Paradise Landing

With the bulk of her First Communion money YaYa decided to splurge and enjoy a night at a local waterpark called Paradise Landing. It's inside the downtown Hilton and once upon a time Lisa and I took our niece and nephew there, many moons ago. I'm not sure if YaYa had been there for a party or just seen the pictures, but she was very adament about the destination.

Lisa and her Mom accompanied her overnight, and YaYa invited her friend Meadow too. The dates on the camera phone were obviously well off on that day.






I know she enjoyed spending the night in a hotel with her friend.


She had a great time and wants to return for another visit. Fine with me - as long as she pays again ;)

ALCS Game Two

A-Rod, 0-2 in the bottom of the eleventh, blasts a game tying home run to the opposite field - and w/out full arm extension! Truly, my man love for A-Rod has reached unhealthy proportions.

Yankees win in 13 innings! One for the ages!

Because I've heard it every single day of my working life . . .

If there's a cashier that's having trouble finding the barcode on an item. . .

If there's a salesman who needs to step away and ask a manager what discount he can authorize . . .

If there's a sales clerk who isn't sure of a price because the tag is ripped off or you grabbed it out of the wrong bin . .

If there's a cashier whose scanner isn't working quickly enough, or who stops to correct an obvious error . . .

If any of these things are going on, and your brain tells your mouth to spit out some variation of:

"Huh chortle chortle. I guess it must be free then eh?"

Then . . .

.

.

.

.

.

YOU ARE A DICK.

Family Update

Howdy. My self imposed 'intermission' continues as I try to get my world clicking again, but here's an update.

* * * *

On the 12th LuLu woke up at 6 a.m. with shortness of breath and pain in her chest. I don't know how I heard her ragged cries of "Daddy, Daddy" from our room, but I give Ginger all the credit. The two share a room and once Lu woke her up, Ginger mimicked Lu's cries at an impressive volume. In the end my girl spent three hours in the E.R., getting breathing treatments and steroids to finish off her asthma attack. She spent the day home from school, but went back the next day as if nothing ever happened. Oh, btw, she also lost a front (baby) tooth yesterday (Thursday).

* * * *

Dorky quote of the day: YaYa called me into her room at bedtime and asked me to read a page from an old edition of an Encyclopedia Brown book. "Look at this. Just look at this!" I read the passage:

"Do you think it was him?" she said?

"There's no need for the second question mark Dad! It's bad editing!"


* ** *

YaYa has developed a big crush on the stepson of one of Lisa's friends. The boy is good looking and quite sweet, and its all quite innocent, but I was worried there were going to be fireworks between YaYa and LuLu. For a minute there her younger sister seemed to worm her way into the mix, quite unconsciously I think. She has a natural and easygoing way with people (especially boys), and even YaYa admits she'll ride her LuLu's coattails at times.

* * * *

Smiley's just a good boy. Plain and simple, a good and kind boy that warms your heart. He talks constantly, and only 5% of it is understandable, but there's no mistaking the love he exudes.

* * *

Ginger . . .well, she's Ginger. Twice this week she's woken up at night and smeared her poop on the walls, once so bad we actually had to scrub the paint off to remove the revolting mess. Ugh.

* ** *

Meanwhile, I am plagued by a bad tooth that needs to be pulled. If you've been with me awhile you know I'm as familiar with dental pain as Michelle Duggar is with childbirth, but this one's kicking my ass. It's not bad during the day, but the minute my head hits the pillow it's on. I get a half hour sleep here, an hour there, and then wake up in agony. It's starting to affect my day. I went to work Thursday a mixed up jumble of pain and exhaustion. At least I looked good, as always.

And yes, I have a dentist appointment scheduled, but the wait is (as always) long. But by 8:30 next Wednesday morning I should have this bugger out.

Tooth Pain and TV Ponderin'

Another nights sleep lost to this damn toothace, w/ the dentist appt. pushed back another week. At least I got something done 2night, hammering out a column for the Journal.

