T-Town Sites 9

     Back at the zoo, where I took my daughter and granddaughter this summer. Top photo shows one of the Asian elephants; either Suki or Hanako. Below is Sofia watching the snow leopard kitten. That kitten was on the news tonight and is twice that size already. A gorgeous animal.

Town Sites 8

This sculpture greets you as you enter the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, a few miles down the road from my house. Kids climb on this Family of Man rendering all the time, and in doing so have polished the brass to Teflon-like slipperiness. I'm amazed no one has smashed his head open yet. In the background is a stage where zoo employees give presentations of various critters. It's geared toward children and they seem to enjoy it a lot.

Happy Halloween

I'm passing out eye candy this year.

T-Town Sites 7

     How about this, a T-Town site that's actually in the city limits. In fact, this handsome mailbox is about two miles from my home. I don't know if it's commercially available or custom made, but it looks really neat along the roadside. Mine is a miniature red barn, which the yellow jackets attempt to build a nest in very summer.

T-Town Sites 6

Our last visit to the cemetery. I assume this rocket honors the Air Force members buried at Chambers Creek. I believe the rocket was created by someone with a blowtorch and scrap metal, but it looks good.

T-Town Sites 5

     Back to Chambers Creek Cemetery for a look at the Navy veterans' memorial. We had outstanding weather that day.

T-Town Sites 4

I found these two markers at Chambers Creek Cemetery and thought they were pretty neat. The top one is obviously a trucker. The lower one is either a late railroader or model train enthusiast.

T-Town Sites 3

Okay, once again this isn't in Tacoma proper, but it's close. This huge anti-aircraft gun sits in Copper Creek Cemetery, in the veteran's section. I have several other pictures from this location I thought were interesting that I'll be posting by and by.

T-Town Sites 2

The Vashon Island Ferry.

Vashon Island lies across Commencement Bay from Ruston, a small town on the north tip of Tacoma. The crossing takes about 20 minutes and brings commuters from Vashon to Tacoma and returns them home again. Our usual ferry has been undergoing maintenance, so the Chetzenoka (pictured) has been substituted. In my 34 years of living in Tacoma I've ridden the ferry twice. Once with Linda to drive around the island and enjoy its rural sites, and once I walked on with my two girls. We sailed across and sailed back, watching the vehicles unload in between.

Wedding Pictures 2

 

 

One of the few wedding photos I'm in that doesn't make me look like an ape in a tux. 

Wedding Pictures 1

If you didn't see it on Facebook, here  it is again. My girl Stephanie, a bridesmaid, is on the left and my girl Kristine, the bride, is on the right. Excuse me if I'm overly proud of them.

I Go Pogo

     This isn't the possum but a strange aircraft from the 1950s. I'm only doing this because I wanted to see if my blog would upload a photo taken at random from my files. Yay, it did.

Snafus R Us

     Great. Just when I start this blog up again my computer decides it doesn't want to upload pictures into it. My fault. A few days ago I was STUPID enough to respond to a message that my IE needed an upgrade. Ever since then I've had nothing but hassles. Any advice would be appreciated, but remember you're talking to a largely illiterate computer guy.

     I tried turning off the popup blocker, BTW. No help.


     Thanks you for your support.

T-Town Sites 1

Okay, kids, the blog is back in business. I intend to have a recurring theme of places or things of interest in Tacoma, as well as other items of interest.

Today we start out with a salmon sculpture from the Proctor District. A number of these fish were given to local artists, who decorated them according to their whims. They were then erected in various places around the Proctor area.

Adios

I see no reason to continue this blog. It sucks, and the responses I get are so few that I'm wasting my time and yours.

 

 

 

 

This is my dog, Molly.

Napierian Nuptials

Yesterday, July 20, my baby girl Kristine married Jacob Jorgensen. Here they are at the reception at the Tacoma Yacht Club. It was a great ceremony and party and a good time was had by all. They're now honeymooning on a cruise to Alaska. My other daughter, Stephanie, was a bridesmaid and her daughter was the flower girl. My sisters flew up from Arizona for the affair as did one of my cousins in Southern California. Thanks to all of them for attending.

