Hunting in Hitchcock, Texas

 

Hunting in Hitchcock

Hitchcock Memory #103

When I was about six years old, I got a BB gun for Christmas. Dad taught me how to use it, how to be safe with it, I couldn't point it at anybody, regardless, 'because if you do, they ARE going to shoot you. That's the way it works, so don't be pointing it at anyone.' Don't shoot any songbirds are it's you ass. Well I knew what that meant. So I learned one bird from another so I didn't get caught shooting any song birds. Daddy accomplished two lesson with that one. One; I always knew what was in my sights before I pulled the trigger. and Two; I know one bird from another.

Mommy had a rule too, she would cook anything we brought home, as long as it was cleaned and dressed. “I deal with meat, I don't deal with dead animals.” I remember once we went frogging and gigged a few. Mommy was frying them up, and they kept jumping out of the frying pan, we pick 'em up and put 'em back in. Mommy screaming and dancing around the kitchen, but she did it, she fried them up and we ate them. It was a hoot.

My bother had gotten a 20 gauge shotgun. JC Higgins I believe. We also had a single shot 22. Ithaca I believe it was.

There was an old man (old to me, I'm a little kid), who picked up the garbage. I think his name was Krenick. Most likely not spelling it right. He had a recycling operation going on seems to me, the end of Hacker. But Hacker in those days was just two ruts like Delaney. From Second Street it was just a mud rut road disappearing into the woods, but if you followed it, it led to Krenick's dump where he feed the garbage to his pigs, he took the metal to the scrap yard and he burned the rest. I go out Hacker today, I haven't got a clue where it was.

Now on Friday or Saturday night, Dad, me and my brother (six years between us, so I'm a little kid and he's a middle kid,) would ride out to Krenick's dump. Rock and roll and clunk, cluck down Hacker, there seemed to always be a fire going, and we would park with the headlights pointed at the fire and the pile that was burning. There would be rats running all over. We would sit on the hood of the car and shoot rats. It was good family fun and good target practice. And no we didn't eat rats.

Now when I'm a little older, Dad said when he was our age, him and his friends would go rabbit hunting. (Now in those days, a game animal had a season, you couldn't shoot them out of season, and you had to have a hunting license. If there was no season assigned to the animal, it was considered a varmint, and with a hunting license, you could hunt varmints year round, a rabbit was a varmint. Side note; at that time, there was a fifty dollar (in those days, that was fifty, one once pieces of silver) bounty on coyotes, you had to show a hunting license and produce the ears and tail.) They would use his Dad's car, they rigged up a headlight as a spotlight, and one would drive, one would be on one fender with the spotlight, and the other fellow on the other fender with the gun and they would shoot rabbits off of S road in Galveston. Can you imagine.

Well, as you can imagine, when Dad's two boys heard this story, we wanted to do likewise. Sound like a good idea to me. And so we did. My brother had a driver's license, we got a few friends together, and Dad's car and we went rabbit hunting. There were so many dirt roads in Hitchcock and (in those days) Alto Loma and Arcadia, and they all connected, you could go for miles. There were very few houses in those days. We'd creep along at idle in second gear, while the spotlight did the searching from the roof of the car, and we had a gun on each fender. From time to time, we would see a dead coyote hanging on a fence, no ears or tail.

If a rabbit was spotted, I'd turn the car toward the rabbit, while the spotlight trained in on it, so a shot could be taken. Notice I was driving, I didn't have a license, but driving was the least fun, me being the youngest, got stuck. Ya know seniority. To say the least, we ate rabbit pretty regular in those days.

One of the best stories, and to give you an idea of political temperature. We were rabbit hunting as usual, Spotlight on the roof, guns on the fenders, no license behind the wheel and we made the mistake of turning onto FM 2004, but just for a short ways, but not short enough. We get pulled over by the Texas Highway Patrol. We pull over, stop. He walks up to us, “What in Sam's hills are ya'll doing..!!!???” He belts out. He's a young fellow, well dress in his uniform, creased, clean, hat well adjusted. He was looking the part.

“We 're rabbit hunting sir.” We replied

“Do you know how many dirt roads there are around here,” he began to point out, “ What the hell are you doing on my highway..!! You get the hell off my highway..!! I bet if I ask him” pointing at me, “for a driver license, ya'll would be stuck. Now get the hell off my highway..!! If I catch you again, I'm throwing the book at ya.!!!”

To say the least, we got off his highway. Let me point out, he never show an once of fear, he never mentioned the guns, we never mentioned the guns. Guns at that time, were mute.

Now as time went on, I got a driver's license, and friends and we went right on rabbit hunting and eating hasenpfeffer.

The trouble was, they kept building houses. Next thing you know, we're shooting rabbits in peoples front yards, and driving on, then coming back in an hour or so to pick them up. So how are we going to fix this. We can't be doing that, so.....

We got an idea, we got some miner's lamps to strap on our heads and we would sneak into old abandon Camp Wallace (Jack Brook's Park) and hunt rabbits on foot. Camp Wallace proved to be an interesting place, it was first of all over grown, so it was hard to make your way around. We hacked our way through with machetes, carrying a gun, in the dark, with only miner's lamps. We ran across the old sewage plant, which was a strange thing indeed, in the dark, with little beams of light. The ruins of bunkers and barracks various other things, it was an adventure, we were Indiana Jones, before Indiana Jones, on top of being just rabbit hunting. (All those ruins are still there.)

