Vidal Sassoon: The Movie

Sunday we watched "Vidal Sassoon: The Movie" a documentary on the life and career of the innovative tycoon: his rough childhood (including years in an orphanage) his service in the Israeli armed forces, his innovative hair salons, his media presence and his continued influence in the industry. I thoroughly enjoyed the film and finished it with a new respect for Sassoon. Available to stream via Netflix.

I Just Met

I just met Tom Oslowski, a scout (currently for the Tigers) who was responsible for Darrin Erstad being drafted by the Angels

The Week on Facebook

October 15th

"After dinner Lisa and I watched "Hey, Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill a Mockingbird" a documentary on, duh, Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird. There is nothing earth shattering or original in the doc's content, but it certainly reminds you of how great a book that really is, and if nothing else, that makes it all worthwhile."

This week I added Victor Cruz/CIN Def/John Kotsay & dropped Sam Bradford, ARI D, & Rob Bironas. My lineup for Wk 6: Cutler, Desean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Victor Cruz, Hillis and Turner at RB, Kotsay, Gronkowski (TE) and CIN. Versus: Brady, Reggie Wayne, Greg Little, Colston, Mendenhall & Ingram at RB, Jimmy Graham (TE), Janikowski and TB's Defense. Wish me luck.

"Congrats to the Texas Rangers and their fans" [on winning the AL Pennant]

"‎60 yrs ago today I Love Lucy debuted on TV"

"‎Carlos H- says: Facebook should have a limit on times you can change your relationship status... After 3 it should default to " Unstable ""

Today is Sweetest Day. If you're going to buy your sweetie flowers (and u should) please go to --- btwn 9 & 1 and ask for Lisa. U won't b sorry!"

October 14th



My Pumpkin Farm Monster! Today was Ginger's first school field trip to the pumpkin farm, and she brought home a teeny-tiny Ginger sized pumpkin home with her!

"Got home from work, wrote and submitted a column, made dinner, now off to sell Cub Scout popcorn and Brownie nuts door to door. BTW, if anyone wants either POPCORN or NUTS, please let me know. Thanks!"

October 13th

"There, Brewers win, LCS tied at 2 games each. Happy now? Jiminy Cricket, I said it in the NLDS and I had to trot it out again yesterday: have some confidence and act like you've been there before. Watching Fox 6 Wake up News this morning was like watching a funeral for the team. Until the last out of the elimination game, have faith."

"watching teen wolf too"

“Even the devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.”
-William Shakespeare”"

October 12th




October 11th

"Today I finished reading 'Shockwave', a Virgil Flowers novel by the great John Sandford. It's a serial bomber in a small Minnesota town, who appears to be trying to stop the fictional equivalent of a Wal-Mart from opening. As expected from Sandford, it's a fine read with plenty of style and a who-dunnit that actually kept me guessing. Recommended."

"BREAKING NEWS: Twitter is reporting that long-time Brewers groundskeeper Gary Vandenberg has lost his battle with cancer. RIP."

"“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.” - Elmore Leonard"

"CNN is reporting that the US has disrupted a plot by "elements of the Iran government" to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S."

NJ Gov. Christie has endorsed Mitt Romney

"Just FYI, I lost my fantasy matchup by 92.52 points. Not only was it the biggest whupping of the week, my opponents 164.67 points is some kind of league record. Good grief."

"The Beast of Bray Road is a low budget horror film centered around the werewolf legend of Walworth County (here in Wisconsin). This was awful, but in a 'make you smile not retch' kindaway. The acting is rec-class awful (although the lead & Kelly were good), the costumes were ill fitting, everyone in WI apparently wears Stetsons, cops don't retaliate when punks spit at them, and the werewolf looked silly. But it was set in WI, there are two nice sets of breasts bared for your viewing pleasure, and what the hell - it's set in Wisconsin."

"LuLu is a big fan of the book "Porkenstein" by Kathyrn Lasky and has read it 2 or 3 times since checking it out of the school library this week."

October 10th

"Breaking News: The NBA has officially cancelled the first two weeks of its season."

I don't care about pro basketball at all, but i do mind that the hotels, restaurants, bars, parking garages, vendors, ticket exchanges, etc in Milwaukee that profit from the games will now take a hit.

"This morning we watched "The Perfect Host" an indie horror film starring David Hyde Pierce (Niles from Frasier). A bank robber on the run worms his way into a dinner party hosted by Pierce, only to discover the foppish host might have plans of his own. Pierce was great, the early twist was devious, and we enjoyed it. My one complaint was that the story should have ended at dawn, and ixnayed the rest. Available to stream on Netflix."

Lisa made a great dinner of chicken and mashed potatoes. She made the chicken perfectly, following a method advocated by America's Test Kitchen, and the results were easily the juicest, most perfectly cooked chicken I've ever had. Unfortunately, I like my chicken dry and slightly overdone LOL

"Down by 91 points in my fantasy game going into tonight. All I need is for Jay Culter to throw 400 yards, w/ 4 TDs and scramble for ten yards - and I'll still lose by 50 points. A humbling week."

"I just got word that the column I wrote Friday will be in tomorrow's (Tuesday's) Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Please feel free to comment on it the JS site."



(a wax covered leave the kids made)

Ginger in the Columbus day hat she made at school (yes, we still celebrate it!):



"‎125 years ago today New York millionaire James Potter showed up at a dinner party wearing a new style of jacket, one suggested to him by the Prince of Wales. The jacket proved a hit and people soon referred to it by the name of the place where Potter debuted it - the Tuxedo Park Club."

October 9th

"‎100th Career TD tonight by Aaron Rodgers"

"‎56 yard field goal by Mason Crosby just now, w/ plenty of oomph to spare. It ties GB's all-time FG distance mark."

RIP Pianist Roger Williams

"I'm a 30 point underdog going into this weekend's fantasy matchup. Playing QB Cutler WR's Moore/Desean Jackson/Manningham RB's Benson and Turner TE: Gronkowski K Bironas DEF New England. Opponent: Brees/Bowe/Calvin Johnson/Steve Smith/Jones-Drew/Adrian Foster/Vernon Davis/Minn D/Philly's kicker."

Hey, Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill a Mockingbird and I Love Lucy

After dinner Lisa and I watched "Hey, Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill a Mockingbird" a documentary on, duh, Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird. There is nothing earth shattering or original in the doc's content, but it certainly reminds you of how great a book that really is, and if nothing else, that makes it all worthwhile.

BTW, 60 yrs ago today I Love Lucy debuted on TV

Facebook - February 1st - Valentines Day (yeah, February. What of it?)

Feb 1st

"‎'RED' was ok, but in the end was little more than cookie cutter action/comedy. What comedic bright spots there were came largely courtesy of Mary Louise Parker."

We just finished the documentary 'Catfish'. I really enjoyed it, and I think the title - which stems from an anecdote w/in the film - is a phrase worth remembering

"I fear this [war with Israel]will be one of the outcomes of the 'democracy' protests in Egypt. Egypt, 2011 = Iran, 1979? Let's hope not."

Jon Knight: I was never in the closet

Feb 2nd

The interesting disappearance of Maud Crawford

"Education is finite. Fame whoring is forever - TMZ"

We watched 'Cyrus' tonight, a John C. Reily comedy with a plot that seemed, at first glance, too similar to his awful 'Step Brothers'. No fear; it turned out to be a sweet, mature rom-com. We liked it."

"Btwn shoveling [snow] we watched 'Winter's Bone'. Set in the Ozarks, it's about a 17 yr old girl who must find her meth-cooking father or lose the house he put up as a bail bond. It's very bleak, but the acting is superb. And the character of Teardrop? He didn't raise a hand in the whole movie, & he still scared the crap out of me."

"We watched 'The American' a few days back, and despite a good trailer & George Clooney in the lead role, it was el-boringo. Criminy, *I* wanted to kill the dull bugger myself by the 3rd act. 'Love Ranch' a Helen Mirren/Joe Pesci film about a legal brothel in the '70's, was pretty good but ended like a bad TV movie, narration and all."

Feb 4th

"Back from work & not happy. Moving on . . 'Nowhere Boy' a biopic of John Lennon's formative years, is a good film. I will note that I was annoyed that the lead actor is 100x better looking than Lennon, and that Paul is portrayed by what appears to be a ten yr old waif. Still, very enjoyable. (creepy incestous Mommy relationship aside)"

Feb 5th

"I just finished watching season 7 of The Amazing Race. It's disapointing that Boston Rob and Amber didn't win. Yeah, I agree Eugenna (sic) & his wife are nice people. Whoopdeedoo. W/out Rob and Amber that season would have sucked."

"You know you're an experienced Daddy when your 3 yr old vomits in the car and not only doesn't fit faze you, you clean her up,change her, and wipe down the car with only an old newspaper and handfuls of snow."

British PM David Cameron: Stop Tolerating Islamic Terrorists and respect British Core Values. Europe is waking up - when will we?

Feb 6th

After a two year investigation, a local woman has been charged with killing her infant in 1957

Feb 7th

"A cop just knocked on my door and asked if I witnessed an alleged strong arm robbery directly across the street. A guy says he was robbed * & * bit by the crook's dog. We were in our living room, w/ the bay window uncovered, & saw/heard diddly. Not saying it's a drunk fairytale, but . . . Neat to have to give my name/middle initial/DOB/phone to a cop again. Strange what I miss from Job Prior."

"Happy 100th birthday Ronald Reagan! The Pack will one for you Gipper, count on it!"

"I don't know if y'all heard, but the Packers won the Super Bowl. Just thought you'd like to know."

"We (me, Lisa, Chris) crammed in a viewing of "The Virginity Hit', a mockumentary following a young guy looking to lose his virginity. Much to my surprise it was LOL - the inflatable tranny doll scene had us all but peeing our pants in laughter. it turns out that it was produced by Will Ferrell. REnt it if you have a sense of humor."

"AOL has purchased The Huffington Post and given it complete control over all AOL editorial content. Ugh, yet another reason to seperate from AOL."

Feb 8th

"Damn, it is well and truly bitterbit*h cold out there."

"Please. I've had mono so often it turned into stereo - the utterly yummable Santana on Glee"

Feb 9th

"Tonight we watched 'Paranormal Activity 2', a movie that takes place before/during the events of the original. It wasn't bad, if u can stomach a movie where a child may be in danger & can tolerate watching security footage of an empty room where (mostly) nothing happens. A decent waste of 90 minutes & worth a cheap rental."

The iconic video game Guitar Player has been axed. No pun intended.

"Lu had to list 3 Presidents as options for a report, & her teacher then chose 1 on a 1st come/1st served basis so there'd be no repetition among the students. Lu listed Obama, Polk & Adams. She got *Obama* which presumably means no one else in the class had him listed high; quite a diff from what MPS, no? She solicited my help to start it. I quipped "Barrack Obama, our 44th President, was born in Kenya . . . ""

"Egads! The long awaited DVD of Project Runway Season 8 arrived via Netflix and won't play! We've been forced to jump ahead 5 episodes & start w/ disc 2. Pfui."

dislike/disagree about Mr. Sunshine. I'm not sure how long the concept can hold, but I thought it was funny. Then again, you dislike We Built This City, so your judgment is suspect from the start."

Feb 10th

Ginger: Knock knock
Me: who's there?
Ginger: Uh, doctor who
Me: Doctor who who?
Ginger: doctor who, uh, soda!

"Matthew Perry's new show, "Mr. Sunshine", has taken some heat here on FB but I enjoyed it & found it funny. [Plus my opinion is worth ten of anyone elses, so pbbbt.] Good to see the girlfriend from 'Joey' bed down yet another Friends alum on TV; I eagerly await her future co-starring role with Jen Aniston."

"I just turned off "Middle Men" w/ 45 min left on the DVD. How do you take a film about porn, strippers, drugs & the mob and make it boring? For starters, bury it under so much narration you think you're listening to an audio book. This ain't Goodfellas, buddy, & you're no Scorsese. Show us the story, don't recite it. Yawn."

Feb 11th

"NEVER ask for what should be offered - a quote from Winter's Bone, and one that rings true. We used it just this week to teach LuLu a lesson about pride. She was hurt that she's never asked over to a friend's house, while other (wealthier?) kids are, and wanted to call and ask the parents for an invitation. Hell to the No."

"‎'tho it meant going to work on shy of 4hrs sleep, I stayed up to finish 'The Cypress House' by Michael Koryta. It's a supernatural story set in the gloomy swamps of Depression-era Florida. Very well written & satisfying. Count me as a fan."

"Having a good time with the kids. YaYa took photographs of drops of food coloring she suspended in water, Smiley and I made paper boats and Ginger is running around half naked enlessly repeating "Ohmygoodnessohmygoodness". And best of all: Dean Martin's album "Dino" is playing. Dean Martin's voice is like buttah, infinitely easier on the ears than Sinatra. It never fails to make me smile."

"Lu's reaction to the Beiber movie? "It's freakin' AWESOME!!!". She and Lisa were happy to get primo seats w/out any hassles, in lg part because they caught the last matinee. On the way out they said teenage girls in PJ's and "Beiber warpaint" were lined up around the corner hoping for good seats for the 1st evening show."

Feb 12th

"US officials have identified the remains of 11 US WWII servicemen found in a wreck in Papua New Guinea. The remains include those of 2nd Lt. Robert R. Streckenbach Jr., 21, of Green Bay, Wisconsin. RIP."

"Horrible nightmares all night, one rolling right into the next. Not a good night."

"‎"He was a stupid man, he knew nothing at all of the world, and like all men who knew nothing of the world, he was suspicious and jealous" - The Duke of Wellington, on the jailor of Napoleon, Hudson Lowe"

"Martha Stewart takes the ordinary and makes it beautiful. Katie Brown takes the beautiful and makes it hideous. Sometimes I think she plays it for the camp factor. That has to be it, right?"

Feb 13th

"Great day at work, lousy night at home. Anyhwho, now we're watching the Grammy's. For the first time ever there has yet to be a nominee or performer whose album I haven't heard, start to finish, at least once. I feel all knowledgable and schtuff."

"Esperanza Spalding wins best new artist . . . [sx: crickets chirp]. She wouldn't have been my FOURTH choice out of the nominees. What a waste of airtime."

"Yo, Babs: if you are presenting a Grammy, best not to stammer over the winner's album title. Kinda gives the impression you don't know them or their work (which you don't)."

Feb 14th




"After the Grammy's we (well, Lisa) baked cupcakes for the kids' Valentines Day treats, then settled down to watch 'I Spit on Your Grave'. It's a remake of a '70's film where a woman is gang-raped and left for dead, only to return & kill off her attackers in Saw-esque scenarios. Ten years ago, I'd have labeled the movie and *all* of its characters 'retarded'. Now, dutifully PC, I don't know how to describe it."

"While waiting for the kids at dance class I finished "The Ice Bowl: The Cold Truth About Football's Most Unforgettable Game" by Ed Gruver. Stylish writing, great detail, tons of research; just a great read. Be forewarned tho' - the ebook version is awash in typos that don't appear in the print editiion."

"Enough is as good as a feast"

"Big fan of the Nook, as you know, and I favor the reading experience and battery life of the b&w over the Color, but I gotta tell ya - the inability to read in dim light is wearing on me. As soon as twilight arrives your reading is done, long before a booklight would be needed for a traditional page. Not liking the idea that a Color might be the weapon of choice when funds allow."

The NLCS is tied 2-2

There, Brewers win, LCS tied at 2 games each. Happy now? Jiminy Cricket, I said it in the NLDS and I had to trot it out again yesterday: have some confidence and act like you've been there before. Watching Fox 6 Wake up News this morning was like watching a funeral for the team. Until the last out of the elimination game, have faith.

Quote

““Even the devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.”

-William Shakespeare”

Shockwave by John Sandford

Today I finished reading 'Shockwave', a Virgil Flowers novel by the great John Sandford. It's about the hunt for a serial bomber in a small Minnesota town, who appears to be trying to stop the fictional equivalent of a Wal-Mart from opening. 

As expected from Sandford, it's a fine read with plenty of style and a who-dunnit that actually kept me guessing. 

Recommended.

Quote

“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.” - Elmore Leonard

The Beast of Bray Road

The Beast of Bray Road is a low budget horror film centered around the werewolf legend of Walworth County (here in Wisconsin). 

This was awful, but in a 'make you smile not retch' kinda way. The acting is rec-class awful (although the lead & Kelly were good), the costumes were ill fitting, everyone in WI apparently wears Stetsons, cops don't retaliate when punks spit at them, and the werewolf looked silly.

But it was set in WI, there are two nice sets of breasts bared for your viewing pleasure, if such is your preference, and what the hell - it's set in Wisconsin.