ROCK ON
I borrowed this pictured from my co-owner in fantasy football. He has a way with humor and humorous pictures.

Now this is one motley crew of tubers. Three look as if they perhaps belong. I'm not counting the young child being held. Nor am I including the woman with the lifejacket, lying on a raft on top of the inner tube and drinking from a beer bong.

Nor am I counting the hefty in the back pulling up or pulling off a dress or beach cover up. The cooler in the front tied to the inner tube occupied by the beer bong holder doesn't count either.

So there you have it. A day on the old stream or river. A last look at the days of soda and pretzels and beer bongs. Somewhere Nat King just choked a little.

CAN YOU TELL ME WHERE HE'S GONE?

The journalist Mr. Krauthammer this week tells a Russian joke. About Joseph Stalin when handing over the kingdom to Nikita Khrushchev.

It seems he gave him 3 envelopes to open one at a time when trouble came to his administration. The first one opened by Khrushchev said, "Blame it on Joseph." The second one said the same. When trouble came yet a third time the message read "prepare three envelopes."

The journalist's point: Obama was elected nearly one year ago. It's time to stop blaming it on Joseph/ George W. Our Prez has certainly used up his three envelopes.

Which brings another point to mind. I often complained that George W. never seemed to defend himself. As one who protests at the hint of any indiscretion that I've ever been accused of by anybody, I found it odd. As usual, my wife had the answer. And she went to the Bible to find the answer.

When Moses was leading the Israelites in the desert for 40 years, he heard much grumbling, yet his shoulders were broad enough to handle it. The same when Jesus was on trial. They, like President Bush, never offerred any defense on their behalf.

When she pointed this out to me, I could feel my own shoulders receding from years of doing just the opposite. I do have something in common with Mr. Obama after all.

The old song Abraham, Martin, and John may just need updated to Jesus, Moses, and W.

CUCKOO CLOCKS, CALLIOPES, AND CROCK POTS

Early to rise as I am, I am designated coffee maker in the morning. The problem, our coffee pot beeps three or four times when the Joe is ready. It's been known to awaken my ear sensitive wife several feet from the kitchen. Guests, too, have been waken by its alarm. When it has seen better days, I'll retire it and seek another that does not sound the bell.

At my brother's house, there's a different bird that chirps away announcing every hour. That could never work in our house for either one of us who would wake up to the brownthroated weaver or other such aviarians. I much prefer the awakening call of the owl I heard outside our bedroom window about 5:15 today.

Calliopes, on the other hand, just put me in a good mood. It's hard to dislike music that reminds me of a circus. I guess if played over and over Small World After All-like, it could get to me. And, by the way, who plays a calliope. I never met a calliope player. Maybe like the encyclopedia salesman I wrote about a week or so ago, they don't exist. Or maybe you just flip a switch and calliope sounds come out. Calliope is almost as fun to type as it is to say.

Crock pots cooking all day long. Soup on the wood burner or kitchen stove simmering away. Logs on the fire. For me socks on my feet. These are the Autumn thoughts for me. Seeing your breath, just a little. No thick fog that can come back at you in the form of ice. Frost on the moustache. Oh yeah, I don't have one anymore. Oh well.

But today in the AZ clime it's supposed to be 94 degrees with bright shiny sun. No crock, no soup, no fire, and socks for golf only. That's Autumn where I live sans cuckoo, sans calliope, sans frost.

WHAT COLOR IS SAPPY?

For my color today, I chose hot mustard. For sappy. Sap is usually a clear, maybe a light, light gray color. So keeping my reader in mind, I chose this color.

Ok, I've stalled long enough. Confession time--I watch the tv show Glee. It features Quinn and Rachel pictured on the right.

I don't know why I watch it. The last sappy show I watch was Dawson's Creek. Maybe if I list my tv shows, you'll see my motley tastes.

The Amazing Race, Heroes, 24--if it ever returns, Glee, Flash Forward, Friday Night Lights--if it ever returns and countless sports. Mainly baseball, football, basketball, and some golf. No tennis, racing, or hockey.

Also a taste of O'Reilly and Leno, ESPN and the MLB channel. That's it.

