This is my Tosari transistor radio. When I was young a friend of

my mom made a device that would hold this radio to the handlebars

of my bicycle. I used to ride all over (and mean ALL OVER) the city

listening to Red Rubber Ball by The Cyrkle on AM 93 KHJ Boss Radio

out of Los Angeles, CA.

You can still make out some of the psychedelic green black light tape

that I put all over it. Happen'n days, man. Happen'n days.

I do not know much about these things, but

this would tend to make me a bit... nervous.

~ Chapter One, The Chair ~
I REALLY need a new chair for my desk. My older chair

broke and almost knocked me on my butt in the process.

I went to Staples (office supply store) and looked around.

I ended up buying the gray chair you see in the foreground.

~ Chapter Two, Oh The Pain ~

After getting it home and putting the thing together it just

didn't work out for me... at all. The lumber support KILLED

my back and it wouldn't recline at all. Oh well.

~ Chapter Three, The Return ~

Staples let us know that we can return The Chair to them within

14 days of purchase, with receipt (always) and if disassembled.

My son was a huge help with ALL of this and I was eventually

refunded my $$$s in full.

~ Epilogue ~

I dislike returning things and in the last 20 years it has been

necessary for me to do that only a couple of times (defective

items). As for the chair? I still REALLY need one and will try

again sometime down the line.

~ The End ~

I love these trees.

I thought I had shown this before, but apparently not,

so here she is! From my 2010 visit to the Gene Autry

Western Heritage Museum in Griffith Park, California.

This is a rubber prop pistol used by Kevin Costner in

his movie "Wyatt Earp" (1994).

Movie props are a trip.

This display is no longer there. The pistol MIGHT be

in another section of the museum, but this area was

torn out. BOO. Sadly, I don't think that The Autry is
what she used to be, but I will still visit when I can.

The King.

When it's roundup time in Texas, and the bloom is on the sage.

Then I long to be in Texas, back a-ridin' on the range.

Just to smell the bacon fryin', when it's sizzlin' in the pan.

Hear the breakfast horn in the early morn, drinkin' coffee from a can.

~ Nat Vincent & Fred Howard ~

I used to collect decals from the states and
places we visited. This is from one of our visits
to Maine sometime around 1966.

 This is an old pamphlet for a shooting range I used to frequent

in Ventura California in the 80's and early 90's. It was located more

or less in the mountains and was a really nice place to shoot. There were

two ranges separated by a concrete wall. One side was for police training

(you should have HEARD what would come from that side of the wall) and

the other side was for us, civilians.

Other than the occasional grumpy
rangemasters, this place was perfect.

Look at this! $3.50 to shoot not for an hour or two, but for the entire

day, and your first set of targets were included in that price. Wo. And
$6.00 for 50 rounds of .38 Special reloaded ammunition, and I never
had an issue with any I purchased. Dang good.

The range closed I think in the late 90's?

I had some great times with some great friends here.

Unfortunately I have no pictures of the range as we
did not have cameras every place we went like we
do now. The best I could do is a Google aerial capture
of what the place looks like now-a-days. Sad. It used
to be beautiful.

Whoever is responsible for this reads
waaaaaaay too much Dr. Seuss.

A little out of... no, make that a LOT out for character

for me, but I bought "Major Payne" because I saw a bit

of it on the Internet. A bit of a touching moment and it

hooked me. Probably a big mistake. We will see.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

...later that night.
Wow. I actually did enjoy this movie. It made me laugh a bit.
I was surprised to find myself anxious to see what would
happen next instead of looking at my watch for an hour and
thirty-five minutes. I have always liked Damon Wayans, but
I am generally not a comedy person. Anyway. I rate Major Payne
6.5 out of 10 Push Ups. I would recommend this movie.

 ~ Happy Birthday America, 2022! ~

Another sighting of Roger Murtaugh's house from the Lethal Weapon
movie series. Roger's house is on the Warner Ranch lot in Burbank,
California. This sighting comes from the television show called "The
Partridge Family" (1970-1974). Way before Lethal Weapon, but this
house DOES go back a long way.

Here you can see the Partridge Family bus driving by the home
headed to another groovy gig (the Partridge Family is a band FYI).
Not a great picture. It was a screen shot from a news story. Best
I could do. But it's ROGER'S house so it's gold!

America's Birthday is coming up next week and we bought a shiny
new barbeque from Walmart to help us celebrate the day. We did

not want anything expensive and this "Expert Grill"...

....fit the bill at $19.97. It is 17.4 inches which is great for
what we need. Just some burgers and dogs and BAM!
We are good! It is going to be a beautiful day.

This is the box that the barbeque came in.

Folks have asked and yes, Borden Cinema does

indeed have it's own dedicated popcorn salt shaker.

A new Zippo lighter to celebrate the day. 2nd Amendment.

I bought it over at Walmart. It was a little pricy at $16.98,

but I went for it. This will be added to my little collection

of Zippos and remain unopened.

Huzzah!

This is an 8x10 sheet with photos of some actors who at

one time or another played cowboys in Western movies, some

more than others. I'm not sure where and when I acquired

this sheet, but one thing is for sure, I am not the original

owner.

Top row left to right:

1. George Houston, 1896 - 1944

2. Robert Livingston, 1904 - 1988

3. Ray Corrigan, 1902 - 1976

Bottom row left to right:

1. Don "Red" Barry, 1912 - 1980

2. Bob Nolan, 1908 - 1980

3. Buster Crabbe, 1908 - 1983

It is Knife Day again here at El Rancho De La Tex!

Today's knife is one that I bought because, well, it's a SCREAM,

baby (if'n ya know what I mean). It is the Buck Model 119. As far as I know

there are two models, the 119 and the 119 Special. I think the Special has

a longer blade. That's really all I think I know about this knife and I could
be totally full of it. The 119 has been produced since 1942.

My 119 came with a cordura sheath which
I don't love, for this knife anyway. I would have rather had leather.
There is a plastic sleeve in the sheath and the knife rattles around
inside of it, making a lot of noise.

Anyway, this knife is really common and there are those who love
them, and those who hate them (the synthetic resin handle material).
I am just happy to own one.

I made this.

It is a Deep Space Probe Ship. Call sign B52.

And no, it is not for sale.

Just a random photo I took at the Gene Autry Museum of 

Western Heritage, Griffith Park CA in 2012. A barrel out
on Trails West. Trails West is no longer there, which in
turn makes this barrel no longer there. You know how
I feel about that.