Monday, March 18, 2024

Wonder Woman: Season 2 on DVD- A Fantastic Season of an Iconic Superhero TV Show

Recently I bought Wonder Woman: Season 2 on DVD, featuring Lynda Carter in the iconic role. As a HUGE superhero fan (mostly DC Comics heroes), this was a  Fantastic Season of an Iconic Superhero TV Show! 


There's no one who can better represent Wonder Woman than Lynda Carter, and Season 2 of TV's 1977 Wonder Woman was filled with great episodes. The first season depicted Wonder Woman during World War 2 with Steve Trevor (played by the handsome Lyle Waggoner), as she was originally in the comics when she was created. 

(Photo: Steve Trevor (Lyle Waggoner) and Diana Prince/Wonder Woman's alter ego (Lynda Carter)).


Season 2 takes Wonder Woman into the mid-1970s, where she meets Steve Trevor's son, Steve Jr. who works for a government agency that protects the U.S. against threats. Wonder Woman's civilian identity as Diana Prince becomes an agent with Steve, so they're "reunited" 33 years later. The season is well done. 

My favorite episode in this season was the "Toymaker."  

Sunday, March 17, 2024

A Perfect Hauntingly Good St. Patrick's Day Gift! Ghosts of Ireland

Get A Perfect Hauntingly Good St. Patrick's Day Gift!

READ Ghosts of Ireland on a Medium’s Vacation By Rob Gutro

Imprisoned in a jail beyond life. Dying in battle. Accidental deaths, fires, and more. Meet the ghosts in the book "Ghosts of Ireland: On a Medium's Vacation.” The book provides a brief history of the places where Rob encountered a ghost or ghosts. The book will take you to haunted places including churches, castles, a jail, and unexpected ghosts in an art gallery and shopping mall and more. Readers can use this book as a guide for touring Ireland and learning, history, mystery and finding ghosts, even in some unexpected places!

Available on Amazon in paperback and e-book  CLICK TO BUY Ghosts of Ireland!


Idiot of the Week: Another Capitol rioter who assaulted at least 6 police officers, sentenced to 5 years in prison

 This week's idiot is another Trumpanzee who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 under Trump's direction to use violence to keep him in power. Now this guy, who is said to be one of the most violent attackers, will be spending 5 years in prison. He's also from Florida... so he's a "Florida Man." Here's the story.

(Photo: This image from police body-worn camera video, and contained and annotated in the Justice Department’s sentencing memorandum, shows Kenneth Bonawitz colliding with two officer at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. Bonawitz, who assaulted at least six police officers during a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol, has been sentenced to five years in prison. (Department of Justice via AP))

 Capitol rioter who assaulted at least 6 police officers is sentenced to 5 years in prison

 BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, AP News, January 17, 2024

A Florida man described by prosecutors as one of the most violent rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in prison, court records show.

Kenneth Bonawitz, a member of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group’s Miami chapter, assaulted at least six police officers as he stormed the Capitol with a mob of Donald Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. He grabbed one of the officers in a chokehold and injured another so severely that the officer had to retire, according to federal prosecutors.

Bonawitz, 58, of Pompano Beach, Florida, carried an eight-inch knife in a sheath on his hip. Police seized the knife from him in between his barrage of attacks on officers.

“His violent, and repeated, assaults on multiple officers are among the worst attacks that occurred that day,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean McCauley wrote in a court filing.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Hero of the Week: A UK Pet Detective Who’s Tracked Down and Reunited 330 Lost Dogs

Anyone who can track down lost pets and reunite them with their family is a hero. This week's hero is a "pet detective" who uses a drone to make that happen!
 (Photo: Erica Hart with her thermal imaging drone – SWNS)

She’s a Pet Detective Who’s Tracked Down and Reunited 330 Lost Dogs with Owners for Free–Using Thermal Imaging 

Andy Corbley -Feb 1, 2024, Good News Network

Meet the pet detective who has helped track down and reunite 330 lost dogs with their owners for free—using a thermal imaging drone.

