Under Garments

I need to learn more history than I have been over the past seven years of concentrated study because I have never before seen nor heard about Rust Proof ladies corsets before. It may very well be an interesting subject worth some study. Just the idea of an under garment needing to be rust proof is interesting enough. The next question would of course be why? Not to mention does one really need parts of ones underwear to contain parts that would rust? It seems as if this causes more questions than any reference to gaining answers. During this period in history, did ladies wear their corset swimming? Or perhaps there was more rain during this period and umbrellas were not yet available in the United State? Nope, the umbrella is actually over 4,000 years old and documented in artwork of Egypt, Greece and China. As for rainfall amounts, I reviewed records going back as far as 1763 for New England and it appears the rainfall amounts are fairly consistent if you use the five year model plan. Meaning, you measure the rainfall for 1763 to 1768 and create an average. Then 1764 to 1769 and create an average and so forth. This process of examination creates an very accurate curve without a bell line. The short explanation, no notable average rainfall increases. Perhaps after some more study I will be able to report back to you on the need for a rust proof corset.

Dog Days of August

When they say the Dog Days of August some people take it to heart.

Along the campground flows a nice shallow river, perfect for youngsters

and dogs to play and splash.

Sometimes it doesn't take much to entertain this crowd. A few sticks, a tennis ball, a few dogs and this crowd is ready for some excitement.

Mark and his brothers had a really fun time, fishing, floating the river, frog catching and all the fun things boys used to do before the electronic age!

Charlie Brown Campground

So how many guys does it take to flush an RV toilet?

Well first you have to take it out of the RV, fill it with water,

put it back in, use it - then..... ?

Four guys standing around a Blue Boy.

Not sure what to say so you're on your own with this one.

Jamestown, 1619

The more time I spend studying American History, the more I find how much we didn't learn in school as youngsters. In 1619 a Dutch ship arrives in Jamestown just out of a violent storm. The ship is virtually empty save for 20 some Africans the captain stole from a Spanish ship. The captain traded the individuals with the locals for food and sailed away.

It was never recorded at the time the status of these individuals but records from 1623 & 1624 list some as servants (not slaves) and later records show a few owned land. Most likely some where eventually slaves other free. Whatever the case, Africans cam to the shores of the North American Continent before even the Pilgrims of Plymouth, MA.

Medal of Honor

On this day in 1862 President Abraham Lincoln signed into law a measure calling for the awarding of a U.S. Army Medal of Honor. In the name of Congress "to such noncommissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities during the present insurrection. The previous December, President Lincoln approved a provision creating a U.S. Navy Medal of Valor.

In 1863 the Medal of Honor was made a permanent military decoration made available to all members, including commissioned officers of the U.S. military. The most medals awarded was during the Civil War and at the end of the conflict the requirements for awarding the medal were standardized and governed by a board of senior military officers.


With only some minor changes the actual Medal of Honor for each branch has changed little from the original design. Since the Civil War some 3,400 men and one woman have been awarded the Medal for heroic actions in U.S. Military conflict.

Marley House

The wonderful stone farm house with 16 acres and four additional out buildings used for the backdrop to "Marley & Me" is up for sale.
The current owners have decided it was time to down size now that their three daughters have grown and left the coup. Located in Burmingham, PA.

The current asking price is $1.25 Million.

Camping in NYC

Now here is some very exciting news from Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar; the department has committed to turning Floyd Bennett Field into a camper's paradise. The total complex of over 1,300 acres will have 90 prime camping sites within the next two years with 600 more to follow. He made this great announcement from Gracie Mansion.

Currently the facility is terribly under utilized with only police helicopters using the grounds. In years past this great airfield was used by the likes of Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes. This was the very first municipal airfield for New York City and was designed by Clarence D. Chamberlin. The site alone will make for a very historic part with so much more to offer than prime camping sites with Brooklyn. Thank you Secretary Salazar!

Graduation Party Prelude

I have come to the conclusion that I am finally an Old Man.

In eleven days Sara will be graduating from Bethel High School

Class of 2011.

This coming Sunday we are all gathering at Bennett Park for her graduation party, family and friends alike to share in her celebration of being such an awesome student and graduating with honors and continuing her higher education at Keene State this fall.

It is very difficult to realize that she has so quickly grown up to be such a wonderful young woman heading off to college to follow her life's dream of becoming a teacher.

Les Paul

On this day in 1915 Lester William Polsfuss was born and a new era in Jazz and any other type of music was on the horizon. An accomplished musician, he work for Gibson in the Epiphone guitar factory in 1940. After hours he was busy creating "The Log", one of the first solid body guitars. Not the first nor the last but one to be reckoned with. Adolph Rickenbacker had marketed one in the 1930's and Leo Fender created his own in 1946.

The original Gibson Les Paul guitar regained it's popularity when Eric Clapton added it to his line-up of Gibsons and to this day is one of the most popular guitars on the market.

Happy Birthday Les wherever you are!

