Gosh, didn’t anybody get my twisted visual joke?
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The Den and Doug Show
Here’s an all too typical exchange between D.F. Rogers and myself.
***On Wed 5:47p Dec 10, 2008 Doug Pratt wrote***
Who’s this in the attached picture? You know who it is. You do. But you’re so stunned, so shocked, you don’t want to admit it to yourself, let alone tell me you know who it is.
***On Wed 5:52p Dec 10, 2008 Dennis Rogers wrote***
Ozzy Osborne after a face-lift? A female Ozzy Osborne impersonator?
***On Wed 5:53p Dec 10, 2008 Doug Pratt wrote***
Not even close, flyboy! Into the garbage chute with you.
Not Blue Men in Coats
While seeing Blue Man Group perform in Boston last week, I was reminded of a video I saw a few years back, with a couple of very funny Brits who call themselves Men in Coats. You will like this, I promise! I particularly enjoy the parody of 70’s “actionless” TV shows, like The Six Million Dollar Man and The Incredible Hulk. And I’m sure it’s just coincidence, but both Blue Man Group and Men in Coats use a song by The Sex Pistols in their act.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/DEC/MenInCoats.flv 400 300]
Jan’s Earth Mother Perspective
DogRat comment writer Jan, Arthur Godfrey fan and very nice person, has a blog. Jan needs some encouragement to keep writing, so go there and leave some nice comments. She’s on Blogger/Blogspot, and you’ll need an account with either that or Google to sign in.
http://folktress-mythoughtsonline.blogspot.com/
Jan, my suggestion is to just keep writing. A lot! Sheer quantity is the way to go, whether or not you think anybody is noticing. I don’t know how Google bloggers keep track of how many people are out there, but being my own webmaster I can see that in November I had over 7500 different addresses on the Internet accessing DogRat. But of those people, how many leave comments? An infinitesimally small percentage.
My high school gym teacher
Growing up, I had absolutely no interest in football at all, and even if I had I didn’t have the ability to play it very well. I enjoyed playing baseball a lot, but I was born left handed and in first grade was forced to bat rightie, so I was never good at hitting. Then I became nearsighted, and after getting glasses the summer between fifth and sixth grade I never wore them in gym, to avoid breaking them, so I couldn’t see the ball anyway.
So by the time I got to high school I wasn’t good for much in gym class. I knew Ed Leary was a great football coach, but because I wasn’t into sports I wasn’t tuned into his wavelength. What I enjoyed doing was running, and only running. I wasn’t even exceptional at that, but I enjoyed it, and I looked forward to track in the spring.
By the eleventh grade Mr. Leary and I had reached an understanding, and he’d sometimes let me run laps around the track instead of whatever else I was supposed to be doing. I couldn’t believe that doing lots of laps was considered to be some sort of a punishment. I loved it. With the pressure off, I actually started to enjoy basketball, beyond just shooting baskets.
If PE could have been all about running and nothing else, I would have been happy. Frankly, I think the concept of team sports being equivalent to physical fitness is bogus. It seems schools have caught onto that, and now health and fitness doesn’t demand kids knowing the rules of American football.
My senior year in high school I didn’t have to take gym, so I didn’t, and that was very good for me. The summer after graduation I had a job working with two guys who had been on the track team. One of them was the star runner, and he got me started with long distance running, and 35 years later I’m still running.
One of my regular routes took me past Mr. Leary’s house, and one time when I was home from college I saw him outside and I waved. He looked amazed, and with a big smile on his face he shouted, “Pratt… is that you??” “Yes sir, Mr. Leary!” I think he said something like “Good man,” but I was moving and couldn’t really hear him.
At my high school reunion five years ago I was saddened to hear that Mr. Leary had suffered a stroke, and now I’ve read that Mr. Leary died five days ago. Obituaries are here and here. Even though I was a different sort of kid, Ed Leary was always fair and honest with me, and I’m glad to have known him. God rest, Mr. Leary.
Men in blue
With Studio 100 turning K3 into an international franchise, and girls in England recently auditioning for UK3, it’s fitting that today I saw Blue Man Group. The Blue Men, who are not Blue Meanies, are in various cities, with interchangeable, essentially anonymous performers.
Blue Man Group has been at the Charles Street Playhouse in Boston for almost fifteen years. Carol saw the show with a friend more than ten years ago, but today was the first time for Eric and myself. If you’ve ever doubted the entertainment potential of so-called performance art, Blue Man Group will erase all doubt. We loved it!
There’s a video featuring the current Boston trio, which makes them less anonymous, that will give you an idea of what it’s all about. (The program book lists two other Boston Blue Men, so I assume there must be some rotation.) Once again YouTube has the video aspect ratio wrong, so I’ll put it here with the correct shape.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/NOV/BlueMan.flv 448 252]