Disney with High Expectations

The things that The Disney Parks do for us to make our visit enjoyable, sometimes lead us to expect too much, too fast.

We tend to expect a much higher standard from Disney and their cast members than we do anywhere else we ever go. It also leads us to expect every ride that the Imaginears come up with to be completely mind blowing and most of them are with rare exceptions.

We all know changes are inevitable and I do love the new parades and fireworks that Disney puts in place of the older ones.  I must, however, say that I miss all of the parades that I have seen over the years and, believe me, there have been many. My wife and I have been to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, more than 60 times, Disneyland in Anaheim, California four times and Disneyland Paris twice.  We still dream of going to all of the other Disney Parks as well.  There are some things that Disney aficionados, better known as Disney nerds, just can’t tolerate. We don’t mind change but just try and take away our Haunted Mansion or our Pirates of the Caribbean and I’m afraid that the Disney nerds will make the Pirates, who sail the Caribbean in days of yore, look like girl scouts. 

The changes that the Walt Disney Company has made in the last few years have been taxing on our nerves but there have been a few good changes. Not all of them have been to my liking for one reason or another, but there have been Disney changes.  Take, for instance, the closing of the Snow White’s Scary Adventure ride to make the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Ride, I hated the fact that they closed the original ride, but I don’t think that the new ride is bad at all, it’s just different and I do like it, I just wish we had both.  Adding an animatronic Captain Jack (aka Johnny Depp) to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride made much more of a connection to a newer generation of Disney fans. I understand that and I like it very much that they do now feature Captain Jack in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  The Hatbox Ghost was something that I had heard the rumors about ever since the opening of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland and I had never seen any evidence until recently when his introduction to the ride made a phenomenally good addition. They not only added the Hatbox Ghost but they also enhanced the queue where we wait in line with magnificent curiosities for us to play with while we wait to get on the ride. Who doesn’t like all of the updating that they have done to the Haunted Mansion? I, for one, love it and the Haunted Mansion is my absolute favorite ride at the Disney Parks. 

Motion at Epcot Center was a magnificent dark ride that had touches from almost every Imaginear that had ever worked on designing the park rides.  Motion was, for some reason, eventually replaced by Test Track. I was never a fan of Test Track because, to me, it had ruined a perfectly good ride.  With the more recent updates to Test Track, I am a little more pleased with its latest transformation than I was originally, even though I personally think they should have gone a little bit further and made it look much more like Tron and even rename the ride. My personal taste for both Imagination, which still exists with changes since the original, and Horizons which no longer exists, were my favorite Epcot rides at that time. I am extremely disappointed at how they were changed. Imagination originally had an animatronic Dream Finder and Figment which were much more interesting than the flat boards painted with pictures that I still saw on my last visit. I hope they are using their imagination to redo this ride. Replacing the lovely Bonnie Appetite at the Kitchen Kabaret in The Land Pavilion was a great loss.  She was replaced along with some of the audio animatronics with Food Rocks which was basically cardboard cutouts that were very disappointing. When they added Soarin’ in its place, I must admit I was overjoyed.

I have come to the point now that I realize that Disney has a vision in mind, even if I’m not happy with that vision, it eventually turns out to be pretty good.  I think some things change in stages and they can figure out when they missed the boat and make even more changes to make the park better for us.  I hate to see the entire park become roller coasters and if I look at it from a distance of the age that I am now I see all of the favorite things that I loved to do at Disneyland and Walt Disney World being replaced or having the editions of roller coasters takeover and people my age and the age of my young grandchildren are unable to ride those rides.  I seem to remember a very wise man once saying that the Parks were meant to be enjoyed by children of all ages. ^th birthday; that’s right it began on a Sunday July 17, 1955

and Walt Disney did say that Disneyland would be in a constant state of change, even the flowers and trees would get better as time went on.  I have heard people ask the question would Walt be pleased with what his Parks have become, and I must say that he, being a perfectionist, and the inspiration for his Imaginears would be extremely pleased with what he sees but he would say why didn’t or why couldn’t we have done it this way.  Walt Disney was a visionary so I don’t think he would be shocked at the increase of technology or the magnificent special effects that have revolutionized how good his Parks have become.  He would have never wanted his Imaginears to stop moving forward and progressing and taking entertainment to new heights and levels of technology.

He also would have been the type of man that would have said step back from the computers, shut the laptops, turn off the cell phones and just walks through the tunnels at Disneyland and relive the past as well as the future.  Keep in mind that they always make the Parks beautiful with flowers and trees and topiaries for us to stop and enjoy a drink or lunch and enjoy the gardens. They put so much hard work into the Parks for us to enjoy. 

So far I am not displeased with what I see, especially Cars Land in Disney’s California. It looks magnificent and I can’t wait to experience it in person. I guess I should learn to have more patience but also remember that wise Man also saying that Disneyland is your land and I guess I just took it to two deep into my heart. Disneyland now celebrates its 60

I also hear many people saying bad things about amusement park food and I agree with them, but I do not believe that I have ever had a meal that was not edible at Disneyland in Anaheim, Walt Disney World in Florida or Disneyland Paris. As a matter of fact, I have been extremely pleased with every meal I’ve ever had in the Parks at Disneyland, Walt Disney World are Disneyland Paris.  One of the best meals I ever had was at a restaurant in the Magic Kingdom that I have heard so many people say such terrible things about.  It was at Tony’s in Town Square and it was as good a meal as I had ever had.  My wife and I have traveled extensively and we haven’t eaten at some of the top restaurants in the world and I am telling you that the food at Disney’s Parks are comparable in quality and taste. As far as the service is concerned, I honestly think that sometimes people are overwhelmed with the quality of the service at the Disney Parks restaurants.

Most restaurants anywhere in the world would be overwhelmed with the amount of people that can be served in a day at Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris. We forget how many people are being served at any given restaurant at any given day at the Parks.  No, I am not saying that we should forgive bad service are the lack thereof when it happens, but you must take into consideration that no one trained by Disney or its licensees would ever on purpose try to make you experience at their Parks anything but first class and we are all just human beings trying to do our best to juggle as many things as we possibly can to make everyone feel satisfied. 

