Nothing Could be Finer

I worked at a neat little Naval Hospital at Camp Lejune for awhile and it was interesting being where my mother had attended boot camp when she was a Marine during WWII. I ran into a friend of mine from my little town in Missouri at a shopping mall in Jacksonville. That was odd. I had to carry a can of OFF around with me wherever I went because the mosquitos kept eating me alive. I bought cans of it by the six-pack because I kept forgetting and leaving them in chairs of restaurants and other establishments that I visited. Those mosquitos were like little dive bombers that wouldn't take no for an answer.
I was very impressed by the town of Wilmington. Their deteriorating downtown was brought back to life by clever street parking, landscaping, and sidewalk design. It drew in coffee-shops, antique stores, boutiques, and great restaurants. I was so impressed that when I came home I approached our city council about doing the same thing, but to no avail. Our downtown still sucks.
I wish I'd had more time to explore North Carolina. I really liked what I did have time to see. Except for the mosquitos.

The only thing I know about North Carolina is that they had a pretty decent punk/garage band scene in the early 1980's,

The Wright Memorial looks like a tombstone.

My family lives outside of Asheville, NC- really beautiful. I so enjoy going to visit.
JULIA- Two summers ago my brother dragged me to this club to hear the metal ( maybe death metal would be a better description) band "Crank County Daredevils." They were really, really, really loud. Between sets the guys were really nice.
 
Asheville's downtown has a seriously bad begging problem- you are accosted at every turn. Last summer was awful- you smile & say hello & someone nails you- lots of scam begging.
 
Lots of patchouli, lots of dreadlocks.
 
The outerbanks are gorgeous- you won't want to leave.

Hmmmm.... North Carolina.... I rode a bus across it years ago to get from Charleston, SC, to New Jersey....Charlie Rose is from there... my son did some time at Duke University while he was in high school under the TIPS program (but he flew in)....lots of universities in those three towns that are really close to each other (Raleigh, Durham and the other one).... the Appalachian Trail crosses it and the Smoky Mountains are supposed to be really beautiful in the Fall.... idiots build homes on barrier islands like the Outer Banks, same as they do on the barrier islands here in Texas.... lots of folks from Texas trace their roots back to North Carolina, same as Georgia.... NEXT!

Oh, it was a smart move NOT picking 'Carolina in the Morning' as the state song, considering all the double entendres attendant.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who has heard (or composed!) 'alternative lyrics'....

Doc Nolan, funny you mention Duke's TIP program. I taught one of the summer courses, a few years ago, hosted at Davidson College. It was a field ecology course and was loads of fun. The students--those sent to Davidson were a bit younger--were unbelievably bright and most of them quite sweet.  I've spent a decent amount of on Duke's campus too--when I lived in the fringe-of-the ghetto (I think everyone does) in Durham.  I had one more affiliation with Duke, when I was a safari outfitter in souther Africa.  We maintained the tent camp for the Duke Paleoanthropology Field School, and brought the group of students and professors on a ten day naturalist safari in Botswana, it was wild. Cooking for 30 in the bush is really a wonderful learning experience.  I've also spent some time on the NC coast--Top Sail Island and the like. 
 
 
 
 
Now, to change tone, I'm sorry to say that I do not particularly like North Carolina. As soon as I got off the plane, I knew I wouldn't stay. I live in DC now and I know I won't stay here either. Same with the west coast--though I persistently tried to stay put several places there! I'm just a northeast girl, I suppose!

If say the twinkie is hard, even on a dessert Isle, it's gonna be hard. And ALL twinkies are BORN stale, so that's a Gibbon, Edward...no decline, no fall-at least not while I'M around...

good morning !!! all !
 
north carolina is on my "to see" list.  not the metro areas as much as the country side.  i've flown in, out and over of the state.  looks like good bike country. 
 
as far as i can trace back, my folks started appearing in south carolina.  we all came from somewhere else, unless of course you have a native ancestor.  aren't we all, to some degree, carpetbaggers?
 
tar heels?  let's hear from you!

...so the notion that a roamin' twinkie can't be a guided missile is a phallacy...

for ~ olivia and isles
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNsBc7PBw5E&feature=fvw

I've never been to North Carolina, haven't been to a basketball game of any sort since 1992, and I don't remember the last time I even picked up a b-ball.  I think this topic may be beyond me.
 
