MEMORIAL DAY

Remembering those who served

SATURDAY BATH

THE 2015 ROBBY THE ROBOT

Doesn't look like he's got much personality, does he?

You might be surprised. Good old #3577 was a contestant in the first-ever Arizona Robotics State Tournament, which was being held today (Saturday) at the Prescott Valley Events Center.

And it's only the second state, after Minnesota, to have such an event.

Students from all over the state came to participate in the inaugural competition.

The budding young engineers of tomorrow found out about the event in January and have been building their robots and honing their skills ever since.

Some 30 teams were competing in the team challenge.

Once the games got underway, the operators controlled their robots from behind glass screens in a game called Recycle Rush, in which they were tasked to stack various containers atop each other and try to place pool noodles in holes in the tops. Even for robots, it's a tiring process.

So without further ado, the games got underway!

And let's hope no disparaging comments were heard from the robots, ala the computerized voice of Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

TGITFF! 

(Thank God It's The Friday Funnies!)

And guess what. It's the Memorial Day weekend. Time for barbecues, beers and babes in bikinis.

Well, at least for the younger set.

As for we older folk . . .

Some of you may have the long weekend spoiled by allergies.

Or not. 

But never fear, modern medicine can cure what ails you.

Or home cures. Remember, mother knows best.

Uh, that should be "...there ARE 10 servings ...".

Oh, well, the editor's job has been active for millenia.

Ah well, we superior beings have these problems seeing the frailties of mankind all around us and . . .

So, leave it to the kitties to wind this up.

As always, I am indebted to kind donors and unknowing theft victims for their contributions. The last photo belongs to my friend, bookseller and poet Forrest Proper, who probably didn't know I'd swiped it. Unless I'm mistaken that is his cat Pyewackett.

Have a great, long weekend folks, keep laughing, and . . if I may be serious for a second . . on the upcoming Memorial Day, remember the noble people who have served your countries in the military.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

Just a few years ago . . .

How the hell did I get into this mess?

I am definitely too old for this!

Good Old Dave

Tonight is the last David Letterman Late Show on CBS Television after 30-some years. David has been inundated with tributes ever since he announced his retirement and especially in the past week. So I thought I'd add my own.

As has been well documented through the years, Letterman hails from Indiana. Back in the period from 1969 to 1972, I worked at a radio station in Indianapolis. One of my colleagues was Tom Cochrun, who some of you know from his blog Light Breezes written and photographed from his retirement home in California. Tom, as it happens, was a fraternity brother of David Letterman at Ball State University. I met Dave at a party at Tom's home one night and found him to be as funny in person as he was on his gigs doing weather and hosting a weekend movie on a local t.v. station.

Somehow, Dave began doing occasional comic commentaries on the radio station Tom and I worked for.  He would write and phone them in from his home, someone at the station would record them and they'd go on the air. I'm not sure how long that lasted but I can still remember one of his classics.

As fans of Letterman know he has a quirky sense of humor.

In the center of downtown Indianapolis is a traffic circle, named Monument Circle for the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on it.

It is nearly 285 feet tall and is dedicated to Hoosiers (as Indianans are familiarly known) who have served in America's wars, dating back to the Revolutionary War. It is an iconic structure at the heart of an extremely patriotic city.

One bright sunny day, listeners to WIBC were startled to hear a special report from one David Letterman, announcing that the city - - apparently in a move to balance the budget - - had SOLD the monument. It would soon be dismantled, removed and shipped to the island of Guam where it would be painted green and reassembled to represent the official vegetable of Guam - - the asparagus!

The public outcry was tremendous. Telephone lines were jammed and media all over the city were flooded with calls from alarmed Hoosiers. How could the city leaders even think of doing this? I would imagine that Mayor Richard Lugar, later Senator Lugar, was wondering what the hell was going on as his office staff tried to deal with the alarm, the outrage, the indignity from the local citizenry.

Eventually, the truth was revealed and after a day or two things settled down. But I think young David Letterman was enjoying his prank as much or more than the rest of us who were in on the gag.

Well, Dave went off to Hollywood and eventually settled in New York City to provide bizarre entertainment to Late Night viewers for many years.

As all of his guests have said "so long, Dave, we're going to miss you."

(By the way, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. I wonder if Dave's stunt had anything to do with that.)

A BALL GAME SURPRISE

My baseball buddy Steve invited me to Phoenix last week for a Diamondbacks baseball game. I hadn't been to the old ball park for quite awhile so it was a treat. But we were both in for a surprise.

Midway through the game I was nudged and then handed a gift.

While we were watching the baseball game, a caricaturist who signs his name "Roger Pops" was watching me!

Apparently he does this at baseball games, unobtrusively sketching people at the ball games, then putting the finished product in a mylar cover and giving it to the subject.

You can just barely see his hands at work here down at the end of our row, beyond the fellow keeping score.

I took a photo of him later but to my great disappointment accidentally deleted it when I got home.

During the period between innings at the games the cameras scan the stands looking for something to put on the Jumbotron screen. With Steve and I holding up the picture next to my head and mugging and waving, one of the cameramen spotted us and there we were for our 15 minutes (more like a few seconds) of fame on the big screen for every one else in the stadium to see.  It was a kick.

Thanks Roger and thanks Steve!