Today's Birthdays.........

And there is a BUNCH of them.........

In 1907........

Marion Morrison, also known to his legions of fans as John Wayne. America personified to the rest of the world. 'Nuff Said.......

In 1923.........

Another world famous cowboy, James Arness, Marshall Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke fame.

In 1948.........

Rock singer/writer, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac

In 1949.........

Blackexplotation film star Pam Grier

In 1949..........

Country-Rock singer/songwritter and all around hell-raiser Hank "Bocephus" Williams Jr.

Brian Scott Jeznach 1960-2010

I lost a buddy today.

He was injured fatally Friday afternoon when a car he was working on fell on him. He was kept on life support until his organs could be harvested which occurred this morning.

I was trying to remember when I first got to know Jez, and for the life of me I couldn't remember when it happened. It just seemed that he had always been around. As with most of my friends it all started out with reenacting. I guess in the early 80's I met him. He was in a group that while I wasn't a member of I worked with quite a bit. We developed a "Hey how are you doing?" relationship but later we both joined a different group and got to know each other and became friends. At the time, Jez was in the army based at Ft. Bragg. His nearest relatives were in Maryland so his weekends were spent a lot of time at Casa W. As he pointed out to me, my place was a lot better than the barracks. Pretty soon he became like a little brother to the goodwife and I. He would always leave something behind when he went back to Bragg, I always said it was because he was afraid he wouldn't be invited back.

We became close, close enough that I could start playing jokes on him. One of my favorites had to do with a road trip that we took to St. Augustine FL for the 250th anniversary of a battle that had taken place. I had taken my medical kit to portray a surgeon of that time and Jez had came along to give me a hand. They powers that be set us up on a island across from the city in the middle of the jungle. Jez who had not too long before come back from Panama when they went after Noriega, looked at me as we were setting up and said "This reminds me of Panama" Of course, that got the wheels in my evil brain working and I thought up a little gag to pull on Jez. I found one of the park rangers who was keeping a eye on the camp and pulled him aside and told him that my buddy over there (pointing at Jez) had just come back from Panama and his outfit had a rough time. I told the ranger that I didn't think there would be any problems but since the camp site was so much like Panama, if they could, how about keeping a eye on him? The ranger said he would, so all week-end long park rangers would stop by and ask Jez how he was doing and how things were going. Jez was delighted and kept telling me that these park rangers had to be the FRIENDLIEST Rangers he had ever met. I kept my secret until we were heading north home bound on I-95. When I told him the true story, I received a general cursing which made me laugh even harder.

Jez was a good companion and we went to a bunch of reenactments together. As a member of Special Forces he was deployed to Panama, and later went into Kuwait to liberate it. The goodwife and I sent him care packages and let him know that he wasn't forgotten. When Jez left the military, he had married by that time and things were not going well with that. When the marriage when down the toilet we put Jez up for a while on our couch until he could get his act together. He eventually moved back to Maryland to be closer to his family. Because of the distance, we grew apart to a degree but still remained friends. We saw each other at events and picked up right where we left off. Jez was noted for his ability to make the perfect Gin and Tonic in the field. I on the other hand had no such talent but was well known for my skills to locate things that no one else could. Jez always made sure that when I made the long trip north, that somehow there would be a large shipment of North Carolina Bar-Be-Que (with sauce, mind you) with me. I never let him down.

In the past few years, Jez found a lady that was just perfect for him. They ended up getting married and we continued to stay in touch. You know how it goes, we say will get together someday but that day never seems to come. Well at 05:05 Saturday morning I found out that day would never come.

Brian Scott Jeznach was my friend and I will miss him very much.

Hello Darkness, My Old Friend................

"Lamps in the windows burnin' bright, over in Santa Fe tonight
Full moon shining down along the border
But the ground is hard and the night is black
Over here by the railroad track
And I wish to the Lord that I was back in Georgia"

Georgia
Charlie Daniels Band


Most people consider me a bit of a odd duck. Not in a bad way mind you, No need to lock up the women or children when I come around. I just find interesting things that most people don't and I don't react quite like most people do when faced with various situations.

Case in point, When my blogging buddy Brigid recently titled a post " Darkness Waits" The first thing I thought of was how much I enjoyed working at night.

Humans as a rule are not comfortable at night or in darkness. This goes back as far as the days of the caveman and woman. With the setting of the sun, the first humans withdrew into caves or around a campfire until the first breaking of the sun. The darkness outside of the ring of firelight held many fears both real and imagined for man. I think that this fear is programed in mankind's D.N.A.

I never had that fear of the dark, even as a child. I always felt more comfortable in darkness. I never was afraid of the monster under the bed, or closet. I spent most of my career on the night watch, working 4 to 12, then 12 to 8, and later 6pm to 6am shifts. I ended up totally acclimating to night work to the extent that my dear wife accused me on several occasions of becoming a vampire, going to bed when the sun came up, and leaving home when the sun set. I never tried to live a "normal" life while working nightshift, I always kept to my schedule. Other folks I worked with tried to live normal lives and staying up all day but they didn't do well at all. I understand that folks try to live the life that they are use to and they need to respond to the needs of their families but working shift work and doing that will wear you out. With a understanding wife and no kids, I was lucky that I didn't have those responsibilities. I can't begin to tell you the number of times that I would freak people out by going by a 24 hour restaurant on my way home and having a burger and cold beer at 7 AM. I adapted so well that I remember that I woke my dear wife up one morning about 2:00 A.M. so that she could see a bit of my world. We went Christmas shopping at a few stores that were open 24 hours and then I drove her around so she could see some of the "street gentry" as well as watching a few small time drug deals go down. It gave her a whole new way of looking at the world and understanding me a little better.

