Musings
and History
Quote
of the day:
“The
metric system never caught on in the United States except for the
popularity of the 9 millimeter bullet.”
Dave Barry
Here
is a message for the metaphysical: Keith...where the hell are you?
A
good friend of mine said that she will not continue to attend the
“Four O’clock” club meetings at our new venue. I asked why and
she said that the owners of the bar have not bought her favorite type
of whiskey yet. I asked her if I understood her correctly; she
wanted the bar owner to buy her favorite type whiskey (blended
Canadian) and sell it to her at happy hour prices? She said that was
correct. I am going to expect the same. I want Maker’s Mark at
happy hour prices or I am going to stop going there in spite of some
of the best Italian food north of the 30th
parallel. After all, I have my pride. Just joking Annie.
I
saw an obviously ignorant but well known news analyst on a program a
few days ago. The moderator pointed out that some of the changes
that he suggests are clearly a violation of several Bill of Rights
Amendments and promotes the change from a democratic republic form of
government that we now have as described in the US Constitution. The
US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are the two most
important documents in the history of western man. This jackass said
that the Constitution was out of date and hard to understand and
should be abolished and another form of government examined. I
cannot tell you how outraged I was. I had to go take another high
blood pressure pill and another Lexapro. I thought I had control of
my temper a lot better lately, I was wrong. A group of very
intelligent men and women got together and hammered out a way to live
in freedom and guaranteed it with the Bill of Rights and this jackass
want to change it because it is adverse to what he wants. I will
tell y’all something in metaphor. This great ship of State known
as The United States was carved out of the bones of our ancestors and
is afloat on a sea of their blood from the deep past and present day
military heroes that die every day in YOUR behalf to preserve YOUR
freedom. All of this is glued together with a love and faith of our
founding fathers and the faith and love we have for each other. We
all sail along on this ship designed by Thomas Jefferson and friends.
Then some arrogant jackass says that the Constitution should be
trashed. He should go read any Medal of Honor citation and find out
what being an American is all about because he certainly is not. The
Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are the most
treasured documents ever written and will stay that way as long as
this old, grey-haired Patriot is alive. It makes me teary eyed to
think on it. To all that are interested, I am armed to the teeth and
I am not bashful.
I
was watching TV about how dangerous moose can be, especially during
the rut and right after giving birth. I got to thinking about the
scariest situations I have ever been in. All of them involve either
hunting or fishing. Here they are: (1) I was wading across a bunch
of muskeg (swamp) up in Alaska headed toward a creek that was full of
trout. I was wearing hip waders and carrying an 8 foot fly rod and a
fly box. I DID NOT have a weapon (.357 Mag. or better) on me like
the laws of the state dictate. I got about half way to the creek
when a cow moose stormed out of the woods to my left and headed right
toward me. She could have killed me with one stroke of her hooves.
But I was not going down without a fight so I waved my fly rod at her
and called her bad names. I could not stomp around too much because
the water in the muskeg was only about two inched below the tops of
my boots. It I had started running, my boots would have filled up
and I would have probably drowned or fell and the moose would have
stomped me into Tapioca. So I did the best that I could, I stood my
ground and yelled at the top of my lungs and finally I hooked my rod
together to its full eight feet and waved it with a fly known as a
Royal Coachman tied at the end of leader. She finally stopped about
20 yards away and retreated to the woods. I am sure she had a calf
hidden somewhere close. I don’t know why she stopped. She had me,
but on second thought she might have been afraid of the Royal
Coachman. I will tell some more adventures later.
This
Date in History January 4
1999
On this date for the first time since Charlemagne in the 10th
century most of Europe adopted a common currency and named it the
“Euro”. The only nations that refused to go along were Great
Britain and Denmark. At first it was only used in internal banking
and stock and bonds then they came out with paper and coin currency.
When I was in Europe in ’04 the Euro was worth about $1.20. The
value of the Euro varies a lot but right now it is about the same as
it was in ’04.
