Armistice Day – The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month 1918

100 YEARS AGO

Celebration of the end of WWI, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photograph shows crowds filling streets surrounding City Hall in celebration of Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, with replica Statue of Liberty.

[Image from here. Related posts here.]

Burgers, Chicken, Shakes and a Creepy Head on a Stick.

Mr. Hamburger, Huntsville, Texas

Opened in 1959, Mr. Hamburger is still in business. From their website:

“Situated across from the famous downtown Huntsville “Walls” prison unit, Mr. Hamburger has literally been the first taste of freedom for thousands of released inmates waiting for their bus ride out of town. This influence can be seen in the uniquely named burgers fitting the prison theme.”

[Found here.]

A Da Vinci Bridge – 15th Century Engineering

Okay 1502 AD is technically the 16th Century, but the engineering was already in existence.

VERY cool – You can build it on the spot if there’s available timber, no connectors required, and you can knock it down and take it with you once your army has crossed the stream, arroyo, ravine or ditch. Here’s one in use (with planks installed):

This kid constructed one without notches or connectors, using friction and compression only.

[Top image from Da Vinci. 2nd image from here, video from here, links found in here.]

Everyone Knows It’s Windy Hot Links

Volleysoccer.

Good day to go fishing.

No racism here. Nope. None at all.

No Twitter bias here. Nope. None at all.

No Google bias here. Nope. None at all.

Tom Waits’ 20 favorite albums (as of March 2005).

Ken Nordine’s “Colors” was the basis for an artistic game using paint.

Democrat Senator Dick Durbin blames Republicans for Chicago’s horrific gun violence, but there’s just one little problem. Chicago’s last Republican Mayor was William Hale Thompson (who served from 1927-1931). James Woods begins his reply with “Dear Nimrod.”

16-1/2 minutes of “celebrities” gossiping about ex-SNL cast member Norm Macdonald.

Why are “celebrities” gossiping about ex-SNL cast member Norm Macdonald?

You guessed it. Frank Stallone.

Ernie Kucera (1920-2007)

Ernie Kucera at the Starlight Ballroom in 1992 – his band’s 50th Anniversary.

From the You Get What You Pay For Department: In construction, you can only pick two of the following three:
(A) Low-cost, (B) High quality and (C) Fast completion. Brad Pitt’s well-meaning charitable foundation chose A and C, and the houses are falling apart after less than a decade.

From the Bad Acting Department: Weather reporter can barely stand up to the winds of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Florence while other pedestrians were immune. Reminds me of the classic Today Show blowzit.

A private message to The Weather Channel.

[Top image culled from the absurd The Weather Channel video.]

11 September 2001 – REMEMBER ALWAYS

[Source: 911 Memorial Timeline.]

11 September 2001 was the largest sucker-punch by foreign combatants on U.S. soil since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.

Watch FLIGHT 93 full screen in real time before liberal social media takes it down.

Lights out. Pay attention for 90 minutes. No bathroom breaks allowed. REMEMBER ALWAYS.

[Related posts here.]

 

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R.I.P. Senator John McCain 1936-2018

Regardless of his politics, some of which I’ve disagreed with, John McCain forever earned my respect for his conduct during his 5+ years incarceration as a POW in North Vietnam.

[Related post here.]

Hot Links with Daisy and Joe

THIS is amazing.

Tarantula Tacos?

Remembering Triggly Puff.

Stuff I never knew about petticoats.

Cats during an earthquake in Japan [via].

The Dancing Plague of 1518 killed hundreds of peasants in Strasbourg Germany.

The Laughing Epidemic of 1962 affected hundreds of people in Tanganyika (now Tanzania).

Got a critter trapped under the kitchen counter? It might not be what you think it is.

In the past six years (2002-2018) there have been three recorded deaths in the US from snake bites during religious services. Pastor Cody Coots survived a bite to the face. Jamie Coots, Cody’s father was bit on the hand and died in 2014. (Pinkard and Bowden addressed this practice in 1984.)

About Hollerin’. Wanna hear some? Leonard Emanuel was one of the best.

Petticoat Junction triviaEdgar Buchanan (aka Uncle Joe Carson) was a dentist in real life. He’s pictured above with Irene Ryan (aka Daisy Mae “Granny” Moses) on the set of The Beverly Hillbillies, 1968.

INT. DANNY’S BATH RM

James Cagney photographed on the set of Picture Snatcher, 1933.

[Found here.]

Independence Day

That’s the first known recording of John Philip Sousas “The Stars And Stripes Forever March.” It was recorded by Kendle’s First Regiment Band on 29 December 1901 and published by Victor Records [source]. Sousa wrote in his autobiography that he composed the march on Christmas Day, 1896, while crossing the Atlantic, after he learned of the death of his band’s manager.

In 1987, an Act of Congress declared the song to be the Official National March of the United States of America.


Every person who supported cessation and fought for Independence from England was a British subject. Every person who fought against them were also subjects of The Crown. The American Revolution was fought by the British against the British.

The abuse of power by the King had become intolerable, and 13 individual colonies eventually banded together as one to fight the tyranny. The odds were not in their favor, and those colonists in the fray knew that they would be hung (or tortured to death) if they failed.

The Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia in the summer of 1775, shortly after the war with the British had begun. It was preceded by the First Continental Congress in the fall of 1774.

The Congress appointed George Washington as commander of the Continental Army, and authorized the raising of the army through conscription.

On July 4, 1776, the Congress issued the Declaration of Independence, which for the first time asserted the colonies’ intention to be fully independent of the mother country.

The Congress established itself as the central governing authority under the Articles of Confederation, which remained in force until 1788.


While sitting in pre-holiday traffic, I listened to The Mark Levin Show, and he played the audio of those two videos with commentary. I re-learned some history.

Have a Great Independence Day
and Remember What It Means.

[More Independence Day posts in our archives.]

6 June 1944 D-Day

In 1944, and against the odds, General Dwight D. Eisenhower accepted the risk and subsequent bloodshed in order to prevent more of it. His leadership freed France from Nazi Germany occupation and was the beginning of the end of the war in Europe.

General Eisenhower was mocked by the left as a dullard, stupid and ignorant. He wasn’t. Not by a long shot.

[Found in here.]