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.