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June 4, 2008

Arrington Ranch House

Recognize this sign, specifically the angel wings?

Cast Away movie Arrington Ranch House angel wings gate

If you're a movie buff you've probably recognized it from Cast Away, the 2000 release starring Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt. Hanks plays a FedEx globetrotting troubleshooter who, after a plane crash, is stranded on a small island.

The angel wing motif was the trademark of the artist character who lived at this ranch and who sent and received pkgs. from FedEx. She was a metal sculptor and her husband was in Russia, their relationship a very tiny but interesting detail of the plot.

This is another shot of the gate and the barn where she worked on her pieces.

Cast Away movie barn and angel wings gate

The house was featured again near the end of the movie, in the scene where Tom Hanks stood on the porch and knocked on the door. When no one answered, he left the package--which had the angel wings on it, and which also was featured throughout another large part of the movie-- and a note saying the package had saved his life.

Cast Away farm house Arrington ranch house

I don't think anyone was there; it's now a bed and breakfast but there were no cars or other vehicles other than the farm trucks and tractor in front of the barn.

I did take a photo of this new marker:

Arrington Ranch historical marker Cast Away movie

Why is it that Texas signs look like Texas belt buckles (or vice versa) and are as big, bright and shiny as our womenfolk's hair-dos? Just like the stars, deep in the heart, I guess. I took two shots of this new sign and both had the reflection of a big doofus in them, I haven't yet figured out just what causes that.

At the IMDB Cast Away listing, there are quite a few message threads about this movie; some, like far too many one sees on the 'net, are full of inane comments, but there are other posts that speak of how profoundly the movie affected them (as it did me) or asking questions about the movie such as "where was the island?" as well as "where is the farm house?"

One guy who posted on the IMDB site has a website with some very nice photos including many I did not get, such as the interior of the house, a close-up shot of the note Hanks' character leaves at the end and autographed later by the actor. The note is on Arrington Ranch stationery, by-the-way.

(the site loads slow, even for me with a fairly fast connection; it's also in a "turn the page" style slideshow, a little tricky at first. It's a great site, though, sure worth a look if you're interested in seeing more of this particular bit of movie trivia)

I didn't go on to the intersection where Hanks' character was standing at the end of the film, but I stood in the middle of the dirt road in front of the house and took a couple of shots. The next shot is looking North, back the way I had come from Hwy 60, the turn off being 12 miles or so east of Miami in Hemphill County, another dozen or so miles to the northeast lies the larger town of Canadian.

Cast Away farm house Arrington ranch road

This is looking South, showing a bit of how the terrain is at that particular spot, gentle rolling hills, great pasture land. We've had twice the normal amount of rain and the fields are fairly green and lush but this day was so hot the moisture was being sucked out of every living thing, including myself.

Cast Away farm house Arrington ranch road

I'm not for sure what the attraction would be to stay out there; the road is fairly busy, what with a fair amount of oil field activity and even though I'm "oil field trash" and know you have to break some eggs to make an omelet, the unsightly scars left on this beautiful landscape by the fresh caliche roads and well locations, tank batteries and other production equipment pretty much spoils the view and beauty. I could make out the tops of three drilling rigs from the next hill over, so at least this area is benefitting from a robust economy.

Still, the house IS picturesque and has quite a bit of interesting history. It wouldn't be hard to imagine living there a hundred years ago. This shot doesn't do justice to the beautiful southwestern sky as it filled up with enormous thunderheads with tops reaching up to 30-40,000 feet. The rain would be welcome sight, but tornados often come during these exact same conditions and from this direction. I'm sure they have a basement or storm cellar and back when it was built it probably had a root cellar or some underground, cool place to store canned items and smoked and/or salted meat. You couldn't miss it, turn right at the outhouse.

Cast Away movie farm house Arrington ranch

I'm not sure what there would be to DO out there, either. (I kept thinking that getting to sit on the front porch in the shade and snap green beans might have been the highlight of a day back then) I hadn't been out there in a long time, not since I was helping to drill wells back in the late 70's and early 80's, but even without the ugly signs of progress, there's not much to see out there, just those rolling hills broken by some gullies and wash-outs that collectively don't quite deserve the name "canyon". If you wanted to brave the rattlesnakes, you could probably find some wild plums to pick, but I can't think of any other recreation out there unless it would be stealing oil field equipment or rustling cattle.

