The Oklahoma Full Auto Shoot and Trade Show

Back in the summer of 86 I went through my ROTC Advanced Camp at Fort Riley Kansas.  You know what you got near Ft Riley...tell me and we'll both know. 

Well one thing I do remember from those six miserable weeks (and trust me I have been trying to purge that wasted summer from my memory) was the Million Dollar Minute or what was officialy called the "Live Fire Demonstration".  Every weapon we had in tbe arsenal short of the 16 inch guns on the battleship USS New Jersey fired for one minute.  And we blew a million in ammunition. Man that was fun.

This isn't quite as good but it's still great...



Thanks Robert W for the link...

Talk about a classy retirement present....the N2A Model 789

My friend Linda sent me this link and I want one. I love the concept behind the 789...combine three classic Chevy vehicles together. The price...a mere 135K. Hey, I can cut a little from the milk budget....

From another article I found on them:

Kanter Concepts is the design studio and parent company of (no 2 alike) n2a Motors. They combined the design elements from 1957 Chevrolet, 1958 Chevrolet and 1959 Chevrolet models. The 789 Chevy shows the world that you really can't have enough of a good thing plus up-to-date performance and reliability.

The 789 Chevy model is based on the 2005-2007 Corvette 6th generation chassis. The Corvette C6-R is the best sports car General Motors ever built. With the new C6 chassis as their starting point n2a Motors created a car that has the eyes, hood, front fenders and grille of the 1957 Chevy Belair, the tail fins of a 1959 Chevy and the interior and midsection suggestive of a 1958 Impala.

I went on the N2A web site and it had a link for "Vehicles in Stock"...pretty much each one listed said "Sold"....

I don't know about you but this makes me feel good....tell me Americans can't build good stuff, my ass! :<) Enjoy the pictures...and dream of a spring afternoon cruise....

On Denver, UFO's and Byrds Chapter Two

Today as I sit sick as a dog I was delighted to be the recipient of a text message from my old friend Robyn, aka Byrd.  I last saw her in Denver for her wedding and I would like to say I have good memories of the evening but the night is very vague to me...from the accounts I've been able to gather I was the life of the party over a bottle of Red Breast Irish Whiskey and I think I still owe the Rabbi something for the mess I made.  But I digress.

Byrd told me of the Proposition in Denver to set up an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission and her comment was "this is what happens when pot becomes legal".

I gotta say, knowing Denver...this is about right :)

In Colorado, Flying-Saucer People Are at the Throats of Ghost Hunters - WSJ.com

Colorado Flying-Saucer Believers Have Ghost Hunters in Their Sights

Denver May Not Be Big Enough for Both; Earthlings to Decide on UFO Haven

DENVER—There has been plenty of partisan rancor across Colorado as Election Day approaches. Here in the capital, it's out of this world.

Ballot Initiative 300 would require the city to set up an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission, stocked with Ph.D. scientists, to "ensure the health, safety and cultural awareness of Denver residents" when it comes to future contact "with extraterrestrial intelligent beings or their vehicles."


Promoting the initiative: Jeff Peckman, a silver-haired entrepreneur who lives with his parents. "Low overhead," he explains. Mr. Peckman is a firm believer in intergalactic life, though he has never been personally contacted by an alien. That gives him more credibility, he says; it's harder to dismiss him as biased.

Mr. Peckman has recruited about 20 volunteers for his campaign.

But we do have opposition to the proposition.

They face an impassioned opposition led by Bryan Bonner, who dismisses the unidentified-flying-object buffs as delusional if not outright frauds.

One thing about Mr. Bonner: He spends his spare time crawling through spooky spaces, deploying remote digital thermometers, seismographs, infrared cameras, electromagnetic field detectors and Nerf balls in pursuit of evidence of the paranormal. He is, in short, a ghost hunter.

And he has rallied his colleagues at the Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society to fight Initiative 300 as an embarrassment to science—and to Denver.

"This is about the reputation of the city," Mr. Bonner says.

Hey pal, you elected Pat Schroeder to Congress for years...UFOs and ghosts are minor glitches on your reputation conpared to that.

Initiative 300 made it to Tuesday's ballot on the strength of roughly 4,000 voter signatures. It starts from the premise that intelligent aliens have been visiting Earth for decades, but the federal government has conspired to keep that quiet.

"We need to get this out of the realm of the Tooth Fairy and into the realm of diplomatic protocol," says Ricky Butterfass, who works on the campaign.

