The Glenn Miller Orchestra

I was pleased as punch to drive down to Waukegan, Illinois with Junie and take it a performance by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. This was our second time seeing the band live, and it was better this time, because they finally got around to performing Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree. That song is far and away Junie's favorite Miller piece, and she was super excited to hear the song start. 

The theater, by the way, was of course in Jack Benny's hometown and was quite proud to still showcase that fact!

Singles turns 30

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Today marks 30 years – THIRTY YEARS – since the release of the Singles soundtrack. 

Putting aside the impossibility of such a statement, it’s hard to find words to describe the importance of this album to me. 

It is one of the ten records I’d take with me on a deserted island. Other than Nirvana, it features all the major players of the grunge era, and more. It was one of the first group of CD’s I bought with my “introductory offer” at Columbia House Records and Tape. Most importantly, for a young fan eager to prove the band he was passionate about wasn’t a one and done fluke, there were two mighty, glorious new Pearl Jam songs. 

Hearing Breathe and State of Love and Trust was all the proof I needed. 

Happy Birthday Singles soundtrack. May you be played forever.  

They Did

my report cards really said “she needs to stop reading her own books in class” for years. - YaYa

Burnham Playfield

Couldn't happen for a better neighborhood!  So happy for them. The negativity in the comments of this article makes me sick. I lived in different 3 houses on a block off Burnham nearby spanning the 80s, 90's and even into the 2000's and have countless good memories....and many lifelong friendships. - Lisa

Obi-Wan Kenobi

I finally finished watching the last episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and my opinion is mixed. There were certainly highlights - heck, just seeing Ewan McGregor back playing Kenobi was a highlight - but I thought it was a bit too ramshackle a storyline overall. Too many ideas all tied together with a bit of shellac and a gum wrapper, and few of them even original. [spoiler] Even the much ballyhooed fight between Vader and Kenobi - which I thought was great - was just a remake of the Ahsoka duel from Rebels. [end spoiler]

This isn't a bad show, and all six episodes are fun. But Kenobi is the greatest Jedi of all time, IMO - bruh, he beat Maul 2x, Grievous, Anakin, etc. 

He deserved far better.

RIP Maria's Pizza

Maria's Pizza, a South Side staple for 65 years, closed their doors forever today (at least until someone buys it and claims to have the original recipe. They'll be lying.) 

This inspired a number of mournful posts on Facebook today, and a long line of regulars looking for a final fix. And I mean a loooooong line. Check out these pics:

Here's a secret, just between you and me: I didn't like the place. Paper plates, plastic tablecloths, limp pizza thin enough to be mistaken for a sheet of paper? Nah. Not for me.  

But to each their own. 

Congrats to Ole Miss!

Congratulations to Ole Miss on their first ever College World Series title!! National Champions in Oxford!

Today In History

13 years since MJ  passed,  72 years since North Korea invaded the South, starting the Korean War,  27 years since Chief Justice Burger died, and 146 years since Little Bighorn. Pretty busy day in history.

On Roe

To celebrate the overturning of Roe V wade is disgusting. Anyone with half of a brain should be able to realize what a step back this is. Anyone with half of a brain should be able to understand just how monumental this decision is. This doesn't ban the right to have access to abortions. This bans the right to have SAFE access. - Junie

Tony Siragusa

If I knew of Goose during his time as a Baltimore Raven, I've long since forgotten. But I do remember him as a Fox Sports commentator, and to see him pass at 55 is a shock. RIP 

ISO Baby Gate

ISO a dog gate with a door!!!! Dogs are wreaking havoc up the stairs but the stairs are a little steep to be continually stepping over a gate. 

if you have anything you want to trade for lmk! 

pic of the mess maker. - Lulu

Update: 

ISO BABY GATE 

I posted awhile ago about a baby gate but didn’t get any response. Our pup has taken to chewing family photos stored upstairs. So a baby gate is needed so thought I would check here first 👍🏻

Top Gun: Maverick

 

As a reward at the tail end of seventh grade, Mr. Eggner allowed our class to watch movies for most of the day. I brought in my well-worn VHS of The Alamo: 13 Days to Glory, expecting the class to love it as much as I did. Not surprisingly, it bombed. Over lunch my friend Erv went and got his copy of Top Gun and I sulked while he basked in the appreciation of our classmates.