She doesn’t accept a penny for her work, saying that the joy when an owner is reunited with their animal is all the reward she needs.

Erica Hart, 44, got her first drone as a present from her father in April 2018.

After practicing with it, Her dad told Erica a dog was missing in their local area and suggested she use her drone to help find it.

Erica called the owner of the missing dog—a schnauzer that went missing on a walk—and went out to help him find it, which she did.

Word spread and Erica said it “snowballed” from there. She has since been on 330 dog rescue missions with her drone. She’s even kept a few of the pooches she’s found. From Scotland to Somerset in the UK, Erica is the first one called in the nation for such missions.

“I don’t just help find dogs though, I have found, cats, emus, cows and helped mountain rescue locate missing people,” said Erica. “It is in my nature to help out.” “I do everything for the love of dogs. Imagine not seeing your mum for 10 years and then seeing her all of a sudden—it is that feeling.”

She estimated she’s been through 30 drones since she started out, and reiterated that the human element of the work is the most important for her.

“I have seen large, 6-foot men burst into tears; it is priceless to see their faces,” she remembers. “Some people can’t have kids so they will get a dog, they are comfort for some people.”

Erica is on call seven days a week and has been out looking on both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. The longest rescue Erica has been part of lasted 12 days but she said the length of the rescue depends on whether the animal missing goes into fight or flight mode.

Friday, March 15, 2024

New Survey of Presidential Scholars: Presidential Greatness Project- Ranks Presidents

A new survey of presidential scholars and social scientists  was released by the Presidential Greatness Project in which Trump ranked last of all U.S. presidents.  President Joe Biden placed 14th, Barack Obama in 7th, Bill Clinton in 12th, Ronald Reagan in 16th and George W. Bush in 32nd.  Below is a summary of just a couple of rankings from these scholars, and at the end is a very funny "Tweet" from someone reacting to the survey. 




New Survey of Presidential Scholars: Presidential Greatness Project- Ranks Presidents

     The results of this ranking are quite similar to the results from our previous surveys (released in 2015 and 2018): Abraham Lincoln again tops the list (95.03 average), followed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (90.83), George Washington (90.32), Teddy Roosevelt (78.58), Thomas Jefferson (77.53), Harry Truman (75.34), Barack Obama (73.8), and Dwight Eisenhower (73.73).

      The most notable changes in this ordering are Franklin Delano Roosevelt moving up to #2 from the third spot last year, and Dwight Eisenhower falling back to #8 from #6 last year

     The bottom of the rankings is also relatively stable. Donald Trump rates lowest (10.92), behind James Buchanan (16.71), Andrew Johnson (21.56), Franklin Pierce (24.6), William Henry Harrison (26.01), and Warren Harding (27.76).

  For the Full Survey go to:  

http://www.brandonrottinghaus.com/uploads/1/0/8/7/108798321/presidential_greatness_white_paper_2024.pdf

 

SOMEONE ON TWITTER RESPONDED TO THE SURVEY -  @JayLionel7   --William Harrison died 31 days into the job AND WAS STILL BETTER THAN TRUMP


Thursday, March 14, 2024

New Dictionary Words in 2024: Part 3 Climate, weather, & environment

   Recently, Dictionary Com provided a list of 300 words added to the dictionary for 2024. Today's blog includes a sampling of them from the weather and climate areas.  Words like Superfog and Climate Breakdown Here's today's sampling.

