DA old timers  

I fed the sparrows again today. My friend's friendly Rottweiler wanted some. I gave him some too. I'm an equal-opportunity birder.

You are a good man, SDR.
Best,
Your Aunt Mark

shine on me sushine
walk with me world
its a zip-pity-do-dah day
I'm the happiest girl
in the whole USA
do crows ever eat themselves?
were those incredible architectural drawings really done by Merle Haggard?
does santa ever wear pink?
EDIT: Actually, its still dark here, and I am not a huge fan of Donna Fargo. I was just trying to get out of my usual christmas funk with a smarmy tune. How do you do it each day Mark? That is the key to life. Humor. Attitude. Energy. Drawing. Not eating birds helps too.

Hi Eameshead.
My Santa wear's nothing but pink, or nothing at all. No shoes. And crows eating crows would be about the same crime as me eating a fruitcake, or a cow eating hamburger. It all tastes like finger lickin chicken. Incredible renderings, indeed! I think that Merle, Frank LW, and SDR were separated at birth, and all were given a courtesy ink pen and some linen/paper to crank out their creativity upon leaving the orphanage. I can dig it. Merle also had a tire changing service on the side. Kitty Wells ate baby birds. FLW had issues. SDR wears socks, and I'm your Aunt Mark.
Carry on,
Aunt Mark

Good Morning Mark,
George Jones is more like it. Country music has to tear your heart out.
STRANGER IN THE HOUSE
This never was one of the great romances
But I thought you'd always have those young girl's eyes
But now they look in tired and bitter glances
At the ghost of a man who walks 'round in my disguise
(chorus)
There's a stranger in the house; nobody's seen his face
But everybody says he's taken my place
There's a stranger in the house no one will ever see
Everybody says he looks a lot like me
It seems that so many of George's songs take place in a house, or living room, or near a door, or in a bedroom. He must have issues. Thats what makes it authentic.
For Christmas, I'm getting my 5' long low Paul McCobb case refinished. I found it 25 years ago in a thrift shop, and it has been black all this time. Now it's gonna be a blonde! Keeping the black sliding doors though. Total black-out front spanks the rectangle. It's an awesome reductive design with black iron legs. There is a Santa Claus. I can't wait.
Spank your rectangle.

That's a great Christmas gift to yourself. Hmmm, what can I have refinished? Looking around my house there are an infinite number of opportunities.
Our Christmas gift to ourselves this year was going to be an original Bernard Buffet that was up for auction here in Lausanne two weeks ago that we thought we might get for a steal. No joy. Some bastard paid 40,000 francs on the phone. Ridiculous. I think you should get special dispensation if you actually show up in person at an auction, no?
I am thinking Russian oligarch or Chinese politburo.
Now we will just treat ourselves to a bit of foie gras and a magnum of champagne.

Re: Stranger in the House
I'm partial to Rachel Sweet's version
see also Elvis Costello
and maybe then it's time for Carlene Carter's wacky new wave version of Ring of Fire (prod. Nick Lowe)
and then come back to Rachel Sweet's B-A-B-Y
that horn part, yeah, that's the stuff

Riki,
Living large as a lifestyle makes it Christmas every day. Good for you (and your husband).
I have heard the phrase every day is Christmas for you. Good for me.
Merry Christmas Riki (approximately 2 billion people worldwide celebrate Christmas).

Looking for early Buffet, which I enjoyed as a young person, I found a portrait of me and my mother. Who knew ? She collected owl images, so I know it's her. I'm the one on her back on the ground.
Odd that it appears to be unsigned . . .

Merry Christmas right back atcha, Niceguy. Was it you buying my painting on the phone, ya sneaky bastid?
In all seriousness, our Christmas gift is having our three kids, their spouses/partners and two of our grandkids arriving here on the 26th for a week of skiing, drinking and card playing.
On a side note, I found a great gift for my designer son: a sketchpad that features typography from Arne Jacobsen from 1937. It's by Design Letters in Denmark. Here's the link: http://designletters.dk/

Happy Holidays and good to see you all in the off topic zone...
OBJECTWORSHIP- Those are great picks! I do find that I like almost all versions of original CW songs by other artists. (Another good thing about Country Western is all the duets!)
Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire and Walk the Line are two of the best songs ever. There was a punk band in San Francisco in the 80s called SVT that did awesome versions of those two songs. The lead guitarist was Brian Marnell, an old friend from my teenage garage-band days in the late 60's in suburbia. I remember when he played lead guitar with only two fingers on the frets.
RIKI- sorry you missed out on that painting. Auctions are MUCH more fun than a refinished McCobb, but I guess they do have the element of the unknown outcome as part of the deal.
You will beat out the phone-ins next time I'm sure.

SDR, STOP! Just stop. We cannot have a thread about birds, eating and a Buffet with a reference to your Mum. It's just too much. Take it back or you are going to burn in H-E-double toothpicks.

Riki,
It is nice to be with family for the holidays. Your gift has both instant gratification and a lifetime of memories. Good for you (and your husband)
As a grandparent (possible child bride) the probability of embarrassing a grandchild is high. I hope you (or your husband) are a success. People suggest that it comes naturally to me.
Once and for all we are on the same page at the same time. I recently saw the Arne Jacobsen Design Letters plant pot in an advertisement for Selfridges. I rejected that particular object as dull and unimaginative. I appreciate the tube of pencils as I am sure the sketchpad will be welcome and used.
Nothing will ever out do your personal recommendation of the Martin Kastner Antenna for Crucial. No home is complete without this essential tchotchke.

Good heavens, what hath God wrought ?
Or something . . .

that reminds me...