Clouds - 6 ways

The original is first, followed by five variations.

Just fun as I learn my way around in Photoshop elements. jt

Nobody 875

Sunday, July 11, 2011

Nobody # 875

Nobody Asked Me But:

“A poem is never finished, only abandoned.” – Paul Vakery

THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS (A commentary in rhyme on news of the past week.)

So much for the race to gain outer space

So much for the dreams and the glory

Put ambition aside

And, along with it, pride

This is Shuttle’s last voyage, end of story

The jury said no, but it’s hard to let go

Their reasons I just cannot see

But twelve good and true

Have spoken to you

And to me, so the woman goes free

How can she be free after killing Caylee

‘though she claims it an accident

She said I was sad

But she seemed pretty glad

As out on the town she went

For this Casey crime, I’d give her hard time

I’d convict though rarely a hater

I’d throw way the key

She’d never go free

For the way that she partied days later

There is nothing so bad, that makes me so mad

A child-killing parent is just grating

But second in low

Is the media show

Using this horror to kick up their rating

Let’s put Fortune to test for their 100 best

This part of their list is obscene

It’s not willy-nilly

But more like plain silly

To rank Bill of Rights 17

I know they rank high what’s a pleasure to buy

But some things are worth more than just bucks

But freedoms must blind them

Why else would we find them

Ranked five spots below the Ford trucks

Clarence Thomas you’ll find, crossed his fingers behind

He would bring no agenda to court

Now he fights the good fight

Because the Right’s always right

And never once will their cause he abor

t

(Time out for a picture of my daughter and granddaughter at Ruby's Friday.)

The Constitution won’t vary, to believe that is scary

As are those who think of change as doom

To hear that gaff

Would make the Founding Fathers laugh

Or moan and turn over in their tomb

It’s just ten percent, ‘cause we must pay the rent

Said the U 0f C Board of Trustees

If your intuition

Rejects more tuition

We’ll just rename the raise higher fees

The President is shot, no he is not

Blame this Tweet on a Fox News hijacker

And if you’re in doubt

What the guy’s all about

This hacker is far off his wacker

Bachmann keeps preaching, Evangelicals seeking

She thinks that her future is there

But if she links her fight

To the religious far right

Of winning she hasn’t a prayer

To the law take a hike, he’s riding his bike

With no helmet to protect his head

“I’ve got to be me

I’ve got to be free”

And now he is free to be dead

The right has a plan, Rick Perry’s their man

They’ll let all the others lose steam

When they’re in the goop

In Perry will swoop

And fulfill this nefarious scheme

Down with the Queen, we don’t mind being mean

It’s time that this system aborts

Let’s end their free ride

Sweep them out with the tide

Their crowned heads leave us out of sorts

This may be perverse, as bad as my verse

But somehow the concept seems nifty

So take a quick glance

Here is your big chance

To check out sweet Barbie at 50

No, it’s not neat, that in school children cheat

It’s wrong but it happens at times

But when school adults

Skew the results

It’s among the most heinous of crimes

And speaking of school, it’s so very not cool

To cut funding way down to a crumb

It’s so very unkind

But it seems we don’t mind

If our young ones turn out to be dumb

Said Clinton, don’t blink do not let them think

That they have your back to the wall

You’re not the lesser

So be the aggressor

Let those GOP guys take the fall

Just common sense, is McConnell dense

So call him pandering Mitch

He’s a man for all seasons

With billions of reasons

to favor the rich and the --- rich

They’re stuck in last place, out of the race

But some Dodger knows where the loss is

Between innings last night

The big screen had it right

Showed a trailer for Horrible Bosses

Graduate: Let’s have a Cinco de Mayo party.

Drop out: Sounds like fun. What day shall we have it?<<<

Someone in the LA Times weather section has a sense of humor – (or is ditzy.) In last Tuesday’s 5-day forecast, their one-word prediction for the weather change from Wednesday to Thursday was “colder.” This was to explain a temperature drop from 97 to 89.<<<

I wrote this 400 Nobodies ago, November 11, 2002: Next week’s Nobody will be late because I will be in a Tucson movie theater watching “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” with my grandchildren. So be ready

Ryan, Alec and Emily. I’m buying the popcorn.

It will be the same with next Sunday’s Nobody – late because I will be in Tucson with Ryan and Emily (and perhaps Alec) watching the last Harry Potter.

Hope you all had a beach chair Fourth.

Nobody 874

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Nobody # 874

Nobody Asked Me But:

“Only by respecting yourself can you win the respect of others.” Dostoyevsky

A question that is asked over and over in a book I just finished (and review below) is, “what is the most beautiful place that you have never seen.” I assume that since I have never visited the place, it can only exist in some combination of visuals I have seen and my imagination. So here goes: For most of the week I leaned towards Kyoto, Japan or the Seychelles Island group in the Indian Ocean. But, by week’s end, my choice became clear. The most beautiful place that I have never seen is Earth from the Space Station. And, no, it is not on our upcoming vacation list. Damn!

