Ain’t No Desert Hot Enough

rockydadhe moves like a butterfly & stings like a bee, and when he’s not channeling the greatest boxer in the world, my dad sends me photos. this is the “newly built cedillo el paso style chimenea.” in west texas a winter breeze can cut someone in two. heck, the overnight temperatures can plummet to the 50′s, and you gotta have a fire in your belly or in your backyard. thankfully, my dad has both.

The Mother Of All Comfort Foods

dorcasreillyGREENBEANCASSdoes anyone remember who tossed the first caesar salad? does anyone know who baked the first chicken pot pie? thanks to my friend chris mull (and CNN) i know that dorcas reilly, created the first green bean casserole. sadly, she passed away this month at the age of 92. i think this news hit chris pretty hard because he learned how to make a green bean casserole from dorcas herself.

Zoo Conversations

awkwardbisonwhile visiting with my family this weekend in joplin, my sister asked what we thought about the kansas city zoo. jenny & i talked about the pros and cons of the zoo– but mostly the cons like excessive heat, crowds, and animals that look miserable or don’t appear at all. i told darla that if the experience was more like lion country safari where we used to go as kids, i might have more good things to say about it. the animals roam free there. then i found this pic on awkward family photo’s instagram page & realized someone probably has bad things to say about the one zoo i actually like.

I’ll Never Let Go Of Your Hand

illneverletgoofyourhandlast friday darla & the girls came up for a visit. they had tickets for the last weekend of the renaissance festival. jenny & i hadn’t been to a renfest in years, but we agreed to go with them on saturday. there were lots of cool things to see & do, but my favorite part was when my sister held my hand and walked with me. i don’t know if darla will have time to read this blog entry, so i wrote her a letter this morning. the image above is from a youtube video. Scriabin28 assembled a bunch of these old pics for a tom waits song called never let go.

It’s All In The Wrist

subtlebirdmanthe subtle bird man, that’s how i will remember this guy. he probably waited while the photographer did a countdown, and then he made his move. i found this pic on awkward family photos‘ instagram page. the contributor wrote: “My Mom forced my Dad to get his picture taken in the early 80’s. Years later, I discovered his silent rebellion.”

Off With Their Heads

TRIOcut & paste was never this much fun & messing around with computer images is the fastest way to lose weight & look cool, kids. motel mancini is scheduled to play oct. 27 at the overland park lutheran fall festival trunk or treat 4-6pm! big thanks to eric kohler for drawing my attention to les paul & mary ford’s single, sitting on top of the world which was the inspiration for this image.

Coffee With Jesus

coffeewithjesus1010what would you talk about with the son of god as you both sip some fresh brewed coffee? coffee with jesus is a comic strip that’s been online for more than a few years thanks to radio free babylon. the first time i saw it was on mark copley’s facebook wall. heck, i used to post links on the homer’s blog. this morning as i was drinking my coffee, i realized it never made it onto my own blog… UNTIL NOW!

Little Big Hand

littlebighandsaccording to legend, the little boy with the big hand lived near a nuclear power plant. when he was a baby, everyone pretended not to see his oversized right hand, but as he grew older he became self conscious & covered it with a bag. instead of hiding his abnormality, the bag made people suspect him of robbing convenience stores & shoplifting... ok, so i made that part up. awkward family photos posted this pic on their instagram page & i didn’t see why it made the cut until i read the caption “i had very large hands as a child.” for the record, there are WAY more awkward photos on the website.

Synchronized & Simonized

UFOwatchwe waited for the alignment of planets, then we synchronized our watches, and triangulated our positions for another MOTEL MANCINI gig. chris, clay, and i recently came across a couple of opportunities to play, so we’re joining forces again. look out kansas city!

The Grill That Keeps On Giving

happygrillheather: “what did you get me for my birthday dad? do you remember what i asked for? please tell me that you bought that salt-n-pepa CD that has push it!” you know how much i love that song!”
dad: “oh honey, i got you something even better!
heather: “tickets to the concert?!? you know they’re coming to kansas city in two months–”
dad: forget about salt-n-pepa & feast your eyes on your new smoke-n-grill! we’ll never have to eat un-smoked meat again!”