COWBOY

An apparently drunken cowboy lay sprawled across three entire seats in a posh Billings Theater. When the Usher came by and noticed him, he whispered to the Cowboy, "Sorry, Sir, but you're only allowed one seat."

The Cowboy just groaned but didn't even budge.

The Usher became more impatient and insistent: "Sir, if you don't get up from there I'm going to have to call the manager."

Once again, the cowboy just groaned.

The Usher marched briskly back up the aisle, and in a moment he returned with the manager. Together the two of them tried repeatedly to move the cowboy, but without success. He just lay there in a dazed stupor. Finally they had enough and summoned the police.

The sherrif arrived, surveyed the situation briefly, then asked, "Alright buddy what's your name?"

"Rudy," the Cowboy moaned.

"Where y'all from, Rudy?"asked the Ranger.

With terrible pain in his voice, a grim expression and without moving a muscle, Rudy said, "The Balcony."

The punch line caught me compeletly by surprise.

Thanks to Ann.

VALERIE PLAME AND JOE WILSON - NO APOLOGY YET

From The Huffington Post:

Seven years after top officials in the Bush administration turned their world upside down in an attempt to convince the public to support the war in Iraq, Amb. Joseph Wilson and outed CIA agent Valerie Plame said they still have not received an apology from anyone involved.

"No, in a word," Plame laughed and told The Huffington Post when asked if she or her husband had heard from any Bush officials. She said the closest thing she has received to an apology is when Richard Armitage, the former No. 2 at the State Department, publicly said it was "foolish" of him to leak Plame's undercover CIA identity.

Apparently Valerie Plame 'deserved' to be outed as a covert officer in the CIA's counter-proliferation division, because her husband's report which followed his investigation of the claim that Saddam had purchased enriched uranium from Niger did not line up with the Bush administration's contention that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, including materials for manufacturing nuclear weapons.

"One of the things that we have always tried to say is that whatever has happened to us as a consequence of the battles we've been involved in over the last seven years, and however painful it may have been for us, it is nothing compared to what has been done to our country -- and particularly the service people and their families -- by the ill-conceived war in Iraq and by confusion of what the mission was in Afghanistan," Wilson told The Huffington Post in an interview on Friday.

Yes, indeed. No good deed went unpunished for those who did not hew to the party line in the feverish atmosphere within the Bush administration as it prepared to invade Iraq.

Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson are patriots in the truest sense of the word. I was outraged by Plames' outing, and I'm still outraged today that this sort of dastardly deed was done in the name of pursuing a war which should never have started, a war that was justified on the basis of lies and misleading information. As Wilson describes the situation in Baghdad today, we will leave behind a sad legacy, which cost us and the Iraqi people dearly, but it's way past time for us to go.

Valerie Plame's picture from Wikipedia. Joe Wilson's picture from Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

'GUESS WHO LOVES DICK CHENEY'S BOOK'

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) – Publishing circles were abuzz today with the news that the new memoir by former Vice President Dick Cheney features a foreword by an unusual contributor: Satan.

Read it all. Andy reports; you decide.

KVETCHING ANYONE?

On Facebook, I noted a number of instances of kvetching that the media over-hyped the threat posed by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene. As I watched the news coverage of Irene, I did not at all see the coverage of the storm as overdone. Predictions of paths and intensity of hurricanes are not precise, even with the technological resources now available to track the storms.

Some who were only mildly affected by Irene seemed almost to be a tad disappointed that effects of the storm were not more serious in their area. Since I live near the coast in south Louisiana, I've endured the watching and waiting many times, and I've never thought news coverage was overdone, and I'm no great fan of TV news. Each time the worst effects of the hurricanes or tropical storms by-passed my area after we appeared to be under threat, my reaction was one of relief and gratitude, while at the same time I felt great sympathy for those who were affected badly by the storm.

From CNN:

Flooding emerged as a major concern Monday for states hit by Irene, which hit the East Coast as a hurricane and then a tropical storm over three days.

Even as Irene weakened to a tropical storm, authorities warned that its impact was not waning, especially in Vermont.

"Many Americans are still at serious risk of power outages and flooding, which could get worse in coming days as rivers swell past their banks," President Barack Obama said Sunday, adding: "The recovery effort will last for weeks or longer."

Officials said the storm had knocked out power to more than 4 million people and was responsible for at least 21 deaths.

Never, ever will I forget the commentary after the worst of Katrina had passed through New Orleans that the city had, in effect, 'dodged a bullet', only to have the levees break and flood large areas of the city, killing nearly 2000 and wreaking massive destruction. The kvetching has now died down as we know more of the devastation that resulted from Irene, but what I read pained me at the time.

