My Dad's Wake and Funeral Times

My father's wake will be Monday, Feb 27th, from 6pm to 8pm at Norris Funeral Home in Bay Minette, Alabama.

His funeral will be Tuesday, Feb 28th at 11am. The procession will begin at Norris Funeral Home and there will be a graveside service upon arrival.

James Earl Wilson

My father, James Earl Wilson, passed away this evening at 635pm. He was surrounded by my family, my mother and myself.

Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive of my family and myself during his illness. I will post times for the wake and funeral as soon as the arrangements are finalized.

My Dad is in Heaven enjoying the embrace of the Lord. I look forward to the day when I can play catch with him once again.

Friday Morning

I have found that playing with templates is a good way to lose yourself.

Either that or I have the worse case of OCD in the history of mankind.

I received a phone call while at work yesterday from my mother telling me that I needed to come home as soon as possible. She said my father did not have long left. He did not sleep Wednesday night at all. For the first time throughout this entire saga, he complained of pain. My mother tended to him the best she could until she called the nurse to come. The nurse sat beside my father and took his pulse and recorded his breathing. His breathing stopped several times and then restarted. The nurse said that congestion had started to settle in my fathers chest. She told my mother that he did not have long left.

I arrived at home to find my aunt and uncle there who I have not seen since I was a small child. This my fathers sister. The nurse was still there and he was being bathed by a hospice worker. When the worker was done, I walked into the room to find him sitting up with his trademark grin. He always seems to rebound after these baths it seems. However, it wasn't long before he weakened again. He strained to cough up the congestion. I had a chance to speak to the nurse before she left. She told me that even though she was optimistic about the way he looked after he bath, she said that he may have anywhere to 2 days to a week. He slept most of the day while family members and friends came and went. About 7pm last night, everyone finally departed. My wife came over from work early and I told her to go home and rest and come back in the morning. My Mom went to sleep after being up over 24 hours and my Aunt settled in to watch television. I came back to the back room and relaxed in the solitude. The house had been so warm during the day with everyone milling around but now began to cool off. I got on my laptop and started playing around with my template again. Not really because I did not like the other, it was simply something to do. Anything to get my mind off what has occured today and everything that is to come.

My mother and I are going later today to make my fathers arrangements. My mother in law suggested it and I think its a good idea. She told us that we did not need the possible confusion when the time comes. She deals with funeral homes and death on a daily basis with her job. I respect her advice. I am scheduled to work overtime Saturday morning and I plan on being at work. My supervisors have been very good to me and its only right that I am there when they need me. Everybody there has been so supportive of me. I will never forget that. I really hated having to leave them like I did yesterday. I have leave scheduled from Tuesday on to next Sunday. My wife and I were going to try and work in our yard but that plan is on hold right now. I plan later today to try and work on balancing my parents checkbook and pay their bills. My wife and I should be at home tonight.

I will post again when I can. Once again, thanks for the support.

The Lincoln Conspirators - David Herold

Due to the response I have had over my Lincoln assassination stories, I thought I would take a moment and focus on one of the conspirators and relate their stories. I will tell this persons story as I remember it and not rely on any one article or book. A person will find that depending on which account you read the facts will differ somewhat. However, the story is always about the same sans details. The focus of this installment is David Herold.

David Herold was a pharmacists clerk in Washington who managed to befriend John Wilkes Booth during the kidnap phase. I can't remember exactly how Booth and Herold met. They may have become familiar with each other due to the fact that Booth was able to smuggle medicine through the lines to the South during the war. Booth being an actor actually traveled to and from Richmond regularly for shows. It seemed that professional tradesmen were able to go to and from the lines with regularity.

Herold was in the group of conspirators during the illfated kidnap plot. Herold would be basically called upon to do "gopher" work. He was considered "slow" and not used very much other than to deliver medicines from the pharmacy. After the Lincoln kidnap plot was abandoned after the futile attempt was made ( more on that in a future post ), most of the conspirators disbanded. Herold was one of them that remained close. Booth at this time disgarded the kidnap plan and decided that he and the others that remained would attempt to assassinate members of Lincoln's cabinet. Herold was useless as a murderer. However, he was assigned to accompany Lewis Paine to the household of Secretary of State William Seward. On the night of April 14th, Herold led Paine to the Seward household. He waited outside and within moments heard the screams from the house as Paine began his attempted killing spree. Certain that Paine was killing everyone in the house ( in fact, no one died but several were seriously injured including Secretary Seward ), Herold tied Paine's horse to a tree and left the scene. Had Paine left with Herold, there might have been a good chance that Paine might have escaped and never been caught. Herold met up with Booth in southern Maryland and they continued south. Booth, of course, had injured his leg jumping from the Presidential Box at Ford's Theater. They decided that they would seek out medical attention. The duo went to the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd, a known Confederate sympathizer in the area. Mudd set Booth's leg and the duo remained with the Mudd family for a few days. Booth and Herold continued their journey by living in the underbrush until they made it into Virginia. Near present day Bowling Green, Va, the two spent the night in the tobacco barn of a man named Garrett. This was where Federal cavalry caught up with the pair. Surrounding the barn, Herold gave up and Booth was shot by Sgt. Boston Corbett as the barn was set on fire. Booth later died on the Garrett front porch. Herold and the body of Booth were returned to Washington.

The photograph of Herold was taken on board the monitor USS Saugus, I believe. It might have been on the USS Montauk. The body of Booth underwent an autopsy very near where this photo was taken. Herold was imprisoned with the rest of the conspirators at the Arensal Pententitary in Washington. He was put on trial with the other conspirators. There was no nope of acquittal for Herold. He was found with the assassin trying to escape. He was found guilty and sentenced to hang. Herold did not seem to understand what was happening when his death sentence was read to him. He was visited by this mother and seven sisters on the day of the execution. It was said that their crying wails were heard all over the prison. Herold was led to the gallows along with Paine and the others. Terrified, Herold shook violently while he was being bound. He had no last words. After the trap was sprung, Herold did not die immediately, instead suffering massive convulsions while hanging. There is somewhat of a dispute on whether or not Paine or Herold survived the longest. Most accounts say Paine. Herold's body is the one that has the tan or gray pants on with his head leaning back toward the sky. He is buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington.




