Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Culture

Veterans Day 2014

armed-forces.jpg

There are many veterans who deserve credit for keeping our nation safe and free by putting themselves in harm’s way. Not all such “harm’s way” scenarios require combat or the battlefield. Sailors who work on the dangerous decks of aircraft carriers, Soldiers who prepare ordinance and test weaponry, Marines who carry out firefighting missions, Airmen who crew patrol and transport aircraft and Guardsmen who patrol our coasts in aircraft and on the sea.

Special thanks go out to combat veterans as well as those who have risked their lives in training and support roles. God bless them all.

(This is a reprise of our Veterans Day 2009 post – still applicable today.)

11 Nov 2014 by Culture Military Patriotism

Manzanar

Manzanar Sacred Monument

On our route from Bishop, CA to Ridgecrest, CA today, we stopped at the Manzanar National Historic Site on our way south. This is a very important monument, reminding us of one of the most heinous acts ever taken by the USA (other than electing Obama).

It is a somber self-guided tour that takes the observer through the internment camp that housed over 11,000 Japanese Americans taken from their lives in America to serve time for what the Imperial Japanese did to foment WWII in the Pacific. The bombing of Pearl Harbor and other acts by the Japanese did nothing to warrant gathering the descendants of Japan ancestry and housing them, against their will, in this nightmare desert camp. Manzanar was the largest population center between Reno and Los Angeles, albeit it was a city of an unwilling population.

The image above is the saddest reminder of the sordid acts of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration; the graveyard at Manzanar with mostly unmarked graves other than one of Baby Jerry Ogata, an infant that died in captivity here who was as American as you and I.

We have been here before, but the sight of the residual camp always causes us to break out a tissue or two. Click on the image to enlarge.

16 Sep 2014 by California Culture Wanderlust

Making the Rounds

Patriotic Perspective

We’re in California tonight after making the rounds to decorate the grave sites of some of our fallen loved ones. There are two memorial parks that we visit when we’re in town (actually three, but one is way over in Orange County that we get to once a year or so). This array of American Flags decorates the entrance to the park where my Grandparents, an Uncle and my Daughter were laid to rest. The flags are flown on five staffs of graduating heights and graduating flag sizes. It’s a very pretty array of Patriotic Perspective.

We were earlier at the other park on this side of town where my Dad, a brother-in-law and a sister are in repose. I put decorations on all of the sites at both parks. This makes us feel respectful and lets have some closure about our losses. Click on the image to enlarge.

15 Jul 2014 by Culture Patriotism Photography

No Hat Rack

No Hat Rack

When we come to California, we find several cultural differences from those in Arizona. One example is that when we go to a restaurant or even to the dentist, they have a rack for us cowboy types to hang our hats. Not so much in California, where sun worship and skin cancer reign.

The only hotel in this area where we can take our dogs is an antiquated property which, by all rights, should have a hat rack in the rooms, has none. Thus, I have to improvise with where I hang my hat when not in use. Click on the image to enlarge.

14 Jul 2014 by California Culture

New Anti-ID Theft AZ Drivers Licenses

New License Format

Effective this week, Arizona drivers licenses will have a new look. Ours don’t expire until 2015, but we can expect to get this format when we renew. I like the fact that the word “VETERAN,” if appropriate, is prominently displayed on the face of the license.

Via Arizona Highways Blog and ADOT:

Effective this week, Arizona has a new driver’s license that our bosses at the Arizona Department of Transportation say will offer better protection against identity theft.

Among the most notable changes: a new font for the word “Arizona” at the top of the license; a larger portrait, along with a duplicated “ghost” portrait; an Arizona-shaped laser perforation; and a new background image.

On the latter, gone is the Grand Canyon panorama that defined Arizona’s previous driver’s license. In its place is a collage of unique Arizona features, such as geologic formations, a saguaro and a ringtail (the state mammal). The image employs a technique called Guilloché innovative symmetry; an ADOT release says the technique consists of “intricate, repetitive patterns that are interwoven to guard against counterfeiting, altering or other fraudulent use, making for a more secure credential.”

There’s no need to rush out and get a new license; your old one will still be good until it expires.

23 Jun 2014 by Arizona Culture Law and Order

The Budweiser Clydesdale Horse Team

The Budweiser Clydesdale Horse Team

The Budweiser Clydesdale Horse Team was one of the featured units in the Gold Rush Days Parade today. They were there, complete with the Dalmatian mascot. What a magnificent assemblage of horseflesh! Click on the image to enlarge.

As I mentioned on the other blog, I didn’t attend today, but Damsel took over 300 hundred photos of all the activity. I enjoyed looking at the photos but I wish I could have seen the Clydesdales. Next year, I should be OK.

15 Feb 2014 by Arizona Critters Culture

Happy Valentine’s Day!

The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, behind Christmas. The association estimates that, in the US, men spend on average twice as much money as women.

The rise of Internet popularity at the turn of the millennium is creating new traditions. Millions of people use, every year, digital means of creating and sending Valentine’s Day greeting messages such as e-cards, love coupons or printable greeting cards.

Me? I’m sending you all this pretty electronic valentine!


14 Feb 2014 by Culture Holidays Romance

Categories

Archives