Sunday Funnies & Arts

As always, click to enlarge. For more Doonesbury, Ben Sargent, Pat Oliphant, Mother Goose and Grimm, Tony Auth, Tom the Dancing Bug, Tom Toles, and Zippy, go here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here...

JUST A SONG: Los Lobos' "Will the Wolf Survive"--

A wonderfully conceived allegory, "Will The Wolf Survive" tells the story of a working man envisaged as an endangered species beset by social forces ("Hunters hard on his trail") beyond his control. Considering that the song was written 25 years ago, its bridge is remarkably prescient in its depiction of the shrinking middle class...

When I was a small boy growing up in New Hampshire, the Boston Red Sox radio broadcast team of Curt Gowdy and Ned Martin were my constant companions. The Sox radio sponsor in those days was a Massachusetts beer called Narragansett (after the Bay). I can still hear Curt and Ned extolling the virtues of this "Bay brew" and closing their promos with a hearty "Hi, neighbor -- Have a 'Gansett!" Today, the beer is long gone, but the legacy remains. Here's photo from the Boston Craft Brew Fest (thanks, Bill!):

An Oregonian recalls his working class roots...

Cliff's Crib turns the spotlight on black fathers...

Hell0, cowgirl in the sand...

Dust-to-Digital: Take Me to the Water: Immersion Baptism in Vintage Music and Photography...

Premium T. finds a skull in an unusual place (scroll down)...

Congratulations, Reilly!...

The older I got, the smarter my father became. Here's a Father's Day thought from Mark Twain (thanks, Clever Pup!):

When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years...

A Father's Day Message from Lakewood, OH...

Sailing on Lake Ponchartrain...

New Orleans drummer Stanton Moore of Galactic anchors the CD by Tom Morello's new project, the Street Sweeper Social Club...

Sunday Gospel Time: Mahalia Jackson and Nat King Cole "Steal Away":

The Dictionary of Word Verifications

consp: A conspiracy nipped in the bud.

elsestsp: Else's Teaspoon. Reference unclear. Thought to be the quantity of "or else" administered to anyone crossing their mother.

fartines: Bean-based soda crackers.

flument:  A virus intended for another person but that infected you instead.

frool: 1. What you are if you drool in public. 2. The involuntary expectoration of a male of the species completely bewitched by a female of the species.

gratorsa: Latin: Being thankful for the body you have.

iache: Def: 1. A sore ego.  2. iPod induced tinnitus.  3. Archaic: Any wound inflicted by Iago or an Iago-like person.

mootion: Cow-etry in motion.

olest: Not as bad as "molest," but the next worst thing.

puzzlia: 1. Brain cramp caused by the Saturday New York Times crossword puzzle.  2. Proper noun: A city in the land of Baffledom.

retyll: Archaic English form of "retail." See Chaucer, "The Merchant's Tale."

soymethi:  Organic form of Greek crystal meth.

visorath: Rage of the Visigoths.

An incredulous Campbell Brown shreds Bush's claim that the government responded quickly to Hurricane Katrina:

The Mahalia Jackson Theatre for the Performing Arts reopens this weekend. At one time, the Katrina damage to the theatre was thought to so extensive as to render the theatre a total loss. Here, Mahalia Jackson sings her overwhelming version of "We Shall Overcome:"

"Waterboarding is torture." So testified Attorney General nominee Eric Holder in as clear and unambiguous a statement as anyone could want. It's sad that something so obvious took so long for someone in an official position to recognize. There may be no greater indictment of the Bush Administration's cynicism than its continual claims that it was not pursuing torture as a policy...

"I am not a number. I am a free man." R. I. P., The Prisoner, Patrick McGoohan...

If you're in New Orleans this weekend, don't miss the Danny Barker Centennial Celebration: 

Danny Barker (1909-1994) was a tireless torch bearer of the unique culture of his home town. Barker's long career spans much of the history of Jazz; he had tap danced in infamous Storyville and later migrated to New York where he performed on more than 1000 recordings with such diverse artists as Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway, Charlie Parker, Lena Horne and his talented wife Blue Lu Barker. Danny's work with young talent in the creation of the Fairview Baptist Church Band was pivotal in the brass band revival of New Orleans in the 1980s that still flourishes today...

Check out Danny's version of "Saint James Infirmary:"