Well one night we're out there in Camp Wallace, the 'Great White Hunters,' hunting. We're in this little clearing, around a wellhead, and all of a sudden, the bushes started shaking, and making a racket, right over there, and it's headed our way. We look at each other, and then back, and the bushes are just a shaking and rattling and making an awful racket, and it coming right at us. There is talk of lions, tigers and bears and the closer it got, the more apprehensive we got.

Lion, tiger, bear give a damn, we were armed, dangerous and ready, if not a little shook. We had our little miner's lights and guns trained on right were it was going to break out into the clearing. We were ready, having given each other a peep talk, and out into the clearing popped.... An armadillo. We were so shocked and so relieved, we didn't even shoot it, we all just relaxed, and it walk right passed us and back into the bushes on the other side, right back to making a racket and shaking the bushes. Learned a lot that night, first, had it been a lion, tiger or bear, we most like never would have heard it, second, keep your fear in check, it might be lying.

One more... We weren't hunting this time, but we were carrying guns, in case of rattlesnakes. It was me and a buddy of mine wanting to see what was in Mecom's big barn out at the old blimp base. We went out Center Street as for as the car would go, then we walked in across that big field to the blimp base and had a look. Mecom had all kind of stuff in that barn, not to mention the big C-47 sitting out front of the hanger columns. He had a Ford tri-motor hidden in there. A couple old military half-track, motorcycles, jeeps, parts everywhere. He had a couple stacks (about five) of radial engines, with a couple laying on the floor taken apart. Out back he had a couple of what I think where Twin Beech airplanes, all gutted out.

So on our way out, we're walking along the outside (the side towards Center Street) of the old hanger, the big columns. Between the two big columns, in about the center, is a smaller column aide. About a third the length of the hanger and about a third the height of the hanger. Still, well over our heads. So we're walking along and we come to this column-aide, and the ground turns black, and as we walk, crunch, crunch, crunch. I look at my buddy, he looks at me, crunch, crunch, crunch. We walk a little farther, crunch, crunch, crunch. And we get to looking, this black stripe that runs along this column-aide, and that's it. It's not on either side or either end. Just along the column-aide. We walk a little more, crunch, crunch, crunch. I stoop down and pick up a stick, and dig a little into this crunchy stuff. When I do, I turn up a bunch of little white sticks, and then a little skull......ding..!!! I think I heard the bell go off in my buddy's head as well, cause we both looked up at the same time, and there they were, about five well fed hawks, looking at us. Learned a lot that day too. Look up more. And nature is nature, and what they say about hawks is true.

George Henry Nichols

September 17^th 2025

Charlie Kirk - John the Baptist the Motivations

 

I've been thinking about Charlie's death and the death of John the Baptist. Perhaps the motivations were the same.

What was John the Baptist doing. He was announcing the arrival of the Lord. “Make straight the path of the Lord.” The people were excited, and listening to him and following him, because the signs of the times were ripe.

What else was he doing..? What got his head cut off..? He was calling out the sins of King Herod, who was sleeping with his bother's wife. He was calling them out publicly. He was calling out the law and the King Publicly. The King was torn between his lust for his bother's wife and God's Law. But the woman was going to have none of it. And set the King up for a fall. And there went the head of John the Baptist. Go read it, it's in the gospels. The words of the Holy Spirit are a lot better than mine.

Now the damn hippies brought up the self esteem generation. Everybody got a trophy, nobody heard no, everybody was a king or a queen. He's a good boy, she's a good girl is all we ever heard, as they rob banks and steal cars and kill each other because they are filled with self esteem, (self-importance.) Damn it, My way or the highway... I'm a girl if I say I'm a girl. Bla...bla...bla.....

What was Charlie doing..? He was preaching the word of the Lord. Not as a Priest or a pastor to a congregation, but to the public, in the public, like John the Baptist (who wasn't part of the Temple System). Chatlie was making the path of the Lord straight for these people. Understandable. The people were excited, they were listening to him, they were following him because of the good news, and the signs of times are ripe.

What else was he doing..? He was publicly calling out the law, and calling out sinners (the murders, the abortions, the riots, the beatings, the false witness), he was running them over with truth.

Think about all the little kings and queens out there we've created, the amoral little tyrants who's everything is called into question by this one man. This one man, where people are excited, and listening, and following.....and were does that leave them.

Just like John the Baptist, they had to shut him up. And anyone who follows suit is in danger. The little tyrants can't live comfortable in their sin with somebody calling them out in public...

I say we make them uncomfortable. Make straight the way of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit Amen

George Henry Nichols

September 16^th 2025

My take on the Murder of Charlie Kirk

 

I not going to piss and moan over Charlie, and I'm going to tell you why. He died a martyr, he is with our Lord Jesus Christ, I am not going to begrudge him such company. Our Lord said, 'Rejoice at a funeral.' I know it's a tragedy for his wife and family and for us, but like I said, I will not begrudge him his reward. What I do believe, is this is a clarion call. We are at war, you have to come to realize that.

Let us reflect on a few things. Seems to me the Lord called the Pharisees and Sadducees vipers... Why..? Because their message was venomous. That tells me it's okay to call a spade a spade. Democraps are a criminal syndicate. If it looks like a duck, walk like a duck, quacks like a duck....it's a duck.

