Summer Morning Walk

Still more than a week before the official start date of Summer...but the weather the past couple of weeks screams "Summer"!.

I crawled out of the sack at 6 this morning, since Patricia had to go to her school for an "in service"...teacher's 3 month vacation is more like 2, but who's counting the days....anyway, I got up with her, ate a carb and cholesterol filled breakfast=Bad?, Drank a couple cups of "Joe" and jumped into the jeep, parked at Lake Shore Drive and made the 1.5 mile walk and back(3 total) in about an hour 15 minutes....starting at Lake Shore Drive, I take the West Bank Road along the lake to the south end park and back....yesterday it was hot when I got started at 10:30...this morning at 7:30 it was breezy as the winds were coming across Grand Lake from the south and east. It will heat up though, another 90 degree day, with more strong storms coming in from Iowa and Wisconsin tomorrow afternoon.....it appears after that, we will cool down to more normal mid June weather next week....highs in the 70s and 80s and drying out....we need both.

As miserable as the heat and humidity has been(and it will get worse next month), nothing like the folks in Iowa, Wisconsin, and elsewhere have had....rain measured in feet, and tornadoes of the killer variety....we've had both storms and tornado outbreaks, but nothing like those folks, who for sure need a break.

So far this summer, the ACME Baseball schedule has been a minor disaster. I've managed to get 3 games of 10 in...delays due to lack of players on some teams, rain/storm outs, etc...etc. I will probably get tonight's game in a Minster, but tomorrow at Celina looks like another lightning, tornado, crap weather filled game.....rain Saturday morning as we head to Dayton and Wright State for Hal's Graduation Ceremony....he was done in March, but they do the walk only twice a year.....he is working around the country this summer at Celina Moving(Atlas Van Lines), and will head back to WSU for his Masters come late August....this program only takes 9 months...and he should be done for good...will end up with a double major in High School Education for History/Social Science and a secondary in History.....Thank God he has gotten through a left wing state institution still with a Conservative political view....we must have done something right. Any kid that can see through the left wing bullshit in college and univesity settings these days is lucky, mature, and smart....don't get me wrong, Hal is a party guy, not a nerd, and at 6'4" 250 lbs, who's gonna challenge him on his politics?

Next week will see Patricia and Anissa fly from Dayton to Milwaukee to spend about a week at her Dad and Bev's....they have been hit hard with rain and flooding, in Oconomowoc, but sitting near the lake area in their 2nd flood Condo, they have remained high and dry. That will leave me, the dog, cat, and the boys to our own devices....I suspect Hal will be working out of state, and Sam and I, hopefully, will have enough games to keep busy. Best part of it, both here and in Wisconsin, they are calling for dry and cooler weather...let's hope for once, they are right.

Back Later>>>>>>>>>>>>

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photos--windy this morning as I walked the west lake area..so some shots were a little shaky.

Light House, Geese with their youngins', and the choppy lake.

Tornado Warning #2

>>>>If not for the Tornado Warnings and sightings at my summer baseball games, it would be a pretty damn boring summer. For the 2nd time in 4 nights I was left driving the back roads home, looking out all windows for the great funnel clouds in the sky.

Sam was scheduled to be at Convoy Crestview, same spot we were Friday when the first of our tornado adventures started.....I was to be at Delphos for a game between cross town rivals St. Johns and Jefferson. I head out out early after checking the radar, the red spots on the screen were popping up, and I knew this was going to be "iffy" at best. At 4:45 Sam called on his cell phone, his game at Crestview Schools had been washed...as I looked north and west out the car windows, I could tell why...it was as black as night towards the Convoy area. Towards the east, Delphos is about 25 miles from Convoy, the county seat of Van Wert lies in between those 2. Delphos had sun and some clouds. By the time I arrived at Jefferson High School, the storm that had hit Convoy and the north edge of Van Wert had skirted the city of Delphos, and the sun came out.

I was getting dressed to do the home plate as my younger partner showed up....we went over our concerns and traded notes as we had not worked together. By the time we had the umpire meeting with the coaches, the sky to the south and west had turned an ugly dark color, with rumbles of thunder coming from those clouds....we started anyway...1 ball, then a strike, I heard a sound I didn't like coming from the area behind home plate...calling time, I tell the players and coaches..."We are shutting this down, it's going to get ugly" No sooner had I spoken those words, and Dan the St. Johns varsity coach says..."Pat, we've got a tornado warning for eastern Van Wert County"(half of Delphos is on the Van Wert County side, the east side of course, the rest of town is in Allen County)...within 10 seconds the weather sirens began to blast....without bothering to cover the plate and pitching mound...we hauled ass out of the field into the parking lots.....I aimed the Intrepid towards the center of town...because the 35 mile drive to Celina was right in the path of the storm, to the southwest.

