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.

Memorial Day tribute

This is Memorial Day weekend in the US. This holiday is supposed to commemorate U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country. Here's a one of them. Orville Nicholas Hodlin is my grand-uncle who died during World War II.


Private, U.S. Army
Serial Number: 42091929
23rd Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division
Died: October 19, 1944, Holland
Buried at: Plot D Row 1 Grave 23
Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery
Henri-Chapelle, Belgium

info from: The American Battle Monuments Commission


Here is his obituary...

Pvt. Hodlin Killed In Action In Holland
  Pvt. Orville N. Hodlin, 27, formerly of Champlain, was killed in action in Holland on October 19th, according to a telegram received by his wife last week from the War Department. Other details have not yet been made available. Pvt. Hodlin was born in Worcester, Mass. and is a son of Margaret Hodlin (now Mrs. John Dragoon), of Plattsburg, and the late Orville D. Hodlin. Mrs. Edison Aubrey, of Champlain, is a sister.
  Pvt. Hodlin was inducted into the service on Jan 25, 1944, and received his basic training at Camp Blanding, Fla. He went overseas to England with his unit late in July and was sent to France later seeing action with the American forces invading Holland. He had seen action in France, Belgium and Holland.
  Pvt. Hodlin attended school at Champlain and Ellenburg, and later was a member of the Civilian Conservation Corp. Surviving besides his wife and mother are three daughters: Catherine, 8, Barbara, 4, and Linda, who is six months old.

The North Countryman
Rouses Point, New York
16 November 1944

Proud Parents

Today was Edison's last day of school. He started singing Alice Cooper's School's Out. I asked him if he knew who did that song. He didn't.

It was Awards Day at his school. He did very well this year. He received the following awards.

• A-B Honor Roll
• Science
• Math
• Social Studies
• Language Arts
• Athletics
• Bible

He also received the Lion Heart award. That is given out every year to a boy and a girl in each grade. The students and the teachers vote on who should be the recipient. It is for Christ-likeness. This is the second time that Edison has been awarded this honor. It brought a small tear to my eyes when his name was called out, but no one saw it because I was taking photos (which will be posted later).

Angie and I are proud of both of our kids. But today is Edison's day to shine.

Autograph Day

EDITED - Pictures added...

At the end of March, Edison and I went to Tucson to be with my mom (and dad) as she went through a knee replacement surgery. The day after we arrived (and the day before the surgery) we went to Hi Corbett Field to see the Chicago White Sox play the Colorado Rockies.


It was a warm, sunny day. We got there before the gates opened, because it was Autograph Day. Who would be signing? Who knew? Not us. We rushed in with a sea of fans. Mom, not wanting to stand in line, went and found our seats behind home plate. We saw the small table where the Rockies players would be signing. After standing in line for about 30 minutes, Edison decided that it wasn't worth it. Dad and I toughed it out and had Eric Young, Jr. and Micah Bowie sign our ticket stubs. Micah commented on my Nationals hat.


Then we made our way to our seats. We watched the Rockies warm up and the grounds crew finish their preparations. The White Sox arrived in a bus, a left field gate opened and they ambled to their dugout. Edison tried to get one of them to sign his ticket, but not many were signing. Even few acknowledged their fans.

Shortly before the game started Clint Hurdle, manager of the Rockies, was behind home plate talking with some of the fans. Edison and I managed to get our tickets signed. Clint was very generous with his time.


We got to see some good players, including Todd Helton (UT alum) in a 5-2 Sox win.

Sunburns and nachos during spring training. Now that's baseball.

Is there an Astral Mystic in the house?

This is from the Plattsburgh Daily Press, 1941. Clyde Aubrey is my grand-uncle. I'm trying to figure out if I have "the gift."

Star in the making

Bookman's

Bookman's is a used book/music/game/magazine/jewelry/dvd/etc store in Tucson (and other locations in Arizona). I went to the Speedway store during my visit.

It is mostly known as a bookstore. Well, I think of it as a bookstore. They have mostly books...


and magazines...


and some kids books. Lots of kids books and places to sit...


and more places to sit...


Where else can you get some Luther and Billy side by side?


This is the listening pod room. I didn't approach too closely. Pod people.


Well, there's books. Books galore. I didn't hang out in the romance or biography section, so I can't tell you how those are. But I did peruse the Science Fiction and Mystery areas, as well as the Sports and Misc. sections. A nice collection and variety. All of the copies of books were very clean. No mashed up, covers torn copies here.

Plenty of room to move around, good service people, maps and BIG signs.

I didn't look too much in the music section. Edison 'complained' that he couldn't find any Beatles LPs. I tried to explain to him that most of their LPs came out in the 1960s and probably wouldn't be in the open bins at Booksmans. I don't think he quite understood it, but hey, at least he knows what LPs are.

