What Made You Smile Today?

[Doctor Hmmm?]

You know the drill.

[Doctor Hmmm?]

Every year, my family and I spend Columbus Day weekend at a little (semi-rustic) resort tucked away in the West Virginia hills. This was a family tradition for The Lovely and Talented right up to the time she went off to college, and we picked it up when we moved back to Virginia. Action Lad was 10 months old on his first visit, and has been going ever since.

This is the sort of place where “same time every year” traditions are common, so we see many of the same families every trip. One familiar face is an older gentleman from Maryland who spends an hour or two every morning (and sometimes again in the afternoon) sitting in the gazebo/bandstand on the “village green” playing his banjo. Our family calls him Banjo Man. Sometimes, he’s joined by his adult son, who plays guitar.

Action Lad is fascinated by any musical instrument, and every year we spend at least an hour or two sitting and talking with Banjo Man while he plays. He and the Lad have formed a real bond, and it’s honestly hard to say who looks happier when they get together.

Last evening, I overheard TLAT and the Lad talking about next week’s trip.

A.L.: Will Banjo Man be there?
TLAT: I hope so. And maybe his son, too.
A.L.: What’s his son’s name?
TLAT: I’m not sure.
A.L.: Is it Banjo Boy?

That’s my boy!!!

[Dagwan]

Is there a talking tiger that plays mandolin?

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"You've got the brain of a four-year-old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it." -Groucho Marx

Check out the Secret Headquarters (my store) website! It's a pretty lame website, but I did it myself, so tough noogies

Listen to WOXY.com, it's the future of rock-n-roll!

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[Doctor Hmmm?]

This.

[Doctor Hmmm?]

This is your spider ...

[ClarkKent_DC]

This weekend, I went to the final two Orioles games of the season at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Apparently, the Saturday night game was Girl Scout Night. There were hundreds of them, thousands of them, thousands upon thousands of them, all over the place.

Ballparks always do hokey things to get the crowd excited, but they hardly needed to that night. Everywhere you looked, there were 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, 9-, 10-, 11-, and 12-year-old girls, running around, squealing and screaming, trying to start The Wave, etc.

But when they played the recording of the organist playing "If You're Happy and You Know It," there was a whole section of girls in the upper deck singing along! It was so cute!

[PowerBook Pete, the Mad Mod]

ClarkKent_DC said:

And that was before NBC bought Universal Studios. Now that NBC owns the property -- fourth-place NBC, which is bleeding money, which shed hundreds of people this year and last in corporate downsizings, which is more than willing to suffer low ratings with Jay Leno in primetime because it's cheaper than actual entertainment -- it's fine with changing out the cast of another Law & Order show. Remember, Criminal Intent is on USA just to save it from being canceled outright on NBC.

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

PowerBook Pete said:

ClarkKent_DC said:

And that was before NBC bought Universal Studios. Now that NBC owns the property -- fourth-place NBC, which is bleeding money, which shed hundreds of people this year and last in corporate downsizings, which is more than willing to suffer low ratings with Jay Leno in primetime because it's cheaper than actual entertainment -- it's fine with changing out the cast of another Law & Order show. Remember, Criminal Intent is on USA just to save it from being canceled outright on NBC.

Ooh, low blow. I'm not a big Leno fan, but I'd at least call him somewhat entertaining. And cheaper than actual programming, too!

[PowerBook Pete, the Mad Mod]

Leno's new show has not been very good. I've enjoyed a couple of guests and the Headlines bit, but that's about it.

[The Baron]

I know it's a cliche to say it, but I found Leno to be quite funny once he started out. Once he got The Tonight Show, he seemed to lose something - as though he got less daring for fear of offending his TV audiences.

[PowerBook Pete, the Mad Mod]

And he seems to have stepped back a bit more with this show.

[Dagwan]

Craig Fergusun (sp?) on the Late Late Show is much funnier.

Much much.

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"You've got the brain of a four-year-old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it." -Groucho Marx

Check out the Secret Headquarters (my store) website! It's a pretty lame website, but I did it myself, so tough noogies

Listen to WOXY.com, it's the future of rock-n-roll!

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[The Baron]

Yeah, Ferguson is pretty funny.