Dear Quentin Tarantino, where are my family's "Royalties" check*?

A few years ago I went to the movies w/ Stephen to see "Inglourious Basterds".

As soon as I saw Brad Pitt, I knew there was something familiar to me about "Lt. Aldo Raine".

Then he said it:

"Blue Eyed Apache"



My Grandfather was in the World War II military unit called "Devil's Brigade". The Devil's Brigade (also called The Black Devils and The Black Devils' Brigade), was officially the 1st Special Service Force.

He was also an Apache Indian. As a child, he stayed on a reservation in Oklahoma.

And he had fair colored eyes.



Since I saw the movie I've been going on and on about how much "Aldo the Apache" is a RIP OFF of my Grandfather!



Well, today is Memorial Day.
That had me thinking about my Grandpa Manning.

(Really, I've been thinking about him allot lately. Even dreaming about him)

So I was reading online different things on the Black Devils. And then I saw this:

Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds features a character named Lt. Aldo Raine aka "Aldo the Apache" played by Brad Pitt. Raine appears to be a member of the 1st Special Service Force, as he is seen wearing the unit's crossed arrows collar insignia and red arrowhead shoulder patch. The character also mentioned being dropped into Italy (where he apparently learned some Italian), a country where the Devil's Brigade was deployed. The inclusion of this detail is likely a nod to the film depiction of The Devil's Brigade which Tarantino cited as an influence for Inglourious Basterds.
Wikipedia.org

AH-HA!

I WASN'T just talking trash out my butt!

(Now, I'll admit, I haven't really read much about the movie, so if anyone can give me more info on Tarantino using the Devil's Brigade as inspiration for the movie, I would really love to hear about it!)

So I ask you again Mr. Tarantino, where are the "Royalties" checks?*



*Note: I'm being a smart ass. I know that Tarantino didn't steal my brain waves to make this movie. Any WWII buff can tell you that The Black Devils where the baddest MoFos. And just watch any John Wayne movie and you'll learn the "Apaches" where scalping monsters*. He just put together two of the baddest badass' of war.

I just find the similarities all so very odd/cool.

* Sarcasm

Stop the turtle massacre on Texas Hwy 190

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Please Help Me Win For My Sunny Cat

I'm pretty sure most of you know about my completely unhealthy relationship with my cat Sunny.

(If not, she had her own photo album on FaceBook that can fill you in)

Even though all I ever do is take photos, I have very few of her because she hate the camera.

Well, The Pet Studio is having a "Pretty Kitty Contest" to win a FREE portrait of your cat.

So I would like to ask anyone with a FaceBook profile to please help my Sunny Cat to win by voting and "Like" her photo here.

Thanks,

Manda!

It's Spring, So Get Ready For FLEAS Pet Lovers

Fleas suck.

If you have pets, you know that.

Getting and KEEPING fleas out of your home sucks even more.

And if you are like me, you find it to be a pain in the butt to find the best and SAFE way to kill'em.

Worrying about what safe for your kids and other pets. Plus, my dogs have skin allergies that I have to think about too.

So here is what I do:

I buy a pack of "Flea Collars" and put one INSIDE my vacuum bag/canister.

Then I vacuum ALL of the floors and furniture in my home DAILY!

Every time I change the bag or dump the canister, I put in a new collar.

How it works:

The vacuum sucks up BOTH the FLEAS and EGGS and TRAPS them in the bag/canister.

Not only KILLING the fleas but also KILLING the eggs once they hatch!

And this way you don't have to worry about your kids and pets being exposed to anything un-safe since it's INSIDE the vacuum.

Now, it's not gonna work "Over night" and if you have a REALLY bad flea problem, it may not be the best start.

But it's a great SAFE way to maintain a FLEA FREE HOME!

Ice Cream Cone Cup Cakes

So, for those who didn't already know this, I am NOT a very good cook!

And when it comes to cake decorating, I may be even worse.

But this is pretty much the only "Cute" & GOOD TASTING thing I know how to make:

Cute right? Here is how to do it:

And For The Moment You All Have Been Waiting For!

Okay, not really...

I'm just trying to amuse myself cause I've been crazy sick and the cold meds make me have weird dreams of my poor dead kitty Sunny.

