Today is the birthday of Paul Klee (1879). It’s okay if you didn’t send a card: he’s been dead since 1940. Here’s a shot of the artist with his Bimbo.
Perhaps I should clarify: that’s Klee with his wife Lily. The name of the cat is Bimbo.
And here’s a nice sample of his work, IMO. It’s called “Castle and Sun.” Some have noted its similarity in style to the Magna-Tile works of my grandsons Leon and Raffi.
Say Hi (or Meow, if you speak Cat) to Chai. No idea if this is Hebraic (eighteen/life) or a tea lover. Adorable in either case.
Phil swears Liz Cheney, who is 58 and has four kids, has gotten much hotter-looking since she started championing democracy, and says this shot he got of her proves it. Maybe so, Philly — she does take on that sexy librarian look with her glasses on. But, still, keep your distance. Her dad shot that guy on a hunting trip, remember? If you try anything funny, he’ll carve you up like a Thanksgiving turkey.
Anyway, hot or not, LC is in the news: the GOP is going after her, via a House subcommittee, asking for FBI investigations on improprieties in connection with the Jan. 6 hearings. BS, of course, although Trump has said Jan. 6 Committee members should be behind bars. So Bernie S. says Biden should pardon Lizzie, and the Prez is considering it. Why didn’t the GOP wait until Biden’s out of office? It’s just a month.
Headline in The Onion: Doctors Warn of Damaging Effects Child Obesity Having On Mall Santas.
In yesterday’s puzzle, “Self-care company founded by Gwyneth Paltrow” was the clue for GOOP. Of course, it’s pretty pricey. Two small (1.4 oz.) bars of soap go for $20. Coconut shell polishes away dead skin and grime, shea and murumuru butters intensely moisturize, and brightening licorice supports the skin barrier. The scent—a deliriously pretty cardamom and wood blend—fills your entire shower and lingers ever so softly on your skin.
You had me at murumuru butter. Sign me up, GP!!
Arlene Croce died on Monday in Johnston RI at the age of 90. She was the dance critic of The New Yorker for 23 years until retiring in 1996. The obit by Brian Seibert in The Times says she was “the most feared dance writer in the U.S.,” which seems funny to me. What? — Did she have mob ties? Did she break legs?
In her review of one performance, she described the feet of the ballerina Carla Fracci as “flapping along the floor like a loose mudguard.”
She thought of herself as a “dance illiterate.” She never studied dance formally or took a music lesson. She said she was proof that you could come to dance knowing nothing of how it is done and still understand it.
She never married and is survived only by her sister Marcia, who didn’t find her very fearsome.
The great Ty Cobb was born on this date in Georgia in 1886. I remember being a teenager and just starting my autograph collection. I bought a Cobb autograph for $9 and another collector I knew felt sorry for me for getting ripped off so badly. Ha!
Story from The Onion: Bald Man Presses Face to Window As Thick-Haired Family Sits Down To Dinner
Andy Spragg posted the following for the Dull Men’s Club (UK):
My name is Andy and I am a bathoholic. These are my current stashes of additives: liquid and salt.
Hitherto I’ve been a one-liquid man, with or without salt. Readers of a sensitive disposition may care to look away now. Tonight I decided to be a little less dull. I am currently reposing in a bath with salt, Deep Heat foam bath AND Olbas bath. I’ll report back later on the quality of the bath experience, if interest warrants.
Melanie Hendrie commented: I hope you get well soon. Must be pretty ill to need all those weird and wonderful potions.
Andy: Is that so?
Melanie: Well it’s rather extravagant otherwise is it not?
Andy: Well … not really. I mean, for example, how many pairs of shoes have you got?
There actually is a reason why I have currently got so many liquid additives – it’s far from situation normal – but I don’t really see why it’s extravagant. I have two baths a week and I add roughly the same amount of bubbly stuff every time. So I’m spending roughly the same amount whether I use one sort frequently, or several sorts occasionally.
Melanie (backing off): That’s a good explanation.
Andy: Thank you!
Lauren Spilsbury: In an area with low water situation – fast showers only. Haven’t had a bath in a decade or more. Now old enough to have a concern about whether or not I could get my warm, wet, slippery, sleepy self up out of the tub.
Andy: That concern is on my horizon too, for sure. (In respect of my self, obv … not your self.)
Susan Green: You must have skin like a rhinoceros with all those chemicals.
[OK, readers, brace yourselves. We’re going to go on for a bit.]
Robert Brueford: Bathaholic here (which is ironic as we have a wet room and no bath!) What I do have however (as a true bathaholic) is a fabric pop up bath, soon to be replaced with a foldaway plastic bath. I utilise olbas oil and deep heat bubbles, lavender and rose bubble bath (cheap in Home Bargains and is very, very relaxing) and occasionally, Radox with Pink Gin Himalayan salts. I do love a good bath and have a minimum of 2 a week.
Andy: Bathaholic, 2 a week at least, and Home Bargains aficionado? I think I’ve just stumbled upon my soul brother! I also think you need to tell me more about this “fabric pop-up bath.” Is that actually a Thing? From where does one procure it? How does one fill and empty it? So many questions.
Robert: So, if you Google pop up baths, the common ones are a waterproof fabric inner that’s supported by a pvc pipe frame. The one I have is large enough for me (6ft). I fill it using the clip-on hose pipe tap connectors, a length of hose on each from the bathroom sink which is then cable tied to the PVC pipes into the bath. Always filled about 2/3 of the way up (bath is approximately 800mm high).
To empty, I use a 150Lpm fishtank pump with a hose attached to the outlet which I then pop into the overflow of the bathroom sink. Takes approximately 15 minutes to empty which gives me time to get dressed, sort my stuff out at which point, I simply fold the legs away and put the bath behind one of our bathroom cabinets out of the way.
We have upgraded this year as the wife wants a sturdier bath (current one is sturdy if you know where to put your hands but as she has a back issue, I understand her dubiousness) so we purchased an extra large moulded plastic one (1480mm long) with a collapsible heavy duty rubber (could be silicone) inner. This one has a three-part tray on top to a) preserve heat and b) allows me to plumb in my portable sauna heater directly into the water to keep it hotter for longer.
There’s nothing like a steaming hot bath with some music and relaxing lavender and patchouli bubbles.
Andy: Now that’s what I call intel! I can see a whole new world opening up that I never knew existed. I’m so glad I made my inconsequential little post about double bubble action. Thank you so much for laying out the facts in such lavish detail.
To send us off tonight, this elegant gentleman is Barney, 17 years old, kinehora. Easy does it, old fella.
See you tomorrow, Chatterheads!
The Wellington Files 