We plan to get the last of the decorating done this week, hopefully in the next day or three. So this evening I worked on decorating the mantle. I cleared off everything but the lamp, put up the long two-by-four with the cup hooks for the stockings, and placed on top of that the big wooden nativity set my stepfather made for us years ago on his scroll saw. I added the lighted garland, and it all looks festive. There's really only a few finishing touches to go.
While I was doing this, it occurred to me that I usually put on Christmas music while I decorate indoors. But this time what I was hearing was a lot of weird sound effects; my youngest daughter was playing a video game. Otherwise cute cartoon characters were giving off mournful wails and groans as they entered combat and blasted each other to destruction.
I'm not quite sure what it all means, but anyway, Merry Christmas.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
It's that time of year again
I assume they held the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade again, but I didn't tune in to any of it. Early in the day, my wife went to her mom's to help prepare the festivities, and I got up sorta kinda early to see if I could finish up my leaf blowing and outdoor Christmas light connecting. The front part of the house looks good now, and all the lights in front are in place except for a string of 50 LED lights destined for a bush near our door. Just ran out of time, before it was time to go over to Thanksgiving dinner.
It was a small, simple gathering, six of us, but we all had our favorite Thanksgiving fare. It was a quiet, restful afternoon and evening.
Not much else to say, but I did want to re-post a link to what I wrote on Thanksgiving 2008. I'll even ask the question again...what characters would you like to see made into those big Macy's Thanksgiving helium balloons?
It was a small, simple gathering, six of us, but we all had our favorite Thanksgiving fare. It was a quiet, restful afternoon and evening.
Not much else to say, but I did want to re-post a link to what I wrote on Thanksgiving 2008. I'll even ask the question again...what characters would you like to see made into those big Macy's Thanksgiving helium balloons?
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Why click?
One of the things on my home page is Space.com, and if you pause your cursor arrow over a line of text, the first few words of the article will appear.
Just a few minutes ago, I saw this: How big is Venus?
I already had a good idea of the answer, but I was curious what they'd say.
When I "moused over", this appeared: Venus is slightly smaller than Earth.
And really, what else would I need to know? It's not like I'm planning to move there.
Just a few minutes ago, I saw this: How big is Venus?
I already had a good idea of the answer, but I was curious what they'd say.
When I "moused over", this appeared: Venus is slightly smaller than Earth.
And really, what else would I need to know? It's not like I'm planning to move there.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Mike's Birthday: What not to do
It’s likely that Mike will celebrate his birthday today in a subdued manner at his home, Subdued Manor. But I could be wrong about that, any time now there might be a big crowd of revelers arriving for the festivities.
And you just might be one of them!
Is there anything better than celebrating with good friends, good conversation, and great dessert? And is there anything worse than the sudden realization that you just did or said exactly the wrong thing, brought the celebration to a screeching halt, and now everyone’s staring at you with their mouths open, dumbfounded?
Forewarned is forearmed as they say, and if you’ll give me your attention for just a bit, maybe I can help prevent any embarrassing moments.
It could be that you want to bring a CD to share some music, and you may be asking, “what kind of music does Mike like”? I think it’s safe to say that he knows more about the contemporary Christian music scene than I do, and while I don’t know his favorites, that would probably be a good genre to choose from. He’s also listened to a lot of what they used to call “top 40” rock music. I think he would enjoy most anything by the Beatles, and I’ve heard him speak well of Billy Joel. Van Morrison would be a great choice, of course. And if you have a copy of Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh, bring it on and let the party begin!
Think twice about bringing your Pink Floyd collection, though. A few seconds of Floyd might seem like hours to Mike. And the band Rush is right out. You might be shown the door for that.
Mike loves to talk about baseball, and a conversation about the Saint Louis Cardinals is always a hit. But if you happen to be a fan of “the team that shall not be mentioned by name” (think big city, small bears), it’s probably just as well to keep silent about that.
Mike also follows the news, but you want to take care bringing up just any old item. Say, maybe you’ve been following a story about a city somewhere where the people have long endured a major crime spree, and the heck of it is that the police force is as corrupt as the criminals; the poor decent souls have lost hope. There might be a better time than a birthday party to mention that.