Now, twinkies, on the other hand . . .

*we don't NEED no steenking vitamins, Senor!

cuukoo1

My father's family landed in the USA, in several waves, between 1900 and 1920.

My Mother's, on the other hand, came much earlier, on the second English boat to Va. (A little family joke)

I can trace their migrations from the Isle of Wight and the Tidewater in Virginia ,to the "Rogues' Harbor" area of what is now N.C. and down the coast into S.C, likely refugees of Bacon's Rebellion and /or taxes and debts incurred through  "tribute" to holders of the original royal land grants. Barnes, Floyd, Warwick, Flowers, Johnston, Nye.........

plott:  what a nice hound!!!

General Appearance
A hunting hound of striking color that traditionally brings big game to bay or tree, the Plott is intelligent, alert and confident. Noted for stamina, endurance, agility, determination and aggressiveness when hunting, the powerful, well muscled, yet streamlined Plott combines courage with athletic ability.

 
Michael,

There was on my desk a square drinking glass that happened to be situated to reflect my image.

After reading your Sarah Palin/Margaret Truman analysis, I saw in that glass, an expression that I had not seen since twelve-year old Lindsay Peck breezing through the kitchen door on the way to the new neighbor's house said: "Bye Dad, I'm going to play with Brian Spalls."

His spoonful of Rice Krispies and milk hung in midair cartoon style as he bolted after her for clarification.

You will look in vain throughout all of literature for the term "mental magnetism,"

Great Scott boy, get your nose out of that book and into a cleavage somewhere. A well filled pair of jeans and bra are what you're after. She can always get smart later.

And be prepared, once you go glandular on a regular basis, to discover that you might not care much about how well read she is.

Make that new piece "The Book of Life" and its first chapter: "Ours."

Now, if you wouldn't mind, on your way out, ask that nympho slut, Midge, from mensa to come on in. You can thank me later.


Doc Nolan,

You are right again: There was hell to pay around the place on the afternoon our mom found out that Carol's liner was not an ocean-going vessel after all.




 

Just a couple of weeks ago, in Raleigh, the North Carolina State Fair served up an assortment of Twinkies, to tempt every palate... chocolate dipped, frozen, and, of course, deep fried!
http://www.indyweekblogs.com/arts/tag/fried-twinkies/

Kindlee....

I am queasy just reading that article! My body wouldn't know whether to go into sugar shock or a gallbladder attack! (I have never experienced either and hope to keep it that way)

Fried butter? Ever eat Chicken Kiev? I wonder if it would be similar.

And nobody's even attempted to broach the subject of the cream filling. While the a priori staleness and putative hardness issues can be put in/on the back burner, no one can ignore the lurking potential wardrobe disaster represented by an erupting geyser of Hostess's best cream filling. Ever seen a Twinkie unload on a little black cocktail dress? Not pretty, my friends, not pretty at all.

Regarding North Carolina... I just can't muster the respect and high regard I have for other states when I think of N.C. I think it has something to do with that fact that it's one of those states that appears to need a compass heading in its name so its inhabitants can find it on a map. Just like the Dakotas. And that silly "other" Virginia. It's as if the great Dumbing Down of American Society was begun, surreptitiously, by cartographers of malign intent. After all, not everybody who's ever written "je pense donc je suis" was a good person, and Cartesian coordinates are no guarantee of good character.

Isles, you're being silly with all that nonsense about states that need a compass heading.  Come on down and we'll show you that our name has nothing to do with how much fun we can be and how good the barbeque is.  And I'm not even from North Carolina.

I guess the best thing I can say about North Carolina is that their politicians seem to be really, really boring compared to ours.
 
 

why would one need to freeze a twinkie?

Well said, Shando. A rose by any other name, after all.

cuukoo, this is a riddle?

 
 
 
Where is Capt Neptune this morning?

Isles, if you want to dis South Carolinians on our choice of governor or other assorted stupid backwardness.....be my guest.  The local Free Times, which is edited by a pal of mine, runs an annual issue called "Our Dumb State."  They had to do a second issue this year to cover all the foolishness.
 

