The Turn of a Phrase

I have always been intrigued by phrases / axioms / quips. The ability to turn a great phrase is an art form unto itself. Some of the greatest ever were Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce and Groucho Marx. There are some modern comedians who have that ability ... i.e.- Emo Phillips, Jack Handy. I was editing my collection on the computer this AM, and came across a few of my favorites: 

"I hope life isn't a joke, ... because I don't get it!" - Jack Handy 

"The metric system didn't catch on in America, ... unless you count the increasing popularity of nine-millimeters!" - Dave Barry

"I've never been a millionaire, ... but I know that I'd be good at it" - Dorothy Parker

"I was married by a judge, ... I should have asked for a jury !" - Groucho Marx

"My grandmother’s brain was dead, but her heart was still beating; it was the first time we ever had a Democrat in the family." - Emo Phillips

"My girlfriend thinks I'm a stalker ... well actually, she's not my girlfriend yet ! " - Emo Phillips

A movie ... and the news !

TODAY IS THE OLDEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN,      AND YET ... THE YOUNGEST YOU'LL EVER BE,  SO ENJOY THIS DAY WHILE IT LASTS !

    I was sort of intrigued by the movie "The Butler" because I REALLY LIKE Forrest Whitaker and IN SPITE OF the fact that I hate Oprah with a passion. Being the curious sort ... I researched the REAL butler, on whose life the movie/book was VERY LOOSELY based. His name was Eugene Allen and he was born in Virginia. He was a very articulate individual ... much like Mr. Whitaker ... and unlike the movie, he doesn't quit his job to become a protester with his activist son ... he retired and was always grateful and proud to have been the head butler / maitre d' at the White House. Such is Hollywood I guess.  

     In other "NEWS" ... I love how that word is used in today's society. I read the news at least once a day and the stuff you have to wade through to get to any real news is mind boggling. As I once heard someone say ... if we die out and centuries from now a race digs up our artifacts, they'll think that Lindsey Lohan and Kim Kardashian were our leaders ... or maybe our Gods.

    ... now, where was I? Oh yeah, News!!    Bradley Manning (who now wants to be known as Chelsea Manning, a woman) ... the soldier who leaked things that the government had no business hiding in the first place. Very good Op-Ed by Ben Wizner in POLITICO. Check it out!! A tragedy playing out on TV ... much too drastic a sentence for what actually occurred. 

Wars / conflicts raging around the globe: Islamabad ... everyone raging about who killed who/when, the eternal struggle between Pakistan and India. Lebanon and Israel trying to piss each other off with rocket fire. Civilians getting whacked in the Congo.  Australian baseball player killed by three teenagers for a thrill ... etc., ad infinitum.  And the NEWS is filled with ????: Prison Break star ... Wentworth Miller ... comes out as gay (to piss off Russians). Jennifer Lopez has a stalker living in her pool house. Singer Brandy performs for 40 people in a 9000 seat arena. Now ... ain't that thrilling ? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ?

Political Ranting

  I am not usually political on this blog, but I think that this needs printing, reading and remembering. For those of you opposed to this viewpoint, I will not apologize, for I feel that you have the right to your opinion ... as do I. Love from the desert!!!

               EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT CATHOLIC, THIS IS EYE OPENING

    When the Catholic Church was founded, there were no hospitals. Today, one out of five people in this country receive their medical care at a Catholic hospital.

    When the Catholic Church was founded, there were no schools. Today, the Catholic Church teaches 3 million students a day, in its more than 250 Catholic Colleges and Universities, in its more than 1200 Catholic High Schools and its more than 5000 Catholic grade schools.

    Every day, the Catholic Church feeds, clothes, shelters and educates more people than any other organization in the world. The new Obama Health Mandate could end all this and the tax payers would have to make up the loss. Also, all Catholic adoption services would come to an end; a human disaster.

   There are more than 77 million Catholics in this country. It takes an estimated 50 million Catholic votes to elect a president. I am asking all of you to go to the polls in 2014 and be united in replacing all Senators and Reps with someone who will respect the Catholic Church, all Christians, and all Religions with the exception of Islam.

    Mr. President, you said, "The USA is not a Christian Nation". You are wrong! We are a Christian Nation founded on Judeo-Christian values allowing all religions in America to Worship & Practice Freely. Something Islam will never do.

    Oh, by the way, on MUSLIM HERITAGE in America ...

Have you ever been to a Muslim hospital?

Have you met any Muslims in your American Legion Post, your VFW Post, your D.A.V.

   Post? If you have they are an extreme rarity.

Have you heard a Muslim orchestra?

Have you seen a Muslim band march in a parade?

Have you witnessed a Muslim charity?

Have you seen Muslims shaking hands with a Muslim Girl Scout?

Have you seen a Muslim Nurse?

Have you ever seen a Muslim do anything that contributes positively to the American way 

   of life?

Ruminations

I had mentioned a lyric in a song on the computer the other day that pretty well described Valdez (Dr Stanley McGowen) and me in the early days. "… Running full throttle / with a long necked bottle / and a black hearse following me … ". Looking back at the 70's, I sometimes wonder how he and I (and a lot of our cohorts) arrived at old age as fairly normal citizens … indeed, the fact that we survived at all is something akin to miraculous. The 70's was an especially raucous decade if you traveled in our group. We drank too much, partied too loud and much too often, and generally made life a real problem for those that we cared about. There were many (including a couple of wives on my part) but one name stands out for me and that was Kathy Comaduran. She was a huge pain in the a** at times, and always too needy, but always loving and I am blessed to have known her … Ad perpetuam rei memoriam. She is now older, a grandma and very happy down in Texas. Ah, la memoria del pasado los amantes. I am glad that she found happiness, as I have finally found. Indeed, there are a lot of people who lived life full throttle in Cochise County in those days. I wonder what happened to them all. Too soon old, too late wise I guess.

    I am re-entering my Blog world at  lovefromthedesert.blogspot.com. That way I can write, as is my wont, without clogging up your e-mail inbaskets. I feel, as they say in Latin furor scribindi … a rage to write. I know that you guys do not have "furor lectio" … a need to read. So-o-o-o, I am putting my useless observations, poems and thoughts on the blog and then I'll just write the rare 'update' letter so that you know what is up with the ever fetching Ms Hilda and me. Speaking of Ms Hilda, she had her second eye done (cataracts) and they had to put in a lens, still waiting to see how it turns out but looking promising.

  Hilda has to work SLINGO at VFW Post 549 today, I called the numbers yesterday. So, we have spent the entire weekend at the Post. We watched a movie or two last evening and I did some work on the BLOG and the Post website.

    A news item from our local (fairly liberal) daily paper noted:  Births to unwed mothers in Pima County Arizona are not evenly distributed among racial and ethnic groups. Although Hispanics make up about one-third of the county's population, they accounted for more than half of the births to unwed mothers in 2011, Arizona Department of Health Services data show. By contrast, whites, who constitute just more than half of the population, accounted for less than a third of those births. The mothers of 9 percent of the children born to unwed mothers in 2011 were American Indian, 2 percent were Asian and 6 percent were black.


The first Hillary for President bumper sticker has been sighted. It said:
 Monica Lewinsky's Ex-Boyfriend's Wife for President