Snippets you should delete before reading

Don't look for order here, OK? Just random thoughts that -- don't tell! -- I might've just lifted from someone else!

Here:

Is Bush giving fascism a bad name? Hardly! He deserves – and will probably demand—tons of credit for keeping democracy (and, of course the Democratic Party) in its place!

“Even though it’s had several big-time decorators spiffy it up,” the New York Central morgue is “still a monstrous, messy marsh.”

Can Democracy – not just the Democrats – wait and survive until after Bush leaves?

The Gospel of Bush, as it’s delivered by the Deliverer, himself, may not belong in the canon, but it does belong in the trash. Maybe he does, too!

Will there some day be a “Washingtonstan?” If so, you gotta ask how a nation moved from baseball and burgers to burkas and shoe bombers in a single generation...

My preliminary list of what life would be great without:

Soup-filled bowling balls and, of course, lists of what life would be great without.

How's THAT?

1967: TWO LADIES PASS STATUE OF ULYSSES. THEY IGNORE HIM, AND HE, THEM

1967: TWO LADIES PASS STATUE OF ULYSSES. THEY IGNORE HIM, AND HE, THEM
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

I'll have to take a 4 year course in how to spell "Ulysses!"

I just can’t get that spelling straight – I feel guilty and dumb, worn-out, sleepy and gutless. My revenge is thinking less of "Ulysses" and more of "Useless."

But that's me. When he strung his bow and slaughtered the guys after his wife's ass, it was GREAT! I LOVED it when he shot the arrow through the ten thingamajigs and helter-skelter slaughtered the schmucks, like a lion ravaging a bunch of dumb-ass buffalos!

WOW! That scene was better than Death Wish!

But...getting back to the subject: statues do tend to ignore those who ignore THEM, and even those who unashamedly FIXATE on it.

Even David in Florence shows ABSOLUTELY NOTHING no matter how many oohs aahs float like smoke around him.

Bitter as this indifference is to accept, after seeing a press conference today, I strongly prefer the stone-cold indifference of statues over cocky smirking lies by a decider who has lead by “staying the course” like an cannonball would, hurtling down from the heavens.

Youth-dreams sweeten with age.

Dreams of youth sweeten with age.
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

He can be red like a book

He can be red like a book
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

Just a glance tells you the whole story -- but wrongly: this guy plays first string quarterbottle on the Jack Daniels all-star drinking team.

Surprised?

He was the only guy in a radius of 33 miles who wasn't talking on a cell-phone -- and I include myself.

Taking this photo with my shooting ear covered was a real feat!

Identical quadruplets and their naked, invisible sister!

Identical quadruplets and their naked, invisible sister!
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

Invisible people don't usually caste shadows like the guy sitting on the extreme right-hand-side of the bench. Of course we live in an unusual world. Ever notice?


Also, I guess I should mention that these 4 have only one head among them, fairly shared and properly placed.

One head is enough for all 5!

Amputation-time's almost here! At LAST!

Amputation time is almost here! At LAST!
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

Some have too few. Some have too many. Some, with just a little trim and a chop, have just the right number...as in the case here.

Here you see his journey to the surgeon's is almost finished, or, as you might say, on its last leg.

The fart of a lightning bug is harmless, except to all life-forms

The fart of a lightning bug is harmless, except to all life-forms
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

A nano-second more, and I would've been reduced to steaming, chocolate-flavored protoplasm or cinders.

Its zoom was nearly my doom, to put the story in a nutshelf

This moment was captured by Emma just before the lightening bug swatted her to life! Thank you, Emma!

My Nikon, down at the bottom of my circular squarecase, taking a self-portait of me, although I've left

My Nikon, down at the bottom of my circular squarecase, taking a self-portait of me, although I've left
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

Too bad I left before taking this self-portrait. It would have been a real winner, if you liked peering up someone's nostrils from 50 meters away.

I decided to leave in order to write this insightful comment for your reading displeasure.

Imagine if I had stayed!

