Trump Force One...

President Trump's personal B757 made the news because it was parked at LGA and was struck by another plane.  I being in the Airline industry, this isn't a super rare phenomenon.  It does occasionally happen.  Usually from people rushing before checking and not having the proper "Wing Walkers" per Whatever SOP the organization calls for.  
      During the really big Lottery of 1.6 billion run a few weeks ago, we on my crew at work were talking about being rich and private airplanes my lead commented "If I was gonna have a personal airplane, it would be a B757, it is a damm good airplane. especially with the Rolls engines."  I had commented that our 57's had the Prat 2000's "  He commented "Yep good engine but the Rolls is better, and the 57 is a fast plane especially if the engines are not derated.".  Then we got to talking about what mods we would put on the plane and then President Trump's personal airplane got brought up and we had commented of we would try to "Out Trump Trump.." and we decided...Naaa but we would have some cool stuff on it like access to the cargo bays for motorcycles or a Mustang and drive the car on the autobahns or something.   I am trained on the Airbus airplanes but I do like the Boeing 757, it is a really good plane and I heard that Boeing may try to find a replacement in the next 10 years since the B737-900 series just don't have the legs and it would plug a hole in the Boeing lineup that showed up after the B757 was discontinued.

FILE - In this March 1, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's private jet arrives at Port-Columbus International Airport, in Columbus, Ohio. President Donald Trump's private jet, an instantly recognizable Boeing 757 used during his campaign, was caught up in a quintessential New York City traffic mishap at LaGuardia Airport on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018: a fender bender while someone else was trying to park. A corporate jet maneuvering into a parking spot clipped the wing of Trump's parked plane around 8:30 a.m., Trump's company, The Trump Organization, confirmed. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s private jet, an instantly recognizable Boeing 757 used during his campaign, was caught up in a quintessential New York City traffic mishap at LaGuardia Airport on Wednesday: a fender bender while someone else was trying to park.
A corporate jet maneuvering into a parking spot clipped the wing of Trump’s parked plane around 8:30 a.m., Trump’s company, The Trump Organization, confirmed. The plane was parked and not in use, it said.

FILE - In this March 1, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's private jet arrives at Port-Columbus International Airport, in Columbus, Ohio. President Donald Trump's private jet, an instantly recognizable Boeing 757 used during his campaign, was caught up in a quintessential New York City traffic mishap at LaGuardia Airport on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018: a fender bender while someone else was trying to park. A corporate jet maneuvering into a parking spot clipped the wing of Trump's parked plane around 8:30 a.m., Trump's company, The Trump Organization, confirmed. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s private jet, an instantly recognizable Boeing 757 used during his campaign, was caught up in a quintessential New York City traffic mishap at LaGuardia Airport on Wednesday: a fender bender while someone else was trying to park.
A corporate jet maneuvering into a parking spot clipped the wing of Trump’s parked plane around 8:30 a.m., Trump’s company, The Trump Organization, confirmed. The plane was parked and not in use, it said.

The corporate jet, a twin-engine Bombardier Global Express, had three crew members aboard. It had just completed an 18-minute flight from Islip, on Long Island, and was being guided by ground personnel along a ramp near the general aviation terminal.
No one was on Trump’s plane.
Trump used the jet throughout his 2016 run for the White House but hasn’t done so since taking office, opting for Air Force One instead.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates LaGuardia, said there were no injuries and no impact on airport operations.
The extent of damage to the planes wasn’t immediately clear. According to the aviation tracking website FlightAware, the corporate jet flew Wednesday afternoon to Hartford, Connecticut, where Bombardier has a service center. Trump’s plane is blocked from being tracked on the site.
Trump bought his jet, a retrofitted commercial airliner, from the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2011 for $100 million. It was previously used by a low-budget Mexican passenger carrier.
Trump flexed the jet as a symbol of wealth, power and convenience during his presidential campaign, using it to commute almost every night to New York, home to his Manhattan penthouse apartment.
The plane — painted black and red, with the Trump name in big, gold letters — features a bedroom, 24-karat gold-plated fixtures and leather seats, according to a Trump Organization video. During the campaign, it became known as Trump Force One and was a familiar backdrop for Trump’s airport hangar rallies.