I for one would like to take this opportunity to thank those of you that work at the Parks and read these posts and try to make my stay there the best it can be. For me, the Disney Parks are not only the happiest places on earth, they are the greatest places on earth. They are my eternal laughing place.                                                

Mr. Holmes by Mr. House

                                       Mr. Holmes by Mr. House

Even as a small child I gravitated to watching mystery movies or who done its. My favorites, of course, were the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I always liked the fact that Sherlock Holmes was capable of putting facts together to make conclusions that would lead to the solving of the crime. He did this with what I don’t call a superior intellect but by using his intelligence to understand why things happened and what details are left behind at a crime scene to show what had transpired. Sherlock Holmes always seemed a bit of an oddball when it came to emotions and interacting with people and he seemed to be uncomfortable in those situations, as I know most of us feel uncomfortable around strangers. I always wanted to have the analytical mind of Sherlock Holmes, but my mind worked more like a mechanic or artist, I could see things through my hands and do things through my hands in almost the same manner that Sherlock Holmes did them through thought and logic by thinking them out and then acting on them.

I, on the other hand, could take something apart till I found the piece that was either worn out or broken and change them out and make that object work again.

To me, it was almost as if I was the Sherlock Holmes that solved the crime, when I fixed the brakes on my parents car I was solving the crime of inadequate braking power. I know that seemed a little far-fetched, but honestly I did compare it to solving situations that were quite normal. My love of Sherlock Holmes as young man started by watching the Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in Sherlock Holmes movies and Ronald Howard in the television show from the 1950’s and all of the movies that portrayed Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson's adventures. The latest adaptation of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson for the BBC, known as Sherlock, has me completely enthralled and enjoying the adventures that are portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, two of the best actors to portray the crime-fighting duo, and all Sherlock Holmes.

I have come to believe though that the stories are not as much about the mysteries as it is about the companionship of two men how they become lifelong friends and their companionship. Some people say that this type of friendship isn't quite possible and I totally disagree. So many of the movies out there are not truly about the story the characters are in but it is the characters themselves that are the story. The detective Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. John Watson are definitely the story that people continually go back for. Yes, I am saying is not the Hound of the Baskerville and it's not the the Woman in Green, or even the Speckled Band that people go back to watch or read, it is the continuing story of two friends having the adventures of a lifetime that people go back to read and watch.

I absolutely am and always have been a fan of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, whether it is the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or the movies of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, or the TV show from the 50’s or the more modern BBC's Sherlock. I cannot get enough of Sherlock Holmes. It doesn't seem to matter to me who inhabits 221B Baker Street as long as they are portraying Sherlock Holmes in the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle style.

The wife and I went to see a new adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, this time starring Ian McKellen as the retired and elderly Sherlock Holmes who instead of having Watson by his side to keep Sherlock on track, this time it is a young boy who has Sherlock put through his paces. I was somewhat skeptical of Ian McKellen playing Sherlock Holmes, because I have been somewhat of an estranged fan of his for years and, yes, I do mean that I am a fan of his but I have never been able to understand from one moment to the next what he Ian McKellen was up to. His acting style keeps me guessing at what his next move will be and I did not and understand whether that would be adaptable to Sherlock Holmes, however, I did not know exactly what the storyline would be for the movie called Mr. Holmes. After seeing it, I do indeed get exactly why Ian McKellen was absolutely the best choice for this particular Sherlock Holmes. I want to tell you that if you are a Sherlock Holmes geek like I am, the rest of this story needs to be a spoiler alert until you have watched the new movie called Mr. Holmes. Yes, this is a spoiler alert!

You see, in this particular adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, he is in his last years and he is losing his memory just as we all do in our final days. I never understood Sherlock Holmes retiring to a bee farm in Essex until watching this movie. It was casually mentioned in the stories and the movies but it never made sense to me. This new perspective that Mr. Holmes gives to me of Sherlock is quite interesting.

You see, there absolutely was, in earlier days, a belief that the Royal jelly that bees made for their queen had some type of medical curative powers and I believe that Sherlock had decided to retire to a bee farm so that he could use the Royal jelly to keep his cognitive powers and mental capacities in check. I'm not going to give away the entire story away, but I will tell you this story is not about anything other than the relationship between Sherlock and the mother and son that take care of him.

Unfortunately, this movie is in a limited release or at least it was in the Smoky Mountain area and only one theater in Knoxville was showing Mr. Holmes so you may even have to wait to see Mr. Holmes on Blu-ray and DVD, but whatever you do, if you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes of any kind, in my opinion this is a must-see. I know that it will not get any critical acclaim and it will not win Oscars but it is one of the best Sherlock Holmes movies I have ever seen. I believe it has given a fresh perspective on how things ended for our favorite British sleuth.

It's not a Southern Thing !

It's a Southern Thing
I have kept my silence long enough, because of the atrocity that has been pulled on us for years. I am sick of the horrible Southern accents that Hollywood has imposed upon us. One of the worst offenders from the very beginning has been Col. Sanders.

Yes I'm talking about Col. Harland David Sanders the original creator of Kentucky fried chicken. He wasn't even a Southerner. He was born in Indiana. But I have to say his southern accent was much better than this re-creation that Kentucky fried chicken has thrust upon us. It makes me furious about all the horrible southern accents that have been thrust upon the South and were disposed to think that it's nice and funny. If it wasn't for the fact that the Beverly hillbillies were just so funny, all of the southern accents except for Donna Douglas's just wanted to make you throw up. This latest assault on the Southern accent is just too much to take. If you are going to pay homage to a southern colonel at least get one with a true southern accent. I don't know how you feel about it but I am so angry when I hear that commercial with this new so-called southern colonel that I see you read every single time. There are so many people out there that have true southern accents, but yet they get this bozo who sounds like he's from Ohio.

Don't get me wrong , a Ohio accent would be fantastic for someone that needed to have an Ohio accent. I need to hear a southern accent instead of what ever kind of accident it is that he is trying to portray. Too long northerners have made fun of our accent and told us that we sounds stupid because of it and they don't even know the difference between a common southern accent and a high southern accent. It just makes me want to ask them do you think the people from the Jersey shore sound like they're geniuses

It's A Southern Thing

Wow, can you imagine such starlets as Katharine Hepburn wearing pants out in public gatherings. I can just hear the conservative South expressing their opinion about women wearing pants, let alone shorts and, oh my goodness, short shorts. What would the world come to when women of the 1930’s started wearing short shorts.

Even though the fashion manufacturers of the day were making short shorts for the ladies to wear they didn't really take off, but they did hang around, because I do remember all the cute girls back in our day wearing those wonderful short shorts. Oh, what lucky guys we were. Do you remember short shorts and when they got popular and why they got popular. Well, I have a little story to tell you. Like I said, shorts for women have been around at least since the 1930’s and they started getting pretty popular in the 1940’s. This is the story of why they got popular and why I call it a southern thing.