They have a nice selection of magazines. Some rather obscure titles and a boatload of Arizona Highways. Always nice to see.

Music is always playing over the loudspeakers. I guess an employee decides what to play. Some of it I found not to be "Let's get the customers to relax and buy books" music. Even one of the employees I talked to thought the same thing.

The other employees I talked to, actually talked back. Some other bookstores I've been to (no, I won't name names), the employees seem to treat you like you are a nuisance and not the customer that would make the biggest purchase of the day. Bookman's' employees didn't quite go that far, but at least they engaged me in conversation. That means a lot to me.

I'm not sure of their trade-in policy, but I do know that Thursdays is Senior Citizen discount day.
Next time I'm in Tucson, I'll go back.

I'd like to thank the day supervisor (Chris, was it?) for giving me permission to take some photos. And the night supervisor for asking me why I was taking photos and then being cool when I described the day supervisor.

And I'd like to thank Boyd, a knitted interpretation of Cthulhu for its recommendations.


Go visit them just for that. It is worth it.

Books in AZ

I've got about 3 or 4 blog entries I want to write about my recent trip to Arizona. This is one of them.

Being on an airplane for hours on end is not overly fun. Having a book helps pass the time. I took with me Slouching Towards Fargo, a book about, well, a lot of things. Baseball and baseball players, redemption and second (and third) chances, celebrities and life. Some of the situations and language make me put it in the category of, "It was a good read, but I can't recommend it. " I learned some baseball stuff (independent leagues, who played for who, when, etc).

At Ft. Lowell I picked up Only the Echoes: The Life of Howard Bass Cushing, a book about a Civil War man who went on to fight the Indians in the West. I thought that it was more of an extended monograph, but a good read, with lots of detailed research. This one I can recommend. I have been doing it already.

Angie got me a Barnes and Noble gift card for Valentine's Day. I spent it in Tucson. I picked up Bob Newhart's I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This: And Other Things That Strike Me as Funny. I've just read the introduction. Very funny. But I've always like him, so I'm a little biased.

Also at B&N I picked up Somerset Digital Studio magazine. For Angie, but also for me.

At Bookmans, I picked up Ellis Peters' A Morbid Taste for Bones. The first of the Brother Cadfael mystery novels.

I also picked up a used magazine there, Fine Books & Collections. Wow. This is a good magazine if you like stories of book collecting, sales and auctions, anything bibliophilic. Yeah, that's not a word, but you know what I mean.

I'll be doing a separate blog entry on Bookmans. Also on Ft. Lowell, the Rockies/White Sox game, lunch with Edna and probably a smattering of other things that I took photos of but don't really require a whole entry.

She walks...

No, not a line from a 1950's monster movie, or the first works of a poem by Lord Byron, but my mom. Last Wednesday she had knee replacement surgery. Edison and I traveled to Tucson to be with her (and my dad).

We arrived on Monday evening. Long flights, lots of waiting. Tuesday included a spring training game between the Rockies and the White Sox. Wednesday was surgery. More waiting. Thursday was lunch with Edna and a trip to Ft. Lowell. Friday was a check on Mom at the hospital, then to the UofA for museums. Mom was released from the hospital on Friday afternoon and that evening went to Applebee's for dinner. Saturday, we were at the van shuttle to Sky Harbor Airport at 5:45am. Lots of waiting on the way home. But we made it.

Now, there are a lot of little things that happened throughout the week, but I didn't want to start on them until I laid out the fact that Mom is walking. With a walker. But walking. Surgery works and God is good.

Spring is here

and that means baseball.


This is a photo of the Beverwycks, a team from Rouses Point, New York, in 1888. The man wearing a tie (Jesse Holcombe) is my sixth cousin, three times removed. On my mom's side of the family.

This photo was probably printed in The North Countryman in early 1939, soon after Jesse died.

Here's a transcription of some baseball news from 1890...

The Plattsburgh Sentinel - Friday, August 8, 1890

Base Ball Games

-- A female nine from Ohio will play at Rouses Point on Friday.

-- The game between the Hotel Champlains of Bluff Point and the Beverwycks at Rouses Point last Friday resulted in a score of 9 to 17 in favor of the latter.

-- The game between the Cuban Giants of New York and the Hotel Champlains, played at Plattsburgh last Saturday, was a bad defeat for the local club, the score standing 11 to 1.

-- A special train will leave Plattsburgh at 1:30 p.m., on Friday for Rouses Point to convey those who desire to witness the game between the Female Nine and the Beverwycks, stopping in West Chazy and Chazy, and returning after the game. Fare for round trip, 50 cents.

