Gint-a-Cuffs #4 Packs #20-24 Grand Finale

Wednesday, 31 August 2011

Hey guys.  I have been a too bit busy with real life to post anything recently.  Although I have tried to maintain a presence by commenting on other blogs.  I am going to make a quick Gint A Cuffs post just to wrap it up under the wire.  I will hopefully be back to regular posting sooner rather than later.

FOR THE LAST TIME (this year) RELEASE MCCRACKEN

Total through pack #19 - 159 pts.

Pack 20:                                             

51        Tim Collins (0 pts)

64        Ricky Romero (0 pts)

65        Ryan Howard             (0 pts)

aom10 Sarcopterygii (Tiktaalik) Ascent of Man (+1 pt AOM insert)

agr-rd  Ryan Dempster Framed Relic (+10 pts relic)

24        Kristi Yamaguchi Mini (0 pts)

hh70    Troy Tulowitzki Hometown Heroes (+4 My FP,+1 Rockies,+1 HH insert) +6 total

Pack total: 17 pts

Running total - 176 pts

Pack 21:                                             

97        Zach Britton (0 pts)

28        John Lindsey (0 pts)

231      CJ Wilson (0 pts)

123      Rajai Davis (0 pts)

21        Logan Morrison (0 pts)

326      Jason Castro SP (+2 pts SP)

sru5     The Human Cannonball Step Right Up (+3 pts SRU mini)

hh50    Josh Hamilton Hometown Heroes (+2 FP list +1 HH insert) +3 pts total

Pack total: 8 pts

Running total - 184 pts

Pack 22:                                             

59        Jeremy Jeffress (0 pts)

102      Wandy Rodriguez (0 pts)

17        Jonathan Papelbon (0 pts)

285      Alex Rios (0 pts)

19        Daniel Bard (0 pts)

aom3   Choanoflagellates Ascent of Man (+1 pt AOM insert)

ap17    Orangutan Animals in Peril (+3 pts AP mini)

hh100  Travis Snider Hometown Heroes (+1 pt HH insert)

Pack total: 5 pts

Running total - 189 pts

Pack 23:                                             

190      Sue Bird (0 pts)

136      Dick Vitale (+1 pt the Commish thinks he isn’t annoying for some reason)

74        Torii Hunter (0 pts)

141      Vernon Wells (0 pts)

82        Scott Rolen (0 pts)

305      Justin Morneau SP (+2 pts SP)

ug2      The White House Uninvited Guests (+3 pts UG mini)

mmf15 Isaac Newton  Minds the Made the Future (+2 pts MMF insert)

Pack total: 8 pts

Running total - 197 pts

Pack 24:                                             

165      Jo Frost (0 pts)

89        John Axford (0 pts)

115      Shin-Soo Choo (0 pts)

219      Johan Santana (0 pts)

252      Omar Infante (0 pts)

18        Daniel Hudson Crack the Code (+3 pts Code card)

107      L.L. Zamenhof Mini Black Border (+3 MBB, +2 Zamenhof) +5 pts total

hh65    Adrian Gonzalez Hometown Heroes (+2 FP list +1 HH insert) +3 pts total

Pack total: 11 pts

Running total - 208 pts

There you have it.  I did break the 200 point barrier and got quite a few Rockies.  Overall (perhaps not surprisingly) I am not impressed with this set.  I am not surprised primarily because I have not liked any of the A&G sets in general.  It is mostly the non-baseball players that turns me off, but the colored gas cloud behind the players has always been too odd for me.  Everything from these packs is for trade excluding the Tulo and AOM inserts (the only ones I like this go around).

I will have a state of the blog post probably tomorrow explaining my absence and other things.  I thank those of you that have inquired about my sudden disappearance.  I guess that means I have made an impression on some people.  Thank you.

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King Henri IV's head discovered

Thursday, 25 August 2011

So good to be back! I trust you all had a wonderful long hot summer. For me, there were many changes as the past became the past and a whole new present and future presented themselves. Lovely. 

It came to my attention that the head of Henri IV was discovered late in 2010. 

King Henri IV when his head was still attached. Quite the dashing character, n'est-ce pas?

Also quite the interesting character. Henri IV was King of Navarre before becoming King of France. He was raised protestant and joined the Huguenot forces during the French Wars of Religion. 

On August 18, 1572, he married Margaret of Valois, daughter of Henri II and Catherine de' Medici. Six days later, the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre began in Paris where thousands of Protestant wedding goers were killed. 

You can read more about about Catherine de' Medici, Henri II and his lovely mistress Diane de Poitier, in my blog The Ghost of the White Queen - Chateau de Chenonceau. 

You can learn more about the French Wars of Religion, Henri IV and Margaret de Valois by watching the exquisite film La Reine Margot. 

Despite the religious conflicts that continued to ravage France, King Henri IV reigned for two decades and was called "Henri the great" and "the good king Henri." He regularized state finance, promoted agriculture, undertook public works and encouraged education. He also built new highways, bridges and canals, the most famous being the Pont Neuf and Palces des Vosges in Paris.

