Monthly Archives: September 2009

September 30, 2009 · 5:40 am

A William Fife Wonder

William Fife (1857-1944) was the third generation of a Scottish family of yacht designers and builders. In his career he built two America’s Cup challengers for Sir Thomas Lipton (yes, that Lipton). Fife’s designs were not only fast racers they were works of functional sculpture. The following video shows how beautiful a Fife boat is from the hands of modern builders. The narration is in French (a people who honestly believe they invented wind and water about a decade before the birth of God) but the visuals are wonderful.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8mx8i_essais-seabird-chantier-naval-stagn_sport

Thanks to Alan Richards http://thingofbeauty10.wordpress.com/ that featured the video which came from http://www.sailingnews.tv/

Both sites are well worth visiting.

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September 29, 2009 · 10:00 am

Where Do Malls Go When They Die?

Here’s an interesting blog about dead malls…all kinds of information to browse through…

Lists of malls in every state that have withered and died. Moved away from your old homestead and wondered whatever happened to that place you loved to go hang out at when you were a kid? Is it still there? You can find out here.

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September 25, 2009 · 6:50 am

A married man should forget his mistakes. There’s no use in two people remembering the same thing!

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September 19, 2009 · 6:29 am

A Couple In A Contessa

Thanks to Greg Joder and his blog Back To Earth for finding this video. It’s a Norwegian couple on a long sail (not yet a circumnavigation) in a Contessa 26. The Contessa is an excellent small boat for the task and is what Tania Abbe chose for her circumnavigation. This boat reminds me so much of my long-lost Nancy Dawson. Both 26 feet long. Both beautiful red hulls. No inboard engine. Windvane self-steering, though my outboard motor mount was on the port side of the transom.

SIGH!

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September 17, 2009 · 4:33 am

If God didn’t want us to eat animals why did he make them taste like meat?

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September 14, 2009 · 9:40 am

Bag It!

What is this love affair American merchants have with putting things into bags? In much of the world people have to bring their own bags, or something else, to carry their purchases home in. But not here! I’ve gone to pick up my prescriptions at the pharmacy where each pill bottle is in its own separate bag and the bags are stapled together. Then the counter person wants to put them in another bag. Buy a single pack of gum and they want to bag it for you. Paper or plastic? Doesn’t matter. Most of the time I don’t want either – period. Occasionally when I purchase a couple of items at a store, other than at the grocer’s, a sales clerk will if I want it in a bag. I almost always demure telling them “No, thanks, they just make a mess of the landscape when I toss them out of the window of my car.”

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September 12, 2009 · 7:33 pm

Cadillac Records: The Story of Chess

If you’re a fan of early blues then Cadillac Records is a movie you must see.

It’s the story of Chess Records, a small recording studio run by Leonard Chess (Adrian Brody) in the 1950s. The movie spotlights Chess’s artists Muddy Waters (Keffery Wright), Little Walter (Columbus Short), Howlin’ Wolf (Eamonn Walker) , Chuck Berry (Mos Def) and the great Etta James (Beyonce Knowles). Cedric the Entertainer plays Willie Dixon who wrote a ton of hits. All of these real characters are honored in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The movie doesn’t stint on the music playing the songs from first note to last instead of snippets as in so many movies. Songs like I’m a Man, Mabelline, Nadine, I Would Rather Go Blind.

If you have access to HBO on demand there are a lot worse ways to spend a couple of hours.

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September 11, 2009 · 6:54 am

A Little Pick-Me-Up for a Dreadful Day

This horrible day, September 11 (9/11) should be, and will be, a time of reflection for what happened in New York City, Washington, D.C. and that lonesome field in Pennsylvania. We should all say a little prayer for those innocent lives that were lost.

But we should not be completely somber. Life is, after all, a celebration and nothing celebrates life better than music and no music does that better than Zydeco. Here, then, is the Queen of them all, Queen Ida and her Bon Temps Zydeco Band.

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September 10, 2009 · 7:54 am

If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you’ve never tried before.

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September 8, 2009 · 12:23 am

Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

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