 

 

 

 

                             The happy couple with an unknown drunkard at the yacht club.

                                            A better focused photo of Kristine and Jacob.

Something About Amelia

On this day in 1937 Amelia Earhart disappeared during an attempted around the world flight, setting off decades of speculations, conspiracy theories, and a cottage industry of books, each revealing what really happened.

Last month I went to the Museum of Flight to hear a fellow speak about Earhart (and push his book) but I didn't glean any new information. My personal feeling is that Earhart wasn't that good a pilot and bit off more than she could chew.

Little Big Horn Anniversary

"On June 25, 1876, Lt. Col. George A. Custer and his 7th Cavalry were wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians in the Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana."


The above statement was culled from the New York Times. It is false.

Custer and his command of about 200 men of the 7th Cavalry died in that battle, as did another 60 or so with the Reno-Benteen forces, but "his 7th Cavalry" were not wiped out by a long shot. The 7th consisted of around 1250 officers and men at full strength. I know the NYT's reputation has taken a lot of hits lately, and ignorant statements like the above do nothing to improve its status.

Happy Father's Day

The kids are taking me to the race track, which we did for several years when they were younger.

I've chosen Hugh "Ward Cleaver" Beaumont for my Father's Day representative because I think he embodied all of the ideals a father could obtain. Have a good one.

Gotta Have It

Another kit that you simply must own, even if you don't build model kits. Yes, this is a scale model kit, in 1/12 scale. Note: not high on my want list.

D-Day

It's hard for me to believe that so many of the men who fought in WWII are gone. I wonder how many who hit the beaches on June 6, 1944 are still alive. Well, to them and all of the others who fought that day, salute!

Beaver

Happy Birthday Jerry Mathers, who turned 65 on June 1. Yes, I'm late posting it, but it's still before midnight here in the west.

To all those who gave their lives for America, I salute you.

Kit of the Day: Bachmann's Fisher Boy

Bachmann, who brought us the Birds of the World, Animals of the World, and Dogs of the World kits also made three dioramas entitled Bachmann's Americana. They apparently didn't sell well because they were discontinued after three models: Fisher Boy, Home Plate, and Bowling Alley. I'm not sure of the scale but the boy stands about 4 1/2 inches tall without his hat. I painted this one mostly by the instructions, but I substituted my own paints for the ones supplied in the kit, which were old and rather worn out. My main departure was the fish, which they wanted gray and silver. I tried to make it look more like a largemouth bass. There's a guy selling the Bowling Alley kit on eBay for $80.00. It's missing the entire front half of the man in the scene. I got this, complete, for half that, although the boy was glued together and his hair was already painted. The middle photo shows the fish, and the bottom picture shows a little bunny peeking out at the base of the stump. There are other nice touches, like the slingshot and can of worms. All in all, a great little scene.

 

 

 

Kit of the Day: Wire Hair Terrier

Since not one single solitary human being on Planet Earth saw fit to comment on my Pteranodon, I thought perhaps a cute little doggie might bring some kind of response.


Reply, dammit!

Kit of the Day: Pteranodon

I found this at a Goodwill store for a mere $4.00 and decided to move it to the top of my to-be-built pile (actually, a tbb room with many piles of kits therein). It stands 15 inches tall and I had to epoxy a couple of peach-sized rocks into the back of the cliff to prevent it from flopping over on its face. The baby pteranodon is supposed to be twins, but half of the face of one was missing so I carved out the other half and rescribed the wing in hopes of making it look natural. The sea is a piece of velvet paper I balled up, flattened, and painted with acrylic to make whitecaps. As for the guano, I'm just guessing that pteranodon droppings are that color. Thank you very much.

 

 

Drakkar Oseberg

A recent completion is this Viking ship in 1/180 scale from Smer. Drakkar means dragon, but it doesn't have the typical dragon's head on the prow. The finished model is about 5 inches long. The fit of the parts was very good and I a swell time building it. Some day I will do the larger Viking ship I have in my TBB (to be built) room.

