Tuesdays

Tuesdays are my busiest days of the week. I’ve started going back to painting class Tuesday mornings. I was taking a class in oil and pastels, but the lady who taught that class ‘retired’. So I had no class to go to for a while.

Recently, they started a watercolor class that I’ve been going to for a couple of weeks. Here’s a couple I started last week. I think I need to add something- any ideas?

I’ve always loved art. Wether it’s making my own, or enjoying someone elses. Painting, photography, writing, music, sculpture, dance, etc. It’s all good. 🙂

Watercolor painting is very different than oil painting. It seems harder to me because you can’t easily correct a mistake (or maybe I just haven’t learned how yet). It seems easier to me in that it’s a lot ‘looser’. You can just paint a lot faster, or at least it seems that way to me.

my latest- it’s not finished yet either

After paint class, I like to go to the movies if there’s anything interesting showing. The theatre has specials on Tuesdays. It’s only $5 for the movie and they have a $5 popcorn + drink special. If I go any other day it’s about $20!

Last week I went to see Just Mercy. Wow! I thought this was a great movie. Not one with special effects or tricks, but high drama and a very compelling story. It’s about a black lawyer (Bryan Stevenson) who graduates from Harvard and goes down to Alabama to work with death row inmates.

The film concentrates on his work with Jimmy D (Walter McMillian)- a black man who was wrongly convicted of killing a white woman in 1986. You might think that people would be glad to have justice served. Nope. It really upset me to watch this film and see how wrong I was (am). It amazes me how corrupt our system (still) is- and not just for black people, tho I am absolutely positive that poor blacks get treated a lot worse than rich whites (or rich anybody).

All of the actors did a great job. Jamie Foxx and Micheal B. Jordan played the 2 main characters, they did a fantastic portrayal. I was raging and crying right along with them. I highly recommend this movie. It’s based on a true story. I’m sure there are many similar stories going on today. We still have a long way to go to achieve our ideals of a free country with liberty and justice for all. A long way. This film is a wake-up call, if enough people will see it and take it seriously.

After the movie got me all riled up, I went to my Tuesday night meet up of the Campaign for Liberty. We meet every Tuesday at the Wayside Pub. I haven’t been going much lately. Mostly because it’s so depressing to me. We get together and talk about all the crazy shit that’s happening around the USA and the world. The concentration has been on what an individual can do to remove themselves from the mess. Some people are seriously committed to that.

I prefer to concentrate on fixing the actual problems. Sadly, I still don’t find any solutions at those meetings. I don’t see any way to fix anything all by myself. It takes numbers and the general populace just isn’t interested in anything but having “their guy” win- regardless of how that will harm the situation in the long run. The meeting is just a social event for me now. I don’t make it a priority anymore, but I do still like to go. At least there I can talk to other people who understand my concerns. I wish more people would, but I understand how it’s so much easier to ignore it all. I just wish I could do that myself.

Two More Days to Halloween!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays (the other is St Patricks Day). I love all the costumes, parties, and candy! I don’t bother to decorate my house, it looks like it’s a Halloween House year round anyway, but I do buy some extra candy now for the trick or treaters who might come by. I’m too paranoid to go out to any of the parties anymore. 🙁

I thought this video was kind of cute. I do like to read horror stories and I get a kick out of those campy old movies with the zombies and werewolves. I’ve seen a couple of the Saw movies, a few of the Elm Street movies, a bunch of zombie movies too.  I remember Michael Jackson and the Thriller video when it first came out. I loved his dancing. Sad that he died so young.

Poor Freddie, his jokes weren’t going over too well. The werewolf has his own take. He’s cute. 😉

Maritime Monday for August 7th 2017: Chips Ahoy

Another weeks worth of maritime matters, courtesy of Monkey Fist and gCaptain. The story of the North Sea Sat divers was really interesting. I thought so, maybe because I work fairly often with those guys (sat divers). I just got off a job a couple of weeks ago with a bunch of them.

Interesting thoughts on snacking. I’m not a fan of oysters (too ‘slimy’ for me). I don’t think I would like the jellyfish chips either (tho I bet my Korean crews from the tuna boat would love them). 😉

I’d be more in favor of the bags of Doritos, beer and whiskey. That’s much more my style.

And I really wish I had known about this (Denizler Kitabevi Bookshop in Istanbul) bookstore when I would’ve been able to check it out! I probably walked right by it. 🙁

Hope you enjoy this weeks collection…

Pioneer North Sea Divers: In the 1970s, deep sea divers were at the sharp end of the North Sea oil boom. Alex Last has been speaking to the former diver David Beckett, who wrote The Loonliness of a Deep Sea Diver, about his dangerous life working under the waves.  More on BBC World Service Brewing […]

Source: Maritime Monday for August 7th, 2017: Chips Ahoy – gCaptain

C is for Calvin- #AtoZChallenge

For “C“, I’ll tell you a little about “Calvin”. Calvin is the name chosen for the latest creepy alien we get to ‘meet’.

I went to see the movie “LIFE” the other day.

I’ve always been into science fiction. Not like a huge geek or anything, but I love the way the stories make you think. About all the different possibilities. What would people do under these circumstances? Or those? The genre allows so much freedom to explore.

LIFE starts out on the International Space Station (ISS). They retrieve a returning Mars probe and find a single celled organism onboard. It grows. Rapidly. Proof of ‘life beyond Earth’. The world is fascinated. They name it “Calvin”.

Too bad, but all the wishful thinking in the world doesn’t make Calvin a nice guy.

Another Busy Week

And not accomplishing much of anything. 🙁

I’ve been working on all the usual stuff around here. Still looking for work. Spending hours filling out online applications for any offshore job I happen to see posted. I’ve been talking to one company for a couple of weeks now, but they don’t seem to have any idea of when they might (or might not) need me. It’s very frustrating, but at least they’re still talking to me. That’s more than I’ve had in over 18 months now!

