Random Observations

Wonder if Billy's ship was named after our main man?

Quote from ethanedwards

William appears to be well liked!

I feel more affinity for Harry - I suspect he and I have quite a bit in common.

Quote from chester7777

I suspect this had more to do with it.

Mebbe so, Jim, but IMO, this gives more readily comprehensible clues. I suspect the ship is named for Wellington.

Quote from chester7777

hoprfully if our side prevails, this ship will have a successor

Chester

Amen, brother. In fact, I wish they'd move the national capital to Kansas or Nebraska and name it Gipper. :teeth_smile::teeth_smile:

Jeez, I can't believe the people who try to pass themselves off as Britishers these days. Y'all need to rise up and have one of those events called a revolution.

Here's a very handy web site for all you surfers.

Count me amongst that majority mentioned in the second paragraph.

Not only is the country unrecognizable from that envisioned by the Founders but it's also a pale shadow of the place I knew as a kid in the Nineteen Forties and Fifties.

He's in good company.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, two of our country's earliest and most notable presidents, also died on this day.

Several years ago, I read a book containing a plot that I found absolutely fascinating. The title was "The Hab Theory" and it was written by an author named Allan W. Eckert. (IMO, the book would make a blockbuster film, if some producer would just go for it.)

The theory concerns the findings and research of a scientist/engineer that about every 50,000 years or so, ice builds up on both the earth's poles to such an extent that it topples our world on its' side, wiping out most of earth's living creatures. Believe me, folks, this is one page-turning book. You won't be able to lay it down.

Anyway, I only had the book in paperback. This past weekend, I was clearing out my bedroom closet and in moving a box of paperbacks to my storage shed, discovered that "The Hab Theory" was in very poor shape. Falling apart, in fact. Since it has always been one of my favorite books, I decided to try and locate a hardback copy in good shape on abebooks and just for the heck of it, decided to research other titles by Eckert.

My research revealed that he's a very proliflic writer, with some 40 books in print. Not only that but that he's written many books on American history that have either won or been nominated for Pulitzer prizes (a prestigious literary award in the U.S.), and that many of his books are used as study guides in American classrooms. Since history has always been one of my favorite subjects, I've ordered 8 or 10 other books by Mr. Eckert from various booksellers on abebooks. I'll let you know if his other books are as good as the first I read ("Hab Theory") I feel pretty confident that they will be.

I don't know who voted in this poll but I find it incomprehensible that the ending to "True Grit" wasn't included.

In fact, I can think of other Duke film endings that I'd have voted onto the list. "Three Godfathers" should have been on there; "The Quiet Man", "Rio Bravo", and "Big Jake" also come quickly to mind.

Wonderful! I seem to recall mentioning before that this woman was my second-favorite Britisher, right behind Winnie the Magnificent.

Wonder if she'd be interested in running for Prez? :teeth_smile:

Must be because the Labourites have been running things since 1997. :teeth_smile:

Man, this'll get Al's panties in a bunch.