Titanic II

Not so long ago, Mr. Mark Wilkinson of Birmingham, England purchased a used 16 foot cabin cruiser for himself. The boat set him back about $1,600.00 USD. To me the price would have been a good indication of the ship's shape. Just to make sure things went really well off with his new boat he christened the vessel; TITANIC II. Good thinking Mr. Wilkinson!

After towing the boat from his home to West Bay in Dorest for his first fishing trip things started out pretty good. He had a successful day of fishing and started to head back into West Bay. As he made way into the harbor TITANIC II sprang a leak leaving the vessel floundering and Mr. Wilkinson clinging to the side of his new boat.

"It's all a bit embarrassing and I got pretty fed up with people asking me if I hit an iceberg".

Turns out that there had been a previous hole in the hull patched by the previous owner which just couldn't hold water.

Palin vs. Revere

The web and news are all abuzz - Seems Sarah Palin had some history facts to share while visiting Boston. She was not totally correct in her facts but by mistake was actually correct. Well sort of. What I am finding really amazing is that most of the news services are also getting it wrong including Yahoo. It appears from what I can tell from the 100's of news posting, that this was what she said.... "warned the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms by ringing those bells." She continued to say after being told she got it wrong... :"I didn't mess up about Paul Revere... Part of his ride was to warn the British that were already there. That, hey, you're not going to succeed. You're not going to take American arms".

Well even after trying to fix a pot hole with water she still is far from factual in her understanding of early American history. Truth be known, Revere never announced the British are Coming, after all, everyone including Paul Revere were British! In addition, this was not his first ride nor was it really his most important of rides. Revere was constantly on the road doing Whig business making several trips to Philadelphia to the First Congress, New York City delivering documents and through out New England exchanging letters and documents. What did make this ride stand out from his other more clandestine missions are several smaller events during the long ride. His actual mission that night was to warn Hamilton and Adams that "The Regulars are Coming Out!" Both gentlemen were staying in Lexington and the Regulars were on their way to take Hancock and Adams in for questioning and possible trial in England. William Dawes who also rode that night was responsible for going door to door in the country side to warn folks of the marching troops heading their way. There was no warning ride through the streets of Boston. In fact, Paul Revere was riding a borrowed horse who he lost to the British during his capture.

Area 51

I really need to write a book. Recently Annie Jacobsen who primarily writes for the Los Angeles Times Magazine published her second book titled; Area 51. Very original title if I may say so. Her primary course of writing covers business, finance and terrorism. I list terrorism because she had reported suspicious passengers on a flight in 2004 who turned out to be an ethnic musical band traveling to their next gig. Don't miss understand me, she is well recognized as a national and international journalist with by-lines in many major publications who after reading her newest book may be changing their minds.

The point of most interest in her newest book is her coverage of the Roswell UFO event where Annie really falls off the wagon. The UFO that crashed in Roswell was actually a Russian craft, or as she explains, a Soviet Spy Plane developed under Stalin and that it came down in Roswell during a storm. She then states Joseph Stalin was hoping that the news would cause widespread panic in the United States.

Jacobsen then states that the Soviet leader was inspired for the operation by the 1938 radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds". Now how about the Aliens found on board? They were actually scientific experiments created by the Nazi Doctor Josek Mengele, aka "Angel of Death" for the USSR after the war. According to Jacobsen the flight was piloted remotely and filled with a crew of "alien-like children".

Now we can all sit around and punch all sorts of holes through each chapter and highlight of this publication but I think the real thing to learn here is that with the right editor and a few bucks, anyone can right a book of fiction derived from fact and make a pretty good living. The New York Times wrote: "although this connect-the-dots U.F.O. thesis is only a hasty-sounding addendum to an otherwise straightforward investigative book about aviation and military history, it makes an indelible impression. Area 51 is liable to become best known for sci-fi provocation". What?

COSTCO

I know, we have all heard it before...."Just when I thought I have seen it all...". Well here is another one to add to the books. You can now purchase your casket for burial at COSTCO. But there is a catch; you need to buy six at a time. We had discovered a long time ago that there is really no advantage to purchasing in bulk at COSTCO verses our shopping at BIG Y using our shoppers card and silver coins. Of course, there is just the two of us but in a national comparison survey, shoppers actually spent less at the neighborhood chain per item than at COSTCO. There are a few items called loss leaders that you will find cheaper, but not many. The only difference at COSTCO is you need to buy multiple units or larger packages of items but the per unit pricing is pretty much the same as at any other store. So between the cost of membership, driving further, cost to run the freezer, and all that time, the only advantage you may end up with is all the free food samples providing you with a free meal if you plan it right.

Now about those coffins............. does it come with a free embalmers kit?

Optical Yellow

Back in 1480, Louis XI of France made use of his crown by forbidding the filling of tennis balls with chalk, dirt, sand or sawdust and they should be made of good leather and well filled with wool. Others of the time were made of animal furs, animal intestines, human hair and many other odd substances, but the standards were being set way back for Kings Tennis or as it is called today, "Real Tennis". Lawn tennis was introduced in the 1870's where the court size was standardized, lawns in place and a vulcanized rubber ball was used.

Eventually control of the standards for tennis were removed from the French Crown and are now governed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). There appears to be more regulations for tennis balls than for importing Panda Bears (that's another story for another day).