We finished up working on one apartment and got it ready to rent. I thought we had it rented before we even finished working on it, but that fell through. I think it will go pretty quick (I hope so). I’m still waiting for the roofers to fix a leak and the levelers to honor their warranty (good luck!!).

I have one more apartment over there that needs work, but I need to wait til the rents start coming in before I can afford to start on it. It doesn’t look like it needs as much work as the last one, but I never know what I’ll find once I get started. 🙁

I had some good friends come down and visit. We pigged out at the Chinese buffet and had a good time catching up on everything.

Other than that, I finished 2 paintings in class on Tuesday. I took them both to Hobby Lobby to get them framed. One of them was finished in time for me to enter it in the People’s Choice show (I’m always amazed at how many really talented people we have around here in this area). The other won’t be ready for at least another week. I think they both turned out OK, but especially with the lighthouse, not really what I was trying to do with them.

I wasn’t quite finished with the lighthouse when I took this photo. I’ll get another when I get it back with the frame.

I went to my usual political meeting Tuesday night. We’ve decided to re-start our project to get the BWA to remove the fluoride from our drinking water. It really doesn’t do anything for your teeth by drinking it. It only helps if you apply it topically (like with toothpaste). It’s really not at all good for you. Yeah, I know, most people will read that and think I’m just another tin foil conspiracy theorist. I think there’s more than enough evidence to show it’s not really necessary for good teeth (or any other reason).

So, I spent some time researching that. I also got a writing assignment for Great Escape Publishing. Whoo-whoo! Another byline!! I really need to find the time to query more publications. But that takes a HUGE amount of time! I was very hopeful when I applied to Big Grey Horse when they said they were looking for Texas writers. I think they would’ve contacted me by now if they were interested. 🙁

I’ve been working on my yard the last few days. In between the rain. I’ve got the front yard about 25% finished now. It makes a big difference when I pull all the clematis vines off and put a little mulch out. All my citrus trees are starting to bloom. The grape vines are starting to leaf out. The strawberries are coming back!

Today I took a break and went to the movies. I go to the matinee when it’s cheaper. I wasn’t sure what to watch, either Logan or Get Out. I decided to watch Logan. It was pretty good. One of the X-Men movies. A pretty good action movie featuring Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine fighting the forces of evil in the shape of another mutant (Boyd Holbrook as Pierce).

I don’t want to spoil it, since it really was pretty good, but it’s not all blood and guts. There was actually a pretty good story. I’m sure there will be more sequels down the road. 🙂

Tomorrow is the biggest day of the year around here. St Patrick’s Day Parade at Surfside Beach! I have to get up early so I can get down to the beach in time to check everything out before the judging. Take a look here. Once the parade starts, I’m done with that! Time to wander off to the various parties. 😉

I hope the weather cooperates. It’s calling for 90% chance of rain tomorrow. 🙁

Maritime Monday for January 31st 2017: Death in the Gulf Stream

Another weeks worth of fascinating maritime matters from Monkey Fist and gCaptain. This weeks especially interesting articles were about the SS St Louis. In honor of January 27th Holocaust Remembrance Day, there are a couple of great articles (also check it out on Twitter).

It’s especially relevant now because of the ongoing situation in the Middle East and the fleeing ‘refugees’. I have to admit, I am not whole heartedly going to welcome anyone who comes from over there. It’s a matter of their professed religion.

Yeah, I know. People will call me all kinds of nasty names (to my face or behind  my back). I know I really shouldn’t say these kinds of things online. No, they never go away. But I think this all needs to come out in open discussion. No, not just smearing anyone who says this kind of thing as ‘racist’, ‘homophobe’, ‘antisemite’, etc. that just shuts down all attempts at communication. No, not just assuming you’re so much better, so much more enlightened, than someone who would say these kinds of things.

You know, I think one of the main reasons Trump got elected (regardless of how scared people were about his nuttiness, arrogance, temper, etc) was because he spoke his mind and didn’t play around with the mealy-mouthed politically correct crap everybody else has been saddled with for the last couple of decades. I didn’t vote for him, but I sure as hell enjoyed hearing him tell it like he thinks it. We all ought to have freedom of speech, without having to self-censor!

Personally I really don’t like any religion, but I especially don’t like the ones where their greatest objective (according to their holy book) is to kill people like me (unbelievers)! If anyone knows of a fool-proof method to tell who is a devout muslim who wants to follow the koran, and an ordinary person who really doesn’t give a damn about religion but just plays along to get along, please let me know. I’ll pass it on to Trump and maybe we can figure out how to solve the refugee problem.

In the meantime, check out this weeks Maritime Monday, there’s a lot more in there!

more: A Tribute to the “Picasso of Sailing” – Mike Peyton on yachtsandyachting.com Haunting Twitter …

Source: Maritime Monday for January 31st, 2017: Death in the Gulf Stream – gCaptain

Maritime Monday for December 12th 2016: Farpotshket

More interesting maritime tidbits from Monkey Fist via gCaptain. I never thought about it before, do you know any ‘good’ octopus’s?

Latest Update from the Mary A Whalen at Portside NY: David Levine contributed a useful …Source: Maritime Monday for Decemeber 12th, 2016: Farpotshket – gCaptain

Movie Review: Tarzan

I went to see the latest Tarzan movie, “The Legend of Tarzan“, the other day. I liked it. I pretty much always like Tarzan movies. I used to watch Tarzan every Saturday morning when I was growing up. I used to wish I could live like that- wild, in the jungle, friends with all the animals.

I’ve always loved animals. All kinds. Growing up we had cats, dogs, lizards, turtles, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, birds (parakeets, cockatiels, myna birds), fish and even a kinkajou for a while.

I got an animal encyclopedia one year for a present and read through each book, cover to cover. I was fascinated by all the beautiful creatures, all the glorious diversity. I wanted to be a scientist, studying how to save the animals. Or a vet.

