Here is a decal I bought at Marineland of the Pacific on

the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles, California.

Bubbles was their famous short-finned pilot whale.

I bought this decal sometime in the 1960s.

And by coincidence I just happen to have a picture that

I took at Marineland with my Polaroid Swinger Land

Camera! (It's almost as though I scanned a bunch of photos

lately, eh?) ML was home to two famous killer whales.

Their names were Orky and Corky. This was one of them.

I don't know which. My picture was taken in 1968.

Marineland has a sad history. The last time I was there

was around 1983 and it was really run down. The
park closed it's doors for good shortly thereafter.

My Ghost Pepper plant: day 38. I think I have not been

giving it enough water. I am going to remedy that. Also

pictured are my jalapeno sprouts that I started 12 days

ago. Those will be transplanted to pots outside soon.

Still keeping my fingers crossed for my ghost pepper.

How about another picture that I took with my Polaroid

Swinger Land Camera? Again from Universal Studios in 
Los Angeles, somewhere on the backlot in 1968.

I took this picture at the Universal Studios Los Angeles stunt show

in 1968. Here you can see a cowboy taking a dive off of the hotel's
roof after having been shot with a load of hot lead. This is a scan of a
 photo I took with my Polaroid Swinger Land Camera. In '68 the
Universal Amphitheater was still outdoors. It was converted
to an indoor amphitheater in 1982.



Here is a bit larger image of the
unfortunate soul. I have always loved
Western stunt shows. Lot's of
guns and cowboys.
Suits me fine.

(The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
theme park is now on the land that the
amphitheater once occupied.)

I spotted this Golf Clap sticker in a drug store parking

lot last night. We at The Ranch prefer to call it a Club
Clap, and we do, club clap, when appropriate.

Pussyfooting around
is not on the menu.

If duct tape don't get it, a zip tie will.
Zip ties and duct tape... Two of life's greatest pleasures.

(That is a flashlight. Both rear screws
failed and it was slowly splitting in half.
Manufacturer defect.)

...meanwhile, at the filling station.

20% off when you buy 3 or
more bottles of wine?

PAR-TAY!

~ Happy National Day of the Cowboy 2023 ~

Click here to visit the National Day of the Cowboy website.

Day 27 and our ghost pepper plant is still with us. As predicted,

the smaller one you can barely see is history. Our hopes

and dreams are now riding on the one plant.
Stay tuned, friends.

Back in 1985 when VHS players and movies were a pretty new thing

to all of us, I had seen an ad for Pinocchio on VHS tape. Disney

said, "Get it now! When it goes back into the vault, that's it! Forever!"

I jumped on it as a gift for a family member. I paid over $80 for it.

They never really went "back into the vault" and you can now find

this VHS tape at thrift stores for a dollar. Oh well, it was fun and

different at the time.

P.S. And yes, that is the original VHS movie I bought in 1985. It
is still in perfect condition with all of the paperwork
and such that came with it.

There was a beautiful sunset going on

as I arrived home from work last night.

This was a few minutes later as the sun

was disappearing behind the mountains.

And speaking of my 2010 visit to the Gene Autry Museum

of Western Heritage at Griffith Park, CA, here is the souvenir

I bought at the museum store during that visit.
I ALWAYS bring something home.

This is a greeting card that I framed. The card has

a 44 cent "Cowboys of the Silver Screen" commemorative
 Gene Autry postage stamp on the front. My stamp is just
1 of 20 million that were issued by the Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma Postal Service on April 17, 2010.

The person who created the greeting card autographed it.
Why they did this is beyond me.

Anyway, I have enjoyed this card hanging in my bedroom
for thirteen years now.

It's the Andy Panda Polka!
On 45 RPM!
For only 29 cents!

I don't know HOW this record came into my life, I

just know that it HAS been in my life for as long as

I can remember. It is usually kept in a box someplace

and pops up every few years or so. It popped

up again so I took a picture of it.

The Andy Panda Polka, makes

you feel so bright and gay!

It's SCREAM Day at El Rancho and I bought

my very own copy of SCREAM 6 to celebrate!

Dance to the music!

Uh-oh.

Movie haul!

!!! WEDNESDAY BONUS PHOTO !!!

The ghost pepper plant is a haaaiiirr larger and growing another

leaf or two. I am still not sure if it is going to make it. It had an ant

attack. A lot of ants were digging their way around the roots and I had

to very gently SQUISH THEM into OBLIVION one at a time

over a period of several days. I think I got them all.

That little sprout on the right
doesn't seem to be doing too well.
All bets are on the bigger sprout but I ain't
holding my breath.

You have probably seen this sun and moon (jewelry?) box

in the background of some of my pictures. A friend gave it

to me as a gift, probably about 20 years ago. It has been

sitting on my dresser for all of that time.

It has held everything from earrings to bracelets to rubber

bands to aspirin. I have no clue what it is made of. I always

thought it was pewter but I'm thinkin' now that I am wrong.