(Photo: Super fog forms when a mixture of smoke and moisture released from damp smoldering organic material such as brush, leaves and trees, mixes with cooler, nearly saturated air. Visibility is lowered to less than 10 feet. Under light wind conditions, super fog meanders through low terrain areas such as creek beds or drainage ditches. Super fog can be very dangerous when present over highways, and has been the cause of several large, multi-vehicle pileups. Credit: NOAA/Gary Curcio) 

There’s A Word For That: Our Dictionary Additions For Winter 2024

climate breakdown - noun. the collective effects of harmful and potentially irreversible trends in climate, specifically those resulting from unchecked global warming.

global boiling
 noun. a nonscientific term used to emphasize the trend toward and severity of extreme heat events, especially in regard to public health. 📝 Climate breakdown and global boiling have emerged as terms intended to communicate the severity of the effects of climate change, along with other prominent terms like climate crisis and climate emergency.

extreme heat event
 noun. Meteorology, Climatology. a heat event classified as being excessive enough to pose a serious threat to public health.

fire whirl
 noun. a tornadolike phenomenon created when turbulent air rapidly rising from the site of burning, as in a forest fire, sucks flaming gases, embers, and other fiery debris up into a twisting column, sometimes hundreds of feet in height.

fire tornado
 noun. a flaming tornado generated by intense wildfire, rarer, much larger, and more destructive than a fire whirl.

superfog
 noun. a combination of fog generated by weather conditions and wildfire smoke from damp, smoldering brush, leaves, trees, and other organic materials that often reduces visibility to less than 10 feet.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

New Video Interview: Edge of the Rabbit Hole talks w/Rob about Ireland's Ghosts

NEW VIDEO! If you missed the Edge of the Rabbit Hole show on March 13, 2024 where Mike and Victoria welcomed me to talk about the "Ghosts of Ireland on a Medium's Vacation" - you can see it here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFJJrFb6ddA




Dictionary Additions for 2024: Part 2: Science Words

  Recently, Dictionary Com provided a list of 300 words added to the dictionary for 2024. Today's blog includes a sampling of them from Stellar Nursery to dendroglyph.  Here's today's sampling.

There’s A Word For That: Our Dictionary Additions For Winter 2024

stellar nursery
 noun. Astronomy. a molecular cloud in which new stars are being formed. 

 📝 The James Webb Space Telescope has captured some stunning images of these star-forming regions, including the one pictured below, named 30 Doradus and nicknamed the Tarantula Nebula. 


Located in the neighboring galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud, it is the largest and brightest stellar nursery in the Local Group, a group of galaxies near the Milky Way. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team

boring billion
 noun. a period in the earth's development occurring between 1,800 and 800 million years ago that is characterized by relative geological and climatic stability, slow evolutionary development, and low levels of atmospheric oxygen.

geoglyph noun. a large-scale design or pattern on the surface of the land made by arranging stones, rocks, or earth, or by removing ground cover to expose the rock or soil beneath.

 📝 Geoglyph is the most well-known of the terms listed here ending in -glyph, which comes from the Greek word for “a carving”; geo- means “earth.”

ammoglyph
 noun. a pattern or design originally created in sand by early humans and now fossilized. 

 📝 Coined in 2019 by Canadian geologist Charles William Helm and colleagues based on the Greek ámmo(s), meaning “sand.”

dendroglyph noun. an image, message, or symbol carved into a tree, especially by Indigenous people and often hundreds of years old, providing cultural and historical information not available from other sources. 

 📝 Coined in 1918 by Australian curator Robert Etheridge, Jr., with the combining form dendro-, meaning “tree." Its use has replaced that of the earlier term arborglyph.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Dictionary Additions For Winter 2024: PART 1

Recently, Dictionary Com provided a list of 300 words added to the dictionary for 2024. Today's blog includes a sampling of them from bussin' to bed-rotting. Shakespeare is rolling over in his grave. Here's today's sampling.

There’s A Word For That: Our Dictionary Additions For Winter 2024 

mid
 adjective. mediocre, unimpressive, or disappointing.

bussin’ adjective. great; wonderful; amazing. 📝 Popular among Gen Z, this term originates in African American culture and is likely based on various senses of bust meaning “to explode,” “to do well,” or “to enjoy.”

