Archive for the ‘news’ Tag

06/07/2025 “FINAL UTTERANCES”   2 comments

I’ve always been attracted to graveyards. There’s no better place to paint, sketch or write than the peaceful quietness of a graveyard. It’s one of the few places still left where someone can go and relax without interferences from the rest of the living human race. I once lived in a city called Lakeville in Massachusetts and for many years I was known far and wide by the police departments and many citizens as someone who was consistently haunting local graveyards. In the Plymouth area there are still tombstones from the 1600’s with some truly bizarre epithets and poetry. I just takes a little time and dedication to find them. Todays post will contain what some people would consider morbid information and that’s true, it is a little morbid but it’s still interesting. Being the kind and generous soul that I am, I’m willing to share.

😵😵😵

  • “Haircut!” Last words of famous gangster Albert Anastasia in 1957 while getting a trim.
  • “Smite my womb.” Spoken by Agrippina, mother of Nero, to the assassins sent to kill her by her son.
  • “The strongest.” Uttered by Alexander the Great when asked who should succeed him.
  • “The executioner is, I believe, an expert . . . and my neck is very slender. Oh God, have pity on my soul, . . . ” as she was beheaded.
  • “I hope so.” Stated by Andrew Carnegie, steel magnet and philanthropist, to his wife who’d just wished him a good night:

Epithets

Burlington, Massachusetts

Sacred to the memory of Anthony Drake,

Who died for peace and quietness sake;

His wife was constantly scolding and scoffin’,

So he sought for repose in a twelve dollar coffin.

😨😨😨

Whitingham, Vermont

Brigham Young

Born on this spot

1801

A man of great courage

and superb equipment.

😱😱😱

Skaneateles, New York

Underneath this pile of stones

Lies all that’s left of Sally Jones,

Her name was Briggs, it was not Jones,

But Jones was used to rhyme with stones.

🤠🤠🤠

One of my fav’s

Boot Hill Cemetery, Dodge City, Kansas

PLAYED FIVE ACES,

NOW PLAYING THE HARP.

11/12/2024 🍔FOODIE ALERT🍟   Leave a comment

For many years I’ve considered myself a true “foodie”. I’ve always made a point to try damn near anything called food. Of course, that has changed dramatically as I’ve aged. Truthfully, I don’t really miss my entrees of “dog soup” and “cat spring rolls” I once tried in Korea. So, when I started collecting odd facts and trivia, food always seems to be mentioned in some fashion. Here are a few little-known facts about food I’ve collected. How many have your heard before?

  • What is the name of the dog on the Cracker Jack box? Bingo.
  • What is the American name for the British delicacy known as trotters? Pig’s feet.
  • Under US government regulations, what percentage of peanut butter has to be peanuts? 90%.
  • Who originally coined the phrase that has been appropriated as the slogan for Maxwell House coffee; “Good to the last drop”? President Theodore Roosevelt
  • What recipe did Texas ice cream maker Elmer Doolin buy for a $100 from the owner of a San Antonio café in 1933 and later used to make a fortune? The recipe for tasty corn chips that was later marketed as Fritos. He made them at night in his mother’s kitchen and peddled them from his Model-T Ford.

  • A California winemaker from Napa Valley once named a wine in honor of Marilyn Monroe. What was it called? Marilyn Merlot.
  • What food product was discovered because of a long camel ride? Cottage cheese. An Arab trader found that milk he was carrying in a goatskin bag had turned into a tasty solid white curd.
  • Peter Cooper, best known for inventing the locomotive “Tom Thumb”, patented a dessert in 1845. What was it? A gelatin treat that eventually became known as Jell-O when it was marketed in 1897.
  • In 1867 Emperor Napoleon III had a chemist develop a food product “for the army, navy, and the needy classes of the population.” What was it? Margarine.
  • What was the drink we know as the Bloody Mary originally called? The Red Snapper, which was it’s name when it crossed the Atlantic from Harry’s New York Bar in Paris.

THIS HAS BEEN A LOW CARB POSTING

07/27/2024 “THE BEST MEDICINE”   Leave a comment

*****

I love people with a well-developed sense of humor, and I enjoy making people laugh. Since I now have a stand-up comic in the family, I pay even more than usual attention to on-line comics and what’s currently the rage. I have a number of comedians that I’ve been addicted to for years but unfortunately a few have passed on, but their comedy is alive and well and still makes me howl with laughter. I truly miss Sam Kinison and Ralphie May. Current comics Bill Burr, Brad Upton, and of course Sara Tiani are some of my USA favorites. Great Britain offers up Bob Mortimer, Jimmy Carr, Sarah Milliken, and Greg Davies, who are always laugh-out-loud funny. Yes, I love comedy so why wouldn’t I search out some humorous quotes from a few well-known stars.

