A Belated Xmas Quickie That Needs To Be Shared.

My Grandparents…

((aka Maw and Paw))

…Got Me This Book For Xmas:

“THE UNTOLD CIVIL WAR: EXPLORING THE HUMAN SIDE OF WAR“

by JAMES ROBERTSON

🙂       🙂

Honestly, I Was Left Kinda Speechless.

It’s An Expensive Ought-Damned Book.

But, I Did Want It.

She (Maw) Was Worried I’d Be Disappointed With It.

But, I Love It AND Her.

You See, My Peeps, She Took Me To See The Flick…

“GETTYSBURG“

…Back During The Winter Of 1993.

Neither She, Nor I, Knew What We Were Getting Into With It.

When The 2-Hour Point Of The Flick Came And Went, She Kept Looking To Me Hoping It Was Going To Be Over Soon.

Little Did We Know We Weren’t Even Half-Way Through The Flick.

The Lights Came-Up, And She Assumed It Was Time To Head Home.

However, The Lights Only Came-Up To Signal The Intermission.

After The Intermission…

…Oh Yeah…

…Another 2+Hours Of The Flick Remained.

But, She Sat Through It.

She Sat Through All 4+Hours And Didn’t Complain About It One Bit.

Maw Knows I Love History.

She Knows I Love Documentaries.

She Knows I Love Historically Relevant Films.

She Knows I Love REAL Books.

She Knows One Of My Favorite Subjects Is The American Civil War.

So, Maw And Paw Totally Got Me The Royal Hook-Up With This Book.

I’m Already Loving It.

And, Honestly, I Likely Always Will Love It.

‘Tis An AWESOME Gift, Fo SHO, My Peeps.

And Sooooo…

…I Really Just Wanted To Say Thank You, Again, To Maw And Paw.

I Totally Appreciate How Well They Know Me…

…My Tastes…

…And Where My Personal Joy Lies In Wait.

THANK YOU!!!

😀       😀

The Song Stuck In My Head That ALSO Makes Me Smile: “LEECH” by EVE 6 (1998)

“Tell Those Stories To Me…

…I’m Dying To Hear…

…The Things You’ve Done And Seen…

…Far-Fetched As They May Be…

…You Strike A Smile At Me…

…Your Stories Ring Of Purgery…

…Construed…

…With Self-Empowering Themes…“

…

“LEECH” Is A Personal Favorite Jam From The 1998 Album “EVE 6” By The Alternative-Rock Band “EVE 6” !!!

…

“…Suckin’ On My Brain…

…You’re The Teacher…

…I’m The Student…

…Turnin’ Things Around…

…Your Story’s Not Congruent…

…Tabloids…

…Decoys…

…Pitiful Excuses…

…Turnin’ Things Around…

…You’re Turnin’ Things Around…

…GO! …“

The Single Album For “LEECH” By EVE 6 !!!

… … … … … … …

… … … …

…

I’ve Known Many A Great Story-Teller In My Day.

A Great Many.

So I Can Totally Identify With This Song…

“LEECH“

by EVE 6

!!! !!! !!!

😀

One Never Knows How Much Truth Is Actually Injected Into Each Of The Stories.

For Some, It’s All Of It.

For Some, It’s The Bulk Of It.

For Others, It’s Nearly None Of It.

Regardless…

…I Still Enjoy Listening To Someone Spin A Good Yarn.

Especially When They’re Really Good At Telling Them.

In The Blogging World, I’ve Found Many Amazing Story-Tellers.

Sometimes…

…It’s Easy To Believe Them.

At At Other Times…

…I Sincerely Can’t Believe What I’m Reading.

The Question Is…

…Which Are MORE Believable?

For Me…

…It’s The Version With The Most Details.

When People Can Recount So Much Information…

…I Tend To Get More Sucked In.

And That’s A GREAT Thing, My Peeps, Fo SHO!

Some People Can’t Stand A Bundle Of Details.

They Think It Gets Boring.

But Not I.

I’m A Stickler For Details.

Details Sell A Story.

So It’s A Rather Funny Coinkydink That I’d Hear This Song First Thing This Morning.

It Made Me Smile.

It Made Me Think.

It Made Me Reflect.

I Started Thinking About My Grandfather, Actually.

That Man Had STORIES.

Nearly An Endless Supply Of STORIES STORIES STORIES.

He’d Talk About The Great Depression.

He’d Talk About Joining The Navy At 17-Years-Old During World War II.

He’d Talk About Working At The Hospital As An Operating-Room Tech.

