A business proposition

Someone should tell Fox about this one. From overheardinnewyork.com.

"Dude: I'd like to invite you to take part in my new venture. I call it Kebabes.
Chick: What is it?
Dude: It's like a kebab joint but with sexy ladies.

--Overheard in line at Quo, 28th & 10th"

By the by

My lazy afternoon reading on the porch yesterday was just swell. Amongst other things I came across a review of The Davinci Code that had me literally laughing out loud. You can read it here - reason number 4,293 why the New Yorker is the best periodical on the planet.

-Mr. Ed

Kolley Kibber

"Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him."

It has just occured to me that it is in fact the Whitsun Bank holiday right now ( 27-29 May)- the weekend that the fabulous Brighton Rock has its opening set over. Managed to find a little set of photographs (including the one above), and some other interestingly related links.

-Bluecupboard

Well I'd say...

...the cocktail hour has arrived. Apparently memorial day started just after the civil war. So perhaps it's apropo - geographically and historically at least - that I toast this day with that most southern of drinks, the mint julep. The facts that I have more mint than I know what to do with and Danny left a mini-bottle of Jim Beam at my house are almost certainly unrelated.





Anyway, it's sunny and breezy on the porch, I've got an unread issue of the New Yorker and no one else is in work either. Cheers!

-Mr. Ed

Bank Holiday Balcony Bloggin'

The Bank Holiday- what is it about those two words that so fills the hearts of all with hope of warmth, of sunsplashed pub gardens, and of endless delicious pints knocked back in the sure knowledge of a world-turned upside down that is the three day weekend and then...




The skies grow dark...

But does this dissuade the resolute Bank Holiday Balcony Blogger? No! They make some drinks, and push on with said project though skies are leaden and temps are somewhere near to 58F. So there we were, with our only comfort the flowers, and of course the drinks...



So, not the most auspicious start to Balcony Blogging- but the drinks were nice. Surely the weather has to get better soon- only this weekend I was watching the long-range weather forcast when my ears perked up... "And later this week we will see a sudden change of season..." (great, I think, summer at last...) "A touch of winter!"
Smug weatherman git.
Frost as far south as the midlands. It's going to be 39F here on Tuesday morning.
Hmmmm...

-Bluecupboard and Beigey

In memoriam

Via Fire Dog Lake I found out that Desmond Dekker died yesterday. Sad news - he was good'un and no mistake.



-Mr. Ed

Awesome

...like a hot dog?

It's May bank holiday in the UK, and here in the US it's memorial day. Memorial day is often considered the unofficial first day of summer here just as Labor day, in the begining of september, is considered the end of the season. Typically memorial day is celebrated with parades and the like, not unlike the british holiday in November. It's a day for going to the park, the lake or the beach with friends and family. I reckon the best Memorial day tradition though is 'grilling out' - what we Brits call a barbecue - just about everyone in the entire country will be firing up the grill and cooking out this evening. Oh the joy of sweet, sweet grilled meat!

The weather is ~lovely~

Partly Cloudy
87°F
(31°C)
Humidity: 46 %
Wind Speed: NE 14 G 18 MPH
Barometer: 30.12" (1019.9 mb)
Dewpoint: 64°F (18°C)
Heat Index: 88°F (31°C)

So perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that my side of Chuckton around MUSC is a ghost town today. I guess everyone is at Folly Beach or Sullivan's Island or Isle of Palms - bastards!

-Mr. Ed

SPB Part 3

Sainted loose stool! This is getting out of hand. For the third consecutive week I've actually managed to find time on a sunday (heavens!) to put up pictures of mon jardin du porch, as all the cool kids are calling it now.*

So the tomato plant is doing really well, there are several small tomatoes ripening, and more flowers open every day. The basil is much happier now that he's higher up, so caprese salad here we come! Mind you, it may be some time before I have my own buffulo a-milking so complelely home-made salad is probably a way off yet.

My mate Jenn (and Steinbrenner's flatmate) gave me some of her seedlings that she didn't want. So I'm growing (from the left) butternut squash, bell peppers and courgettes/zucchini in a trough. Hopefully they will thrive too. It's arse-crack drenchingly humid at the moment here, but I keep reminding myself that it has to be good for the plants.







So look out for mantids in next week's SPB, oh and there are rumours swirling around the blogosphere that a bank holiday treat might be in store for the Pony Club!


-Mr. Ed


*Usual disclaimer applies. The cool kids didn't say that, or rather none that I know of. That is to say I don't know any. And even if I did, they wouldn't call my garden that. So there.

Getting All Limber

I had forgotten how absurdly amusing David Rees is- his site is quite complex at times, but My New Fighting Technique is Unstoppable here is mighty good for starters. From there on in there's just all manner of gemery. If that's a word. Of course it is. A horsey word.

