Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

CapnBob

Mardi Gras 2023

Mardi Gras in French means “Fat Tuesday.” The slogan above is French for “Let the good times roll.” Damsel and I visited “Noo Awlins” in October of 1998 and picked up on some of the jargon while we were there. New Orleans is, to say the least, a very interesting place. We were not in town during Mardi Gras, however, and were able to see the town relatively unabated by the enormous crowds that would appear a few months later.

The Mardi Gras festival takes place on the last day before Ash Wednesday which is when Lent begins. The word “Carnival,” is derived from middle Latin “Carne Vale” for “good-bye to meat.” So, today is that Fat Tuesday — let the day of feasting begin.

Here is more about Fat Tuesday from Britannica.com

Mardi Gras, (French: Fat Tuesday) festive day celebrated in France on Shrove Tuesday (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday), which marks the close of the pre-Lenten season. The French name Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday, from the custom of using all the fats in the home before Lent in preparation for fasting and abstinence.

In the United States the principal Carnival celebration is in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Carnival season there opens on Twelfth Night (Epiphany, January 6) and climaxes with the Mardi Gras festivities commencing 10 days before Shrove Tuesday. This period is filled with elaborate revelrous parades, both day and night, building up to Mardi Gras and the Rex parade. Beads of yellow, gold, green, and purple are commonly distributed, and the eating of king cake is an iconic part of the celebration.

So, if you’re in to celebrating Fat Tuesday, Enjoy! We’re going to have a bowl of Cajun Gumbo today to celebrate Mardi Gras.

21 Feb 2023 by Culture Notions

Tutankhamun Tomb
100th Anniversary

Today, February 16, 2023, marks the 100th anniversary since 20th Century Archaeologist Howard Carter opened the inner tomb of the renowned Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The following is from Art Net

Despite discovering King Tutankhamun’s tomb in late 1922, it took several months for archaeologists to work their way through and catalogue the contents within the outer chambers. On February 16, 1923, Carter finally came face-to-face with the doorway leading to the tomb’s inner burial chamber and unsealed it. What he and his team were met with was the most well-preserved and intact pharaonic tombs ever found. Over the following eight years, the items and goods contained therein were carefully catalogued and removed, and today are held in the collection of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Damsel and I are interested in all things Ancient Egypt and we were able to see many of the King Tutankhamun artifacts in 2005 on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts (LACMA).

From Wikipedia:

Tutankhamun was the antepenultimate pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. He ascended to the throne around the age of nine and reigned until his death around the age of nineteen. Historically, Tutankhamun is primarily known for restoring the traditional polytheistic ancient Egyptian religion, after its suppression by Akhenaten in favor of the Atenist religion. Also, Tutankhamun was one of few kings worshipped as a deity during his lifetime; this was usually done posthumously for most pharaohs. In popular culture, he is known for his vastly opulent wealth found during the 1922 discovery of his tomb, KV62, the only such tomb to date to have been found in near-intact condition. The discovery of his tomb is widely considered one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time.

One might have thought that after Moses led the Hebrew Slaves out of Egypt that Pharaoh Rameses would get a clue about who Almighty God really is and should have passed it down to the masses in Egypt, but I guess I give Rameses too much credit; he remained clueless.

16 Feb 2023 by Arts Culture Notions Something Shiny

Valentines Day 2023

Happy St. Valentine’s Day! We’re sort of rained in today, so the celebration will be limited to indoor happenings (other than walking the dogs between showers).

Damsel traditionally gets some Waterford Crystal on Valentine’s Day. She chose Irish coffee mugs this year. And yes, we have already enjoyed Irish coffee served in these mugs. Sugar-free confections are the order of the day when it comes to Valentine’s Day treats. Damsel received Russel Stover candies in a heart-shaped box. Damsel’s favorite flowers, Stargazer Lilies are featured in our flower vase on this Valentine’s Day.

From History dot com:

Valentine’s Day occurs every February 14. Across the United States and in other places around the world, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine.

From 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

14 Feb 2023 by Holidays Notions

Gold Rush Days 2023

Our little town has an annual event called “Gold Rush Days” in honor of the town’s reason for being: the discovery of gold in 1863 by Henry Wickenburg. Vulture Mine became the most productive mine in Arizona history. This weekend marks the 75th celebration of Gold Rush Days.
The festivities included a Rodeo, a carnival, a giant flea market, a classic car show and a parade.

The carnival featured food concessions, fun houses and a number of rides from gentle kiddie merry-go-rounds to full-on vomit comet rides. The midway completely encircled our town’s community center. We walked through the midway but did not participate in either food or rides. We took a lot of photos, though.

The flea market had most of the usual stuff like home-made arts and crafts, souvenir vendors, apparel vendors and a myriad of other interesting things to see. That’s Damsel in her big shade hat perusing wooden pots and bowls.

We toured the classic car area on Friday afternoon. The usual cars were on display. There were a lot of old classics, some Hot Rods and a couple of rare cars.