So why Glee and am I trying to get you to watch? I don't know. It makes my little sub-woofer seem worth having. Its songs aren't great, but most aren't too pathetic. I'd rather watch them dance than Dancing with the Stars. It has some pretty predictable characters, but they're at least a little fresh. It's about high school, although as all high school tv shows, very inaccurate.

They do one thing that I would be surprised if it hasn't caught on. When someone deserves it for being a jerk or a kiss-up, they get slushed. Someone takes a big drink slush into the hallway with the almost Jaws music and throws it into the face of the unsuspected.

Sappy? You bet. I can't wait till Coach Sue gets hers. See how it has gotten to me? And for that I apologize.

OUT OR ALONE?

I like this picture on the right. I'll tell you what I see. You'll be left to decide.

A camera lens, a woman, a hand, some kind of compartments or shelves, two drains, some red and blue colors. Now to put it all together.

Is she trapped or is it a self-imposed seclusion? It doesn't appear to be her hand gesturing "stop". The waffle or pigeon holes: what's up with them? The drains. Why the one above? As far as red, it could be passion or blood. The blue could stand for wide open as in the clear blue sky.

Ok. I think I have it. The red means ruination, a blood-letting. The camera has caught her in the act. The compartments tried to hold her, but couldn't. The hand belongs to her lover who did not want to be caught with that woman in the blue dress.

Yep, it's Bill and Monica as he sees after he got down in the gutter with her, his political legacy going down the drain.

Who said a picture's worth a thousand words? And probably a thousand other interpretations.

PIZZA

I had pizza last night for supper. At least we still call it supper. Dinner is too formal. If you take a frozen, thin crust California Pizza, add a little sausage or ham to the pepporoni or 4 cheesse, then you have a mighty good pizza. Throw some peppers on it, too.

The only drawback is that they're not quite big enough to split two ways. Even with a nice salad, I usually leave the table (I didn't know whether to call it dinner or supper table, but I was leaning towards dinner) still wanting some more. But hey, that's the way I usually leave, so what's new?

When Chevys were way more popular than they are now, the Impala was a nice car. In fact most all American cars were back then. But I never thought I might see an impala outside of the zoo.

When we were in South Africa, we initially got excited when we would spot some, along with pukus, kudus, Livingstone's elands, and a bunch of other antelopes that inhabited the deltas. But after awhile, it was like looking for deer along the interstates in SoIL. Not too hard to find.

So where am I going wth this jump from pizza to antelopes? I ate an impala pizza in Africa. I'll try just about any kind of food, especially meat. Bison, venison, and elk are impossible for me to pass up. Not on a pizza. And, yes, I'd probably not order an impala again.

It was kinda like some reindeer meat I ate in Norway. One timer. California pizza--that's another story.

YOU SAY YOU WANT AN EVOLUTION







A beetle, a bug, a blue tooth--whatever one has stuck on an ear could drastically alter the human anatomy. As in the picture. It's just a matter of time before we are born with some kind of tele-communication attached to our faces.

Which gets me to evolution. Noted scientist Carl Sagan says it all about the cosmos. The cosmos has always been there. Ok, then there are two questions Prof Sagan needs to answer. If it has always been there, then why is it still here? Doesn't energy run out as it's used?

Now, I must confess I borrowed that hypothetical from Del Tackett, creator of The Truth Project. In fact to give him the proper credit it was from Lesson 5A--Science/ Did You Ever Wonder?

Prof Tackett also states that even Einstein was irritated by the plausibility that something could just come from nothing. Like many others, Tackett believes the Holy Bible which states God spoke the heavens and earth into existence. Einstein, on the other hand, had to do a little jockeying so he added the cosmos constant to get it to work. But as you can see, without God, both Sagan's and Einstein's theories pose problems.

I guess what bothers me most is the evidence of God in creation. Yet those who believe are deemed less intelligent by a secular society. Plus, the more advanced technology and science become, God is revealed more. At the same time, He's ignored more.

So will we ever evolve to have an earpiece of some sort strapped to our faces? Probably not. But if God wills it, yes, we could look like the picture.