I know both Scottie and myself will come up with more, but to start, enjoy this:
At Scottie’s Playtime, all are loved and welcome.
A Nice Meme For Trans Day Of Visibility
Tag: Love
Snips & Toons & The King
Trump’s rat
Senator Lindsey Graham is spotted enjoying Disney World
Ann Telnaes Mar 30, 2026
Trump’s war cheerleader chows down breakfast at Chef Mickey’s.
He was arrested while repainting Dallas’ rainbow crosswalks. He’d do it all again
Before he was detained, Mason Whiteside, 25, said he spray-painted more than a dozen crosswalks.
Mason Whiteside of Carrollton poses for a photo in front of the Oak Lawn United Methodist Church, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Dallas. Chitose Suzuki / Staff Photographer
It was already dark when Mason Whiteside finished his workday at a Deep Ellum brewery. By the time he was done cleaning and closing up, it was nearing midnight, but there was another job to do.
Whiteside, 25, called a Waymo to take him to Oak Lawn, where he’d lugged a backpack full of chalk and spray paint: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.
“Does anyone want to color with me?” Whiteside asked as people walked by.
No one stopped. He didn’t need them to.
Over the course of three and a half hours, Whiteside alone repainted more than a dozen crosswalks, what he considered a vibrant act of defiance less than 24 hours after the city began stripping the roads of their color. Dallas is among several Texas cities complying with a state directive to remove “political ideologies” from public roadways.
“I wasn’t hurting anybody,” Whiteside, who is queer, told The Dallas Morning News Tuesday. “I didn’t damage anything. I literally just put back the same things that had been there.” (snip-a bit MORE; click the title)
Idris and Sabrina Elba are on a mission to transform an entire West African island
Off the coast of Sierra Leone, the actor and model are fighting against tourists traps with their own vision: a tropical “eco-city” of the future.
Sherbro Island, a tropical outpost of farmers and fishermen nestled in the crook of Sierra Leone’s arcing Atlantic coastline, is about the size of Chicago, but its population of 40,000 wouldn’t even fill Wrigley Field. Electrical power and wireless internet are scarce. Fishermen can’t refrigerate their catches long enough to sell them on the mainland, and farmers often lack the expertise and equipment to harvest much more than they need to survive. But Sherbro Island has some enviable resources, including miles of unblemished beaches and lagoons, as well as an abundance of replenishable fresh water.
One other invaluable asset: the support of Golden Globe–winning British actor Idris Elba and his wife, Canadian model Sabrina Elba. The couple see an opportunity there to marry ecological sustainability with economic growth in a way they hope can be a template for development projects across Africa—and perhaps help rewrite a whole continent’s narrative. Idris’s father is from Sierra Leone, Sabrina’s mother is from Somalia, and growing up, Sabrina says, “there were particular stigmas attached with being African.” She remembers seeing ads that seemed to show abject people waiting for a handout. “We wanted to see Africa represented the way that we knew it to be,” she says. “We wanted to change the storytelling.”
Her husband—known for the baritone potency he brings to prestige TV dramas like Luther and The Wire, along with films like last year’s critically acclaimed thriller A House of Dynamite—first heard about Sherbro Island years ago. A close family friend had tried to convince him it could become a world-class holiday destination. “At that juncture, I was just like, Oh, OK, that sounds interesting,” says Idris, 53, who co-owns a wine bar in London’s King’s Cross neighborhood. “Like, maybe I’ll build a nightclub, maybe build some tourism.” He made a mental note to visit someday.
He got the opportunity in 2019, while he and Sabrina, now 37, were in Sierra Leone touring small family farms as part of their ambassadorial roles with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). It was during that trip, Idris says, that he had something of an epiphany. He’d been venturing into philanthropy as his celebrity grew: supporting childhood education and hunger-relief programs in Africa, as well as campaigning on behalf of at-risk youths in the United Kingdom (work for which he was recently knighted). But on that trip, the Elbas saw an opportunity to build something more enduring and meaningful than a fancy vacation spot—and “to reframe the conversation,” Sabrina says, “[from] one of aid to one of investment.” (snip-a little more on the page; click through on the title, please)
Wrong Island
Everyone’s talking about Kharg Island, but there’s another island we should not forget about.
