Remember and Treasure

This post is unforgivably late. Several thing that demanded my attention bottle necked and chose today to do it.

We set aside this day to remember our fallen Military Hero's be they family, friends or strangers who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. When we think of those who went before us it's impossible to not include others who never wore a uniform. I don't think the service men and women mind that we honor all of our fallen at the same time.

One way I chose to spend the day is to treasure the loved ones still with us. Make sure the children know the stories of generations before them. Remember family is more than blood.

Most of all don't assume those here today will still be here the next time you want to see them. All too often they are not. Don't be lulled into believing age has anything to do with the time a person has left. I wish it were that simple. We all have things we have been intending to say to loved ones be it a child, friend, parent or wife.

The only time you're sure you have is now.

One for the Money DVD

Last week the DVD of One for the Money was released. Helene and I got our copy a couple of days ago. Finding a time to watch it was no problem. TV offerings of late have been sad at best.

Even if you saw the movie in the theater and weren’t planning to get the DVD, at least rent one and check it out. Quite a bit of footage has been edited into the DVD that, we at least, didn’t see at multiplex in January. It felt like a different movie.

For years theaters and theater chains have edited down films for a number of reasons. Usually, it’s to be able to get in an extra showing in a day to increase revenue. The most extreme case of this that comes to mind is the war epic MIDWAY that was released in the 1970’s. It felt ‘choppy’ when I first saw it at the theater in Amarillo. When HBO ran the film a year later I found out why. The movie site claims only 33 minutes were added to the film but it felt much longer. The entire Battle of Coral Sea was taken out. Should you ever get a chance to see the entire film it will make much more sense.

What happened to One for the Money didn’t feel that extreme. At the theater in College Station, Texas it was listed as running one hundred and six minutes. The DVD runs ninety one minutes. I’m guessing that means they took out around twenty minutes to get in all the between the film fillers, commercials by any other name. The slightly longer scenes and little extras in the DVD give the film a much more polished feel. It’s a pity we couldn’t have seen this version on the big screen.

Sadly, this movie didn’t set the theater world on fire. Realistically I don’t think having this version on the big screen would have made any difference. I loved the film, as did my wife and all of the Plum fans we have talked too, but for whatever reason OFTM just didn’t grab the public. I think it will live on forever as a cult classic, like FIREFLY, but I will be surprised if there are any more Stephanie Plum movies. Pleasantly to be sure, but surprised.

I really hope I’m wrong.

Saturday At Camp Hearn POW Camp

This Saturday (05/19/2012) Helene and I spent a very pleasant day at the Camp Hearn POW Camp Museum open house. An Amateur Radio Club from College Station had come out with a portable Antenna and radios. In the course of the day they talked to other Ham Radio Operators all over the world.

The Museum is in a newly constructed barracks building of the type that housed German POW’s during World War Two. Helene and I were in the first room of the museum with a display of firearms that would have been used in and around the camp by the American Guards. Another gentleman brought a World War Two Jeep that delighted the crowd. In addition to answering questions about the guns I also shared stories about the Second World War, both the war it’s self and the home front.

One of the highlights of the day was an address given by former POW, Mr. Heino Erichson. Mr. Erichson was a serving with the Africa Corps when captured by British Forces. Due to overcrowding in British Camps he was send to the United States. After a short time in Camp Hearn he ended the war in a POW Camp in Kentucky.

If you find yourself anywhere near Hearn, Texas you might consider stopping at the Camp Hearn POW Camp Museum. Its well worth your time to stop and explore a part of history seldom covered in the detail it deserves. They are open Wednesday thru Saturday 11:00AMto 4:00PM.

Monsters

I remember watching monster movies as a kid. King Kong and Godzilla didn’t scare me that much. They were sixty feet tall for crying out loud! You could see them coming for miles. I figured anyone they caught had it coming.

Vampires and Werewolves scared the hell out of me. They could hide under my bed or in my closet. That didn’t keep me out of the movies (still doesn’t) but I paid for it.

What’s with this business about Vampires having to be invited into your house? Once they are, you can’t keep them out. Then I saw an old movie when I was a kid in Nevada where a vampire looked down a door mat that said "Welcome" and replied "Thank you" and went in. I don't think my Mother ever knew why our door mats that said welcome either disappeared or got something spilled on them.

Those monsters were scary, but they were fun. Other monsters are not. I do what I can to guard against home invaders and have shown folks how they can protect themselves against stalkers. Regardless how well you prepare bad things still happen.

There are other monsters, one that has haunted me since I was old enough to grasp its existence. This one puts Godzilla, and Vampires, and even home invaders to shame.

Cancer is the monster that hides inside me. I had known of it even as a child, but it was something terrible that happened to someone else. There are different kinds of cancer. In my twenties I watched a friend in his thirties get eaten alive with it in a matter of months.

A few years ago I sat in a hospital room and watched my Mother die by inches. Her last week she was gone, but the body was still breathing. I held her hand, looked into sightless eyes, and remembered the woman she had been.

Not long ago I got the news myself. It was all I could do not to go screaming into the woods when the doctor told me I was positive for prostate cancer. The good news (and trust me friends and neighbors – that was a hard sell) is that prostate cancer is very slow moving. I now realize that rather than months I still have years even if it goes untreated. I will assure you all now I have not wasted any time with my doctor even discussing not seeking treatment.

The doctor assures me we caught it early enough for treatment. He says I’m young (nice to know someone considers 59 young) and in reasonably good health. We discussed options.

To me, the only realistic option is surgery, but the doctor assures me I am too fat to survive it at the moment. I guess he knows what he’s talking about.

So…I am now on the Nutrimed diet system. This is more a supervised fast than a diet. My regular doctor assures me it’s better than starvation. I’ll get back to you on that. The most telling aspect of the situation, for folks who have known me, is that I haven’t been tempted to cheat – even once.

I don’t plan to make this blog a place to whine about my problems, but there will be a new topic heading that deals with my new battle from time to time.

I promise the next post will be much more fun and interesting.

Look At The Cat - Then Read

I have been busting out laughing when this pops into my head for the last week!