A Weight Has Been Lifted

January 4, 2019 ~ Jim Flanigan

My life has been decidedly different the past two months. Sure, the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays have played a role in changing my life as I have been selling my blood plasma weekly in order to pay for holiday entertaining and presents. Do you know how hard it is to type when you’re woozy from being a pint low? But that’s not the real change. I’m talking about shedding a weight that has rested heavy on my shoulders the past two years. I know, I know, I should also shed some weight around my mid-section. But that weight on my shoulders was formidable, and now it is almost completely gone, lifting itself from my shoulders pound by pound daily over the past two months. And it has definitely changed this blog. Thank God something has. I’ll explain.

Continue reading “A Weight Has Been Lifted” →

Send in the Clones

January 4, 2019January 3, 2019 ~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

Not sure what was up with the four bald dudes (bad name for a barbershop quartet) with Trump at yesterday’s press briefing on border security.

And did they miss a major portion of Trump’s head & face with the orange make-up or tanning cream or Cheeto dust or whatever he uses to get that unnatural burnt orange hue?

Maybe we should demand he get his make-up correct before we consider giving him 5 billion dollars for a border wall.

Radio > Streaming

January 3, 2019January 2, 2019 ~ Jim Flanigan ~ 5 Comments

My oldest son thinks I’m crazy, but not for the many legitimate reasons that exist that can be used to make a solid case to question my sanity. He thinks I’m crazy because he can’t understand why I enjoy radio more than just streaming songs off a playlist. This post is for him (and maybe a set-up for a new recurring blog feature in 2019), so I hope you will enjoy it, too. We have lots of words and clickable links to come.

I love music. It has been an important part of my life since I was little. I’m not sure how that happened. I have almost zero musical talent and I swear my guitar winces whenever I pick it up. As for my voice, I regretfully admit that I have a voice made for pantomime. Regardless, I have written and arranged songs over the decades. These days I wisely stick to writing lyrics, although I always seem to have opinions about the arrangements. Here’s a favorite song of mine that I released with friends in 2017, and more info about our music is available at www.sunsetsrising.com. Looks like we’ll be releasing some new songs in 2019.

I think streaming is fine. When my son gets into my car, he’ll plug his phone in and stream new music for me that he thinks I may like. Sometimes he’s correct, and I do my best to forgive his grievous breach of automobile etiquette that clearly decrees that whoever drives controls the radio. It is the law.

I streamed (music, in case you were wondering) when we had a houseful of guests for Christmas Eve. I like my quirky Christmas songs, so I made sure my playlist had these holiday classics:

Continue reading “Radio > Streaming” →

Thoughts on God

January 2, 2019January 2, 2019 ~ Jim Flanigan

If we are all made in God’s image, does that mean God farts?

If God farts, do the farts smell?

If God’s farts smell, do they smell bad?

I have a hard time believing that the Bible is the definitive word of God when questions like those are not answered therein.

Resolute Resolutions

January 2, 2019January 1, 2019 ~ Jim Flanigan

As I scrambled to come up with New Year’s resolutions that did not involve watching more television shows, napping, or eating more food, I referred to folk singer and activist Woody Guthrie’s 1943 New Year’s resolutions for inspiration. Take a look … Continue reading “Resolute Resolutions” →

Foment the Ferment

January 1, 2019January 1, 2019 ~ Jim Flanigan

My oldest daughter always tries to get me meaningful Christmas gifts. For example, last year she knew I was trying to eat healthy, so she bought me an herb garden. I still haven’t used it. I just haven’t had the thyme, but I hope to soon.

Wow, what a way to start the New Year, with a bad dad joke. But murder is no joking matter. This Christmas, my first-born bought me this gift which had me convinced that she may be trying to murder me.

Continue reading “Foment the Ferment” →

Reflections

December 31, 2018 ~ Jim Flanigan

As I look back at all the celebrities who died in 2018, I have mixed feelings about my own lot in life. I would certainly like to be a beloved celebrity that people would miss. However, that dying part is a big stumbling block for me.

2018 Follower of the Year Award

December 31, 2018 ~ Jim Flanigan

I’m used to seeing the featured image on today’s blog, except normally with one less finger on each hand extended. But it is that time of the year to cross your fingers and hope to be the lucky one to be chosen the 2018 Jim Flanigan Looks at the World Follower of the Year. As I mentioned in a recent blog post, the 2017 winner went on to snare a high paying job in 2018. This could be you in 2019!

No, not a crossing guard, but undercover law enforcement or a drug kingpin in a speeding getaway car. Regardless of whether or not you score a high-paying job, you’ll always be the 2018 Jim Flanigan Looks at the World Follower of the Year. So, without further ado … oh, wait. We need a drumroll befitting this award.