I got another old friend Jerry who speaks semi-fluent Klingon...can he be a translator.  I know he will like that money.

..."I don't really believe in extraterrestrial life, but if we set something up like that, we'd be prepared for anything," said Brandon Coby, 23 years old, a biology major at the University of Colorado. "You can't go wrong with it."

Hey Brandon, in case you haven't heard, the UN took care of that.

That logic drives the ghost-hunters at Rocky Mountain Paranormal nuts. Mr. Bonner, a founder of the group, says he has no problem with anyone scanning the skies for UFOs. But he does object to giving the saucer seekers credibility by setting them up with an official commission and posting its findings on the city of Denver's website, as Initiative 300 requires.
Compared to that, he says, his profession is a model of discretion.

"The world is full of ghost-hunters," Mr. Bonner says, "but we're not trying to get ourselves affiliated with the city government."

Good point there Mr. Bonner...but what is worse, the Denver City Council or the United Nations?  Something to contemplate...

As I sit here with a fever and a good chuckle from reading this I have to say I can't wait to visit Denver again (probably by motorcycle this time) and among other things meet my old friend with my customary greeting:

Robyn, You Ignorant Slut!

UPDATE:

Looks like if the aliens land in Denver they will have to direct them to the UN:

...That's what the Mile High City might have brought into existence on November 2, had Denver voters approved Initiative 300, brainchild of Jeff Peckman's EXTRA Campaign.

By a nearly five to one margin, however, Denver told E.T. not to go home, but to go the hell home. There will be no Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission in Denver any time soon. 

Good to know there is some common sense in Colorado...now about the Senate race.....

Even Al Bundy would say this a biggin

FoxNews.com - Hunter in Florida Catches Record-Breaking Alligator
A hunter in Florida has reportedly nabbed the largest alligator in state history at more than 14 feet long.


Tres Ammerman caught the mammoth beast just west of Melbourne, Fla., in the last hour of the last day of alligator hunting season, MyFoxOrlando.com reports. He plans to sell the 14 foot, 3 1/2 inch long animal to a taxidermist at $1,000 per foot...


...The last state record in Florida was set in 1997, when a captured alligator measured just over 14 feet. Ammerman's catch has been estimated to be somewhere between 50 and 60 years old.

I think the taxidermist is going to have a heart attack when he sees that one!

On Denver, UFOs and Byrds

Today as I sit sick as a dog I was delighted to be the recipient of a text message from my old friend Robyn, aka Byrd.  I last saw her in Denver for her wedding and I would like to say I have good memories of the evening but the night is very vague to me...from the accounts I've been able to gather I was the life of the party over a bottle of Red Breast Irish Whiskey and I think I still owe the Rabbi something for the mess I made.  But I digress.

Byrd told me of the Proposition in Denver to set up an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission and her comment was "this is what happens when pot becomes legal".

I gotta say, knowing Denver...this is about right :)

In Colorado, Flying-Saucer People Are at the Throats of Ghost Hunters - WSJ.com
Colorado Flying-Saucer Believers Have Ghost Hunters in Their Sights
Denver May Not Be Big Enough for Both; Earthlings to Decide on UFO Haven


DENVER—There has been plenty of partisan rancor across Colorado as Election Day approaches. Here in the capital, it's out of this world.


Ballot Initiative 300 would require the city to set up an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission, stocked with Ph.D. scientists, to "ensure the health, safety and cultural awareness of Denver residents" when it comes to future contact "with extraterrestrial intelligent beings or their vehicles."


Promoting the initiative: Jeff Peckman, a silver-haired entrepreneur who lives with his parents. "Low overhead," he explains. Mr. Peckman is a firm believer in intergalactic life, though he has never been personally contacted by an alien. That gives him more credibility, he says; it's harder to dismiss him as biased.


Mr. Peckman has recruited about 20 volunteers for his campaign.

But we do have opposition to the proposition.

They face an impassioned opposition led by Bryan Bonner, who dismisses the unidentified-flying-object buffs as delusional if not outright frauds.


One thing about Mr. Bonner: He spends his spare time crawling through spooky spaces, deploying remote digital thermometers, seismographs, infrared cameras, electromagnetic field detectors and Nerf balls in pursuit of evidence of the paranormal. He is, in short, a ghost hunter.


And he has rallied his colleagues at the Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society to fight Initiative 300 as an embarrassment to science—and to Denver.

"This is about the reputation of the city," Mr. Bonner says.