By the time I reached the Speedway Gas shop, the rain was coming down in buckets....I jumped into the storm, the lights went out and the generator kicked in....to dark to tell is we had a tornado or not...but 15 minutes or so later, the rain slackened, and I headed out to the car. I decided to take the Lincoln Highway(Old U.S. 30) to Van Wert...as I headed west toward Middle Point, Patricia calls and says there is another Tornado sighted..this one near, where else?, Middle Point....I see no twister activity in the air, but plenty of trees and large limbs down between Middle Point and Van Wert.....I escape another one, hit the south end of Van Wert and head home.

Rained hard last night...with storms throughout the night...but by the time I headed for Greenville at 6 this morning...it was just a steady rain, and now sunshine and less humid weather has arrived. This is supposed to last for a couple of days, before more storms this weekend...ONE HELL OF A LATE SPRING!

Inbetween storms I sat out on the front porch and listened to the Reds win over the Marlins, topped off by Ken Griffy Junior's 600 career home run.....Then about an hour before dark, I heard this wierd bird call and watched as a dove like bird flew onto the wires across the street....after a closer look, I can tell it's a Cockatiel....obivously someone had set it free or it escaped from it's cage.

Patricia and I managed to talk it down to the roof and gutters above the front porch, but even with my sister Kelly(who owns many tropical birds in Naples, FL) and her husband, Denmark Mike helping...the bird eventually few into our Maple tree, where it spent the night, despite the heavy rain and storms...it was still there when I left this morning, and for about an hour after I returned...but finally headed on it's way......nice looking bird, no doubt somebody's pet, but for now enjoying it's freedom...even though, for a domestic bird, that might not last long.

No games for me tonight...Sam is home for a local game.

Back Later>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Photos at top....a generic Tornado with rainbow, kind of like last Friday outside Van Wert....a generic yellow fancy Cockatiel, looking like the one on our wires and finally trees last night.....as shown in my personal photos below the generic ones.

Hot Times!

The weekend was a quick one and the heat stayed on....however, the storms stayed away from Mercer County, and actually Saturday for the wedding, it was cloudy and rather pleasant, albeit somewhat humid.

The Coldwater baseball team lost in the Semi-Finals at State, while the Celina girls softball team made it to the finals before losing to a pitcher that was one step faster than the Celina bats...final 6-0 Canfield...Celina finishes up at 24 wins 4 loses and the Division 2 state runners-up.....now we concentrate on Summer ball in the form of American Legion and ACME(summer High School) ball.

The Wedding got underway at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church at 3PM Saturday....the reception followed at the American Legion post in Celina....my guess is around 300 showed for the reception...and it was a full+ house....If you've never been to a good old German Catholic wedding and reception, you are missing out on a pretty good time. Plenty of photos, beer, good food, and we partied into the evening....and next morning. Everything went off without a hitch....but this old geezer felt the aftermath most of the day yesterday, a good night's sleep last night, put me back in the right lane.

95 windy, humid, today, with a chance of more storms late this afternoon...if I get my game in at Delphos, it will be a HOT one.....

Hal's Wright State Graduation ceremony is this coming Saturday, then next Tuesday Patricia and Anissa fly to Milwaukee for the week....this will continue to stay busy, and a drop of 10 or 15 degrees, with less rain would be nice.

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back later>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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photos from the wedding.....The father of the Bride PH with my mom and his mother-in-law/2 of the biggest guys at the wedding...our Hal on left with Aaron the Groom...6'4" and 6'5" ....given the fact most of the groomsman and best man(Aaron's brother) are mostly former college football players and current coaches, there was some size on these guys. Sam/Hal and others out on the dance floor, which remained packed all night/even Patricia and I got out once....nice shot of her back and my gray hair/the sisters...Kelly up from Naples, Florida, and Marty the mother of the bride/Aaron and Molly with the first dance/ and finally my Uncle Jack still likes the women at 79, this time with his grand nieces, Megan, Molly, and Miki.