 Video of the Interior

The Boeing 757-200 is registered in the United States as N757AF and was built in 1991. It originally was delivered to Denmark's Sterling Airlines, and later, by 1993, operated by Mexico's TAESA. In 1995, it became a corporate business jet for Paul Allen's enterprises. In 2011, it was acquired by Trump for $100 million.
The aircraft is equipped with Rolls-Royce RB211 turbofans, a glass cockpit, and is configured to seat 43. The plane is fitted with a dining room, bathroom, shower, bedroom, guest room, and galley. Most fixtures are coated in 24k gold.
Donald Trump had planned to use the 757 for campaigning during his putative 2012 presidential bid. Trump used the 757 for transportation during his successful 2016 presidential campaign. After becoming President, Trump began to travel with Air Force One.

quick musings....

I ran across this a few weeks ago and I remember telling this story to my cub scouts to make a point.  I would find stories from American Indians to make a moral or an honorable point about proper behavior.  

   I always thought it was a good story with a moral ending.
On a different note, I saw on TV where they are playing Godzilla marathon.  I used to live watching the Godzilla movies on Saturday mornings.  I am watching "Godzilla Vs Megalon", and I am thinking..."Man Tokyo has been devastated more by Godzilla than Curtis LeMay"

Top 10 Godzilla Villains

Within the context of the Japanese films, Godzilla's exact origins vary, but it is generally depicted as an enormous, violent, prehistoric sea monster awakened and empowered by nuclear radiation. Although the specific details of Godzilla's appearance have varied slightly over the years, the overall impression has remained consistent. Inspired by the fictional Rhedosaurus created by animator Ray Harryhausen for the film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Godzilla's iconic character design was conceived as that of an amphibious reptilian monster based around the loose concept of a dinosaur  with an erect standing posture, scaly skin, an anthropomorphic torso with muscular arms, spikes on its back and tail, and a furrowed brow. Art director Akira Watanabe combined attributes of a Tyrannosaurus, an Iguanodon, a Stegosaurus and an alligator  to form a sort of blended chimera, inspired by illustrations from an issue of Life magazine. To emphasise the monster's relationship with the atomic bomb, its skin texture was inspired by the keloid scars seen on survivors in Hiroshima. The basic design has a reptilian visage, a robust build, an upright posture, a long tail and rows of serrated fins along the back. In the original film, the fins were added for purely aesthetic purposes, in order to further differentiate Godzilla from any other living or extinct creature. Godzilla is sometimes depicted as green in comics, cartoons and movie posters, but the costumes used in the movies were usually painted charcoal grey with bone-white dorsal fins up until the film Godzilla 2000.

Godzilla's atomic breath, as shown in Godzilla (1954)

Godzilla's signature weapon is its "atomic breath," a nuclear blast that it generates inside of its body and unleashes from its jaws in the form of a blue or red radioactive heat ray.  Toho’s special effects department has used various techniques to render the breath, from physical gas-powered flames  to hand-drawn or computer-generated fire. Godzilla is shown to possess immense physical strength and muscularity. Haruo Nakajima, the actor who played Godzilla in the original films, was a black belt in Judo and used his expertise to choreograph the battle sequences.  Godzilla can breathe underwater, and is described in the original film by the character Dr. Yamane as a transitional form between a marine and a terrestrial reptile. Godzilla is shown to have great vitality: it is immune to conventional weaponry thanks to its rugged hide and ability to regenerate,  and as a result of surviving a nuclear explosion, it cannot be destroyed by anything less powerful. Various films, television shows, comics and games have depicted Godzilla with additional powers such as an atomic pulse, magnetism,  precognition, fireballs,  an electric bite,  superhuman speed, eye beams and even flight. 
Godzilla's allegiance and motivations have changed from film to film to suit the needs of the story. Although Godzilla does not like humans, it will fight alongside humanity against common threats. However, it makes no special effort to protect human life or property  and will turn against its human allies on a whim. It is not motivated to attack by predatory instinct: it does not eat people,and instead sustains itself on radiation and an omnivorous diet. When inquired if Godzilla was "good or bad", producer Shogo Tomiyama likened it to a Shinto "God of Destruction" which lacks moral agency and cannot be held to human standards of good and evil. "He totally destroys everything and then there is a rebirth. Something new and fresh can begin."

