Black and White... Downtown PoDunk... You know you live in a small town when...

About two months ago, I walked in the downtown region where I live currently.  This is Main Street and it is very short.  It has one barber shop, three hair salons a couple of restaurants and close to four thrift shops.  Now there is a larger area beyond this, yet this is the main drag for the main downtown region.  You know you live in a small town, when this is your entire main street.

On the road to, Barnhart, St' Louis, Arnold.  The state is connected by basically interstates, highways and roads.

One of the many one story houses people live in.  Many houses have a basement, not many have a second floor, unless you are close to Saint Louis or a major city.

Saw this and had to take the picture.  In all my life living in a major city (Denver), before coming to Podunk, I had never seen a sign like this.

Comtrea a local agency to help people who suffer from addiction and have a criminal past, that are trying to turn their lives around.  This is on the left hand side of the street and a few buildings down from the flower shop.

  The beginning of Downtown on the  Right hand side of Main Street.  This looks like it used to be an old Hotel, long since shut down.

Welcome to downtown, this is the first shop you come to, it is the local flower shop, and this place is busy especially on Valentines day and Mothers' Day.

 
The Kritter's Den unfortunately is out of business.  This was on the right hand side of the street and was close to the local Good Will store.  It is abandoned, but still has a great sign, maybe someone will reopen it as a pet shop or animal hospital?

Podunk is part of a twin city.  The second part is known as Crystal City, you can not miss when you leave Podunk and enter Chrystal City, the signs are right there before you.  The local Walmart is so large, that you can walk from Podunk into Chrystal City or vice-verse , just by where you start in the store or end in it.

 

One block over from Main Street is First Street, and on First Street is the main Catholic Church, Sacred Heart, between the Church, its' school and shelter there is nothing else for an entire two blocks.

I have seen shoe stores before, but none that advertise Cowboy Boots like this store does on Main Street.

Someone leaving Chrystal City and coming into Podunk.

One of the local businesses with Christmas decorations outside, the snowflakes went away on January first.

About the Display at the Barnhart Library.

Today is the first time since I set up my display of models at The Windsor Library, , that I have had the opportunity to get back and see how it looks.  Well I was amazed to see that several books, had been replaced and several new ones added,

From what I was told, the young people are loving the display, and several people have checked out the books, including book "Red Tailed Angles" the book about the Tuskegee Airmen.  

I am very happy with how the display is going, and will post some new pictures in the next few days.  If you still have not had the opportunity to come down to see the display, then do.  It will be ending February 4th, so the clock is running.  Again the location of the library is   7479 Metropolitan Blvd, Barnhart Missouri

Some Exciting News

I haven't been here since the first few weeks after moving to Missouri, a lot has happened and I will go into all that at a later time.

However I wanted to let everyone on Multiply know that I have a display of my scale models set up at the Windsor Branch Library in Barnhart, Missouri. The display began January 4th and will end February 4th, so you still have time to come on down, and see the display.

The Windsor Library is located at 7479 Metropolitan Blvd, in Barnhart, Missouri.

To wet the whistle, here are a few photos.

Broadways' Music Moves Me...

One of my favorite musicals, A Chorus Line...

Me... first 3 of 52 days

Some cool photos of me, these were all done today January 21st, 2011, modified via Picnik aka Google plus.

A Review A great Movie, well worth seeing.

Last night, Thursday, January19th, my wife and I watched the movie "Patch Adams" , for me this was the first time I had seen the movie all the way through.  In the past I had seen bits and pieces of it.


The first thing that struck me, was how Robin Williams, brought to this movie a lot of the zany humor he had been best known for, back in the 1970's with "Mork and Mindy".


However the humor was only part of the rich character of Hunter Patch Adams, this was his way of opening people up and opening himself up to people.  He saw that medicine, and that being a good doctor had become distant, and mechanical.


How Doctors' were being trained to cure the disease, but not to improve the quality of life of the patient, who was referred to by a room number and bed number, not a name.


Yet Patch Adams pushed against the system to make things better, to return a sense of humanity to being a doctor.  


What I did not know at the beginning of this film, is that Hunter Patch Adams is a real doctor, and that the movie is based on his life.


What I came away from this movie with, is how we all need to be more like Patch Adams, how we need to be the spark that may make one persons' day better.  That we need to open ourselves to maybe just saying hello to people we see, if they say hello back, that is great... if they don't respond, at least we made an effort to reach out to someone who may not have had anyone else say hello to them at all.


Overall this is a fantastic film, based on a fantastic individual.  To find out more about the real Patch Adams you can go to his face book page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Patch-Adams/109620069056966?ref=ts&sk=info
Or to his own page at http://www.patchadams.org/Gesundheit_Institute_speakers  to find out  more about his ongoing effort to create the Gesundheit institute a place where humanity and healing walk hand in hand.

The Impact we make

Many of go through life unaware of the impact we make upon others.  We get caught up in our own struggles, sometimes we just don't realize the way we touch others lives and perhaps end up shaping them.


This has come to light because of a book I am currently reading. the  book is by William Shatner, and is part of the STAR TREK Academy series, "Collision Course".  I have not finished the book yet, so you will have to wait for the review.


However the book made me think about my life, about how I have made an impact with people. some who I have known in the real world, and some whom I only know on-line through pages like this or Facebook or even Multiply.


How when we take five seconds to just talk with someone, who may not have expected that short chat, how that chat may change that persons' whole day.


Even more so, sometimes how we act, by believing in someone, especially if that person has been struggling in some regard, how our action of just being there can make a difference.


I know this is something we get reminded of at Christmas every year with films like "It's a Wonderful Life."  or "Patch Adams"  But in our daily lives, we forget how much we impact those around us.


We need to always be aware of the value we have to others, the small ways that we may change a persons' day... because no matter how bad it may seem to us, we have value and we impact the world without being aware of it.


Maybe we can't see it, or choose not to, because of the way we have been treated or the way we have lived.  Yet we do matter and do make a difference.  Something to remember no matter how bad the day may seem, we make a mark, we may be the one person who makes someone smile or see that they have value.

Wordless Wednesday, It's Black and White and Read all over... lol

These photos were taken in August of 2009 at Garden of the Gods, near Colorado Springs, Colorado.  They were modified to black and white at Picnik.  Hope you enjoy.


Modified

ORIGINALS

Mondays Music Moves Me. When I was 21

Hard to believe how times have changed, and how much I have forgotten, all the great music that was in just one year of the 1980s'.  1981, I was 21 and the universe was in front of me.  Where did the years and the music go.  

My most recent model

 
Hard to tell, is it a model, or the actual war-bird?

 
History


The Ju-88 has been seen as the most adaptive aircraft of World War Two, when it was first introduced in 1939, it was deployed as a long range medium bomber, that carried its' bomb load internally.


At the time of the Invasion of Poland in September of 1939, 12 aircraft and flight crews were chosen to test this new design in combat.  For the Ju-88 unlike the other aircraft of the Luftwaffe, had no combat track record.  Improvements were made in the design, including additional machine guns in the forward cockpit.


Until the Battle of Britain the Ju-88 was still being used only in small numbers, the design was being refined and changed from a level bomber to a dive bomber.


The plane was continually modified with versions that became night fighters, to torpedo planes.  The C model carried both machine guns and cannon in the metal nose, making it more a fighter assault plane than bomber.
t 
The Ju-88 served in every theatre of operations including The Russian Front and North Africa.  Other air forces such as Romania, Hungary and Italy all flew the Ju-88.


The version I built was the A-4 and this version began operations with the Battle of Britain and served on the Russian Front and in North Africa as well.


THE MODEL/ RESEARCH AND ASSEMBLY.
Before setting up my recent display at the Windsor Library in Barnhart,  Missouri, I finished my most recent model.  For me this was stepping back in time.  

