"He WON the ones he HAD to."

... Bottom line reply of a couple of British historians on George Washington's military prowess, in response to an argument that, "He LOST more battles than he WON."

I suspect that North Vietnam's General Võ Nguyên Giáp would have understood PERFECTLY. 

During our Bicentennial in 1976, CBS ran a number of "Bicentennial Minutes" (short educational American television segments commemorating the bicentennial of the American Revolution). 

In one of them, U.S. Army Colonel Harry G. Summers, Jr. talked of his participation in the Paris Peace Talks, in 1973, as part of the delegation negotiating our withdrawal from Vietnam. At that time, he felt deeply humiliated at being party to what amounted to a surrender on our part. 

He recalled that one time, when leaving the conference room, he tore into one of the Vietnamese delegates, "You know, you never beat us on the battlefield". 

Instead of the argument he was spoiling for, what he got in return was, "That may be so, but it is also irrelevant."

He acknowledged THAT to be "the shortest, most succinct lesson in strategy I have EVER been privileged to hear".

Recently, on The History Channel, I came across Washington the Warrior (2006), (which I now have on order from Amazon). This is an uttelry fascinating look at our first Commander in Chief, which I cannot recommend too highly. There is NOTHING stuffy or boring about him.

To go along with that I would also recommend The Crossing (2000), about Washington's crossing the Delaware to attack a Hessian brigade at Trenton, New Jersey, at a time when his army was almost disintegrated from lack of supplies and support, figuring that the Hessians had everything he was in need of.

Hunt these up and enjoy History at its best.
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The Accountant

"Since the birth of time, humanity has endeavored to restrain evil men in prisons. But since Cain fled the murder of his brother, evil men have fled the walls of punishment.

"So, it doesn't matter if you're a badass motherf****r on the run, because you think you're better than everyone else, and somehow entitled to do what you gotta do.

"No. Because, you see, badass motherf****rs are never fast enough. In the end, they will all be accounted for."

~The Accountant (Satan's Accountant) in the movie Drive Angry (2011) ...

... a movie I truly love, but am hesitant to recommend.  You see, it is R rated for a reason. There are scenes in it that pretty well qualify as porn. But if you can get past that, you'll find that The Accountant more than makes up for that.

John Milton (Nicholas Cage) escapes from Hell (in a black Buick Riviera) to go after some men from a Satanic cult, who have murdered his daughter and taken that daughter's baby to be used as a human sacrifice when the moon is full in a few days.

Milton is pursued by The Accountant (William Fichtner, dressed like a lawyer of coarse :-) who, while never forgetting his primary mission to bring Milton back, decides to help him recover his grandchild when he learns what the cult has done and is preparing to do.

In the third scene of that clip, two young stoners happen upon a crashed car and wonder if anyone is inside, when the door flies off (kicked by The Accountant who was inside) and knocks down the Second Stoner. That scene starts when The Accountant emerges ...

First Stoner:  "Jesus!"
The Accountant:  "-Carpenter. And despite what you've heard, prefers short hair."
Second Stoner:  "You almost fuck**g killed me, man."
The Accountant:  "Not even close. I won't see you again until you're 73."
(to the First Stoner):  "You, I'll see in three months."

It's rare for Nicholas Cage to be upstaged in a movie he's starring in (the best example I can think of being "The Rock", in which he's partnered with Sean Connery) but Fichtner so owns this movie that when he's on scene, the other actors might as well have stayed home.

Now, in truth, WITHOUT Fichtner, I would have classed this movie as VERY mediocre.  But it DOES have him, and that makes all the difference in the world. 

I first saw him in "Heat", where he's mob boss Roger Van Zant, who was the owner of a lot of bearer bonds stolen by Neil McCauley (Robert de Niro). When a deal is made for him to buy them back for an amount that would be covered by insurance money, he double crosses McCauley with an ambush (figuring that the LAST thing he needs is for punks on the street to think it Ok to steal from him). After surviving that ambush, McCauley phones Van Zant to tell him, "Forget the money."
van Zant: "Forget it?!!!  What are you doing?"
McCauley: "What am I doing?  I'm talking to an empty phone.  Because there'a dead man on the other end of it."

Fichtner has been in "Contact", "The Perfect Storm", and many others, and always first class.

But, he appears to be having a real blast playing The Accountant, and admits to exactly that in one of the interviews on the DVD.  You could make a really fine movie just devoted to this character, and I suspect he would be just fine with that.
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Six times

When asked by the arraignment judge, “Why did you shoot the man 6 times?"

