~ Memorial Day, 2019 ~

 Not a review.

The movie "Peppermint" came down in price so I bought it.

I heard that this movie was pretty good so I had waited for

it to come down for a while now. I watched it and it was

yeah.... pretty good. Not great, but pretty good.

They attempted to make Jennifer Garner a bad ass, but she

wasn't quite there. Not as kick ass as Milla or Michelle or

Scarlett. She was pretty tough but....

And that is why I wanted Peppermint. I love seeing kick

ass characters like John Wick and Robert McCall and Eli

and Jack Reacher. This movie was fun and I will watch

it again someday, but it was just not quite as there

as some of the others.

But I WILL rate "Peppermint" 6.6 out of 10 Ice Cream Cones.

Pay no more than $7.50 and you got yerself a score.

 A dreary day outside.

But inside the weather is

!! "AVENGERS: ENDGAME" !!

No spoilers. And there can be MAJOR spoilers.

I give Endgame 9.5 out of 10 what else?

Infinity Stones.

Afterwards? Little Caesars $5.00 goodness.

My son bought this awesome Friday the 13th Camp

Crystal Lake Running Team graphic Tee for me.

I like. No, strike that. I LOVE.

That is a photo of the front of the shirt.

Back in the day I never really thought that we would

have old satellite dishes just laying around

waiting to be junked.

Well, I splurged and bought "The Equalizer 2" starring Denzel Washington.

I had purchased the first Equalizer movie on DVD some time ago because

it was in the $3.75 or $5.00 bin. I can't remember which right now, but it's

awesomeness caught me off guard.

Denzel is a bad-ass.

Anyway, I have been waiting for the price to come down

a bit on Number Two and it did so I jumped on it. I can't

wait to see this one.

I don't recall that I have ever seen one

of these before. Maybe I am just sheltered.

 Serious.

I am going to leave this right here.

Pigs.

 

I've been to Hearst Castle in San Simeon a few times. This

photo of the Greek Pool was taken on my last visit in 1985.

When I inherit the Castle, I am going to build a rifle/pistol

range. I will also enlarge and bring the movie theater up to

date. Then I am going to throw a really great party.

I would have Dwight Yoakam as entertainment,

but I'm pretty sure I would not be able to drag

him away from the Billiard Hall. That would

be rude of me anyway.

Anyhow, not the greatest photo. I scanned 

the picture I took with my film camera.

The challenge was to post a photo of two

really cool things together. Ta-daaaaaa!!!

 

I had seen a review about "Big Kill" a few months ago

and thought that I would like to see it. I forgot about it

until I spotted the DVD at Walmart. I must have wanted it

as I grabbed it and threw it in my cart the second I saw it.

I should get my $9.99 worth out of it as it is 127 minutes long.

It will either be 127 minutes of "Hey, this is okay" or 127

minutes of "Oh man, just END already".

 (That was a bucket load of "I"s and "it"s... Weren't it?) 

THIS is what put the hook into me.

I need to know about this guy.

~ September 18th, 2014 ~

~ December 17th, 2015 ~

~ April 22nd, 2019 ~

~ Happy Easter 2019 ~

Foggy morning at the ranch.

I did this on my phone. It was an accident.

I could not do it again if I wanted to.

 I have shown this before. This is a little "general store"

and "assay office" on "Trails West", the outdoor display

at the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage in

Griffith Park, California. This is from my 2012 visit.

What I don't think that I HAVE shown is a picture I

took of what is inside of it. I am pretty sure that

this is just an educational display for students that

visit the museum on field trips. There is not even 

anything in there that I would want to have and I

can't say that about ANY other part of the museum.

 

As I have also written before, Trails West was taken

out a few years ago and replaced with an "ethnobotanical

garden". I could NEVER communicate to you just how

excited I was to learn that the outdoor display depicting our

American West was being replaced by an

"ethnobotanical garden".

Just look at that cowboy sitting in the serene ethnobotanical garden 

enjoying his book about vintage wines or cheeses or something.

What an invaluable experience.

A *ahem*... badass eagle at my dentist's office.
Not the best quality picture I have ever taken.

Easter is coming up and every year I look forward

to buying one of those egg cartons with a piece of

chocolate of some kind where each egg would be.

They are only a dollar and... they are fun.

This year they don't have them over at Walmart.

Instead, they have Easter "eggs" filled with confetti.

Weird. I mentioned this to my son and he asked if I would

buy one for him just to check it out. Here it is.

"HUNT IT, SMASH IT, ENJOY THE FUN!"

Haven't thrown any of these babies around.

"Cleanup on Aisle Four!" Yeah, forget that.

I would rather have the chocolate.

This guy sits atop a

Terminator Salvation video game.

 

I watched "Assassin's Creed" tonight. If there is one

thing that I will find memorable about this movie,

it will be that the credits are fifteen minutes long.

FIFTEEN MINUTES LONG.

I think after ten minutes of credits rolling by the
orchestra performing the exit music just started jamming.

Here is a souvenir I bought from the Emporium on

Main Street in Disneyland, Anaheim California.

The year was... the year was.... a long time ago.

 I can't EVEN remember. This here is a telescope

featuring all the lands and attractions at the park.

Tradition says that about thirty minutes before

the park closes it is mandatory to visit Main Street

(most likely the Emporium) to purchase a little

something to remember our visit. I love this tradition.

 

 And it didn't used cost an arm and a leg to do so.

