IT'S FRIDAY . . . HERE'S BRUCE'S BLUES JAM!

Just to show you that not all blues music has to be blue, here's the master himself, B.B. King.



Then there's sort of a mixed blues.  Hard to tell whether this one is happy or sad.  From a long time back, Loudon Wainwright III.



Then there's a virtuoso performance by a great Texas blues shouter, Miss Janis Joplin.  I warn you . . some of you may not like this.  She is definitely over the top on this one.



And finally, one of my favorites - Miss Francine Reed - performing with the Lyle Lovett Large Band.  Wild Women Don't Get the Blues.



It kind of reminds me of the motto embroidered on a throw pillow in the office of Helen Gurley Brown at Cosmopolitan magazine - "Good girls go to Heaven, Bad girls go everywhere!"

Have a good weekend, folks.

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

We had to have Jazz put down a few weeks ago.  She had become incontinent and nothing we tried seemed to help.  If you've ever had an incontinent pet, you know the agony of having to clean up after her once or more every day.  So, after 8 years we tearfully said goodbye.

Jazz was our box-cat.  Any empty box on the floor became a home for her.

Even ones she couldn't get all of herself into.



She liked to jump up and stretch out on the back of my chair and if I invited her, she'd come down to my lap.



I don't know what she was thinking when she curled up in a bathroom sink one day but I know if we had turned the water on that scowl would have gotten fiercer and she would have fled.

She was a good little cat.  And she stayed little all her life.  As Blackwell evolved from a scarred up tiny kitten into a big, brawny male cat . . she seemed to grow more and more terrified of him.  But that's over now and we will remember our sweet Jazz.

So now it's time for the crocodile tears to end.  After all we still have two cats.



Big old Blackwell.

And his playmate, the lovable Muggles.

I'VE BEEN TO MEMPHIS



MISCELLANY

If you're a fan of some outrageous humor, as I am, you should check out Odd, Good, True which is written by my pal Cupcake Murphy.  She has a weird but very satisfying sense of humor and a beautiful dog named Cooper who is prominent in her posts.  Tell her I sent you.

Speaking of outrageous humor, there's the Romney-Ryan ticket, giving employment to comedians everywhere.

If you like your politics a little more hard-edged, check out Flight Plan by Scott from Dallas, Texas.  He's a true 2012 Angry Young Man.

Look at Dana's dinner from last night.  As I commented, it even looks good to a carnivore like me.  Yum!

Speaking of dinner, SWMBO just informed me that I'm making these to go with her chicken tonight.



Those are called Crispy Smashed Potatoes.  You can, as I did, find a recipe for them here.  Mine won't be as pretty as these because I'm using white potatoes.  (or is that "potatos?"  Damned Dan Quayle got me confused.)

O.K.  That's enough for today.  I have to rest up now for my stint in the kitchen later.  La-ti-dah!

MONDAY STUFF

Comes Monday and I'm usually desperate for something to blog about.  Some Mondays and some other days, for that matter, I just don't post anything.  But today I was in Prescott and got a look at the location of the Bird Cage saloon, Pearl's Place Cafe, and the Prescott Food Store - all of which were destroyed in a fire on Whiskey Row May 8th.

The view is from the parking garage looking toward Montezuma Street.  Once the three businesses were cleaned out of anything worth salvaging, the building was demolished.  There's no word yet on whether the three businesses will rebuild on the site, locate somewhere else or just forget about it.

* * * * *

Now, on a lighter note, please enjoy this video.



HOORAY!

The Olympics are over!  Now can we get back to reality, NBC?

That is - "America's Got Talent" and "Stars Earn Stripes".

Actually I had my Olympic moment this afternoon when I accidentally turned on NBC in time to see the last few miles of the marathon race.  An athlete from Uganda beat two Kenyans for the Gold.  Now, that's entertainment.

THANK YOU, MITT!