31 October 2010

Point of View

Some angles and/or views are weird.
Tucson Ferderal Court Building

2nd View

My Apartment Complex
Office Building
Railings outside my front door, looking up

Halloween 2010

I started a post on Thursday and something happened and I never finished or sent it.
    Today is Thursday ... the 28th of October, just before Halloween weekend. I looked in the mirror this AM and realized I do not need a mask, I'll just go as an Grumpy Old Fart. Two days ago was the anniversary of the famous (infamous) Gunfight at The O.K. Corral. I have never figured out what made it so famous, but ... I spent 10 years of my life in Tombstone re-enacting it on the spot where it happened. Or as close as you can get without holding the shootout in the middle of a state highway.
   Stage and screen actor James MacArthur, who played "Danno" in the original version of television's "Hawaii Five-O," died Thursday at age 72. Most people do not know that his mother was the famed actress Helen Hayes, often referred to as "First Lady of the American Theater." Silent film star Lillian Gish was his godmother.
  Today in 1919, prohibition began in the United States. I, for one, am glad that period is over.
Some of those born on this date include:
   Rifle maker Eliphalet Remington in 1793
   Country musician Charlie Daniels in 1936 (age 74) ... fiddler, singer, songwriter & American
   Actor Dennis Franz in 1944 (age 66) ... one of the best TV cops ever
   Rock singer Wayne Fontana in 1945 (age 65) ... and his band The Mindbenders. He is 26 days older than me.
   Olympic decathlon champion-turned-sportscaster Bruce Jenner in 1949 (age 61)
   Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 1955 (age 55)
   Actress Julia Roberts in 1967 (age 43)
   Actor Joaquin Phoenix in 1974 (age 36)

    O.K., that is what I wrote. It is Sunday now and I am getting in the mood for the NFL. Yesterday, our Arizona Wildcats won a squeaker against UCLA in the Rose Bowl. We are now 7-1 and tied with Stanford for 2nd in the PAC 10. The #1 in the PAC 10 is ALSO #1 in the nation ... Oregon. Also yesterday ... my brother Mickey was happy as his Rangers won a World Series game against the Giants.
    I am listening to TexasExileRadio on the computer ... The Wrinkle Neck Mules are on right now. I, being a poet, am in love with certain lines in songs / poems / writing that really portray a thought in an unusual way. I heard one a little bit ago in a song by Jason Boland and the Stragglers. It goes " ... when my life was as empty as the bottle by my bed ...". Gawd, wish I had written that. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.


   Today's NFL picks: I am 28-12 the last 3 weeks (that's how long I have been publishing my picks) but I am worried this week. Oh well!!
Bucs +3 over our Cards / 49er's -2 over Broncos / Jaguars +7 over Cowboys / Redskins +2 1/2 over Lions / Jets -6 over the Packers / Rams +3 over Carolina /Dolphins +2 over Bengals / Chiefs -7 over the Bills  /  Titans + 4 over Chargers / Raiders -2 over the Seahawks / Vikings over the Patriots  / Steelers +1 over the Saints    Monday: Colts -5 1/2 over the Texans

