Anticipation

My mountain bike is ready to go.

I've got my SPD pedals and shoes, have installed the ergo handgrips, and had the guys at the local bike shop do a once-over to make sure everything is adjusted and safe. During the fitting, I got a slightly longer stem and tweaked the seat a bit, and am now confident that the geometry is set for me to achieve maximum performance.

Now all I have to do is learn to ride it. Depending on the weather and how tired I am after work, I may take it out around the neighborhood this evening.

Over the weekend, I watched a show about extreme unicycling. That made me think that I ought to get the old unicycle out of the closet as well. And that reminds me that I need to buy a Lotto ticket, because I just spend far too many of my hours working for a living. Oh well.

You can expect more details about my mountain bike learning curve in the coming days and weeks. Right now, I just wanted to explain yesterday's mystery picture...and then give you a new challenge to ponder.

The two women pictured above provide part of the answer to why I included this photo in yesterday's post. The gentleman on the left is Graham Kerr, aka the "Galloping Gourmet." And since we were talking about refined tastes in meal preparation and consumption, I thought it appropriate to throw in a photo of a gourmet. He's the only one I know.

Not being well-versed in gay culture colloquialisms, I can't explain what the "Galloping" part meant, but I do know that his show was on TV in the era when alcohol consumption was considered an essential part of every program. (Bewitched was the worst, but even Cap'n Kirk was known to knock back some sort of green or blue potent potable on a regular basis.)

The photo of Mr. Kerr just happened to remind me of Eduard Khil, probably because of the colors, but also the smiles. And for some reason, displaying the two photos next to each other amuses me. And that's reason enough, right? By the way, I know most of you recognized the ladies above, but I do have some readers in Oklahoma, so I have to explain stuff. On the left is Heather GRAHAM, and on the right is Deborah KERR...so we end up Graham Kerr. Get it? OK then.

Of course, Deborah Kerr pronounced her name "Carr" for some inexplicable reason. And there were other Grahams I thought about including, such as Graham Stark, the fellow pictured here. (He appeared in a boatload of Blake Edwards movies, most notably the Pink Panther series.) And then there was Sylvester Graham, the Presbyterian minister who invented the famous "s'mores" cracker. And of course, there was Alexander Graham Bell, who, if I remember correctly, invented the fast food taco restaurant. Which brings us back to the topic of gourmet dining.

But I have nothing more to say about that. I am hoping that I'll enjoy my mountain bike so much that I'll choose to ride in the evenings instead of eating ice cream all night long. We'll see.

In the meantime, here's a puzzle for you. What's the connection between all these guys? (Click to embiggen.)



A couple of hints: The guy in the third panel is NOT J. Wellington Wimpy, and the fellow on the far right is included because of his profession, not his individual identity. Hope that helps. Answers tomorrow. Have fun, and have a great day!