Tales from the Highway

Highway 127, that is.  Home of the World's Largest Yard Sale!

I have been wanting to do a little part of it for ages now, so it's about time we made it happen.  The damn road comes within a half hour of Louisville, after all,  People from around here go ever year.

I really didn't want to get out in the traffic and crowds, so we headed to a large stop in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky that boasted over 400 vendors, indoors and out.  There honestly weren't anywhere near that many sellers, but we also went on Sunday.  I could see there being a lot more folks earlier in the week.

I wanted to get to a spot where I could do a lot of shopping, but also get some last day bargains.  I think that definitely happened.  Five minutes after we got there, I was hauling stuff to Mazda.  I really wanted to get several larger pieces, and limit the smalls to either items that I don't have any (or many) of or things that were way too cheap to pass up.  I did pretty good on both fronts.

This amazing rusty old trunk had all kinds of vintage papers in the bottom of it.  I'll have a little more on them later.

It also had four different price tags on it--one on top of the other--reflecting price changes throughout the sale.  The one of the bottom was for ten dollars.  On top of that was an eight dollar sticker.  Then a five dollar sticker.  Then a seven dollar sticker.  Yes, they went back up on the price again!  I don't know what that's about.  I offered five and they took it.

This chair and plant stand came from a woman who said that they had just put her mother-in-law in long term care and were selling her things.  She was distressed that she still had so many large items left, so I tried to help.

My school desk inventory has dwindled down to two, so I let myself get this puppy for five bucks.  It's one of the biggest and sturdiest I have ever found.  My big ole butt can fit in it!

And finally, the smalls.  There were dollar tables and quarter tables and free tables galore, and I was right there in the middle of them.

You know me and the Fisher Price toys.  Can't pass 'em by.  The tall one is called a "Tumble Tower."  You move the marbles from level to level by pulling and pushing on the levers.  My brother had one of these when he was very young.  I enjoyed playing with it too.

This was the only book I bought, believe it or not.

The bridle and bit were in the rusty trunk, along with the black ledger book.  Some of the pages are a little water damaged, but it's still cool.  That trunk yielded some of the best finds.  The small things are printer's blocks for photos.

I really don't need any bottles right now, but these were only a quarter each.  I know everyone likes to go for the older bottles that may have held medicine or liquor, but I have a real soft spot for every day consumer containers of useful products, particularly when they still have the labels.  I remember my mother using Dippity Do in a jar like that.  I was most tickled to get both a glss Bayer aspirin bottle and a glass St Joseph's aspirin bottle, with caps.  The stopper in the larger One-A-Day bottle is glass.  The white bottle with the pump is for Jergen's lotion.  My grandmother always had a bottle of that on her dresser.  I also got some smaller jars that I am keeping to put buttons and such in. 

I really liked wandering around and looking at all the goods for sale.  It reminded me of the roadside country flea markets I grew up with.  I've spent time at those kind of places with both my parents, my grandparents, and even my great grandparents.  Good memories.

The heat was just awful, as it has been most days here, with stifling humidity.  I'm glad we didn't plan on doing any more stops.  I'm not sure I could have taken it.  I was worn out by the time we got home from dealing with the heat.

I don't know that I'll ever be expanding my 127 shopping beyond that one stop.  I prefer my highway sales happen in cooler months, like the Highway 60 in October.  Nevertheless, a good time was had by all.

By the Power of Grayskull!

This is another edition of "Stuff I Haven't Shown You Yet."  This time, I'm finally going to reveal the much-hinted at coolest find from our last junk set out.  Hold on to your hats folks!

There is a vintage store not far from the house that always yields a few good pieces of furniture during set outs.  When I was a vendor there, I used to raid the trash cans all the time. I still go by there every so often on trash night and check things out.

The alley that runs behind the store dead-ends abruptly.  It's also very narrow, making it hard to turn Mazda around.  A couple of doors down from the store, I saw some scattered pieces of a what looked like a castle lying in a heap.  Jokingly, I asked Keith:  "Is that Castle Grayskull?"