(Clay Jones writes commentary with his comics; click through on the title to read this one)
(My ophthalmologist referred me to this site one time, because I always have a dog. It’s a hoot most of the time on its own, but recalling that an ophthalmologist subscribes makes it kinda funnier!)
What do you think about a church refusing to feed a trans person?
A Quick Women’s History Month Post
from Nancy Beiman! It’s about women in animation work. It’s rare to hear of them.
My Ears are Burning
they were already a little floppy
This review appeared on Facebook yesterday. I do not know Mr. Highson, but I read his columns.
My blushes, Watson.
Mr. Highson posts the cover of the first edition of Animated Performance on the Facebook post. The second edition, an essentially ‘new’ book, is available from Bloomsbury Press.
https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/animated-performance-9781501376672/
It’s nice of him to speak of me during Women’s History Month. Now let’s hear about the other female animators. One of my students, Ami Thompson, appears on the first page of this site. There are many others.
https://greatwomenanimators.com/
Animation really does let you ‘play’ any character; your sex, age, ethnic group do not matter. It allows you to act without anyone staring at you; there are many introverts in this profession!
that’s all for today, folks.
Yesterday and today.
Yesterday was so stressful and a wash. We had to go get our blood drawn. Medicare tossed out three tests one on my prostate, my A1C, and a lipid. All the tests together were over $400, and I refused to pay for them. Then we went out for breakfast. Ron was fading but we hoped food would boost him. It did. Next we went to our local Publix and got a few things for supper. I would make a marinara sauce and Ron would take some chicken breasts, coat them in breading and cook them with Pepper Jack and swiss cheeses. Then after shopping we went to the carwash next door for a $36 carwash. Then we came home about 1 and I was just able to lock in the free full The Majority Report. Then he wanted to nap but once in bed we couldn’t find his phone so he could listen to music. I searched everywhere and then tried to ping it. The ping wouldn’t work which was odd. It would start to then shut off. Which meant someone had shut the phone off each time. I had Ron use my phone to call the diner and yes it was there. So at 1:30 pm I drove him back to the restaurant to get his phone. He was lucky this time. I did not see him put it down, he claims it must have fallen out of his pocket, I lets say I am skeptical. Remember I still had laundry to do, dishes to wash, and Ron wanted me to make a sauce. Because of everything I never started making the sauce until 4:30 which is late because it has no time to simmer. I was limping badly and couldn’t trust my right leg to stand. This morning I got us up at 5:15 am and got him in the shower. He has the important heart doctor appointment. I then took mine. While in the shower I realized as a new patient he would have a bunch of forms and history to fill out. But he couldn’t get to them because you have to be in their system already in the patient portal to even get to the new patient forms. So I rushed to print all the forms and 6 page questionnaire for him. He had just enough time to finish them and now in three minutes we have to go. Sorry for the rushed explanation and for not getting to any comments. I fell into bed right after eating in a lot of pain. My labs are horrible claiming stress and immune failure and possible kidney failure. My body cannot handle stress and I am under a lot of it. Hugs
Josh Day, Next Day
Peace & Justice History On Elton John’s Birthday
I made a big production on Elton’s birthday last year, and it sort of fell flat. So just know that March 25th is Elton’s birthday, and he’s still standing. Click the links and enjoy. And now some Peace & Justice History.
