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 ...
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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.
There's a fascinating article by Matthew Aucoin in the September, 2026, issue of The Atlantic - The Mysterious Art of Conducting - that looks at the history and role of the orchestra conductor, the dignified figure who seems to do nothing but stand in front of the orchestra and wave his or her arms while the musicians make music. The article clearly explains why, as orchestras became larger and their instruments more varied, it became necessary for a single figure to make sure all the parts worked together to produce the music the composer intended. Mr Aucoin describes the job this way:
This is the conductor’s essential task: to embody, guide, and react to the current of the music. A responsible conductor understands that they must both lead and serve as listener in chief. They should have a clear plan for how a performance will be shaped, but they must also be prepared to respond to their colleagues’ music-making as it happens. If a particular player or section is doing something magical, the conductor should know how to absorb that energy and reflect it back to the ensemble.
It occurs to me that what the nation needs right now is not a president, but a conductor*.
Instead of a politically, religiously, morally, and socially bankrupt buffoon deaf to the needs of the people he leads, we need a conductor who can coordinate the various instruments at his or her disposal to make beautiful music for the enjoyment and betterment of everyone. We need the political equivalent of a Gustavo Dudamel ...
or a Sarah Hicks ...
... especially a Sarah Hicks, who not only has better hair than Dudamel, but directs not only an orchestra, but a male and a female chorus, sound effects, a solo soprano, and a wah-wah.
It's time for our government to make beautiful music instead of raucous cacophany. Fire Der Furor. Hire a competent conductor. Start with the November midterms.
Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow, when Thursday Trees makes its weekly appearance.
Bilbo
* Not a conducǎtor, which was the Romanian version of the word, applied to the late dictator Nikolai Ceauşescu.
One of my favorite groups is The Statler Brothers, whose wonderful blend of great voices coupled with clever lyrics and memorable lyrics is (IMHO) pretty much unmatched. This one is a great example of their talent ...
Here are the lyrics:
When the sun wakes up in the west
And lays its head down in the east
When they ordain Madalyn O'Hair*
And she becomes a priest
When a San Diego sailor
Comes home with no tattoo
When they put a dome on Wrigley Field
I'll be comin' home to you
But don't wait on me, little darlin'
Lord, can't you see, little darlin'?
I only go so far
There ain't no guarantee
Don't wait on me to win you
That's somethin' I just can't do
I never have and don't intend to
Don't wait on me
When the wind don't blow in Chicago
And L.A. is cold and clear
When they unfurl Old Glory
And no one stands to cheer
When my brother-in-law phones me
And the charges aren't reversed
When the cabbie don't want a bigger tip
I'll be slidin' home from first
And don't wait on me, little darlin'
Lord, can't you see, little darlin'?
I only go so far
There ain't no guarantee
Don't wait on me to win you
That's somethin' I just can't do
I never have and don't intend to
Don't wait on me
When you load up on a long shot
And you win by half a nose
When the Fourth of July parade
Is called because it snows
When the waiting room is empty
And the Doc says, 'Come on in'
When Christmas comes before New Years
I'll be comin' home again
But don't wait on me, little darlin'
Lord, can't you see, small darlin'?
I only go so far
There ain't no guarantee
Don't wait on me to win you
That's somethin' I just can't do
I never have and don't intend to
Don't wait on me
Don't wait on me
Don't wait on me
Don't wait on me
Don't wait on me
In the original version of this song (released in June of 1981), the next-to-last line of the first verse was, "When the lights go on at Wrigley Field," a reference to the days when Chicago's Wrigley Field was unable to host night baseball games because it was the only major league baseball stadium without lights ... they were finally installed, and the first complete night game was played under the new lights on August 9th, 1988 - 38 years ago today.
Have a good day and enjoy the rest of your weekend. More thoughts tomorrow, when Monday Mountains returns. See you then.
Bilbo
* Madalyn Murray O'Hair was a famously outspoken atheist.
Just a week into August and I'm ready to return it for a refund.
