Grand Torino

A small list of notable things from '62... Dr. No, the first James Bond film, premiers in UK theaters. October 14 - Cuban Missile Crisis begins: A U-2 flight over Cuba takes photos of Soviet nuclear weapons being installed. A stand-off then ensues the next day between the United States and the Soviet Union, threatening the world with nuclear war. The term "Personal computer" is first mentioned by the media. The films "American Graffiti" and "Animal House" are set in 1962. American Broadcasting Company (ABC) begins color telecast for 3.5 hours a week. Pull tabs on cans are introduced.

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On Sept. 17, 1976, NASA's prototype space shuttle Enterprise was rolled out of its assembly facility in Southern California and displayed before a crowd several thousand strong. Though Enterprise was a test vehicle that never reached space, its completion in some ways marked the true beginning of the space shuttle era. Various dignitaries were on hand to mark the occasion, including many castmembers from the original "Star Trek" television series, which had debuted 10 years earlier (the 45th anniversary of "Star Trek" was last week). Their presence was appropriate, as the prototype shuttle took its name from the sleek starship commanded by the fictional Captain James Tiberius Kirk. This had not always been so; the shuttle's original name was Constitution. But a massive write-in campaign by "Star Trek" fans urged President Gerald Ford to go with Enterprise, and he eventually acquiesced. Though Enterprise broadly resembled future space shuttles, the prototype differed in several key ways. "At its core — its airframe — Enterprise was like its space-worthy shuttle siblings, but it was never outfitted with many of the systems that would have ultimately made it capable of orbiting the Earth," said space history expert Robert Pearlman, editor of the website collectSPACE.com and a frequent SPACE.com contributor. "For example," Pearlman added, "its outer surface was mostly fiberglass instead of the thermal protection system tiles and (later) blankets that covered [the shuttle] Columbia." At 150,000 pounds (68,000 kilograms), Enterprise was also considerably lighter than the five space-flown orbiters — primarily because it lacked the powerful shuttle main engines. The shuttle Challenger, for example, had an empty weight of about 175,000 pounds (79,000 kg), according to NASA records.

Thanks men.....looks like an awesome leather sheath and an open display stand will be the winner. I'll post up some picture when completed.

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I'm gonna get my sheath guy involved and get some input from him. I'll let you know.

I'm not sure but it's pretty hefty. And I think the ones made back in the day were even longer and heavier than this one. It took a real man to wield one back in the day I'd expect.

I was leaning the same way. And yeah...I'll sell it but I was just trying to figure out the best way of offering it before I could nail down any kind of price.

If it's this then yeah I could do it. And the hammer is carved and power etched. Thanks for all your input.

So I made this Seax ....a very loose interpretation on my part of a broke back Viking/Saxon Seax. No...it's not historically accurate and don't claim it to be in any way shape of form. It's made from 1/4" thick 1070 carbon steel with texture and etchings in the blade. The handle has textured front and rear cast iron caps with pieces of copper, G10, bog oak, walnut and ash in between. The white ash has brass inserts and there is a good bit of carving in the handle. It is of hidden tang construction and the tang goes straight through the back and is threaded and capped. 12" blade and 17 1/2" OAL Here is my questions to all of you. While this blade is perfectly serviceable as a weapon I'm thinking it may be displayed more than carried. Keep in mind the more options I'm about to offer up the more expensive It gets. So take a look and give me your thoughts and any additional ideas you may have and thanks. One option is to offer a simple display stand along these lines... Another is to offer a covered yet removeable case something like this...and can get expensive. Another is to offer a nice leather yet practical leather sheath something along these lines ... Another option is to offer a more period looking sheath but doesn't really afford a modern belt carry option..

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I have my good nights and bad ones. This one wasn't in the top ten.

Fun Facts... FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA WAS AT RISK OF BEING FIRED DURING PRODUCTION. Francis Ford Coppola (who got the job because of his previous movie, The Rain People) wasn’t the first director Paramount Pictures had in mind for The Godfather. Elia Kazan, Arthur Penn, Richard Brooks, and Costa-Gavras all turned the job down. And after filming began, executives didn’t like the brooding, talky drama that Coppola was shooting. The studio wanted a more salacious gangster movie, so it constantly threatened to fire Coppola (even going so far as to have stand-in directors waiting on set). Coppola was reportedly getting the ax until he shot the scene where Michael kills Sollozzo and McCluskey, which the executives saw and loved. PARAMOUNT DIDN’T WANT MARLON BRANDO FOR THE ROLE. When Coppola initially mentioned Brando as a possibility for Vito Corleone, the head of Paramount, Charles Bluhdorn, told Coppola the actor would “never appear in a Paramount picture.” The studio pushed the director to cast Laurence Olivier as Vito, before eventually agreeing to pursue Brando under three stringent conditions: 1) Brando had to do a screen test; 2) if cast, Brando would have to do the movie for free; and 3) Brando would have to personally put up a bond to make up for potential losses caused by his infamously bad on-set behavior. Coppola surreptitiously lured the famously cagey Brando into what he called a “makeup test,” which in reality was the screen test the studio demanded. When Coppola showed the studio the test they liked it so much they dropped the second and third stipulations and agreed to let Brando be in the movie. PACINO WASN’T THE FIRST CHOICE TO PLAY MICHAEL, EITHER. The studio wanted Robert Redford or Ryan O’Neal to play Michael Corleone, but Coppola always wanted Al Pacino. Other actors, like Martin Sheen and James Caan (who would go on to play Sonny), screen tested for Michael. THE GODFATHER’S CAT WAS A STRAY. During his daily walks to the set, Coppola would often see a stray cat, and on the day of shooting the scenes in Vito’s study, Coppola took the cat and told Brando to improvise with it. The cat loved Brando so much that it sat in his lap during takes for the whole day. THE INFAMOUS HORSE’S HEAD WAS REAL. The horse head in the movie producer’s bed wasn’t a prop. The production got a real horse’s head from a local dog food company. ROBERT DE NIRO AUDITIONED FOR SONNY. Robert De Niro auditioned for the role of Sonny, but Coppola thought his personality was too violent for the role. De Niro would later appear as the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather: Part II, and win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work.

