Author Archive for M. Toole
Spring Cleanup Sacks Town
(Manana) The first ever spring cleanup in Manana has terminated the town. After three days of hauling garbage, old tires, discarded machine parts, plastic, broken furniture, abandoned trailers and other debris to the county dump there is nothing left of what was once a thriving little burg that once commanded a spectacular view along the Little Packer River.
“Other towns seem to be able to handle a little sprucing up without changing road maps,” said mayor Muriel Armbruster who has taken up residence some six miles away at Colona. “We started with the highest intentions and the result is the disappearance of the entire town.”
Monday morning all that was left of Manana were fragile skeletons of dilapidated downtown shops, the wobbly shell of the post office and a few mangy dogs looking disoriented and hungry.
“I don’t know how long it will take us to return the town to its normal condition,” said Armbruster. “Right now there’s nothing here but a few spindly, framed remembrances. With the arrival of our traditional spring wind storms, those too will fade into architectural history.”
As expected the town has applied for federal aid from FEMA.
“These town cleanups are serious business,” added the former mayor. “I wonder if we could incorporate the landfill.”
Gluttony Replacing Travel in US
(Grand Junction) Eating to excess is slowly replacing the desire to travel according to statistics compiled by the US Department of Health and Aimless Wandering. In January more than 52% of those tested gained weight while only 23% had the huevos to get on an airplane.
“It’s just that it’s easier to buy a package of Twinkies or eat at fast food emporium than it is to go anywhere,” said Melvin Toolski of the federal agency.”
Toolski added that most people become disoriented when faced with packing for even a short trip while what he called Tar Baby Security at the nation’s airports has made air travel all but impractical.
“And this is not some cheap joke about airline food either,” he quipped.
POLKA, OLIVE OIL LIFE ENHANCING
(Gunnison) People who regularly dance the polka and consume olive oil will live longer says a study conducted at Western State College here. The almost alarming results come as no surprise and the future painfully clear: We need more polka bands and need to plant and cultivate healthy high-altitude olive trees along with the more traditional crops.
Researchers agree that long life expectancy in polka-friendly segments of Eastern Europe confirms their findings. They add that people in the Mediterranean region, whose diet is all but synonymous with olive consumption often live beyond the age of 100. Low stress was also factored in to the formula.
Bake sale to preserve our traditions
(Montrose) A gala bake sale to save our traditions is slated for May 28 at Lion’s Park. Attending the gathering will be Martha Stewart and Senor Pepino, the Sage of Carnival. It is not clear whether the Pope will make it in time as he has a flat tire on his throne. A replica of the Montrose Wal-Mart will be set ablaze along with several captured developers from Telluride. The sale runs from 8 am to 4 pm. A slide show follows. Look for us on the web at
www.goatropersneedlovetoo.com
Rockies Pull Goalie
(Denver) The Colorado Rockies announced today that they will play the remainder of the season with an open net. In a radical departure from tradition, the team will rely on quick aggressive play in lieu of the unattended goal at the other end of the diamond.
“This is only phase one of our plans to revamp the club and mold a winner,” said an unidentified source in the front office of the National League basement dwelling franchise.
“We feel the team has a better chance to win games with five infielders than with the traditional four and a goalie. Most goalies represent a late inning save, a concept foreign to the Blake Street Bummers. He only get in on 40% of the action while a good backup at shortstop can make or break you.
“Modern professional sports demand hard decisions and constant change, even trading off budding stars to save money,” he explained.
“First we dumped popular players because we thought they were getting old and that we needed to concentrate on pitching,” he explained. “That didn’t work even though we sold the farm for several starting pitchers. Then we discovered speed and defense but still lost a lot of games by a run or two.”
Although the season looks a lot like last year, the team is making money and is easily under the salary cap. Populating the outfield with also-rans and beefing up the relief staff with the cast-offs from other clubs often looks good on ledgers but not from the stands.
“Rather than building team chemistry and relying on a solid farm system to provide talent, the Rockies appear to be playing catchup and may have to go shopping again to avoid a complete embarrassment in 2025. The owners have reached their credit limit, at least where their fans are concerned,” offered former Rocky, Manny Taggmiotte, who is doing ten to twenty in the Dominican Republic for stealing bases during winter league play in 2023.