| March 25, 1807 Great Britain abolished international trade in slaves. Emancipation of slaves in the country, however, did not occur until 1834, and persisted as unpaid apprenticeship for the technically emancipated for years after that. The story of abolition in England |
| March 25, 1872 Toronto printers went on strike for a 9-hour workday and a 54-hour workweek—the first major strike in Canada. When the editor of the Globe newspaper had thirteen of them arrested, 10,000 turned out to support them. Later that year unions were made legal in Canada. |
| March 25, 1894 In the midst of a depression that had begun the previous year, a millionaire businessman from Massillon, Ohio, Jacob Coxey, organized a march of an “industrial army” from Ohio to Washington, D.C. Congress had done little in response to the economic crisis and Coxey advocated a range of solutions, many considered radical at the time, such as building roads and other public works (known as infrastructure today).  Coxey’s Army passing through Mayland on their way to Washington. Coxey is seated behind the horses looking at the camera. “Coxey’s Army” gathered on the Capitol lawn but they were driven off and Coxey was arrested for trespassing when he tried to deliver his address to the crowd in violation of their first amendment rights “peacably to assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances.” |
| March 25, 1911 The Triangle Shirt Waist Company, occupying the top floors of a ten-story building on New York’s lower east side, was consumed by fire.  147 people, mostly immigrant women and young girls working in sweatshop conditions, lost their lives. Approximately 50 died as they leapt from windows to the street; the others were burned or trampled to death, desperately trying to escape via stairway exits illegally locked to prevent “ the interruption of work.”Company owners were charged with seven counts of manslaughter—but were found not guilty.The incident was a turning point in labor law, especially concerning health and safety. For three days prior, the company, along with other warehouse owners, had grouped together to fight the Fire Commissioner’s order that fire sprinklers be installed.   Protests in the wake of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, button from the struggle Comprehensive collection of materials on the tragedy from Cornell University’s labor school |
| March 25, 1915 The Sisterhood of International Peace was founded in Melbourne, Australia, by Eleanor May Moore and Dr. Charles Strong. |
| March 25, 1965 Their numbers having swelled to 25,000, the Selma-to-Montgomery marchers arrived at the Alabama state capitol.Organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the march was to bring attention to the denial of voting rights to black Americans in the state and elsewhere in the south. Twice the people had been turned back, denied the right to leave Selma peacefully.  Martin Luther King Jr. and wife Coretta lead march into Montgomery, Alabama. Dr. King spoke to the crowd: “Yes, we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us. (Yes, sir) We are on the move now. The burning of our churches will not deter us. (Yes, sir) The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us. (Yes, sir) We are on the move now. (Yes, sir) The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. We are on the move now.” The Federal Voting Rights Act was passed within two months. The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail |
March 25, 1965 Viola Liuzzo Viola Gregg Liuzzo, a housewife and mother from Detroit, driving marchers back to Selma from Montgomery, was shot and killed by Ku Klux Klansmen from a passing car. She had driven down to Alabama to join the march after seeing on television the Bloody Sunday attacks at Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge earlier in the month. It was later learned that riding with the Klansmen was an FBI informant, Gary Rowe. More about Viola Liuzzo Viola Gregg Liuzzo |
| March 25, 1967 Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. led an anti-war march for the first time in Chicago, opposing the Vietnam War by saying: “Our arrogance can be our doom. It can bring the curtains down on our national drama . . . Ultimately, a great nation is a compassionate nation The bombs in Vietnam explode at home—they destroy the dream and possibility for a decent America . . . .”  Reverend King addresses rally at the end of the Chicago march photo: Jo Freeman |
| March 25, 1969 The newly wed John Lennon and Yoko Ono-Lennon began their seven-day “bed-in for peace” against the Vietnam War in the presidential suite of the the Amsterdam Hilton in The Netherlands. Their doors were open to the media from 10am to 10pm. They invited all to think about and talk about creating peace. “Yoko and I are quite willing to be the world’s clowns, if by so doing it will do some good”.  The Wedding and “Ballad of John and Yoko” |
| March 25, 1972 30,000 participated in the Children’s March for Survival in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the National Welfare Rights Organization. They were supporting the Family Assistance Program, then pending in Congress (but never passed), which guaranteed a minimum income level for all families. |
| March 25, 1990 A new community, Segundo Montes, was started by campesinos in El Salvador who had lived for nine years as exiles in Honduras following the El Mozote Massacre, when 1000 civilians were killed by the U.S.-trained Salvadoran military. The town was named after a priest who had helped them in the Colomoncagua refugee camp on the border, and who was murdered along with four other Jesuit priests by the Salvadoran military. |
Observing Women’s History Month
I haven’t made a Women’s History Month post in a while; it’s difficult to feel celebratory in the face of what both very bad men and women are doing in our names in the US these days. However, to make up for being remiss in re-recording history, please accept this post about Rose O’Neill. I first learned of her when my grandparents moved to Springfield, MO in 1970, and took us to her small museum at the small, then-non-commercial Shepherd Of The Hills area. (It was great back then!) I knew of Kewpies (I don’t care for the cutesiness, but they are art nonetheless,) but had no idea a woman created them, nor that she did so much art right in the area where we were then living. I began to be a fan, but sort of let it go as I got older. Below will be a PBS documentary that is excellent, and inspired me to make this post for March 21st. There is also some other info. Enjoy, and remember, we all have history, and it doesn’t go away just because someone makes it more difficult to find (yes, that is encouraging myself as well as readers who’ve made it this far!)