-Bluecupboard

P.S. this is quite good too...

Greetings from the Dagobah system...

Alternately: Every channel, nothing but clouds...

I don't want to come over all whine-blogging, or all complain-a-blog, but it's the end of May, and it seems like there's been no real sun since 1967. I mean this may have real implications for the state of the nation- where now for leather on willow- where now for the erotic frisson received by a country vicar as he heaves himself into the saddle of a 1932 sit-up-and-beg before setting of in his lightest and most nylon based of summer cassocks? None of these things, I say none of these things are possible without at least the wateriest of here we go gathering, here we go gathering nuts in May sunshine!

Still, can at least take heart from the most recent weather forecast...

Damp, and

Breezes

-Bluecupboard (Wearing a scarf and a Horsey Blanket)

Dude-atude

Via my mate Ashley (and her mate justin) here is a classic slice of channel 101 from way back in 2003. Say, why don't you check out the fresh, fresh rhymes of Dude-atude right now?

Sunday Porch Blogging Part 2

Well bugger me backwards with a fish fork, I never thought this would happen, but here we are again. It's the second installment of what the critics* are calling "a breath of fresh air", "almost certainly written on a sunday" and "like getting a letter from a mad aunt who's fond of fruit teas, cats and badminton" - that's right it's Sunday Porch Blogging Part 2!





Things are heating up here in chuckton and as if on cue the first tomato flower has turned into a little fruit.



The elusive neighbourhood cardinal was out and about too.


Yes spring, all three weeks of it, are over. The humidity is building every day, the cicada's have started doing their wing rubby thing and today I finally gave in and turned on my air conditioning. Summer is here. Well almost.


-Mr. Ed




*This statment is demonstrably false. The author would like to make it clear no one, let alone a 'critic', has actually read the previous SPB entry, or indeed any part of the Pony Club and even if they had they almost certainly didn't bother forming an 'opinion'.

I'm up awfully late

This is silliness. No seriously. This is ridiculous. We're on Ashley's porch and some wanker is expressing his love for Kat, within her earshot no less. Needless to say, the feeling is not mutual. Oh well.

Bad Pun Wednesday

Colonial Rake!

Non-Chucktonians click here or here and then groan accordingly.

- Mr. Ed

Just a quick question

Why the yellow rubbery fuck did they have to go to Bosnia? Dare I assume that my jibes about mass graves and war crimes struck a raw nerve, or do they just need more engaging hobbies? The comments are the ideal the place for further speculation on this vexing matter. My take on it can be summed up in two words: utter fuckwittery. That said, I hope they manage to have fun somehow. I also hope they get all the adventure and excitement they need for a while, because christ, where will they go next time - Darfur?



Things to see and do in Bosnia:

Visit graves!



Or the beautiful churches!



Or spend some time with the locals - so friendly!



- Mr. Ed

Sunday Porch Blogging

In the first post of a new weekly segment* I'm calling "Sunday porch blogging" here are some pictures of the plants I'm growing on my porch. At the moment I've got a few herbs (Basil, chives, mint, oregano, parsley and rosemary) a tomato plant and a tree fern. The tree fern is a bit of an experiment, and it isn't really that tree-like yet, actually it'll probably take 10 years for it to be treey, and if it survives in my care for that long I'll be bloody surprised. The tomato is doing very well though - the first flower just opened yesterday - and the oregano, parsley and mint are thriving too. Unfortunately the basil and rosemary have got off to a slightly slower start, in the basil's case this might have something to do with some rather brutal pruning (for salad and pasta sauce) that I subjected it too about two days after I got it. So I'm well aware of how utterly gay this post is, normal blog jibber will resume shortly, rest assured. Having said that, please feel free to ridicule me mercilessly for it in the comments. Yes, that was a desperate plea for some sort of feed back on, well anything to do with the Pony club really, so go on leave a comment... please!





- Mr. Ed

*The absurdity of this statment is presumed to be apparent. Who am I trying to fool? I can't do my laundry regularly, so this is almost certainly never going to be repeated, let alone weekly.

Bird humour

Yes, things are a little slow around here on friday afternoons.

- Mr. Ed

Hit and miss

So I came across married to the sea via a friend's myspace page. Though it can be hit and miss, I thought it was worth posting a link anyway. Here's one of the better ones:



- Mr. Ed

Feel the happy!

The three of you who actually read this blog will probably remember that a few years back I was OBSESSED with 'For once in my life' by Stevie Wonder. You might also remember that I was prone to flail my arms about, gyrate wildly, and generally hop and bop about like mad person when listening to the aforementioned song. Well I found this movie (apparently from 1968ish!) that seems to suggest I was onto something with my woefully bad unique dance moves. Check out the video and if you feel the need to do a little dance, don't worry; you can't look half as bad as the blonde girl on the right of the screen.

-Mr. Ed