THE GIANT OLD OAK TREE more

We always planted potatoes on March 17, St.Patrick’s Day, when I was a boy on the farm. more

I took advantage of the snow cover and light north wind recently to burn a brush pile. more

Continued from “A Deplorable State of Outlawry” published February 5, 2025, available online at marshfieldmail.com. more

AI is rapidly becoming a prominent topic in workspaces, political views, and schools as we enter 2025. New ideas, inventions, and stories have led people in our country to have a split opinion about AI, but with all the information about AI at the click of a button there is no reason that anyone should be wondering about the capabilities of artificial intelligence in our country. The small group of engineers, entrepreneurs, and other technology driven jobs are always trying to grow, enhance, and find new ways to use AI. Meanwhile, the less informed part of our country is under the perception that AI is going to end up “taking our jobs.” This idea has mainly been the cause of worries about AI in our future. There must be something that the technology experts must know that causes them not to be bothered about the hypothetical AI-controlled world that modern sci-fi movies and Facebook comment sections have persuaded millions of Americans to believe will come true. It doesn't take a master degree from MIT or years in the tech field to understand their “secret.” more

I do, but unless you’re near my age, you likely don’t. According to a 2012 broadcast on National Public Radio, the last nickel Coke was sold in 1959 — the same price it sold for when introduced in 1886 as a fountain drink. more

Note: These are not wholly my words, rather more or less a summary of newspaper articles originally printed March/April of 1899. Many dates do not add up and will require further research. -CCH more

Saturday evening, I had the honor of attending the Marshfield Community Theatre’s annual award show. MCT is not only one of my favorite groups in Webster County because of my past involvement in performances, but also because of Kelby Lorenz. more

Since two new releases made about $11 million each at the domestic box office this past weekend, and since I don’t have much to say about either movie, I’ve decided to throw them both a quick review. more

In the quietness of the early morning, he sat staring out the window at the first winter snow. The thermometer out the window showed that the temperature was in the mid-teens again, as it had been for several mornings lately. At least it was not windy and causing single-digit wind chills. What happened to global warming? more

It’s an odd choice to do a sequel to the 2018 heist movie “Den of Thieves” in 2025. The first film made less than $50 million at the domestic box office and to my knowledge doesn’t have much of a cult following. I didn’t see that film at the time, but I did see it on Max to prepare for the sequel, and was unimpressed. There was some competent action, but the story and characters were unoriginal and unengaging. I would have given it a C-. For such a bland movie to get a sequel at all seems unlikely, let alone one that goes to theaters and isn’t dumped on streaming or Video on Demand. For all I know, that was the plan and then some studio executive noticed there were no wide releases scheduled for this past weekend, so they just threw in whatever they had. The tactic worked, the film took the #1 spot away from the fourth weekend of “Mufasa,” but this is not a movie that I could see succeeding through any means other than a lack of competition. more

This past December, in Looking Back we remembered the funeral of Charles Rush in December 1899. A veteran of the late war with Spain, Rush was working as a civilian clerk in the Philippines, when he became ill, dying while enroute home. Charles was the fourth son of Major James Laurence Rush and his wife Frances, who was killed in the cyclone, the Major dying suddenly in February of 1892. For whatever reason, I wasn't sure where Charles was buried and tramped off to the cemetery in search of his gravesite. The Rush plot is near the entrance and that's where he lay, beside his parents and little sister. It occurred to me this is where the unidentified picture was taken. Let me explain. more