After all, in a big city like Gotham, Batman would never allow such a situation to drag on that long. He would have dealt with it on day one.
And speaking of that, you might have thought of surprising Mike by arriving in costume. That seems creative, but you want to choose wisely. If I were you, I’d walk right past the Joker, Riddler, Penguin, and Catwoman costumes and say, no thanks. Even if they are in the reduced bin marked half off for quick sale.
Mike always likes a good clean joke, but he’s already heard the one where a cat, a monkey, and Indiana Jones walk into a bar. Just sayin’.
I’m sure there will be dessert. But if you want to bring extra {considering the crowd of people and all), well that’s considerate of you and it would be appreciated.
If you don’t bring some kind of weird sour pickle dessert, that is. This is the day for chocolate mayonnaise cake. Oh, and don’t eat all of Mike’s cake. Not only is that bad manners, you probably won’t be invited back next year.
One other thing, Mike isn’t all that enthusiastic about fireworks. I know, that’s hard to believe, but it’s true nonetheless. Sure, maybe a few sparklers would be fun for a few minutes.
Outdoors.
But hours worth of firecrackers, cone fountains, Roman candles, artillery shells, and missile barrages? All those sparks and popping and booming, into the small hours of the morning? Mike can do without all that. He’d rather call it a day at a decent hour, and get a good night’s rest.
After all, some people have to get up early in the morning.
Please join with me in wishing Mike a Happy Birthday!
And you just might be one of them!
Is there anything better than celebrating with good friends, good conversation, and great dessert? And is there anything worse than the sudden realization that you just did or said exactly the wrong thing, brought the celebration to a screeching halt, and now everyone’s staring at you with their mouths open, dumbfounded?
Forewarned is forearmed as they say, and if you’ll give me your attention for just a bit, maybe I can help prevent any embarrassing moments.
It could be that you want to bring a CD to share some music, and you may be asking, “what kind of music does Mike like”? I think it’s safe to say that he knows more about the contemporary Christian music scene than I do, and while I don’t know his favorites, that would probably be a good genre to choose from. He’s also listened to a lot of what they used to call “top 40” rock music. I think he would enjoy most anything by the Beatles, and I’ve heard him speak well of Billy Joel. Van Morrison would be a great choice, of course. And if you have a copy of Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh, bring it on and let the party begin!
Think twice about bringing your Pink Floyd collection, though. A few seconds of Floyd might seem like hours to Mike. And the band Rush is right out. You might be shown the door for that.
Mike loves to talk about baseball, and a conversation about the Saint Louis Cardinals is always a hit. But if you happen to be a fan of “the team that shall not be mentioned by name” (think big city, small bears), it’s probably just as well to keep silent about that.
Mike also follows the news, but you want to take care bringing up just any old item. Say, maybe you’ve been following a story about a city somewhere where the people have long endured a major crime spree, and the heck of it is that the police force is as corrupt as the criminals; the poor decent souls have lost hope. There might be a better time than a birthday party to mention that.
After all, in a big city like Gotham, Batman would never allow such a situation to drag on that long. He would have dealt with it on day one.
And speaking of that, you might have thought of surprising Mike by arriving in costume. That seems creative, but you want to choose wisely. If I were you, I’d walk right past the Joker, Riddler, Penguin, and Catwoman costumes and say, no thanks. Even if they are in the reduced bin marked half off for quick sale.
Mike always likes a good clean joke, but he’s already heard the one where a cat, a monkey, and Indiana Jones walk into a bar. Just sayin’.
I’m sure there will be dessert. But if you want to bring extra {considering the crowd of people and all), well that’s considerate of you and it would be appreciated.
If you don’t bring some kind of weird sour pickle dessert, that is. This is the day for chocolate mayonnaise cake. Oh, and don’t eat all of Mike’s cake. Not only is that bad manners, you probably won’t be invited back next year.
One other thing, Mike isn’t all that enthusiastic about fireworks. I know, that’s hard to believe, but it’s true nonetheless. Sure, maybe a few sparklers would be fun for a few minutes.
Outdoors.