Godzilla battles King Kong in King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). This film has the highest Japanese box office attendance figures in the entire Godzilla series to date.

In the original Japanese films, Godzilla and all the other monsters are referred to with gender-neutral pronouns equivalent to "it", while in the English dubbed versions, Godzilla is explicitly described as a male, such as in the title of Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. The creature in the 1998 Godzilla film was depicted laying eggs through parthenogenesis.

Roar

Godzilla has a distinctive disyllabic roar (transcribed in several comics as Skreeeonk!), which was created by composer Akira Ifukube, who produced the sound by rubbing a pine-tar-resin-coated glove along the string of a contrabass and then slowing down the playback.  In the American version of Godzilla Raids Again (1955) entitled Gigantis the Fire Monster, Godzilla's iconic roar was substituted with that of the monster Anguirus. From The Return of Godzilla (1984) to Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), Godzilla was given a deeper and more threatening-sounding roar than in previous films, though this change was reverted from Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) onwards. For the 2014 American film, sound editors Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl refused to disclose the source of the sounds used for their Godzilla's roar. Aadahl described the two syllables of the roar as representing two different emotional reactions, with the first expressing fury, and the second conveying the character's soul.

Size

Toho's Heisei Godzilla (left, 100 metres tall) confronting Legendary's Godzilla (right, 108.2 metres tall) as shown in Bandai Namco's 2014 video game Godzilla

Godzilla's size is inconsistent, changing from film to film and even from scene to scene for the sake of artistic license. The miniature sets and costumes were typically built at a ​¹⁄₂₅–​¹⁄₅₀ scale and filmed at 240 frames per second, to create the illusion of great size. In the original 1954 film, Godzilla was scaled to be 50 m (164 ft) tall.This was done so Godzilla could just peer over the largest buildings in Tokyo at the time. In the 1956 American version, Godzilla is estimated to be 122 m (400 ft) tall, because producer Joseph E. Levine felt that 50 m did not sound "powerful enough". As the series progressed Toho would rescale the character, eventually making Godzilla as tall as 100 m (328 ft). This was so that it would not be dwarfed by the newer bigger buildings in Tokyo's skyline such as the 243-meter-tall (797 ft) Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building which Godzilla destroyed in the film Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991). Supplementary information such as character profiles would also depict Godzilla as weighing between 20,000 and 60,000 metric tons (22,000 and 66,000 short tons).In the American film Godzilla (2014) from Legendary Pictures, Godzilla was scaled to be 108.2 m (355 ft) and weighing 90,000 metric tons (99,000 short tons), making it the largest film version to that time. Director Gareth Edwards wanted Godzilla "to be so big as to be seen from anywhere in the city, but not too big that he couldn’t be obscured".For Shin Godzilla (2016), Godzilla was made even taller than the Legendary version, at 118.5 m (389 ft)

Monday Music "Broken Wings" by Mister, Mister

I decided to roll with this song, I was traveling a lot this weekend and I was listening a lot to my Sirius/XM radio on the 80's channel and they were playing the top 40 songs from 1985 and it was this time that I went to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for Basic Training and the series of songs were making me a bit introspective.  I use music to tell stories of various parts of my life and I am sure that other people do the same thing.  It was to me the boundaries of going from a kid to a man.  A rite of passage as it were.  I have regrets in my life but joining the Military wasn't one of them.

"Broken Wings" is a 1985 song recorded by American pop rock band Mr. Mister. It was released in June 1985 as the lead single from their second album Welcome to the Real World. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1985, where it remained for two weeks. It was released as the band was just about to embark on a US tour opening for Tina Turner. The song peaked at number four in the United Kingdom, the highest chart position the group ever achieved in Britain. "Broken Wings" became the first of two consecutive number ones of the band on the American charts, the other chart-topper being "Kyrie".

The music video for "Broken Wings" was directed by Oley Sassone and filmed in black-and-white. It features lead vocalist/bassist Richard Page driving through the desert in a classic Ford Thunderbird, the first allusion to birds. There is a scene where Page is sitting in a church when a Harris's Hawk flies in through the window and lands next to him on the pew and they exchange a gaze. The full band is also featured in performance scenes. Also appearing in the video are an unknown man and woman dancing tango. They are only shown from the waist down. At the end of the video Page is seen next to the Thunderbird with the vehicle's hood open, symbolizing broken wings.

