Saturday, September 29, 2012

Cartoon Saturday


And away we go ...

One of the classic silly jokes is the one that starts with "Why did the chicken cross the road?", and ends with some ridiculous reason or another. As you might suspect, this old joke translates well into cartoons ...


The investigation continues ...


Crossing the road can be a matter of self-preservation ...


And it can be fun, too ...


Shifting gears to a new topic, with two takes on the concept of "Wi-Fi" ...


And ...


Those of you who are now ... or have been in the past ... parents know all about this one ...


Perhaps in the age of obesity, this is something restaurants might want to adopt from amusement parks ...


I've always wondered why fortune tellers aren't rich, or why they get surprised just like the rest of us ...


Finally for this week, everybody wants budget cuts ... but nobody really thinks about the consequences ...


And so it goes for another edition of Cartoon Saturday. Have a good day, and look both ways before crossing the street. More thoughts later.

Bilbo

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Cartoon Saturday


Who cares about the news? Let's get right to the cartoons ...

Agnes and I celebrated our 30th anniversary last weekend, so today I thought it would be appropriate to lead off with a showcase of cartoons dealing with weddings and marriage ...

Things can be a bit nontraditional in the digital age ...


And ...


And ...


The lawyers have to be involved in everything, of course ...


And ...


And especially when someone is looking for an escape clause ...


People often wonder about the odds that a given marriage will survive ... but not everybody gets scientific about it ...


You can get literary about the whole thing, too ...


Once the wedding is over, the adventure continues ...


Let's finish things off with the semi-traditional Terrible Pun of the Week Cartoon ...



And that's it for this week's edition of Cartoon Saturday ... my little contribution to helping you get over the misery of the real world. No need to thank me ... it's all part of the service.

Have a good day. More thoughts later ...

Bilbo

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

And They're Off!


Yes, Dear Readers, the time has come for Agnes and I to depart on our long-awaited, long-overdue, and very much needed vacation. We will be away from regular Internet connectivity for the next few weeks, and so - except for the next two Cartoon Saturdays which have already been prepared and scheduled to publish - Bilbo's Random Thought Collection will be offline.

As a parting gift, here are a few choice cartoons about vacations ...

There are vacations for cowboys ...


And shepherds ...


And grouchy CEOs ...


Even God needs a break once in a while ... especially now, when so many crazy people are doing terrible things in his (or her) name ...


Congress takes vacations, too ... but you have to wonder what they do to earn them ...


And finally, there are cheaper alternatives to the traditional vacation ... but they probably aren't quite as satisfying ...



I may be able to post occasionally, but don't count on it. I'll be back with you for sure on October 5th. Be here!

Have a good day and a great couple of weeks. More thoughts when I get back.

Bilbo

Monday, September 17, 2012

More Great Moments in Editing!


We haven't looked at this ever-popular topic for a while, and I need an easy post. It's a win-win! Let's go ...

Well, yes, I can see how people might get the wrong idea ...


I think Mike and I need to start looking over our shoulders ...


I have enough problems with my public persona without something like this ...


With both sides accusing each other of lying and each side twisting facts (or their version of facts) to get the right spin, I think this may be the most honest poll you'll see between now and November 6th ...


I think I may have found the problem with the economy ... politicians can't count! ...


I think I may have been missing a golden opportunity to cash in on my yard work every fall ...


Felonious animals ...


How about "sort of guilty"? ...


I believe I may have identified one of the problems affecting super-ultra-conservative religious and political figures ...


I often marvel at the investigative talents of our public servants ... and the dumbness of those they serve ...


Great moments in editing ... a wonderful resource for bloggers!

Special note to all my readers: tomorrow will be my last regularly scheduled post for about two weeks, as Agnes and I head off to our long-awaited-and-desperately-needed vacation. While we may have intermittent Internet connectivity, I will not be able to keep up the entertaining and informative posts* to which you look forward eagerly every day. I have, though, already prepared and scheduled the next two Cartoon Saturday posts, so you won't miss your weekly dose of cartoon humor.

Don't give up on me ... I will be back.


Have a good day. Final pre-vacation thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Okay, let's just say "posts" and leave it at that.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Reflections on an Anniversary


Yesterday, Agnes and I celebrated our 30th anniversary. We did this in two ways: during the day we tried to think of all the things we need to remember to pack for our upcoming vacation*, and in the evening we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at The Oval Room (800 Connecticut Ave NW in downtown DC) ...


All that got me to reflecting that 30 years is a long time to be married ... especially nowadays, when people seem to change spouses as often as they change underwear**. What are some of the things I can look back on over those 30 years? Well ...