Another bit of trivia concerning David Herold. In the 70's, a movie was made called The Lincoln Conspiracy. This movie had the premise that Booth escaped and the Federal cavalry caught Herold while shooting another person who looked like Booth. Rather than admit their mistake, the goverment let Herold hang and did not persue the "real" Booth. The actor who played Herold was none other than Fred "Gopher" Grandy from The Love Boat and later Congressman from Iowa!!!

Dignity

I had a terrible day at work today and everyone knew it. When I get in a mood, I get in a good one. Having to work with certain people and seeing their bad choices how to go through life not withstanding, about 50% of my mood today was focused on my father.

Over the years, I have read and watched certain movies that dealt with terminally ill patients and how they lived the remainder of their lives. Little did I know that that one day I would be in the same situation. You never tend to think about it happening to you or a family member. My father was placed in a rehab facility before he was diagnosed to having his brain tumors. A very short while after he left, he told us stories of how other patients beside himself were talked down too and were not properly cared for. (Something I intend to follow up on one day with possible legal action....I do not forget anything.) After his hospitalization and his return home is when thing in my head really started to gel. I will sit and watch him and see his little eyes pan the room then back at me.....he would make a slight smile and then stare straight ahead. Its not all about how a person deals with his illness but how a person lives his life with the simple thing as dignity. My wife made the remark when he was at the rehab center that he had a sour smell. My Dad always prided himself on keeping himself very clean. He worked a job that required him to be in filth and grime. He would return home from work about 4pm and head straight for the shower and then come out for dinner clean as a whistle. Now its a struggle for him to do the simplest of things. He cannot hardly lift himself, let alone walk. His left arm is paralyzed. Everything he needs or wants he has to helped with. Since he has been moved to hospice care, a male nurse comes to clean him every weekday. My mother has been doing the best she can but it is hard for her to lift him to bathe him. Last Friday, the gentleman came to bathe my Dad. I stepped out of the room to give them privacy. I could overhear the nurse tell my father that he would make him all clean where he wouldnt even know himself. After the nurse finished and left, I went in to see him. My Dad looked so restful. He looked up at me and smiled. Not only are his sanitary concerns better, my father's dignity has been restored.

I really do not know what I am trying to say here. I feel myself rambling. I have had him on my mind all day. I called my mother after I got off work and she said he didnt sleep good last night. He would call out for people who were not there. Sometimes I do not know what to do. However, I do know that he is being taken care of. He is being treated like a human being should in that situation. My father may have a terminal illness, but he also has his dignity. That maybe the most important thing of all of this. I apologize for my rambling post. I just felt I need to write about him since he has been on my mind all day.

Good Timing?

NBC 15 :: Close to Home - SPECIAL REPORT: Travel Trouble?

I saw Mobile County School Superintendant Harold Dodge today and I spoke to him briefly telling him what a wonderful job I think he is doing with the Mobile County School System....he thanked me and said he wished that everyone would feel that way but unfortunately he cannot stay out of the front pages of the paper.....

I came home from work and found this on the WPMI website. LOL

Geez...talk about bad timing!

A Short ...and NOT so Sweet Movie Review

Yep, the Grand Poobah beat me to it.....but.....

I hated it.

Its a animated movie BASED on a comic that is BASED on the original comic.

As much as they updated it and called it modern.....it still does not come no where near capturing the magic of the original Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

The best part of the DVD and the only reason I bought it actually was the interviews in the special features. George Perez is simply the man. Kurt Busiek, who wrote the Avengers brilliant return in volume three, has interesting remarks but I take him to task due to some of his statements I have seen on message boards about other things. However, he was nice enough to actually have visited this blog and comment ages ago.

I loved how they highlighted the original comic and concept with artwork from all volumes. They gave a look at a ton of artwork from the Avengers clashes with the Squadron Supreme from both volume one and three.

Other than that, I hated it. Storywise. Animation was great. Just such a shame they couldn't have used the ORIGINAL characters and plots. Oh well......life goes on.

"...how now?"

Ok...I think I have been working too hard.....

but.....

I have just seen a truck go by with a giant brown cow on a trailer.....

huge I mean......probably at least 10 to 12 in height......

then I realized.....

its probably a prop for a Mardi Gras float.....

but if it wasn't......

just think of the milk you could get from her.....

just a thought.....

Monday Afternoon

Well, I just got back from my visit to Planet Fitness and I finally have time to sit down and jot down a few thoughts.....here we go.

I was pleasantly surprised by my trip to Planet Fitness. When Ender and I signed up Saturday afternoon, I must admit that I thinking that I was joining a meat market. However, they really pressed the issue that this was a non traditional gym. Planet Fitness catered to persons of all backgrounds and fitness levels and its members abided by very strict rules of conduct. When I walked in the door, I knew it was going to take me a while to get used to the place. I did 30 minutes on the treadmill and 15 minutes on the stationary bike. I must admit I was really looking around and everything and everybody and I didn't give my Lyra and good ol' Benjamin Franklin my whole attention. On a short sidebar, walking up to the door I noticed a blue motorcycle that looked very familiar...yes it was the chariot of my friend Rip. The ol' Ripper broke it down for me outside the gym and told me what to expect. With a promise of meeting us one day, the Ripper roared out of sight, buffed and ready for whatever trouble he can get into.

I want to welcome the Grand Poobah to the evergrowing list of bloggers. Poobah, Bad Leroy Brown and Ender are SLOWLY formulating our plans for a small Internet venture that we hope to start very soon. We have been unable to all get together due to our conflicting schedules but once we get everything together, I think its going to fun.