He’d Tell Me About The Amazing Things He’d Seen And Experienced…

…Whether They Were Good Or Bad…

…And I’d Listen Intently.

My Father Is Another One.

The Man Can Turn Almost Any Life Experience Into A Nifty Story.

I Think It’s A Gift.

Some People Simply Can’t Do It.

I Suppose I Should Be Thankful To Have Been Brought-Up By People Who Always Did For Me What I Love Doing Now.

I Love Telling Stories.

Some Are Totally True.

Some Are Almost Totally True.

Some Are Carefully Constructed Inventions.

Any Way It Goes…

…I Still LOVE To Tell Them!!!

😀

So I’ve Gotta Hand It To…

EVE 6

…This Morning…

…And Their Song…

“LEECH“

!!! !!! !!!

It Totally Got My Mind Working.

It Woke Me From My Mental Slumber, And It Got Me Cranking Away.

It’s A Great Song…

…Regardless Of How It Helped Me This Morning…

…So I’m Very Pleased It Popped-Up, Fo SHO!!!

Sometimes…

…Honestly…

…That’s All It Takes.

A Good Night Of Sleep.

A Hot Cup Of Coffee.

And Some Quality Jams.

BAAM!

Back In Bidnass!!!

Wonderful, My Peeps.

Simply Wonderful.

😀

I’ve Still Got More To Do Today…

…But I Wanted To Get This One Out Of My Head Before I Started-In On Something Else.

This One Was Important For Me To Get Done.

And I’m VERY Pleased I Did Exactly That.

🙂

I Hope You’re ALL Having A Decent Morning, My Peeps.

If You Are, You’ve Gotta Build On It.

If You’re Not…

…Hmm…

…Perhaps You Just Need More Sleep?

Or A Hot Cup Of Coffee?

Or Some Quality Jams?

Or Some Combo Of Those?

Whatever Works For You.

Good Luck.

😉

I’ve Got Much More To Do Today.

I Believe NOW It’s Time To Go For A Walk.

A Nice Walk On A Nice Morning Sounds Wonderfully Ideal.

So I’m Gonna Make That Happen, Also!

And I Already Know Which Song Is Gonna Lead-Off Said Walk.

Of Course, My Peeps…

“LEECH“

…It IS!!!

😀

“Rommel… You Magnificent Bastard… I READ YOUR BOOK!” — GEORGE C. SCOTT As “General George S. Patton, Jr.” In “PATTON” (1970)

I'm Kickin'-It-Back This Evening, Enjoying A Personal-Favorite Film Of Mine AND My Grandfather. I First Saw "PATTON" Before I'd Even Reached A Double-Digit Age. In Fact, I Can Remember Saving-Up $30 For The Lone-Purpose Of OWNING The Double-TAPE Special Edition On Good Ole VHS. YES, VHS FILMS DID COST $30 At One Point. That Ain't Even A Joke Or A Jive, My Peeps. BUT, To ME, It Was TOTALLY WORTH IT! It Was A Movie I Sincerely LOVED To Break-Out And Watch EVERY Memorial Day, 4TH Of July, Veteran's Day, Etc Etc. You Name A Military-Themed Holiday, I'd Bet You That $30 "PATTON" Was Watched By Myself On More Than One Occasion. It May Not Be Everyone's Cup-O-Tea, But You Can Bet Your Boots It IS One Of Mine! And As A Minor Side-Note... I Actually Had A Math Teacher Who Used To Call Me GENERAL OMAR BRADLEY (for obvious reasons). It Always Used To Make Me Smile So So Much When He'd Say That. Sheesh. I Hadn't Thought About That For YEARS And YEARS. SEE! I Keep Tellin' People BLOGGING IS VERY THERAPEUTIC!!! 😉

“THE ENEMY BELOW”: A Bloggin’ing For An Old Sailor

As The Title Says…

…I’m Doing This One Special.

My Grandfather Is Slowly Being Taken From Us.

He Suffers From Alzheimer’s Disease.

It’s Been A Horrid Experience…

…For Him…

…And For All Of Us Who Know AND Love Him.

And It’s Been Taking Place For OVER A Decade, Now.

I’m Going To Tell Him About This Bloggin’ing.

And He’ll Be Happy About It…

…For About 3-Minutes.

After That…

…He’ll Have No Clue It’s Been Done At All.

And Then…

…I’ll Tell Him Again.

Paw…

(That’s What I’ve Always Called Him)

…Is A Member Of…

“THE GREATEST GENERATION”

…And Was ALWAYS Very PROUD Of That Fact.

