Existing In BFE

Movies are a lot like beer.  We tend to like the one on front of us the best.  So it is with some trepidation I write this morning about one that is now 25 years old.  I noticed last week that the Roger Ebert website re-released his review of Schindler's List from 1993.  Anyone who has ever asked, maybe one person, and I am quick to reply, that Schindler's List is my favorite film.  Usually when I say that faces crunch up and say it is so depressing.  That's when I jump in and tell them that it is the story of one improbable man saving 1,200 Jews from Nazi extermination.  It is really a feel good movie, albeit with some horrific and accurate violence sprinkled in.  Yeah, it's tough and brutal, and there is innocent and random killing, but, in the end, the goodness of humankind is revealed. For me it is the almost perfect film.  The choice of black and white is genius, and of course, isn't that why we like Spielberg?  The...

Usually I post my pictures here, for better or worse. But today I am posting this one. I love it for some reason. Pictures that tell a story, or rather part of a story intrigue me. There is no information with it so we can let our imaginations loose. When I go out night shooting when in Northlandia I am by myself - but wouldn't it be great to stage photos like this one that attempt to say something? This photograph teases us with what is going on. In a large empty field three guys with flashlights are standing toward a direction. It doesn't appear that they are walking. They seem to be standing still. That sis all we know. They would appear to be looking for something, or perhaps they have found it. We don't know what. The sky is dark except for the faint lights of a town far off in the distance and a smattering of stars. The rest will have to be filled in by your imagination. As the polar vortex embraces a good portion of the country, this is as good an exercise as an...

++++++++++ ++++++++++ I don't remember now if it was Craigslist or Ebay that I ran across this great looking Kawasaki 90 last week.  Why is this so special?  It was my first bike.  Marj and Herb finally acquiesced after months of pleading to get me this wonderful little bike back in the day.  In a lifetime of "firsts", this bike made me a rider of motorcycles that has continued to today.  It was for sale for $1600 which is a very reasonable cost and had it been closer to Northlandia or Kitschland, I would seriously have considered buying it.  Unfortunately it was in the Northwest somewhere and the shipping costs would have been equal, maybe, to the cost itself.  Too bad. One side note that I'm sure I've mentioned before.  On the first day I took the bike up to the school and did some Evel Kneivel stunts in the ditch resulting in a broken taillight.  First day!  Now that's breaking it in. ...

Last Sunday we experienced an eclipse of the moon which was also one of those Blood Super Moon things.  We have only been hearing about it for a month or so and guess who wasn't prepared?   I had my camera, and card, and juiced batteries.  And it wasn't like it happened in a split second and it was over.  The problem, dear readers, was laziness and arrogance.     First the laziness:  The moon was sitting at twelve o'clock at approximately 11:00 am on Sunday night.  For you non-military or aviation folks,  that means it was directly overhead.  (I watched Twelve O'clock High on TCM) a couple months ago.)  I had my 300mm kit zoom lens on and tried as much as possible to bend down into the camera viewfinder to focus.  In order to get it perfect I would have had to lie on my back on the cement after lowering the tripod to accommodate my position.  I did not.  I Thought I had it, ...

Here are two entries from January 2009: January 9, 2009 Missy's Biopsy Dr. Liebetrau informed me this morning that Missy Marie's growth that was surgically removed last month was malignant. That is the bad news. The good news is that she may not have another occurrence , He said that if she does, it will typically form at the same area. Hers was a Type 2 level of cancer, 1 being the least worrisome, to 4 which is the worse. Right now she is fine and the fact that she will be 13 next June, the odds are good that the old girl has a lot of gas left in the tank.  Missy didn't make it 13.  She passed away from a recurrence of breast cancer the following March. January 14 Tough Tough Tough Weather Week In BFE Pray for us in BFE . It snowed overnight and the best (or worse) is heading this way. Cold temperatures that this area has not seen since 1996 is coming tonight and tomorrow. But before that the winds will create drifting today. Horribl...

Ebay is a great way to climb back into the past.  And, of course, who wants to climb back more than old people?  Nostalgia is the mother's milk to anyone who gets that annoying AARP junk mail.  And I want to go on record as saying I am not a member of that organization, but I might consider it when I get old.  I'll let you kn ow. But back to Ebay.  I love it because you can go researching the things that you were attached to when you were a kid.  I got a car dash, a Remco toy, to play with in the back seat of the car when Marj would throw us all in the back and take of to Monmouth, G-Burg or the Quad Cities.  I loved that thing.  Nothing worked on it at all, it was all interactive - you want the windshield wiper to go you had to do it by hand.  All the little knobs didn't do anything except go around.  The steering when moved in circles and there was a kind of push button horn that squeaked more than honked.  I sure lov...

Datsko Park right down the road from me.

++++++++++ This guy had a good view of those of us getting the mail. ++++++++++ “A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” — William James ++++++++++ Oh Lord! That little leprechaun looks just like Ayla. ++++++++++ ++++++++++ The current Mrs. Blythe complains because I never take her out to eat.  How is that possible?  I take her to Sam's Club every month. ++++++++++ ++++++++++ It's official.  Whizzbang is the worst behaved dog in Obediance class and is starting to get on the instructor's nerves.  She also is the only dog to perform a defecation trick.  We have an actual photo from last weeks class. She got yelled at for staring down another dog.  Whizz is easily distracted and lunges while heeling making stepping on her paws happen more than once.  Dumb dog.  Dumb owner.  ...