Random Jon and Kate thought: Jon's full name is spelled "Johnathon", which is an odd spelling, but then he shortens it to 'Jon', which to me has always read like a poor man's spelling of "John". Huh. Deep.

Irony

Milwaukee Public Library just Facebooked to say their health presentation @ Center St. library is cancelled today . .  . due to illness

My front yard is all torn up

Why? Because Gwen Moore got an ok on a project to run a gas line from Franklin to Jones Island, with my street being smack in the way of the deal. It should be done by Nov 1st.

Holy Hill

I suppose, since the 2009/2010 school year is here, that I should finish up posts about field trips from last year. Late in the spring I accompanied YaYa and her class to a visit to Holy Hill, a minor basilica located near Hubertus, Wisconsin.



Founded in the mid 19th century and topping out at 1,350 feet (400 meters) above sea level, it's a popular destination for area Catholics, and hosts more than 300,000 visitors each year.



YaYa, like the other kids, was originally assigned two eighth grade 'handlers' to keep her in sight.



As they soon became more interested in eighth grade boys than their charge, she spent most of the trip with me.

This cross, carried (!) up the hill by the shrine's founders before the Civil War, is often the first sight you're introduced to as you work your way up inside the structure. The inscription is in German, with an English translation, reflecting the ethnic makeup of the area at the time.







We then gathered outside, in front of the church itself. At that height the wind is fierce, even on nice spring days, and you're soon impressed with both the scope of the place, and the engineering behind its construction.







After a few moments we were seated inside, but a religious group needed to use the church for prayer, so we were moved to a side chapel.













In the side chapel the priest, who is connected with our school, gave us a history of Holy Hill. The statue of the Madonna above the altar in the chapel has historic significance, but I'm sorry - I've plumb forgot what it is, although I recall the journey to the shrine was complicated.



Directly outside the chapel is something I vividly recall from my many trips to the church in my own childhood. There is a wall of canes and crutches, left behind by people who claim to have been cured at the site.



Here the priest told a story about his youth. As a seminarian in the '50's he was working in the church when a man began screaming inside the chapel. The priests all assumed it was a drunk causing trouble, and sent our priest in to deal with the man. He was the youngest and toughest of the bunch, you see, and had been assigned to deal with rouges before. But this time it was not a drunk, but a man from Chicago who claimed to have regained his lost sight in the chapel; he wept and ran out the door, never to be heard from again.

You can take from that what you will, and believe or disbelieve at your leisure. But aside from issues of faith, it encapsulates something I truly do love about my Church. At times I think the Catholic Church is like Hollywood's version of an Irish priest: full of faith, devotion, charity and love; but if you want to brawl, and can't be talked out of it, more than happy to oblige your request.

We stepped outside again for a few moments, where we snapped some portraits. Have I mentioned that wind?







From there it was down to another chapel, where we had Mass with a private school set to close its doors forever.



And then ventured out for a bag lunch. Our picnic spot was at the end of the Stations of the Cross, a good third of a mile/half a mile through hilly but beautiful terrain.





Lunch was fine, and so was The Dan.



The kids posed for group shots



and YaYa climbed a tree.



Then, seeking to get ahead of the group, we set out at a brisk pace for the church tower. We had half an hour to get back to the church, get up the hill, climb the tower, hit the gift shop, and make the bus back home. Oh boy.

Have I mentioned that whole hilly terrain tidbit? It was also hot, and by the time we reached the hill I was bushed. Totaled. But we pushed on to the tower. There is, if memory serves, 178 narrow winding stairs to the top of that spire. For the first time ever I couldn't complete the climb. It was, in retrospect, a grievous error to maintain that quick pace back to the hill. In the end I cleared triple digits on the stairs and surrendered. I sent YaYa on without me. :(



















I was embarrassed, ashamed, and knew I'd let YaYa down. I apologized for failing her; she replied that she was happy I came and was grateful for my company. She was sincere, but it won't happen again - ever. I'll make that climb next year, and the year after that. Count on it.

