FRIDAY FUNNIES

Once again I am indebted to a F&FF (Friend and Faithful Follower) of Oddball for today's Friday Funnies. We grew up together and once upon a time we used to play golf on occasion. I was never very good and gave it up after a few years. But Jim has never forgotten those golden days on the fairways in the tall weeds of the rough and he sent me a great collection of golf cartoons yesterday.

So stand back, enjoy and as they say "Fore!" Or as they say up north . . .

And, as always, I close the Friday Funnies with a cat.

A special thank you to my ol' buddy, Jim. Everyone have a great weekend, keep it in the fairways and keep laughing!

THROWBACK THURSDAY

Back in the day, prior to 1998 when the Arizona Diamondbacks began playing professional baseball in the National League West, I was a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. And before they became the L.A. Dodgers in 1958 I was a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers, dating back to sometime in the 1940's. I'm not sure why because all the other men in my family were followers of the Cleveland Indians. But I liked loved the teams of Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Carl Furillo, Jackie Robinson, PeeWee Reese, Carl Erskine and many others. 

All of which is to explain why I, a hardcore Diamondbacks fan, am pictured in today's TBT post in an L.A. Dodgers tee shirt. From the 1970's or 1980's then . . .

The others in this photo are SWMBO (Judy), and artists Kristin and Lana Cochrun. Also a couple of saguaro cacti in the Great Sonoran Desert in Arizona. The picture was probably taken by my colleague of the late 60's and early 70's and long-time friend Tom Cochrun, who regular readers here will recognize as the proprietor of the blog Light Breezes.

And, no, I'm really not that much taller than the rest of them. I must have been standing on a rock.

(tick . . . tick . . .tick)

Back in the day (1996-2003) SWMBO and I used to run a new and used bookstore in Prescott Valley, BOOKENDS. From time to time, I used to wear this t-shirt in the store.

Guess what? Now that I'm fully retired I have all the time in the world and there are STILL too many books. I get mine from the local library these days.

And that's only a small percentage of what they have in stock.

Short post today. I've got to get back to my book.

TUESDAY TRAVELS

Stopped off at Mount Rushmore. Nope. My face isn't up there yet.

Even with these great legs. (I need some Skinny Boots!)

MEXICAN FOOD, ANYONE?

As you probably know "the Donald" was in Phoenix recently bloviating about Mexican illegal aliens but even more about himself - "I went to the Wharton School of Business. I'm, like a really smart person" - (Yes, he really did say that.) So I thought today would be a good day to update you on the progress of Hillary Clinton's favorite Mexican fast food restaurant here in Prescott Valley.

The signs are up, the exterior painting job is done and the town's Economic Development Manager Greg Fister tells me opening day is sometime in August. He also said about three quarters of that building is still for lease. Chipotle will only occupy the front quarter of the site.

(Actually I don't know that this is Hillary's favorite but she did stop at one in Maumee, Ohio, when she was making her drive from New York to Iowa in the early stages of her presidential campaign.)

Sorry about the quality of the photo. It came from the restaurant's security camera.

A SWEET SURPRISE

SWMBO is a careful grocery shopper. But she got taken the other day. She came home from the store with, among other things, some hot dog buns. Yesterday afternoon she told me she had used one for a sandwich to finish off her tuna salad and when she bit into it the bun was SWEET!

She said she had never tasted a hot dog bun like it and wondered what was going on.

So I went to look at the package.

Now granted they are potato buns but we've had them before and they aren't sweet.

But then I noticed the "fine print" words just to the left. Did you see them?

Yeah. Sweet Golden. One of the ingredients in these monsters was High-Fructose Corn Syrup, something SWMBO studiously tries to avoid.

Well, what to do? You can't just throw 7 hot dog buns away. That's where I suggested maybe make French Toast out of them. But she had a better idea.

Bread Pudding! Fresh out of the oven this morning. Some eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, a teensy bit of sugar and some dried sour cherries to add a touch of tartness and we were in business.

Let me tell you - that was the best use of Orowheat Sweet Golden Potato Hot Dog Buns I've ever tasted. Some crisp bacon and a cup of coffee was the ideal fast breaker this morning.

As I was finishing off my second helping, I told SWMBO "if you ever see those buns again, make sure you buy 'em!"

WATCHERS . . . AND FEEDBACK

I don't know whether they were watching a bird or a lizard or just enjoying some fresh air but Muggles and Blackwell don't usually get this close to one another.

Call it temporary peaceful coexistence.

A great joy of writing a blog is the comments and offerings I get from my readers. Some of them appear in the comment section on the blog itself, some of them appear as comments when I post the blog on Facebook, and some come in email.  I got two by email this morning. The first was from either Dan or Karen (there's never a signature and they often mail from the same address). It was a link to this web site. I think they may be giving me a hint for my Christmas shopping list.