Returned home and the Tam Challenge

I went to Tennessee to visit my folks and they have a nice range about 5 minutes from their house so getting started on the "Tam Challenge". Which basically is firing 2000 rounds through older pistols usually from the 1980 or the 1990's and see how they stack up performance wise against the new shooting iron and new manufacturing processes.  Well I decided to use my Sigma, I have had this pistol since the late 1990's.  It is my "Truck Gun".  Basically it stays in the truck unless I have to take it out for some reason like it going into the shop for an oil change or something then I take it out.    I know it is one of the earlier Sigma's

Well anyway I decided to go to the range and start the "Tam Test".  She told me that it was someone named Todd G that actually came up with the idea, but I had told her that I heard it associated with her.
     Well anyway we got to the range and I walked to my station and noticed this off the bat...

Apparently someone violated one of the "Always" rules....or to use a Tamism"They had their meathook on the bangswitch" when they were not supposed to.  It reinforces that accidents do happen.
    Well I laid out the ammo I had to plink with...

I than pulled out the pistol and the clips to load them...

Notice the 2 "AWB" magazines and the one regular magazine that I bought last year at NRAAM in Dallas.

I flipped over the magazines and noticed something....

"Opsie..left the "Go to the Mattresses" ammo in it...so I had to unload them...."

I have plink ammo to burn...not the "more expensive" stuff.

Unloaded the 'expensive" ammo, then loaded the PMC ammo first and set up the target and started shooting..

That is my target at the 10 yard line. the one in the center.   The Pistol ran the first 34 rounds flawlessly...

Not bad, but I had some impressions after shooting....The Pistol fired, but the trigger was a long squeeze and I caught myself anticipating the shot and jerking the pistol.  Not a good habit so I forced myself to slow down and do it right per the fundamentals.   And speaking of trigger, I noticed the trigger/safety pinching the crap out of my finger while the pistol fired and the resulting action of the slide going back and ejecting the round and scooping up another round from the magazine and going back into battery.
    I burned through my PMC ammo then went to the blazer ammo...and my finger was killing me so I passed the pistol to my son and let him shoot a couple of magazines...I figured it didn't matter who shot the pistol as long as the pistol was run...

 We did have one no bang...it showed a hit on the primer but no "boom"

Not sure if it was the pistol or the ammo on that one....

The pistol ran all the other rounds flawlessly so I am impressed so far...but time will tell.

   The next day we drove home after getting detoured  trying to drive over the Smokey Mountains due to high winds

Why they call it The "Smokey Mountains"  My son took the pic

I had my son drive in GA on the way up because he has a learner permit and Tennessee doesn't offer reciprocity for his GA permit.  But he got in a lot of driving in Georgia on the way up and on the way back but it seems that I spend a lot of time in the Truck today...

I did see at the range over there a brand new Springfield Range Officer .45 ACP for less than $500, I almost plonked down the plastic because the price was really good.  That is the pistol that Old NFO would call a "BBQ gun" or a Sunday go to meeting gun...I texted Mack about the deal and commented that "If I got that pistol, I might find myself divorced" because I already have a Henry Golden boy on layaway.    He being the stellar person that he is offered me the guest bedroom....Mack UNDERSTANDS, LOL

Started the "Tam Challenge on my Sigma

I started my "Tam  Challenge" on my S&W Sigma, I will post more details.  I am using a strange computer so I was unable to upload the pics that I have.  I fired 150 rounds through the pistol, with the exception of one misfire that showed a primer strike but no "Boom".  My trigger finger was hurting from shooting, I think the trigger safety was pinching my finger during the shooting.   I will post more musings and details tomorrow afternoon/evening after I get home

Thanksgiving 2018

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers and Friends.....

    Go visit friends...have friends visit you...and if you hate your relatives......Talk politics during Thanksgiving and you will not have to worry about visiting for Christmas.

I will be back after thanksgiving.....

