New Years Eve 2011

I'm expecting a quiet New Years Eve. I worked today (and saw Alex Q), then returned home to a night with Lisa, Smiley, and Lulu  (YaYa is with a friend, Junie  w/ Grandma). We're making kiddie cocktails and having Papa Murphy's pizza w/ ice cream as a desert. At 9 or 10 we'll have "midnight" for the kids, then hit the margaritas. The highlight so far: walking to the gas station with Smiley and scoping out the neighborhood Christmas lights.

* Jenny McCarthy asked a soldier in Times Square what artist should be #1 all-time on Rockin' Eve and he said "New Kids on the Block". Lol it's my long lost twin!

* #19 on the countdown of Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve top 40 performances ever: NKOTBSB. Still waiting to see if NKOTB  proper cracks the top 15 . . .

* In case I don't get on the comp again before midnight, here's my one and only New Year's Resolution: to make 2012 better than the three years that preceded it. 2009 sucked. 2010 was one of the worst years I've ever had. 2011 was OK, but largely a clone of 2009. Enough of this sh*t. Time to get life rolling again . . .

Ya know how I said "11/22/63" would be the last book I read this year? Sadly, I am a man with no willpower. I just finished two books today. "Agent to the Stars" a comic sci-fi novel by John Scalzi (a name old J-Lander's should recognize), wandered off plot for a bit but was still worth a 'B', and "Angle of Investigation" by Michael Connelly, an ebook that's really just a novella's worth of Harry Bosch stories. I'd grade the first of the stories an A, the second a B, and third (surprise!) a mere C/C-.

Today's Weather

dec 30th, 2011, Milwaukee - steady rain and moderate temp all day. I say again, only mostly tongue in cheek: if this is global warming, I'm all for it.

Quote

"Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means." - Ronald Reagan

4 Films

"Jackass 3" - the funniest installment yet. Luvvved it.

"Another Earth" - slow and intellectual (what I call a 'Oriental' film, after the pretentious theater on the East side). But I liked it, and would recommend it.

'Faces in the Crowd', starring Mila Jovovich, is a thriller about a woman who survives a serial killer attack only to lose the ability to recognize faces, leading to a wee bit of a problem once the killer returns to visit. Standard fare, no better or worse than a C.

'Limitless' was silly but a lot of fun, and it didn't end as I thought it would (always a plus). I'd give it a B/B+

Margin Call

Whodathunk a film about a faulty algorithm and a bunch of stockbrokers who weep about 'only' making 1.4 million for a days work could be tedious and dull? Oh, that's right; anyone who's ever rented 'Margin Call' with Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, and Jeremy Irons. Ditto "Freakanomics". Dull. Dull. Dull.

Congrats are in order

A hectic but productive day. We polished off BOTH Yaya and LuLu's expo projects (due Jan 25th) and did a diorama of a killer whale to accompany a book report of  Smiley's. It took a trip to Michael's, the Dollar Store, the floral department of Piggly Wiggly, and several hours, but they're done. Whew. Excuse me while Lisa and I pat our own backs.

RIP

Cheetah, the chimpanzee from the Tarzan flicks of the 30's, has passed away at the age of 80. RIP.

A Minor Blemish on my Record

I do not 'LIKE' Honda. If they went belly-up, good riddance. Yet Facebook claims I 'Like' them. How do I remove that blight from my reputation? I cannot find an 'unlike' button.

Boxing Day 2011 - House on the Rock

We spent the day at House on the Rock yesterday, putting the new GPS to good use. It was a blast, and the kids chose to melt down only at the end, leading to an embarrassing gift shop incident but wth, we were two minutes from the exit anyhow. As our family circle continues to shrink, maybe we'll treat this Christmas as the new tradition: breakfast and a movie on the 25th, and a trip somewhere on Boxing Day.

Jedi YaYa

A Great Christmas So Far

A great Christmas so far. We woke up, opened gifts, then sat down to a breakfast of french toast and sausage. In the afternoon we took the kids to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked", which was pretty entertaining. Not $52 entertaining, but hey, that's the cost of being a breeder. Afterwards we drove through CandyCane Lane a second time b4 coming home to settle in and play with our toys. :)

Our own GPS!

Setting up a TomTom GPS our friend Chris got me for Christmas - thanks Entourage!

Candy Cane Lane

@candy cane lane w/ the kids

After Candy Cane Lane we stopped and visited with my parents for a bit, then returned home for dinner and my annual viewing of "It's a Wonderful Life". And yes, a s always, I teared up

Homemade Teacher Gifts . . and a Q-Tip and Yarn Tower LOL

Morning TV viewing

twice in the last ten minutes ABC News has had a typo on the ticker they're running on GMA. No one has spellcheck in NY?

later: poor Kelly Ripa, working at full speed to pull anything out of Rooney Mara. The woman has the personality of my ear wax.