I got out of the van to guide Keith, so he could back up and turn Mazda around.  At this point, I looked at that pile again and saw the figures!  I ran to the van and said:  "It is!  It is Castle Grayskull!" and proceeded to scoop it all up.

This is a decent set of figures. There are sixteen all together, along with one guy who is not in the picture because he's missing both his legs. Orko is missing, along with Skeletor and Battle Cat, it's still a great set.  He-Man himself is here, along with Prince Adam, his other identity.  

Sadly, the playset itself is incomplete, so no Castle Grayskull pics, since some really major parts are missing.  Sniff!  I only have part of it, so I am totally not sure what to do with it.

On the other hand, there are also several vehicles.

I also found one of the mini-comics which came with the toys.  I already have several of these, but nowhere near the full set.

This is hands down the most exciting thing that I have ever found while doing the junk hunt on the curbs of our neighborhood.  Sheer awesomeness.

If you will excuse me, I have to go dig out my He-Man DVD sets.  I feel an afternoon of cartoons coming on. Believe it or not, Keith didn't get the Castle Grayskull reference.  These mixed nerd-normal marriages are rough some times.  I feel like making him watch the cartoons with me, to further his education.

Monday Rambles

RUNNING LATE

It may be Tuesday when you read this, but come Hell or high water, it's going up tonight.  I was kind of tuckered out from the jaunt yesterday, so I stayed in and rested.  I've been writing a little bit at a time through the day.  I spilled coffee on my keyboard and mouse, which killed the mouse and sent me scrambling around the house to find another one, further delaying me. 

MY WHAT A CLEAN EDDIE!

I guess I'll crawl out of the shower and do this week's ramble. I've been in there ever since Friday when we finally got the new hot water heater and turned the agua back on.  I've never been more grateful for a material item in my life.  I finally feel really, truly clean again.

Also this:

The kitty's happy.  We're happy.  Everyone's happy.  And all is right with the world.

CAN YOU HANDLE IT???

Cuteness overload alert!  Pink Hello Kitty cowgirl boots!

Seen in a friend's booth at the Peddlers Mall

Also, Hello Kitty does sushi.

A VIRGIN NO MORE!

Like I said in yesterday's post, I finally made it over to part of the 127 sale. (What exactly did you think this section would be about???)  I still have to take pics of everything, so I'm holding off on the full details for another couple of days.  I will say this:  MANOMAN WAS IT HOT! 

Otherwise, I am back on my shopping moratorium, until the Labor Day Big Flea.

TREASURES

Speaking of moratoriums and such, how about a couple of things I haven't shown you?

I found this late 50's edition of a Masonic encyclopedia in a trash pile during set out.  The cover is kind of scuffed, because someone tossed it on the pavement in the alley where I found it. Interestingly, a couple of years ago, I found a late 50's edition of Morals and Dogma not too far from the spot when this one was found. 

I looked for an entry on the Illuminati, but there wasn't one, probably because this was the second of two volumes and started with the M's.

I've come to the realization that I could very easily be collecting flower frogs, if I'm not careful.  I'm kind of fascinated with them, especially the unique ones like these.

I found this wooden hashtag at a church sale.  The seller said that I had just missed the @ sign, which someone had just bought.  I'm debating tracking down some wooden letters and making a big sign that says:

#getyourbuttinthisboothandbuyallofmycrap

AGAINST ALL ODDS

Last Tuesday was treatment day, and it was full of snags, which is highly unusual.  Typically, we are in at 8 and out by 12:30, with the longest part being the wait for the lab results and the wait for the pharmacy to send the drug over.  We were kind of on a tight schedule, because we were under the (mistaken) impression that we would be getting the water heater that afternoon.

