Fans of Awesomeness: We Give You the Antlion

With much thanks to Andy for the enlightenment on this fabulous creature. The antlions are really pretty great. Read about them here.

This Should Inspire Some Serious Dancing

Lulu will surely love this crazy bit of dance music.

The Chair

A funny thing about a Chair:
You hardly ever think it’s there.
To know a -Chair is really it,
You sometimes have to go and sit.

Theodore Roethke

Most Annoying Video on the Internet Named

What is the most annoying video on the entire internet? That question has been plaguing scientists since the inception of YouTube-- until now, that is. Joe Blunderhardt, doctor of Annoyology at the University of West Texas at Nowhere has finally announced that he has officially determined that this is the most annoying video ever produced and distributed via the internet. It's called "Nyan Cat," and it's amazingly inane and it's also the annoying champ. At least as of this writing. Even now someone out there is probably working on something even more demented.

Hot Hot Hot

Summer Drags on In West Texas

Yes, it's hot out there on the open range. "How hot?" you may be asking. Well, it's so hot the chickens are laying hard boiled eggs. It's hotter than two goats in a pepper patch. It's that hot. We're tiring of summer and it's only about half way through. What's a Wickidity fighter to do? Anyway, we thought a little musical number might be in order and this feels summery:

Dance Craze Alert

Yes, there is yet another dance craze sweeping the windy vastness of West Texas. This time we don't actually have a name for it, though.

A Little Eighties Fix

Here's something from the eighties that Lulu might like.

Vicious

There are Ghosts Out Here

Today we wander through the barren wastes of this West Texas plain, looking for things mislaid. Some of our resident ghosts seem to have gone missing in the confusion of a strange July. "How can this happen?" you may be asking yourself. Well ghosts should be tended with appropriate aprehension, and we've been all about undressing the chandeliers in preparation for a return from exile. So, for our missing ghosts we search.

Stinking Kudzu Bug?

If kudzu were not bad enough, it has now opened the door to a new invasive species: the stinking kudzu bug. We've been reporting for a while on stories that combine stinking and insects. (You may remember the stinky sock spider and the stinky feet mosquito trapping scheme.) Okay, spiders aren't insects but the stinky sock spider was eating what appeared to be a wingless fly. Anyhow, the stupid stinking kudzu bugs apparently also like to eat things that people like a lot more than kudzu, like soybean crops. Some fear they will also develop a taste for peanuts.

As you can see the stinking kudzu bug isn't much to look at, and apparently it's stink isn't even terribly remarkable. Oh, well. We won't likely be seeing them in West Texas anyway since there isn't actually any kudzu out in this barren waste. One does wonder if the scientists experimenting with trapping mosquitos with stinky feet smell are aware of the stinking kudzu bug.

Now For an Underwater Musical Number

For the fishes. We play all of our music under water in the mansion, particularly when playing the harpsichord for an underwater cotillion. It's smashing.

Mosquitos Like Stinky Feet? Who Knew?

Malaria researchers are working on a way to trap mosquitos using a scent they apparently adore: stinky feet. Eww. What the article doesn't mention, though it would seem to follow, is that it when in a mosquito infested environment, you may want to move a bit away from the guy with the smelliest feet.

We do seem to recall a certain spider with similar proclivities, though.

Mmm. Fish

Don't watch this one Lulu. It's too disturbing.

Puttin' on the Ritz -- The Scene Today in West Texas

That's right. Fred Astaire is paying a visit today, and things are pretty swank. If only Lulu were here, perhaps she'd be inspired to take up tap. If that's not enough to convince Lu, maybe this will help. (There's actually a little instructional part toward the end)



Tap, Lulu. Tap.

Time to Dance Lu

Lulu likes her music from the eighties, so I dug up this little ditty for her to dance to today. Get movin' Lu.

Old Film- the Red Spectre- 1907

Song For Friday

The Mirrors are Not What They Seem

Sometimes a mirror is just a mirror. Sometimes it's a portal to an alternate West Texas reality. Be very careful Lu. Check your mirrors and make sure nobody has Tampered with them.

Now Lulu. Mind Your Manners

Oh my gosh. Even out here in the middle of nowhere there is some expectation of propriety.

Look Out For the Creepy Crawlies, Lu

We're pretty sure we know exactly what Lulu will think when she sees this: "mmm. Breakfast." Or maybe not.

Consider the Llama

Every now and then it's good to take a little time out of one's day to ponder the wild and wonderful llama. Really, it is. Just watch the video.

More Fourth Fun: Herding Sheep

Problem: The sheep seem to be hexed. It happens.

Fourth of July Shenanigans

Here in West Texas, all holidays are excuses for exceptionally strange behavior. Even in summer. Lulu still has the broom, so far as you-know-who knows. After our recent tumblin' she's taken to searching the must unusual locales for her cherished cinnamon broom, but all to no avail. We can tell you one thing: it's in a very safe place.

Poem for Saturday: The Sloth

In moving-slow he has no Peer.
You ask him something in his Ear,
He thinks about it for a Year;

And, then, before he says a Word
There, upside down (unlike a Bird),
He will assume that you have Heard-

A most Ex-as-per-at-ing Lug.
But should you call his manner Smug,
He'll sigh and give his Branch a Hug;

Then off again to Sleep he goes,
Still swaying gently by his Toes,
And you just know he knows he knows.


Theodore Roethke