§ ...all that J-a-a-zz!!

RANDOM 5 FRIDAY

1] Reading this article on our country's distaste of our own politicians...this one paragraph stood out for me 'cause it's what I've been saying all along. Especially recently:

"Indeed, the NBC News/WSJ poll asked whether voters would be willing to check a box on the ballot that would defeat everyone in Congress, including their own representatives. Sixty percent of those surveyed were willing to play 52-card pickup and start all over again with 535 new members of Congress."

...read more of the article
I would've hoped for a better percentage tho...Vote 'em all out!!!

2] As you know, for the last two years, Bud and I do not have TV...we are very pleased with our final decision to not pay out nearly $100 a month for programming that is 80% advertisements!! Over the years, we found that we only faithfully watched baseball games from Spring to the Fall Classic and one series; NCIS. Tho, we do watch NCIS over the computer these days; a day later than televised on national TV. It works for us. But.....reading the news online, the entertainment section showed the 'winners and losers' of the new Fall Television Season. One of the winners was "Sleepy Hollow". Of course that caught my eye. I had to check it out online and Bud and I watched the pilot edition and became interested. Another fantasy/time warp into the past and future genre. Not bad. We will probably continue to watch more episodes online and follow it for a while longer to see what pans out. Besides, this Ichabod Crane is eye candy!!! LOL Oh, and NCIS...loved the episode of "Under the Radar" shown on October 8. And I don't miss the character Ziva either. The more I think of it, Cote was wise in leaving...being a trained assassin from the Mossad became a bit stale in my opinion.
photo of Sleepy Hollow character courtesy of FOX™

3] I was notified of this change and wanted to share it with y'all... Google now has new terms of service if you've not kept up with this in your profile settings!! Thing is, now, if you click on share you are automatically endorsing advertisements through Google and your name and profile photo/link will show up on their endorsements! There is a way to keep control over this...simply go into your Google account settings and make sure your "Shared Endorsements" is on OFF...here is a screenshot from my computer:



If you have a Google or Google Plus account...login as you always do and then find account settings...look for Shared Endorsements as I highlighted in red above in the graphic. Also, Google's terms of service explanation can be read here in its entirety....click

4] Today is the first day of the 3 day Jazz Festival.  I always enjoy walking around to all the stages [I hear the city has added an additional stage this year]....bigger and better.  We'll see.  Bud and I plan to attend the festivities...if the weather cooperates.

image courtesy of festival headquarters

5] While at Blucher Park, stopping there after lunch at What-a-burger on the Bay, I spotted another rarity!! A rare Hummingbird. But, photographing it was something of a challenge. It flitted [rather rapidly too I might add] from one blossom to the next, and I couldn't get a chance to focus well. After about 30 minutes of 'chasing' it from one area of the park to the next, Bud finally spotted it perched on a small tree branch. The lighting in the shadows wasn't all that good, but I did eventually acquired a few photos on the camera SD card. The reason we stopped there was a whole 'nother species of bird...the Chuck Will's Widow. But after traipsing through the high grass and getting my feet soaked in the remaining dew, I was ready to call it a day and go back home. The photos are still on the camera's chip, and I'll get them re-sized; eventually adding them to my bird photo record --the blog-- "I'd Rather B Birdin'".

While having the camera lens shut down and walking back to the car, I took a few photos of what I was up against trying to follow and capture the hummingbird on the camera...this is the area it was located/spotted. And the red flowers are what was attracting the bird....[a native plant to Texas...the Turk's Cap].  ---above four photos--- Hummingbirds, for the most part are green, and nearly identical to the grasses/plants in color here....the only way I could see it is when it would MOVE!! Also, I spotted this bird --photo seen below-- on the wire and snapped a photo of it on the cellphone. I'll share this one also since I could email these photos to myself right on the spot!!

§ ...'tis the galloping Hessian!!

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Earlier, I posted, The Raven, for Ruby Tuesday, a legend!! By now y'all know I love and appreciate much of the literature from the bygone era. This time of year, the epic tale of the Headless Horseman is a favorite story for me. Yes, he's an annual creature that magically appears in our home somewhere each and every October. This year, we find him on the wall divider that is between our kitchen and dining room. In all his gory glory. We've had this tiny, miniature figurine in our household for decades. From our youngest to Bud...with Irene and myself in between, we ALL like the legend. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. In my youth, I remember having to read this short story by Irving in my Junior High School English class and then making a diorama of my favorite verse[s] of the penned work. The diorama that I worked on diligently was the bridge [my favorite lines back then: "This has ever since been considered a haunted stream, and fearful are the feelings of the schoolboy who has to pass it alone after dark"]. Eventually the schoolmarm meets with the horseman on one side with Icabod Crane atop the old broken down horse, Gunpowder. I can't remember what grade I got on it, but I do remember the class liking my project. Oh how I labored on it to get even the falling leaves 'just right'. READ the original short story online. Now, I've learned there is a legend farther south than Tarrytown....no, go farther south than that....the legend of another Headless Horseman...in Texas no less!!!