Why?

Simple, because this was a model that is no longer in production, or at least by the company that produced the kit.  The model was a Junkers' Ju-88-A4 bomber and the kit was produced by MPC back in the 1960's.

This was the third time I had built this kit, the first two times I had not the patience to build it correctly.  I rushed the assembly, I did poorly with the painting of the figures and the kit in general.  Worst off I got glue all over the clear parts, and they looks fogged and rushed.

As always I spent a lot of time doing research to find a paint scheme that would be if not unique, at least would be interesting or represent an interesting event or moment in time from World War Two.

Ju 88warming up at airfield.

Great shot for basis of a Diorama.

Ju 88s' in flight.

Looking at the business end of the rear gunners compartment.  If you are building a larger scale model of the Ju-88, such as 1/48 then take notes.  Smaller scale like 1/72nd would be very, no extremely difficult to mimic the details if not impossible to see.  Still it is a great shot.

I picked the standard two two green camouflage pattern used early in the war.  This scheme was used until around 1944 when the German air force started using two tone gray as a replacement scheme,



Once I had done the research, I began to build the model., the photos show the progress, and with the exception of showing the completed model with its' decals you can see the progress to completion.

It's absolutely crazy

We got snow here in Missouri last night, this isn't unusual, most states get snow; however in Missouri this is different.

Usually the streets will be plowed or cleared quickly, however the interstates, which are the main means of transit for people through out the state are left with snow on them, leading to ice.

No plowing, no deicer or salt on the highways, just allow it to freeze so that people have to drive very very very slowly, even if they have snow tires.

I have never been more terrified than I was today, traveling with my wife to get to college.  I kept praying that we would get to school without any accidents taking place.

Yet as I sit here, I have to wonder... how is it that the state of Missouri can be so uncaring for its' citizens, when it would not cost that much to see that the highways and all means of access were salted or had deicing on them to make transit safe.

Come on Missouri, step up to the bat, and think about safety for all.

Wordless Wedmesday

Church Downtown St Louis 12/31/11 

Mary Beth A Woman Roman Catholic Priest New Years Eve 

Downtown St Louis 

May, Josh and Ree Xmas Day

Beautiful in Black and White

Church down town Saint Louis First Night 12/31/11 

Latest model MPC Ju-88 A4 1/72nd Scale

Mary Beth RCWP New Years Eve

A Review

Recently I read a book titled "World War II 50th Anniversary Bombing Fortress Europe"  The book had a very interesting cover photo, featuring a flight of B-24 Liberator bombers, flying at low altitude making a bombing run.


The book is only 48 pages long, and is written for teens, between junior and high school level.  Why was I, a 52 year old adult reading this book?  Besides the cover art, I have always had a fascination with World War Two and especially the air war.


The book starts off well written, yet even at the beginning you are asking questions about some of the facts contained in the book.


When it discusses the beginning of the war, it mentions how Germany took back the Memel region on Germany's northern border.  I have read many books on World War Two and had never heard of this, territory.


One huge error was in the stating that the RAF carried out a 1,000 plane raid, first in 1941 page 14, then near the bottom of the same page it states that the mission was flown  in May of 1940, long before the battle of Britain even took place. In fact the 1,000 plane mission wasn't flown until 1942.


On the same page (14) it states that "The RAF had to beg, borrow, or steal the planes for this mission."   Who did they beg, borrow or steal these planes from?   Since the United States wasn't in the war as yet, and the Royal Air Force, was the only major air force that England had, there was no one else that the RAF could beg, borrow or steal these planes from..


At a later point, the authors state that between 1942/43 the U.S. Army Air Force did not have sufficient numbers of       P-38's or P-51's to give long range escort to the heavy bombers of the 8th and 9th Air Forces.  Problem is the P-38 Lightning had limited range and could not escort the heavy bombers into Germany and until late 1943 the U.S. did not have P-51's in their inventory in England as yet, the plane in England was still being used by the RAF until mid to late 1943.


