THE LAST GAME

was the title of one of my novellas. Its genesis was about the importance of neighborhoods in my generation's growing up. The neighborhood took on the persona itself.

One activity that we (and they in the book) participated in was hide-and-go-seek, as we called it. I suppose in Southern Illinois we didn't accept or know the meaning of the word seek, thus the superfluousness. But whatever its rightful name, we played in often.

The painting on the left is entitled Hike and Seek and, of course, made me think back to those days. Not that I have any great stories. Just pleasant memories of Spring/Fall/Summer nights when we didn't want them to end. We weren't ready for bed. We weren't ready to give up our friends so soon. And we still had plenty of energy.

I'm trying to recall the name of a Ray Bradbury story that used Hide and Seek effectively. It was called The Leavetaking. Thanks memory canal. It was a term I was unfamiliar with. Anyhow, at age 13 one friend was moving half way across the country. (Maybe because that's exactly what happened to me and my best friend.) They played their "last game" and the boy moving away, just left after his friend counted to twenty. That was their parting. I liked that.

Even as a kid, I liked the old Mitch Miller song "That Old Gang of Mine". Of course gang didn't have quite the connotation as it does today. But it would be fun to get all the old friends together for one last game.

But we might have to count to 50 these days before we could find a hiding place.

WHY DOES CARMEN MIRANDA HAVE THAT FRUIT ON TOP OF HER HEAD

That's what I was going to write about this morning, but I lost the picture. It was a good one, too. Because she didn't have that pile of fruit on her hair. Which looked pretty good. Which makes me think that maybe fruit is good for hair thickness.

Another picture which I could capture is the one on the right. I didn't recognize the famous guy until I read the caption. But, he, too is famous for a prop. As well as an advertisement against smoking.

Look at the eyes, if you can't discern his identity. Then add a bunch of wrinkles aided by the many ciggies he has bogied. Ok, I gave it away: Mr. Humphrey Bogart.

From Mick Jagger's lips to Betty Grable's legs, to Beyonce's fanny. I guess they aren't props, but they might as well be. Betty Davis' eyes, some guy (Paul?) on this year's American Idol has the pearly whites. But he moves around so weird in an almost freaky contortion-like drunk walk that I was hoping he would get the hook last night. But if he makes it at all, it will be because of those white teeth.

It seems I've gone from props (without delving into imaginary ones like Johnny Carson's golf swing sans club in hand) to features. From there I could go to expressions--Don Knotts might top the list, followed by Al Bundy, whose real name escapes me at this moment.

So what is it for you and yours? Props, features, expressions ("I kid you not.") or something else that is a combination or something I've overlooked that makes you you?

IN YOUR GUTS, YOU KNOW HE'S NUTS

The guy on the butterfly's wing reminds me of Barry Goldwater. Plus, there's a lot of well, gold in the picture, including a golden egg.

Good friends of ours who have/ or had chickens on their Missouri farm were astounded at what I pay for eggs in Barry's state. So here goes. Get ready to gasp. Five dollars a dozen.

Yup. Now, understand that for cooking eggs or boiling eggs I pay considerably less. Even for Omega 3's.

But for my over easy or sunnyside ups, I want quality. It's the difference between a kid's meal hamburger and an angus at McDonald's for me. The yolks stand up tall proud of their flavor. They're a deep yellow, actually an orange color. They taste great. Plus, they're really good when sopping with a piece of toast. (Sopping is another practice discouraged like licking, but it's something I relish.)

I'm down to about a half a dozen high priced, so Saturday morning, we'll make a stop at the Farmer's Market where I'll shell out a Mickey for The Backyard Farmer's nest run eggs. Hey, there's another stand that charges 6 bucks, so you see, I am discriminatory.

As far as Barry Goldwater. I liked him in '64. How could he have done any worse than Lyndon Banes? In my heart, I still think he was right.

THE ROUND MAN OF REBOUND

One of my all-time favorite nicknames was penned on Sir Charles while he played basketball at Auburn. Another was a Harrisburg, IL, player whom they dubbed The Elegant Elephant. Both were heavy men playing a skinny man's sport.

Barkley has never been one of my favorites. He is extremely popular in the valley where he starred on some Suns' teams. In fact some people have told me he lived in our neighborhood back then. I need to do some more research to confirm that.

But what he said about dropping 40 pounds or so recently (I wonder if recently in that context could stand as a double adverb; he said it recently and he dropped the weight recently as well). His comment when asked how he did it: "It was easy. If it tasted good, I spit it out."

It echoed, in a way, Kate Moss' philosophy, "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels."

I sure wish I could follow either. If not, then I'll be searching for a moniker-- maybe combining the two. I'll be The Round Elephant Mound, or REM for short.

BEAT THAT HORSE

Before I'd declare Einstein or Hawking super intelligent, I'd have to know one thing. Do/Did either or both believe in God and His only Son, Jesus Christ?

If not, then in my opinion, they're not very bright. If they can ignore a Master Designer of the universe and they believe something was just created out of nothing, then there's really no need to include them in the intelligencia hierarchy.

And that's all my blog entry today on the day after Einstein's birthday. There's no need to proceed. If I'm beating that dead horse of Creationism, I'm able to do that because it's my blog. If you don't agree with me, then ask yourself if you are willing to take that chance that God doesn't exist. While you're at it, if He does exist and He said He created everything, then why would you not believe Him?

Finally, if you deny God's omniscience and do not accept His Son Jesus as your Lord and Savior,then you have much more to beware of than The Ides of March.

BRACKETOLOGY

I see The Ohio Cheat University is ranked number 1 in college basketball's March Madness. Well, at least they were caught Buckeye red handed in football. Twice. With such severe penalties. HA! So I figure their basketball program is following suit, seeing the tap, not even a slap on the wrist they received from the holy NCAA.

But, I don't seem to have the interest I used to have. In part due to the way the players look. The tats, I mean. And the picture on the right is of a USC cheerleader.

Ok, it's not. But does she look much crazier than most of the college and pro basketball players these days? And I see in addition to piercings and stab wound in her tongue, that she also found time for a tattoo. Not to me answers the previous question I posed.

I remember the day when a friend of mine was told to get a haircut or quit the basketball team. This was the Pistol Pete era, but Tom's hair wasn't shaggy at all. In fact, I never saw it move at anytime he was on the court, but he refused and quit the team. Rebel that he was.

So whether it's OSU, Kansas, The Big East or two totally undeserving Midwest teams--Illinois and Mizzou, I really don't care much. When they clean up their act, I may be back, but don't count on it. It's a new generation, baby, and they've passed me by.