I WONDER . . .

. . . if there's a vaccine for ignorance.

IN OTHER WORDS . . .

Am I appreciated?  Does anyone care?  Well do they?  Witness this message in an e-mail from my old buddy, Tom, who hosts Light Breezes from over in Cal-eye-for-nee-yay.

Post something. A day without Odball Observations is like a day without Anita Bryant---no, no, like a day without either sunshine or orange juice...probably sunshine since I rarely drink oj unless it has been fortified.


how do I know the eastern perimeter of cyber west is ok if I don't see it on OO?

So, taking old Tom's urging to heart, here I am.  What have I been thinking about lately?



Actually I haven't been thinking about that all that much but I do like the song.

It's been very rainy here this week with thundershowers nearly every day.  It sort of takes me back to when I lived in Phoenix.  After about two cloudy, rainy days in a row I'd be grumbling "doesn't the sun ever shine around here?"

(You may not want to read the next part if you're a conservative Republican.  Fair warning.)

I've been contemplating the wackiness going on in the Republican party this year.  Wide-eyed Michelle Bachman, feisty Rick Perry, the man with the weird ideas Ron Paul, a pizza man (?) Herman Cain, and the formerly perennial favorite that no one seems to like anymore Mitt Romney.  I mean, lord have mercy, what a crew!  Actually I guess I was unfair to Ron Paul.  They ALL seem to have a lot of crackpot ideas.  Jon Huntsman had seemed to be the most reasonable of the bunch up until that wild-ass Tea Party debate the other night when he said Perry's statements that Social Security might be unconstitutional sounded like treason to him.  Sheesh!  It's hard to figure out where to begin analyzing this crowd.  Analysis!  Maybe that's what they all need. 

Well, nuff said.  I'll bet even old Tom will start asking me to shut up again!

Front cover of today's New York Daily News.

AND THAT'S JAZZ!

Yes, gentle readers, I've been lazy again lately.  I guess you'll just have to get used to my absences.  I've been enjoying our cooler autumn weather.  But today's post will go from cool to red hot.

Let me explain.  I had never heard of Patricia Barber before this morning.  But I discovered her on my friend Dana's blog, Bug's Eve View.  I listened to the recording there and said "Wow!"  (I encourage you to visit her blog and listen to "Let It Rain", too.)  So then I went to You Tube and found Barber and her jazz quartet performing "Norwegian Wood".  Just give a listen.  Warning: it's 10 minutes long but the drum solo at the end is well worth the wait.  So, without further ado . . .

RAIN

Finally, after what seemed like a failed monsoon season, the rain came yesterday in short but recurring thunderstorms through the afternoon and early evening.  For my friends over in drought and fire ravaged Texas then here is the sight and sound of what you need.



So far today no rain but the temperature was just above 60 degrees when I got up this morning.  It feels wonderful.

PICANTE *

Asian Peppers

* Hotter than Hell

A FACE IN THE CLOUDS

Hmmmm.  I wonder what this means.