The Diogenes Club
Monday, February 6, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
The Vashon Bicycle in the Tree: Why Has It Gone Viral?
My post about the Vashon bike in the tree has been around for over 6 months, but suddenly the hits on this thing have gone ballistic, giving this blog a record high in visits.
Why? Now?
Favorite Movie Quotes: The Apartment
"Why do people have to love people anyway?"
Films directed by Billy Wilder are worth hunting down. The guy was great at his craft.
Films directed by Billy Wilder are worth hunting down. The guy was great at his craft.
Phone photo 1154
Replicas of Fort Vancouver outhouses
It is rather unfortunate this was very close to their well, less than 100 feet in fact.
But I guess they didn't think about total maximum daily load watershed issues in those days.
But I guess they didn't think about total maximum daily load watershed issues in those days.
Favorite Movie Quotes: Animal Crackers
"Why, you've got beauty, charm, money! You have got money, haven't you? Because if you haven't, we can quit right now."
Phone photo 1153
A replica of the Chief Factor's residence (Hudson's Bay Co.), Fort Vancouver, Washington.
John McLoughlin, a British subject who later became an American citizen and served as one of the most important figures in aiding U.S. settlement in the disputed Pacific Northwest (an area claimed by Russia, Spain, Britain, and the United States), was the first resident.
I agree with the idea of renaming Thurston County, Washington after Dr. McLoughlin.
Favorite Movie Quotes: And Then There Were None
"Very stupid to kill the only servant in the house. Now we don't even know where to find the marmalade."
Favorite Movie Quotes: Amistad
"Well, gentlemen, I must say I differ with the keen minds of the South and with our President, who apparently shares their views, offering that the natural state of mankind is instead, and I know this is a controversial idea, is freedom. Is freedom. And the proof is the length to which a man, woman or child will go to regain it once taken. He will break loose his chains. He will decimate his enemies. He will try and try and try, against all odds, against all prejudices, to get home."
Favorite Movie Quotes: American Beauty
"Both my wife and daughter think I'm this gigantic loser. And they're right. I have lost something. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I know I didn't always feel this-- sedated. But you know what? It's never too late to get it back."
[Reviewed in Cheaper by the Dozen 48]
Phone photo 1149
The Grant House, Fort Vancouver National Site, Washington
Built in 1849, this structure was around when Capt. Ulysses S. Grant arrived at Fort Vancouver in 1852, but he never lived here. Later, as President he probably did visit this place.
The spot where Grant actually lived 1852-1854 is now under a nearby freeway.
Weird Gifts From My Brother
I try to weed these things out every once in awhile, but for years my brother Bryan has exhibited a strange taste in holiday and birthday gifts. Some examples:
Bad albums are a staple (yes, I still play vinyl). This one is right up there among the worst, Come On In! by the New Hope Singers International, "A musical collage from Jamaican calypso to the sounds of ancient Scotland to American rock." This group was sponsored by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.
That's a picture of little Stevie sitting on a kiddie potty in Spokane, Washington back in the 1950s. The potty is adorned the head of some kind of poultry. I guess that makes it partly poultry. Get enough of these together and you can throw a partly poultry potty party.
Anyway, why is this photo encapsulated in a Kellogg's Corn Flakes place mat?
When I almost threw out this papier-mâché model of planet Earth (made by my brother when he was in grade school) as we were cleaning out the family farm in order to sell it a few years ago, Bryan stopped me and made a big deal of presenting it to me as a precious relic. And I, perhaps foolishly, accepted it.
My own name plate! How thoughtful.
Hey! Look! What every household needs, a concave Jesus face!
Bad albums are a staple (yes, I still play vinyl). This one is right up there among the worst, Come On In! by the New Hope Singers International, "A musical collage from Jamaican calypso to the sounds of ancient Scotland to American rock." This group was sponsored by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.
That's a picture of little Stevie sitting on a kiddie potty in Spokane, Washington back in the 1950s. The potty is adorned the head of some kind of poultry. I guess that makes it partly poultry. Get enough of these together and you can throw a partly poultry potty party.Anyway, why is this photo encapsulated in a Kellogg's Corn Flakes place mat?
When I almost threw out this papier-mâché model of planet Earth (made by my brother when he was in grade school) as we were cleaning out the family farm in order to sell it a few years ago, Bryan stopped me and made a big deal of presenting it to me as a precious relic. And I, perhaps foolishly, accepted it.
My own name plate! How thoughtful.
Hey! Look! What every household needs, a concave Jesus face!I think this is supposed to be something you can use in creating an illusion with light, either that or it is a really freaky gelatin mold.
My phone camera is not the greatest when it comes to close-ups. This amputee Leprechaun wasn't so lucky, apparently. Note the bloody stump. Maybe he was a leper, thus making him a Leperchaun. Also, leaving the tag with an obviously doctored inflated price is another frequent theme in these gifts as a demonstration of how "priceless" they are. In this case the cheap piece of crap was supposedly purchased for at least 22 bucks.
Ruth loved clowns so much she kept one in a jar!
Where does he get this stuff?
Santa has an array of little finishing nails in his beard. I think this is supposed to be an advent calendar, but the effect is quite creepy.
There has been much, much more over the years. I do look forward to receiving these fine items and perhaps I should start cruising garage sales now in order to return the favor next holiday season.
My phone camera is not the greatest when it comes to close-ups. This amputee Leprechaun wasn't so lucky, apparently. Note the bloody stump. Maybe he was a leper, thus making him a Leperchaun. Also, leaving the tag with an obviously doctored inflated price is another frequent theme in these gifts as a demonstration of how "priceless" they are. In this case the cheap piece of crap was supposedly purchased for at least 22 bucks.
Ruth loved clowns so much she kept one in a jar!Where does he get this stuff?
Santa has an array of little finishing nails in his beard. I think this is supposed to be an advent calendar, but the effect is quite creepy.There has been much, much more over the years. I do look forward to receiving these fine items and perhaps I should start cruising garage sales now in order to return the favor next holiday season.
Phone photo 1148
The Marshall House, Fort Vancouver National Site, Washington
Gen. George C. Marshall lived here 1936-1938
Gen. George C. Marshall lived here 1936-1938
Favorite Movie Quotes: Amélie
"Life's funny. To a kid, time always drags. Suddenly you're fifty. All that's left of your childhood fits in a rusty little box."
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Favorite Movie Quotes: All About Eve
"The theatuh, the theatuh-- what book of rules says the theater exists only within some ugly buildings crowded into one square mile of New York City? Or London, Paris, or Vienna? Listen, junior. And learn. Want to know what the theater is? A flea circus. Also opera. Also rodeos, carnivals, ballets, Indian tribal dances, Punch and Judy, a one-man band-- all theater. Wherever there's magic and make-believe and an audience-- there's theater. Donald Duck, Ibsen, and the Lone Ranger. Sarah Bernhardt and Poodles Hanneford, Lunt and Fontanne, Betty Grable, Rex the Wild Horse, Eleanora Duse-- they're all theater. You don't understand them, you don't like them all-- why should you? The theater's for everybody, you included, but not exclusively-- so don't approve or disapprove. It may not be your theater, but it's theater for somebody, somewhere ... It's just that there's so much bourgeois in this ivory green room they call the theater. Sometimes it gets up around my chin."
Favorite Movie Quotes: The Amazing Adventure
A psychiatrist's advice to a spoiled rich guy mired in listlessness:
"Disappear for a time. Earn your own living. Live on a few pounds a week if you can make them. If not, go hungry. Do that for a year and I'll guarantee it'll make you fit."
[Reviewed in Cheaper by the Dozen 44]
Morty Comix # 2294
Morty Comix # 2294 was tucked behind a posted notice at Friend's Landing on the Chehalis River, Grays Harbor County, Washington.
Favorite Movie Quotes: Aliens Among Us
A drunken judge in a remote Arizona town describes his companions in the local tavern:
"Chaff. When you harvest wheat you've got the useful stuff. That's wheat. But then you've got then useless stuff and that's chaff. This whole room is full of chaff."
[Reviewed in Cheaper by the Dozen 41]
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