Joy

My mother sent me this lovely picture of the Mississippi River from their back yard. While it is very pretty, all it did was remind me of "The Joy of Painting" with Bob Ross.

When we lived in Wesleyville, we didn't have cable. On weekend mornings when I didn't have an activity to do, I would sometimes sit on the couch and tune into PBS for a little Bob Ross fix. I'm pretty sure Mom and Dad never understood this, but I know I'm not alone. The painter's voice was so soothing and his paintings so tranquil, it was like a dream to watch. He'd make "happy clouds" and "give a lonely tree a friend" using colors that didn't make any sense until he was done.

I ran into Bob Ross fans when I lived in Greece. My friends and I had one particular bar we really liked, Yasoo, and when we would stay late and be the only ones left, the owners would turn on "The Joy of Painting". The first time it happened, I couldn't believe it! I hadn't seen the show in years. They were just as surprised that I knew who he was. We sat in awe watching him paint a wooded lake, shouted our protests when he painted a large black line right through the middle of it all, then nodded in approval when that line turned into an evergreen tree to complete the work.

This is how I picture that photo with Bob Ross

But wait! what's he doing? Noooooo!

I guess we will just have to trust that it comes out all right in the end!

Yuck! But still pretty impressive.

This was a gift from my Uncle Jim (who is an artist and has even had his work appear on the cover of a published book) in response to my sometimes over-the-top reaction to spiders and images or portrayals of them. I think he was specifically trying to get me to sympathize with their plight through anthropomorphizing them. Even by mixing my most despised of creatures with one of my favorite people!

I don't know if it had the desired effect on me, but you can judge for yourselves.
WARNING:images after the jump there may be disturbing in nature!

Puppies!

One of the puppies in this cuddly pile will become a member of the Morrow family. She is female, dark brown, and very curly. She may even be the one with her eye on the camera. Any ideas for cute names? I think my mother and I drove my dad crazy with our suggestions including
Dr. Hiram Barker (before I knew it would be a girl and when I read "Baker" as "Barker")
Lambchops (the original Baba had a dog by this name)
Cerberus (call her "Cera"...very funny, Mom!)
Arni (Greek for "lamb" and a homophone for our friend Arne)
Goober or Gomer
Aunt Bea
JoJo (they must miss the other one!)

Dad is saying he wants a name that doesn't end in a "y" sound. We may be able to sway him on that. Previous dog names for our family pets should probably be excluded: Charlie, Lady, Nikki, Bodie, Jazzy, Daisy

The New Karate Kid*

26 years after the original, 16 years after the last, The Karate Kid is back.

There is no denying that original and best was Ralph Macchio as Daniel Larusso, the underdog from NYC. He fought and won against the Cobra Kai, an Okinawan mob, and finally, Fear itself. Along the way, he and Pat Morita made film magic. Everyone knows "wax on wax off", the crane, and "Daniel Larusso's gonna fight!"



The "Kid" returned in female form as a rebellious girl (with a pet falcon) played kin of hilariously by Hilary Swank. Swank went on to great things but "The Next Karate Kid" was a bit of a letdown. The one redeeming factor was Mr. Miyagi trying to deal with a girl.

In this latest incarnation, the incomparable Pat Morita is replaced by Jackie Chan and "The Kid" will be played by Jaden Smith. I won't be heading to the theaters but it will definitely make it into my Netflix Queue.

*this post is dedicated to my brother who is a Karate Kid authority

Fantastic Foxes

My father was off hunting in Pennsylvania this past week. He didn't get any game, but he came back with some really sweet pictures of a couple of fox kits. They were living near the camp where he was staying in Warren. Aside from how adorable they are, I was struck by the fact that in the film "Fantastic Mr. Fox" the animators were really quite realistic.

That is, of course, excepting the talking, upright walking and opposable thumbs. But still...

No. 1 Stada Baba aka "the Bubs"

This is my grandmother, fondly called "Baba" by most everyone under the age of 50 (and some over it) who knows her.

She has always been feisty, and one of her favorite activities was watching my brother's High School soccer team.

There were times when her heckling of the other team and the refs made my family think she would be banned from the stadium. This never happened, but her Red Card worthy exclamations were the bane of my mother's existence and the delight of all the Braves' soccer fans who were not related to her.

America the Beautiful and my dad the artist

My father was so proud of himself for these images. Click on the squirrel to see the river in his eyes and crystals of ice on his muzzle. When the photo was taken, the squirrel was taunting my parents' dog, Daisy. You can almost smell the mischief.

His only regret (concerning the video) was that my mother had to cut it down by a minute in order to send it to my brother and me. Can you imagine how much MORE wonderful it would have been with an additional 60 seconds of footage?