-- A new home team has been organized at Plattsburgh, with Heffernan and Hubbell pitchers, Hackett and Paul Smith catchers, George Stave, S. D. Curtis, Ned Baker, G. W. Hickey, F. K. Kyle, and S. V. Beckwith, fielders. The new team played a game with Hotel Champlain club yesterday afternoon, which resulted in a victory for the Plattsburghs, the score being 5 to 4.

I joined a Yahoo! fantasy sports baseball league. Some of the guys at work thought that it would be fun. Sure. For them.

Next week I take Edison to Arizona to spend some time with my folks. My mom is having knee replacement surgery, and we'll be taking care of Dad and checking in on mom. They've made arrangements for us to go see a spring training game. The Rockies vs. the White Sox. Edison and I have never been to a spring training game. It should be fun.

This is what happens...

when you have too much time on your hands. This is in reference to Angie's recent post.

[video clip of Angie saying witty things via an Irish Spring commercial removed to eliminate annoying bubble sounds]

More Books

I've had an increase in the reading department this last week.

I received a gift card to Borders Bookstore. Last Saturday I cashed it in. Here's what I purchased:

• Family Chronicle magazine - April issue
• Internet Genealogy magazine - March issue
• Death Note - volume 1 (manga) (official site [flash heavy])
  
• Best Ever Craft Project Book - for Angie

Then, I mooched Slouching Toward Fargo: A Two-Year Saga Of Sinners And St. Paul Saints At The Bottom Of The Bush Leagues With Bill Murray, Darryl Strawberry, Dakota Sadie And Me. I hope to open my mailbox this week and find it waiting for me

On Thursday, Angie and I had a meeting on the west side of town, so we stopped at one of the big used bookstores, traded in some DVDs (old Hitchcock) and picked up some themed mysteries for Angie and Death Note - volume 2 for me.

Today I purchased the Archaeological Study Bible (NIV) at Cedar Spring Christian Store. They had it on sale for 50% off, but they ran out. The salesman found a slightly more expensive version and discounted it 40%. I'm happy.

A Day of Beauty

Saturday morning, I took Caroline about 30 miles away, to Karns Middle School, to be a part of A Day of Beauty. Miss Knoxville's Outstanding Teen 2008, Danyelle Trent, hosted the event, where young women with physical and mental disabilities could have their hair fixed up and receive manicures.

Knowing that Caroline wouldn't want to sit and have her hair braided or foofed up, I opted for the fingernails. It took her a moment or two, but she warmed up to one of the manicurists from Tennessee School of Beauty. A clear, top coat was quickly applied and Caroline proudly showed off her painted nails to any that would ask.

There was dancing and door prizes and all the attendees left with a small gift bag. We then went out to Chik-fil-A for "chicken and frie fries." A quick stop at the bookstore and we headed home.

Danyelle and Caroline

Another film for boys and their dads

Angie went to her overnight crop. Caroline had taken a bath and was in bed. It was just a night for Edison and I. We were planning to watch a DVD together, but hadn't settled on one particular movie. He suggested Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Or Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Both were vetoed. I asked a co-worker to bring in some Bruce Lee films. What could be better for male bonding than Kung Fu? Well, the co-worker forgot. I had just picked up a 20 movie set of Hitchcock Films from Wal-Mart for $5. Surely there had to be something on there. Edison wasn't so sure. I suggested an Indiana Jones film. Not so much. Then, O Brother, Where Art Thou? came to my mind. A quick race through my memories of that film revealed some minor language, some violence but passable and memorable. How else am I going to get him to learn about The Odyssey? That's right, I'm not.

We dimmed the lights, got out blankets and settled in for some Dapper Dan and old timey music. The Coen brothers struck a high note on this one. Different than Fargo or Barton Fink, this is one that I'd watch again. Edison liked it.

IMDB link

Snow

Something that has me smiling

Scambaiters. This is priceless...

I don't like to use someone else's hard work just to fill my blog (yes I do), but this one is too sweet.

Enjoy.

Peter's Chocolate

From St. Nicholas magazine, Oct. 1904.

Books, again

So, the other night, returning from a meeting downtown, I stopped into Dollar General. I found a few coloring books for Caroline, a fun how-to book of stuff for Angie, and Phil Lesh's autobiography, Looking for the Sound (My Life with the Grateful Dead). I started to read it that night. How many books are written by bass players? I've never been a fan of the Dead. I didn't really get it. I downloaded and started to listen to a Phil Lesh and Friends concert from archive.org. Some of the songs were good, others... not so much.

