Cartoon Saturday - Special Edition

Cartoon Saturday is still four days off, but I have a good collection of special cartoons I need to use while they're hot and topical, and so ...

Welcome to the Special Edition of Cartoon Saturday! Today's theme: the Navy Der Furor wants. Here we go ...

A brief summary of the features of the new DF-Class battleship ...

  

Since Der Furor wants to refit the Navy's aircraft carriers to use steam catapults rather than the newer electromagnetic launch system (at a cost of billions of dollars, of course), this will probably be the next logical step ...

In Der Furor's new Navy, Cabinet officers won't be the only figureheads ...

Killing two birds with one very expensive stone - the DF-Class Ballroom Battleship ...

Since nobody knows more about both construction and naval architecture than Der Furor (just ask him), this looks like a reasonable hybrid design ...

I don't think this one will ever get built, because there's not enough gold on it ...

It's got a great figurehead, if nothing else ...

Plenty of gold, plus a distinctive command center for when battles get ... hairy ...

The advantage of this design is that it combines vast amounts of gold with maximum name placement ...

Another variation on the figurehead from the third image above. The ship needs more gold, though ...

The rhinestones are a nice touch, and might even help with attracting pirates who can be blown out of the water for good videos to show at Pentagon briefings ... 

I think this version is cute, but won't be adopted for two reasons: neither enough gold nor enough huge, intimidating-looking guns ...

This version's interesting because it combines maximum gold with what appear to be masts for sails to augment the coal-fired engines ...

Not a bad design, but they could have put a lot more gold in that empty hull space ...

Der Furor is also an expert on the design of aircraft carriers (just ask him). He'll like this one as long as the tower is in the right place. The golden aircraft are a nice touch, as is the obligatory giant placement of his name ...

Here's another version of the carrier. Not quite enough gold on the hull, but it does include both DF's name and the number 47, which we all know has mystical symbolism for him. It has the gold aircraft, too ...

So, what do you think? Which designs will appeal most to Der Furor's sense of gaudy, over-gilded "style?" Of course, no matter which design is picked, it'll need to be funded ... so it looks like the sailors will be eating that crummy food for a long time.

Have a good day. Consider the future of your military when you decide who to vote for in November ... and especially in 2028.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Monday Mountains

It's time once again for your weekly fix of inspiring mountain vistas ...

1 - Half Dome, Yosemite ...

2 - Lake Ediza, Sierra Nevada ...

3 - Mont Charvin, France, with flowers ...

4 - San Juan Mountains, southwestern Colorado ...

5 - South Tirol vista, Austria ...

6 - Triglav sunrise, Slovenia ...

7 - The Breithorn, Switzerland ...

8 - Thor's Hammer, Bryce Canyon, Utah ...

9 - Wasatch Mountains, Utah ...

10 - Wooded mountains, North Carolina ...

And that's your alpine high to start off a new week. Take a deep breath, get grounded, and face whatever the day brings.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Poetry Sunday

Yesterday we celebrated the birthday (in 1863) of Ernest Lawrence Thayer, author of what is probably the most famous sports poem ever written. It's a poem made for reading aloud, and I (in all modesty) can do a world-class rendition of it after a beer or two. With a tip of the batter's helmet to Mr Thayer, let's go to the bottom of the ninth at Mudville for the story of 

Casey at the Bat

By Ernest Lawrence Thayer

The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;

The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play.

And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,

A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest

Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;

They thought if only Casey could but get a whack at that—

We’d put up even money now with Casey at the bat.

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,

And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;

So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,

For there seemed but little chance of Casey’s getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,

And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball;

And when the dust had lifted, and men saw what had occurred,

There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;

It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;

It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,

For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey’s manner as he stepped into his place;

There was pride in Casey’s bearing and a smile on Casey’s face.

And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,

No stranger in the crowd could doubt ’twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;

Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.

Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,

Defiance gleamed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,

And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.

Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped—

“That ain’t my style,” said Casey. “Strike one,” the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,

Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.

“Kill him! Kill the umpire!” shouted some one on the stand;

And it’s likely they’d have killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey’s visage shone;

He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;

He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;

But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, “Strike two.”

“Fraud!” cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;

But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.

They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,

And they knew that Casey wouldn’t let that ball go by again.

The sneer is gone from Casey’s lip, his teeth are clinched in hate;

He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.

And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,

And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;

The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,

And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;

But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.

Have a good day and enjoy the rest of your weekend. And remember, even the Caseys have a bad day once in a while.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Cartoon Saturday

Is it too late to quit my subscription to August?

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will soon be equipped with tactical gloves which will deliver a painful electric shock to "gain compliance from combative individuals;" Mike "My Pillow" Lindell lost his campaign for the Minnesota governor primary but - surprise! - refuses to concede the loss ... in a GOP-only primary; White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave her position at the end of the August to spend more time lying to her family ... the Mouth of Sauron is reported to be the leading candidate to replace her; in a rambling* speech to police officers in New York, Der Furor said that he will declare the Strait of Hormuz to be a U.S. territory; and in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, a suspicious package outside a fire station that caused police to shut down rush hour traffic turned out to be an "electronic sex portable pump device." 

This week, a collection of people whose short-term outlook is completely justifiable nowadays.

Some people are a little less concerned about the future than others ...

The original is more eye-catching ...

I can't argue with that ...

Can't argue with that, either ...

Sometimes you just hate to be proven right ...

When your mother is the one with the warning ...

Everybody's got scheduling problems ...

The way the weather is going, he's the right man for the job ...

His sign needs a little work, but I endorse the opinion ...

The very definition of a self-fulfilling prophecy ...

And that's it for Cartoon Saturday ... the end was nearer than you thought.

Have a good day and a great weekend, and come back tomorrow for Poetry Sunday, when we visit the most famous baseball poem ever. More thoughts then.

Bilbo

* Does he deliver any other kind?

Great Moments in Editing and Signage

Hello, and welcome to the latest collection of editorial and signage ya-has ...

I think that the person who planned this sale moonlights for Der Furor's economic policy staff ...

The climate change crisis is worse than I thought ...

That's a relief ...

Mike sent me this monument to the importance of kerning ...

I wonder if they moonlight as advisors on Der Furor's Iran war strategy ...

I think I know where I'm going for my next snack ...

Umm ... just what do they expect to be dropped off?

Those deer really need to pay more attention to their parking ...

Right ...

That must have been one stressful job ...

And that's it for this week's collection of editorial and signage mishaps - I hope you enjoyed them.

Have a good day and come back tomorrow, when Cartoon Saturday discusses whether the end is, in fact, near. More thoughts then.

Bilbo

Thursday Trees

Welcome back to the temporary home of Thursday Trees!

1 - A baobab tree. I always thought they looked as if they'd been planted upside-down ...

2 - 

3 - I took this picture during a bus trip from Whittier to Anchorage, Alaska, in 2004. During the Great Alaskan Earthquake of 1964, the ground level dropped between six and eight feet, and sea water rushed in to cover the land. The salt in the water killed the trees and preserved the trunks; the waters eventually receded, and today miles and miles of dead, white-bleached trees remain. 

4 - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania ...

5 - 

6 - 

7 - 

8 - 

9 - A mango tree on Mo'orea Island, French Polynesia ...

10 - The Paradisweg ("Paradise Trail") in the Black Forest, Germany ...

Enjoy the shade! Thursday Trees will be back next week, and you can join us tomorrow for another edition of Great Moments in Editing and Signage ... more thoughts then.

Bilbo