kbobam

I'm watching a segment from the series 'Pioneers of Television'. This one is titled 'Game Shows', so of course Merv Griffin comes up. When they get to talking about Wheel of Fortune, at some point they show this image. It doesn't connect with anything that's being said at the moment. There's no clue whatsoever. I guess they just wanted a random screen shot from the show. So this is the greatest 'Wheel' challenge ever! What is it? (I have no idea.)

Searching through some internet archives, I found this old photo of Lloyd as a child!

Muddies are absolutely beautiful! (Although I suppose I could understand them being a "love 'em or hate 'em" sort of thing.) My war-horse Muddy shooters in the last photo are two of my favorite marbles.

I've been enjoying finding some really great 'still' photos hidden within TV commercials lately. This is from a 'Shredded Wheat' ad. (I probably didn't need to tell you that.) In my humble opinion, this is just beautiful. They've effectively created a fifteen dollar bowl of cereal from a fancy French restaurant! My words, not theirs. It looks so simple, but you really have to be sort of a genius to pull off something like this so well. ( :

Is your plumage dull and listless? New 'Pert for Poultry' will restore its youthful fluff! All the best salons use it, and you should too! ( :

Huh! Good approach. I wasn't going to think of that. ( :

Here's another freeze-frame from the 'It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown' show I mentioned in another post. The incredibly fascinating (or 'why don't you just kill me now' boring, depending how you look at it) thing about this is the 'Until Christmas' banner. When the show aired yesterday, the banner was two days 'off'. It was 248 days until Christmas. So this got me wondering about the Easter/Christmas 'spread'. What's the range between the least and most possible number of days between the two? I'm guessing that when this show first aired, the 246 days figure was correct, although I haven't verified this. Do any of our 'mathlete' friends here know how you could calculate all the 'calendar day' variables? I can't even imagine. If so, please come visit me in 'detention'. We could teach each other a thing or two!

Naturally, anyone who's anyone watched 'It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown' yesterday. It reminded me of that one Charlie Brown episode which was mentioned here long ago. The one where there's literally a lot of marble-playing going on. Is that one not broadcast as often as the traditional holiday episodes? Before I heard about it here, I'd never seen it before. And haven't since. Also had a strange thought when I saw the moment in yesterday's show pictured below. What if there's a subtle or hidden reference to "marbles" in every Charlie Brown episode? You know, 'Alfred Hitchcock cameo' -style. Probably not, but it'd be cool if it's true! ( :

Same here! ( :

I've got that! Whoops. No, now that I've looked it up I guess I don't. Must just be ornery by nature. ( )

Just checked out a site that shows you what the phase of the Moon was, is, or will be. And I think I got completely 'slammed' by the full Moon the other day. I was completely out of my mind. Even more than usual! It was comforting to find a possible reason. I'm not a big believer in this sort of thing, but I think it does happen at times. I've seen it in myself and others before. It's not a 'given' every, or even most of, the time. But it still feels like it's there. The study of 'the cyclical nature of things' is fascinating. Back in the good old days I did a lot of research on how financial markets ebbed and flowed. Of all the studies I did, the identification of 'cycles' proved to be the most beneficial. I'm also convinced that the old 'time of the month' concept is a little misguided. It's absolutely true, but like the effect of the Moon, it's not a 'given' at any time. And not only does it continue to happen for post-menopausal women, but it's been happening for us guys all along! It's not an instinctive thing for guys to make a journal of how they're feeling every day. But if they did, I'm pretty convinced that most would see the same pattern. Interesting stuff! Bob

Maybe. Can't picture that show right now, although I know I know it. I just have a general memory of judges doing either a melodic ding or the dreaded low-pitched squawk/buzz. ( :

Well fine! I'll try again. What with all the game shows I've watched on television over many years, I've always wondered about the 'judges'. No one knows who they are, and they're hardly ever called upon. I'll bet at times they get pretty lonely and bored. "Let's see what the judges have to say!" "♪ DING! ♪"

Here's Queen Latifah giving a 'thumbs up' to a feline accessory she thinks is way cooler than a traditional scratching pole.