But hours worth of firecrackers, cone fountains, Roman candles, artillery shells, and missile barrages? All those sparks and popping and booming, into the small hours of the morning? Mike can do without all that. He’d rather call it a day at a decent hour, and get a good night’s rest.
After all, some people have to get up early in the morning.
Please join with me in wishing Mike a Happy Birthday!
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Happy Father's Day 2012
So, what to do here? I've written years ago some memories of my Dad, a simple link to that old post here shall suffice, if you want to read, or re-read what I wrote. That was focused and personal, fond and happy memories.
Father's day can be many other things though. I'm a father of four great kids, and the three local ones helped me celebrate this evening with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce in waffle bowls. I also had a wonderful conversation with my eldest daughter in California; I always enjoy it when she calls.
There's also the realization of other men, perhaps friends at church, or uncles, cousins, brothers-in-law, and other relatives, and seeing their relationships with their families (I thought of going family-tree-style, and posting photos of several of my male relatives with other family members. I'm thinking I'll still do that, but getting those photos organized will take longer and go later than I want tonight). So there may be a part two to this.
On my way here to post, I happened to notice on my Blogger Dashboard that my Cousin Mike had posted some neat memories and photos of his Dad, my Uncle P. J., on his blog "Central Standard". Mike also posed a question that was raised by one of his friends...
"If you could spend one day again with your Dad, which day would it be"?
That's a great question, and my first thought was of an afternoon when I was sitting in the radio room (now the computer room), in fact, within a foot of where I'm sitting now. Dad was telling stories of when he was a boy and watched an air show in, I think, Detroit. I don't quite remember all the details, so I might well want to revisit that time and get Dad's stories on my tape recorder. And maybe ask a few more questions.
Or, I might want to go back to a quiet family moment in Poppy's living room, which I've written about here. Not a word was spoken for a while but I was young, we were all in reasonably good health, it was so peaceful, and I had not a care in the world.
Then again...there was the time we had traveled down to the farm to visit Poppy (my Mom's Dad, if you're new here and wish to keep score). On this trip we had brought along some floor tiles as the old linoleum was getting really worn out. I was in my Uncle Bud's room reading comic books for quite a while, so the project was already under way when I walked into the hallway. Dad had started to glue down the new tiles in the living room, which surprised me. I said, "Oh, so you don't scrape up the old linoleum first"? With a straight face Dad replied, "No, we'll just add a new layer every time, and eventually we'll have to scuttle around like this"! He then demonstrated the "scuttle" by hunching his back over and taking a few steps at about half running speed. That was, far and away, the funniest thing I ever saw and heard him do, it totally cracked me up!
Dad's good humor was of the dry sort, delivered unexpectedly. I didn't hear him laugh often. But...there was the one time when I brought my (then) girlfriend home and announced to Mom and Dad that we were engaged. Dad's face just lit up, and that was a laugh of joy. That might be the day I'd re-visit, for a number of good reasons.
Boy, it would sure be hard to pick just one.
Father's day can be many other things though. I'm a father of four great kids, and the three local ones helped me celebrate this evening with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce in waffle bowls. I also had a wonderful conversation with my eldest daughter in California; I always enjoy it when she calls.
There's also the realization of other men, perhaps friends at church, or uncles, cousins, brothers-in-law, and other relatives, and seeing their relationships with their families (I thought of going family-tree-style, and posting photos of several of my male relatives with other family members. I'm thinking I'll still do that, but getting those photos organized will take longer and go later than I want tonight). So there may be a part two to this.
On my way here to post, I happened to notice on my Blogger Dashboard that my Cousin Mike had posted some neat memories and photos of his Dad, my Uncle P. J., on his blog "Central Standard". Mike also posed a question that was raised by one of his friends...
"If you could spend one day again with your Dad, which day would it be"?
That's a great question, and my first thought was of an afternoon when I was sitting in the radio room (now the computer room), in fact, within a foot of where I'm sitting now. Dad was telling stories of when he was a boy and watched an air show in, I think, Detroit. I don't quite remember all the details, so I might well want to revisit that time and get Dad's stories on my tape recorder. And maybe ask a few more questions.