Hey pal, you elected Pat Schroeder to Congress for years...UFOs and ghosts are minor glitches on your reputation conpared to that.

Initiative 300 made it to Tuesday's ballot on the strength of roughly 4,000 voter signatures. It starts from the premise that intelligent aliens have been visiting Earth for decades, but the federal government has conspired to keep that quiet.


"We need to get this out of the realm of the Tooth Fairy and into the realm of diplomatic protocol," says Ricky Butterfass, who works on the campaign.

I got another old friend Jerry who speaks semi-fluent Klingon...can he be a translator.  I know he will like that money.

..."I don't really believe in extraterrestrial life, but if we set something up like that, we'd be prepared for anything," said Brandon Coby, 23 years old, a biology major at the University of Colorado. "You can't go wrong with it."

Hey Brandon, in case you haven't heard, the UN took care of that.

That logic drives the ghost-hunters at Rocky Mountain Paranormal nuts. Mr. Bonner, a founder of the group, says he has no problem with anyone scanning the skies for UFOs. But he does object to giving the saucer seekers credibility by setting them up with an official commission and posting its findings on the city of Denver's website, as Initiative 300 requires.


Compared to that, he says, his profession is a model of discretion.


"The world is full of ghost-hunters," Mr. Bonner says, "but we're not trying to get ourselves affiliated with the city government."

Good point there Mr. Bonner...but what is worse, the Denver City Council or the United Nations?  Something to contemplate...
As I sit here with a fever and a good chuckle from reading this I have to say I can't wait to visit Denver again (probably by motorcycle this time) and among other things meet my old friend with my customary greeting:

Robyn, You Ignorant Slut! 

You think you have seen the bottom in toys....stuffed animals with mental problems

OK...generally it's the kids that cause the mental illness for the adults.  Now we have a clue why...the sheep made them do it...

German toymaker Paraplush has released a line of cute stuffed animals that suffer from different mental illnesses.

Depressed Turtle

Being an animal accustomed to a more relaxed pace, life in the fast lane has caught up with Dub, sending him into a severe depression.

Sheep with Multiple Personality Disorder

Dolly seems to suffer from the delusion that she is a wolf despite the fact that she is without a doubt a sheep.

Hallucinating Snake



Sly’s inner conflict must be interpreted as a sign of an ambivalent relationships towards its own body. Combined with the fascination of an apparently much more potent-seeming substitute rattle, we suspect the manifestation of a deeply rooted rattle complex.

 
 

Hippo with OCD



Lilo has been trying to solve the same wooden jigsaw puzzle for the past few months without success. He is so absorbed in this repetitive activity that he is completely unaware of his surroundings.

 

Paranoid Crocodile



Kroko’s hypersensitive perception is a symptom of a paranoid psychosis.

 

Another America Classic....Bettle Bailey

I remember while I was overseas in Korea (two decades ago....no...I can't be that old) and in Kuwait five years ago, one thing I always saw each morning was Beetle Bailey.  I don't read comics much while I'm in the US but I always read Beetle when I was overseas.  Mort, thank you for many good laughs over by years in and out of uniform

Beetle Bailey nears retirement age but stays put

STAMFORD, Conn. — Beetle Bailey is slouching toward retirement age, but the lazy Army private won't be getting rest anytime soon from his tour of duty on newspaper comics pages.


The indolent wise guy, whose popularity soared when he enlisted during the Korean War, turns 60 on Saturday.

Mort Walker, who conjured up Beetle and has been putting him on paper every day for all those decades, says he'll continue with his creation until he's no longer able.


"I don't know how I'd be retired," said Walker, 86. "I wake up every day with another idea."...

...Charles Schulz, who created and worked on the enormously popular Peanuts strip for nearly 50 years before his death in 2000, came close to Walker's longevity. But "no one has worked on the same strip for 60 years with that kind of consistency," Burford said.

King Features has been celebrating Beetle's anniversary by running Sunday cartoons by Walker of Beetle re-enacting military events in history, such as celebrating the end of World War II or crossing the Delaware with George Washington.


..."Beetle is the embodiment of everybody's resistance to authority, all the rules and regulations which you've got to follow," Walker said. "He deals with it in his own way. And in a way, it's sort of what I did when I was in the Army. I just often times did what I wanted to do."






Beetle Bailey, originally called Spider, made his comic-strip debut as a smart aleck college student on Sept. 4, 1950, in 12 newspapers, according to King Features. It considered dropping the strip at the end of Walker's one-year contract, but when Beetle stumbled into an Army recruiting post in 1951 during the Korean War, the number of newspapers that picked up Beetle climbed....

