As long-time readers of Owl Chatter are aware, our photographer Phil’s close relationship to Taylor Swift makes us privy to her thoughts on many important issues. Here’s her take on boypal Travis’s team’s performance in last week’s NFL draft.
According to Phil, Tay is very pleased. The Chiefs’ first pick was wide receiver Xavier Worthy from Texas. She says he’ll be an excellent deep threat for Mahomes, drawing the defense away, and opening up the middle for Trav. “Look at this boy fly,” Swift said. “I’d kill for those legs.”
Their second pick was a bruising offensive lineman from BYU, Kingsley Suamataia. “If he buys Patty [Mahomes] a little extra time against the rush, it can only redound to Trav’s benefit. He’s a big teddy bear. We love him! His hair has muscles.”
Phil asked Tay how Trav feels about KC’s third pick: Tight End Jared Wiley from TCU. Is he miffed about their pick of a potential replacement for him? Taylor just laughed. “Not in the least,” she said. “Travis has made it clear he’s starting to think about retirement. Plus, he sits out a lot of snaps as it is. There are no hard feelings at all. Go Chiefs!“
Thanks Taylor! — Knock ’em dead in Paris next week!
Yesterday’s puzzle’s theme was the phrase “hue and cry.” Three long answers were comprised of a color (a “hue”) and a homophone of a cry. So the first one was BLACKBALL, ball being a homophone of “bawl.” And there was BLUE WHALE (“wail”), and WHITE WINE (“whine”).
egsforbreakfast shared the following: “I once had a painful case of BLACKBALL. Thank god it didn’t progress to the other one.”
Which led me to share the following today:
Re: egs’s case of BLACKBALL from yesterday. (Glad you’re okay!)
I heard Jay Leno tell this joke during the pandemic about how masking can make it hard to understand speech.
A nurse comes in to a patient’s room. Of course, the patient is wearing a mask. He says to her, “Nurse, can you please check to see if my testicles are black.” She says, “I’m sorry, I’m not assigned to this floor, let me call another nurse for you.”
He says: “Please, it shouldn’t take long — I just want to know if my testicles are black.” She says, “That’s not my area — let me call someone else for you.”
And he says, “Please, I’m really nervous about this — can’t you just take a second and see if my testicles are black?”
Finally, she relents and says okay. She reaches under his robe and gown, peers in, and says: “They look fine.” And he takes off his mask and says: “No, I’m trying to find out if my test results are back.”
Here’s the poor nurse:
And I’m delighted to note that commenter Gill posted: “Liveprof: I’m still laughing. A morning (really funny) joke to start this Tuesday….HAH!”
Little things like that make my day — that’s how shallow and insecure I am.
Remember The Moody Blues? Their lush, “mellow” sound was generated in part by their innovative use of the Mellotron. And it was thanks to keyboardist Mike Pinder that that occurred. He had worked as a tester in the Mellotron factory before the band formed. Mike passed away last Wednesday at the age of 82. In addition to his work with the band, he and his wife recorded two albums for children: “Planet With One Mind,” and “People With One Heart.”
The Moody Blues were inducted into the Rock & Roll HOF only nearly 30 years after becoming eligible. “All the band brought their children and grandchildren and that was magic,” Mike wrote.
I liked the Moody Blues, but I’m going to share a different song: The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever.” It was on Mike’s recommendation that Paul played the mellotron on the song. Rest in peace Mike.
I don’t know why I love this so much. Maybe because it reminds us how far and wide the puzzle’s reach is, and how precious any human connection is. Rex had a guest blogger today: Clare. And she noted at the start of her writeup: “Hope everyone stays cool as the heat ratchets up. We already had a high of 90 degrees here in D.C. today.”
And “Jim in Canada” copied that quote and added: “It’s snowing like hell right now here in Calgary.”
Hey! —- this might be him!
Here’s a funny comment from an Anony-mouse:
“As I was doing the puzzle, I was annoyed by the bad fill and a less-than-thrilling theme. Then I finished in record time for a Tuesday, and now believe it to be a brilliantly constructed puzzle with wit and verve.”
You ever eat breadfruit? Me neither. It was clued today as “Crop named for its doughy texture when cooked.” Breadfruit is a staple food in many tropical regions. When cooked, the taste of moderately ripe breadfruit is described as potato-like, or similar to freshly baked bread.
You can find it in Hawaii and Puerto Rico, but otherwise it’s hard to find in the U.S. Here it is, first raw, and then pan-fried:
A quick baseball note: After being swept by the Dodgers, our Gnats turned around and swept Miami — four straight, including overcoming a 7-run deficit in one game. Remember this date: 4/30/24. The boys are at .500: 14-14!
Thanks for stopping by. See you tomorrow (maybe not — long teaching day).
The Wellington Files 