Monday Music "You Lost that Loving Feeling" By Darryl Hall and John Oats(Cover)

I heard this song on the way home from work on my 80's channel, I remembered the Righteous Brothers version and it was a total departure from what was going on before and it turned into a huge hit for them becoming an iconic song for the duo and it was covered many times.   I decided to roll with the Hall and Oats version of the  song, and they did an excellent job of it, but every time I hear of the song, this is what I think of...

Top Gun Version...

So Shoot me.....LOL

"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" is a song written by Phil Spector, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil. It was first recorded by the Righteous Brothers in 1964, produced by Phil Spector. Their recording is considered by some music critics to be the ultimate expression and illustration of Spector's "Wall of Sound" recording technique. It has also been described by various music writers as "one of the best records ever made" and "the ultimate pop record".
The original Righteous Brothers version was a critical and commercial success on its release, becoming a number-one hit single in both the United States and the United Kingdom in February 1965. It was the fifth best selling song of 1965 in the US. It also entered the Top 10 in the UK chart on an unprecedented three separate occasions.
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" has been covered successfully by numerous artists. In 1965, Cilla Black's recording reached number two in the UK Singles Chart. Dionne Warwick took her version to number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1969. A 1971 duet version by singers Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway peaked at number 30 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. Long John Baldry charted at number two in Australia with his 1979 remake and a 1980 version by Hall and Oates reached number 12 on the US Hot 100.
In December 1999, the performing-rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) ranked the song as the most-played song on American radio and television in the 20th century, having accumulated more than 8 million airplays by 1999, and nearly 15 million by 2011. Additionally, the song was chosen as one of the Songs of the Century by RIAA and ranked No. 34 on the list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone. In 2015, the single was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

In 1980, the American musical duo Hall & Oates recorded a cover version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" for their ninth studio album Voices. Their version of the song was produced by the duo and included a sparse arrangement contrasting with the lavish Righteous Brothers original version. It was the second non-original song Hall & Oates had ever recorded. According to Oates, this was the very last song recorded for the album, as it had been deemed complete with the other ten tracks. However, Hall and Oates felt that there was "something missing" from the album. Then they came across the Righteous Brothers' version of the song on a jukebox machine while going out to get food and they decided to cover it. They went back to the studio, cut it in a period of four hours, and placed on the album.

The track was issued on RCA Records as the album's second single after the original "How Does It Feel to Be Back" peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100. The November peak of number 12 on the Hot 100 chart made "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" the first Hall & Oates single to ascend higher than number 20 since the number one hit "Rich Girl" in the spring of 1977."You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" also reached number 15 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, on the Radio & Records Airplay chart the song debuted at number 30 on the September 26, 1980 issue, after seven weeks it reached and peaked at number four staying there for one week, the song stayed on the top 10 of the chart for six weeks and remained on it for thirteen. It also reached number 55 in the UK Singles Chart.

ain't feeling it....

Tam test on a S&W Sigma?

Gun Blogger and  and assorted Gun Magazine contributor Tam and also my friend Mack both have taken older pistols from the 1990's and ran them through what I call the "Tam Test" to see how the pistols of yesteryear performed.  They use the 2000 round test and I am considering doing the same.

In 1994 S&W rolled out the original Sigmas, the SW40F and SW9F chambered in .40 S&W and 9mm Luger respectively. Both were full sized models denoted by the F. Both had black polymer frame and a dark blued slide. Both had "double stack" magazines with a capacity of 15 and 17 rounds respectively. The pistol was designed to compete with the Glock 17. It had the same grip angle as the Colt 1911A1, and was priced slightly above the Glock 17.

I own a S&W sigma .40. It has been my truck gun, you know the type...stays in the console except when I take it out to shoot it..very..occasionally,. know it is one of the early ones for the model number. It is a model "V", I got the pistol in the late 90's, and right after i got the pistol, the firing pin spring ( I remember it looking like a funny "J", i might be wrong...been 20 years), broke and I called S&W, this was before the internet and when I got the nice lady at customer service and told them my problem. I described the broke part and she commented " that is an old style part, let me see if we have any."....after a few minutes she came back and said" I have one...what is your address?", I told her and got the part in a week. That taught me a lesson about buying quality firearms. Well anyway I am considering doing the Tam challenge to the pistol and see how it performs.

