The Curmudgeonly Professor

Flowers Again from Thanksgiving Point: Photos of the Day July 11 2009

                                   

 

What I Found on a Morning Walk: Photos of the Day July 11 2009

A regal crown on a vicious, prickly plantI love to photograph any flower, but I especially love any white flower.  Their pristine whiteness evokes feelings of purity.

Summer Flower Gardens at Thanksgiving Point: Photos of the Day July 10 2009

                                             

Petunias are Always Photogenic: Photos of the Day July 10 2009

 

Post No. 1600: A Duck Contemplating Jumping in the Duck Pond: Photos of the Day July 10 2009

In honor of post number 1600, here is a duck getting nervous as I came closer and got ready to hop in the duck pond.

 

The Dragonfly and the Pink Rose: Photos of the Day July 10 2009

 

The Sunflowers are Blooming so Autumn Won't Be Far Behind: Photos of the Day July 10 2009

Can you believe the sunflowers are cheerfully blooming, faces to the sun, already?  That means that autumn isn't far behind, if you can believe that, just as summers seems to be starting!

                                        

We Visit the Flower Gardens at the Jordan River Temple to See the Summer Blossoms: Photo of the Day July 9 2009

Flower Gardens at Thanksgiving Point: Photos of the Day June 9 2009

 

Natural Gas, Coal, Cattle, Prairie, and Clouds: The Wealth of Southwest Wyoming

Not great photos from a moving car, but good enough to give you an idea of the natural gas wealth of southwest Wyoming

The Farson Merc, famous for monster-sized ice cream cones, and the last stop before going down South Pass and reaching Lander.  Used to be small grocery here, now just ice cream and lunch stuff.  If you have legal problems, a law office is on second floor, going up rickety stairs with bannister loose mostly from the wall.  Coed restroom up half a flight of stairs.  The girl working the ice cream counter turned out to be from Pleasant Grove UT.  Farson is a tiny agricultural community founded by a project to irrigate the high desert.  We've stopped here countless times.  A small ice cream cone is $2, which is large enough for three people.

 

Points to Ponder on July 9 from the Curmudgeonly Professor

Here are some nagging thoughts for today:

• If you criticize a black person or any non-Caucasian, you are automatically a racist.
• If you criticize a female for any reason whatsoever, you are a sexist.
• If you criticize your boss or blow the whistle, you are fired and the mess is all your fault.
• If you do something wrong, the deed is never your fault.
• If you criticize a bloviator, you must apologize.
• If you cross David Letterman, he may get the best of you.
• If you criticize certain politicians, you are un-American.
• If you vote no on programs designed to help our country, you are patriotic.
• If you give up and resign your job or elected office in mid-stream, you are helping your country, company, or state.
• If you support non-Caucasians, you are automatically a racist.
• If you are a bigot, you probably think you are a patriotic American.
• If you run red lights or stop signs or run down people in parking lots, you are simply doing your duty.
• If you are 100% right and narrow-minded, then everyone else is 100% stupid and dead wrong.
• If you don't know anything, act on your biases anyway, and you will feel good about your choices.
• If you read this, you are probably offended and will never look at my blog again.  Oh well.

The Last Photos of Spring Flowers from Temple Square in Salt Lake City: Photos of the Day July 9 2009

                                    

                                     

 

Flower Gardens at LDS Church Office Building: Photos of the Day July 8 2009

                                    

Frequent Words Uttered in Matlock Reruns

As a Matlock afficionado, I have rued the day they didn't make more episodes since I am sick and tired of watching the same ones over and over.  Some episodes are egregious and I don't watch them any more, but a few warrant continued attention.  Today the episode had Fred Thompson in it and he turned out to be a big fat crook, and what amazed me is that he later had the gall to run for President of the U. S. of A.  Go figure.

