"Whenever A Holiday Lands On A Garbage Day!"

Missed It Again...

Good "Mardi Gras Plus One" Wednesday Morning, all bodies.

All I have to say is, "Where's my broom?"
There's way too much "ashes and dust" around here today!

Whenever a holiday lands on a garbage day there's always confusion about whether those mysterious masters of muck and refuse will show up. Therese told me that is probably best to put the garbage can out front on the street. Ya know, just in case!

Well, I didn't.

Sure enough on my way back from the coffeeshop around ten or so, there they were... More bright and earlier than usual on cruising our street.

"Hey man," I asked, are you finished running Orleans Ave?"

"I don't know. Lemme ax 'da driver... He's 'da boss!"

"I can go get my bagged trash and meet you on any of the other streets, if you don't mind."

As I drove off to go get rid of my bagged trash, I noticed in the rear view mirror, that those "merrimen of mirth and joviality" backed up the garbage truck onto one of the side streets, turned and high tailed it out of Merrywood.

Hey, I am sure they want to "Laissez les bon temps roulet" their asses off too! Ya know?

C'est la vie!

AND, I know that I've used this visual SO many times. I apologize for that, but it has never seemed more appropriate. Talk about missing 'da boat!

And, yeh... I've done that too!

First cup... old coffee! 
Copyright 2023/ Ben Bensen III

 

"That's My Rant!"

 

You know, my dad always gave me a hard time about my guitar playing and the music I loved… ALWAYS!

Our son was heavy into the rap scene… a suburban white boy searching for "street cred." I never liked the sing song, nursery rhyme styled sound. Melodically, I find it quite boring. I hated the misogynistic lyrics and the violence. I tried to explain to him that this form of expression is not one which most suburbanites understand because it is not how they live their life.

A kid living in a ghetto can walk out the door in the morning and never see that door ever again. I believe he understood my point. It didn't stop him from listening to that kind of music. And, I respected his choice to listen to it. Brian got great music history from me. I've always been proud of his musical roots. Still, I never denigrated his choices like my father did.

Most of today's Grammy styled music is corporate. I remember the variety show called, "In Concert." I believe it was on ABC in the late sixties, and in it, there was no fakin' it. You plugged in and got turned on.

It was live and it was about the music.

I loved it. But, it didn't last as long as Don Kirshner's Rock Concert with smoke bombs, and silly dancers gyrating in spandex baloney, light shows and fake psychedelic graphics. Every body seemed to love it better. It's entertaining and not boring… makes you wanna get up and dance.

You really don't need an instrument for that, do you? Well, maybe as a prop because it's cool looking and gives you "street cred!"

It's an extravaganza…

Today, that's called rock music! That wins Grammy's. My father would have love it, or at least, a good portion of it. I like Madonna, I like Lady GaGa, ( I'd prefer Adele, Janis, or Amy Winehouse! ). I like Elton John's on stage silliness, almost spoofing someone like Liberace, both of whom actually are/were musicians. Unlike my critical father, who believed Chuck, Lil' Richard, Elvis, Fats, Ray and Sam, were just a bunch of no talent clowns playing "the "n" word music which was destroying the fabric of the country he fought a war to preserve, I choose to embrace, as best as I can, all music because it is, to me, the best form of artistic expression.

Personally, I believe these wonderfully choreographed, lip synced, stage "acts" certainly have a place, but not in a back yard garage or the sweaty, juke joints, and local bars where rock 'n roll was born and, to a certain degree, still thrives.

They belong on a dance floor… as glitzy vaudeville acts in Vegas.

That's my rant. Just saying… and feeling!

"The One Sunny Day We Had All Week"...

Money Plant!

The one sunny day we had all week, I believe it was Sunday, inspired a sketch out of me while awaiting a friend at Giddy Up.

I'm not quite sure what kind of plant it is, but sitting so close to the deck windows, and so illuminated by the morning sun, I just had to find the time to capture it.

And, I did...

Although I was happy with that morning's effort, I felt compelled to photograph the scene and maybe throw some watercolor over on the piece, forgetting that the drawing was in Pentel. It kinda bled which turned the chartreuse green rather ochre... YUCK!

Luckily, I photographed the original sketch because in the studio I tried to save the illuminated portions of the plant by coloring over the color with a yellow green Prismacolor pencil.

Not a big fan of Prismacolor pencils.

Well, should I just forget about the damn colored version and move on? Ya know, let bygones be bygones and be done with it...

Not on your life. Absolutely not!

Scan that sketchbook mess into Photoshop and let's see what it can do. Two exploratory hours later... Here you go!

Third cup...

Copyright 2023/Ben Bensen III

 

"Do You Shave The Night Before Or First Thing In The Morning?"

A close shave sketch!

 Good "shave and a haircut" Monday morning, all bodies.

I knew the Eagles game would be a rout, but the Bengals/Chiefs was a win by "the hair of my "chinny-chin, chin!". it's always fun to be the Monday morning quarterback analyzing the game with friends. Sometimes though, there's a lull in the conversation and when there is, it is always fun to change topics.

