Up in the Air. Also, straight down.

Tree stands going up.  The younger hunter on the right has already gotten the family "on the board" with a nice deer during the special youth hunt weekend.  He may be the best shot in the crew, as one might expect from a kid who can make a soccer ball, baseball or hockey puck go where ever he directs it.

That stand is for the gun season that starts 8 days from now.  After my misadventures with getting deer tags I had to switch tactics this year.  I've been down on The Homestead with a crossbow.  It is a different sort of hunting.  It takes time and patience.  You see deer that you can't reach, given the roughly 40 yard range of my bow.  Well, 30 given my skill level.  And....when a deer unexpectedly steps out from behind a bush and walks directly UNDER your tree stand, well, that's an impossible shot, leaning over the railing and twisting up and over.  I think the grand kids will have some new works of taunting art for the fridge over that one.

Eventually a deer did turn up in the right spot, and I will have venison for the year ahead.

Tree Shaped Tombstones - Morbid Puns in Neilsville Wisconsin?

I had some time to kill the other day.  Hey, this happens when you hunt from sunrise to 10 am, then again from 3 to sunset.  So I drove over to Neilsville, Wisconsin.  There were a few things I wanted to look into.  A couple of former brewery sites, and, while I was in town, a big cemetery.  Seems like the place you'd find a bit crop of Tree Shaped Tombstones.

But actually, no.  The few specimens represented were of one of the boring subtypes, basically just a log with a name on it.  But wait a minute.  That name.  Manes.*

You'd have to be a fan of both tombstones and Roman stuff to make this connection.

Roman tombstones often have the notation DM.  It is short hand for Dis Manibis.  Or in translation "To the Manes".  

The Manes were the spirits of the dead.  Or more correctly, one sort of spirits.  Lares were the good spirits.  They were assumed to already be on your side.  Lemures ** were the evil spirits.  You did not invoke them.  Manes were the the sort of generic spirits of the dead and definitely worth trying to appease.  So, a dedication to the Manes was customary.

Did this 19th century citizen of Neilsville know this fact?  Did he recognize the irony?  I'm thinking yes.  People paid much more attention to the classics in the pre-Tik Tok age.

But perhaps this was a coincidence, a one off. Surely there could not be another tombstone six rows over with a bit of  pun in the inscription?

Or maybe there could be.  Stone representing Wood.

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*As a surname Manes probably has nothing to do with Latin at all.  If English or Scottish, it is probably a variant of Mains.

** Lemurs got their generic name - and from Linneaus himself no less - because they are nocturnal, creepy looking and make weird noises in the dark.  I think they've earned their association with evil spirits of the dead....

Hearth and Home - Fall 2024

 

For those who have been following the "Homesteaders" project.  Warmth and light.  Of course you can finish building your house, but you never finish building your home.

Killer Shrews and The Family Business

I enjoy really bad movies.  Oh, not modern ones that I'd have to pay to see, but the classics.  And among them is a gem called The Killer Shrews.  It is from 1959, pretty much the pinnacle of cheesy, black and white sci-fi schlock.  

It has several special charms.  Oh, not the plot.  It's the usual Science Goes Wrong stuff, specifically biological research that makes teeny little voracious shrews grow to giant size while their appetites grow accordingly.  The titular shrews, delightfully, were played by dogs with fake fangs, tails and mangy hides added!

Here you can see the deadly creatures as they gnaw futilely at the oil drums the humans are using to stage an escape attempt.  I bet they had all sorts of dog treats in these to attract their attention.  "Who's a Good Boy?"  Yes, Good Dogs and Good Sports.

I also like this film for a small but remarkable fact I just learned recently.  Now, in most such movies you had stock characters.  Here we see the Girl Scientist, the Dweeby Beta Male love interest of same, and the Macho Can Do guy who comes to save the day.  Oh, and in the middle of the scene we have The Science Guy.  His real life name?  Baruch Lumet.  Sound just a tad familiar?  Hmmmmm?

Well, Baruch did not have much of a film career.  In fact prior to The Killer Shrews he had but a single credit.  Twenty years earlier he had a small role in a film called "One Third of a Nation".  Also appearing in it was his son, Sidney.

Sidney Lumet.  One of the most acclaimed directors in history, he made such classics as 12 Angry Men, Fail Safe, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, and Network.  Somehow despite being often nominated for an Oscar, he only won once and late in his career and as an Honorary Oscar.  

As for Lumet Senior, it seems as if Baruch was not all that interested in being in front of the camera.  He took on a few small parts, especially in the 1960's, but was primarily an acting coach and casting director.  I hope most of his students - Jayne Mansfield was one - went on to greater accomplishments than appearing with collies dressed up as voracious predators!

A Busy 24 hours

Well, lets see.

Monday, 7pm, first official meeting of the robotics team.  Various organizational stuff.  Should be a strong group this year.

Tuesday, 5am.  Got up to be ready at 6 for Vindolanda signup.  You have to be quick on the mouse to get a spot.  Success.

Tuesday morning.  Spent with a grand kid.  Doing play stuff.

Tuesday 4pm, Robot School.  Hitting the home stretch now.  This was the assignment board.  They did get it running and the paddle mechanism operating.  All wires now better secured.  We had a vote on the robot's name.  It shall be known as.....Jeff.  I don't know why.

Here is some frenzied end of session work to get it operating.  There are two sessions left, and plenty of shoring up and tweaking ahead.  But the basic mechanisms all work.

Oh, there's some kind of election going on as well.  Probably others will have things to say about that.

Capricious Thoughts

Sometimes I enjoy questions without answers.  They make you think.

Consider the word Caprice.  It means a sudden change of mind without apparent motive.  It turns up in French in the 16th century, apparently arising from an earlier Italian word, cappricio.  But where did that come from?

Some say it references goats (capro) and their tendency to frisk about in random fashion.  Or, perhaps it combines the words for head (capo) with riccio, a complicated word meaning curled or frizzled hair.  Having one's hair stand on end does not quite seem like caprice, but it is the sort of experience that might change your mind.

Seasons Change. Dogs? Never.

There's a Far Side cartoon I've always really liked:

Honestly, I think it sells "Bob" short.  Ever since wolves snuck up to the stone age campfires and started trying to be helpful, they've been playing the Long Con.  "Hey, take care of us and we'll protect you from danger".

Right.  What exactly do dogs bring to the table as compared to sturdy cave people who have spears and the use of fire?  Well, they can still bark their fool heads off in response to perceived threats....  Right, Hank?  The Enemy is inside the perimeter!!!!

Here's Hank's response to me making the dreaded Lawn Mower move.  Not run mind you, just move.

Well, he's sure giving it his best effort.  With the strange transitional weather we are now experiencing it won't be long before I'll be running the even bigger, noisier Red Machine.  I test started it right after I finished mowing/mulching.  Strangely Hank ignored it.  Guess a dog has to know his limits.