After that we hit the gift shop, met the bus, and drove back to school. A very nice day, with a very nice girl at my side.

LuLu is in the ER

Lisa just took LuLu to the ER after she woke up short of breath with chest pain. Hopefully (?!) it's 'just' her first/last horrific asthma attack.

update: I just got preliminary word back from Lisa. They're giving her a breathing treatment and steroids, but she should be OK and home in the next hour or so.

There's a Rumor . . .

Ok! magazine is running with a story claiming ARod has asked Goldie Hawn for permission to marry her daughter (Kate Hudson). This can't wait til we have ring #27 people? There's playoffs to worry about!

Death in a Prairie House

In August of 1914, as the first shots of WWI echoed across Europe, the family and staff of architect Frank Lloyd Wright sat down for lunch in his Wisconsin home. The servant calmly and expertly served the soup - and then pulled out a hatchet. Without warning he killed Wright's lover and her children before setting fire to the building and hacking away at the staff as they tried to flee.

Seven people would die that day, making it the bloodiest mass murder in Wisconsin history before 2005.

Wright was in Chicago that day, but the loss of his lover and the partial destruction of Taliesin, his Prairie House masterpiece, would shape his life and the history of architecture. Death in a Prairie House by William R. Drennan, tells the untold story of those murders.

For many years my wife and I lived two blocks from three examples of Wright's work, and as a Wisconsin native and resident he lives on as a hero in the state. That wasn't always the case.

A few years before the attack Wright abruptly left his wife and children to take a married mother of two as his lover. In defiance of convention, he flaunted this affair and eventually took up residence with her at Taliesin. That is questionable behavior now, much less in 1914, and all of it neatly justified by a hodge-podge of collected aphorisms.

In return, many people in America looked upon him with scorn and distrust.

Did that play a role in inspiring the killer? No one ever discovered the true motive behind the attacks - the African-American assailant starved himself to death in jail before the trial, having attempted suicide upon capture - and everything from religious indignation, racial tension, and a grand conspiracy was offered up for approval.

The book does a fine job of exploring the early life of Wright and piecing together the attack and its aftermath. There are a few notable little errors - one on the first page (!) - but in each case they are almost certainly insignificant details (but ones that should be corrected in future editions). As far at the writing goes it is smooth and polished and shows an expert hand.

Highly entertaining, highly recommended.

The international Date Line always confuses me - is it April 1st in Oslo?

I'm tinkering with announcing an 'intermission' here at Slapinions as I tangle with real-world issues, but I had to sally forth for this obligatory subject . . .
* * * * *

My reaction when Lisa told me Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize: "For what?!" That's a point of view shared by many Americans, even those in his corner.

[The best snarky reaction I've read? "Where's Kanye West when you need him?"]

Keep in mind that the nominations for the Prize closed on February 1st, which meant that Obama's administration was all of 12 days old when the committee felt The One was worthy of the honor. 288 hours, with at least the first 24 devoted to dinner and dancing.

Ah, but Oslo didn't award the Prize based on accomplishments, saying "Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future."

In other words, it's just a high profile political endorsement.

After the first wave of genuine shock, and no doubt a glance at the calendar to see if it was April 1st, there were hesitant predictions from the Left that the Nobel win could help Obama push through health care and aid in ending the war in Afghanistan. Apparently, the idea is the award will legitimize his efforts and give heft to his arguements.

Yeaaaah.

It makes more sense to say it'll be more difficult for him to do what needs doing - how can you win the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday and send in 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan the next day?

In reality, it'll probably do nothing to aid or hurt him, other than costing him a small share of voters made uneasy by the Cult of Personality. Oh, and of course, it furthers the decay of the awards legitimacy, but if Norway doesn't care, why should we?

