THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 I got up a little after 11 o'clock last night to look for the vaunted Lunar Eclipse and couldn't see it out of any of our windows.

Then I was up again sometime after 4 o'clock this morning and saw what appeared, without my spectacles, to be a full moon shining brightly.

I guess my view of the astronomical event was . . . eclipsed.

Meantime in Washington, Kevin McCarthy was talking.

And talking.

And talking.

It seems like a good time for some laughter.

I hope you found some lightness in your attitudes from these feeble attempts at comedy.

Once more thanks to all of my contributors.

These weekly forays into frivolity would not be possible without you.

Now everyone listen up: enjoy yourselves greatly these next few days as we all brace for the big day of feasting, football and family feuds.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

PLAN AHEAD

 Well, I hope you're ready.

The big Feasting Day of the year is only a week away now.

When I was a wee lad, there was always a huge bronzed bird placed on the table in front of my carving-knife-armed father.

In later years, Judy and I scaled it back to a turkey breast, both favoring white meat over dark.

And in many years of late, having learned that she doesn't really like turkey, our Thanksgiving meal has become a roast pork tenderloin.

The sides remain generally intact though.

Well, whatever way you do it, it's time to be getting prepared.

Good luck.

CROWS VS. RAVENS

 No, it's not another blog post about football or some other sport.

I know when to quit.

This is about a matter of controversy in the field of ornithology.

Now in case you've forgotten your high school studies, ornithology is defined as a branch of zoology dealing with the study of birds.

And today we are going to solve a long-standing argument about those big black birds.

Specifically, crows and ravens, and which is which.

I have long railed at people who call them all "crows", when frequently the bird they've spotted is a "raven".

My way of identifying the two is pretty simple.

Crows stick to the countryside while ravens are more social and come into town to raid your dumpsters and hang around your parking lots.

But today a friend has sent me a new method of differentiating between the two species and I hereby offer it to all of you.

I have chosen to keep my friend's identity private to prevent him from being shunned in public places.

A NEW WEEK

 How was your weekend?

Better than mine, I hope.

Yeah, it's football season, when one's favorite team gets sandbagged.

My mighty Arizona Cardinals were beaten, routed even, by a team that was a huge underdog.

But "my" ASU Sun Devils pulled out another great fourth quarter on Saturday to mark another victory in their pretty good season.

So I guess you could call it a draw.

But you didn't come here to hear about football.

I know that many, if not most of you don't even follow sports.

And that's fine.

Lessee, what else is new.

Oh I tried a new recipe the other day and cooked a Mushroom Stroganoff which came out pretty good.

SWMBO and I were discussing it and I said I'd been watching a cooking show on television and the lady made a Ground Beef Stroganoff and she included mushrooms and said every stroganoff had to have mushrooms.

I said I hadn't previously known that and said that my Mushroom Stroganoff was kind of strange, then, wasn't it?

Judy said she thought that when I was talking about making it for days ahead of time but she wasn't going to say anything and she thought it was delicious after the fact so . . what the hey?

I do kind of get a bit tense when I'm trying a new recipe but I think I've found just the thing to ease that and I'm offering to share it with you in case you have "a case of the nerves".

It's just in time too.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 If you're an extremely intelligent and discerning reading public, you may notice an anomaly.

The title of this blog is "The Friday Funnies".

Nothing odd about that.

It's the same title I use *every* Friday.

But there's something wrong here.

The dateline says "Thursday".

Now you may think your computer has gone completely nuts.

Or you may believe that *you* have gone the same direction.

Ah, fear not, Gentle Readers.

It's my problem, you see.

I'm putting this blog post together last night.

That is, Thursday night.

And I can't figure out how to change the date so you know what?

The hell with it!

You haven't gotten lost in time and space because I won't actually post this until today.

Er, that is, Friday.

Gadfrey!

(Surprise! Blogger DID change the dateline so you can now ignore all of the above. Sheesh!)

Oh, one other thing.

You will see no cartoons today because I've decided to clean out my Humor (Humour to some of you) File and make this an All Words Day.

I hope you'll find some humor/humour in them.

Are you eyes tired of all that reading?

Okay, you can relax now.

Well, not totally.

You still have one task ahead of you.

Work extremely hard to have an absolutely wonderful weekend, all right?

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(Special guest appearance by Hemingway and Sunny, two of the three owners of my pal Tommy Terrific, sharing a box.)

NO SURPRISE

 As I wrote yesterday I didn't think yesterday's Abba-Kiss/abacus brain teaser would actually fool anyone.

And I was right!

Tommy Terrific gets the (imaginary) huge prize for posting the right answer in 7 minutes.

SEVEN MINUTES, ladies and gentlemen!

And he probably didn't see it right away so I'll just guess the answer came to him instantly.

As for William's mock grouchy comment, I'm thinkin' that 7th circle of hell may be getting pretty full with all those he condemns to it.

But like all of us he has his rights and his freedom to do what he wishes.

Which reminds me. Judy and I got our Covid Booster shots yesterday so once again we are protected.

But we're still wearing our masks in public.

(Is Halloween over?)

Well enough rambling on from me.

No brain teaser today, just something for you to think about.

And plan for, maybe.

Who's having a party?

SOLVED! (and another???)

 Okay, Gentle Readers, let the agonizing suspense come to an end.

