Category: z-Miscellaneous

Greetings from Pooh Corner.

“Sounds like fun!”

 

Also this:

 

Calvin and Hobbes in praise of star-gazing…



High praise indeed!

 

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C.S. Lewis on authors…

Those of us who have been true readers all our life seldom fully realize the enormous extension of our being which we owe to authors. We realize it best when we talk with an unliterary friend. He may be full of goodness and good sense but he inhabits a tiny world. In it, we should be suffocated. The man who is contented to be only himself, and therefore less a self, is in prison. My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through those of others. Reality, even seen through the eyes of many, is not enough. I will see what others have invented. Even the eyes of all humanity are not enough. I regret that the brutes cannot write books. Very gladly would I learn what face things present to a mouse or a bee; more gladly still would I perceive the olfactory world charged with all the information and emotion it carries for a dog.

 

Last but not least…

 

Most days when flying into DIA from the west, the flight path takes you right over our neighborhood. When I fly, I almost always forget to sit on the correct side of the plane; and even when I do, I never have my cell phone out to capture the view looking north. That’s why I had to steal this shot from the All About Colorado FB page.

 

 

That’s us there behind the hogback in the lower third just to the left of center. And that’s me waving to you from our porch – but you may have to sqint a little to see it clearly. Anyway, I really love this bird’s-eye perspective of the hood in late winter with snowcaps under cottonball clouds in the far distance:  A small slice of heaven on earth.

It’s an all visual Thursday. ‘Nuf said.

“How can I tell this isn’t a scam?”

 

Given my recent surgical history, this hits close to home.

I’ll take dexterity, thanks.

 

Last but not least…

 

“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” And y’know, that’s not always a bad thing.

Just sayin’…

 

This group photo was taken 44 years ago.

Extra credit if you can name more than 3 of these people.

 

Last but not least…

 

Ever been in a tight spot and later wished you’d come up with a snappy retort? Well, read and learn: Here are some of the best ever. Match the comeback quotes below with the corresponding context in which they occurred. Maybe you’ll win valuable prizes – or maybe not. But either way, prepare yourself for next time you’re in a tight spot. After all, practice makes perfect.

 

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1. “I’ve been called worse things by better men.”
2. “I think it would be a good idea.”
3. “No, it’s purely voluntary.”
4. “Every time I read Pride and Prejudice I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.”
5. “I’m too [effing] busy….and vice versa.”
6. “About half.”
7. “That will depend, my lord, on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress.”
8. “I don’t know if I can autograph it, but perhaps I can initial it.”
9. “That’s got every fire hydrant in America worried.”
10. “Darling, I’m so glad that you liked it. Who read it to you?”
11. “I’m all for it.”
12. “Each of us fights for what he lacks most.”
13. “Impossible to come first night. Will come to 2nd night if you have one.”
14. “I’ll take a drug test if you’ll take an IQ test.”
15. “No, I look at the Senate and pray for the country.”
16. “That’s wonderful. And what did you do with the money?”
17. “All right then, get me a battleship.”
18. “Then you have a great deal to be thankful for.”
19. “Did the training wheels fall off?”
20. “If he became convinced Tuesday that coming out for cannibalism would get him the votes he needs, he’d begin fattening a missionary in the White House yard on Wednesday.”

 

Below is context for each of the comeback quotes above.

 

1. Pierre Trudeau when told Dick Nixon had called him “an a**hole.”
2. Mahatma Gandhi when asked what he thought of Western Civilization.
3. Winston Churchill when asked by a rival member of Parliment “Must you always fall asleep while I’m speaking?”
4. Mark Twain when asked to critique a Jane Austen novel.
5. Dorothy Parker arriving late to meet with her editor after her honeymoon.
6. Pope John XXIII when asked how many people work at the Vatican.
7. Englishman John Wilkes in response to a rival who said “Sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox.”
8. Truman Capote in response to a papparazzo who whipped out his privates and asked “Why don’t you autograph this?”
9. Bill Clinton upon hearing Dan Quayle’s boast during the 1992 debates that he’d “be a pit bull against our opponents.”
10.  Author Ilka Chase in response to a literary critic who said “I enjoyed reading your book. Who wrote it for you?”
11. Calvin Coolidge’s response to a reporter who asked after an opera performance what he thought of the singer’s ‘execution.’
12. French privateer Robert Surcouf replying to an Englishman’s taunt that “You fight for money while we fight for honor.”
13. Winston Churchill’s reply to an invitation from George Bernard Shaw to see a play: “Come and bring a friend if you have one.”
14. Senator Fritz Hollings responding to a fellow-Senator’s challenge to be drug tested.
15. Clergyman Edward Everett Hale’s response when asked if he prayed for the Senate.
16. Actress Miriam Hopkins’ response to a singer’s brag that her voice was insured for $50k.
17. Robert Benchley asking for a taxi, but mistaking an admiral for a bellman in his apartment building lobby.
18. SCOTUS justice Melville Fuller responding to a tirade against education by a clergyman, this after the man admitted he was “thanking God for his ignorance.”
19. John Kerry after being told that Dubya had suffered a bike accident during the 2004 presidential campaign.
20. Notorious FDR critic H.L. Mencken during one of POTUS 32’s many re-election bids.

 

Here is your Wednesday Dozen, fresh out of the oven.

 

If you have a spare $3.7 million and have always wanted to live in the Old West, then consider a property in rural Colorado. The buyer gets a ranch and a whole town complete with saloon, general store, church, and hotel.

 

 

Logo from a venerable Denver bar. Yer welcome.

 

Upwards of 15″ of new snow on the ground here this AM. After coffee, I may head over to Rox State Park to help them shovel out since they put out an “urgent” call to all volunteers last night. Maybe we’ll have to see if I can dig my car out first? This post is titled “Lighter Side of Sunday,” but unlike our usual fluffy powder, this is the heavy wet stuff.  Ah well, I guess there’s always wine.

 

 

Last but not least…