The woman replied under oath, “Because, when I pulled the trigger the 7th time, it only went click.”

Found on facebook ...
http://www.iamatexan.com/2015/10/21/this-is-why-you-dont-mess-with-texas-women/
18 MAR 2019 - I'm saddened to learn that link NO LONGER EXISTS - Sigh ... :(

Sadly, the article ends with ...

(Yes, this is a joke. Sort of. Don’t think you can get away with purse snatching in Texas. You can’t. Our women are well-armed, know how to defend themselves, and beautiful. And it’s Texas – the law is on their side.)

Oh, Well. New Texas Urban Legend is born. :-)
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Survivor

Apologies to all for my recent whining, posted at the beginning of my "The Martian" post ...
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Thanks to my accident just before Memorial Day, I don't get out to movies as often as I used to, or as often as I would like. My current situation (inoperable car, not a snowball's chance in Hell of obtaining the funds to make it usable, being half crippled and sometimes barely able to walk a couple of blocks to a bus stop) makes that arduous and painful.
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Some of you know that I am definitely in a "down" right now, but I DO have options.

If I can make it to March, without doing anything drastic and final from pure despair, I might be able to do something about that car, which will be a true Godsend. Because of my age, and my income status, I will very likely get ALL of my Federal withholding tax returned, which looks like it will be a bit over $1200.00. I'm confident that THAT should be enough.

Additionally, the absolutely CRUSHING financial position I'm in right now could be relieved by doing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. I'm not real keen on THAT, as it involves the MOTHER OF ALL PAPERWORK.

But, as an alternative to my final option, it is definitely on the table.

I've had major ups and downs before - a LOT of them. And I'm STILL here.

About thirty years ago, I had such a deep bout of severe depression, I had to see a shrink to avoid losing my job.  Now, she was only doing her job, trying to lift me out of the funk I was in, when she told me that she "saw a survivor. You pulled up stakes and moved halfway across the country to start a new career. Wimps don't do that.".

I treasured that. I HAVE to survive this; if for no other reason, than to avoid proving that lady wrong.

Wish me luck  And, Thanks.  :-)
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War of Worlds Musical

Watching the episode of "Fargo"  I recorded last night, I found a bit of THIS music in it. Sadly, this album appears out iof print; Amazon.com listed ONE new CD at $265.00. If you're interested, you may have no alternative to downloading the music. ...

JEFF WAYNE'S MUSICAL VERSION OF THE WAR OF THE WORLDS - PART 1 - THE EVE OF THE WAR - HQ

Narrated by Richard Burton, this is truly an amazing album, well worth the trouble of finding a download of the full album, if that's the ONLY way you can check it out.
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Riders on the Storm ...

... by Jim Morrison and The Doors.

The things you come across when you're looking for something else. While searching for a good video of "Riders on the storm", by Jim Morrison and The Doors, I found THIS piece by Ray Manzarek, keyboardist of The Doors, about how "Riders" came to be ...

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"Moby Dick":

... The inspiration.

In 1820, the whaling ship Essex was attacked and sunk by a whale. The story inspired Herman Melville to create his masterpiece, "Moby Dick".

Ron Howard's In the Heart of the Sea (2015) covers the Essex story ...

Originally scheduled for a March 2015 release, the studio decided to move it to 11 DEC 2015, to make it more prominent to those who make Academy Award nominations, indicating a very high degree of confidence that they have a winner here.

This is VERY definitely on my "must see" list.
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If you remember THIS song, ...

... then, BOY, are you OLD.  :-)

While the video is obviously of fairly recent vintage, the song by The Four Lads was a #1 hit in 1953)
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THIS you can trust.

... the philosophy of movie director John Milius.

The director of Dillinger (1973), Conan the Barbarian (1982) and The Wind and The Lion (1975) also wrote the screenplays for these, plus Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) and bits of Jaws (1975) and Apocalypse Now (1979) .

He was a great believer in taking care of things yourself.

Conan the Barbarian opens with the casting, forging and tempering of Conan's father's sword, and concludes with the father telling a very young Conan ...

 

"Fire and wind come from the sky,
"from the Gods of the sky.
"But Crom is your God,
"Crom, and he lives in the Earth."

"Once giants lived in the Earth, Conan.
"And in the darkness of chaos...
"they fooled Crom,
"and they took from him the enigma of steel."