In Oct 68 one of the movie iconic movies ever was released. Bullitt staring Steve McQueen and a 68 Mustang and 68 Charger took to the streets of San Francisco. Some facts... McQueen based his character on San Francisco Homicide Inspector Dave Toschi, made famous for his work on the Zodiac killings. McQueen had a copy made of Toschi's custom fast-draw shoulder holster. Bill Hickman seen as the baddie "Phil" who drives the Dodge Charger, actually did drive the Charger in the movie. The driving scenes netted him additional stunt work which included yet another classic car chase for The French Connection.The French Connection Director Peter Yates hired a local trucking company for some background shots (most notably the scene where the Dodge Charger crashes into the gas station), but sent back the initial truck because it was red. He didn't want any red vehicles in the movie because it would detract from the blood. A blue truck was dispatched in its place. Bullitt's reverse burnout during the chase scene actually wasn't in the script - McQueen had mistakenly missed the turn. The footage was still kept, though.

The guy is an idiot....just sayin'.

1964 April 17 The first Mustang is introduced by the Ford Motor Company at the World's Fair in New York. It is named after the P51 Mustang fighter plane from World War II and the car's design is based on the compact Ford Falcon. Since the Mustang is introduced toward the middle of the year, it's nicknamed 1964½. Sept. 17 Goldfinger becomes the first major motion picture to feature a Mustang. While being chased by James Bond in an Aston Martin DB5, Tilly Masterson drives a white 1964½ Mustang convertible. 1965 The 1965 Mustang is released. It is the most successful launch for the Ford Motor Company since the Model A in 1927. Along with the coup and the convertible, Ford adds a fastback to the year's lineup. The coupe out sells the convertible and fastback five to one, initially. The first Shelby Mustang is also introduced. It has no rear seat and the spare tire is stored under the rear windshield. April The first Mustang GT is introduced. This GT includes a dashboard instrument cluster that becomes the standard by the following year.

Though the long-running war between Iran and Iraq had ended in a United Nations-brokered ceasefire in August 1988, by mid-1990 the two states had yet to begin negotiating a permanent peace treaty. When their foreign ministers met in Geneva that July, prospects for peace seemed bright. Two weeks later, however, Saddam Hussein delivered a speech in which he accused neighboring Kuwait of siphoning crude oil from their common border, claiming that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were conspiring to keep oil prices low in an effort to pander to Western oil-buying nations. In addition to Hussein’s incendiary speech, Iraq had begun amassing troops on Kuwait’s border. Alarmed by these actions, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt initiated negotiations between Iraq and Kuwait, but Hussein broke off the negotiations after only two hours, and on August 2, 1990 ordered the invasion of Kuwait. Hussein’s assumption that his fellow Arab states would stand by him proved to be a miscalculation. Alarmed by these actions, two-thirds of the 21 members of the Arab League condemned Iraq’s act of aggression, and Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd, along with Kuwait’s government-in-exile, turned to the United States and other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for support. U.S. President George H.W. Bush immediately condemned the invasion, as did the governments of Britain and the Soviet Union. On November 29, 1990, the U.N. Security Council authorized the use of “all necessary means” of force against Iraq if it did not withdraw from Kuwait by the following January 15. Hussein defied the Security Council, and early on the morning of January 17, 1991 the Persian Gulf War began with a massive U.S.-led air offensive known as Operation Desert Storm. The U.S. was accompanied by troops sent by NATO allies as well as Egypt and several other Arab nations. The coalition effort benefited from the latest military technology, including Stealth bombers, Cruise missiles, so-called “Smart” bombs with laser-guidance systems and infrared night-bombing equipment. The Iraqi air force was either destroyed early on or opted out of combat under the relentless attack. https://www.history.com/news/history-vault-operation-desert-storm Read more.

Man that's really tuff. I have no other words except I'm sorry and have been in you shoes and realize it doesn't help.

In 1985, as Coke saw some of its sales flip to the Pepsi camp, the company "reinvented" the original formula. They marketed it as the "New taste of Coke," and people hated it. Within months, Coke reversed back to the now-"Classic" formula and actually saw a rise in sales. It's kind of like when an actor says they're retiring or a celebrity says they're quitting Twitter, and their publicity skyrockets before they all of a sudden change their minds. The switcheroo may have given Coke a little bit of a boost, but it's historically seen as a cheap move.

Yup it's still open and running!!!

The VHS system was an invention of JVC. The technology was first introduced in Japan in 1976, and the United States received its first VHS-based VCR system approximately a year later. Though there were a number of early competitors in this field, the war for dominance in the consumer market finally came down to Sony's Betamax technology versus JVC's VHS. By this time, Sony's Betamax already had a jump on the market, as Betamax was unveiled to the public in 1965. The Sony SL-8200 for Betamax was soon facing off against JVC's Vidstar VCR for VHS cassettes, with both options entering the market in 1977. Though competition was stiff between the two incompatible formats, VHS ultimately won consumers over with its longer recording time and lower price tag. VHS and Betamax, though, had some stark differences. JVC's product could record for two hours – enough to record a full-length movie – while Betamax had a recording capability of only an hour. Ultimately, VHS won the battle, and tech lore has it that the porn industry played a big role in that victory. Sony reportedly wouldn't let pornographic content be put on Betamax tapes, while JVC and the VHS consortium had no such qualms.