Pumpkin Show 08 videos now posted

I posted three videos after I returned home from the Parade. One from my Son Ty, One from my wife Betty, and of course, the worst one from me. The quality is not great, I may have screwed something up in the conversion process, but still you get the jest of the day's activity . See them at:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=wbotx

Here are two other videos that were taken by my son Ty of the parade:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkaaCyQMi3Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA41ihME5CY

Pumpkin Show Versailles Indiana

Starts Wednesday Sept. 24th and ends Saturday Sept. 27th
I did a search but turned up little. I think the Lions Club should have a Web page noting events and times but they do not. I heard there is a dance at Tyson gym and I'm sure it is Saturday night. O'course the Versailles Legion will be hosting open house Friday night starting about 9:00. The parade will be Saturday beginning about 10 am. Look for me in my army class A uniform, that is if I can get the buttons to fasten. I'll be marching with the Legion Veterans.
I have a few photos of past years you may want to see. Find them at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.demaree/PumpkinShow2006#
http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.demaree/PumpkinShow2004#
And from Ripley County's page:
http://www.ripleycounty.com/versailles/pumpkinshow.htm

The weather will be perfect, so come and enjoy this great event. I'll see you there .......... jack

ATTN: WOMEN OF A CERTAIN AGE!

We need your stories!

If you are 65 years plus and grew up in Versailles, or spent a lot of time there growing up, you know a lot of good tales of Versailles that haven't been told. Join me and some of your friends in making a permanent record of your stories for the historical society and or possibly a publication such as Alan Smith's, Tales of Versailles. This would be different, as it would be totally a woman's perspective, a woman's experience growing up in this town during the 30s, 40s, 50's until the present time. It might be called "Female Tales of Versailles." If you would like to participate, or want more information, please sign here and give me your phone number, address and/or e-mail address. I will contact you as soon as I get this information. Marlene Talbott-Green, Class of '51. (614) 846-8880, 36 W,Worthington, Ohio 43085, or email: MTGPHD@aol.com.

OnlineJournal

Online blogs? Now we just can’t seem to get enough of these online journals. Information that used to be private is now being shared with a worldwide audience. Penzu goes back to the basics by giving you an online journal that feels authentic and can be controlled in the way that you want.

Your thoughts are written down on a digital representation of notebook paper, which is very fitting. All you have to focus on is writing in your journal because Penzu will automatically save your work. Images can also be inserted to enhance your journal entries since text doesn’t always do the trick. Even though you may want to keep your Penzu journal private most of the time, there could be certain entries that you wouldn’t mind sharing with other people, and you can do this both transparently and anonymously.

Its free and safe, try it at:
http://www.penzu.com

The Pickett Video

I just set through 17 minuets of nostalgia from the 1960s and 70s. The video has been converted from 8mm to VHS Video tape, then to MPG digital. I will take the MPG and record it to DVD set top. I would love to post parts of it to YouTube so you could view it, but after the tong lashing I received from the Hooton family I will wait for the OK. I will try my best to get permission. I can give you a hint of what it contains such as views of Versailles, Madison, Osgood, and Aurora. One of the best parts is the Rapid Run Raft Race from Versailles Lake Dam to Friendship. Most of the Landmarks look very different from what you see today. Wish me luck !

I have just uploaded the video in two parts:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=wbotx
Again Thanks goes out to the Pickett family for the use of this video.

AIG financial collapse - Perhaps the Beginning of the End -

American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is a major American insurance corporation based at the American International Building in New York City. The UK headquarters are located on Fenchurch Street in London, England, UK, Continental Europe operations are based in La Défense, Paris and its Asian HQ is in Hong Kong. According to the 2008 Forbes Global 2000 list, AIG was the 18th-largest company in the world. It became a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average on April 8, 2004.

On September 16, 2008, the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, to prevent financial collapse of the company, announced its plan to lend the insurer US$85 billion in exchange for warrants for a 79.9% equity stake and the right to suspend dividends to previously issued common and preferred stock. AIG announced the same day that its board accepted the terms of the Federal Reserve Bank's rescue package, including the equity transfer into public ownership, and that it is in the best interest of all parties.
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Wall Street will never be the same again as Lehman Brothers heads into bankruptcy Monday and Bank of America says it would buy Merrill Lynch & Co., another troubled financial firm.

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I do not have a great amount of savings, but from this point on I will handle it in a changed way from the past ................ jack

Hurricane Ike hits Indiana

Winds of 40, gusting to 80 MPH raked Versailles Indiana Sunday afternoon knocking out power for thousands. Much tree and roof damage resulted from the winds. There were a few reported injures from blown or fallen debris. See a few photos taken of the damage:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.demaree/StormDamageSept1408#

Here are a couple of YouTube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/wbotx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTaS-cUQfh4

September 13

Happy Birthday Jack
I received a birthday card from the grand kids, on the front they wrote "sorry your old". I'm treating myself by celebrating with a cheeseburger & french fries like I do every Saturday with my friends at the Legion Post. Yes, I'm 63.

We've come a long way baby

Sept 13 1956 – IBM unveiled the 305 RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control, the first commercial computer that used magnetic disk storage. We've come a long way baby. What's next?
Full story

National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association

Friendship Indiana
September 13 - 21

The National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association exists to promote, support, nurture, and preserve NMLRA's and our nation's rich historical heritage in the sport of muzzleloading through recreational, educational, historical, and cultural venues such as match competition, hunting, gun making and safety, historical re-enactments, exhibits, museums, libraries, and other related programs.

Friendship Flea Market
September 13 - 21

Versailles Indiana (I love It) but I'm a little Weird

I was looking for a nice photo of Versailles Indiana and ran across this post. I read it top to bottom and thought it to be a wee bit discomforting about where I have lived for 99% of my life. You see I love Versailles, Indiana and have traveled to many parts of this great U.S. of A. and unless I was forced, I would not live anyplace else. Please read the below post from Cara Randall, living near Milan, Then send me your thoughts about Versailles. If you like I can post your reply. Send it to jack.demaree@gmail.com

<........................>

CaraRandall
Junior Member

http://www.city-data.com/forum/indiana/262103-versailles-nice-place-raise-family.html

Join Date: Mar 2008
5 posts, read 1,502 times
Reputation: 10
CaraRandall is on a distinguished road
Default Versailles

I'm not sure where you are coming from, but Versailles can be an okay place to live. It has the Versailles Pumpkin Show in the fall, a nice Dairy Queen, a couple of discount stores, McDonalds...errr, that's about it. I like the park particularly well. But I can't imagine why anyone would want to come to Ripley County, actually, unless they were retiring and didn't need to worry about work. Most people travel an hour or more to find decent jobs, as Ripley County is one of the poorest counties in Indiana. I have lived here for most of my life, and my husband and I built a home just outside of Milan (about fifteen minutes from Versailles) on five acres of my Grandfather's farm. I enjoy, and always have enjoyed, living in the country, but even I am getting sick of having to drive to Cincy for decent opportunities or entertainment.

I'm also not sure how hard it is to break into teaching in this area. There are a lot of schools, and really I've always been of the opinion that if you are determined to get an education, you will get an education. Are the schools great? Not really. They rank among the lower achievers in the state. I'm not going to sugar coat this area. It has good community that I enjoy, nice small-town flavor, if you like living in the country it's nice and peaceful. Low crime rates, I think there are some petty burglaries and the like in Versailles, but not much else. But frankly, there is not much happening in Ripley County. There are a lot of sad, rundown properties that have been abandoned and left to rot here and there, there are not a lot of job opportunities, not a lot of entertainment.

But it purely depends on what you are looking for. If you like a small town with a very slow pace, then it might be your thing. Versailles has nothing going on during the weekends, other than perhaps bowling and people getting drunk and driving around the courthouse square over and over to scope out chicks. There are always chicken fry dinners going on at the local churches, the Friendship Fleamarket in June and Sept, which is a huge fleamarket centered around the banks of Laughery Creek during the Muzzleloader Shoot (lots of pioneer reenactment stuff, really neat to go to-my fave thing in this area all year).

