VOO'S HISTORY LESSON - SPIKES POETRY CORNER--MANTI, THEN AND NOW - RANGER BOB

VOO'S HISTORY LESSON

TURN BACK THE TIME

MEET THE DALTON GANG

No, this is not the South Sanpete School Administrators at work. These deceased young men are members of the famous western outlaw gang called the Dalton Brothers Gang. They had been very successful as train robbers but decided to take a fling at robbing banks. On Oct. 5, 1892 the gang rode into Coffeyville, Kansas, with the intent of outdoing the James gang by robbing two banks at once.



The C.M. Condon Bank and The First National Bank were the intended targets. Several of the townspeople recognized the Daltons who were wearing fake beards. The alarmed town folks armed themselves from the local hardware stores and a shootout occurred. Four town people were killed along with the four gang members pictured above. A fifth gang member, Emmet Dalton, was also shot 23 times but survived and went to prison.



Bob and Grat Dalton are held up by citizens for this photo op right before they went to the other side.

Emmet was sentenced to life in prison in the Kansas penitenary at Lansing. After 14 years he was pardoned and moved to California. He became a real estate agent, author, and actor. He died in 1937 at the age of 66.

Condon Bank in 1892

Bullet holes in bank windows after the shootout.

Condon Bank today......still in business.

This concludes our history lesson for this week.

Hopefully some of you are smarter now about Western history and also about the risks of robbing Coffeyville banks.

RED SOX LEGEND OF THE WEEK

Jackie Jensen could do it all. He was a gold glove right fielder and had a powerful arm. He was very fast and led the league in stolen bases one year. In 1958, as a team mate of Ted Williams, he hit 35 home runs and won the American League MVP. However, Jackie had an intense fear of flying and retired from baseball in his prime because of the Western expansion of baseball, which required long flights. He tragically died in his fifties of a heart attack.


WILLIAM HOLDEN MOVIE OF THE WEEK

THE BRIDGES OF TOKO-RI (1954)

One of the great war stories by James Michner. The movie version stars Holden, Grace Kelly, Fredrick March and Mickey Rooney. An attorney from Denver is called back to active duty during the Korean war. He flies from an aircraft carrier and is assigned the dangerous mission of bombing some highly defended bridges in Korea. Holden is the pilot. He does not want to be there and is full of anxiety about his assigned mission, but does it anyway.

Holden and his buddies end up getting shot in a ditch in Korea. Tragic ending.

ROCK AND ROLL LEGEND OF THE WEEK

Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps

Their number one hit, Be Bop A Lula, will live on forever. It is actually my good friend, Talula's, theme song.

FLY OF THE WEEK

Dark Brown Hendrickson

SKULL SHIRT OF THE WEEK

This is one skull shirt I actually own and am proud to wear.

TREE HOUSE OF THE WEEK (See Below)

You guessed it. This very unique tree house does, in fact, belong to Oil Can and can be seen in his back yard.

Speaking of tree houses. This is a great book for anyone, like me, who enjoys building and occupying huts and forts.

WORLD WAR TWO POSTERS OF THE WEEK

F Bomb and Joe The Plumber are two family members who served honorably in our US Navy.

RANGER BOB'S OUTDOOR TIP OF THE WEEK

Pictured above is everything you would ever need to know about building an emergency shelter, in case of an emergency, when an emergency occurs, and you are faced with an emergency situation and need to take emergency action.

...Ranger Bob

KNOT OF THE WEEK

The Anchor Knot

As you might have guessed, this knot is used to procure your anchor to a rope. Please do not try this knot if you don't have an anchor. It can be very dangerous.

CLASSIC MOVIE OF THE WEEK

THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)

Widely considered the best of the Frankenstein movies starring Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester. Directed by James Whale.

MANTI THEN AND NOW
All old black and white photos below are courtesy. L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602

Looking North from Union Street in 1974

Looking North from Union in 2009. Notice the Red and White Grocery and the big pine trees are completely gone.

Manti Temple under construction 1887

Same view of Temple in 2009

Sanpete County Fairgrounds in the late 1800s.

Fairgrounds in 2009

House at 402 North Main where my famous sisters grew up. Photo above was taken in spring of 2008.

Same location after house was demolished in 2009.