Thirty years ago, we were a lot younger ...


The six-year-old girl in that picture now has two daughters of her own ...

My older son is the father of three, with a fourth on the way, and his oldest daughter will be a teenager next year (!) ...

Giving us a total (as of now) of five wonderful grandchildren ...


I've had the experience of living and working in the city that used to be called West Berlin, which - at the time - had a very big and very dangerous wall around it, with a government on the other side that shot at its citizens who tried to escape from the workers' paradise. This gives me a certain perspective from which to comment that those who bitch and complain about the oppressiveness of the US government and the lack of freedom they enjoy here ought to just shut the hell up, because they have no idea what they're talking about ...


I have learned to dance under the critical eye of Agnes, who is still capable of giving me a withering stare when I'm not dancing up to standard ...


I've started blogging, through which I've met (online, in person, and ... occasionally ... both) a lot of fascinating people across the country and around the world. Oh, and Mike, too!


I could go on, but I guess that's enough for now. After 30 years, I have nearly doubled in size (but not equally in all dimensions) and accumulated a great deal more gray hair, but it's all been worth it. I have a great wife, a wonderful family, and a good - if often frustrating - job***. I'm in reasonably good health for a person of my age and bad habits. I'm a lot crankier than I was 30 years ago, but then there are a lot of people who work hard each day to keep me that way.

In short, I'm a happy dog, looking forward to the next 30 years with the greatest lady on earth. Stick around and help me enjoy it!

Have a good day. More thoughts coming ...

Bilbo

* Until our heads started to hurt, and then we just decided the hell with it.
** More frequently in Hollywood, if they wear underwear at all.
*** At least, if Congress gets its head out of its collective backside, grows a brain and a spine, and does something about the looming sequestration disaster.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Cartoon Saturday


Yep ... it's been another week for the books ...

A sophomoric, low-budget film deliberately designed to be insulting to Islam's prophet Mohammed predictably enraged much of the Muslim world and led indirectly to the murder of the US Ambassador to Libya ... because, of course America was blamed for it; in other can't-we-all-just-get-along-related news, anti-Japan demonstrations in China over ownership of the disputed Senkaku (Diayou, to the Chinese) islands in the South China Sea turned violent as demonstrators stoked by bellicose news broadcasts stormed the Japanese embassy and Japanese-owned businesses; GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, asked about the biggest hurdle he would face in the upcoming debates with President Obama, claimed that the President would lie, saying, "I think the challenge that I'll have in the debate is that the president tends to, how shall I say it, to say things that aren't true" ... a subject on which Mr Romney can speak with authority, given some of the howlers he and his campaign have unleashed recently; Congress continued to do absolutely nothing, but at a frantic pace; and in Wisconsin, a judge ruled major portions of a state law restricting the the collective bargaining rights of public employees to be unconstitutional according to both the Wisconsin and US Constitutions.

Deploy the cartoons - stat!

Mitt Romney has had a pretty rough week, but has greatly improved his political marksmanship by practicing shooting at his feet from the hip. You have to wonder if there isn't something behind it all ...


One of my friends posted this wonderful cartoon on his Facebook page ...


The economy continues to lurch and gasp along under the steady and forceful leadership* of the President and Congress, leading commentators to seek new and innovative ways to deliver the same relentlessly bad news ...


As the specter of "sequestration" becomes a more imminent threat, particularly in terms of potentially enormous cuts to the defense budget, I thought some military-themed cartoons might be appropriate ...


And this one's a classic, riffing on the same general theme ...


 I've got an enormous number of cartoons dealing with penguins. Here are a couple of the better ones ...


And ...


And tattooed penguins ... ?


A staple of cartoon humor is the propensity of ladies to want to manage how their men dress, as exemplified by the well-known comment "are you going to wear that!?" Of course, men sometimes have their own ideas of how women should dress ...


And to wrap things up for this week with a burning and topical question ...


And so another week spirals down the drain of history.

In other news, today Agnes and I celebrate our thirtieth anniversary - thirty years of admirable restraint that has prevented Agnes from killing me despite all temptation ... and as my friend Bakr noted in a helpful comment on my Facebook page, "if she'd killed you a few years ago, she would be out of jail and free by now."

I have strange friends.

Well, anyhow, we will celebrate by going out to dinner tonight and spend much of the rest of the weekend making final preparations for our long-awaited and desperately-needed vacation that begins on Tuesday. More about the effects of that event on this blog to come. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, have a good day and a great weekend. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* Ha, ha ... just kidding.