Some Sunday Nostalgia.....

Well Sir...this be a long one...so grab a cup of Joe, sit back, and I think y'all will enjoy it....

...this here first photygraff was inspired by "the Gunny" over at Shooting the Messenger after he posted it t'other day....

LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE

Black and White

Under age 50? You won't understand! You could hardly see for all the snow, Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.

Pull a chair up to the TV set, "Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet."

My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning. My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter AND I used to eat it raw sometimes, too. Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper bag, not in ice pack coolers, but I can't remember getting e.coli.

Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead of a pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then.

The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, and a pager was the school PA system.

We all took gym, not PE...and risked permanent injury with a pair of high top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors. I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now. Flunking gym was not an option...even for stupid kids! I guess PE must be much harder than gym.

Speaking of school, we all said prayers and sang the national anthem, and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention. We must have had horribly damaged psyches.

What an archaic health system we had then. Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything.

I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself.

I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play Station, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations.

Oh yeah... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I got that bee sting? I could have been killed!

We played 'king of the hill' on piles of gravel left on vacant construction sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent bottle of Mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like iodine did) and then we got our butt spanked. Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $89 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat.

We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either because if we did, we got our butt spanked there and then we got butt spanked again when we got home. I recall the kid from next door coming over and doing his tricks on the front stoop, just before he fell off. Little did his Mom know that she could have owned our house. Instead, she picked him up and swatted him for being such a goof. It was a neighborhood run amuck.

To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a dysfunctional family. How could we possibly have known that? We needed to get into group therapy and anger management classes? We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac! How did we ever survive?

LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA, AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T - SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING.

Well Sir....I received the above discertation frum my good old amiga Sue Gertson frum down in Eagle Lake, Texas....and then I sent it to a few friends and other bloggers...and I think y'all might enjoy their responses as well....

FROM Mr. FISH:

Our first television as a kid was one of those huge console pieces of furniture with a nine or ten inch round screen. They cost about half the price of a new car back then, and we could get one channel. It did require an outside antenna taller than the house. Originally programming came on some time early afternoon (cartoons for kids) and went off around ten at night. Of course it came on a half hour early with a test pattern so you could adjust the picture for maximum clarity.

The news program was fifteen minutes. There would be the reporter sitting in front of the camera reading the news to you. You actually got fifteen minutes of news back then too. If you clock the half hour news programs today, once you've deducted the commercial time, weather and sports time, you have seven to eight minutes of news, about half what we used to get in fifteen minutes.

I don't know how many times over the years living in Vegas I heard teenagers say there was nothing for them to do in that town, that it was an adult entertainment town. There are thousands of swimming pools, parks all over town, ball fields, basketball courts, tennis, golf courses, movie theaters by the score, roller and ice skating rinks, arcades, bike paths, skate board rinks, teen centers, billiards, roller coasters and water parks, the Circus Circus midway, shooting ranges and so on ad nauseum. In the winter there is snow skiing on Mt. Charleston just a half hour outside of town. We didn't have any of that in the little town of my childhood but I don't remember a moment being bored. There was never enough hours in the day to get it all in. We invented games, built toys, romped in the woods and learned to swim in the creek, played baseball in the street, hide and seek and skated on the sidewalks with ironed wheel skates.

If you got in trouble in school, you were in trouble at home. The school didn't get sued for swatting your backsides with a paddle, you just got it again when you got home (if you're parents found out). You minded adults. If I was walking along the street and an old lady hollered out the door for me to come help, I went in and helped even if I didn't know just who she was. She knew my parents, and if I refused or smarted off it would make it home before I did. Neighbors helped neighbors. An old lady on our block heated with coal. Mom told me to go over there after school every day and bust up coal, fill the coal bucket, and put it in by her stove for her. Every day she tried to give me a quarter and every day I turned it down. Mom hadn't said anything about my taking money for this, so I knew if I did I would wind up having to "march right back over there and give her that money back".

But then dad graduated high school the same year the stock market crashed. He couldn't afford to get married until he was 25 and mom was 22. They lived through the depression, and the Second World War, and they understood values, both financial and societal. They taught us. Today's kids are spoiled, given too much, have experienced no hardships, and have the attitude the world owes them a living. They all need to be put in something like the Peace Corps or military and allowed to see what most of the rest of the world is like.

AND FRUM MISHA (in his usual inimitable style) AT THE ANTI-IDIOTARIAN ROTTWEILER:

Ain’t that the truth?

