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Showing posts with label legends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label legends. Show all posts

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Thanks, We will miss you.

Yesterday we lost an Icon of the technology world. He was one of the people who made it possible for you to be reading this on your PC. He helped to put the power of technology and the vast knowledge of the internet into the hands of millions of people around the world. He will be greatly missed.

steve jobs  photo from www.apple.com

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Special for the Old(er than me) Bike Rider

Soooo as we left Norcross we plugged in the address for the Tiger Direct Outlet store. Now for those of you who may not be familiar with Tiger Direct, they are a technology company that has been selling over stocks, discontinued models, refurbished and remanufactured electronics equipment including computers, components, cameras, TV's, home theatre units and lots of other related stuff on line for over 30 years.Tiger Direct (2)

In typical IKEA fashion we were drawn to TD like moths to a flame. The car and GPS (Mandy) became one and took complete control. On arrival we found out that this facility is the shipping department for the east coast, and they only recently opened the outlet store. It was not as big as we expected but had an awful lot of toys.

  Tiger Direct (1) Tiger Direct (5)

 

 

 

Tiger Direct (6)

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The prices here were just as good as on line, BUT you get to pay GA. sales tax. Beatrice  drooled over notebooks while i perused (in total confusion) the GPS’s. In the end we only bought registry cleaning software and usb powered speakers since my netbook speakers are really bad. BUT if you are traveling on I-85 and happen to be passing Jefferson it is worth a stop.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Bangor’s Bunyan & Brady

What’s 31 feet tall, weighs 3,700 pounds, came to life in film and can be seen in Bangor, Maine?

PAUL BUNYAN

paul bunyon (2) 

Trivia about tall Paul . . .

It is reputed to be the largest Bunyan statue in the world. Its steel and fiberglass frame is hurricane-proofed to withstand 110 mph winds.

Legend has it that Bunyan and his giant blue ox, Babe, traveled throughout the U.S. creating the Grand Canyon, Puget Sound and the Black Hills.

The Chamber of Commerce sells cassettes of the official Bunyan song, “The Ballad of Paul Bunyan,” by Joe Pickering. It won the Country Music Association's Comedy Song of the Year award in 1997.

Over the years, Paul has been outfitted with a giant fez (Shriners convention) and a huge bandana (Willie Nelson concert).

The statue was a gift to Bangor in 1959 on its 125th anniversary and cost $20,000 raised by donations. It was built by the Messmore and Damon firm of New York. Local artist J. Norman Martin was reportedly paid $137 to design the statue.

W.B. Laughead, an advertising copywriter, introduced the giant to the public. Laughead used Bunyan in pamphlets from 1914 to 1944 to promote Red River Lumber Co. (Minnesota) products.

Maine native and author Stephen King gave the statue life in his 1986 novel, “IT.”

A time capsule entombed in the pedestal is slated to be opened  on February 12, 2084, the city’s 250th anniversary.

But Where’s Babe? Legend has it that Bunyan and his giant blue ox, Babe, traveled throughout the U.S. creating the Grand Canyon, Puget Sound and the Black Hills. Babe is not with Paul in Bangor.

OK, so you’ve heard of Paul Bunyan, but WHO’s Al Brady?

Exactly what we wondered when we saw this marker while walking in downtown Bangor on Central St .

Brady markerUnlike the fictional Bunyon, Al Brady brought fame of a different type to Bangor. In the fall of 1937, Brady and another man were killed on Central St. in the bloodiest shootout in Maine's history.

brady_fbi_photoBrady became the FBI's most wanted man, after federal agents killed the previous PE #1, John Dillinger, in Chicago in 1934.  Indiana-born Brady and his accomplices, the Brady Gang (not the Brady Bunch) were wanted for over 200 robberies, assaults, and murder, including a police officer and state trooper.

The term Public enemy was used in the 1930s to describe those whose activities were seen as criminal and damaging to society. FBI head, J. Edgar Hoover used it to describe fugitives  including Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde, Ma Barker, and Brady.

In late Sept 1937, two of Brady's gang went to Dakin's Sporting Goods, bought several automatic weapons and a rifle and ordered a third gun. They claimed to be hunters, but  the owner suspicious since hunters don't use pistols (especially semi-automatic ones) contacted police after taking their order and telling them to return in a few weeks. When they returned, FBI agents were waiting. Brady and another man drew their weapons and were shot down in a furious exchange. Photographs of their bodies lying dead in the middle of Central St. and hung in Dakin's store for years afterwards.

brady dead2Brady's body went unclaimed and he was buried in the public section of Bangor’s Mount Hope Cemetery. He was 26 years old.

central st 

Here’s a current view of downtown Central Street in Bangor.