11/22_63

Today I finished reading Stephen King's time travel thriller "11/22/63". It had plenty of tension filled moments, was chock full of historical detail (largely unadulterated by the needs of the plot) and in short it was a fun read. A. [note: this will probably be the last book I read in 2011. I think I'll take it easy and start up again in the new year]

Kim Jon II and Vaclav Havel

Kim Jon II, the leader of North Korea, is dead. He was a nut and a sabre rattler and has kept his country in the stone age for decades. Meanwhile Vaclav Havel, a longtime anti-communist activist, playwright, former Czech President and perennial contender for the Nobel Peace Prize has died at age 75. Any bets on which one will get more press?

A Good Day

Great sales (34) day at work. Also saw a lot of old co-workers: Mike Mac* Sarah, and Berta B. Sadly, however, the Sad Sack Slapjacks were eliminated from the consolation bracket with a miserable performance today. I finish the fantasy season at 6-9.

Smiley's new Smile!

Christopher Hitchens is dead. Enjoy the heat.

Done

Just finished and sent off one of my columns. I'll get to the next one after work tomorrow. Off to bed.

A Sh**ty Day Off

Sh**ty day off. I don't mind the rain and the gloomy skies - Iz down with dat - but I've had a headache, a nosebleed and an argument with Lisa that led to four and a half hours of wasted air in the middle of the day. Lu has a friend coming over and I reckon we should clean the house, but bleep that. I have four destructive, messy kids. No use pretending otherwise. 

Oh, I also have two columns to write and X-Factor voting to attend to. *melodramatic sigh* on the upside, I'm making bbq ribs for dinner.

Chris Rene sucks. Why he's still on X-Factor is beyond me.

I wish to formally wipe the last 23 hours and 58 minutes off the Tivo of my life. What a shit, shit day.

Kudos to Smiley for pronouncing his "Sh" sound worksheet correctly!

Fright Night

Redboxed the remake of "Fright Night" and wonder of wonders it's better than the original. The writing is sharp, blending horror and laughs in all the right proportions, and the acting is terrific (special nod to Anton Yelchin). Plus - drum roll please - DAVID TENANT, aka the Doctor, stars as vampire hunter Peter Vincent. Hell, even the *bloopers* on the DVD were worth the rental fee. A+

ISO

Anybody have a decent stollen recipe they'd care to share?

Hey Now

Yaya to her friend @ dinner, once she giggled at one of my jokes: "Please don't laugh @ his jokes Romy, it only encourages him"

I Can't Believe It

Well, If this doesn't say a lot about the crappy priorities of  the modern world. 

Smack my Head

Annoyed at a Catholic Facebook page that fell for an Onion article and railed against the imaginary project. Jeepers, way to make us look like idiots.

Try It

What I Learned Today: The english bits of 'Feliz Navidad' lends itself perfectly to a Dracula/Transylvanian accent.

I Hope it Was Enough

on the porch reading and watching Smiley play when a homeless man walked by w/ a shopping cart (1st x ever). I stopped and asked him if he was hungry and had Park bring him an apple and a pack of cookies we had just bought. I thought about giving him my untouched sub sandwich too, but in the end my belly won that fight.

Unkwown

Tonight, after the "30 Minutes . ." dud, we put in Liam Neeson's "Unknown". I liked it. A little long, a little improbable, but entertaining and with an imaginative little premise. B+

A Nightmare

Went to bed 'round midnight, woke up at 4:04 from a nightmare bad enough that I promptly went downstairs and hurled. Great night.

Atlas Shrugged Pt 1

i watched "Atlas Shrugged Pt 1" yest. Objectively, it was an ok film that struggled at times to find enough action to warrant its length. Subjectively, it was great to see a film that correctly warns of a near future where the governments whims trump private property, free markets, and worst of all initiative. Lisa stated a few times that "that could never happen". Wait and see. Wait and see.

30 Minutes or Less

We rented the DVD for '30 Minutes or Less' from Netfix. Aptly named film. We made it all of ten minutes before giving up on this mindless turd.

A Celebrity Sighting

Saw Chester Marcol today (Packers kicker from '72-80)

Adele

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British singer Adele made Billboard history on Friday when she became the first female singer to be named top artist, have the top album, "21," and score the top single, "Rolling in the Deep," all in one year.

X-Factor

en route to wrk, arguing about yest X Factor result w/ two Simon hatahs. Some people . . .

Who said I'm Difficult?

out to eat w/ Lisa. Well, she's eating, I'm sulking. I was told it is too early 4 lunch fare, and so I refused nething but coffee. Listening now to Lisa's commentary about how difficult I am and how I better not be facebooking . . .

Jerry Robinson

Jerry Robinson, the creator of The Joker, Robin, Two-Face, Alfred, and other staples of Batman lore is dead. He was 89. RIP.

Some People

en route to wrk, arguing about yest X Factor result w/ two Simon hatahs. Some people . . .

When Tribal Sovereignty Challenges Democracy: American Indian Education and the Democratic Ideal

@ my Dad's request I read and offered my opinion on "When Tribal Sovereignty Challenges Democracy: American Indian Education and the Democratic Ideal" by K Tsianina Lomawaima & Teresa L McCarty [Amer. Educational Research Journal Summer 2002 V30 #2). I agree with the authors that tribal education is far below par and needs to change, but found much of the paper a simple recitation of ills. More time on proposed solutions might have been nice. In short, no different than most papers I read in Education.

Paul

Just finished watching "Paul" a comedy about two Brits on a road trip across America who pick up an alien on the lam. I liked it quite a bit until after the halfway point, when people started being killed and/or shot (uh, it is supposed to be a comedy, right?) and they tossed in a senseless, typically Hollywood attack on Christianity. (how, uh, exactly does the existence of an ET disprove God? Wouldn't a universe full of intelligent species evolving independently lend weight to the idea of ID at work?) C+

Pujols to the Angels

BREAKING NEWS: Albert Pujols is going to the Angels - 10 years, $250 million. Booyah. The Central just a whole lot friendlier for the Brewers.

The Rocker

BTW, our movie last night was "The Rocker" with Rainn Wilson as a guy who spends 20 years in a funk after being dumped by a band on the brink of superstardom, only to get a second chance behind the kit for his nephew's band. I expected the movie to be awful and was pleasantly surprised. It isn't going to resonate in my heart forever or anything, but it was a moderately funny, mildly sweet feel good story.

Feast of the Immaculate Conceptio

Just back from Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It felt good - I needed that. Now a quick breakfast and off to work . .

Quote

William Temple replied to his critics who regarded answered prayer as no more than coincidence, “When I pray, coincidences happen; when I don’t, they don’t.”

 - David Watson, Called & Committed, (Harold Shaw Publishers, Wheaton, IL; 1982), p. 83

Fingers Crossed

Trying to vote for Melanie Amaro but all circuits are busy . . . Good on you America. She's a star.

Harry Morgan

Harry Morgan (aka Col. Potter on MASH) has died at age 96. RIP sir, I enjoyed your work.

The Journal-Sentinel just asked me to do an extended column for publication on Christmas Day. Quoting the email from the editor: "You seem to have a knack for writing holiday columns with just the right feel." Flattered and all, blah blah, but mighty sick of being good enough to be sought out for publication and yet never considered for regular work.

My Thoughts

Former IL Gov Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison today on corruption charges. Blech. I'm all for punishing the guilty, but to my mind imprisoning someone for a non-violent crime seems like a waste of resources. Stab someone, rape, murder, even risk someone's death (by drunk driving or by carrying a weapon during a crime) and by all means lock 'em up, but short of that there have to be more cost-effective & intelligent solutions.

We Remember

70 years ago today my maternal grandparent's were on a date at the Riverside Theater. The movie was stopped, the lights came on, and an announcement was made that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. They both knew my Great Uncle Leo (grandma's brother) was stationed there that morning. He was part of the crew of the USS Vestal, moored alongside the Arizona. Luckily, he survived, but of course 2000 Americans did not. To all the men at Pearl that day, thank you for your service. We'll always remember.

The Falling Dishwasher

When I picked up LuLu nd her friend from Arts & Crafts Club today after work, a full size dishwasher, some five gallon buckets, and other junk fell off the back of a truck driving directly ahead of us. I saw it about to fall and so we avoided it all, but the guy took off without stopping and I took off after him, exchanging some words at a stop sign a half mile away. There's nothing else to the story, except to say Lu and her friend, being 8, thought it was the greatest trip of their lives.

I Luv Them!!

St Nick's

St Nick's morn went well, with everyone in a good mood and loving their stockings. Booklights, winter caps (featured), dry erase boards, an outfit, a book (doll for Junie), candy, and odds and ends. A good haul and as I said they loved it. Lisa got makeup and a nice candle. Heck, I got a new pair of slippers myself.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

We just finished watching "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". It was much, much better than your average comedy/rom-comedy, Kudos to Segel for a funny, well-crafted script that made the characters real and complex, each with their own flaws and strengths. I was really impressed (and the great cast didn't hurt). A + (Lisa was less keen on it, but ya ain't hear to read her opinions, are ya?;)

St Nick is Coming!

