Camp Karoondinha

I am always reminded how much my experience with the Boy Scouts and Camp Karoondinha influenced who I am.

Tonight I went to the West End Fair with my kids and Linda's kids. It was a $5.00 fee to get in and ride all the rides you want. Not bad for a local county fair. I hate to much greasy food and the kids got to ride ponies as well as a few carnival classics (like salt-and-pepper shakers and the tilt-a-whirl).

I stopped by a booth that was selling hand carved walking sticks and animal figurines mounted on finished drift wood. The salesman looked familiar. I thought it might be Ralph 'Butch' Sprenkle. Then he laughed at something a customer said and I knew it was him.

Butch Sprenkle was the go to guy for superior Boy Scout Events. He was the guy who founded(?) the Camp Karoondinha Loggers Day. Logger's day was the real deal. Butch brought in pole climbers, double bit axes, two man saws, log rolling, and all sorts of other stuff. He also treated his event staff well. I remember going to Loggers Day as a staff member when I was 19(?). We would set up Friday and he would have a lumberjack of a feast waiting at the lower cabin for us when we finished. And then we would settle in to watch lumberjack themed movies on, what at the time was a rarity, the video tape player.

Butch's events were always great events. I realized tonight that his attention to detail and willingness to go the extra distance to make his programs the best for both his staff and the participants, are characteristics that I learned by being in his tutelage as a youth. It amazes me to look back on my youth as I get older and realize how much I am a composite of the influential people who I was exposed to in Scouting.



MyMusicCode.com
My first attempt at embedded music is above. I hope it worked. The music of Camp also influenced me. It was no coincidence that on the way home from the fair, 'cat's in the cradle' came on the radio. I remember Mark Scott and others singing this song at camp. The music of the late 70's and early 80's is still the music I find most moving. I will always remember hearing 'stairway to heaven' as a young scout on his first week away from home.

It saddened me tonight to hear 'cat's in the cradle'. It made me think about how quickly the young people I have been working with grow. How many of them do not even have a reasonable father? They will not look back at having not spent any time with their fathers. They do not even get to have a real father. What lesson do these children learn from being in foster care? How will they raise their children? Who will, like my parents and Scout Leaders, serve as role models for them to exemplify as they grow into adulthood? It saddens and scares me.

Milton PD and Me.

I don't know why I keep having to call the Milton Police Department. It happens to frequently, but I am glad that they respond promptly and without complaint.

My oldest boy (living with me) called me into his third floor bedroom tonight. He had to show me something. I figured he was finding excuses to not go to sleep and tried to put him off. Probably a good thing that I didn't blow him off. From his bedroom window you could see someone kicking in a door across the street. It happened to be the door to the apartment complex in which my oldest son lives.

I, of course, called the police. But not until I had walked down to the street and gotten outside the now kicked in door. Whoever had kicked in the door had managed to smash in the bottom half of the door and had apparently climbed through and gone up the steps. I figured that this person was in the apartments hallway because I could hear shouting and banging noises.

While on my phone with Officer Embick, I heard this as yet unknown person or persons start banging their way down the stairs. I ran like a chicken to the parking lot.

I was only quasi-relieved when I realized I knew the person coming out of the broken door. I went over and told him that I had called the police. He was upset. I explained (I'm not sure why?) that I hadn't seen who it was, but didn't apologize for calling the police. Officer Embick and Officer Engelman showed up and dealt with the intruder(?).

Ok. That was my fun and excitement for the night. It also kept the kids up a little later than I would have liked.

Looked up the Milton PD website (Check It Out -- Milton Police Dept.) and found it to be lacking. The Chief listed hasn't been the Chief for about a year. The Chief is currently Craig Lutcher. I'm thinking that their site needs a remake and there must be a student at the highschool who could do it for a graduation project.

Later.

Warhammer 40K

Did it again. Dan and I spent too many hours in front of the computer playing Dawn of War, a Warhammer 40K video game.

We originally started playing 40K a couple of years ago. It is a tabletop miniature game with futuristic armies. Basically you spend lots of money on little plastic figures that are only 25 to 30 mm tall, spend hours upon hours painting them, and then commit them to the trials of table top warfare. More often than not, you get beaten, are dissatisfied with your army, and start the whole process over again. (Check it Out -- Games Workshop Warhammer 40K Site)

Then comes the computer variety. Much more for the fast of finger (vice the steady of finger, for those who paint), Dawn of War is an online variety of 40K that requires no plastic soldiers, no painting, and lots of free time. Once you start playing, you do not want to stop.














Not wanting to let my miniature army get covered in the dust of non-use, I decided to see how the Macro/Micro function worked on my cheapo digital camera. Not Bad -- But needs improvement.

The next thing I want to do is make a slide show with the models. I don't know if I will be smart enough to make them move, but I'll probably give it a try.

If your not to keen on painting miniatures, you can check out the Dawn of War Website. Either way, a great game that provides hours of fun and frustration.

V is for . . .

V is for Vendetta, V is for Vongo, V is for Very Cool.

Bought the DVD of --




















Awesome movie from theWachowski Brothers; the duo that gave us the matrix trilogy.

Based on a comic story from the early eighties, V is a cautionary tale, similiar to Orwells 1984, Bradbury's Farenhiet, or (with a stretch) 24. The tag line, "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.", sums up the overall thread of the movie. Part action flick, part political commentary, the movie made my brain work as well as my heart. V is a complex (anti) hero, who is part visionary and part murderer.

Thumbs up from both Dan B. and I. Check it Out.





V is also for Vongo. Vongo is a video download service that I just recieved a 30 day trial membership with. Download movies from their 1000+ titles and watch them on up to three of your media devices.

Sounds great. But read the fine print. Movies have a "drop dead" date. After that, they automatically erase themselves from your hard drive. You cannot export the movies or burn them to DVD. You can only watch any given movie on ten different days, and then they auto delete.

Upside. It is all legal and above board. It is free for the first 30 days. It is only $10 a month after that and you can cancel your membership anytime.

Just today, Uploaded and watched Flightplan. Also uploaded Blade Trinity. I can even play movies on the TV. Again, very cool.

Check it out -- VONGO.

Knoebels Pool

Took the boys to the swimming pool at Knoebels Grove. Knoebels is one of the best amusement parks in Pennsylvania; possibly the country. Not because it has the best or biggest rides, but because it is free entry with both hand stamps and pay as you go. It is locally owned and run by the Knoebel Family. The park grows every year, with at least one new ride each season. It has no overall plan. The park is laid out as they go. Like - We have a new coaster. Where can we squeeze it in?

We went to the pool today. The boys rode the slides over and over and over.

I spent a lot of time people watching.

An old man with eyebrow hairs 2 inches long, pasty white skin hanging off a skeletal frame - Fat woman trying to hide here girth under to many flimsy skirts - girls that look 18 and are probably twelve showing to much "junk" - tattoos on men, tattoos on women, tattoos on kids (why would a parent let their daughter get 'porn tats'?) - a women in a powered wheelchair who had her husband(?) take her swimming - an elderly couple that held on to each other for balance as they waded into the shallow end - a young couple, with a young man trying to aggressively to fondle an uninterested young lady - middle aged men with more flab than I - middle aged men with less flab than I - fat little chubby kid screaming at his chubby momma and skinny dad in a fit because they want to leave.

I don't think America is as fat as the news wants us to believe. Yes, there were many over weight parents. And there were several chunky kids running around. More prevalent was the number of smokers. People smoking on a pool deck around others, including kids. I don't get it.

Knoebels Grove -- Good Times -- Fun, Food, and Fantasy -- Check it out!!!