Tag Archives: Entertainment

Fighting the Flying Circus by Rickenbacker

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I’ve just finished listening to the World War I memoires of Edward “Eddie” Rickenbacker, the American fighter ace and Medal of Honor recipient.

The book is a relatively light-hearted and adventurous romp over the skys of France and Germany. He goes into detail about the feelings and experiences of learning aerial combat and the technical aspects as they developed. The narrator of this audio version does an excellant job and is a joy to listen to. On more than a few occasions I had to turn off the audio, as I usually listen and work and I couldn’t work while listening with baited breathe to find out how a particular dog fight turned out. Or else I stopped everything and pay close attention to the wonderful details of the action. Continue reading →

The Leatherstocking Tales

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I’ve been listening to The Leatherstocking Tales by James Fenimore Cooper as read by the volunteers at Librivox.org. Audiobooks and podcasts fill my 45 minute commute twice a day. And I’ve greatly enjoyed listening to the four tales so far.

The main character is known by many names. Born as Nathaniel Bumppo, he is often referred to as Natty Bumppo by those Christian enough to insist upon a Christian name. His best friend, Chingachgook, often calls him “Hawkeye” after the name given by the Delaware tribe for his keen eyesight. In his youth, the frontiersmen and army that hired him to supply food to the outposts called him “The Deerslayer” for his exceptional ability with the rifle. His enemies amongst the Six Nations of the Iroquois called him “La Longue Carabine” for the French description of his fine weapon. The rifle is longer than most and has earned a reputation of its own before Natty gains possession of it and is known as “Kill Deer”. Later, after the American Revolution, as more civilized people start new settlements and move into western New York, the new comers refer to him as “Leatherstocking” for the deer skins he continues to wears into his old age.

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“True Grit” Review

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I saw the new “True Grit” this afternoon. It’s a great movie, already done.

This new remake by the Coen Brothers of Charles Portis‘ novel by the same name is a wonderful western. The landscapes and scenery is beautiful and has a very authentic feel. Jeff Bridges as Marshall ‘Rooster’ Cogburn is delicious and satisfying. A portrayal that exceeds the portrayal by John Wayne, who won an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1970 for this role. Bridges is darker and filthier than the Wayne version. Continue reading →

Picture in the head

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Every week I change the photo in the header of this blog. But it just occurred to me that I should be highlighting them more.

So far, they have been all my photos and since I haven’t documented which ones I’ve used, I’m sure I will forget and repeat one at some point. So now I will try to post a short story of the photo for your enjoyment.

On July 17, 2001, a summer school student came into the office at Gardiner Area High School, in Gardiner, Maine, and reported a fawn running back and forth on the baseball field. So a Rob Disch, Scott MacMaster and I went out to see what was going on. We opened all the gates and tried to herd the young deer around to one of them. The little guy was exhausted and scared. He would let us walk right up to him, thus the great closeup of my photo. Then he would bolt off like lightening and run back and forth along the outfield fence and throw himself up against the fence trying to get out.

After 25 minutes of this, he finally gave up and went in the direction we wanted him to go. He finally spotted the gate and shot through it like a bullet, ran past the school and headed for the woods.

Photo by Michael Johnson.

The Thing final scene

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Last week, I closed a blog post with a quote, “Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking.

Keep watching the skies!” Apparently few people are familiar with the movie “The Thing from Another World” (1951). The final scene is a classic! I was surprised I could not find that scene on YouTube. Well, in the interest of science fiction study, I’ve fixed this missing artifact of entertainment history.

Enjoy! YouTube video of final scene.

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