Pride, Prejudice & Zombies

I actually never intended to go to this movie at the full fare theater, but Swede showed up and wanted to go to a movie - so, Zombies it was.

I had seen the trailers when I went to Spectre with Swede last December and we both had laughed heartily at the idea.  But,  you know it is an intriguing idea ...

And actually they did a good job with the movie.  They kept the idea of the book and dialogue, whatever ones thinks of Jane Austin - her editor did a good job of making her writings witty and interesting.  Add Zombies and it becomes quite entrancing.

Hey it is about Zombies, so you could drive a truck through that one!  But for sheer fun, this movie was!  Campy and laugh enticing, we were falling out of our seats at some points.  It may not have been the intent of the producers but it was a very funny film!  The straight forward dialogue set in an unnatural surrounding was funny enough - but add some decent acting along the way and you end up roaring at the emphasis that probably was not intended by Ms Austin.

For me, this is an owner film!  D'Arcy, continually getting the tar beaten out of him by the woman winning his heart was just too much!  A few interesting twists, lots of holes, oh yeah - purely entertaining!

No swearing, no nudity, no "situations" - it was a breath of fresh air in a world of movies made by ethical and moral zombies ...

Now, will we be seeing Jane Eyre vs the Living Dead next?  Hmmmm, I maybe I ought to be working on that screen play .....

New Car

Oh yeah, don't I wish it was mine!!!!

It only took 3 entire days of searching for what she wanted and then an entire day for her to wade through the vast amounts of paperwork!  But, youngest daughter bought herself her first new car, a new Toyota Rav4!

And I am just a little Jealous ...

Rattler!

So, we went down to Arivaca in Arizona.  The price of silver had lost its bottom and was almost worthless thanks to the machinations of the Hunt brothers.  Somewhere in the Arivaca area was rumored to be a rich silver deposit according to legend ....  A lost silver treasure.  Hmmmmm ...

We hiked for hours through the hills, not finding any float signs in the area and no successful audits from people whom had searched long before us.  It was hot but we had plenty of water.  Suddenly my mining partner, about 50 yards away, squeaked! and then took 5 bunny hops in reverse.  He was uphill from me and I was at a complete loss what could be the problem ... then I saw the thin line on the ground propelling itself through the air with each of his bunny hops.  What the heck?

I hiked up and when I got to where he had been, there was an eight foot rattlesnake!  Very unhappy snake at that!  My partner was no where to be seen, he was hoofing it!

Not real sure what to do now, I went back to the stream bed and continued my search.  I found some float samples - unusual looking wax like rocks.

By now, he was back, I guess unbitten - camera in hand!  And the would be victim is now the stalker of the snake!  Yeah, mean snake and lots of good photographs - LOL!

And last week, back in Tucson, his wife went out to walk their two small dogs and .... a snake nails their poodle!  So lots of stress, lots of crying, lots of unhappy puppies - and a HUGE vet bill to supply anti-venom to keep the idiot poodle alive.  Sigh ... they could have bought a dozen poodles for the cost of that treatment!

So, I stormed out in the daylight intent on ridding the area of any rattlers so this would not happen again.  With a titanium leg I had little to fear, Bon Apetite Mr. Snake!  But, no rattlers to be seen at all, anywhere!  NO trace, NO signs in the sand, no nothing.  I don't get it but then again - the dog had been bleeding from punctures on its nose - so ....... ?????

Sneaky little rattlers ...

No Longer Welcome

I thought I was going to die laughing from this one!

So about a decade ago my little town somehow managed to blackmail someone to come up with the cash to have a "Welcome To ..." archway built over the main drag through town.  Sort of embarrassing from the aspect that this little town always cash poor, manages to find cash for something so useless!

Be that as it may:



If you are going to destroy public property, why not do it right in front of a camera for an automotive repair company?  Yeah, like I said, I died watching this one!

Yeah, you have to admit that if you are driving a small crane/wench around town, you really ought to leave it in up position!