You see, it all started back when the Second World War broke out in Europe, and things got even worse when the Japanese ventured into the war, because our sources of silk became stretched to say the least. Any stockpiles of silk or nylon were going toward the war effort for such things as parachutes. So, what was a young lady of the late 30’s and 40’s to do. No stockings, oh my goodness. This must have been a blow to all the girl watchers out there as well. Never fear though, these young ladies came up with some great ideas.

Meanwhile, in the conservative South, women were working in the fields and on the farms and in the factories. White women worked in the fields and on the farms because their men were now in Europe and Asia fighting in the Second World War did their best not to get an all over tan. As a matter fact, they tried to cover up from head to toe because no genteel Southern lady wanted anyone to know that they were a common woman and worked in the fields. That's why you still saw women in the fields wearing either pants or long skirts and they were adorned with floppy hats to keep their face from getting tanned. So, when the supply of nylon stockings ran out in the South, what were the conservative women of the South to do. I'll tell you what they did, they started wearing short shorts and allowing their legs to be tanned so that they would look as if they were wearing stockings. Why some were even so bold that they painted a line down their leg with dark mascara to make it look like they were wearing seamed stockings, because that's how stockings were made in those days. The adoption of short shorts became popular in the South during leisure activities, oh my, what was Aunt Betty Lou to think of her girls. The South was turned on its ear to think that just a few years ago everyone was up in arms because women started wearing pants instead of skirts Nowadays, it's almost impossible to find women wearing skirts, sorry as the days of girl watching has gotten a little less leggy, if you are a leg man.

Things had progressed a little bit by the time we had gotten to the 1960’s where the go-go dancers in cages were all wearing short shorts, and doing all of those 60’s dances.

Girl watchers were in hog heaven. All of the trendy and mod young ladies were adorned with some of the shortest shorts ever seen up to that time. I know because I lived in that era and you can't tell me those shorts were not short. Starlets like Ann-Margret and Raquel Welch made short shorts part of every girls fashion wardrobe from the late 60’s, through the 70’s when they were known as hot pants and on into the 1980’s.

Young ladies of the South had improvised since day one when they found out that they could wear shorts, because one of the most popular pieces of apparel for Southerners were denim jeans, better known as blue jeans. These fashion conscious southern lasses had been cutting off their blue jeans and wearing them as shorts and allowing them to fray around the legs for a few years before a television show known as The Dukes of Hazard came about and actress Catherine Bach made showing her legs in short cut off blue jeans fraying around the legs popular for an entire nation. And believe me, at my age in those days I had no complaints about it all.

Yes, ever since those Southern girls allowed themselves to be comfortable and decided that shorts were okay to wear and flying those shorts in the face of all the detractors at the time, so to speak, made it possible for short shorts to become popular and the trend seems to pop up about every 10 years or so for the pleasure of all the girl watchers out there, like myself.

You see, I don't believe without the adoption of the southern women wearing shorts in the South, the short shorts would have never been so popular. That's my story of why I call it a southern thing, and I'm sticking to it.

Your history, is in the ministry?

I keep begging everyone to please write down your history and what you remember about your life. It's not for you that I asked these things, but for your descendants that will come after you. That may never know you that I ask that you do this. Believe me they will want to know who you are and what you were.

 I was watching some of the Glen Campbell special where his daughter was talking to Congress and was telling them, that one day his memory of her will be gone. I wanted to reach out and hug her because I feel her pain, but I also wanted to ask her what she really knew of her father's history. Even though her father is a famous man, I am sure there are some things about his history that she will now never know.

I hope that at least some of you will try to write the important things down, but I want you to understand that it's not just the important things. It's what you loved and what you enjoy doing. It's your first kiss, your first girlfriend or boyfriend and how hard was it for you to ask that certain person out on your very first date. It's how you felt when you look at your baby for the very first time. You see it's not really up to us to pick the memories that will be with us at the end of the day, because we don't get to choose them.

So for the sake of you and your descendants again, I am begging you and pleading with you if you are unable to write them down, please ask a member of your family to help you somehow. I never want to see any of our history disappear because we mattered. No matter how little a difference it was, we made a difference in this world. God put you here for a reason; don't let that reason be forgotten.

I have always remembered a story that Andy Griffith told about a man who was to be visited by his Lord and I have put my spin on the story that he told, because I love the story so much. Recently I have thought so much about the story because of all the posts about angels among us. Even though it's a Christmas story here's my take on and the story.

                                                                           Angels among us

There once was a young Wood Carver in the old country that had an amazing talent. His wood carvings of Jesus on the cross were sought by many of the small town parishes for their altar and he would also carve the Nativity scene for them as well. Once he had carved Jesus on the cross and the Nativity scenes for all of the local churches he had to find other means of making a living so he became a cobbler and made shoes for many of the towns surrounding his shop. As time went on, the Wood Carver and cobbler grew old and he had not carved Jesus on the Cross or the Nativity in many years but one of the local parishes church had burned and their Jesus on the Cross for their altar had perished along with the Nativity that he had also carved years earlier. He, of course, at first was overjoyed to do it again as it made him feel useful. He had received many letters from all of the parishioners on how much they had loved his carvings. He had carved every one and had everything done except for the baby Jesus and Jesus on the Cross. He just could not seem to get started, even though he'd picked up his chisel and hammer over 100 times, he just could not do it. He had the Body of Christ on the Cross and all he needed to do was finish the face so he picked up the hammer and chisel one more time and drew back but fell to his knees crying out “Oh Lord, I cannot see your face anymore. I have grown old and my memory has failed me. I need to see you again. I need to be able to carve your face so that people can see their Savior. Please Lord, let me look upon your face once more so that I can leave the people something that will warm their hearts at Christmas time and when they pray before you”.

The Wood Carver and cobbler could not believe his ears. He heard a voice that said to him “my son, I shall visit you on Christmas Eve and you will finish. You will see me once again and you will be filled with My spirit that will make you capable again of carving what you need for these people”. It was late on a Friday night and Christmas was Sunday so he only had this night and the morning to make ready for his Savior's visit. There was a woman from town that came in every weekend and helped him. He did not tell her why but he did tell her that the house and workshop needed to be spotless and that he was making a feast fit for a King. Between the two of them, they had his small home and workshop clean and bright and the smell of a wonderful feast wafted throughout the house and workshop. It was now getting late in the afternoon and he was excited because he expected his Savior at any time when he heard someone crying in the distance “please can someone help me, I am too weak and too tired to carry on”. The cobbler grabbed his scarf his hat in his coat and out his door he scampered into the afternoon setting sun where he found an old beggar man in rags without a coat in the freezing winter cold. “Here”, he said to the beggar man, “you must be frozen”. He wrapped him in his coat and put his scarf around him and adorned him with his hat and said “come with me,

I have food and fire and some clothing for you”. The two men proceeded to the cobbler's house where he asked the woman that helped him to bring the man some food. He went into his bedroom where he found a brand-new suit of clothes, socks and shoes for the beggar man. He gave the clothing to the beggar man. After he had eaten, the beggar man put them on and told the cobbler he was grateful, he had never had such generosity before and no one had ever given him a brand-new pair of shoes. The beggar man reached for the door and the cobbler said, “no wait, you can't go out into the cold like that”. The cobbler grabbed his own coat and scarf and hat and gave it to him and said, “God bless you on your way, but let me please give you one more thing”. The woman that helped the cobbler brought the cobbler a bag of food and gave it to the beggar man. The beggar man left his house and was soon gone on his path down the road.

