June 28, 2008
Gratuitous Domestic Posting (TM) - Outdoor Division
Just came in from picking some blueberries and raspberries for afters this evening. Yum.
We've had so much rain this year in the Dee Cee area that my bushes and canes are going like gangbusters. Indeed, the raspberries are so tall and thick that I'm not even going to be able to reach half of the fruit. Perhaps I'll open a roadside stand......Posted by: Robert at 09:44 AM | Comments (23) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Gratuitous Llama Diaspora Observation
I got back to Orgle Manor from my travels late Thursday night. I have to head out again Sunday evening. Yaaawwn. That I was even contemplating flying down to Texas for my high school reunion in between now seems utterly insane.
UPDATE: BTW, my flight back to Dee Cee Thursday evening was delayed several hours by the weather, so it was past eleven by the time I got home. It had been years and years since I last watched Letterman, so I decided to flop down in front of the tee vee while eating a late dinner. And I have to ask: Just when did Dave cease to be funny?Posted by: Robert at 07:57 AM | Comments (20) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
June 27, 2008
No Mas Jonas
I feel GroovyVic's pain.
Last week when I drove the elder Llama-ettes out to camp, I said that they could each bring along their choice of CD's for the car. One of them brought her Jonas Brothers album. Now the drive between Orgle Manor and the gels' camp is both topographically and historickally interesting. And being always willing to spread Cliff Clavin-like enlightenment, I tried to point out as many of these interests as I could along the way: "Look, Girls! There's Catoctin Mountain, the easternmost range of the Blue Ridge!.....Look, Girls! That's the road that leads to the Cumberland Gap! Veeeery important spot for both Indians and colonists." Daaaad! "Say, Girls! We're on South Mountain! Let me tell you about its role in the Antietam and Gettysburg Campaigns! .............. Oh, look, Girls! Antietam Creek! Did you know Gen. McClellan could have ended the war there and then had he not been such an utter ass?................... Hey, Girls! There's the Chambersburg Pike- that's where Harry Heth's Division came down on Gettysburg from the west! Looking for shoes, you know.................. Boy, we must be somewhere pretty durn close to Fort Necessity! Did I tell you girls about George Washington and the French & Indian War? And how poor Marie Antoinette essentially lost her head because of the fight for control of what later became Pittsburgh?" Daaaad-yyyyyy!!! We're trying to listen to the Jonas Brothers! "Jonas Brothers, foresooth!" I said. "They sing through their noses. And what the heck do a bunch of teenagers know about love anyway? Punks." As for the music itself? Feh. We have a rule in the car that a CD can only be listened to once before being changed. It wasn't until we were half way through the second hearing that I realized we were repeating songs. The gels thought that was hi-larious.Posted by: Robert at 02:01 PM | Comments (21) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Gratuitous Civil War Geekery Posting
Organized at Xenia, Ohio, January 9, 1862. Moved to Camp Dennison, Ohio, and mustered in March 3, 1862. Ordered to St. Louis, Mo., thence moved to Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., April 4-9. Attached to 6th Division, Army of the Tennessee, to July, 1862. Artillery, 6th Division, District of Corinth, Miss., to November, 1862. Artillery. 6th Division, Left Wing 13th Army Corps (Old), Dept. of the Tennessee, to December, 1862. 3rd Brigade, 6th Division, 16th Army Corps, to January, 1863. 3rd Brigade, 6th Division, 17th Army Corps, to September, 1863. Artillery, 1st Division, 17th Army Corps, to April. 1864. Artillery, 4th Division, 17th Army Corps, April, 1864. Artillery, 3rd Division, 17th Army Corps, to November, 1864. Artillery Reserve, Nashville, Tenn.. Dept. of the Cumberland, to February, 1865. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, District of East Tennessee, Dept. of the Cumberland, to July, 1865. SERVICE.--Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30, 1862. Duty at Corinth, Miss., until September 15. Moved to Iuka, Miss., and duty there until October 1. Battle of Iuka September 19 and 27. Moved to Corinth October 1-2. Battle of Corinth October 3-4. Pursuit to Ripley October 5-12. Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign November, 1862, to January, 1863. Moved to Memphis, Tenn., January 10, 1863, thence to Lake Providence, La., January 21, and duty there until April. Movement on Bruinsburg and turning Grand Gulf April 25-30. Duty at Grand Gulf until June. Siege of Vicksburg June 13-July 4. Messenger's Ferry, Big Black River, June 29-30 and July 3. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 4-10. Bolton's Ferry, Big Black River, July 4-6. Siege of Jackson, Miss., July 10-17. Duty at Vicksburg until April, 1864. Moved to Clifton, Tenn., thence march via Huntsville and Decatur, Ala., to Ackworth, Ga., April to June 9. Atlanta Campaign June 9 to September 8. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Nickajack Creek July 2-5. Chattahoochie River July 5-12. Turner's Ferry July 5. Moved to Marietta, Ga.. July 12, and duty there until November. Moved to Nashville, Tenn., November 2, and duty there until April, 1865. Battles of Nashville December 15-16, 1864 (Reserve). Moved to Sweetwater, Tenn., April 1, 1865, thence to Loudon, Tenn., and duty there until July. Mustered out July 17, 1865. Battery lost during service 18 Enlisted men by disease.Great-Great-Grandad volunteered in 1863. After serving in the ranks, he became a sergeant and later a lieutenant. I've got copies of his enlistment and other military documents retrieved from the National Archives somewhere about the place. The man was hardly a professional soldier, but instead a farmer's son. Nonetheless, I feel a certain amount of family pride about him. Here's the website of a group that's recreated the 10th.
Posted by: Robert at 01:28 PM | Comments (22) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
The State Of The Race
Peggy sums it up pretty well, I think:
Everyone in New York is saying, "What will happen?" "How do you see it?" "Who will win?" In this year of all years, who knows? My sense of it: The campaign will grind along until a series of sharp moments. Maybe they will come in the debates. Things will move along, Mr. Obama in the lead. And then, just a few weeks out from the election, something will happen: America will look up and see the inevitability of Mr. Obama, that Mr. Obama has already been "elected," in a way, and America will say, Hey, wait a second, are we sure we want that? And it will tighten indeed. The race has a subtext, a historic encounter between the Old America and the New, and suddenly the Old America—those who are literally old, who married a guy who fought at the Chosin Reservoir, and those not so old who yet remember, and cherish, the special glories of the Old—will rise, and join in, and make themselves heard. They will not leave without a fight. And on that day John McCain will suddenly make it a race, as if moved by them and wanting to come through for them one last time. And then on down to the wire. And then . . . And then. What a year, what an election. It continues to confound and to bedazzle.I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that the race will tighten up even earlier than Peggy predicts, as I continue to believe that the country's infatuation with the Obamessiah is just a summer thing. Frankly, I'm not even planning to pay any attention to the "polls" until, say, September.
Posted by: Robert at 09:12 AM | Comments (22) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
June 26, 2008
The Heller decision
Download it here via the SCOTUS blog.
Posted by: LMC at 09:38 AM | Comments (21) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Patty Smyth
Today is her day according to the local rag so here is an oldie but goodie of Patty, back in the day:
Posted by: LMC at 05:29 AM | Comments (21) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
June 25, 2008
For no particular reason
The great Ashley Judd
Posted by: LMC at 09:25 PM | Comments (23) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
June 24, 2008
Conservative Anglicans gather in Jerusalem
Posted by: LMC at 07:09 AM | Comments (22) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Six Months Ago Today . . .
We landed in Kuwait on Christmas Eve where we stayed for a few days before continuing home. The march of time adds perspective and a little thoughtful reflection every now and then is important. Before we deployed, the two-star gave us a pep talk. He covered a lot of ground but the main point that stands out in my mind is that when we looked back on the deployment ten years later we would be able to say we were there when everything changed. He was right.