Mistakes like these make you wounder if the authors Wallace B Black and Jean S Blashfeld ever did any full research.


They do a page on the Ploesti air raid in August 1943, a raid made by B-24 Liberators flying from Lybia, and part of the 15th Air Force, not 8th, they give incorrect information on how the mission was executed and why it failed.  


Overall the book is mixed, there are photos that have rarely been seen, but much of the information is just not researched enough.  Overall, the book is disappointing and lackluster and should not be used as a reference except for its' photos.


Out 5 stars this gets half of one.

Monday's Music Moves Me Bricks and Love

Korn's Version of the Pink Floyd Classic, Another Brick in the Wall.

Benatar, at her best.

Pink Floyd's best song ever.

Pushing the limit

Since the middle of 2010, both I and my wife have not been able to work out, this due to our membership being too expensive and not having the funds we needed.


So because of this we both gained back all the weight we had lost.  Me I had got down to185 and was losing, my goal was 135.  I am over 200lbs again, clothing that fit now I struggle to wear and currently being unemployed, I have no funds to really go to a gym or get new clothing.


So, two nights ago, my wife, my son in law, and I began to walk around the local high school football field and running track.


My first night I managed a mile and a half and was worn out, so much so, that I went to sleep half an hour after getting home and forgot to make a phone call to a friend.


Last night, January 6th, I  doubled what I did the first night, I managed to walk three miles.  For me, this is a major accomplishment.  I know that walking is just the first step, and that I need to get some weight training and lower body exercises in as well, but this is the beginning.

The Display is Up

Yesterday, January 5th, my wife and I went down to the Windsor Public Library and set up my model display.  This was something that I had wanted to do, since I was about twenty years old and never was able to do, until yesterday.


The hard part, was not the building of the models, this was relatively easy.  No the hard part for me, was developing the bullet points and labeling the models.


I know some of you are reading this and thinking, what?  
My problem was that I had never done a display before, and especially never at a public library, so I had no idea of what to put out for bullet points, or for that matter, the best way to label the models.


Finally, I was able to work this through, with the help of a very patient wife, and the wonderful staff at the Windsor Public Library.


One thing I was finally able to do, was hang some of my models using fishing line, this brought to life some of the models and made the display less static.


Besides the great models, there are some great books as well about the battles that the aircraft were involved in.  


One that is a personal favorite is "Red Tail Angels", the book chronicles the history of the Tuskegee Airmen and how they gained a reputation of never losing a bomber when they flew escort.  The Tuskegee Airmen were an all African American squadron, that overcame not only the enemy, but racism and were one of the most decorated  squadrons of World War Two.


So if you happen to have nothing scheduled between January 5th and February 4th stop by at the Windsor Library and check out the display, while you check out a book or five.


The Library is located at 7479 Metropolitan Blvd.  in Barnhart Missouri.  The Library is open Monday-Thursday 9:A.M.-9;P.M.  Friday Hours are 9:A.M.-6:P.M. and Saturday 9:A.M.-5:P.M.


So, stop by and take a look, if you're lucky I may be there and I can answer questions about the models or model building.


Photos to follow.


Enjoy the weekend!

Top of Photo L to R 1/48 Spitfire along book On the Wings of Eagles, then MPC Ju-88A-4 and Academy 1/28 Curtis Hawk  75 in French Markings.  Bottom of photo 1/72nd Fw-190 A and D Ju-87 Stuka Ki-46 Dinah and F6F Hellcat.

Tools of the trade, instructions, xacto knives tooth picks paint decals and a scale model building magazine

Me in front of the Display.

Left to Right Monogram 1/48 P-40 C Tomahawk, the current book "Flying Tigers" A 1/48 Ki-43 Oscar.  The book "Pearl Harbour" and 1/48 kits of the A6M-2 Zero and F4F Wildcat, with its' ground crew.

Here are a few photos to wet your appetite.