A Senate committee has voted to hold Dr Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress ... a crime that most Americans are guilty of nowadays; Der Furor's new self-named class of big targets battleships is expected to cost around $275 billion to build, according to a Congressional Budget office report released this week; Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, who has not been seen in public since being admitted to the hospital on June 14th, issued a statement saying he was being released from the hospital and would conduct his Senate business from home while continuing his recovery; after his first royal decree executive order limiting birthright citizenship was struck down by the Supreme Court, Der Furor signed two new decrees orders using different justifications and criteria to try to accomplish his goal; and in (where else?) Florida, two men were arrested after getting into a machete fight over an ex-girlfriend in a grocery store parking lot ... because they did not use guns like Real Americans, they will not be able to use a Second Amendment defense to avoid spending time in jail.
This week, a cartoon look at the news ... or whatever it is we have now where the news used to be.
The way things are going, it can only improve them ...
A very perceptive observation ...
The latest from the White House Press Secretary ...
It's as I feared ...
And a gin and tonic to wash 'em down ...
Indeed ...
Well, it is if you're wealthy and well-connected enough ...
I always figured that was how it worked ...
Well, it saves money on winter clothes ...
Telling it like it is ...
And that's the way it is, unfortunately. Sorry about that, Mr Cronkite.
Have a good day and a great weekend. More thoughts coming tomorrow, when we tee up the first Musical Sunday for August. See you then.
With the new month comes (at least) two opportunities to highlight new paragons of ass clownery. Between wars, political buffonery, religious bigotry, and economic chicanery, ass clowns have proliferated like toadstools after a warm rain. Of course, this embarrassment of "riches" makes it difficult to single out recognition-worthy individuals or groups (or, occasionally, things), but I started this and I'll carry it through.
This time, though, I didn't have much trouble deciding on a recipient who exemplifies the very highest standards of Der Furor-era horseshittery. Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, with the traditional flatulent blare of trumpets and roll of sour farts, I give you
Unusually enough for a senior position in Der Furor's regime, Jeanine Pirro is nominally well qualified for the position she holds. She is an attorney who has been elected and served as a county district attorney (in Westchester County, New York) and as a judge of the Westchester County court. These qualifications were likely of secondary interest in her selection for her current position ... more important was her time as a relatively popular conservative television personality: she hosted a weekday "reality" courtroom television show ("Judge Jeanine Pirro") on the CW Network from 2008-2011, then moved to Fox News to host the network's "Justice with Judge Jeanine" from January 2011 to January 22, 2022. She then moved to the Fox political talk show "The Five" as a co-host, where she remained until May of 2025, when Der Furor appointed her to her present position, following his tradition of selecting Fox News personalities who look good on television for senior jobs in his regime*.
Judge Pirro's award today is based on her shameful performance in filing felony vandalism charges against 67-year-old ex-Olympic canoe racer David Hearn, saying on July 2nd that "the evidence shows and we will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hearn willfully destroyed property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool," and that the evidence showed that Mr Hearn had been observed "forcefully and violently" tearing liner material from the bottom of the pool.
That was then. This is now.
Late Friday afternoon**, July 31st, Judge Pirro announced (to the great anger of Der Furor) that she was recommending dropping all charges against Mr Hearn, and that the damage to the Reflecting Pool had been caused by flawed installation by the contractor***, "with repeated failures of the lining during the installation process and extensive peeling of the lining throughout the Reflecting Pool," and a rush to complete the project before the Independence Day celebrations.
She blamed the original charge against Mr Hearn on incorrect information received from the Department of the Interior and - obviously - did not mention the involvement of Der Furor in the botched renovation work.
We shall see if Mr Hearn receives a formal apology and reimbursement of his legal fees for Judge Pirro's headlong rush to the judgement desired by her boss.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, the Right-Cheek Ass Clown for August, 2026, is Jeanine "She Who Folded Like an Umbrella" Pirro. I suggest you try to stay off her radar.
Have a good day, and come back tomorrow for a new edition of Cartoon Saturday. More thoughts then.
Bilbo
* In all fairness, it must be admitted that she is professionally (if not temperamentally) qualified for her position, unlike her fellow Fox News shouting head Pete Hegseth, who is busy wrecking the Department of Defense (not War).
** The usual time at which bad news is made public, so as to minimize the attention it is likely to receive.
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