Here is another picture I took at Hearst Castle in San

Simeon, California. I took this picture in 1985 with

a film camera. I scanned the photograph.

This is Casa Grande. Casa Grande was inspired by the

Church of Santa María la Mayor in Ronda, Spain.
Construction of this structure began in 1919 and was
completed in 1925.

That this was a private residence is just unreal.

Here is an arial photo of Casa Grande

courtesy of Google Maps.

~ National Flag Day, 2025 ~

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.

Happy Friday the 13th, June 2025!

Looks like a nice cozy little trailer park in a

beautiful mountain setting, doesn't it?

Well it's not. It's Friday the 13th: A New

Beginning onscreen tonight at Borden Cinema

and all HELL is about to break loose.

If you are going to SIT here every week with your young kids

asking passersby for money, it would be nice if you would pack
your trash out when you leave.

Here is another picture I took when I was

very, very young. Some guy caught a

starfish from the Santa Monica Pier.

And when that happens,

ya gotta take a picture.

Here you come again.*

*Cynthia Weil & Barry Mann

Borden Cinema.

The early days. April 25th, 2006.

For some reason, our plant pots always
collect our old, broken stuff.

Happy June 1st, 2025!

TRANSMISSION #82

When this set of three metal wall art posters first went on

sale at Walmart I was kind of excited. I mean, Friday the

13th was one of 'em and I am all OVER F13.

The Exorcist is pretty cool too. IT is okay.
But they are charging $34.98 for these things.
C'mon Walmart. NO WAY.



But the other day? In the clearance section? $10.
I can do $10. And I did.

~  Memorial Day 2025 ~

I bought this resqme tool at REI some time ago.
It is an emergency seatbelt cutter/window breaker.

The Word of the Day is:
ONIONRINGS.

"What I want is a view where I can see a tree, or even water."
Let's stay with NECA again today.

It's Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs.

What a nut.

It's Pai Mei from Kill Bill: Volume 2.
Gogo Yubari and her Meteor Hammer
are kind of in his way.

- NECA -

I bought a few Strawberry Sundae candles, opened them

up and put them in my closet. Now every time I open the

doors... aaaaahhhhhhhhh.

And now we know how
Hole 10 lost his tooth.

 

TRANSMISSION #79

MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU 2025

 >>> PLAY <<<

I noticed my mom using a letter opener that had been
around a while and I wondered where it came from. It had an
inscription on the top of it so I looked
it up on the internet.

Coco Joe's, based in Punaluu, Hawaii, produced lava
resin souvenirs popular with tourists. Founded in the 1950s,
the company thrived through the 1960s

to the 1980s before closing.

Their black resin pieces, made from pulverized
Hawaiian lava mixed with resin, are now sought-after
collectibles and offer an affordable way to explore

Hawaiian culture and art. The "blade" is stainless steel.

Nobody around here knows how this thing
made it's way onto The Ranch.

This is a decal I picked up in Wyoming sometime

during the 1960's when I was purdy young.

When you have more hats than places to keep them.
But I'm good with it.

Yet another spectacular picture that I took at

summer ranch camp when I was 9 or 10 years

old. The good old jungle gyms. Hours of fun!

I have to find a picture of the horse that I kept
getting stuck riding. He was a roan named...

Roanie. That horse SUCKED. He was really
difficult to guide for a newbie like I was.

Maybe he was nice. I don't know. I was
too busy being frustrated with him.

~ Rest in Peace Lar Park Lincoln ~

1961 - 2025

Sometimes when I find just an eensie piece of a plant

laying around on the ground, I will stick it in this pot to

 see if it grows. These were all really small when I put

them in there and now one of them just

starting showing happiness.

Overheard at a party.

I bought a new Zippo lighter for my collection.

A Vietnam map Zippo. This one will never be used.

I have no idea if I overpaid as I cannot find one to

compare it to. This Zippo was made in July of 2010.

I actually bought this lighter on January 23rd of
this year (2025), but I am just now posting it.

Huzzah!

Two more teeth pulled today. At least the

hard part is over with and those guys on the right
lower side will no longer be a pain.

But the aftercare is not a cakewalk.

Happy Easter 2025!

The Easter Bunny came a'callin

and left me a chocolaty self-portrait.

There are even fun activities on the back

of the box he came in! I am going to save
these for later as they make take
some time to complete.

While at the thrift store I found something else that I had

been looking for. I bought this little tin whatever you call

it to put my incense burner in. This is the best burner I have

ever had and it catches 98% of all ashes dropped but it does

drop some and it also leaves my counter discolored.

Enter this little tin whatever you call it. It doesn't exactly

match the motif but it is otherwise PERFECT. And all of

this without even having measurements. Not too big, not
too small. Pure luck.

And yes, I had been looking for something
to put under the burner for a long time.

 

TRANSMISSION #74

And when I went to the thrift store the other day
I bought this over the door hook thing for about $3.00.
It is going to come in handy.

The Millennium Falcon in back of
my TV looks like it is in flight.

Well alright then... Another kind of

successful trip to the thrift store.

DVDs and Blu-rays galore.

And afterwards, lunch at Panda Express. I have

been craving the Panda and hadn't had lunch
out or Panda for some months so I went for it.

Rice, Kung Pao chicken,

Beijing beef and Pepper sirloin steak.

And of course, the customary fortune cookie.
I would love to surround myself with kindness
and beauty. I will work on that.



The day was beautiful and the view
was nice. Skinny, but nice.

My mom and I had a great day.

Happy BURT GUMMER Day, 2025!

...also

~ earthquake - 10:08 AM ~

When I was burying my Ghost Pepper plant, the

hand trowel I was using was just about to hit the
dirt when this little rattlesnake started
moving underneath it.

Man, there are a lot of snakes around this year.

This is a sad day, my friends. My Ghost Pepper plant

has given up... the ghost. I have been raising him for

just two months short of two years. But I suppose the

last pruning was just too much for him. He never gave

me a pepper, but I salute him.

His survival efforts under my amateur growing skills

were valiant. He has been buried in a place of honor

and will not soon be forgotten.

It is in his honor that I will attempt to grow a Ghost

Pepper plant with the last batch of seeds from the

Ghost Pepper kit that my son gave to me two years ago.

In this pot there are five seeds. Perhaps one will lead

us to glory.

But there will be a difference between this effort and the

last one. I will not be documenting this unless something

exciting (like maybe a pepper actually growing) happens.

I can't say "stay tuned" this time around.

Today we had another little rattlesnake visitor by
the front door and bigger one in the shed.

They are becoming active.

The crazy things you see while in the
waiting room at the doctor's office.

Wait a second... um...

This could come in handy.

When one chapter ends...

...another begins.

I will put this cactus in a bigger
pot when I get one.