Or, I might want to go back to a quiet family moment in Poppy's living room, which I've written about here. Not a word was spoken for a while but I was young, we were all in reasonably good health, it was so peaceful, and I had not a care in the world.
Then again...there was the time we had traveled down to the farm to visit Poppy (my Mom's Dad, if you're new here and wish to keep score). On this trip we had brought along some floor tiles as the old linoleum was getting really worn out. I was in my Uncle Bud's room reading comic books for quite a while, so the project was already under way when I walked into the hallway. Dad had started to glue down the new tiles in the living room, which surprised me. I said, "Oh, so you don't scrape up the old linoleum first"? With a straight face Dad replied, "No, we'll just add a new layer every time, and eventually we'll have to scuttle around like this"! He then demonstrated the "scuttle" by hunching his back over and taking a few steps at about half running speed. That was, far and away, the funniest thing I ever saw and heard him do, it totally cracked me up!
Dad's good humor was of the dry sort, delivered unexpectedly. I didn't hear him laugh often. But...there was the one time when I brought my (then) girlfriend home and announced to Mom and Dad that we were engaged. Dad's face just lit up, and that was a laugh of joy. That might be the day I'd re-visit, for a number of good reasons.
Boy, it would sure be hard to pick just one.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Cable drummer boy (updated and bumped)
(Note: I cannot claim to be a fan of Levon Helm's or The Band, in fact, I know very little about them. However I did write about him a while back for reasons, I hope, will be plain in the post. I thought it worth re-posting in light of the passing of Helm today. - Mike)
I'm sure most people with cable TV notice that there are all kinds of channels that broadcast programming of, shall we say, limited appeal. Some of them look like they were shot inside someone's house using lamps with the shades taken off for some really harsh lighting. And they look that way because it was shot inside someone's house using lamps with the shades taken off for some really harsh lighting.
For example, take this one program on Mediacom here in Springfield. It was shot in a nightclub and the focus of the program is the musical act that is performing there. More specifically, the subject seems to be this scraggly, old drummer with a gravelly voice who does all the lead singing. I watched it a for a few minutes and I thought, "Eh." They're probably some regional act that does all the hotspots in the college towns around here. And they probably drink up all their profits.
The things they show on TV.
And, it's interesting, in view of the discussion of popular music here at "The Porch" lately. Many of the acts that we admire would be old, gravelly and scraggly, like the drummer on this cable show. I heard a new Bob Seger song the other day and you can definitely hear some age in his voice.
Cousin Bob posted his list of favorite songs from 1973 and we've been having fun with it. He listed "Dancing In The Moonlight" by King Harvest and someone from that group was kind enough to reply and we got a kick out of that. Later, I posted in response and playfully asked Bob if his new friends, King Harvest, would explain how their name came about. Lo and behold! I got a reply from them! What generous and friendly people! It's an interesting story.
"In 1970 we made a last minute entry into a R&R contest in Paris, France. They asked for our band's name, which we had not yet decided on. On the stereo we had one of our favorite albums by The Band playing. The song was King Harvest Has Surely Come. So we gave them King Harvest as a name. As it turned out we won the contest and never changed the name. Two years later, still in Paris, we recorded Dancing in the Moonlight."
I think that is a cool story and it's a good band name. I think a lot of creativity is like this - it just happens, it's not forced.
So, in reading this reply, I had a thought. The record was by a group called The Band? That sort of rang a bell, so I did what any self-respecting person would do at this moment, I Googled. (I Google, therefore I am?)
I Googled "the band king harvest has come" and up came the typical Google page with lots links. At the top was a You Tube video of the song, so I clicked it and about 20 seconds later, I was floored.
The video opens with a shot of a cabin and the camera zooms in to look through the window. At about :20, I recognized someone. I recognized this bobbing head and the shrugging shoulders. I recognized the inelegant twisting neck so the singer could line up with a microphone.
It was the scraggly old drummer from the show on my local cable provider! Only he wasn't so old in this video! Amazing! You mean this guy on my local cable was SOMEBODY?
