The Phantom Scribbler

Three kings came to see the king and asked him where the new king was born.  But the first king told the three kings that he didn't know where the second king was.  His advisers looked in the Bible — though not in First or Second Kings — and found that the second king was to be born in Bethlehem.  So the first king told the three kings to find the second king and tell him, the first king, where the second king was because the first king thought the second king was one king too many.  But when the three kings found the second king they realized he was actually the king of kings — and that compared with him the other king, indeed all other kings, were really no kings at all.

In Old English, "sc" followed by "ae" makes the "sh" sound. And, because I'm a geek, I thought wouldn't it be hilarious to do a remake of " Shaft ," but with an Anglo-Saxon hero called "Scæft"? Who's the Anglo-Saxon dude That likes to show the chicks his rood? SCÆFT! That's hwæt's up! Who's the man that would risk his neck For his closest-kin? SCÆFT! Can you jiggit? Who's the thane that's off the chain Say the seaxy mutha's name ... SCÆFT! Rihtdónde! And, speaking of Beowulf, I also recently found out that the word  grindle  means "herring." I am forced to wonder if Beowulf was just a fisherman. Or, perhaps, a logician who defeated the terrible  Red Grindle ? By the way, the term "red herring" originates from the tradition whereby young hunting dogs in Britain were trained to follow a scent with the use of a "red" (salted and smoked) herring (see kipper). This pungent fis...

Composed upon the passing of C.J. around the year of our Lord 2010: Dad-Koresh, a king. Dad-Koresh, a king! He who saw the deep places below Khampound 2/3 Presbyterian and 1/3 Baptist He tormented his children He made them angry They cried out to the gods, "Send us a companion for our king! Save us from his purityrannity!" Aroo-roo heard their cries. Enki-dog, a wild mutt with reindeer antlers 2/3 dog and 1/3 ottoman Entered Khankhord Entered Khampound He hid upstairs He hid in the dining room Dad-Koresh found Enki-dog They became great friends The new friends went to Khan-apolis together Where the great Pam-Bubba watched shows by the hundreds Enki-dog stood and wagged his tail Dad-Koresh shined his bluetooth Pam-Bubba was asleep, so they took a rain check But Enki-dog fell to the ground, struck down by the gods. Dad-Khoresh wept bitter tears saying, "He who was my companion through naptime and dinner is gone forever." Explanation: This is based on the version of th...

I watched "Cabaret" two days after the 2024 election.   Let me start with this.  I've done some research since seeing the musical and the author who wrote the book on which the musical was based was ... not a good dude.  According to Howard Moss in his biography of Christopher Isherwood (the author), he came to Berlin to frequent, "...the boy-bars in Berlin in the late years of the Weimar Republic...".  Not cool.  I'll make reference to this later.   Ok, some context.  The Sunday before the election, my wife and I drove to NC so she could vote (as NC neglected to send her requested absentee ballot).  Directly after voting, we drove to NYC so I could attend a veterinary conference.  As I drove, I got regular updates from my sister about the election results.  We arrived right before midnight and things weren't looking good.   I wasn't able to sleep, so I kept watching the results come in (skipping back and forth betwee...