Jesus also cursed a fig tree, and we know what happen to it. Jesus also made a whip out of reeds and cleared the temple...!!! He cleared the place of evil doers. He drove them out, with a stick.

So, as we cry over Charlie, and talk about how great he was, we need to reflect on....Did we hear anything he said. Or was just on our side and a good guy. I dare you, reflect on what he said, Jesus Christ is our strength and our shield. If you really believed the things Charlie said, then it's time to pick up a stick and clear the temple. I can hear the trumpets of the clarion call. The Lord is not pleased, that we shot Charlie Kirk. Act...Act in the living present, with resolute heart and God over head.

George Henry Nichols

September 12, 2025

Observation #413 (The Shoe Bomber Sentenced)

                             

 

Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it?

Did you know his trial is over?

Did you know he was sentenced?

Did you see/hear any of the judge's comments on TV or Radio?

Didn't think so.!!!

Everyone should hear what the judge had to say.

Ruling by Judge William Young, US District Court.

Prior to sentencing, the Judge asked the defendant if he had anything to say His response: After admitting his guilt to the court for the record, Reid also admitted his 'allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah,' defiantly

stating, 'I think I will not apologize for my actions,' and told the court 'I am at war with your country.'

Judge Young then delivered the statement quoted below:

Judge Young: "Mr. Richard C. Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you.

On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the custody of the United States Attorney General. On counts 2, 3, 4 and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison on each count, the sentence on each count to run consecutively. (That's 80 years.)

On count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years, again to be served consecutively to the 80 years just imposed. The Court imposes upon you for each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000, that's an aggregate fine of $2 million. The Court accepts the government's recommendation with respect to restitution and orders restitution in the amount of $298.17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines.

The Court imposes upon you an $800 special assessment. The Court imposes upon you, five years supervised release simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I need go no further.

This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and just sentence. It is a righteous sentence.

Now, let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of you or any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. There is too much war talk here and I say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court, we deal with individuals as individuals and care for individuals as individuals. As human beings, we reach out for justice.

You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier, gives you far too much stature. Whether the officers of government do it, or your attorney does it, or if you think you are a soldier, you are not-----, you are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not meet with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.

So war talk is way out of line in this court. You are a big fellow. But you are not that big. You're no warrior. I've known warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal that is guilty of multiple attempted murders. In a very real sense, State Trooper Santiago had it right when you first were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and the TV crews were, and he said:

'You're no big deal. '

You are no big deal.

What your able counsel and what the equally able United States attorneys have grappled with and what I have, as honestly as I know how, tried to grapple with, is why you did something so horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today?

I have listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hate led you to do what you are guilty, and admit you are guilty, of doing? And, I have an answer for you. It may not satisfy you, but as I search this entire record, it comes as close to understanding as I know.

It seems to me, you hate the one thing that to us is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose. Here, in this society, the very wind carries freedom. It carries it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom, so that everyone can see, truly see, that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely. It is for freedom's sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf, have filed appeals, will go on in their representation of you before other judges.

We Americans are all about freedom. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties. Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bear any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms. Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here. The day after tomorrow, it will be forgotten, but this, however, will long endure.

Here in this courtroom and courtrooms all across America , the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice, is in fact being done. The very President of the United States through his officers, will have to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice.

See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America . That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag stands for freedom. And it always will.

Mr. Custody Officer. Stand him down."

Ruling by Judge William Young, US District Court.

Observation #409 (Called out Megan Kelly)

 

Seems, as a society, we have forgotten what journalism is. Journalism is the art of keeping a journal. A journal is not a diary, a diary is a collection of your thoughts and feelings written down as your life unfolds. A journal on the other hand, is a record of events around you as they occurred. The Who, What, When, Where & Why. That is to say the truth. Your thoughts and opinions about it go in your diary. But the truth of the journal is very important, because when you want to reflect back, you want to reflect on the truth, otherwise, of what use is it..? The product you're trying to produce will be flawed, why, because the journal on which it is base is flawed.

I bring this up because I was listening to Megan Kelly, whom I like and respect, but I heard her say, Journalist needed to cover both sides. No...!!!!! and I called her out on it. (I made a comment).

In journalism, there are no sides, there is only who, what, when where & why. That's it... no more... That should be the news... Period.. That way, when I listen to opinion, and this side and that side, I have the same facts (the news) as everyone else. I should not have to go through a metal wrestling match to weed all the opinion out of the news. Which I have had to do for years.

Not sure I can even name a journalist... I see TV faces, pundits, commentators, news readers, what they call reporters, who they send to the scene, to talk to the neighbors and how they feel. What crap..!!! I don't give a damn how the neighbors feel, I want to know who, what, when , where & why. Don't waste my time with how the neighbors feel. I usually turn it off about then. Feelings mean nothing, feelings lie...!!! Facts... I want the bloody facts. But if the facts don't go along with our opinion or how we feel, we tend to dismiss them, or ignore them, or put a new face on them, the at least the facts looks better.

Journalist or suppose to learn journalism in college. (?) What happened..? Seems they have been thought how they feel matters. And it don't, nobody's feelings matter. Feelings are personal, they are a gift from God, learn to tame them, and enjoy them, but they are not news.

