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mininghorn88

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Everything posted by mininghorn88

  1. Union Pacific released in 1939 starring Barbara Stanwyck with Joel McCrea, Brian Donlev and Robert Preston. A railroad agent (McCrea) faces treachery from an old friend (Preston) as he struggles to ensure the completion of the Union Pacific. Both McCrea and Preston have set their sights on Stanwyck, the Postmistress for the railroad. It was directed by Cecile B. DeMille so naturally you can expect a big production. Union Pacific loaned four 1860's period locomotives to the production along with 37 railcars. The production also laid 6 miles of railroad track which meant they owned their own railroad. As such, the production company was granted a Regulation Railroad Operating License from the Interstate Commerce Commission. I enjoyed the movie. It does seem to get lost when you mention all of the other great movies released, in arguably the greatest movie year ever, 1939. This movie has it all fake Irish accents, good guys, bad, guys, Indians, and comic relief sidekicks. Stand By for Action released in 1942 starring Robert Taylor with Charles Laughton, Brian Donlevy and Walter Brennan. An Ivy League reservist (Taylor) and a bootstrap veteran (Donlevy) save the convoy of an admiral (Laughton) during World War Two. Though not a comedy this is a light-hearted war film. It has its light moments rescuing a boatload of women and children. Plus Laughton pays an affable admiral while trying to be stern and serious has some quite funny lines to say. A typical hero-in-the-end movie. It is worth the watch just for Laughton's performance.
  2. She will not know that. Expect disaster!
  3. There is a chance that the gas will make that plastic soft and could rupture and spill. Dumb.
  4. Glad you asked this question, my son is a geologist with a minor in Geographic Information Science (GIS). Could not figure out how to apply that to this conversation as that is the only GIS I knew of.
  5. For whatever reason I had never applied that logic. Makes sense. My grandparents did not have hot water in their meager home until 1986. They grew up without it and never bothered to have it installed. They were born in 1915 and 1917 respectively. I remember going to their house to spend the night and my grandmother boiling water on the stove so that I could take a hot bath. Their house was pier and beam and was poorly insulated. It would get cold in the bathroom too. They were some tough folks.
  6. Settings for TV shows and movies can be problematic for those that have the even the slightest knowledge of geography. It can be downright comical at times where they are supposed to be in one location but the scenery just does not align. Prior to Covid we would have a lot more visitors to our factory in NE Texas and they were always surprised about the environment because of all of the trees. This was particularly true for almost 100% of the foreign visitors. All of their exposure to Texas were westerns and cattle drives where it was all like West Texas or the Hill Country.
  7. Love it. Had know idea there were words to the tune. Learned something.
  8. It is difficult to know exactly how people will respond. I had an aunt that passed away this past January at the age of 82. She had seven children. 3 boys and 4 girls. She was preceded in death by all three sons and her husband. The youngest son died in an industrial accident at the age of 30 in 1996. About 2-1/2 years (1998) later she lost her husband to a heart attack at the age of 61. 11 months later (1999) her oldest son, 43 years old, was shot and killed by an armed assailant breaking into his (my cousin's) place of business. My cousin's son was also shot during the robbery and is paralyzed from the waist down. Lastly, her middle son committed suicide at the age of 46 in 2005. I was very close to the youngest as we were the same age. As a family we were always doing stuff together. I never knew my aunt to be a very religious woman but once these events started to occur she really threw herself into her faith. She realized that she could not get through this alone and knew that she needed the power of the God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit to get her through the most difficult of times.
  9. Recently went on an old movie watching binge. On an Island with You released in 1948 starring Esther Williams with Peter Lawford, Ricardo Montalban, Jimmy Durante and Cyd Charisse. While filming a movie in the South Pacific a Navy pilot (Lawford) kidnaps an aquatic movie star (Williams) and flies her to a private island hoping to woo her away from her co-star and fiance (Montalban). Spoiler: he does end up with her. The usual, "heck with accuracy" moments in the movie occurs, but one really jumps out at me. Montalban is playing a US Navy pilot in the movie that they are filming in the plot. Lawford plays an advisor for the movie they are filming as he is an actual Navy pilot. He complains to the director that Montalban will not pass as a US Navy pilot because of his Spanish accent. This is a funny statement as Lawford clearly has a British accent where he has been cast as the US Navy pilot. Secondly, Williams and Charisse have been tanned up to play islanders. Both Williams and Charisse are looking pretty good in the movie. It was an OK movie for me. Love the periiod color technology. Skirts Ahoy! released in 1952 starring Esther Williams, Joan Evans and Vivian Blaine. Unlucky in love, three women join the WAVES to see the world and meet men. I wasn't too crazy about hits one. Again, like the 1950's color technology. Dangerous Mission released in 1954 starring Victor Mature with Piper Laurie and Vincent Price. A young woman flees to Montana's Glacier National Park after seeing a mob slaying in New York. Price is sent there to knock her off and Mature is there to catch the killer. I enjoyed this movie for the most part. Interesting to see how the city-slickers dressed up for western adventures. Plus it was fun to watch Mature wrestle with a down, live power line. Spoiler: he should be dead! And again, I really like the color look of these early movies. Dead Reckoning released in 1947 starring Humphrey Bogart with Lizabeth Scott and Morris Carnovsky. A World War II hero solves his buddy's murder, starting with a singer and a nightclub owner. I really enjoyed this movie. A classic Bogart role. Scott reminds me of Bacall. Citizen Kane released in 1941 starring Orson Welled with Joseph Cotten and Ruth Warrick. Enigmatic newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane rises, falls and leaves behind a riddle with his dying breath. Yep, I understand why this movie is so good. I watch a lot of old movies. There are several take-aways I gather from them but two that really stand out are: 1. The people are much younger than what they appear on camera. I will look at their age when a movie was made and am always surprised at how young they actually are. Did all people just look older then? 2. It seems like all of the leading men were usually always much older than the starlets.
