A Summer Weekend

We had a busy/great weekend. On Sat we drove up to Red Granite WI for a corn roast at a tavern owned by the parents of a friend; my girls got up and did karaoke for the crowd- they're a lot braver/better kids than I was @ their age. Afterwards we drove 3.5 hours in the other direction and spent the night at my buddy Erv's house in IL, arriving at 10 pm and leaving ~ 7pm Sunday. A great last summer hurrah.

The Ghosts of Cannae by Robert L O'Connell

I just finished 'The Ghosts of Cannae' by Robert L O'Connell, a GREAT non-fiction work on the famous battle. Having read it, I say screw Hannibal; give me Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus any ol' day.

"Nooo. . . No u may not use the term 'finger-bang' in your status. Do not make me hit you." - Lisa, minutes ago.

The Killers

Watching The Killers in concert on Palladia. I miss cable.

I love the killers ! Have you seen the KILLERS in london ? That one is one of the best :) =- mu sister K

Yeah, this was at Royal Albert Hall. It was very good. :)

A close friends grandma's funeral was today. What an amazing and blessed family. Her influence on them was palpable. RIP June.  - Lisa

I use Google Chrome as a browser but use Bing for searches. Go figure.

The Searchers by Alan LeMay

My Dad's always said The Searchers is the best western ever made, and I've never found a film that proved him wrong. I just finished the book that inspired it (by Alan LeMay) and it was just as good - in some ways better. Many of the quotes you've seen here recently are from the text, and I think the ending (while more or less the same) is more powerful in print. Very highly recommended.

How Times Change

An episode of The Cosby Show was just on, one from a later season where Theo was already in college. Within the first ten minutes the characters used a typewriter, a record player (!) and had to rush home to use the phone. Savages.

A Mishap of a Burger at Kopps

off work and at Kopp's, waiting on a do-over of a burger that was served bloody.

update: Yeah, it wasn't the best. They made sure the do-over was cooked way past the point of yumminess.

update: The original burger itself was brown on the outside, bright pink inside. I'd say medium-rare most of the way, rare in the corner I chose for the first nibble. They said they'd closed their grill down too early and it hadn't reheated properly by the time my order came in (1/2 hr to close) no, I didn't ask or get anything free. Shit happens. 

The Slap Chop Rap

I love the slap chop rap....anyone else?

lol.....ok....the "slap chop" is a chopper, on a late night informercial. Recently, I've noticed they've made a new commercial, using the old one but doing it like a rap, w/ a man in a bunny costume that does the hammer. I laugh everytime, I'm mesmerized watching it....everytime. you must see the slap chop rap, lol.

- Lisa

FAME

We just finished watching the remake of 'Fame'. I don't remember the original film enough to compare, but it was a pretty fair flick by its lonesome. There wasn't nearly enough dance, not by a longshot, but the 'Black and Gold' Fosse-ish number was hot.

I'm sitting in the kiddie pool w/ Pdiddy & LK, reading a bk & soaking up the sun. 'seems the possum is again residing in our yrd, judging by the poop pile & a fat chipmunk just ran up 2 me, realized his booboo & did a 180.

Congrats!

My niece Caitlin made the freshman volleyball team!! It's been proven that High school athletes:* make higher grades* get into less trouble* graduate at a higher rate* drop out less often* have higher GPAs than non-athletes. Now she is a high school athlete, and I couldn't be prouder of you Kay kay!! - Lisa, with a monster 'ditto!' from me!

her Dad: Great stuff, Kay Kay is what Ryan used to call you right?

Caitlin: [Yaya} started it!

YaYa: That's right, give props, lol....Ahem....Actually I consider myself partially responsible for the solidified use of the name when I branded it your rapper/hood name, remember??? LOL  

Yaya: ;D lol oh yes.

Stop the Nonsense!

A local station chopped Snoop's rap out of Katy Perry's "California Gurls" & I mean CHOPPED - as abrupt a change as you''ll ever hear. Another station edited out  'crackhead' in "You're Love is my Drug" - presumably because the Crackhead community might take offense. I suppose these r the same yahoo's that flip over the cover of Rolling Stone on newsstands to protect our fragile little eyes. G'damn morality police.

Gizmo steals our ham!

Gizmo, the cat we inherited from my wife's Aunt when she passed away in June, stole a 2# bag of shaved ham Lisa had just put on the table. I recovered the torn/chewed bag from the basement floor a few minutes later. Ghetto little beast. 

In other news, something you don't see every day: two dragonflies bumping nasties in the backyard. It was quite the sight for the kids.

Quote

Study, drill and technique do not stifle talent - they free it.

G'damn I look good tonight. It's times like this I wish I had a twin brother, just so I'd know what it's like to stand alongside true beauty.

Extract

We watched the movie "Extract" last night, starring Justin Bateman, Ben Affleck, and the hot brunette from 'That '70's Show". It was a pretty good comedy, and certainly worth a Redbox rental.

I rented 'Furry Vengence' w/ Brendan Fraser & Brooke Shields for the kids. They luv it, & I admit LOL'ing when the racoon peed in Fraser's mouth.

Hungarian Goulash

I'm making traditional Hungarian Goulash for dinner. It's the first time I'll ever eat it, much less create it from scratch. I saw the recipe on 'America's Test Kitchen' & had to try it. Beef, paprika, bay leaves, vinegar, 2.5 hrs in a dutch oven, etc - I hope I didn't take on too large of a task.

update: The goulash? Good sh*t Maynard.

Yum! - Lisa

On Prescription Drug and Litigation

During today's trash TV (Maury, etc) there were many ads encouraging people to sue drug companies for X, Y & Z. Here's my 2 cents: if a drug is tested & approved by the FDA, then drug companies should be exempt from litigation related to side effects. Sound harsh? Then make the approval process tougher. 'Course, folks already think the process is too long, but the public always finds *something* to whine about.

Or at least make advertising the class action suits on tv illegal. People don't even realize whatever symptoms they are having are related to a past prescribed med until they realize they can cash in....ridiculous, especially for the people that need the prescriptions to be affordable! - Lisa

WOT fans: Brandon Sanderson reports that the last draft of Towers of Midnight is ready for the printer. Release date: November 2nd, exactly one wk before I pick up my deluxe copy of Dubya's memoir. Gonna be a fine November for readers :)

@ the barber w/ Smiley (who is 5) and there's a ten yr old crying during his haircut. Nut up dude.

Quote

 "You don't see your own children grow unless there's a new one to remind you how tiny they come." - quote from The Searchers, by Alan LeMay

A Quote

Never trust a traitor, even one that you create

That's a line I read back when I was 12 or so, in Avon by Paul Darrow (a novel of Blakes 7). It's stuck with me since that day.