The second email was from a friend of mine who had a long career as a UPI journalist before sinking his fangs in the state government thigh. Referencing yesterday's Friday Funnies, he said this:

Cartoon # 2. Toilet paper. The people not buying it are either stealing it, getting it free from their local food pantry for the poor or living in a holler and using corn cobs. (I have visited Harlan County, Ky., and it's true about the holler.) The other comments also are true. At least some of the thieves get their toilet rolls from restaurants and from bathrooms where they work. Some of the thieves are workers whose jobs include stocking the bathrooms of large buildings with toilet paper. And I know for a fact that the food pantries stock some nonfood necessities -- though I've never been to a food pantry except as a donor.

I didn't want to keep you in suspense. Feel free to inform your other readers.

I admire your persistence and dedication in running your blog. If I had a blog I'd want it to fill daily with advertisements that enriched me and I'd only peek at it occasionally to watch the money grow.

The next best thing is to get something for free and the Friday Funnies are -- so thank you.

Ed

Thank YOU, Ed. A man who's always had a wry sense of humor.

You, Faithful Followers, are what makes writing Oddball 

Observations worthwhile to me.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

There's something I should explain. I have two F&FF (Friends and Faithful Followers) named Lori. One is Lori in Seattle, the other is Lori down the block. I also have two F&FF named Tom. One is a Brit who lives in France, the other is a Hoosier who lives in California. And I have two F&FF named Steve. One is Baseball Steve who lives in Phoenix, the other is Steve from Oakland who lives in Germany. And then there's Stephen who lives in Oregon. And then there's Judy, who lives somewhere near me. And the most important Judy, who lives with me and goes by the monicker, SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed).

So don't get confused. I never do. (heh-heh)

I wonder whoever named the days of extreme heat throughout the land the "dog days". Must not have been anyone who knew cats well.

O.K. all of you F&FF, that's the Funnies for this week, you're on your own now. Just remember to keep laughing and have a fantastic weekend, (or what we retirees call "two normal days".)

THROWBACK THURSDAY

The early 1970's, when KPNX was still KTAR-TV. Producing a weekend newscast. I dressed better during the week.

Quit concentrating on the legs! Dig the pageboy haircut and the love beads. 

Ah, those were the days.

SKY SHOW

After yesterday's rain and hail storm the clouds were forming all around us yesterday evening.

In spite of these threatening clouds, we got no more rain from them. Somewhere I can imagine there was moisture but not where we live. Just an awesome performance by the clouds.

I get the same feeling from watching these immense cloud buildups as I do when seeing photos of our earth taken from space.

Tiny and insignificant.

A HARD RAIN'S A-GONNA FALL

Here we go again. Torrential rain and hail at midday in StoneRidge, Prescott Valley, today.

Must be monsoon season.

All pictures free to anyone who can use them. Please credit Bruce Taylor.

TUESDAY TRAVELS

Now where's that Cheney character??!!!

BIRTHDAYS AND EVICTION

There's an interesting collection of birthdays today. 

Nancy Reagan is 94. 

Della Reese is 84.

The Dalai Lama is 80. 

George W. Bush and Sylvester Stallone are 69. 

And, speaking of birthdays, the second trio of young warblers have finally left our front porch. Their parents built a nest atop one of the roof pillars.

Stupidly, when the first batch hatched and fledged, I didn't take the nest down.  So the mama bird, figuring she was popular, came back and laid three more eggs. Eventually the babies were born.

I said "stupidly" a few sentences back because while there are birds about, SWMBO refuses us to use the front patio, which has a table and a couple of chairs and is a thoroughly nice place to enjoy a cocktail in the evening.

These new chicks seemed to hang around the nest for an interminably long time before venturing out into the world.

So we hovered around the front windows watching for progress. When they finally fledged (one at a time) Blackwell joined us at the window staring intently at what he probably considered a tasty snack.

Their first day or two of freedom from their brothers and sisters is spent on our table or chairs, testing their wings and examining the world around them. For a short while they remain to be fed by their parents, as you can see in this short video.

Once they were all three fledged, I pulled the nest down and placed a brass vase in the spot to discourage further nest building.

But there are two more protected niches atop pillars so I took a couple of items from my brass Buddha collection and placed them on the other pillars.

As I told our friends, Rick and Lori from down the block, the porch is starting to resemble a temple! But as long as it keeps the birds from nesting. 

And, after three months of occupation by the warblers, I finally have my front porch back! Happy birthday, indeed.

RAINY WEEKEND

The monsoon has been good to us, rainwise, this year. It's been pouring here during the last hour. I would imagine there will be some flash flooding in the area but if people drive sensibly that shouldn't be a problem. And as the other day, here's what we'll have to look forward to once the rain stops and the sun peaks through the clouds once again.

I took this picture in our alley on Friday, which is garbage collection day, hence the rubber dumpsters cluttering up the view.

It's always nice to see a rainbow, even though that old Irish myth about a pot of gold at the end of one hasn't come true for me yet.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!