The Ick. -noun. a sudden feeling of disgust or dislike, often in response to the actions of another person. 📝 This phrase, popular in dating culture and on TikTok, is thought to trace back to the late 1990s TV show Ally McBeal. The ick is also used as an informal term for an illness, especially a cold or flu.

cheat code - noun. a ploy or technique that bypasses traditional methods or rules in order to improve oneself or one’s success. 📝 This more recent sense of the term is an extension of its use in the context of video games, in which it refers to a hidden command, code, etc., used to gain an advantage, such as by advancing levels or enhancing a character’s strengths.

range anxiety - noun. the apprehension or fear that an electric vehicle’s battery will run out of power before reaching one’s intended destination or a charging station.

enshittification
 - noun. the gradual degradation of an online platform or service’s functionality, as part of a cycle in which the platform or service first offers benefits to users to attract them, then pursues more and more profits at the expense of users. 📝 Used in the critical discussion of platforms like TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and others, this term was popularized by writer Cory Doctorow.

skiplagging - noun. the practice of purchasing an air ticket for a flight with a layover at one’s true destination, getting off at the layover point, and skipping the last leg of the flight: a workaround to avoid paying a higher fare for a direct flight to one’s destination. 📝 The verb form is skiplag, a compound of skip, “to pass over,” and lag, “an instance of staying behind.”

bed rotting - noun. the practice of spending many hours in bed during the day, often with snacks or an electronic device, as a voluntary retreat from activity or stress. 📝 Despite the negative connotation of rotting, many use this term in a positive way to refer to what they consider a form of self-care. The verb form is bed rot.

Monday, March 11, 2024

Attended a Fascinating Local Lecture on Lizzie Borden

 Our local library is very active and has 1 speaker each month. I was honored to be a speaker back in October 2023 when I spoke about some of the paranormal cases I've been on. Recently, there was an historian and researcher, Christopher Daley, who spoke about the Lizzie Borden case. It was fascinating, as we never knew the whole story. His lecture was called "40 Whacks: The Lizzie Borden Case." Today's blog gives some history and highlights from the lecture. 

(Photo: Christopher Daley, historian at the Berwick Library. Credit: R.G.) 


WHO WAS LIZZIE BORDEN? 
Lizzie Andrew Borden was a woman who was tried and acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was charged in the murders, and, despite ostracism from other residents, Borden spent the remainder of her life in Fall River, Mass.

(Photo: Lizzie Borden in 1890. Credit: Wikimedia)

UNSOLVED -  The lecturer was quick to point out that the brutal murders of her father and stepmother were never "solved." 
MOTIVE AND OPPORTUNITY -
   There is little doubt that Lizzie Borden committed the murders. She hated her wealthy father for penny pinching and not moving the family to the wealthy section of town, and not allowing her and her sister more than 2 new dresses a year" - so there was motive.
   The Opportunity came when the Irish maid was napping, Lizzie was the only one in the house with her step mother (who was murdered first in the upstairs) and when the father came home, he was murdered in the parlor. Police shows say victims only let people they know get physically close to them, and that seems the case. 

(Photo: Rob and Tom waiting for the lecture to begin. Credit: R.G.) 

  The murderer (Lizzie) bashed her stepmother's skull  with19 strikes, and 10 into her father's head and face, making him unrecognizable. The murders took place approximately an hour and a half apart on the morning of August 4, 1892.   

CORONER STATED "A LEFT-HANDED KILLER"The lecturer said that the coroner back in 1892 (not good) said he thought the cleaver or axe strikes to their heads were done by a left-handed person. So, I asked if Lizzie was right or left-handed. The lecturer said she was right-handed. - Although, I thought, she could have used her right hand and done the other 17 blows with her left hand.... 

GREAT ARTICLE- Smithsonian Magazine did an article about Borden's history and summed it up in the title and subtitle of the article: "Why 19th-Century Axe Murderer Lizzie Borden Was Found Not Guilty Nativism, gender stereotypes and wealth all played a role in letting Borden, the prime suspect in her father and stepmother’s violent deaths, go free."   The lecturer was great!!