Miss Blue~ I agree with you. Just the thought of fried butter made me sick.
 
A friend of one of my sons had a t-shirt that said it was illegal to plow cotton fields with an elephant in North Carolina.
So, why are cotton balls small and white? Because if they were big and gray they would be elephants.

the shinefest looks interesting.....and it's this weekend...!

 
kindlee...shouldn't that be elephants'.....?
 
 
cuukoo1...yes on shinefest!
I had some good 'shine' a a friend's last week.The peach and clove is my favorite.Just don't eat the fruit!!!
How is the vodka coming along?
 
I understand the number one cash crop in NC is no longer tobacco but....marijuana.

Twinkie Boy, had you received the Twinkie Penance, you would not be so blase' about back burners.
Your comeuppance is at hand!
And don't stain anything, please-it could have political implications!

Now we can begin the Trial by Cigar Ordeal...

Pam, you know where cotton balls come from, don't you?
Those poor little Teddy bears...

My comeuppance can NOT be at hand. The Pope forbids self-abuse. Can my cigar be the bubble gum kind?

miss blue, due to the economy, they decided to buy this years vodka, eat the potatoes and recycle the bottles for next years harvest.  big enough crop to provide all the seeds for the spring planting. 

one would freeze a twinkie for the same reason they froze Walt Disney...... to see if some time in the future a cure would become available to bring it back to life.  In the case of the twinkee however, it would be the first time anything in it was alive.

Great, now I've got Chatanooga Choo-choo stuck in my head.  Not that I don't like a good Glenn Miller record now and then, but its annoying when you've got "Nothing could be finer than to have your ham and eggs in Carolina" over and over again.
 
One of my brothers in law lived in North Carolina for a couple years and he loved it.  He's always talking about the beaches and the beautiful old towns and the friendly people and most of all the food. 

I have friends who live in High Point, NC. I'm planning to spend part of next summer's vacation with them so I'll finally be able to see more of North Carolina than what I saw out of my car window as I drove north on I-95 towards New York from Miami, FL five years ago.
 
I'm probably not going to post much today as I'm aching pretty badly. I slipped on the stairs carrying a filled laundry basket and ended up sliding down them from the second to the first floor of the house on my back. My S.O. said he didn't see any bruises last night but I bet they are starting to bloom now if the way I'm feeling is any indication.
 
Considering that I've had to go back and make about 20 typo corrections in that last paragraph, I suspect the pain meds are going to kick in soon.
 
Take care, everyone and have a good weekend.

Ouch, katz! See, this is why I don't do laundry. Stopped wearing underwear years ago, too. I hope you feel better soon.

peter lake, i never would have thought of that!  good points.
 
 
katz, wasn't there mention of some 'shine yesterday?....are you sure it was laundry? ~jk~
 
whatever the reason, i do wish you a speedy recovery.

Unless it's a euphemism, North Carolina barbecue is an abomination.  On the other hand, they gave us Andy Griffith and Krispy Kreme...

Katz, if you don't have one, get a microwavable heating pad / stadium cushion / gel pack.  I hope it helps.

A rope-smoking pope-a-lope can't grope, finds no use for self-abuse?
Don't be obtuse, you can juice the moose when your papoose is in the caboose
Or you can wring the wrang like the whole shebang of that Washington gang
When the Arkie sparked like they do in the park when it gets dark they hunt the Snark
But he jumped the shark when the media hark took his lark from bite to bark
Then the Bushman our sultan did the fan dance with cleaner pants but dirty hands
In Middle Eastern sands so you see you can plan to be the man no one can ban your
Tanning that hide take yourself for a ride like the boys at the top they never gonna stop till They drop a bomb on some body don't be shoddy take your hot toddy your hot roddy
Cos that man-o-god he told a lie you got to try you must defy the gravity of the situation
All across our crazy nation in Carolina too it's workin for me and it's jerkin for you and your Bubble gum cigar smoke it in your car make your mouth so happy but to me it tastes Crappy I like the real thing or a steel thing a fun thing like a love gun thing ka-ching on The wing I sing the body electric and it's good when it's eclectic so let your freak flag fly  Wherever you make it happen the fans you know they'll be clappin for the man with the Ball in his hand.
 
So go for it, dude...

