2018

Shutterbug Saturday: Sky Gazing 7.0

Posted on

After viewing Sandra’s Stormy Weather pix, I dug out some of my cloud shots, too. Previous post is here. ~Vic

Cloud Image One
06-02-2018
Click for a larger view.
Cloud Image Two
08-07-2018
Click for a larger view.
Cloud Image Three
05-20-2019
Click for a larger view.
Cloud Image Four
06-27-2019
Click for a larger view.
Cloud Image Five
03-26-2020
Click for a larger view.
Cloud Image Six
07-29-2020
Click for a larger view.
Cloud Image Seven
02-28-2021
Click for a larger view.
Cloud Image Eight
04-09-2021
Click for a larger view.
Cloud Image Nine
03-11-2022
Click for a larger view.
Cloud Image Ten
03-25-2022
Click for a larger view.

Cinco De Mayo 2023

Posted on

Cinco De Mayo Image
Image Credit: newsd.in

Yes, I have been gone for a while. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with my blog. Sometimes, I love posting and other times, I get aggravated with it. WordPress function does not help the issue.

I have had some health issues but, they are largely subsiding. A change in diet has helped, greatly. I have been blogging since 2009 and abandoned my blog for four years, re-starting in June of 2018. I did a lot of blogging when I was living in Texas and my blog had a different name.

I didn’t celebrate Cinco, today but, noticed that many did. I hope everyone had a good time. At the moment, I am sipping on some wine and watching some really weird movies on Cinemax. I hope everyone has a lovely Cinco Evening/Friday Night. ~Vic

VOTD: Soothing Sounds

Posted on Updated on

I love listening to water. Taken 09-22-2018. ~Vic

Video of the Day

Foto Friday: Critter Collections 8.0

Posted on Updated on

I haven’t posted any critter shots in 3 1/2 years. Previous post, here. ~Vic

Leaf Critter Image One
Small bug that looks like a leaf.
05-31-2019
Click for a larger view.
Bee Face Image Two
Got a bee’s face!
05-31-2019
Click for a larger view.
Iris Bug Image Three
Cute bug but, I have no idea.
04-30-2019
Click for a larger view.
Dragonfly Image Four
Skivvy waver dragonfly. LOL!
Brighter shot than the original.
05-17-2019
Click for a larger view.
Mantis Image Five
Young mantis.
Different angle from the original.
05-31-2019
Click for a larger view.
Missing Spider Image Six
Beautiful web.
Where is the spider?
10-13-2018
Click for a larger view.

Hans-Max 2022 TV Draft: Round Four-Pick Two-The X-Files (1993-2018)

Posted on

Scully & Mulder IMDb Amazon Image Two
Photo Credit: IMDb & Amazon

Hanspostcard/Max has a TV draft challenge. This is my Round Four pick.

I’ve stated, before, that I was born and raised in law enforcement. I’ve also worked in law enforcement (non-sworn) at two different agencies, one state and one county (think of me as the blond chick on Criminal Minds, sitting in front of a computer screen…though I am not blond). It can be an interesting job if you’re lucky enough to be employed with an agency that doesn’t take its political self too seriously (virtually impossible these days). I’ve met and worked with a couple of FBI agents. They were nice, everyday guys, back in the late 90s and early 2000s. I’ve seen and heard a lot of things.

The Sci-Fi geek that I am, I’m not presenting this show in that light. This show is, first and foremost, law enforcement. These are the folks, alongside first responders, to arrive at the scene of the accident, the scene of the disaster or the crime scene. In the case of these FBI agents, they investigate the weird shit. That being said, I do have a very full binder of X-Files non-sport cards and chase (special) cards, plus, all of the original series-run DVDs. ~Vic

The X-Files IMDb Amazon Image One
Image Credit: IMDb & Amazon

Created and written by Chris Carter, there were many other writers, including David Duchovny (Agent Fox Mulder), Gillian Anderson (Agent Dana Scully) and Stephen King but, this was Carter’s baby. It starred Duchovny and Anderson as the dynamic duo, investigating all manner of odd, macabre, out-of-this-world or just plain gross happenings. In later years, Duchovny reduced his presence on the show and eventually left. In 2000, Robert Patrick (Agent John Doggett) was brought in as a new partner for Gillian Anderson. In 2001 Annabeth Gish (Agent Monica Reyes) showed up and, with the upcoming departure of Anderson, became Patrick’s partner. There was some chatter that the show would live on with Patrick and Gish but, it never materialized. Gish returned in the series revival but, Patrick did not. Neither of them were in the X-Files feature films.