It had gotten dark and much colder and the cobbler thought, “where are you my Lord, have you forgotten your promise to me that I would see you today”. When he heard a young child crying and then a knock from a small hand on his door he opened the door to find a young little girl crying, “can you help me, I am lost and I cannot find my parents. Will you help me sir.” “Where are they”, he asked. The little girl said “we were in a town, it can't be far from here. I was chasing a small rabbit and lost my way”. The man called to the woman that came to help him on the weekends, “can you carry her to town and see if you can find her parents”. The woman said “yes of course I can”. “I have something for you first my dear before you go, I have something for you”, he went to his workshop and picked up a doll he had carved and painted. It was a pretty little Princess doll and he gave it to little girl and told her, ”there is nothing to be afraid of, you now have a friend that will be with you always”. And he gave her a glass of milk and some cookies as the woman and girl went on their way to town.

The cobbler was starting to get worried and he started to pray again and then he realized how selfish he was. “There are so many that need you my Lord”, he prayed, “and I am being so selfish, I am worried about you coming to see me and who am I to take up your time, but Lord there are so many that are depending on me, if you don't, I will understand but I needed to deliver these things tomorrow for it is the day of your birth that we celebrate on Christmas. How can this little town celebrate without their Nativity and without you on the Cross looking upon them from your altar”. The Wood Carver got up and put another log or two on the fire when he heard a scream coming from the road. He opened his door to see an old woman who had fallen on the road in front of his house.

He ran out and asked “are you all right my good woman” and she replied, “no I think I've hurt my ankle”. He said “let me help you into the house, its warm there and you can have something to drink and something to eat’. She said “oh, thank you, kind sir, I have been on the road for four days and I am trying to get home. I did not realize it would take so long and that it had gotten so cold. The man carried her in the house and set her in the chair that he had made especially for his Lord and Savior to sit by the fire upon his visit. He had fed her the last of the feast that he had made for his Lord. He wrapped her ankle and went to his workshop and got a nice sturdy cane he had carved for her to use on her way. She said, “kind sir, I have no way of repaying you for your kindness”, and he replied, “I never expected you to. You just rest mother until you feel like you're able to go, you are welcome as long as you need to stay”. She got up and said, “thank you, kind sir, but I must be on my way. I have to get home, I have to get to my house tonight”. “As long as you think you're capable, my good woman, but just set for another minute to rest your ankle”. The woman did, but she was soon on her way and completely out of sight of the cottage.

It was now just a few minutes to midnight and just a few minutes it would be Christmas and where had his Lord been and he thought why had he not come as he promised. Why did he forsake him in his hour of need and again a voice spoke to him “I have not forsaken you, three times I have walked through your door and all three times you saw me sitting in the chair by the fire, you comforted me, fed me, and helped me address my pain. You are blessed among men, even though you had made all of the effort for me, you gave of yourself to those you thought were in need and by doing so you are attending to me. Take up your hammer and chisel for you have seen my face this Christmas Eve and you will have the strength you need to finish your task.

The woman that helped the cobbler had brought the little girl to their parish church, but when she had turned around, the little girl was no longer there.

She rushed in and told the priest of what had happened and by now it was time for early mass. He asked the woman, “where is your master, where is the cobbler. He is always here for early mass on Christmas morning, something must be wrong. We must go to him at once”. On their way, the woman and the priest met a wagon driver and a priest that were coming to collect the Nativity and Jesus on the Cross from the cobbler and they offered the woman and the priest a ride to the cobbler's house. Once they arrived they noticed that the door was open and they rushed in. There was no longer a fire in the fireplace and they went into the workshop where they found the cobbler in a chair that he had made for his Lord and Savior to sit in when he was coming to visit him on Christmas Eve, but the cobbler had passed away. They looked in the far corner and there was the most magnificent Jesus on the Cross they had ever seen and the most bright and beautiful Nativity that they had ever come across. The cobbler being a man of his word finished it all for the small parish church. The Wood Carver and cobbler had truly seen his Savior that night.

I would never have thought that I would ever travel as much as I have. I truly never believed that I would get out of Shelby County, Tennessee,

even though one of my biggest dreams was to explore the world. I met a young lady that I later married who had the same wanderlust that I did, but she had the courage to take me on the journeys of a lifetime. We've been to Europe, Asia and Africa and I loved it. The most memorable trip of all was a cruise that we took in the Mediterranean that started in Athens, then went to Egypt, Israel, Turkey, and to the beautiful Greek islands. We were lucky enough to go to the walled old city of Jerusalem and to Bethlehem, where I purchased a multitude of rosaries that were handmade in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. We walked the stations of the cross and, for those of you who do not know the stations of the cross, it is where miracles happened as Jesus carried his cross to the place where he was to be crucified. The thing that struck me was all of these places were relatively close in proximity to each other, even Bethlehem would have been like going from downtown Memphis Tennessee to Southaven, Mississippi. We also visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem that was built over the cave in which Jesus was born in a manger. The feeling that comes over you when you walk the areas where Jesus was born or where he taught the multitudes, even the garden of Gethsemane, is extremely close to everything.

I know that you're thinking that it costs too much money and it's too dangerous . I too was skeptical of the cost and our safety, but it was too important a journey for me not to have taken it. Just going to Jerusalem and Bethlehem would have been all I could've ever wished for, but we also went to Egypt and visited the Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo, which is built over the cave in which Jesus and his family stayed during his exile from Israel. We met some wonderful friends on our tour of Egypt and we actually went to a hookah bar, restaurant and had falafel which was a mixture of fried beans and vegetables in a ball served with lettuce, tomato and a Egyptian style yogurt sauce that was delicious. I can't help but think why was I blessed with these gifts from God when there are so many others more deserving of the trip. I will always be eternally grateful to my wife for the life I have been able to enjoy with her.

