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/

Dad's COWBOYS Roundup

Dallas Cowboys report by guest blogger Sam Walk:

Well boys, like it or not - this is the way it's going to be this year...so we might as well get a good grip and hang on to the Tony Romo roller coaster, which has more ups and downs that the Fiesta Texas Rattler. If you'll notice in the short article above, they don't mention that Miles Austin set a Dallas Cowboy receiving record of 250 yards in a single game (and the Cowboys have had some great receivers) the headline says, "Romo responds to challenge." I hope a new day is dawning for Mr. Austin and the Dallas Cowboys.

I was thinking about the Romo situation and realized that Jerry Jones will fire every coach on the team, trade every receiver and fire the mayor of Arlington before he'll change quarterbacks. He can't! Tony Romo is his franchise quarterback come hell or high water. Therefore, we need to resign ourselves to agonize through the bad games and rejoice when Tony has a good game. As usual Tony Romo was right at the top of the heap with his passing yardage and other stats for yesterday's game. All of this recalls my days with Roger Staubach...the guy I loved to hate him, but my goodness what a great quarterback.

The one thing that really bothers me is...the only teams Dallas has defeated (while struggling at that) are the one who haven't won a single game yet. Right now, the Dallas newspapers are pushing hard for Jones to fire Phillips and move Garrett to the head coach position. I'd be surprised if that really happens. Such a thing would be very disruptive to the team.

I would like to see a more judicious use of Tashard Choice. He had a very productive game, but isn't being used for optimum performance. Choice carried the ball only eight times, but finished with 92 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown. Obviously, Marion Barber is not back up to full speed yet. I'm not comparing the two, but remember it was said of Emmitt Smith, that when he gained at least 100 yards...the Cowboys usually won the game.

Felix Jones, our speed merchant, watched the game from his home in Dallas. Jones is expected to play against Atlanta on October 25th, in Big D. Roy Williams (bruised ribs) will also return for the Atlanta game. Cowboys WR Kevin Ogletree, is back on the sidelines. He had a very good pre-season, but hasn't played much due to an injury...he will be healthy for the Falcon game also.

Here's a post game quote from Jerry Jones. "A loss, no matter how you couch it, would've been pretty significant for us." He continued, "I think we're looking up, even though we really stunk today. We had to win in spite of all that. I saw the same game you saw."

If Dallas had lost Sunday's game, the lynch mob would have hit the street demanding Phillips be led to the gallows and one of the following come to Dallas as head coach... Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren, or Jon Gruden.

I'll say one thing...it's not a dull season. We can all use the upcoming bye week and then hit it with a great amount of alacrity against the Atlanta Falcons on October 25th. That game will be played at Jerry's World - on Sunday at 3:15pm.

Yesterday, Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons blasted the San Francisco 49ers 45 to 10. Ouch! Ryan ended the day with 22-for-32 passing and 329 yards. "We have seen the enemy and the enemy is us!" (Pogo)

Fun Fact: Last year, in a cold weather game with the Steelers, Romo went bare sleeved to be cool - declaring he was used to winters in Wisconsin. During the game, he was on the sideline and in the huddle freezing his nards off! Meanwhile, Big Ben had long sleeves, and stayed cozy warm. I noticed yesterday that Tony had long sleeves playing in the thirty degree weather in Kansas.

THE END

Our world in God Vision

I recon this is how God sees our insignificant little lives down here below. Like ants. Yet he loved us enough to send his son to die for us.






Very interesting I thought.

Vietnam

(Written October 17, 2009)

Lately I've been thinking about Vietnam... It's probably because I work with a Vietnam Vet named Edward Garza. You'd never know it by looking at this 5'9" unassuming man. But 40 years ago, the seemingly shy, quietly intense, yet friendly Mr. Garza was an honest to goodness warrior. He weilded an M16, marched through miles of jungle, killed men. He heard the zip of bullets as they whizzed by his head, saw his comrades killed and wounded, was himself nearly blown up. He walked point many times, hopped off many a copter in hot LZ's, and cheated death at least a half dozen times. He is a maintenance man sure. But he's a combat veteran.

I see how his time in that distant land has defined him. He spends every day under the influence of having served his country in "The Second Indo-Chinese War". The Vietnamese call it "The American War". We call it Vietnam. Instead of holding a weapon, he holds a broom. Instead of cleaning up villages of Viet cong, he cleans classrooms and restrooms. And he does his job without a whisp of complaint. But in 1969 he lived through some of the most dangerous combat in the Vietnam theatre. I admire him. He is also kind of amazing to me. How do you ever get over a year long hike through hell, surrounded by death, knowing it's just blind luck that kept you from being like all those young men you personally saw dead or dying or wounded. Sure your training helps. Yeah, you make your own luck. But in the end it's just that. Luck.

He was in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade... known as the "flaming spear". Here's their patch.