Other regular cast members were Mitch Pileggi (Asst. Dir. Walter Skinner), William B. Davis (Cigarette Smoking Man), Nicholas Lea (Alex Krycek), Chris Owens (Jeffrey Spender, son of the Cigarette Smoking Man) and James Pickens, Jr. (Asst. Dir./Dep. Dir. Alvin Kersh). Secondary, popular characters were Tom Braidwood, Dean Haglund & Bruce Harwood (The Lone Gunmen), Don. S. Davis (Captain William Scully, Agent Scully’s father), Sheila Larken (Margaret Scully, Agent Scully’s mother), Melinda McGraw (Melissa Scully, Agent Scully’s older sister), Pat Skipper (Bill Scully, Jr., Agent Scully’s older brother), Jerry Hardin (Deep Throat), Steven Williams (Mr. X), Rebecca Toolan (Teena Mulder, Agent Mulder’s mother), Peter Donat (William Mulder, Agent Mulder’s father) and five separate actresses portrayed Samantha Mulder, the agent’s abducted, younger sister. Agent Scully also has a younger brother, Charles but, except for flashbacks, the character is uncredited.

Agent Reyes & Agent Doggett IMDb Amazon Image Three
Photo Credit: IMDb & Amazon

Addendum: Honestly, I was hoping the show would continue on with Agents Doggett & Reyes. They had a lot of really good on-screen chemistry and I liked both actors. After nine years, I had grown weary of Duchovny’s primadonna attitude. When the series was revived, the magic was gone and I wasn’t impressed. Naturally, they turned Agent Reyes into a bad character and killed her off.

Addendum #2: I also have to mention that the theme song changed, just slightly, at some point. The first theme has a solid, continuous echo sound. The second theme is a double-repeating echo sound. Why it changed, I don’t know (it drove me crazy). It is never mentioned but, it did happen. Listen, below.

Trivia Bits:
♦ As stated in my last draft, Mark Snow created the X-Files theme, the Starsky & Hutch theme for Season Three and many others.
♦ Gillian Anderson was nearly replaced when she got pregnant during the first season.
♦ Props from Mulder’s office are preserved at the Hollywood Entertainment Museum in LA. The I Want To Believe poster kept disappearing from the set.
♦ The agents badges read “Federal Bureau of Justice, United States Department of Investigation” as making a fake FBI badge is illegal.
♦ Gillian Anderson has stated that she based her approach to the role of Dana Scully on Jodie Foster’s performance as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
♦ Dana Scully was named after the famous sports journalist Vin Scully. Mulder is the maiden name of Chris Carter’s mother.
♦ Chris Carter lists All the President’s Men (1976) as one of his inspirations for the series. There are numerous references to the film, including the shadowy informer Deep Throat, meetings in underground parking garages and hints at conspiracies which stretch all the way to the F.B.I.

X-Files Original Opening

X-Files Second Opening…Can you hear the difference?

Throwback Thursday: Susan B. Anthony’s Arrest 1872

Posted on

Susan B. Anthony Rochester Image One
Image Credit: University of Rochester

Champion of temperance, abolition, the rights of labor and equal pay for equal work, Susan Brownell Anthony became one of the most visible leaders of the women’s suffrage movement. Along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she traveled around the country delivering speeches in favor of women’s suffrage.

[She] was born on February 15, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts. Her father, Daniel, was a farmer and, later, a cotton mill owner and manager, […] raised as a Quaker. Her mother, Lucy, came from a family that fought in the American Revolution and served in the Massachusetts state government. From an early age, Anthony was inspired by the Quaker belief that everyone was equal under God. That idea guided her throughout her life.