Tornado Warning!

Sam and I headed to Convoy to do an ACME Baseball game late this afternoon....storms had began popping up in Indiana and near Chicago in northeast Illinois....the 0% chance of storms had become 50% by tonight, and now the weather service, in all their usual 20-20 hindsight, was saying the storms might arrive earlier than midnight.

The game started at 6 and no rain or storms in sight, we finish up just after 8PM and a few clouds had moved to the west of Convoy and Crestview High School...nothing seemed big as we changed our gear and headed out of the parking lot about 8:15....nobody seemed concerned, and neither did we... We jump in the car, I flipped on the radio to listen to the Reds game against the Florida Marlins....a few mintues into the drive I looked out the passenger side window...telling Sam.."Look at that!...the sky to the south and west/northwest had become completly black within a matter of minutes....we headed into the outskirts of Van Wert...and stopped at the Brookside Marathon, right near the spot where the deadly tornado of November 2002 had hit....needing fuel I stepped out of the car, just in time to hear the wail of sirens....Sam headed in to get a couple slices of pizza...I look around, thinking to myself "Screw this"...I quickly put $5 in the tank and say to Sam..."let's get the Hell out of here...this doesn't look good"

Instead of taking the Lincoln Highway through to downtown, I circled around the Van Wert ball diamonds at Smiley Park...just in time to hit the crowd leaving in a panic from the Little League games at the site....cars everywhere, here I am cussing them and my luck....across from the park sits the Van Wert Airport...a small cement double runway private air dock...as I look back I say to Sam...."Shit! Look over there...." here it came, a small forming twister....dust and limbs blowing every direction...and cars not knowing where to go....for a moment, I think..."well, I screwed this up, and we may be in for it"...leaves, dirt, cars, limbs, etc, ect...but somehow we managed to work our way through traffic, go right on Shannon Street, and work our way into the Pizza Hut parking lot.....jumping out, I am pretty sure we are in trouble....we go inside, tell the folks in there what is going on outside....we and the establishment survive.

As it turns out....we get reports of 3 or 4 touchdowns, Chatt, north end of Van Wert, and 2 funnel clouds in Putnam County....so far no damage reports, but it was intense. Meanwhile, Sam and I sit down in Pizza Hut...the girls bring us some free pizza, because a couple of folks didn't bother sticking around to get theirs when the storm hit....add a beer for me, a soda for Sam and we head home....trees and shurbs uprooted is what we saw....along with some beautiful cloud formations and a massive rainbow.....

I didn't have any of my cameras...but did get a few 'Sky Shots' with the cell phone.... they are as the storm clears near Rockford, and a Rainbow near Ohio City.....we arrive home safe and sound....a cigar and beer in hand, I send you these shots and head back outside to the confines of my front porch to enjoy.

more later>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Summer is NOW!

Not much of a Spring around west Ohio....as usual right into Summer.

Got our games in last night, me here in Celina, Sam up at Columbus Grove, tonight we are together at Crestview...meanwhile the Celina girls and Coldwater boys are playing for state championships...Celina Division 2 Softball plays at Akron this afternoon, and Coldwater Division 3 Baseball in Columbus, also this afternoon in final 4 games...If they win they play tomorrow for the titles.

No games tomorrow for us as we attend niece Molly's wedding at the IC Catholic Church in Celina, then on to the American Legion for the reception...If Hal, who is on his way back from Syracuse via tow truck makes it, it will be the first time our entire immediate Houseworth family, has been together in about 20 years. Hal's Celina Moving rig broke down in upstate NY, and he had to stay with it until the tow truck arrived, and has hitched a ride back...should arrive sometime early tomorrow morning. When he makes it back the entire family, mom, her 4 kids, their spouses, 8 grandkids, and 2 great-grandkids, will be in the same town for the first time in about 20 years.....

Meanwhile Molly will be getting hitched to former Ohio Univesity football standout Aaron...who now coaches at Hillsdale College in Michigan....both are Celina High Grads, as our most of the family. The church will be hot, the summer like weather, in the mid 90s with humidity to match, will be threatend by a few thunderstorms....all-in-all, a typical June forecast in the midwest....

Have a great weekend, stay safe, and I'll be....

back later>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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photo-the Lighthouse on the West Bank of Grand Lake, and Summer(even though the dates says Spring) is here in west central Ohio.

