Dumb Animals ....Yeah, Right!
About a year ago I bought my cat an "
Automatic Dispensing Water Bowl."
He used to have a regular white bowl sitting next to his white bowl of dry cat food.
Below his
sisal rope scratching post.
Now I didn't have to fill it so often.
And it "balances" the cat area on either side of the large pocket doors.
Neat and efficient.
I don't think the cat agrees.
The
"change" started almost a week ago and it quickly became a human hazard.
I could have tripped and hurt myself. Hey...WHO is the master here?
Oh, never mind, that never is in doubt when dealing with a cat.
Each morning it had been moved slightly closer to the bowl of dry food.
A little each day. Hook your striped paw over the edge and tug it gently. Didn't spill a drop.
Once it cleared the doorway and the step I gave in.
OK Wally, you win.
The water dispenser now sits next to the bowl of dry food.
I think he can read too. Yikes.
(So far we have not addressed the litter box situation.
He goes outside, comes back in and uses it. I keep it clean.
Click on the pictures for more details.
Thanks for spending time with me and my cat.)
Labels: automatic water dispenser, clumping, dry cat food, evenly spaced, Kitty litter, litter box, Meow Mix, separate but equal, Sisal rope, Wally Jr., water bowl
Daniel Island Irish is Back...
It started out as an authentic Irish bar.
Owned and built by Guinness and shipped over here 3-4 years ago.
But it just didn't catch on.
Begorrah. (That's Irish for Yikes).
The place reopened as Two Rivers, though scaled back quite a bit on Olde Sod authenticy.
Well, I pegged it as just slightly
"Irish-ish"
January 1, three new owners took it over to create
Dublin Down. In just 19 days they improved on the original concept by adding cozy private little booths called
"snugs" with a table and low stools and other touches - like 12 church pews - that set a nice mood.
As far as I know, it's the only Irish bar around here offering traditional
Boxties.
Part pancake, part hash brown, this Irish staple COULD be had for breakfast but works well at teatime or supper as a side with a meat dish.
New owner Brian Mahoney said "
You have to make a boxty right and we do."The beers on tap are right on the mark too. They'll layer the draughts to form a Black & Tan or a Half and Half or try a Black Bee. Slainte!
(Years ago while touring some Irish bars in New York, I saw a sign outside one that said
"Soup of the Day" and a picture of a pint of Guinness. That would work here too. Click on images for detail and enjoy responsibly.)
Labels: Boxty, church pews, Daniel Island Grille, Dublin Down, fish and chips, Guinness, Mahoney Dowling and Cronin, Slainte, snugs, Soup of the day
The "Birthday Suit" sketch...
So it's the 8th annual Charleston Comedy Fest.
An extra day was added this year to the popular annual treat.
Onstage at Theatre 99. it's the New york city
Village Voice 2010 winners.
The sketch team is called
"MURDERFIST".
They are killing the packed audience.
This is troupe member Henry Zebrowski as a smirking GIANT Genie (out of a very large bottle).
The 10-person mayhem group of long-sketch performers has split the sides of everyone there with their brand of controlled chaos.
It can't possibly get much better...right?
Wanna bet?
Just a few scenes later, Henry is back "UN-dressed" as a Chris Farley-size man who has just been beaten, robbed and forced to strip. NYC humor.
Trust me, the crowd was loving it!
The thief shows up with Henry's briefcase and shreds the last of his dignity.
It's possible no one noticed his left foot is missing a black sock. But he DOES have big hands.
Earlier
TAROT LOUNGE from Las Vegas, had
improv-ed like crazy with sketches based on a card reading of an actual live audience member.
Well, she was a real person and it was a real Tarot card from a real deck.
Misplaced body parts were featured in their bits as host Matt Donnelly (center) acted as Ringmaster.
The finale brought back many of the acts who had performed all around town during the Festival. The ad libs and improvizations were off the chart.
The show ended well after midnight but I didn't get to go to Mellow Mushroom for the
L'After Party. I had nothing to wear.
