I concur.

It is almost game time!

Black Friday: "1983 vs. Now" or People vs. "Animals"

                                        What the hell happened? How did we devolve into this in thirty-four years?

"Borrowed" from Chief Nose Wetter

In the state of Alabama, tomorrows game between Coach Gus Malzahn's Auburn Tigers and Nick Saban's University of Alabama's Crimson Tide ranks up there with Christmas and the "opening day of deer season".

Update: Gus owns Nick this year. Congrats AU.

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It is called "BLACK FRIDAY" for a reason

This massive brawl occurred at Riverchase Galleria just south of Birmingham (technically Hoover). I am not sure of the cause, but the news report I saw stated that at least a dozen police officers responded, but no one went to jail. WTF? Here is a shocker. The mall was closed early. One hour prior to the fight officers were called to the parking lot of Macy's (same mall) after reports of gunfire. I predict it will not be long until this mall goes the way of dinosaur as so many other shopping centers and malls have in the last fifteen years or so as a result of this type of behavior. When shopping becomes unpleasant and dangerous, paying customers move on to safer venues.

More on this story

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

I  would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Stay safe, enjoy your nice day with your friends and family and eat lots of turkey!

Majestic.....

Nice Waterfall During A Walk In The Woods....

I wish I had taken a video instead of the iphone live photo here:

My son called me at 7:00 this morning and needed help dragging this out of a very deep holler.

Every now and again we all feel the need for speed.

Der Untergang (Downfall 2004)

I posted this as a follow-up to the spoof of Hitler doing "Thunderstruck" that I had put up Saturday. I am sure most of us have seen our share of similar parodies set to that famous movie clip, but I was wondering how many have actually watched the entire movie. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys history and particularly to anyone who has a love of WW2 history/European Theater of Operations. The film is well made and very authentic (architecture, uniforms, events, etc.). I know it is available in the original German version, subtitled English and English speaking versions. I first saw the movie within a week of finishing Hugh Trevor-Roper's 1947 book The Last Days of Hitler. It is a fantastic book and is based on accounts and interviews from some of the people who were present during the last days of madness inside the "fuhrerbunker". Trevo-Roper was a British intelligence officer who was tasked with detailing the last days of Hitler, thus the title implies.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Trevor-Roper  Though this site doesn't list the book as being part of the basis for the movie, I have read where it was as well as several other books which were too (Trevor-Roper's book could have been the actual screenplay).  Another of the books is Soldat: Memoirs of a German Soldier 1936-1949 by Siegfried Knappe. Knappe ended the war as part of General Helmuth Weidling's staff helping to defend Berlin from the Russians. The last two weeks of the war Knappe, who was a Major, reported daily to the "fuhrerbunker" and in person to Hitler giving a daily situational briefing of the the goings on in and around Berlin. In 2005 I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Mr. Knappe at length on this subject. It was fascinating listening to someone who actually had been a part of that period in history. One of the interesting facts he told me was how he was asked to surrender his sidearm the first few times he was to meet with Hitler. Then, as things became more chaotic, he was ushered right inside the bunker without having to check his pistol. He also told me in the last few days, he actually thought of killing Hitler but didn't see how it would change things very much, it would have been suicidal for him,  and he knew Berlin couldn't hold much longer and the war would end. So, he decided against it. That portion of Mr. Knappe's book and the part that describes his time in Soviet captivity was the most interesting parts for me. Anyhow, back to the movie I would say if anyone has not seen Downfall, it is worth the time.