My grandparents were pharmacists and wanted me to be a doctor, but I didn’t really like people that much. Especially not sick people! I think I would have made a great vet tho!

I still think we have too many people running around. I thought that way back then and of course since we have WAY more people (and all the problems that causes), I think it much more strongly now. Even with all the improvements we’ve made and increased standards of living for so many, we’re still destroying the planet and wiping out other species at increasing rates.

I think everything on this planet has just as much ‘right’ to be here as we do. I really object to the position so many people take that we have the right to do whatever the hell we want to with whatever we can. Still acting like cave men (which might have been alright back then with only a few hundred thousand people on the planet), it’s definitely not OK now with over 7 BILLION people here (projected to be over 11 BILLION by 2100)!

I don’t think it’s a good idea to just cover the planet with people. More and more and more people! Our cities, our towns, our farms, OURS, to use and abuse as we see fit. What about all the OTHER species we’re supposed to SHARE this planet with?

I love how Tarzan was able to co-exist with the animals. He was always a protector of the land. He lived in the jungle and knew how to use it’s resources without abusing them. He didn’t have a bunch of kids (who would each have a bunch more, etc).

I love how he was always able to keep ‘his’ forests safe from the greedy men who came to rape the wilderness. For diamonds, for oil, for hides, for tusks, for whatever they could take.

This latest movie sets the scene in the Congo during the time of King Leopold II of Belgium. He was really awful, you should check out the book “King Leopold’s Ghost“. I read it a while ago and it’s a pretty good story (tho pretty sad history).

Leopold has basically been raping the Congo. Gobbling up resources and enslaving the people. His henchman- slick, suited Mr Rom (Christoph Waltz) makes a deal to trade diamonds for Tarzan with a tribal leader with a major grudge.

Tarzan gets lured back to Africa by American George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson), who convinces him to accept the Kings invitation- to verify rumors of slavery and destruction of his beloved home in the jungle.

I loved watching Tarzan swing through the trees (do gorillas really do that?). Such a great way to travel! He always finds such freedom, joy and wonder to share. Alexander Skarsgard plays the part well. He doesn’t say much, but he does a great job with the character (and he’s nice to watch with his shirt off). In this movie version Jane (Margot Robbie) plays a pretty big part. She does a good job as a ‘damsel in distress’, you really wind up rooting for Tarzan to come and save her.

The Legend of Tarzan was a fun way to spend a couple of hours. The movie had it all- adventure, gorgeous scenery, great looking actors, romance, action, wildlife, history. I was cheering for the animals in a few places and hoping the despicable Mr Rom got ripped apart in a few more. I really enjoyed it. I might even go see it again. Or hope for a sequel.

If you go for a matinee and skip the popcorn, it’s only $5.51!

A to Z: X-Files

After having such a hard time coming up with something to post about for the A to Z Challenge for the letter X, now I’ve come up with another one!

I can’t believe I didn’t come up with this first. The X-Files was one of my all time favorite TV shows.

I don’t watch much TV. I never really did, but I would make sure to schedule time to watch when the X-Files was on.

I loved all their strange adventures and mysterious aliens. I loved how Mulder and Scully worked together. I thought Mulder was kind of cute too. 😉

Is this show what turned me into a conspiracy theorist? I’m sure I thought that way already, a long time before that show ever came out. 😉

That’s me in the last picture above (lol). Maybe I am one, all I know is that we are being lied to and manipulated. By who? For what? Why? Where? How? Does it really matter? It IS being done.

I’ve always loved science fiction, horror, and humor and the X-Files has all that stuff and more.

What do you think? Are you into conspiracy theories? Did you ever watch the X-Files? What did you think about it? Did you like it? Why or why not? Did you have a favorite episode?

*none of these images today are mine, I got them all off google.

Remember the Deepwater Horizon

Today is the anniversary (April 20, 2010) of the blowout on the Deepwater Horizon and the loss of 11 crew members.

offshore helix mc 252 and intrepid 096

The Gulf of Mexico and its offshore drilling industry is still being affected by what happened that day. I’m sure it will be for a long time to come.

I’ve seen a few posts lately about the new rules enacted since then being finalized and put into effect. Some think they will put a complete stop to offshore drilling (greatly cheering the environmentalists). Others think business will go on as usual and there’s nothing really new coming, that it’s all just standard industry policy already. I don’t know who to believe or what to expect.

I just want to go back to work, like all the other hundreds of thousands of people laid off since the price of oil hit the skids.

We were talking about it at work this morning. They have a new movie coming out about it in September. Some of the people in class were involved in the aftermath at Macondo, so was I.

offshore helix mc 252 and intrepid 147

I was a SDPO on the Helix Producer 1 (HP-1), a floating production unit (FPU). They brought her in to connect to the ‘capping stack’ and transfer the oil flowing out of the seafloor to tankships. Those ships would then bring the oil to facilities ashore.

I’ll never forget that operation. Flying out to join the ship, it looked like we were approaching a city at sea. There were so many boats around, it looked quite chaotic. Once I got settled in and started my hitch on the desk, I learned the procedures for conducting smooth operations with so many other vessels so close together.

offshore helix mc 252 and intrepid 174

SIMOPS coordinated everything. That helped.

We were actually attached directly to the capping stack and so collecting at least some of the oil flowing from the well. We took it aboard, ran it through our production facilities to separate the oil and gas from the water. Then we would flare off the gas and transfer the oil to a waiting tanker.

flare

Since the tanker was a DP-1 vessel, they would choose the best heading for the operation. We would position ourself (along with all the other vessels to either side) to ease position keeping for the tanker. A small tug would bring the transfer hose to us and once everything was connected, we would start the transfer. Once completed, they would deliver it to shore for processing, etc.

offshore helix mc 252 and intrepid 172

We would load a tanker every couple of days. The same operation was proceeding with other vessels on the other side of the Discoverer Enterprise which was positioned directly above the well.

https://youtu.be/3VksaY9GiO8

This all went on for months. It was a major operation. Pretty much the entire Gulf of Mexico was roped in to help and everything else was shut down. The president declared a ‘moratorium’. No new drilling would even be considered for  months afterwards. Thousands of rigs, ships, people were thrown out of work. It also affected the fishermen badly and the states surrounding the Gulf were up in arms about the damages to their coastlines and their tourist industries. The marine environment was very seriously damaged in some areas and is still recovering.