Update: Celina Lady Bulldog Softball team defeats Dover 5-1 in the Division 2 Semi-Final....Play tomorrow at 3PM(same time as the wedding) for the State Championship in Columbus against Canfield.

Post Cards and Letters from the past

The Monsoons have struck Ohio and the midwest. Games are washed out, fields are flooded, and tornadoes and golf ball sized hail came down between Dayton and Cincinnati last night...the flood warnings continue today....actually though, Celina and the immediate area have been pretty lucky...a couple of inches of rain, but nothing like other places. This could be one of those wet Junes, which will produce a cash crop of insects of the biting variety come August and September.


I'm still rather ill at the thought of one Barack Hussain Obama becoming President, but if it was Hillary, I would feel the same way, and McCain doesn't send my patriotic blood vessels popping with pride either...so why ruin the entire summer season pissing and moaning about politics? I will mention the race on occasion...but lots can and will happen before November and even before the next King is crowned next January.


Post Cards from the Past _____________________



My Grandmother Wilda Waldron Houseworth(1883-1975) made many travels during her long life, and along with her two daughters, Cecil and Eva, collected and sent post cards from every location among their travels...in Grandma's case it was usually by Greyhound or Trailways Bus....even on her trips for the winter stays with us in Venice, Florida, back in the 1950s.



The Houseworth women were packrats and saved anything and everything they could...they were survivalists before there was such a phrase. In addition they save all materials sent to them, bought double of everything...and it was to my advantage. I got to keep the small and large items they left behind....and there were thousands upon thousands of items of different sizes and descriptions. I sold some of the items on ebay, including several hundred post cards, antique hunting licenses, 1940s toys, etc...I did well, but always regretted getting rid of the items....so much I saved at least one item out of each batch....in the case of post cards, it was over a thousand....since then I now collect various postcards from the different areas/decades.

Anyway, back to the point....Grandma and the girls kept all the post cards that were sent to them, and those they sent to each other from around the states and world...plus ones they collected that were not sent. I prefer the cards and letters from family members that tell a story, and have hundreds of those...here are a few glimpses of the Houseworth family from years ago.

The first one is postmarked: Jacksonville, Florida, May 12, 1944....the post card is from Wilda to daughter Eva, and contains the photo of the "Peggy Ann Truckstop" and Bus Station on Highway 41, just north of Cartersville, Georgia...Grandma had stopped there and sent it when she reached her destination at Jacksonville....this is one of my favorite Real Photo Cards....as is the next:







Dad(Stan Houseworth) sent this one in 1945 to Grandma....he was stationed at Mather Field, California, his last Army Air Force Base before being discharged...the Buck Horn Lodge was located in Amador County, California, which is in the Sierra Nevada Range and located near the front "Elbow" of the state....no stamp on this one, since he was military and during the war, these were free postage.....I've researched the Lodge on the internet, and would still like to visit this county if my RV travels resume and I get out that way again....this is pure Americana.

The next one is from another visit Grandma took to Florida..this one before the war....and before Boggie and Becall set foot on the movie lot and acted out the famous "Key Largo"....I've been to Key Largo, Key West, and the entire chain of Keys in the past decade, and needless to say, this Key Largo no longer exists, except in movies, photographs, and picture postcards, and we are all poorer for it.

The next one, a color "linen" post card was popular in the 1940s and early 50s, before folks got hooked on slick color photo postcards(my least favorite)...this one, showing the Duluth, Minnesota, sea port was sent from nearby Ashland, Wisconsin, on June 23, 1940, by my Aunt Cecil to Grandma Houseworth, and describes in part the path their trip was taking them....been to both Ashland and Duluth, back when I was living in northern Wisconsin in the 1970s.

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The final items shown are letters...the first from a gift shop in Atlantic Beach, Florida, in June 1944...Atlantic Beach is near Jacksonville, and appearently Grandma had purchased an item from the "Tropical Shoppe", and this enclosed card/letter was to tell her that the item was on it's way to Scott, Ohio,....Box 64 Scott was a P.O. Box rented by the Waldron and Houseworth family from 1923 until 2002...I finally gave it up when I retired from the Health Department in Van Wert.....after being in the family for nearly 80 years. As far as the letter, what I really like is the 8 Cent stamp with the Passenger Airplane ...my guess at 8 cents(high price back then), the letter was sent 'Air Mail'.

