Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you should have received an email. Thanks.

The Way of the Monastic Warrior

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you should have received an email. Thanks!

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you should have received an email. Thanks!

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Dick Winters court martial paperwork (with his endorsement)

- Niall Ferguson on the new anti-American axis.

- Love the new Alex Trebek stamp

- American pole vaulter may decline Paris Olympics. He has a point that the Olympic Committee never apologized for their Covid hysteria.

The Way of the Monastic Warrior

The Way of the Monastic Warrior: Lessons from Major Dick Winters.

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"Peace is happiness at rest, and happiness is peace in motion." - Naval Ravikant 

"The idea that taxpayers owe it to pay for what you want suggests that much of today's education fails to instill reality, and instead panders to a self-centered sense of entitlement to what other people have earned." - Thomas Sowell

"Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one." - Marcus Aurelius

"I treasure a remark to my grandson who asked, ' Grandpa were you a hero in the war?' Grandpa said, 'No - but I served in a company of heroes.'" - Dick Winters

The Way of the Monastic Warrior

The Way of the Monastic Warrior: Lessons from Major Dick Winters.

Top 5 - Moments from A Band of Brothers

If your looking for something to binge watch - why not revisit the HBO classic Band of Brothers. Here's what I consider the Top 5 scenes from the mini-series:

1. Spiers takes command of Easy - the scene of Spiers jumping through the smoke to assume command from Lt. Dike gives me chills every time.

2. Liebgott translates the defeated German General's speech to his men. A poignant speech which showed the German soldiers as similar to the men of Easy Company. The humor of Captain Sobel having to salute Major Winters was the cherry on top.

3. Easy Co takes the Eagles Nest. It was nice to see the guys enjoy some well earned R & R (and spoils of war - including a nice cache of booze for Captain Nixon).

4. Easy takes out the German 105s at Brecourt Manor - Dick Winters should have been awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions that day.

5. Crossroads the Island charge. 

The Way of the Monastic Warrior

The Way of the Monastic Warrior: Lessons from Major Dick Winters.

Ralph Houk - The Major

I first became aware of Ralph Houk when he became manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1981. I read somewhere that his nickname was "the Major" but I had no idea why.

Turns out that it wasn't so much a nickname as a nod of respect to Houk's military career. Houk had entered WWII as a private but by the end of the war because of his heroics and leadership he had been promoted all the way up to Major. "He was at the Battle of the Bulge and the Remagen crossing. He was awarded the Bronze Star, Silver Star and Purple Heart."

Right or wrong I now can't help but think of Ralph Houk in comparison to another American hero - Dick Winters from Band of Brothers fame. Read the details of Houk's WWII service and deeds and tell me his story wouldn't also make a fascinating mini-series.

Where do we find such men as Dick Winters and Ralph Houk?

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Heh Heh - Hitler finds out about the Mueller Report. (Via Borepatch)

- You are never too old to...

- A message from Art Alexakis from Everclear to his fans and friends. We can and will find a cure for MS.

- I've become a fan of Senator Mike Lee

- Scientists discover signs of new neurons developing even in adult brains as old as 87

- Rob Gronkowski's ridiculous NFL records

- The way of the monastic warrior: Lessons from Major Dick Winters. This is one of those things you need to read periodically to remind yourself of what is important in life.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Rob Gronkowski's heart really is in the right place

- A city's government losing the support of the police and fire departments is never a good sign (no pun intended)

- Good news as my prostrate maintenance regime is fully justified! Ernest Borgnine was ahead of his time!

- Interesting - how much does a cloud weigh?

- The way of the monastic warrior - lessons from Dick Winters

- Dick Van Dyke was one of the best physical comedians of all time. His grace was amazing!

- Why did people wear powdered wigs? It always comes down to syphilis and lice doesn't it?

- Story behind Bill Belichick wearing Armenian pin at White House. Good for Belichick!

- I want this print!

- MLB Players who use 80's music for their walk up songs.  I would use God Bless America by Kate Smith just to confuse the hell out of the crowd.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If Peyton Manning changed his audible from "Omaha! Omaha!" to "Obama! Obama!" would he lose half of his endorsements?... Dumb wrinkle in Mass gambling law may kill big casino action... Growing up Catholic many of the nuns I'd run into would explain their celibacy by saying that they were "married to Jesus." I always wondered - if that is the case then how do priests explain their celibacy? Are they married to Jesus too?... Dick Winters and Easy Company at the Eagle's Nest - Hitler's mountain hideaway...  Big honor - Boston Bruins' captain Zedano Chara has been chosen to carry the Slovakian flag at the Olympics opening ceremony. Big honor! It would be cool if the Bruins played the Slovakian national anthem along with the US national anthem in his honor the first home game after his return from the games... 10 of Shakespeare's best dirty jokes...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