Here is a video tribute I found for his unit... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkBTMsVguUY&feature=related Guys like Mr. Garza lived a whole year constantly on edge. Under stress. fighting, killing, marching. For what? After every battle he would sit and think to himself "How many times can I cheat death or serious injury?" After a while, he earned the nickname "9 Lives".

The Vietnam soldier did all this and when they came home, society sort of turned away from them. It was an unpopular war. It wasn't a GOOD war like WWII. But the combat soldier died just the same. In the end, when a young man is bleeding out his life on foreign soil because his country called him to action (these boys were DRAFTED too) it really doesn't matter what the politics behind the war are at that moment. Right there, it has becaome a passion play. One man laying down his life for his friends. The supreme sacrifice. But a young man laying down his innocence is an equal tragedy. These men were just as brave and valiant as any other good soldier. They deserve (and nowadays usually get) respect and honor for their service and sacrifice.

Mr. Garza said that when he came home everyone around him kinda wanted to pretend nothing happened. Or to just ignore it. Through guilt or shame, or indifference, society just tried to ignore the misery of it all. He said for months after he returned he "slept" sitting up in the corner of his room. Over time he reassimilated. As he returned to society he began doing what society did. He tried to ignore it all. Was it all some crazy nightmare after all?

Can you imagine coming from all that devastation... and then laying in a quiet comfy room. Knowing at that moment other soldiers were right then suffering the same misery you once did.

It was 16 years before he bagan to make sense of everything that had happened to him.

Mr. Garza has told me things that help me know that while bravery might not be unique to the American soldier, his willingness to sacrifice his life for others is.

Mr. Garza is very humble and would get offended if I called him a hero. In his mind he did what he had to do. No more no less. Vietnam is less about what HE DID there, than what IT DID to him. "9 Lives" went through the entire year in 'Nam without taking a single bullet... but his scars or mental not physical.

I tip my hat to him. And all those soldiers who served in harm's way. This is for all Vietnam vets... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhwROO2M6lw -Mike

Halloween Memory #432: Pop Nearly Pops Lott For Popping In

We were in the house Halloween night. Watching a scary movie or something. Handing out candy, etc. When there came a knock at the door. Dad went to open the door and Bud Lott, in a mask and cape, burst in at Dad going "Rahhh!!" Dad was so startled he just about soiled himself -- but Bud nearly got a beat down.

Bud was playing a prank, but he didn't realize he had triggered my Dad's formidable inner fight-or-flight mechanism. Bud pealed off his mask in the nick of time and guffawed like a lunatic. Dad, who still no doubt wanted to deck him for good measure, laughingly ushered him out the door right quick. Dad could probably tell it better than I, but that is the gist of the incident.

Halloween Memory #213: Dracula Kid

One time we had a Halloween bash at Dellview Baptist Church. It was supposed to be an alternative to Halloween for all us little Christian kids who weren't supposed to take part in an evil holiday like Halloween! I was maybe 10 or 11, or less. Anyway, you were supposed to come dressed like "your favorite Bible character". I don't recall anyone daring to dress like Jesus, or God himself, but there were a plethora of shepherds as I recall. And tons of prophets. I went as a shepherd too. Y'know... lots of this type of thing...

So we were all in there doing our innocent stuff, and they had lots of cool activities and games and stuff. Also lots of candy.

So all of a sudden, some kid shows up in a full-fledged VAMPIRE outfit! Complete with fangs and phony blood all over his mouth. We didn't know the kid. I guess his mom didn't get the memo. He looked just like this:

He joined right in the festivities though. Even taking part in the "Bobbing for Apples" contest. Ha! His white face make-up washed off in the water. The water was a murky white after him. I didn't try. I didn't want an apple at all. Much less one I had to dunk my head in a cloudy bucket of slurry for. No thanks. Now if they'd had jumbo Butterfingers, maybe...

Anyway, I'll always remember the crowd of us innocent shepherds and prophets parting and Bela Lugosi's mini-me strolling in like he owned the place.

Halloween Memory #453: Mr. Faut? Fauk?

I was maybe 19 or 20. I was in the mood to roam up and down the block on Halloween night for old time's sake. I sort of dressed like Freddy Kruger, more or less. Actually less. I wasn't scary. Anyway I was walking up and down the block saying "Boo!" to the kids that were trick or treating. It was fun! They would squeal and some would chase me. I think Troy was in on all this.

Somehow I wound up inside Mr. Faut's (Mr. Wine-Pants) house up the street (next door to the Forresters). With Bud Sr., Troy and maybe Darin. The only thing I remember is his house was EXACTLY like Bud's house inside. This had me baffled. The Forrester's house was just like ours. Then, it dawned on me. The designers of the neighborhood, way back when, had simply repeated the floorplans on up the street for a ways. (The Ferguson place is the same as the Sessions house, etc.)

Oh, and also inside Mr. Faut's house... LOTS and LOTS of BOOZE. Looked like a liquer store. In fact, Bud was borrowing some. That's why he was there. Maybe that floorplan was reserved for alcoholics or something... makes you think.

I was there for a few moments before I resumed my block patrolling activities!