The 10 round Post-ban magazine

I have 2 of those...

The next incarnation of the Sigma were models limited to 10 rounds due to the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban. Smith & Wesson significantly dropped the price and changed the polymer frame color to light grey with matching slide. The model designation of these pistols were SW40V and SW9V, with V being equated with Value. Later, V models were introduced with black polymer frame and stainless steel slides.
At this same time Smith & Wesson introduced the SW40C and SW9C. This version of Sigma retained the black polymer frame and black slide of the original SW40F and SW9F. These models had the Double Action Only trigger. This was a feature marketed heavily to police departments especially those transitioning from revolver to semi-automatic pistol as the trigger pull was the same for each shot. Also the trigger pull was long and heavy similar to a double-action revolver which was believed to reduce the chance of inadvertently firing the pistol. This model was almost exclusively marketed to police departments. Used models can be found with standard capacity magazines even though most pistols produced during this period were restricted to 10 rounds. This is because police departments were exempt from the 10-round limit and after the provision had sunset, departments could legally sell both pistol and standard capacity magazine on the secondary market.
In 1999 Smith & Wesson introduced the VE series. These models were billed as "enhanced" and featured an improved grip, improved trigger, and enlarged ejection port. This model returned to the black coloration of the polymer frame mated with a stainless steel or black melonite slide. 1999 also saw the prototype SW40Ti built, the unique feature was a Titanium slide. The SW40Ti was never put into production.
At this time Smith & Wesson retired the 4.5 inch barrel and switched all Sigmas to the 4.0 inch barrel. Sigmas from this era onward are considered "2nd generation" Sigmas. Shortly after the introduction of the VE series, Smith & Wesson further improved it by adding an accessory rail but did not change the model number to reflect this update.
Sometime after 1999 Smith & Wesson introduced the SW40P and SW9P. These models were identical to the SW40VE and SW9VE but added porting to the barrel and slide, the purpose of which was to vent gases upwards to fight the muzzle flip associated with recoil.
In 2004 Smith & Wesson introduced the SW40GVE and SW9GVE. These models had a green polymer frame.
In 2011 Smith & Wesson reworked the Sigma design, dropped the Sigma name, and introduced a pistol as the SD series. This pistol has a redesigned trigger action and also has a front "night" sight. Magazines are interchangeable between the Sigma and SD series, although the baseplates are slightly different. This pistol was priced and marketed to sit between the traditional Sigma VE series and the Smith & Wesson M&P design.

    This is how the pistol normally rides inside my truck, in the holster that has a pouch for an extra magazine.  I got the holster many years ago.  It is one if those holsters that I don't wear but it keeps the pistol and extra magazine together in a neat package.

 I have 200 rounds of Speer Gold dot which I will not use, it is my "Go to the Mattresses" ammo but I have several hundred rounds of regular "Plink" ammo I can use to get started....Will plan a trip to the range next week.

Musings and goings on at Casa De Garabaldi

Sorry that I didn't get anything on Tuesday, I was very busy and I had to choose between blog or sleep, so I choose sleep....

I have noticed the continuing kerfluffle with Florida and the circus in Broward County, and I keep having CHAD flashbacks to 2000 election.  It seems that the GOP stops voting on election day as the law says but the democrats can keep voting until they get the votes to declare themselves a winner.  I saw this with Arizona where all these "Mysterious votes" came from nowhere to elect the democratic candidate.  I am seeing the same thing in Florida where the election was declared over except for Broward county and Palm beach where the election board of that county ignoring Florida law continuing to move ballots around trying to find enough to get the democratic candidate for senator and governor elected.  I also am seeing this here in GA where the democratic candidate is filing lawsuits after lawsuits, if they can't win by votes, then they will will win by the courts...  What gets me is this....Where is the GOP? they gonna roll over and let the democrats screw them over....again.  I see the democrats saying "Every vote counts..." but if the vote is illegal, then it don't count and in their rush to "Stick it to da man and the system" they forget that when this stuff goes on, it erodes peoples faith in the system.  And this is not a good thing, if the democrats are successful in stealing more elections by voter fraud, people will no longer participate in the process and the system and if people feel disenfranchised, then things can get sporting in a hurry and this is NOT a good thing for the country.

  

Did some work on the F150, the old headlights were showing their age, I had some crazing that I was unable to polish out. I made some marks(duct tape) on the garage door to ensure proper alignment. Then proceeded to swap the headlights and side marker lights. I used gloves as to not leave oil on the bulbs and shorten the lifespan. The new lights look good..and due to duct tape, i was able to ensure proper alignment.

Monday Music "Come as you are" By Nirvana

I decided to roll with a song from Nirvana again.  My favorite BlogBabe had asked me a while back to do another song from Nirvana.  I cannot overstate the influence that Nirvana had on the music scene in the 1990's.  They heralded in the arrival of what was called "Grunge Rock" and totally pushed hair metal and other forms of music from the 1980's(My favorite musical decade) off the chart.  Kurt Cobain was considered a musical genius and his influence is still felt, even now 20 years later.  He like a lot of geniuses had other problems and they culminated in his suicide in 1994, I remember when this happened, the news went on for days about the suicide and the family drama with his wife Courtney Love was all over the news for years afterwards.  I personally thought of grunge as "ok" that is a personal taste thing, but to many people, they were rock gods.  Nirvana will rank up there with the Beatles for their influence on the musical scene and their influence on a new generation of singers and songwriters.

"Come as You Are" is a song by American grunge band Nirvana, written by frontman Kurt Cobain and released as the second single from the band's second studio album Nevermind in March 1992. It was the band's second American top 40 hit, and second UK top 10 hit, reaching number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number nine on the UK Singles Chart.

The unexpected success of the album's lead single, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" drew Nirvana to mainstream success, with Nevermind being released two weeks after the single's release. Following the album's release, the band and its management company debated whether to release "Come as You Are" or "In Bloom" as the next single from the album due to Cobain's concerns over similarity of the former with the Killing Joke song "Eighties" (1984). After some persuasion by the management company, Cobain agreed to release "Come as You Are" as the second single because of its commercial potential. Killing Joke were upset over the song, and there were rumors that a lawsuit had been filed over the song, though the suit never materialized. Killing Joke guitarist Geordie Walker was said to be upset about the whole situation, and he felt that Nirvana (which according to Walker denied the connection between the songs) handled the matter poorly.

The music video for "Come as You Are" was directed by Kevin Kerslake, who drew inspiration for it from the cover artwork of Nevermind. Rolling Stone ranked "Come as You Are" 445th on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and it placed 452nd on the 2010 edition of the list.

"Come as You Are" was one of the few new songs Nirvana recorded onto the rehearsal tape the group sent to producer Butch Vig prior to the recording of Nevermind in 1991. The group recorded the song with Vig during album sessions at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, in early 1991. Cobain recorded his guitar solo in two takes, as well as three takes of vocals, of which the first was used. Vig then asked Cobain to double track his vocals throughout the entire song. During the harmony overdub session, Cobain accidentally sang the phrase "And I don't have a gun" too early, appearing the fourth time he sings the word "memoria" after the guitar solo. When this mistake was discovered, Cobain decided to keep it in the final recording. Vig sampled Cobain singing "memoria" from the middle of the song and placed it in the background of the song near the end twice.^[The band also performed an acoustic version of the song on MTV Unplugged on November 18, 1993. The recording later appeared on MTV Unplugged in New York in November 1994.

The origin of the song's title is unclear, but Charles R. Cross speculated the song may have been named after a motto used by the Morck Hotel in Cobain's hometown of Aberdeen, Washington. The Morck was one of many places Cobain stayed in after leaving home for a time while he was seventeen years old.

Wary of the similarity between the main riff of "Come as You Are" and English post-punk band Killing Joke's 1984 single "Eighties", Nirvana and its management were unsure about releasing the song as the second single from Nevermind. Danny Goldberg, head of Nirvana's management Gold Mountain, later revealed that "[w]e couldn't decide between 'Come as You Are' and 'In Bloom.' Kurt was nervous about 'Come as You Are' because it was too similar to a Killing Joke song but we all thought it was still the better song to go with. And, he was right, Killing Joke later did complain about it." Nirvana biographer Everett True writes that "Come as You Are" was eventually chosen for release as a single because "Goldberg favoured the more obviously commercial song".