   Tuesday is ELECTION DAY 2010 ... please get out and vote. This country needs help and you need to make your voice known. I wish that you all would vote for the Conservative candidates, but I know you won't. But I think that you should. As they say in Chicago .. "Vote, and vote often!".
  Have been corresponding with Dr. Stan "Valdez" McGowen my BFF (and old stunt work buddy) about his Mozambique trip. Although Valdez is blind, he really enjoys all the aspects of life, hunting included. He is an inspiration to me and to many others. When I think that my life has gone bad, I think of what he has done with his since his airplane accident. Two college degrees, teaching in college, three well written books, etc ad infinitum. Besides, Ms Hilda loves him to death. Anyway, he went to Africa with Richard Sanchez, a professional videographer he met at the Dallas Safari Club convention. Richard filmed the safari for a TV producer, who should air the hunt on an outdoor show next season. He says (and I quote):
   " My main goal was a leopard, but did not bag one.  Weather was hot, 88-96F and the cats were lethargic -- plus the bushpigs and warthogs were dropping their litters and the cats could scoop up a quick snack quite easily and would not get on bait.  The first day I dropped a 350# bushpig boar -- a nice trophy. I shot one sable that the lions had been after, he was scratched up and blind in one eye -- hed also broken off one horn, either defending himself from lions or other sable bulls. I brought down a 41" sable bull, a really nice trophy and a Niassa Wildebeest -- native only to the Niassa area in Mozambique and a small part of the Selous in Tanzania.  The tenth day we received a permit for a Problem Animal Control elephant, which, with several other animals had been raiding a "plantation" of bananas and sugar cane about 30 miles from our camp.  The local villagers had called for help as they could not run out the big animals with flaming torches and banging on pans. We made our stalk at night, not the easy way you see on TV, where the hunter stalks near the elephant and shoots him in the brain. We had to make our stalk through thick brush, uneven terrain full of elephant holes and banana trees they had pushed over.  The winds were swirling and we were never sure if the big animals would wind us and stampede -- hopefully not in our direction! We made our way downwind and to within 25 yards of one bull and the PH decided to shoot him; there were two others VERY near us as well, and we were not really sure where the other 5-6 elephants were.  Again, we were concerned about a stampede when we shot our selected bull. We had taken the laser off my .300 Win Mag and put it on the PH's .458 Win Mag for more firepower. When I turned on the laser the elephant saw it and flared his ears a bit, indicating that he was not pleased and might charge the light. One PH quickly directed me on target and I placed a shot through the elephant's heart. The second PH immediately broke the elephant's shoulder with his .500 Jefffery's and I placed a second raking shot through his lungs.  The bull ran about 75 yards and piled up. The second PH followed him up and put in an insurance shot. Pretty exciting!! No leopard, but maybe next time. I had a successful safari, but could not bring back the ivory. US Fish and Game preclude elephant ivory imports from Mozambique.
   Well, I have some bacon in the oven that I must check on and start Ms Hilda's breakfast.

25 October 2010

Monday Night

    Monday Night Football is not on yet, but I went 9 and 4 yesterday. That puts me at 27 and 12 for the last three weeks. Hopefully tonight, we get a Giant's victory and I will be at 28 and 12 or 70%, ... if not, I'll be at 67.5%. I am hopeful that Eli and the boys will beat the dreaded Dallas Plowboys and "Hollywood" Romo.
   Tuesday addition: I am at 28-12, but I am sorry that Tony Romo got injured. I don't wish that on anyone, even a Cowboy.
 

24 October 2010

Entryways


I love our enclosed walled yards here in Tucson, but I am fascinated by entrances. Here are a few that have caught my eye of late.







Sunday -United Nations Day (ar-r-r-ghh !)

Today's quotes
 John Adams: "In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress."

Alan Corenk: "Television is more interesting than people. If it were not, we would have people standing in the corners of our rooms." 

Sir Barnett Cocks: A committee is a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled.

  
   My BFF Dr. Stanley S. "Valdez" McGowen has returned from his sojourn in Mozambique. He bagged a gold medal sable antelope and a Niassa wildebeest, and became (as far as we know) the first and only blind hunter to down an elephant! Congratulations Bwana!
 
   Here in the desert Southwest, nothing much has changed, although the weather has been a tad cooler. Only supposed to get to about 75 today with a low of 50. These temps are comparable to Mickey's in Ft Worth and Dean's in Baltimore. It should be back up to the high 80's toward the end of the week though. Our monsoon ... which used to be judged according to Dew Point Temps, but now has arbitrary dates attached to it ... started late this year (very late) and has continued into October. September and October are historically dry months, but not this year.

  My (our) Arizona Wildcats played Last night and were 6 1/2 point favorites . I was wary of the game ... we could very well have gotten surprised. Since we had to play without our regular quarterback. But, we won 44-4 to go to 6-1.



The NFL lines are in and I am going to make my picks.
Steelers       by     3 over the Dolphins       ---  I'll Take the Dolphins and the 3
Falcons        by 4.5 over the Bengals         ---  I'll take Atlanta and give the points
Chiefs           by    9 over the Jaguars         ---  The Chiefs
Titans           by    3 over the Eagles            ---   Eagles and the 3
Bears            by    3 over the Redskins      ---   Redskins and 3
Saints           by  13 over the Browns         ---   Browns and 13
Ravens         by  13 over the Bills                ---  Ravens and give 13
49ers            by    3 over Carolina               ---  Carolina
Bucs              by    3 over the Rams             ---  Rams and the 3
Seahawks            5 over MY Cardinals     ---  Cardinals (my brain says no, but my heart says yes)
Chargers              3 over the Patriots        ---  Patriots
Broncos                7 over the Raiders        ---  Raiders and 7
Packers                 3 over the Vikings         ---  Bret and the Vikings pull it out 
Dallas                    3  over the Giants          ---  Giants (come on Eli!)
   
