Well, it was over last Friday, actually. The new Remington 870 18″ BBL CAP7 Security Gun went with us to the range Sunday. We had a terrific shoot and are very pleased with this gun. Damsel’s youth 870 is still her favorite choice for home defense (it has a shorter stock and she’s petite) but she manages to work the action on this one just fine. Watch closely as she shoots the silhouette man off the hook. Press > to play. You can mute the volume too by clicking on the speaker icon.
Entertainment
Tulip Season
The local flower emporium offered these nice tulips last weekend. They’re looking very pretty on our coffee table. I plan to get other colors for floral accents as this winter season goes on.
Eight Below
Last night we saw Walt Disney’s Eight Below. Inspired by a true story, this Antarctic adventure is about sled dogs, rescue, survival and more rescue. The movie has beautiful scenery, dramatic and exciting sequences and is mostly about these wonderful dogs. This movie was so good that we had to add a new rating level to my on-line DVD database — “excellent” didn’t quite get it, so “sensational” has been added.
Above: “Max” and “Maya”
If you enjoyed “Snow Dogs” and “March of the Penguins” then “Eight Below” is for you. If you haven’t seen them yet, then I highly recommend seeing all three!
Things That Go Trump in the Night
“The Donald” wants to put his own name on a Rancho Palos Verdes road now called “Ocean Trails Drive” and call it “Trump National Drive.” Other than immense ego, why would anyone want to change a poetic name like that to something that rhymes with “rump” or “frump?” I don’t get it. It should be enough to merely have a big, gaudy stone and brass monument at the entrance — like this one . . .
Buck Owens 1929-2006
I have to admit to having been a Buck Owens fan at one time. I still have a Buck Owens and the Buckaroos CD which replaced my scratched up and worn out LP album. One of my favorites was “I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail” in 1962 when I was an air crew radioman in the U.S. Navy. Rest well, Buck.
Here’s an excerpt from Owens’ bio from WikiPedia.
Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr., (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006) was an American country music singer widely credited with helping to create the gritty “Bakersfield sound”.
Image: Buck Owens and the Buckaroos — circa 1962 Album Photo
Owens was named the most promising country and western singer of 1960 by Billboard, and his top-10 duets with Rose Maddox in 1961 earned them a nod as vocal team of the year in DJ polls. But it was in 1963, after updating his sound again, that Owens’ career went ballistic. He moved away from the traditional country shuffle to a more upbeat, driving style (“…like a freight train coming through your livingroom,” as Buck said) with the single “You’re For Me” in late 1962. A few months later, “Act Naturally” became his first No. 1 hit. It was rock ‘n’ roll with a country feel. The Beatles later covered it without changing much of anything. It crossed over to the pop charts, and it began an astonishing run: for the next four years, every Buck Owens single went to No. 1. Fifteen in a row. At one point, he had a B-side, “My Heart Skips a Beat,” alternating in the top spot with its A-side, “Together Again.” “Love’s Gonna Live Here,” the follow-up to “Act Naturally,” was No. 1 for 16 weeks. He even sent an instrumental — the signature “Buckaroo” — to No. 1. The streak finally ended in October 1967 when his tribute to his fans, “It Takes People Like You (To Make People Like Me),” underachieved, stopping at No. 2. The next single, “How Long Will My Baby Be Gone,” went to No. 1, as did three more songs in 1969.
Rainy Day and a Ride on the Red Car
Yesterday, the Damsel and I went to San Pedro and enjoyed the local attractions. We took a walk through the Ports O’ Call Village – a touristy collection of shops and restaurants along the waterfront of the main channel of the Port of Los Angeles. Nearby are other attractions such as the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, the Merchant Marine Memorial, the S.S. Lane Victory, the Cabrillo Aquarium and my favorite, the Red Car. Actually there are a couple of Red Cars – restored from early-twentieth century electric streetcars that ran throughout the Los Angeles area. Damsel took these photos on an off-and-on rainy morning in the harbor:
I took some video as well: Red Car arriving at the 22nd Street Station and inside the Red Car on a rainy day.