 
 
I'll have what Olivia's having.....only make mine a double.
 
 
 
 
Dancingkatz, I thought all katz landed on their feet....sorry, just trying to help you feel better.
 
 
 
 
ahhh Trask, I wondered when you would apperar. I have relatives in S.C. too.

 
 
 
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXmgkvIgc0w
 
 
 

Like the ancient Persians, I just got to get my Babylon sometimes...

Or was that where the Hittites liked to sit tight?

 
After a scalding private e-mail from a lurker, I shall clarify: Every breath; bite; sip; awakening or even moment spent alone is better when you know that someone, however improbably, loves you back.

The unexamined life, whatever its shortcomings, is preferable to one spent unshared.

No book, stack of them or library can stand up to the biblically, sociologically and scientifically endorsed magic of being half of something greater than yourself squared or even cubed.

Not every one gets lucky early like me and stays that way into advanced years but it is my wish for all of you who can stand up under that kind of blessing to have it.

Apologies to Michael for the adolescent mokeyshines.

Now, because I can see the gray squirrel vainly seeking her playmate in the cottonwoods, I will go out and put the leaf net over the drawn down pool one day too late for her little partner who drowned there yesterday.

Dancingkatz,

The large, dark green, heated, leather recliner in the club car has your name on it.


 

Dammit, Janet-I've got something to say
I really loved the skillful way
You jumped right into the wild wordplay!
 
The Eye is where the wild things are...

 
 
 Olivia
 
 
I cannot Harappan on this topic for long. I need to move some firewood.
Hope to talk Sumer than later!
Love to all
 
 
 
xoxo

Katz..that sounds painfull.. Heat or ice either works. 
 
Olivia:  what did you have in your coffee today?
 
I think I will go buy a twinkie for breatfast...ooops, guess not, my stomach just rebelled.
 
 

Mr. P.  Thanks for the silliness... this was a heavy week.

Janet-You can't be Assyrious!

I've been to NC several times and always enjoyed.
 
My friend that I traveled with, before she died 3 years ago, and I would go on Jan 1 and stay about 4 or 5 days with other friends who have an ocean front house in Southern Shores on the outer banks.
 
We almost always had the best weather.
 
Sometines it would be in the 70s and we would have happy hour on the deck watching the dolpins and pelicans.
 
We'd shop, eat and drink and enjoy the invitors company and hospitality.
 
I miss my friend and the trips we took.
 
I would never have gotten to Southern Shores, Great Britian, France, Italy, St. Thomas and other destinations without her.

 
 
 
olivia....
Ur dealing with someone who loves word games.
 

Some days you should say only "I can't comment," then shut your mouth and listen? This is one: I've always thought "Carolina in the Mornin'" referred to SOUTH Carolina, and have never heard the (more interesting?) lyrics which apparently everyone but me knows. My family arrived in 1700 in Philadelphia, as was the custom, then moving South as many English and Scots did, and they didn't stop off in NC. I've eaten NC barbeque -- bbq is a highly personal matter -- and found it greyish with an odd-tasting sauce. I'll stick with Sconyers, here. (When Jimmy Carter was president, he had Sconyers drive trucks of his product to the White House for parties for foreign visitors.)

I've always thought NC a gorgeous state, wouldn't mind living there. I've never seen a Twinkie.

See what I mean?

Janet-me too, so Upanishaddup!

You can Nebuchadnezzar win! I'll fight like a Tigris, so you better be a Euphrates-cat!

a twinkie with coffee is red neck tiramisu.

I Assur you, it's a Sargon conclusion. Best if we just go and have a cup of Akkadian coffee and a Fertile Crescent roll...

 
 
 
 
haha...I never thought this would cause such a Malay...and become so Silla!
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Zabul is getting really thick. I Armenia too when provoked(ooohhhh bad grammar).
gonna move that wood and will do battle later..of scythian origin myself so watch out!!!!
hahaha

We can practice our Marduk Chaldeans. I'll bet I can bring in Ninevehm! Especially drinking dark Zoroast-yum!

 
 
 
Gotta Nippur in the bud.....

 
 
 
 
Axum if they have had enough....

 
 
 
cuukoo1
 
 
 
I shall evoke Ivan with a Moon Pie and R C Cola !!!!    a N C breakfast

 
 
 
 
Olivia....
It's been a Baal.
 
