Michael Myers, On The Town

 

Back at home, Michael executes his first selfie.

two years earlier

Murderous Dolls

 

The story about the doll coming to life (starts at 45:48) is very likely the first horror movie I ever "watched."  Trilogy of Terror was made for TV, and came out in 1975.  Of course, I would have been only four years old.  Perhaps I was just in the den with some of my family when they were watching it, and then I saw the doll come to life and chase that woman.  It scared me to death!  Maybe, though, the movie was replayed on TV two or three years after, and that's when I saw it......at eight or nine.  Got to ask my siblings.  Funny how the your memories are formed.  It may be true what psychologists say, that emotionally gripping events (positive or negative) are those that they can get stored permanently in our memory banks.  And this crazed doll would have done just that to me!

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Shortoff Mountain

 

Photos are property of Mark Schmidt 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

In all, we hiked six miles!

 

From the top of Shortoff Mountain (elevation 2,883 feet), soak in some of the most spectacular views in the North Carolina mountains, with sweeping vistas of Linville Gorge. The Linville Gorge Wilderness Area, also known as the Grand Canyon of the East, is one of the wildest, most rugged gorges in the eastern United States. It's outdoor paradise for hikers and backpackers. - source

Pistol Pete Maravich

 

I remember Dad telling me that he had seen Pistol Pete play in Auburn when LSU came to town.  The footage above is of Maravich playing Auburn, but in Baton Rouge.  So I don't think Dad was at this one!  But you never know.  I think Dad said Pistol Pete was the greatest offensive player he had ever seen.  While it's on my mind, Dad said this guy, with his own dazzling nickname, was the greatest baseball player ever.  No telling how many sports-related questions I would ask Dad.  And he knew so much!  In fact, even into his fifties, he would call radio stations in Dothan, AL with the answer to the sports trivia of the day.  And one time he asked me to go down to Dothan to pick up the prize - a case of canned Pepsis.  I remember feeling a bit embarrassed because Dad had told me he'd won it several times.  The folks at the station, when I got there, had that oh-you're-here-for-that-guy look on their faces. 

Buck Springs Trail & Mount Pisgah Trail

We got on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail at the Pisgah Inn and then hiked all the way to the Buck Spring Parking Area.  From there, we made our way to the Mt. Pisgah trail to start our 1.5 mile, 700 ft. ascent to the observation deck, where we had 360 degree views.  Cold Mountain, of book and movie fame, can easily be seen.  In one image below you can easily spot it just over Dara's left shoulder.  In all, we hiked 5 miles.  For a bit of history of the region - back to the Cherokees and later the Vanderbilts - click here. 

 

 

 

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Photos are the property of fellow hikers, Page and Dara.

THE NUREMBURG INTERVIEWS

During the Nuremberg trials, Dr. Leon Goldensohn–a psychiatrist for the U.S. Army–monitored the mental health of two dozen German leaders charged with carrying out genocide. These recorded conversations have gone largely unexamined for more than fifty years, until Robert Gellately–one of the premier historians of Nazi Germany–made them available to the public in this remarkable collection.  Here are interviews with the likes of Hans Frank, Hermann Goering, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, and Joachim von Ribbentrop–the highest ranking Nazi officials in the Nuremberg jails. Here too are interviews with lesser-known officials essential to the inner workings of the Third Reich. Candid and often shockingly truthful, The Nuremberg Interviews is a profound addition to our understanding of the Nazi mind and mission.  - goodreads

 

Even if you don't have a strong interest in World War II history, I would still highly recommend reading these interviews as a reminder of how "great" evil can be perpetrated by seemingly ordinary individuals - men who loved their families, kissed their wives as they left home each morning, celebrated their children's birthdays and relaxed on holidays.  And we need to remind ourselves that any of us are capable of doing the exact same thing.

 

Click here for an interview with a German who served as interpreter for the psychiatrists who "studied" the Nazi leaders awaiting trial for their war crimes.

John Rock & Cedar Rock Falls

The John Rock loop hike totaled about 6 miles with 1000 feet of elevation gain.  It included a lovely waterfall - Cedar Rock Falls.  After the hike, a few of us walked around the trout hatchery that's adjacent to the John Rock parking lot.  At the hatchery, I believe, until someone proves me wrong, that I spotted this celebrity.  Later, on the way out of Pisgah National Forest, we pulled over to view Looking Glass Falls.  Actually, I stayed in the vehicle.  But take a look (below) at the image Mark Schmidt captured with his camera.

 

 

All images are the property of Mark Schmidt.



standing atop John Rock, Looking Glass Rock behind me

 

 

And this is what Looking Glass Falls was like yesterday.