Some people have to get a life

,,,Not everyone. Some women have been angry about the caricature of a dumb blond secretary, the curvaceous Miss Buxley, Walker said.


"The women's right groups got so riled up against me they had a national agenda of attacking me," Walker said.

Next thing the SPCA and PETA will complain Garfield portrays felines as arrogant or lazy...

Again, thank you Mort and to many more years of service.

OK...a cop can't even get a coffee at full price

One of the courtesies extended cops in uniform is a free drink. Many a time I've has a complementary cup of Starbucks coffee. I usually place a buck in the tip jar so I don’t get to enjoy it too much. But for someone to say "I won’t serve a cop" because he didn't expect an officer to buy some coffee and is concerned that the cop may go postal....

Red & Black cafe shows Portland officer the door, won't sell him coffee again

In mid-May, Portland police Officer James Crooker ..with a few minutes to spare, he decided to get a coffee.

So, he popped into the Red & Black cafe ... bought a coffee and was heading out when a customer approached him, saying she appreciates the hard job that police officers do every day in Portland.

One of the co-owners of the cafe, John Langley, has another point of view. While the officer and customer were chatting, he walked up and asked Crooker to leave, saying he felt uncomfortable having a uniformed officer in the vegan cafe.

The incident, which was brief, speaks volumes about the tensions between Portland police and some members of the community who are more worried about police shootings than protection.

Crooker said he was surprised to be shown the door but left immediately. He said this marked a first during his nine-year in law enforcement, two in Portland and seven in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

"The places that I've been kicked out of before have been places like the methadone clinic," he said. "I've never been kicked out of a regular cafe."

...A former Marine who served in Iraq, Crooker didn't take the incident to heart...

Langley, who did not raise his voice during the encounter, agreed.

"It's not about the police," Langley said. "It's about what the police represent to many people who frequent the cafe.

The cafe draws vegans -- of course -- along with homeless people and animal-rights and environmental activists who Langley said have been targets of police abuse and harassment.

But the cafe also draws customers like Cornelia Seigneur, who blogged about the incident on her website.

Seigneur, a freelancer for The Oregonian who was enjoying lunch with her daughter on May 18 when Crooker came in, was the one who approached him.

"There have been some unfortunate situations recently," Seigneur said. "But overall the police are out there day in and day out protecting us."

She said she struck up a conversation with Crooker to show her support for police, who she said saved the life of a friend after he was shot by gang members.

When Langley asked Crooker to leave, she was startled.

"It was shocking," Seigneur said. "Everyone deserves to have a coffee, and he was served a coffee. It was humiliating."

She said there were only about three other people in the cafe and that no else seemed to notice the officer.

But the incident has fired a reaction, with dozens of comments pouring into Seigneur's website.

It's been so overwhelming that she took the blog post down but put it back up Thursday afternoon.

The cafe, too, has received a deluge of calls, with about half supporting the cafe and the rest expressing anger.

"We've received threats," Langley said. "People have threatened to attack us and break our windows."

Still, he has no regrets.

"I never expected a police officer to come into the space," he said. "If it happened again, I wouldn't serve him."

Gee, where are the liberals screaming about tolerance and wanting diversity? I won’t hold my breath. But I don’t question he has the right to not serve a police officer based on the fact he is a cop. And if at some point in the future Mr Langley is getting robbed or one of the “vegans -- of course -- along with homeless people and animal-rights and environmental activists” is kicking his ass, Officer Crooker will run the call and come to his aide. We don’t have the right to decide if we want to take the call. It’s our duty.

However, a sign that someone knows he is not doing right (in my humble opinion) is when he doesn’t want people to see what he was doing. If he thinks he is doing right, he should have no problem with people knowing it. I would think his clientele would probably like it. So what’s the problem with the blog post? After all there is no such thing as bad publicity, right?