Perfect. The 2018 Jim Flanigan Looks at the World Follower of the Year is …

Continue reading “2018 Follower of the Year Award” →

Mite Be Funny #98 – Extended Multi-Panel New Year’s Resolution Edition

December 30, 2018December 29, 2018 ~ Jim Flanigan

Continue reading “Mite Be Funny #98 – Extended Multi-Panel New Year’s Resolution Edition” →

Football Frenzy

December 29, 2018December 29, 2018 ~ Jim Flanigan

My fantasy football season was a disaster this year. My excuse is that I was so distracted by the mid-term elections and the need to elect a Democratic Congress, that my early season effort and concentration suffered. Thanks Obama, for not running for a third term. But I have enjoyed the resurgence of the Chicago Bears as they won the NFC North this season.

I get all choked up about it as I type this as will Bears fans that read this.

Or maybe it was just a pork chop. I don’t know. I do know I never expected the Bears to be this good. To amuse myself during the football season in case the Bears have a bad team, I play other football games like Pick ‘Em games where you just try and pick the winners of each game each week. I normally do okay in those games, and I usually just hope to win a weekly prize. My dreams got a little bigger this last week of the football regular season. Take a look at these standings.

Continue reading “Football Frenzy” →

I Crossed the Pizza Gods Once Again & Lived to Blog About It

December 28, 2018December 28, 2018 ~ Jim Flanigan

When last we left my discount pizza shopping, the pizza gods had taken great delight in smiting me. I got smote or smited or smitten or something bad. The pear plus blue cheese combination I bought on clearance just did not work. Maybe simply for the sake of blogging, I went back to the well once again and purchased this discounted bargain bin offering.

I know it says ‘flatbread,’ but we covered that in the first blog post. It’s pizza. Looks okay, but take a closer look at those ingredients.

Continue reading “I Crossed the Pizza Gods Once Again & Lived to Blog About It” →

Is That a Computer in my Pocket?

December 27, 2018December 26, 2018 ~ Jim Flanigan

As we cleaned in preparation for some holiday entertaining, I stumbled across this old phone.

I think that has to be my all-time favorite phone. Not because it was such a great phone, but because it did this …

Continue reading “Is That a Computer in my Pocket?” →

I Missed Another Blogging Milestone

December 27, 2018December 27, 2018 ~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

I don’t know how it happened. I was watching the number of followers of this blog slowly rise from almost nobody to a few misguided souls seeking succor and comfort from my words. And if that is what you seek from this blog, boy, did you come to the wrong place.

Despite my vigilance, I missed the addition of a follower that helped us reach the … get ready for this … dizzying amount of a quarter of a thousand followers. That’s right, despite my best efforts at worst writing, almost zero promotion (I’m not counting that scathing review of this blog in the Crabtree Corners Courier last summer), and a complete lack of continuity or theme to this blog, we now have well over ten times the number of blog followers as attendees at a Steve Bannon Holiday Inn campaign stop in Kansas to promote Steve Watkins for Congress.

Now that I have a quarter of 1,000 (whoa, check out all those zeroes!) followers, it almost makes me want to try harder. Nah. But there is a potential windfall coming up in less than a week for one lucky follower.

Continue reading “I Missed Another Blogging Milestone” →

I Didn’t Think This Christmas Gift Through

December 26, 2018December 26, 2018 ~ Jim Flanigan

In retrospect, giving a black hoodie to a 22 year old African-American male relative of mine as a Christmas present may have been a bad idea in today’s USA. Gift receipt to the rescue!

Trump’s Marley Moment

December 24, 2018December 23, 2018 ~ Jim Flanigan

I think Donald Trump may be due for a “Marley moment” this Christmas Eve, and I’m talking about Jacob Marley, not Bob Marley, although a Bob Marley moment might do Trump some good, too.

I saw this pic and can definitely see the Jacob Marley moment coming.

Don’t notice anything unusual other than a reality show host and huckster of crappy products from bankrupt companies sitting in the Oval Office? Take a closer look …

Continue reading “Trump’s Marley Moment” →

Mite Be Funny #97 – Merry Christmas Edition

December 23, 2018December 22, 2018 ~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

Heeling Power

December 23, 2018December 22, 2018 ~ Jim Flanigan

As I walk our dog, I try and teach her to heel with a corrective tug on the leash as I say, “Heel.”

After I do that, I swear that I hear our dog mutter under her breath, “Just walk faster, idiot.”

The End of Fantasy

December 22, 2018 ~ Jim Flanigan

All football season long, I have been tweaking my Trump-loving relatives that I play with in my family’s fantasy football league by choosing anti-Trump names for the team. Last week, my team name was the Gang of Puppets.

I still go back and forth as to whether I should have named the team Gang of Putin. Oh well, both work.

I wanted to finish off the season with a good name and logo. I considered The Indictables or The Indictmentals using a Roger Stone pic as the team logo.

That is one goofy looking head. I think it is a done deal that a Roger Stone indictment is imminent. But I had already featured Stone as a team logo, or at least his Dick Nixon back tattoo.