How'd they like it? Glad to know I'm not the only one! "Hi. I'm Bob, and I'm a 'strange stuff over-thinker'." "HI, BOB!" No doubt warmth is just as significant as 'coolth' in many of these situations. The aroma idea is interesting. Although the one time it didn't work with this cat was when I got a can of oil-packed tuna by mistake. Before he walked away from it, he gave me the saddest cat-look I've ever seen. It was like he was saying "I'm not mad. I'm just very very disappointed!" ( :

I call him 'TunaCat'. He shows up around 4:00 in the afternoon to see if I'm in the mood to give him a tunafish snack. He doesn't need it. He's well cared for by the next door neighbors. But I figure a fun 'diversion' from the normal routine is an enjoyable thing for both of us. ( : A separate strange thought! Because I'm just giving him a little snack, a small can of tuna (I'm assuming our European and other friends know the stuff I'm talking about) lasts several days. As such, it's in the fridge, so most of the time the tuna he gets is cold. Do you think it's possible he prefers it cold? I'm assuming that his ancestors were eating cold meat if they caught a fish at the edge of a stream. Maybe it's hard-wired into his brain that cold fish makes more sense than room-temperature cat food. He makes me think too much, but I enjoy his company.

Hey, Lloyd! I really liked that particular portrait. At the risk of sounding like an art critic disposable hygiene product, the simplicity and perfect balance make it a winner. (The dog being Hollywood good-looking probably doesn't hurt.) Since both birds and cats have been mentioned recently, maybe this will fit in somehow. My cat buddy knows that he has to stay off to one side when I'm taking a picture with the camera on a tripod. But when I was playing around with a Halloween crow decoration, he was not happy. ( :

I feel like I've just 'boarded up' the door to The Lounge! Does everyone really hate my favorite cat that much?

At the risk of being boring for most normal people, I feel obligated to add this 'for what it's worth'. Just did a 'search' for ball-bearings, hoping to find out just how large they're made. I guess I was thinking that it would be pretty neat if gun turrets in large naval vessels rotated on bearings the size of bowling balls, and that the grease guns for these were built to hold 50-gallon drums of the stuff. Haven't found out yet, but did learn that apparently the things that most of us think of as "ball bearings" are more properly called "bearing-balls". Technically speaking, a "ball-bearing" is a device that houses multiple "bearing-balls". There's another even more common situation very similar to this. I'll be happy to share it if at least a dozen of you write in requesting it passionately! I'll shut up now.

Here's a freeze-frame from the television series 'Call The Midwife'. This takes place in East London in the 1950's. At this particular moment, an overworked and slightly overwrought husband has come home to his 'any day now' pregnant wife. But he's a great guy, and has brought a present for his two young sons to let them know that they're not forgotten, no matter what. Would these be considered 'Steelies' by marble-playing kids? Or are they ball-bearings any way anyone looks at it? ( :

These are outrageous enough that I wanted to say something. But when I saw Skyler's question, I decided it was too tough an act to follow!

Hey, Dawg! Appreciate it. Been a little down in the dumps, but I'm starting to get a few ideas so maybe I'm coming out of it. Hope to shoot some new stuff soon.

Really like that outdoor shot, Winnie! The marbles are very bright and three dimensional. As much as I shoot outdoors, I don't think I've ever tried a black background. I'm wondering if the reason the photo looks so good is because the black is sucking up all the extra light that would otherwise be bouncing around all over the place. Like the way football players reduce glare with the black smears under their eyes. ( :

They're pretty cool. Any idea if any of our marble-makers did the eyes for some of these? The eyes in these two look a lot like your avatar marble! ( : (I looked at some more owl auctions, and the shipping in the one you mentioned is the least expensive by a huge margin. More than reasonable for all that iron.)

What... me worry?