  10. We have entered a period where everything is scrutinized to the nth degree and people feel empowered to speak against the slightest of anything that does not “fit” their agenda. And people are so sensitive today that others cave in to these demands. Common sense evades so many people. Disney recently revamped Snow White’s Scary Adventure ride at DW to make it more kid friendly so as to not “scare” then and make it more relevant. People are still pissed about the ride in saying that Disney still missed the mark because the Prince kissed a sleeping Snow White without her permission! “It teaches sexual aggression against women” they say. It is a freakin fairy tale! Get a life!!! The University did their study of the song and made a statement. I hope that they stick by their words.
  11. 47+28. I looked at it. 8+7 =15. Keep the 5 and carry the 1. 1+4+2=7. Put them together and you get 75. Then I read the topic title again. Wait, what? Is this a trick question? Does it not equal 75? I do the math in my head again, yep, 75. What am I missing? Then I read the thread and see the different methods. How can something so simple be so complicated?!!
  12. I read his post before it was deleted. A totally classless post. One thing about Surly is that no matter how irreverent we can be at times, this event has brought out the humanity and emotional side of many of us. It has definitely put into perspective the value of life and the love that we have and share for those near to us as well as an extended Longhorn family. Neg WankerBob to Bolivia.
  13. My daughter (UT grad 2014) texted me as she is just finding out. I am at the gym trying to work out and hold the tears back. Wish my kids were in hugging distance. Told her I love her. Sending my love to my son now.
  14. I hiked most of the Cumberland Gap National Park last June. Provided are some of my favored pics of Hensley Settlement.
  15. RIP. Such a sad ordeal. Prayers to the family.
  16. Acho has been making the rounds on TV promoting his recent book and by chance I have caught a few of the interviews. I know that he is trying to make a point but IMO, some of his examples about how he has been treated is some sort of humble-brag. The prime example that he refers to is that people say, "You are too smart to be black".
  17. I am going superficial here, but do the people that are crying foul over the song even attend events, namely sporting, that this song is predominantly sung?
  18. Before 10am not a problem. After 4pm begins to be an issue. However, I deal with a lot of international folks so I am always on Team calls at odd hours.
  19. I wonder how many iterations it took to find that “perfect” drink for Mo? With 20 to 30 different ingredients how do you know if 3 pumps of vanilla is better than 2 or 4? Maybe having 6 pumps of vanilla may have taken this drink off the charts?! Just give me a regular coffee with a bit of milk and sugar to cut the bitterness.
  20. Like a boss.
  21. Yellowstone? We were up there back in late October and you needed a Hubbell Telescope to see them they were so far off. Fortunately there were some of the "wolf spotters/chasers" that had some powerful scopes with them that they let us look through. Even then they were hard to see. but still...got to see'em. That and grizzly 399 and her cubs in the Tetons.
  22. That is awesome that you have much of his stuff. Ensure that the uniform is properly stored as moths love wool! No matter the cleanliness of your house moths always show up!
  23. Was this snake in the wild? If it is in Texas then it must be some type of rattler unless some idoit let an exotic viper loose.
  24. Fortunately my boss has already told me that I can work from wherever I want to as long as I have internet connection. He knows that I enjoy hiking, etc. and that I have a daughter and granddaughter that lives in Chapel Hill, NC so he has basically said that to go for it and work from wherever. Prior to Covid I was on the road 30%+ of the time anyway traveling domestically and internationally. With that said, I will probably go into the office one or two days a week just to catch up on the equipment that is being manufactured in the shop and to interface with those guys a bit more.
  25. She is a good mom, she just has her moments.
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