See.... I do my own thinking... My parents made sure I did my own thinking. I would say, 'Randy said this,' or 'Larry said that.' And my parent would ask, 'what do you say, and why..?' and I had to answer. Language is just like math, words means things just like numbers. It has to add up, if it don't add up, it don't add up. So you see, in order for me to reach useful conclusions, I need facts, something true I can build on.

Seems today, I am expected to build on how people feel. You just can't do that, feeling lie....Feelings change. This is part of the decline of the country, you can't build on feelings. Journalist are giving us feelings and not facts. They are failing us.

That why nobody gets married anymore, it's based on feelings. You can't build on feelings. Yeah but...Yeah but.... They say you can build a marriage on love. Yeah but... Yeah but.... Love isn't a feeling, it's a form of service, love is in what you do, not what you feel. (What has been forgotten, is the act of love over time will lead to the positive feelings one is looking for. You have to work for it.) 

So...... if a journalist loves his profession, than an accurate record of the truth should be his goal, because his country depends on it, with intentions of building on it. So get your ass in gear and do your job. And if you don't love your job, or if you want to change the world for the better, get the hell out, we don't need ya. We do our own thinking.

Your in Christ

George Henry Nichols

My Thoughts on Flag Burning

                      

Let's speak for moment about what the flag is. A flag is a piece of cloth you wave in the wind, conveying some sort of message. If, instead of conveying a message, it represents a country, then the flag becomes a standard. To fly a standard is to say you are loyal to and uphold the Standards, of the flag you fly.

Now, if you are British, and you fly the British Standard, then you are loyal to and uphold the standards of the King of England. If you are French, and fly a French Standard, the same applies, so on and so forth. Most standards can be traced back to a king, or a monarch, a sultan, a czar, a chief, heap big cheeze, a man. (or group of men, council.) You are flying their Standard. They are know as the sovereign. The country is theirs, if you fly their standard, you are their subject. That's who you are, their subject.

Okay. Let's speak about the American Standard, and why it's different. The founding fathers, mostly being Christians, understood the ten- commandments led to liberty, and that morally, every man was subject only to God. Therefore, morally, every man was equal. So the American ideal, the way the constitution is written, you are not a subject, you are a citizen. That is to say, you are the sovereign. And you are subject to no one except God......and the laws you yourself wrote, as the sovereign. That's why the flag is stars and strips, because there is no king, or czar it's We the People, and we the people uphold the Standards of these United States, that citizens are free to as they will within the parameter of the Standard. That is to say, ya gotta be an honest Injun, No stealing, no unnecessary killing, no drooling over you neighbors wife, it's tacky and leads to problems, you don't talk bad about anybody's mother, it's unAmerican, and ya might get punched in the nose. No drooling over what the other guy's got, cause you're free, go out and build it yourself.

It's We the People, if your representatives are not doing what you want, get in gear, you're the sovereign, vote him out, vote your guy in, run yourself. Do something...!!! (Within the parameter of the Standard.) We are hated the world over, because of our Standard... But you stupid citizens who burn it, realize, you are burning your own flag...My flag...and I take offense.... You are burning the Standard that represents your right to burn it.. Add that up for me. Make that make sense.

In closing, I say, you can burn the flag, but don't be offended, when I'm offended and punch you in the nose... Sometimes a bloody nose goes along ways to jarring the brain into a little thinking... Think before your nose it bloody.

August 28^th 2025

George Henry Nichols

For the Love of Dawgs

I hear a lot of complaining about the dawgs, they're running loose, they pooped in my yard, I'm scared of the them. Bad dawgs should be picked up and dealt with, that's what animal control is for. If they are not bad dawgs, leave them be, better yet, learn their names, makes friends with them. You know your neighbors, know their dawgs. If they poop in your yard, so what, consider it the cost of your first line of defense.

The reason I bring this up, ( even though at this time I don't have a dawg,) is dawgs have been with us all along. They are our first line of defense, weather they be big or little, they are noisy, they don't like strangers, they are territorial, and we are living in uncertain times, with many stranger about.

Burglars, and other assorted criminals don't like loose dawgs. Loose dawgs make them nervous, they are less likely to be comfortable or operate in a neighborhood with a lot of dawgs barking at them.

I repeat myself, we live in uncertain times, with many strangers about. So get over yourselves and make friends with your neighborhood dawgs, they are your first line of defense. A dawg just might buy you enough time to get your gun. Learn to appreciate what God has given you, least he take it away.

God Bless you all

& your little dawgs too.

George Henry Nichols

My Odd Music Odyssey

 Somewhere around 2005 I was at a music convention back east.... I ran into, or you might say meet an old 60's rock & roll star, who part of the British invasion. I'm not going to say who he is, but he had a couple of albums over here. Just for fun, we'll call him Glen. Well he had his granddaughter with him, she was 10 years old little blonde girl.

Well we're listening to the music and talking, and as it turned out, the little girl was quite the talker. Her English wasn't very good, turned out her first language was Welsh Gaelic, her second language was Ukrainian, and she was working on her English. I must say I understood everything she was trying to say.

As the conversation progressed, it turns out the little girl, (we'll call her Jeannie), was a genius. That's right, a genius, a ten year old genius.

