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!



INSANE COOKING

The perfect way to get your guy to eat his salad.  And the bowl.



And it's low carb - bacon, lettuce and tomato minus the bread!

TWO SINGERS

It's always a pleasure to find a new young singer.  A splendid surprise yesterday was hearing Susie Arioli for the first time.  She's a Canadian singer based in Montreal and she has a great touch with jazz standards.  She's tough to find in the United States so enjoy.



The second find is a beautiful woman named Melody Gardot.  She wears dark glasses nearly all the time because of effects from a terrible accident in which she was struck by a vehicle while she was bicycling.  You can learn more about her by going here.

EMMA PEEL

For those of you (from yesterday's comments) who miss or may have missed Emma Peel from The Avengers, television program . .

In her fighting leathers

with her partner, John Steed

Unrequited romance always seemed in the air

And can one wonder why.

The initimable Diana Rigg, as Emma Peel.

By the way, at 74 she is still acting, most recently in The Game of Thrones on HBO.

THE ANSWER

The answer to yesterday's riddle is "animals."  Two horses, one man, one hog.




Oh, sure, a chorus of voices sang out.  "Fraud!"  And yes, you're right.  The correct answer, as nearly everyone knew, was "steed".

The first . . two steeds, or spirited horses.

The second . . British actor Patrick Macnee, who played Major The Honorable John Wickham Gascoyne Beresford Steed MC, OM, more popularly known as John Steed in the television series The Avengers.

And the third . . one I didn't know until yesterday . . the Honda Steed motorcycle.

So, my readers appear to be smarter than the old Catalyst.  Congratulations, all.



COMMONALITY?

What do these four have in common?

(The answer tomorrow!)

A STRATA

Sunday morning brunch dish.



My wife calls it a strata.  The recipe calls it a breakfast casserole.  Whatever.  Bread, eggs, sausage, cheese, green chiles.  It's a winner.

SATURDAY MORNING MUFFINS

First, credit where credit is due.  I swiped this recipe from Tess Kincaid, a blogger pal of mine near Columbus, Ohio.

They are banana blueberry muffins.



Fresh from the oven.

Mine didn't rise as much as the ones Tess made recently.  But I think that's because I'm at about a mile high elevation and I didn't make any adjustments to her recipe to accomodate that.  Still, they are delicious.

Thanks for the recipe, Tess.

A ROSE FOR LLORY

Years ago, I used to hang at the Spirit Room in Jerome, Arizona.  On one of my visits there the afternoon entertainment was provided by a band called Combo Deluxe.  The lead guitarist was Llory McDonald.  Along with her great instrumentality, she did a dead solid perfect Janis Joplin singing "Me and Bobby McGee."  Llory has been leading Combo Deluxe for a long time now.  I'm not sure where this was done but get a load of her guitar work.



Llory has played with Jerry Riopelle for years, especially at his New Year's Eve performances in Tempe, Arizona.  There is much more but you can read about it here.

Anyway, I was stunned to read in the morning paper that Llory has just been diagnosed with breast cancer.  I and many, many of her fans will be cheering her on in the coming duel.  We hope to hear her for many more years.

This one's for you, Llory.





THE 1952 VINCENT BLACK LIGHTNING



BLOW, GABRIEL, BLOW



See, it's a trumpet vine so I figured it was a good lead-in to the song by Patti Lupone.

O.K.   It's corny.

Stop me!

Well, it's one way to get rid of the pictures piling up in storage.



RUMORS

Lately our skies have looked like this, often.



And what do we get from this?

Diddly.

RED, WHITE AND BLUE



OLYMPIC (AND OTHER) GAMES

I spotted this picture from London on the Internet this morning.

It brought back a memory from over 20 years ago.  The BRD (Beautiful Rich Daughter) was visiting us when we lived in Guadalajara, Mexico, and we convinced two shy but obviously very pleased guards to pose with her.



Some years later, the BRD visited London . . . and you guessed it:



RAIN

This was out my back door last Tuesday.



Now that my new neighbors have unloaded their huge moving van and got most everything into their house, I want more of the above.

TOO DARN HOT

4:23 p.m. - 89 degrees F. - Humidity 25%

So if it is hot where you are, and how could it not be, here are some pictures to chill you down.

And the coolest of all, Mick Jagger, who turned 69 today!

Happy birthday, Mickster!  Stay cool!

OLD TIME ROCK AND ROLL

I just heard this on the radio on an oldies station as I was driving across town and had to post it.  Visually, it's not the best but it's not bad.  So turn up your speakers.  Way, way up.  Then get up on your feet and hit the play button.  Take a trip with Bullet Bob Seger!





THE SCAR

Such as it is.  The stitches came out of my arm this morning after my recent surgery to remove a squamos cell carcinoma.  If you're queasy about such things, you may want to skip the picture.  But in the interests of full disclosure I'm publishing it anyway.  You can't really tell much about it from the picture but SWMBO says it's about five inches long.  And the lab reports my dermatologist/surgeon got all of the cancer.  Let's hope I never get any more of it.  O.K.  If you're still reading, either brace yourselves or look away.

The nasty looking spot in the center of the scar was caused by a small water blister that formed, apparently as a reaction to the cutting.  Even though it's rosy around it, my doctor says he doesn't think it's an infection but to keep an eye on it.

Now I have to make up a good story for what the scar is from.  The medical assistant who removed the stitches suggested "a shark bite while surfing at Santa Cruz."  I like that.  The only problem is the doc did such a neat job on me the scar will probably just fade away.

SADNESS ABOUT MADNESS

What happened in Aurora, Colorado was . . . and unfortunately the word "again" must be inserted here . . . madness.  It leaves one speechless after the repetition of an act that occurs much too often in our country, in our world.  So . . hug your children and your other loved ones.  Find solace, perhaps, in the blessings of nature. 



STRANGE PHOTOS FOUND ON THE INTERNET

The Internet is a fount of information . . . and of weird stuff.  Here are some photos I've gleaned this week.



From 1923, a bunch of looneys posed on top of the Overhanging Rock in Yosemite National Park.  It's 3,300 feet straight down off the edge of that rock.

Then there is this photo of the writers Tom Wolfe and Kurt Vonnegut on a lifeguard tower.

And finally a delicious photo of the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.  See if you can pick out her trademark.



O.K. fellows.  Be honest now.  How many of you noticed Frida's famous unibrow?

Have a fantastic weekend everyone.

PURPLE-TUNIAS

At the BRD's house.