THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

The Friday Funnies kick off another weekend with the sorta sad tale of a homeless man.

Wise guys finish last.

Continuing right along, there's a common theme to this next bunch. I call it "Six Reasons Not To Mess With Mother Nature."

If that hasn't convinced you to stay safely inside the four walls of your house, take it from the obligatory cat picture.

And with that last comment purring in your ears, let me just add A BIG THANK YOU to my contributors this week.  You know who you are.  Have a great weekend, folks, and . . . keep laughing!

THROWBACK THURSDAY

I can't be exactly sure where or when this photo was taken but I'm suspecting it was in Austin, Texas sometime between late October of 1991, when we returned from our sojourn in Mexico, and mid 1993, when we returned to Arizona.  Hint: the framed picture which is the one I posted just last week of our 20th anniversary.  That photo was taken on April 7th, 1991 and we left Mexico the following October.

Computer historians will note the age of that c.p.u. and monitor on the desk and the green letters on the screen.

And longtime fans of Oddball Observations may recognize our beloved Chulapay, the (sorta) Siamese cat who climbed up to be with his master (and under the warmth of that lamp!)

The brownish-blonde hair and the reddish-brown beard?  I remember them well. 

BLUE SKIES

As I have said too many times to count, when it snows in my part of Arizona it never lasts very long.  Before a day or two the temperatures have risen, the skies have cleared and the snow is melted away.  Yesterday's snow barely had a chance to stick to the ground and today it's back to temperatures climbing into the 50's, sunshine and plenty of blue skies.

And speaking of changes, who would have thought . . years ago . . that a raspy-voiced British rock star would become a ballad singer? Who indeed?

SNOW AGAIN?

8:00 this morning in my neighborhood.  (Arizona foothills)

THE BEARD - #7

All right, folks, here it comes.  

The 7th and (to paraphrase what Tina and Amy said on the Golden Globes last night) the last photo of The Beard.  

It has reached a point where I don't feel further progress reports are necessary.

And just to satisfy all those thousands of you who have been begging me for a smile . . .

Kind of looks more like a grimace to me.

Like someone who has just eaten something he didn't like the taste of but is trying to make his hostess happy.

And for those of you without instant recall, here's how this whole thing started out.

Your very own Catalyst on December 1st, contemplating growing his beard out.

Thanks for watching!

FIERY FOLIAGE

These three photos are all of the same plant in our back yard, lit by the sun to blazing glory.

As usual I forget the name of it but it's a dazzler.

And finally, the innermost view.

The last one reminds me of Br'er Rabbit's plaintive cry from that Uncle Remus book of my youth, "Oh, please, don't throw me in that briar patch!"

I LOVE A RAINY . . UH . . .DAY!

A rainy day in my part of Arizona.

Just to put some music to it . . .