Quick! More Googling! I Googled The Band and got the Wikipedia page. (There is a sentence that would have been meaningless 10 years ago!) I saw a picture of The Band and their names. And I saw it! Levon Helm! He's the drummer for The Band and he's the drummer on my cable show! I remember seeing it when the credits rolled!
So, Levon Helm was the drummer for The Band and they recorded a song called King Harvest Has Come which inspired a nameless band in Paris to name themselves King Harvest and two years later they recorded "Dancing In The Moonlight" which my cousin listed as one of his favorite songs from 1973 on this blog and somebody from the band King Harvest replied to that and then I asked a question and they answered with a story about The Band and I looked it up and saw the drummer from my cable show was not a club guy but a real rock and roll pro, the drummer for The Band. Amazing.
Did I just win "Six Degrees of King Harvest"?
(Originally posted October, 2008)
I'm sure most people with cable TV notice that there are all kinds of channels that broadcast programming of, shall we say, limited appeal. Some of them look like they were shot inside someone's house using lamps with the shades taken off for some really harsh lighting. And they look that way because it was shot inside someone's house using lamps with the shades taken off for some really harsh lighting.
For example, take this one program on Mediacom here in Springfield. It was shot in a nightclub and the focus of the program is the musical act that is performing there. More specifically, the subject seems to be this scraggly, old drummer with a gravelly voice who does all the lead singing. I watched it a for a few minutes and I thought, "Eh." They're probably some regional act that does all the hotspots in the college towns around here. And they probably drink up all their profits.
The things they show on TV.
And, it's interesting, in view of the discussion of popular music here at "The Porch" lately. Many of the acts that we admire would be old, gravelly and scraggly, like the drummer on this cable show. I heard a new Bob Seger song the other day and you can definitely hear some age in his voice.
Cousin Bob posted his list of favorite songs from 1973 and we've been having fun with it. He listed "Dancing In The Moonlight" by King Harvest and someone from that group was kind enough to reply and we got a kick out of that. Later, I posted in response and playfully asked Bob if his new friends, King Harvest, would explain how their name came about. Lo and behold! I got a reply from them! What generous and friendly people! It's an interesting story.
"In 1970 we made a last minute entry into a R&R contest in Paris, France. They asked for our band's name, which we had not yet decided on. On the stereo we had one of our favorite albums by The Band playing. The song was King Harvest Has Surely Come. So we gave them King Harvest as a name. As it turned out we won the contest and never changed the name. Two years later, still in Paris, we recorded Dancing in the Moonlight."
I think that is a cool story and it's a good band name. I think a lot of creativity is like this - it just happens, it's not forced.
So, in reading this reply, I had a thought. The record was by a group called The Band? That sort of rang a bell, so I did what any self-respecting person would do at this moment, I Googled. (I Google, therefore I am?)
I Googled "the band king harvest has come" and up came the typical Google page with lots links. At the top was a You Tube video of the song, so I clicked it and about 20 seconds later, I was floored.
The video opens with a shot of a cabin and the camera zooms in to look through the window. At about :20, I recognized someone. I recognized this bobbing head and the shrugging shoulders. I recognized the inelegant twisting neck so the singer could line up with a microphone.
It was the scraggly old drummer from the show on my local cable provider! Only he wasn't so old in this video! Amazing! You mean this guy on my local cable was SOMEBODY?
Quick! More Googling! I Googled The Band and got the Wikipedia page. (There is a sentence that would have been meaningless 10 years ago!) I saw a picture of The Band and their names. And I saw it! Levon Helm! He's the drummer for The Band and he's the drummer on my cable show! I remember seeing it when the credits rolled!
So, Levon Helm was the drummer for The Band and they recorded a song called King Harvest Has Come which inspired a nameless band in Paris to name themselves King Harvest and two years later they recorded "Dancing In The Moonlight" which my cousin listed as one of his favorite songs from 1973 on this blog and somebody from the band King Harvest replied to that and then I asked a question and they answered with a story about The Band and I looked it up and saw the drummer from my cable show was not a club guy but a real rock and roll pro, the drummer for The Band. Amazing.
Did I just win "Six Degrees of King Harvest"?