On nights that it's clear and the moon is full and bright, I sometimes return to the embrace of my old friend. No longer the hunter or guardian I once was, but rather as a visitor. Now I cut out the outside lights, sit on my porch, listen and look and become a part of the night and my memories...........

Calderon's Visit................

Sounds like a Miami Vice episode.....

The president of Mexico, Mr. Calderon is currently here in the states complaining about the new law that Arizona has passed as well as various other odds and ends that he doesn't like about the land of the great PX.

I must say that any world leader that would come to this country and criticizes us when his own country is so far in the toilet has a pair the size of grapefruits. Calderon knows that if the U.S. government ever does get control of the southern border that he will lose one of the biggest sources of income for Mexico. No, not drug money, but money sent home by illegals as well as legals here in the U.S. There is no way of telling just how much long green goes south each and every day. American dollars help elevate poorer Mexicans into the middle class of Mexico. Calderon would be cutting his own throat to support a tighter border. And I don't think he's quite ready to do that.

If It Looks Like A Duck................

Eric, Eric, Eric,

What is with this guy? First thing he does is stutter and sputter like a motor with a bad carburetor when asked if the idiot that tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square might have been influenced by radical Islam. Then in his role as chief law enforcement officer for the United States he is asked about the new law that Arizona has passed and says that he hasn't read it or even been briefed on it. The man has no first hand knowledge of the law but that hasn't stopped him from joining in the Greek chorus of neysayers who think this law is bad.

This nimrod brings a whole new meaning to the term clueless.............

And speaking of clueless, Janet Napolitano the beloved director of Homeland Security also flunked the same question when she said that she hadn't read the law either,but that it wasn't the kind of law that "SHE" would sign. This is the same person who considers military vets, Tea party attendees, conservatives and gun owners as bigger threats to national security that Iran, North Korea, and Islamic fundamentalist. I swear that the inmates are in charge of the asylum.

I just wonder, (The small bit of helpful paranoia I have floating around in my brain) what would happen if some nut case did something with a firearm or explosive device and they found a National Rifle Association membership card on him. Would the powers that be consider the N.R.A. and it's members as part of a terrorist organization? I just don't know anymore............

N.R.A. 2010 Convention........

I got back Sunday late from Charlotte and am STILL jazzed up. Finally meeting the authors of a lot of my favorite blogs in person such as Jay G., The lovely Breda, Weer'd Beard, Mike W., Newbius and a cast of others was the highlight of the weekend. Of course, being able to fondle and covet countless numbers of firearms didn't hurt either. There was every type of firearm that one could imagine. More "black rifles" than "I" cared for, but plenty of other toys such as single action clones, lever action rifles, and other replicas that exerted their siren call on me and my wallet. I just barely resisted temptation.

Other bloggers have commented on how they noticed how friendly the people were at the convention. I agree, they were. It seems that people who are self reliant and secure (which the large majority of gun owners are) are friendly and more willing to be open and helpful to their fellow man. I guess it is true, a armed society is a polite society. Not to say that the general friendly atmosphere was due to the fact that someone might whip out a heater and blast you for stepping on their foot. But more due to the fact that it seemed to me that most of the people at the convention were secure in who they were and didn't have to put on any airs. All in all, not a bad place to spend the weekend.

Saturday night's dinner was a great deal of fun. My knees wouldn't allow me to socialize much, so I didn't get to talk to as many folks as I wanted to but I did get to have a good meal, Guinness stew and salad. I also got to be there when my little buddy Ms. Susan took part in her first "grown up" dinner party. She was a perfect lady the whole evening.

I am already looking forward to next year in Philly.........

A Short Trip In The Wayback Machine..........

" Hey You, You hurt anybody else, when this is over I'm going to find what you love most and I'm gonna kill it. Your Mother, your Father, your dog. It don't matter what it is, It's dead"

Lt. Mike Torello
Crime Story

Not much has been going on around here worthy of blogging about. This weekend's road trip is about the only thing of note.

I am not one of those folks that will tell you that I don't watch television. I do and enjoy what I watch for the most part. I picked up the habit when I was working shift work. It was a method to unwind and decompress before hitting the bed. Not to mention I had also just made Lieutenant so I was busy learning about responsibility and just how much fun THAT could be. (grin) Today I must say however that I am happy that I have Satellite reception so that I am not limited to the normal network channels since I think that they don't have very much to offer that I want to watch with a few rare exceptions. That wasn't the case back in the mid 80's when N.B.C. was showing programs like Miami Vice, Friday Night Videos, Cheers, Night Court, and my personal favorite Crime Story.

For those of you who never saw it, or don't remember it, Crime Story was a Michael Mann creation, the same fellow who came up with Miami Vice as well as the movie Heat. One of the stars of the program was Dennis Farina who played Lt. Mike Terello commander of the M.C.U. (Major Crime Unit) for the Chicago Police Department. The program was set in the early 1960's and with it's sets, costuming and music it was as close to that time period as it could get. Farina was a perfect fit for the role of Terello, Farina was a retired C.P.D. detective and it showed in the way he carried himself. He carried a cocked and locked 1911-A1 (no doubt some kind of 9mm in reality, since you can't get a 45 to function with blank ammunition) He even had a bunch of rubber bands around the grip safety to hold it in and to help keep the weapon from moving around when it's tucked into your belt in the "Mexican carry" I knew some detectives in the real world that had done the very same thing in the old days. Crime Story had enough of those real touches to allowed me to suspend belief long enough to enjoy the program.

So, if you are bored, with nothing to do and can find it, check it out. It's a quick trip back to a time when Rock and Roll was king and good guys wore black......