Some of you might find this interesting - or NOT - (ranging from funny to disturbing).
Today (Monday) Justin Beiberand his bride of a year, celebrated a "formal" wedding ceremony at nearby Palmetto Bluff, just outside Bluffton. The video below is long (watch as little or as much as you like) but gives some idea of the style of this pricey community in a nature preserve on the May River that I live across from - and can see across the river, with its 5-star Hotel Montage.
My second job - limo driving - takes us there often to drop and pick up at the Montage hotel or some of the multi-million dollar residneces. The wedding couple insisted that the entire 20,000 acre resort be shut down for the wedding. He actually paid hotel guests to leave earlyand the hotel ordered them to cut short their vacations and leave by noon yesterday (Sunday). And get this, local residents of the village were told they were not allowed to use the facilities on site (5 restaraunts, 3 pools, golf, world-class shooting range, kayaking, boat docks, horse stables, tennis courts, 4-lane bowling alley, etc.)
So we had the busiest day ever, driving a number of parties from the hotel to the Savannah airport.
The place is a very expensive, very shee shee, yet extremely understated, and low key. Only 2,000 acres of the entire 20,000 are allowed to be developed. And virtually all of the homes and buildings are "Low-Country Cottage" or similarly rustic. You'd have to see it to understand how posh, how tasteful, yet how remote it is.
* My take: for a fraction of the cost, he could have fed thousnads of homeless, or paid college tuition for hundreds.
Added later: I just now realized the father of the bride is Stephen Baldwin. zzzzzzzzz!
Mark - Your story about Renior, Rigault and Monet is wonderful and gave me a good laugh. I had never heard it before. I got a kick reading it, thanks for sharing it.
And here is one last - rather one more art thingy if any of you are interested. I have a blog page that I update once a month with a piece of art and/or photos. It is at www.landoflarry.com. I posted another pencil sketch and accompaning photos.
That's a rare post - part political, part sentimental.
As with other tv we remember from childhood, the plotlines and humor of all those shows reflect writers and acting styles heavily influenced by vaudeville.
Also, when we were children, we watched television mostly as a family. And not All The Time. Don't know about you but in grade school I watched Mickey Mouse Club with my sisters after school and then watched whatever my parents were watching - as a family, sitting on our "davenport" - in the evening. One tv set. Three channels. And the tv set got turned off at night because there were no broadcasts to watch, so it wasn't omnipresent, potentially part of our lives every single moment of the day. It knew its place. It stayed downstairs when we went upstairs, curled up on the rug down there and went to sleep, more like a pet than a participant capable of nosing in on our lives 24-7. It was a healthy, upstairs-downstairs domestic alignment.
I know I am not saying anything that everybody doesn't know already, but it's just worth musing over -- how much modern telecommunications influence our lives in a way they did not, back in the day - when life, if you stop to thing about it, was more REAL - experienced first-hand rather than via cell phones and 24-hour news cycles and even this oblique techno-communication you and I are having right now.
Why, I'm so old I can remember clear back when "comedy" was funny.
I can even remember when there were good family dramas, with actual literary or historical content. Even some live dramas.
My 3 grandkids know about angry unicorns and fighting ninjas. But they have never heard of Cowboys and Indians. Or Pioneers, or Mountain Men, or Revolutionary War figures. Or Robin Hood, or Pirates, or Knights in Shining Armor.
Wow! I must be old.
Ohh Poncho! Ohh Cisco!
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Did Lightening just strike on the post before you? That long-winded post just before you reminded me of a guy in our class with the initials D.B.
Gosh Dave!!!! You know a lot of stuff about a lot of stuff. You ought to watch Jeopardy with Fred Clem. He gives out answers before I finish reading them. I bet you two would be a tough match-up. I just heard from Steve Royer's wife, Lynn. She is one of my favorite people and would be a challenge to you and Freddie as well.
I think it's more like a terrible curiosity - almost to the point of addiction. But I could never hold a candle to Fred's memory. And you are obviously very well read yourself.
P.s. Keep the compliments coming. I'll get a check out to you in the mail as soon as I can.