It's the 67th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion but this is the first one without Dick Winters, the leader of Band of Brothers fame. He should have won the Medal of Honor for his actions 67 years ago... I'm not really that enthused if a DVD promotes itself as "one of the best movies of the year" because honestly it was a pretty shitty year for movies... So when does Dwyane Wade get his GM of the Year Award?... Jeremiah Weed sounds much more like a Grateful Dead cover band than an alcoholic beverage... You know that the original title to the upcoming Hugh Jackman movie Reel Steel had to have been Rockem Sockem Robots... David Ortiz has as many HR (13) as Prince Fielder and Albery Pujols. He also has a higher OPS. Just saying... I wonder if Christopher Hitchens sees irony or the hand of a God with a sense of humor in the fact that Henry Kissenger will most certainly outlive him?... The Military Channel has a show called Fatal Hitler. Is that just a strange name for a show? Sounds like a punk band just like Dead Kennedy's... FWIW - Derek Jeter is hitting much better on road (.291) than at home (.228). Both his HR have been on road too. Too much pressure at home?

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Those Dominoes commercials are stupid. How about having one where they secretly bring customers to a slaughter house to see where their meat ingredients come from? That would be a fun one... Monday night I couldn't help thinking that Jeremiah Masoli had to be sitting at home thinking he could have done a better job at QB for Oregon. I wonder if he felt any remorse for his missed opportunity?... There is one very deserved medal missing from Major Dick Winters military awards - the Medal of Honor... Boston College has been to a bowl each of past 10 years - 5 of the Bowls they went to technically no longer exist. Good luck Humanitarian Bowl! By the way - is the Humanitarian Bowl sponsored by the Human Fund?... I know some people on Monday saw Nick Fairley and thought Albert Haynesworth. I saw Fairley and thought of Charles Jefferson - the Forrest Whitaker character from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Every time Fairley made a play in my head I heard, "Fairley's gonna shit! Then he's gonna kill us!"... My name is Larry Page. Millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht. I want to live on this yacht - full time... There are many males (and some females I guess) in Red Sox Nation who are saddened by the news that Hazel Mae is off the market. She recently got married. Sorry boys... I laughed at this. It is pretty accurate...

Top 5 - Moments from A Band of Brothers

With the passing of Dick Winters I thought I'd repost what I consider my Top 5 Moments from Band of Brothers.

1. Spiers takes command of Easy - the scene of Spiers jumping through the smoke to assume command from Lt. Dike gives me chills every time. The talk with Sgt. Lipton about Tersius is the cherry on top.

2. Liebgott translates the defeated German General's speech to his men. A poignant speech which showed the German soldiers as similar to the men of Easy Company. The humor of Captain Sobel having to salute Major Winters and Captain Nixon's reaction always makes me laugh.

3. Easy Co takes the Eagles Nest. It was nice to see the guys enjoy some well earned R & R (and spoils of war - including a nice cache of booze for Captain Nixon).

4. Easy takes out the German 105s at Brecourt Manor - I've written before that Dick Winters should have been awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions that day.

5. After the first raid across the river for prisoners when Captain Winters is ordered to have the men make a second raid but instead disobeys orders and falsifies a report instead of risking the lives of his men.

Dick Winters - RIP

Dick Winters, a real American hero, passed away over the weekend. If you recognize the name it is probably because of the HBO series Band of Brothers or the Stephen Ambrose book of the same name. I never met Dick Winters but I am saddened by his passing.

Top 5 - Moments from A Band of Brothers

The guys over at Cold, Hard Football Facts had an interesting post recently on the best scenes from A Band of Brothers. I had some disagreement with their selections - so I'm posting my own (but instead of a top 10 - I'm just selecting my top 5).

1. Spiers takes command of Easy - the scene of Spiers jumping through the smoke to assume command from Lt. Dike gives me chills every time.

2. Liebgott translates the defeated German General's speech to his men. A poignant speech which showed the German soldiers as similar to the men of Easy Company. The humor of Captain Sobel having to salute Major Winters was the cherry on top.

3. Easy Co takes the Eagles Nest. It was nice to see the guys enjoy some well earned R & R (and spoils of war - including a nice cache of booze for Captain Nixon).

4. Easy takes out the German 105s at Brecourt Manor - I've written before that Dick Winters should have been awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions that day.

5. Easy retakes their foxhole positions outside of Bastogne. This past winter an ice storm hit Central Massachusetts that was so severe that some folks lost power for more than a week and tree tops in entire forests are missing as if they were blown apart by German tree burst shells like the ones Easy had to endure. I can't drive anywhere in Central Mass without seeing damaged trees (which in turn makes me think of the scenes from A Band of Brothers).

I disagree especially with the choice of top scene from Band of Brothers by the folks at CHFF mainly because of the inclusion of Jimmy Fallon as the jeep driver who supplies Easy with ammunition. Seeing Fallon always ruins it for me.