(Originally posted October, 2008)
Saturday, March 17, 2012
One Saint Patrick's Day
Last year for St. Patrick’s, my wife, my son, my youngest daughter and I went to a place in Shawnee Kansas called Waxy O’Shea’s, for lunch and to listen to some great Irish music. Our son is home from Missouri State, so we decided since we each enjoyed the outing so much last year, we’d do that again. My wife couldn’t find a calendar on their website, so we weren’t sure what music, if any, would be there. We decided we’d drive over and check it out anyway. If there wasn’t live music, or if the lines were too long, we’d make the decision – stay and wait our turn for supper, or go elsewhere. At the last minute before we left home, my wife found an Applebee’s gift card and put it in her purse, just in case.
That turned out to be a good idea.
We drove into the parking lot and immediately saw the sign on the building:
SPACE AVAILABLE.
Now if I understand those letters right, in that order, it means, “Nobody Home, We’re Closed Now”. Our other clue was all the plywood on the windows…The Shawnee location of Waxy O’Shea’s was no more.
My wife had noticed an Applebee’s when we passed it earlier, so we went there and were well treated. No Irish music, though.
On our way back to Missouri, I’d listen from time to time to the conversation between my wife and daughter in the back seat. I don’t always quite hear what’s being said and I’m not sure what it was about, but one thing I heard sounded like “butterbean”.
Hmmm…that could be a fun name for a story character.
“Dear, you had a call while you were out, a Mister Butterbean.”
“Was it Charles Butterbean?”
“No…that doesn’t sound right.”
“Was it George, then?”
“Yes, that’s it, George Butterbean. He said you’d know what it was about.”
“Okay, I’ll call him back.”
George Butterbean is the founder of Butterbean and Associates, importers of all kinds of hard to find items of value. I could say many of the items were impossible to find, but I’d have to leave it at that. It would be wise if I said no more.
George had recently turned over the daily operation of the business to his son Charles. One thing I learned early was to never, and I mean never, call him Charlie. He really hates that, so it’s Charles or C. W.
I had a pretty good idea of what the call was about, and I had been expecting and dreading it. I couldn’t ignore the call (business is business, after all), and while I was glad it was George rather than Charles who called, I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to become involved.
Call it a premonition, if you must. I’ve really got to start paying attention to those…
That turned out to be a good idea.
We drove into the parking lot and immediately saw the sign on the building:
SPACE AVAILABLE.
Now if I understand those letters right, in that order, it means, “Nobody Home, We’re Closed Now”. Our other clue was all the plywood on the windows…The Shawnee location of Waxy O’Shea’s was no more.
My wife had noticed an Applebee’s when we passed it earlier, so we went there and were well treated. No Irish music, though.
On our way back to Missouri, I’d listen from time to time to the conversation between my wife and daughter in the back seat. I don’t always quite hear what’s being said and I’m not sure what it was about, but one thing I heard sounded like “butterbean”.
Hmmm…that could be a fun name for a story character.
“Dear, you had a call while you were out, a Mister Butterbean.”
“Was it Charles Butterbean?”
“No…that doesn’t sound right.”
“Was it George, then?”
“Yes, that’s it, George Butterbean. He said you’d know what it was about.”
“Okay, I’ll call him back.”
George Butterbean is the founder of Butterbean and Associates, importers of all kinds of hard to find items of value. I could say many of the items were impossible to find, but I’d have to leave it at that. It would be wise if I said no more.
George had recently turned over the daily operation of the business to his son Charles. One thing I learned early was to never, and I mean never, call him Charlie. He really hates that, so it’s Charles or C. W.
I had a pretty good idea of what the call was about, and I had been expecting and dreading it. I couldn’t ignore the call (business is business, after all), and while I was glad it was George rather than Charles who called, I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to become involved.
Call it a premonition, if you must. I’ve really got to start paying attention to those…
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Pet peeves
I was thinking about this subject recently, and it could be that you can learn something about a person by knowing what really annoys them. Now, I realize I might be “stepping on the toes” of some readers, but I decided this just might be blog worthy. So please take no offense if your mileage varies, as they say. At least I spared you my rant about planned obsolescence (for now). These aren’t ranked, just written down in the order I thought of them; and I'm sure this list isn't complete. Anyway, here's a few of...
