Author Archives: Patrick Lamb

Consider the cave man. His job was to get up early in the morning, drink a mug of some caffeinated mash from a non-toxic jungle bean, then clock in to hunt down a wooly mammoth to bring home groceries for the waiting family. In the evening, after possibly attempting to impregnate his woman, he wouldContinue reading “Why we males might not be around much longer…”

On April 15, 1931, a man named Plennie Wingo began an attempt to walk across the United States and eventually the entire world backwards. He finished his trek across the United States on October 24, 1932, which earned him a Guinness Book of Records listing as  the “greatest extent of reverse pedestrianism.” The native ofContinue reading “Walking through Grubsdrol, Gnimed and Securc Sal on the way to Wen Kroy…”

My wife and I are fortunate to have a great long time friend in Cheryl, who has a nose for research, an academic background in library science and a love for oddities in New Mexico. Cheryl, who had a long career at the New Mexico State University Branson Library, has helped me with several ofContinue reading “Now boarding at gate 1, your flight to Jacksonville from the Mastodon/Lizard Aerodrome…”

Many years ago in Santa Fe, I was summoned to serve on a jury panel which decided one criminal case and one civil case. The criminal case involved a woman accused of first degree murder for fatally shooting her abusive husband. She had acquired a handgun shortly prior to the fatal shooting, which was aContinue reading “Taking it out on a palm tree…”

Several weeks ago, I wrote about a childhood memory of the surprising visual discovery of a gleaming silver Atlas missile poised above its underground launch pad on a trip to Roswell from my home town in Ruidoso. At that time in the mid 1960s, the then Walker Air Force Base controlled a number of AtlasContinue reading “I’m taking credit for this…”

In most Americans’ minds, the town of Roswell likely triggers thoughts of an alien spaceship crash landing near the town in the late 1940s. I recently wrote about that because of the dramatic headline and story in the July 8, 1947, Roswell Daily Record announcing that an alien spacecraft had crashed on a ranch northwestContinue reading “Coulda, woulda, shoulda…”

I think I may written earlier about Hollywood’s inside joke. It’s called the “Willhelm scream.” But I’ve found a little more information about how it’s linked to New Mexico. The “Wilhelm scream” is believed to have been first recordedby actor Sheb Wooly as a sound effect in the 1951 Western “Distant Drums.” It has beenContinue reading “Now where did I hear that before???”

Although I could not relocate the article, I recall reading an item from northern New Mexico recently in which local police said that an online post had incorrectly identified a woman who had been killed during a crime. The local authorities urged citizens to avoid getting information from unknown sources and rely directly on theContinue reading “Why real local reporting matters…”

This blog has featured several humorous signs that I’ve either heard about or spotted in my years of traveling throughout the Land of Enchantment. One that I’ll never forget was a roadside sign on U.S. 64 between Farmington and Shiprock. The crudely painted sign outside a booth made from juniper and pinon branches on theContinue reading “Um, thanks, but I’ll take care of that myself…”

A good friend recently sent me an article from a veterans group publication called “Together We Served” regarding use of camels by the U.S. Army in the Southwest in the mid 1800s. Given that camels and deserts go together like peanut butter and jelly, it wasn’t surprising to find out that many of these creaturesContinue reading “A “mule lobby” in Washington???”

I read with great sadness last week that the Roswell Daily Record is ceasing operations after 123 years of publication. It’s the second daily newspaper in our state to announce plans to shut down this year because of declining readership, rising costs and aging equipment. The Gallup Independent announced late this winter that it wasContinue reading “Who will be there to report the next UFO crash???”