Speaking of The Grand Poobah, we had a couple of fun things happen today. Poobah had a handheld version of Trivial Pursuit. One of the first questions he asked was "How many people were executed after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln?" We all looked up and laughed. I said confidently "4". I got it right. LOL Poobah also made the wisecrack of the year so far. I told him that I downloaded a program called Audacity that we might use in this upcoming venture. Poobah didnt miss a beat and said. "Yeah, I downloaded one also....it was called Unmitigated Gall!" It was a great moment. Score one for The Grand Poobah!

Speaking of blogs of friends, if you are a James Bond fan, then you need to drop by the blog of The Butler Did It!. Its contains all the gorgeous women, global intrigue, futuristic gadgets, and shaken, not stirred commentary. Then he starts talking about Bond. LOL Just kidding!! Great post!

Bad Leroy Brown is going to write his autobiography it seems. Trust me, you do NOT want to miss it!

Well, thats all I have for you guys right now. Peace.

Saturday Morning

Good Morning......here is whats happening with us at the moment.

I just took our dog Samantha in for her yearly checkup. She loves to ride in the car until she sees where she is going...then I have to practically carry her inside. I will be picking her up in a couple of hours.

After dropping her off, I killed an hour in Wal-mart waiting for the flea market to open up. Nothing really new in the store. I still haven't found The Flash on DVD yet. No bowling bags to be found. However, they do have Starlog magazine. I would have bought it if the Internet didn't exist. All of their news is old now.

My flea market trip wasn't every eventful today. I was able to pick up 2 copies of NEW AVENGERS #16. Nothing spectacular. I just do not see how Marvel is making money. Their stories aren't appealing to me. The upcoming CIVIL WAR event looks promising and the first cover art work to FANTASTIC FOUR #536 appeared yesterday with the return of Thor hinted at...or at least Thor's Hammer. Concerning Marvel's covers, there was a post of one of the comic boards where a person stated that he wished Marvel would go back to the cover styles from the 70's and 80's where the cover art actually reflected what was going on in the story rather than have art of the characters in heroic poses. Of course, this is done because 1) its easier to market these covers again if the run of the story arc is put out as a trade paperback...and 2) and the main reason I would surmise is the fact that the artist can knock these covers out way ahead of the story being written therefore they are not locked in to a deadline to get them produced. I would think that Marvel probably has multiple art pieces ready for all their characters from multiple artists to be put out at their leisure. Anyway....next week doesn't look any better with only Supreme Power: Hyperion #4 being released.

My wife and I watched Elizabethtown last night. Enjoyable movie. Kirsten Dunst played a character that is the exact copy I believe of a girl we used to work with. Cupcake??? LOL. Who would have ever thought that Orlando Bloom and Gailard HeeHaw Sartain would have ever been in a movie together. I loved the way it ended showing his road trip with his father's ashes. If Kirsten Dunst's character isn't suffering from a touch of OCD then I guess I am ok then. LOL.

I am going to sign up for the gym today with Ender after he gets off work. I have to go get busy on my health.

Well, time to sign off. Peace out.

My Friend David

Its funny how life is.

I was coming back to my mothers house today from picking up a few things from the store. As I pulled in, I noticed that a car was in the driveway. I just assumed it was the hospice nurse but I noticed a man sitting on the front porch wearing an Alabama hat talking to my Mom. When I got out of my car, I noticed it was someone I have not seen in about 25 years.

David is a friend of mine who lived around the corner from us when I was growing up. When he was born, David had a terrible heart condition. He had to endure multiple heart operations while he was a kid. Due to this fact, David spent a lot of time out of school and was developmently behind most of his classmates. As he grew up, David's heart slowly began to get stronger. The contingent of kids in our neighborhood were aware of his condition and we all looked out for him. Whenver we played football, we always allowed David to be the quarterback. Not that we felt sorry for him mind you....but he was good at it. David could really throw a football. However, we did not tackle him nor did we put him in the position where he could exert himself....such as running. David attended school with us for a while but was sent to the "special" class due to his being so far behind everyone else. I can remember early on that when we all got off the bus, David would look at us and wave and walk to where his classroom was at. I can remember those days. The classroom for special education was located at the very far corner of our school. There was no sidewalk or walkway to it. Remember these were the days that accessible considerations were not addressed. David tried to make it through these classes but it proved too much for him. He never had any physical problems other than getting short of breath now and again. It did not make sense to me why he all of a sudden quit going to school. We remained close for a short time afterward until time started to take its toll and as all the kids started growing up, our priorities started changing. I drifted away from David. I would see him now and again as he would go in and out of his parents house. I assumed that he was given a home education. Then I got married and moved away.

I walked onto our carport where he was talking to my mother and he said "Where did all of your hair go?" I told him down the drain....LOL. I embraced him. David is now 42 years old but he has not changed hardly any. And I mean that. None. He still looked and even dressed the same. David was always dressed very nice, something he got from his mother who is 84 now and I know still as sweet as ever. We talked over old times and he told us the story of his father passing just before Christmas and his mother being in bad health. My thoughts turned to his well being if that should happen. However, David has an older brother and sister who still live close. Once again, the past memories of us playing football and goofing off as kids all came back.

David has done well. He took care of his father while he was sick and doing the same with his mother. David doesn't work. He never has as far as I can know. David is certainly more than capable of holding down a job but I can see why he hasn't. He has been through more as a kid than I have in my whole lifetime.

As he got up to leave, I told him that I will be back next Friday if he can come by again. I need to go and visit his mother. I enjoyed seeing him today. I have missed my friend David.

Back at Home

well, I thought I would post once more before I take a nap. I have had a dull headache all day today and I really want to get rid of it. Ugh.

