google.com, pub-4909507274277725, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 Slapinions: November 2013

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Friday, November 29, 2013

Black Friday 2013

Longest line of the day? Joann Fabrics, of all places, where the line not only snaked around a roped off queue but continued down about 40% of the store's considerable length. Second place? Easily Kmart, where the line was awe-inspiring but rather quick. No line of note at Dollar Tree.




Alas, the one item I needed to buy on Black Friday I failed to procure, and off-sale I may not be able to pull it off this Christmas. Won't be the first time I've had to improvise, but . . . sigh. I did get a few deals on smaller items last night, and *fingers crossed* my co-workers hopefully scored on two items for me earlier this morning. So far today we've cleaned and rearranged the living room and we're gearing up to go buy a Christmas tree, with some talk we may cut one down ourselves. 

Happy Black Friday everyone.


Jane Kean

RIP 90 year old Jane Kean, aka "Trixie"  from the Honeymooners :(

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Frustration

"Tolzein would have been on his back or throwing INT's [today], we saw 3 losses with him, I don't need to see anymore" You're an idiot, sir. This is a poorly constructed, shoddily coached Packers team, currently led by a QB [Flynn] that is a favorite of the coach despite being laughed off the roster of many a better team. Where are all the Matt Flynn/Ted Thompson fanboys now?

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Doctor Who - The 50th Anniversary

Following exactly one day after JFK’s assassination, another event that loomed large in my childhood took place: Doctor Who, a low budget children’s sci-fi show, premiered on the BBC.




As with Kennedy, I didn’t become aware of the phenomenon until the 1980’s. By that time, if I can get my own memories in sync with the chronology, they were already on the Fifth incarnation of the Doctor (Peter Davison) and it had become a worldwide cult favorite.

I don’t remember where I saw my first Who, or when, but I remember gobbling up the slim Target novelizations of each episode and imagining what the companions looked like, so it was at best a fleeting glimpse of the show itself.

Later, a PBS station here in Milwaukee began playing Doctor Who in chronological order every night at 10pm, one half hour episode at a time. I’d often pull up a chair in my Grandma’s kitchen and watch it with her – oh! The sacrifices she made for me! I enjoyed Hartnell, was not as in love with Troughton as most people seem to be, adored Pertwee (still my favorite Doctor) and was fond but not overjoyed with Tom Baker, etc.

Did I mention I fell immediately in love with Sarah Jane Smith, and still feel a pitter-patter at the mere mention of her name?

Around the time the PBS station caught up with the Davison era I stumbled upon a Madison affiliate that was broadcasting the very first episode of the 7th Doctor! It was probably a year old by then, but no matter; to me I was blown away at the “awesome” special effects, which seemed sooooo much more advanced than the rubber suit monsters I’d been watching every night!

I joined a national Who fan club and subscribed to their newspaper, once writing in and objecting to their casting the BBC of the “enemy”, and getting a personal response in turn. I had a Doctor Who mug, and a Tardis key on my key ring. My Mom crocheted me a reasonable facsimile of Tom Baker’s scarf that I still use. For my 15th birthday my Grandma bought me a retrospective of the show’s first quarter century. I frequented the Turning Page, a niche bookstore on the East Side that specialized in Who, and my Dad let me drive all the way there when he was teaching me to drive.

I LOVED that show.

And then it was cancelled, packed off forever into the land of reruns. Our PBS station refused to pay for the rights to the show and it was dropped from their schedule. The Turning Page closed. A Fox TV movie introduced us to the 8th Doctor but did nothing to revive the series.

Life went on.

I was happy to hear the show was returning in 2005 but was no fan of the overwrought, cynical acting of Christopher Eccleston, and let’s not get into how awful John Barrowman is as an actor. I barely paid attention to the series.

And then came Tenant . . .

He brought the show back to life for me. The charm, the wit, the excitement and the humor, it was all there again, in spades. He never quite trumped Pertwee for me but man, it’s close.