1964
On this date a young lady named Mary Sullivan is found dead in her
Boston apartment raped and strangled. There was a business card
leaning against her foot with the words “Happy New Year” written
on it. This girl was the last victim of the serial killer Albert
DeSalvo also known as “The Boston Strangler”. Mary was his 13th
victim. Albert started a life of crime at an early age and there was
a reason for it. His father would bring prostitutes home and have
sex with her in front of the entire family and then he would finish
off the evening by beating the hell out of each and every one of
them. His father sold little Albert and two of his sisters to become
farm laborers. Albert acquired several nicknames. When very young
he would knock on doors and proclaim himself as representative of a
modeling agency and that he needed to take some “measurements”
and then crudely fondle them. The cops labeled him “Measuring Man”
and sent him to the slammer for a year. When he got out he kicked it
up a notch and began to break into apartments, tie up and rape any
women he ran across. He was always in a green handyman’s coveralls
so the cops named him “Green Man”. In 1962 he began killing
women after raping them. He always left a “signature”. He tied
whatever he used to strangle his victims into a bow. In 1964 for
reasons known only to Albert, he raped a woman but did not kill her
and the cops were on his ass like a swarm of locusts and threw him in
jail. Albert told his cellmate about his killings and his cellmate
told the cops. The famous lawyer (and Marine Captain) F. Lee Bailey
took Albert’s case and through a series of brilliant negotiations
with the Boston District Attorney he got Albert’s case condensed to
just the rapes he committed while in his “Green Man” phase.
These charges would put Albert away for life without parole instead
of death. It didn’t help though, Albert had a shank (homemade
knife) driven into his liver and killed by another inmate in the
Walpole Prison in 1973. What goes around......
1847
On this date, when within a hairs breadth of bankruptcy, Samuel
Colt gets a contract to sell 1,000 of his .44 caliber revolvers to
the US army. During this time handguns were not very popular in
America because they were expensive and inaccurate. There was one
exception and that was dueling pistols. In this formalized ceremony
very well made and ornate pistols were used but again very expensive
and inaccurate due to them being smoothbores. Most people preferred
knives for personal protection especially the deadly Bowie knife.
Mr. Colt’s .44’s had rifled barrels making them much more
accurate but cost was still a problem. The .44 also was a revolver
meaning it could be preloaded with 5 or 6 shots and be fired in rapid
succession whereas guns like the dueling pistols had to be reloaded
after every shot as did many of the rifles of the day. Anyway, Mr.
Colt’s .44 proved to be very popular with the US troops and they
made several more orders which allowed Colt to gather the advice of
other industrialists like Eli Whitney and other inventors who helped
him get a production line going and helped him design interchangeable
parts which vastly lowered the price of his weapons. Although never
really cheap, by 1850 the cost had reached a point that it could be
afforded by many Americans that were headed west to settle new lands.
Between 1860 and 1880 he sold nearly 270,000 pistols to the
pioneers.
1965
On this date the giant broadcasting company CBS bought the Fender
Guitar and Amplifier Company from the ailing Leo Fender. In 1940
Fender starting manufacturing sweet-singing Telecaster and
Stratocaster guitars, along with a large variety of amplifiers and
kick-ass bass guitars. Fender felt he had to get rid of the business
because of failing health. CBS held onto Fender until 1985 when they
decided to divest themselves of any non-broadcasting entity. The
company was bought by a small group of employees and a few investors
led by William Schultz. They still have some of the best “axes”
out there.
Born today:
1896
US Senator Everett Dirksen. He said “I am a man of fixed and
unbending principles, the first of which is to remain flexible at all
times.” It was also Everett that said “In the Senate we spend a
million here and a million there but sometimes we get into real
money.”
1922
US journalist Phyllis Batelle. She said “A broken heart is what
makes life so wonderful five years later, when you meet him in an
elevator and he is fat, bald and smoking a cigar and says “Long
time, no see”.
1930
US football coach Don Shula. He said “Luck is a big part of
football. Not having a good quarterback is bad luck.” Shula used
to be the head coach with the Miami Dolphins.
1937
US actress Dyan Cannon. After meeting Albert Einstein she said
“He made me think differently....besides his smile made my tummy
warm.” Dyan was Johnny Carson’s girl friend when he was between
wives.
Died today:
1960
French writer Albert Camus. He said “People do not realize that
some people struggle mightily just to remain normal.” I know some
of these people.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until
tomorrow
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