“Sure we know it’s tough to pitch at Coors Field but what’s wrong with winning games 10-9? The weather is great and the ball flies right out of the place. Considering the attention span of most modern day fans a pitcher’s battle just isn’t that entertaining.”
The team travels to Saint Louis for the start of a three-game series Friday. It will be interesting to see if the new approach will fly with the high scoring Red Birds or if anyone will even notice.
“It makes me nervous playing without a goalie,” said one infielder, “but I guess these are desperate times and we’re tired of being in the basement at the All-Star break. But what the hell, tomorrow’s pay day again.” – Rocky Flats
TOLL BRIDGE OVER BERING STRAIT SCRAPPED
(Nome, AK) Plans to construct a massive suspension toll bridge across the Bering Strait have been cancelled according to American and Russian engineers on the scene. The structure, connecting the Chukchi Peninsula to the Seward Peninsula about one hundred miles south of the Arctic Circle, would have cost an estimated 6.5 million dollars to complete. The idea was scuttled when it became apparent that projected traffic traveling between the two remote regions “could not even begin pay for the erection in two million years” according to one treasury official.
“Nobody in either country has enough money to fill up their gas tank much less pay tolls on a bridge to nowhere,” he continued. “Maybe the concept would fly between Moscow and New York but even then its success has got to be questionable at best.”
Continuing to stoke fears that the bridge would be an easy access for illegal refugees and drugs was voiced by several higher ups in the Trump Administration, who condemned the idea on various social media and fast food outlets this morning.
-Susie Compost
DOW Wants in on Drone License Fees
(Deer Trail, CO) Threatening to sell drone licenses to this year’s hunters may or may not be legitimate. Either way it has caused quite an uproar at the Colorado Division of Wildlife, who want a piece of the local action if there is such.
According to town fathers and mothers in Deer Trail, the announcement that the municipality would begin selling drone licenses this fall was meant as a political statement and never as an actuality. Several say they wanted to protest the country’s policies with regard to unmanned rockets, spying and assassinations of suspected terrorists, including US citizens. Others say our government has lost its sense of right and wrong and is engaged in deplorable acts on our behalf.
“The fact that the national media picked up on our tongue and cheek plan further indicates that there are a lot of people out there highly concerned about the clandestine nature of our government these days,” said councilperson Bettie Clonne of Deer Trail. “And now it appears that another parasitic gov’ment agency wants in on the spoils.”
Clonne, which rhymes with drone, went on to suggest that it would be impossible to sell drone licenses since those unmanned weapons are not all that prevalent in Colorado skies and because drones are not wards of the state like deer and elk. In addition they remind us that one cannot eat a drone which creates other problems with morality of hunting in general.
“We realize it is a federal offense to mess with federal property, even though in essence it belongs to the people, doesn’t it?” she asked.
The government has expanded its drone programs to include domestic surveillance which worries civil liberty proponents as to the future of robot war and intrusive technology.
“Don’t shoot it unless you’re going to eat it has always been my mantra,” continued the source. “I haven’t seen any trophy drones up there and the drone is not calculated on the basis of points on the antler since there are no horns, just a ball of metal.”
Meanwhile the DOW, who used to offer hunting licenses at a reasonable fee for instate and out of state sportsmen, has continued its greedy march to the destruction of pedesdrian hunting in Colorado. Years ago everyone shared in the profits, – merchants, outfitters, communities – now most of the money ends up going to the DOW. Today’s average hunter is now urban, unskilled and rich with expensive gear and no soul for the hunt. This is what happens when fees are not in keeping with reality. Less hunters mean less money spent on dinners, hotel rooms and services.
Still the thought of bringing down an unmanned drone is tempting to some. The possibility of actually hitting one with an elk rifle is all but impossible anyway. They travel fast.
Most people in Deer Trail agree that all the hoopla over shooting down drones will blow over after the season is concluded. However the feds and the state will still be here helping us to become more robotic and less human.
What tales will they tell around the campfire in the years to come?
“I was so busy field dressing the first clone that I din’t see the second one coming right at me. Thankfully my old buddy Earl had a bead on it and blasted it out of the sky. I don’t know if the meat can be recovered but it was a damn fine shot. Things sure are different out in the woods then they were when I was a boy.”
– Rocky Flats