I hope nothing like this ever happens again. Many people have been working to ensure it never does. Below is a summary of those ongoing efforts.

Marking the fifth anniversary of the Macondo incident in the Gulf of Mexico, a summary of inquiries into the tragedy flags up key ways to prevent a repeat

Source: Oil and gas takes lessons from Macondo – DNV GL

offshore helix mc 252 and intrepid 154

I always wondered how that guy could walk the helideck every evening with that flare going off so close. Whew, hot baby

*If anyone is interested, these are all my own photos. I have a lot more.

Heart of the Sea

I took a little break and went to the movies yesterday. I’ve been wanting to see the movie “In the Heart of the Sea” since I first saw the commercials for it a couple of months ago.

I’d read the book (by Nathaniel Philbrick) a couple of years ago. I LOVED it. It’s a fantastic sea story (which I always love).The movie tells the story of the Nantucket whale ship “Essex”. “In the Heart of the Sea” showcased adventure, suspense and even horror mixed in with the wonderful descriptions of the sailing ship and life on the sea 100 years ago. Then there was the whole Moby Dick thing. The whaling and the incredible idea that there might be a whale out for vengeance!

I admit, I don’t remember much about the book ‘Moby Dick‘. We all read it in high school. I had no idea it was based on a true story. I don’t remember being all that impressed with the book. I’m pretty sure the ending was not the same as in this movie, (if it had been I’m sure I would have remembered it better)! Like a lot of those ‘classics’ we had to read in high school, I remember thinking “what the hell’s so great about this book?”.

They did a good job with the film. It wasn’t as good as Philbricks’ book (movies almost never are). Still, it was good.

It started right off by following the Chief Mate, Owen Chase (played by Chris Hemsworth), leaving his pregnant wife behind and heading into town for his next assignment. He’d been promised a captains position on his next voyage and was pretty ticked off when he found out he got screwed out of it in a case of ‘office politics’. I hadn’t realized they were even doing that way back then. 😉

Captain Pollard (Benjamin Walker) gets the job instead, simply because he comes from an old time, respectable family.

This creates a situation on board between the Master and Mate where they are constantly butting heads and is NOT good for the ship (it never is)! The tension between the 2 characters is evident throughout the entire movie. They could have done more to show the interaction with the rest of the crew, but the focus was on these 2 men (and the whale).

The movie, directed by Ron Howard, uses the story device in which Herman Melville (working on his book Moby Dick) is interviewing Thomas Nickerson, who went to sea as a young boy on that disastrous voyage. Nickerson is ashamed by what he did to survive and has never spoken to anyone about it. His wife finally convinces him to speak to Melville in exchange for much needed funds.

It works as a way to tell the story. You can still see the effects the incident had on Nickerson, even all these years later. It was well done, not disturbing the story too much with the returns to the scenes of the late night story telling over drinks.

I really enjoyed the movie. I loved all the scenes of the everyday work aboard the ship. I yelled at the captain that he was an idiot to sail into the storm like he did. I was thrilled to see the whales and caught up in the chase when the boats were launched. I cried when the ship was lost. (I’m glad it was dark in the theater). 😉

I suppose todays environmentalists would be cheering for the whale the whole time, but I found myself wavering. Sometimes I felt like I imagined the whale felt. Angry at men for destroying so much innocent beauty. Coming to murder my family for money! Sometimes I felt like the men. Just out to make a living, to survive however they could. This was a survival story in the end. On both sides.

I’m glad we discovered petroleum oil, or we WOULD have wiped out all of the whales. OK, I have been working in the oilfield the last few years (so maybe I’m prejudiced), but I wonder what would have happened if we had NOT found an alternative to whale oil. Would we still have been able to progress? Or would we have gone back to the ‘dark ages’ when everything stopped when the sun went down? Yeah, even tho we have a few oil spills, I’m still glad we have petroleum.  The whales are recovering now.

 

 

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books I’d like to See Turned Into Movies or TV Series

Reblogging this.
Let’s see what people come up with. It’s always interesting to see what other people like enough to really want to share it. My comments were posted on Part Time Monsters post.

Old Film Photos

I’m asking for advice here. I was out today getting those photos from the other day developed. I figured while I was at it, I would take some of my old film in to get it digitized.

I brought in 6 rolls of (already developed) film, type Kodak Advantix 400 25 exposure “one time use camera film cassette”. The store (Walgreens) told me they could only get the film to come out of 1 of the reels and so they couldn’t do anything with the other 5.

market in Turkey

Here’s one of a market in Turkey

Does anyone know of any tricks, techniques, gizmos, etc. to get this film out of their canisters so it can be digitized? Or maybe you know of some other store that would be better at it than Walgreens?

I already asked if I could just break open the film reels myself, but they didn’t seem to think they would be able to do anything with the film then. For some reason I’m not clear on, it has to stay on the reel, in the canister.

Any clues would be appreciated! Thanks!

Songs of the Sea: Under the Sea (the Little Mermaid)

Here’s a cute little cartoon video. A happy song with a nice tune. It’s from Disney’s film “The Little Mermaid”.  Yeah, I enjoyed watching it. 🙂

Song of the Sea: Legolas's Song of the Sea

I never heard this before. I was looking around on youtube for some more ‘salty’ type music and stumbled on it. I think both the singing and the video are beautiful.