I Went Into The Navy…

…At The Age Of 18-Years-Old…

…And Just 5-HOURS Out Of High School.

Paw…

…However…

…Went Into The Navy In 1944…

…At The Age Of 17-Years-Old.

He Dropped-Out Of High School…

…Lied About His Age…

…Went Into The Navy…

…And Into A Raging War.

To ME…

…That Was MORE Impressive…

…Than ANYTHING I’d EVER Heard…

…Then…

…AND…

…Now.

He Always Knew How Amazing I Thought He Was.

And Now…

…I Can Only Hope He Remembers My Name When He Looks At Me.

 So…

…This Is For Him.

He And I ALWAYS Enjoyed Watching A Good War Movie.

I Watched One Of OUR Favorites Today.

And I Felt The Need To Do This One.

I Do Hope You’re Reading It, My Peeps.

Just Don’t Feel Bad When I Say…

“It’s Not For You.”

…But It’s What I Have…

…And How I Best Express What’s Going On.

And I SINCERELY Felt It Was The Very Least I Could Do.

Tonight…

…We Cover…

“THE ENEMY BELOW”

“The Enemy Below” (1957)

…A CLASSIC Of CLASSICS…

…In Regard To…

…WORLD WAR II NAVAL FILMS.

The U.S. Destroyer IN “The Enemy Below”

Starring In…

“THE ENEMY BELOW”

…Are Two CLASSIC Actors Themselves.

ROBERT MITCHUM

As

“CAPTAIN MURRELL”

The U.S. Destroyer Captain

Robert Mitchum IS Captain Murrell

And

CURD JÜRGENS

(Listed As CURT JURGENS In English Speaking Films)

As

“VON STOLBERG”

The German U-Boat Captain

Curt Jurgens IS Von Stolberg

Since I Already Know You Kids Trust Me.

Well…

…Enough To Know I Do Know A BIT About My Topics.

Then When I Say…

…TRUST ME KIDS…

“THE ENEMY BELOW”

…Is ONE OF THE VERY BEST FILMS Of ITS GENERA…

…Then You Can Rest Assured…

…I’m Rather CONFIDENT In My Belief…

…Shipmates.

😉

The German U-Boat IN “The Enemy Below”

Being An Ex-Navy-Man…

…From A LONG-LINE Of Ex-Navy-Men…

…I’ve ALWAYS Had A MAJOR-LEAGUE-APPRECIATION…

…For QUALITY Naval Films.

“THE ENEMY BELOW”

IS

QUALITY

!!!

ROBERT MITCHUM…

…Does A GREAT JOB As The American Ship Captain.

HOWEVER…

…CURD JÜRGENS…

…Does A SPOT-ON-PERFECT JOB As The German U-Boat Captain.

MITCHUM Was An “OLD-SCHOOL” “HOLLYWOOD Tough-Guy”…

…Who Honestly KNOWS How To Act.

He’s A PRO At Playing “CALM, COOL, and COLLECTED”…

…But He’s ALWAYS “BELIEVABLE” In This Film.

PERIOD.

JÜRGENS Was One Of THE BEST European Actors EVER EVER.

PERIOD PERIOD.

The Ships Duel IN “The Enemy Below” And The Film WON The Academy Award That Year For BEST EFFECTS/SPECIAL-EFFECTS!!!

I Do So LOVE A Quality “CAT & MOUSE” Style Of Story…

…And This Film Is Almost TOTALLY A “CAT & MOUSE” Tale…

…Which Makes It A WONDERFUL Film Experience.

Think “U-571” Only BETTER…

…And Filmed Over 40-YEARS-EARLIER.

If You’re A Fan Of This Genera…

…Or Just Really Enjoy…

…Well-Made…

…Well-Acted…

…CLASSIC FILMS…

…Then I Suggest You Give…

“THE ENEMY BELOW”

…A Look-See.

I DO PROMISE YOU…

…I’ve Seen It 50+Times…

…And Have NEVER Been Tired Of It.

“The Enemy Below”

When I Watch This One…

…I Can’t Help But Think About…

…PAW.

I Think About OUR Good-Times…

…Enjoying A Great Old Film.

I Think About HIS Stories…

…About How Scared He Was…

…And…

…About How He FELT It Was The Right Thing To Do.

And I’ve ALWAYS Respected That.

More Than Most Things In Life, Actually.

I’ve ALWAYS Respected Anyone…

…Who Made The Decision To Serve…

…Because They FELT It Was The Right Thing.