Finally, the last letter was sent from Dad to his sister Cecil on September 1, 1941(written August 31st) at the dawn of the second World War. Stan's first base out of basic was at Lowry Field, Colorado, when he learned to become a Mechanic, working eventually on B-29 and B-17 Aircraft....Cecil and her husband Hank, lived in Columbia City, Indiana by this time, and dad described his life on the base in "Tent City", and his waiting to go to "school"...says "I'm not really good at writing letters, as you can see"...lol...something me and the 2 boys have in common with him....as educated as we are, our hand writing stinks....dad's did too. It took me awhile to decipher just what all he was saying. He was assigned to the 41st School Squadron at Lowry.






Enough hot air for now, I see the sun has come out, the games are cancelled, so I will take my 3 mile walk in the humidity. Sister Kelly and her husband Denmark Michael will arrive today from Naples, Florida....the nieces wedding in on Saturday....90s for tomorrow and Friday, things should get nice and steamy.





Back Later>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Politics or Post Cards?

With storms brewing in the west Ohio flatlands, my game in Lima, and Sam's at Delphos were both cancelled early today...probably a good thing. We got our respective games in at Convoy last night(Sam a Junior ACME game, me the varsity) in which the host teams from Crestview were both easy winners....with a full schedule and a family wedding on Saturday, it's not important that we get a game in every night this week....but the beer and cigar money they provide is appreciated.



Usually the first of June I take the rag top off the Jeep Wrangler...a sure sign that it is summer...rather than fold it back, which causes wear and tear on those expensive pieces of material, I just take it off completly. I put it away until October 1st, when the winter/cold season begins....I usually cover it(the Jeep) with a tarp at night, especially if rain is in the forecast....well, last night I covered it, but didn't use enough bungy cords....we get a whopper of a storm, and the Jeep was full of about 2 inches of water on the floor area....now, that's gonna take awhile to dry....went out and purchased a few new cords, and hopefully with the rain in the forecast for the next week(off and on), it will stay dry, and any sun we receive can get the water out of the outdoor floor carpet.



On to today's topic....I originally had thought of naming this one..."It's down to this...."Half Breed Harry Hussain vs Juan McCain"....pretty crude and pretty damn political, such is my disgust with the current crop of folks running for President....It appears Hillzilla the Wonder Beast is about to deep six her campaign and let Barack Hussian Wright, er Obama, take on the GOP guy McCain....For me I hate it coming down to the lesser of 2 evils....Obama may not be the Anti Christ, but he, along with his marxist wife and half assed racist pastor, comes pretty damn close to filling the bill. As for McCain, I salute him for his service and sacrifice, but I despise his stand on the Border, No Torture for terrorists(even to save American lives), and his belief in the phoney science, "Global Warming".

So, what's a hard core Christian Right Winger like me to do? Not sure, but suffice to say, I won't be voting for the DNC standard bearer Obama....and I won't be out shouting my joy for the campaign of John McCain...he, after all, was at best my 5th choice.....I guess it comes down to who will destroy the economy and spirit of the USA first, and how fast can we rebuilt after 1929 comes a calling like a freight train down 8 mile hill?

Frankly, I see no bright light from the likes of Ronald Reagan in our future, only the dull ache of Political Correctness gone amuck, and an economic depression like we have not seen in 75 years....American politics, especially the left wing type, makes me not afraid, at least not for myself, I say "Bring it on A-Holes"....Having said that, I feel regret that the younger folks can't see the forest for the trees, aka: The world of "American Idol", I-Pods, MTV, and the other garbage being flushed out from that cesspool known as Hollywood.

The outcome I feel, is not going to be good....maybe the Messiah of the Main Stream Press, Barack Hussian Obama, can convince a blind nation otherwise, but if elected, he will be a disaster for this country and the world.

So, if you think I'm pissed off at the state of the 2 party system and the direction of this country, you are awarded the gold star for being so observant.

Damn, never did get to the postcards....will give that a shot tomorrow.

back later>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Wandering the Back Yard

Sam and I are getting ready to head to Convoy for a couple of games at Crestview High School...ACME season is upon us. The main difference between ACME and High School games, the time, most start at 6 or 6:30pm and the weather, usually hotter, and more thunderstorms to dodge.