(Thank for stopping by. Be careful when you click on images. Everything WILL get bigger.)
Labels: Chris Farley, Comedy Festival, L'After Party, Matt Donnelly, Mellow Mushroom, Murderfist, Tarot Lounge, Village Voice 2010 awards Henry Zebrowski
Wish I Had Some Cream Pie...
Oh my. Be careful what you wish for.
Especially if you're at CBT for the
8th annual Comedy Festival.This young lady apparently volunteered to substitute as
"Charlie," a cast member of
LONG PORK, an improv/skit group down from Chicago.
She obviously didn't know
Charlie's lines so she's flipping through a loose-leaf script book.
Then the others came out holding cream-filled pies. Oops.
Fortunately, Charlie re-joined the cast in time to avoid a pie food fight.
SOMEBODY'S IN THE DOG HOUSE presented "Cruisin' For A Bruising'" as the opening act of the show at Charleston Ballet Theater on King Street.
These two zanies recounted their
4 MONTHS as stand-up comics aboard a cruise ship.
The passengers changed every week but they - and the rest of the crew - gradually went insane.
The ladies also interspersed sketches and improv during this show.
(My comic daughter has done this type of cruise ship gig but only for a 2-week period, once a year.)
Earlier Friday evening,
Todd Barry flew down from New York to do his stand-up comedy at the Footlight Theater on Queen Street.
The packed house was becoming a little restless with a delayed start until Brandy Sullivan of
The Have-Nots came onstage.
She announced that Todd's plane had been delayed but now he was "in the house."
His opening line was
"I just got off a plane and really, really have to go to the bathroom. Please don't think about that."Todd had a good funny routine and did dialog with the audience so it was worth the wait.
The late start meant having to scurry for the opening of the other show on King Street.
Not nearly as frantic as a fast drive in from the airport.
(Click twice on the photos for massive detail. Catch the
10th annual laff fest next year and LOL. Thanks for stopping by.)
Labels: 8th annual Charleston Comedy Festival, Charleston City Paper, Crusing For A Bruising, Footlight Players Theatre, Long Pork, Theatre 99, Todd Barry
I Think Lawyers Are Involved ....
I have a
Canon s90 digital camera.
The type that are called Point and Shoot or P/S.
Small enough that I usually have it with me. Hey, It really is pocket-size.
There's even a tiny computer inside the small body.
This
Smart camera enables me to take some pretty spectacular photos.
Using its "manual" mode I can change shutter speeds, film speed and lens openings so it performs in low light to bright sun at the beach and everything in between.
But the lawyers at
Canon Camera assume I might do something dumb with this smart instrument.
Or that I might be angry enough to sue somebody.
Maybe even sue
Canon if the camera stopped working.
Say underwater.
I have settings on a dial that can make foliage greener, sunsets warmer, portraits softer and slow down speeds to capture fireworks at night.
I can make indoor lighting look like shots taken outdoors or freeze the fast action of frisky kids and dogs.
It never occurred to me to dunk it under water.
Guess we have to be protected from ourselves.
(Click on the pictures for more detail. Remember, if there's a sign prohibiting something, that means someone tried to do it. Stay warm but don't set yourself on fire. That's probably illegal.)
Labels: Canon S90, lawyers, P/S cameras, Point and Shoot, sue somebody, underwater cameras
Oops. Too curious....
As we know, the camera does not lie.
Well, it can be fooled.
And images manipulated.
We don't live in a
"George Washington-sorry-about-the-cherry-tree
world."
My photo group enjoyed a Patriot's Point
Photo Walk Saturday. What a beautiful day.
We covered the
USS Yorktown from stem to stern, from fore to aft, from the bilges up to the bridge, from port to starboard.
A group of photographers will always look for
"something different."After member Kevin Harp pulled his head out of the jet, he sat and calmly noted that the ship appeared to be listing.
Badly.
Both of these are created illusions.
Things are not as they seem.
Thank goodness!
