THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Oh, gosh, what a dark dreary day it was yesterday.

And the day before.

SWMBO said she was sure it was going to rain for two reasons.

The first was the way the sky looked.

The second was the way her joints felt.

But there came no rain, just wind and temperatures about 20 degrees cooler than a few days before.

Up and down, up and down.

As I said to someone today, "It's Arizona."

At any rate it has not caused my sense of humor to freeze up.

Which is why you're getting these:

Oh those guys!

Well even if we can't get away from them and their corny puns, try your dangdest to have a sparkling weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . oh, NOOOO . . .)

HERE, BIRDIE-BIRDIE

 

Finally got the bird bath installed in its new location off the side patio, joining the Monja and the Blue Cat.

SWMBO said the sealant on it wouldn't be ready until Tax Day but I guess she got as impatient as me and we cheated by a few days.

Now to get the birds interested in it.

THE SEASONS

 After waiting so long and so impatiently for Spring to finally come we launched this week into an early Summer.

The temperature climbed to 80 degrees here yesterday and nearly reached 100 down in Phoenix.

Today is expected to be much the same.

All of which made these flowering fruit trees all the more pleasant a couple of days ago.

Coincidentally a couple of white cars were passing just as I took the photograph.

EASTER DINNER

 'Twas a fine day at the Taylors' Table.

Salad Plate

Cucumbers, Plum Tomatoes, Jicama

Taíjin Clásico Seasoning

Bacon-topped Roast Pork

Mashed Potatoes & Pork Gravy

Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Apples

Asparagus

Blueberry Clafoutis

HAPPY EASTER

 Yesterday in a local grocery store, the ladies in the flower selling area had gotten into the mood.

I asked if I could take their photo.

I hope your day is a good one. 

A FULL DECK

 Yesterday was Good Friday.

And it was a good one for a special couple.

No, not them, although they are cute.

I'm talkin' about THIS couple.

Those last two are representative of our motto here at camp: Always Keep Laughing!

This one was taken in San Antonio Tlayacapan, Jalisco, Mexico as we were celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary.

I said at the beginning of this post that yesterday was a good day for this couple.

Because we were celebrating again.

I asked my bride yesterday evening if she'd had a good anniversary.

When she responded in the affirmative I said, "Great! Let's go for another 20!"

I think that's when she fainted.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Now I know we've all been having a lot of fun this week but it's STILL the day for Laughter and Levity.

So let's turn those frowns upside down and enjoy it.

And here's another reason to smile: all that sacrificing (some of) you did for Lent?

It's almost over!

(Giving credit where credit is due: I swiped that one from Jolly Jeff)

Will he ever run out of Trekkie Titillation?

No, probably not.

So you Jews, Passover is nearly halfway over.

And you Muslims, Ramadan, though longer, is about the same.

And you Christians in the crowd, Easter is only two days away.

So mark your observances, my friends, but try your hardest to have a sensational weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . yup . . .)

MORE ABOUT BIL KEANE

My story the other day about Bil Keane, which was prompted by Sharon's mentioning him on her blog, just keeps producing.

I received an email yesterday from a long time friend, the journalist and author down in The Big Valley Sam Lowe.

Sam and I first met many, many, many years ago in our home state of North Dakota.

Somehow we both ended up working in Phoenix, me for a t.v. station and Sam for a newspaper or two.

I asked him if I could repeat the story he emailed me and he said, "Sure, just make sure you spell my name right."

So here goes.

-----------------------------------

Your story about Bil Keane reminded me of my initial meeting with him.

I was just fresh from North Dakota, working at the Scottsdale Progress, when Keane introduced a dog named Sam into his cartoons.

I took mock offense at this and muttered that there should be more famous people named Sam, not so many dogs.

My boss said, "Well, call Bil up and tell him about it" and I responded, "Oh, sure, call up somebody as famous as Bil Keane."

And he said, "Sure, he's in the phone book."

So I looked and sure enough, there he was.

So with much apprehension I called and he answered with "This is Bil", (with only one "l").

So he invited me to his home to meet Sam.

He was a most gracious gentleman and always remembered the incident when we'd meet in the ensuing years.

Am attaching a photo to back up my story.

        Sam (the human one)

(left to right: Bil, Sam, and Sam)

Sam's story shows his sense of humor and foretells the career that has seen him write not only newspaper columns and articles but also a hefty pile of books.

Thanks, Sam.

Proud to call you a friend.

SKETCHY

 I wrote yesterday that I would show you another piece hanging below the Bil Keane cartoon on my wall.

It's a sketch of yours truly in 2015.