Here is my Birthday & Christmas Wish List:

The Little Ark 1979 VHS

and

Jimmy Nelson "Fun and Games" & "Lots of Laughs" LP On Tinkerbell Label

I'm watching the Jimmy Nelson LP on eBay right now!

Just wish my record player worked right now...

Unsolved Serial Killings of Texas I-45

This is an older blog I posted a few years ago. With the murder of Krystal Jean Baker in the news again, it's got allot a talk about the "I-45 Killers". So I'm reposting it here:

Krystal Jean Baker - Age 13, Caucasian, blonde, dark eyes. Disappeared on March 5, 1996 from Convenience Store in Texas City where she used the phone. In hopes for a ride to a friends house in Bayou Vista, which is a short distance from there.
Her body was found a few hours later under the I-10 Bridge over the Trinity River in Chambers County. She had been strangled, beaten, sexually assaulted and killed by ligature strangulation. Her face was badly beaten.
Closest highway from where she was last seen is I-45, Hwy 3 and Hwy 146 which goes along Bay toward where body was found miles away.
Marilyn Monroe, Norma Jean Baker was Krystal's great aunt.

Unsolved Serial Killings of Texas I-45

Last week I watched something on TV about the “Green River Killer” and that is what got me thinking about the “I-45 Killer(s)”. So that is why I’ve be on this “kick” this week about these murders. It’s just so scary! I’ve talk to allot of girls this week who grew up around here about this all week and they all have similar stories about their parents telling them about girls they knew of being killed. And we all remember when Laura Smither (She was kidnapped right down the road from where I live now) and Jessica Cain when kidnapped. Everyone my age was in High School then. These girls were around our age and from our area. So it was really frightening. I still remember about ten years ago when sketches of Jane Doe’s went up on billboards all on the area asking if anyone knew who they were.

When I was younger, I lived in Texas City, Texas for a time. For several years I took dance lesson from Carol Ashworth at The Texas City Academy Of Dance. A much older girl, Shelley Sikes, also took dance lessons at the school and would sometimes help out with us younger girls. Her last year at the school was my first or second year there, (I must had been four or five at the time). I still remember her having the big dance solo at her last dance recital. She was very talented and all of us younger girls looked up to her and hope to one day get to dance the solo. But a year later she was kidnapped and murdered. Her body has never been found: Convicts up for parole 20 years after Shelly Sikes’ murder

Her kidnapping was by far one of the most frightening memories of my early childhood. In 2006 I wrote a letter to the parole board asking them to deny John King and Gerald Zwarst (The men who admitted to kidnapping and killing her) parole.

Now, here are some really scary “facts” that I’ve found out this week:

1. It’s NOT JUST I-45: There is an area from I-45 in Houston, Texas to Shreveport, Louisiana known as the “Dead Zone“. Kinda like a “Bermuda Triangle”. Girls go missing, only to be found dead (If the are found at all) along the side of highways: ‘c r i m e - t i m e’ a real DEAD-ZONE written by- tomevans

It’s also has been called “The Tri-County Murders“: Louisiana Missing Person Kristi O’Pry, Shreveport 1996, Missing Person Kimberly Norwood; Hallsville, TX 1989, Missing Kelly Dae Wilson From Gilmer Texas

Other names that these murders have been called are: I-45 Corridor, The Killing Corridor, America’s Highway to Hell, The Killing Fields: Serial Killers, Murders and Crimes of Passion, First Place Division 9 News Writing

2. The F.B.I. has NO OFFICIAL INVESTIGATION into a connection of these murders: Robert L. Davis, an author and former police officer wrote the F.B.I earlier this year asking them for information about the killings. Exercised his right as an American citizen under “The Freedom of Information Act”. Here was the response:

” To promptly respond to requests, we concentrate on identifying the main files in the central records system at FBI Headquarters. No records responsive to your FOIPA request were located by a search of the automated induces”.

They pretty much told him that they had NEVER HEAR OF THE KILLINGS! Meaning, the F.B.I. isn’t even looking into the possibility that there is a Serial Killer “working” in our area: FBI contacted me in response to I-45 serial killer in Texas! (article) by Robert L. Davis on AuthorsDen

3. The I-45 Killer(s) is even listed as an Urban Legend: I-45 Murders - Super-wiki

4. The Texas EquuSearch Mounted Search And Recovery Team founder, Tim Miller, is the father of one of the “Killing Field” victims, Laura Lynn Miller.

5. Are the killing still going on? Murder Of Terressa Vanegas Stirs Memories of the I-45 Serial Killer - The Crime library

6. 40% of the girls were last seen at or near Convenience Stores: Crime Search - Houston, TX

7. There could be up to FIVE KILLERS: Unsolved Serial Killings; Linking The I-45 Killings

FBI profiler Mark Young at one time stated that there were at least four or five killers that are working or had worked the I-45 corridor. Certainly a case could be made that there are more than that, including killers that only claimed a single victim. Few cases can be definitively linked, and the method of abduction, cause of death, and type of dumping ground often varies wildly across the board. Conversely, it is possible that only a couple of serial slayers are responsible and are changing their M.O.’s to make the pieces of this puzzle as difficult as possible to put together. It has to be considered highly unusual for so many ‘low-risk’ victims to be murdered or missing over such a relatively small geographic area without at least a couple of serial murderers being responsible for the bulk of the slayings.

(Just by looking over the murders over the last few days, I saw how this may really be true!)

8. Was it a “COP“? Almost thirty years later, witness have came forward saying they saw a “security guard”. Many have thought that was what happen to Jessica Cain: jameson’s WebbSleuths - 1-45 CORRIDOR SERIAL KILLER

And if I haven’t scared you yet, here are the best links I’ve found on the killings:

• Psycho Stalker Ugliness & Serial Killers


• Unsolved Serial Killings; Texas, I-45 Corridor


• Crime Search - Houston, TX

STILL haven’t had enough yet? Check out my MySpace blogs for more info that I’ve found:

• The Mystery of The I-45 Murders - His Ruin MySpace Blog


• MORE On The I-45 Killings - His Ruin MySpace Blog


• Some More On The The I-45 Killer(s) - His Ruin MySpace Blog

FYI

FYI for everybody - My RANDOM activity online is most likely gonna become less and less. My computer sucks. Haven't been able to check my eMail properly for well over two years now and it's been gettin' harder and harder to download and edit my photos for years now. It's pretty clear the dumb thing is gonna died soon. So if I don't reply or comment back it's not cause I'm a b*tch! It's just that it takes an act of God to get a room painted around here so getting a working computer is just way beyond my power right now.

Houston Model Is Missing

I saw this online & I don't know her but she is from my area. Woman & Girls have gone "Missing" from our area for years. I hope she comes home safe very soon!

Find Out More Here
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Think "PIT BULLS" are KILLER dogs?

Think "PIT BULLS" are KILLER dogs? Read Some DACHSHUND FACTS:

I thought I would share this with y'all. I'm a Dachshund owner and AGAINST BSL because it's slippery slope.

In 2008 a study showed that Dachshunds are the MOST aggressive breed of dog: dolittler Does your dog bite Penn’s study says your Dachshund might, Dachshunds Are More Aggressive - Dog Aggression Study, Dachshunds attack pit bulls and girl abcactionnews.com

Which is really funny since they were the 7th most registered dog in 2008: AKC Dog Registration Statistics

They were also used for Blood Sport/Fighting Badger-baiting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and have been known to maul BABIES: Dachshund Mauls Baby, Critically Injuring Him - Los Angeles Times, Dachshund Mutilates Baby Boy's Genitals - cbs2chicago.com

I think the WHOLE WORLD would be in ALLOT of trouble if my little Lola grew two feet of legs over night!

Don't believe me? Read for yourself: Dachshund - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If we start banning "Dangerous" dogs where will it stop?

You want to just ban Blood Sport/Fighting breeds? Then do some READING. At one point most of our now beloved pets were used in many violent ways.

And MANY breeds of dogs that are considered non-violent family pets can do some very gruesome things: police Labrador kills 2-month-old boy left unattended in swing... - Topix

Much like a gun, a dog is only as dangerous as the person that owns it.

New Blog Coming Soon

New blog for Wip Kitten Amanda coming soon!