Whack!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tubac, Tumacácori and Wisdom's

One big outing while in Tucson was a drive south down towards Nogales.  But, something was going on and the police, Arizona State Patrol and the goverment's INS agents were thicker than fleas on a St. Bernard!  eeeeepah!

So we left the freeway at Wisdom and drove down to Tumacácori State Park.  This is the site of what is believed to be the oldest mission in Arizona, circa 1701.  It was good getting out into the sunshine and almost fell asleep standing in a sunbeam while I waited for my mining partner to catch up with me!

The ruins are gutted.  Apaches, Mexicans, US Soldiers, vandals and cows have all taken their toll on the them through the centuries.  And there is a disconnect in there.  The Apaches hit the mission in 1645, yet the building dates from 1751, but then there is literature giving 1701 as the date and even earlier ones in the 17th century.  It seems there were either multiple structures across time or researchers are confused.

This was a Jesuit settlement, very plan ordinary priests.  The building is not.  It is more Franciscan in style - fancy!  As is the San Xavier mission up the road.  Yet even the San Xavier mission was a Jesuit site as well but it is known that the original was washed away in a flood.  So maybe the Franciscan's rebuilt that one as well?

Not far away, like a football field length away I found some other ruins, not listed in the brochures.  Very simple, lost to time, but someone has been working the dirt looking for clues I imagine.  Perhaps this was the real Tumacácori MIssion?  

In the writings of the Jesuit's Padre Kino is said to have established the Tumacácori Mission for the Pima Indians in 1691!  Could this be the original mission buildings?  Most likely there was a small house and a small chapel (about 9x15 if I was to guess).  Simple, what you might expect a Jesuit to have built.  Hmmmmmmm ....

This is a site well worth the visit.

Just down the road a bit further is the Santa Cruz Spice company.  Cheap spices, excellent quality and a wide variety of chilies.

Back up the road north is Wisdom's, a hole in the wall diner and usually packed.  But, remember, there were police and INS agents everywhere today - so it was very open and "white eyes" were rushed to tables while a strolling mariachi band sang their songs.  

This is where I had that Sonoran Hot Dog several years ago, I told you about.  It is still on the menu but I already ate one once!  I forgot what I had, the prickly pear margarita sort of removed all memories of the meal from my mind!  Yeah, I rarely ever drink alcohol and so no real memory I fear .... :)  Man, that puppy was pure rocket fuel!

Tubac is a tourist trap, north of all I have been discussing.  You will have to go through an inspection station where all cars were being searched, dog sniffed and whatever.  I utterly freaked out my friends by switching to German just for laughs.  LOL - well sort of, INS agents have no sense of humor it seems.  But, that must be a grueling operation to have it removed ...  As for my German, I was practicing how to respond in German for about 15 minutes.  LOL!


It was a great day.  I picked up some great Indian pots from Casas Grandes, down in Mexico and some Mayan chocolate utensils (for Swede's birthday coming up).  Oh and of course some chirping bird dolls for the grandkids when I see them this weekend.

Musical Saturday Morning

A little more of my friend Paul's group, The Troggs, from 1967 ...

Oh Cisco ...

The wife of my old mining partner thought it would be great fun to go do a dinner theater, but there were no openings for the current show, but they did have some afternoon tables available, so we went to go see The Cisco Kid.

I really was not interested.  I like theater but I am a little jaded due to all of the operas and live theater I did in my youth.  But, hey, they wanted to go and I was not in much shape to do anything else!

Well, I will not spoil the melodrama for  you, but this was a production really worth seeing!

The script and acting was cheesy ... random modern-ish songs were stuffed in to make you laugh, lots of bad puns, etc.  Exactly what you would expect in an old west melodrama!

Although not one of the main stars, one of the characters really stole the show!  There were some trip ups in the performance, as should be expected with any live production, and one of the minor characters was quick witted enough to turn it into a gag!  Which of course got the actors to laughing hysterically, which only made it more funny!  And this happened several times.

So when in Tucson you really should consider the Gaslight Theater, it was money well spend in my book this trip!