One thing I did while I was waiting for the hospice nurse to finish bathing my Dad was jump on the laptop and finished editing this blog. I deleted a lot of the posts that I just looked back and thought "Why?" LOL. Some of them I now regret deleting....the Hurricane Katrina posts I should have saved. I guess I am so introspective right now is the reason why. Some of them I can keep going......which reminds me....Dr. Evil hasn't phoned in lately. Maybe I can coerce him to give me a call.

I have had a lot of people ask me about the post concerning Lewis Paine and the Lincoln assassination. I am glad that so many people are interested in it and surprised that a lot of people didnt know that all of that took place. I am now kicking myself because I had some books at my parents house I wanted to bring home with me and forgot. Anyway, I want to make two book recommendations for anyone wanting more infomation on the assassination. One book is called Lincoln's Assassins by James L. Swanson and Daniel R. Weinberg. I have this book at home. Excellent. It is unique in the fact that for its cover, the authors put the picture of the actual hanging moments after the trap was dropped. This is a very rare photograph that is not shown very much and in fact it is hard to find even on the Internet.




The second book is Kennedy & Lincoln: Medical and Ballistic Comparisons of Their Assassinations by Dr. John K. Lattimer. Dr. Lattimer can be seen on documentaries on the Lincoln assassinations from time to time. I read this book my first year in college and used it on a research paper I did on the murder.

Well, time to see if I can get rid of this headache before Nanners comes home.

Update on My Father

I am currently at my parents house spending the day with them. I left work early yesterday to come over and spend some time with my mother and father. I found out late Thursday afternoon that the home health nurse recommended my father be set up for home hospice care. When my mother and I last talked to his doctor, he told us when it got to the point of him qualifing for hospice care, then his time with us will limited.

My father does not talk much anymore. When he does, its real strained and raspy. He tends not to watch television but simply stares into space. I do not know if these symptoms are due to his brain tumors or him simply falling into a depression. He does give me a smile from time to time. Most of the time he looks like he is daydreaming. One thing I am thankful for is that Dad is not experiencing any type of pain. My mother told me that my fathers blood pressure dropped very low Wednesday and the nurse couldn't find it. Another nurse was called and said it was very low.

I have very mixed feelings about my Dad's situation. My mother and I both know what is to come. I really hope that my Dad is comfortable and at peace. I believe that he is. He has been visited by local ministers and one that has been my Dads friend for a long time. Maybe this peacefulness that he is having now will continue. Thank goodness he has not suffered through agonizing pain.

My Dad's hospice nurse is with him now. This will be a big help to my Mom. She has been so strong thru this. I am so proud of her.

An Open Letter to Bad Leroy Brown

Street Beat: The Uncut Truth

Bad Leroy Brown posted this concerning his bad day at work. Let me add something on a personal note.

I appreicated it when you talked to me when I was disenchanted about things at work.

I really enjoy working beside you. Days that you are not there are definitely not the same as when you are there. I know that others feel the same also.

In my opinion, I think we need to be thanking you for all that you do.

Oh, and another thing......

....I still think you have an ugly dog. LOL

A History Lesson

I would like you to look at the old mugshot taken from 1865. Who is this person you ask? This person was involved in one of the most heinous acts in American History. He was also born in Randolph County, Alabama before moving to Florida. Let me tell you his....and my story.

I have always been a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln. I have read stacks upon stacks of books on him and if I cannot lay my hands on one, I usually read the review of the book at least. I have a small bronze bust in my room of the former President.

Its remarkable how a person can be drawn to someone. Throughout my life, I have went through periods that I have became immursed in reading and learning all I can learn on a particular person, place or thing. When I was in the 6th grade, I had a vague notion who Abraham Lincoln was due to our rudimentary studies of him. Becoming interested in our late President, I asked my mom to buy me a book on Lincoln through Scholastic Inc. that sold books aimed at young students. I remember the day when I received my book at school and went to a quiet corner to start sifting through it. As always, I read the pages very quickly and went to the last few to read what was printed on the end of Lincolns life. I knew vaguely that he met an untimely death and wanted to know more. To my amazement, I turned to the last page and found a photograph of an execution....a hanging. One of the people executed was a woman, Mary Surratt, believed to be the first woman executed by the U.S. goverment.

This one photograph at this one moment stirred a purpose in me to find out everything I could on Lincoln's life with a emphasis on his death or assassination. In my readings, I discovered the timeless story that has been printed in all school history books that Lincoln was assassinated by a deranged actor, John Wilkes Booth. One day in the 10th grade, I came across a book.....a history of the United States until 1865.....where it read that Booth was "helped" by certain persons. Now there were more people other than Booth involved. Why didn't the other history books I read mention this? I started searching and reading every book that I could lay my hands on about Lincoln's assassination. I would practically force my parents to later take me on vacation to Washington D.C.. My mother would ask me on the way to the Nation's capital what I was more interested in visiting. I told her without batting an eye. "Ford's Theatre".

I can still remember the day when I stood in front of the massive structure. I slowly walked in and just stared in amazement the surroundings. My eye slowly wandered up to the presidential box. "Wow...this is where it happened..." even though I found out later that the entire theater was repaired after a structural collapse and now is only more or less a reproduction. Downstairs was the museum and bookstore. Coming off the elevator, I was met by a HUGE photograph of the execution scene again. For some macabre reason, that picture has stayed with me since I first saw it in the 6th grade.