Halloween Memory #125: March of Crimes

It was Halloween season. October. I was maybe 18. For a couple years in a row, my buddies Troy, Darin and I had volunteered at the "March of Dimes Haunted House" at Wonderland Mall (now Crossroads). We did this as we got older cuz we couldn't really trick or treat anymore and hey a guy has to have his fun, right?

Well on this particular night, we volunteered. I was ushered in to the back where I hastily painted my face a lurid red and black. Then it was off to work. I went in where an empty room was. They told me "Work here!". So I did.

This will disappoint some people, but anyway, what can I say? I was a mischevious kid. Here is some of the things I did that night:

• Took a mannequin leg and bashed to pieces a speaker that was playing scary sounds.
• Took an old wig that was hanging in there.
• Grabbed a customer's arm when I popped out at her (we were instructed not to touch).
• Threw a worker's witch mask into a cauldron of unknown liquid. They searched and searched for it. Finally someone found it. It looked hilarious as they picked it up out of the goo! She said "How am I gonna wear it now?" and I heard plenty of "Who did it?"
• Abandoned my area and roamed all through the haunted house raising cain.
• Jumped up on a railing (we weren't supposed to).
• Fired off a fire extinguisher. Several times.

It was so much fun I was about to soil myself! But the fire extinguisher stunt really brought the show to a close. They had to evacuate and shut down the whole thing, put up the flaps and ventilate the thing. After the adrenaline wore off I felt bad about my frenzy of mischief. Oh well. That was the last year we volunteered, and the only time I acted like an idiot. I had fun though, and no real harm was done.

Except to that little speaker.

Oh yeah... the previous night -- me, Darin, and Troy, flash-lights in hand, had snuck into the place and took a little exploratory preview tour, if you know what I mean. Heh heh!

Well, I aint like that no more.

Halloween Memory #276: Better Check Yer Candy

One time when I was about 10 or so, we teturned from our journey up and down the block and I went inside and poured out my haul and began going through it. In the back of my mind I thought I should check the candy for any scullduggery, or tampering. Somehow, it slipped my mind. I took a Hershey's mini-chocolate, quickly unwrapping it - noting, yet ignoring, how loose the wrapper seemed - and popped it in my mouth. VERY quickly, I realized there was a problem. As I looked around the room (everyone was doing their thing, talking, sorting candy, and/or watching a horror movie or whatever) my head swam as a terrible flavor crashed through my olfactory senses and taste-buds. YUCK!! Oh NO! The chocolate had been tampered with!!!! I went quickly to the bathroom sink and spit it out (I swallowed none of it). Obviously someone had doused the chocolate in handsoap. It tasted like soap and there was soapy residue evident on the chocolate. Wow!! The only thing I kept thinking was... what if it had been rat poison? Or worse?

I always checked my candy thoroughly after that!!

Halloween Memory #187: The Last Trick

I was about 15 years old. Halloween night. For grins I told my buddy Darin "Let's go trick or treating!" He said something about me being too old to do that, and I told him "So what? Let's go!" So we did! I dressed up like "The Unknown Soldier". Basically I dressed like a soldier and put masking tape all over my face with blood trickling down.

It was more or less based on this comic book hero!



Anyway, we cleaned up!! We each had a huge bag of candy!!! Yessss! That was my last time trick or treating. This would've been 1982.

Here's a picture:

Halloween Memory #26: The Devil Costume

When I was a wee lad of 7, back in 1974, I was, shall we say "into Halloween". Big time! To this day I still love all the ghoulies and goblins and the excitement of FREE CANDY and glimpses into distant neighborhood houses (albeit fleetingly), and pranks and shenanigans and dressing up in disguise to be what you are not really!! Oh fun fun! Well, back in 1974 my Mom and I went to Winn's for a Halloween costume. I selected a devil costume. It looked like this: 

My father (a DEACON in the church) said, "NO WAY!" He objected to me dressing up as the great Satan himself. Though I didn't fully understand it then, I do now. It all worked out though. Cuz Mom got to work and dressed me up like a HOBO. Complete with mascara beard, saggy, baggy clothes and oversized shoes. Oh, and a bashed in old hat that once belonged to my Grandad. In the end it looked 10 times better than that cheapo devil costume. Plus I have a wonderful memory of my Mom coming to the (costume) rescue. There was another time mom whipped together a pirate costume on the spot and I won first prize at a neighborhood costume contest. Awesome memories!!

Atrocities of the 20th Century

You always hear about the atrocities that "religion" has created. And the old cliche that religion has caused more evil than anything else. Uh... not by a long shot.

Here is a great website that is just raw data on 20th century killings and atrocities caused by various people all over the world.

http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstatz.htm#RelCon

It is my view that religion has caused far fewer deaths and atrocities than those caused by what could be termed "human government".

By the way, here is the undisputed champion mass murderer of all time...

It is estimated that good ol' Mao Zedong was personally responsible for murdering between 50 to 70 MILLION people.

By the way, he was an ATHIEST.