Started back into my walking today, it's been awhile since I did any decent workouts...drove the Jeep to Lake Shore Park, and made the one hour walk along West Bank Road to the park and back....temp was in the 80s....rain is slated for tomorrow, otherwise, I will grab the camera and take a few shots along the way.

Today I hit the back yard a few mintues ago and took these shots:

Back Later>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Some of the wife's flowers outside the fence line....and my back entry gate next to the dog kennel....the fence is getting old, but with the exception of the 3 entry points has a few good years left before I replace it....the gates are another story, they just don't seem to last as long.

Sunday Photo Session

Summer appears to be finally entrenched...finally because of the long cold winter, and the rather crappy spring. Now it looks like days of sun, mixed with thunderstorms, at least into the next week. We had a pretty good storm rip through the area on Friday night, but yesterday settled down and was windy, humid and warm...today looks much the same.

The Celina Girls Softball team won their Division 2 Regional down near Dayton yesterday, and for the first time since 1999 they will be playing at State....the softball finals are in Akron. Meanwhile another local team, the Baseball Coldwater Cavaliers, will be playing for their 6th state championship, in Division 3...Baseball holds it's finals at Columbus.

Not much else to say...so I end this short post with a collection of some old Houseworth Photos...most from the past, and from the Scott, Ohio area....my dad's hometown and where I spent the first 5 years of my life.

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Top to Bottom--Left to Right: Houseworth Lake, Tasco, Kansas, A small lake that was used as a recreational area in the windswept plains of north central Kansas...the Houseworth Name? My guess is, and it's only a guess, was one of the Houseworth men stopped and lived here on his way west....this photo is from around 1920. (2) My Grandfather Sam Houseworth and most of his siblings, photo taken in Blue Creek Township, Scott, Ohio, around 1900. (3) 1928 my dad and his brothers, along with Grandma Houseworth, getting ready to attend the funeral of Sam Houseworth...dad is the youngest in front...Along with John and Forest(oldest and biggest of the boys at that time). (4) Waldron Family Reunion around 1923 (5) My favorite old post card...The Buckhorn Lodge near Sacramento, California...dad sent this card from Buckhorn to his sisters while stationed at Mather AFB in 1945. (6) Grandma Wilda Houseworth(standing) and her co-worker at the Scott Phone Company around 1920, in the early days of phone service to that small western Ohio town. (7) And me, at Basic Training, Amarillo AFB, Texas, summer of 1968....the late Joe Prokop, thus the "Prokop's Pups" was our T.I. I would later be stationed with Joe at Tan Son Nhut, AB in Vietnam....after Joe returned to his regular job as a Air Force Security Cop....he passed away 3 years ago in Wisconsin.

Another Weekend Coming........

For the first time since late March, and the last until late July...no baseball for me. The State is down to it's Regional Finals so just another week(8 days) to go and then it's on to ACME and American Legion ball.

Actually I do have a game scheduled for tomorrow...but that ain't gonna happen...I am scheduled to do a AMCE(Summer High School Baseball) game at Delphos Jefferson tomorrow at noon...BUT! Jefferson won their Regional Semi-Final yesterday and will be playing for the right to go to the final 4 in Division IV tomorrow...Good luck to the Wildcats..that program has come a long way the past 5 years or so...also left from my area is Coldwater, the Cavs in baseball, like football(where they won a state crown last fall), have been a dynasty, although they have not won a State Title since the 1990s...they are always there, they take on Marion Pleasant today for the Division III Regional Championship.....

On the Girls Softball side, The Celina Lady Bulldogs won their game 10-0 yesterday, and play tomorrow for the D-2 Regional Championship...and Rockford Parkway was a 5-0 winner in D-4, and play tomorrow as well, for the right to go to State.....good luck to all those kids.

Hal is back working at Celina Moving until Grad School starts in September. He is in Indiana today, stops by tonight for a change and a bite to eat, then heads out later for New York City, and a couple of jobs there....Sam is somewhere(Cincinnati I think), and then heads for Chicago to take in a Cubs game this weekend....needless to say, it's been kind of quite around the old homestead....yard work yesterday, waiting to see what the weather(storms in the forecast for tonight) brings up before I make any outdoor plans tonight.

On a sad note...after naming my favorite movies...Harvy Korman of Blazing Saddles and "The Carol Brunett Show" fame, passed away at 81....I'll always remember him as "Hedly Lamar", the evil sidekick of "Governor" Mel Brooks in "Saddles"...what a great cast and movie(see last entry) that was.

