Happy New Year/Decade!

The end of this year, is also a beginning, not just of a new year, but a new DECADE!!

Let's recall the 2000's

My Dad!

 

 Here is my Father. His name is John S. Walk. He is seen here in his natural environment. A Golf Course!

Olivia's Christmas visit

Emmitt Smith is MY Cowboy!

I love Emmitt Smith! To me he is the greatest Cowboy. Nothing but class on and off the field. He is GREAT. In 2010 he will be eligible for the Hall of Fame! He will go in on the first ballot at the head of his class. Why? I'll tell you why...

Smith is the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, having amassed 16,276 yards during his 14 seasons in the league after surpassing the late Walter Payton. Smith is also a three-time Super Bowl champion (1993, 1994 and 1996) and the only player in NFL history to win the Super Bowl, Super Bowl MVP award and the NFL MVP award in the same season (1993).

Smith also holds the NFL record for career rushing touchdowns (155) and was named to the Pro Bowl eight times. The Cowboys selected Smith in the first round (17th overall) of the 1990 NFL Draft.

On September 19, 2005, Smith was added to the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor along with his former teammates Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin. Smith is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Texas Sports Hall of Fame and Florida Sports Hall of Fame. As mentioned, Smith will be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

Emmitt starred collegiately at the University of Florida where he set 58 school records in his three years along with earning All-American honors and including being named the 1989 SEC Player of the Year.

In keeping a promise to his mom, Smith returned to Florida to earn his college degree in 1996.

Three days before Super Bowl XXXIX in February 2005, Smith announced his retirement from the NFL. He was released by the Arizona Cardinals and signed a one day contract for no money with the Dallas Cowboys – after which he immediately retired as a Cowboy, the team he played for from 1990 to 2002.



Check out these stats!

*first player in NFL history to have five consecutive seasons with over 1,400 rushing yards.
*He had seven straight 10-touchdown seasons to start his career (along with Jim Brown, and LaDainian Tomlinson).
*first player in NFL history with 11 consecutive 1,000 yard seasons.
*first running back to post 11 1,000-yard rushing seasons in a career.
*He is the NFL's all-time leader in rushing attempts with 4,409.
*holds the NFL record in career rushing yards with 18,355, breaking the previous record held by Walter Payton.
*He leads all running backs with 164 career rushing touchdowns (his 175 total touchdowns ranks him second only to Jerry Rice's 207 touchdowns).
*The sum of his rushing yards, receiving yards (3,224) and fumble return yards (-15), gave him a total of 21,564 yards from the line of scrimmage, making him one of only four players in NFL history to eclipse the 21,000-combined yards mark.
*has the most post-season rushing touchdowns (19)
*has the most consecutive post-season games with a rushing touchdown (9)
*has the most post-season 100-yard rushing games (7).
*has the most post-season rushing yards (1,586 yards)
*shares the total playoff touchdown mark of 21 with Thurman Thomas.
*won three Super Bowl rings.
*rushed for over 100 yards in two Superbowl games
*received the Super Bowl MVP award for Super Bowl XXVIII, becoming the only Cowboys running back ever to win the award out of all their Super Bowl wins.
*is one of only five NFL players who have amassed over 10,000 career-rushing yards and 400 career receptions.
*He and Jerry Rice are the only two non-kickers to score 1000 points in a career.

WOW!!!

Merry Christmas to ALL!

Me and Bruce say... Merry Christmas to everyone!

C'Mon let's go!

So you wanna go? Let's go. I'll drive. I got a full tank of gas. Some good tunes... so let's go.

Cowboy Commentary by John Walk

Here is an excellent piece about the current state of the Cowboys! This was written by John S. "Mr. Cowboy" Walk... he has been in the trenches since 1960. He's seen ups and downs. Here it is:

I know it's easy to jump on Romo's back after a loss...but he just didn't play good enough to win. I saw Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb do exactly that Sunday night against the Giants. You can easily see what a winning Quarterback must have, fire in the belly, composure and extreme need to make it happen. Jason Garrett calls the offensive plays like he's still playing quarterback, which he didn't do very well. To Jason the long pass down the middle is so risky he seldom calls it. Obviously, Garrett is showing all of us, including Romo, that he has no confidence in Romo's ability to complete a pass longer than twelve yards. Our Cowboy players need to get over this 'America's Team' business and get back to proving they deserve the title. Forget all the buffoonery and celebrating after making a decent play...especially when your losing. The time to celebrate is in the locker room after the game. I want to see more individual commitment toward winning. When Tony Romo decided to celebrate Thanksgiving in Las Vegas, following the Dallas win over Oakland, it confirmed my fear that he's just an immature playboy financing his night clubbing, gambling, chasing women and golf by playing football. All you have to do is compare Romo's off the field lifestyle with players like Peyton Manning, Bret Favre, Drew Brees, and Donovan McNabb. Romo does not fit on that list. Another main ingredient of a winning team is discipline...the Dallas Cowboys are sorely lacking in that area. I saw some temper in Jerry Jones's reaction to Sunday's loss...maybe he will build a fire under the Dallas Cowboy coaching staff. When players screw up...bench them so they can sit in their own stink and think about it. If they see themselves as entertainers and the fans as paid customers to enjoy their childish theatrics...bench them or let them quit and get their own TV show. We're trying to win football games...not entertain people with cute moves, outbursts of pretended anger and monkey stomping. Put kicker Nick Folk on IR and pick up another field goal kicker, maybe an older player in the twilight of his career. Then, let Folk try to win the position back again next year. There are way too many other areas on the team which need attention, but not getting it. Here's something for the Dallas Cowboys to ruminate on during the week...winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. That's why you're out there...to win...not to act like clowns or frolicking children at a birthday party. Dangit...you're not entertainers, you're professional football athletes. Act like it! Another thing missing this year with the Dallas Cowboys is heart! When you have heart...you have courage. When you have courage you get the job done. Even the cowardly Lion in the wizard of Oz knew that and got the problem fixed. Next week we play New Orleans. What a perfect occasion to turn everything around and get back on the winning track!

Well said Pop!!! I couldn't agree more!!!

Walk's Art Realm

Here is a blog I made to check out some of my artwork. Hope you enjoy it!

http://walks-art-realm.blogspot.com/

Dad got his Christmas lights up!

Yesterday we put up the Christmas lights. It was a tad cold, but not too bad. We were swarming all over the place. Ha ha!

We started around 11:00 or so and with a few breaks here and there we finished up about 5:30.

All for the Christmas spirit!!!

Here's some more pix:





Tis the season, baby!!!

The Walk Family - Mach 1

Here is the Walk family. My Dad could give further details, but it is the only picture of all of them together that I know of. Very cool photo!!!

Reason to be THANKFUL: #134

I'm thankful that I'm not Roy Sullivan.

He was a Virginia Forest Ranger who had an incredible attraction to lightning... or rather lightning had an attraction to him. Over his 36-year career as a ranger, Sullivan was struck by lightning seven times - and survived each jolt, but not unscathed. His seventh strike put him in the Guinness Book of World Records:

In 1942, the first lightning strike shot through Sullivan's leg and knocked his big toenail off.
In 1969, a second strike burned off his eyebrows and knocked him unconscious.
In 1970, another strike left his shoulder seared.
In 1972, his hair was set on fire and Roy had to dump a bucket of water over his head to put it out.
On August 7, 1973, another bolt ripped through his hat and hit him on the head, set his hair on fire again, threw him out of his truck and knocked his left shoe off.
On June 5, 1976, a sixth strike left him with an injured ankle.
On June 25th, 1977, the last lightning bolt to hit Roy Sullivan sent him to the hospital with chest and stomach burns.

His wife was also struck once, when a sudden storm welled up as she and her husband were out hanging wash on the back yard clothesline.

On September 28, 1983, Roy Sullivan aged 71, reportedly committed suicide. He'd shot himself.

Reasons to be THANKFUL: #365

I am thankful I am not Ramesh Sahu.

He works in the sanitation department of Calcutta, cleaning out the city's sewers. Rakesh sits in a low crouch at the bottom of a seven-foot-deep manhole, sloshing away in a swirl of human waste and sediment. Equipped with a hoe and a steel bar, and wearing only a pair of loose purple underpants, Rakesh empties the thick black sludge from a clogged sewer into a bucket that his fellow crew members hoist up and dump in the middle of a narrow road. A small mountain of decaying excrement accumulates between the manhole and a rickety wooden vegetable cart. Two co-workers reach down and yank Rakesh out by his sore, extended arms, his body splattered with putrid muck. At 27, with a wife, three young daughters and a monthly income of about $100, he has been a sewage worker for the Delhi Jal (Water) Board for the past 10 years.