And it actually does remind me of the elves. 🙂

I just went last week to see the latest move (The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies). I loved the actors, the scenery was gorgeous, the story was good. I was really more into the characters in this movie than the battles, the “big picture”. This one is supposed to be the last, but it left me wanting more.

I LOVE that story (the Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, etc).

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Movie Review)

I don’t watch all that many movies. But when I’ve got a long plane ride, I might watch one or two. I usually have a hard time finding one I think will be worth the time. Since I can never sleep unless I’m lying down (or I’ve been up for over 24 hours and just too exhausted to stay awake any longer), I’m apt to try out  the in flight ‘entertainment system’ on the plane.

My flight home from Luanda to Frankfurt was 8 1/2 hours long. Then I had another 10 1/2 hour flight from Frankfurt to Houston. I didn’t really see ANYTHING worth watching at first glance. I flipped through the choices again and again, searching for something to keep my mind occupied (the book I was reading just wasn’t holding my interest).

I finally decided to try this film. It’s not something I usually would have watched. I usually prefer science fiction/fantasy, horror, or really silly comedy. (I also watched the ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ this trip home.)

I’m glad I did decide to watch the ‘Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’. It really was pretty funny. Not in an ‘in-your-face’ kind of way, but in a more subtle kind of way.

The idea behind it- of a fantastic retirement home in a faraway, exotic, cheap and affordable location- was very interesting to me. I’ve been looking for that myself in real life. I watched the movie to see how the characters dealt with the different things they’d come across in daily life in a foreign country.

I loved the movie. The actors, (Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Penelope Wilton and Dev Patel), all did a great job. I especially loved the way Muriel (Maggie Smith) grew into her new life. The director (John Madden) found the perfect settings and put it all together in a wonderful way. I really enjoyed myself. I laughed a lot, I even cried a couple of times. I’ve always wanted to visit India and this film has given me even more reasons to go. 🙂

I have a couple of friends I really hope I can get to watch this movie. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes an adventure, travel, learning new things, new cultures, about life, about yourself. I thought it was very inspiring and worth sharing.

Let me know if you’ve seen it already and what you thought.

Movie Review: Tammy

I watched a couple of movies on the flight over here today. One of them was pretty funny. It’s not really the kind of thing I normally would choose to watch. For instance, last time I watched the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. 😉

This one starred Melissa McCarthy and Susan Sarandon. Kathy Bates had a good part in it too. It started out when Tammy (Melissa McCarthy) ran into a deer on the way to work and lost her job over it. She has quite the attitude. 😉

Susan Sarandon plays her grandmother who wants to take a road trip to Niagara Falls before she dies.

I don’t want to give too much away, but I was cracking up laughing through the whole thing. Here’s a trailer…

Just in case- there is some cussing in there. 😉

Mediterranean Gardens: Great Gyros!

I just got in from my regular Tuesday night meeting. Lately we’ve been going to the Mediterranean Gardens, a local Greek/Cajun restaurant. They have the best gyros in town (and really great French Dip sandwiches). Also, the baklava is really good.

But I don’t actually go there for the food. I go there for our weekly Campaign for Liberty meetups. I go there to get my weekly political fix. I can go out, have a good meal and talk politics with people who (mostly) agree with me. That’s a nice change. 😉

We talk about all kinds of things… The history of the United States, the proper function of government, the role of the Federal Reserve, the situation with our money/dollar/debt, who’s running for office (local, state, national) and do we like their plans or not…

Then we try to come up with projects to work on and things to do to increase our membership. We started a community garden (pesticide and GMO free), we’ve shown a couple of movies (Behold a Pale Horse, Atlas Shrugged), gone to a few rallies, etc. It’s really hard to do much if you don’t have a very large group of people involved. People are just so busy trying to survive now, they don’t have the time to get involved.

It’s a catch 22 situation. People are too busy to get involved, but if they don’t get involved, things will only continue to get worse and they’ll have even less time to do the things they would really like to. Instead they’ll be working harder and longer to pay the bills (and TAXES).

I have to admit. I don’t have the ability to do as much as some of the people that go. I just don’t have the energy, but I sure am glad that those other people are working so hard to keep it all going.

I wish more people really understood and took to heart the founding documents of our country. We are unique in the history of the world. These principles, that the government is made to serve US and NOT the other way around, are what made this country special. The Declaration of Independence says it perfectly…

http://calibloom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/DeclarationOfIndependence.jpg

Dreamy: Elvis

Up for a challenge? Here’s another entry for this weeks challenge from the Daily Post. The challenge is to illustrate the idea of ‘Dreamy’. Here’s what they have to say about it…

This week, we’d like to see an image that looks dreamy to you. A photo of a place you often visit in dreams. A snapshot of your dreamy boy- or girlfriend. A scene that looks a bit out-of-this world. Take us on a flight of fancy!

 

I already posted one photo from my trip so Las Vegas, but it’s such a dreamy kind of place. I thought about it and came up with some more ideas.

He was a little before my time, (I preferred David Cassidy from the Partridge Family), but I’ve heard plenty of women say they thought ELVIS was ‘the bomb’, ‘hot’, ‘somethin’ else’, ‘sexy’. Dreamy, in other words. 🙂

Here are a few photos I took of Elvis (impersonator) on Fremont Street. He was performing right outside my door (while I was staying downtown at the Golden Nugget). He did put on a good show, everyone enjoyed it. 🙂

WPC: Dreamy (Out of This World)

Up for another challenge? Here’s my entry for this weeks challenge from the Daily Post. The challenge is to illustrate the idea of ‘Dreamy”.

This week, we’d like to see an image that looks dreamy to you. A photo of a place you often visit in dreams. A snapshot of your dreamy boy- or girlfriend. A scene that looks a bit out-of-this world. Take us on a flight of fancy!

Well, it’s not something I’ve dreamed about, but it does look out of this world. Especially with the dome behind it and the guy standing there right next to it.