So of course, my port was clogged.  No labs out of that puppy!  They tried everything to get it to work, with no luck.  So they sent for the drug that unblocks ports, which added an extra pharmacy wait.  To keep on schedule, we all decided to try one of my raggedy-ass veins for the blood draw for the labs.  Two sticks.  No blood.  Not my day.

They injected my port with the declogger, and sent me down to the clinic to wait.  It takes 45 minutes for that stuff to work, on top of the wait I was going to have for the labs (once they got them drawn) and the drug.  By that point, we were making back up plans for Keith to leave me at the clinic and go home to meet the plumber.  We figured it was probably inevitable.

Except that it wasn't.  My labs came back so fast that I couldn't believe it, and the wait for the drug only took about half as long as normal.  We were actually walking out the door at 12:30, just like always.

Of course, we didn't get the water heater that day, but I'll still take a small victory. 

SAD NEWS

The Go-Gos are on their farewell tour.  My favorite band of all time is calling it quits.  I guess seeing them live is one item that won't get crossed off my bucket list.  I'm kinda bummed.

Admittedly, it hasn't been the same in recent years, since Kathy Valentine got let go, but I was still holding out hope for one more album.  Hopefully, they'll all come back together again, when/if the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame finally pulls its head out of its ass and admits them.  Hello, people!  We're only talking the first all female band who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the charts.

HAPPY NEWS

On the other hand, there's an awesome set coming out next month with alternate takes, remasters, out-takes, and just general treasures from the classic Trio albums recorded by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and my supremely beloved Emmylou Harris.

They can't perform together any more, since Ronstadt's Parkinson's prevents her from singing, so it's wonderful to have this tribute to the beautiful harmonies the three of them made for decades.

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Mural on the wall of a bar down the street from the house.  The place is called Kaiju, which is the Japanese word for those big-ass classic monsters, like Godzilla.  The side panel used to say "The end is near, so have a beer."  I don't know why they took that off.

AND FINALLY

How about some music for Monday (night)?

What's in Mazda?

Very late in the day Mazda post, but we just got back from our little jaunt on Highway 127.  (Well, we did stop first and leave this all at the Peddlers Mall.)

I'll have more details and stories and such in a couple of days.  In the meantime, take a gander in Mazda and tell me what you think. 

Retro Y'all!

Watch Toto in this clip.  He's so intently watching off stage for his next cue that it's really endearing.  It's so cute watching him get ready to raise his paw over and over.

PS WE HAVE WATER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Little Hell on the Prairie

"I would have made a terrible pioneer."

That is the conclusion I come to every time we have to go without power due to a storm or whatever.  The reason I don't go camping with Keith any more than I do (which is very rarely) is because I do not like roughing it.  When I do go, my one rule is that the campground has to have a shower and real toilets.

In other words, I don't like going without water. So, guess what?

We still don't have water!!!!!!

It's a long story, but it's part of the perils of living in a 100 year old shotgun house that you bought from the family that had been there practically since the beginning who added the whole back end of the house on themselves some time around 1950.  Or 1970.  Or something a while ago.

The new water heater won't fit into the little closet, in part because the old one won't fit through the door to come out!  Yes, in this family there is something that is stuck in the closet.  Ironic, isn't it?  I have a theory that the closet was built around the hot water heater after it was installed.

Oh, yeah.  It's also not up to code, since there is not enough space around the water heater.  Since the family did it themselves, they never had it inspected, which is how they got away with that.  I'm still pondering how that did not get caught when the home inspection was done before we bought the place, especially since several other of their DIY jobs were identified and had to be corrected.

Keith is filling buckets of water at work so we can flush, and we're handling everything else with gallons of water from the store and no rinse cleaning products, which make my hair all stringy and itchy.

We're running through our friends now to find someone who can take the walls down for us, so the water heater can be installed.  We're trying to avoid the expense of a contractor for such a small job.  Hopefully, we'll have water by the weekend, next Monday at the latest.

In the meantime, I'm starting a club for reluctant, irate, and slightly incompetent pioneers.