When I look at my telescope I can remember this

visit to Disneyland (I don't) and I can see a'way

far away too! Again, life.... so  good.

I have had the movie "La La Land" on Blu-ray  for

nearly two years and was waiting for just the right

time to watch it. Tonight was that night.

Wow. How good was that?

That's all I got. 8.9 out of 10 Auditions.

You remember Tom, right?

 This is my Rowdy Yates doll. Clint Eastwood played

a character by the name of Rowdy Yates in the 50's/60's

TV show called "Rawhide". This doll looks nothing
like him. At all.

This was a Christmas gift.

This is the back of the box.

I AM happy to have this doll.

You are able unfold the back which is held in place by

Velcro tabs to reveal more pictures of Rowdy and

a short write-up about the show. I left this photo big

so that you may open it up in a new browser window

to read if you would like to.

These dolls are "numbered" and I have 1 of 12000. I was

pretty danged excited to have the #1 doll! I have had

a few framed prints in my time and when it says 254/1000

it means that you have the 254th print of 1000 copies. BUT,

in the case of Rowdy here, it took me a little while to realize

that "1 of 12000" meant I have one of twelve thousand dolls

made. Not NUMBER ONE of twelve thousand.

Pretty tricky. Or maybe I am just dense.

I think these dolls were produced in about 1997.

I have had it that long.

Bethany Hamilton's surfboard (not really).

 

This is a display at the mall

in Oceanside, California.

These are the car medallions that my much beloved and very

much missed stepfather had on the grill of his loooong Cadillac

car. He was a retired Marine and he LOVED the Marines. If you

were a Marine he would have done anything for you. He also loved

America and we had/have that in common.

It is nice to know that these were around on all of our

trips and such when he was with us. #sweetmemories

Beautifully overcast with rain

coming and going yesterday.

I went to see "The Kid" today. It's a Western. I had to.

You might be surprised to find out that "The Kid" is not about

Henry McCarty a.k.a. William H. Bonney, a.k.a. William McCarty,

a.k.a. Henry Antrim and a.k.a. Billy the Kid. No, this movie is
about "The Kid" whose life intertwined with Mr. Bonney's for a
short time before Billy's demise at the hands of Sheriff Pat Garrett.

Fiction, yes.

This movie was pretty artsy craftsy and about what I was expecting

from director Vincent D'Onofrio (who I enjoy). Pretty slow moving

Western with an "independent" feel. Dane DeHaan was an enjoyable

Billy The Kid but seemed restrained. I would like to see him as Billy

with different direction. I like Dane. His entrance was my favorite

part of this movie and the few seconds it lasts are awesome. Not quite

worth the price of admission, but almost.

You have never seen Chris Pratt like he is in "The Kid". He is a ba...

bas... a bast... He is MEAN. Always like Chris. Ethan Hawk as

Pat Garrett is well.... okay. I like Ethan Hawk but... I don't know.

And a Deputy crying about shooting a bank robber because

the robber is a youngin. Hey, he was robbing a bank and firing

a weapon. You roll the dice... It was somewhat of a

"message movie". Not always the most fun kind of Westerns.

I always read the credits at the end of movies and when there are firearms

involved I like to look for the armorer. I waited and waited and I never

did see one for "The Kid". GUNS and props are important in Westerns,

unless they want to downplay them. Messages. I COULD have

just missed it I supppose, but I looked and looked.

Great locations.

Anyway. I give "The Kid" 5 out of 10 "Trips to the Outhouse".

If the DVD or Blu-ray goes down to $5.00, I will buy it.

"Hello Bob!"

!! BANG !!

"Goodbye Bob!"

Nope, not that kind of a movie.

Dane DeHaan as William Bonney.

(Not his awesome entrance.)

Well... I was bit by the fever again. I broke down and

bought another knife. This time I bought the Spyderco

Tenacious. It is not my first Spyderco by a LONGshot,

but it is my first one in a long time. I had resisted buying

this knife for eons because it has a liner lock and

I am not a fan. But like I say, I was bit again and this

guy was staring at me during every trip to Walmart.

I left this picture big just in case you would like

to open it in a new window to read it.

Here is the Tenacious in the closed position. It has G-10

scales (love them!). The blade has a full flat grind.

And the jimping at the base of the spine? Superb.

Weight is 4.1 ounces. Very doable.

You can see that it has the infamous Spydee Hole. I like the

blade shape and man, this guy is sharp. I hope I am able to

maintain this edge. The Tenacious is Made In China but

the quality is great and that opinion is shared in hundreds

of reviews.

 The pocket clip fits firmly and has a great little Spyderco logo

on it. This knife offers four positions for the clip, your choice.

The blade is 8Cr13Mov stainless. I have no experience with

this steel. The liners are skeletonized steel. Anyway, I am excited

to use this knife and I will carry it full time. Huzzah.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot.... This knife ran with tax $43.06

at Walmart. I believe that this is a very competitive price.

And oh yeah again.... The liner lock on this knife is

really smooth. The position of it does not break my

nails like a few others I have do. So that is good.

Blade Length
3.39"

Overall Length
7.76"

I bought the Sniper Fully Loaded Collection (all four

Sniper movies on two DVDs) at Walmart from the $3.74

bin. I saw Sniper a LONG time ago on cable and enjoyed

it. As for the DVD quality? At best they will be pretty good

quality like the Chuck Norris Triple Threat collection I

bought, or at worst they will be drive-in grindhouse quality.

Either way... I win.

EEK!