The 80th Annual Gerry Rodeo

Posted on July 16, 2025 by James| Comments Off

OLDEST CONSECUTIVE RODEO EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI

July 30 – August 2, 2025

Website

Posted in Anniversary, Because I Can, Critters, Events, Food

Happy Birthday, Han Solo/Dr. Jones!

Posted on July 13, 2025 by James| Comments Off

Solo! Hay lapa no ya, Solo!

Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. His career has spanned six decades and includes roles in several Hollywood blockbusters, including Presumed Innocent, The Fugitive, Air Force One, and What Lies Beneath. At one point, four of the top six box-office hits of all time included one of his roles. Five of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry.

In 1997, Ford was ranked No. 1 in Empire‘s “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time” list. As of July 2008, the United States domestic box office grosses of Ford’s films total over US$3.5 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $6 billion, making Ford the third highest grossing U.S. domestic box-office star. Ford is the husband of actress Calista Flockhart.

Posted in Anniversary, The Big Screen

Chivalry

Posted on July 11, 2025 by James| Comments Off

Posted in Because I Can

KISS Final Show Ever

Posted on July 10, 2025 by James| Comments Off

Posted in Because I Can, Music

Hammond & May drive the Top Gear Track one last time

Posted on July 9, 2025 by James| Comments Off

Posted in Because I Can, Planes Trains and Automobiles, The Little Screen (Television)

Anniversary of STS-135 launch

Posted on July 8, 2025 by James| Comments Off

Space shuttle Atlantis launches for the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station in the final mission of the Space Shuttle Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff was at 11:29 a.m. (EDT) on July 8, 2011. Astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists, were on board.

Posted in Anniversary, Because I Can, Patriotic, Planes Trains and Automobiles

The Genius Tricks Behind 1920s Movie Stunts

Posted on July 7, 2025 by James| Comments Off

Posted in Because I Can, The Big Screen, The Little Screen (Television)

Now you see it, now you don’t (truck explodes)

Posted on July 6, 2025 by James| Comments Off

Posted in Because I Can, Events, Planes Trains and Automobiles

Dancing Robot Dogs on AGT

Posted on July 5, 2025 by James| Comments Off

Posted in Because I Can, Gadgets

Happy 4th of July!

Posted on July 4, 2025 by James| Comments Off

Posted in Anniversary, Because I Can, On This Day, Patriotic

40th Anniversary of Back to the Future

Posted on July 3, 2025 by James| Comments Off

Back to the Future is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985, it follows Marty McFly (Fox), a teenager accidentally sent back to 1955 in a time-traveling DeLorean automobile built by his eccentric scientist friend Emmett “Doc” Brown (Lloyd), where he inadvertently prevents his future parents from falling in love – threatening his own existence – and is forced to reconcile them and somehow get back to the future.

Posted in Anniversary, Because I Can, The Big Screen

RIP Andy Griffith

Posted on July 3, 2025 by James| Comments Off

Andrew Samuel "Andy" Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) — Andrew Samuel “Andy” Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012)

Andy Griffith was an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan’s epic film, A Face in the Crowd (1957) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead characters in the 1960–68 situation comedy, The Andy Griffith Show, and in the 1986–95 legal drama, Matlock. Griffith was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by US President George W. Bush on November 9, 2005. Griffith died on July 3, 2012 at the age of 86.

Wikipedia Link

Posted in Anniversary, Because I Can, On This Day, The Little Screen (Television)

Happy Birthday, Mr. “The King”

Posted on July 2, 2025 by James| Comments Off

Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed “The King”, is an American former stock car racing driver who competed from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably driving the No. 43 Plymouth/Pontiac for Petty Enterprises. He is a member of the Petty racing family. He was the first driver to win the Cup Series championship seven times (a record now tied with Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson), while also winning a record 200 races during his career. This included winning the Daytona 500 a record seven times and winning a record 27 races in one season (1967).

He earns broad respect in motorsport as, statistically, the most accomplished driver in the history of NASCAR, where he remains very active as both a team owner (GMS Racing) in the Cup Series and owner of Petty’s Garage (a car restoration and modification shop) in Level Cross, North Carolina. During his 35-year career, Petty collected a record number of poles (123) and over 700 top 10 finishes in a record 1,184 starts, including 513 consecutive starts from 1971 to 1989. Petty was the first driver to win in his 500th race start, being joined by Matt Kenseth in 2013. He was inducted into the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010.

The Richard Petty Museum was formerly in nearby Randleman, North Carolina, but moved back to its original location in Level Cross in March 2014.

Petty has also voiced a role in Disney’s animated films Cars and Cars 3, playing The King, a character partially based on himself.

Wikipedia Article

Posted in Anniversary, Planes Trains and Automobiles

Anniversary of the Disappearance of Amelia Earhart

Posted on July 2, 2025 by James| Comments Off

Amelia Mary Earhart (July 24, 1897 – disappeared 1937) was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots. Earhart joined the faculty of the Purdue University aviation department in 1935 as a visiting faculty member to counsel women on careers and help inspire others with her love for aviation. She was also a member of the National Woman’s Party, and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.

During an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937 in a Purdue-funded Lockheed Model 10 Electra, Earhart disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. Fascination with her life, career and disappearance continues to this day.

Wikipedia Link

Posted in Anniversary, On This Day, Planes Trains and Automobiles

6 Pallas’ cat kittens born

Posted on July 1, 2025 by James| Comments Off

Posted in Because I Can, Critters, Humor

Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips

Posted on June 30, 2025 by James| Comments Off

Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips is an American fast food seafood restaurant and former restaurant chain. At the peak of its popularity in the late 1970s, it had 826 stores.

The chain is the namesake of Arthur Treacher (1894–1975), an English character actor typecast as “the perfect butler” for his performances as Jeeves, a butler in several Shirley Temple films in addition to the role of Constable Jones in Mary Poppins from Walt Disney Productions.

Arthur Treacher (July 23, 1894 – December 14, 1975)

Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Walters designated June 30, 2021, as Arthur Treacher’s Day.

Posted in Because I Can, Food

Anniversary of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Posted on June 30, 2025 by James| Comments Off

WillyWonkaMoviePoster — Original Movie Poster (June 30, 1971)

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a 1971 American musical fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart, and starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. It is an adaptation of the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl and tells the story of Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum, in his only film appearance) as he receives a Golden Ticket and visits Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory with four other children from around the world.

Filming took place in Munich in 1970, and the film was released by Paramount Pictures on June 30, 1971. With a budget of just $3 million, the film received positive reviews and performed well in 1971, earning about $4 million at the end of its original run. It then made an additional $21 million during its 1996 re-release.

The film has since developed a cult following especially due to its repeated television airings and home entertainment sales. In 1972, the film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score, and Wilder was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, but lost both to Fiddler on the Roof. In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

Syntholis