What I wouldn’t give to be able to turn back the clock and be permanently rid of the perpetually indignant, the grief merchants, the ambulance chasers and assorted other useless life forms that never contributed anything useful to society.

...and my response to them was:

I can remember when a "Test Pattern" (with an Indian) used to be on the TV all day long until 7:00 PM...then "The Lone Ranger" came on. We had the only TV in our neighborhood so our living room used to be full at about 6:45.....Mom served snacks....

Hope some of ya out there enjoyed this nostalgic journey......

Ah...the late 40's and 50's....unfortunately this Country will never see that innocence agin.....Cookie...

Just couldn't resist postin this.....

Well Sir....I stole this here first photygraff from Yankee Mom....thought y'all just might get a kick outta it.....

...and thanks fer this one Mr. Fish....

This is a really inspirational story about a little boy... a brave young soldier...

Thank Ya Sue Gertson fer sendin me this......

From The Army Times:
Sick child gets wish to train with Rangers

By Melissa Nelson - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Feb 26, 2007 13:02:59 EST

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — Weakened by his lifelong battle with cystic fibrosis, 14-year-old Riley Woina dreams of being strong like the war heroes he watches in movies.

The Army’s 6th Ranger Training Battalion on Eglin Air Force Base recently helped him realize this unusual dream.

See photo slideshow

Susan Woina joked that her son could have taken his Plymouth, Conn., family to Walt Disney World or gone on a shopping spree through the Make-A-Wish Foundation instead of spending a week crawling in the mud with soldiers in the Florida Panhandle.

“You always want what you cannot have and he’ll never be able to join the Army because of his cystic fibrosis, so of course he wants that more than anyone else would. He would join the Army today if he could,” she said.

The family has no connection to the military, except through the many war movies Riley loves to watch. Inspired by his favorite movies, “Black Hawk Down” and the HBO World War II series “Band of Brothers,” he researched Ranger training and learned about 6th Ranger Training Battalion.

Riley said he couldn’t think of anything better — not even visiting a chocolate factory — than seeing Camp James E. Rudder, where Rangers face their final and most difficult training challenges.

“I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to do anything like this again. They do everything down here, the swamp training, everything,” he said, while eating with his new Ranger buddies in the chow hall.

And the 80-pound 14-year-old, weakened by his degenerative illness, said he doesn’t feel any sympathy for the physical punishment Rangers experience for 18 days at Camp Rudder.

“It’s a way of life for them; they are the ones that signed up for it so it’s their fault,” he said to the chuckles of the Rangers around him.

What he likes most about the Rangers: “Their determination to leave no man behind.”
Cystic fibrosis causes a buildup of thick mucus that makes breathing difficult and inhibits absorption of nutrients, stunting growth. Riley takes nutritional supplements and respiratory medications, uses an inhaler, and sleeps with a special vest that helps to shake up and clear out the mucus in his lungs while he sleeps.
Riley is the first child to ask Make-A-Wish to visit a Ranger camp, said Capt. Jeremiah Cordovano, spokesman for 6th Ranger Battalion.

“Because this is what we do on a daily basis, we forget what it is like to be a kid. What it is like the first time you jump out of an airplane, fire a weapon; it is great to watch his face light up,” said Cordovano, who helped arrange for Riley to ride in a helicopter, traverse the swamps with Rangers in an inflatable Zodiac boat and witness a 64-paratrooper night jump from inside a C-130.

And Riley, accompanied by his parents and 17-year-old brother, gave a boost to some war-weary combat veterans.

Sgt. Jon Desrosiers recently returned from Iraq where he supported the 82nd Airborne Division as a helicopter medic.

He flew from Fort Polk, La., on what he thought would be part of a routine training support mission for Camp Rudder. Desrosiers later learned that his flight crew would take Riley on a ride over Fort Walton Beach.

“I’ve seen a lot of things in Iraq and this was something fun,” he said.
The crew presented Riley with his own flight suit, a “U.S. Army Air Ambulance Detachment” patch, and his pilot’s wings.

They also helped him to radio his mom from the helicopter while hovering above the beach.

“Mom, this is Riley. This is awesome,” he said.
“Riley, I’m glad you’re having a good time,” she said.

The Rangers joked with Riley about his fondness for the flight suit, telling him he had to take it off before he joined them to practice jump training inside a mock C-130 aircraft frame. The Rangers had earlier presented him with personalized fatigues, complete with his own combat boots and dog tags.

