Edgar Allen Poe

............is not my inspiration for this extended entry, I saw a punny joke about him this week. Can I remember where it was?

OK and we're off:

We used to have a shorthair pointer like this, but PooHead was faster, he just didn't know where he was going as well as this one:

Got that out of my system, now on to NYC. I surprised SWMBO with a sleeper train ride to New York, if it impressed her she did her best to disguise it. That might have been due to the condition of the toilets is steerage......We saw the new World Trade Center coming into town

Got up there a couple of hours late and enjoyed Times Square. We saw some odd looking people there, and they were all pointing at us!

Thursday we went to Yankee Stadium:

The new place is SO MUCH NICER than the old place, I have now got past my nostalgic muse of "why would they tear the old  place down?" The old stadium's field is now a park, and the diamond is now a series of diamonds. Someone took what the hipsters call a selfie

Thursday night we went to our favorite Angelo's in Little Italy and had a real feast. Afterwards we waddled around that neighborhood and Chinatown. Is that politically correct to call that Chinatown?

Friday we went to Fifth Avenue; I stayed in the American Girl store as long as TAR and the security guard would let me, then to the Lego store, and then to Tiffany's where the staff took one look at me and showed me to the door. I guess it isn't cool to walk in that store eating a pretzel with mustard dripping off...................if they can't take a joke.................

Lots of walking, back to Times Square, and then to see Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) in a play called An Act of God. 

http://anactofgod.com/

Yes it was sacrilegious to a certain degree, but much less than expected. It lasted an hour and a half with no intermission, and for the most part it was a monologue. There were two angels who interacted but Parsons carried the show, and it was hilarious. We had great seats and laughed our tails off. And this guy was Gabriel:

Tim Kazurinsky, he used to be on Saturday Night Live, he doesn't look like that anymore, but he said I'd changed over the last 40 years also. 

Later that night we went to an Irish pub, yeah, who saw that coming, and yes we went there about every night. Nice place, had a 2 piece band the first night that we really liked. 

We also went to Sardi's for a nightcap and guess who we saw there? OK by now you should know my smart-ass remark to questions such as these:

I clicked one off the bucket list, I got a professional shave with a straight razor. I should mention that my personal bucket list has evolved into a list of things that I want to make sure I don't want to do as opposed to things I want to do. It was my first and last, not relaxing and the only thing touching the chair was the back of my head and my heels. It would have been better if TAR hadn't been standing behind the barber with a plastic bag popping it and yelling "NOONAN!"

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is always a good destination although we only had a couple of hours. We ran through the Egyptian and Greek-Roman displays on the first floor. The Egyptians kept everything, and it is good they did because when Caucasians raided their tombs in the 20th century it made for some good booty. FO and I discussed this today, an what point is that called grave-robbing, and at what point is it "OK?"

While there I noticed that a lot of male statue penises got whacked off or fell off through the years. I suspect the Catholic church was involved................but I also noticed that all, and I mean all of the female statues had perfect, and I mean perfect breasts. No lefty/righty, no surrender to gravity, all perfect. But strangely enough, no genitalia. Were the sculptors all men and really didn't know.............I suspect collusion was afoot. But not a vagina. 

Then on to see the King and I, we got there in time to go to a nice seafood restaurant beside PJ Clarke's. We had cod cakes and squid, excuse me, calamari with a red and yellow sauce. The yellow sauce was delicious and had saffron and aioli.  When the waiter gave it to us I asked if saffron was the Kingfish's wife, he was not amused.

At the play, and yes it is Rodgers and Hammerstein, it is the Lincoln Center, I've got my best girl on my arm.................I wore a coat and tie. But no socks. I was the only one. There was a guy on the front row in shorts and flip flops. Anyway it was all we expected and more. We don't do Broadway very often so when we do we get good seats. Wonderful show and it was so beautiful to watch the elderly couple seated across the stage weep when the show's standards were played. If you go, and I recommend it heartily, it is a good idea to not hum "getting to know you" while standing at the urinal during intermission. Could have been worse, the guy at the other end was singing :"shall we dance. 1-2-3" Etc. Etc, Etc. Great show, I mean come on, Rodgers and Hammerstein at the Lincoln Center? 