The stockings are full and laid out by the fireplace. An unintentional compliment from the kids tonight: one of them asked why we bothered with the stockings since "there's always too much to fit in them anyway". For that, a big thank you to Lisa, who I swear works all year long to compile an impressive hoard of goodies for the holidays.

Tiger Cubs

Dan this reminds me of you in cub scouts - my Mom

It's Finally Working

After two days and four calls AT&T got my internet up and running again. No word on what the 'line trouble' was, or why it took repeated calls for the automated repair system to iron it out. Still, for AT&T, a banner day.

They Suck

After two days and four calls AT&T got my internet up and running again. No word on what the 'line trouble' was, or why it took repeated calls for the automated repair system to iron it out. Still, for AT&T, a banner day.

The Smurfs

I just finished watching 'The Smurfs'. It is what it is, a not unpleasant kids movie w/ a nostalgic hook for the grown-ups. NPH, as is his norm, rocked.

And?

yes, its a grim 48 degrees or so w/ wet pavement, a steady wind and gray skies. And yes, I'm sitting in the rocker on my front porch reading. What of it?

Bad Title, Great Script

2x now we've seen the pilot of Fox's 'I Hate My Teenager'. Dumb title, talented acting and a WONDERFUL LOL script. The screenwriter has talent to spare.

The B10 Championship

watching the big ten championship game w/ an inquisitive and attentive Lu

Congrats to the Big 10 champion Badgers! What an ugly, unimpressive W (it all comes down to a punter!) but we'll take it. On Wisconsin baby! CU in the Rose Bowl!

$$%#@%@#% AT&T

the net is down @ home (yes, bill is pd) AT&T says its a line problem, which is a euphemism for "AT&T sucks donkey bal*s, always has always will"

Yaya and LuLu and their first "real" school Dance!

Tonight my girls had their 1st 'real' school dance and both were dressed to the 9's and wore corsages their Mama made them @ the floral shop. They had a great time!

Lookin' Sharp!

Our Tree is . . . .Gone.

Unbelievable

There's some fool on Craigslist looking to hire a writer to do a 6 or 7 page psych paper. The payment terms? FIFTEEN dollars. Yeah, maybe if it was per page buddy. Here's a term you may find helpful when writing that paper all by your lonesome: go f--k yourself.

Water For Elephants

"Water for Elephants" surprised me by being a darn good, non-weepy romance set during the Great Depression. Robert Pattison, aka Twilight boy, proved to be more than just a pretty face, and Renee Witherspoon very nearly convinced me she had one. A-

Moving Malcolm

"Moving Malcom" is a film about a guy who's devastated when his fiance (Elizabeth Berkeley) leaves him at the altar. A year later she calls him - but only to ask if he could help her elderly Dad move while she's out of town. It's more of a mild drama than a comedy, but enjoyable either way. B.

Kudos to Pres. Obama

Kudos to Pres. Obama for correctly praising Bush's efforts on behalf of AIDS prevention/treatment in Africa. Said the President: "I believe that history will record [Dubya's] Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief as one of his greatest legacies," he said. "That program -- more ambitious than even leading advocates thought was possible at the time -- has saved hundreds of thousands and thousands and thousands of lives, spurred international action, and laid the foundation for a comprehensive global plan that will impact the lives of millions." Thank you, Mr. President, for your honesty.

Quote

I love you more than tongue can tell - a saying of Robin Bush (daughter of George and Barbara, sister of Dubya) who died of leukemia at age 3. The family never forgot the saying, adopting it and using it often since her death a half century ago. It appears in private letters between father and son reprinted in 'Decision Points'.

judy Lewis

The secret illegitimate daughter of Clark Gable and Loretta Young; I  just saw her speak on a documentary a few months back. RIP.

NPH

Neil Patrick Harris rocks. He should take Regis' gig. He's a natural.

But I  just got called off of work because of slow sales (was 'on call'). That won't hurt my Christmas shopping. Not at all, no siree.

Becoming Chaz

Long day. As a nightcap we watched "Becoming Chaz", a documentary that followed Chaz Bono through the 1st year of his transition from a female to a male. Excepting the morbid title music, it was a happy if not carefree window into his life, made all the easier to accept by his likable personality and the presence of his quirky girlfriend. Read between the lines of the doc though, and you'll come away certain that the relationship btwn Chaz and Cher is tenuous (if loving), and that he is far more accepted by his father's side of the family. It's Lisa's opinion that this has as much to do with Cher's reaction to Chaz's weight and non Cher-ness  as his gender. I think it's a good point.