Your choice?

THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS

Michelle and Palin, at history they’re failin’

As they unite to get out the word

With fireworks we play

It’s our country’s birthday

After all, this is July the Third

When on my birthday I muse, ‘bout the bad things I choose

My mistakes I look straight in the eye

If my country could claim

That they do the same

What a glorious Fourth of July

When she was at Hale, through her classes would sail

To her lessons was always most dutiful

Now she is wed

May it ever be said

She is truly America the beautiful

Repubs supersonic when labeled moronic

You can’t blame it on Jerry Brown’s youth

Perhaps a bit rough

But it really is tough

To condemn him for telling the truth

The call to resign, to me isn’t fine

From these vultures all starting to hover

That she was shot

Her fault it was not

Give Giffords a chance to recover

If Bachmann’s top two, I’m telling you

The Repubs have a fatal infection

It’s in the realm

Of The Nightmare On Elm

That Michele could win the election

“My background is strong, in this race I belong

Though some things I wear are quite lacy

I’m very smart

Though I can’t tell apart

John Wayne and John Wayne Gacy”

More district rules, commanded by fools

Education by fiat has risen

I’m glad I retired

If in rules I was mired

I’d feel like I was in prison

Frank is bankrupt on ethics the schlup

He is evil and nasty and vile

On ego he’s big

The immoral pig

But on decency missed by a mile

Folks are unhappy, if he can’t make it snappy

Unemployment will end up his curse

With never a doubt

They’d vote him right out

But his opponents all look to be worse

What’s the big deal, why do folks feel

That Newsweek showed very poor taste

If the dead could opine

Princess Di wouldn’t mind

She’d think your bad thoughts were a waste

My wife is the type to ignore all the hype

But the nearest club she may grab

If she reads one more time

In prose or in rhyme

That there’s something bad in her Tab

I won’t blame the Brits for producing these nits

Who are over the top with their rants

But it’s hard to resist

Slamming those who insist

That Michelangelo’s David wears pants

I was but one, as we all had our fun

As without trial we convicted Strauss-Kahn

But to weigh this new factor

He seems not the actor

But the guy who was acted upon

As the Times TV writer, Mary Mac is a fighter

Wrote this line that will give readers fits

Called the “Thrones” good TV

But still it could be

“About time that they tone down the tits”

No, I’m not kidding. Times television critic, Mary McNamera actually wrote this line in her column yesterday. And I also love this line: “HBO has a higher population of prostitutes per capita than Amsterdam or Charlie Sheen's Christmas card list.”

Here’s Hugh on Frank McCourt:

Did you ever see the movie “The Best Man” with Henry Fonda?

Fonda describes a fellow democrat from the south as having “all of the attributes of a dog, accept loyalty.” I cannot help but think of FM this way.

Last week I promised that I would list my all-time top 10 favorite reads in the mystery/thriller category. However, I am going to cheat a little and give you a baker’s dozen, alphabetically listed here by author’s last name rather than in order of preference. (Since ranking them would be extremely difficult.) But if I HAD to choose my first among equals, I suppose I would go with Seven Days In May.

Fail-Safe- by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler

The Tin Roof Blowdown – James Lee Burke

The Last Coyote - Michael Connelly

Faithful Place - Tana French

Six Days of the Condor – James Grady

Seven Days In May – Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey

The Millennium Trilogy – Stieg Larsson

Gone Baby Gone - Dennis Lehane

Mystic River - Dennis Lehane

The Lonely Silver Rain - John MacDonald

Small Vices - Robert B. Parker

Silent Joe – T. Jefferson Parker

The Night Gardner – George Pelecanos

Note: In the case of James Lee Burke (Dave Robicheaux) and Michael Connelly, (Harry Bosch) there were so many outstanding books in their series that I arbitrarily selected one to represent many.

Book review – The Quest For Anna Klein by Thomas Cook

This is the fifth book I have read by Cook, who won an Edgar for The Chatham School Affair. None have been easy. All have been some degree of worthwhile. Quest is no exception. Thomas Danforth didn’t set out to be a spy. He was pulled in to the world of intrigue seeking a life with more purpose than running a successful im

porting company and, more importantly, because he has fallen in love with the fascinating Anna Klein. The two become part of a plot to assassinate Hitler that goes horribly wrong. From that point on, Danforth spends years searching for his Anna. He travels from Germany to the most remote parts of the Soviet Union, before his search ends in a great surprise.

One of the things I liked best about the book was its many great quotes. My favorite is from Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” where he has Eve say: “With him all deaths/I could endure, without him live no life.”

Bakeries I have loved – Bouchon, in Napa Valley: