December 2015
Our Boys
31/12/15 11:58 Filed in: Family
We got a lovely present from David and Renee. Sandee and Bob got something similar but more photos and a photo blanket. Here is a canvas print of a nice photo of our three grandsons.
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Tablet Toys
30/12/15 11:55 Filed in: Family
Ryan got a tablet type toy for Christmas. He seems to like to push the buttons and play along. He does know how to recognize his alphabet, numbers, colors, etc. He is a sharp boy.
Monopoly Winner
29/12/15 11:52 Filed in: Family
On the 26th, Bob and I watched the two boys while David and Renee had a "date night" with Jesse. Bob played a round of Monopoly with Nicolas. Nicolas had a great time and actually beat PaPa Bob. He was ecstatic to say the least.
David and Renee Together
28/12/15 11:49 Filed in: Family
Got a nice photo of David and Renee together at the time of Jesse's Dedication. With their arms around each other.
Jesse's Dedication Day
27/12/15 11:39 Filed in: Family
Jesse had his Dedication Ceremony at the Nazarene Church today. He was dressed up in a very new suit outfit. Looking spiffy.
Holiday Tree
26/12/15 11:35 Filed in: Family
Here is one photo of our Christmas tree for 2015. We went this morning over to Sherwin Williams and Lowes to look at paint samples and flooring for Scott's new house. I think we found some possibilities.
Jesse's First Christmas
25/12/15 23:31 Filed in: Family
Christmas Day dinner at our house too. Prime Rib roast again, slowed cooked with rosemary and garlic. Yum. Scalloped potatoes too. Hard to beat it. Here is a photo of Jesse with Uncle Scott for his first Christmas.
Christmas Eve 2015
24/12/15 23:26 Filed in: Family
We had Christmas Eve at our house with pizza and salads with dips. The kids opened presents with us. Bob, Sandee, and Great Grandma Kay came to celebrate. Here is a good photo of Nicolas and Ryan in their Minion jammies.
Snow Day
23/12/15 13:34 Filed in: Community
What to our amazement is that we had snow coming down here late morning. It did not stick but it made an interesting sight. This is not due to a dirty lens but are snowflakes.
Rain Drops
22/12/15 13:36 Filed in: Photography
I looked outside this morning and could see a lovely buildup of raindrops at the end of the birch tree branches outside our bedroom. I felt it made a lovely photo to snap and share. Here is one.
The Oldest European Settlement in the U.S.
21/12/15 13:41 Filed in: History
"We know that St. Augustine (established in 1565) is the oldest existing European community in the U.S. We know Jamestown (1607) is the oldest English community, and although the Roanoke colony was settled earlier, it did not survive. Such was the case of the Luna settlement, a Spanish colony in Florida that was the first multi-year European settlement in what would became the United States. Spanish conquistador Tristán de Luna y Arellano settled his expedition in what is now Pensacola, Florida, in 1559. Stranded by a hurricane that wrecked their ships, the colony lasted until 1561. It’s exact location was lost to history -until now. "
Learn more about this settlement and the discovery here.
Learn more about this settlement and the discovery here.
Don't You Like My Profile
20/12/15 13:42 Filed in: Photography
The trail camera is taking nighttime shots again. Though we got daytime ones too of the local deer. We had hoped for the elk since they went back that way. No such luck. We did get one miss who likes her profile.
New Phone
19/12/15 06:30 Filed in: Interests
I guess one of my Christmas gifts to myself is updating to a new IPhone 6s. I would have liked to have waited until next year for the IPhone 7 but I don't think it would have worked due to storage limits I was running into lately. I would have had to start deleting items from my phone. Not really something I wanted to do.
What Is Counter Terror
18/12/15 13:36 Filed in: Interests
With the number of mass shootings increased in recent days, a mix of Jihadi terror and spree killers, I read with interest this piece about there are really two types of shooters. There may be a few exceptions or blends but primarily two. In knowing their habits of how they do their attack, one can learn better how to deal or find them. So read about the two types - the terror soldier and then the lone wacko.
A Knight's Tale Had Some Truth
17/12/15 13:32 Filed in: History
I do like reading about Medieval times. The times of chivalry and knighthood. I also have seen the movie, The Knight's Tale, with Heath Ledger. A bit far fetched but the knight he claimed to be impersonating did really exist. This knight was Ulrich von Liechtenstein. One can read a bit more of this history on my trivia site, Today I Found Out.