Kudos, btw, for the hyperbole from DNC Communications Director Brad Woodhouse: “The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists – the Taliban and Hamas this morning – in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize."

Remember kiddies, criticism is only patriotic when its directed at a Republican!



[Note: For his part, the President said "I am both surprised and deeply humbled [by winning the Prize]." Hmmm. I'll give him the former, but call b.s. on the humble bit. That man's ego isn't capable of recording a hit.]

My A-Rod

Arod:  3 AB's with RISP and 2 out = 3 hits, 3 RBI.  I may just swoon from all the love I feel.  Seriously.

2 run home run by A-Rod in the bottom of the ninth to tie it up . . . I bow to you, Oh Great One of This and Any Era!

Just a routine 3 a.m. update

Howdy. I wouldn't be up at all at this late hour if it wasn't for a toothache that seems to come roaring to life only when my head hits the pillow. I'm groggy as heck, but as I wait for the Advil to kick in, let's type.

* * * *

The van is still down, although estimates have dropped the bill to $1550. Whoo-hoo. Since we won't have that money for a long time, we've been walking quite a bit, juggling rides, and leaning heavily on the (fingers crossed/knock on wood) Escort.

I actually got pulled over in the Escort last week while running to the store to buy Smiley an apple for school. The exhaust system is ghetto-rifficly loud until it's warmed up, but the officer let me off with a warning. Unfortunately, I don't really have the money to replace that system right now either. Later that same day I took Smiley for a "man day", spending time at the DMV, getting the van towed home, and grabbing a quick bite to eat.

Oh, speaking of that exhaust the girls are horribly embarrassed and so, when I drop them off/pick them up from school, I park a half block away and walk them to the door. Fun.

All that is reinforcing an inferiority complex Lisa and I have. We never had the money of the other parents, but quite apart from that I don't have the time or energy to devote to all the petty little things that seem to consume a "quality" parent there. It doesn't help when on a day like today, when I was running late, I brought Smiley along wearing a mismatched outfit with chocolate smeared across his brow.

Screw it. As I told Lisa tonight "We're good parents. Not Cosby Show good, but right up there with Roseanne."

* * *

I took the girls to the eye doctor for checkups. I warned YaYa, in the Dr.'s presence, that she better not think of tanking the test just to earn a new set of glasses. Lo and behold she did fake the results, and the doc called her on it. No matter. On the redo her eyes did come up as worse than before, and her prescription was strengthened. LuLu on the other hand, came out A-1. She recited the letters machine-gun style. :)

* * *

I watched the Twins and Tigers battle for the AL Central crown in the do-or-die one game playoff today. It wasn't a flawless game, but when it comes to drama it was damn near perfection. For me it ranks right up there with the '91 and '01 Series, the Rockies-Padres playoff a few years ago, and the 2003 ALCS.

Congrats to the Twins - and I hope you're swept by my Yanks.

* * *

Speaking of Minnesota: what a crappy football game Monday, at least for Packer fans. You can't give up 8 sacks and win, you just can't. You can point fingers every which way, and bow down to Favre if you like, but again - you don't give up 8 sacks and walk away with a W.

Oh, btw I notched my third consecutive loss in fantasy football. I adjusted my roster for bye weeks and racked up a respectable point total, but my opponents defence went nuts for something like 35 fantasy points, and I lost by ten. Sigh.

* * *

Congrats to the Badgers for their 5-0 start!

* * *

Back to baseball. A St. Louis blogger made a boast last week. He bragged about how his Cardinals would beat down the Brewers for their "arrogance" when they went to Missouri to finish the season. Hmm. I'm all for partisanship, no problem there, but since his team was going to the postseason and mine sucked I reckoned his commentary was pretty assholish and unnecessary.

Naturally, in the first game of the series Milwaukee came back from a 6-1 deficit to win, and then swept the rest of the set. Ha-ha.