Of course, I have also done other things that were on my bucket list such as go to 221B Baker Street in London, England,

the home of the mythical character Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. Other than Earl Derr Biggers character Charlie Chan, the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories of Sherlock Holmes have always been my favorites. Of course, while we were in Hawaii I just had to go to Hotel Street in Honolulu where a lot of the exploits of that Oriental detective Charlie Chan took place.

We also drove completely around Germany, while we were in Germany. Our trip started in Basel, Switzerland visiting one of my wife's best friends. And then we set out on the autobahn driving a little Mercedes station wagon that I enjoyed immensely. Of course we visited her family while we were there and we went to all of the famous churches in Germany and, you guessed it, I bought more rosaries. I loved the food in Germany but it took us a while to find authentic German food. One day while looking for a German restaurant in Hamlin, a young black man crossed our path and in German my wife asked him if he knew where we could find a good German restaurant and in flawless German he jokingly said "for that you have to go to Spain", which was completely hilarious to me when she repeated it to me in English. When my wife told me what he had said the young man spoke up with a thick British accent and I was astonished and so was my wife, who is very seldom fooled by a non-native speaking German. We had a short conversation and went on our way. At one of the auto rest areas off of the autobahn there was a restaurant and it had authentic German food.

I guess truck drivers like their own cuisine served to them. We stayed in the town made famous by the Pied Piper of Hamlin and our hotel room was above a restaurant and bar, but it was extremely quaint because everything was done up like it was in the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin.

Our trip to Turkey was the most amazing place of all as it seemed to have the culture of the East and the West blended quite carefully. We went to the Hagia Sophia and to the Blue Mosque and to Topkapi, the palace of the sultans of the Ottoman Empire. Istanbul was known in earlier times as Constantinople after the Emperor Constantine that was converted to Christianity. The Ottomans conquered Turkey and changed the city name to Istanbul in the early 20th century. A dear friend of our family lived for a time in Ankara, Turkey, where her father was stationed for the Air Force and she sent me a Turkish dagger as a present one Christmas. It is solid brass and I still have it to this day. I was ecstatic going to Turkey, not only because she had been there, but it was also where they shot my favorite James Bond movie of all times "From Russia With Love". I secretly tried to find the support column were Sean Connery as James Bond 007 hid out of sight in the Hagia Sophia and I think I found it.

I know it's silly to base a lot of what you really want to see on TV and movies, but I have told you all many times that I am a movie and TV fanatic and it was nice to go to all of these countries that I had read and seen in movies and TV shows, such as going to Harrods Department Store in London and having tea and scones with my wife, actually she had tea and scones, while I had a hamburger and a Coke. I have been to Macy's in New York and various other large department stores in United States but nothing, and let me tell you, nothing is quite like going into Harrods department store. They have everything imaginable to man to be sold in this store.

The first time I saw Paris, I fell deeply in love with the City of Lights. No other city has the romantic atmosphere that draws us back as Paris, France. We tried our best to eat the places where the french themselves would eat at and not the tourist traps. we would go to the market on Rue Cler and buy a baguette and cheese and a bottle of wine and sit in our hotel room overlooking a view of the Eiffel Tower and eat our food and then back out to the Champs Elysee to the top of the Arc de Triomphe to gaze at the Eiffel Tower in all its glittering, glowing glory at night. Since the millenium the Eiffel Tower has been glowing and blinking which makes it even more a romantic site to see from the Arc de Triomphe.

When one visits Paris, the Louvre Museum     is 

absolute must.

Not only does it house treasures from around the world, but it also has the most magnificent collection of paintings of any museum ever anywhere. The greatest masterpiece ever, the Mona Lisa, is its featured treasure. And no other museum that I know of has a greater collection of Egyptian artifacts, other than the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

There will always be a part of my heart that longs to sit in the Polidor Restaurant in St. Michel, having lunch and a glass of wine. One thing that I guess I wanted to see more than anything else was the place where Charles Lindbergh landed on his flight from New York to Paris at the Le Bourget Airport and its Museum of Air and Space which is only rivaled by the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

I wish that I could show you all the wonders that I have seen in my life as a poor young man from Memphis. I have truly been blessed with the riches of ages and those riches are not of gold, they are the sights and sounds of the world and the knowledge that each of these trips have brought me. I pray that we have at least one more trip or two still to do. My wife and I would both love to go to Rome and attended mass at St. Peter's Basilica and I would also love to go back to Germany one more time. Even if we never go across the sea again, I am hopeful that we will be able to visit some of our favorite cities in the United States and Canada, one more time as well.

I don't tell you these things to brag, truly I am not. I only wish to share them with you so that you might take at least one trip to somewhere exotic yourself. God has blessed me and I pray that he will bless you with something as remarkable as he did me

                                                                           My South

Let me tell you about my South, where Southern pride is mixed with peach cobbler and a dash of manners. In my South you said yes, sir or yes ma'am and if you didn't, you got the back of your mother's hand and being respectful to your elders was not just expected it was demanded.

In my South your neighbors look after you as if you were a member of their own family. I remember in my South the first day of desegregation. We were all scared of doing or saying the wrong thing, because my mother gave me a lecture and told me if she heard of me being mean or rude to any of the black children she would tan my hide. Both black and white student alike tried not to even look at each other. We were actually scared of each other, after all we were just children in a mixed up political world that had been turned upside down. As usual being children from the South, we of eventually welcomed each other as new friends and playmates. In my South on Sunday mornings, you could hear the church bells ring from one end of the county to the other. For Sunday dinner there was always Southern fried chicken with all the normal fixins. In my South men and boys alike put their women on a pedestal and respected them as if they were China dolls. In my South at the end of every school year, there was a picnic that included all of the children's families and some of the most wonderful Southern food you could imagine.

There would always be a softball game or two, and three-legged races and all kinds of activities to strength our appetites, for all the fine food and fixins our mothers had made. In my South the reputation of your family name was guarded like it was precious gold and if you had done something wrong, your father would tell you that you had disgraced the family name and dishonored your heritage. You see, my South was where all of the family’s that lived here and work here and died here guarded the reputation of our heritage up to and including our last breath.

Angels among us

I have always remembered a story that Andy Griffith told about a man who was to be visited by his Lord and I have put my spin on the story that he told, because I love the story so much. Recently I have thought so much about the story because of all the posts about angels among us. Even though it's a Christmas story here's my take on and the story.

