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It’s official! Molly received her Master of Public Health degree from the University of Florida yesterday. Friends and family were invited to watch the ceremony online. We did. When I knew Molly’s name was coming up, I didn’t blow an air horn like I’ve done at previous graduations. Our cat would have been traumatized for weeks. Jenny & I still expressed our approval of the moment.

“I can feel it comin’ in the air tonight…” Phil Call-ins is a pun AND a hotline for Phil Collins’ hits! Call 424-888-PHIL (7445) to hear crappy over-the-phone versions of Easy Lover, Against All Odds, In Air Tonight, and Sussidio. If you just want to hear the drum fill from In The Air Tonight, press 5. All of this nostalgia comes from the same guys who brought you Callin’ Oates.

We met Ben, Janis (not pictured) and Marijo in Clarinda, IA on Saturday. Who lives there you ask? Oh just good people like our tour guide Jackie who snapped this photo in front of Glenn Miller’s birth home! We toured the museum, saw an original bandstand, drum kit, trombone, and a letter from Bing Crosby! Then we went home and watched Orchestra Wives on YouTube. It’s a 1942 movie with Glenn Miller.

Joe is one of the coolest people I know. He was playing hillbilly music in honky tonk bars long before alt-country bands like BR-549 and Reverend Horton Heat made it cool. Joe is 93 or 94 now (I stopped counting after he hit 90), and he’s making super detailed little guitars. I was grinning ear to ear when he handed me a box full of them a few weeks ago. This is number one in Joe’s mini series: the little red one. I’ll post a picture of each guitar throughout August, and maybe into September.

Right now there’s no name for this statue. But if they were taking suggestions I would offer Stretchy Spindly Tiny Bird– and then someone would smirk and roll his/her eyes (yeah you, Chris). This is the third art installment on the corner of 80th and Conser. The other two are murals, a fish and a chickadee.

I don’t know if this picture was taken in the Midwest or not. I borrowed it from someone’s Pinterest page. It reminds me of landscapes that I’d see out of the school bus window on those half awake mornings in southwest Missouri. Hello August! Good morning!

I was eating breakfast and watching Dr. Katz yesterday. He’s the jiggle vision cartoon therapist who has comedians for clients. They act like they’re getting therapy, but really they are just going through their comedy bits in front of an audience of one. I was laughing until two of them were talking about their morning wake up routines. It was still funny but now I’m experiencing some of the same things they shared with Dr. Katz.

Saw this lonely frog while we were walking through Antioch Acres Tuesday night. That’s the park off 75th and Hardy with all the pine trees by the tennis court. We were eating ice cream drumsticks and heading toward the restrooms when we almost stepped on this little guy. He jumped underneath a trash can. I lifted it up and flushed him out. I would have picked him up but I didn’t want to get peed on so I took this picture instead. Hello frog! Hello summer!

Two weeks ago I played bananas and spinach leaves in front of Evolve in downtown Overland Park. It was the most melodic Beep Goes The Weasel had ever sounded… and of course no audio was recorded. I was too busy finding a good chord progression. The one I landed on was G, E minor repeated a couple of times then C, A minor, and D for the turnaround. Instruments used for the composition were:
-Bare Conductive Board with baby carrot sticks
-Arcade Pocket Operator
-Theremin
A few days later I realized I could re-create the sound in my lounge. The audio isn’t the greatest, but you can hear all of the gadgets. The last high note happened when I ate one of the carrot sticks.

Last Friday I turned 54. Holy cow… I just realized that number is a dyslexic version of the year I turned 45 and posted an Elvis Costello video on this blog 9 years ago! Hmmm… well anyway, a few months ago Penny asked if I could do Beep Goes the Weasel in front of the health food store she manages. When she offered free fruits and vegetables for my keyboard, and a smoothie on the house, I couldn’t say no. She knew the right buttons to push. I haven’t played with someone else’s food since the Culinary Center provided me with a steady supply in 2015. Penny is a manager at Evolve just down the street from Homer’s. There was even an electric outlet right out front!