The gentleman in the mugshot is Lewis Thornton Powell. However, history knows him best as Lewis Paine or Payne depending on what account or book you read. This mugshot is the original Library of Congress photo. You can noticed the picture not being cropped. This picture also gives an excellent view of the "handcuffs" that Paine had to endure. Paine was the "muscle" person of the conspirators that Booth had hired to kidnap Lincoln. I was flabbergasted. "Kidnap? I thought that Booth wanted to simply kill Lincoln?" Later, after the kidnap plan was deemed to dangerous and unworkable since the South at this time had surrendered, Booth turned his attention to the elimination of the Lincoln and his cabinet. Paine was ordered to kill Secretary of State William Seward, the man later responsible for purchasing Alaska from Russia. The stabbing, of course, failed leaving Seward severely scarred and made Paine infamous for running down the stairs exclaiming "I'M MAD! I'M MAD!". Paine would later get lost in the streets of Washington due to his escort, David Herold, abandoning him while he was in the Seward household to join up with Booth in southern Maryland. Paine was later caught at the boardinghouse of Mary Surratt trying to pose as a laborer. Paine had stayed there earlier while meeting with Booth during the kidnap plot.

The picture above was taken aboard the monitor U.S.S. Saugus. You can tell that it was due to the fact that you can see the giant rivets of the gun turret behind Paine. Paine was held with the other conspirators aboard the Saugus until he was transferred to the Old Arsenal Penitentiary in Washington for his trial. He was found guilty on June 30 and sentenced to death on July 6th. His execution was the next day. The hanging of the conspirators was called the first national coverage of an execution in the history of the country. Everything was detailed including his last hours. He was by far the star of the show. Paine showed dignity and class during his last hours. He maintained his composure throughout. As he was led to the scaffold, he playfully snatched a hat from a bystander and wore it to his seat on the gallows. As he rose to have his legs and hands bound, the hat was blown off his head but by the time it made it back to him, the hood was ready and he motioned that he did not need it any longer. He made one last plea of innocence for Mrs. Surratt, who was being executed, perhaps unjustly, beside him. A testiment to the respect the guards had for him, hangman Captain Christian Rath whispered to Paine as he slid the noose around his neck, "I hope you die quick." to which Paine responded with his last words. "You know best, Captain. I thank you. Goodbye." The last moments of the conspirators were documented after the drop of the gallows. Paine stayed alive the longest after the trap fell. His neck was so strong that the fall did not break it. He slowly strangled to death as he tried repeatedly to pull up his body to take the pressure off of his neck. It was reported that his hands and neck that were exposed turned purple.

No family member claimed his body until 1871. After the body was returned to Florida, it was discovered just prior to the reburial that the head of Lewis Paine was missing. No explanation was given until the late 20th Century when a exhibit of Indian relics and skulls were being catalogued in Washington when a skull was found with a tag reading that it was the crainium of Lewis Powell, hung in Washington in 1865. The skull was reinterred with the body in Geneva, Florida.

The story is a time honored one. New bits and pieces of history are found here and there concerning the Lincoln assassination. References to the trial of the Lincoln conspirators have been brought up recently concerning the legality of trying Al-Qeida prisoners by military commissions.

If anyone is interested in this pivotal moment in American history, please go to http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln.html or the website of the Surratt Society at http://www.surratt.org.

Thank you for letting tell you this story. Its one that I have studied and read about for many years. I cannot explain why its captured my interests but its a truly remarkable story in American History.

Wednesday Afternoon

Well, I just have returned from a exciting afternoon of bowling, a sport I have not participated in for about seven years now. After a rusty first game of 94, I rebounded over the next two and finished my last game with a score of 168. Today it was just my friend Tara and myself. Hopefully, we can have more people from work join us.

Not a lot to report right now. My Dad seems to be about the same. I spoke with my Mom and Uncle yesterday and they said he did not have a good day at all. He goes thru times where he is zoned out and tends to tune people out. The nurses are having a tough time keeping his BP and blood sugar under control. I am going over after work tomorrow and will be there all day Friday.

I am deleting all my posts from 2005 from my blog. These posts did not transfer over to the new template very well and I just wanted to get rid of them. I should be finished with this in a day or two.

Not much to say right now......I do have a new link posted. My friend, Bad Leroy Brown has started a blog. Streetbeat. If you have a moment, check it out. He just started it and is doing a great job. Bad Leroy will be joining Ender, The Grand Poobah and myself in a new venture to start up soon. More details on that later.

Word.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Sunday Evening

Not much to report tonight.....Both my wife and I enjoyed a long nap today. She wasn't feeling good and it doesn't take an excuse for me to nap after work.

I am about to begin a massive edit of this blog. Don't ask me why. One main reason is a lot of my posts from months ago are not fitting into this new template very well. This may take a while but it will also clean some stuff up that for the life of me I could not believe I posted. Some of them are still funny to me and some are just stupid. LOL

I think that Nanners and I might go to our first Mardi Gras parade next Friday.

My Dad is about the same. His phyiscal therapist came today and worked with him.

Other than that not much to report tonight.

Word.

Paradise

I saved this picture when I was looking at my friend Jason's photos from his Hawaiian vacation.....

I wish I was there.....

"...and let the jokes begin!"

CNN.com - Cheney accidentally shoots fellow hunter - Feb 12, 2006

You can see the faces of Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jon Stewart and all comedians large and small begin to curl up and salivate at the sound of this news.

A Cold Saturday Morning

well, it looks like finally Ol' Man Winter has finally arrived......

Time to get everyone up to date with whats been going on so I will get started....