Before it was over, Jeannie had ask me to be her pen pal on the e-mail. I explained I was an old man, and she would find me boring, and it wouldn't be appropriate. But she persisted, and Glen chimed in and said, be her pen pal, the two of you hit it off, and nobody will talk to her now that she's a genius.  So I agreed.

I figured it would go on for a few letters, and that would be the end of it. Well as it turned out, we wrote for better than ten years, right up until she passed away at 21 from leukemia.

My heart goes out to anyone who reared a teenage girl, what a ride. It turned in to quite an odyssey, most of which I won't go into. She was a jet setter, and flew all over the world going to various schools, including dance and music schools, for she came from entertainment people. Which brings me to part of the odyssey I want to share here, the world of little girl music.... I was blown away.

Let me mention just for fun, (each letter, the first paragraph was always in the language of the country she was in, and I had to decipher it.)

Right after the music convention, I got the first letter from Spain, she was attending a dance school, she said, they showed them (the dance class) videos of El Club de los Tigrtos, as their standard.

https://youtu.be/vUIOzwZJk4U?si=8RlX_jeEsZts9UFR

Just in case you didn't catch just how many kids they had on that floor, → https://youtu.be/U6_1jEsx7-4?si=8hr214FE3DGpOYDn

She was in a dance class with this girl, Maria Isabel → https://youtu.be/rY5B5BX5A1g?si=r0pSb0gE59db09gn

Again-> https://youtu.be/0Uax6TiZPXo?si=M3wqjCIQliv0KGQ2

Then off to Ukraine, Jeannie had grandparents in Ukraine. This is Assol → https://youtu.be/7tZzrljZ9Oo?si=yCqdMBOB8pZ-k2mg

Next stop was France, seems she new this girl, seems, entertainment people tend to know each other, I learned that as time went on...This girl, Prisso Bette is11 here, https://youtu.be/_Pe9lfAOds4?si=KnqY2Gw32dLfZ04z

Another → https://youtu.be/KxJyjf1zFAc?si=WsiJXnG9Nyz3fK8R 

 Just about this time, I get a video of this girl, Hagawara Mai, from Japan (this isn't the video, but it shows who she is.) Jeannie said, this is a friend of mine in Japan, keep an eye on her, she just went on into the Hello Project, an old geisha school. She's going to have a career. https://youtu.be/-ZajBGe-RkE?si=ILfTTE9Rig-nh3wp So keep her in mind as we go along.

This girl is from Belious. https://youtu.be/4HgFcW2LDVQ?si=UZ4E_gg6BtHntWWu

Another → https://youtu.be/7tZzrljZ9Oo?si=7gF64UONdaGrzCDD

Then along came Christmas and I got this → https://youtu.be/bgXa3lft14I?si=pPDkWIFx7bYTg63H

and this → Peaches → https://youtu.be/a-79sbicwTQ?si=TEqBmjLUTIz0VgOX Sweden I believe.

Then come the spring I get this, I don't know a thing about it, except Jeannie knew who she was, https://youtu.be/LRZ09jkuakM?si=cenh3ZTUc38cFkME 

Same bunch, apparently a family ordeal. → https://youtu.be/CEeeL_0fC3M?si=FCRNgKgAJos1u3P2

Now much of this is related to the Junior Euro Song Contest, because they were all competing. I bring that up because that's where she meet these girls, the Five Angels → https://youtu.be/_NBsZIdpeTE?si=-rqO5cM98rWYXkEs

Who went on to do this → https://youtu.be/NgEI5T98qoA?si=BzD1fkvEnQoqiSiV 

and this → https://youtu.be/4Pc5YQWaYd8?si=PicVu7Zwh07R9Vp- it starts slow, but it's pretty good.

Have you noticed the quality of the music, the production value, a lot of money went into these little girls.... I must say I was surprized.

She told me this girl was her cousin 268 times removed, Katya Ryabova → https://youtu.be/nEGOlNtC5vw?si=CObMGh0ci2Rl2S0C 

this is her in the Euro Song Contest... https://youtu.be/F9wSgC4DhXQ?si=h_-oRjoa7gnO6fjt

Again from Russia, The Tolmachevy Sisters... https://youtu.be/F9wSgC4DhXQ?si=h_-oRjoa7gnO6fjt I think they are twins. 

Again the Tolmachevy sisters → https://youtu.be/ivASIwtHALM?si=fEnN0-JxJav5EucZ I even translated this one.... It's a love song...!!

Now we come back to the girl from Belarus → https://youtu.be/7tZzrljZ9Oo?si=yCqdMBOB8pZ-k2mg

Then off to Sweden, this is Peaches → https://youtu.be/XLz11zLDWfk?si=J_TWYrSFMOLhqR_k 

and this → https://youtu.be/FWTkfGNf_7k?si=YN1kCJ9bIjWHdgaV

This was slipped in to the mix somewhere... Alexandrina Palca → https://youtu.be/ayhnn8IEY9c?si=QkG-a4yfAs0OIgIy

This is Mylene and Rosanne from the Netherlands → https://youtu.be/iCnENq9Nv9g?si=-pcSTD1C9kcCpyMd of course they're twins.

This was one of Jeannie's favorites at the Euro Song contest → https://youtu.be/jzmXhe5Ssrk?si=4vWJCxvyhNZFV2lO Mad Show Boys..

