Uncategorized – Page 3 – Blogsy Babbles

Bumbershoots

I regard the coming of spring or fall as similar to getting over a bad cold. There’s no great trumpet-blared moment marking the border between the extreme and the moderate seasons; you just realize one day that you don’t notice those old symptoms any more, and haven’t for a while and, by golly, youContinue reading “Bumbershoots”

Screen Scrooges: To Begin With

STAVE ONE: Marley’s Ghost Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it; and Scrooge’s name was good upon ‘Change, for anything he chose to put his handContinue reading “Screen Scrooges: To Begin With”

Dogs Not Doing That

It has been suggested to me that, for a column about postcards which show dogs doing other things than urinating, there were way too many references to dogs peeing. I am sensitive to the comments of my readers, so I feel I need to show you a few of the postcards in my inventoryContinue reading “Dogs Not Doing That”

What Else Dogs Do

Some time ago, we examined postcards featuring dogs and found that the number one thing our canine friends do in comic postcards is, well, number one. The number of postcards involving peeing pekes and poodles was so vast that there was an equal and opposite number of postcards featuring dogs who weren’t urinating justContinue reading “What Else Dogs Do”

SCREEN SCROOGES: Rules of the Game

The original text of “A Christmas Carol has been chopped into 47 sequences, which form the chapters of this book. For each of these, we start with Dickens’s original. (Why 47? Well, I wanted to do an even 50, but the book won’t break down that way. It insists on 47.) It hasContinue reading “SCREEN SCROOGES: Rules of the Game”

All At Sea

It has been suggested to me that my notes on postcards dealing with the military, particularly during World War II, have not been fully representative. The Army, including the Women’s Army Corps (ch), is well-represented, but what about the Navy? In fact, the Navy was considered just as rich a service for postcardContinue reading “All At Sea”

Three More Old Comics

Now, I have mentioned this is not a food blog, and have repeated that. Something I have not mentioned is that this is not, technically, a blog dedicated to reviewing vintage smut. But I have acquired three more comic books of the type I discussed in the space a while back, and I thoughtContinue reading “Three More Old Comics”

Preview Trailer

So we have come to the end of the serialization of another one of my bestsellers that no one ever bought, and which has become obsolete in the twenty years or so since I wrote it. It was an adventure to write Ranunculus to You in the Days when research demanded at least cabfareContinue reading “Preview Trailer”

Passing Note: One of Nine

We interrupt our regular sequence of columns for a brief personal note. Yesterday marked the passing of Scottie Lampe, a black cat who served as Alpha in his household for seventeen and a half years, teaching bipeds when cats need to be fed (often), when cats need to be brushed (whenever they feel likeContinue reading “Passing Note: One of Nine”

It’s Not About That

Despite what a lot of people say, there has always been a line to cross when it came to comedy. I have heard it said that the twentieth century was a dark age when all things were funny and nothing was too offensive to make a joke about. A lot of evidence for thisContinue reading “It’s Not About That”