The Rangers showed Riley how to deploy a parachute and a reserve parachute. As his parents and older brother, Ryan, laughed at Riley’s enthusiasm, Master Sgts. Jose Morengo and Alexander Barnett rolled on the ground, jumped off benches and unfurled the parachutes.

Even a black eye, which happened as Morengo pulled the rip cord grip on a reserve parachute that he strapped around Riley’s waist, didn’t keep Riley from smiling. Morengo gave Riley the rip cord grip as a souvenir, explaining that it was the ultimate trophy of surviving a harrowing experience.

And the day got better when the men let him shoot blank M4 rounds and help clear a training room using grenade simulators. He then watched dozens of Ranger students practice being lifted in and out of helicopters on ropes.

Ranger training lasts 62 days and Camp Rudder is the final phase.

“We provide the most realistic combat scenarios and they are the most decimated when they get to us,” Cordovano said. “They are lacking sleep and food. You really get to see what you are made of and if you have what it takes to be a combat leader.”

Riley will join the successful Ranger students at Fort Benning, Ga., for their graduation ceremonies March 9, where he will get to ride in a tank and shoot live rounds.

Barnett, a 17-year veteran Ranger instructor who accompanied Riley at the camp, said the teen has the mental toughness to be a Ranger.

“He has the intestinal fortitude. Because of his medical condition, he’s tough,” Barnett said. “I was shocked he asked to do this. He’s from Connecticut, he’s a city boy. He could have asked to go the Super Bowl. I have a touchy moment every day with him.”
Morengo agreed.

“He’s got nothing to prove to us; he’s tough enough.”

FOR MEN ONLY.....

Hey Guys...this is funny....push the male button first...then the female button....

http://viral.lycos.co.uk/attachments/3939/Orgasmic_Simulator2.htm


...and I'll bet there be a woman or two out there that has just gotta peek to see what this is....if'n so...y'all will get a kick outta this as welll....

HAT-TIP: to my old friend Fish...who's just as sick as I am....

A Hodge-Podge of funny stuff....

Well Sir...we'll start with this here new Security System fer us folks livin here in upstate New York...

...and just where do they hold this here Catholic Mass...???




LOOK OUT!!!! Gross factor....

Just fer chuckles....

Well Sir....I'm very happy to tell y'all that several good folks responded via E-mail to the request in my previous post....It's good to know that several "old Marines" got my back and will be attending the Gathering of Eagles.....thanks mates.....

OK...on a lighter note...here be some funnies.....

SURVIVOR....TEXAS STYLE

Due to the popularity of the "Survivor" shows on TV, Texas is planning to do one entitled "Survivor, Texas Style."

The contestants will all start in Dallas,then drive to Waco, Austin, San Antonio, over to Houston and down to Brownsville . They will then proceed up Del Rio, El Paso, Midland, Odessa, Lubbock and Amarillo. From there they will go to Abilene, Fort Worth and finally back to Dallas.

Each will be driving a pink Volvo with bumper stickers that read: "I'm Gay." "I love the Dixie Chicks." "Boycott Beef." "I voted for John Kerry." "Hillary in 2008." and "I'm here to confiscate your guns."

The first one to make it back to Dallas alive wins.

A Cookshack HAT TIP: to Sue Gertson frum Eagle Lake, Texas fer sharin these...

A plea frum an old disabled Vet...... Will somebody please go in my stead..

Well Sir.....on the 17th of March, 2007.....Veterans, their families, and their supporters frum all over the Nation will gather at "The Wall" (Vietnam Memorial) in Washington, DC, so as to protect it frum any possible damage by anti-war protesters that will also be marching on the Capitol that day.

This "Gathering of Eagles" will also be showing our support for great troops and that our cause is just. I had also planned on going, however, life being what it is....I've had to change my plans.

Sadly...my health seems to have taken a turn to the south as of late, and unexpected financial obligations have necessitated that I cancel my plans.

I am now asking anyone, Veteran or not...to please take my place by The Wall so that it will be adequately protected and that I can at least be there in spirit.....

I thought this worth postin......

Well Sir....I received this here dissertation today frum my good amiga, Sue Gertson frum Eagle Lake, Texas. I thought it appropriate to post in it's entirety...

days of salt and vinegar
by J.C. Phillips

A French philosopher once remarked that a civilization that feels guilty for everything it is and does will not have the will or energy to defend itself. I thought of these words when I read the recent Newsweek interview with actor George Clooney. When asked about the failure of the international community to act to end the genocide in Darfur, Clooney blamed it on the United States’ lack of moral authority since our invasion of Iraq.