                                                                           Angels among us

There once was a young Wood Carver in the old country that had an amazing talent. His wood carvings of Jesus on the cross were sought by many of the small town parishes for their altar and he would also carve the Nativity scene for them as well. Once he had carved Jesus on the cross and the Nativity scenes for all of the local churches he had to find other means of making a living so he became a cobbler and made shoes for many of the towns surrounding his shop. As time went on, the Wood Carver and cobbler grew old and he had not carved Jesus on the Cross or the Nativity in many years but one of the local parishes church had burned and their Jesus on the Cross for their altar had perished along with the Nativity that he had also carved years earlier. He, of course, at first was overjoyed to do it again as it made him feel useful. He had received many letters from all of the parishioners on how much they had loved his carvings. He had carved every one and had everything done except for the baby Jesus and Jesus on the Cross. He just could not seem to get started, even though he'd picked up his chisel and hammer over 100 times, he just could not do it. He had the Body of Christ on the Cross and all he needed to do was finish the face so he picked up the hammer and chisel one more time and drew back but fell to his knees crying out “Oh Lord, I cannot see your face anymore. I have grown old and my memory has failed me. I need to see you again. I need to be able to carve your face so that people can see their Savior. Please Lord, let me look upon your face once more so that I can leave the people something that will warm their hearts at Christmas time and when they pray before you”.

The Wood Carver and cobbler could not believe his ears. He heard a voice that said to him “my son, I shall visit you on Christmas Eve and you will finish. You will see me once again and you will be filled with My spirit that will make you capable again of carving what you need for these people”. It was late on a Friday night and Christmas was Sunday so he only had this night and the morning to make ready for his Savior's visit. There was a woman from town that came in every weekend and helped him. He did not tell her why but he did tell her that the house and workshop needed to be spotless and that he was making a feast fit for a King. Between the two of them, they had his small home and workshop clean and bright and the smell of a wonderful feast wafted throughout the house and workshop. It was now getting late in the afternoon and he was excited because he expected his Savior at any time when he heard someone crying in the distance “please can someone help me, I am too weak and too tired to carry on”. The cobbler grabbed his scarf his hat in his coat and out his door he scampered into the afternoon setting sun where he found an old beggar man in rags without a coat in the freezing winter cold. “Here”, he said to the beggar man, “you must be frozen”. He wrapped him in his coat and put his scarf around him and adorned him with his hat and said “come with me, I have food and fire and some clothing for you”. The two men proceeded to the cobbler's house where he asked the woman that helped him to bring the man some food. He went into his bedroom where he found a brand-new suit of clothes, socks and shoes for the beggar man. He gave the clothing to the beggar man. After he had eaten, the beggar man put them on and told the cobbler he was grateful, he had never had such generosity before and no one had ever given him a brand-new pair of shoes. The beggar man reached for the door and the cobbler said, “no wait, you can't go out into the cold like that”. The cobbler grabbed his own coat and scarf and hat and gave it to him and said, “God bless you on your way, but let me please give you one more thing”. The woman that helped the cobbler brought the cobbler a bag of food and gave it to the beggar man. The beggar man left his house and was soon gone on his path down the road.

It had gotten dark and much colder and the cobbler thought, “where are you my Lord, have you forgotten your promise to me that I would see you today”. When he heard a young child crying and then a knock from a small hand on his door he opened the door to find a young little girl crying, “can you help me, I am lost and I cannot find my parents. Will you help me sir.” “Where are they”, he asked. The little girl said “we were in a town, it can't be far from here. I was chasing a small rabbit and lost my way”. The man called to the woman that came to help him on the weekends, “can you carry her to town and see if you can find her parents”. The woman said “yes of course I can”. “I have something for you first my dear before you go, I have something for you”, he went to his workshop and picked up a doll he had carved and painted. It was a pretty little Princess doll and he gave it to little girl and told her, ”there is nothing to be afraid of, you now have a friend that will be with you always”. And he gave her a glass of milk and some cookies as the woman and girl went on their way to town.

The cobbler was starting to get worried and he started to pray again and then he realized how selfish he was. “There are so many that need you my Lord”, he prayed, “and I am being so selfish, I am worried about you coming to see me and who am I to take up your time, but Lord there are so many that are depending on me, if you don't, I will understand but I needed to deliver these things tomorrow for it is the day of your birth that we celebrate on Christmas. How can this little town celebrate without their Nativity and without you on the Cross looking upon them from your altar”. The Wood Carver got up and put another log or two on the fire when he heard a scream coming from the road. He opened his door to see an old woman who had fallen on the road in front of his house. He ran out and asked “are you all right my good woman” and she replied, “no I think I've hurt my ankle”. He said “let me help you into the house, its warm there and you can have something to drink and something to eat’. She said “oh, thank you, kind sir, I have been on the road for four days and I am trying to get home. I did not realize it would take so long and that it had gotten so cold. The man carried her in the house and set her in the chair that he had made especially for his Lord and Savior to sit by the fire upon his visit. He had fed her the last of the feast that he had made for his Lord. He wrapped her ankle and went to his workshop and got a nice sturdy cane he had carved for her to use on her way. She said, “kind sir, I have no way of repaying you for your kindness”, and he replied, “I never expected you to. You just rest mother until you feel like you're able to go, you are welcome as long as you need to stay”. She got up and said, “thank you, kind sir, but I must be on my way. I have to get home, I have to get to my house tonight”. “As long as you think you're capable, my good woman, but just set for another minute to rest your ankle”. The woman did, but she was soon on her way and completely out of sight of the cottage.

It was now just a few minutes to midnight and just a few minutes it would be Christmas and where had his Lord been and he thought why had he not come as he promised. Why did he forsake him in his hour of need and again a voice spoke to him “I have not forsaken you, three times I have walked through your door and all three times you saw me sitting in the chair by the fire, you comforted me, fed me, and helped me address my pain. You are blessed among men, even though you had made all of the effort for me, you gave of yourself to those you thought were in need and by doing so you are attending to me. Take up your hammer and chisel for you have seen my face this Christmas Eve and you will have the strength you need to finish your task.

The woman that helped the cobbler had brought the little girl to their parish church, but when she had turned around, the little girl was no longer there. She rushed in and told the priest of what had happened and by now it was time for early mass. He asked the woman, “where is your master, where is the cobbler. He is always here for early mass on Christmas morning, something must be wrong. We must go to him at once”. On their way, the woman and the priest met a wagon driver and a priest that were coming to collect the Nativity and Jesus on the Cross from the cobbler and they offered the woman and the priest a ride to the cobbler's house. Once they arrived they noticed that the door was open and they rushed in. There was no longer a fire in the fireplace and they went into the workshop where they found the cobbler in a chair that he had made for his Lord and Savior to sit in when he was coming to visit him on Christmas Eve, but the cobbler had passed away. They looked in the far corner and there was the most magnificent Jesus on the Cross they had ever seen and the most bright and beautiful Nativity that they had ever come across. The cobbler being a man of his word finished it all for the small parish church. The Wood Carver and cobbler had truly seen his Savior that night.