(Mat Smith ain’t too bad either)

Now the show is more popular than ever, a true global phenomenon. I wish more people realized that the pre-revival Who was darn good stuff worth watching, but I’m not going to argue with success. Today marks the 50th anniversary of the show, and what a milestone that is! 50 years is a heck of a stretch for a business, a marriage, or even a building to acknowledge; but a TV show???

Wow.


Congratulations to everyone connected with Doctor Who over the last fifty years. I tip my hat to all of you, and wish you fifty more to come!

Friday, November 22, 2013

What an Odd Refusal!

I offered to take in my JFK memorabilia to Lu's class - original newspapers, contemporary magazines, LP's, photographs, books, a plaster bust, etc - to tie in with today's anniversary, but my offer was rejected by her social studies teacher.

"Maybe next year," he wrote.

Yes, yes. Because the *51st* anniversary is the perfect time to use media attention to generate interest in a historical event.

JFK - 50 years later

50 years ago today John F. Kennedy was gunned down in Dallas, an event no Baby Boomer will ever forget.

My own connection to the event began twenty years later, in 1983. I was nine years old that year and had just started the fourth grade when my Grandfather, a man I loved and idolized, passed away. To say that his death put me in a tailspin is almost an understatement, but sometime in the weeks that followed my Mom gave me a book on JFK. It was just a thin children’s book, full of more myth than fact – I particularly remember one scene where Jack fell in love with Jackie when he first saw her over a dinner table – but it hooked me.

I began to read everything I could about JFK. In retrospect it’s easy to see I was simply substituting one fallen hero (my Grandpa) for another (JFK), but in those dark months it was just about the only joy I remember. Somewhere around that time, and I don’t remember if it was with my knowledge or not – my Mom mailed out two letters about my newfound passion. Just before Christmas, two packages arrived in response.

The first, from Senator Edward Kennedy, included a short mimeographed note of thanks and contained information about both JFK and RFK, as well as two 8x10 black and white photographs, one of Jack, the other of Jackie and his children.

The second package was incredible. It came from the Kennedy Library, and included the following handwritten note from William Johnson, the Chief Archivist.



Inside was more information on JFK and his library, and some items I’ve now forgotten. Here’s one I never have: an original copy of Life Magazine dated November 29, 1963 that chronicled the horrific events of Dallas and its aftermath.



 Remember, this was on the cusp of the 20th anniversary of his death. There were books and magazines and television specials galore, and I collected whatever I could. I accumulated a scrapbook of articles from the Milwaukee Journal’s Green Sheet, a few record albums of his speeches, a plaster bust of JFK, book upon book – you name it.

So on the actual anniversary of his assassination (in 1983 it was a Tuesday, if I’m not mistaken) I took this little collection into my school for show and tell, passing it among my classmates. I’d like to say someone was inspired, or even that it was met with boos – either one makes a great story – but I don’t remember, so odds are it was met with quiet tolerance.

Over the years my adoration of JFK waned. The reality didn't quite match up with the legend, and that’s a hard pill to swallow when it was the legend you fell in love with. My politics changed too, and suddenly a New Frontier that mocked Eisenhower’s admirable time in office held much less appeal.
The pendulum has begun to swing full circle, tho’ it will never reach the zeal I had as a child. JFK and I would disagree politically, but not as much as I once thought; his reputation was pushed to the Left by nostalgia and the far more liberal records of his brothers. He was a fiscal conservative and a cautious Hawk, two qualities I find appealing in a candidate. And even if he was as liberal as some people work hard to believe, it would carry a lesson all its own: that you can disagree with someone’s politics while still admiring them as a human being.


Even 50 years on, JFK’s memory continues to inspire this nation.  Rest in Peace sir; you earned it. 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

The Jingle Bus

This evening, while YaYa was at dance, Lisa took the three youngest to Turkey Bingo at their school, then headed down to the Holiday Lights Festival at Pere Marquette Park. There they saw fireworks, sang carols, saw the Mayor speak, and watched Santa turn on all the holiday lights! 

After class I met them there and we all took the Jingle Bus (a charter) around downtown Milwaukee, seeing the sights and the lights (rhyme unintentional).

On the bus they asked for kid volunteer's to sing carols, and Junie was the first to sing a solo, followed quickly by Smiley, and much later, a shy LuLu took the microphone. All three sang "Jingle Bells". 

Other than my fear that our van would be towed from where I sorta/kinda parked it illegally, it was a very nice, very sweet family night. Well done Mom!

Lulu's new bike


I purchased this for $20 at a rummage sale this summer and surprised her with it :)

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Sylvia Browne

RIP purported psychic Sylvia Browne, age 77

Syd Field

A belated RIP to screenwriting guru Syd Field, who died recently at age 77.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The Gettysburg Address - November 19th, 1863

150 years ago today Abraham Lincoln journeyed to the Gettysburg battlefield to dedicate its cemetery, and delivered one of the finest - and shortest - speeches in history. 

The spirit of his mighty words lives on, as I hope they will forever. 

Take a moment to read them again, and offer up a prayer of thanks for all those who gave their lives to save freedom and our Union all those many years ago. 


Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.


Monday, November 18, 2013

I've Seen It All

I've seen it all. Hubby rearranged fish tank plants/skull to make pathways wider for our handicapped fish. He loves all creatures, big and small...lol....except mice. - Lisa

Monday, November 11, 2013

My Day

Lousy snow. The first of the season and I'm already wishing it was spring. Anyone who likes this stuff should check themselves in at County.

Anyway, I'm at Marquette School of Dentistry getting LuLu an exam. 

Later:

Now shopping at Goodwill

Quasi the Pleco

Sunday, November 10, 2013

A (Giant) New Pleco!

A productive day. I waterproofed the back porch - and the handprints of the kids we made in the cement back in '07 - then fixed the latch on the back door. Meanwhile Lisa went grocery shopping and made a great chicken dinner. And to top it off, confident that the Ich was gone, Smiley and I went shopping for a new pleco. 

We found one. But instead of the 1" version we had, we went home with a giant 8" beast that looks like an aquatic dinosaur found its way into our tank. Heck I was scared to even hold the bag when we left the store. 

The best part is, we paid only $4.99 for him. His spine is permanently bent, and so he's gone unsold and unwanted for weeks. It was his disfigurement that sealed the deal, just as GusGus's glaucoma ridden eye made me snatch him up. Yes, I felt sorry for a pleco :)

But, there was more to the adventure. On the way home Parker and I stopped at a store, and when we came back out I noticed the car was leaking onto the pavement. My first thought the radiator went, but no: the giant pleco bag had broken, flooding the backseat and pouring out the door! We managed to save just enough water to cover the pleco and hightailed it back to the pet store, with Parker holding onto him and talking him through the ordeal. 

We made it, and this time when we left the bag was securely sealed in a box for transport!

Saturday, November 9, 2013

A great day

A good day overall, and a happy opposite to Friday's misery. Dance in the morning, then a nap, followed by Mass (the priest led off the sermon with a discussion about Aaron Rodgers' injury), then dinner with the family and two of Lu's friends. :)

Friday, November 8, 2013

The End of An Era

The final issue of (Milwaukee based) The Onion will hit newsstands on December 12

Phone Problems and the Ick

My phone is acting screwy: text one contact, and another contact replies. I'm sure it's a fluke that can be fixed if I remove the battery, but as a testament to my laziness I'm not about to trouble myself with removing the case just yet. IOW don't count on a text conversation this evening.

Meanwhile, the outbreak of Ick seems to have been arrested in our aquarium, in no small part to my Awesomeness, even in the realm of fish doctoring. We've lost no one in 3 days, and all appear well except the goldfish, who no longer exhibits signs of the disease but never bounced back properly. If there's no further losses before Sunday, I'll start rebuilding the population.

Adorable!


This was taken July 1st at the Domes

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

My Little Girls

 



Changes at Marquette

 Today Marquette took a concrete step towards eliminating the part- time evening program ( I'm grandfathered in). So if you're a working adult hoping to get a law degree, you have only a year or so to apply and get in the final class.