International Monty Python Day

In honor of International Monty Python Day we shall review some of the great qutoes fo this historic comedy team:


The Dead Collector: Bring out yer dead.
[a man puts a body on the cart]
Large Man with Dead Body: Here's one.
The Dead Collector:: That'll be ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: What?
Large Man with Dead Body: Nothing. There's your ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: 'Ere, he says he's not dead.
Large Man with Dead Body: Yes he is.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I'm not.
The Dead Collector: He isn't.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, he will be soon, he's very ill.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I'm getting better.
Large Man with Dead Body: No you're not, you'll be stone dead in a moment.
The Dead Collector:: Well, I can't take him like that. It's against regulations.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I don't want to go on the cart.
Large Man with Dead Body: Oh, don't be such a baby.
The Dead Collector:: I can't take him.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I feel fine.
Large Man with Dead Body: Oh, do me a favor.
The Dead Collector: I can't.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, can you hang around for a couple of minutes? He won't be long.
The Dead Collector:I promised I'd be at the Robinsons'. They've lost nine today.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, when's your next round?
The Dead Collector:: Thursday.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I think I'll go for a walk.
Large Man with Dead Body: You're not fooling anyone, you know. Isn't there anything you could do?
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn’t: I feel happy. I feel happy.
[the Dead Collector glances up and down the street furtively, then silences the Body with his a whack of his club]
Large Man with Dead Body: Ah, thank you very much.
The Dead Collector:: Not at all. See you on Thursday.
Large Man with Dead Body: Right.


I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
I sleep all night and I work all day.

MOUNTIES:
He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

BARBER:
I cut down trees. I eat my lunch.
I go to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays I go shoppin'
And have buttered scones for tea.

MOUNTIES:
He cuts down trees. He eats his lunch.
He goes to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays he goes shopping
And has buttered scones for tea.

He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

BARBER:
I cut down trees. I skip and jump.
I like to press wild flowers.
I put on women's clothing
And hang around in bars.

MOUNTIES:
He cuts down trees. He skips and jumps.
He likes to press wild flowers.
He puts on women's clothing
And hangs around in bars?!

He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

BARBER:
I cut down trees. I wear high heels,
Suspendies, and a bra.
I wish I'd been a girlie,
Just like my dear Papa.

MOUNTIES:
He cuts down trees. He wears high heels,
Suspendies, and a bra?!

[talking]
What's this? Wants to be a girlie?! Oh, My!
And I thought you were so rugged! Poofter!...

[singing]
He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

He's a lumberjack, and he's okaaaaay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

Come to the Dark Side

I've always admired Darth Vadar as a chief executive. His techniques for motivating subordinates are unsurpassed and it's great to see him branching out to advertising:


Actually this was at a Starbucks near work. Great drawing!

Vacation Day 9

OK, finally home, a few dents, hardly any scratches and a couple of sore asses, but were back. Nine days, two states, three cities and 1402 miles and it’s great to be at the house, not a hotel.

A few last pictures….hope you had a great week!



The Route



The Grade



The End!

Great Car Photo's

While Beth and I were at the hotel, we noticed several classic cars parked there. Apparently there was a convention of some type....these are beautiful.

Vacation Day 6

Started a little late...we planned to wake up before 6 and watch the sunrise that went over like a soup sandwich.

Took a tour around middle Arkansas and it's been great...went to Mount Magazine State Park and got some awesome pictures. It's the highest point between teh Applicians and the Rockies.






Scene from the first senic overwatch.



Beth at the scene overwatch



Big Bear at the Vistior Center



Cougar at Visitor Center



A view from the rear of the Visitor Center

Next was visting Atlus AR visiting the Post winery...tasting and lunch at Kilts Pup...awesome local beer.



Kilts



Beth and I having lunch



Man I would have loved to have a bottle of that!




The City Hall of Atlus TX...gotta love a city hall that used to be a bank!
More to come....

Vacation Day 5

After we got up, Beth went to the back door and look who visited us. Gave her a couple of bread sticks.






See how close she got to us....Damned, where is the 30.06 when you need it! :<)



The Arkansas River




Nothing says nature like a nuclear power plant!



The camp office from the rim trail.

Vacation Day 4

Spent most of the day on the highway....beautiful all the way until the end...

Well, made it up even after a bad day learning about using a motorcycle on mountain turns….yes, I fell over. Three times. Beth and I are fine, the bike has a few new scratches but nothing major. A couple of the camp rangers helped us and he gave this flat lander some good words on taking a motor cycle up a mountain. We made it to the cabin and it is nice…but the view from the back was great. Especially the sundown. We didn’t feel like going anywhere (no, I will not due that clime on the bike at night) and ordered a pizza. We lucked out. The guy taking the order was a little confused…thought we were at another camp they do deliver to. Well, the driver called me said he would make the delivery. Gave him a good tip! A few drinks and then we were done.



At the Ark border...



The Arkansas River



The back of our cabin..



Sunset...it was even better than this picture lets on!