Brevity by Dan Thompson for July 29, 2011

Wow, I didn’t know Bob Ross was born so long ago! It must be true, though — the roofs are painted with a wide brush, and look at that pole standing up right in the foreground. But it was still a barren landscape, so it must have been some time afterward that he invented “happy little trees”.

And “happy little clouds”, of course. And television….. and the afro.

…and Happy little clouds as well. RIP BOB

Good guy, Bob. Sweet guy.

He took over the show from a short, round, balding man with a cheery disposition and a German accent. I can NOT remember his name. We used to call him the “dancy brush man” because he loved his fan brush and would do a little sing-song as he painted with it “….happy, dancy little fan brush”

He, and Bob after him were gems.

Bob Ross also invented the afro for white guys

If you have hair like his, you don’t have many options.

Bob may have invented the pole but the census took it……☻

Hopefully it’s funny by whole… Night-Gaunt, it’s a joke. Even Americans know the flag pole was invented in Poland. ;)

Bob Ross, huh? It must have been a friendly little pole

That can’t be the same Bob Ross – he has no ’fro!

I just want to go on record, that I’m glad that “Brainwaves” the comic that used to be next door and had not updated in over 10 months, has finally been pulled from here.

Bailey — Bob Ross’ predecessor, the short German fellow you remember, was Bill Alexander.He actually taught Bob the technique, and used some of the same “happy” phrases. Both loved painting, and cheerfully encouraged everyone to try.Bob even gave a few teary-eyed testimonials to Bill.But when he labelled his style the “Bob Ross Method”, Bill Alexander sued him (and lost, I believe.) BTW — I THOUGHT that thing looked Pole-ish.

And GoodQuestion — they seem to have escaped into the wild. Seems like every week they show up in my e-mail or on my phone.

Aaaand…. No. 6, my friend — I didn’t think you would be the one to start that here. I’m not big on nationalism, when it comes to imperialism and the like, but I DO love my country. I believe most people on earth love their own countries; it’s a human reaction, like loving your mother.Many people also support local sports teams, win or lose. We’re biologically inclined to desire a sense of belonging.Many of us also happen to like and admire our president. I know some people hate him, too, which is their right, which is what makes this country, and yours too, great.But Brevity is not the place to argue it.

I also watched Bill Alexander once in a while (although I always believed my own painting was better)-there were not many new shows at the time, and no TiVo with season passes. I never watched Julia Child but learned to cook from Francois Pope (may have just been a local show in Chicago) but it was WAY before Julia!

I bet he got the idea when he was in the shower with her…

I like Canada — lived very close to it for many years. I like Britain, too — but I’ve only visited.If I left the US, I’d like a place like New Zealand… but I don’t they’re accepting new transplants.As for Mars? Well, as long as you don’t start colorizing it…