Movie Scratches: 1917-- Rabbit-- 1917-- Skywalker

Movie Scratches--  Movies I Have Seen At the Theater This Year.

5.  1917--  1-23--  Fox Lake, $6--  Trenches, rats, planes, snipers and the horrors of war.  What more could a guy want?

6.  JOJO RABBIT-- 1-27--  Fox Lake, $6--  A unique movie set in the waning days of Nazi Germany.  Humorous, sad and horrible at the same time.  And, the pretend Hitler.

7.  1917--  1-28--  A day in the life and what a day.  What a way to deliver the mail.  Gives new credence to that old saying about the mailmen and delivery.  One of those movies you just have to see on the big screen twice.

8.  STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER--  1-28--  Fox Lake, $5--  "Rea, I am your grandfather.  You are a Palpatine Sith.  YUCK!!!

Love Those New Seats in the Classic Cinemas Fox Lake Theatre.  --RoadDog


RANDOM ANIMAL THOUGHTS ( From the Orange Peel Gazette) DOG::  "They keep putting the lid down on the big water bowl."

JSS: Last Week for Lin Brehmer's WXRT Morning Show-- "1917" and "Star Wars IX"-- Jo Jo Rabbit"

JSS--  Just Some Stuff

1.  LAST WEEK FOR LIN BREHMER'S WXRT MORNING SHOW--  After a real long time, WXRT's Morning Show host, Lin Brehmer is leaving the show, but not going too far as he switches from his 5:30 to 10 am slot for the afternoon slot from 10 am to 2 pm.

Most every morning, I listen to him (and former co-host Mary Dixon) if I am not listening over the internet to Jim Morgan at the Surf 94.9 FM out of Myrtle Beach, S.C.).

I'll sure miss him in the morning, even though he had that really bad case of Cubitis,  a huge love of the Cubbies.  Bit, at least now he will be able to stay up to watch his favorite team when they have night games.

2.  "1917" AND "STAR WARS IX"--  Yesterday, I went to the Fox Lake Theatres and saw these two movies for the second time.  Movies like this need to be seen on the Big Screen and in that wonderful surround sound.  And, not just seen once, but twice.

A 70-inch screen is good, but no comparison to the Big Screen.

3.  "JO JO RABBIT"--  I went to see this because it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, along with Scarlet Johansson for Best Supporting Actress.  This was an outstanding movie with humor, sadness and the horrors of Nazi Germany.  Well worth seeing.

--RoadDog

TAX FACTS:  Even the easiest form, the 1040E has 33 pages of instructions, and all of it is in FINE PRINT!!

No More Pleasure Riding on Sundays During World War I

These last two entries should actually have been in my Cooter's History Thing, but I didn't know how to move them nor did I care to retype them.  So, here they are.

From the September 26, 2018, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1918, 100 Years Ago.

"Much interest has been taken locally, as well as all-over the country, in the new gasoline rules which go into effect Sunday, by which owners of  automobiles are requested not to use their machines for pleasure riding on Sunday."

--RoadDog

Work or Fight Order in World War I

From the October 26, 2018, MidWeek  (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1918, 100 Years Ago.

"One of the first industries to be affected to any serious extent by the work or fight order, and is  also included as a nonessential industry, is that of the Tir-O-Fox  company, which started operations here a year ago and since that time has been kept busy continually  in filling orders for the tire remedy."

--RoadDog

Speaking English in the Steel Plants in 1918

From the October 10, 2018, MidWeek  (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1918, 100 Years Ago.

This would normally be in my Cooter's History Thing blog, but I accidentally put it in this blog and am too lazy to go back and rewrite it, so I will post it here.

During World War I there was a major shortage of labor in the American war industries and agriculture, resulting in people from a lot of other countries working in them.  One problem was their inability ro speak English.

"Speak English, write English and tell your family to speak and write English, is the slogan now among the steel plants here, and is but another  follow-up plan of the recent Americanization meeting held here some time ago.

"On the occasion of the last payday at the American Steel & Wire  company, every check going to a worker of a foreign nationality, was stamped, 'Speak English.'"

Today This Might Be Considered Politically Incorrect.  --RoadEnglish

Armistice Day Today, Also Veterans Day

Quite a day in the history of the world today.  One hundred years ago, World War I or, the First World War as the British later called it, ended four years of fighting.

It is still commemorated in the United States, but now called Veterans Day, a day to honor and thank our military veterans.

From Wikipedia.

ARMISTICE DAY

Commemorated every year on November 11 to mark the Armistice signed between the Allies and Germany at Compiegne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I.

It went into effect at eleven o'clock in the morning --  "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month."