Bob’s Pet Peeves
Having sleeves or pant legs turn inside out when I take them off.
I don’t know why this bugs me – and it doesn’t happen often - but I’ll go to great lengths and even risk a fall to shake my legs out of my pants when the pant legs start trying to turn inside out. It even bothers me a bit to find pants or jeans turned inside out like that in the laundry.
“Are you a dog person or a cat person”?
Hey, I’m friendly with other people’s cats, though I wouldn’t have one. I do like dogs, and I get it about the love and affection. But, I’m a bird person! I don’t like it that somehow our choices of pets seem to have been narrowed to only two.
I’ve had a total of six parakeets over the years. One could say just a few words and three were good talkers, but they all brought a whole lot of cheerfulness to the home. It seems that fewer people keep birds now than in years past, and it’s a shame. They’re missing out.
“Mother nature”.
Give me a break. If you’re an athiest, don’t personalize natural laws. If you’re a Christian, give glory to God and His works. There is no goddess.
“What’s your sign”?
I don’t hear this much anymore, but in the past when asked, my reply was “Don’t Even Think About Parking Here”. I’m a Christian, and I’ve studied and enjoyed astronomy. So don’t even get me started on that astrology nonsense. If you happen to find out when my birthday is, well you did, that’s all. If you want to make something of it, I’m not playing that game.
“The weatherman never gets the forecast right. Why, I shoveled three inches of partly cloudy this morning”!
They’re not always right, but weather forecasts are a whole lot more accurate now than they were 30 years ago. Give them some credit, okay?
Hats or caps with the label “one size fits all”.
What an immense, dastardly lie, they all cut off at about size 7-1/2 at most. I wish I had more hats to wear, but I need at least a 7-7/8 or size 8, and they’re very, very difficult to find.
Chocloate Easter bunnies, or cookies with cute faces on them.
Hey, just give me a plain cookie or a chocolate bar and spare me the twisted comments about “You bit his ears off first”.
Going to a pizza party where all the choices are some kind of “meat lovers” or “combo” or “supreme”.
You know the kind, with the flesh of several assorted beasts and every oddball vegetable under the sun (olives...shudder), including the latest variety of tongue searing pepper. (Also mushrooms...shudder.) Is it too much to ask that there be maybe one simple Canadian bacon or an even simpler cheese pizza? Apparently, sometimes, it is too much to ask.
By the way, what is a pepperoni anyway? Judging by its cross section, it’s some kind of round or tubular critter. I get this mental image of several cute little furry pepperoni, happily bounding through the meadow on a sunny spring day...while stealthy hunters approach with their clubs.
The poor little innocent things.
So readers...what are your pet peeves? Curious minds want to know.
Bob’s Pet Peeves
Having sleeves or pant legs turn inside out when I take them off.
I don’t know why this bugs me – and it doesn’t happen often - but I’ll go to great lengths and even risk a fall to shake my legs out of my pants when the pant legs start trying to turn inside out. It even bothers me a bit to find pants or jeans turned inside out like that in the laundry.
“Are you a dog person or a cat person”?
Hey, I’m friendly with other people’s cats, though I wouldn’t have one. I do like dogs, and I get it about the love and affection. But, I’m a bird person! I don’t like it that somehow our choices of pets seem to have been narrowed to only two.
I’ve had a total of six parakeets over the years. One could say just a few words and three were good talkers, but they all brought a whole lot of cheerfulness to the home. It seems that fewer people keep birds now than in years past, and it’s a shame. They’re missing out.
“Mother nature”.
Give me a break. If you’re an athiest, don’t personalize natural laws. If you’re a Christian, give glory to God and His works. There is no goddess.
“What’s your sign”?
I don’t hear this much anymore, but in the past when asked, my reply was “Don’t Even Think About Parking Here”. I’m a Christian, and I’ve studied and enjoyed astronomy. So don’t even get me started on that astrology nonsense. If you happen to find out when my birthday is, well you did, that’s all. If you want to make something of it, I’m not playing that game.