Posted by: LMC at 06:56 AM | Comments (21) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
June 23, 2008
Seeeeeee Ya
I'm away until Friday. Be good.
Posted by: Robert at 02:41 PM | Comments (23) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda***
Well, it is done.
Yesterday I loaded up the ten and eight year old Llama-ettes and drove them out to Where-The-Hell-Am-I?, Pennsylvania, there to deposit them at summer camp for two weeks. (If not longer. I got lost twice finding my way in and out.) I never went to camp when I was a kid, but this place struck me as exactly what "camp" ought to be: lakeside cabins with screens but no glass in the windows, six bunkbeds to a cabin, swing ropes and ziplines and climbing walls and whatnot all over the place. Oh, and this is a church-based operation, so there is some pretty intensive Bible-study involved. I reckon the churchin' will be good for the gels' character. And so long as they don't come home muttering about HMC being the Whore of Babylon, I've got no ecumenical problems. As soon as we got there, we were swarmed by mobs of enthusiastic counselors who made it very clear that they had things well in hand and that Mom & Dad could skeedaddle, thank you very much. See you on the 4th. Hot-house kids and helicopter parents need not apply to this place, I think. We had arranged for the younger Llama-ette to share a cabin with a friend of hers from home who is also going for the first time. They seemed to settle right in. The elder Llama-ette, however, was considerably more apprehensive. She is not fond of change and new situations (wonder where she got that trait, he said), and spent a good bit of time standing on one foot and looking worried. It turned out that the girl who has the bunk above her was also there for the first time and that girl's mother, overhearing me talking to the Llama-ette, diplomatically suggested that maybe they should be buddies and help each other get adjusted, a suggestion with which I heartily agreed. When I found the gel a bit later to say goodbye, she and her new friend were busy cross-examining one of the counselors about all the things they were going to do. I didn't loiter very long once I helped the gels unpack. As I say, the counselors seemed eager to get rid of us. Plus, I had to get back to Orgle Manor to pack for a trip of my own. Of course, I expect there was a good bit of home-sickness and upset last night, especially as I'm pretty sure a thunderstorm rolled in not long after I left. But you know, there comes a time where a parent simply has to close his eyes and push. From all the accounts I've heard, once they get over the shock, the gels ought to thoroughly enjoy themselves. We shall see. UPDATE: Of course, it was all something of a shock to me as well. And as I drove off, I couldn't help feeling a bit of a lump in my throat on behalf of both myself and the gels. That is, until I got back to the highway and spent the next four hours stewing over the horrid traffic. Goddam Pennsylvania Turnpike. Goddam I-70. Goddam 270-Spur. But at least it kept my mind off things. ***I reckon from the apparent demographic of our readers that most of you will get this one.Posted by: Robert at 10:14 AM | Comments (25) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
June 22, 2008
Bookmark Alert!
Dirty Harry, a former featured contributor at Libertas, has his own site these days and will be posting his thoughts and reviews (with a Conservative eye) at Dirty Harry's Place!