Kit of the Day: Collie

Here's a collie I call Champion Denton's Laddie Good Boy. He's another plastic model kit from Bachmann that was issued in the early 1960s. The paints that come with these kits are hard little buttons that are supposed to melt when mixed with Bachmann's thinner--a tolulene solution. The colors that came with this kit weren't for this pooch so I used oils and mixed the shades as best I could.

Kit of the Day--Standard Poodle

 

In the early 1960s, Bachmann manufactured model kits of animals and birds that were well-made, attractive, and simple to assemble and paint. Plus, everything needed to complete these kits came in the box: paints, brush, thinner/glue, dog, and stand. I recently got this poodle, along with a collie, on eBay and completed it last night (really, just a few hours ago, but it's after midnight). The instructions call for him to be either all black, white, brown, or silver, which made painting pretty simple. I opted to use black, then mixed a very dark gray to paint the shaved areas on his waist, legs, face, and tail. Finally, I used silver to dry brush highlights on the fur. I'm reasonably satisfied with the result.

 

Kit of the Day

Sassy the Kitten

In an effort to get more young girls to build models, Revell created four kits of cute, cuddly animals. They were marketed between 1957 and 1962, but the little ladies preferred Tiny Tears or Barbie and the idea flopped. Along with Sassy the Kitten were Perri the Squirrel, Teddy the Koala Bear, and Friskie the Beagle Puppy. Price guide values for these kits today range from $75-100, but I've seen a Perri on eBay for less than that for over a year with no takers.

Kit of the Day

 

   Wooo! Scary, kids, right? Or it would be except for one thing...

...IT HAS NO BODY! Who in the name of Nimitz thought that a shark head would make a good model kit? Even the lobster and long horn bug had bodies. Or thoraxes, or whatever they have. It's a shame, too, because the head is very nicely done and if it had the rest of the fish it might have made a good display. But they went ahead and did this without consulting me first, so this is the best they could come up with.

     I don't think we're going to need a bigger boat.

Kit of the Day

Want to make a movie or diorama about a giant bug invading Tokyo? How about this kit of an eight-inch Long Horn Beetle. As you can see by the box, It Walks! That's because it comes with a tiny motor that propels it along. The maker is Bandai, a Japanese firm that also makes regular model kits.

The Alamo Falls

On this day in 1836 the Alamo fell to the forces of Mexican dictator General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. The Cap'n salutes the brave defenders of the Alamo.

Milestones

What a week so far. It's Linda's birthday today and last night her mother died. Plus, our sewer is clogged.

Corinne Johnson Wise, nee Krona, was 95. For her final 15 days she ingested neither food nor liquids. One tough old bird. She was married to Russell Johnson (no, not the Professor from Gilligan's Island) for around 60 years, and after he died married Fred Wise. Fred passed away about seven years ago.

Happy Birthday, Ma

My mother turned 90 today. I'm happy to report she's doing very well and living on her own in a seniors' apartment complex.

If I would credit anything to her longevity it's housework. She has always been phobic about keeping the home tidy and spotless. I remember visiting her about ten years ago and staying in the guest room. I got up one morning to go to the can and when I got out a few minutes later the bed was made.

She is also deathly afraid of rodents.

Playing Catchup

     I was having trouble with my blog during January, it wouldn't allow me to browse for photos. Today I tried again and it worked. I love capricious computers.

     So let me mention a few items that went unheralded since I stopped blogging.

Jan 16--my father's birthday. Alas, he died in 1977, age 59, of emphysema. Thanks, Chesterfields.
Jan 17--I got out of the Army.
Feb 1--Molly, my German shepherd, turned two. That's her in the photo with her frisbee.


     I spent about a week in the middle of January with a cold. I still have a cough but feel fine.

     I really didn't expect this blog to work properly so I have nothing else prepared.

     The Superbowl ended a few hours ago and while I wasn't surprised by the outcome I have to say it wasn't what I'd hoped for. There weren't too many boneheaded calls by the officials but a couple of them hurt the Niners and may have affected the outcome of the game.


     And so it goes.