I know a lot of you out there probably don't know the name Paul Blaisdell, but I bet you know the films that he worked on. Paul Blaisdell was a sketch artist and fine arts painter and a monster maker.

Some of you out there made know a man who became Paul Blaisdell's agent, Forrest J. Ackerman, who got Paul Blaisdell his first job making a monster for Roger Corman's low-budget film, The Beast With One Million Eyes. Yes, Paul Blaisdell was the King of the low-budget monster makers.  He made some of our favorite monsters for American International Pictures schlock 1950’s sci-fi horror movies. Mr. Blaisdell was known especially for The She Creature, The Day the World Ended, Earth Versus the Spiders and, one of my favorites, Invasion of the Saucer Men.

He and fellow horror enthusiast Bob Burns started a magazine called Fantastic Monsters of the Films, sadly it was short lived, but Paul had a feature in it, a how to section he called the Devil's Workshop.

I don't know how you feel about the schlock film monsters that Paul brought to life but one thing that we have to agree on is that this man made monsters come to life with absolutely no budget and none of the modern materials that special effects artists have at their disposal today and he literally scared us silly. Paul used glue, Styrofoam, paper mache, and thermal underwear to make his creations come to life. I have heard modern monster effects artists say that they would hate to have tried to make the quality of monsters that Paul was capable of with only those types of materials available. It would have been time consuming and literally, a painstaking effort to create the monsters that Mr. Blaisdell created. 

Which brings me to Paul Blaisdell's last movie and I tell everyone that it is my favorite movie of all times, even though it has been listed in the 20 worst movies ever made. It has something special, something very special, you actually see Paul Blaisdell take off the mask from The She Creature and see him appear in the movie.

There is one other reason that it's one of my favorite films. It heralded the end of the teenage exploitation movie and the sci-fi horror pictures of American International Pictures before the introduction of the Technicolor Frankie and Annette beach party movies that dominated American International Pictures through the 60’s.

With the help of an actor friend of mine, Daniel Roebuck (also a collector and enthusiast of horror), I had the huge honor of meeting both Bob Burns and Forrest J. Ackerman at their homes in Burbank and Hollywood, CA, and seeing the actual props from many of the sci-fi and horror movies that I loved so dearly as a kid. We saw the Capitol building from Earth Versus the Flying Saucers, one of the only surviving mechanical skeletons from the original King Kong (with Faye Ray) from the 1930’s, and the actual Time Machine from the movie starring Rod Taylor (which was recently used on The Big Bang Theory). We had the opportunity to meet one of the movie’s co-star’s, Alan Young, as well. We saw the headpiece to Klaatu, the robot from The Day the Earth Stood Still, as well as the flying saucer from the great movie starring Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal and Sam Jaffe.

There were two extremely special treats that Forrest J. Ackerman had, one of Bela Lugosi’s capes and the Dracula crest ring from Dracula. But the best treat of all was a completely restored martian head mask and the hand that injected the alcohol into Frank Gorshin, used in the movie Invasion of the Saucer Men which were made by Paul Blaisdell himself. We were also privileged to see hundreds of props and models that these men had saved literally from being destroyed or thrown away by the studios that made the pictures.

I am a huge fan of Mr. Paul Blaisdell, not because his movies were Oscar quality pictures, but because they weren't, but they were absolutely the best fun a kid could have watching on Fantastic Features a horror movie in the dark in his living room, late on a Friday night.

I don't know if many of you know the story as to why I did not finish my education at Memphis Tech High School. The pure truth of the matter is I had to quit and go to work. I will try to make this short so as not to take up a lot of your time. My father worked at the refinery there in Memphis at the time. It was called Delta Refinery and the name was later changed to Mapco.

There have been many explosions and even a few deaths that occurred during the time that my father worked there. He too encountered an explosion that sent him to the hospital with third-degree burns over 80% of his body. I was the first one that the police department contacted and I called my brother to collect my mother at work rather than calling her not knowing what condition our father was in. My brother Gary House, also a Tech High School alumni, agreed with me and he went directly to pick up my mother who was a manager at the Crystal on Summer Avenue. I drove like a maniac to get to the Methodist Hospital where the ambulance took my father. When I arrived they rushed me back to the emergency room where my father was, not to make light of the situation, but the only way I could describe how he looked without being completely morbid would be to tell you that he looked like a crispy critter. The doctors were already removing the peeling and blistering skin from his body. I don't know how most people would react to seeing such a sight, but for me it was devastating. I have never been able to get that sight out of my mind all these years.

My father and I were always at odds with each other. I guess it's probably because he saw so much of himself in me. I understand now because I see so much of me in my grandson and we are at odds at times but, going through the experiences that I did with my father, I tried to make the experiences that hurt me so much different so that he will at least remember me fondly. It’s hard when you see them making the same mistakes that you did not to fall into the same pattern that your father took with you, so I fail miserably at times.

I don't know if any of you had ever experienced poverty like we did that entire year. You see a lawyer went to see my father in the hospital and as soon as the company found that out they stopped any payment of workman's comp or salary so we were living completely on why my mother made at Crystal. Up until that time biscuits and gravy was one of my favorite breakfasts, but when you have to eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner because you can't afford anything else, you lose your taste for what I once considered a breakfast delicacy. So you see, I had no option and I had no one to counsel to other than my family and my brother who was in denial that we were hurting financially and to be fair, he had his own family to worry about it that time. I would've loved to walk across the stage with those that I grew up with but it wasn't to be for me. I'm not bitter because, you see, I have done more than most in my life. God truly blessed me with the things that I have done and the things that I have seen and everything that he is allowed me to learn.

The education that I have now I hold in the highest regard. None of the teachers that I had probably ever knew the struggles that I was going through and the decision that I had to make and I am sure that they would have thought it was the wrong decision and for someone else they might have been right, but it was my path to travel and I thoroughly believe God sent me on that path for a reason. Later in life he blessed me for going through the struggles that I went through and I cannot thank him enough for all he's done for me. There were others in my life that I must thank as well, you see, the teachers that I had all the way from grade school up until my last day of high school where some of the best people I had ever met. They were not just teachers they were my mentors and yes my heroes. There were teachers that did not understand me and believe me I don't blame them. It was only later in life that I grew to understand the problems that made it hard for me to learn and with the help of a loving wife and the knowledge that was bestowed on me by all of the teachers I had, somehow I figured out how to learn and what motivated me and I don't believe without those teachers I would be the person I am today. So “Thank You”! All of you that touched my life and taught me so much!