"Thank God For The United States Marine Corps"

I put up my U.S. flags today in honor of two things.  The first was the 243rd birthday of the USMC.  The second was the end of World War I one hundred years ago and Veterans Day tomorrow.

This quote is from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1945.

"The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen.  Thank God for the United States Marie Corps."

I'll Second That.  --MarDog

JSS: Snow-- One-And-Done Duke Wins-- No WW I Magazine

JSS--  Just Some Stuff.

1.  SNOW--  We had our first accumulating snow of the season Thursday night, about two inches.  But, it was good snow as none stuck to driveways, sidewalks or roads.  I could live with snow if it didn't fall on anything I had to move or drive on.

Ans, it stuck to the trees and a snow covered tree is one of the great things to see in nature.

2.  ONE-AND-DONE DUKE WINS--  I used to be a big Duke fan, but not anymore.  I will not support any school that relies on those one-and-done players.  I would have expected Coach K to be a better man than this.

3.  NO WW I MAGAZINES--  I am surprised that I did not see any of those 100-page magazines you see these days at most places that still sell magazines on the end of World War I, which ended tomorrow, November 11, 1918.

Just Some Stuff.  --RoadDog

IT'S ALL IN A NAME:  A meteorologists daughter named Haley.

What's to This Daylight Savings Time?-- Part 2: Not Me

Benjamin Franklin was being sarcastic, of course  (Oh that's why it was confusing).

During World War I, the United States enacted the Standard Time Act which officially established time zones and incorporated daylight saving months into federal law.  The idea was that if daylight hours were coordinated with natural light, fewer tasks would have to be completed at night and with the need for electric light.

Daylight Saving Time ended with the war but was brought back during World War II when it was again brought back as a conservation measure.

After the war, states were allowed to do their own measurement of time, causing much confusion.  In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act which established norms, but allowed states to withdraw.  In 1973 President Nixon made daylight saving time go year-round to deal with the rising price of oil.

For many people, this time change takes place automatically on smartphones, computers and tablets "that have become the real timekeepers instead of watches and clocks."

Well, I Still Use My Watch to Tell Time.  Sorry.  --RoadDog


YOU MIGHT BE A YANKEE IF:  You think barbecue is a verb meaning "to cook outside."

Thank a Vet

If you're enjoying your freedom right now, you really should thank a vet. There are those who are jealous of us and who would be more than happy to take it away. Only that thin line of brave Americans stand between their objective.

Today is their day and one well-deserved.

In my family, my cousin Graham was a Navy pilot in Vietnam. Uncle Delbert was in WWII and at the Battle of the Bulge. Cousin Phillip was in the Navy. Daddy Graham, my grandfather on my mother's side, was in WW I. Nor Nor, my grandfather on my dad's side was in the Merchant Marine during WW I.

A Salute to Those Who Served. --RoadDog

They're Baaaaack.... I Hate Those Japanese Beetles

Two days ago, I noticed the little buggers on a plant in the arboretum. This bug has been a nemesis to me ever since I moved out to Spring Grove. Strangely, I never had a problem with them in Round Lake Beach, only about ten miles away. Yesterday, there were LOTS of them.

I don't mind when bugs eat a little, but these have voracious appetites and eat ALL the time, that is, when they are not procreating. Those two activities are all I've ever seen them do.

Now, I will have to go out on a daily basis for July and August and kill them. I use my fingers mostly and just smash them. When they are mating, they are one on top of the other, so I get two-for-ones then. Many a Japanese beetle has gone to their maker with a smile on its face, if they have a face, that is.

I also sometimes use chemical sprays when they're up high in the trees. I've also used a small bucket of soap water and knock them off the leaves into it where they drown. They are very adept at dropping off the leaves when disturbed, so you ave to be very fast. They're much easier to get when they're mating, or early in the morning.

They are originally from Japan and not very destructive there as their numbers are controlled by natural enemies. They are a serious threat to a number of plants, but especially roses. I have problems with them on one bush that I don't know the name of, purple plums, my one rose, birch trees, and mountain ashes. It is believed that they were introduced to the US in 1916 at a nursery in New Jersey after the larvae entered the US in a bulb shipment.

We are overrun with them in our subdivision, and not just me, but all my neighbors. Some have spent a lot of money on the traps, but I believe they just attract them.

I noticed last year that the numbers were down considerably, probably because of the severe drought we had the year before. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae live underground and it got too hard. So at least that's one good thing about a drought.

You mess with my stuff and I'll get you.

Headin' Out Shortly to Kill Me Some Beetles. --RoadDog

THIS DAY IN HISTORY- 1914- Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was killed by a band of roving Japanese beetles, touching off what became known as the "War to End All Wars", "The Great War", but better known as World War I.