In a dramatic example of frontier justice, Wallace beheaded Vidal then lashed him firmly into a saddle on the back of a wild mustang. Tying the outlaw's hands to the pommel and securing the torso to hold him upright, Big Foot then attached Vidal’s head and sombrero to the saddle with a long strip of rawhide. He then turned the bucking horse loose to wander the Texas hills with its terrible burden on his back. Soon, stories began to abound about the headless rider seen usually in remote country, with its sombreroed head swinging back and forth to the rhythm of horse’s gallop. As time went on, more and more cowboys spotted the dark horse with its fearsome cargo and not knowing what it was they riddled it with bullets. But the horse and its rider rode on and the legend of El Muerto, the headless one, began. Soon, the South Texas brush country became a place to avoid as El Muerto was credited with all kinds of evil and misfortune. Finally, a posse of local ranchers captured the wild pony at a watering hole near the tiny community of Ben Bolt just south of Alice, Texas. Still strapped firmly on its back was the dried-up corpse of Vidal, now riddled by scores of bullet holes and Indian arrows. The body was buried in an unmarked grave near Ben Bolt, and horse was free of its burden at last. That should have been the end of El Muerto, but the legend would live on to this day. Soon after Vidal’s body was laid to rest, soldiers at Fort Inge (present-day Uvalde) began to see the headless rider. Travelers and ranchers in "No Man’s Land” also reported continuing to see the apparition. In 1917, a couple traveling by covered wagon to San Diego, Texas camped for the night outside of town. They would report the next day that as they sat by the campfire a large gray stallion sped by with a headless man shouting "It is mine. It is all mine." Another sighting of the headless wonder was reported near Freer, Texas in 1969. The legend lives on and still today, many people report seeing the headless rider galloping though the mesquite on clear and moonlit nights in South Texas.

READ WHY this Horseman became Headless

Freer, Alice and San Diego Texas are just minutes outside of Corpus Christi.


- - -

I ALSO ADDED ANOTHER PHOTO to my Photo Blog...AN OSPREY...It's a beauty if I say so myself....take a look if you'd like....the link "An Osprey" will open in a new window. And, this Ruby Tuesday is posted early 'cause Bud and I will be out early on Tuesday...going bird watchin'! LOL Have a great day.

[ps...last week for Thursday 13 I had some 'free' Halloween Thursday 13 post headers for anyone that wanted them -HERE]

Edition 78

This week will be 13 facts from a favorite book not only for the season, but anytime - any place. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and the author's history -Number 12 being a favorite passage of mine from the book.

If you visited this past Tuesday you viewed an 'old shoppe' type wooden sign I made for Halloween decor in my home. [If you missed it, it's HERE and the link should open in a new window] Of all books, and not only for Halloween, this is one of my favorite short stories.....



1] The short story was written by Washington Irving, as we all know. But, in 1820 his work of "Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle" was published under the name of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. [being Washington Irving]

2] The publication under Crayon was called "The Sketch Book" and it was a 'serial' [meaning it came out in a 'series' through the year 1819-1820] of some 30+ essays.

3] Geoffrey Crayon was one of the first pseudonyms used by Irving

4] Irving was offered, and he turned down, a position of Secretary of Navy [his brother, William, was Congressman of New York].

5] The original date of publication of the short story, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, was March 15th, 1820

6] Icabod Crane [the school master], according to Irving, was based on a real life character - Jesse Merwin from Kinderhook New York.

7] There was a 'real life' person named Icabod Crane...a colonel in the Army during the war of 1812.

8] The Headless Horseman was supposedly a Hessian Soldier, where during the American Revolutionary War, he was beheaded at the battle of Chatterton Hill, from a rocketing cannonball.

9] The horseman is fabled to be buried here:

The Old Dutch Church

10] Irving lived in the area, and died. He is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Which by the way, at Irving's request upon his death be changed in name from Tarrytown Cemetery to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

Washington Irving's Resting Place

11] The character of Katrina [the love interest of Brom Bones and Icabod Crane] is thought to have been based upon Eleanor Van Tassel Brush, in which case her name is derived from that of Eleanor's aunt Catriena Ecker Van Tessel.

12] ..."yet, daylight put an end to all these evils; he would have passed a pleasant life of it, in despite of the Devil and all his works, if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more perplexity to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of witches put together, and that was--a woman." [Icabod]

13] Images from my copy of "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" with a great children's illustrator: Russ Flint

BONUS: There is also another story [among many] that deals with the "Headless Horseman". Written by an Irishman, Mayne Reid. It takes place in South Texas!!! Link

~...end Thursday 13
[comment link here for those that wish to skip the Halloween Treat below]

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And finally, the Halloween Treats:

All righty then, for today's trick or treaters, I've started using this new 'treat' for the week. I'm handing them out for commentors to my blog who leave ME treats this month with their kind words. Don't be dismayed, I plan on handing them out daily. Only take them if your name appears for the day---

So, check back often, you're name may show up here!
To begin my traditional fun, as I love Halloween, today the trick 'r' treaters are:

Philos
Kat
Angie
Sarah
CorgiDogMama

And the treat this week will be:

When your name appears above, if you'd like to save this, click on it to enlarge...you'll then be able to grab the treat and run! Happy October, Happy Halloween.