But this post is about books. This one is interesting. Phil Lesh shouldn't be your role model. Lots of drug use. Now, this was the late '50s and early '60s in California, so one shouldn't be surprised. And no, he hasn't started to play bass, yet. Violin, trumpet. He was in the army and then discharged, he worked for the Post Office, but they didn't like his long hair. He quit. This book is not going to be a literary masterpiece. But it does present a look inside a period of time and space that I'm not familiar with. And it was only a dollar. Hence the name of the store.

I'm also more actively reading Nicholas Basbane's A Splendor of Letters. Very tasty.

A friend of mine blogged about the fact that she just finished John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. I've never read it. I pledged that I would read it this year.

Googling for "Grapes of Wrath" on Google's book site gives me plenty to choose from:

• John Steinbeck's 1939 novel
• Mary Harriot Norris' 1901 novel
• Boyd Cable's 1917 novel

I'll go with the Steinbeck.

Here's something you don't see everyday

If you need more strangeness...



If you liked James Hill (the ukulele player), here's another video:
Orange Blossom Special
(James Hill with Madcat on harmonicas)

Happy Valentines Day

(my thanks to Doug for pointing me towards these artists)

Book Tags

My wife tagged me. Something about books. So, here goes...

     In the United States, the social-prestige scale was sensitive and exact: first-generation Jews envied second-generation Jews; and German Jewish families–Kuhns, Warbugs, Seligmans, Kahns, Schiffs, Lehmanns, Loebs, Ocheses–became an elite of remarkable influence and social cohesiveness. The "pecking order" of this Establishment, its pride, philanthropy, snobbery, and Pecksniffian patronage of Russian and Polish Jews–all this is described by Stephen Birmingham in Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York. San Francisco's Jews became a distinguished, conspicuously civic-minded group of descendants of settlers dating back to the Gold Rush.

This is part of the description of the Yiddish word: Galitzianer, which means: A Jew from Galicia, a province of Poland/Austria. (When Poland was partitioned in 1772, Austria grabbed Galicia.)

The book is Leo Rosten's The Joys of Yiddish.

Here's what you do. . .

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people & post a comment here once you post it to your blog, so I can come see.

Then, I (and hundreds of others) will come see what you're reading. Like Angie, I'm picking people that I think are avid readers ... wait, I don't know five people that blog AND read.

I'll tag somebody later, I guess.

But in the mean time, I'll do another page 123...

"They wrote on both sides of the sheet in columns, following the folds," he observed, noting how the finished product was then enclosed between elegantly decorated boards, sometimes binding them in the cured skin of jaguars. Landa's physical description of the codices corresponds with images that were painted on Maya vases. For modern-day scholars, of far greater significance was Landa's character-by-character description of the alphabet, which had been dictated to him by a native who had working knowledge of the language, along with drawings of their appearance.

That was from Nicholas A. Basbanes' A Splendor of Letters (The Permanence of Books in an Impermanent World)

Finally, one from Marjorie Rowling's Life in Medieval Times...

     Odo not only laid the foundations of Cluny's future greatness but was called upon by rulers and the Pope to reform other monasteries in France, Italy and in Rome itself. This was not an easy task, for monks disliked interference by abbots from other abbeys. At Fleury in France the monks forcibly resisted Odo's entry.

Films for boys and their dads

Last night, while Angie was watching NASCAR stuff on TV and working on the computer, I watched a wonderful Alfred Hitchcock film with Edison.

The 39 Steps is a delightful mystery / romantic comedy. It, I think, is my favorite movie of all time. There are others that are good (Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Blues Brothers, The Mission, Raising Arizona, etc), but I do enjoy this one very much.

We watched a public domain copy of it. The sound was a bit uneven and the print a bit faded here and there. A friend of mine is borrowing my Criterion Collection copy.

I won't try to review the movie or even give a plot synopsis. More info can be found at this DVD review, or at the IMDB entry.

Edison liked it. It must be good.

I'd recommend to go and rent or buy a copy, settle back for a time and enjoy.

p.s. - the title of this post doesn't quite make sense, in that it implies that there is more than one film that I'd recommend for "boys and their dads." Let's call this a start to a (very) short series of posts.

Bass-ball in 1829

Yet another mention of that game...

This is a portion of a sketch about young girls growing up from The American Farmer, March 20, 1829 (No. 1, Vol. 11, page 6, column 1), John S. Skinner, editor.

The following, which is from Miss Mitford's Village Sketches, is probably one of the best productions that ever flowed from her gifted pen.
...
Then comes a sun-burnt gipsey of six, beginning to grow tall and thin, and to find the cares of the world gathering about her, with pitcher in one hand, a mop in the other, and old straw bonnet of ambiguous shape, half hiding her tangled hair, a tattered stuff petticoat, once green, hanging below an equally tattered frock, once purple; her longing eyes fixed on a game of bass-ball at the corner of the green, till she reaches the cottage door, flings down the mop and pitcher, and darts off to her companions, quite regardless of the storm of scolding with which the mother follows her runaway steps.

