Saturday, February 28, 2009

piano juggler



From December 31, 1989. I have this on tape somewhere, and I remember Johnny bringing him back a couple weeks later because he figured not many folks were watching TV New Years Eve.

I can juggle a little, but no wheres close to Daniel.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Steinbeck on his birthday(1902)

The dusk passed into dark and the desert stars came out in the soft sky, stars stabbing and sharp, with few points and rays to them, and the sky was velvet. And the heat changed. While the sun was up, it was a beating, flailing heat, but now the heat came from below, from the earth itself, and the heat was thick and muffling. The lights of the truck came on, and they illuminated a little blur of highway ahead, and a strip of desert on either side of the road. And sometimes eyes gleamed in the lights far ahead, but no animal showed in the lights.

~ John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, 1939

Thursday, February 26, 2009

rain or shine

Men of the U.S. Postal Service collecting from a sturdy mailbox.

I'm guessing around 1910, since that looks like a Columbia Touring car.

Reminds me, for some reason, of the narrator with that stern voice in Woody's Take The Money and Run, telling us about the convict doing hard time on the Federal charge of dancing with a mailman.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

jazz plumbing section

For a two or three-framed comic, I envision...

A trumpeter, in full tux with loosened tie, frantic at a hardware store display of kitchen plungers, searching for the perfect pitch, unscrewing handles and cutting a hole through trying to find the best mute, and finally, satisfied, out the door past a puzzled checkout girl, forgetting to pay, with a satisfied wah-waaaaah! out into the night.

Monday, February 23, 2009

diary

At at red light, saw a lady in car beside me reach across and slap kid in back seat. Driving away noticed specialty license plate, Kids First, designed with two small fingerprinted hands. Plate is for a trust fund towards programs for the prevention of child abuse and neglect.

On way home, was cut off in traffic by a matter of inches vs. a church van. Name on on back double doors: Pastor Moses.
I guess...not parting seas anymore, just cars.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Sunday laughtoons

As a kid...my favorite comic books were Hank Ketcham's Dennis The Menace. I still have 4 tucked away up in a closet, a bit dilapidated but holding together just fine, spanning 1967-69.

But there were diverse sides of Ketcham I've only recently discovered, including cartoon journalism.

Here's a couple random finds for a good laugh...




Friday, February 20, 2009

vagabond swimsuit issue


She
was
Summer,
after
all.



Marilyn
Monroe.
Long
Island,
1956
(Sam
Shaw)

Thursday, February 19, 2009

chimp down!

I heard the chimp that wrote the stimulus bill was shot dead. Does anyone know if the other 999,999 typing chimps are ok?


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

quiet little harmless motel

Harmless..Yeah. Right.
Kind of like...a harmless little shower.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

vertigo

Oh, hope you never get hit by it. I had my worst attack on waking this morning. You go into a spin in which there's no apparent end in sight to recover from. All equilibrium vanishes - the torque of the left side of your brain combats the accelerated motion of the right and you do a free fall that makes your heart pound harder than ever before.
And then a few moments later....you are just fine.

Friday, February 13, 2009

stories of love

Dear Reader, do you have a few favorite movies about love? Not so much romance, I mean, but...just love?

there's these three....

The Road Home
I've already boasted about this beauty, starring Zhang Ziyi.

Tender Mercies
Maybe an unusual choice, but there's something to say about the influence of a woman's love upon a man that hits bottom. Plus...there's that quiet marriage proposal that has to be the most non-movie like in the history of film.

To Kill A Mockingbird
Sure, why not.
It's about a man that loves his two children.
Hmmm....and another screenplay by Horton Foote



Saturday, February 7, 2009

James Whitmore 1921-2009

What a great actor! He was one of those that you just knew if you saw his name in the credits it would be a film worth watching. Kind of like Morgan Freeman - which made The Shawshank Redemption even better.
If you get a chance, see Give'Em Hell, Harry. It's not on dvd, but there are 2 showings on youtube.

NY Times Obit

Director William Wellman gave him a few lines in Battleground, and he wound up with an Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actor....

Monday, February 2, 2009

blogger silent poem reading



The Creation

When God had made the earth and sky
the flowers and the trees,
He then made all the animals
the fish, the birds and bees.

And when at last He'd finished
not one was quite the same.
He said, "I'll walk this world of mine
and give each one a name."

And so He traveled far and wide
and everywhere He went,
a little creature followed Him
until it's strength was spent.

When all were named upon the earth
and in the sky and sea,
the little creature said, "Dear Lord,
there's not one left for me."

Kindly the Father said to him,
"I've left you to the end.
I've turned my own name back to front
and called you dog, My friend."


Author Unknown

Sunday, February 1, 2009

melt

I must break this news to the local media before they get it wrong. This is a follow up to my post last week, snow. Just the facts. On one of the coldest days of the year a few weeks ago, I actually heard an on-the-spot TV reporter, wearing the channel's logo and a scarf, with straight white teeth say, "people are wearing coats."
Then followed a hard investigative report by another eyewitness news person as the snow fell last week, looking right into the camera with fierce determination proclaiming, "the streets are snow covered."

So, I'm here to tell you, "melting snow in the form of water appears to be heading in a sloping direction toward open drains."
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