1970: Below the sky, above a castle, through your eyes

1970: Below the sky, above a castle, through your eyes
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

Harness the power of his gaze and crank up the power of the sun, or rocket through stone walls or command a rowdy crowd of thousands.

This moment, being on the receiving-end of this look-through-your-eyes-and-out-the-back-of -your-head, well this moment lasts in my mental history, as Hamlet would not have said it, "In the mind of my eye."

I say no more. I shut my eyes. I see more and more!

Charlie, ailing, on Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain

Charlie, ailing, on Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

It was a bad day for Charlie, the short old, sick Chaplin impersonator. He stands stark still hour after hour, waiting for, among other things, hand-outs from the passers-by.

I sometimes ask myself how old he is, and my only answer seems to be, "Too old."

Yesterday, there were few hand-outs and Charlie was sick and weak, as you can probably see, and if he had happiness somewhere, it was not in his face.

Some drunk Brits mocked him, took photos of each other beside him and left, braying, without giving Charlie a cent.

I am sad now. Why?

Two girls and a horse that goes nowhere and also has horns

Two girls and a horse that goes nowhere and also has horns
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

OK, so maybe I don't know much about farm animals. The ones without horns -- they're the farmers, no? Or the pigs?

Oh, well, I only know that if I ever grew up, I wanted to be a horse (not like this one, but big and comfortable like those ones the Bobbies use in London to ease people out of the way at the Changing of the Guard.)

Anyhow, these kids don't seem to be that particular. Use your face- and gesture-reading talent and skills and you'll know everything the girls are feeling.

Don't use your talent and skills on the horse! In its own way, it's got a poker face you'll never read, ever...or at least its changes, because there aren't any.

Uploaded by qwurky on 3 Nov '06, 10.24am CET.

1968: TWO FISHERMEN BEING PICTURESQUE

1968: TWO FISHERMEN BEING PICTURESQUE
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

This was up in Scotland, and, with my TOTALLY NUDE right index finger, I pressed the shutter-button -- and this is what the camera saw.

Most likely, both of these guys refuse fish for dinner 7 days a week: I know I would!

As you can't see, the little boats are brightly painted so you can tell them apart even if you don't know how to read. The men are called by different names so that if you shout you can tell each one's name by watching which one doesn't turn around.

If you're not in Scotland now, maybe you should think about it -- and, since I get no commission from the Scottish Tourist Board, you could send me a souvenir if you make it there -- like maybe a nice Dover sole.

Space-age sit-ups!

Space-age sit-ups!
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

This is a new kind of sit-up: just make yourself comfy ABOVE what you'd usually be sitting ON.


The benefits to the TOTALLY NUDE abdominal muscles are STUPENDOUS!

Try it!

You'll have a rock-hard stomach before you know it - unless you forget how to float and end up with a post right up through your personal areas and intothe gut!

Don't tell ANYONE where and how you got those brand-new washboard abs!

1969: Kid in Cain Park, Cleveland Heights, Ohio

1969: Kid in Cain Park, Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

Yes, indeed! This is the famous movie star you thought it was, just 38 short years before he hit his peak!

I was fortunate enough, when I took this shot, to get his autograph because he didn't realize he would be world-famous and a truly snooty guy in later life.

For reusable stencils of his tennis shoe prints, which I, in a moment of great foresight, made that day, phone me here in Barcelona. Your stencil will be mailed to you within 3 generations or whenever the Commander-in-Chief admits being to blame for any mistake he might have made -- whichever comes first.

I look forward to not hearing from you! Yes, indeed! This is the famous movie star you thought it was, just 38 short years before he hit his peak!

I look forward to not hearing from you!

1963: The man who mistook his hat for a urinal!

1963: The man who mistook his hat for a urinal!
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

Accidents happen. And misjudgments. But this one was particularly unfortunate.

Mistaking his hat for a urinal wasn't so bad -- except that he tried to use it while it was still on his head!

There was trouble -- especially when this happened 400 times in a row (see what looks like water in the background!), but far worse was that he mistook his wife for a hat, vaguely similar to the famous case described by neurologist, Dr. Oliver Sacks.

