Big Blue Huddle

I'm still trying to wrap my arms around the idea that "Tombstone" is completely left off this list and none of my friends on this site seem to like it either 

How is that possible?

Not much has blown air up my skirt (so to say) lately, but I watched "Red Notice" last night and it's the first movie in quite awhile that I really liked. I won't go into detail and be a spoiler, but it's a good flick with a unique story line that stars Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot, and Dwayne Johnson. Just came out on Netflix yesterday.

I'm not a huge fan of westerns, but if "Tombstone" doesn't make the top 20 list, I have a hard time buying this guy's list.

IMHO, the no.1 Western of all time is Tombstone. After that, there's some good ones. I personally loved the western movie, "Purgatory". I also like the spaghetti westerns, but the only two westerns I will watch over and over again are "Tombstone" and "Purgatory"

I was reading up on this story this morning. Unbelievably horrifying. Usually happens at a soccer game in other countries or in panic situations where a building is on fire and people fall to the ground at a bottleneck spot and once you're down, there is NO GETTING BACK UP. It's a horrible position to be in. If you are caught up in a panic push, it's a natural instinct of mine to help someone whose fallen to the ground and is being trampled. Unfortunately, if you stop to help, you are likely to end up on the ground along with the person you want to help and desperate people trample you as well and there's no getting up. Horrifying thought 

I voted first thing this morning when the sun was coming up. Never miss the opportunity to vote. I live in New York State so the 5 amendments were important to me. Other than that, a few town seats up for grabs and a unopposed judge seat. No difference makers, but the 1, 3, and 4 amendments are difference makers. The Dems own NYC and the larger cities, but not the rural. If the amendments pass, the rural vote just got flushed down the toilet as undocumented get to be counted for redistricting purposes...something the Dems have always wanted. They own the governorship, and 80% of the state legislature seats and Senate seats and that's not good enough I guess.
They want 100% of every seat and nary an opposing voice to anything they can dream up

Quote from: Ed Vette on October 18, 2021, 04:17:41 PM
The power change definitely came around 1972 and later. The 70 Chevelle LS6 had 454/450Hp and the LS-7 had more HP. The Hemi Cuda in 1970 was a 426 with I recall 425 HP. The 454 Chevelle in 1972 was a dog because of the emissions regulations and I recall it had 370 HP. My dad's 68 Chrysler New Yorker with 375 PP and torque flight Transmission beat one. My friend had the 70 LS-6 and an LS-7. Another friend had a Pantera and a 63 Split Window Vette built out and another had a 69 Z-28 427 all built out too. All our cars were animals. My closest race was against another friend's 396 Chevelle. Raced 4 times in one night because we both missed 4th, once me and twice him. I eventually won by a half car length.  My RR originally had 308 rear with a 295 first gear trans. It would kick in in third gear and blow away many cars that went off to an early lead. Then I put in a 457 rear, I had to start at a 5 mph roll when we raced. When I put that engine in the Cuda I had to put in welded Solid Motor mounts because the front end would rise and the torque would twist the front end and rip the drive shaft out of the tranny but then the drive shaft would snap off the rear so I had to weld Traction Bars. The good old days.

You are definitely they kind of guy I would have wanted to hang out with when I was a teen and early 20's. I lived for building muscle cars for the street. The major accident I had changed all that and I started working with a friend who raced modified stock cars on dirt tracks and kept my love for speed off the streets.

Anyway, been doing some research and this seems to be the best article on how, why, and when HP ratings changed. The guy seems knowlegable. Anyway: here's his spiel:

"Understanding Gross Versus Net Horsepower Ratings

Aaron Severson
April 15, 2008
Technology and Terminology   

There are a lot of misunderstandings among car enthusiasts and historians about vintage horsepower ratings. It

Not sure your age, but I'm 68. The cars I still love were in the mid-late 60's. I thought the change in power came in 1970, but I could be wrong. I know that I wiped the floor of a couple of GTO Judges and a 71 RoadRunner with mine...but mine wasn't stock and had a 3/4 race cam, solid lifters, a 4160 dual feed Holley and a 410 rear end.