"Crom was angered,
"and the Earth shook.
"And fire and wind struck down those giants,
"and they threw their bodies into the waters."

"But in their rage,
"the Gods forgot the secret of steel and left it on the battlefield."

"And we who found it...
"are just men.
"Not Gods. Not giants.
"Just men."

"And the secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery."

"You must learn its riddle, Conan.
"You must learn its discipline."

"For no one,
"no one in this world can you trust;
"not men, not women, not beasts."

(Pointing to his sword):
"THIS you can trust."

The script for Conan is credited to Milius AND to Oliver Stone, but what I've seen of his movies tells me that speech above is pure John Milius, and describes perfectly his philosophy of life,

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Warbirds

Incorporating videos in my posts is new to me.  I've been blogging since October 2009. on an HP computer (the "Mack truck" of computers) that I bought around the end of 2003. Being an XP machine, with limited memory and on a dial-up connection, dealing with videos was an exercise in masochism. The old machine died a few months ago (hard drive crash).

I replaced it with a refurbished Windows 7 machine (HP of course :-) and took advantage of my apartment complex having outlets installed for Comcast/Xfinity, and got a good deal for activating high-speed internet and digital phone service. Like graduating from a Volkswagen to a Porsche.

So now, I'm learning how to incorporate youtube videos, play with the HTML code to adjust the size they appear here, and how to download those videos onto my computer (as insurance against them being pulled from youtube).

I started with 2cellos, a wonderfully insane music video.

Next came Insight from The Third Man ... , about a wonderful little speech that Orson Welles added to the movie.

And, NOW, here's my latest attempts involving the subjects of the title of this post.  Hope you enjoy.

The Brits know how to put on a show. During the Falklands War (when Argentina invaded the British Falkland Islands in 1982), one of these made an EXTREMELY long range attack down there.

 On its return, it made a demo pass over an air show outside of Houston, where I got a wonderful look at it.

The only surviving Messerschmitt BF109E-4 still flying. It was shot down and belly landed in a field during the Battle of Britain in 1940. It is currently with the Russel Aviation Group, Ontario Canada.

PS - If you like the background music, it's from DAFT PUNK's soundtrack for TRON: Legacy (2010).

On 21 September 1953 a North Korean pilot defected, flying a MIG-15 jet fighter interceptor to Seoul , South Korea. In the process the pilot collected a $100000 reward which had been offered by the United States Government. The United States Air Force quickly set about conducting flight tests to determine the capabilities, and limitations, of the Russian designed aircraft



Among the three test pilots was USAF Major Charles "Chuck" Yeager, the first man to fly faster than sound in the Bell X1 in 1947.  I remember Tom Wolfe's book "The Right Stuff" mentioning that.

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Insight from The Third Man ...

The Third Man (1949) 

Out of work pulp fiction novelist, Holly Martins (Joseph Cotton), arrives in post war Vienna to accept a job offer from ex-school friend, Harry Lime (Orson Welles), only to hear of Lime's death from a peculiar traffic accident.

Holly finds that Lime has faked his death and is involved in black market penicillin (diluted) that results in many deaths. He finds Lime and confronts him.

Based on Graham Greene's novel, the movie is faithful to it, but it was Orson Welles who added THIS little insight ...

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2 cellos ...

... and now for something COMPLETELY different  ...

The absolutely incredible  2CELLOS - Thunderstruck [OFFICIAL VIDEO]  

Be patient with whatever ad that may (or may not) show up at the beginning. There might be a little one popping up in the middle, but it will have an "x" allowing you to dispose ot it. The video is worth it. :-)

(PS the image is small here, but at the lower right corner is a selection for "FULL SCREEN" - next to the youtube symbol. )

Update - 11 SEP 2015 - I edited the html to enlarge the image a bit, but the "FULL SCREEN" is still a good choice.

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Death by a thousand cuts ...

... MY term for the billing practices of major hospitals.

Yesterday (Thursday, 06 AUG 2015), I made my third (and hopefully FINAL) follow-up visit to Ben Taub hospital, concerning the broken ankle and lower tibia I suffered in my accident of 23 MAY 2015, and which I wrote about in numerous previous posts going back to Sometimes, life just sucks ...

They want me to continue wearing this special boot for another week, but don't feel another visit will be required, as the bones appear to be healing just fine.

So, the major crisis in front of me is the billing system summed up by the title of this post.

When I had my broken arm accident  in late July of 2013, there were ultimately over half a dozen different accounts to deal with, as each department in the hospitals (TWO hospitals were involved in that accident recovery) and the various physicians ALL had their own  accounting services.

It took over two months after the initial invoice arrived before I had a fairly complete picture of the whole mess. Approximately $6000.00 in all.

The ONLY way I could deal with it was to make a (VERY) small payment to each every month.

This continued until the 23 MAY accident, at which point I stopped paying, as the paychecks ceased for about six weeks until I began working again.

I have NOT resumed those payments, as I was looking at a whole NEW nightmare from Ben Taub
to come.

THIS prospect had me looking at Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, and I was looking at going in for a free consultation with a bankruptcy lawyer, to see (among other things) if I needed to wait until ALL the parties involved with Ben Taub had sent invoices, and the whole picture was clear, before filing.

But then, a circumstance involving me possibly owning a small part of rural property belonging to my late mother made it look as if a small sum might come my way and make it possible to get my car running again.

As that possible ownership would complicate the Hell out of the bankruptcy (and the bankruptcy could have an effect on the property), I temporarily took the bankruptcy off the table.

But, I've heard nothing more, and frankly doubt it's gonna happen,  So, in a few weeks I'll go in for that consultation.

This is NOT something I'm keen to do; I went through a Chapter 7 in 2000, and the paperwork is absolutely HORRIFIC. (To paraphrase a classic Jack Benny routine: "The PAPERWORK, or your LIFE!"  Reply: "I'M THINKING." )

But, I HAVE to consider this.  The financial situation threatens to absolutely DESTROY me.

There's a REASON I still have the PayPal donation button near the top left of my page.

If you feel like helping, God Bless You,.

And, Thank You.
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NOT one of my brighter ideas.

Being cheap about cab fare.

There's a Kroger about half a mile from my apartment. Being unable to drive, I've been taking a cab each way to do my grocery shopping, usually around $5.00 each way (including a modest tip).

Tuesday, the 23rd, I went back to work for the first time in a month.  I go again tomorrow (Friday). I HAVE been walking some, in this cast-like boot, and using the bus again. But, it's still awkward and exhausting.

Today, I decided to walk to Kroger and just use the cab to get back with a load of groceries.

The STUPID part was going around 2:30 PM  in wonderful Houston summer weather, trying hard to not pass out because if I went down, not only would I need help in getting back up again, I'd be damned lucky if I didn't break something else in such a fall.

If I try that stunt again, I'll at least wait until later, when the sun has gone down.

I DO need to get better at walking, as it is all too possible I may not have anything to drive ever again (see "First blow ..." in Hat-trick:  ).  This situation just may KILL me financially.  The money is running out. I am grateful beyond words for the donations that have come in from friends, but as I mentioned in that post, I see no possibility of avoiding Chapter 7 in the near future.

So, I may be walking for the remainder of my life.
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Christopher Lee

A couple of weeks ago, I updated "Of COURSE, they're naked!!!" ...  because of the sad news that one of my all time favorite actors had passed away, on 07 Jun 2015, at age 93.

As if the man wasn't already fascinating enough, I found this at
  http://buzzfeeduk.tumblr.com/post/121266080043/rip-christopher-lee ...

What more needs saying? :-)

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Shower ...

... equals unfathomable luxury in my present situation.

For the first time in four weeks (since my accident of Sometimes, like just sucks ), I've been able to shower, instead of just sponge bathing. 

As with my broken arm accident of two years ago, deliberation in all things is the rule. If I sit in the tub, I have a Hell of a time getting back up, being weak in my arms and trying to brace myself against wet slippery surfaces. I prefer a shower while standing.  I DO have one of those Rubbermaid non-slip (with suction cups) mats for the bottom of my tub.

BUT, if I slip anyway, or lose balance from a spasm of pain by putting my foot down wrong, well, there might be a more dangerous place in my apartment for such an accident (considering the spigot, faucet handles and mixing valve at one end of a typical apartment bathtub), but I have great difficulty in conjuring it up.

So, this IS progress, of a sort.  I'm getting better at walking with that awkward boot (like walking on a cast), and may attempt a bus ride in a couple of days.

Tomorrow, I'll call Randalls to find out if I'm on next weeks schedule.

But, STILL a long way to go on recovery, including financial, so if you can help, I desperately need it and would be very grateful.

Paul Gordon
3433 West Dallas, # 1102
Houston, Texas 77019

(Or, you can use the Paul Gordon Medical donation button (PayPal) near the top left of the webpage, just below the main title picture.)