I took this photo a couple of weeks ago when I was in Las Vegas. This is right at the entrance to the Container Park, right downtown. They have all kinds of neat shops, galleries, restaurants and even music and other events. The mantis lights up and even shoots flames at night (I missed that part).

Doesn’t it kind-of remind you of one of those old B movies?

You know, the ones where the bugs mutated and attacked after getting hit by radiation? Or the BEMs landed and were out to get you?

I used to LOVE watching that stuff! Old sci-fi, creature feature, horror, bring it on! 🙂

Taking A Break

So, as per my earlier post, today I took a much needed break.

I slept til past noon. Got up and had a leisurely breakfast. Took care of the mail. Even went out to dinner and a movie.

I hit my favorite Chinese buffet and then saw the latest Dracula movie (Dracula Untold). After all, it is coming up on Halloween, (my favorite holiday other than St Patricks Day).

This version seemed more an action movie than a horror movie. I was definitely rooting for Dracula and his bats! Luke Evans stars as Dracula. He was nice to watch. 🙂

It was a good movie tho. Beautiful scenery, beautiful people, a little bit of magic and mystery. Lots of action, swordplay and that kind of thing. I was a little disappointed with the ending. (No, I’m not going to spoil it for you.)

Check it out…

Anyone On Youtube?

I’ve been trying to figure out youtube tonight. I’ve only looked at it a few times in my life so far. Yeah, I know I’m out of it. 😉

Anyway, I was thinking that I’d like to post a video I made on here. I can’t figure out how to put it on here. Then I thought… I’ve posted videos from youtube on here before with no problems.

So, then I thought I should upload my videos onto youtube. That’s where I’m having trouble. I guess there must be some tricks I’m not aware of.

I can get it to the point of trying to upload. Then it tells me it will take HUNDREDS of minutes!!! Obviously, I’m not going to sit around and wait for 500 minutes so I cancel the operation. It’s not really that large of a file.

I haven’t figured out how to do ANY editing of my videos on my computer. I have windows live movie maker, but when I tried to edit a video and save it, I couldn’t open it again at all.

Has anyone here worked with videos? Have any helpful hints? I’m lost and I admit I don’t have enough interest at this time to spend a lot of time fooling around with it if I can’t figure it out pretty quickly.

Yeah, I’m being lazy on this. Just too much to do in real life to play with it for too long.

Video: Freedom From Choice

I got this in my email today, I just HAD to check it out. This film looks like it will be a real eye-opener and I sure hope it gets the attention it deserves.

The email (from The Dollar Vigilante) said that the first official screening of the film will be at the Freedomfest (Las Vegas Jul 9-12).

I went to Freedomfest a couple of years ago and had a great time. I hope to go again this year. I’m not sure of my schedule yet, so I haven’t made plans. I definitely recommend it for anyone who is into freedom and individual liberty. There is SO much good information there, SO many interesting people, and the atmosphere is just amazing!

Positive energy for a change. 🙂

Here’s what Jeff Berwick (the Dollar Vigilante) has to say about Freedomfest and the new film… “… Freedomfest is probably the largest conference on freedom in the world and so I decided I couldn’t pass it up.  Also, at Freedomfest, they will be screening the first public airing of “Freedom From Choice” a film on the state of the US tyranny today with appearances by Peter Schiff, G. Edward Griffin, myself and many more.

I checked out the link on the email from TDV and liked what I saw. I can’t wait to see the full movie. I even donated a few bucks to help make that happen. (You can too if you want). I think Kickstarter is a great idea (and another example of the free market at work)!

Check it out and let me know what you think. Do you like stuff like this? Do you care about these kinds of issues? Are you concerned about the way things are going in the USA (or the world)? Are you involved in any projects to help change things? I’d really like to know. 🙂

Maritime Monday: Movies About Submarines, Part 5; Immersione Rapida!

gCaptain Maritime & Offshore News | Maritime Monday for December 16th, 2013: Movies About Submarines, Part 5; Immersione Rapida!.

Check the date on the link above. Yeah, I’m really late! I am having a really hard time keeping up with my emails lately and this is one I finally got around to. I thought some of you might still find it interesting, so I’ll go ahead and post it now.

Gcaptain continues its series of maritime movies, this weeks round-up is all about submarines. I have to admit, I don’t remember the last one. Were there were already 4 others about submarines? Or just 4 maritime movie posts. I find it hard to believe there are THAT many movies just about submarines.

But I do remember posting at least one with submarines. I remember spending a while trying to find a recording of that classic song about the submarine races. I did find a couple of versions, but not the one I was thinking about. The one I was looking for was something I heard while listening to the Dr Demento Radio Show a LONG time ago.

It cracked me up! That show was great entertainment. I used to like to stay up all night and sleep late. Listening to music and reading til all hours of the night. That was when I was a lot younger and didn’t really have anything important I had to do. Things have changed. I can’t even stay awake that late anymore. 😉

This batch of movies looks like it would make a good all nighter. Too bad I can’t hang with that kind of thing anymore. Cook up a bunch of popcorn and turn on the DVD. 😉

Of course, they’re pretty much all war movies. But at least a few of them concentrate on the drama of the personal choices of the people involved. For instance, “Submarine Attack” (Torpedo Zone) is about a sub commander who sinks a ship and then picks up the survivors. Now he has to decide what to do with them.

Kind of like what happens now when a merchant captain picks up a bunch of refugees. It used to be simple, take them with you to your next port and drop them off, no worries. NOT any more!

The shoreside officials have made that simple thing SO difficult. It’s a very hard decision for a ship master to make now a days if he sees a raft full of refugees. Pick them up and deal with the mess? Or just sail on and take the easy way out?

It has ALWAYS been the tradition to help another vessel in distress, but the shoreside people are making it very hard on mariners to continue that automatic response. There have even been reports of ship masters forcing stowaways overboard. Pretty much leave them to die. All because of the trouble the ship will be in when they get to port!