Anyway, what this is really all about is the color of tennis balls. For my childhood, the balls were a white cream color when new and came four to a sleeve. They eventually became pressurized and in metal cans with a pop-lid of only three. In 1972 the color of "Optic Yellow" was introduced. Why? The tennis ball received it major make-over for the sole purpose of making the balls more visible on TV!

About two years ago we started seeing this color on items other than tennis balls. First it was construction safety vests, then shirts, joggers apparel, police clothing, bike riders, bathing suits and now ladies underwear. Why ladies undergarments? I have no idea. I was doing some research but could not come up with an actual person responsible for the tennis ball color change but I am curious, is that individual responsible for the return of this color for other uses?

Farewell Spirit

Back in 2003, NASA launch two separate Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity each to land on opposite sides of Mars for a 90 day mission to explore the surface for signs of water and life. Spirit landed on the surface in January 2004 in what became a historic 2,190+ day mission.

Shortly after midnight NASA sent one last message to the Mars Rover Spirit. After getting stuck in a sand pit last year, slowly Spirit was slipping into a cold Mars winter. With hope of the spring sun and warmth recharging the solar batteries NASA began to realize the inevitable.

"There's a sadness that we have to say goodbye to Spirit," says project Manager John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which runs the twin rovers. But "we have to remember the great accomplishments and the blessings that we have received of having this rover for so long.

Opportunity is still up and running and there are no plans at this time to end its mission.

We Survived!

An earlier time in history right here in Connecticut there was a sudden alarm of doomsday, "The Dark Day", May 19th, 1780. As noted in the historical records; In Hartford the House of Representatives were meeting when at midday the day became so dark, members "Fell on their knees and clamored for adjournment".

"I am against adjournment. The Day of Judgement is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore, that candles may be brought".

Candles were brought forth and the House continued its business that day, and for many more days right up to today!

It's Time!

According to Family Radio evangelist Harold Camping (an engineer by training), "The rapture will come upon us on May 21, 2011". This is the same man who had predicted that the World was coming to an end in September 1994. According to some 'experts' the rapture is a five month long process which I have still not been able to fully understand. Perhaps that is how long it will take for all the sorting.

On Judgment Day, May 21, 2011, this five-month period of horrible torment will begin for all the inhabitants of the earth (does include all living creatures since they too are life and inhabit the earth?). God will raise up all the dead that have ever died from their graves. Earthquakes will ravage the whole world as the earth will no longer conceal its dead. People who died as saved individuals will experience the resurrection of their bodies and immediately leave this world to forever be with the Lord. Those who died unsaved will be raised up as well, but only to have their lifeless bodies scattered about the face of all the earth. Death will be everywhere. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Now all of this terrible news for some, wonderful news for others is quite confusing and leaves many more questions than options without even bringing into consideration ones own religion or beliefs. So I will leave you to your own thoughts and look forward to the morning of May 22, 2011 being a normal day with the possibility of sunshine and warm temperatures so I can get some yard work taken care of without a bunch of dead bodies to clean up first.

A Sad Day

In 1916 Nathan Handwerker opened his original Coney Island hot-dog stand. Murray, his son after returning from fighting in WWII helped his parents open locations in Times Square and Long Island. Murray passed this past Saturday in Florida; he was 89 years old. This only proves that a healthy diet of Nathan's Famous leads to a long and happy life.

Murray took over as Chairman in the early 1970's and rapidly grew the company into franchise deals across the country. Soon after the brand started showing up in supermarkets. His passion was still always the original stand at Surf and Stillwell Avenues. His favorite hot-dog? A plain frank on a roll.

Exploding Melons

You just can't make this stuff up!

With so many folks in the Good Ol' USA complaining about things made in China, guess what? A lot of our produce also comes from China.

According to the BBC, farmers in the Jiansu province have reported the destruction of a substantial watermelon asset. Over 20 farming families in the province have planted melons. The melons are literally exploding after being given an overdose of growth accelerator forchlorfenuron creating fields filled with land mines.

With melons being a new crop which gave big profits to farmers in China last year, many first time growers jumped on the hay wagon, planting their overdosed melon seeds looking to rake in big profits. No so, with over 45 hecters of melons having been planted in the province, families have been running for cover as the fruits began exploding in the fields.

National Eat What You Want Day

After spending more time than I cared to, I can not find the origin of "National Eat What You Want Day". No one seems to be stepping forward to lay claim to starting it. No one seems to agree on when it was first celebrated or where it all started. I checked with Hallmark, but since they have yet to design a card for this event they preferred to issue a "No Comment".

So rather than dwell on who, what, when, where and how, how about putting some thought into these few facts for this day in history:

1972 - Capt. Robert Gray discovers the Columbia River

1816 - The American Bible Society is formed in NYC

1858 - Minnesota becomes the 32nd US State

1910 - Glacier National Park in Montana is established

1951 - Jay Forrester patents the computer core memory

So eat if you must, but be thoughtful of your health and I am sure that whoever is responsible for "Eat What You Want Day" is probably now a member of Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers!