Where do ideas come from? The answer can be surprising, such as from the corner of my long-deceased grandmother’s living room. In that corner hung a curio cabinet, one of those small delicate affairs, once-common relics of Victorian furnishing. Among the knick knacks on Mama Johnson’s shelf was a four-inch tall replica of the Mannequin Pis, cast from metal and satisfyingly hefty for its size. Truly a quality objet d’art! Mannequin Pis, of course, is a famous statue from a fountain in Brussels, Belgium. I’ve never seen the original, but Arlo’s reproduction is about full size. My grandmother’s much smaller version was an incongruous souvenir of World War II, brought home by one of her returning sons, either my father or my uncle. I don’t know which. It inevitably piqued my childish curiosity, and I would fondle it (OK, what word would you use!?) and wonder what the heck it was. However, I never asked about it. Perhaps I took a clue from the fact my grandmother always turned the little fellow toward wall.
125 responses to “Comic Relief”
TIP BlogSpot. Yech, if I may say so. Bunny droppings [the second, dryish kind] are much neater than goose droppings, which have become the bane of golf courses and lawnsmen.
http://thatispriceless.blogspot.com/
Peace
You have a lot of fun with the garden statues, don’t you Jimmy? I recall one where Arlo and Janis were at a garden store and Arlo got tickled at the combination of Venus de Milo and a garden gnome with a roguish expression.
http://www.brussels.be/artdet.cfm/4328
Can anyone explain why the loss of weight by someone named “June” is so newsworthy that it has been all over the ‘net for the past 3 weeks or so? If “June” needed to lose weight and did so, great; but why is this considered so exceptionally newsworthy?
cxp: How much time do you have, and do you have a strong gag reflex?
Trucker: The bull snake [Pituophis catenifer] is a constrictor that preys on various birds & mammals, including ground squirrels & rabbits. Large adults can reach 7′ in length. The one in the video looks to be 5′ or so. I suspect that snake could have killed that gray squirrel by squeezing it to death [by suffocation]. But it looks like constriction is in its feeding repertoire, not in its defense repertoire [Wiki has reliable material on bull snake defense mechanisms]. Being cold-blooded, they have much lower metabolic needs than do small to mid-sized mammals. If the snake had fed in the last week or so, it may not have been hungry.
Gray squirrels [Sciurus carolinensis] & many [but not all] other sciurids are omnivores, eating animal prey when they can, & are hungry more often than are mid-sized reptiles. This squirrel was mentally more flexible than its prey. It would defend itself by biting, but also attack prey by biting. So, in answer to your question, it’s not weird, it’s normal, though maybe uncommon.
Bull snakes are much more sensible pets than the potentially dangerous large python & boa that I used to own. Would not do it again; fortunately found good homes for both ‘Ged’ & ‘Orm Embar.’ Better than releasing them into the wild in FL. Eventually, there w/b a dead child, youth, or small adult in the FL headlines.
Mark: That ‘Manniken Pis’ site is hilarious. Here, Moral Mrs. Grundy would be up in arms. ‘Sad’, to quote an unnamed sort.
Peace,
Jimmy, your story above delights me in so many ways!
Three for the evening:
If you want something done the way you want it to be done, do it yourself. If you want something done right, hire a professional.
In terms of angst, insecurity, self-doubt, and paranoia, Woody Allen is an uninspired slacker.
Thought for the day for the paranoid: If you are one of those who hates to go anywhere in public because you think everyone is looking quickly at you and then judging you, you’re right. Everyone is always judging everyone else.
I love post ’ems……
http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/whats-hot/this-stay-at-home-dad-leaves-hilarious-sticky-notes-around-the-house-for-his-wife/ar-BBzQoGE?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp
Debbe
Hilarious!!!
Debbe, I didn’t remember Janis was a Pink Floyd fan too: http://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2013/08/07
Here’s an oldie for emb: http://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2014/05/04
Good morning Villagers….
Mark, I didn’t either, thanks for the link.
Bob, you should go to his website, there’s more post ’ems.
The black cat that escaped from the house a couple of months ago (it’ll be 4 months the 19th that I’ve been here with Dad…time flies when you don’t know what you’re doing), anyhoos should have had that black cat ‘fixed’, she’s feral, and hisses, and I know of a least two kittens she’s had and they are under the crawl space of the house. She’s getting familiar with me, when she quits nursing, I’m going to nail her to a cat carrier.
later…….
today’s grin….
http://cheezburger.com/9024009216
…..and yesterday’s smile
http://cheezburger.com/9024141568
Jimmy, When I had temporary duty in Belgium, my husband came out for a weekend and we went to Brussels. He had to find the statue and was disappointed it was so small. There is also a museum nearby which houses all the clothes people have sent over the years to cover the poor child. ????
Have a resident squirrel that chased off by a mean blue jay….ran on the electric cable, just flippin’ that tail. Told Dad about the ice cream cone eating squirrel, he laughed…told him I would bring it ‘up’ on my laptop…it’s cute.
…”squirrel!!!”
http://myfox8.com/2017/04/13/this-squirrel-eats-mini-cones-of-ice-cream-every-day-at-this-north-carolina-ice-cream-shop/
Older nestling just flew [= was airborne] from edge to center of nest. Th, it flew across the nest, airborne for over a yd. Likely w/b out of nest in a few days. They grow fast, almost like bull kelp. Peace,
http://www.georgiawildlife.com/BerryEagleCam
Morning three:
When you dance with the Devil, he leads.
The schizophrenic’s creed:
I haven’t been myself lately.
Then, again, I’m not sure that I ever was.
Expect the unexpected – even though you can never predict it and can never prepare for it.
Arlo’s manly destiny has been defined. 🙂
Today’s [retro?] Calvin. Peace,
http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes
emb, when that Calvin and Hobbes strip first ran, my husband, his brother, and his sister each cut it out and sent it to their father. They each did not know the others had done it until later.
emb
When leaving this morning saw what appeared to be a white Robin.
hard to see through rain on windshield, but it hopped like a robin
and was hanging out with other robin.
Will keep an eye out to see if it stays around.
Albino? or other mutation?
OB: Have seen an albino Amer. Robin sometime in ages past, probably Back East, but don’t remember where/when. Had an odd bird here in the spruces on the berm several years ago. No carotene, breast was grey. Couldn’t tell if M or F.
The crows’ nest I mentioned here on 31 March is about done, and I know both more and less than I did before. I’d forgotten something about American Crows. Of course, you cannot tell Mom from Dad. But there’s a reason you see adults so often. Crows typically don’t breed until age 3 or so. Instead, the kids hang w/ the folks for a season or two, and help w/ feeding and baby-sitting. And you may not be able to tell previous young from parents, unless the calls are different, and I’m inside at the dining table. While outdoors, I’ve seen adults, but they weren’t talkative. I think everybody has left the nest, but they still frequent the area.
Many summer birds are back: Can. Geese, Ring-billed Gulls, House Finches, Grackles, R-w Blackbirds. Juncos are still around but most will have gone N soon. Haven’t seen any White-throated, White-crowned, or Harris’s Sparrows, but that doesn’t mean they’ve not been through here. No Harriers [‘marsh hawks’] yet. They sometimes nest on Salisbury Plain, but there are equally attractive fields nearby. Bald Eagles are around, but don’t nest close by.
Blue Jays, Black- capped Chickadees, White-breasted and Red-breasted nuthatches are year-round types. See mostly White-breasted here, but Deerwood son and wife have Red-breasted in their yard. No Flickers yet, but often don’t see them until late summer. Haven’t seen or heard Killdeers yet. Pl. of deer is deer, but Killdeer takes the ‘s’.
Peace,
Sorry guys but my main phone went dead, lost backup phone and tablet was misplaced. Working on getting stuff up and running including computers.
I am doing just fine but have no geek genes. Nothing wrong at all.
Made eggs Benedict with tomatoes, garlic spinach, bacon, hollandaise for brunch. Doing pan grilled garlic oysters on french bread for tonight with fresh green beans and sweet peppers, Pound cake with mixed fruit and whipped cream for tonight.
Having fun.
There’s Jackie….and you’ve made me hungry, I love eggs Benedict
ubermartin@gmail.com
It’s Ian’s, he can’t bring up my old account….putting Dad down for the night