thought I'd revise that and give you my top 5 from a variety of genres. What's a genre? Well, a film type. You know... Chick-Flick. Guy-Flick. That about covers them. Actually, imdb.com (Internet Movie DataBase) has a listing of genres. Here are some of them...

• Action
• Adventure
• Animation
• Biography
• Comedy
• Crime
• Documentary
• Drama
• Family
• Fantasy
• Film-Noir
• History
• Horror
• Musical
• Mystery
• Romance
• Sci-Fi
• Short
• Sport
• Thriller
• War
• Western

Okay, that's way too many. But it will give me something to start with. I can pick one of their genres, pull out 5 films and you'll never be the wiser whether I actually think that they're good or not. Well, I'll try to do you right. And no, I can't explain Film-Noir.

These are not ranked in any order and I reserve the right to change my mind. I also reserve the right to ignore your comments saying that a film that I place in one genre should actually be in another genre. I reserve the right to not use all genres listed above. I'll have to have actually seen the film to include it in my list.

Here's a go at one of the genres. "Alex, I'll take Romance for 400."

• Four Weddings and Funeral
• Notting Hill
• The Princess Bride
• The Abyss
• Return To Me

One more film for dads and their boys

Angie is out with her girlfriends, so I had fun with the kids tonight. We ate dinner and then Caroline and I played a bit. Then a bath for her. Edison suggested that we watch another Hitchcock film. Not wanting to sit through 80 minutes of a silent film like The Lodger, I suggested that we watch To Catch A Thief. I tossed him the DVD cover and he seemed generally interested. I reminded him that this wasn't going to be full of high tension, killers and suspense, but more of a light, romantic story, with a bit of humored writing. He showered, read his Bible and then joined me for the viewing. He started off the movie with the question of: "Now, you'll point out Hitchcock when he appears on screen, won't you?" and ended up with "What was the significance of the black cat on the roof at the beginning?" and "So, how did she know that he was the burglar when they had the picnic?" All fair questions. Hitchcock's appearance was obvious. I'll let you watch the movie and answer the others.

It moved a bit slow, but he stayed with it. I think that some of the subtleties might have been lost on him, but he did enjoy it. Some of the dialogue was cute.

Grace Kelly's character, to Cary Grant's, after he was talking to a young French woman: Are you sure you were talking about water skis? From where I sat it looked as though you were conjugating some irregular verbs.

And in another scene, Cary Grant's character, to Grace Kelly's character: Not only did I enjoy that kiss last night, I was awed by its efficiency.

There were more quips. I think that the film was mostly just a vehicle for the two leading stars, although the screen writer, John Michael Hayes, had written other movies for Hitchcock. This one was adapted from a David Dodge novel. Will watching this again make me want to go read the novel? Nope.

I was disappointed that there was no card inside the DVD case showing the chapter titles or interesting facts, but I was greatly surprised that the DVD had the trailer, a 'making of' short, a photo and poster gallery and a few other tidbits.

Overall, a good film and a good time.

Required links: IMDB and an interesting technical page, comparing two different editions of the DVD.

For Sale

I enjoy reading magazines. Smithsonian. National Geographic. Vintage Guitar, among others.

In the latest issue of the Vintage Guitar, there is an ad for Willie's American Guitars. Here are two of the entries.

'60 Fender Precision Bass
3-Tone Sunburst, slab board, clay dots, spaghetti logo, tortoise guard, bridge and pickup covers, nice patina but all-original including brown tolex case. Perfectly weighted and balanced, fits the hands like a fine Japanese sword. Well, sort of. For one thing it's bigger. And you can't cut people's heads off with it so swiftly and cleanly that they take a few steps before realizing they're dead and then their head falls off and like 50 gallons of fake blood sprays out. $14,500.