National Women’s History Museum
Susan B. Anthony

Nancy Hayward
2018

On November 1, 1872, Susan B. Anthony and [three] other women attempted to register to vote in the U.S. presidential election. When registrars hesitated, Anthony overwhelmed them with legal arguments and the men relented. On Election Day, November 5, Anthony voted for Ulysses S. Grant. She was one of fifteen women from her Rochester ward to cast a ballot. Attempting to vote was actually a common tactic among suffrage activists. Anthony’s action commanded outsized attention because she and her colleagues actually voted.

Anthony was arrested on November 18, 1872, for violating the federal Enforcement Act of 1870 […].

Freethought Trail
The Arrest of Susan B. Anthony

Robert Green Ingersoll Memorial Committee

Susan B. Anthony NYT Image Two
Image Credit: The New York Times

Nine days after the election, U.S. Commissioner William C. Storrs, an officer of the federal courts, issued warrants for the arrest of Anthony and the fourteen other women who voted in Rochester. Three days later […] a deputy federal marshal called on Anthony. He asked her to accompany him downtown to see the commissioner.

Anthony’s trial began in Canandaigua, New York, on June 17, 1873. Before pronouncing the sentence for her crime, Justice [Ward] Hunt asked Anthony if she had anything to say. She did. In the most famous speech in the history of the agitation for [women’s] suffrage, she condemned [the] proceeding that had “trampled under foot every vital principle of our government.” She had not received justice under “forms of law all made by men…” “…failing, even, to get a trial by a jury not of my peers.” Sentenced to pay a fine of $100 and the costs of the prosecution, she swore to “never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty.” Justice Hunt said Anthony would not be held in custody awaiting payment of her fine.

The Trial of Susan B. Anthony
Federal Judicial Center
Web Archive

May 31, 2010

A month after the trial, a deputy federal marshal was dispatched to collect Anthony’s fine. He reported that a careful search had failed to find any property that could be seized to pay the fine. The court took no further action.

Hans 2021 Song Draft: Round Ten-Pick Seven-Bad Weather-Emily Hackett (2014/2015)

Posted on

Tennessee Star Image One
Photo Credit: Tennessee Star

Hanspostcard has a song draft challenge. This is my Round Ten and final pick.

Back in 2014, I happened to catch a wonderful song that played during a commercial on HDNET (movies). HDNET didn’t have normal commercials, they just had clips from movies that it was showcasing, changing each month. I loved the song but, had no idea what the name of it was, other than what I could glean from the lyrics. I desperately wanted to know who the singer was because she had a beautiful voice. I could find nothing, so, I contacted HDNET for help. Her name? Emily Hackett. The song? A Heart Worth Saving (and I wasn’t the only one asking). It is the third track from a short compilation album called Girl Electro Pop, released July 11, 2014 (as best as I can tell). There is no chart information on the album or the song and what lyrics that are on the Internet do not match all of the words she sings. That being said, I was overjoyed to find it and download it.

That brings me to Bad Weather (no chart information on it, either). In digging around for data on Emily, I found a demo video of her singing the song with a guitarist. Then, I found the album it was on…The Raw EP, released July 24, 2015. It’s a beautiful, sad song that reminds me of a stripped down Carrie Underwood piece.

The Virginia Star Emily Hackett Image Two
Photo Credit: The Virginia Star

“I started this song in California when I was making lunch one day at my parent’s house. My boyfriend, Mikey, was goofing around on the guitar and I stopped him like, “What is that? We are writing that. It’s awesome.” It wasn’t until we got back to Nashville, a couple months later that we sat down with our friend Adam James and poured out this song in a couple of hours. It felt so right, we just went with it. It’s one of my favorites I’ve ever written.”