Autumn officially began less than 2 weeks ago today. It is my favorite season but it is way too brief! I just checked the weather on NOAA for this coming week. Our low temperature on Thursday is predicted to be 22 degrees F with snow "flurries" here in Colorado Springs; in Estes Park, 12 degrees and more snow.
On Friday I was up in the Cripple Creek/Victor mining district for my last chance to photograph the changing aspen trees. This is ~10,000 feet in elevation. It was a perfect day and the aspens there were at the peak of their color:
However, the winds were quite brisk and with every puff the leaves were falling like snowflakes:
The wind gusts were even stronger yesterday and today and I believe that my timing was perfect since I suspect by tonight most of the trees will be bare and prepared for the oncoming winter. Timing is essential when seeking out these colors and this year I lucked out.
As a "Look Back to Autumn" I clicked off a frame that says it all: (I have shared this shot with a few of you on other venues so pardon the repetition!)
Jim - I like those new pics of yours, thanks for posting them.
Yesterday I went through some boxes and found an item I hadn't seen in years. And obviously I was a good little boy because you can see that I never burned the candle at both ends! Just saying...
Since we went to Catholic schools I thought this would be the best place to share it. The note from 1955 is in my mother's handwriting.
Jim, beautiful photos that capture the essence of fall. Larry, what a treasured keepsake....especially your Mom's note.
I was blessed to have spent last week at the ocean, enjoying the majesty of God's creation....Carolina blue skies, gorgeous sunrises, amazing sunsets and soft ocean breezes. The meme below particularly resonated with me, not only because Ohio had 90 degree temps last week and this morning it was 55 degrees, but particularly because an hour into our trip with my daughter drving just as we approached Athens and the OU exit, we noticed red, white, blue flashing lights behind us. Apparently, the speed limits go up and down along a small stretch of highway and we missed the change from 70 mph to 55 mph. Result.....$150 donation to Athens County!!!
Larry – What the heck was a First Communion candle? Was that a thing? Obviously it was, since you have one, but I don't recall having one, nor can I imagine how it was used. It looks a little big to be something one would have carried during the ceremony.
Tangentally related, I do have a recollection of an ordeal concerning my first Confession. As you all probably remember, we were drilled for a few weeks prior to the event about what to expect, and it was made sure that we had memorized the Act of Contrition. The thing that threw me was the opening line where we were instructed to say, "Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee...." At that age, I was unaware of the word "heartily" and thought I was supposed to say, " Oh my God, I am hardly sorry for having offended Thee...." This just didn't seem right to me, but that is what Sister Clotine (?) had been drilling us with, so who was I to judge? However, just to be safe, before entering the confessional, I said a little pre-prayer to let God know I was in fact truly sorry, and not hardly sorry, as I was about to proclaim.
And boy, those sins of a six year-old, they must have been whoppers. I wouldn't want to be a priest on the receiving end of first Confession day. His ears must have been on fire.
Not sure how good your "Buckeye memories" are, but I just saw something fun on the Monday Night football game between the 49'ers, and the Browns.
Former OSU standout and rookie LB for San Francisco - NIck Bosa - just sacked Browns QB Baker Mayfield, then got up, celebrating his sack and made a motion like he was waving a flag, eventually planting it in the ground - with emphasis!
A memory of a bad night a few years ago in the "shoe" with Oklahoma.
Note: I wrote a much more offensive post than this and pulled it - cleaned it up - A LOT
But I just cannot let this one go.
Tonight, I am sad for my country.
As a Conservative who loves to disagree with Conservatives, and a Christian who loves to call out "Christians", I would normally be the last person on earth to agree with Pat Roberston.
But we are about to sell the brave, loyal Kurdish people's down the river into a certain genocide at the hands of another one of our great leader's buddies - Mr. Erdogan.
And at least Robertson is speaking out about it. I may not be down with his "mandate from heaven" nonsense, but my God - isn't this enough to finally draw out some of the cowardly Republicans who have been trembling in fear, and hiding behind the water cooler all this time?
The ring of toilet scum is really floating to the top now. This is the height of cowardice and betrayal.
There will be blood.
The Kurds will be anihilated! Or driven onto al-Assad's camp - amazing!
And we will all still have to face our grandchildren.
