History Sussex County NJ

This history of NW New Jersey was produced by Debra Natyzak of Johnsonburg only few years ago. It is now available on DVD. You can buy it online here at Customflix. It is also available at wholesale prices in bulk from Buzz Creek (for retail or for fund raisers). This is an informative preview. You might learn something. Enjoy! And, please - pass this link along to newcomers and others who might appreciate knowing more about the history of this area! Thanks.

Lighthouse Mission - KY 2005

The First Presbyterian Church of Sparta undertook a mission to Pineville, KY to help the Lighthouse Mission in its effort there. Pineville is one of those small American towns where the last 50 years of progress has forced large changes in opportunities and career options - usually not for the better. The coal mining industry made it a boom town at one time. Pineville is a thriving community today - but only for a fraction of the area population. A large portion of BellCounty's economy has yet to adapt to, or find a replacement for the old coal economy. Some coal mining still exists, but it is not a profitable as the "big" operations out West. The church added to its mission a task to refurbish an old house to be used for a "halfway-house". Things are improving for Pineville. Retiree's are moving back to where they grew up. They bring their own needs and boost the economy in ways far different from the old days. Sparta and Pineville Participants will get an extended DVD of this mission trip. The week long mission was a valuable experience for those who participated. (The rough draft of this video is HERE on this blog).

Life Magazine February 1, 1954 From RG

Korea prisoners released from prison :French teach Vietnamese soldiers to fightearly memories and the start of interest Life Magazine February 1, 1954 : Color Cover - Canvas pants in tropical wardrobe. Korea prisoners released from prison by Joe Scherschel and Jun Miki. Full page color Old Forester ad - art by Nulsen. French teach Vietnamese soldiers to fight.
I was 7 and half years old in the middle of the second grade Feb. 1954.
I watch some of soldier-guys on TV coming back ,but that could of been Spring /Summer before in 1953 on TV when I was still six before starting the Second Grade or just ending the First Grade. I remember asking my Dad ," why were the guys from WW2 just coming back now " ,because I knew my dad was in WW2 and he came back and got married,so it had been 7 years. He told me that there had been another War in Korea since then and that it was over and I had two Uncles who were in it ( years later I learned that that was Uncle Nap of Iwo fame who had decided to join Army this time and whose assignment of all possible duties was in supporting the Korean Marines and Uncle Omer who stayed in the Army after fighting in the Philippines in WW2 and was a paratrooper in Korean Conflict) .
I remember soon after asking my Mother , "Who were we fighting in that War " and she said "The Reds"; so, I then asked "Redskins?". "No" she reply "The Communist" .Then I remember asking, "Are the Communist Yellow like the Japs or White like the Germans?.She then said "They come in all colors". I then said "that would make it hard to figure out who the bad guys
are" and she quickly followed up with " that is right". So this started my not so well grounded history of the Korean War. Since my Mother just had her 4th child reporting in for duty in May
1952 and with me the oldest with a birth date of Sept. 1946 ; maybe she was just a little distracted at the time!?!
Rob Gagnon
March 1, 1954 LIFE MAGAZINE
must be Paris Island Problem Drownings?Rob Gagnon

BUMPER STICKERS from RG

I Refuse To Have A Battle Of Wits With An Unarmed Person.
BUMPER STICKERS

"IF YOU CAN'T FEED EM, DON'T BREED EM!"
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Constipated People Don't Give A Crap.
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If You Can Read This, I've Lost My Trailer.
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Horn Broken... Watch For Finger.
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The Earth Is Full - Go Home.
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I Have The Body Of A God - Buddha.
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So Many Pedestrians - So Little Time.
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Cleverly Disguised As A Responsible Adult.
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If We Quit Voting, Will They All Go Away?
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Eat Right, Exercise, Die Anyway.
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Illiterate? Write For Help.
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Honk If Anything Falls Off.
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Cover Me, I'm Changing Lanes.
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He Who Hesitates Not Only Is Lost,
But is Miles From The Next Exit.
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I Refuse To Have A Battle Of Wits With An Unarmed
Person.
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You! Out Of The Gene Pool - Now!
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I Do Whatever My Rice Krispies Tell Me To.
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Fight Crime: Shoot Back!
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(Seen Upside Down On A Jeep)
If You Can Read This, Please Flip Me Back Over...
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Stop Lights Timed For 35 mph
Also Are Timed For 70 mph
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Guys: No Shirt, No Service
Gals: No Shirt, No Charge
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Ax Me About Ebonics.
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Body By Nautilus; Brain By Mattel
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Boldly Going Nowhere.
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Caution - Driver Legally Blonde.
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Heart Attacks: God's Revenge
For Eating His Animal Friends
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How Many Roads Must A Man Travel Down Before He
Admits He is Lost?
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GROW YOUR OWN DOPE -- PLANT A MAN.
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All Men Are Animals; Some Just Make Better Pets.
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And Lastly:
"POLITICIANS & DIAPERS BOTH NEED TO BE CHANGED, AND FOR THE SAME REASON