Stuff I Haven't Shown You (Comicon Edition)

I've never been good at doing posts in a totally timely manner, which is why I've ended up with stuff that I haven't shown you in the first place.  In other words, it's not really that surprising that I went to the Derby City Comic Con last month, but am just now getting around to writing about it.  Of course, given that the really biggie Comic-Con just happened in San Diego, I could argue that this is kind of timely, but I won't.

When I first started attending cons, I was really into the whole fandom scene.  I'd  go to panels and showings and all that stuff.  Of course, I'd spend a lot of time on the con floor, browsing and shopping and what not.  I even went to the San Diego con and worked booths a couple of times!  Those days are long behind me.

Nowadays, I treat cons like the Big Flea--opportunities to shop.  There are lots of comics to be had and lots of bargains to be found.  Usually, my priority at a con is to fond stuff for me and my collection, or at least stuff I want to read and then sell.  Finding stuff that goes right to the booth is a bonus.

Since I went on Sunday, I didn't take any pictures.  There weren't that many folks in costume on the last day.  I didn't see him, but I know Spider-Man was there, because I saw his van parked outside.

He must have been doing some serious shopping, since he's parked in front of the bank across the street from the convention center.

Speaking of serious shopping, this was my deal of the day.

Five HARDCOVER graphic novels for 20 bucks!  The two in front retail for 35 each!  There's a dealer there who buys things on clearance from the distributor and then sells them for five bucks each at the con.  If you buy four, you get one free!  Lots of interesting reading here.

By the way, I'm limiting this post mainly to the stuff I bought for me.

I always buy the original Classics Illustrated when I can find them cheap.  I lucked into these for 50 cents each!  I have so many of these now that I often end up buying something I already have.  In those cases, the duplicates go right to the booth.  This was one of the rare cases when I actually found a bunch of issues that I did not already have.

I picked up this series because it looked interesting.  The covers did what good comic covers are supposed to do, grabbed my attention.  You'd be surprised how rare that is these days.

Coverless comics from the sixties.  Comics without covers are not really worth that much, so they're usually pretty cheap.  I pick them up and use them as place holders in my collection, especially if they're from series--like the one of the right--that I don't have many of.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this one.  On the one hand, I love, love, love the older, extra thick, 25 cent giant issues, from any company.  On the other hand, I'm not really that wild about the old MGM cartoon characters.  I'm much more of a Warner Brothers and Disney kind of guy when it comes to classic cartoons.  This one might go to the booth.

Stuff I got because it looked interesting (and it was cheap!)  A whole lot of the comics I got came from a dude that has a new shop in town that I hadn't heard of before.  It's not far from the house.  I need to get over there and check it out.  Another dealer that I got some stuff from looked so familiar that it drove me crazy trying to think of who he was.  Finally, I remembered that he's one of the guys I run into at every yard sale where they have comics.  And that he annoys the living shit out of me.

A few issues from what I consider to be the greatest era of super-hero comics--the Silver Age! (roughly late 50-s to early 70's)  I got all of these from a guy that I see all the time at the Big Flea.  I was kind of surprised that he didn't recognize me, since he always knows who I am there.

ROMANCE COMICS!!!!!  Be still my heart.  Sigh!  The cover of the one of the left is particularly striking.

One booth buy that I will show here is this lot of toys.

They were all in a box marked "Show Special!  One dollar each!"  I circled it all afternoon and plotted.  And watched.  And counted.  And calculated.  And waited.  Finally, during the last half hour of the con, as folks were starting to pack up, I went back to that booth, picked up the whole box and asked about an offer for the lot.

I was a little taken aback when the dealer kind of defensively grabbed the large Batman out of the box before answering.  He asked me what I was thinking as far as a price.  I offered 12 bucks.  I had been planning to go 10, but the way he grabbed that Batman made me think I probably shouldn't lowball.  At that, he put the Batman back in the lot (whew!) and countered with 15.  I took it, since I was figuring that was where we'd end up anyway.  There's still plenty of room in that for me to make some money.