Then Jeannie tells me Mai Hagawara has been put into a sub-group, C-ute, and now has her own camera, every girl in a group has her own camera... https://youtu.be/x051byIonH8?si=EwLMGsM0OrbH6GVT

Keep in mind, this was twenty years, ago so it's not really chronological, but I'm trying. This next fellow taught her piano in Sweden... https://youtu.be/rFllwby6hcs?si=trDkRh5tcpHvi4Qj

Meanwhile, as time goes on, back in France, → https://youtu.be/rFllwby6hcs?si=trDkRh5tcpHvi4Qj

and → https://youtu.be/d3zsEyBoUKw?si=YN5j2bDXdHLtCSC9 I think she went on to be 'Kim Possible' which I think is Disney. https://youtu.be/9zru1EMVLKI?si=r-DYZHQm_b-USblr

So back in Moscow with our cousin, Katya → https://youtu.be/AkHCAN0EOh8?si=PKRRHIUAXsBaU07P

and here she is again at the Euro Song Contest. → https://youtu.be/BehpKIqw-xQ?si=aIb2k2_WdbrEQ89R

I know this is long, feel free to come and go, this carried on for ten years, and I'm hitting the highlights. I find the world of little girl music quite impressive.

Back to the Five Angels → https://youtu.be/xPNIw2yaM0A?si=61fPFSz5EwuGND7_

and a stop in Armenia, 'Welcome to Armenia.' → https://youtu.be/o9w5thMk7J4?si=H7m6LP_yul13CBkj Dalita

Along in here, when Jeannie was 15, everything changed. She found out she had Leukemia, and she was granted a scholarship to the University of Osaka, Japan, to study Quantum Physic and Japanese. By this time she is speaking fluent English, Spanish,French, Swedish, Gaelic, (Welsh strain), Ukrainian and is now going to study Japanese... She informed me she was now Jeannie San... She liked Japan, because she was blonde with green eyes...She was exotic. She said she loved the school (the university) too, because there was no messing around.

She was going to stay with her family friend, Mai Hagawara. As you know, was now part of the Hello Project, which is a boarding School, so she stayed with the family. 

The sub-group C-ute, has now made a video → 'New Blue Jeans' https://youtu.be/L9gDX4mfWtY?si=q6B8ulEzqLpufCJ3 Mai is the one in glasses... 

and then this → https://youtu.be/tFMfTDcr03Q?si=gaLhLo1VoxdS1CmI

Now Mai is part of the Hello Project, an old geisha school updated, well I was told this is 'Sakura Gakuin' a rival school... Seems to me, this number is 'Turkey in the Straw,' which reflects on us, and they love of us. → https://youtu.be/FbId5Fkq-eI?si=Yxcj0oILBhqhR-Xk

Okay, back to the Hello Project, This first number is C-ute, the second number is Berryz Koubou another of the sub-groups. Apparently they draw quite an crowd. Seems each girl has her own camera, ( a little exploring and you will find them), and is assigned a color. When they are in their colors, you'll know it, but the audience knows who's who, and waves a flashlight with their favorite girls color on it.

https://youtu.be/h8Li5TXKzOY?si=eidZPMTLI6C-VYa5

I know I keep speaking of sub-groups, this is Morning Musume, the are the core, the group, so-to-speak. This is 'The Legend of Noisy Girls' → https://youtu.be/q9zybLvi_Ug?si=Nv4qq2Cs2ya7jbAI 

This also the core group, this is Morning Musume. https://youtu.be/JcsHjnLnNyQ?si=5kRTFZWXcRg59ndv

Back to C-ute, they are growing up.... Something happen while I was observing this, These geisha schools grew more and more popular with the public as time went on and the Japanese Idol came about because of the music, that's why I'm still around, I am amazed at how good the music is. (not to mention the production value) Yet..? Where is the band..? Anyway, in this next number, if you pause it right when they line up, from left to right they are, Chisto, Suki, Airies,Maimi and Mai. Notice the cherry blossoms. → https://youtu.be/dLPO7nl6uZw?si=qduWGi2tpH5AC1tb

Down the road a ways (remember we are in Osaka,) there is another rival school Jeannie said were a little racy, but...were really good. AKB48. AKB48 claims to be the most sophisticated show in Japan. And they just might be.. → https://youtu.be/WdhMjzfg6-k?si=SOloPOyKynRMjgYO Look at the faces here. 

Remembered I wondered about the band... Who's making the music..? Well, look at this next number, and look at the faces → https://youtu.be/SuhiIItERLo?si=t024O628cypuq6Sm Keep in mind, these are schools, and schools have a bands. 

They (AKB48) claims they can put 48 girls on the stage at once... we'll see → https://youtu.be/JELg3Ljmv0g?si=u5NlFqEajOvEL-Ys I don't know if you were counting, but there were 5 groups of 12, hummm... That's 60. Actually, that number was rather mind blowing.

This next number just popped up one day, Kusumi Kohura, 'Balalaika' https://youtu.be/BF7J78C3aRo?si=v1C96LTdRb6FQhH9 She does a great trick in this.

Back to C-ute.. https://youtu.be/orxN4z4Yny0?si=1lXUA7tIdYUoU4ld as you can see, they continue to grow up.

