Remember the Alamo

             On March 6, 1936, the Alamo fell to the forces of General Santa Anna after a 13-day siege.

Baby's First Haircut

Okay, it may not be earth-shattering in your world but these little milestones are important to me and I like to celebrate them on my blog. I've also posted these pictures on Facebook. She behaved very nicely through it, too. Sofia is three years and three months old.

Happy Birthday, Linda

Two days after my mother's birthday is my wife's. Here she is when she was a tad younger.

Happy birthday, Mom

Yep, my mother (Gloria Marie Newsome) is 91 years old today. She lives in her own place and gets along pretty well. Here she is 73 years earlier. 

How Do You Eat?

      When I was in the fifth grade I noticed a kid sitting across from me in the lunch room eat his meal. He opened his metal lunch box, took out his sandwich, and ate it. Next he did the same to some chips. Then an apple. Finally, a Hostess cupcake. His food consumed, he drank his half-pint of milk.

     I was appalled. Who taught this kid to consume a meal, I wondered.

     I have my own system and it goes like this: I have a bite of each item in turn--sometimes combining a couple of them--until I have exactly one bite each of everything on my plate, which I then consume. I sip my beverage as needed. Now, I'm not overboard with this method. I don't assess the number of bites each dish will require. I don't mentally weigh or measure each item to accomplish an even finish to the meal. It just flows naturally for me. I barely realize I'm doing it.
     If we have bread, I always make sure there's enough left to sop up any gravy or meat drippings, too. I have this last.

     How about you?

SEAHAWKS RULE

                            43-8. Need I say more? We are the                                   best. Go Seahawks!

             

Happy Birthday, Molly

My, how our puppy has grown. Three years old today.

In Your Face, Doubters

I hope they can win one more for The Griper.

Happy Birthday, Champ

On January 16, 1918, my father was born. Robert David Napier. A WWII veteran, Purple Heart recipient, and career Navy man. He taught me to fish, played catch, and we watched baseball together, which is where I learned the game and learned to like it. In this photo, taken circa 1940, he's in Cuba doing who-knows-what. Sadly, he died in 1977 courtesy of the Chesterfields he loved so much.

Merry Christmas (or what have you.)

I hope Santa brings you everything you deserve.

33 Years Ago Today

John Lennon was killed by a disgusting little puke whose name is not fit to mention. John's legacy lives on with me, a Beatlemaniac to the end.

Pearl Harbor Day

The Cap'n salutes all who served.

Happy Birthday Kristine

Happy Birthday to my baby girl, now 23 and married. She's been a joy to us every day of her life.

Happy Birthday Uncle Georgie

On this day in 1839, George Armstrong Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio. Garryowen in Glory.

T-Town Sites 10

Mount Rainier is visible from anywhere in Tacoma, assuming a tree or building isn't blocking your view. But the best place to see it, in my opinion, is across the flightline of McChord Field. With two miles of flat ground before the nearest tree line, you can see not only the mountain but a large swath of the Cascade Mountain Range. Rainier is a volcano about 60 miles away as the crow flies, and I hope it doesn't have any plans to blow its top any time soon.

Sofia's Birthday Bash

I posted this on Facebook but not here, curse me for a witling. Granddaughter Sofia turned three yesterday and here are a couple of shots from her party. It's hard to believe she's grown so much. We're all very proud of the princess and love her dearly.

The Tally-Ho Coach

     Another of my many model kits is the Tally-Ho Coach. The one on top, from Revell, is the original issue. The lower one, from Universal Powermasters Corporation, is the reissue. Notice the different size boxes. You'd think the one from UPC is much larger. Wrong, stable breath. They're both the same kit from the same molds. UPC was a packager who rented molds not in use by other companies to reissue various kits. If I ever build this I'll let you know what it looks like.


     A followup to yesterday's birthday notice. Linda and I went to the Muckleshoot Casino. I was losing at first so we took a break to have their lunch buffet (or boo-fay as an ex-coworker used to say). I had a very good salad followed by the worst hunk of alleged prime rib to ever disgrace a plate. I spit out the second bite and let the busser take it away with the scraps. The piece of chicken I had wasn't much better. The side dishes and desserts were fine.
     I've eaten there many times and never had a bad item so this was a bit of a shock. Luckily I had enough Player's Club credits so I didn't have to pay for the meal.
    After lunch I went back to my favorite game and ended up $131 ahead.
     I also got some nice presents from the family. Thanks, family. End of report.

Happy Birthday to Me

That's me, center, with Ron Harris (left) and Steve Stilwell. We're at Art Scott's house after a San Francisco Bouchercon. Oh, to be that weight again.

Happy Veteran's Day

A salute to my fellow vets, especially my father and uncles George and Gene.

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.