"If You Got An Aunt, You Probably Need An Uncle!"

How I remember Uncle George...

It's gray, it's windy, it's cold, it's wet. Forecast for tonight and tomorrow night is another hard freeze, but we will see some sun all week long. Yeh, right!

Well, in order to close the books on my Aunt June I thought I'd mention the other half. Last I checked, if you're gonna have an Aunt you probably will need an Uncle. Strangely enough, I've not as many Uncles as I do Aunts, but Uncle George stands far an away the most interesting of the bunch.

Much to the dismay of his wife!

At Aunt June's funeral, my brother, who it seems is perpetually late for everything, brought with him as a gift a six pack of Barq's root beer. He gave it to Debbie, Aunt June's daughter, to the delight of her and all that knew the story. It was a rather strange thing to do, but that's my brother... The Doctor!

He has a penchant for presenting the deceased or their survivors with appropriate but still strange gifts. He'll quote some ancient pagan, Mayan, Aztec or Egyptian tradition of taking "toys" to the after life. One "gift" he delivered nine years ago was a classic:

https://graphicgumbo3.blogspot.com/.../what-great-tribute...

Uncle George was a rather gregarious guy who during the War worked for the Merchant Marine. He had a lot of friends including my parents. Uncle George, on occasion, would join my father's company softball games just so he could join in on the after game festivities.

He and dad grew up together. So, we were always invited to join him at his home in Gentilly and sometimes, we'd get to go. But, whenever the drinks were past around, Uncle George would take us into the kitchen and offer us a "Barq"s", but it was ALWAYS watered down. He seemed to take pride in it. I complained once and got my mom's stern Marine stare.

No words needed to be said.

Anyway, it became a thing with Uncle George and the six of us kids. We never learned to enjoy it, but it was just Uncle George.

Uncle George also, having hung around sailors most of his career could really sling some salty language in the course of a conversation. My dad excused him because "He grew up in an orphanage" and my mother would always try to assuage Aunt June's dismay, by playfully running interference on George's next sentence and offering to give George "such a punch!"

Whether the party was over or still running at full steam, when George would quietly disappear we all knew it was time to go. If we didn't, he would appear in his pajamas and slippers and, in so many words... ahem, tell everyone it was time to go.

Poor Aunt June!

Copyright 2021/Ben Bensen III

"Dat's Right, Cher... I'm Old School, And A "Ragin' Cajun Alumni"...

Home of the original Ragin' Cajun... my alma mater!

Good Throwback Thursday morning, all bodies!

As someone who takes pride in being organized and having a place for everything and everything in its place, every now and then, if I dig deep, I can find all sorts of nicky-knacks from "yesteryear" that doesn't belong... anywhere!

Well, the two top drawers in my dresser aren't very deep, but they are wide and long, and, while looking for a number 4 1x3/4 inch bolt that will be the final solution to the plastic postage stamp container puzzle, I ran across this decal.

Strangely enough, I am currently redesigning a decal for some engineers that graduated from Mississippi State University... go figure!

The sticker is probably the last of a dozen or so I used to have. I had one attached to every car I owned, and proudly displayed it all the years I lived in SoCal. A good friend, who I worked with for many years, used to call me the "Cajun Comp Artist" even though I told him I wasn't Cajun.

He'd say," Well, you lived in Lafayette, LA, and you like the hot sauce. You wear those crazy crawfish polo shirts all the time ( Perlis polo! ) and you graduated from USL and got the sticker on your car to prove it, so, to me, your the "Cajun Comp Artist!"

A decade or so ago, the powers that be, rearranged for political and financial reasons, the name of all the state colleges... all except, of course, LSU. It is now called the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. 

What a mouthful!

Since then, I've disclaimed the name and the school... for the most part. But, maybe, just for the sake of the "rebellion" and because I am "old school", I might just stick this badass decal on my ...uh, um... hot rod Honda Odyssey!

Third rebellious cup...

Copyright 2015/Ben Bensen III

"I Guess You Can Take The Sofa From The Man, But..."

On the roster for over fifty years...

I am still working, as a storyboard artist, on a feature film project in St. Francisville, Louisiana. At

times, it can get pretty intense even though the deadlines are pretty much self determining between me, the cinematographer and the director. Thankfully, there's no drop dead deadlines, like there are in the advertising world, but until just yesterday, I didn't have any time to just sit and enjoy a ball game.

But, Vin, did it to me again. I guess you can take the sofa from the man, but not the man from the sofa. The airing of the Dodger vs Cardinal game was a victim of a rain delayed game that came before it. So, it wasn't until just before 11 pm when the Dodger game came on. I put down the sketch pad and pencil determined to sit on the couch to watch what was left of the Dodger game.

With "Vin on the Box" I never made it through the next inning. Just like being at home, I passed out till 2am to the sound of static on the TV. "Go Dodgerzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Must have rolled over on the remote...

Copyright 2015/ Ben Bensen III