Still Hibernating

 Mid February here at the SSUVFL. I don't care what that groundhog says, we always have at least 6 more weeks of winter. 

I got a telegram from my most loyal reader the other day. (Ah, who am I kidding, I think he is my only reader.) He said to me that he thinks it's time to write a blog. To which I said to him, "Why are you sending telegrams Jethro? Have you not heard of texting or emailing?" His reply was that "The 
Government" can track those communications, so he prefers to travel to Mexico and then communicate from a different country. You just never know what's going on inside the mind of a prepper.

So I got to thinking about a topic. When we are in hibernation mode here deep in the wilderness of Minnesota, we don't do a whole lot of anything. I have been bingeing a lot of TV. Specifically James Bond movies. Did you know there are 26 James Bond movies? I started with the first one. "Dr. No". It was released in 1962. Two years before my birth. If it would have come after my birth he may not be named "Bond, James Bond". Instead it would most likely be "Oliver, Dino Oliver" being the influence that I am. 

I love looking at the old technology of the day. I'm sure that in their minds that stuff was cutting edge and I am sure that it was. It was nothing compared to today's tech. I love seeing the cars of the day in action. Like seeing a 1957 Chevy convertible in a high speed chase. I am a gun aficionado (big word Jethro), it's true. James Bond started out with a 25 caliber Barretta and moved up to his iconic 32 caliber Walther PPK. They describe the move in the movie like this. The .32 caliber bullet hits like a brick through a plate glass window. Not by today's standards I'm afraid. 

Back in the olden days kids, we would get mailed to us, something called a TV Guide.

It was just a small magazine with articles about celebraties and it would list every show that would be on the Television for the month. So you could look at a glance at what would be on. Not like todays version of scrolling for hours just to find something to watch. I would get excited if I saw that a James Bond, Clint Eastwood or John Wayne movie would be coming on. Then I could plan accordingly. However back in the day I would never get to see those movies on our giant 19 inch color RCA console TV that sat on the floor. Noooo! I would have to sit in the corner of our kitchen and watch it in black and white on our tiny 13 inch TV. But I got to watch them so I am not complaining.

Watching James Bond is great. They made a few movies called Austin Powers, that was a satire of James Bond. Watching that and seeing the similarities to James Bond just makes it even more funny. In Austin Powers whenever he was going to hit somebody he would say "Judo chop!" Watching James Bond now, he would be fighting people and then he would do a karate chop on them. You can see it coming in every movie and now when I see it I'm saying out loud "Judo chop!" Then I chuckle to myself for being so clever. LOL! If you haven't seen the Austin Powers movies you must. They are hilarious.

Watching these spy movies jogged a memory from the past. Do you remember reading comic books and in the back you would see a page full of ads? There was some really cool stuff on them like X-ray glasses. Magic tricks, Itching powder. All kinds of things that young boys could get to torment their friends and family.

In one such comic book I found a miniature spy camera. So I ordered it. It was like this one in the following picture.

It was very small and it came with a roll of film. I snuck around for days taking pictures only to find out that when the roll was full, there was no place to develop it. It was fun while it lasted.

I thought since we were hibernating that I could write a great spy novel. After being inspired by the great James Bond. I mean if Jethro can do it, how hard could it be? But after doing some research I found that the titles for the books I would write have already been written. Like these.

That's some funny stuff right there.

This one is my favorite.

The Angry Dame book series. I guess someone has already written books about Lisa. Lead sandwiches are the only thing on the menu. I love it!

That's it for this little trip down memory lane. I hope you enjoyed it. Soup season is right around the corner and we are already booking events for the summer. 

Until next time. Keep your powder dry and keep reaching for the stars.