Gosh, I don't know what else to tell you. I guess I'm not very positive about it, but it truly is a very poor county and I can't imagine anyone deliberately coming here and expecting much. When the most active spots in your town are the Dairy Queen, the Family Dollar, and the funeral parlor, you know your town is pretty goofy. Milan isn't any more interesting...in fact it's not as interesting as Versailles. All Milan thinks about is that they won the 1954 basketball championship, so, hey, what else do they have to do?

People are friendlier here, more interested in community, and I like that. They are more interested in other people. I like farming and I like being left alone, so it's a good area for those things. I like people you can count on, and country people are good for that. I'm trying to present the good and the bad. There are a lot of sports in the schools, and so your children would probably be happy with that. It's hard for me to guess what it is you hope to find here, but I wish you all the luck and happiness I can wish. These are just my opinions, and you'll have to form your own.

Blessings,
Cara

.................... reply from B.D. ..................

In response to Cara's interpretation of the advantages and disadvantages of living in a small town, I say this.
I have lived in a small town all my life but I have ventured many times to the "Big City." I lived in Monterey California for almost a year and visited the grand "New York City" a couple of years ago. Of course we are surrounded by larger cities than Versailles or Milan and for me, it really doesn't present a problem to go twenty or thirty minutes out of town for fun, a pleasant dinner out, or your most important excursion to Walmart.
My younger school years were spent at Milan. After I got married I eventually moved to Versailles. Yes, it is slightly boring. Yes, it is quiet however........I awake in the morning and spend a relaxing hour or whatever time I might have, with a hot cup of coffee and I listen to a beautiful serenade from the birds in my many trees and those gathered around the feeder. My back deck faces a pasture and I can see the cows and their calves grazing as though they have endless time, and they do.
Small towns are guilty of persistent gossip. Sometimes by the time a rumor gets around town it's history. Each person evaluates and dissects what was told and it gets revisited at the local barber shop or salon. I guess it's all in how you look at it, some would see simple charm, some would be somewhat angered, I suppose.
Everyone knows their neighbor but we all tend to look out for each other. We don't worry too much about leaving our lawn mower outside waiting to complete the mowing the next day. We don't padlock our bicycles at night.
Time that has passed and a change in our world has caused many to be a little more cautious but as a whole we that live in a small town tend to be a tad naive. We still trust more than we should perhaps.
I drove to the big city of Columbus this week and along the highway was a trailer court with trailers spaced not more than five or six feet apart. I saw children getting off the school bus and walking up to their individual homes with no yards to speak of. I guess it's whatever you get used to. For me, I'll be here until my day is done on this earth. Hopefully, my small town won't get much larger until then.
I heard a song on the radio today and it pretty much wraps all of this up and it only proves true in an area like I live in. "Everybody Dies Famous in a Small Town."

Enjoy a Indiana fall road rally

Explore the rich culture of Indiana, Sept. 21-23. Each day features a laid-back driving tour on one of the least-traveled paths of Indiana. Discover small towns, enjoy a scavenger hunt, then end the day with the comfort and hospitality of three unique Indiana State Park lodging facilities.

For more information, go to dnr.IN.gov/parklake/12854.htm
Call 1.877.LODGES1 (877-563-4371) for reservations
Sponsored by the Indiana State Parks


If the above is a little much try:

Take a drive through the beautiful rolling hills of southeastern Indiana with Versailles State Park as your destination.

Relax while fishing on the 230-acre lake where you can rent a paddleboat, rowboat or canoe. Bring your bicycle and pedal the nearby 27-mile Hoosier Hills Bicycle Route or wander the area. In the fall, enjoy activities like the Versailles Pumpkin Show in the town of Versailles on the last weekend in September and the Bluegrass Festival in the park on October 1, 2, 3.

The September 11 attacks

The September 11 attacks (often referred to as 9/11) were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by Islamic extremists belonging to the al-Qaeda movement upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the building, causing both buildings to collapse within two hours, destroying at least two nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Somerset County, Pennsylvania, after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. There are no known survivors from any of the flights.
Read the rest of the article.

