EL GORDO

 I apologize.

I have been negligent in reporting on the Taylor Family Garden.

So today I have some (not very artistic) photos of our gourd plant.

It has successfully climbed the arbor and is now putting out mammoth gourds day after day.

At least they're mammoth to me, who has never grown a gourd.

(By the way, you'll notice I have included the window from which I take photos of the birds at the birdbath.

You will kindly NOT notice how dirty the window is.)

I keep wondering why the gourds don't fall to the ground but SWMBO says the stem is thick and strong.

I included my mitt in this last picture not because I'm proud of it but to give you some idea of the size of these things.

In my mind this plant shall always be known as El Gordo!

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".

A RAINY NIGHT

 The clouds were building in the early evening.

As I was standing, gazing into the backyard a bit ago, I noticed that there were several wet spots and I said to Judy that it looked as if it had rained.

She said it had and for quite awhile around 9 or 10 o'clock.

I slept through it.

THE WEAK-END

 I don't usually write about the news on this blog o'mine but this Monday morning I just feel a few events need my touch.

Afghanistan and our departure from a 20-year war there is about over.

Contrary to the views of a lot of politicians and pundits, I think the U.S. has handled our leave-taking about as well as was possible.

The Afghan government and military which we supposedly had built up and trained collapsed like a house of cards and the Taliban swept in and took over practically without a fight.

While they were in charge of security outside the airport in Kabul they let a mad bomber through and 13 Americans and hundreds of Afghans were killed.

Since then the U.S. forces have taken out several ISIS K whackos and stopped a handful of mortars while continuing to get Americans and Afghans out of the country; over 120 thousand now in about a week.

So I think President Biden needs to be cut a little slack.

Meantime, on the Gulf Coast of the home front, Hurricane Ida made a mess of much of Louisiana over the weekend.

All of New Orleans is without power but the levee system apparently held.

It's now a Tropical Storm and moving on up to the north.

A FOX news reporter decided to step out of a parking garage and demonstrate the force of the wind.

He was nearly blown off his feet and had to have help getting back into the protection of the garage.

And Sean Payton, the coach of the New Orleans Saints, announced that the team would continue practicing this coming week in Dallas, Texas, and stay away from home for awhile.

For some people, that's serious!

For others of us, the sad news was that Ed Asner died on Sunday.

The exemplary actor lived to 91, entertaining us with both comedy and drama roles and winning award after award.

My pal, Easy Ed, wrote this morning that he and his wife had just been watching Asner in a one-man show called "A Man and His Prostate".

He said it is hilarious.

I think I'd have to see that to believe that, though all the reviews describe it the same way.

And finally, on the home front, we had a marvelous dinner yesterday of Chicken Marsala and a Quinoa-and-Brown-Rice mix seasoned with garlic.

Both items came already cooked in packages from Costco.

It took about 10 minutes to prepare (heat) and it was absolutely delicious.

So the news from this corner isn't all bad on this Monday.

I hope yours is just as good.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 We had an increasingly more and more irritated bulldog in our yard for many hours yesterday.

It was one of several canines belonging to a neighbor and she apparently had jumped to the top of a concrete block wall and then jumped or fallen nearly six feet to our yard.

And she couldn't get out.

And she didn't know us.

And she growled menacingly whenever we tried to approach her.

Finally, late in the afternoon the neighbor lady came home, found my note on her front door and called one of her sons to come across town and take care of the situation.

He did, the dog was very glad to see him and apparently a barricade was built on the other side of the wall to prevent this from happening again.

And do you know what yesterday was?

The Day of the Dog.

I kid you not.

But today is Friday and I intend to kid you now.

Okay, Gentle Readers, that's about all I've got for this week.

Now try your darndest to have a delightful weekend and always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .