Love From The Desert

24 October 2010

Sunday -United Nations Day (ar-r-r-ghh !)

Today's quotes
John Adams: "In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress."

Alan Corenk: "Television is more interesting than people. If it were not, we would have people standing in the corners of our rooms."

Sir Barnett Cocks: A committee is a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled.


   My BFF Dr. Stanley S. "Valdez" McGowen has returned from his sojourn in Mozambique. He bagged a gold medal sable antelope and a Niassa wildebeest, and became (as far as we know) the first and only blind hunter to down an elephant! Congratulations Bwana!

   Here in the desert Southwest, nothing much has changed, although the weather has been a tad cooler. Only supposed to get to about 75 today with a low of 50. These temps are comparable to Mickey's in Ft Worth and Dean's in Baltimore. It should be back up to the high 80's toward the end of the week though. Our monsoon ... which used to be judged according to Dew Point Temps, but now has arbitrary dates attached to it ... started late this year (very late) and has continued into October. September and October are historically dry months, but not this year.

My (our) Arizona Wildcats played Last night and were 6 1/2 point favorites . I was wary of the game ... we could very well have gotten surprised. Since we had to play without our regular quarterback. But, we won 44-4 to go to 6-1.

The NFL lines are in and I am going to make my picks.
Steelers       by     3 over the Dolphins       --- I'll Take the Dolphins and the 3
Falcons        by 4.5 over the Bengals         --- I'll take Atlanta and give the points
Chiefs           by    9 over the Jaguars         --- The Chiefs
Titans           by    3 over the Eagles            ---   Eagles and the 3
Bears            by    3 over the Redskins      ---   Redskins and 3
Saints           by 13 over the Browns         ---   Browns and 13
Ravens         by 13 over the Bills                --- Ravens and give 13
49ers            by    3 over Carolina               --- Carolina
Bucs              by    3 over the Rams             --- Rams and the 3
Seahawks    5 over MY Cardinals     --- Cardinals (my brain says no, but my heart says yes)
Chargers              3 over the Patriots        --- Patriots
Broncos                7 over the Raiders        --- Raiders and 7
Packers                 3 over the Vikings         --- Bret and the Vikings pull it out
Dallas                    3 over the Giants          --- Giants (come on Eli!)

This on the news today:
   In Seattle, illegal immigrants going door-to-door for Democratic candidates !!

Associated Press Photo
In this photograph taken Sunday, Oct. 16, 2010, Maria Gianni poses for a portrait at a phone bank in Seattle being used by OneAmerica Votes, an organization that has launched a vote drive targeting naturalized citizen voters. Gianni, an illegal immigrant, volunteers with the organization as it tries to steer immigrant voters toward Democratic candidates.

20 October 2010

Mid week

My NFL picks worried me this past weekend with 8 games decided by 4 points or less and 2 overtimes (I won 10 and only lost 4) . The Cowboys vs the Vikings turned out to be a great game to watch. The two overtime games were exciting, as were a couple of more. That makes me 18-8 the last two weekends.

Some of Sunday's birthdays:
Actresses / Actors
Rita Hayworth in 1918 -born Margarita Carmen Cansino in Brooklyn, New York City, she was the daughter of flamenco dancer Eduardo Cansino, Sr., a Sephardic Jewish Spaniard from Seville, and Ziegfeld girl Volga Hayworth who was of Irish and English descent.
Montgomery Clift in 1920 - received four Academy Award nominations during his career, three for Best Actor and one for Best Supporting Actor.
Tom Poston in 1921 - TV actor in lots of TV series, two with Bob Newhart (he married Suzanne Pleshette, Newhart's co-star when he was in his 70's). He also had recurring roles in Family Matters, Murphy Brown, Home Improvement, Cosby, Malcolm & Eddie, ER, Grace, Under Fire, That '70s Show, and Will & Grace
George Wendt in 1948 (age 62) - Norm on Cheers, He attended the Jesuit Rockhurst College in Kansas City, where he graduated with a B.A. in economics.
Singers/ Musicians
Jim Seals in 1941 (age 69) - born Sidney, Texas with Dash Crofts born in Cisco, Texas were the Duo of Seals and Crofts. They also played in the Champs (big hit was Tequila!) with Glen Campbell.
Gary Puckett in 1942 (age 68) - great baritone with The Union Gap, ... "Woman, Woman /Young Girl/Lady Willpower/ and Over You".
Alan Jackson in 1958 (age 52) - in my mind "The Giant" among country artists/songwriters since 1990.
Ziggy Marley in 1968 (age 42) - son of Bob Marley.
Eminem in 1972 (age 38)

Wyclef Jean in 1972 (age 38)
Others
Daredevil Robert "Evel" Knievel in 1938
Golf Hall of Fame member Ernie Els in 1969 (age 41)

We lost Beaver Cleaver's mom (Barbara Billingsley) over the weekend. She was the quintessential TV mom on "Leave it to Beaver" when I was growing up ... wearing pearls to do housework, et al. Monday night, we lost Tom Bosley, the dad on "Happy Days" for 14 years. I remember him best as Father Dowling on the "Father Dowling Mysteries". Not a real good week for TV parents.

I have been reading some (older) paperbacks by Archer Mayor that are pretty good. About a cop in Vermont (of all places) ... didn't even know that had crime in Vermont. We (the lovely Ms Hilda and I) have also been watching some more BBC shows on CDs (we get them at the Tucson Pima County Library) that are really well done. Waking the Dead, sort of a cross between Bones and Cold Case, is well done and well acted and Ballykissangel, a touching show set in Ireland. We have been spending a lot of time close to hearth and home because of money problems, but we are both fairly healthy and getting along well. Hilda's hypoglycemia is doing well and so there's less to worry about. I can sleep all through the night without having to check on her ... sort of selfish huh? Seriously, I am so happy that she is doing better ... she is the love of my life.