ANOTHER MILESTONE (not millstone)

As I have been reminded many times this morning, I am now marking the beginning of my 76th* year on this planet.

Gadfrey!

I shouldn't complain, though.

Some of my friends are aging, too, and these shots are from A YEAR AGO!

It's curious but the older one gets the more birthday greetings one seems to get.

Ah well, I'll just settle down and see what SWMBO cooks up for my special dinner.

So, Gentle Readers, as I say every Friday, you just have to keep on laughing.

Now, where's that darned cat?

* - After I posted this, my friend (?) DK emailed me to point out that I am actually beginning my 77th year. She reminded me that my first year was completed when I became one year old. I feel so much better now. :^(

A SURE SIGN OF SPRING

The calendar says it's Spring.

Warmer temperatures say it's Spring.

The singing birds say it's Spring.

The budding and then leafing out of the trees say it's Spring.

Torrential rainstorms and tornadoes and sudden snow storms in the "other parts of the country" say it's Spring.

But here's a sure sign it's Spring.

When the big box stores like Home Depot and Lowe's put out pots of flowering plants, tempting you to do some gardening.

We'll still get some cooler weather but as the waning days of April move past and May rapidly approaches, it may be safe to plant.

(SWMBO filled three pots on our patio with herb plants the other day.)

A couple of smaller and lower photinia plants are full of blossoms in the back yard.

Yes, I believe Spring has sprung.

Which always reminds me of a bit of roadside doggerel from Burma Shave signs of my youth.

Spring has sprung

The grass has riz

Where last year's

Careless Drivers is

--Burma Shave--

FRIDAY FUNNIES

I read this morning that today is Jack Nicholson's 79th birthday.

Is that funny?

Oh, well then let's get on with the Friday Funnies.

On that yummy note, I'll wrap up this week's edition.

(Tip: Look for something special in Sunday's post.)

In the meantime thanks, Gentle Readers, for the contribitions, have a positively incredible weekend and always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

My "glory" days in television news.

Being mentored by Bob MacLeod at KFYR-TV in Bismarck, North Dakota. (1960's)

The young TV anchorman.

Matching Madras and sunglasses. Me as KFYR's News Director with photographer Bob Barclay.

Trying to catch a few winks during a commercial break while covering a political convention with a killer hangover.

In those early days I did everything, including shooting film with a Bolex at a fire scene.

Just after interviewing Vice-President Hubert Humphrey as he ran for President in 1968.

But I think I was more thrilled to meet Chet Huntley.

Moving right along now. Here I'm producing a newscast at KTAR-TV in Phoenix.

It was obviously a Saturday - save your comments about my shorts, I've heard 'em all.

It was the great 70's - check my "love beads" and long hair.

In my "foreign correspondent" garb, doing a stand-up at a Vietnamese refugee camp in Northern California. 

By this time KTAR-TV had become KPNX-TV but still was Channel 12 in Phoenix.

This was more fun.

Interviewing Alice Cooper, poolside at the Del Webb TownHouse on the afternoon of a concert.

He was very accomodating said he liked golf and listened to Burt Bacharach music in his off-performance hours.

Field producing our coverage of the Sandra Day O'Connor confirmation hearings to the Supreme Court, with reporter Ron Talley. 

The last time I saw Ron his hair was snow white and he told me he'd been confused for Newt Gingrich.

Nearing the end of my run.

Field producing our coverage of the Republican National Convention in Dallas, 1984.

Y'gotta have a Stetson in Texas, right?

It was the middle of summer, blazing hot inside and frigid in the convention hall.

I caught a miserable cold and suffered through the week.

Badges? We don't need no steenking badges!

Or do we.

I collected quite a few over 30 years in "the business".

HEY, SHRIMP!

Springtime is a great time for these.

Sauteed shrimp.

Actually, any time is a good time for shrimp.

We had these for our anniversary dinner at home a couple of weeks ago.

They are Smoked Paprika Shrimp and they were served over creamy Parmesan couscous.

For some reason the couscous were rather bland.

SWMBO said they could have been "kicked up a notch", as Emeril would say.

But the shrimp were delicious.

We'll try this dish again.

TUESDAY TRAVELS

Me and my buddy, Captain Jack Sparrow.

In reality, the pirates are only cardboard cutouts in a shop in the Pike Place Market in Seattle.

I find it hard to believe but our visit there to spend some time with our friend, Lori, and her husband, Dick, was 10 years ago!

By the way, I WAS in a movie with Johnny Depp back in the early 1990's but it was long before Captain Jack.

It was "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and it was filmed around Austin, Texas, where I was living then and I got a chance to be an extra.

This year's Oscar winner for best actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, also was in that film.

But getting back to Seattle, who doesn't love the Pike Place Market.

Lots of good eating there.

Speaking of which, we had drinks and lunch one day at the ultimate Seattle tourist destination, high atop the Space Needle.

Nice view.

And Lori and Dick have a nice view from the balcony of their condominium, too.

Sometimes it looks like everyone in town owns a boat.

Even though it's relatively close, there is one sight that is rarely seen in Seattle because of the frequent cloudy days.

It's Mount Rainier.

But we were lucky with sunshine when we were there and one day we caught sight of it.

We met Lori when we lived in Mexico and have remained friends with her ever since.

Regular readers of this blog should know that she supplies lots of the material for my Friday Funnies postings.

And she was a great hostess for our trip to the Pacific Northwest in 2006.

HOT TIP

It's not really a hot tip. 

I just wrote that to get you to look at this.

It is one of the Red Tip Photinia trees in our yard.

They are in full bloom right now.

The tiny white flowers look kind of like snowballs on the trees from a distance.

Up close you can see how delicate they are.

The flowers appear in early Spring and will last until late Spring or early Summer.

One of my neighbors has a variety that is kept well-trimmed for a hedge.

You can see from it why the plant is called the Red Tip Photinia.

The red of the plant provides a nice contrast to the green leafed tree behind it.

Kind of like Christmas in April, isn't it?