Reasons to be THANKFUL: # 275

I am so thankful that I wasn't around the ancient Roman emperor TIBERIUS. He was one of the most depraved madmen to ever be an emperor... In addition to murdering anyone he chose for whatever reason he could devise, he was also a sexual monster. Thus:

"...[On Capri] he devised a pleasance for his secret orgies: teams of wantons of both sexes, selected as experts in deviant intercourse and dubbed "analists", copulated before him in triple unions to excite his flagging passions. Its bedrooms were furnished with the most salacious paintings and sculptures, as well as with an erotic library, in case a performer should need an illustration of what was required. Then in Capri's woods and groves he arranged a number of nooks of venery where boys and girls dressed as Pans and nymphs solicited outside bowers and grottoes. He acquired a reputation for still grosser depravities that one can hardly bear to tell or be told, let alone believe. The story is also told that once at a sacrifice, attracted by the acolyte's beauty, he lost control of himself and, hardly waiting for the ceremony to end, rushed him off and debauched him and his brother, the flute-player, too; and subsequently, when they complained of the assault, he had their legs broken."

Yes, I am thankful that I wasn't unfortunate enough to be one of his MANY victims.

Soul Stealer

Stare into the eyes of the soul stealer.



He will drive away your will to live. Remember, take care how you stare at the soul stealer's eyes. For, e'er too long, they will stare into you...

Vera Cruz

I saw this flick recently. Here is my brief review...

Pros: Good action, good acting, decent story line, and good cinematography.

Cons: A few bad edits, a couple plot holes, and some underdeveloped characters.

Conclusion: How can you pass this one up? You can't and you shouldn't anyway! This is a great flick with an all-star cast. Plenty of action, and a cool plot. This thing feels something like a proto-Spaghetti Western, and it is very good!!! I highly recommend it.

Favorite scene: When Lancaster guns down these three bad guys(dude named Charlie and two cronies) who challenge him in the Mexican village. They say, "We string with Charlie." He guns them all down suddenly and Lancaster says "Anyone else string with Charlie?" of course no one replies! Haha!

Raven up a tree

Hello, this is Raven. I enjoy being up a tree. I don't get to do it as much I like, but aside from a clean comfortable litter box, a cozy bedspread, or a full bowl of cat food, there is nothing I like better than being up a tree.

Dad + Golf = DY-NO-MITE

Here is a terrific picture (worth a thousand words) of some of Dad's golf handiwork. 

 

He hit the ball onto the green from maybe 80 yards out, and the ball stuck. That means Pop got some backspin on the spheroid! He was a few feet from the pin. Good shot! Golf Course: Riverside Hole: #5 Date: November 24th, 2009

Woke up with a sore throat

Hello all! I woke up today with a nice sore throat. The hell of it is, I was just getting over the sickness I came down with on November 1st (the night after Halloween as a matter of fact). Guess I'll be sick ALL of November. On the 5th of November (and really that whole week) I had bad laryngitis. Sucks. Oh well watcha gonna do?

The Dallas Romoboys

Yes, here we are in November and all of us Dallas fans are awaiting with giddy excitement the month of December, when Dallas' wheels fly off and we blow our playoff chances. Only this year, we got a bonus... we started sucking in NOVEMBER!! It seems if Romo has a bad day we all have a bad day.

We have been shut out in the first half for two consecutive games. Wow. In the last two games our offense has scored a total of 14 points. Huh? The hell of it is... we won one of those games! Ha ha ha!!

Indio Black (aka Adios Sabata)

This is a good movie. Here is my brief review...

Pros: Excellent music, decent acting, very good plot, and tons of action.

Cons: A couple of lame characters.

Conclusion: This movie is really really good. It has everything that every fan of Spaghetti Westerns want, plus Yul Brynner. Tons of action and some creative fight scenes make this imminently viewable. See it if you can.

Django

This movie is very good. Here is my brief review...

Pros: Excellent plot, good directing, good acting, nice camera work, good costuming, pretty good music.

Cons: A bit far-fetched, seems a bit one dimensional at times.

Conclusion: This movie is a must-see. For any fan of the genre, Django is required viewing. It is quite violent and quite unbelievable, but nevertheless it is a fun and action-packed Italian Western. Of course it is nowhere near the quality of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, but hey... what is?

Thanksgiving

Hello friends. As you know we have reached thanks giving. This is the time of year that I begin to think of others. You know... the kind of people who could use a little of god's grace, this holiday season. People like this...

Yes... stooping to help a fellow traveler along life's highway is what Thanksgiving is all about. So remember, if you can't help a complete stranger, or a phazed-out, chowder headed, moron, then just eat a double portion on Turkey day!

   

 Happy Holidays!

Hang 'Em High

This movie kind of sucks. Here is my brief review. 

Pros: Clint looks awesome, really good acting, cool title, great scenery, cinematography is nice, and Clint looks awesome. 