I was attending a Diamondbacks game with my pal, Baseball Steve, at Chase Field in Phoenix.

Unbeknownst to me, there was a sketch artist sitting half a dozen seats away and he apparently became transfixed by my movie star looks and drew a picture of me.

The first I knew of it was when the stranger sitting next to me handed me the sketch.

It had been passed down by the artist.

I was stunned and upon having him pointed out to me I went to where he was sitting, thanked him and asked him how much he wanted for it.

He steadfastly and smilingly refused any payment.

Back in my seat, the inning came to an end and cameras throughout the park roamed looking for something to put on the Jumbotron until the game resumed.

I held up the sketch alongside my head and, lo and behold, the cameraman found me and within seconds I was on a huge screen seen throughout the ballpark.

It was a great laugh and when the game was over I once again approached the artist and tried to pay him and again he refused any payment, shook my hand and sent me on my way.

But there's more to this story which I just learned today.

I cropped down the artist's signature to see if I could figure out his name.

I never had before.

Using my secret cryptoanalogy skills, today I made it out to be "Roger Pops".

Then I went to the all-knowing Google and amazingly I learned his real name.

It is Roger Johnston but he sketches here and there as Roger Pops and here's a photo of him I found on Instagram.

I recognized his smiling face.

So now you know the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say on his radio programs.

Thanks, again, Roger.

One other thing.

In a previous home I used to have an entire wall display of photographs and badges from my (somewhat) illustrious broadcasting career.

Judy named it and I kept it: Bruce's Trophy Wall.

A GIFT FROM BIL

 My blogger friend, Sharon, has a post today that gave me an idea for this post.

(You can see her post here.)

I, too, own an autographed Bil Keane cartoon.

And, by the way, he did spell his first name with only one "L".

It was when Judy and I owned and ran a bookstore here in Prescott Valley.

One day his cartoon "The Family Circus" rang especially true for us so I quickly wrote him a letter at the newspaper in Phoenix and asked him if I could have a copy of it for our store.

He kindly sent one up to me, personally signed in one corner and we displayed it in the store until it went out of business.

You don't have to squint - I cropped the signature portion and blew it up.

I had met Mr. Keane many years before at a party and knew him to be a sweet gentleman.

This proved it once again.

When we moved into our present home I was planning what pictures to hang on a wall in my room and ran across this and decided to give it a place of honor.

There's another piece hanging below it, which I'll show you tomorrow.

RAVENS

 In my tours around the blogosphere I often see murals displayed on various blogs and in various parts of the world.

I have not muralized (is that a word?), i.e. gotten into the weekly or monthly posting of pictures of murals on my blog.

Why?

Well, I live a pretty sedentary life so I don't have the opportunity to spot them.

And while I know there are some great ones in Prescott, I don't go there often (except to visit doctors) so I don't spot them either.

But surprise!

I did see one the other day at the end of a small strip mall on the wall of a tattoo parlor.

I'm not sure what it's meant to represent except that there are a lot of friendly ravens in our town and the mural seems to be illustrating how they're taking over the world.

Anyway, here it is.

Oh and I don't know who the artist is, either but the logo in the upper left refers to the name of the parlor: Avatar Tat2.

It's quite colorful.

THE TRICKSTER

 The BRD lives in nearby Prescott, about 12 miles from us.

She also has three cats living with her and they are quite observant.

They like to lie near one of the windows gazing out on the outer world and spotting birds and squirrels.

But this past week a different creature was spotted by one of them.

It was The Trickster!

Trickster is a name given by many Native American tribes to the coyote.

In their mythology he may have at one time been a human, or humans may become coyotes when they die.

He can represent either good or evil or both.

He is known for being a sly creature normally not seen in daylight.

But here was one calmly walking through a populated neighborhood in the middle of a city in BROAD DAYLIGHT!

Trickster, indeed.

APRIL FOOLS' DAY

 There, I've gotten that out of the way so I don't have to fool you.

The real April Fools' joke occurred a couple of days ago shortly after I took these photographs in my neighborhood.

The flowering plum trees breaking out, seemingly overnight, into beautiful blossoms would seem to mark the coming of Spring.

Springtime, that wonderful season of warmer temperatures, bursting flowerbuds, honeybees swarming and various varieties of birds filling the air with song.

But a couple of hours later as I was returning from the mailbox, it was snowing again!

It wasn't sticking at all and it was only tiny dry flakes but it was definitely snow.

Today The Weather Gods predict the mercury is due to rise into the upper 60's.

But I've been fooled before.

I'm not takin' nothin' for granted.

After all, as a meme I received from Crosstown Lori this morning clearly explains: it ain't over 'til it's over.