North side of Temple in 1887

Same view 2009

Flooded Manti Main Street in late 1800s. (looking South)

Same view of Main Street in 2009

Manti Temple in 1948 ( notice the wall)

Temple in 1950s. (No wall but many trees)

Temple in 2009 (No wall, no trees, just an ugly damn chain link fence.)

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND

MORE SISTER PHOTOS

This photo of Joyce and Joanne was taken when they were professional tag team wrestlers working their way through college. They were known as the Manti Maulers. They were undefeated in Sanpete and Sevier Counties and lost only one match in Wayne County to the Brinkerhoff Bitches.

SPIKE'S POETRY CORNER

Spike reading poetry to Alex

An Ode To The French

Some girls wear dresses.

Most boys wear pants

Gather your kittens and

Send them to France.

.... by Spike 2009

What America Means To Me

I love America,

It's the land of the free.

But if your cat is a Commie

Dump his ass in the sea.

....by Spike 2009

Well kids, all the non-fun haters in the family will be in Colorado this weekend for the annual Tango in Durango. The fun-haters who won't be there know who they are. No need to mention names is there Karl and Joanne and Joyce and the Wanks and the Wank kids and F Bomb and Cat Woman and the Berkeley Clan and the Leaf Eaters and Costanza and Jil and Little Voo and Hayley and Milo? May you all enjoy your weekend watching reruns of Gilligan's Island.

Coming soon:

1. A report on the Tango in Durango.

2. F Bomb's favorite war movies.

3. A look of never before photographed scenes of the interior of Graceland West.

4. Jackie's secret high school diary.

5. Marconi's psychiatrist's diary.

6. Wire Nut's favorite electricity books.

7. Costanza's favorite comic books.
8. George W. Bush's favorite coloring books.

9. The Wolf''s leg shaving tips.

10. Hockey Mom's tips on waxing pucks.

11. Teen Teen's tips on cooking pine needles.

12. Spikes mailbag.

That's all folks. I will see some of you in Durango. I will seen some of you at Easter. I will see some of you on the 4th. I will see some of you in Hell.

Quote of the Day

Nobody ever goes there. It's too crowded.

....Yogi Berra

Elvis lives.......................

voo

MEET THE WANKS-- VOO'S BOOKCLUB-- RANGER BOB--THEN AND NOW

RED SOX FANS OF THE WEEK

THE WANKS

Pictured above is my number one niece, Jackie, and her eternal companion Curt. I don't really think they are Red Sox fans but who cares? Jackie is the daughter of my sister Joanne and is a house wife and mother living in Highland, Utah. She is the proud mother of three darling daughters. Each of her daughters is married, which gives Jackie three marginally likeable sons in law. She has a bunch of grandkids, with one more on the way. Jackie's hobbies include small animal taxidermy, reloading rifle shells, and collecting paper dolls of Jackie Kennedy. She is also in charge of mosquito abatement in Utah County. I have many fond memories of her visits to Manti when we were both growing up.

Curt Wankier is a businessman, artist, art collect, outdoorsman, and outlaw biker. He has spent a considerable amount of time in the various county jails throughout Utah and Colorado with his dentist brother in law, The Tooth Fairy.

This is Jackie with her cousin, Polly, at the annual Halloween Evil Ball, hoping someone will ask them to dance.


MOVIE FLASHBACK

The First Man Into Space was the free Christmas movie at the old Manti Theatre in December of 1959. Every kid in town was in attendance.



WILLIAM HOLDEN MOVIE OF THE WEEK

Picnic 1955

The dance scene with William Holden and Kim Novak is rated the sexiest dance scene in motion picture history. The "picnic" scene reminds me of the Manti 4th of July celebration. The music in this movie is also fantastic.


PET OF THE WEEK

Quincy

Quincy is an obnoxious little bastard belonging to my good friends, Jack and Dawn from SLC.


WORLD WAR II POSTERS OF THE WEEK

Rosie the Riveter
In WWII women manned the factories while the men were off to war. It was the beginning of a whole new culture in USA.

There was a fear of spies being everywhere.

I was looking through the telescope that I built in high school, counting the rings around Saturn. Spike was reading the New Yorker. The phone rang and a friend of mine that I knew when I was a deep sea diver, said, " Hey, Voo, how come there are never any bayonets on your blog?"
So ---
Here are some bayonets.

VOO'S BOOK CLUB

Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose
Epic true story of 101st Airborne in WWII
It was also a great mini series on HBO. We visited several locations
in Europe where these soldiers served.

I first read this book in 1970 and have read it about five times since then. Even if you are not a baseball fan, this book is a rare treat.

Pity of War
This book was an eye opener about the tragedy of WWI.

American Massacre
Well documented account of Mountain Meadow Massacre.

Shadow Divers
I couldn't put this book down.

SCIENCE FICTION MOVIE OF THE WEEK

The Fly --- 1958
Voo and Zoo's first date --- we were in the 6th grade!

"Heeeeeeelp Meeeeeeeeee!"

RARE PHOTO OF THE WEEK

This is an actual photo of the deceased Bella Lugosi (Dracula) in his coffin.



RANGER BOB'S OUTDOOR TIP OF THE DAY

Pitching a Tent

"I have found tents to be very useful --- especially when sleeping outdoors. "
.... Ranger Bob


RED SOX LEGEND OF THE WEEK

Luis Tiant


Crafty Red Sox pitcher in the mid 70s. Because of his "herky, jerky windup," Joe Garagiola said at some point in the ball game --- no matter where you are sitting --- Luis will look you in right in the eye during his windup.


KNOT TYING TECHNIQUE OF THE WEEK

Tying the Bowlin knot with one hand
This technique is especially useful for Joanne right now just in case she falls off a cliff.



THEN AND NOW IN MANTI

This is a photo of the temple taken from the fairgrounds in the 1920s.
(Photo is courtesy, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee, Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, UtH 84602)

This is a photo of the temple taken from the same place in the fairgrounds in 2009.

This is a photo of the temple taken from the Manti Cemetery. Notice the rock wall around the temple that is now covered with grass.
(Photo is courtesy, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young Unversity, Provo, UT 84602)

This is a photo of the temple from the same place in the Manti Cemetery taken in 2009.

This is a photo of Manti's Main Street taken from the south end of town at the Red Point. It was taken around 1887.
(Photo: L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young Unversity, Provo, UT 84602)

Same view as photo above, 2009
(All colored photos are courtesy of the Voo Special Collections)


BELIEVE IT OR NOT

Voo's skull candle, hanging over dining room table.

Voo's candle and leg light. In my sister's comments she indicated that I had a skull hanging over my dining room table. It is not a skull --- it is, in fact, a skull candle.
I have a special touch for home decor and exterior illumination. See more next week.



WHY MEN DRINK!

KNOT OF THE WEEK

Double Fisherman's Knot
This knot is used to tie two ropes or fishing lines together.


SISTER PHOTOS

This is Joanne when she was a government ripcord inspector at the Manti Parachute Plant.

This is Joyce when she auditioned for a part in a Cecil B. DeMill movie.


SPIKE'S MAIL BAG

Dear Spike,

I love to hunt birds. I usually hunt with my friend, Dick Cheney. Should I continue this?

Sincerely,
Mr. Wittington


Dear Mr. Wittington,

NO!
(See photos below)

As Always,
Spike

Dick Cheney

Mr. Harry Wittington after a fun day of hunting with Mr. Cheney.

Dear Spike

Would you be up to giving advice to humans?

Love,

Reluctant Hockey Mom


Dear Reluctant Hockey Mom,

Yes, I sometimes give advice to humans. (See Mr. Wittington's letter above). What the hell is your question?

Concerned,
Spike

Poem by Spike

Ghosts and goblins,
Witches and bats,
Don't neglect to
Nueter your cats!

NOTE TO READERS

Mr. Keith Franchetti is in the process of organizing a "Voo Sisters Fan Club"
Please contact him for further information
skidfranc@gmail.com


EXTRA SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY

Most of you blog readers that know me, also know I'm in possession of an incredible amount of "really, really good" stuff. You, also, know that my time on this earth is short. I'd like to give you the opportunity of sharing in my legacy. Whatever treasure that I have that you would you be interested in owning, please let me know so I can consider putting your name on that item.
..... Voo



QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"What hump?"
............ Marty Feldman

Thanks for all your comments. They are the best part of the blog!
Keep them coming.





Farewell for now......
"We'll always have Paris........."

Voo