Yaya's 5th Grade test scores

YaYa got her standardized test scores yest on the last day of fifth grade. She placed at college level in reading and comprehension, but slightly below grade level in math. Apparently she can read and understand a college dissertation - she just can't give you an accurate page count.

Grant's Take on the Confederacy

If you're a person who still argues that the South had a legal and moral right to secede in 1861 *cough* Fred Bryan cough*you would be advised to read chapter XVI of U.S. Grant's memoirs (and the first page of the following chapter). I've rarely, if ever, read a more articulate and intelligent refutation of the CSA's legitimacy. 

 Fred Bryan 

Note that his refutation came after the illegal , unjust and immoral war. 

 Me: 

Would u have listened to him when he was just a clerk in a leather goods store? When else was he to write it but after his fame. Read it 🙂 

 Fred Bryan 

What I mean, is that it's usually pretty easy to justify what one did to an opponent that one has destroyed years afterward. Rome certainly justified the destruction of Carthage, after all. Or put another way, one can murder their dinner companion, then, before calling the police, arrange the scene to make it appear that the victim had gone berserk and that the killer had no choice. This was one of the great virtues of the Declaration of Independence, that the proposed course of action that the United Colonies wished to follow was laid out with its justifications more or less in advance. 

 Me:

again, read the chapter, esp the section where we points out that a document largely crafted by southern slave owners offered no mechanism for secession. All arguments for its 'right' came when the south could no longer dominate Washington and thus protect slavery. Or, to use your example, once they'd taken it upon themselves to try and murder their dinner guest 🙂

Reader Reaction

Surprisingly, in lieu of the expected hate mail, my in-box has been swamped by well-wishers ranging from ex-teachers to bank vp's (gasp! A One Percent'er!). I've gotten more venom thrown at me when I wrote a column about the Hoan Bridge - I kid you not.

Da Groundhog

One interesting anecdote from LuLu's birthday bash this past weekend: When I was out swimming Lisa and her Mom noticed something brown moving on the grass. "Is that a giant squirrel?" her Mother asked. They went to investigate, but the creature had the same idea and came up to join them in the pavilion.



First it just looked at the tables.



Then it went under and around them, trying to 'sniff' out the truth.



Eventually it started climbing up and on the tables.



Then it got bored and wandered off all on its own.



I wish Lisa could remember the way she told the story when I came back out of the water. It was LOL funny and sweet to boot. I guess you'll just have to settle for my version :)

Ray Bradbury

RIP science fiction great Ray Bradbury

Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies

Ok, just finished watching "Abe Lincoln vs. Zombie" a clear ripoff of the Vampire Hunter book/upcoming movie. Abe and company try to fight there way out of a fort surrounded by the undead, and the President runs into Stonewall Jackson, Pat Garrett (of Billy the Kid fame) and a young Teddy Roosevelt, in addition to an old flame turned prostitute. It was bad, but not nearly as bad as you think. Most of the acting is dreadful, with the exception of Honest Abe himself, played by Bill Oberst Jr. Oberst does a hell of a job. With him I grade this a C-/D+. Without him, a D-.

The Scott Walker Recall Election

VICTORY!!!!!!!! 

 MSNBC and FOX are reporting Walker has won the election, but NBC is reporting it too close to call and the Journal-Sentinel is hemming and hawing. My 'victory' call might have been premature. We shall see.

CNN, NBC and ABC declare Walker the winner . . 

AP declares Rebecca Keefisch the winner of her race! 

JS Online just called it for Scott . . . 

Walker has acknowledged the victory to AP . . 

OK, enough politics. If my grin gets any bigger my cheeks might split. Time to fire up the DVD player. By the way Wisconsin - I've never been prouder to call this state my home.

Quote of the Year

After work Lisa and I took the kids with us to vote. Junie was SUPER excited, almost bouncing off the walls, but when we got in the car to leave she was near tears. 

"I want to go voting," she said over and over. "Why we not go in the water?" 

That's when it dawned on me. "Did you think we were going BOATING?" I asked, and she nodded. 

"Aww, poor kid," Lisa said. "That really is a letdown."

A Blaze of Glory by Jeff Shaara - a review

First things first, and I don't mean this tongue in cheek: what a lousy title. No serious work of fiction should ever instantly remind the reader of a Jon Bon Jovi song. Never. Ever.

None-the-less, with A Blaze of Glory Jeff Shaara has returned to the cornerstone of his family's literary legacy, the Civil War. This time its a visit to the Battle of Shiloh, with Albert Sidney Johnston and William Tecumseh Sherman as the primary focus of the bloody two-day affair, with a few lower ranking voices tossed in for good measure.

At times the novel slides out of the world of fiction and summarizes the days events to move the action forward, a necessary but cumbersome device that jars you out of the 'here and now'. I also felt shortchanged by his treatment of the second day, when the Union counterattacked and won the day. Yes, there is more drama to a surprise attack and the tense hours when the battle was in doubt, but I still hold that the second day could have been given more space in the novel and a better effort than what was put forth.

Those are minor quibbles. Overall I enjoyed the book immensely, as I have with most Shaara novels. He can certainly grab your emotions with his depictions of warfare: during a scene where a Union captive was threatened with torture, my heart screamed in rage, and I remember thinking that we were far too lenient of a nation at Appomatox.

If a work of fiction can get you that fired up about a 150 year old battle, then brother the author did something right.

Grade: B+

Book #41 of the year

Metal Tornado

I rented "Metal Tornado" with Lou Diamond Phillips, a flick about an energy company that mistakenly creates a 'magnetic vortex' that threatens to engulf Philadelphia. Oh, it's not as bad as the premise and title suggest, but it's still just a pastiche of every disaster movie you've ever seen. Grade: C