And so does the other sub-group, Berryz Koubou. Both groups are no longer considered sub-groups, they have become popular to the point they are idols. They are core. https://youtu.be/PrUPFCF7OTs?si=IApVRsUt8v5Uk4Qj

Both groups were so popular, that at times, they did numbers together... Berryz Koubou & C-ute, 'Happy Song' → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhKWrv4G-mo&list=PLFD332793F0E46FB2&index=95

Well... How many girls can Hello Project put on the stage... Well lets see, Morning Musume is in the orange, C-ute is in the violet and Berryz Koubou is in the blue and the Eggs (younger girls in training) are in white. → https://youtu.be/8MBgv9EbxyM?si=rSs9yqxhLcXwMOkb

This is Berryz Koubou, I don't the name of the number, I call it the 'Burger King Song' → https://youtu.be/gDf2C6K1alI?si=2wHYyvTlPasTDnT_

Along about this time I get a letter from Jeannie, “Have you seen this, a half a billion people have seen this and that pisses me off, cause I'm usually one of the first. I've never heard of him, PSY.” → https://youtu.be/9bZkp7q19f0?si=dlCZy5qpMNiHnhz-

Remember I said, every girl had her own camera, well here's a number with Mai's personal camera. → https://youtu.be/kCYn9wA7Vqs?si=w2qiZWBy1W0VHcrE

Anybody still here...? I was raised on music, my parents came up in the big band era. My Aunt Henrietta sang opera. So I heard all the great operas, my grandfather was in vaudeville, so I know all the music from the teen's and twenties. I grew up on rock and roll. In my opinion, the big band era was the finest music. It took so much cooperation, and the dancing, Just excellent. So I found the world of little girl music surpizingly good.

I was told by Jeannie, there was a custom in Japan called gravure... It's where the older men, the safe men, admires the little girls, to help sharpen their feminine skills (to help catch a man later). Again this is Sakura Gakuin, sub-group, Twinklestars doing 'Mr. Socrates,' → https://youtu.be/OPFDHW4RFI0?si=IpOP56Kwj6LwI_l1

This next one is the Hello Project doing the broom tap dance... https://youtu.be/EpAG4FeXzHs?si=JtPSsT1lj4bzkmbz

This Morning Musume doing 'Sexy Boy' → https://youtu.be/ebShKgjBGKk?si=B0tyfDlj3LMA29nK

This is AKB48 doing the 'River,” which I think is one of their best videos. https://youtu.be/bQqLKCg-UgA?si=yflrsR3uCZw1NGJn

and the girls at C-ute continue to grow up-> This is 'Kiss Me' https://youtu.be/4l_jiJu4Lfg?si=nZb1-zziffDgf46q Notice here, the money is coming in, the production value is on the rise.

AKB48 doing 'Lucky 7' → https://youtu.be/GRFwFjgDmus?si=F-6JdQV48izxd9NJ

Berryz Koubou doing the 'Mongolian Dance.' → https://youtu.be/uYEKnKopViI?si=8TL95OoInU4YXnc6

This is Maimi from C-ute being the girl on the jewelry box, called 'Foggy Doll.' → https://youtu.be/ZieveaVq4L8?si=T2jWjXb5DyABlYzq

This is another sub-group made up of members of C-ute and Berryz Koubou. Bouno https://youtu.be/zXPs4ZW3tSM?si=N6i8dxSo1zbB2HfC

As you can see, C-ute grows right on up, this is 'Love is like Static Electricity.' → https://youtu.be/_BYPwsocxk0?si=hpov5iHTwaN5gHsv

This AKB48 doing 'Baby, Baby, Baby,' on someone's television show. → https://youtu.be/Ba800i0K2_4?si=E1fveGdjRvhQwLyX

This my favorite number by C-ute, 'Step' → https://youtu.be/4RjYDNPwdvo?si=NVkh_qbOGe2-gOtd

and this, 'Dreamlike,' → https://youtu.be/UBmBGKjFuRQ?si=ellAJoHTIEIxlslI

Jeannie was right, Mai Hagawara had a career...and I saw pretty much the whole thing. Jeannie passes away about this time from Leukemia. And so the video's stopped... But she had opened a whole new world of music to me, that was up beat and well thought out...

Jeannie would want to mention, 'Notice the audience, how quiet and well behaved they are, and each boy has a light shinning for his favorite girl. In most numbers, when done live, the audience has a part, and they know it and sing it...' → https://youtu.be/kzrMqHiv3Cw?si=w_hPlq3E86pTVV9b 

She would also point out, 'Notice there are no stars... The schools don't allow stars, there are lead singers, but they are all idols, no stars. Idol is like a rank, they will be idols from now on.'

If you notice that the number of girls changed, keep in mind, it's a school, and they graduate.

Indeed, they graduate... these idols → https://youtu.be/9aFOJpYmPfE?si=eP7a2rKFkV9y1Ghe not sure how many of these schools there are, but every year, they turn loose a mob of these girls, ready to take on the world,

I did a little crying putting this together, it brought back many memories. To give you an idea of who Jeannie was, here's one of her letters http://thebiggalootfrom.blogspot.com/2014/02/another-letter-by-teenage-girl-from.html 

Good night Jeannie.

PS I most likely have messed up of a lot of this, it was a long time ago. But that doesn't change the music.  