But here are a few words and sentences that you can bet will show up regularly in most Matlock episodes:

• "Objection."  Uttered sporadically by the counsel for the misguided plaintiff who always stupidly sues an innocent defendant, so that the actor/actress playing such counsel can earn her acting fee. 
• "Let's get on with it."  Words uttered by the judge, who also must have something to say to justify being cast in a Matlock episode.  Words uttered to chastize Matlock who tends to ramble and go off on fishing expeditions during trials, doing everything but playing his guitar and singing songs.
• "We find the defendant not guilty."  Well duh.  The defendant is never guilty.  Only once that I remember, and that was a freakish and disconcerting result.
• "Let's go have a hot dog."  Words uttered by Matlock after many trials.  The court house where the trials take place is the only court house I know of that has a mobile hot dog stand in the hallways.
• "None of that is true."  Words uttered by nearly every guilty plaintiff whom Matlock has ascertained is either a crook or a murderer and has the goods to nail him or her to the jailhouse.
• I forgot to mention that Miss Crump from Opie days is some times the judge, and that's a bit hard to swallow.
• "Mr. Matlock, control your client."  Matlock's clients tend to go bonkers occasionally when it looks like they've been hoodwinked, cheated, framed, or otherwise, and Matlock must restrain them or have them hauled off.
• "One more word out of you Mr. Matlock and I'll have you in contempt of court."  Occasionally, Ben goes nuts when he is clearly being unfairly treated by jerks and waxes and emotes most violently to make his point.
• "My fee is $100,000."  At 100K a whack, you'd think Matlock would live in more elegant surroundings, buy a decent suit, and get rid of his old junker of a car.  What is he doing with his money?
• Where's Opie?  Deputy Fife has occasional roles, which usually seem awkward and contrived, like they were sort of a friendly gesture from Sheriff Andy to Deputy Barney.  But no Opie.
• Matlock ends up with a continued array of different daughters and female assistants, all of whom tend to be quite gorgeous and subject to hugs by Ben the attorney.

I'm sure this list is not complete, but as I think of other items for inclusion, I will let you know.  I think we should start a society of Matlock fans to dissect each and every episode and enshrine the series for future generations.

My Bachelor's Degree in Agriculture is Paying Off

The Curmudgeonly Professor grew up on a farm in northwestern Wyoming and, in fact, was Wyoming state president of the Future Farmers of America.  However much he may have wanted to become a farmer, which wasn't much, seeing how hard my dad worked for so little, he never made it that far.  Instead, he got a bachelor's degree in agriculture from the University of Wyoming where he started college living in a room in the hayloft of the sheep barn.  After studying sugar beet production, livestock production, chicken production, and a healthy dose of two years of chemistry, zoo, and a bunch of other science stuff, he opted out for economics since he never wanted to milk another ornery cow again in his life and was tired of shoveling manure.  Not that shoveling manure is a demeaning occupation, someone has to do it, but the Professor deemed as how he had shoveled his fair quota and someone else could shovel the rest.  As needed.

Now to the current situation.  My next-door neighbor bought these expensive little tent-watering gizmos with the tomato plants inside and regularly fertilizes, tends, and nourishes his tomato plants.  I stuck mine in the hard clay soil with a shot of potting soil in each.  And, voila, thanks to my bachelor's degree in agriculture, mine look just as dang good as my neighbors'.   At latest count, I have about 4 dozen green tomatoes, with one nearly pink, and if the robins and the rest of our feathered friends don't decimate them when they turn red, we will be having tomatoes the rest of the summer.  My one zuke has about a dozen little zukes and I will leave them on your doorstep if the production is prolific.  Last year my zuke only produced one little bitty one and one watermelon-sized one.  My cuke is finally blossoming and may produce a cucumber before the summer is over.  I have paid zero attention to my agricultural pursuits.  If they can't make it on their own, that's their problem.  But I feel my gardening success has to do with having earned a bachelor's degree in agriculture from the Universty of Wyoming, about which I remember little, except I memorized the names of the stomachs of a cow which I will be happy to recite to you if you so request.  Oh, by the way, my sister Ann tried to promote some fancy-schmancy system called foot-square or four-foot-square gardening early in the spring, and my sister Liz built fancy four-foot square wooden boxes in which her super-duper garden is now growing in abundance.  But I pooh-poohed such showy efforts since, to me, gardening isn't gardening unless you just stick stuff in the hard clay soil and see what happens.