Cons: Bad directing, bad script, bad editing, too many plot loopholes, and a lame female sub-plot. 

Conclusion: This sucker has plot holes and inconsistencies big enough to drive a truck through. I won't detail them here, but suffice it to say, by the time you see our hero skipping out on the 6 man hanging to bang a prostitute, and then later being riddled by bullets without being killed, you'll start smelling the stink too. And i haven't even mentioned the snore-fest pic-nic scene. Where's Tuco when you need him?

The most exciting scene in the whole film is a half-baked fight between Eastwood and a very young and spry Bruce Dern. Anyway, skip this yawn-inducing western.

It Can Be Done, Amigo

Saw this recently. Here is my brief review.

Pro: Very original plot, kind of funny, decent acting, decent directing, good music, and a satisfactory ending.

Con: Drags a bit, and the picture quality on the copy I saw was AWFUL!

Conclusion: I'd probably like this decent little SW farce if I saw a better quality copy. 3 out of 5 stars.

Favorite scene: When Bud Spencer swindles a prisoner out of his Turkey dinner. When him and Jack Palance fight at the end.

Lawman

This is a very good movie. Here is my brief review.

Pro: Great acting, good plot, well photographed, good action, well fleshed out characters, and nicely directed.

Con: Some dull parts, a tad "talky", a love scene I didn't need to see, and a rather bleak ending.

Conclusion: It is a very good movie. I liked it. It is a bleak ending, but it is still kinda cool. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

The Professionals

This is a great flick! I recommend it highly! Here is my brief review.

Pro: Great acting, terrific directing, amazingly well photographed, good story, and Claudia Cardinale.

Con: Some huge plot holes, and a couple 2 dimensional characters.

Conclusion: Excellent movie. See it immediately. 4 out of 5 stars.

The Great Silence

This is a good flick. Here is my brief review.

Pro: Well directed, good acting, great plot, nicely photographed, good music and tons of violence.

Con: Bleak. Probably the bleakest ending in all of western films. It drags in some parts, and there's a love scene I didn't need to see.

Conclusion: A must see SW. 4 out of 5 stars.

Keoma

This movie is pretty good. Here is my brief review...

Pro: Well directed, good action, beautifully photographed, good acting, and a very decent plot.

Cons: Some of the music. The main theme is dreadful. A woman wails like she is in pain and you can't understand what she is saying anyway. Then it is made even more dreadful when a male voice, performed by someone who CANNOT sing, comes in and basically sings what Keoma is thinking at the moment. Worst part? When they sing at the same time.

Conclusion: This is a must see SW! When it was over I felt like I had just seen a very good action movie. It's a little bleak. In fact it is VERY bleak. But hey, it can't all be peaches and cream. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Meridian 2009

Here is an update on Dad's ol' Stompin Grounds! Me and Izzy swung by there and took a look around the other day. A lot has changed, but a lot has stayed creepily the same. Anyway, here are some pix!

Izzy at Meridian Lake


Grandmother's House #1


Grandmother's House #2


Little Granddaddy Smith's House


The Courthouse! Beautiful!


Nice!!

The Cowboys Won! Yay!

Our good ol' Cowboys pulled off a victory against the Seahawks. They are now 5 and 2 on the year. Looking at their schedule, I think they could easily go 13 and 4, possibly even 14 and 3. If we stay healthy! Bottom line. If Romo does good, we win.



GO COWBOYS!!!!!

Halloween 2009

Oh Boy! Halloween 2009 has come and gone and what a time was had! Halloween landed on a Saturday this year and great fun was had by all! Dad of course hosted his annual Halloween candy give-away! Dad's house looked great as usual and he said there was lots of kids this year! Good! I hope the tradition continues forever! Here is Dad's house decorations!!






My wife Izzy and myself dressed up and had fun at a dance at Oak Hills country club! It was fun! Everyone was dressed up! Izzy looked so cute. She dressed up like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz!! She looked awesome! See for yourself!



As for me, I dressed up as a grim-reaper type thing I like to call "Death Warmed Over"! Here it is...



We seemed to get a lot of positive feedback on both our costumes, so I am happy about that!!! I love Halloween!

Spaghetti Westerns

Lately I have been in a WESTERN mood. Specifically SPAGHETTI WESTERNS. There is nothing to compare with a GOOD Spaghetti western scene. This should whet your appetite...

There are some terrific websites dealing with them. Here's a couple for ya: Spaghetti Western Database: http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Main_Page Shobary's http://spaghettiwesterns.1g.fi/