George Henry Nichols

Are You Lost? from - Highway Ramblings

 

If you can't place yourself on a map, you're as good as lost. 

I'm an old OTR truck driver... Did it for years, enjoyed most ever mile. OTR is short for 'Over the Road.' I've been from sea to shinning sea, from the gulf coast to Canada. In fact I've been to all the bordering Canadian Provinces. I always knew where I was, cause I drove there.

When I was a young fellow, a friend of mine was learning to fly. We were up flying once with his instructor, when Byron (my friend) said, “I'm lost,” which Fred (the instructor) replied immediately, “No you're not, you just haven't thought about it.” Then this liturgy followed.

Fred “What country are you in?”

Byron, “Well the US.”

Fred, “What state?”

Byron, “Well Texas, hell I know that..!!”

Fred, “Shut up... What county.?

Byron, “Galveston.”

Fred, “ See, you're not lost.? You just hadn't thought about it. Start with what you already know, you know the direction you're going, so get this plane down low enough, and fly a wide circle until you recognize something, and wa-la you're not lost.” And we did just that. I have a feeling we were never lost. I think his point was, if you're in the plane alone, and trouble arises, there's nobody to ask, except yourself. Get asking. Get answering.

In trucking, or any over the road travel, or even flying, the trick, as simple as it is, is to know where you are, know where you are going, and knowing what route you're going to use to get there. Kind of sounds like life. Choose carefully, consider weather, construction, low overpasses, under-rated bridges, don't be afraid of the smaller roads, if they are rated.

Like I said, I was never lost, cause I was the one that drove there. When you train as an OTR Driver, one of the thing you have to master is map reading. Now my daddy taught me to read a map when we went on vacations.... So I thought I knew how to read a map. Turns out, when I took the class, there was much about a good road map I didn't know. It's full of information if you know how to read it. A trucker treasures his Rand McNally.

Where am I going with this. Well, I been watching Youtube, on Youtube truckers put up videos of their dash cameras as they go down the road. Sometimes they give you an idea of where they are in the title, and sometimes they don't. What I have discovered, (and I am sure many of you have, I am usually late to the party), is, that you can watch one of these trucker's videos going down the road, and within ten miles, you know exactly where you are on google earth, I mean to the mile marker.

There is enough information along most any stretch of highway that within ten miles, you can pinpoint yourself on a map. You can't ask for any better road markings. If you get lost, you can't read. Our fathers did a marvelous job putting together our Interstate, highway, byway, roadway and drive way system we utilized today. To ask for a railroad, or drones or anything else is like bitching about gold. Ahhhh...I don't like my gold...

Not only are the highways well marked, everybody and their dawg wants to tell you something, so the variety of signage out there is remarkable, and each one tells you a little something about what's down the road a ways, sometimes about what you just missed, 'Turn Around!' In many cases they are an art form, and in many cases they are intriguing. In many cases you don't even know what they are selling. Those people need to be fired. I should at least know what you're selling.

There is a serious of billboards west bound on I-10 that run from Louisiana to Arizona, the closer to Arizona, the closer the signs, “The Thing.” The Thing, was in the desert, on the edge of Texas Canyon, which is a place where God hand stacked the rocks. (A place worth seeing.)

I guess one of my points is, You Drivers, don't put your videos up live, put them up after the fact. We are at war, if you put it up live, you can be tracked to within a mile, you're a sitting duck. Quack, Quack..... Put them up after the fact. I enjoy them I do, as an old Driver, but don't put yourself and your cargo at risk for my entertainment. I am just fine with seeing them after the fact. You and your cargo are important, to you, your family, the company, the shipper, the receiver, the consumer, for goodness sake, the country. So be smart and safe out there.

As for anyone else reading this, it's kind of fun. Give it a try, pick a video of a trucker just going down the road, and see how long it takes you to figure out where you are, using google earth as your map. You can even drop yourself on the road to see if you see what the trucker sees. It's an interesting exercise.

Too many people don't know their way to the corner store. Too many people can't place themselves on a map sitting in their house. If you're one of these, then the schools failed you. Reading a map is basic, goes back thousands of years. Learn to read a map, and find out where you are on it. If you have a phone, everybody else knows. So be smart and be safe.

Do you realize that from Orange, Texas to El Paso, Texas is just as far as from Houston, Texas to Chicago, Illinois. I just bragging now, It's as far from Brownsville, Texas to the state line with Oklahoma there in the panhandle, as it is from there to Bismark, North Dakota. As a trucker you learn this, when you finally get out of Texas, state lines start going by, instead of just county lines. It's as far from Houston to El Paso as it is from El Paso to LA.... It's all good driving.

Can be tough in the winter, but what a site. Wisconsin in the winter, is a wonderland, around Christmas, you can't touch it. The beauty is story book stuff. Do you even know where Wisconsin is on a map? There is about two-weeks in Wisconsin when nobody goes to work, they go hunting. So don't pull no stunts in Wisconsin, you might get shot. Wisconsin was one of those states where in the winter, instead of cars outside the bars, it's snowmobiles. You'd see them weaving up and down the ditches.... Were there is a will, there is a way. So..... learn to read a map, find out were you are on it, and find out where your favorite places are on it. You are an American, you should know how to read a map.

July 10^th 2025

George Henry Nichols