SMOKIN' SAT'DAY

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 TGIF!

Yes it is.

I know.

The days seem to fly by faster and faster.

For me as well as you.

So let's make the most of them.

Let's laugh a little.

So that's it for this week, ladies and gentlemen.

I hope you all, each and every one of you, will endeavor to have an energetic, not enervating, weekend.

And remember the sage words of the Catalyst: always keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(oh, c'mon, just try it, it's healthy!)

REMEMBER PIZZA PARTIES?

 Matty came rushing in the moment I opened the garage door this morning but I'll spare you another photo of him napping on the couch.

Instead I'll tempt your taste buds with a photo I found on my phone yesterday that I'd forgotten about

As you may recall, I prepare pizza most Friday evenings but not the way true pizza cooks do it.

Mine starts with a frozen pizza from the grocery store and is then "doctored" with more pepperoni, a mixture of diced mini-peppers, some mozzarella, sometimes some cherry tomatoes or red onion, and some basil and Parmesan cheese tossed on at the pre-slicing moment.

As I was beginning this post I was thrown back to the 1950's when pizza finally had made it's way to the cultural backwash where I grew up.

We college-age kids used to have what were called "pizza parties" where the pies would be created, baked and devoured while we listened to Duke Ellington and Dave Brubeck records.

We felt soooooo sophisticated!

I realize now that that was typical of many college sophomores of the era, full of "great wisdom" imparted by our reading Jack Kerouac, J.D. Salinger and dipping into some Kafka.

I remember reading "Metamorphosis" aloud to a friend as he drove us somewhere on a North Dakota highway.

That was long ago now in an increasingly fuzzier memory.

But I still love my Friday Night Pizza.

Have a slice!

RELAXATION

 Matty came by again today.

He had a snack and a drink and then headed for his favorite spot on our couch for a nap.

Do you think he's comfortable around us?

PASSAGES

 I read this morning that the French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo had died at the age of 88 in Paris.

Belmondo had a long and illustrious career in the European cinema and though he was famed worldwide he never made films in Hollywood, preferring to make his name in his homeland.

The movie that launched him as "the face of the New Wave" and won him comparisons to Marlon Brando and James Dean was the debut film of Jean-Luc Godard which was called "Breathless" by the English-speaking world.

Much of the movie was shot with a hand-held camera and was mostly ad-libbed by Belmondo and his co-star, the American Jean Seberg.

I don't think I'd ever seen the film so I found it on a streaming service and Judy and I watched it today.

Like most French films, it is very "talky" and seems at times like it's going nowhere but the beautiful faces of the actors command one's attention.

It has since been acclaimed as one of the best films of all time.

Seberg lived half of her life in France and died at the age of 40 in what police ruled as a probable suicide.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Well here we are again nearing the end of a momentous week.

Lots of developments, both national and local.

But my job is not to discuss those but to amuse you.

So "let me entertain you".

So I hope you're chuckling, snickering, laughing, guffawing and/or hee-hawing now.

If so I wish you a pleasant and charming and LONG holiday weekend.

Happy Labor Day and please labor to always keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(whoo . . .)

MATTY

 I haven't written about him for awhile so in case you've been wondering, our (neighbors') Rent-A-Cat still comes by for a snack and some catnip occasionally.

And less frequently of late Matty does curl up for a nap.

And I do mean "curl up".