IS THE HOUSE STILL STANDING?  - Yes, and it's turned into a gruesome bed and breakfast. I do know it's been investigated by paranormal investigators often, and they find ghosts. Not surprising the ghosts of the father and stepmother would be there, and I wouldn't be surprised if Lizzie herself were there, as once she died as an old woman, she would realize murder would possibly put her in a bad afterlife spot (really the lowest level of the afterlife) and stayed behind at the site of her crime.  
  The B&B allows people to sleep over, but you wouldn't catch me there. I also asked the lecturer, and he said he would never stay there!
 For more on the house visit: https://lizzie-borden.com/ 

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Idiot of the Week: Senior Citizen Felon Found with Over 850 Guns and Ammo

This week's idiot should have known better since he's a senior citizen and a felon. How in the world he obtained 856 guns as a felon is beyond comprehension. Obviously the system of gun checks is seriously broken. Here's the story.


(Photo: Not from the man's home, but looks similar. This pic is from another guy in Flushing, NY in 2018 Credit: ABC News) 

Man gets 3 years for being a felon with 856 guns 

January 9, 2024, by Christopher Williams, Sun Journal

PORTLAND — A Hebron man convicted of being a felon with hundreds of guns was sentenced Monday to three years in federal prison.

A federal jury found 75-year-old Dario Giambro guilty of being a felon in possession of firearms at his two-day retrial in October, two months after the first trial ended in a hung jury.

U.S. District Court Judge George Z. Singal imposed a sentence of three years and a $250,000 fine plus three years on supervised release.

Agents seized 856 guns from his mobile home  in January 2022 while executing a search warrant.

Investigators discovered a variety of firearms, including shotguns, rifles, pistols and revolvers. Some were leaning against walls and lying on a bed. Some were in boxes, some in cases and crates. They also recovered a large amount of ammunition.

Giambro was prohibited from possessing firearms due to a prior federal conviction in the District of Maine for possessing an unregistered firearm, which is a felony.

In September 2007, Giambro was convicted by a jury in federal court on a charge that he was in possession of weapon in violation of the National Firearms Act.

His conviction stemmed from having an unregistered firearm among the more than 200 guns in his possession when he lived in Auburn.

Giambro had been free on bond until his sentencing Monday, Jan 8, 2024 when he was taken into federal custody.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Heroes of the Week:: North Davis Fire District Rescues Dog in Icy Waters

This week's heroes are the firefighters in the North Davis Fire District, Utan who rescued a large dog that fell through ice into a frigid lake!
(Photo: A firefighter with the North Davis Fire District in Utah rescues a dog from an icy pond. (Courtesy of North Davis Fire District)

 

North Davis Fire District Rescues Dog in Icy Waters

(NewsNation,Tyler WornellUpdated: 

  Firefighters in Utah jumped into action this week to rescue a dog that was trapped in an icy pond.

The video posted to Facebook on Sunday by the North Davis Fire District shows a firefighter crawling across the ice to reach Bob — the dog — that had fallen into the water and couldn’t get out.

“Bob the dog loves the water but the ice shelf prevented him from being able to get out after his polar plunge,” the fire department said.

LINK TO VIDEO: https://www.facebook.com/Northdavisfire/videos/703617451572222/

The firefighter, identified as Logan, was tethered to a rope being handled by other crew members on the bank. Wearing a buoyant wet suit, Logan crawled to the edge of the ice shelf before entering the water to grab Bob. The pair were then pulled back up onto the ice shelf.

Fire officials are reminding people to remain vigilant and stay safe in winter weather conditions.

“Please be safe with your pets and children as ice conditions are still not as safe as we’d like them to be,” the fire department said.


About the fire district: https://www.northdavisfiredistrict.com/

Who I am

I'm a simple guy who enjoys the simple things in life, especially our dogs. I volunteer for dog rescues, enjoy exercising, blogging, politics, helping friends and neighbors, participating in ghost investigations, coffee, weather, superheroes, comic books, mystery novels, traveling, 70s and 80s music, classic country music,writing books on ghosts and spirits, cooking simply and keeping in shape. You'll find tidbits of all of these things on this blog and more. EMAIL me at Rgutro@gmail.com - Rob

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