I never Tyre of this stuff!

 I had the pleasure of a too brief visit to GreensboroNC as part of our Company's benchmarking efforts looking at ‘Best In Class" manufacturing facilities in the areas of empowerment and "self-directed work teams (also known as "smoke & mirrors").  

We spent the entire day in a factory that designs and manufactures a large share of the gasoline pumps found at your local station. Although we were a telecommunications equipment manufacturer, we shared a lot of similarities in our processes, primarily in the area of printed circuit board manufacturing and assembly.

Although I didn't get to see much else besides the factory, the local "Outback Steakhouse", and the magnificent carpet of tree tops at the edge of the airport, I did get to meet and converse with some of the friendliest; easy to talk to folks I ever met.

I know from my own experience that whenever a company receives visitors from the outside that everyone is nudged to be on their best behavior so that a good impression is made. I could sense that these folks where the real deal. Honest, hard working men and women that took a great deal of pride in what they did. It wasn't a matter of them finally letting their guard down after a good dinner and few glasses of wine. Their guard was never up.

I'll always remember that trip for that very reason.

The too-close-for-me view of the tree line also makes me wish I had more time spend there. I know I would love the coastal towns..... There's nothing better than a shoreline with an endless horizon to set loose some very excellent woolgathering.

Every time I'm at a gas pump, I'm compelled to look down at the base to see if it says Gilbarco. I guess you can take the boy out of manufacturing but you just can't get manufacturing out of the boy.... At least in my case it seems....

peace out ...... the last of the leaves and a sunny day beckon and I cannot resist their call.

  Did someone say tiramisu........ I think I'll sneak a twinkie into Starbucks this afternoon and we can add it to the menu in the dinning car... a build your own tiramisu!

Livvie, good to read you in such good form today

Whenever Olivia gets going I feel like a Flatlander out of Edwin Abbott's novel ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland ) meeting a Time Lord.  How she puts up with her protege boggles my two-dimensional nervous system....

and btw........ I really, really do like their motto.... "To be rather than to seem." I think that should be on a brass plaque above the bar in the club room of thesepia train as a gentle reminder of why we like to gather there, just to be....

CUUKOO:
 
I would never have thought of a Twinkie as Tiramisu, but now that you mention it, I can see it.
 
I can almost taste it too.

korthal.....desperation leads to innovation.
 
to be.....
 
 
 
 

A Twinkie with a double pump mocha cappuccino with an extra shot of espresso with heavy whipped cream on the side ...... I think I need a smoke now

MISS BLUE:  RC  anna Moon Pie comin' right up !!!  A delightfull Breakfast, indeed ...
 
Chicken Kiev is exceptionally Rich, and necessarily fatty, to achieve the correct taste ... that is why one should always ensure that the Wine enjoyed with the Meal is an exceptionally Dry  White ... or if one prefers Champagne, it should not be chilled below 42 degrees .......  
 
Good Champagne works well with Moon Pies too ... (especially the Banana variety)

A sweet tooth is the 'Mother of Invention'...... F. Zappa

What doesn't go with a Moon Pie?  Of course, they're made in my hometown....
 
Beer and chocolate chip cookies.  A college staple. 

During the late '70s, I entered what I call my 'Green Acres' phase and moved outside the town of Hertford in the NE corner. While I lived there, they discovered a jewel hidden within an old farmhouse...a meeting building of Flemish design (the White-Newbold House). We attempted to renovate a 1920 farmhouse. Other than the renovation, I have dear memories of locals who drive with one hand because they wave at every vehicle they pass. I enjoyed that. At harvest time we were gifted with sweet corn, tomatoes, and even farm processed sausage...and never anything asked for in return. 

i can't wait 'til we get to the virginia's........leaving for store

Popping in for a minute while I swap out ice packs. Another three hours of ice and then I can take that heated green leather recliner in the club car. Thank you for all your good wishes.
 
'Shine had nothing to do with the spill. The trigger mechanism was a camoflauged catnip mouse left on the next to top riser by one of my cats.
 
Luckily, the pain meds and muscle relaxants are working the way they are supposed to.
 
I remember building table top catapults out of rubberbands and popsicle sticks to lob marshmallows with my cousins as a kid. After running out of marshmallows one Saturday afternoon, I decided that a twinkie would make a suitable missile. My Aunt did not think the same when my cousin ducked and it broke apart after hitting her brand new couch. That cream filling left a stain that never did com entirely out of the fabric. Hmmm. I wonder if my sister would kill me if I taught her 8 -yer old son how to build a catapult...

SHANDONISTA:   Made in Chattanooga, but they eat good anywhere, which is typical of Southern Cuisine ... I even used a piece of one as Bait, while fihin' at the Lake over by Newberry ... Fish like the Banana better than the Chocolate or Strawberry ... Of course, Poagies will eat just about anything .......

DancingKatz - I'm glad to hear you're feeling better.  As for the catapult, I think it's your patriotic duty to teach your nephew how to build one.  If you can't torture your siblings through their children, what's the point of surviving your own childhood??
 

well, now I know how come i can't get a missive to the stone man, so i'll just say 'thank you, thank you for the wonderful link.  you're the best regardless of what some gypsy lurker might think.
 
and now a question:
 
Is Greensboro NC the place that gave us Forrest Gump?  He pronounced it something like "Greensbo'" ?  Same place? or not?

PARK4 - Forrest was from Greenbow, Alabama

I am taking off and shutting down a little early today ... gotta go by the Cleaner's and pick up my, Friday-Go-T'Meetin'  BibAlls, all starched n pressed n everthang, so's I can enjoy the Sabbath in style ... might even stop by the Barber Shop and get my Good Boots greased up too !!!
 
I wish you all a Safe, Pleasant and thoroughly Enjoyable weekend, Great Weather, and complete freedom from your In-Laws .......
 
This week's contributions have really been worthy .......  THANKS !!! 
 

I was stationed at Camp Lejuene when I was in the Marines........I actually enjoyed North Carolina.
 
I once stayed at a bed & breakfast type of place in the early 70's in North Carolina. The old woman who ran it often spoke about the recent troubles that had divided the nation. I thought she was talking about the Vietnam War......she was talking about the Civil War!
A friend once told me that the past is not far away in the South. That's true! Just ask that old woman.
 
In California, many yeas ago, we had a man who assasinated a San Francisco city official. his defense was the "twinkie defense".....he said he'd eaten so many Twinkies that the high sugar content had warped his mind.  Is this the Twinkie that Olivia is speaking about?
 

frame that south thingy expat....in the day, civil war, the south was any thing below the mason-dixon line. 
 
http://geography.about.com/od/politicalgeography/a/masondixon.htm

Cleavage?  Where?

Dancingkatz - We always keep an emergency stash of vicodin in case sore body parts act up so it doesn't interfere with the enjoyment of the enchantment of the evening sepiatrain ride.  I do believe that cities could be built with popsicle sticks.....


Ivan Jalopkin - Best blessings to you good sir and remember....... don't leave a drop on the Sabbath.

Here's a toast to the beautiful though cloudless salmon hued Indian Summer Sunset which has been brought to you by our sponsors........and let's hear it for the Tarheels!

By the way......... all of the window seats have been reserved for tonights ride but there is always a great view wherever you are.

If you soak a twinkie in water and freeze it, does it expand or implode?  

...... because of the total absence of natural ingredients, Twinkies, by their unique and magical nature, defy all natural laws. It would just remain the same until consumed and no one knows about the afterlife of a Twinkie.

Bebe, I was thinking of Greensboro.  The bands I remember  were more like R.E.M. than death metal. But  I saw them in NYC so they may have changed their style for the Manhattan crowd.
 
You're right that the musicians from this area are very polite and well read 

Thank you PeterLake.
So he did pronounce it "Greenbow" -- because it was Greenbow.
You're a veritable font of Forrest Gump Information, JPL, and I thank you again.
 
"Now you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was ever going somewhere, I was running!"

How long does it take for a Twinkie to grow mold?  Do they  remain in land fills for twenty years like old water bottles and styrfoam?

Julie - I can't verify this but I'm told that you could dig down to the bottom of the oldest and deepest landfill, and if you found a twinkie all you had to do was brush it off a bit and it would be good as new.    Edible twinkies have been discovered with fossils inside them.  The bears usually get to them first though.