So the world wags till ten; then the little damsel gets admission to the charity school, and trips mincingly thither every morning, dressed in the old fashioned blue gown, and tippet, and bib and apron of that primitive institution, looking demure as a nun, and as tidy; her thoughts fixed on button holes and spelling books — those ensigns of promotion; despising dirt and bass-ball, and all their joys.

The complete scan can be found here.

Picture bonus from The American Farmer...

Bass-ball in 1827

More searching through the Books at Google...

On page 123 of the bestseller of 1827, The Principles of Physical, Intellectual, Moral, and Religious Education (volume 1) by William Newnham, we find...

With the same intention, the games of cricket, prison bars, foot ball, &c. will be useful, as children grow up, and are strong enough to endure such exercise. With regard to girls, these amusements may be advantageously supplanted by bass-ball, battledore and shuttlecock, and similar active and playful pursuits.

The whole book can be found here. No bookplate. Sorry.

Bass-ball in 1836

I found a reference to "bass-ball" in the Jan. 1838 issue of The British and Foreign Medical Review, quoting a 1836 study (from the Mclean Asylum in Boston) that was originally published in the May 1, 1837 edition of the American Medical Intelligencer.

The article is titled: Moral Management of the Insane in America.

On page 240 and 241 of The British and Foreign Medical Review the report states:

Our amusements are various and numerous. We keep a carriage, two carioles, one chaise and four horses, which are devoted almost exclusively to the use of the patients. Many of them ride every fair day, and have, the last year, ridden ten thousand miles. The males are also engaged at bowls, quoits, bass-ball, fishing, fancy painting, walking, dancing, reading, swinging, and throwing the ring, &c.

The report goes on to talk about other opportunities for the patients: recreational, religious, work and diversion related.

This came from a search for early references to Baseball, in any form. I subscribe to the 19cBB discussion list, mainly for Baseball in the 19th century. I'm not very active on the list, and I even admit to deleting some of the messages that come through if they don't interest me, but I do try to add something every so often. Larry McCray is working on Project Protoball. I sent him this information already.

I found the reference on the Google Books site. Here is the link to this copy of the The British and Foreign Medical Review.

As a bonus, here's the bookplate from the front of the journal...

Silence

A virtual acquaintance of mine has a blog. It is in a language other than English, so I use Babelfish to translate it. I can get an idea of what she is saying, but not the full meaning. I like her writing. I think that it is very good. Inspired. By what, I don't know. But I return to it every few weeks.

Lately she has been writing about silence. One of the definitions that she lists for Silence is: the sonorous version of the darkness

Because I've been listening to music and blogging about it, I started to think of the quiet. Of silence. How it is a rare thing.

About a week ago at work, I was going between buildings. I heard a noise in the sky and looked up. There were about 60 Canadian Geese flying overhead, in about 4 groups. They turned and were so close that I could hear their wings flap. Nature in silence.

Tonight, our family went to have dinner with my supervisor and his family. For a moment we all were quiet. The radio wasn't on. It was just the sound of the wind on the minivan. Machines in silence.

When I awake in the middle of the night. Angie lies next to me, with her CPAP machine, and the baby monitor hisses lightly from Caroline's room. Comfort in silence.

You can hear a lot in the silence.

If you listen.

Technology and Me

A few technology devices I've started to use...

A SanDisk MobileMate SD+ Memory Card Reader. Works great for transferring photos from the Kodak EasyShare Z712IS camera, or rather the SanDisk 2GB SD card. The card and reader combo seems to go faster than the camera and USB cord. And it was the only way I could figure out how to upgrade the firmware for the camera.

BestBatt.com has replacement batteries for the Z712IS that work. I didn't have much luck with the Kodak brand rechargeable batteries Ni-MH AA batteries. So, I purchased 2 of the KLIC-8000 replacements. And a charger. Delivered in a timely manner for less than $50.

I'm happy.

Two bukhs and another one already

In the past month or so, I picked up a few books. Like that's unusual?

The Joys of Yiddish by Leo Rosten and Words on Fire by Dovid Katz are both books about the Yiddish language.

The first is one that I had back in high school, then I sold it / lost it / lent it out and it never came back. I found a copy at the Book Eddy in south KnoxVegas over the Holidays.

The second is one that I purchased tonight at the Family Book Outlet in Maryville. It was 50% off the lowest marked price ($3.99). I didn't even open it up, just saw that it was a clean copy (remainder). It is subtitled The Unfinished Story of Yiddish. Who could pass that up?