I know you've all been on tenterhooks, wracking your brains trying to figure out Brain Teaser 3.

So let me solve it for you and give you a rest.

Geo. gets the honor of being the first to solve it, sort of, with his guess of "a pandemic mask for Singers."

But the grand prize (actually there ISN'T any grand prize) will go to Boots and Braids, who correctly identified it as "The Masked Singer"!

Congratulations, B&B!

And for those of you still in the dark, that's a Singer sewing machine wearing a surgical mask (I never knew you could get them in that lovely lilac shade) and it's a reference to a television show called "The Masked Singer"!

Don't feel bad if you've never seen it.

Neither have I.

But needless to say, this apparently fooled exactly no one and everybody got it in record time.

So as a reward, here's one more.

I've got a feeling I'll be revealing this one tomorrow to exactly no one.

PUBLIC ART

 There's a new piece of public art in my town, Prescott Valley, Arizona, which pays tribute to the past.

Rising more than 18 feet near the town library, it is known as the Jenkins Obelisk.

Created by the local bronze sculptor Ed Reilly, it came about because of a half-million dollar gift to the city from the estate of Ray and Jeanne Jenkins.

Bronze panels on the sides of the obelisk depict the Yavapai Apache who first lived in the area; gold miners who discovered riches here; and the ranchers who settled the land and who work here still.

It's a fine addition to the artworks which surround the community buildings.

BRAIN TEASER 3

 I don't know what posseses me to keep challenging you like this.

It could be my whimsical nature.

It could be my encouragement of amusement.

It could be . . .

It could be . . .

It could be . . .

Hmmm, maybe it's my laughter at mental torture.

Whatever it is, here's another one.

And bravo to you if you figure this one out.

(No points if you've already seen it.)

Solution on Tuesday.

BRAIN TEASER 2

 For those of you who didn't get enough of Luther's Reeses last week, and especially for Crosstown Lori, who said I should post more of those type of puzzles . . but easier, try this one.

And tell me how long it took you to get it.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 We come together to the end of another trying week, eh, Dorm Buddies?

The Lutherans, the Catholics and the Reeses eaters among us.

My very own stepdaughter, the BRD, railed at me over that damnable Wednesday Brain Teaser, pointing out that the candy shown wasn't Reeses Pieces anyway, but Reeses peanut butter cups.

So, with great humility and shame, I take it upon myself to throw caution to the winds and tell you of another of my great Halloween loves, a love many of you do not share: candy corn; and show what you haters out there advise how to enjoy it.

That one was gifted to me from another of my humor purveyors, Comical Carol.

I am so fortunate to have such sneering faithful friends.

But now let us get on to the business at hand: The Friday Funnies.

 

And finally, this next one is my favorite this week.

Take it from a guy who has owned a couple of Impalas in his time.

Well, that's it, Gentle Readers, you're on your own now.

But please have a ginormously great weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(awwwww . . .)

(Special thanks to Baseball Steve for that one!)

THE ANSWER

 I titled yesterday's post a brain teaser and for most of you who commented it apparently was just that.

My friend Wally, who sent the toon to me, suggested last night that perhaps a bit of a history lesson was in the works.

I agree so here it is.

October 31st is Halloween, no dispute on that.

It arose from an old Celtic celebration called Samhain, marked by the wearing of costumes and gathering around bonfires to ward off ghosts.

Later on the Roman Catholic church declared November 1st to be All Saints Day and the night before to be All Hallows Eve and later Halloween.

Now legend has it that in 1517 a monk in Wittenberg, Germany chose that evening to nail his 95 grievances with the Catholic church to the church door because he knew the church would be full of worshippers the next day.

That monk was Martin Luther and his act is seen as the opening act of Reformation, or the split between the Catholic and Protestant churches.

Hence, Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to a church door.

Now, speeding up the time machine radically, we come to 2021 and what do we see?

Halloween and 95 candy bags nailed (tacked) to a door behind a pumpkin adorned with the face of . . . Martin Luther!

So, 1517 Halloween, Martin Luther and his 95 Theses.

2021 Halloween, Martin Luther and his 95 Reeses.

It's a pun, folks, a visual pun.

And with that, let us put it to rest and take a look at some autumnal foliage around my town.

BRAIN TEASER

 My most regular supplier of humor for this blog hit me with a late-ish Halloween treat yesterday.

It took each of us a little time to figure it out.

Let's hear how long it takes you Gentle Readers to solve the puzzle.

Be honest now.

ESP

 

(With thanks to my mainstay, Wacky Wally!)

Dia de los Muertos

 

The Day of the Dead is celebrated not as a period of mourning but as one or two days of joyful celebration, supposedly when the souls of the deceased come back to visit their family and enjoy the food and drink that they loved in life.

Marigolds with their bright color are displayed widely to lighten the path back through the darkness.

These, from our yard, are not the typical flower used in Mexico.

The so-called Aztec Marigold has a round shape like a Chrysanthemum but the same bright color.

These sprang up along the edge of the patio, apparently from seed spilled from our tomato barrel.

Apparently they enjoy the abundant Arizona sunshine.

But getting back to the day(s) of the dead in Mexico, November 1st is traditionally a day to remember children that have died and November 2nd for adults.

Cemeteries are decorated and altars are built at homes.

And everywhere can be seen the bright golden color of the marigolds.