Let us pray for those who were killed in the storm.

Let us pray for those who grieve for lost loved ones.

Let us pray for the safety of those who may yet be in danger from flooding.

Let us pray for those whose homes were destroyed or massively damaged in the storm.

Let us pray for those who lost their businesses or their jobs.

Let us pray for those without electrical power, especially those who may be without power for days or weeks.

I've only scratched the surface in listing those who are in distress from the storm. Pleas pray for all who were harmed in any way by Irene.

Click on the link below to watch a slide show.

Photos: Hurricane Irene Aftermath | Denver Post Media Center — Denver, Colorado, Photos and Video

Do read Rmj's post at Adventus, titled 'Still the view from Manhattan'.

'GOODNIGHT IRENE' - LEADBELLY

A wonderful 1943 version of the song by the late, great Leadbelly, folk and blues musician.

Although Lead Belly most commonly played the twelve-string, he could also play the piano, mandolin, harmonica, violin, concertina, and accordion. In some of his recordings, such as in one of his versions of the folk ballad "John Hardy", he performs on the accordion instead of the guitar. In other recordings he just sings while clapping his hands or stomping his foot.

The topics of Lead Belly's music covered a wide range of subjects, including gospel songs; blues songs about women, liquor and racism; and folk songs about cowboys, prison, work, sailors, cattle herding, and dancing. He also wrote songs concerning the newsmakers of the day, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler, Jean Harlow, the Scottsboro Boys, and Howard Hughes.

(From Wikipedia)

Thanks to Kathryn on Facebook for posting the video, which, of course, I had to have for Wounded Bird.

'IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE - KIRSTIN'S MEMORIAL SERVICE'

From Andee at Barefoot and Laughing:

On July 30, 2011, family and friends of Kirstin Paisley gathered together at Trinity Cathedral in Sacramento, California, to remember the gift she was in their lives. This gathering was a time for remembering, celebrating, loving, joking and sharing.

With many, many thanks to videographer Sean McConnell....

Here is the gorgeous two-part video that intertwines Kirstin's July 30, 2011 memorial service, with the tributes that were offered during the reception afterwards, and photos of her life.

Join us in remembering...

View or download the full worship bulletin here.

Remembering Kirstin: Part One from Sean McConnell

Remembering Kirstin: Part Two from Sean McConnell

 

Click the links above the image to view the vimeos.

SPELL CHECKER

I halve a spelling checker,
It came with my pea see.
It plainly marks four my revue
Mistakes I dew knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait aweigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the era rite
Its rarely ever wrong.

I've scent this massage threw it,
And I'm shore your pleased too no
Its letter prefect in every weigh;
My checker tolled me sew.

Cheers,

Paul (A.)

Sent in between buckets as he bails out his basement flooded with 3" of water, thanks to rain sent by Irene.

HURRICANE IRENE - MY PRAYERS AND MY THOUGHTS ARE WITH YOU

O God, creator and preserver of all mankind, we pray for all in the path of Hurricane Irene, especially for the sick and disabled and those who care for them; for all who watch and wait in uncertainty; we ask you to comfort and relieve them and bring them safely through the storm. And this we pray for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

UPDATE: I posted a later image from Weather Underground.

UPDATE 2: I'm keeping the prayer post at the head of my blog for now.

DOGS BANNED IN NYC BARS

From the New York Times:

Miles has been going to Ace Bar all his life.

His face has grayed there. Friends have come and gone. He never paid for a drink, but rarely walked out of the East Village bar with an empty stomach. He may have purged his dinner on the floor a time or two, his fellow bar patrons said, but who among them hadn’t done the same?
....

“He’s a dog, but I swear he looks sad,” Mike Israely, 33, said of Miles, his 9-year-old boxer-pug mix, as the dog peered through Ace Bar’s glass doors Thursday night. “Coming here was part of our evening walk.”

Dogs in bars have long been banned in NYC, but it was a look-the-other-way offense that was much ignored. Actually, I could not resist linking to the article in the NYT because I liked the second paragraph, but I do think that it would have been better if the powers had continued to look the other way for well-behaved dog patrons. That dogs are not allowed even at outside tables, is pushing the rules too far.

Once we took Diana to a Mardi Gras parade here in Thibodaux, only to be told that dogs were not allowed at parades. The officer did not make us leave with Diana, which was kind of him, and we haven't tested the rule again.

STORY OF THE DAY - VETERAN TRAVELER

carries a lot of suitcases but all of them
are empty because she's expecting to
completely fill them with life by the end
of this trip & then she'll come home &
sort everything out & do it all again

From StoryPeople.