“Ooooo. Ahhhhh. Get out!” Andrew Dice Clays impression of a one-night stand.

“My wife gives good headache.” Rodney Dangerfield

“Losing my virginity was a career move.” Madonna

“Sex after ninety is like shooting pool with a rope.” George Burns

“The main result of feminism has been the Dutch Treat.” Nora Ephron

“My plastic surgeon told me my face looked like a bouquet of elbows.” Phyllis Diller

*****

ANONYMOUS (Always LOL)

“Churches welcome all denominations but prefer fives and tens.”

“An optimist is someone who thinks the future is uncertain.”

“Truth is the safest lie.”

“When confronted with two evils, a man will always choose the prettier.”

“Is sex better than drugs? That depends on the pusher.”

“Love is blind, and marriage is a real eye-opener.”

*****

KEEP SMILING!

05/07/2024 “MISH MOSH”   Leave a comment

I thought since it’s another gray, wet, and crappy day I’d get lazy and throw a collection of useless information your way. There’s no rhyme or reason just a whole lot of nonsensical facts.

Odd Newpaper Headlines

  • Miners Refuse to Work After Death
  • Stolen Painting Found by Tree
  • Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant

Ridiculous Newspaper Classified Ads

  • For Sale: Two wire-mesh butchering gloves, one 5 finger, one 3 finger, pair $15.00.
  • Free Puppies: 1/2 cocker spaniel – 1/2 sneaky neighbor’s dog.
  • Georgia Peaches – California Grown – 89 cents a pound.
  • Joining nudist colony, must sell washer and dryer – $300.
  • For Sale: an antique desk suitable for a lady with thick legs and large drawers.

Malaprops (From Student Essays)

  • A rolling stone gathers no moths.
  • The battle was won due to gorilla warfare.
  • The store was closed for altercations.
  • The Second Amendment gives citizens the right to bare arms.

Attorneys and Friends (Actual Court Testimony)

  • How far apart were the vehicles at the time of the accident?
  • You say the stairs went down to the basement? Did they also go up?
  • Can you give us an example of something you’ve forgotten?
  • Now, isn’t it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn’t know about it until the next morning?

JUST PLAIN SILLINESS

04/06/2024 “SPRING ICE STORMS”   Leave a comment

I think today I’ll keep this post rather short. I’m actually celebrating the fact that after two and half days of having no electric, no Internet, no phone service, and just generally cold and crappy weather, the storm has ended, and things are beginning to normalize. This ice storm destroyed most of southern Maine by damaging trees, adjacent homes, and dangerous conditions for any traveling. We have trees down everywhere and there’s still a few hundred thousand people in Maine with no power. I guess I got lucky that my street was repaired only after we sat in the dark and cold for two days. This is the second such storm in as many months totaling eight solid days of no utilities Internet, power, etc. etc. etc. It just brings home the fact that we rely on technology for damn near everything. Unfortunately, it’s also the first thing to fail.

I’ll probably be spending a great deal of time in the next few days trying to clean up the property because in my backyard alone I have three trees down and they have to be removed. I know that sounds bad but compared to most of the neighbors in this area I got off with minor damage. I thought I had all of the contingencies covered with storm preparation by installing a generator to carry the load when the electric goes out. Unfortunately, when the generator was supposed to kick in and turn on the electric it failed to work. Trying to find service people during a storm crisis is ridiculously difficult but I did get lucky. I made one call requiring that I travel 2 miles from my house, stand on my car roof and wave my hands in the air to get a signal in the midst of all this chaos. I guess I have to believe in miracles because within a half an hour of making that call, I returned home to find the electrician, his son, and a truck load of parts in my driveway. They dismantled my generator and immediately corrected the problem. As I write this, I’m still amazed. Things like that almost never happen but I’m certainly glad they did.

After all of that aggravation the power was fully restored this morning and now the cleanup begins. I hope and pray there are no more surprise spring storms showing up. Nothing good comes of these storms except if you own a Home Depot or Lowe’s, then you’re making a damn fortune. More to come in the next day or so and hopefully I can get this blog back to normal by then. Meanwhile . . . .

STAY WARM AND DRY AND PRAY FOR SPRING TO ARRIVE