J M Wetherington Sr

Elk In Maggie Valley

Posted on July 7, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

On Wednesday, June 25th we planned to walk around Lake Junaluska and then drive up to see the elk at Cataloochee, but driving down the main highway in Maggie Valley on the way to Lake Junaluska we were alerted that a full grown bull elk had made its way into Maggie and was easily visible on some property next to the highway.

Sure enough, we soon spotted cars pulled over and people stopping to look at the elk in someone’s yard right on Soco Road, which is the main road through Maggie Valley. We parked at the Shell station parking lot and I got out my camera.

This very large bull elk was enjoying a leisurely snack in someone’s front yard in Maggie Valley on Soco Road.

THIS is what you DON’T do, boys and girls. Elk are protected and the National Park guidelines say that you don’t get any closer than 150 feet. A bull this size (about 700 pounds) could decide you’re threatening his domain and charge you, causing serious injury or death. This pea-brain was lucky.

Just an absolutely beautiful and majestic creature.

Abby Arriving At Asheville Airport To Visit Us

Posted on July 6, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

This short video is from a couple of weeks ago showing Abby when she arrived at Asheville Airport to visit us at Wolf’s Haven.

It may be difficult to notice, with everything going on, but she does run to granddad first, lol.

Posted in Family, Wolf's Haven | Tagged Asheville, Family, Grandchildren, Wolf's Haven | Comments Off

1960’s Batman TV Series Coming To DVD

Posted on July 5, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

I was 10 years old in January of 1966 when the Batman TV series premiered on a Wednesday night. I was already a regular reader/collector of the Batman comic books and a regular viewer of the late 1950’s Superman TV series which was airing in reruns, so to say I was excited that night would be an understatement. One of the biggest kicks was that during its first two seasons, the show aired two nights a week with the Wednesday night episode being a cliffhanger that almost always involved the Dynamic Duo’s certain death so you would tune in on Thursday night to see the conclusion.

The third and final season changed to a once-a-week format, but an even bigger change was the introduction of Batgirl. To a 12 year old going on 13, this was a welcome addition.

And then, after 3 seasons, the Batman TV series was gone, cancelled due to low ratings, and I never saw it again until 21 years later.

In 1989 the first Batman movie (starring Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as The Joker) was released and one of the national cable stations decided to air reruns of the Batman TV series as a way to cash in on the movie hype. My own son was 13 and I wanted to share with him the wonder of what I felt when I watched the shows at the ages of 10, 11 and 12.

It was a bust, lol. The late 60’s show did not translate well to late 80’s youth and we stopped watching after a couple of episodes.

All of the above is the lead-in to the big news that Warner Brothers Home Entertainment has announced it will be releasing all 3 seasons, 120 episodes, of the original Batman TV series on DVD this November (just in time for Xmas giving!!) a little more than 45 years after the final episodes originally aired. Each episode is remastered and both Blu-ray and HD versions will be available, all with bonus features.

Holy Stocking Stuffer, Batman!!

As a teaser, Warner Brothers released this short trailer about the DVD.

Check it out in November. Same Bat-Time, same Bat-Channel.

Posted in Television | Tagged Batman, DVD, TV | Comments Off

Happy Independence Day!

Posted on July 4, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Posted in Holidays | Tagged Independence Day | Comments Off

Throwback Thursday – Mikey Meets Spider-man At Universal Studios In 2007

Posted on July 3, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Posted in Throwback Thursday | Tagged Grandchildren, Spider-Man, Universal Studios Florida | 1 Comment

A Wonderful Natal Day

Posted on July 2, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

One of the sobering parts of my birthday; Cindy took this photo of Tigger and yours truly before we had to leave him for an overnight stay at the vet’s office. His diabetes has returned and he was dehydrated. Hoping for better news tomorrow.

I’m not much on celebrating or even acknowledging my birthday, but I DO have to say that today was pretty much a great day, all in all.

I received many marvelous messages, emails, phone calls, cards and gifts from family and friends, and am grateful for each one. Enjoyed some nice meals, some of them free from various restaurants I frequent, and delighted in the company of family members throughout the day. And finally got to go see the “Jersey Boys” movie, which I enjoyed as much as the stage performance Cindy and I saw in Atlanta a few years back at the historic Fox Theater, and that I highly recommend to anyone who is a fan of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.

“You know you’re getting old when the candles cost more than the cake.” – Bob Hope

Posted in Family, Friends | Tagged Birthday | Comments Off

In Light Of Today’s Supreme Court Decision…

Posted on June 30, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Posted in Atheism | Tagged atheism | Comments Off

People Of A Certain Age Don’t Need A 20-Year Warranty

Posted on June 29, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Posted in Humor | Tagged Humor | Comments Off

Fan-Made Original “Star Trek Continues” Third Episode

Posted on June 29, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Over the years since the original Star Trek series aired on TV and was adapted to the big screen in several movies, fans have paid homage to the Enterprise characters with stories and fan-made videos, something that has especially exploded in the past decade with the advent of the Internet to spread those efforts.

I’ve been following the work of a particular effort known as “Star Trek Continues” which describes itself as “a fan-produced web series continuing the original mission of the Starship Enterprise.” They recently released their third episode “Fairest Of Them All’ which follows up on the Original Series episode “Mirror, Mirror” in which the Enterprise discovers an alternate reality where the Enterprise and it’s crew are part of an Empire instead of a Federation and are not as heroic as the crew we know. It is a logical (pardon the Spock reference) extension of what we saw in that first TV series episode and is supported, as are the first 2 Star Trek Continues episodes, by excellent performances of the actors portraying our much-loved characters AND attention to detail of the ship and series itself.

If you enjoyed the Original Star Trek, you might want to give Star Trek Continues a look. Odds are that it will take you back to those days when we used to “Boldly go” out into the universe each week.

Posted in Star Trek | Tagged star trek | Comments Off

Alone At Wolf’s Haven

Posted on June 28, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

This morning we put Amber and Abby on a plane back to Orlando, concluding their 10-day vacation with us here at Wolf’s Haven. Amber wanted to stay busy visiting various places in the area and that is what we did. Cindy and I are worn out, but I think everyone had a good time while visiting. I’ll continue posting photos and videos from the remainder of their visit over the next week or so.

When we came back I stripped the guest room/bathroom linens, remade the bed and laundered the sheets and towels, helped Cindy finish loading the car with her candle wares so she could go to a show in Maggie Valley, then pressure-cleaned the front deck, stairs and plate-glass windows and finally did a lot of cutting back of brush growth around the cabin that had crept back up while I was occupied the past 2 weeks.

I’ve spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing and even snuck in a 45 minute nap. But I’m still exhausted, lol.

Tomorrow we start packing for Florida and we’ll be leaving here early Tuesday morning to drive back to Orlando for a few weeks.

But for now the cabin is quiet; we’re missing the laughter of Abby and the presence of Amber. A slow, steady rain has been falling the past 2 hours and for a while a light, ethereal fog that gives the Smoky Mountains their name rolled in, making it feel like there was nothing else in the world but us and our cabin. It was a different feeling after the past 10 days.

Posted in Wolf's Haven | Tagged Family, Grandchildren, Maggie Valley, Wolf's Haven | 2 Comments