Today's Video 4th ed. - by Utz

Video Expert Website
Dr. Utz has his new book out. This site has a lot of great links and
information for video producers.

Zapruder Film

This came from Ifilm.com. It is a place where independent filmakers can post films and earn money from viewings. This particular film is a "Stabilized" version of the Zapruder original. Nothing new - it just has the 'shake' of the camera removed somewhat.

Animated Plants - Happy New Year

I found this video on video.google. I am impressed with the videography, but the combination with animation makes these flora and fauna pictures very interesting. PLANT TECHNO. Enjoy.

Family Christmas Card

We offer our very best wishes for you and yours this holiday season. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. Our famly "Christmas Letter" will be posted at the CHUMUCKLA Blog, should you wish to read it.
Alex is 14 now and enjoys playing LaCrosse. Karen enjoys her challenging work with ISI and Vic has a number of media projects underway. This "video blog" is one of them. Our families in Hurricane Alley are relatively dried out and in reasonable repair now (Ivan and Dennis). We wish there was more time to visit our families "down home" as parents and other family face the the affects of age. Look out! Here comes 2006!

First Snow - Video Poetry

M.J. Trenkler is a poet who enjoys putting words to pretty pictures. In the Snowetry series, she offers her voice to the poems that are illustrated by video from ME3TV and Buzz Creek. We formed a joint venture and put these SNOWETRY videos on the web at LULU. These are higher resolution WMV files you can download and use over and over. You can see A WINTER WONDERLAND HERE. You can send these videos to anyone by email using the envelope for this blog below ... or to send it without the blog, use THIS LINK. Buzz Creek markets an entire hour of DVD scenery like this for the "relaxation market". see a preview HERE.

Joy or Whatever

Merry Chri.......oh wait.......Happy Holi......... durn it can't say that either........

I WANTED TO SEND YOU A CHRISTMAS CARD BUT MY
ATTORNEY ADVISED ME TO SEND THE FOLLOWING...

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral, celebration of some sort of holiday on or about the winter solstice, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all, and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "America" in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual orientation of the wishee.

If you choose, please spread the joy, or other emotion of your choice.
Uncle Vic

Farmers Opry - Woman Enough

Two very dear little girls with great big talent are featured with a guest Marine at the Farmer's Opry in this rendition of "You Are Not Woman Enough To Take My Man". The Marine was in flight training at Pensacola NAS. Many years ago, my dad was a Jet Mechanic there and worked with VT-4, the same hangar with the Blue Angels. I used to go to work with my dad sometimes and I once had my shoes shined by the man who shined the shoes for the Blue Angels. I can't imagine a greater honor. Maybe meet a real Blue Angel sometime? Nah. That'd be impossible. Dad used to be one of the Opry's biggest fans. Our farm is right in front of it. He's gone now, but his photo is on the wall at the opry ... and he is still grinning at the great performances they have there. The Marine (he is from Kentucky) told me most of the flight students and sailors at NAS are not 'tuned into' good country music and are missing something special when they miss the "Opry". I miss it a lot too. I am in NJ. Catch some more Farmers Opry videos at DAILYMOTION.

EMAIL Wars - the FOG

Below is a series of links from an old Marine who does a lot of research on various topics on the web. It appears he finally got a belly full of rampant political emails and decided to check them out on Snopes.com . Snopes and UrbanLegends are great places to check out the email you get before you pass it along. The internet is a notorious battleground for ideology, but seldom is ideology argued. It is much easier to simply create interesting and damaging stories about the people who represent the wrong ideology.