This on the news today: 
   In Seattle, illegal immigrants going door-to-door for Democratic candidates !!

                                                                         Associated Press Photo
     In this photograph taken Sunday, Oct. 16, 2010, Maria Gianni poses for a portrait at a phone bank in Seattle being used by OneAmerica Votes, an organization that has launched a vote drive targeting naturalized citizen voters. Gianni, an illegal immigrant, volunteers with the organization as it tries to steer immigrant voters toward Democratic candidates.

20 October 2010

Mid week

My NFL picks worried me this past weekend with 8 games decided by 4 points or less and 2 overtimes (I won 10 and only lost 4) . The Cowboys vs the Vikings turned out to be a great game to watch. The two overtime games were exciting, as were a couple of more. That makes me 18-8 the last two weekends.


Some of Sunday's birthdays:
Actresses / Actors 
Rita Hayworth in 1918 -born Margarita Carmen Cansino in Brooklyn, New York City, she was the daughter of flamenco dancer Eduardo Cansino, Sr., a Sephardic Jewish Spaniard from Seville, and Ziegfeld girl Volga Hayworth who was of Irish and English descent. 
Montgomery Clift in 1920 - received four Academy Award nominations during his career, three for Best Actor and one for Best Supporting Actor.
Tom Poston in 1921 - TV actor in lots of TV series, two with Bob Newhart (he married Suzanne Pleshette, Newhart's co-star when he was in his 70's). He also had recurring roles in Family Matters, Murphy Brown, Home Improvement, Cosby, Malcolm & Eddie, ER, Grace, Under Fire, That '70s Show, and Will & Grace
George Wendt in 1948 (age 62) - Norm on Cheers, He attended the Jesuit Rockhurst College in Kansas City, where he graduated with a B.A. in economics.
Singers/ Musicians
Jim Seals in 1941 (age 69) - born Sidney, Texas with Dash Crofts born in Cisco, Texas were the Duo of Seals and Crofts. They also played in the Champs (big hit was Tequila!) with Glen Campbell.

Gary Puckett in 1942 (age 68) - great baritone with The Union Gap, ... "Woman, Woman /Young Girl/Lady Willpower/ and Over You".
Alan Jackson in 1958 (age 52) - in my mind "The Giant" among country artists/songwriters since 1990.
Ziggy Marley in 1968 (age 42) - son of Bob Marley.
Eminem in 1972 (age 38) 

Wyclef Jean in 1972 (age 38)
Others
Daredevil Robert "Evel" Knievel in 1938
Golf Hall of Fame member Ernie Els in 1969 (age 41)

We lost Beaver Cleaver's mom (Barbara Billingsley) over the weekend. She was the quintessential TV mom on "Leave it to Beaver" when I was growing up ... wearing pearls to do housework, et al. Monday night, we lost Tom Bosley, the dad on "Happy Days" for 14 years. I remember him best as Father Dowling on the "Father Dowling Mysteries". Not a real good week for TV parents.


I have been reading some (older) paperbacks by Archer Mayor that are pretty good. About a cop in Vermont (of all places) ... didn't even know that had crime in Vermont. We (the lovely Ms Hilda and I) have also been watching some more BBC shows on CDs (we get them at the Tucson Pima County Library) that are really well done. Waking the Dead, sort of a cross between Bones and Cold Case, is well done and well acted and Ballykissangel, a touching show set in Ireland. We have been spending a lot of time close to hearth and home because of money problems, but we are both fairly healthy and getting along well. Hilda's hypoglycemia is doing well and so there's less to worry about. I can sleep all through the night without having to check on her ... sort of selfish huh? Seriously, I am so happy that she is doing better ... she is the love of my life. 

