Facebook March 4th (cont.) - March 6th

March 4th:

* Whodathunk I could make a cake from scratch? Having mastered all the Manly Arts, it seems I'm destined to conquer the kitchen as well. :) The apple cake is out of the oven & looks and smells wonderful. I made it for Friday's dessert so I can't judge the taste yet, but I'm gonna go on a limb & type out the recipie on S...lapinions. I can always delete the draft if the cake is hurl-worthy.

* [on the brutal slaying of Rachel Thompson and her children here in Milwaukee] Ah, man. They killed the 4 yr old first - a child that greeted them by name - & then took turns stabbing a toddler in the neck. Then, and only then, did they kill the woman who'd seen her own mom, and now her own children, murdered. Monsters like this walk the streets, freed by our legal system, while people piss & moan about due process for terrorists. What a f*ed up world.

* two links, neither of which I can get to work today: a lock of Napoleon's hair was found in an Australian vault, and coins from the time of Alexander the Great were unearthed in Syria

March 5th:

* My parents just left. I'd invited them over for a Lenten meal of cajun style salmon cakes, rice, salad, and that homemade apple cake I made yest. Personally, I think the cake was a litte dry, but everyone seemed to like it.

* Luda's "How Low Can You Go?" came on when I was driving w/ Smiley. When the chipmunk voice chimed in he got very excited & asked me to turn it down so he could tell me something. "Daddy, t'ose Zhu-Zhu [Pet] sounds!" he said, a typical grin plastered on his face.



* From the comfort of a chair in WI, the 'race' seems like no big deal, if silly, but I'm sure it's a big no-no. Here's an interesting bit: I didn't know the USN had female Capt's on warships - or that this one (Holly Graff) has been relieved of duty for unprofessional and cruel behavior towards her crew. That behavior ...incl.'s assault, verbal abuse, & allegedly using her rank for personal gain. Way to be a pioneer for your gender there, Capt'n. Navy Captain Demoted After Warship Drag Race Surfaced

* [on news that Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is alleged to have committed a sexual assualt] Here we go again. No idea if he's guilty or just an easy, easy mark, but enough already. Get your ass out of bars Ben, and hit up Craigslist personals and the local liquor store. The results certainly couldn't be any worse.

March 6th, my niece's birthday and the anniversary of the fall of the Alamo:

* Screw a dislike button. What FB needs is a spelling and grammar check.

* I woke up at 6 am, got dressed, scraped the frost off the windshield and drove to work, ready to start at 7 . . . only to discover my shift didn't start until 10.

* *93.6%* of Iceland's pop. votes 'no' to a bank bailout that would have cost them the equiv of $5.3 billion in payments to Britain & the Netherlands. Now International Moneary Fund may block a financial rescue package, the gov't might be destablized, and folks are p.o'd. Welcome to the messy, squabling Europe. Same as the old Europe, really, but w/out trench warfare. So far.

* After a busy day at work I came home, chilled for a bit, then noticed we were down to only 2 kids (after my niece's bday party YaYa stayed over, Smiley is at Gma). So I packed up & burned part of my paycheck on dinner at Villa Roma. Click on that link for a review of our experience. Lu and Ginger were dolls. A nice end to the day.

* My family ate at Villa Roma Saturday night. It was a nice atmosphere, relaxed and adult but more than accomodating to the kids - to the point they were given Princess and Hannah Montana plates! The pizza was typical Milwaukee style - thin cracker crust, a sweet tomato sauce, sausage and cheese. Very good, and quite affordable: $15.50 for a 12x18 pizza. The garlic bread was great but a little pricey for the amount that we were given. Service was quite friendly. We'll be back!

* [on an article debating whether or not civility and politeness in a crisis is directly related to the time you have to react] Interesting. I agree w/ the idea, but also w/ several of the rebuttals. The Lusitania, cited as an ex. of panic induced selfishness, did sink quickly, leaving no time to re-exert sociatal norms. But passengers had just been attacked & sunk during wartime, & they had full knowledge of the Titanic disaster. Put those conditions on the Titanic & a similar panic may have emerged, regardless of the time it took to sink.