It was anticipated that the first single from Nevermind, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", would be a "base-building alternative cut", while "Come as You Are" would be able to cross over into other radio formats. However, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" became a surprise hit and boosted the band's popularity, whereas "Come as You Are" served to maintain it. After its release as a single in March 1992, "Come as You Are" peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single stayed on the chart for 18 weeks.The song also reached number three on the Billboard Mainstream and Modern Rock Tracks charts. The single also broke the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, peaking at the ninth spot. This song ranked number 82 in Blender's "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born", and 452nd on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Although members of Killing Joke claimed the main guitar riff of "Come as You Are" plagiarized the riff of "Eighties", the band reportedly did not file a copyright infringement lawsuit, which Rolling Stone magazine attributes to "personal and financial reasons". However, conflicting reports state that Killing Joke did file a lawsuit but that it was either thrown out of court, or that it was dropped following Cobain's death. Geordie Walker, Killing Joke's guitar player, said that the band was "very pissed off about that, but it's obvious to everyone. We had two separate musicologists' reports saying it was. Our publisher sent their publisher a letter saying it was and they went 'Boo, never heard of ya!', but the hysterical thing about Nirvana saying they'd never heard of us was that they'd already sent us a Christmas card!"

Later it was also noted that a third song, The Damned's "Life Goes On", pre-dated both and contained a similar riff to both songs. The Damned were an English gothic punk band and released their song in 1982.

In 1999 "Come as You Are" was voted in at number 49 in Kerrang! magazine's "100 Greatest Rock Tracks Ever!". As of April 2016, according to Business Insider, "Come as You Are" was the sixth most streamed song from the 1990s on Spotify.

The music video was directed by Kevin Kerslake, who later directed the videos for "Lithium", "In Bloom", and "Sliver", as well as Pantera's music video for "This Love". After the unsatisfactory experience filming the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video with Samuel Bayer, Cobain selected Kerslake due to his impressionistic style. Cobain was unable to formulate any ideas beyond homaging the Nevermind album cover and including "a lot of purples and reds", so he let Kerslake conceptualize the clip. The band shot outdoor footage in a park in Hollywood Hills a few days prior to the main video shoot. Kerslake projected this footage in the background of many shots in the main part of the video.

The video features the band in a dark room, where the appearance of falling water in front of the band distorts and blurs the band members' faces (an idea suggested by Cobain). Throughout the video, clips such as cells multiplying at an incredible rate, to a living organism in its embryotic stages are shown. The video clip also features Kurt Cobain swinging away on a chandelier throughout the room, and water begins to flow into the room. In addition, the video shows parts involving a dog wearing a cone collar. Images of a baby swimming underwater (a reference to the cover of Nevermind) and a pistol floating appear. Towards the end, a clip of the band appears, with Cobain in the front, lying on the ground and kissing the camera.

Veterans Day 2018

This day was created originally as "Armistice Day" after the "War to end All Wars" and people wanted to honor the veterans from that conflict.  The Day was set as 11/11/11/11th.  Or November which is the 11 month, the 11 day, the 11th hour and the 11th minute.  The day was called "Armistice Day" until after WWII, it then was called "Veterans Day."

There are 3 holidays that honor the United States Armed forces,
  We have Armed Forces Day that honors those that are serving
  We have Memorial Day that honors those that died in service or those of us that crossed over to Valhalla or Fiddlers Green.

 And Veterans Day to me traces its lineage to those of us that stood watch on the borders of our civilization since the days of the Romans standing watch on the Danube to guard the frontier so those of our people could sleep secure at night knowing that they were safe from the bad people.  Veterans like me and those like me presented a blank check to Uncle Sam to write in any amount including our lives if necessary.  We mustered out but we know many of us that didn't make it to this stage and that is where Memorial Day comes in and Veterans day honors those of us that did make it and this day honors us and those like us.  It is a unique category because the veterans in our society is a small segment like a warrior class and Veterans tend to come from family traditions, meaning that it is a father son, uncle cousins nieces, Aunts, moms kinda thing.  This Day humbles me to a great degree because of what it means and I will honor those of us that crossed beyond.  Our job as Veterans is to ensure that the traditions are not forgotten and passed on to the next generations.