Curiously, Clooney did not blame the lethargic international response on the inertia of the European Union, the duplicity of Arab states that funded the conflict while Muslims were slaughtering Christians and now seem content to sit by as Muslims slaughter Muslims. Neither did he ascribe any blame to the Chinese and Russians that have routinely blocked U.N. action. For Clooney, the fault lies solely with the United States because we are currently in Iraq, oddly enough doing exactly what Clooney wants the U.S. to do in Sudan.

Of course, to hear Clooney tell it, his perspective on U.S. foreign relations is due to his being raised to look at this country from the outside in as opposed to the inside out. Why is that Hollywood celebrities hide their hubris behind claims that they are simply more sophisticated than the rest of us? No doubt, it is this same sophistication that leads them to embrace totalitarian dictators and become enamoured of all things European. The same Europe, by the way, that is so morally superior that they were paralyzed during the Bosnian crisis, sat on their hands during the genocide in Rwanda and now sits impotent in the face of a soon to be nuclear armed Iran; The same Europe that witnesses suffering in Sudan and fails to act because they disagree with our Iraq policy. That can’t even sound right to Clooney.

There is a steady stream of anti-Americanism that runs through Hollywood and is infecting the rest of the country. From Hollywood actors that wear their contempt for America like a badge of honor to former presidential candidates that bad mouth America in the ears of despots and beyond, the ranks of the guilt-ridden and self loathing are growing. The irony is that the ambitions of so many of these Hollywood types – treatment for AIDS, ending starvation, preventing genocide etc. – hinge not on the soft socialism of Europe, but on the very American values they disdain. It is those same values of self reliance, decentralization, capitalism, freedom of speech and religion and rights to private property -- and not European secularist socialism -- that is the blueprint for world peace and prosperity.

Perhaps in another era I could listen to actors like Clooney hold forth on their designer soapboxes and just ascribe it to Hollywood arrogance and eccentricity. But these are times of salt and vinegar. We are at war and I am not talking about Iraq. This nation is engaged in a life and death struggle with Islamic fascists, Jihadist -- or whatever the term du jour is -- for our very existence. If we are going to be victorious, we had better reject Hollywood anti-Americanism (no matter how pretty the face) and begin to feel good about ourselves. If our culture and our ideals are going to survive, we had better start feeling good about America. We had better begin to feel good about our values. We had better begin facing the world with confidence in who we are and with clarity about what we stand for. Or we could follow sophisticates like Clooney down the garden path and begin work carving “Rest In Peace” on America’s headstone.

This whole case really stinks.....

Well Sir.....this entire Border Patrol case really stinks...on several levels...and there NEEDS to be a complete Congressional investigation as to just WHY the Bush Administration has gone out of its way to convict these guys.....

I wonder if'n the Mexican Government got a photygraff of somebody doin a chicken...

Wish she could run fer Prez.....

Well Sir...now this be one smart, HONEST and gutsy woman.....take a moment or two and watch this here clip......

I found this over at The Jawa Report.....

I need t'be convinced.....

Well Sir....as of late I've made the following observation...and it's possible that even my observation is incorrect...so...that's why I'm postin this here post.....if'n that even makes sense to any of ya....

OK now.....I've noted that this here "Global Warming" debate seems to be split along either of the following lines...or all....and that is that folks who don't believe in GW seem to be in the "conservative camp", "right wing" or Republicans....and that folks that do believe in it generally are on the other side of the aisle, and dhimycrats....

Now Sir....if'n that observation is incorrect...PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME !

Next....having 6 grandchildren, and one great grandchild...my line of thinkin is about them...not bout me. I would prefer to er on the side of caution regardin GW...nuther wurds....if'n it's true...and I personally believe it is (even though I'm a dyed in the wool right wing, conservative Republican)...than just what the hell harm can be done by taking some positive steps right now to at least lesson the effects of GW.....WHAT CAN IT HURT???

...and BTW...I'm NOT a tree hugger....just a very concerned Grand Parent.....

OK....the comment section is open fer discussion....lookin forward to hearin ALL sides.....

Old Cookie....

Some Sunday Sundries..... a little bit R-Rated...

Well Sir....us New Yorkers...being a tough breed of folks...will find ways to entertain ourselves...even with 12 feet of snow on the ground....so...we'll start out with just one a the ways....