It must say something about me that every time I take a few days off to recharge, I wind up someplace with no Internet accessibility or even a cell-phone signal. Whatever it says, I just returned from such a place, and it was great. Sorry about the interruption, though. I haven’t talked much football this year. I decided to wait until it matters (Well, as much as it ever matters.), and that time is coming. Sorry, non-sports fans! I know this Sunday Arlo & Janis from 1994 has appeared here before, probably a couple of times, but I’ve always liked it, and I thought it might be appropriate. To get us in the mood.
Going for It
By Jimmy Johnson
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42 responses to “Going for It”
Oh, Jackie, you ought to like this. It is by one of mt dA friends, hecestmoi, done in acrylics and pen:
http://s1306.photobucket.com/user/Lilyblack1/library/
Since we’ve had comments today about New Yorker cartoons and dogs, I have to share this link that a friend posted on Facebook –
http://www.joeydevilla.com/2014/10/20/this-rejected-new-yorker-cartoon-might-just-be-the-best-new-yorker-cartoon-of-all-time/#sthash.b1gxWFvK.gbpl
Jerry in FL: Be sure to tell us if your son moves to Orlando – we could have a village meeting!
No, no, this is the greatest New Yorker cartoon of all time (a copy of this is framed in our dining room): http://s1306.photobucket.com/user/Lilyblack1/media/Isay_zps7fca9c84.jpg.html
😀
Lilyblack, I like spinach, but agree with the kid on broccoli. As Lewis Grizzard said, it looks like the Jolly Green Giant’s brainstem.
Jimmy:
Glenn Miller and his orchestra would have been proud.
IN response to the latest flap over a star’s new look, the cartoonist for the Daily Telegraph presents this: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/matt/
Jackie, while I realize that…
“They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.”
Psalm 107:23-24 (KJV)
…some of those craft in the pictures are so tiny they really do push the envelope, boat-wise, much less ship-wise. 🙂
That Bible passage reminded me of this poem. I’m not a sailor, but I think it must say a lot about being one…
I Must Go Down to the Sea
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face and a grey dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.
– John Masefield
Mark, on those now rare occasions when I turn on the TV, I inevitably see a commercial for a “weight-loss system” starring Marie Osmond. When I do, the first thing that always occurs to me is, “She’s had some work done”. So much, in fact, that she now appears to be of Asian ethnicity.
I’ve long loved that poem, Ghost Rider. Although, I believe the name of it is Sea Fever. It gives us the rhythm of the sea while conveying a deeply melancholy air, doesn’t it?
About John Masefield’s poem, I too have always loved it, even before I met Mike or sailed in a boat of any sort. It is just so beautifully written.
Yeah, when we say small boats, we mean small boats! Some of the mantras, “Go small, go now” and “Small boats, big adventures”. These guys are actually often better sailors than many who go out in big boats, you have to be because if you make even small mistakes it can often mean capsize or even loss of life. They do push the envelope often and some of those boats are actually immaculate works of wood, fine furniture that sails.
Others are small speed demons with big sails and small hulls, some want to see how small or how light they can create boats.
My husband, Mike, qualified as a top mast man on the tall ship Elissa when we lived there in Galveston Bay. He also sold some of the most expensive sail and power boats available in those long ago days of the late 80’s which our friend Kelly McGuire said “was not a good time to be a yacht broker in Texas!”
Our personal boat then was a 37 foot schooner, Chesapeake Bay style lazy jack. She carried a lot of sail, just like the tall ships, just smaller, which is why I love Arlo’s schooner so much.
Now none of this is to brag, because we lost it all as surely as if it had been carried away by a hurricane like JJ’s boat in Katrina. I have found that I get a whole lot of joy from these small boats and while some may be totally mad in design, like being in a strange world, many are just so much fun I laugh when I see them.
So, I will state that “Chevy Duck” makes me laugh out loud but she was built by one of Houston’s city engineers who inspect for the city and has working tail lights, headlights, turn signals and completed 200 miles down the Texas coast nonstop pretty much to raise cancer funds, along with a flock of others and about 70 larger boats. Not bad for a square boat that looks like it belongs in Who Killed Roger Rabbit?
‘Nuff lecture, hope Jimmy reads this stuff because I plan to use his tee shirts some how next year as part of this insanity! And a sailing cartoon. I need a sailing cartoon!
Good night and love, Jackie
Jackie, has anyone ever built a Duck that looks like a Radio Flyer “little red wagon”?
Lilyblack, this shirt’s for you: http://www.earthsunmoon.com/item.php/E44/German%20Shepherd%20Thing
For the rest of us, this site has lots more, including gardening-related shirts.
Not exactly. But a bunch of us somewhat accidently built three identically painted red and white ones one year from the OZ Duck. And I mean identical! They had to put some big hull #’s on them to tell us apart. And there were only nine of us who made the trek to Atlanta, GA, getting there right after a 100 year flood and our lake/park being underwater six feet deep.
Two belonged to us and the third to a lawyer friend who actually won Worlds. And yes, we have Worlds title including interstellar and other superfluous titles. Ours this year was the End Cancer (EC Duck) Races and Heartland of America, I think there must have been about 20 that showed up.
Now that I think about it, if you put a wagon tongue on them, those red and white speedsters would have looked like a wagon.
Speedsters is a relative term while discussing 4 x 8 sandboxes that should not even sail at all!
You understand that while going in a relatively small boat to sail the Florida coast in another small boat challenge billed as “It will change your life” or “You may die doing this”, Mike is actually going for fast and nonstop this year, so no jokes. His boat is named “Hard Core” and can actually sail fast for a 20 foot open boat. That and I recruited the racing dinghy instructor from the famed Wooden Boat School up in Maine as his partner.
I do name a lot of his boats.
Love, Jackie
Back in the ’80’s I saw Marie Osmond up close and personal and I have to say that I think she looks much better now than she did then, not that I think that you can just send some company a check and look like that. I meant to mention this earlier but, I recommend the movie that’s out now “The Judge”. It’s an excellent drama and I’ve been a Robert Duval fan since “The Godfather”. There’s a line where he says that the best attorney he ever saw was Atticus Finch. Very clever I thought.
Good morning Villagers….
Ruth Anne…that was funny, thanks for the laugh this morning…needed it.
The babysitting spree is over…for the week. I’m hoping she can line another sitter up, as last night was a test of wills….tired wills.
Emb….thanks for the English lesson…and I still love you too. The only ‘A’s I made was in Senior English, and then in college I exempted out of my final exam in Comp 101. I’ve gotten lazy and dangly in my older age 🙂 (There’s that red line!)
Jerry, my husband and I watched, again, the movie “Get Low” with Robert Duvall the other evening. I love watching him act….he was excellent in the movie “The Apostle”. Not to mention his role as Captain Kilgore…..”I love the smell of napalm in the morning”
The past three days at work have been hell….augers jumping out of the feeding troughs. So I’ve been stacking, packing, wrapping…you guessed it “all by myself….” . The boys have it rougher though, that auger is a witch to put back in.
Ya’ll have a blessed day
Good to see your post Indy Mindy….pray your friend is doing better as each day passes.
Sea Fever – a favorite poem and one that JJ did a variation on one Sunday many years ago. I’ll have to search my files to see if I still have a copy.