Sunday we made the train with an hour to spare, oh wait, yes, another stop at the Irish pub on the corner......Rocky Mount nearly on time, BBQ and fried chicken at Parker's..............and home by 7:30. After unpacking, the mail, e-mails and repacking...................short night

Up at 3:00 AM to catch my regular 5:15 AM to Dallas. Long week, and that is without a doubt the most time I've ever spent on an entry. Hope you liked it, and if you did, share it.

He's just a Poe boy from a Poe family

Thanks George. 

Aminals Aminals Aminals!!!

It is early Friday morning and I thought I would knock this out quickly with funny animal pictures, I can't remember which kid called an animal an aminal but it stuck.
A bald eagle perched on the side of the road in VA.

A dog gets a little worried about the change in his friend's change in attitude. Of course I liked the picture because the blonde resembled Jesse.

Jake and Sarge tussling over a milk carton in our back yard. My daddy used to tie an empty milk gallon over a low hanging oak tree limb and....................well hilarity ensued.  As one dog established dominance and took the jug he would move away, the increased pressure would cause him to lose his grip, the jug would go back to the neutral position and the game would reset. Entertainment came easy on Mill Street before cable television.

I've heard a lot from people who saw a shark at the beach, finally it is time to hear from the shark

Speaking of low hanging fruit this is a real photo from the Outer Banks, this innovative couple from Richmond are taking no chances by making a shark cage from plastic. I guess it worked, after all if you were a shark would you want to eat something this crazy?

I'll throw some NYC pictures in next week, but here is a teaser: SWMBO and I relaxing in a sleeper car on the way north. Although the train was about an hour late I found the trip more relaxing than ever.Maybe it was the bottle of gin we sneaked in? 

515 AM flight Monday morning to Texas, I'll put some NYC pictures on next week.

Home All Week

Fished last weekend with Pygmy, first time on the Parker since May 31; at this rate I should rent a boat instead of owning one. Gotta do better than that, FO is coming down Sunday so maybe we can get out that afternoon. Dave and I caught some trophies Saturday:

That dolphin put up quite the fight (see the blood? It's all my blood, little SOB caught me with a right hook that I didn't see coming). The king was delicious. And the king got me right on the same finger that I had to get lanced in Texas last year. Standby for updates.

And I found Gilligan's Island, but the castaways weren't there. Ginger or Mary Ann? I asked a friend that question and his answer was Mrs. Howell. Time changes your perspective, Lovey did have a certain je ne sais quoi.....................I don't know what that means I mean that means I don't know what. Confused I am. 

We had the #1 grandson here for a few days and one night he took his decrepit old grandpa out and showed him how to cast a net:

Just like a pro, not sure what kind of pro, but a pro!

Terri has been running back and forth to Sanford being Nana, I can't wait to get her to New York next week and spoil her.

In Wilmington this week for a day and while visiting a customer I saw this, you may remember I featured this Toyota Celica SUV in a blog post some time ago. It is still running, but come to think of it, maybe it's just in the same place because it won't start?

I saw this picture recently, probably one of the worst guys in the history of the world. I remember his trial and execution, but I didn't remember Dale Earnhardt being one of his escorts. Wonder what old Dale wanted to do with him? Odd photo.....

I am still amazed that I am around on Earth, I didn't plan on living this long, and it's been good and I'm glad I'm still kicking. And I'm even more surprised that none of the things I feared as a kid have gotten me. You know the things that we saw as children that scared us:

       anvils falling from any tall objects  

       pianos falling from any tall objects

       quicksand                                                                

       gorillas

       Russia taking us over

       kidnappers    

       nuclear bombs

       nuclear fallout from the nuclear bombs

       nuclear fallout from eating snow that was in the atmosphere during a bomb test

And to think of the things which were accepted:

       lack of car safety

       no bike helmets

       swimming in the river, which included jumping off the railroad trestle

       anything Hughtie Battle told us to do

       chemistry sets (see above)

       unlocked kitchen cabinets

Lucky for us those falling objects always made whistling noises...................................

So relax, have a martini and a cigarette; oh you're pregnant? Better make it a double.

Happy birthday Kristi

Next week: New York City (ahead and say it, I know you want to NEW YORK CITY!!!!!!!!!!!)                  

Pictures? Pictures!

And very little commentary, unless you would like to add your own. It's late and I've realized all you want to do is look at pictures anyway. Maybe I can figure out how to insert color-your-own pictures?

The original David Edward Riley

Thursday afternoon I ended up in Williamsburg and decided to take the ferry shortcut. Great idea idea all the way up until I had to sit and wait about 15 minutes for the ferry. Anyway, an osprey built her nest on the piling next to the ferry, you know the piling that gets bumped every time the ferry comes in; I thought they were a little smarter than that.

Welcome tourists! Last weekend was the fourth and the dingbatters left their marks everywhere they went. There should be a law, oh, there is a law? 

But our new friends the Jets, I mean the Sharks are doing their best to keep the ditdots straight. And remember, each and every time you put your big toe in the ocean, you are the tourista

Yeah, I don't know why either, it just is

For the past thirty some years SWMBO has told me about the What-A-Burger every time I mentioned the Whataburger. I'd eat at a Whataburger and after my burger I would say "what a burger!" which was followed by her re-telling of the What-A-Burger story involving her brother asking for a cheesehamburger............please, before telling that story again allow me to gather the children.............................Anyway, in Norfolk this week, driving along phone in hand and I looked up and voila! The What-A-Burger

.....................not to be confused with

And to further confuse the matter there is yet another small chain around Concord which shares a similar name, and has cherry sun drops...................but I digress. 

I've seen some good shots in my time but this is something else

A good hunt turned into a great hunt. Didn't even have to clean his shotgun. 

That's it, in town most of next week!

Get well Holly. 

Happy 35th to Jay!

We are proud of you young man, I know you have more than enough on your plate right now but remember you don't have to worry, only pray, be strong.

Elizabeth and Daisy are here to celebrate the 4th of July this weekend. Remember what happened on the 4th of July kids? That's right, that is when we moved to Morehead City many years ago. Let freedom ring. Oh, and Jackson is here too.

Donald Trump is running for president. Let's see, where should we start? How about a campaign theme song? "We shall over-comb, we shall over-comb" They (who? "they!") have already started taking media income away from him and as a citizen of the universe I think it is about time. He's had control of the Miss Universe pageant forever and has secretly been rigging the outcome. I say throw the book at him! How do I know this? Well at this point my evidence is all circumstantial, but as far as I can tell the "Miss Universe" title has always gone to someone from Earth. Off with his head, and start with that rug!

I told you something was different about those sharks; funny to hear so many scanner calls this week for someone seeing "fins." But the water is warmer than usual and they are in closer than usual; something is different. Go swim in the Neuse, no wait, they're there too. How about Harker's Island? There too, how about the pool at the Holiday Inn Express?

No one remembers television antennae, or rabbit ears as we called them. But I read recently where two antennae got married; the wedding was so so but I heard the reception was fantastic. 

I got no relief from my doctor's visit this week, I told him the song "What's New Pussycat?" keeps ringing in my ears; he told me "it's not unusual" and that I have Tom Jones Syndrome. There are other parts to that joke that I will keep to myself.

Saw this the other day and it was unusual:

I buried Paul.....................I'm very bored; something like that.
Daisy: See any change:

Much healthier and very obedient, not sure what time of the year these photos were taken?
And speaking of time, it's July.
The Chambers Brothers told us that the time has come today.
The Rolling Stones: Time is on your side
Bobby Zimmerman said that the times they are a changing.
But William Penn said that time is what we want most and use worst.
So get out there and enjoy it, but don't go in the water.
What a week, but there is a group which had an up and down week

Hope you take that with a grain of humor, it's meant to be funny you know?
Get well Holly.