For those of you not familiar with him, I've been reading his stuff for a couple of years now and his knowledge of classic film and the ins and outs of the industry give him great insight into what's worth seeing on the big screen these days. He posts a few reviews a week and reports on current trends within the Hollywood business culture. He's a valuable resource, especially when you're looking to avoid getting smacked in the face with Leftist anti-American cheap shots when you plan on plunking down 10 bones (or more) to be entertained. Definitely worth a bookmark and a daily visit. Good luck, Harry!Posted by: Gary at 09:51 AM | Comments (20) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
June 21, 2008
Llama Diaspora Update
Because the Tasty Bits (TM) Mail Sack has been overflowing with inquiries from curious Llama Lloyalists about the travels of Robbo, a quick update:
- It turns out that the elder Llama-ettes' camp starts out on Sunday (tomorrow) rayther than Saturday (today). Since the Missus and the youngest Llama-ette absolutely have to hit the road for Connecticut tomorrow, this means that Yours Truly will be taking the other two up to the wilds of Pennsylvania himself. (More on that when I return.) And what with all their gear, plus the extensive highway driving involved, we realized that the ol' Jeep simply wouldn't do. So what are we doing this morning? Renting a car, of course! (My first suggestion that we simply lash the gels to the bumpers of the Jeep didn't go over so well.) - It also turns out that I will, indeed, be spending most of next week on the road myself, leaving Monday and not returning until Thursday evening. While part of me is disappointed that this couldn't be just a one-night trip, another part of me doesn't feel so bad because now I get to try out my brand-new super-king-kamaya-maya rolling thunder luggage:
Now that's what I'm talkin' about. Thank-yew Fed'ral Guv'mint "economic stimulus" check! The thing measures 27½"H x 21"W x 13"D. Orvis calls it "family-size". Me? Having always been a heavy packer, I call it "finally enough damn room". - Speaking of travel, a word of warning to you: If you ever fly Continental and you get a French pilot named Max, then cross yourself and put your affairs in order, because you're dooooomed. He made a crazy-assed one wheel landing coming into Dee Cee about a month ago about which I am still stewing, especially as since then I have had such a variety of better pilots who have done perfectly well landing even in thunderstorms and cross-winds. Bastard.
Posted by: Robert at 07:39 AM | Comments (23) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
June 20, 2008
What Have I Created?
So I got home this evening from my latest trip just in time to have a tete-a-tete dinner with the eldest Llama-ette, who wanted to know just what the devil I was doing on all these jaunts.
I gave her a brief overview of the framework of civil litigation, explaining in particular the discovery process and the role of depositions in particular in terms of building a body of evidence. I also gave her a brief substantive summary of exactly what I've been working on. The result? The gel wants to go out with me and sit in on depositions. She believes she could pass notes to the lawyers to help them get the most out of their witnesses. I must say that from the way she grasped the legal concepts I explained to her, she just might be of some use. Yeek!Posted by: Robert at 06:50 PM | Comments (22) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
LMC Light Posting Note
Light posting for the weekend with an early exit from work, road trip to Ohio, attend Mrs. LMC's 20th high school reunion, fly back for work on Monday, then fly back to Ohio next weekend to bring the LMC entourage back to the post headquarters.
Posted by: LMC at 06:23 AM | Comments (21) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Obama opts out of public financing
The Online Journal take: "Obama opts out, blames McCain." NR had been predicting this for months.
Posted by: LMC at 06:21 AM | Comments (23) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
June 18, 2008
Waterloo Day - The Duke of Wellington Fights On
Closing the Gates of Hougoumont
The 8th Duke of Wellington has joined leading military historians in a bid to save the farm that was pivotal to British victory at the Battle of Waterloo.The Hougoumont Chateau was a farm complex on the right front of Wellington's line. British Battles gives a summary of the critical action there:
They are trying to raise €3 million (£2.4m) to save the dilapidated Belgian farmhouse where the 1st Duke of Wellington's men staged a brave defence that swung the famous 1815 battle in favour of the Allied forces. They want to turn the Hougoumont farmhouse near Waterloo into an education centre that will permanently commemorate the battle which helped end Napoleon Bonaparte's imperial ambitions. The group launched "Project Hougoumont" on the 193rd anniversary of the battle. They hope to have raised the funds and restored the farmhouse by June 2015, in time for the 200th anniversary. The project has the support of the Belgian authorities, which own the farmhouse. Military historian Prof Richard Holmes, chairman of the project, said the objective was to save "a fundamental piece of world history" from falling into total disrepair. He said: "In my long experience of historical battlefields, few spots have the haunting appeal of the farm complex of Hougoumont on the field of Waterloo. "In seeking to preserve this iconic spot we do not simply remember the British troops who held it. "We also applaud the courage of the German infantry who fought for the wood in front of it, of the brave Frenchmen who came so close to taking it and turning the fortune of the day, and of the cavalry whose charges swirled up and down the slopes within sight of its ancient walls, now in such acute peril. "This is not a question of national pride or regimental commemoration. It is about saving a fundamental piece of world history, and we simply must not fail." The current Duke of Wellington, who is 94, has given his blessing to the project, as has his son the Marquis of Douro.