The Fantastic Four toys are mostly from the first FF movie. The Doctor Doom has two little spots on his back. 

If you place your finger over them, you complete the electrical circuit and he lights up.

DOOM ON!

DOOM OFF!

 The current is so mild that you don't even feel it.  I used to have a Pikachu that would shout its name when you completed the circuit.  Nerd stuff is fun stuff.

I'll keep a couple of the Robin figures, for my dresser top collection.  They're all from the late 80's.

A plethora of Boy Wonders!  (Boys Wonder?)

I'm calling this dude "Fashion Plate Hulk."

Waaah!  Hulk rip Brogans!

This summer started off very slow for comics, and I was getting worried.  With the Comicon, I was finally able to lay in a good stash for the booth.  There was a sale last week at the comic shop that helped too.  I came away from that with a large lot for the booth and, of course, some for me.

My stash includes this nice batch of 1970's Superman comics.  For 50 cents each!  What a deal.  It always amazes me when I wade into a nerd herd and people are passing stuff like this up.  It seems like most of the younger collectors are only interested in the most current stuff, so a lot of the older stuff like this gets passed by, even when it's dirt cheap.  It's kind of sad, because these are some really great comics.

On the other hand, that leaves more for me! 

Day Late and a Dollar Short Non-Ramble

Apologies all, but there's no time to ramble this morning. 

We've been without water since Friday (!), when our hot water heater gave up the ghost.  Water was just pouring out of the bottom.  It's so old that the valve on top that is supposed to cut off supply to the heater wouldn't budge, so we had to cut off water to the house.

We thought the new water heater was coming on Saturday, but apparently Lowe's plumbing department doesn't know how their installation department works--or doesn't on weekends.

I'm moving booths today (more on that later), so I have to run.  I took a quick wash up using some of Keith's camping supplies.  I'll do a proper ramble later in the week.

The worst part about having no water is trying to explain to Chiquito that the bathroom faucet isn't working.  He doesn't seem to believe it.

Poor guy!

Retro Y'all!

This one is for Donna.  She knows why.

Well, good!

I do hate it when the zebras are laying around all strewn about!  "Nothing worse than a willy-nilly pile of zebras!"  That's what Aunt Tilda always said!

Things I Used to Own

One of those fun little thrills of junking happens when you find something that you used to own.  I don't necessarily mean the exact item, although that has happened to several people I know, including me.  (I once found several comics with my name on them at a local flea market when I was a kid.)

Most commonly, this involves finding something just like one you used ot have or another copy of a thing you had.  Like this book:

When I was about 8 or 9, my tonsils were removed.  My grandparents got me this book as a get well gift.  I don't know whatever happened to my copy, but I think it probably was given away during one of the purges my mother did after my parents divorced.  We moved a few times after that, but every place we lived was a lot smaller than the house my parents had bought.  Some stuff had to go.

I found this copy at a book sale and just had to pick it up.  I was immediately struck by the illustrations.  Instead of the serene reverence of a lot of religious art, these figures all have an almost tangible sense of action and power.

Take these pics of some of the Minor Prophets from the Old Testament.  I can just imagine the guys in these drawings giving the dishonest and corrupt of their era seven different kinds of holy hell.

This is Jonah raging at Nineveh.  Is it any wonder the city repented?  He almost looks fanatical here!

Next we have Micah, who appears to be getting ready to go to a Star Trek convention.  Not sure what's up with the hand signs, but love the colors in this one.

I forget who this one is (I didn't take notes when I took the pics), but doesn't he look ferocious?  It's all quite different from the tranquil images of saints at prayer that I'm used to seeing.  I really like it.

Finally, for some contrast, we have Solomon, who was quite the snazzy dresser, it seems.