Ms. Masi~http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3161/2641627737_0a88e0a2ca.jpg 

ooops..... that was supposed to be Julia...... 1000 pardons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M7ibPk37_U

Julia: styrofoam, they're made of styrofoam. if someone falls out of a boat, hurl a few dozen twinkies out at them in the water; they serve as excellent albeit small life preservers.
 
 
honest.
 
really.
 
okay:
 
I used to think ducks were made out of styrofoam, that's why they floated like they do on the water.  And how if you push one down, they just bob right up.  Made sense to me.
 
And so...I think Twinkies are made of the same stuff as ducks, since they exhibit the same properties when in the water....
 
 
g'night all.

Good  Evening.......   And  to  all  those  at  the  piano  bar,  please  be  on  notice  that  we  are  prepared  to  put  out  some  SERIOUS  dance  music  tonight,   as  we   have  in  our  midst  remnants  of  a  cadre  of  weary  travelers,  in  need  of   rocking  before  they  are  ready  for  bed.

      "Do  you  ever  wanna  know  if  all  dreams  go  on  endlessly,
       or  do  they  just  run  down  somehow,  and  become  the  custody
       of  that  melancoly  jailer,  called  time.....
       Oh  darling,  do  I  ever  cross  your  mind?

  
Thanks to raibreth  for returning to nutritional sanity: sweet corn; tomatoes and sausage on a day when things had gone seriously astray. What is a Moonpie?

This struck me as interesting: No sooner had I finished what should, I suppose, have been a gratifying phone visit with my doctor (clean abdominal CT and good labs- 141 cholesterol, etc) than the word "set" occurred to me as a possible solution to the clue "sink" in a November 7 crossword that had had me stumped since then.

That must fall into the "load off" category eh?

Then, there was this: The attractive raven haired girl assigned to do the usual six month blood draw, carefully opened the presumably sterile band-aid or, as it was known around our place: handy-tape (an actual brand) and stuck it important side inward to the edge of a presumably unsterile formica-topped table.

It is important to note that I am so well known for my unfickyness that I once ate a plate of pasta from which I had extracted a foot-long blond hair refusing a replacement on the premise that I would have to start the inspection process over.

But this band-aid thing in this era and considering that at least one of my more interesting medical issues arose out of medical monkey business, got my attention.

When she made to apply it, I held the gauze in place and staring at the place where it had hung, asked: "Really?"

It took her a moment to get the point but she pitched it and opening a clean one, finished up.

"Do you plan," she wondered, "to report me?"

"Do I look like a squealer?" I asked.

Evidently the answer to that question was yes because she ratted herself out and her boss called me wondering what had taken place.

I had been right in guessing that it was not how she had been trained. Old men!


Park4,

It was a lucky guess and you are most welcome.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfxoM6trtZE





 

 unfinickyness... but you knew that.

So glad to hear of the good medical report.  I am so glad to see you back with us....you just have no idea. 
 
Take care, virtual friend (as bert would say) and have a lovely weekend.

DK- I hope you are feeling better- it sounds like you really hammered yourself.
 
BERT- No dancing tonight- some melancholy jazz- played low, so that I can drift off in my seat. Glad someone feels like dancing though.

Oh, for scheit's sake, Park. I see I need to remind you of your science:

Ducks float because they are made of wood.

How to Tell a Witch...

Villager: We have found a witch, may we burn her?
Crowd: BURN!! BUUUURN HER!
Bedevere: But how do you *know* she is a witch?
Villager: She looks like one!
Other Villagers: Yeah! She looks like one!!!
Bedevere: Bring her forward.
(a young woman is pushed through the crowd of villagers to the platform. She is dressed all in black, has a carrot tied around her face on top of her nose, and a black paper hat on her head. She talks funny because her nose is closed by the carrot.)

Witch: I'm not a witch, I'm not a witch!
Bedevere: Er... but you are dressed as one.
Witch: THEY dressed me up like this.
Villagers: No! nooo! We didn't! We didn't!
Witch: And this isn't my nose, it's a false one!

(Bedevere lifts up the carrot to reveal the woman's real nose, which is in
fact rather small.)