Anyway, it is another one of my favorite things.

I posted back on Wednesday, June 21 that I had started the

ghost pepper plant that my son surprised me with. And

today the first sprout showed itself. Seeing it was an exciting
moment to be certain. I am hoping there will be a few
more to follow. I also hope this cute little feller grows
up to be WICKED hot (if he grows up at all).

#fingerscrossed

It's a brand new month and once again it is Knife Day

at El Rancho De La Tex! Recently I renewed my
National Rifle Association membership and for my

efforts I received yet another NRA knife.

Will you just look at that BEAUTY!
I kid.

We all KNOW about these NRA knives. They are ZERO

to write home about. A search of "Stone River LTD" knives

will yield a large amount of $9.99 specials. I would never buy

one.... EVER. You cannot count on them to work for you when

you might really need them, and that is a knife no-no. I would

file these NRA blades under "Gas Station Specials".

But they are fun to collect for "free" so I oil them, wrap

them up with the others I have and pack them away in the

ol' knife box. My son will have them someday... for fun.

You know what? I cannot wait for the next Knife Day!

P.S. Some would argue that I DID pay for this knife, dearly.
That's a subject for another day.

~ Happy Birthday America 2023! ~

A cowboy hat Christmas ornament. This makes me

think that everything that can be made... has been made.

~ Random Around the Ranch Photo of the Day ~

Dang gophers and squirrels.

I am not sure what kind of burrs these are, but it seems

that every time we go outdoors to do something, like pick
apples for example, we end up coming back in with a thousand
of these things stuck to our clothes. And there are always one

or two that we don't find that BITE us.

Oh why nature, WHY?

It looks like it is time to pick a few apples.

So we did.

Lately I have been watching some folks on the Internet who love

to eat hot peppers of all kinds. REALLY hot peppers of all kinds.

I love hot peppers (and hot/spicy foods) myself although I have

never had much more than jalapeno peppers. My son and I had a

conversation about this and we talked about acquiring a pepper or

two to eat (or cautiously nibble the corner of one is more like it).

Well, my son surprised me with a kit to grow a Ghost Pepper. You just
peel the lids off of the top and the bottom of the can, water it, and wait
for the magic to happen. He actually bought this for me a few months
ago and I have been anxiously waiting to water it and put it in the
sun. It finally warmed up around here enough to do that.
We will see what happens. It will be a while.

This is the wrapper that was around

the can for the Magic Plant kit.

So many things are better with barbeque sauce.
This aisle always makes my mouth water.

I remember eating racks of ribs at Tony Roma's many
years ago. MANY years ago. They were delicious.
Tony is kind of thin on his restaurant
locations these days.

!! AMAZE AND MYSTIFY YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS !!

When I was about ten years old, my uncle on my mom's side

taught me how to draw this little design. Maybe you know how to

draw it too. If not, it might be a fun thing to learn.
It just takes five simple steps.

Start out by drawing a square.
Easy so far, right?

Add the lines as you see here.

Add these next lines, and just move on without
thinking what you are thinking.

Next up, draw those little half circle type dealies.
Man, this is starting to get real!

And now finish it up with the larger half circle kind

of lines and bam! Thar she is!

I finished this one up by filling in the colors using my

computer. Kinda cool, eh? Thank you to my uncle.

Knowing how to draw this has provided a bit of fun

and entertainment over the years.

P.S. If you have any difficulty on your first attempt or two,
do not be discouraged. Remember, I am pretty much
a professional at this kind of thing.

Don't give up.

Well, I found another good deal today at Walmart. I have had

the DVD movie of "Muppet Treasure Island" since 2007, but

it is a fullscreen edition. I have been looking for YEARS for a

deal on this movie in widescreen. Today, I found it.

The DVD for $5.00. Everybody at The Ranch really enjoys

MTI so they all jumped for joy and hoot and hollered when

I arrived home and pulled it out of the bag.

Yep.

~ National Flag Day, 2023 ~

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America,

and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under

God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Huzzah!

It is John Wick Day at El Rancho De La Tex. I bought my

very own copy of "John Wick: Chapter 4" and I will be

watching this again (we saw it at the theater on April 19th)

tonight! Here at The Ranch we love Mr. Wick.

I also got a great deal on a movie I have been looking for since

April of last year. I had gotten "Bohemian Rhapsody" on DVD,

watched it, loved it and needed the upgrade... SOON. Well, it

took over a year but I finally found a 4k copy at a price I could

afford. I will be watching this one again REALLY soon.

Oh, I used a five dollar coupon I had earned. Life, right?

We are supposed to be planting, but it is still just so

dang cold. I have a ghost chili and some jalapenos that

I am really anxious to get started.

How about a Mickey Mouse backscratcher

from Disneyland from I don't know when!

The guys on my computer desk are

getting along famously.