What kinds of things have you found that you used to own?-

Stuff I Haven't Shown You

I'm not hitting any sales right now at all, in an effort to work through some of my eternal backlog.  It's actually starting to work.  I plan on keeping this up until the October junk set out, with an exception for the Labor Day Big Flea and a Highway 127 stop in August, provided I can talk Keith into it.  I will, however, be constantly on the hunt for freebies, since finding free stuff isn't shopping.  I may have to bend the rules if I start to run low on specific stuff, like manga or comics, that are always good sellers for me.

As I'm digging  into the stuff, I'm finding things that are quite blog-worthy, even if they aren't current finds.  Since the current finds will be scarce for a while, I'm going to share these other finds in posts I'll be calling "Stuff I Haven't Shown You."  Or "Stuff I Didn't Show You."  Or something like that.

I found this puppy at Goodwill for a DOLLAR!

I am now in B Movie heaven!  I needed this too.  It's good for at least a couple oddball film festivals.  You gotta have some downtime after working the booths, you know.

Beware the photo-bombing Monkey!

Super-cute kitty creamer.  It reminds me of something you would find in one of Linda's cubbies.  With the paw extended to form the spout like that, it also reminds me of a certain handsome furry fellow.

I fell in love with this Ike and Mamie plate, solely for the look on her face.

Doesn't she look like she's up to something, or at the very least knows something he doesn't?

The scene in this little dish just cracks me up.  Sorry about the glare.  The caption reads:  "Sairey Gamp Entertains Betsy Prio."  How can you not love it?  It's the kind of thing I would have put in my mother's Christmas stocking.

I got several large pictures with religious themes mounted on foamboard at a yard sale a while back.   On the back, a lot of them have the initials "CHF" on them, which stands for Cathedral Heritage Foundation.  I am thinking that these were some of the presentation pieces used for fundraising for the renovation of the cathedral here, which took place about ten or so years ago.

Backing that shot up, since the pics are already at the booth, you can see an aluminum lawn chair and an extremely large metal file box.

On the way to a sale, I found what seem to be the busted pieces of an old sewing machine in an alley.  I salvaged the ones that were most intact and interesting, including this one, which I'm thinking is the logo for the manufacturer.

Finally, what do you do with your comics when you're through with them?  Why, compost them, of course!

Just kidding.  Actually, you send them to me.  This oddity was a Free Comic Book Day find.  It's a prime example of some of the really strange things that got published during the underground comix era.  I love weird stuff like this!
That's it for this round.  I'll try to do these once a week or so.

Monday Rambles

HAVE WE MET?

Well, hello again, friends!  I've not had many opportunities for blogging lately, but I have missed you.  There's lots to share, so let's get started.

EDDIE UPDATE

I haven't talked a lot about the cancer stuff lately, because there really isn't anything changing.  I get my treatments every three weeks, and things continue to go well.  I had another scan at the end of last month, and everything still looks good.  I qualified for an assistance program from the drug company, so my co-pays are now taken care of, which is nice.

I seem to finally have all the steroid withdrawal over with, so things are returning to normal on that front.  The blood sugar is lots better, and I've dropped a few pounds.  Not many.  Just a few.

I had a sinus thing going on last week that kept me out of action for a few days.  It seems to be clearing up, although I still have a head full of yucky stuff.  I feel like all I do is blow my nose.  And cough. A lot.  I'm afraid that I may accidentally blow one of my lungs out my nose when I get on a coughing jag.  Hate it when that happens.

I've always been prone to stuff settling in my chest, which then takes forever to clear out.  I've actually coughed so hard before that strangers have come up to me and told me I need to stop smoking!  And I don't smoke!

The sinus thing started last Tuesday, which was also a treatment day.  Since I was already planning a stay-at-home low key week, I was in a great spot to just stay in bed and rest. Things really worked out well, and Chiquito liked it too.

BOOTH UPDATE

Well, sales are a little better this month, but not by much.  It's very fits and starts right now.  I did HUGE over the July 4th weekend, but then took the rest of the month up to this past weekend to double that amount.  The crying of the blues will continue until further notice.  I'm moving lots of stuff, but it's nearly all small, lower priced items right now.