The parade started at ten AM AZ time on Saturday Morning (02/11/2023). Damsel and I saw the whole parade of equestrians, local organizations, classic cars on parade, a politician or two and law enforcement/fire department vehicles. The parade went for over an hour.

Damsel and I enjoyed our visits to the exhibits, vending, classics and who doesn’t love a parade. Between the two of us, we took a thousand plus photos this weekend. There are only a few of them shown here. Click on any image to enlarge.

11 Feb 2023 by Arizona Entertainment Nostalgia Photography

Musk Hog Day — February 02, 2023

Musk Hog (Javelina) in our back yard. Clickable

Well, we didn’t seem to have any groundhogs handy, so a Javelina (a.k.a. “collared peccary” and “Musk Hog”) will have to do. Anyhow, the critter saw it’s shadow today and I guess that means that we in Arizona will have six more weeks of Winter. You know, the kind of winter weather that makes places like we live in very popular for people who don’t have mild weather at this time of year, hence the infusion of “snowbirds” into our community.

So that means it will be at least six more weeks of extra bodies in the stores and extra vehicles on the roads before the part-time residents begin to head back to their tundra. Maybe more than six weeks since our experience shows a couple of snowbird exodus dates being IRS Day (4/15) and Memorial Day. By Flag Day (6/14) they should be mostly gone.

I shouldn’t focus on only the snowbirds, since there are a lot of other temporary visitors this time of year. We have the influx of Team Ropers (rodeo), the Senior Pro Rodeo, Gold Rush Days and the carnival and parade that go along with those events. It’s good for the community and the businesses here.

So, getting back to the topic of the environment and the weather conditions here, we expect to have gradually warming days leading up to spring equinox and more significant warming thereafter. As we age, our bones and joints seem to appreciate the warmer conditions, so we are looking forward to the highs in the low 100s and lows in the mid 80s that should be here in a couple of months. That and the nearly empty roads, parking lots and shopping aisles will be welcome as well.

02 Feb 2023 by Arizona Critters Environment

2022 Tax Season Mostly Over

UPDATE 01/27/2023

I snail mailed the AZ return yesterday as I said I might. However, AMAZINGLY, after only three days since e-filing, the Federal Refund is already in the Bank Account today – a record for sure. Something is to be said about filing early.

Confirmation Flag

Well, we just received our last 2022 1099-DIV from the broker and we entered the last of the data into the tax program. We validated the return and promptly e-filed with the IRS today.

It seems to always be that we wait on the broker for the last tidbit of income information to arrive in late January or early February. We have had all the other figures already plugged into the tax program only waiting for the last 1099-DIV to show up. The e-forms posted on the brokers website this afternoon.

So, as mentioned above, we e-filed this afternoon and within an hour had the confirmation flag email shown above. If things go as they did last year, we should have our small refund e-deposited within three weeks or so.

We were unable to file with the State of Arizona, however, since the main tax form 140 is not yet available in its final revision. Since we have neither a tax refund nor tax due with AZ, that filing can wait. The updated form is estimated to be available later this week. Since there is no refund, I think I will save myself the $20 and just print out and file the state return via snail mail rather than e-file.

23 Jan 2023 by Money and Business Retirement

The 2023 Wickenburg
Fly-In and Car Show

Damsel and I attended the Fly-In on Saturday morning (01/21/23). This event Changed from October to January for unknown reasons, but regardless there were lots of people in attendance. There was so much traffic and cars that we wound up parked in the boonies several hundred yards out and had to walk into the airport proper.

There were hundreds of old and special cars and dozens of fly-in aircraft. Damsel and I took a lot of photos, but only four of the more interesting ones appear below. Click on any of the photos to enlarge.

1947 Consolidated Vultee L-13

This was the most interesting fly-in of the day. It is a 1947 Consolidated Vultee (now Convair) model L-13 fixed wing single engine. The Engine is a LYCOMING R680 Reciprocating Radial producing 215 Horsepower. The Weight is Less than 12,500lbs and the cruising speed is 92mph. As you can see from the photo above (courtesy Damsel), it was a very popular exhibit.

Shelby GT 500 KR

Shelby GT 500 KR. Some references to this muscle car show that these could produce 900 horsepower. That is a lot. This one was nice with blue racing stripes over light gray. Photo Courtesy Damsel.

Medevac Air Ambulance

This helicopter usually parks at the helipad next to our local Wickenburg Community Hospital. We often see it flying in and out of the area since our house is less than a mile south of the helipad. It is a 2004 Eurocopter (formerly Aérospatiale) AS-350B-3 single engine air ambulance configured helicopter. I spoke with one of the pilots who said they are “keeping busy” with routine and emergency transports.

1954 Chevrolet Bel Air Coupe

And finally, this very clean 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air Coupe was nostalgically reminiscent of the borrowed Chevy Bel Air Convertible I used to fetch my date to the Senior Prom in high school days (1961).

Damsel and I both had fun with our outing this year in spite of the crowds and parking situation. Our next outing will be “Gold Rush Days” in February. Stay tuned.

22 Jan 2023 by Aviation Classics Nostalgia

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