Check those stories you get in your email ... try to avoid getting suckered. Sometimes they are true, but rarely. Base your political decisions more on ideology than on email spam. Plus.. for good measure, vote how I do. It will save a lot of problems with me trying to explain all the reasons. Trust me. I am seldom wrong. So .. without further comment .. I offer this collection of searches, many provided by Rob Gagnon.
FOSTER . ATTA . PRESIDENTIAL IQ . BASIC TRAINING STRESS CARDS . VIEQUES ISLAND. IWO JIMA MEMORIAL . RUSH LIMBAUGH DRAFT STATUS . MARINES SALUTE PRESIDENT . CLINTON STORIES - MANY . CLINTON-LANDLORD to SecretService .
BILL AND HILLARY . NEW ORLEANS . PHANTOM POLICE FORCE
. Enjoy! And search for more topics as they come in to your email box!
Vic ME3TV .
BATTLE OF THE BULGE CHRISTMAS MEMORIES DVD .
Snowfall Serenade - Relaxation DVD .
More video features from Vic on "Dailymotion" By the WAY! Scam email that is PHISHING for your credit card or other sensitive data is on the rise especially this season. DO NOT RESPOND to emails with ANY suspicious offers -- like "Get your $500 HOME DEPOT shopping card - just waiting for your response to this email". Home Depot, Sears, Target, Walmart, Ebay, Pay Pal and all major businesses are being used by scam artists to PHISH out your information. Usually, but not always, the easy tell-tale sign is the link does not go back to the said company.

Val is Upset with Media Bias

Read the "COMMENT" link below this post to see what Val wrote and sent to the various media today. She is normally a very mild mannered lady. She runs the USS Houston Survivors Organization and the 131st Field Artilary BN associations. The men themselves are just too old now. The photo is Alex, with Max and Val - in Otto's living room. The latest on Otto is that he will be going into the VA hospital for the duration. (See story below).

The President at Gettysburg

Gettysburg and the President
Originally uploaded by me3tv

Dr. Brad Gottfried, a college president, is a scholar of the Battle of Gettysburg. He has also written several books on the subject. Here, the new online college newspaper presents this little known aspect of the president. "The College Hll" will have this video linked directly inside its pages. (ERRATA: Note the word "scholarly" mispelled will be corrected prior to publication). New Media, such as online newspapers, and digital video media are converging in cyberspace. Newspapers are becoming TV channels and TV programs are becoming outlets for extended information from online newspapers. Each approach to information offers something unique in how we percieve the great mass of information we receive on a daily basis.

The Imperfect Holiday Song

The Imperfect Holiday Song
Originally uploaded by me3tv

Our nieces take somewhat control of an old holiday favorite. Watch out for the special endingby Naomi. L-R: MaryBeth, Anna and Naomi.They were visiting us in NJ over the holidays in 2004. Ivan was over. The flood after Ivan created some wet roads and Naomi was in a serious car accident - slammed by a car from the side - which nearly tore her heart out. Heart surgury and 6 weeks later, here she is with a classic ending to an old holiday favorite! I have some more impromptu songs from this family trio. I hope to add them soon. Did you get to see Pastor Phil and his NYC Taxi feature video? Look Here!

Online Student makes Mission Trip

HFLO "Mission Of Hope" 2005
Originally uploaded by hopeforlife

A presentation of "Hope For Life Outreach" sharing the experience of the Gulf Coast Relief trip (Hurricane Katrina) "Mission Of Hope". Nov. 16th-28th, 2005. EMAIL
Hope Lynch was one of my online students in a journalism course at SCCC earlier this year. She and her family made this trip to my home area of the GulfCoast to lend a hand in the repairs from the hurricane. They met a group from Enterprise, Alabama and then travelled on down to D'Iberville, MS, where they put their talents to work. I am impressed!