The Death of George Washington
16/12/15 06:53 Filed in: History
George Washington was a great man and a great servant to this country. We owe him a debt of gratitude to have delivered us our freedom and the United States. I hope we can keep it. I have visited Mount Vernon twice and it was a great experience. Here is a description of the final time of George Washington. Too bad medicine was not more like what we see today. No blood letting allowed.
A Fascinating Tale
15/12/15 06:48 Filed in: Interests
I will never life a life of a "beautiful" person or one of the elite. I doubt I will come close even at all. I guess it doesn't make it unusual to be fascinated about a long ago story of murder and a bit of family mayhem in the family of a peer in Great Britain. I guess their lives are not so wonderful after all even with the money, glitz, etc. Here is a story in The Telegraph of what is believed to be the ultimate fate of Lord Lucan and the mystery from that came from it quite awhile ago.
Frank Sinatra
14/12/15 06:41 Filed in: Interests
In the past few days, the world was recognizing the 100th anniversary of Frank Sinatra's birth. Definitely an interesting man when you read his story. May or maybe not someone I would have liked personally. He was a great singer or storyteller with song and a very good actor. I have a number of CDs of his music, 2 where they did duets with him singing with others (blended in studio and not sung together in person). I also snagged a couple of old vinyl records of his as momentos one time. Read some more about his life story. Another great expose of his work can be found on Powerline.
The Ardennes in 1944
13/12/15 06:34 Filed in: History
I have a fair size collection of history books about World War II. One author I also have read and have at least one of his books is Antony Beevor. He has a new book out about the Battle of the Bulge, a significant battle in the month of December in 1944. Watch Band of Brothers as a TV show and one will see. A bit more about the book can be found here.
"Antony Beevor, one of the finest narrative military historians now writing, is a master of revealing vignettes like this one. The Battle of the Bulge, from mid-December 1944 through January 1945, the subject of “Ardennes 1944,” is a known story — Hitler’s last roll of the dice in the West, stripping other fronts (including the East) of prime armored and infantry units to hurl some 30 divisions at the weakly defended American line in the Ardennes forest. It was here that the Germans had dazzlingly shattered French resistance in May 1940, driving tank armies through the forests, defiles and villages of this compact hill country. The hope now was to split the Allied armies, shattering the Americans and driving the British into an evacuation. It was a fantasy: The German military — sorely lacking in fuel; its cadres of experienced sergeants and officers depleted by years of high casualties; short of food and ammunition, let alone the transport to move them; and inferior in the air — could probably not have succeeded. But at the price of around 80,000 casualties on each side, it gave the Americans and British a real scare."
"Antony Beevor, one of the finest narrative military historians now writing, is a master of revealing vignettes like this one. The Battle of the Bulge, from mid-December 1944 through January 1945, the subject of “Ardennes 1944,” is a known story — Hitler’s last roll of the dice in the West, stripping other fronts (including the East) of prime armored and infantry units to hurl some 30 divisions at the weakly defended American line in the Ardennes forest. It was here that the Germans had dazzlingly shattered French resistance in May 1940, driving tank armies through the forests, defiles and villages of this compact hill country. The hope now was to split the Allied armies, shattering the Americans and driving the British into an evacuation. It was a fantasy: The German military — sorely lacking in fuel; its cadres of experienced sergeants and officers depleted by years of high casualties; short of food and ammunition, let alone the transport to move them; and inferior in the air — could probably not have succeeded. But at the price of around 80,000 casualties on each side, it gave the Americans and British a real scare."
Millenials Love Cats
12/12/15 05:31 Filed in: Animal Kingdom
From Prison To Actor
11/12/15 05:21 Filed in: Interests
Danny Trejo is one of those unforgettable actors. Some of it is because of his acting but most of it is due to his "looks". He was actually in prison in his early years, leading a bad life. He changed his life around and was able through lucky breaks to be "found" and develop a career as an actor. More about his story here.
Cat Adoption Team
10/12/15 05:14 Filed in: Interests
I attended my first Cat Adoption Team meeting last night up in west Portland area. Fortunately the weather cooperated……….no huge rain and windstorms as we have had for the past few days. It was a pleasant gathering in a very lovely remodeled old farm house. More about Cat Adoption Team can be found on their website.
Question Of The Day
09/12/15 05:09 Filed in: Interests
Do Zombies eat brains? Considering I do like to watch Zombie stuff or Zoobies as the inside joke is here, more Zombie trivia is worth checking out. Beyond the bit of content extracted, you can check out the theory here.
"In regards to why the zombies feed on brains, the closest we’ve ever come to an official explanation is a quote from Return of the Living Dead’s writer and director, Dan O’Bannon, who suggested that the undead felt the need to feed on the brains of the recently living because it somehow made them feel better by easing their pain. Avid fans of the zombie genre have tried to expand on this reasoning by asserting that zombies eat brains and guts because of the high levels of serotonin they contain, something that is kind of alluded to but by no means confirmed in the film’s official commentary where the production designer for the film, William Stout, notes that the idea of eating brains somehow alleviating the zombie’s pain “makes sense“."
"In regards to why the zombies feed on brains, the closest we’ve ever come to an official explanation is a quote from Return of the Living Dead’s writer and director, Dan O’Bannon, who suggested that the undead felt the need to feed on the brains of the recently living because it somehow made them feel better by easing their pain. Avid fans of the zombie genre have tried to expand on this reasoning by asserting that zombies eat brains and guts because of the high levels of serotonin they contain, something that is kind of alluded to but by no means confirmed in the film’s official commentary where the production designer for the film, William Stout, notes that the idea of eating brains somehow alleviating the zombie’s pain “makes sense“."
Christmas At School
08/12/15 05:01 Filed in: Family
Nicolas had his Cascade Elementary school Christmas pageant last night. They broke the evening into two sections and we attended the second section. Unfortunately, Nicolas' class ended up on the other side of the stage from where we sat. We did not get the opportunity to see his class sing as well. Afterwards though Ryan seemed to feel the fake Christmas presents under the Christmas tree were his to try and take to open. Here is PaPa Bob rescuing the package from Ryan.
Ham Or A Dead Pig
07/12/15 04:57 Filed in: Family
Here is a bit of the holiday spread we had for dinner. The attractive spiral ham that Scott loves to have yet Nicolas does not. As he would say, "Who wants to eat dead pig?" I guess the rest of us do. 
Ryan Loves to Eat
06/12/15 04:53 Filed in: Family
Yesterday, we had a less than common gathering for dinner at the house. David and family will come to eat here but catching Scott available to join us is rare. I guess it was the ham dinner offering. He does love a good spiral cut ham to eat. Now Ryan, he likes to dig into Grandma's jello with lots of whipped cream.
Jesse At The Christmas Bazaar
05/12/15 16:45 Filed in: Family
Renee had a table at her church to sell her different items for Christmas. What a "crafty" person she is. Little Jesse was there to help but then had to dose off due to the heavy work load he had.
Munich, An Earlier Terror
04/12/15 06:56 Filed in: History
In 1969, I was lucky to visit Europe while I was still in high school. Our trip took us to Munich where I saw the initial construction of the Olympic sites for the 1972 Olympics. During the Olympics, Palestinian terrorists took Israeli athletes and coaches hostage. The hostages died or were killed. Here is a recent article about newer information released that showed some were severely tortured during their captivity. Sadly, we don't see much changed in terror in this day and age.
2015 Berlin Holiday Gathering
03/12/15 20:36 Filed in: Community
Tonight we had our annual Berlin Community gathering at the Fire Station. We had some Christmas goodies to eat along with decorations. We collected our usual donations for the troops and Safe Haven. Extra special tonight was getting together to hear about a possible company to deliver internet service out here in Berlin. The company is called Alyrica.
Terrorism is here
02/12/15 18:53 Filed in: Interests
Today was another unspeakably bad day. Radical islamic terrorism has hit our shores again. 14 people dead and 21 injured at an attack on a meeting/holiday party at a regional convention center in San Bernardino. So much of the details don't make sense. The two perpetrators have been located and are dead. The whole scenario is alarming.
Rain and Portland
01/12/15 23:33 Filed in: Interests
Bob and I made a dark, rainy trip up to Portland tonight to attend a talk about veterinary practice purchases from Simmons and Associates. With the commute, it took about 45 minutes or so to go from the I-5 curves into downtown Portland. Yuck. The meeting was a good one and we felt had a lot of good information.