19 October 2010

Some other shots

Schoolhouse on the Benson Movie Set, looking NW toward the Rincons



Grotto Hill from San Xavier

Misshapen Sahuaro at The Desert Museum

St Mary's Hospital, Silverbell and St Mary's Road

San Xavier del Bac, The White Dove of the Desert, Tucson

18 October 2010

Arizona Skies

Some more pictures ... all Arizona skies.
Storm over the Rincons




Nature

Dead Tree in Happy Valley

Study in White and Green

Stream with Tennis Shoes

Cholla (Choy-ya) Blooms

Wonderland of Rocks

Arizona Caught My Eye


I have been taking pictures of Arizona for over 40 years, and I thought that I would post a few.
Roping @ The Arena Bar , Benson, AZ

Garden Canyon, Ft Huachuca, AZ


This rock is about 30 feet high

Cattle and approaching storm, Cochise County
Grand Canyon colors


15 October 2010

Tucson Caught My Eye

I am forever taking pictures of things that please me, but that others sometimes find odd. These are a few of my recent ones. The title of this post is also the tentative title of my forthcoming book of photos.
 
Barrio row houses
Doorway,  downtown Barrio

The 'Old' Pima County Court House from Presidio Park


Looking down on the Pima County Court House from the UniSource Bldg
The Corbett House on Main, looking toward downtown




11 October 2010

The Redhouse family

The Redhouse Family Jazz Band
Arizona’s First Native American Family of Jazz
Members of the Dine’ (Navajo) Nation, the band is comprised of Mary, Charlotte, Vince, Lenny, Tony, and Larry Redhouse. All established musicians, these family members have been performing together and as individuals for over 30 years, and have numerous CD releases and accolades to their credit.
     Larry, a trumpet player and pianist/organist, has the Larry Redhouse Trio in Tucson, their jazz has been called innovative with an edge of raw creative energy. Vince plays saxophone, native flute, guitar and has appeared around the world with his native flute interpretations, and has 2 Grammy Awards to his credit. Lennie is a percussionist and is one of the most engaging jazz fusion drummers performing today. Tony, a percussionist and native flute player performs in a variety of styles including funk, hip-hop, jazz. Latin, rock and native American. Mary, a renowned jazz and Native American vocalist, also plays bass and native flute. She has performed with R. Carlos Nakai and the Oliver Lake Jazz Trio among others. Charlotte plays guitar and percussion and sings Rhythm and Blues renditions of her original compositions. Their mother Maria, who is 85 years young, as of this writing performs with the Redhouse Dancers and signs The Lord's Prayer (The Our Father) in Indian sign.
   Ms Hilda and I never miss any performance of the family or of the individuals if we can catch them. Tony is living in Phoenix and Vince is now teaching on the reservation, so we didn't get a chance to see them this past Sunday, but it was a pleasure talking to Mary and Lennie. It is always an inspirational time when you get to see the family. Their deep rooted faith shines through in everything they do or say. Besides their god-given talents in musical genres and their ability to make so many appreciate Native American heritage and tradition through their regalia and their dancing and chanting, they (are simply put) great people. I count myself lucky in having ben able to see and appreciate their efforts. I have been trying to find a way to import some of Vince's music onto my Blog.


Some pictures that I took on Sunday 10/10/10 in Tucson, at Tucson Meet Yourself.
Larry and Lennie dance traditional dances

Lennie and the Hoop Dance
Maria,mother of the brood, signing the Our Father
Larry doing the Eagle Dance
Charlotte and Lennie



Tucson, Meet Yourself

A busy weekend. Hilda had a Legion Auxiliary meeting at 1000, there was a car / motorcycle /low rider show at American Legion Post 7 at noon on Saturday, Tucson Meet Yourself Festival all weekend downtown at Presidio Park and other spots downtown. All varied types of ethnic food booths and music/dancing ranging from Scot to Greek to Chinese to Spanish and many others in between. This is a festival started years ago by an old friend of mine (and everyone's) Tucson Folklorist/Historian "Big" Jim Griffith. It was originally about all the various ethnic cuisines in Tucson and in it's history ... it was called Tucson Eat Yourself and has grown to encompass the many customs, music and food from all our ethnic groups ... great fun.
Roadster that gets 3 miles to the gallon


Tucson Folklorio Dancers

Ms Hilda with an old Ford



Pima County Courthouse in Tucson