I spent some time with my Dad yesterday. All in all, it really seems like he is more comfortable being home. When I arrived about 730am yesterday, he was sleeping and resting comfortably. However, he was soon awake and we talked for a while. I think he is comfortable but at the same time he looks like he is a little more down than he has been. I guess he looks at his surroundings and remembers things like walking to the get the morning paper, working in this shed and so on. He cannot do that anymore. I used to get a kick out of seeing him mill around our house doing little odd jobs that needed to be done. He has a favorite recliner that he loved to sit in and dispense words of wisdom and watch the news on television. I told him that I could put him in that recliner if he wanted too and he just looked at me like he was thinking about it but then decided not today. My mother and I rearranged some of the furniture in the house before some relatives came over. A very nice elderly gentleman came over also to visit that I reall do not think that any of us knew....including my Dad. However, it was nice of him to pay Dad a visit. I think that they might have been coffee drinking buddies at one time. Thats a small town thing I remember that it seems that all the elderly people in town tend to come out of the woodwork to visit people when they are ill or have passed away. Even if you haven't a clue who they are. I also got my mother's phone situation handled. They were paying two separate companies for their local and long distance. She also gave me permission to sign them up for DSL. This way, both my uncle and I can easily handle most of their business instead of her having to call both of us and doing everything over the phone. I left my laptop there so we can have access to the Internet. She and my Dad are totally computer illiterate and I remember having an arguement with my Dad a few months ago over Internet banking and him not believing me that it was free. I left around noon yesterday to avoid the rain that was coming (you would know it arrived last night! ) and to handle some business of my own today. Nanners and I are not going to see him today unless my mother needs me for anything. She is still getting over her cold and I do not want him exposed to that. I think they do need a day just to relax by themselves.

Hey Ender, if you read this, I am sorry that I wasn't able to return your wifes call last night. We were over at the Iron Maiden's house ( my mother in law's...and I say that in a nice way! ) watching the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. By the time, the actual ceremony started, Nanners and I about to fall asleep. Ender, I want to thank you and your wife for checking on us. I hope she is feeling better and back at work soon. I will be back tomorrow.

I might ....might brave the cold weather in a couple of hours to run to the flea market. Brrrrrrr!

I was able to finish my taxes the other night. Once again, Uncle Sam owes me some smack and he better pay up!!! Even the great state of Alabama will write us a check this year, albeit a small one. I am not complaining...if you get a refund back from our lovely state you are lucky!

While I was shopping for my Mom yesterday, I noticed where they had a sale on a 2GB Phillips MP3 player with FM tuner. I immediately put in on layaway! Score!!

My buddy and boss, Lee of THE BUTLER DID IT! has a new commentary up about America's baseball team......ugh.....the Altanta Braves. If you are a hardball fan, check it out!

My Buddies Ender, the Grand Poobah and Bad Leroy Brown are considering doing Podcasts. Look for more on that in the near future. It will be a open and frank discussion of the world from a male point of view. =/

Some friends from work are actually thinking of going bowling Wednesday afternoon. I have not bowled in over EIGHT years. Ouch!

....and finally, I am debuting yet another template for your perusal. I was clandestinely working on another template when my blogging friend, Latin Lover debuted his today. He did a fantastic job and be sure to swing by and check him out. Yes, my friend, OCD is a terrible thing to have, however, it has not affected my sleep....yet. Nanners always gets on to me for getting so involved in something that I develop tunnel vision and do not want to move until I get it done!! I still wish my banner was a little larger but I can live with it. If anyone knows a way to enlarge it, by all means....EMAIL ME!!!

Word.

A quick update on my Father

My father came home from the hospital yesterday. The Doctors have pretty much done everything they could do for him there and he has not improved at all. The idea was thrown around for a few minutes to take Dad to another nursing home until the VA facility could make room but that was quickly dismissed. My father wanted to come home. ( I didnt realize later that one of the facilities that they wanted to send him to was the very same nursing home that his mother passed away in. )

We have a nurse and phyiscal therapists coming in but they will not be able to be there most of the time however. I hope that everything will be ok with him until the VA opens up.....if it ever does. I am spent all day there yesterday and will be going over all day today. I do not know if I will be going over tomorrow yet or not. It all depends on how good he is doing. However, I know he is glad to be at home.

I am too.

The Unbelieveable

I want to post a small story about what happened to me last night.

On Tuesday night, Nanners and myself went over to her parents house for dinner. We have been going over there every Tuesday since we have known each other. Her father works at night and is off on Tuesday and Wednesday and that is the only time we have to see him.

Well, last night was chili night. Nanner's mother is great cook and she is good enough to accomodate my picky habits on what I eat. Sometimes she just makes things that I usually will not eat but I make due the best I know how since we are invited over for dinner.

I do not like tomatoes. I very rarely eat anything with tomatoes or red sauce. However, last night she made the chili with huge chunks of tomatoes. She poured some chili into a bowl for me and was gracious to work around the tomatoes. We sat down and all started eating enjoying each others company and discussing our up coming trip to France. ( More on that very soon. )

I finished my bowl and decided to get one more. I dipped the chili being careful to stay away from the tomatoes. I sat back down and proceeded to eat when much to my chagrin.....I came away with my first spoonful only to have a small to medium sized piece of tomato. Thinking nothing of it, I picked the tomato out of the spoon and put it on my napkin beside my plate and contiuned to eat.

Nanner's Dad said, "You need to eat that tomato."

I said, "No, I don't like them."

Him, "Well, these tomatoes are cooked down enough where you can eat them."

By this time, I had found an even larger tomato in my chili and was removing it when I said getting more preturbed by the moment, "Well, I do not eat them and besides I do not tell you what you do or do not have to eat!

Him, in a angry tone, "Well, you are GONNA eat it!" HE PROCEEDED TO PICK THE TOMATO UP WITH HIS FINGERS AND TOSSED IT.....TOSSED, MIND YOU....THE TOMATO BACK IN MY BOWL.

I stared at him dumbfounded and everybody got quiet.

I said, "Listen, I do not tell you what you eat and you are not telling me what I can eat!" I took my spoon and again removed the tomato and placed it and the other large piece beside the plate on the napkin.

My mother in law and my wife knew how damn mad I was. She said for us to calm down and for me to pick the napkin up and place it on a plate instead. I guess it was her way of trying to break the tension. The fact that I put it on the napkin made no difference here. It was the fact I took them out of the bowl to begin with.

I contemplated pushing my bowl back and getting up from the table. However, I am particular about eating dinner my mother in law made and was very respectful toward the dinner she made. I ate in silence.

