Octagon Hall

Sunny - Hi 110 Lo 88 for Baghdad, Iraq
Sunny - Hi 107 Lo 77 for Qandahar, Afghanistan
Partly Cloudy - Hi 81 Lo 65 for Northern KY, USA

Song of the week: Can't Find My Way Home, (Blind Faith) - Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton - 2007



I have always liked this song... it's a rolling down the road kind of song... it's lonely... searching...

Ramble:

Michael and I spent Saturday driving about 3 1/2 hours 1 way down to Franklin, Kentucky to visit Octagon Hall.

Andrew Jackson Caldwell laid out the foundation for his new family home. With a desire for distinction, his home would not be a simple structure like so many others, but an eight-sided edifice unique to the region. Octagon Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was used during the Civil War by Confederate and also Federal troops, it served as a Civil War hospital. Built prior to the Civil War, it is now site of the Octagon Hall Museeum & Kentucky Confederate Studies Archive. There is a rather extensive library, and a display of Civil War artifacts, Native American artifacts, and genealogical and historical research material. There is a slave cemetery, and historic gardens in season.

The house is incredible-- started in 1847 and completed in 1859-- the uniqueness of the place... the size of the foundation stones are enormous-- we were wondering how in the heck they got the stone to the house...The work that had to be completed to build this home.

The home is in various levels of disrepair. The interior shows serious signs of water damage, some bozo put in drop ceilings on the upper level. The current owners, are doing their best... but some things cost money... However, I think a little Spic-n'Span would make a world of difference as well as ripping out all the tacky window treatments... and getting rid of those gawd awful mannequins...

Caldwell was a Confederate sympathizer... during the Civil War Caldwell opened his home to injured soldiers..., it is recorded that on the eve of the Battle of Shiloh- 12,000 to 18,000 men camped on the grounds of Octagon Hall.

I must tell you... I did not like the place. I felt unsettled... There are some beautiful trees on the property... a dogwood-- at least 150 years old... magnolia, cypress... Michael and I walked out to the slave cemetary... sad... horrible... the cemetary is in an oval of old cypress trees-- forgotten... I was creeped out by the photo of Caldwell and his wife... Michael made a comment after we were home that he and his wife looked like they could have been fraternal twins... I couldn't find any history on them specifically... but I can tell you... I didn't like this man.. this woman... that cemetary.. unmarked graves... the life the slaves led... even if he was kind to them... they were not free... they didn't have liberty...

Thank God for Abraham Lincoln. I must wonder what he would think about our current state of affairs...

* click on each photo for a larger view *












After we left Octagon Hall we drove into Franklin for a late lunch. Franklin is the county seat for Simpson County. One of the locals was not intimidated by us outsiders... He was unusually large for a squirrel...





We saw this flea market driving down... and I had to get a pic of it heading back home... We are definitely going back... I mean someone claims this is the most awesome flea market in the world... well... you just have to check it out for yourself... ya know?



I'll post more of the pictures on my Facebook page-- just as soon as I figure it out...

Have a great week everyone!

Here Comes the Bride

I saw this over at Kimosabe's place...

I like it. I agree with LR... a wedding is a serious event and the vows spoken should be taken seriously. I love the ceremony...I love the ritual-- especially at a Catholic wedding... However, a wedding is a celebration--- a joyous occasion. I do hope the minister accentuated this with meaningful words for the bride and groom and the entire congregation prayed and asked God to bless their union...



P.S. The song, Forever... is by Chris Brown... didn't he beat the living crap out of his girlfriend, Rhianna? Hmmmm....

Bambi Plays with Dog

A diversion...

Unemployment on the Rise

Sunny - Hi 108 Lo 88 for Baghdad, Iraq
Sunny - Hi 107 Lo 78 for Qandahar, Afghanistan
Scattered Showers - Hi 73 Lo 59 for Northern KY, USA --IT'S JULY!

Song of the week: Both Sides Now, Joni Mitchell

This song takes on a different meaning when 40 years have passed since it's first recording.




FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary unemployment rate for June 2009 reached a near 26-year high of 10.9 percent from a revised 10.7 percent in May 2009, according to the Office of Employment and Training (OET), an agency of the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet. June 2009’s jobless rate was the highest since the August 1983 figure of 11.1 percent.

Kentucky.gov

Regional and state unemployment rates were generally higher in June. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia recorded over-the-month unemployment rate increases, 5 states registered rate decreases, and 7 states had no rate change, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the year, jobless rates were higher in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The national unemployment rate, at 9.5 percent, was little changed between May and June, but was up 3.9 percentage points from a year earlier.

U.S. Department of Labor

Keep nationalizing businesses and keep on taxing us... yeah... that'll help.

Have a great week everyone!

Gigot - How Sweet It Is!

Last night I fell in love with Gigot. I can not believe I have never seen this movie.
Jackie Gleason wrote, produced and starred in this wonderful movie directed by Gene Kelly. Jackie plays the role of Gigot- a poor mute janitor in Paris that rescues a prostitute and her little girl, Nicole. Gigot becomes smitten with the little girl and becomes her protector-- her father figure. Gigot is a bit of a pied piper and all local animals love this poor soul too. The townspeople make fun of him but he stays good humored and always friendly and humble. If you have ever seen any old footage of Gleason's "The Poor Soul" you will find the similarities of heart with Gigot.

Jackie Gleason was an amazing entertainer---- not only was this man an incredible actor, comedian and writer, he was also a musician. The entire score to this movie was composed by Jackie Gleason.

And to those out in the the world screaming out accolades for another "great entertainer". That guy doesn't come close to what this guy did.... not close at all...

That Bitch Doesn't Get It

Real Racism--- I heard this clip on talk radio yesterday... but to see this... this... piece of work and her underbelly being exposed for what she really is... Wake up folks... Just pat the little black man on the head, march him out for everyone to see...tell him what and how he should think... completely and utterly obnoxious...

I can state I have not been this pissed off about anything in I can't tell you how long. I've always known that Liberals are racists... but to see that behavior... to hear that tone of voice...

May I remind the Senator from California of the words of a preacher,"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Mr. Alford, Thank you for your service and thank you for speaking out. We need men like you to represent this country and lead it out of the dark days we are in.

However, please be careful... you could be the next Joe the Plumber... I already found a couple of not nice articles.

Sad iPod

Today... Scooter Trash Hubby and and I are mourning the losses of our iPods... STH's iPod went through the wash...Based on Google research, we have been instructed to let it dry out for 2-4 weeks in a baggy filled with rice to absorb the moisture. Today mine went kaput... I received the sad iPod icon... I don't know what I am going to do...I have become so dependent on it. I am a talk radio junkie and podcast is the only way I have of listening to some of my favorites... Bill Bennett, Dennis Prager, G. Gordon Liddy...What to do... what to do...?

IRS Dictates 1st Amendment Rights

Where is my rock? I need to crawl under a rock... or maybe sand.. yeah... I stick my head in some sand and this will all go away...

The Internal Revenue Service has told members of the Coalition for Life of Iowa they would have to give up their 1st Amendment rights in order to be recognized as a non-profit organization, according to a complaint being pursued by members of the Thomas More Society.

Read the entire article here.

Algore... Calls for Global Governance

It just keeps getting more and more bizarre...

Former Vice President Al Gore, whose "An Inconvenient Truth" video epistle on the claims of global warming has not weathered recent scientific research, now has promised at a conference in the United Kingdom that the impending virtual energy tax under the U.S. "cap-and-trade" legislation will bring about "global governance."

Be sure to read the entire article here.

Nice

Sunny - Hi 114 Lo 91 for Baghdad, Iraq
Sunny - Hi 106 Lo 77 for Qandahar, Afghanistan
Partly Cloudy - Hi 84 Lo 64 for Northern KY, USA

Song of the week: Fields of Gold, Sting



Ramble:

Yesterday, I stopped by United Dairy Farmers to pick up some peach ice cream. I was heading over for a visit with my grandparents and I thought it would be nice to sit on their balcony and partake in that peach creamy goodness. Peach ice cream is one of those distinct childhood summer memories I have. Peach ice cream is only in season for a few weeks...so it must be got while the gettin' is good.

I had not been in a UDF store in literally years. I walked in and I recall someone said hello. I mumbled hello, but I am sure no one could hear my reply. I headed toward the freezer grabbed the peach ice cream and then moved immediately toward the counter. The young man looked me in the eye and asked if there was anything else I needed. I replied no. He rang my order up and I happily handed over the cash. He placed it in a bag for me and off I went. But before I exited, another young man behind the counter said, "Thank you and come back again." I turned around, and I'm sure I had a dumbfounded look on my face and said, "Yes, I will. Thank you." He then replied, "Enjoy your afternoon."

I hopped in my car thinking, that was nice. As I turned the ignition in my car, a man in a walking cast came hobbling up the parking lot. He was older and moving slowly. I waited for him to pass so I could pull out of my parking space. As he passed by, I saw the same young man from behind the counter come out and help the older gentleman into the store.

It was really nice for me to see that simple gesture of politeness- of kindness. Of late, I have become so cynical and suspicious. It was comforting to see that employee from UDF being nice, professional, and friendly. I want to thank that young man from UDF... pride in your work and friendly service. I really had forgotten.

And one last thing- To the person who wrote me regarding Richard Wagner. Yes. I realize Richard Wagner was anti-semitic... I chose that piece of music intentionally.

Have a great week everyone!

A Declaration of Independence

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

It is always a wonder to read this. Each time something else just jumps out at me...

"He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation."



May God continue to bless America. Happy Independence Day!