USS Houston Legend

Alex and I dropped in on Trudy and Otto Schwarz at the end of November.
I told Otto " You look like you been rode hard and put away wet!"
.............It's been rugged. The illness, old age and being blind. He knows he is in a world of hurt. There is not much denying it.
Yet he keeps a very powerful presence regardless. He is a joy to visit with. Always something to share in news or happenings.
His son, John, made up a nice presentation box with his photo, medals and a photo of USS Houston. It is awesome. I had him go over what each one was for after I described it to him. It was a nice little history lesson for Alex. I expressed amazement and pride in the "good conduct" medal that Otto won. Otto was, from his own admission, quite a difficult ... or at least ... sassy kind of a kid in a sailor suit.
Alex was off from school today because he had a stomach ache (heard that before?) from some Chinese food he ate last night. He was OK by the time we dropped grandma off at the airport in Newark and was really up for the visit with Otto and Trudy.
Well, it was a great visit as usual. Such amazing folks (both of them). Otto is rightfully quite proud of what the Next Generation is doing. The news from the "Blue Bonnet" is always interesting, though the toll of time brings more sad notes with every issue. I was most impressed to read that Capt. Carter Conlin is now National CDR for The Naval Order of the United States! That is very good news! Not only is he a good guy, he is a great photographer! I think I can now make some points with my NYC NOUS Commandry (Hey guys! I know the National Commander!). I make the meetings nearly every month in NYC since another local fellow out here in the wilds of NJ became involved (Don Schuld is the Recorder/Secretary for the NYC Commandry). Recently we attended the Samuel Eliot Morison Award Dinner with our wives and had a great time. The award this year went to Michael G. Walling for "The Bloodstained Sea". A great story: Battle of the Atlantic. I was impressed that he talked about the "FBI" (Forgotton Bastards of Iceland). My Dad was a member, having flown with a PBY squadron (VP-84) out of Reykjavik in 1942 . Wallings book centers on the Coast Guard's roll in this battle. I can hardly wait for Hornfischer's next book about the Houston! Otto showed me Hornfischer's original manuscript today. What can I say? If you've read "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" you know what a great job he is doing with the USS Houston story.
I told Otto, "I still have a plan to get the "DEATH BECOMES THE GHOST" video into DVD soon". Once that is done, it will be much easier to distribute to many Educational and Public Access Stations. The better ones can even share programs online now .. by broadband internet. It is impressive how films are distributed now. (SEE COMMENT LINK BELOW FOR MORE NOTES ON OTTO)
www.me3tv.com www.ussocallahan.org www.usshouston.org www.chumuckla.blogspot.com

Marines 230th Birthday

The U.S. Marines just celebrated their 230th Birthday on Nov 10, 2005. Their's is an awesome service and, as a Navy veteran, I would have to say the Marine Corps is the finest auxilliary service the Navy ever created. This link will give you a Marine Corps Birthday Card in Flash Video. If you are a Marine - Enjoy. If anything else - Take Pride! I think especially of the Marines I know and of those to whom I have enjoyed in family and friendship. Thanks Marines! I knew George Dykestra of Sparta - A veteran of Guadalcanal and of Peleliu (he would never talk about it). I knew Ronald Glass of Savannah Georgia, a veteran of Iwo Jima (lasted about 10 minutes on the beach, was shot through top to bottom, wrecking one leg where the bullet came out. He was pulled out of harm's way at that point by squad members he had trained in boot camp (he was quite mean to them as he recalled) - This was his first experience in combat, having been a DI at Paris Island for two full years before Iwo Jima. He was a veterinarian when I met him. He had a limp arm and crippled leg, but he soldiered on. My cousin, Rogene Kilpatrick of Pace, Florida is a veteran of Korea, being among the first to arrive after the NK invasion and at one point being caught up in the great fighting withdrawal out of the Chosin Reservoir (Chesty Puller said "Good thing we are surrounded - now we can attack in any direction") and the Pusan exodus. And, there are many more Marines whom I am honored to know. To those Marines (and other soldiers of all branches) today who are in harm's way - know that you are respected. Your country calls and you answer. Your's is no easy task. May God Be With You. AND - HAPPY BIRTHDAY Marines! Photo is "Pat" Kilpatrick and his wife Virginia.

Lighthouse Mission - in Kentucky

The First Presbyterian Church of Sparta NJ made a Mission Trip to help out the people of "The Lighthouse Mission" in Pineville,Kentucky last summer. This is the opening draft of a forthcoming video about the trip (now complete -see the final version HERE). Our group helped the Lighthouse Mission prepare some special "Back To School" supply packs for kids in this depressed area. We also helped a local recovering Addict (Frank Creech - who is sings two songs in this short feature) to rebuild a house he bought with his life savings. It will be a Halfway House for people in recovery. What a summer! More value of this trip came back to the people who went to participate than to those who recieved our help. Somehow, mathematically, there is a logical explanation for that but that's how God works sometimes, I think. Leonard Luckadoo is a contractor who has a music ministry to prisons and nursing homes in Kentucky. He is the grandfather of one of the volunteers from the local community who helped us at Frank's place. Leonard Sings the opening ... "Lighthouse". The lighthouse at the start is still standing in Pensacola, FL after Ivan, Dennis and Katrina, not to mention the storm of '29 and the late unpleasantness of 1861-65. More about this trip HERE.
Visit another interesting independent mission - Preacher Phil's Taxi in NYC.