The other book I purchased tonight is A Splendor of Letters (The Permanence of Books in an Impermanent World) by Nicholas A. Basbanes. I've read another of his other books on books. A Gentle Madness. That was about 10 years ago, and I still long for his writing. It, too, was 50% off the lowest marked price ($9.95).

I do have some other things to read. I exchanged some of my frequent flier miles for a subscription to Smithsonian magazine. I've just started reading Equal Rites, one of the DiscWorld novels by Terry Pratchett. And I got Tony Dungy's book, Quiet Strength.

I just finished up the Tolkien story, Farmer Giles of Ham, which was quite an enjoyable re-read. I don't think that I'll actually be starting any of these tonight, but I did want to share them with my faithful readers. Thank you, both.

New Year, New Tunes

I didn't really make any New Year's resolutions. Well, maybe to leave the chat channels when I actually say good-bye, instead of 10 minutes later. And, in my mind, to read more, exercise more, finish what I've started, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

Well, I came up with one the other day. New tunes. Not for the whole year, but for a while. I've formatted my mp3 player, clearing out the standbys of Jehtro Tull, Phil Keaggy, Stan Kenton, Robert Randolph, Boston, Bill Watrous and others.

I'm only going to try to listen to new music. I'll try it until St. Patrick's day.

So, what is new music, you might ask yourself. I did. Music that I haven't heard before. I'll keep the songs on there for a while. If they're good, they'll stay on for a few weeks, may a month. Then clear out some space and put on other stuff. If it isn't good, I'll listen to it and dump it at the soonest possible moment.

Where are you going to get this new music? Hmmm... From legit new music places. I feel that artists should be compensated for their art. But some of them give it away. That's what I'm looking for. And I found some free and low cost music. And some that I've paid for. Where do I start?

I could do it chronologically, or perhaps what's been squeaking my sneakers, as my friend Phillip said on Sunday.

I'll go with the squeaking bit.

The Aaron Pelsue Band. I saw them at the TCTC this weekend. Went to their vendor table and bought all four of their CDs. Good stuff.

I guess what started this thought process is a player from BattleMaster. Around Christmas time, there was tournament in the realm of my main character. It was hosted, to celebrate the wedding of my character, Willem, to the character of Ilya, played by my friend, Tali. There was much roleplaying and well wishes, both for the in-game wedding, and for the holidays in RL (Real Life). One of the players from another realm, posted an Out Of Character message, inviting everyone to his music website, and giving everyone a $5 coupon. Well, new music, and 5 bucks off. Can't beat that. Well, yes you can.

Before I get bogged down in the details, let me point you to Joar Berntsen's AmieStreet.com site.

There. I feel better. AmieStreet.com is an independent music download site. You pay for what you want. Very reasonable prices. 4 cents a song. 19 cents a song. A dollar an album. The prices are set on some sort of sliding scale based on the amount of downloads or popularity. I haven't really figured that out, yet. And I may never. But, it is classified by genre or artist, or... you know how these things work. Back to Joar. Joar's music is filed under: Ambience, Acoustic, Instrumental, Techno, Industrial Trance. I was a bit skeptical of Industrial Trance. But it works. Modern soundscapes I'd call it. I like it. Don't know that I'd have it on all the time, but I do like it. Another artist that I like from AmieStreet is Showky Sawzawa. Pop rock, but sung in Japanese. It surprised me, at first, but the arrangements are so nice and full that I soon looked past the fact that I couldn't understand the lyrics.

eFolkMusic.org has some nice tunes. You can pick up about a dozen free ones there. I haven't yet listened to them on my player, but it looks interesting.

Greenstar builds a solar powered community center that delivers electricity, pure water, health and education information and a wireless Internet connection to villages in the developing world. They have some world music. Solar powered recordings. I haven't yet downloaded those, but I want to.

Wayne Bledsoe is a local columnist for a few papers in KnoxVegas. The News Sentinel and occasionally the MetroPulse. About a year and a half ago, he wrote an article in the News Sentinel about the regional artists' music being recorded at the St. James Hotel. The recordings have been digitized and can be found at the Lynn Point Records site. I've downloaded quite a few, but not all of them.

Last, but not least, is Coverville. Doug told me about this site to download podcasts of cover music. When an artist re-records another artist's song. Good stuff.

Okay, that wasn't really the last one, because I just remembered archive.org's Live Music Archive. Trade friendly artists allow their live concerts to be housed here, in good quality recordings. You'll go deaf before you listen to all 45,318 concerts.

So, my mp3 player is full and I've got plenty of time at work to listen.

