The difference between putting a golden, succulent Butterball on the table, and putting a wild turkey on the table, is the difference between driving to the grocery store, or lying in wait, patient and ignoring all discomforts (and they are legion)—for the wily, wild turkey to stroll into your gunsight.

To cook a wild turkey, Pop skinned the whole bird and soaked it over-night in buttermilk. Then he wrapped it in bacon, with a cut up apple and onion on the inside, or a handful of chopped celery and green onions, and carefully roasted it. He was a free-style cook when it came to wild turkey, and it might vary from year to year.

He didn’t do all those fancy things that other cooks do to turkeys, except to put it on a handsome platter, with a well-sharpened knife and fork along side. And by “well-sharpened,” I mean you could do surgery with it. Hendrick men can sharpen a knife until the edge disappears into infinity.

No matter what else was on the table, we all took a serving of Pop’s turkey (you would have too). Would you like dark meat, or darker meat?  For me, it was a reminder of hard times, and good times. Hard times, you know, to find wild turkey on your plate.

Good times—dear God in Heaven! What a blessing—to have wild turkey on your plate.

Whatever is on your plate today, I hope you will Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Please fasten your seat belt, and block out 48:29 minutes from your day.

Hat Tip to Exile in Portales, via Steeljaw Scribe.

I need to rest my eyes, because I have stared at the computer screen for too long.

So I’m going to lie in bed with a ice pack over my eyes, and listen to jazz on the radio.

How many of these U.S. Army Generals do you recognize? How many can you name?

The men are identified after the break below the photo.

Seated left to right are William H. Simpson, George S. Patton, Jr., Carl Spaatz, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Courtney H. Hodges, and Leonard T. Gerow; standing are Ralph F. Stearley, Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Walter Bedell Smith, Otto P. Weyland, and Richard E. Nugent. Ca. 1945. 208-YE-182.

I recognized Patton, Eisenhower, Bradley and Hodges, but could not recall Hodges’s name. There is a lot to absorb in this photograph. Note the wings on a few of the uniforms. Also shoes, and General Gerow is wearing what seems to be jump boots. Two have on helmets, but only one is shiny. Their uniforms are not all alike, and some of the men are wearing garrison caps, while others have on formal caps.

Here’s a link to the NARA photograph (under Leaders and scroll down to American Generals) if you want to look enlarge it and have better look. I used my magnifying glass to get even closer.

This day I completed my thirty first year, and conceived that I had in all human probability now existed about half the period which I am to remain in the Sublunary world.  

 I reflected that I had as yet done but little, very little, indeed, to further the happiness of the human race, or to advance the information of the succeeding generation.  

 I viewed with regret the many hours I have spent in indolence, and sorely feel the want of that information which those hours would have given me had they been  judiciously expended. But since they are past and cannot be recalled, I dash from me the gloomy thought, and resolve in future, to redouble my exertions and at least endeavor to promote those two primary objects of human existence, by giving them the aid of that portion of talents which nature and fortune have bestowed on me; or in future, to live for mankind, as I have heretofore lived for myself.

August 14, 2008

THIS is all I’m doing at the moment: watching the Olympics, eating cruddy food, and getting riled up with full-on patriotic Aussie-love. Any time I see an Aussie athlete competing in something, I feel pride burning in my heart – well, part pride, part acid-reflux from the chicken nuggets fried in rendered suet. Any time I hear the Aussie anthem playing, I get goosebumps all over me – part goosebumps, part inflamed acne from the melted tub of choc fudge ice-cream I sucked through a crazy straw. And any time I see an Aussie flag flapping in the breeze, I go all silent and reverential – partly from deep sentiment, but mostly because I’m experiencing my usual Aussie-Flag-Recognition-Cognitive-Confusion.

Katz is not exactly overjoyed with the Australian national flag. Read the rest of his wry and humorous article at the web site for The Age.

Many Australians would like a new national flag—one that would more appropriately represent their unique and beautiful country.

Australia is, of course, a day ahead of North America.
]]> http://www.flagsbay.com/flag/2008/08/13/australian-danny-katz-on-their-national-flag/feed/ 0 http://www.flagsbay.com/flag/2008/07/28/the-alamo-a-fresh-look-at-the-beloved-story/ http://www.flagsbay.com/flag/2008/07/28/the-alamo-a-fresh-look-at-the-beloved-story/#comments Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:53:45 +0000 Deborah Hendrick http://www.flagsbay.com/flag/?p=2224 Don Adair’s childhood visit to movie set of The Alamo was the experience of a lifetime, and left him with a deep and abiding affection for the Alamo and Texas history. Forty-three years later, a second movie about the Alamo was made in Texas, and Don and his twin brother Ron made the trip again. Here are parts One and Two.

