John Hambrock is a fellow cartoonist who creates The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee. I checked in on John’s site this morning, and he was doing some bragging in his blog. His fine comic strip launched in November of 2006, which led John to calculate that he has drawn over 3,000 daily and Sunday strips that, if laid end to end, would equal the height of three Sears Towers stacked on top of one another (about 4,500 ft.). Well, John’s calculations led me to some of my own. I have drawn over 10,700 A&J strips since 1985, not accounting for leap years, which if laid end to end would extend for 2.5 miles and closely resemble my office floor. Hey, Junior! Come back in a few years, and we’ll talk some more! I must say, I do admire the way he has copies of all his strips arranged in ring binders. And if you read John’s bio, you’ll learn he spent years developing his characters before Brilliant Mind was launched by King Features Syndicate. As evidenced by the above cartoon from the first month of A&J, it wouldn’t have hurt if I’d done a little of that.
434 responses to “A Long Long Time Ago”
OF due 1631-15651 CDT. Peace, emb
http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html
Speaking of band names, did I ever tell the story about the time I was on a riverboat dinner-dance cruise out of Memphis and got invited up to the bridge to meet the captain who was from near where I was living at the time and his instructor from riverboat captain school who was drunk and their two young and attractive wives who had been down on the party deck dancing and drinking came up and squeezed into the the wheelhouse with us and were rubbing themselves all over me in the dark while the captain was letting me pilot the boat back up river? I’m pretty sure I did. Anyway, the two young ladies were talking about an all-girl band they had seen at a bar the night before. The band’s name…My Dolls.
Only thing to make the story better Ghost is had you all been stark nekkid. Nothing like the wheel of a boat, wind and total nudity. Ask Arlo.
HOHO! An excellent entry for the small world category here in the Village! From Jackie’s post a while ago: “Sage 17 won a bunch of awards as a new boat, there is a Sage 15 being brought out and honestly I am considering buying one, I like Jerry Montgomery’s designs.” Our best friends here in Tucson AZ are Ann and Erroll (Monte) Montgomery. Monte’s brother is Jerry Montgomery; we have met Jerry a number of times. How cool is that?!
And yes, he IS the Jerry Montgomery who designs and builds sailboats.
At least he definitely is A Jerry Montgomery who designs and builds sailboats. I’d think there might be only one….
There is only one Jerry Montgomery, a legend in small boat design and manufacture. I once bought one of his lapstrake dinghies for Mike to use with our big schooner. Back when I had more money to indulge with. Note to Sand, tell Loon a Leatherman is small indulgence.
Jerry’s boats are most capable sailing and look good too. He usually writes articles each month for Small Craft Advisor for whom I occasionally write, Mike did more often.
Funny, another friend wrote me to kick around an idea Jerry is thinking of doing which I encouraged because I do think it is another good one. I am a fool for lapstrake, of course.
Totally nice person too. It will probably turn out that the Village is like the Degrees of Kevin Bacon game and we all are already connected.
Love, Jackie
Jackie, thinking of getting a custom Leatherman Tread watch made for Vladimir Putin. Get an old school Soviet star faced watch mounted on the Tread band. After a few vodkas at his dacha I think he would see the humor in the gift. 😉
Jackie,
Thanks for the reminder of the mule farm north of Auburn that we worked when I was in vet school. They had Percheron mares and bred them to donkeys to get huge draft mules in the days when mules were still used on farms. Have been at the LA. Veterinary Medical Convention in Lafayette over the last few days. Saw a whole bunch of my old collegues and young ones too. My first trip to Lafayette, LA in several years. I had forgotten how good the food was there, even though we have some pretty good food in Big BR. My wife and I really enjoyed the crawfish bisque at Prejeans and the Blue Dog Cafe was nice also. Had to work a little extra at the health club today after all that good food. It was worth it. Blessings on everyone.
D.
I hold firmly to the theory that one can never have too many flashlights, and that when one needs a flashlight, there is no substitute. Here’s one that can be worn on one’s wrist.
http://www.ablogtowatch.com/luminox-surefire-2211-wristlight-tactical-watch/
The downside…if I saw someone in civilian clothes wearing such an obviously tactical item, I’d instantly assume that person is carrying a firearm. My Surefire L2 flashlight rides in my pocket, out of sight but immediately available.
Anyone seeing any snow? 🙂
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Snow flurries Loon? I tried it as Morse Code first but couldn’t translate it. 🙂
Ghost: Saw brief flurries this am, but none since then. High today 34F or so, same predicted tomorrow. No calving, at least not locally. Some cars going through thin ice downstate.
Looking fwd. to a night when it doesn’t freeze. March? Peace, emb
Thanks, Loon. Always wondered what falling snow looks like when looking down.
Slow night. Everyone must be doing snowed in things.
Drove through town at dusk and the centennial clock on corner said it was 67 degrees. Just now in my driveway it was still 58 per Honda. Might be more accurate than official town clock.
Doumacan, my late father in law built the Blue Dog Cafe. It was another cafe then but the exterior and interior is pretty much as he built it. That is where we had lunch for mother in law’s funeral, enjoyed by all. The food is actually better now in my opinion. And I envy the art collection they have. FIL did not like George Rodrigue. Pity.
