Wasted at 4:15 PM

There were a couple of young rock festival attendees who wandered up to our office floor, looking for an actual women's bathroom. The rock festival has porta-potties. Our office women's bathroom has a push-button combination lock, so they weren't having any luck. One of them was pretty stoned on something already. I tried to point them at the public library, which does have truly public bathrooms, and which is just kitty-corner to our building. I'm not sure they quite understood what I was telling them. They seemed like nice suburban girls, but with their mental clarity impaired.

I don't think alcohol was involved. I would have smelled that.

I was leaving for the day.
Hope you girls got on okay.

Gift Getaway

As a present for Samantha

I purchased one pet pantha.

I had him wrapped and taped,

but somehow he escaped.

If you see him running free,

Please ship him back to me.

Two Party Blues

It isn't very inviting to vote

For folks who want to hold your throat. 

Upcoming

When does the Zika Olympics begin?

Spray repellant on your skin

And pray the skeeters don't delight

In sucking out your blood at night!

Relief from the Heat

Did the rain bring cool air? Or did a cold front cause precipitation?
Whichever one it was, it improved the situation.

The Importance of Being Earnest

We saw a very funny production of The Importance of Being Earnest from the Dead Writers Theatre Collective, whose byline is "Classic Theatre Resurrected".

The play was well-attended
Despite a terrific storm
And Lady Bracknell was splendid
In truly classic form.

A Heated Question

Why is it that I don't mind
being awake in the heat
but trying to sleep in it
ends in defeat?

Lemur Out And About

What?

"A lemur, which potentially escaped from a nearby home, attacked a 21-year-old woman in Florida as she was leaving her home."

It's the prose that bothers me here. "Which potentially escaped"? Wouldn't a normal speaker of English have written "which may have escaped"?

Actually, it's not just the prose that bothers me. It's also the scary prospect of a potential lemur attack.

What would I do if a lemur
chomped down on my femur?

Plymouth Rooftop Bar

Freaky inflatable. 

Marketing value debatable.

Due Diligence

When your speechwriter hands you your text,

Run it through a plagiarism checker next.

It's a bit like buying a term paper online. 

You want to be able to claim "It's mine!"

Putting the Fun in Family Dysfunction

Is it 3, or 4,

Or even more?

At any rate there are lots of

The brothers Karamazov. 

Flying Home

Gazing north across Lake Erie

To Canada, in theory -

A land where fields of cactus

Are very rare, in practice.

What Is Going On Behind Those Eyes?

Newborns: little mysteries we are holding

While their natures are unfolding. 

Aerial

I'm now a mere gaper

At white water vapor -

Gliding though clouds,

In spectacular crowds. 

As I fly beside them, 

And even inside them, 

They put on their show

Of darkness and glow.

Death in France

The word is that the driver of the truck is dead. Shot to death. Which is fine with me. But from the point of view of poetic justice, he got away easy.

Someone like this
explains very well
why people love
to believe in Hell.

Midway 2AM

It's two in the morning and Midway airport is strangely busy. I gather Chicago had storm activity during the day. My bag seems to be on the next plane from Vegas, which is now expected to land in 15 minutes. 

My beat-up bag

Has suffered a lag. 

At the Atlas Summit

Michael Newberry at the lectern, before the start, 

of his talk about art.

In left foreground is a portrait of Pietros Maneos, by Michael Newberry.

Lake Powell in View

A landscape that's striking

And much to my liking. 

Blue Angelic Perfection In Formation

Today I saw a lot of the Blue Angels, the Navy fighter jet "demonstration" team, zooming around the Gary Air Show in tight formations.

We were at a beach in Indiana, just outside Gary. I know these shows they put on are actually a bit dangerous, but today, as usual, it all went without a hitch.

Well, there was the smallest hitch:
I got a bit sunburn. It's starting to itch.

Today's BLM March

It's hard to see it from this photo, but the members of this small protest were mostly Caucasians, including the guy carrying a big Black Panthers placard.

I was working, so I was glad they didn't make much noise going by. 

It's hard to be really loud

With a not-too-big crowd. 

Bomb Bot

The Dallas police killed the shooter by sending in a "bomb robot" with a bomb attached - and setting off the bomb.

Technology marches on.

I think this would have violated one of Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. Particlularly number one: "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm."

But those were laws for robots with "positronic" brains - robots who actually had the ability to understand what they were doing. This wasn't that sort of robot at all. This was basically a remote controlled device.

When you're shooting it out with the cops
And all the action stops
So they can send you a bot...

Will it be friendly? I think not.

Sound Science

I guess I believe this:

"The Loudest Sound In The World Would Kill You On The Spot"

Fortunately, this hasn't been weaponized yet. As far as I know.

But it does raise a twist on an old philosophical question:

If a sound kills you in the forest,
did you really hear it?

Did you have time to process it,
before it expelled your spirit?

Healthy Eating Contest

I like leafy vegetables, but I have my doubts about this:

"Competitors sanctioned by Major League Eating are famous for downing hot dogs by the dozen but will compete for the Kale Cup at this year's Taste of Buffalo food festival on Saturday."

Who can eat the most kale?
I think I could snarf up a pail.

But when it comes to amusing the crowd,
I fear that this contest will fail.

Rhyming Candidate

A certain candidate for prez made a rhyme, some time back, but due to today's events it has gained new currency:

"There should be no bank too big to fail
and no individual too big to jail."

A complete lack of penalization
does give an awkward appearance.

Could we do a short revocation
of her security clearance?

Wherefrom

An exchange I've always admired, from the Star Trek movie where they take the ship back to the 20th century:

Dr. Gillian Taylor: Don't tell me! You're from outer space. 

Kirk: No, I'm from Iowa. I only work in outer space.

She thinks he's full of it as I recall.

And he is so down to earth,

Naming his state of birth. 

Someone Moved The Cheese

Hungry thief flees
with ten tons of cheese!

"Police in southeastern Wisconsin say 20,000 pounds of cheese has vanished. The cheese, produced by U.S. Foods, was in a semitrailer parked at a business in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek when it went missing Thursday."

Maybe the cops should grill the driver today,
just to see if his alibi melts away.

What's the Buzz

The business of the bee

Is visiting the clover

And sipping out the nectar -

Nature's secret treat. 

The hive's a factory

Where nectar is the input

And honey is the output

So baby bees can eat.

Reading

At a play reading tonight, not one of mine by the way, I got to read the stage directions and the part of Madam Curie.

A visitor from

Days yet to come

Made it exciting

With demonic fighting.