In The Film, There’s A Scene Where…

…CAPTAIN MURRELL Is Talking To Another Officer…

…When MURRELL Says…

“…There’s No End To Misery And Destruction. You Cut The Head Off The Snake, And It Grows Another One. You Cut That One Off, And You Find Another. You Can’t Kill It, Because It’s Something Within Ourselves. You Can Call It The Enemy If You Want To, But It’s Part Of Us. We’re All Men.”

And I Can Sincerely Understand What He Was Talking About.

And Then…

…As The Film Ends…

…MURRELL And VON STOLBERG…

…Are Standing At The Fantail Of A Ship.

Together, They Enjoy A Cigarette.

VON STOLBERG Says…

“I Should Have Died Many Times, Captain, But I Continue To Survive Somehow. This Time, It Was Your Fault.”

MURRELL Responds…

“I Didn’t Know. Next Time, I Won’t Throw You The Rope.”

VON STOLBER Nods And Says…

“I Think You Will.”

To ME…

…That Ending Always Seemed…

…PERFECT.

Something War NEVER Is.

But Here…

…It Sincerely FELT Right.

Taps, Taps, Shipmates.

Time To Rest.

😉

Respectfully Wishing All My Fellow Veterans, Past AND Present, A Happy Veteran’s Day.

Paw (Sailor in The Middle) - 17yo and Serving His Country During WWII

Yep. Dad was Another 18yo Sailor!

See. I WAS A SAILOR, Also. I Was 20yo When This Was Taken 🙂

When You Have Your Next Shot of “The Good Stuff”…
Always Remeber…

One Shot For Yourself…
…and Another For The Boy’s Overseas!

That’s How We Roll…
…and That’s How We Do It!
😉

Who’s Goin’ Where? No Purchase Necessary! (details inside)

HEHEHE

Yeah.

 

I Remember Those “Special Offers”.

 

It was always On, In and/or About My Cereal or My Chips.

 

You Don’t Have To Buy It… … but the Info You NEED is Inside The Package…

 

…just sayin’.

 

hehe

 

YEAH, Anyway…

Since I’ve been a bit of the Quiet-Type of Late, I’ve really been slacking on “things”.

So, I sincerely thought I’d bust y’all with One Of My Faves Of The Weekend…

…thus far.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/924584-mlb-free-agency-predicting-contracts-and-destinations-for-the-top-50-fas

Yeah.

Good Stuff.

Thought You’d Like That One.

Yes, I realize it’s from Friday…

But I DO Live In America…

So FRIDAY IS THE WEEKEND!

If You Don’t Live Here?

Eh, You Likely Don’t Care Anyway…

So It’s All Good…

In The Hood…

Yea..I…uh…eh…

Nevermind.

I’m not really in, near, around, in-the-same-county-as, the hood.

Does that hurt My “Street-Cred”???

I’ll have to work on that.

(*writes that down*)

I hear “Street-Cred” may be worth more than Our Dollar-Bill fairly soon.

(*makes note to “stock up on street-cred” again*)

😉

OHHHH… ALSO ALSO ALSO…

This Kid.

http://bleacherreport.com/tb/bbTA8

Yeah. Could Be Interestin', Fo Sho Fo Sho.

Yeah.

Wow.

He’s Got It Clickin’, Right Now.

Let’s Hope He Continues To Do So in 2012.

Could Be a Stud, Fo Flippin’ Sho.

He’s Very Young…

BUT He’s VERY VERY Talented.

The Up-Side-Potential is Wildly-Neato.

And…

Just (really) Because I Could…

Check This One Out.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/7187713/tony-la-russa-says-chicago-white-sox-too-set-need-him?utm_source=bleacherreport.com&utm_medium=referral

hehehe

Sounds Like Tony Is Sure The White-Sox are Fine…

At Least…

Well…

More Sure Than The White-Sox Appear To Be!

And That’s Fer Dayum Sure!

hehehe

I’ve Gotta Pull A Bit for The ChiSox.

They’re The ONLY Chicago Sports Team I DON’T HATE.

Period.

In All The Sports They Have In Chicago.

Just The ChiSox.

I’ve Never Had Any Need For The Others, So Why Change-Out a Perfect System?

If It Works, Let It Work.

That’s What Paw Always Said.

Changes Come When They MUST.

Otherwise?

Nah.

No Point In That, as He Would Also Have Said.

hehehe

Old-School Logic.

Sometimes, it’s Damn Near Perfect.

And, sometimes, it’s Not.

😉

The Man Was Always Logical Enough To Always Sound Correct. That's a Mad Skill, My Peeps! hehehe