By Don Adair

When reports of a new major film on the Alamo was in the works in 2002 by Disney, Ron and I watched for any news about the project. We were excited to hear that it would be filmed in Texas.

In late spring of 2003, my brother thought of the idea of visiting the set. Ron contacted the film’s publicist, Ernie Malek, via e-mail and made the request. He included a photograph of us on the set of Wayne’s Alamo at the age of twelve, and mentioned that I had designed the Texas Sesquicentennial Stamp. Mr. Malek responded positively to our request and said we could visit the set on the 17th of June, just three days after production was concluded.

As an artist, I was anxious to see the set, and its historical accuracy. When we arrived at the Romer Ranch outside of Dripping Springs, we met Mr. Malek in one of the production trailers and he showed us the layout of the set on a table model. The town of San Antonio had been built with geographic precision, with properly named streets in correct location.

He drove us to the set of San Antonio first, and as soon as we stopped, a man knocked on the window of his SUV. It was a production crewman. He said that there were some remaining explosives buried in the ground that needed to be detonated and warned us to roll down the windows to keep the concussion from breaking glass. For the next few minutes, we were treated to some post production fireworks.

The Alamo compound and chapel put us back in the world of 1836. The chapel was meticulously researched and replicated. Mr. Malek mentioned that the production crew had taken pictures of the actual Alamo facade in San Antonio and stone by stone, duplicated it on the movie chapel. The Chapel was an artistic masterpiece. Mr. Malek said it was moved up almost even to the long barracks to aid in photographic options for the film.

On the left, 12-year old brothers, Don and Ron Adair on the abandoned set of John Wayne’s 1960 movie production of  The Alamo in Brackettville, Texas. On the right the brothers (on the left, Don—on the right, Ron) visit the 2003 movie set for director John Lee Hancock’s version of The Alamo.

All of the cannon were still in place, including the 18 pounder on the west wall. My only regret about the set was that it was not made to last. Weather and the elements have taken a hard toll on the set since our visit. My brother and I felt it was a great privilege to visit the set, particularly right after the film’s production ended. 

Doing the Texas stamp and visiting the sets were so special to me. In the one, I was a part of Texas and Philatelic history. In the other, visiting the sets was like being ushered by a time machine, back into a critical moment in our state’s history. The visit to Wayne’s set forever shaped my radical fascination and love for the Alamo story.

Touring the Disney set was so incredible, because as a commercial artist, I was able to appreciate the meticulous attention to detail and accuracy in places. Whether it was visits to the movie sets or a walk through the real Alamo in San Antonio, the feeling has always been the same. I share a reverential awe with other Texans of what it took to give birth to our great state.

Don Adair

Please take the time to visit Don Adair’s website: www.don-adair.com. If you would like to write Don, there is a mail address and an email address on the Contact page at his website.

All photographs for this article were provided by Don Adair.

All links within this article were added by Deborah Hendrick.
]]> http://www.flagsbay.com/flag/2008/07/28/the-alamo-a-fresh-look-at-the-beloved-story/feed/ 3 http://www.flagsbay.com/flag/2008/06/18/oddbins-june-18-2008/ http://www.flagsbay.com/flag/2008/06/18/oddbins-june-18-2008/#comments Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:21:30 +0000 Deborah Hendrick http://www.flagsbay.com/flag/?p=2144 I’m taking the day off. Not for larking about, but to rest my eyes. I’ve been suffering from terrible eye strain for about ten days. I avoided the computer over the weekend, but it wasn’t enough. So I am going to slack off for today, and maybe tomorrow, too.

The storm didn’t knock out the electricity—which was a relief—because the hard-hats from the electric cooperative have been working for months in the neighborhood, replacing bits and pieces left over from the REA. Used to be, a hard sneeze was enough to make all our digitals reset to 12:00—12:00—12:00 …

Nevertheless, Flag Bay’s collection of pricey electronics threw a snot-flinging fit and acted temperamental all day long. It was two in the afternoon before things settled down. So what was banging around for hours out there in the atmosphere, and distressing my stuff?