Thanks, in advance. :-)
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PLEASE, HELP

Dear GOD, I so hate to beg.

But, this situation (being almost crippled and unable to work and draw paychecks) is literally DESTROYING me. I am running out of money.

Those with access to PayPal ( https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/send-money-online ) can donate to my email address of gordonp@airmail.net

I am so ashamed of asking for this, but my options are becoming desperate.

If you can help a bit, Thank you.

Paul Gordon
3433 W. Dallas, Apt. 1102
Houston, Texas 77019

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Where things stand ...

On Friday, 22 May 2015, I had my accident (referred to in Sometimes, life just sucks ).  I had badly sprained my right angle after slipping on a muddy sidewalk at a bus stop.

Sunday, 07 Jun 2015, I thought things had improved enough to go to a local clinic and hopefully get a doctor's note allowing me to return to work.

BUT, the nurse at that clinic was very disturbed by all the redness that still remained on my foot and lower leg.  Fearing a possible blood clot, she felt she couldn't issue such a note and recommended I go to Ben Taub emergency room for blood flow tests.

I took a cab there, arriving just before 6 PM, and was there until a bit after 2 AM before I was released.  It was almost 3 AM when I got back home.

They took all kinds of blood tests to make sure there was nothing toxic, and to make sure (by sonogram) that blood flow wasn't restricted by a clot. They took x-rays of the ankle and the tibula (one of two parallel bones in the lower leg) and found fractures on both the ankle AND the tibula.

They gave me a special boot they want me to wear until I go back for a follow-up on Monday, 15 Jun 2015.  Unfortunately, I cannot use it, as it is like walking on a cast. I almost had a bad fall right in the emergency room when I tried it (I suppose THAT would be the best place for it to happen, but there is no way I can afford a fall that might break something else.).

The only way I can use that boot would be to get a crutch. I'm going to see if someone here will give me a ride to a local CVS pharmacy that has one. I'm probably going to have to use that boot if I hope for that doctor's note from the orthopedic surgeon Monday morning.

I have GOT to be able to return to work and begin drawing paychecks again. Otherwise, this situation will finally FINISH me; it's really just as simple as that.

Will know more on Monday, but this is NOT good. :-(
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Sometimes, life just sucks - Update

ANOTHER accident ...

For some time now, I've been walking and riding the bus because my car has a problem that even the Honda mechanics haven't been able to duplicate.

Yesterday (Sat, 23 MAY 2015), I decided to take the bus to a theater to check out the new "Mad Max: Fury Road" movie.

It had been raining and lots of mud was there, which I slipped on and fell down HARD. 

A couple of people in a car saw this and helped me up. At first, I feared that I had broken my leg, but apparently had just numbed part of it on impact. I could stand, and walk a bit.

They drove me home (damned considerate of them as I was a muddy mess and left them with a bit of a cleaning job on the interior of their SUV even though they had put down some old clothes they had in the back).

When we got there, I could limp and hobble my way to my apartment. I had actually thought of going out again later when my ankle felt better.

Unfortunately, it DIDN'T get better. I could barely stand on it and asked a neighbor I didn't even know if he could drive me to a local Kroger about half a mile away, to get a few essentials.

He did, and during the trip he thought (from my description of symptoms) that I had a MAJOR sprain, that could take days to get better.

This morning, I could barely manage to even stand up from a sitting position on the edge of my bed; almost couldn't put the weight on my right leg.

I DID manage to get up, and am using a chair as a walker just to move around my apartment, but GOD - it IS an ordeal. So bad that I slipped the chain off of my apartment door and unlocked it so, if I have to scream for help someone could get in without breaking in the door (being the Memorial Day weekend, the apartment manager's office is closed, so there is no one there with a master key to let help in).

So, the next few days could be interesting. I hope to GOD I wont have to go to an emergency room over this, but if I DO, I'll try to take a cab ($20.00 cab fare for a three mile trip beats hell out of the $1000.00+ that a 911 response would cost).

Wish me luck. Being a loner has been my choice for much of my life, but it DOES have drawbacks sometimes.

Update-Monday 25 May 2015:  Today is my 73rd birthday. That's why I'm making such a big deal out of a sprain. My body is a lot more fragile than it was half a century ago, and this situation is crippling.

I've still a couple of days to decide if I need to go get help. If you wonder what's stopping from going right now, see my post of a couple of years ago: A Scream of Pain . I am STILL paying on that one, and will be doing so for the rest of my life.

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