I would never have thought that I would ever travel as much as I have. I truly never believed that I would get out of Shelby County, Tennessee,

even though one of my biggest dreams was to explore the world. I met a young lady that I later married who had the same wanderlust that I did, but she had the courage to take me on the journeys of a lifetime. We've been to Europe, Asia and Africa and I loved it. The most memorable trip of all was a cruise that we took in the Mediterranean that started in Athens, then went to Egypt, Israel, Turkey, and to the beautiful Greek islands. We were lucky enough to go to the walled old city of Jerusalem and to Bethlehem, where I purchased a multitude of rosaries that were handmade in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. We walked the stations of the cross and, for those of you who do not know the stations of the cross, it is where miracles happened as Jesus carried his cross to the place where he was to be crucified. The thing that struck me was all of these places were relatively close in proximity to each other, even Bethlehem would have been like going from downtown Memphis to Southaven. We also visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem that was built over the cave in which Jesus was born in a manger. The feeling that comes over you when you walk the areas where Jesus was born or where he taught the multitudes, even the garden of Gethsemane, is extremely close to everything.

I know that you're thinking that it costs too much money and it's too dangerous . I too was skeptical of the cost and our safety, but it was too important a journey for me not to have taken it. Just going to Jerusalem and Bethlehem would have been all I could've ever wished for, but we also went to Egypt and visited the Hanging Church in Coptic Cairo, which is built over the cave in which Jesus and his family stayed during his exile from Israel. We met some wonderful friends on our tour of Egypt and we actually went to a hookah bar, restaurant and had falafel which was a mixture of fried beans and vegetables in a ball served with lettuce, tomato and a Egyptian style yogurt sauce that was delicious. I can't help but think why was I blessed with these gifts from God when there are so many others more deserving of the trip. I will always be eternally grateful to my wife for the life I have been able to enjoy with her.

Of course, I have also done other things that were on my bucket list such as go to 221B Baker Street in London, England, the home of the mythical character Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. Other than Earl Derr Biggers character Charlie Chan, the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories of Sherlock Holmes have always been my favorites. Of course, while we were in Hawaii I just had to go to Hotel Street in Honolulu where a lot of the exploits of that Oriental detective Charlie Chan took place.

We also drove completely around Germany, while we were in Germany. Our trip started in Basel, Switzerland visiting one of my wife's best friends. And then we set out on the autobahn driving a little Mercedes station wagon that I enjoyed immensely. Of course we visited her family while we were there and we went to all of the famous churches in Germany and, you guessed it, I bought more rosaries. I loved the food in Germany but it took us a while to find authentic German food. One day while looking for a German restaurant in Hamlin, a young black man crossed our path and in German my wife asked him if he knew where we could find a good German restaurant and in flawless German he jokingly said "for that you have to go to Spain", which was completely hilarious to me when she repeated it to me in English. When my wife told me what he had said the young man spoke up with a thick British accent and I was astonished and so was my wife, who is very seldom fooled by a non-native speaking German. We had a short conversation and went on our way. At one of the auto rest areas off of the autobahn there was a restaurant and it had authentic German food. I guess truck drivers like their own cuisine served to them. We stayed in the town made famous by the Pied Piper of Hamlin and our hotel room was above a restaurant and bar, but it was extremely quaint because everything was done up like it was in the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin.

Our trip to Turkey was the most amazing place of all as it seemed to have the culture of the East and the West blended quite carefully. We went to the Hagia Sophia and to the Blue Mosque and to Topkapi, the palace of the sultans of the Ottoman Empire. Istanbul was known in earlier times as Constantinople after the Emperor Constantine that was converted to Christianity. The Ottomans conquered Turkey and changed the city name to Istanbul in the early 20th century. A dear friend of our family lived for a time in Ankara, Turkey, where her father was stationed for the Air Force and she sent me a Turkish dagger as a present one Christmas. It is solid brass and I still have it to this day. I was ecstatic going to Turkey, not only because she had been there, but it was also where they shot my favorite James Bond movie of all times "From Russia With Love". I secretly tried to find the support column were Sean Connery as James Bond 007 hid out of sight in the Hagia Sophia and I think I found it.

I know it's silly to base a lot of what you really want to see on TV and movies, but I have told you all many times that I am a movie and TV fanatic and it was nice to go to all of these countries that I had read and seen in movies and TV shows, such as going to Harrods Department Store in London and having tea and scones with my wife, actually she had tea and scones, while I had a hamburger and a Coke. I have been to Macy's in New York and various other large department stores in United States but nothing, and let me tell you, nothing is quite like going into Harrods department store. They have everything imaginable to man to be sold in this store.

The first time I saw Paris, I fell deeply in love with the City of Lights. No other city has the romantic atmosphere that draws us back as Paris, France. We tried our best to eat the places where the french themselves would eat at and not the tourist traps. we would go to the market on Rue Cler and buy a baguette and cheese and a bottle of wine and sit in our hotel room overlooking a view of the Eiffel Tower and eat our food and then back out to the Champs Elysee to the top of the Arc de Triomphe to gaze at the Eiffel Tower in all its glittering, glowing glory at night.

Since the millenium the Eiffel Tower has been glowing and blinking which makes it even more a romantic site to see from the Arc de Triomphe. When one visits Paris, the Louvre Museum is an absolute must. Not only does it house treasures from around the world, but it also has the most magnificent collection of paintings of any museum ever anywhere. The greatest masterpiece ever, the Mona Lisa, is its featured treasure. And no other museum that I know of has a greater collection of Egyptian artifacts, other than the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. There will always be a part of my heart that longs to sit in the Polidor Restaurant in St. Michel, having lunch and a glass of wine. One thing that I guess I wanted to see more than anything else was the place where Charles Lindbergh landed on his flight from New York to Paris at the Le Bourget Airport and its Museum of Air and Space which is only rivaled by the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

I wish that I could show you all the wonders that I have seen in my life as a poor young man from Memphis. I have truly been blessed with the riches of ages and those riches are not of gold, they are the sights and sounds of the world and the knowledge that each of these trips have brought me. I pray that we have at least one more trip or two still to do. My wife and I would both love to go to Rome and attended mass at St. Peter's Basilica and I would also love to go back to Germany one more time. Even if we never go across the sea again, I am hopeful that we will be able to visit some of our favorite cities in the United States and Canada, one more time as well.

I don't tell you these things to brag, truly I am not. I only wish to share them with you so that you might take at least one trip to somewhere exotic yourself. God has blessed me and I pray that he will bless you with something as remarkable as he did me