Daily Discovery: Emily Hackett
Songspace
American Songwriter
2014

She was born in Cleveland, Ohio and was in high school in Georgia when she took off with a friend to visit Belmont University. Headed for the University of Georgia, she fell in love with Nashville and interned in the music industry:

“Here I was in Nashville at school. I had no idea that there was this whole world of music where you could have careers. I didn’t realize there was so much to it. It was cool to be studying the music business at college. I thought I could always be a writer and in Nashville, writers actually get to perform.”

Music Spotlight: Emily Hackett
Bethany Bowman
The Tennessee Star
October 17, 2018

Some months ago, I commented on one of Music City Mike‘s blog posts, regarding interviews of local musicians in Nashville. I told him about Emily but, I don’t know if he ever got the chance to chat with her. Give her a listen. She is a different genre from Lissie but, just as talented.

Thanks, Hans, for the invite to participate. Much like the movie draft, picking favorites is a tough go. There is SO much good music out there. I look forward to sharing more in the upcoming 2022 Draft. ~Vic

Official Website
Bandcamp
Reverbnation
Soundcloud

Additional:
Emily Hackett Looks To The Past & Future On “Nostalgia”
(Taste of Country/Sterling Whitaker/08-10-2017)
CMT’s Next Women Of Country (People Magazine/Katie Kauss/11-16-2018)
Cleveland Native Emily Hackett Comes To Beachland (Cleveland Scene/Jeff Niesel/12-04-2019)
Emily Hackett Releases Heartfelt “Handle” (The Virginia Star/Bethany Bowman/05-29-2020)
Emily Hackett Is Creating Magic (The Aquarian/Debra Kate Schafer/05-31-2020)

Demo In The Attic

HDNET Commercial

Royals Cover With Megan Davies

Happy Christmas Cover

Snapshots Sunday: Halloween Local 5.0

Posted on

There is always some kind of decoration in this town. Got some new shots and some older shots. ~Vic

Uniquitiques Boo Image One
Uniquitiques Store
Boo!
11-01-2020
Click for a larger view.
Graveyard Image Two
Graveyard
11-02-2019
Click for a larger view.
Death Pumpkin Image Three
Dead Pumpkin
10-22-2019
Click for a larger view.
Second Graveyard Image Four
Another Graveyard
11-01-2020
Click for a larger view.
Venom Pumpkin Image Five
Someone is a Venom fan.
11-05-2019
Mask Skeleton Image Six
Skeleton offering masks.
10-30-2020
Witch Image Seven
Just hanging out.
10-10-2021
Click for a larger view.
You're Next Image Eight
You’ll be next.
10-30-2018
Click for a larger view.

Hans 2021 Song Draft: Round Seven-Pick Ten-Somebody’s Baby-Pat Benatar (1993)

Posted on

Somebodys Baby Discogs Image One
Image Credit: Discogs

Hanspostcard has a song draft challenge. This is my Round Seven pick.

Pat Benatar exploded on the music scene in the Summer/Fall of 1979 with her debut album In The Heat of the Night. I was in 8th grade and the first song I remember hearing on the radio from the album was Heartbreaker. I went to my hometown’s only mall and headed into a store called Stereo Village. I wanted this song and, when I asked for it, the guy trying to help me automatically thought I was talking about Led Zepplin. When I mentioned Pat Benatar’s song, he didn’t know what I was talking about. He told me to sing some of the music for him…so, my 13 year old self obliged, right there in the middle of the store, “in front of God and everybody” (Southern colloquialism). He still didn’t know the song but, said “Nice voice!” I never did get that 45 and a few months later, rolling into the new decade, We Live For Love was released in February and, I liked it even better than Heartbreaker. Crimes of Passion, her sophomore album, came out the following August and the hits kept coming. You Better Run (The Young Rascals cover) became the second video broadcast on the debut of MTV, behind Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles (a 45 I managed to get my hands on). I was a devoted fan at that point without owning a single song or album. By the time of my 16th birthday, a young man I was dating presented me with the Crimes of Passion album. I was overjoyed.