There were some who were not keen on his religious tolerance and, after numerous attempts upon his life, King Henri IV was murdered in 1610 by a militant Catholic named Francois Ravaillac.

Henri IV was embalmed and buried at the Basilica of Saint-Denis. During the French Revolution, his royal grave as well as others were mutilated and mixed together in a mass grave. 

King Henri IV's head surfaced and was sold at a Paris auction in the early 1900's. For a hundred years, it moved discreetly from one private collection to another until last year year when it was discovered in a tax collector's attic. 

The skull bears distinctive knife cuts and a pierced ear. Its preservation is excellent with soft tissue and organs well conserved. Scientists and Historians examined the head for nine months before pronouncing it to be, indeed, the cranium of Henri IV, King of France and Navarre. 

The head now belongs to a royal descendant and has been reinterred at the Basilica of Saint-Denis. 

Requiescat in pace.

Gros bisous des têtes intéressant et a bientôt.

Love, Charley

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Amitié ... amitié ...

Friday, 19 August 2011

Un grand bol d'amitié aujourd'hui ... surtout dans un digoin (trouvé sur E ...)

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L'Amitié (doublement) couronnée ...

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Je réponds bien volontiers à Astreor au si joli blog ...

(vous savez déjà tout ou presque ... vous en saurez un peu plus !)

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Couleur : Blanc

- Gourmandise : Rochers S.....d

- Objet : Le porte-monnaie de ma grand-mère

- Livre : mon premier, la méthode Boscher

- Emission T.V. : Silence, ça pousse

- Fleurs : ... des champs ...

- Mot : Espérance

...........................................................

Une amie du Sud m'a offert hier soir un petit peu de rêve et de beauté !

J'ai plaisir à les partager avec vos ...

http://www.artistsindevon.com/water/water_1.htm

(un clic sous le lien ... passez la souris sur les images)

TRES JOLI WEEK-END

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Balade iodée ...

Sunday, 14 August 2011

Départ depuis le port Santa-Lucia à Saint-Raphaël ...

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La baie avec dans le lointain le Rocher de Roquebrune et Notre-Dame de la Victoire ( un clic) qui veille sur Saint-Raphaël ...

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Sillage d'écume ...

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Le lion de mer ...

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Le lion de terre ...

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Sur la mer calme ...

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Partie de pêche

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ou promenade ...

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Ski nautique

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pêcheur solitaire

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ou véliplanchiste, la mer leur appartenait ...

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A l'heure douce, reflets dansants ...

...

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(un clic pour agrandir)

Il était temps de regagner le port ... et de partager un barbecue en terrasse avec vue ... sur mer !

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Merci de nous avoir offert une si jolie journée ...

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A VOUS TOUS QUI PASSEZ, JE SOUHAITE UNE TRES BELLE FÊTE DE L'ASSOMPTION ...

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Mon jardin en Août ... ( quelques images du matin )

Friday, 12 August 2011

Bordure de coings trop tôt cueillis ...

(la branche trop lourde menaçait de casser !)

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Nature morte improvisée !

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Un petit air oriental pour une fontaine provençale !

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Pour cause de moustiques, la vieille lessiveuse a la tête en bas !

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Au pied des jarres pousse une pastèque à confiture !

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Le lit bleu se blottit dans les troènes contre le mur du cabanon ...

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Je n'avais pas vu la petite fourmi !

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Mon chat !

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Fidèle au poste ... elle attend les petits et les grands !

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TRES BELLE JOURNEE A VOUS QUI PASSEZ

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Glasgow Necropolis

Tuesday, 9 August 2011

My 18 year old nephew plays the bagpipes. This summer, he is participating World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland with 40,000 Spectators, 8,000 Pipers & Drummers, 16 Nations and 1 World Champion. Pretty cool. So, that is why I am in Glasgow.

Mon fils, moi, ma fille et mon nephew!

A band, warming up.

Loved this guy!!

Bien sur, the first thing I noticed was that Glasgow has a spectacular cemetery just behind Saint Mungo's Cathedral. A Victorian place to bury the dead modeled after Paris'  Père-Lachaise Cemetery which is where the likes of Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Moliere etc., etc. are buried. (Blog coming soon!)

Glasgow Necropolis entry.

The planning of this cemetery began in 1831. Alexander Thomson, John bryce and David Hamilton designed the architecture and some of the tombs. 

It was peaceful, beautiful and graceful. As it is the World Pipe Band Championships, bagpipe music is playing all over the city day and night. How hauntingly poignant it was to have this music accompanying our visit!

A Celtic Cross; one of many. 

James Stevens Curl described the Glasgow Necropolis as "literally a city of the dead". There are catacombs, massive and ornate mausoleums and family tombs.

A view of Saint Mungo (patron saint of Glasgow) Cathedral from the cemetery.

Hands down my favorite tomb: actor-manager John Henry Alexander of the Theater Royal. The tomb has a stage and proscenium arch with flanking figures of Tragedy and Comedy. (Oops, except it looks as though someone ran away with Tragedy.)

Bon, drinking good whiskey, eating good food, but mostly listening to incredible bagpipe music. 

Gros bisous de cornemuse et a bientôt!!

Love, Charley

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