Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Jerry Munchkin

So my son, grandson, and I were rafting the New River the other day on a fishing expedition.  Nice day.  Great weather.  Good company.  Good time.

Until Jarrod decides he's going to take a photo of the three of us.

It's as if he planned it this way.  Here's me, otherwise known as Ernie Munchkin from "The Wizard of Oz":


No, Jarrod isn't a foot taller than me.  For the record, I'm standing in the water; he's up on the bank.  He's just arranged it to where I look like a shrimp.

I'll get him next time ...

- - -

Here's another shot in which I'm getting instruction on how to fish from Kaid:


So that's how it's done!

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Intruder Alert!

"Weapons designed for war have no place on the streets of a civilized society. The time has come for common sense laws to stop the proliferation of military-style assault weapons, while protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens who use guns for hunting, household defense, or legitimate recreational purposes."
-- Rabid anti-gun Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat, Peoples Republic of California --

Weapons of war?

You must be mistaken. Its a backscratcher, babe.


This is my son-in-law, Lt. Col. Michael Kasprzyk, United States Marine Corps, holding his latest acquisition, a Thompson M1 SBR .45 caliber home protection device. (Uh, make that backscratcher.)

Thinking of breaking and entering?  Colonel Kasprzyk now has thirty reasons to offer up for your consideration as to why that might not be a good idea.  And that's assuming he doesn't present a thirty-first, where he beats you over the head with that bad boy after trying to get you to change your mind with thirty rounds of steaming hot lead and you hadn't gotten the message.

By the way, he's scheduled to be deployed again later this month.  We wish him Godspeed.  Without patriots like Lt. Colonel Michael Kasprzyk "manning the walls" in this hostile and dangerous world, we'd all be in harm's way.

Here's to you, man.  You make us proud.

- - - - - - - - - -

Note 1: I've already warned my neighbor that he will be hearing the countryside erupt one day when we take the Thompson to my shooting range and light it up. I just hope I don't wimp out and get set on my ass.

Note 2: I've applied for a 2nd mortgage to pay for the ammunition we'll be expending.

Note 3: To my daughter, a Christmas gift suggestion.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Cats Can Tell Time?

Okay, this is frightening.  One of Paula's cats is named Lucky (saved from a KFC dumpster in Wytheville a few years ago, thus the name).  Lucky has gotten in the habit of following me into the bathroom in the morning when I get out of bed (we'll skip over that part) and then into my office, where he annoys me for a while and then leaves to annoy Paula. 

Every morning.

Here's the frightening part.  Regular readers know that I get up and get ready for the dawn of a new day around 4 am.  Well, Lucky knows it too.  Yesterday morning he jumped up on the bed and sat on my chest at exactly 4:00.  This morning he must have taken a misguided detour through the dining room or something, delaying his arrival, but he still jumped up and sat on my back at 4:03.

We have a cat who can tell time.

Here I was thinking about eating the little bastard.  Now I may have to adopt him as one of our own.

Are cats that smart?  If so, a host of questions arise.  Starting with: Is there something more to licking one's butt than we've all assumed?

I'm getting really spooked.  What if he starts taking over the chore list that Paula has maintained lo these many years?  What might I be in for?

Thursday, April 14, 2011

For Those Seeking a Vacation Destination

Well, for those who like to think of themselves as historical tourists anyway, here's something you might enjoy: You can roam Noah Webster's home where he wrote his American Dictionary of the English Language - in New Haven, Connecticut - in Dearborn, Michigan.

Say what?

That's right.  Noah Webster helped design and had this mansion built in 1823 in New Haven:

Nice, huh?

I was reminded of this when I read Barton Swaim's "A Definitive American Life," a critique of Joshua Kendall's "The Forgotten Founding Father."  The first is definitely worth reading, and the second finds itself on my must-read list.

So what's that about New Haven and Dearborn?

You see, it's like this: There was this guy back in the early part of the last century who had all the money in the world.  He was also one who had a deep, abiding love of his country.  So what did he do with a pile of that cash that he had sitting around?  He bought stuff.  American stuff.  American historical stuff.  Including homes (along with Wright Brothers Bicycle Shops and Thomas Edison laboratories), had them disassembled, crated, and shipped to a site near his home in Dearborn.  A site that he named the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village.

That's right.  Henry Ford amassed a breathtaking collection of American memorabilia and housed it in his personal museum and adjacent "village." (When I say "personal," it is said that Ford took an active role in the construction of the museum building and placement of his collectibles.)

Included in his collection is the Webster home.

And it's available for your exploration and learning pleasure daily (starting on the 15th; it's closed in the winter) from 9:30 to 5.

Here's what the village that you can wander to your heart's content looks like:


Yes, click on the image and you'll see that that's Henry Ford's original "factory" on display.

Anyway, before you go, pick up a copy of Webster's biography ...


... and hop in your car.

And commune with American history.

- - -

If you're inclined toward the morbid, the museum has on display - blood stains and all - the chair that Abraham Lincoln was sitting in when John Wilkes Booth put a bullet in his brain, ending his life, in 1865.  Henry Ford bought the chair at auction - for $2,400 - in 1929, the year of "The Crash."

How cool is that?

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Introducing ...

.. the semi-pro Roanoke Rampage football team, 2011:

The team's first game comes up this Saturday against the Chicago Blaze at Salem Stadium. We expect nothing less than a good ass-kickin'.

Er ... make that a good Blaze ass-kickin'.

Be there.

- - -

By the way, included in this photo are two near-and-dear family members. 

I've drawn circles around their likenesses. Sarah Fuhrman - team trainer - and veritable princess - is in the upper right. Jarrod Fuhrman - who, some say, bears a remarkable resemblance to his father except he's not quite as masculine and not nearly as good-looking - is in the lower left.

- - - - -

Here's a photo of some of the players, including quarterback Jarrod Fuhrman, number 16, on the left.