It’s really pretty sad. The officials have made it SO hard to do the right thing.

Back to the movie review…

Submarine Attack sounds like it would probably be my favorite. I haven’t actually seen any of these movies yet, but I do love old movies and anything maritime. 😉

One other I would like to see is the one based on the true story of the USS Tang. “Submarine Command” looks like an interesting story. The story of the commander and his crew during WWII who wound up sinking a total of 33 ships. A record for American submarines.

The movie concentrates on the guilt the commander feels for the death of his gunner who died when the commander ordered the sub to dive during an enemy attack. Yes, he saved his ship and his crew, but he still felt guilty.

The last one I’ll mention here is another one based on a true story. “Trapped in a Submarine” (aka “Men Like These“), is the story of the HMS Poseidon (P99), a British sub that was hit and sunk by a cargo ship. Some of the crew managed to escape the sinking submarine and reach the surface. It sounds like a good story and something I would like.

Check the link to the original movie review from Monkey Fist. If you’re not watching the Superbowl, give some of these a try. 🙂

 

 

 

Movie Review: The Great Dictator

moviethegreatdictator

I came across the Great Dictator today (again) and I can’t even remember where. I think it might have been in an email from the Sovereign Man (an ‘investment’ newsletter I subscribe to). Yes, yet another of my hobbies. 😉

I had a little time this morning so I took a look and tho I’ve seen the movie before I was just stunned this time. I guess I’ve just been primed by all that’s been happening in the world lately.

soldiers dont fight

I’ve seen a few Charlie Chaplin movies and I’ve enjoyed them all. For his time and place, I would agree with the people who consider him a genius. He could make you laugh, but he could make you THINK.

He had a way of putting himself out there and making people feel his emotions. He made people feel what he wanted them to feel. To understand his characters and their emotions.

He did so much in his films, and considering that a lot of them were silent movies, he was so far out and ahead of everyone else in the business, he really had no equal.

This movie was his first ‘talkie’. He played the leading roles of the dictator and the barber. He also directed it. He did a fantastic job in every way, and the public appreciated that. This was his most commercially successful film (even tho it was banned in most of Europe- for obvious reasons).

The Great Dictator came out in 1940 (while we were still formally at peace with Nazi Germany). It was written, produced, scored and directed by Charlie Chaplin. And he played the starring role(s)! WOW!

I watched the ending speech on youtube again and I can hardly believe how powerful and moving it STILL is after all this time. It is SO powerful. It is SO prescient. It is SO MUCH still true today!

I wish more people around the world could see this movie. It is a warning to us all. His speech is so moving. Even almost 75 years after he spoke those words, they can still affect me that way. I hope others can understand that feeling. I hope others can understand what he was trying to do with this film.

humanity

I hope people today will take his message to heart and unite to solve the problems we have. I hope people today will work together to find solutions to hunger, hatred, violence, sickness, oppression, poverty and war.

I hope people will come to understand that we (common people) need to unite to overcome the forces against us. It is the same now as it was then. There are people in this world who lust for power and will do anything to get it and to keep it. ANYTHING!

Nothing else matters to people like that. Not you, not me, not their friends, not their families, not their pets, not their neighborhood, not their community, not their country, not their PLANET! NOTHING!!

From the reviews of the movie and it’s commercial success, I think Chaplin succeeded in showing large numbers of people how idiotic it is to allow anyone to rule over you.

To give a dictator (or ANY form of government) the power to rule is just plain stupid. WE must maintain control over our lives. Chaplin does a fine job of showing that in his film.

Not enough people understood his message in time. We still had to fight the Second World War, (and then the Korean ‘War’ and then the Vietnam ‘War’ and then the assaults on all the little countries that no one even remembers-except the people who were directly hurt by them- and then the ‘War on Terror’ carried out in Afghanistan and Iraq and Libya and Yemen and Mali and, and, and…and America). 🙁

When is it going to end? Are people ever going to wake up? Will we ever find the gumption to tell all those power hungry bastards that insist they need to rule us “for your own good” to GO TO HELL!!

 

 

I actually started this post a couple of weeks ago and ran out of time to finish it up. It’s been on my mind for a while. So, it’s a good fit for todays Zero to Hero task: Revisit a Task and a Post. I did at least figure out how to get the video to play correctly since the last time I worked on it! 😉

If you’d like to know more about the movie, Wikipedia has a pretty good overview. Please let me know what you think! 🙂

Maritime Monday for September 30th, 2013: Movies About Sailors Part 5; Sailor’s Luck

Maritime Monday for September 30th, 2013: Movies About Sailors Part 5; Sailor’s Luck | gCaptain

Yeah, I know I’m late. 😉 I’ve been so busy, I’m falling WAY behind in my emails, etc. I had hoped to be able to catch up a little bit this weekend but STILL just SO busy. I’ve only got a couple of days before I have to go back offshore and not sure what kind of access I’ll have to the internet, so trying to post a few now to keep my loyal followers happy. 😉

Here’s another from Monkey Fists’ great series on Maritime Movies. Movies About Sailors Part 5: Sailor’s Luck looks like another great batch of movies to while away a lazy afternoon.

I haven’t seen ANY of these movies which seems like something I’ll need to fix one of these days. Some of them look pretty good. I would like to watch the Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea starring Kris Kristofferson and the Sand Pebbles starring Steve McQueen (he got an Academy Award nomination for this role).

