1941 Buick

Roe Family in Texas

Gerald, dog, and Dick

After my post on the Rocket Men, I remembered an old family photo of brother Dick and cousin Gerald from about 1951. It was a recollection fostered by all the old cars in the Commando Cody/Rocket Man serials. I searched the web and finally identified our family car. It was a 1941 Buick.

Advertising Art

Real life 1941 Buick

The next car I remember our family owning was the 1954 Pontiac Star Chief. We got that I believe in about 1955. Not really sure about the year, but I do remember going to Alabama on a family vacation in it. That was the summer of 1956.

Me, Dick, Mom and 1954 Pontiac Star Chief (Oct. 56)

Rocket Man

I rediscovered Commando Cody this week as a result of a rabbit trail I went down. I was watching an episode of American Pickers where they picked a movie poster for Zombies of the Stratosphere featuring Leonard Nemoy. I Googled it and read the article on Wikipedia. I remember seeing Commando Cody at the movies back in the 50s. Commando Cody, played by George Wallace, was the lead character in Radar Men from the Moon, a 12 part serial by Republic Pictures in 1952. It was followed 1953 by Zombies of the Stratosphere in which Leonard Nemoy played one of the "zombies". The rocket man suit was used in both serials and also in a made for TV series "Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe". These movie serials came on the scene at the beginning of the atomic age and before the space age. The technology was awesome. As a kid, I ate this stuff up.

You will notice that the actors always seem to be dressed in suits, ties, and fedoras. The rocket man takes off his suit coat and puts on a leather coat which has the rockets and controls attached. Then he puts on his helmet. Scroll down and take a look at the controls below. So simple, even a caveman could do it. Clayton Moore (best known for playing the Lone Ranger) is the bad guy in Radar Men from the Moon. His voice is unmistakable.

Clayton Moore, second from left.

You can find the 12 episodes of Radar Men from the Moon on YouTube here: Radar Men from the Moon (1952) Full

Commando Cody with lunar tank

The following images are from  Zombies of the Stratosphere. Commando Cody is replaced by Larry Martin (played by Judd Holdren). This version has been colorized. The link is to a Youtube version of the movie.

back view of the rocket man

awesome controls

rocket man in flight

I wished I could have a suit like this.

Leonard Nemoy's death scene in Episode 12.

This awesome rocket could take off and fly to the moon and back in record time. Amazing.

Sarah At Play

Sarah got a new playground. Her daddy did a great job putting it all together. I am sure baby Emily will grow up loving to play here too.

Snoopy House Resident

May 12 -- This is a house I built in November of 2011. Now it is spring, and we have residents. They appear to be House Sparrows.

Jesus said, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." Matthew 10:29-31

Bird Nest 2012

This nest was built about a month ago, but never occupied. Then, all of a sudden, mockingbirds have taken up residency, and there are four new eggs.

May 10

We have a nandina bush just outside our side door. Birds have built nests in it for years.  The circle is where the present nest is located. 

May 11

I will be checking on the eggs for progress and will post further pictures and comments. Hopefully, I will get pictures of the parents soon.

May 11

May 11

May 12 -- I took a look today and as soon as I got close to the bush, mama bird took off.  I took a picture of her from far far away. It was a little shaky, but it is the best I have of her yet. I will try later to get a better picture.

Mama Bird - May 12

I got these next two later in the afternoon. She flies away easily.

 

May 23: I have been in the hospital for a week and after two days at home I discovered we have some new baby birds.

May 23

 One bird has his mouth wide open in the above picture. Just to the right you can see an unhatched egg. It is hard to tell if two or three of the eggs have hatched. Will check again tomorrow.

May 23

Updated May 31: Well, something got to our little Mockingbird nest. I haven't been up to checking the nest, and now the nest looks disturbed. I don't know if a cat got it or what. The unhatched egg is still there, and what looks like dried out little birds. I didn't spend much time looking because I am still a little weak from my surgery. It was very sad to see my little birds were dead.

Double Edged Shaving

I created a new page on double edged shaving. It is about my return to an earlier shaving technology.
http://jayaruh.blogspot.com/p/double-edged-shaving.html

Whereas shaving used to be a chore, it is now a delight. I generate my own lather and shave with a double-edged razor.

Pictured above are a vintage Gillette Aristocrat DE razor (1940's), my dad's vintage Schick injector razor (1940's), and Marcia's grandpa's shaving brush.

The Schick has a wooden handle that my Dad had fashioned. Evidently he replaced the original handle at some point. I got this razor from my brother Dick who told me that Dad had given it to him. In fact on one side of the handle you can barely see where "Dick H Roe" has been inscribed. There is what looks like a little palm tree on the other side.

Baby Robin

This morning as we were leaving for breakfast, I saw a little visitor perched in a brace on the back of our utility trailer.  It was a fledgling robin. Note the lack of tail feathers. I ran back in the house to get the camera and took this picture.

I came around front and took this one. His coloring is not all in yet either.

 Here I zoomed in to get a close up.

When we returned home he was sitting on the wheel of the trailer.  I was going to get the camera again, but he spooked and flew away. I saw him around for a little while, but I mowed the yard today, and he disappeared