He also ate in silence, probably knowing that he totally screwed up and remained silent while he finished eating.

I finished and joined my wife in the den, after she had already finished. My father in law finished and went into the back for a bit, returning about 10 minutes later. My mother in law and I ate a bowl of banana pudding that she made and Nanners and I departed about 30 minutes later. As we got into the car, my wife said, "I am proud of you for not losing your temper. I am sorry but as much as I love him, he is still my Dad." I laughed, "I know and I certainly do not want you to disown him! However, it was totally wrong in what he did." We returned home with no other comment about what happened.

I still hate tomatoes. Now more than ever.

Nanners

Ok, I know this is stupid but I am getting tired of refering to my wife on this blog as "the wife" or "my darling wife". Not that I do not think they are not lovely descriptions of my wife....but...I need something with some "zing" in it....

I wanted to give her a nickname but I couldn't think of one until......

....it hit me....she already had nickname and it is perfect.

"Nanners"

This is a nickname she had when she was a kid in PA. I love it. I need to go and pick at her now. =)

Sunday Afternoon

Well, I have been struggling for a couple of days to make a decent banner and so far this is all I have been able to come up with.......I need some help. LOL

I just wanted to give everyone a shout and give the Sunday round up.....

I just got back from my friend Claude's house. I had his wife and him witness some paperwork I need for some of my parents legal situation. More on that later. I really enjoy visiting them. They are good people and my wife and I love seeing them. I really thank the world for being their friends. I have grown to rely on them for a lot of advice and counsel and laugh or three. We think the world of them. I tried to help Claude with his computer problem and I was unable too. However, I think the people who I take my computer too will be able to help him out.

The people who did my roof sure act like they do not want to be paid. They were unable to make one repair and my contact there told me he would send someone out. That person has yet to arrive. So their money sits in my savings account. =)

I am starting to get the itch to begin work again on my Squadron Supreme website again.

My wife and I went to the new Hooters Restaurant yesterday for lunch. They have one on Airport Blvd. and a new one in Tillmans Corner. I wanted to try the one out in Tillmans Corner, but my wife works in that area and she didn't want to be seen in that one.(?!?) Anyway, its very nice. A improvement over what they had before. I had made a visit earlier in the week with some friends at work.

Well, thats about it for now.......

The Grand Poobah Strikes Again!

Well, the Grand Poobah is at it again.

Its award season in Tinseltown and of course, where there is a party, there is the Grand Poobah!

The Pooman was seen with a bevy of beauties at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and it looked like all were having a fantastic time. Poobah and Lindsay Lohan gave out the award for the Best Celebrity Homemade Porn Film and the nominees were as follows.....

Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee "Rock the Boat 2: The Revenge of Vince Neil"
Colin Ferrell and (insert name here) "I Slept with Colin Ferrell and All I Got Was This Lousy Tshirt!"
David Hassellhoff and Ice Skater Katarina Witt and tennis player Martina Hingis "Germans love David Hassellhoff"
William Shatner "An Evening Alone with William Shatner"
Frank Stallone and Sinead O'Connor "Remember Us?"

Of course, the winner was....you guessed it!! Frank Stallone and Sinead O'Connor!!

After the party, Poobah was seen leaving with Lindsay, Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson. Asked where they were going, the Grand Poobah only gave a tooth filled grin and laughed!

"I would like to give you a Laurel ...and Hardy Welcome!

I just added two new websites to my mighty links.....The Earth's Mightiest Blog welcomes......

The Butler Did It!!

and

Comics News International


If you are surfing around this site....give them a look see!!

Hurricane Katrina Wave

This picture was sent by my friend Jason from work. This is not a doctored photograph and this and others can be found at WWL.com

People are already talking about this coming hurricane season. This has been a very mild winter for us to say the least. Water temps have stayed warmer than with other years.

I have the feeling its going to be a long summer.

What a difference a minute makes.....

Lee Marvin, Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Rogers - BreakTheChain.org

I was attempting to find a pic of Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Rogers together when I stumbled upon this little page stating a different set of facts concerning our two favorite childhood icons.

I will let the reader decide which story is factual.

You Might Not Ever Guess....

I just got this email from a friend. I have heard this story before but I wanted to post it for anyone who hasn't....



You Might Not Ever Guess....

Captain Kangaroo passed away on January 23, 2004 as age 76 , which is odd, because he always looked to be 76. (DOB: 6/27/27) His death reminded me of the following story.

Some people have been a bit offended that the actor, Lee Marvin, is buried in a grave alongside 3 and 4 star generals at Arlington National Cemetery. His marker gives his name, rank (PVT) and service (USMC). Nothing else. Here's a guy who was only a famous movie star who served his time, why the heck does he rate burial with these guys? Well, following is the amazing answer:

I always liked Lee Marvin, but didn't know the extent of his Corps experiences.

In a time when many Hollywood stars served their country in the armed forces often in rear echelon posts where they were carefully protected, only to be trotted out to perform for the cameras in war bond promotions.


Lee Marvin was a genuine hero. He won the Navy Cross at Iwo Jima. There is only one higher Naval award... the Medal Of Honor.

If that is a surprising comment on the true character of the man, he credits his sergeant with an even greater show of bravery.

Dialog from "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson": His guest was Lee Marvin. Johnny said, "Lee, I'll bet a lot of people are unaware that you were a Marine in the initial landing at Iwo Jima...and that during the course of that action you earned the Navy Cross and were severely wounded."


"Yeah, yeah... I got shot square in the bottom and they gave me the Cross for securing a hot spot about halfway up Suribachi. Bad thing about getting shot up on a mountain is guys getting shot hauling you down. But, Johnny, at Iwo I served under the bravest man I ever knew... We both got the cross the same day, but what he did for his Cross made mine look cheap in comparison. That dumb guy actually stood up on Red beach and directed his troops to move forward and get the hell off the beach. Bullets flying by, with mortar rounds landing everywhere and he stood there as the main target of gunfire so that he could get his men to safety. He did this on more than one occasion because his men's safety was more important than his own life.