* * * *

Team victories are what matters, not individual numbers, but I have to congratulate both Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder.

Braun finished at .320/32/114 with 20 SB, 39 doubles and 203 hits - only the seventh time in Brewers history a player has cracked the two-century mark.

Prince finished at a staggering .299, with a .412 OBP, 35 doubles, 3(!) triples, 46 home runs. While starting every game of the season he also set a new Brewers single season mark with a whopping 141 RBI's, tying him for first in the NL.

Well done. I'm truly proud of you both.

* * *

I'm also damn happy with Alex Rodriguez, my favorite player in the game. He entered the final game of the season needing two home runs to reach 30 on the year, and seven RBI's to reach 100.A long shot of course, but he reached both goals IN A SINGLE INNNING, setting a new record in the process.

That marks the 12th year in a row he's gone 30/100, tying him all-time with Jimmie Foxx. Keep in mind, he sat out an entire month this year and still reached those goals.

Arod, you are the man.

* * *

My MLB predictions

AL: Yanks over Twins, Angels over Red Sox. Yanks over Angels.

The National League is much more complicated. I'd like to see the Dodgers move on to face New York, but I'm not feeling it. Hmmm.

NL: Phillies over Colorado, Dodgers over the Cardinals (but my gut says St. Louis). Dodgers/Cards over Phillies.

WS: Yanks over Dodgers/Cards

A Stir of Echoes

For all the fuss over Sixth Sense, I felt Stir of Echoes was a better movie, far more intense and involving and just downright scarier. As a matter of fact, Stir of Echoes might just crack my personal 'Ten Favorite Movies'.

Because of that, and a recent Richard Matheson kick, I was eager to read the original novel that inspired the movie.

You can tell it formed the bones of the film. Tom Wallace is hypnotized at a party and develops psychic gifts that lead him to suspect foul play took place in his rented home.

Beyond that the movie veers sharply off the written page, and for good reason. The book reads like a claustrophobic example of '50's Suburbia. A good handful of people shoved into their perfect little world, everyone civil and sweet on the surface and chafing at the bit inside. Ugh. That's no way to live.

Aside from that, I think Matheson made a mistake writing in the first person. I think it weakens the story in this case, divorcing the reader from much of the suspense.

A good book, but I doubt it will be remembered in a a century's time.

My Political Views, according to Facebook

There are a ton of useless, mindless quizzes on Facebook. I have no desire to know what '80's hair band best reflects my personality, or what Nordic god I'd be (Odin - duh). I do admit to a sophomoric desire to take a score of the girly quizzes, just to find out what Disney Princess I'd be and freak out the in-laws.

Anywho, I did enjoy a quiz that tried to pigeonhole where you stand on the political spectrum. It was pretty detailed, and while I have no idea if it was scientifically accurate or not, I was impressed.


My Political Views
I am a right social moderate
Right: 5.08, Libertarian: 0.15

Political Spectrum Quiz


My Foreign Policy Views
Score: 6.43

Political Spectrum Quiz


My Culture War Stance
Score: 5.66

Political Spectrum Quiz


The Political Spectrum Quiz
Daniel is a right social moderate. He is also a neo-con and culturally conservative. Daniel's scores (from 0 to 10):

Economic issues: +5.08 right
Social issues: +0.15 libertarian
Foreign policy: +6.43 neo-con
Cultural identification: +5.66 conservative
Category: political quizzes

* * **

No surprises on the foreign policy front, since I've always been a bit of a hawk. Still, in this day and age 'neo-con' just means not agreeing to take one up the ass every time another country might have its feelings hurt.

My, that did sound neo-con, didn't it? :)

I was a little thrown off by not being judged as more libertarian. But, after reviewing the test, I do favor government intervention in some cases, and my pro-life views don't jibe with the standard Libertarian platform.

All those results, and a pretty little graph too. What more can you ask for in a free Facebook quiz?