Here is a link with a snippet, about the museum now in Walnut Shade, MO. I bet all the things I remember will be there. Maybe I’ll make it over there and try again. It looks far less commercialized than Shepherd of the Hills last time I was there.
Rose O’Neill’s Bonniebrook
“I love this place better than anywhere on earth”
-Rose O’Neill about Bonniebrook
Bonniebrook is a historic home and museum located in Walnut Shade, Missouri, just a short drive from Branson. Our museum is dedicated to preserving the life and legacy of artist, writer, and activist Rose O’Neill, best known for her creation of the Kewpie dolls.
Bonniebrook Museum features Rose’s original drawings, paintings, and sculptures, artifacts from the O’Neill home, a large collection of Kewpies and other characters, the O’Neill family cemetery, and much more!
As one of the only art museums and historical homes in the Branson area, Bonniebrook is a must-see destination for those looking for things to do in Branson, Missouri and the surrounding areas. Come visit this well-preserved piece of history!
Mission Statement:
Bonniebrook Historical Society (BHS) was founded in 1975. Its purpose is to collect, preserve, and make available for educational and historical purposes artifacts, documents, personal items, and any work or items directly relating to the history and life of Rose O’Neill. In addition, BHS accumulates research, materials that document, authenticate, explain, and provide detailed information about the character, personality, and accomplishments of the talented and generous Rose O’Neill.
And here is the documentary I watched yesterday and mentioned above. It’s very worthy of views!
For The Weekend On A Friday Night
Ballad of the Wandering Charms: Weekend Edition
A Softening of the Day
Richard Hogan, MD, PhD(2), DBA
O come now, friend, and rest your bones, the week’s been fierce and long; but Ease comes stepping down the lane to hum you its soft song. A Lantern glows along the path, a stubborn, golden spark; the kind our grandfolks swore was left to guide us through the dark. Stillness drapes its woolen shawl around your weary frame; it whispers like an old seanchaí who’s long forgotten blame. The Hearth is warm for wanderers, its welcome deep and wide; it keeps a chair for every soul the world has weathered tired. Then Solace pours a quiet cup the colour of the dawn; it doesn’t ask what burdens ache— it simply sits till they’re gone. Your Breath returns like gentle rain across an Irish hill; it fills the fields inside your chest and bids your heart be still. And Grace—ah sure, it comes uncalled, the way good blessings do; it settles on your shoulders light as morning’s silver dew. An Ember glows beneath it all, a spark that won’t give in; the same that warmed our ancestors through storm and winter’s din. So walk with Gentle in your step, let kindness be your guide; for those who move with softened hands find strength they need not hide. And Here you stand, upon the earth, your troubles set to rest; the world leans in a little close and wishes you its best.
Should you wish, please feel free to subscribe (no Paywalls): (Link up top as the title)
Thank you.
FWIW, All My Very Best
for a fine Spring this year. As I type, the Equinox will occur in 54 minutes. This is a striking photo!
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2026 March 20
Spring Equinox at Teide Observatory
Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado (Starry Earth, TWAN)
Explanation: The defining astronomical moment of the equinox today is at 14:46 UTC (March 20). That’s when the Sun crosses the celestial equator moving north in its yearly journey through planet Earth’s sky, marking the beginning of spring for our fair planet in the northern hemisphere and fall in the southern hemisphere. Then, day and night are nearly equal around the globe. In fact, both day and nighttime exposures from a spring equinox at the Observatorio del Teide in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, are used in this composited skyscape. Over 1,000 images were taken with a fisheye lens and merged in the ambitious equinox project. The apparent motion of the Sun setting along the celestial equator on the equinox date follows the bright linear, diagonal track from the sequence of daytime exposures taken over 6 hours. After sunset, nighttime exposures recorded startrails, with the celestial equator as a linear track and concentric arcs circling the north celestial pole near Polaris at upper right and the south celestial pole beyond the lower left edge (and below the Teide horizon). The foreground includes the distant Teide volcano peak and the observatory’s pyramid-shaped solar laboratory building.
Tomorrow’s picture: NGC 1300 and Friends
Scottie's Playtime 