'78 Fender Antigua Telecaster
Antigua finish and pickguard, rosewood board, extremely clean, all-original except for changed switch tip, includes original hardshell case, bridge cover, strap and hang tags, plays well, decent weight. I've seen this unusual color compared to many things, including hard-boiled eggs that have been sitting out too long. Well, actually that was my own comparison. But, hey, it looks good on you. The last line works best if you way it out loud in a Rodney Dangerfield voice while tugging at your collar. $3250.

I'm smashed

No, that's just my pennies talking.

I like Elongated Coins. Smashed Pennies. A few good sites are:

• The Elongated Collectors
• Penny Collector
• Pressed Penny

But, I digress. I wasn't looking for them, but I found a few machines on our trip. Here they are...

Cosley Zoo

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Home

Now, this will look amazingly like my wife's latest entry, but I did it independently.

We're home. Many miles on the van. Three museums visited. Scores of friends seen. A handful of sermons heard. Countless laughs. Even more countless calories consumed.

We're tired and there are pictures still to download from the cameras.

Good night and sweet dreams.

Catch Up

If your thought process is like mine when it comes to blogging, then I have pity on you.

I try to come up with a theme. Or something that might interest my readers. So, I concoct grandiose ideas, only to start to type them and realize that although a good idea, they fall rather flat when one reads both sentences.

So, I've abandoned that and figured I'd just start typing and see what comes out.

We were visited by friends of ours from the Chicago area this weekend. We used to attend church with Steve and Char. We went out to dinner with them Friday evening and then had them over to the house after church on Sunday. Steve and I looked at some of his Dutch ancestry and talked genealogy while Angie and Char talked of crafts and quilts and such things. I gave Steve a tour of KnoxVegas and we went to BestBuy and bought a GPS. Well, I bought the GPS. Then he and I went to Buddy's Bar-B-Q for dinner.

After they left, I played a bit with the GPS, finding voices that I liked and got interested in the possibilities of adding my own Points of Interest set. And no, I didn't pay full MSRP for the unit.

Mom sent me a great story about a switch pitcher in the minor leagues. There's also a CBS produced YouTube video about him. Not from that news story, but just about him.

So there. Not a stellar post, but it caught you up on what has been happening. What more could you ask for? A mojito? Sorry, I don't have one. But if I did drink, this one looks good.

Happy Father's Day

It was a good one. Busy, but good. After church, I took Edison and 3 of his buddies to church camp. I was fortunate to have Pete C. travel with me as navigator and chatting buddy. Then, off to the in-laws for tasty (as usual) meal. Much talking and harmonica playing (by Jim). Then home and a quick call to my dad, with Caroline wishing him a Happy Father's Day. He heard it as "Happy Birthday." I had to cut the call short, as it was past bedtime for the wee one. I called him back later and we spent the better part of a half an hour reminiscing about family vacations when I was younger. Visiting Ottawa and the Parliament there. Detouring through Boston on the way to Maine in August of '68. We went to see the Red Sox play. We can't pin the exact date down, but it was the Yastrzemski era.

Thanks again, Dad. For everything.

Misc, update

Just a couple of items to blog about...

I've added photos to the Autograph Day post. And I finished some books recently.

• Ellis Peters' A Morbid Taste For Bones
• Paul L. Maier's The First Easter
• Marilyn vos Savant's More Marilyn
• Bob Newhart's I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!
• Louis Phillips and Burnham Holmes' The TV Almanac

I mooched a Brother Cadfael book today. I'm trying to catch up on some of the titles that I'm part way through before starting anything new. We'll see.

Edison has been playing with an online game called linerider. Here's what can be done...


Line Rider 'Transcendental™' HD by TechDawg from TechDawg on Vimeo.

One more tribute

This one is from Angie's side of the family. Her first cousin, three times removed, John H. Lurker, from Posey Co., Indiana, served in World War I.

This image and info came from the Gold Star Honor Roll from Google Books.

Another tribute

Michael Nichols is my 3rd great-grandfather. He was born in Canada and died at Andersonville, Georgia.


It is my best guess that he was a substitute soldier for someone. He was part of Company I, Seventh Regiment, Connecticut Infantry.