Vacation Venue
Our homes away from home this last week, on the west shore of Black Lake.
Two cottages that will accommodate the extended family.
A place to escape
From reality -- at least
For a few short days.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
L.A. Times X-Word Puzzle Blogging
Wednesday, July 18, 2012 Patti Varol
Theme: YOUR SPYING EYES. The first part of each theme answer [identified with an *] is a word from the title of a recent movie based on a classic spy novel from 1974. These four words, in order, each representing a line of work, complete the title: TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY. In the story, the British secret agent called out of retirement for this adventure is George Smiley, played by Gary Oldman in the movie. Spying is a dangerous business, but it's his *.
18. A *"Peter Pan" pixie : TINKERBELL. Of course, the tiny winged lady from Neverland. Once upon a time, a TINKER plied the now obsolete trade of mending household utensils. This lost itinerant profession dates back to at least the 13th century. Hence the verb "tinker" meaning to fiddle around with something. This is the only clue in which the root word has a different meaning in the answer and the title, in case you give a tinker's dam.
24. A *Not mass-produced : TAILORMADE. What does a TAILOR make? Clothing. But the phrase is loosely applied to anything not off-the-shelf.
52. A *1962 Shirelles hit : SOLDIER BOY. A soldier is a trained professional killer, prepared to go to war, any time, anywhere. Here is the song - twelve years older than the novel. It sounds pretty awful now.
61. A *Hand-held telescopes : SPYGLASSES. These aren't used exclusively by spies, and are unlikely to give you x-ray vision, but do allow you to espy something at a distance. So maybe the root word is a little different in answer and title. Hmmm.
And the centrally-placed unifier -
39. A Author of the 1974 novel found in the starts of the starred answers : LECARRE. British novelist David John Moore Cornwell uses the pen name John le Carré. I don't know why.
Hi gang, JazzBumpa here. I've never been good at espionage, but I do enjoy a good story. Let's see where this one takes us.
Theme: YOUR SPYING EYES. The first part of each theme answer [identified with an *] is a word from the title of a recent movie based on a classic spy novel from 1974. These four words, in order, each representing a line of work, complete the title: TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY. In the story, the British secret agent called out of retirement for this adventure is George Smiley, played by Gary Oldman in the movie. Spying is a dangerous business, but it's his *.
18. A *"Peter Pan" pixie : TINKERBELL. Of course, the tiny winged lady from Neverland. Once upon a time, a TINKER plied the now obsolete trade of mending household utensils. This lost itinerant profession dates back to at least the 13th century. Hence the verb "tinker" meaning to fiddle around with something. This is the only clue in which the root word has a different meaning in the answer and the title, in case you give a tinker's dam.
24. A *Not mass-produced : TAILORMADE. What does a TAILOR make? Clothing. But the phrase is loosely applied to anything not off-the-shelf.
52. A *1962 Shirelles hit : SOLDIER BOY. A soldier is a trained professional killer, prepared to go to war, any time, anywhere. Here is the song - twelve years older than the novel. It sounds pretty awful now.
61. A *Hand-held telescopes : SPYGLASSES. These aren't used exclusively by spies, and are unlikely to give you x-ray vision, but do allow you to espy something at a distance. So maybe the root word is a little different in answer and title. Hmmm.
And the centrally-placed unifier -
39. A Author of the 1974 novel found in the starts of the starred answers : LECARRE. British novelist David John Moore Cornwell uses the pen name John le Carré. I don't know why.
Hi gang, JazzBumpa here. I've never been good at espionage, but I do enjoy a good story. Let's see where this one takes us.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Mellow Yellow Monday
SUNSET
The sun sets on a
Baseball game that's continued
Under the bright lights.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Six Word Saturday
The Michigan Jazz Fest is Tomorrow.
Schoolcraft Jazz Band plays at noon.
Find me in the trombone section.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Tears
TEARS
Perhaps I am not
The crusty old codger
Who appears to peer
From these strained and weary eyes.
Can it be love?
Love for some random people
Who I will never meet
As I stumble down life's random corridors?
Maybe there is a heart buried
Deep not made of stone
That can weep
For the child in the lines of a poem.
Reference
Perhaps I am not
The crusty old codger
Who appears to peer
From these strained and weary eyes.
Can it be love?
Love for some random people
Who I will never meet
As I stumble down life's random corridors?
Maybe there is a heart buried
Deep not made of stone
That can weep
For the child in the lines of a poem.
Reference
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Mad Kane's Limerick Off (Week 69)
My entry:
Ol’ Billy was proud of his skill
At refining the mash in his still;
He smiled ‘cuz his whiskey
Made lady-folk frisky,
‘Till he met a transvestite named Will.
It's all here.
Ol’ Billy was proud of his skill
At refining the mash in his still;
He smiled ‘cuz his whiskey
Made lady-folk frisky,
‘Till he met a transvestite named Will.
It's all here.
The Sunday Whirl - Wordle 64
Gazing into her crystal ball, The Seer discovers this future news flash.
[Somehow, I feel as though I should apologize for this, but I'm not going to.]
* I am not making this up.
Find The Sunday Whirl here.
Later this year, certain housewives will, as Rind did to Odin*, spurn balls in drawers.
To the ignorant, this sting will feel like conjugal subtracting for eternity; though it is only a few months until they desist in the Fall.
To the ignorant, this sting will feel like conjugal subtracting for eternity; though it is only a few months until they desist in the Fall.
[Somehow, I feel as though I should apologize for this, but I'm not going to.]
* I am not making this up.
Find The Sunday Whirl here.
Shadow Shot Sunday
At Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp
Manistee National Forest, Michigan
Two boys in the Red
Concert Band at Blue Lake - for
A great performance!
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Six Word Saturday
It was a pretty good week.
But never mind that -- there's THIS:
But never mind that -- there's THIS:
The Higgs Boson in the Hat
The Higgs Boson Explained from PHD Comics on Vimeo.
Higgs said it would be;
It's Higgs-like and we found it!
But then maybe not . . .
With a big H/T to Michael Leddy
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Sensational Haiku Wednesday - Natural
NATURAL
How natural can
This weather be? Endless
Days of searing heat.
OK - We had storms
Yesterday- merely a brief
Wet punctuation.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Insomnia
My reply to Mad Kane's INSOMNIA limerick.
Your limerick rings a sad bell;
I know this affliction too well.
The too-ing and fro-ing,
Despair darkly growing
Through the night of insomniac hell.
I know this affliction too well.
The too-ing and fro-ing,
Despair darkly growing
Through the night of insomniac hell.
A Sunday Whirl - Wordle 63
My first shot at this little word game. Read all about it here.
I've composed a cryptic and very short story using the 12 specified words, and an even more cryptic poem using only those 12 words. You can tell me if they make any sense.
Gesture?
Hanging art?
Stand. Utter.
Other thin lips touch skin.
Whirl Along Here.
I've composed a cryptic and very short story using the 12 specified words, and an even more cryptic poem using only those 12 words. You can tell me if they make any sense.
SNAPSHOTS
I don't know who sent me the snapshots. A gesture of blackmail, I suppose. What do they want from me? It's left me hanging.
In them my lips touch the skin of the thin woman I stand next to. No - I won't utter the name of that . . . other.
Oh, what cruel and devious art.
=========================
HANGING
Snapshots sent. Gesture?
Hanging art?
Stand. Utter.
Other thin lips touch skin.
Whirl Along Here.
Shadow Shot Sunday / Mellow Yellow Monday - Hawaiian
As I took this shot -
Sans flash - Someone else flashed these
Girls. Hence the shadows.
Interesting overexposure resulting from low probability synchronicity. Granddaughters Amanda (left) and Samantha (right) are in the penultimate positions. Sam's top provides the (very washed out) yellow.
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