Bedevere: Well?
One Villager: Well, we did do the nose.
Bedevere: The nose?
Villager: And the Hat. But she's a witch!
Villagers: Yeah! Burn her! Burn! Burn her!
B: Did you dress her up like this?
Villagers: NO! No, no, no, no, no, no...
One Villager: yes.
Villagers: yes. yes. yes. A bit. yes. a bit. a bit.
Another Villager: (hopefully) She has got a wart...
B: What makes you think she is a witch?
Villager: Well, She turned me into a newt!!

(pause)

Bedevere: a newt?

(long pause)

Villager: I got better...
Villagers: BURN HER anyway! BURN! BURN! BURN HER!
B: Quiet, quiet, quiet, QUIET! There are ways of *telling* whether she is a witch!
Villagers: Are there? What? Tell us, then! Tell us!
B: Tell me. What do you do with witches?
V: BUUUURN!!!!! BUUUUUURRRRNN!!!!! You BURN them!!!! BURN!!
B: And what do you burn apart from witches?
Villager: More Witches!
Other Villager: Wood.
B: So. Why do witches burn?

(long silence)
(shuffling of feet by the villagers)

Villager: (tentatively) Because they're made of.....wood?
B: Goooood!
Other Villagers: oh yeah... oh....
B: So. How do we tell whether she is made of wood?
One Villager: Build a bridge out of 'er!
B: Aah. But can you not also make bridges out of stone?
Villagers: oh yeah. oh. umm...
B: Does wood sink in water?
One Villager: No! No, no, it floats!
Other Villager: Throw her into the pond!
Villagers: yaaaaaa!

(when order is restored)

B: What also floats in water?
Villager: Bread!
Another Villager: Apples!
Another Villager: Uh...very small rocks!
Another Villager: Cider!
Another Villager: Uh...great gravy!
Another Villager: Cherries!
Another Villager: Mud!
Another Villager: Churches! Churches!
Another Villager: Lead! Lead!
King Arthur: A Duck! (thought you've never get to the punchline, didn'tcha, Park)
Villagers: (in amazement) ooooooh!
B: exACTly!
B: (to a villager) So, *logically*...
Villager: (very slowly, with pauses between each word) If...she...weighs the same as a duck......she's made of wood.

B: and therefore...

(pause)

Villager: A Witch!
All Villagers: A WITCH!

Regarding the Twinkie, of which we speak
There is no more desirable sweet treat
Not to mention the cream with which it's filled
They are tasty at room temperature, true
And they are incomparably good chilled
While their taste and their texture are of note
There's yet another quality, to wit,
The shelf life of Twinkies? Malthusean!
Their chemical profile? Venusian!
Eating a Twinkie's like taking a bet
On cures for death we don't know about (yet)
So give the Hostess bakeries their due
They obviously want what's best for you
The humble Twinkie: The World's Perfect Food.

The week has turned us all silly.  Don't fight it.  Find your silliest hat and join me in the padded car.

Jonathan - Exactly

I spent some wonderful days (and some thoroughly miserable ones, too) at Fort Bragg, Home of the Special Warfare Center, the XVIII Airborne Corps, and the 82nd Airborne Division.  I have visited the cloud-decked mountains, and breathed the pine-scented air.  I've "infiltrated and invaded" the beaches ofNorth Carolina on military maneuvers.  North Carolina isn't exactly Deep South, but it ain't 'zakly Yankee Land, neither. I was out that way last Summer, visiting a friend.  We went to Asheville and to Seagrove to see potters and Arts and Crafts-style homes.  I was reluctant to leave.
 One thing for certain is that folks are polite and expect good manners in return.  It is a pleasure to travel through the Carolinas.   If it weren't for the feral vampire mosquitos, NC might just be perfect!

jonathan:  really?!  well, I'll be.  I thought it was styrofoam, but I can see where wood would work too.
 
and they think they're fooling us with all those feathers all over themselves...you and me, we're onto their game...

jonathan, hilarious, and I didn't want to come to the punchline.  I think you've got "the villagers" down pat. 
 
the shuffling of feet and more shuffling of feet, um yah, that's them, er, us, or we, it is indeed.
 
a genius in our village midsts, is you, Sir Isles.
 
wonderful story.
 
but how do twinkies fit in?