Knowing that my fastidious friend always arrives at Giddy Up clean shaven with a perfect part of hair on the left side of his head, I had to ask him if he didn't mind me asking some personal questions. He said he didn't mind...

"I don't know what it is, but lately, I find that I have to shave my face every other day," I said.

"Do you shave the night before or first thing in the morning, 'cuz you always look so clean shaven?"

Eric mumbled something about the morning time.

"Well, if that's so, you must get up and at 'em pretty early," I said.

"I don't know," I continued. "Maybe, it is because the hair on my face isn't red anymore and isn't as easy to hide. My beard is kinda whitish now and stands out too much, nowadays!"

"I don't know, he said. Your face looks clean shaven to me, now!"

"Yeh, but two days ago... just two days ago, I look like a bum without a razor," I replied.

"Let me ask ya," I said. You wear glasses like me, do you shave with them on or off?"

Before he could answer, I said, "Cuz whenever I shave without my glasses on, I always miss a spot or two!

"But when I do wear my glasses, I can't see anyway because the glasses always fog up!"

Eric cracks up laughing as he agrees with me.

"Yes, they do have a tendency to fog up, but not that much because I wear spectacles instead of full blown glasses like you wear," he said.

"So, I said, you don't miss any spots, right?"

"I remember seeing, when I was a kid, old guys' faces and seeing spots of beard that they missed. I figured that it was rather rude to point that out, so I didn't."

"I try not to, Ben," he said.

"Yeh, I said. Looks good to me. You must use regular or facial soap like I do to soften up your beard some.. Like Dove soap!"

"Just sayin'."..

"No, I used regular shaving cream from a can," he replied, kinda hoping we'd get back to the subject of football.

"I don't use them anymore, I replied, because those foamy creams don't always protect the skin and I find that I always miss a spot when I use them, and...

"And, ya just know when I do, some little peach fuzzed punk will tell me, I'm sure.

Goes around, comes around...

First cup!

Copyright 2023/Ben Bensen III

"GOOD Thursday Morning, Y'all"...

Startin' the day off right!

 GOOD Thursday Morning, y'all.

Mornin’, MORNin, mmmmmorning, Morn, mornin’man, Mornin' Dude... Morn-ninnnnnnnnnng!

Lately, just about every Tuesday Morning, big white construction style trucks and vans are parked at GiddyUp. Sauntering inside with little to say until they get their first cup, the guys are wearing outdoor work clothes and shoes. Some in jeans, some in camo, most sporting a thermal vest of some kind, and head gear.

Skull caps seem to be the order of the day. One guy wore his baseball cap backwards, Ken Griffey style.

As the gang sat down and slowly awoke with each new sip, everyone became a bit more verbal. A distant truck beeped, to anyone that cared, that it was backing up. The sound disturbed a Smokey Robinson Motown vibe playing on Pandora. It was The Temps singing, "The Way You Do The Things You Do.”

The early morning irony was a bit too much to handle without a first cup... So, I got one!

Copyright 2023/Ben Bensen III

"My Tastebuds Are Still Stuck In Frankfurt!"

A decorative or grub?

 Good "still soggy" Sunday Morning, y'all.

Over at Giddy Up watching the rain turn to a mist on what I think looks like cabbage. So, I went on my "Picture This" plant app to see if indeed this is the kind of cabbage one eats for good luck.

With a click of the iPhone, it turns out that it is. It is a kale and a member of the brassica family and can be eaten in many different ways including sauerkraut which goes great with hot dogs, brats and a host of other sausages that we are not supposed to enjoy in great quantities... Yum!

My tastebuds are still stuck in Frankfort!

While Tee is at church, I guess I'll get another cup and sketch this Killer Cabbage!

Second cup, y'all.

Copyright 2023/Ben Bensen III

"RIP"...

 Good "RIP" Thursday Morning, all bodies.

How silly of me to think Jeff Beck would always be around.

For about a year or more, just a block and a half behind the coffeehouse, was a white igloo shaped dog house. It housed a medium sized, scruffy black dog which seldom roamed further than the dog house.

Being tethered to a fifty or sixty foot cable didn't help.

I rarely saw the owner who drove a dark blue SUV and lived in a mobile home along side three or four other mobile homes. The dog could always be seen in his igloo content, it seemed, to watch the people and cars go by.

On occasion, he would sit at the end to cable to catch some rays. I noticed when it was inclemate weather, the cable the dog was tethered to could be tracked all the way back under the house. But most times, it appeared he preferred his doggie abode even in the rain.

I always wanted to get out of the car and walk on over just to see what his reaction would be, but I never did... and I wish I would have. In the last two months, all that is left of his presence is his igloo, his water bowl and a cable that now `goes nowhere.

There was something rather reassuring about seeing his presence every day casually at his station, on guard. It's only natural to wonder about his whereabouts. What happened? Where did he go? Did have an accident or was shipped back to the dog pound?

It's funny how something so seemingly insignificant can become such a part of one's daily routine and is now sorely missed.

First cup!

Copyright 2023/ Ben Bensen III