Greenhouse Gases

Here is a great web tool from BP to help you figure how large your "carbon footprint" is. Can you reduce your energy waste in your household? Interesting and educational. This came from my brother-in-law who works as an engineer for BP.
Now: My take on Global Warming. Yes it is happening. No, there is no conclusive evidence that the energy sources of the past century have had the defining effect. Why do I say that? I believe there are some much larger geological and solar events that have affected the nature of earth's climate as they have over geologic time. Age of Ice ... Age of Warming .. all without any fossil fuel involvement have driven the historic migration of mankind. If there is a 2 degree change in average earth temperature over the last century, I am more likely to believe that less than 10% of the total effect is driven by fossil fuel consumption and probaby less than 10% is driven by deforestation. These issues should be addresed for the betterment of the future quality of life for mankind, but they cannot compete with natural astronomical and geological cycles that affect climate(my opinion). I suggest two books that help put the history of mankind in perspective ... both by noted anthropologist and biologist Jared Diamond. "Guns Germs and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies" and "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed". Diamond is a clear voice to take better care of our planet. In "Collapse" his studies suggest strongly that geologic and asronomical events affect our planet hugely, yet his conclusion lays nearly all the problems of current climate change at the feet of we humans. So, on that point, I take issue, but these readings are very instructive.

A Veteran's Tribute - Canada

Here is a video that came to me via a US Marine who understands the importance of Veteran's Day. The film was about 8 mb in windows media, so I took the liberty of placing it in "IN COUNTRY" in flash format so you can easily pass along the LINK to this page rather than the large video file that some people resent clogging their email bandwidth. In any case, this Canadian presentation is quite nice. I hope you like it. And ... Thanks, Marine!

A Video Problem

Oops. had a temporary issue with our flash video server.
Here is a link to one of our videos now hosted on video.google.com. This one is Jim Stanko, an old time fiddler. (His is mislabeled as Jim Sieradzki but that will be fixed soon) Let me know if you like the google video presentation. Click HERE to get the Google Video Stream.

Chumuckla People in PA

This is Waylon and Carol Jenkins. Carol grew up in Chumuckla.com. Waylon grew up in Jay. When they visited last year we went to the Gifford Pinchot house in Milford, PA. This shot was taken at Dingman's falls just across the Delaware River from NJ. We try to convince people to come see us in NJ and that we live only a few miles from the Appalachian trail. But, few come. Maybe that will change since Waylon and Carol have survived several trips now and lived to tell about it. Actually, their home is in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you look at the Chumuckla blog, you'll see her uncle (my cousin) Colbert Campbell. Colbert keeps up with the Elizabeth Chapel Cemetary.

Not in New Jersey

But close! When my cousins, Waylon and Carol Jenkins came up last summer and stayed a few days with us, we took them over to Milford, Pennsylvania to see the Gifford Pichot House - Grey Towers. Milford is just across the Delaware River from NJ - a little country town. Gifford created Central Park in New York City and later became the father of the National Forrest Service. He must have been pretty rich - the house is huge, but of course not as big as the Biltmore in North Carolina. I guess the Pinchot's were poor compared to the Vanderbilts. We have rich people in NJ who live in mansions like this but most of them are still alive. In the photo are Karen and Me and Alex. Alex is now up to the tops of my ears in height! 

Henry Botts - Farmers Opry

Mr. Henry Botts - one of our country music legends continues to share his life and music at the Farmer's Opry in Chumuckla, Florida. This taping was made in 2004 ... before hurricane Ivan. The Opry had some challenges from hurricane damage all around it but it recovers nicely and keeps a regular group of highly respected performers available to an admiring public. Often, the Opry 'captures' a big name performer. Be sure and check their website. Here is another Farmer's Opry performance. WOMAN ENOUGH.