I might have to steal a blue dog to ever get one. The two I have had I picked up off the side of the road and the other one got born at my vet’s, to both of our surprise.
Love, Jackie
Ghost, I am beginning to wonder about those cavernous pockets of yours. Sort of like Martine’s dress, it must hide a lot.
That is indeed a cool watch, combine that with appropriate clothing and it might glow in the dark. Sorry, I am wishing I had one too.
I have to call power company tomorrow and see about having some more street lights put in my yard, get one of my “helpers” to replace all the security light bulbs and put up a few more outside lights. Someone managed to cut a stainless steel wrapped cord and steal my golf cart off front driveway and load it onto something, since keys to locks and motor were in my office, battery was dead. Unfortunately I have enough stuff around here to appeal to thieves and it is too dark right now. They will figure out what is in that boat shop if they haven’t already. I mean, photos of it are all over internet. Not to mention the stuff that isn’t even inside.
Wishing I had managed to get the gun class done and the new gun bought. Found all of the above but I have had too %$#@ stuff to do. Got contractor out to see about putting in new additional lighting but he hasn’t gotten here yet. Not sure I can hit anyone with a 45 revolver but I’d be willing to try, just not enough bullets.
Just looked at mom’s snake gun, a 22 she carried around. Dirtiest gun I have ever seen! Totally filthy, maybe dead snake dirt? Cleaning would appear in order, I am not sure it will work for dirt.
Love, Jackie
GR8, I have only one “good” knife, a Lapu Lapu Corto designed by Bram Frank (Spyderco has manufactured a number of his designs). I have both the live blade and a trainer. My wife has the same combo. His and hers…
“Everyone must be doing snowed in things.” Not snowed in here, just proofing a contribution for the local daily. Will let it sit overnight, email it demain. Peace, emb
So, I suppose I should read up on internet on how to clean filthy dirty revolvers. And get rust off. I have not cleaned a gun in lo these many, many years. I know first order is to unload the ammo and take them apart. Or I could take them to a gun shop I suppose and get them cleaned and whatever they need. Never looked for a reputable gun shop locally.
To be honest this sort of thing brings my spirits down. I need the big biting dogs who would eat anyone alive if their mommy got threatened. I dislike distrusting people.
Love, Jackie
I read fast. The answer is take them to gunsmith or a good reputable gun shop. The one and only guns I ever cleaned long, long ago were clean and not dirty anyway. These are awful, matching the description of what the forums for manly gun cleaning categorize as beyond do it yourself. I am no Martine. The safety on 22 will hardly move and I haven’t gone and looked closely at the other one.
My mom was 93 when she died last month but you’d think some of those outdoorsmen who hung around her hunting “camp” might have cleaned them for her.
Love, Jackie
I wonder what kind of ads will show up now that I’ve looked at those two fascinating sites, the Leatherman one and the flashlight-on-wrist one. As for snow, it’s fallen very lightly for hours, but so far the high wind and heavy snow has not hit us. I feel nervous about what it’ll be like when I wake in the morning … it’s 11 pm right now.
Jackie, that is so sleazy that someone would rob you! It makes my stomach hurt to think of it. You are doing the right thing to light the place up more, I guess … would be best to hire a security guard, but too expensive I daresay. Have you alerted the police? Or would that help much?
Gary, good idea with his-and-her knives. Also would be a good idea for firearms. No learning curve to overcome if you have to grab the spouse’s weapon in an emergency.
Jackie, you came to the same conclusion I would have suggested…if the weapons are old, dirty, rusty and possibly (probably?) in poor repair, take them to a professional who can determine if they can be cleaned/repaired to the point of being safe and reliable. And if it’s at a shop, look at some of the semi-auto pistols while you are at it. The GLOCK 42 is a new model in .380 ACP caliber I’ve been reading some go thing about.
http://us.glock.com/products/model/g42
Charlotte, people often get robbed at times of joy and sorrow, like weddings and funerals. Sad but true. Which is why we are nervous about all Mike’s tools and equipment out in boat shop.
My insurance agent said because of my high deductible, filing claim would result in nothing but a raise in premiums. Unfortunately, stuff like this helps bump up costs of insurance too. No one wants to know what it costs out here in boonies!
Cheapest way would be to just clone some of my boat building male friends and take them in. I have had a couple of offers but we don’t know if their wives would notice, as wives often are not liking the outdoors and don’t pay close attention. That is a joke of course, but it is as annoying to my ex-military friends as it is to me because I truly am a generous and supportive person for their hobbies. So, things like this end up affecting us all.
Had just bought the golf cart to haul people back and forth down to lake and beach back in October, plus to use for my mom and Mike who were unable to walk as much as before. My youngest daughter is truly annoyed and is insisting I report it because she was using it for her and the grandson too. They aren’t registered in Oklahoma and VINS are often ground off and they are sold in flea markets, Craig’s list, that sort of thing.
Stone mason’s wife is police dispatcher and she was by this morning, told me to report as they were finding some stolen ones and returning. More stuff for tomorrow.
Bet if I offered to toss in one of the unfinished boats (which all have all their pieces and equipment bought and paid for including sails, etc.) I might get a boat building retired military tenant even if wife noticed?
Love, Jackie