Gravity's Rainbow Discogs Image Two
Image Credit: Discogs

I nearly got to see her perform during the 1986 Seven the Hard Way tour. It started in January 1986 and stopped, abruptly, in April. She was a mom by then and family pressures caused cancellations. Greensboro Coliseum lost out. I did get to see her for the Can’t Stop Rockin’ tour in 1995 in Raleigh. Prior to those two, my mother considered me too young to see the earlier concerts. 😭

Gravity’s Rainbow was her ninth, and the last studio album to be in the Billboard 200 chart in the top 100s, peaking at #85 on June 19, 1993 and making it to #44 in Canada for one week on July 31, 1993. Named after the Thomas Pynchon novel, it was also the last album released on Chrysalis Records. It was not one of her better albums, statistically speaking but, it yielded three singles, two of which, I love. My favorite album of hers is, of course, the tour that got cancelled in 1986. That being said, after all these years of her music catalog, Somebody’s Baby is my favorite single, released July 5, 1993 (my second favorite single is Le Bel Age). She and Spyder James had already geared down quite a bit, releasing the blues-themed True Love in 1991, to much less fanfare than Wide Awake in Dreamland from 1988. True Love was her first album that did not rate with RIAA.

Somebody’s Baby did not chart on Billboard but, it did chart in the UK on the Singles Chart (#48), in Canada (#41) and in New Zealand (#36).

I am a fan of Benatar like Hans & Max are of the Beatles. I love this one because of the lyrics, the mood, the blend of the music and her stunning voice, though, in this piece, it is not quite as “up there” as when she sings Invincible (she has a four octave range). I am normally indifferent to most lyrics, choosing to immerse myself in musical arrangements and wonderful voices but, the writing speaks to my heart and I confess that, the first time I heard this, it brought me to tears. ~Vic

Additional:
BenatarGiraldo (Official Website)
Gravity’s Rainbow (RockWired/Brian Lush/06-12-2018)
Pat Benatar (Hip Online/01-05-2008)
Pat Benatar: Gravity’s Rainbow (Rolling Stone/Andrea Odintz/2003/Web Archive)
Richmond: Benatar’s Rise to Fame (Richmond Times-Dispatch/Nicole Kappatos/04-11-2017/Web Archive)

Lyrics

Unofficial Video?

Live On Leno

Regis & Kathie Lee Show (Stripped Down Short Version)

POTD: Sturgeon Moon 2009

Posted on Updated on

I’ve been digging around in some old photos. I stumbled across this…apropos for the month. Full illumination for the August 2009 moon occurred at 8:54pm EDT on the 5th. I almost nailed the day! I did a 2018 post and a post last year. I didn’t take this one. This shot is much clearer than what my stupid-phone can come up with. It belongs to my buddy Ray and he doesn’t remember where he took it. The upcoming full moon will be full on the 22nd at 8:02am EDT. ~Vic

Sturgeon Moon August 2009
Photo Credit: Ray Tutterow
08-08-2009
Click for a larger view.

Picture of the Day

POTD: Strawberry Full Moon

Posted on Updated on

I’ve done previous Strawberry Moon posts, the first, of which, I did shortly after returning to blogging after a four year absence. I think I have covered all the data.

Full illumination occurred June 24 @ 2:39pm EDT. You can howl if you want to. Go ahead. ~Vic

Full Strawberry Moon 2021 Image
Strawberry Moon 2021

Picture of the Day

Shutterbug Saturday: First Snow 2021

Posted on Updated on

We don’t get the snow like we used to when I was a kid. I remember lots of snow and ice in the 70s. There were some decent snows in the middle 80s. There was one big snowstorm in early 1996 and that was the last one I saw until the two snow bombs in 2018. I spent nearly a decade in Texas and, I saw one small snow covering and two minor ice storms. That was it.

Here is our first snow of 2021. Colorado has gotten some, too. ~Vic

Snow Trucks Image One
A little dusting on the trucks.
01-28-2021
Click for a larger view.
Dogwood In The Dark Image Two
Cold little Dogwood.
Click for a larger view.
Dark Snowy Street Image Three
Snowy street corner.
Click for a larger view.