It seems like on the days when I do sell a larger, higher-priced piece or two, that's all I sell.  The mix is off in my sales totals.  Still, they are higher than last month, for the most part.  

I moved out of the booth with the pole smack dab in the middle of the entrance to a space right next to may other spaces.  Less walking for me.  I like having all my spaces together.

At the same time, one of my college roommates, who also had a booth in our mall, got a new job and had to give up his booth due to time issues.  He gave me and another vendor about 75% of what was in his booth--FOR FREE!  I've been kind of awash in stuff from that.  Really nice stuff to boot.  He does a lot of woodworking and repurposing kinds of stuff, and some of his projects were included in the items he gave us.

Slow sales are causing a lot of vendors to leave, but there's also been an influx of new folks.  Open spaces in out store get snapped up pretty quickly, often by existing vendors.  The manager told me at the beginning of the month that there wer so many vendors swapping out spaces that it was almost like a jigsaw puzzle. 

This was one booth's closing sign.

I had been intending forever to get a pic of the "Buy from the BUNNY" sign to put in the blog, because I just love it.  I never got around to it, until it was time to say "Bye Bye Bunny."  Sad.

Of course, since I was out all last week, I'm planning on spending all this week at the booth trying to pull things back together.  I'm hoping to take new pics, since an update post is long overdue.  I just need to remember.  That's the hard part.

DVD OF THE WEEK

This is a favorite movie of mine and I like to pull it out and watch it from time to time.  Martin Sheen and Trevor Howard work so well together and their scenes just shine throughout the whole film.

Religious politics and inner working fascinate me, especially with the Catholic Church.  I am constantly reading up on various aspects of the way the church operates.  One of my favorite subjects is the tension that exists between the newer course the church has taken since Vatican II and Catholics of a more traditional/conservative bent. 

This 1973 TV (!) movie (based on a novel by Bryan Moore) examines that tension with Sheen playing a young priest sent to get a recalcitrant Howard and the monks of his monastery to update and move along with the times.  The story is set in a fictional time after two more church councils have brought even more changes, and the monks have become steadfast and reactionary.

Like I said, the acting is exemplary and the story avoids any easy answers as the men strive to understand each other and seek a resolution.  The ending is haunting.

Given the current tension that exists between the current, very progressive, Pope and many more conservative bishops and cardinals, this 40 year old movie is surprisingly timely.  Well worth hunting down. 

STUFF UPDATE

Since sales have been so slow lately cutting back on going to yard sales and such.  I'm in "clear out the backlog" mode instead.  I did buy a bunch of manga over the weekend, but I was really low on it.  That was the first major purchase I've made all month.

Since that means I won't have any new things to share here, I'm taking a different approach to doing finds posts.  Check in tomorrow for the first installment.

MUSIC FOR MONDAYS

Have a tune for the first of the week.



Since the FBI officially closed the DB Cooper case last week, I thought this was an appropriate way to mark the occasion. 

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

Now we're all caught up!  Thanks for stopping by!

Retro Y'all!

I highly recommend doing a YouTube search for this song.  There are an amazing variety of covers by some awesome artists though the ages.  You'd be surprised.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Well, do you?

DO YOU?

Pokemon for Adults

Kickapoo, I choose you!

Literary Discovery

I just found out that someone wrote a book about my childhood.

I wasn't totally sure it was about me, until I saw the title of the second chapter.  My friends and I formed a little club called "The Peculiar Views."  It's what little nerdlings do.  We referred to our meetings as "entertainments."  If was going to a meeting, I would tell my mother I was going to "entertain peculiar views."

I am not sure how they got that picture of me.

If you all will excuse me, I need to go see someone about some royalties.

Retro Y'all (Current Events Edition)

In light of everything that has happened over the past week, this was the only thing fit to share today.  My heart is breaking right now.



We've got to find a way.