(Edit to add: I shouldn't be so harsh about there being "nothing to do" out there. To be honest, there's all sorts of wildlife to see such as antelope, deer, raccoons, many species of birds, etc. You'd still need to keep the rattlesnakes in mind if you go traipsin' off down in those gullies )

There's certainly no 7-11's within a dozen miles nor is there cable TV and I'm not so sure about land line phone service. The closest place to buy a beer would be just across the state line in Oklahoma, probably another 30 miles, or back to Pampa, over 30 miles back the other direction.

What one did while staying there would depend upon whom one was staying there with, I suppose. That's probably also the reason, that being not much to do, that old ranch families had so many children.

You can read more about the B&B on the Arrington Ranch website. The Trip Advisor website has a review on the lodgings.

(back when I was roughnecking around the area, I worked with some local boys named "Farrington" and they were always going around adding an "F" to all the Arrington signs. That's been years and years...and years and years ago, the statute of limitations has run out)

The sky was threatening some severe weather, so I headed back into Miami. Not too far out of town a van got right on my tail and wouldn't back off. The speed limits drop severely as you drive into Miami and I certainly wasn't going to get a ticket being the first one in a close convoy not of my making just to satisfy someone's impatience.

He stayed almost on my bumper right into town, right into the 35mph limit and first chance I got I grabbed my camera to take a photograph; I had to turn it around and look at the LCD window in my rear view mirror and still try to keep an eye on the road.

Seeing my camera, he eased off; guess he thought I was doing it to turn him in, and I would've if he'd been more aggressive and not backed off, but I took it because I couldn't believe what sort of truck it was...and you'll prob. have to click the pic. in order to make out the company logo on the front of the delivery van:

FedEx van Cast Away movie

If you can't make it out, here's a cropped bit of the original photo above, at the highest resolution.
FedEx van Cast Away movie cropped

Yup, was a FedEx truck.

Wonder if that was Tom Hanks driving?




For those of you who have found this post via a Google search, you *may* be interested in a followup post on the intersection that leads to the ranch house. It was shown at the first of the movie, and a longer scene at the crossroads ended the film.

Cast Away Crossroads


1/12/09

Interesting article about the history of the house, plus some photos of it and the intersection

In PDF format


09/16/09

Added a new post about the locations

Cast Away Locations in Google Maps

I'm Such a Dope


Your Personality Is Like Marijuana



You're laid back and easy going, so much so that taking a shower is often too much trouble for you!

Nevertheless, you're quite popular, and many people enjoy your company. You're rarely turned down.

You're prone to giggle fits, paranoia, and forgetting where you are exactly.

At your best: You're relaxed, mellow, and without a care in the world.

What people like about being around you: You're accepting, non-judgmental, and often quite insightful.

What people dislike about being around you: You can be a little too spaced out and apathetic.

How addicted people get to you: A lot, but they're having too much fun to notice.

My 2¢ on # 2





June 4, 2008

A Russian official has said that the recent toilet troubles in the International Space Station might force the crew members to leave.

In other words, they may have to evacuate because they cannot evacuate.

June 3, 2008

The Mailbox

EDIT: This blog has a "G" rating and I didn't consider it when I first posted this story. I put in some language that wouldn't be appropriate for all ages...or maybe not for ANY age. I've changed a few of the words, substituted some special characters into the few curse words. I hope this satisfies the morals police and doesn't offend anyone's sensibilities. The words should still be able to be understood, so if you never, ever would want to read them however they're spelled, maybe you should just close the page and/or go somewhere else.


PhotobucketMy pop's been dead for over two years now, so I guess it's safe to confess my sins. Well, one of 'em, anyway.

It was my 21st birthday and my pals wanted to do something "special" for me, so we loaded up in JB's car and drove to Pampa, via the back way, to get some beer.