“The weatherman never gets the forecast right. Why, I shoveled three inches of partly cloudy this morning”!
They’re not always right, but weather forecasts are a whole lot more accurate now than they were 30 years ago. Give them some credit, okay?
Hats or caps with the label “one size fits all”.
What an immense, dastardly lie, they all cut off at about size 7-1/2 at most. I wish I had more hats to wear, but I need at least a 7-7/8 or size 8, and they’re very, very difficult to find.
Chocloate Easter bunnies, or cookies with cute faces on them.
Hey, just give me a plain cookie or a chocolate bar and spare me the twisted comments about “You bit his ears off first”.
Going to a pizza party where all the choices are some kind of “meat lovers” or “combo” or “supreme”.
You know the kind, with the flesh of several assorted beasts and every oddball vegetable under the sun (olives...shudder), including the latest variety of tongue searing pepper. (Also mushrooms...shudder.) Is it too much to ask that there be maybe one simple Canadian bacon or an even simpler cheese pizza? Apparently, sometimes, it is too much to ask.
By the way, what is a pepperoni anyway? Judging by its cross section, it’s some kind of round or tubular critter. I get this mental image of several cute little furry pepperoni, happily bounding through the meadow on a sunny spring day...while stealthy hunters approach with their clubs.
The poor little innocent things.
So readers...what are your pet peeves? Curious minds want to know.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
The Department of Old Things Found, part 4
Here's another one from the small spiral notebook I found recently. It's what I call the...
Little Electron Guys
Or, Life In the Circuitry, if you prefer.
I don't recall that I had a particular reason to draw the electron people in a teardrop shape, but it seemed to work. These guys are everywhere, as you can tell - there's a whole bunch of them looking out of the control room windows of the phonograph cartridge in the lower right.
If I remember right, my idea was to draw a series of these showing electrons at work in their world inside electronic circuits. Those of you with an electronics background can figure out which component I had in mind next to the guard with the gun, under the "Single File" sign.
Oh and for the record, I can tell from the notebook that I drew this in late 1978, or at the latest, maybe early 1979. So I wasn't inspired by "Tron", which didn't come out until 1982. I think it was just a random thought. What if electrons were people running through the circuitry?
I remember that I had fun sketching this.
P.S. and speaking of cartoonists, in honor of "Mad's maddest artist", Don Martin, I wish one and all a Happy National Gorilla-Suit Day!
Little Electron Guys
Or, Life In the Circuitry, if you prefer.
I don't recall that I had a particular reason to draw the electron people in a teardrop shape, but it seemed to work. These guys are everywhere, as you can tell - there's a whole bunch of them looking out of the control room windows of the phonograph cartridge in the lower right.
If I remember right, my idea was to draw a series of these showing electrons at work in their world inside electronic circuits. Those of you with an electronics background can figure out which component I had in mind next to the guard with the gun, under the "Single File" sign.
Oh and for the record, I can tell from the notebook that I drew this in late 1978, or at the latest, maybe early 1979. So I wasn't inspired by "Tron", which didn't come out until 1982. I think it was just a random thought. What if electrons were people running through the circuitry?
I remember that I had fun sketching this.
P.S. and speaking of cartoonists, in honor of "Mad's maddest artist", Don Martin, I wish one and all a Happy National Gorilla-Suit Day!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Department of Old Things Found, part 3
I've been going through a drawer, sorting out old papers I no longer need or want; so far I've thrown a fistful into the bag we have for paper recycling. I did come across a keeper, a small spiral notebook from the late 1970s.
See, back then when I'd get an idea for a cartoon I'd open my notebook, and quickly sketch what I had in mind. I guess I was more spontaneous than I am today...now I tend to worry the little details to death.
I think I need to somehow get back to my former way of creating things. Anyway, for your amusement, here's...
Halloween 1978!
See, back then when I'd get an idea for a cartoon I'd open my notebook, and quickly sketch what I had in mind. I guess I was more spontaneous than I am today...now I tend to worry the little details to death.
I think I need to somehow get back to my former way of creating things. Anyway, for your amusement, here's...
Halloween 1978!
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