(Click on pictures for detail. I've actually landed aboard a carrier, the
USS Oriskany. Not when I was in the Marines but as a press photographer for the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper. Sure looked tiny from the air! Ahoy! Thanks for coming aboard.)
Labels: bulkheads not walls, jet intake, Patriot's Point Naval and Maritime Museum, portholes not round windows, USS Oriskany, USS Yorktown
Night Writer ...
So you wait till dark and take your camera and tripod.
Oh, and carry two small flashlights.
Out to make a name for myself.
I quickly discovered it is darn near impossible to face the camera and "write"
kcuhC with a flashlight. Or with anything else.
My shooting partner Kevin suggested we could just "flip" the image in the computer.
That idea had me so excited I was
"beside myself with joy" as you can see above.
Later we realized that when the image was adjusted to make my name readable, it reversed the writing on my Marine Corps t-shirt.
Glad I didn't try to write
"Semper Fi."
(A security guard at nearby St. Francis hospital drove by a few times to see what all the lights were about by the split oak trees. Glad we stayed out of the Meditation Garden. Try doing long exposures at night. Thanks for stopping by.)
Labels: light writing, Marine Corps, night shooting, Semper Fi
TMI (Too Much Information)...
Recently I was reading a Lowcountry blog that I like called
Patrick's Place.He touches on many topics and said he'd noticed some shrinkage in the toilet paper industry.
I like to be frugal and an informed consumer so I read on about the tissue issue.
The large bag I usually buy says
"36 double rolls = 90 regular rolls!" Patrick's posting made me start looking closer at the various details shown on TP labels. Yikes!
If
"recycled" means what I think it means, we probably don't want to know this.
Patrick said his roll of
1,000 sheet Scott brand had shrunk to less than a 4-inch patch.
What?
My latest TP buy has only
220 sheets per roll! And these are called DOUBLE rolls.
Oh sure, each sheet was a tiny bit larger, but he's getting 1,000!?
Apparently - once you REALLY read the contents - sheets have been 4.0 inches long but vary in width up to 4 1/2 inches.
Slicing off that extra half inch of paper is saving somebody a bundle of money.
Oh. Then I noticed 1-ply and two-ply.
When my supply of
"equal to 90 regular rolls" is wiped out, guess I'll be shopping more carefully.
(You CAN click for more detail but not sure why you would want to. Store shelf tags show cost per square foot of paper. Shop wisely. Thanks.)
Labels: 1-ply, bathroom tissue, double rolls vs regular rolls, paper square footage, Pom Quality Bathroom Tissue, Sam's Club., SCOTT tissue, TP, two-ply
Thanks Mr. Piano Man....
It wasn't really a private concert. My Mom just had the best seat.
Joe Clarke, local musical entertainer, sang an "early show" on
New Year's Eve.
Joe was playing around 2:30 at the
Sandpiper Nursing and Rehab Center to entertain the residents and families.
I've enjoyed his
"flair for Jazz" around town for years so I knew they all were in for a treat.
When we came into the main activity room, it was packed.
I saw a small space right down front and moved my Mom there. Any closer and she'd be turning pages of his sheet music.
The music flowed as Joe performed solo piano and vocals a la
Sinatra, Tony Bennett and
Harry Connick, Jr. Lots of toe-tappin' and singing along in the room.
A staff member had taken down the clock on the wall and reset it for a few minutes to 12.
Well, er, just before "midnight."
Soon the countdown started to the tune of
"Auld Lang Syne" and the room enjoyed a colorful balloon drop as noise makers tooted and people applauded.
Thanks Joe. I hope all your audiences are as appreciative as this one.
(Click on the pictures for more detail.
Mom has been featured a lot here during the holidays. Well, that sounds about right!
Thanks for pausing here for a moment.
Happy New Year.)
Labels: balloon drop, Harry Connick, Joe Clarke, New Year's Eve, round midnight, Sandpiper Nursing and Rehab, Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Wally Jr.
About a year ago I bought my cat an "Automatic Dispensing Water Bowl." 
