24 Comments
User's avatar
Sandy Read Reiberg's avatar

I feel so privileged (more than I already am) to be a reader of Basler blogs and to know the author in so many iterations. Thanks for all of it, Bob.

Expand full comment
Robert  Basler's avatar

de nada, amiga....

Expand full comment
Vicki mannweiler's avatar

How fun this was to read!! Thanks for keeping up with your stories!

Expand full comment
Jonathan Close's avatar

Times have changed

And we've often rewound the clock

Since the Wackytowners got a shock

When Reuters pulled the plug

A real December slugbug

Yanked the rug right under our “tub”

Washing feet in K-town sinks

No more rhymes and wacky faces

All those celebs with gobsmacked traces

Of goofy royals and politicos

Vodka and Wine-a-bagos

And Chris’s favorite: “That’s my sister!”

Ten cent entry to the Goofy Face Musuem

Sure fire way to destroy the tedium

BG made us laugh, and laugh and laugh; but now no more

But we shrugged

And carried on

“There’s always Facebook!” we said

If tooodaaayyy

Folks look on the times as bleak and bleary

Riffing on “The Raven” is dark and dreary

No one’s got the rhythym or the rhyme

For mondegreens or haiku on time

In olden days, a riff on Shakespeare or the Loving Spoonful

Was looked on as something so cool

Got limericks? Get your fill

Everybody was just so brill

It was a thrill

Logging online to catch Lamar shill

Fashion stick figures dressed like krill

If looks could kill

But now, God knows anything goes

Good authors too who once knew better words

Now only use four-letter words

Writing prose

Anything goes

If John McCain choking while dancing you like

If Goofy Prince Charlie you like

If old rhymes you like

If Basler Airlines you like

If Ernest Hemingway look alikes you like

If Shra’s taser you like

If old friends you like

Or old showtunes you like

Why, nobody will oppose

When every morning the set that's smart

Twice a day except on weekends

Tuned in

Oddly Enough

We couldn’t get enough

Anything goes

Expand full comment
Genuine GA Peach's avatar

BRAVO!!! Well done, Jon!

Expand full comment
Chris Malone's avatar

Huzzah! My sister approves. ❤️

Expand full comment
Patricia Coonan's avatar

It’s still all there. You just showed us that.

Expand full comment
Robert  Basler's avatar

Ladies and Gents, Jon is back, and never better! Some of this will only be funny to my blog veterans, but suffice it to say the above is pretty much our own "American Pie," touching all the blog bases before coming in for a home run! Excuse me while I read it again, and again.... Take a bow and grab a medicated doughnut, Jon!

Expand full comment
Shra SENPATRICK's avatar

With sprinkles!!

Expand full comment
Anne-Marie Epp's avatar

A wonderfully nostalgic column! So it's finally dawning on you, is it, Mr B? The reason for your rampant popularity, then and now? Your "fans" just hope to see their own names in print via the comment section? Well yeah, kinda. You got a problem with that?

With ever-growing admiration, Lady Lala

Expand full comment
Susan Applegate's avatar

Amazing that I could be going to Edinburgh a few years ago, and BG made sure I met Shra for lunch! Turns out Chris is originally from Louisville, and Has gone with me to BG's favorite bakery when in town. There really are only about 2 degrees of separation!

Expand full comment
Chris Malone's avatar

Since the days of the OE Blog I've been on a mission to meet IRL as many of the OE bloggers as I can. I have a fantasy (nightmare?) that we could all have a Meet and Greet one day at some exotic Tiki Bar (with Medi-donuts). Maybe Santa will pick us all up and we'll gather on the Island of Misfit Toys. I always loved that Jack in the Box. Drinks are on me, St. Nick!

Expand full comment
Bart King's avatar

Loved this!

Expand full comment
Genuine GA Peach's avatar

I enjoyed a wonderful day of touristy things in Atlanta with Shra whilst she was on her too brief US tour.

And I got to meet CAM for ice cream one year. My friend Martha and I think of Chris every time we see a Harris Teeter (he knows why, I'm sure).

Let's be honest, BG...you didn't really have to dig too deep find that bottomless well of sarcasm. Most of us see that as an asset ;-)

Expand full comment
Robert  Basler's avatar

Thank you, Deb! Didn't think I remembered your name, did you?

Expand full comment
Johanna Gabbett Klesh's avatar

I loved this post! My favorite lines, which I will steal to use in everyday life are “ I dug deep to find my inner smartass.” Also taking “an immersion course in advanced sarcasm”. My own sarcasm and natural smartass tendencies are just below the surface, and I so enjoy your ability to write about the same thing!

Expand full comment
Rita Jane Gabbett's avatar

I love everything about this one. So great to see online relationships turn into real friendships. Thanks for warming my heart today. That said, I don't think you had to dig very deep to access your inner smartass, buster.

Expand full comment
Robert  Basler's avatar

Thanks for the compliment, Janie. You recognize the glass in her left hand?

Expand full comment
Rita Jane Gabbett's avatar

Hey! You don't even let me drink out of those glass...

Expand full comment
Robert  Basler's avatar

It's not you, it's the Crown Royal....

Expand full comment
Joyce Wadler's avatar

Bob,

This is so cool. Real life converging with the virtual… I think I’ve only met one person from my blogosphere in the flesh. And eleven years!! you definitely struck a nerve.

Expand full comment
Harriet Mann's avatar

Blimey 11 years, where has the time gone?

Your 5am stories always seem to come through in time for my night shift break. Not sure how that works with the time difference but I enjoy the light relief.

Expand full comment
Patricia Coonan's avatar

Blog away! The memories are wonderful.

Shra, your child must be as cute and bright as you! And if you read the blogs and posts as bed time stories, well, your child will turn out just fine. With a craving for doughnuts.

Expand full comment
Shra SENPATRICK's avatar

Oh Blog Guy, this brought back sooo many memories.

I remember clicking on your blog and following the comments section for months before picking up the nerve to actually write something dumb.

I never had the courage to be dumb online you see. Just IRL ;)

thank you for making me famous. Again. :)

Expand full comment