Have a great weekend to all.....back later>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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photos-Harvey Korman with Mel Brooks and "Froggy" in Blazing Saddles....and me in action at a ACME Tournament in Coldwater, Ohio, a few seasons ago.

Movie Favorites!

Since the late 1950s when brother Mike and I would head to the Venice Theater on West Venice Avenue, in Venice, Florida, I've always been a movie buff of sorts. I honed that talent later on in the 60s watching the late shows on Channel 7(WHIO) in Dayton on weekends...sometimes managing to stay awake until the daylight hours on Saturday morning, and paying the price, sleep wise, for the rest of the day.

Now, don't get me wrong, I could care less about Hollywierd, and today's mostly left wing idiots, cinema sluts, and gay blades, that parade these days on the boob tube, and the big screen. An occasional good movie, or at least watchable movie does come along...and Patricia and I pick and choose the half dozen or so we see per year.

This afternoon, with Anissa away, Sam in the Cincinnati area, and Hal off to Indianapolis to work, we walked the 6 blocks to the old movie house in Celina....we plan on seeing both the new Indiana Jones flick and the latest installment of the C.S. Lewis/Chronicles of Narnia series, this one being "Prince Caspian"...today at the 4:15 showing I elected to take in "Indy 4". Harrison Ford is getting long in the tooth, and at 63 comes along as the aging "super hero" these days...but none-the-less, the film was enjoyable, albeit corny and far fetched....it was an entertaining 2 hours. On Memorial Day we watched "The Best Years of Our Lives" on Turner Classic Movies, this 1946 post war drama is one of my favorites...even with the almost 3 hour time ticket. I have this one, and most of my favorites, on DVD....the past couple of days got me thinking about my favorite movies of all time. I could name at least 20 or 25 that I could watch a dozen times or more and not get bored....however, given the fact that it's now 11PM, and this post would be way to long...I'll break it down to 5 of my favorites.

In no particular order...here are 5 flicks I could watch day after day:

American Graffiti 1973:

This movie starring Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfus, and a great supporting cast lead by Paul LeMat, takes place at the end of the summer of 1962...I related to it because that was the time we were getting ready to move from Venice, Florida, to Celina, Ohio.....the characters and the music made this show....I throw it into the DVD player at least once a year....the movie soundtrack has been in my collection for over 30 years.

Blazing Saddles 1974:

This Mel Brooks comedy was actually the movie that Patricia and I went to see on our first "real date"....we jumped on my Kawasaki stopped at Pizza Hut, then went to see this hilarious racial and slapstick laden farce....even the boys love this one...stay away from the edited TV version, and watch the original uncut version on DVD.

Casablanca 1943:

One of Bogarts best...along with Ingrid Bergman, this is one of the great love stories and war stories of the 1940s. Bogart and John Wayne are my 2 favorite actors of all time. I could slot in High Sierra, The Big Sleep, or Key Largo, in here and say the same...."Boggie" had at least a dozen movies I could watch for hours on end....the 40s are still my favorite movie era, even though I wasn't born until 1949.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962:

Ditto the above for John Wayne....this one was a classic western with Jimmy Stewart(another favorite) and Vera Miles...I remember going to see this one at the Venice Theather, shortly before the family moved to Celina....name me 10 Wayne movies, mostly westerns, that I could put in here...count True Grit, Rio Bravo , and Hell make that 20 other John Wayne flicks to this list.

The Best Years of Our Lives 1946:

A true classic about 3 American War Heroes upon their return to Boon City(acutally a fictional Cincinnati, Ohio)...the cast and acting are among the greatest in American movie history....the story and movie(although 3 hours long) cannot be topped.

There you have 5, I could have named 25 more and not had a second thought......but these come to mind....and despite a few good movies put out these days, you will notice, nothing newer than 35 years....eithe movies are getting worse, or I'm just plain getting old!

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Top to Bottom: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962/Casablanca with Bogart and Bergman/Clevon Little(L) and Gene Wilder in Blazing Saddles 1974/The classic "Best Years of Our Lives" from 1946 with Hogy Carmichael, Harold Russel, and Dana Andrews/American Graffiti 1973/ and finally Steven Speilberg, Harrison Ford and the cast of the new Indiana Jones flick from 2008