The small chateau of Hougoumont stood before the extreme right of the Allied position. The Duke of Wellington formed the view that the chateau was the key to his flank and garrisoned it with the light companies of the Coldstream and 3rd Foot Guards under Lieutenant Colonel James MacDonnell of the Coldstream Guards. Nassauers and guardsmen held the woods to the front of the building. The British troops took over the range of buildings on 17th June and spent the night fortifying them, building fire steps and loop holing the walls. All the gates were blocked other than the main gate on the northern side to provide access. At 11am on 18th June Prince Jerome’s division began the battle with his attack on Hougoumont, the French driving the Nassauers out of the woods and attacking the chateau. The French surged around the buildings and rushed the main gate in the face of a rush of British guardsmen headed by Colonel MacDonnell to keep them out. The gate was damaged and there ensued a struggle by the British to shut the gate and by the French to force it open. MacDonnell and his party of officers and sergeants forced the gate shut and Sergeant Graham of the Coldstream put the bar in place. The few French who had penetrated the farm were hunted through the farm buildings. During the rest of the day Hougoumont was subjected to a sustained attack by Jerome’s troops with assistance from a further division. The garrison was reinforced with more companies from the two Foot Guards battalions of Byng’s Guards Brigade, 2nd/2nd and 2nd/3rd Guards. When, during the afternoon the supply of ammunition in the chateau became critically low, Sergeant Fraser of the 3rd Guards returned to the main line and returned with a wagon of cartridges, thereby enabling the defence to continue. By the end of the battle the chateau had been set ablaze by howitzer fire and the buildings were heaped with British casualties. The French were unable to capture Hougoumont and their casualties filled the woods and fields. The two battalions that defended Hougoumont suffered 500 dead and wounded out of strengths of 2,000. Some years later an English clergyman bequeathed £500 to be given to the bravest Briton from the battle. The selection was referred to the Duke of Wellington who nominated Lieutenant Colonel McDonnell of the Coldstream Guards for his defence of Hougoumont. Colonel McDonnell gave half the sum to Sergeant Graham.
Posted by: Robert at 12:50 PM | Comments (20) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Gratuitous Musickal Geekery Posting
Posted by: Robert at 11:09 AM | Comments (23) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Llama Diaspora
Remember how I said the other day that Orgle Manor had a crazy schedule coming up shortly? Well, it's heeeeeeeere.
I have to go jump on a plane in a little while and wing my way out to the Nation's heartland. Won't be back until Friday evening. Saturday morning, the Missus and I drive the elder two Llama-ettes into the wilds of southwestern Pennsylvania to deposit them at camp for two weeks at a place that seems to specialize in round-the-clock sports and Bible-thumpin' (snake-handling is extra). Sunday morning, the Missus and the youngest Llama-ette clear off to visit her parents in Connecticut for two weeks. Monday, I'm outta here again on yet another business trip, coming back either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the ever-shifting sands of our schedule. This is the first of three Mondays in a row that I'll be on travel, and I'll be awfully glad when all that flying is over and done with because mayun are my arms getting tired! (Ba-DUM-bah.) How we're going to get everyone back home is a logistical problem we have not completely sorted out yet. The way I see it, the good news is that once all this craziness is finally passed, we'll be within reasonable anticipatory pleasure range of vacation:
In the meantime, posting is going to be extremely sporatic
Posted by: Robert at 09:36 AM | Comments (22) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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