Some of the other movies look pretty good too, like Sinbad the Sailor with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Anthony Quinn and Maureen O’Hara. Should Sailors Marry? starring Clyde Cook looks interesting. Of course Sex and the Single Sailor would be high on the list. 😉

I hope Monkey Fist continues to come out with these great posts of maritime related movies. I’m saving them so if I ever do get some time to just relax one of these days, I’ll be able to just look back at my old posts and find the perfect one for my mood. Adventure, romance, comedy, drama, its all there. I hope some of you will get a chance to watch soon. I think it’ll be a while for me. Enjoy! 🙂

‘Captain Phillips’ Torn From the Headlines, But Tells an Old Story

‘Captain Phillips’ Torn From the Headlines, But Tells an Old Story | gCaptain

I did go see this movie the other day. I thought it was pretty good. Maybe its because I’m a sailor but I REALLY don’t appreciate the way the article tries to make excuses for the pirates. Yeah, they’re poor, so are a lot of other people around the world. That does NOT in any way excuse the violence, kidnappings, beatings, theft, etc of the pirates!

I thought the crew of the Alabama deserved more credit for their actions. It seems Captain Phillips got all the recognition. The crew actually managed to capture the pirate leader and traded him off for their captain. Good job!!

Remember, in the Merchant Marine, we are not allowed to defend ourselves with anything but fire hoses against these thugs with machine guns and RPGs! They still managed to take down a couple of the pirates! Good! I salute them!

I am REALLY sick and tired of hearing about how we can’t be trusted to defend ourselves, we somehow don’t deserve any kind of REAL protection when our companies send us to work in these dangerous waters!

The bigwigs sit in their penthouse air conditioned offices and debate how much we’re worth to them. Can they ‘afford’ to pay our ransom? The ransom payment is just another cost of doing business to them. It’s our LIVES on the line! We’re just out there trying to earn a living and should NOT have to put up with pirate attacks!

Seamen from all over the world are suffering severely from pirate attacks, even for YEARS AFTER they return home! There are HUNDREDS of them being held at this moment! According to the ICC International Maritime Bureau (http://www.icc-ccs.org/piracy-reporting-centre/piracynewsafigures), there have been 176 REPORTED incidents including 10 hijackings in 2013 alone!

No one is helping them. No one cares. The world depends on shipping. Over 90% of the worlds trade moves by sea, in the USA its over 95%! Yet, we mariners get a bare minimum of help from the worlds navies. 🙁

Where are the convoys like they had during WWII? Where are the marines who might be assigned to a ship to protect it? Where are the security companies and their trained armed guards??? WHY is there such an issue about giving us the protection we should have before we go anywhere near any pirate infested waters???

The ONLY reason the world even knows (or cares) about Captain Phillips and the Maersk Alabama is because it happened to be an American ship! There have been dozens of ships and HUNDREDS of sailors held in captivity by various pirate groups worldwide.

The pirates holding these mariners are NOT like Johnny Depp! They are mean, abusive, dangerous, desperate men! They have nothing to lose and they mean business!

WHY can’t we get some REAL protection? WHY can’t we at least arm our ships? It’s hard to believe but the powers that be expects us to be able to run away! If that doesn’t work (which it won’t most of the time since most ships are not very fast), then we are supposed to fight off the machine gun toting pirates with nothing but FIRE HOSES! If that doesn’t work (which it doesn’t), then we are supposed to run away and hide (again). The movie did a great job of showing just how effective those tactics are! (Totally useless! But they are the industrys’ ‘best management practice’).

I recommend the movie. It’s good entertainment if nothing else. I hope it’ll be more than that for the people who watch it. I hope it will help get people involved in trying to solve the problems of piracy. I hope it will give people ashore some idea of the things that are still going on out there in our world.

Maritime Monday for September 23rd, 2013: Movies About Sailors, Part IV

Maritime Monday for September 23rd, 2013: Movies About Sailors, Part IV; The Navy Comes Through | gCaptain ⚓ Maritime & Offshore News.

Part IV of Monkey Fists great series on maritime movies, this one has a lot of Navy related movies.

Everything from comedies like McHale’s Navy (Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway) and The Navigator (Buster Keaton) and musicals like On the Town (Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra) to drama and suspense (Riddle of the Sands based on the novel by Erskine Childers). There’s bound to be something for everyone.

There’s almost two dozen movies to choose from. Take a break and check it out. 😉

Aerial Views of Our Water World

Aerial Views of Our Water World | Collage of Arts and Sciences.

Smithsonian reports on the latest project from photographer Edward Burtynsky. His focus has always been to capture the impact humans have on the landscape. “Nature transformed by industry” is how he puts it.

I remember reading about one of his earlier projects on the subject of Oil and I thought he did some fantastic work. His photographs of a ‘dirty’ subject were really beautiful. This project on Water is even more exciting. His work is simply stunning!

Burtynsky spent the time from 2007-2013 traveling around the world to investigate the way water is used, how it (or lack of it) effects the land, effects our lives, how we deal with it, how it deals with us. Now, he is coming out with a triple header.

He will be releasing a new documentary film, a book and multiple exhibitions, all on the theme of water.

Watermark, his 92 minute long documentary will premier at the Toronto International Film Festival and continue showing in theaters across Canada afterwards (and hopefully worldwide).

His book, Burtynsky- Water, will feature over 100 of his photographs.

His large scale photographs will be making the rounds of a number of exhibition spaces around the country. In New York at the Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery and the Howard Greenburg Gallery (September 19- November 2), the show will move on from there.

It will be in New Orleans at the Contemporary Arts Center from October 5- January 19). I’ll be in town for the Workboat Show and will be sure to see it then. I can’t wait to feast my eyes. 😉

Here’s a peek. Enjoy 🙂

 

Video: A Drone Mates With a Queen Bee in Glorious Slow-Motion

Video: A Drone Mates With a Queen Bee in Glorious Slow-Motion | Surprising Science.

This is a pretty cool video, I kept wondering how in the hell they managed to film it. A drone filming drones?

It’s part of a documentary, More Than Honey, which investigates the world of honeybees and Colony Collapse Disease which has been devastating the bees all over the US. I would like to know what’s causing it. Bees are so important, besides making honey, they pollinate a LOT of our food crops. Think about that. 🙁