That Sergeant and I have been lifelong friends. When they brought me off Suribachi we passed the Sergeant and he lit a smoke and passed it to me, lying on my belly on the litter and said, where'd they get you Lee?' Well Bob... if you make it home be fore me, tell Mom to sell the outhouse!"

Johnny, I'm not lying, Sergeant Keeshan was the bravest man I ever knew.

The Sergeant's name is Bob Keeshan. You and the world know him as Captain Kangaroo."



On another note, there was this wimpy little man (who just passed away) on PBS, gentle and quiet. Mr. Rogers is another of those you would least suspect of being anything but what he now portrays to our youth. But Mr. Rogers was a U.S. Navy Seal, combat-proven in Vietnam with over twenty-five confirmed kills to his name. He wore a long-sleeved sweater on TV, to cover the many tattoos on his forearm and biceps. He was a master in small arms and hand-to-hand combat, able to disarm or kill in a heartbeat.

After the war Mr. Rogers became an ordained Presbyterian minister and therefore a pacifist. Vowing to never harm another human and also dedicating the rest of his life to trying to help lead children on the right path in life. He hid away the tattoos and his past life and won our hearts with his quiet wit and charm.

America's real heroes don't flaunt what they did; they quietly go about their day-to-day lives, doing what they do best. They earned our respect and the freedoms that we all enjoy.

Don't tell Dr. Evil about this!

How evil are you?

I got this off of Chickie's blog. I am twisted it seems....

Yeah.

Its about right. =)

Will there be enough Moon Pies to go around??

CNN.com - Mobile expecting more Mardi Gras revelers - Feb 2, 2006

For the people who love Mardi Gras, this will be heaven on Earth.

For those who do not, not only do they need to lock the doors....boarding up the windows may not be a bad idea also.

I have a feeling Mardi Gras will be insane this year.

Update on my Father

Its currently 802pm and I am sitting here pondering all that has transpired today. First of all, I had to accompany my wife to her doctors appt. She woke up Monday morning sick as a dog with a sinus infection. I have NEVER seen anyone get as sick as quick as she has. What even makes it worse.... whenever she goes to the doctor, she gets helped in about 5 minutes. When I go, its at least 45 minutes to an hour before I am seen. Amazing. Another thing that was curious was the fact that when I walked with my wife and her nurse down the hallway, the nurse turned to me and said "How did your glucose tolerence test go??" HUH? How do you remember that? I remembered the last time I saw her when my wife was last in there for another sinus infection and we talked while she took my wife's vitals. Thats the kind of memory I want when I play Trivial Pursuit. We came home with meds in hand when I finally got in touch with my mother. Then she gave me the news.

She was told today that my father's cancer was terminal.

This was no surprise to me. It understandably upset my mother and my aunt who was with her at the time. However, the way they found out was totally inappropriate.Over the past week, they have been working with the social workers at the hospital to try and get my father in the Veterans Home in my hometown. They took the paperwork today to get it filed when they found out that he was being put on a waiting list to get in. This was a bombshell to them and very depressing, however it is understandable. We just never considered it. Then they looked at what the doctor had filled in concerning my Dads condition. The doctor had put that my Dads condition was terminal. Both my mother and my aunt were, of course, very distraught over this find when the doctor had not specifically told them that his condition was terminal. I asked my mother if the news really surprise her? I told her that we both had known that my father's condition would never really improve. His age prevented a biopsy to be taken of his tumor and both a brain tumor and/or stroke combined (which they think now is what happened) would be tough to overcome for a younger man. I told my mother that we do not ever know how long any of us have on this planet. We pretty much knew that my father would not get any better. Miracles happen, however, but it was time that we "prepared for the worse and hope for the best". As much as we have to take care of my Dad and make him as comfortable as possible, we also have to look toward the future. I have gotten paranoid in my old age. Maybe its simply something for me to concentrate on to keep from thinking too much about life without my Dad. However, I am steadfast that NO one will take what my parents have worked so hard for in their lives. There are too many thieves and conmen in this world to say 'well, we can fix all of this later." I am going to make sure that my parents assets are protected. Tomorrow and Friday, I will have to make some calls and some appointments in order to get the ball rolling again on some things. One order of business is to see what kind of arraingements we can make as far as home health care in case my Dad does not get into the Veterans Home, which probably will be the case for the short term. My mother is adamant that Dad will not go into a nursing facility. The facility that he was in during this short attempt at rehab was the worse I have ever seen. Had he stayed there another few days, I am convinced my father would be dead by now. I will speak to their administrator at another time.

So that is where we stand right now. I want to thank all my friends at work who have been there for me. I also want to thank Latin Lover and his wife, Auduin. My respect and admiration for them grows by leaps and bounds every day. We have a saying in the South about people like this couple. We call them "good people". A simple term perhaps but it does have a special meaning. You would have to grown up in the South to really know the full definiton of that meaning. "Good people" are persons who are there for you. It may not be in a physical sense of being close by per se but just knowing that they have you in their thoughts and just by sending a kind word or even talking about little stuff means a lot. Leigh would know what I mean by it I am sure. I also want to thank Leigh also for being a great blogging friend. I am sorry that I do not comment very much but I do read your blog every chance I get. I also want to thank Funky Bug and Chickie for coming by often. I want to start the Meme Monday soon but I have to do the 100 things about me first.....LOL. Chickie, you are a trip, girl and I am glad to have met ya.

Well, time for bed. I promise that I will blog when I get the chance. It is a good release for me and I do enjoy it. I am sure everyone knows more now about comics that they ever wanted to know. LOL

I also will update you on my Dads condition if anything changes. Thanks again everyone.....