It's Monday. Brace yourselves

It is a summer Monday in North Texas and, do you wonder if any poet has ever found such weather inspirational?

Hard to rhyme "ozone alert" with anything romantic, I guess.

Now, moving along:

THE VOICES WITHIN: You probably saw over the weekend that Paul Winchell, the ventriloquist had died. Baby Boomers probably remember watching three great ventriloquists: radio's star Edgar Bergen in his fading years, Mr. Winchell and Jimmy Nelson.

Jimmy Nelson? Yep, he's the guy who had the dog dummy, Farfel, and they did the commercial in which Farfel sang, "N E S T L E S, Nestlea makes the very best, CHO-LATE!"and slams his jaws shut for emphasis on the last syllable. Surely the kids in our Hazel Street neighborhood in Texarkana weren't the only youngsters who enjoyed attempting a Farfel impression.....

FREE MOVIE REVIEW: Time for a mini-review on a film that's been out a few weeks. Your toiling websiter and his funspouse, Martha, went to Cedar Hill Cinemark in a spare few hours over the weekend. Saw Batman Begins. Better than the other Batman movies, I say. My funspouse Martha says it's a really good film and she enjoyed it immensely. Popcorn was good and soft drink was properly mixed, says her husband. Movie was better than latest Star Wars entry, which he saw alone because his funspouse finds the whole Star Wars series beyond tedious.  Mercifully, BatScreen lit up when either Michael Caine or Morgan Freeman were delivering lines. Sadly, it wasn't lit often enough for popcorn-eating old geezer sitting with funspouse.

Bottom line? Makes one long for a romantic comedy without special effects. Worth seeing, but don't look too close or you'll see right through it. For rebuttal, send your Batmail to [email protected].