One last thing. I received a BestBuy gift card for Christmas. I used it to get Paul Simon's Graceland and the Best of Warren Zevon. And a pair of SkullCandy's smokin buds. Very nice. Angie got a pair as well. Comfortable and they sound good. BestBuy honored Target's price. Ask at the register.

Well, one more. Bonerama covering Black Sabbath in New Orleans. I am in debt to Steve O. for letting me know about this band. Thanks, Man.

A day late...

The tenth of January is my paternal grandmother's birthday. She is now 96. I forgot that it was her birthday yesterday. I do miss seeing her, as we live many, many miles apart. Here are some photos of her. Yes, there are a lot of them, but she deserves it.


Happy Birthday, Grammy.

Deer in Cades Cove

Many years ago, my wife and I attended a wedding in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, which is just a few hours past Nashville. The photographer was Lance Krueger. Talking to him at the rehearsal dinner, he showed me his portfolio. Although he was doing a wedding, he preferred to shoot wildlife, specifically white tail deer. He liked to shoot them in Texas, but had traveled all over the US to do it. We invited him to Tennessee to shoot at Cades Cove.

He stayed at our house for about a week, getting up early and spending the whole day to get just the right shot. Here are a few of them.

"La Caverna" Café

On May 26, 1980, the family went to Nogales, Sonora, Mexico for some shopping and a meal. We ended up at The Cavern, a nice little restaurant cut into the hillside. From the left are Gary (mom's brother), George (my dad), Effie (dad's mother) Mary (my mom) and Mark (me).

Grammy came to Arizona for my high school graduation. Gary was living in Sierra Vista at the time.

My, don't we look different.

Here's a postcard of the restaurant from 1937. Or, if you'd like one in color...

Looking for the end zone of milk and honey

I just suffered through the worst fantasy football weekend I've ever had. Knocked out of the playoffs in two leagues, both of which I was either in 1st place or had the highest scoring team in the league. It was like all my guys were fantasy football Jobs or something. Or more like the ancient Israelites wandering the desert, unable to find the end zone of milk and honey. It was horrible.

K

This came from a friend of mine regarding his Fantasy Football League (FFL) team. It pretty much sums up my experience both this year, and last. Except that I was neither in first place, nor had the highest scoring team in the league.

About 17 years ago or so I was invited by Steve S. to join a FFL. We used the USA Today stats and pencils and papers. Mostly it was guys from church. I helped start a league at the Wheaton College Physical Plant and we got some software (KKFL, I think). I moved to TN about 12 years ago. I played in a Yahoo! public league. Then I created a private league (the Red Headed League) and invited some of my new co-workers and some of the guys from Steve S's league. It became so popular, that a new league had to be formed (the Super Secret League). The RHL has 12 teams and the SSL has 8. To keep it interesting, each year, the bottom 4 teams of the RHL move down to the SSL and the top 4 teams of the SSL move up to the RHL. And the Winner of the RHL gets the Ryan Leaf Trophy. I'll get a picture of it later.

Past Winners of the trophy are:

Karl, Carl, Mike and Matt

Maybe someday I'll be a winner again. Yeah, right.

blog update for the Steelers

I updated my previous post on the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football to include the 2007 games.

They keep getting better.

A Bit of This and That

It has been a bit since I've created an entry. So, here's another mix of random bits.

Andruw Jones got signed to the LA Dodgers for $36 million for 2 years. Not figuring signing bonuses, delayed payment, etc., that is $18 million a year. On average, for his last 11 years as a major leaguer, he had 573 At Bats per season. If he carries that over for the next two years, he'll me making $31,413.62 per At Bat. Hmmm. Where can I sign up?

I'm re-reading Louis L'Amour's The Walking Drum. Not deep, serious literature, but a fun, mindless historical novel. I had to go to the library to check out a copy, for the paperback version that I bought near Thanksgiving ended up in the toilet. Clean water, but it swelled the book. It pained me to throw out a book.

While reading it this morning, I came across a quote that I like...

There is power in the word whether written or spoke, for words can create image for those who have not themselves seen.

And then from Victor Nell in his 1988 book Lost in a Book ...

Books are all the dreams we would most like to have, and like dreams they have the power to change consciousness.

I've been listening to my mp3 player while raking leaves this weekend. Jethro Tull's Christmas Album. Dave Pegg's The Cocktail Cowboy Goes It Alone. Phil Keaggy's Time 2.

A good family friend passed away this week. She was my Sunday School teacher and I have very fond memories of her. I'll miss Betty Bromley, as many will. But through the sharing of that news, a school friend of mine contacted me. We haven't seen each other in about 25 years or so. We stay in touch through our parents. "Mom, so what do you hear from Alan? How are his kids? His folks?" Things like that. Thanks for writing, Alan. You're welcome. It was my pleasure.

