ANOTHER BIG DAY

 Yes, I know.

Today is Ash Wednesday.

And Valentine's Day.

And Basant Pachami.

Aha!

Bet you didn't know about that one!

Don't feel bad, neither did I.

It's a Hindu festival to herald the Spring.

And if you have doubts about that, let me tell you that it is 62 degrees Fahrenheit in my part of Arizona right now.

Judy said with the sun shining on our patio it's probably 70 out there.

And she just came back inside with some fresh chives that have sprouted from a potful that looked dead up until today.

But I digress.

All of those special days aside, today is an even more important day here in Arizona.

Because . . .

That's right.

It's the State of Arizona's 112th birthday today.

It officially became the 48th state in the U.S. of A. on February 14th, 1912.

So raise a glass to this (fairly) new kid today.

If you've got room after all that chocolate.

CELEBRATE!

It's Fat Tuesday!

Laissez le bon temps rouler!

(Let the good times roll.)

You might start your celebration with the traditional Hurricane (drink).

Then, maybe, indulge in a big pot of Jambalaya!

And don't forget the King Cake!

Of course if you take a dim view of all this indulgence and call the day Shrove Tuesday, right after confessing your sins and begging for absolution, you'll have to settle for pancakes.

Tomorrow (some say) is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of 40 days of Lent.

A time for fasting and giving up foods you love.

But for the rest of us tomorrow is Valentine's Day, a day to indulge in chocolate.

Lots and lots of chocolate!

SATURDAY MADNESS

 Being "cat people", we and daughter Gayle both have had for many years Cat-a-Day Calendars.

But today's chosen kitty was a shocker.

And there's only one calendar page for the entire weekend, both Saturday and Sunday.

So here's what greeted me when I changed the calendar this morning.

Now this particular breed of cat is called the Sphynx and they are naturally completely fur-less.

My wife and our daughter both hate the look of them and feel that they are eternally cold.

But I held one at a cat show one time and can confirm that they are warm, as warm as any other cat.

Nevertheless, the two members of MY tribe were comparing notes this morning and conjuring up ways to both cover the "naked" cat and keep it warm.

Judy found that her wool cap would do the trick.

Gayle, aka the Beautiful Artistic Daughter, always the artist, put scissors to work on another previously used calendar page picture she found to remedy the situation.

There!  Problem solved!

About this next item, I shall have no further comment.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Aaaahhhhh, Gentle Readers, it's the Big Weekend.

Especially in Las Vegas.

For Sunday a bunch of highly remunerated professional football players will meet there in the 58th Super Bowl.

Or as my wife and many, many, many wives across the planet call it The Stupor Bowl.

Since I cut the cord on my cable subscription I will not be watching it.

But to all of you fans (see "fanatics") I say enjoy yourselves and good luck.

Especially to the gamblers among you.

Now to get down to the business of the day.

Oho!  Riker finally got even!

Maybe the Star Trek crew has landed on Rikers Island.

Okay, just ignore that one.

Now whether or not you watch the Celebration of High-Paid Violence on Sunday or not, I hope you ALL will have a great weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(. . . oh, I know how you feel . . . )

WEATHER UPDATE

 Another day, another snowfest.

To those of you who are expressing amazement at seeing snow in Arizona, let me remind you that it is a state of many altitudes and climates.

While Phoenix sits at around 900 feet above sea level, here in the foothills 80 miles or so to the northwest our elevation is nearly 5,000 feet.

That's almost as far above sea level as Denver, Colorado.

And we do get snow here from time to time.

About 10 miles southwest of here, in Prescott and a few hundred feet higher, snowstorms are more frequent and usually more severe.

Here are a couple of photos the BAD took out her door today.

I might add that since these photos were taken, at least here in Prescott Valley, the sun has been out and melting off much of what fell earlier.

It's that old story, "If you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes."

JACK IS BACK

 

After a rainy day yesterday, courtesy of the winter storms that have been hammering Southern California, Jack Frost paid a visit to us here in ARIZONA overnight.

This is what started our day today.

That's the disheveled spinner in our back yard, manically twisted by the high winds yesterday that toppled a dead tree in a neighbor's yard.

And as always after a snowfall, I had to check on the Blue Cat.

Yes, it's covered in a fresh white blanket, meowing "I didn't move to Arizona for this!"

But the sun is out and soon this will all be melted off.

That's life in the mountain foothills of Arizona.

CONFLICT

 

I spotted this on Facebook today and thought I'd pass it along here in the interest of helping this fellow out.

A friend of mine has two tickets for the 2024 Super Bowl in Las Vegas, 50 yard line box seats. He paid $2,500 each but he didn't realize last year when he bought them, it was going to be on the same day as his wedding. If you are interested, he is looking for someone to take his place.

 

It's at St. Michaels Church, at 3pm. The bride's name is Geri, she's 5'5", about 115 lbs, good cook too. She'll be the one in the white dress.

DIET NEWS

I have a very good friend that I have known since I was born, since he is exactly seven months older than me.

We grew up in the same town in the Frozen Northland that is more formally called North Dakota.

Now he lives near the water in Washington state and I live in the heated state of Arizona.

We've only seen each other a few times over the years but we remain the closest of friends.

I call him Jolly Jim because of his contributions to the Humor Bank here at Oddball Observations.

He sent me a fresh batch today and commented "You might find something usable here."

Did I ever.

I added a grand total of 19 new memes I hadn't seen before and which you'll be seeing as part of Friday Funnies for weeks and weeks ahead.

But one of them made me laugh so much I decided I had to show it to you today.

And it will explain the title of this post.

Thanks, Jolly Jim.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Here in the U.S. of A. today is the most important day of the year.

It's Groundhog Day.

The day when Punxsutawney Phil is taken from his home to make his seasonal prediction about winter.

Purportedly if he sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter.

If not then spring is just around the corner.

And today in Pennsylvania he did NOT see his shadow and thereby he predicted an early Spring!

All hail the great groundhog!

Now if you think that's silly, wait until you see what else I have in store for you.

For today is Friday and you know what the Oddball Catalyst Observes on that day.

That one was just for a certain guy in Scotland.

Now all of you, listen up:  You are ordered to eat, drink and be merry for the next couple of days.

In other words, have a great weekend!

And always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . oh, everybody has a lawyer or two these days . . . )

MY FANTASY LIFE

 I've been playing around with AI some more this morning, aided by this site.

It allows the user to see an untold variety of a images conjured up from a photo of oneself.

I chose from the following fantasies.

The Superhero!  

Since my favorite as a kid was Batman I chose to be him, but unmasked.

It stands to reason that I would choose him because Batman's real identity is Bruce Wayne.

My name is Bruce and my late brother's name was Wayne.

How odd is that?

Maybe not odd as me as a flamenco dancer.

Or as a mysterious man in the 1930's.

A mafia don, do you think?

Oh, not I.

Why I'm as harmless as Santa Claus.

If all of these poses were reality rather than fantasy, where else would you expect to find me except on the Red Carpet!

All of this is in good fun and all the images were generated from the same photograph.

And here it is.

Not nearly as glamorous.

But content to be just me, the aging pensioner.