You don't want to know the details of my case (not Sacks', which is fascinating) on an empty stomach.

Anyhow: I took this photo in 1963, in Germany, when I was still dumber than now.

1968: SHRECK, LOOKING GREAT

1968: SHRECK, LOOKING GREAT
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

I could not have done this without Shreck's total cooperation, which you rarely get from TOTALLY NUDE beings!

"Shreck," as you probably know, means "terror", or something like that in German, which Shreck definitely was NOT.

I don't miss him, but I do remember him - especially now.

1963: PROOF THAT ONE MAN'S ANTI-WRINKLE CREAM DOESN'T WORK

1963: PROOF THAT ONE MAN'S ANTI-WRINKLE CREAM DOESN'T WORK
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

He's 34 if he's a day, but for sure -- ABSOLUTELY sure!-- his youth doesn't show at ALL!

I took this near Stuttgart, Germany while this guy and I were talking about cosmic stuff like how the world would be in, say, 1970. He paused a moment, kind of looking ahead, I'd say, maybe asking himself if he'd still be around.

It turns out he didn't last much longer, but his photo hasn't faded and his look is just as bright as then, although only in two dimensions. Makes me think of the Oliver Wendell Holmes poem, "The Last Leaf."

Funny: when I took this, I never dreamed the world would make it to Orwell's famous 1984, but it seems to have not only reached that famous year but gone past it in "double-speak," "double-think" and "Big Brother is Watching You."

If my man here had known what was waiting, maybe he wouldn't have been disappointed not to be around.

As for me, I'm happy to be here, even if only in imagination, which is what my life often seems to be.

What about YOU? He's 34 if he's a day, but for sure -- ABSOLUTELY sure!-- his youth doesn't slow at ALL!

I took this near Stuttgart, Germany while this guy and I were talking about cosmic stuff like how the world would be in, say, 1970. He paused a moment, kind of looking ahead, I'd say, maybe asking himself if he'd still be around.

It turns out he didn't last much longer, but his photo hasn't faded and his look is just as bright as then, although only in two dimensions. Makes me think of the Oliver Wendell Holmes poem, "The Last Leaf."

Funny: when I took this, I never dreamed the world would make it to Orwell's famous 1984, but it seems to have not only reached that famous year but gone past it in "double-speak," "double-think" and "Big Brother is Watching You."

If my man here had known what was waiting, maybe he wouldn't have been disappointed not to be around.

As for me, I'm happy to be here, even if only in imagination, which is what my life often seems to be.

What about YOU?

JOYCE IN 1968: WORLD'S SMOOTHEST, CURVIEST CLEANING LADY

JOYCE, WORLD'S SMOOTHEST, CURVIEST CLEANING LADY
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

Well, no, she wasn't really our cleaning lady, but that's what we always used to say, joking.

She liked showing off her body -- and I don't blame her -- and, one time she went to the Cleveland Art Museum in a "dress" you could VERY EASILY read through, and though she wasn't TOTALLY NUDE underneath, because, for example, she was wearing shoes, she did get some fascinated attention.

She put this photo -- very large -- on her mantelpiece, and got some rave reviews, as I remember, whichi s a real tribute to the quality of the Hasselblad camera, isn't it?

THE DANCER LAYS CEMENT

THE DANCER LAYS CEMENT
Originally uploaded by qwurky.

He's not really a dancer, but at the distance between my terrace and the gym across the street where he was doing his stuff, it SEEMED like he was one of those famous guys from the movies.

No matter: the gym is up and running -- FINALLY! -- but not that many people are coming in.

(In the previous version of this gym, it was ALL GIRLS and they sunned themselves out there TOPLESS and BRONZED. I could have easily thrown them a Frisbee, but decided i was getting too self-conscious with them staring at me all the time.

At least I was actually safe from their direct enticements because of the narrow street that separated us! TOPLESS girls 7 days a week! Who could ask for more? Nobody - because, basically, there ARE only 7 days in the week.)