And I can't end without a picture of my cute daughter...

Happy Birthday, Mom

Doing some of the things that she loves.

I'll try to find more photos to post later.

And remember, Dad is still older than you are.

Thank you

It is the day to give thanks. But we should give thanks at all times and in all things. So, what am I thankful for this year? Hmm, where to start?

* I've got good friends, both real and virtual (read: online)
* I've got a new house (read: home)
* I've got a great family (read: family)

I could go on and on, but then I'd never get to the photos...

Comment on the food: Nhami (or for you English speaking peoples: Yummy)

Some of the 45 dozen or so cookies that were made the last few days...


Breakfast at Chez Aubrey...


My dad's plate at formal dinner...


And so you don't think that it is all about food, here's my folks...


And my brother and his wife...


And then me, my loving wife and kids...

Sure, there were other family at the dinner this afternoon/evening, but if I added them here, what would Angie blog about?

What did we do today? We ate. Read the paper. Watched the parades on TV. Played Thanksgiving Day Parade Bingo. Did laundry. Watched Football (American, for my foreign readers). Played Thanksgiving Day Football Bingo. Ate more. Ran to the store. Read some. Lazed around. Went to Angie's aunt and uncle's for dinner. Ate more. Played cards (Hearts, not Skat. Yes, it is a real game. See more info by reading Foster's Skat Manual). Came home. Taped CSI and then a rerun of The Office. Talked with folks about the punishments that they inflicted on my brother and I growing up. Laughed. Wanted to eat some more but couldn't. It was a good day.

Tomorrow we go shopping. Then put up the Christmas tree. Raking leaves will happen sometime over the weekend, I've been assured of that.

Saturday, out to the big bookstore in Knoxvegas. Then, celebrate Christmas while the family is all together.

Sunday will be church, then lazing around, watching football, eating, playing games, that sort of stuff.

Monday will include going back to work, school and home for our parents and brother (and his wife).

Catchup

So many things to blog about, so little time. Here's what's been occupying my time lately...

The new Eagles' CD, Long Road Out of Eden. A double disc that one of the best bands around released at Wal-Mart. You can't buy a regular CD for $11.88. Some very tasty music. I'm particularly taken with the song I Love to Watch a Woman Dance. A very well crafted song written by Larry John McNally. Other reviewers on the 'net apparently aren't as smitten with this song as I am. I don't compare it to any other song, I just like it. Overall, the guys in the band seem to want to have their political/ecological viewpoints heard. I don't agree with all of them, but it is nice to hear some quality music.

Wiki what? I've been learning some wiki syntax, mostly for the online Luser Game I play, but we're also starting to do some wiki stuff at work. I came across TiddlyWiki. It is a self contained wiki on a single page. I guess they do the scripting inside the page. Kind of nice, but some of the wiki syntax is not the same as what I would expect. TiddlyWiki is more of a click wiki, as opposed to hand coding. Not bad, just different.

If you've been keeping up with my wife's blog you'll know that the kitchen curtains are now in place. You're welcome, dear.

Tomorrow we will have a teenager in the house. I don't think that there will be that much of an attitude change. From anyone.

My folks are traveling across the US to spend a week and a half with us. Very nice.

I've also been playing with some CSS. I understand it, I just can't get my head wrapped around the location of the code inside the document vs. the location of the elements on a web page. But, I did revive the present that my brother gave to me a while back. markaubrey.org It is a work in progress. I'm hoping to get some CSS happening and include the genealogy and US Civil War sections.

I'm in the final chapters of One Hundred Years of Solitude. It still is an interesting read. Thanks again, Tali, for suggesting it.

We worked on some music for Christmas at church orchestra practice last night. Angie selected some nice pieces for us to perform.

And I won one of my Fantasy Football games this last weekend. My brother won his game, over the clear leader of the league. The Aubrey boys are on a roll.

That's it, for now. More later, I'm sure.

I'm Scraping

I'm scraping the frost off of my car windows the last two mornings. The crispness in the air is wonderful. The trees are probably at their height of color.

I'm also scraping the bottom of the barrel in my Fantasy Football Leagues. I've been playing Fantasy sports for about 20 years, off and on. It started with Roto Baseball. Then my good friend, Steve S. asked me to be part of his Fantasy Football League. Every Monday and Tuesday, we would get the newspapers and do the old fashioned method of figuring out scores with a pencil and a calculator. Now days, I just get on the web and click a few times and I'm still in last place. It is now much easier to lose. I'm 3-6 in my 8 team Yahoo! league. I'm also 3-6 in the ESPN league that my friend Paul B. hosts. I'm twice as bad as I am good. My brother is also at 3-6, but I have about 100 points ahead of him.

Okay. He's really scraping.