Lenka back with "Shadows"

At my age, I probably shouldn't admit that I enjoy Lenka’s bouncy, bopping music. We talked yesterday, as she was preparing for her June West Coast tour and release of new CD, "Shadows." Story coming soon! Most contemporary pop music is crud to my old ears, but Lenka's is sweet and melodic.  There are some really good tracks on "Shadows" and the more you listen, the more you will like. "Nothing Here but Love" and "After the Winter" have that great Lenka melody, while "Nothing" and "Top of Memory Lane" are just two of the slow ballads that grow on you with each playing.  Check out Lenkaland, and this delightful, live version of The Show below. Her live performances sound just a good as the studio recordings! And don't forget Jenny Matlock's putting on an Alphabe Thursday show.

 

Do all dogs go to heaven?

Do all dogs (pets) go to heaven? My mom thought so. A mothers' day story in the Montgomery Advertiser.

Larry the Cable Guy - Xtremely funny?

Larry the Cable Guy - extremely funny or not? My interview is in today’s Montgomery Advertiser. He does come up with some great, witty lines, but is definitely not politically correct. Larry's web site.  

Angry cats at bath time!

This picture pretty much sums it all up. The full, blood-curdling story is in the Montgomery Advertiser. Feel free to share with your cat-loving FB friends before it's too late. 

Threaded Comments

If you don’t already know, you can turn on the threaded comments feature on Blogger i.e. reply on your comment page to others’ comments.

Go to Settings, click on Post & Comments link. Then at the Comment Location tab, check Embedded. Then save changes. Easy.

Star Wars: Episode VII

Well, you could have knocked me down with a hydrospanner. It seems the original cast might be reuniting for "Star Wars: Episode VII" in 2015. But can Luke, Leia, and Han take a break from tai chi class and still save the galaxy from the dark side?

See story in the Delaware County Journal.

 

Caption: Owl vrs Mouse

This photo, from National Geographic, begs for some inventive captions. Any suggestions?

Eg....
"Sometimes you're the mouse; sometimes you're the cheese."

Hippo Tales

Think you know everything about hippos?

Here's a hippo primer in the Daily Courier.




(Photo Credit)

Explaining the Mysteries of Easter

Easter was always a mystery to me growing up. Why did it never fall on the same day each year, and what's the deal with rabbits and eggs? I explain all in the Montgomery Advertiser.  Dang, story has now gone into the Advertiser's archives.

 

His father's name was Hymie

Dick Gautier is a man of many talents. Don't recognize the name? Would you believe, he's one of the characters in this photo? In addition to his many acting talents, Dick is a great caricature artist. Check out the art on his web site. I'll post a link to the story and interview with him here, when it's published shortly. Anyone remember this show? Hint - KAOS vrs CONTROL.
               Update: Story now in the Tea Weekly, SD.

Hilary from the Smitten Image reminds us of the TV show Dick starred in called "When Things Were Rotten." Basically, it's Mel Brooks running amok in Sherwood Forest. The show was released on VHS but so far not on DVD. Only 13 episodes aired on ABC in 1975. The show featured some other greats. Talk about men in tights!

And Dick shared this story with me. He has a cane collection which, he says, he has developed more of an appreciation for due to a bad back:    

“My cousin came down from Canada and asked me what cane I would really like to have in my collection. I said I’ve always wanted the cane that Claude Rains used to kill Lon Chaney Jr., in the original Wolf Man (1941). It was a beautiful cane, and the top was a wolf’s head. Well about a month later [my cousin] walked into my house and handed me the cane! I said ‘Wow, how did you get that?’ He said there was a guy named Bob Burns who has all sorts of movie memorabilia, including the original cane which was made out of foam rubber and was sprayed silver – so that Claude Rains wouldn’t really kill Lon Chaney Jr.! So my cousin had someone make a mold of the original cane in brass and chrome, and made a beautiful cane for me. It’s amazing and looks just like the one in the movie.” Now that's my kind of cousin!

Restaurants with Themes

Oh dear. The Heart Attack Grill, in Las Vegas, recently claimed another victim. But not all themed restaurants require their customers to eat like a whale. Here's a look at some of the nation's oddest themed restaurants in the Mesquite News. Are there any restaurants near you that have cool themes?

New Pope on the Block

 Fellow chemists may find this interesting. First, it seems Pope Francis has a master’s degree in chemistry. Very cool! Second, how do they get the black smoke so black and the white smoke so white in the Sistine Chapel chimney smoke signals? For black, they use a mixture is potassium perchlorate, anthracene and sulfur. For white, potassium chlorate, lactose and a pine resin. Very exothermic! This fellow looks like a keeper.

A Guide to 113th Congressional Names

This is an updated post on my "Guide to Congressional Names" for the new 113th Congress. For example....

Could we really trust Ohio's Rep. Fudge to chair the House Finance Committee?

Why isn't Tom Kaine the House Minority Whip?

And shouldn't  Sen. Fischer and Rep. Price chair any investigation into Toy Safety?

If you can stand more, see story in the Detroit Free Press.

I Could Care Less

Do you grind your teeth and spit infinitives every time you see or hear someone use the term "I could care less"?

You are not alone.

See story in the Richmond County Daily Journal.

Sheldon's Greatest Bits

Do you watch CBS's Big Bang Theory? Who's your favorite character? Here's some of Sheldon's best lines:

• Sheldon (to Raj): Interesting. You’re afraid of insects and women. Ladybugs must render you catatonic.

• Sheldon (to Leonard): Please don’t take this the wrong way, but the day you win a Nobel Prize is the day I begin my research on the drag co-efficient of tassels on flying carpets.

• Sheldon (to Penny purchasing vitamins): There’s some value to taking multivitamins, but the human body can only absorb so much. So what you’re buying here are the ingredients for very expensive urine.

Read more in the Richmond County Daily Journal.

My Subway is short

When is a Footlong not a foot long? The answer, apparently, is when it’s a Subway sandwich. It seems these tasty, elongated snacks haven’t been measuring up to vigilant customers’ expectations lately.

Armed with their trusty yardsticks, pernickety patrons aross the country have resolutely sunk the Sub’s promotional promise of being one foot long (or exactly 12 inches for the dimensionally challenged). Many of the $5 Subway sandwiches have been “weighing in” at a stunted 11 inches.

Full article in the Mountain Democrat.

Kooky Conspiracy theories

I recently wrote about the crazy conspiracy theory folks out there (including Florida professor James Tracy who thinks Newtown was a hoax). Seems my story, which was about the current python hunt in the Everglades, was picked up as being REAL by some foreign sites. I guess parody doesn't translate too well.

Recognize this guy?

Are you old enough to recognize this guy?  So did he steal milk from your front doorstep, too?