 

Jerk.

 

But, after 35 years it was time to forgive, so I invited Erv to join me for a showing of Top Gun: Maverick.

 

I loved the movie. 

 

It wasn’t the action, although there was plenty of that, and every moment impressively done.

 

It wasn’t the nostalgia, although it certainly had that in bulk.

 

No, for me it was the maturity shown throughout the film. From Tom Cruise’s personal introduction before the movie to the final credits, this was a grown-ups movie. You aren’t looking at the Maverick of the first movie magically dropped into the future unchanged, as in many sequels; no, you’re looking at a grown man experiencing events from the eyes of a 50-something at the tail end of his career.

 

Maverick is still a Captain after 30 years – a ridiculous situation, explained away by his one-time nemesis/now Admiral, Iceman, intervening to save his career when he steps out of line. But from the start, we see that Maverick’s disobedience is no longer the bratty rebellious youth; right or wrong, he breaks the rules with deliberate thought, and then only to sacrifice himself for those around him.

 

Of course we see the pain of Goose’s death still shadows his life – so much for tossing Goose’s dog tag’s off the carrier, the moment of catharsis in the original – and that haunts the whole storyline. It also goes far in explaining why Maverick may have sabotaged his own career path; you’re not going to make Admiral if you are unwilling to send others into battle.

 

What really sold me on this film was the maturity displayed by Cruise himself. That personal message before the film really rang true; the man loves cinema. And in this film, unlike any other I remember, he is unafraid to show his age. I mean, Maverick is always going to be good looking; he’s Tom Cruise. But this was Tom Cruise with wrinkles and age lines, being taunted as an “old man” by other characters. He wasn’t afraid to show his height either; in scene after scene he’s clearly shorter than the men around him. I don’t recall ever seeing that before in a Cruise film.

 

Even the lovemaking scene was mature. There was a young boy sitting next to me, and when the scene began his Mom reached over and covered his eyes. She needn’t have bothered. As in Old Hollywood, there was the suggestion of lovemaking, not the act itself, and most of the scene was charmingly spent on pillow talk.

 

It just felt like Tom Cruise poured everything into his role. It felt . . . right.

Go see this in the theater! 

Yuck Yuck and, what's the word? Yuck.

It's only the 33rd time in recorded history that Milwaukee has reached the century mark. 

Classy

A lesson on the type of selfies grown men share during a conversation.

Green is her color

Fav - LuLu

The Father's Day Hike at Hawthorn Glen

Last night Lisa suggested I take Smiley on the annual Father-Son Father's Day hike at Hawthorn Glen.

"It's important to keep the tradition alive," she said. 

 I thought for a moment. It had been cancelled because of Covid in 2020 and '21, and now Smiley is a 6'3" man on the verge of adulthood. 

 "The tradition is dead," I said.

 Naturally, the first thing in the morning I was gung-ho and we headed right out LOL!

[I called my friend Tre and invited him and my Godson at the last minute, and they jumped to return to the annual event!]

Sadly, I apparently can't read a schedule, because the hike was SATURDAY, not today. Oopie. 

It didn't matter of course. The .75 mile nature trail has a self-guiding tour, and even if it didn't it's all old hat to us. So off we all went. 

There were a few new things. Some planned, like this observation deck (which was still waiting for stairs) and others unplanned, like a tree that had fallen across the trail.

This pile of sticks reminded me of "Eeyore's House" from our old hikes in Downer Woods :)

As always, Hawthorn Glen was beautiful, and the weather was perfect.

Smiley even pulled some wild onion for our dinner (don't worry - on every previous hike, the host encouraged us to pick some)

It was a great way to kick off Father's Day, and I'm glad we kept the tradition going another year!

A Father's Day Delivery

"Dan, this package is for you," a coworker said, handing me a box that had just been delivered. 

"Was it the adjective on the box that gave it away?"   I replied. 

Inside I found a beer glass

A "bouquet" of beef jerky

And a wonderful card with this message inside:

Thanks for the Father's Day surprise baby!