One friend, not having any money to buy me anything, instead gave me a huge box of bottles to throw at signs along the way. Now, I'm not saying that's a good thing to do; it's illegal, it's littering, and sometimes the bottles can bounce off and come right back to you. Still, it was a "fun" thing to do.

There wasn't a lot to do back then, come to think of it.

I was riding "shotgun" and chunking the bottles at any sign which whizzed by, missing far more often than hitting them. (several of the bottles that were handed to me were full of beer, drained, then thrown. That's why my accuracy wasn't so hot.) We were about a mile away from my folk's turnoff when someone said "Betcha won't throw one at yer old man's mailbox."

"Thass right." I told 'em. "I know better."

"You ain't gotta hair on yer a$$." came the reply. (in unison)

I picked out the largest bottle, and waited; I knew what I'd do, I'd make an effort but not aim, JUST to show them that I did indeed have some hair on my a$$. I really didn't want to destroy dad's mailbox as he had just replaced it after it being more-or-less destroyed by a snow plow the previous winter.

"Here it comes!" yelled my pals. (in unison)

I flicked the quart bottle out, not even aiming but was horrified when I heard a "Whack-Crash!!!" as we sped by. Everyone was laughing (in unison) their a$$es off (the ones with hair) but I was filled with dread. Somehow I knew, especially in a small town, that my dad would find out.

We got our beer, and the day after my birthday was hangover day, but was also the day my mom had invited me out to give me my present and the cake she had baked for me.

As soon as I walked in the house, my dad pounced on me "Did you see my mailbox?"

Oh Lord. He knows. Not just the Lord knows, but dad knows and I was more afraid of him than I was afraid of God. I managed to stammer that I hadn't noticed. Pop raged on.

"Yeah, some little sunuvab*tch threw a big beer bottle at it, ruined it. I had JUST bought the damn thing, too!"

I didn't know what to say. I knew not to say anything because I thought this might be a trap for my dad to get me to admit what I'd done.

Dad continued with his anger.

"I'd like to whip the little b*st*rd's a$$ who did that." he fumed.

Still afraid to say anything, I couldn't help but find some humor in his cursing. "Sunuvab*tch" and "b*st*rd" were getting a little too personal, but pop didn't know it.

Getting angrier as he went on, dad continued:

"Nah, I'd just get in trouble for that. What I would rather do is kick that little sh*t*$$'s father...for not raising him better."

Talk about conflicting emotions; I wanted to shrink to nothing because I was ashamed of what I had done, esp. to my dad...but on the other hand, I was trying hard not to giggle thinking about my dad punching himself out. I also wanted to puke; partly because of the hangover, partly from fear.

I waited a couple months, then bought my dad one of those humongous mailboxes, the biggest they made. I also bought him some beer. In cans.

June 2, 2008

I Got Stoned

A scan of the copy of the copy of the photograph of my kidney stone

Four Mikes & a Malcolm in the Morning

I was half-watching TV early this a.m., an old re-run of Malcolm in the Middle. I enjoy the show, but never watched it when it was on primetime network TV.

The show was about the family joining a church in order to take advantage of free daycare. (if you've never seen the show, the family is "sweetly despicable" that way) As I said, I wasn't paying full attention to the show but perked up when I heard something very profound, a lovely quote.

The show was over shortly after and I changed the channel to my favorite sports show, Mike and Mike in the Morning. (Wiki Entry Here) I then got online, thinking I would look up the quote, see to whom it was attributed, but made the mistake of opening up my email program at the same time I opened up a browser window. Needless to say, I got sidetracked reading mails, following some links and then thought "What was it I was gonna look up?"

At that very moment one of my favorite football players of all-time, Mike Ditka, a guest on one of the Mike and Mike show segments said the exact same quote I was wanting to research.

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is God's gift; that's why it's called 'the present'. "

ThinkExist.com, my favorite quote site, attributes the saying to Joan Rivers. (of all people) Others say it's spun-off from various essays or poems. I don't much care, because I spent more time researching the quote than I wished.

Instead, I obsessed about how many "M's" I could cram into the title of this blog post.

(I'm the fourth Mike, btw.)