If I could restore a car, for me it'd be a '64 Chevelle (my first car), but with modern engine and updated interior. But there are so many cars I'd love to restore. And like the Chevelle, all modernized drive system from front to rear. I've had a variety of great cars in my youth (all 2-doors) that I wish I still had    A '55 Chevy, a 62 Chevy, 68 RoadRunner, 69 GTX, 70 AMC Rebel, 71 Cuda, 76 Triumph TR6, etc.

The Rebel was an interesting car that is probably worthless today (if you could even find one), but I liked it. It was my "settle down" car after I got married and my first car with an automatic transmission (wifey couldn't drive a stick). Here's a pic of it:



One car I never could find that I wanted was a 70 AMC AMX. I just thought the design was cool and if it was muscled up, would be a show stopper. Sorta like this, but without the wheelie bars:



Anyway, unless I fall into some real money someday, I don't see myself restoring cars 

My favorite that's been kicking around on the net for several years. Wednesday teaching Lurch how to dance. Still makes me laugh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCqdJkRRLM4

Quote from: Ed Vette on October 16, 2021, 01:12:14 PM
I can recall a lot of stupid things I did to put myself in danger. I had a '69 Roadrunner that I had built and dyno tested at 525 HP at the rear wheels. Then put that motor in an 800 lb lighter '68 Cuda. Lots of races in those days, many for money as the local bar would clear out and watch on the side. I also was crazy with my Suzuki Motorcycle and had a gravel experience too. Good thing I sold that bike. Anyway, all good memories and lessons learned.

Those old cars from the late 60's were really powerful, but didn't handle worth crap. So many kids were getting killed in those cars that they changed the measure of HP and reduced compression on the engine to satisfy the insurance companies that were getting where they wouldn't insure those cars.

It's one of those things that if you live through it, you become a lot wiser...LOL (dittos with bikes)

For years I watched "Blacklist", one of the best TV shows ever. After several seasons, I got out of rhythm and missed the last couple of seasons. I just found out that it is now on Netflix so I got caught up.

If you have never watched Blacklist, it's a must see series. Just watch the first couple of episodes and you'll get snagged. And it's well worth it.

Quote from: Ed Vette on October 16, 2021, 12:00:17 PM
I'm sorry for your loss, Ric.

Thanks Ed

I have no idea how I'm still alive, but here I am. Got caught in a power take-off shaft when I was 9. Luckily, the hired hand driving the tractor killed the PTO almost immediately. It wrapped my leg around the uncovered square shaft from my ankle to nearly my hip. Very few people can say they've survived getting caught in a PTO. Was board shifting my '68 Road Runner to see how quickly I could go through the gears. Was doing close to a hundred when I hit black ice at the same time I board shifted into 4th gear. Had L60 tires on the back with low air (for grip) that caused the car to flip once it got sideways and into two big maple trees. There was not a salvageable piece anywhere on the car except the Hurst shifter that broke off in my hand. Car was obliterated and the steering wheel went through the driver's seat where I was sitting. Wasn't wearing a seat belt and ended up on the floorboard of the passenger's side. Only unscathed area of the car. Didn't even get a scratch.

Another time back in 1972, I raced this kid on his Kawasaki Z1 (900cc) with my 750 Honda (K1 model) and when going past 100, I couldn't get my bike to lean enough to make the turn in the road and ended up in the gravel (inches from the guard rails) as I slowed down. That one scared the crap out of me and taught me a lesson about poor handling older bikes.

Accidentally loaded a 380 auto handgun with .32 special bullets - we owned a gun shop and had so many guns around that I never bothered to read the barrel to see what caliber it was because it seemed obvious. Anyway, it threw the gun out of my hand and stung like crazy, but didn't blow up the gun. Did the same thing with a 12 gauge shotgun when I loaded it with 16 gauge shells. Makes an awful noise and hurts the hands. Luckily, it didn't blow my face off.