Slacker

A rainy day and stuck inside with not much to do, Luckily my geek friend Ralph stopped in. in our conversation he ask me if I was using Slacker. No what is it? I said. It is the neatest music streamer on the web. I tried it and yes I agree, it is the best streamer of music on the Web. If you (and you should) use FireFox you can get a plug-in to download what you here in MP3 format. I am still learning what all the perks are. It is free, but you can upgrade to premium if you see fit. The add on for FireFox is called "download Helper" 3.2
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3006
Load "Slacker at:
http://www.slacker.com/

Indiana Veterans Memorial Cemetery

Versailles Indiana American Legion Post #173 Give 21 gun
salute to a fallen comrade at Veterans Memorial Cemetery
Madison, Indiana.

The Indiana Veterans Memorial Cemetery is dedicated to Veterans and their families as a lasting memorial, and final resting place, in appreciation and gratitude for their service and sacrifice to our nation.

View a Power Point Presentation of the Cemetery (Large file 67.6 MB)
http://www.in.gov/dva/files/cempres.ppt
See another post on this subject:
http://wb9otx.com/blog/archive/2005_10_30_archive#113112233087481606

"Just a Dog" - Baxter loses a friend."

Antivirus XP 2008, Read more about it

How did you get infected: The possibilities are great. Most recently we observed agressive email spam campaigns to infect users with FakeAlert and subcomponent Antivirus XP 2008. One notable campaign sent fake CNN news alerts. The alerts were identical to actual alerts sent by CNN and MSN. When the user clicked a link to a "news story" they were brought to page that looked identical to a CNN page and prompted to download a video codec to watch the news alert. Upon doing this, the user became infected. Read more at:
http://ca.com/securityadvisor/pest/pest.aspx?id=453137615

Antivirus XP 2008

Antivirus XP 2008, or Vista Antivirus 2008, or XP Antivirus 2008, is one of the latest counterfeit antispyware that devastates the wolrd wide web. Antivirus XP 2008 usually come up after you installed a video codec or software patch that come with Trojan, malware and virus. All of these variants are from the same virus family and they are created to make our life miserable. In short, Antivirus XP 2008 normally generates fake and misleading system popup error messages so end-users will be tricked into purchase XP Antivirus 2008, Antivirus 2008 or Vista Antivirus 2008.

It is very hard to remove. You need to be a very advanced user to rid it from your computer manually. There is one way to remove it that a novice may execute. Go to Google Pack download page at:

http://pack.google.com/intl/en/pack_installer.html?hl=en&gl=us&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-synsearch&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=google%20pack

Un-check all but "Spyware Doctor"
Click "download Now"
This will take you to another page showing "Spyware Doctor"
Click "Agree and Download"
Install the software
Update for the newest definitions
Scan your computer
Fix the problems it finds
Restart your computer

You may have to replace the photo on your desktop (wallpaper) to get rid of the big red warning image.

Good Luck !

those were the days

Back in the DOS days of computers I was very interested in capturing images from weather satellites. It took special wide band receivers, down converts, low lose feed lines, computer software, and High gain parabolic or crossed dipole antennas. I designed home made antennas that were very critical to ajust. This took place for over two years and was very time consuming but fun. Here is one of my best images:

It is of Hurricane Andrew (1992)


Now in the Windows broadband Internet days you need not buy or build anything as it is provided at the click of your mouse. I admit the images are better but the thrill of receiving the image in real time line by line across your screen direct from the weather satellite is gone. Awh, but those were the days.

Here is an image downloaded today (Sept 1) of Hurricane Gustav:



Hurricane Gustav (pictured) moves across western Cuba and approaches the U.S. Gulf Coast after causing at least 66 deaths in Haiti, 8 more in the Dominican Republic, and 11 in Jamaica.

Click either image to enlarge.
Link to Noaa images:
http://www.goes.noaa.gov/
Unisys Research images:
http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_vis_east.html
NOAA HRPT images:
http://www.noaa-hrpt.com/
wikipedia image of Andrew:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Andrew_23_aug_1992_1231Z.jpg