"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset." Saint Francis De Sales

Friday, July 25, 2014

My Slow Takes About James Gardner, Tim Horton Donuts, Faith and Historicon.

1. James Gardner died July 19, 2014. He played Bret Maverick in the television series “Maverick.” which was his career start. I remember watching it every week with my Dad and brother. My favorite movie was "Murphy's Romance." Sally Field was also in the movie and I liked the two of them together. 

2. Tim Horton Donuts celebrated 50 Years last May 2013. I missed the anniversary date but still manage to visit Tim Horton’s whenever Dee and I are in Buffalo.


3. Anthony De Cristofaro’s musing, posted on “Your Daily Tripod” gives us an interesting "Action" for us to consider.

“That is not what this faith is all about. This faith is not about the things we get but rather the knowledge that is given to us and what we do once we learn.  Faith in God.  Faith in each other.  Faith in ourselves.  These call on us to open up and respond to the needs around us, not to close up and focus only upon ourselves.”

Anthony then tells us about Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts, who stated, “that his state would provide shelter to some of the unaccompanied minor children who have recently come to the US from Honduras, Guatemala and other Central American nations.  The temporary shelter will last until the courts decide what the outcome of their undocumented entry into the US will mean for the future.”  

"In addition to his patriotic reasons for taking this step to welcome the strangers among us, Governor Patrick also said:"
“The other reason I have offered our help is more personal, less about patriotism and more about faith.  I believe that we will one day have to answer for our actions -- and our inactions.  My faith teaches that "if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him..”

4. Our Historical Miniatures Gaming Society held it’s 30th anniversary of “Historicon” at the Fredericksburg Expo & Conference Center in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The games were enjoyable and in addition with getting together with old friends, I met more. My sales at the Friday morning flea market enabled me to purchase some new figures and new rules. I have not attended all of the Historicon Conventions, but I was at the first one in 1984 and many others afterward, just ask Dee.

My shirt, a gift from Dee.
5. My first game was “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Camdon.” This was a 40mm scale American War of Independence game. The host was John Murdaugh. I was on the British side and we did well.



6. My second game was another American War of Independence game. “The Battle of Assunpink, 2 Jan 1777. This time the scale was 25mm. The host was Ronald Bingham. I was on the British side again. However, I was the Hessian wing and didn’t do well with my die rolls. 



7. My third, and last game, was a 28mm skirmish game, “Brothers-in-Arms during the War of 1812. Robin Empey hosted this game and it was the most fun of all my games. I continued with the British side and the die rolls improved over the last game. 

All the games take about four hours to complete. When I wasn’t playing, I was spending time at the flea market, the vendor area and watching other games.




Read other "Takes" at Carolyn Svellinger.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

My Slow Takes About Amelia Earhart, a carrot clarinet, Fr. Kapaun and Eryn.

1. Amelia Rose Earhart, not related to Amelia Mary Earhart, is a thirty-one year woman who completed an around-the-world flight. She is the first woman to complete such a flight. Natalie Daher, of NBC News, has details of this tremendous accomplishment. 
2. Linsey Pollak is a musician from Australia. At TEDxSydney 2014 he made a carrot clarinet and then played music on it.  

3. Chaplin Emil J. Kapaun of the United States Army was in Korea during the “Forgotten War.” He was a Roman Catholic priest. President Barack Obama presented the Medal of Honor posthumously to him on April 11, 2013. Please watch this video by Christopher Stefanick.

4. On July 15, 1988, the movie “Die Hard”, starring Bruce Willis, opened in theaters. It was a success and Bruce became a star. In 1990 there was “Die Hard 2,” in 1995, “Die Hard with a Vengeance,” and “Live Free or Die Hard in 2007. I started watching Bruce when he played David Addison Jr. in the television series “Moonlighting.” My favorite movies are “Red” and “Red 2.” 

Moonlighting

5. Dee has decided that I require a “man-cave.” A place for me to write, play Halo and paint miniatures. So, with her assistance, I am re-organizing. Our old clunky desks have been removed and replaced them with a new writing desk. I will be adding a game/painting table and a new chair.
6. Wednesday night we watched one of our granddaughters, Eryn, compete in a swim meet. The event we watched was the 50 yard backstroke. Eryn is nine and did well. She’s not a first place swimmer, yet, but she loves swimming. I told her how proud I was of her and let her know that I couldn’t swim like that when I was nine.
7. This is a week of disasters, controversies, incursions, fighting and damaging weather. Please pray for all those suffering. 

Read other "Takes" at Conversion Diary.












Friday, July 11, 2014

My Slow Takes About the Liberty Bell, Red Skeleton, Minions and World Cup Soccer.

1. Some great painting by Giles at Tarleton’s Quarter. These are American riflemen from the American Revolution period.



2. Dee and I attended the 5th annual “Honey Bee Festival” at Rockwood Park. It is put on by the Rockwood Park Backyard Beekeepers Association. They had volunteers explaining about creating a bee-friendly yards and choosing bee-friendly plants. If you’re interested in becoming a beekeeper there were members explaining how to get into the interesting hobby. A list of beekeeping classes available in our area, demonstrations of honey harvesting and local honey for sale.



3. The National Constitution Center has an interesting article, “10 Fascinating Facts About The Liberty Bell.”

4. This was recorded in 1969 by Red Skeleton. Please take the time to watch.

5. The Minions “banana song.”


6. My friend Ron loves hunting. His trophies are interesting and he has them displayed in his den. I took these photos when we were visiting them last weekend.



7.  The final match of World Cup Soccer is Sunday at 3:00 PM EST. The teams; Germany and Argentina. I am looking forward to an exciting game. Germany has scored more goals, 2.8 per match versus 1.2. The percentage of shots on goal are 70% for Germany versus 60% for Argentina. 

Who will win? I’ll go with Argentina, but don’t forget Bert Bell’s famous phrase, ”On any given Sunday, any team can beat any other team." Although he was referring to NFL Football, it is the same for FIFA Soccer.



Read other "Takes" at Conversion Diary.