Had a couple of pretty bad snowmobile accidents trying to jump things and in one case, ending up in a pond on weak ice so I kept it floored so I wouldn't break through more than I already was and the shore on the other side was not sloped into the pond and caused me to flip over the sled and into a tree. Smashed the heck out of the ole Sno Jet.

Broke bones on a slope on Whiteface (adequately called "Ice Face" by skiers in the know). The slope ("Upper Cloud Spin") was beyond my skiing ability, but that didn't stop me. Had another skiing accident that caused me to get my shoulder rebuilt and spent 6 months in recovery.

Did an awful lot of dumb things as a kid that were dangerous. I had a Sting Ray bicycle that I tried jumping a deep rocky creek (failed) and one time I thought to myself as I was riding in the middle of the road, "I wonder if I could quickly turn the handlebars 360 degrees while moving" (big time failure) - got a wicked head wound and plenty of road rash since I was just wearing shorts. I also mixed chemicals when I was 12 that blew up unexpectedly (thankfully, after I walked away from them) that blew the ceiling down in the kitchen on top of us and burned the house down. Had I still been next to the chemicals it would have blown me to bits. Thankfully, my mother was calling us for dinner so I abandoned the project just in time.

Anyway - I can't pick "one" dangerous thing I've done that exceed all the others because there was so many. Like I have always wondered, I don't know why God has left me on this earth as I've done just about everything possible that could kill me. I keep thinking He must have some kind of plan for me because, here I am at 68 and still kicking...still doing stupid things but have narrowed it down these days to mostly on my Fat Boy.

Quote from: LennG on October 09, 2021, 11:41:07 AM
Ric

Sorry for your loss. It is always hard to lose someone you loved so much. Your Dad lived a great life and I'm sure was very proud of you as his son. I know it's easy to say and hard to do, but enjoy the memories, they will bring you pleasure later in your life.

Believe me when I say we share your grief. Our deepest condolences.

Thanks Lenn

Thanks guys. I haven't shared my loss publicly so I've been kind of quiet on here lately. But now that it's out, I'd like to pass on some of his life.

He grew up in a small house built by his father and uncle that had one light and one outlet. He had an outhouse and pumped water from the ground to bring into the house. He went to a one-room school house. At 16, he lied his age to get into WWII - got caught and was sent home where he returned to school (now a real school with real classrooms). At 17, the legal age, he joined the Navy and assigned to the Seabees where he was a crane operator unloading Liberty ships at the island of New Caledonia. On his 18th birthday, he got a letter from home. Expecting birthday greetings, instead is was a newspaper clipping of his brother who was killed in action at Po Valley. After the Japanese surrendered, he was immediately sent to Sasebo near Nagasaki where he spent the next year. He was then discharged and went home and went back to school and graduated at 20 years old (for which I am proud of him for that). He then went to Cornell, but with the Korean War heating up, he went back into the service and was made a Boatswain Mate on the battleship USS New Jersey. While the Jersey was being retrofitted in Brooklyn, my father would grab a train and return to Binghamton on weekends where he met my mother. They fell in love and got married just before he left for Korea. They were married over 70 years and led a storybook life. Together they traveled the world and did many great things. They went to Israel 16 times in 20 years (my sister lives there), rode air boats across the Everglades, rode in a glider in San Diego where my Dad took over controls, rode hot air balloons, took a train from Rome and ended up at M

Funny story...LOL

I'll have to remember the term "herbed up" 

My Dad's favorite show growing up was the Lone Ranger (on the radio of course as there was no such thing as TV back then). Dad used to tell me, "you know how to tell if you have class or not Richard?"...and I'd say, "how's that?" He said, "if you can hear the William Tell Overture without thinking about the Lone Ranger, you must have class...LOL.

I lost my father a few weeks ago and I miss him