National Bakery (on Greenfield) after Dance Class

TV Tonight

DWTS -Bristol looked great in her freestyle, but Jennifer Gray kicked ass. That horizontal spin in the air? Wow.

Dick Button is a judge on Skating w/ the Stars? What a coup for the show, adding a much needed pinch of respectability to what threatens to be a short lived experiment.

Bethenny's scores were undeservedly low, dontcha think?

Dinner at Landmark

The YaYa

You Happy Mommy?

"You happy Mommy?" - Junie's favorite question, asked every morning and off and on throughout the day

The 15 Albums Game

THE RULES: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen albums you've heard that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes.

1. Ten - Pearl Jam

2. Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits

3. Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd

4. Time In/Out - Dave Brubeck

5. Jagged Little Pill - Alanis

6. Dream of the Blue Turtles - Sting

7. White Christmas - Bing Crosby

8. Singles Soundtrack

9. Double Live - Garth Brooks

10. Who's Next? - The Who

11. Live at Reading - Nirvana

12. Bleach - Nirvana

13. Songs you Know by Heart - Jimmy Buffett

14. Thriller - Michael Jackson

15. Metallica - Black Album

On Micheal Vick

Damn Michael Vick is good.

update: Yes, I know he ran a dogfighitng ring. Thanks for commenting about it ad nasuum. I was referring only to his talent on a football field. 

But . . . 

So to be clear we can/are expected to allow for the rehab of everyone from rapists to killers, but someone responsible for the death of animals is somehow unforgivable? That says more about the screwed up mindset of our society than anything else.

Abandoned

Great SNF game, now watching Brittany Murphy in

Abandoned. Long a member of my List of Five, my libido continues to mourn her passing.

Laurencia Bembenek

RIP Laurencia Bembenek. I'm sorry WI denied you justice in life.

Books, a notorious, tongue-in-cheek FB rant, and a day at the ballpark

September 7th

I'm watching an old Torchwood episode. My cat is a better actor than John Barrowman, albeit not as handsome. I've also just watched my first episode of Jersey Shore. Yuck.

Anyone else remember the movie Turk 182?

September 9th

We finished the second season of Big Love - a mighty fine show. It's become a favorite around here.

RIP LFO lead singer Rich Cronin. I met this man, and in fact had a . . . business dealing with him (which my old co-workers may remember; it was one of my more infamous anecdotes from 3rd).

TIME SENSITIVE: Anyone out there have 12 old Sunday papers (or their equivalent in size) laying around? My wife needs them for a Girl Scout 'sit-upon' project. The other leader had her basement flood and the papers were ruined. The meeting is THIS AFTERNOON.

I finished "Marathon: How one battle changed west. civ" by Richard A. Billows. It was good, but of the 200+ pgs, only 30 were about the battle, w/ the rest devoted to centuries of Greek/Persian history. Some background is always nice, but you don't need to know the history of bratwurst making to understand how Rommel fought, do you? So why should I care about similar minutiae in Greek history?

The NFL season starts tonight, which means my fantasy team has yet another opportunity to match the .333 winning percentage I've notched so far this century. Yeehaw! Ah, but I shouldn't let it get me down. After all, "Nobody in the game of football should be called a genius. A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein". -Joe Theismann

According to a status update by media writer Tim Cuprisin, Donald Trump is attempting to buy the site of the proposed Ground Zero mosque. [it didn't materialize]

September 10th

When a man comes home from wrk, sometimes all he wants to do is park himself in front of the TV in his undies, air out the Lebowski's, and eat some Manwich while watching Dr Who. That's all. So when you invite your SUPER HOT friend over at midnight, thereby forcing me to clothe myself and eat only human sized portions, I get a little pissy-wissy. I apolgize for the bed-wetting, but otherwise the fit was warranted.

September 11th

Here's a shot of Smiley, YaYa, and one of YaYa's friends




Farmville friends - I'd appreciate it if you could send any of the FV.com exclusive gifts, or better still the white apple tree unique to the iphone. Thanks in advance.

I'm @ the Brewers/Cubs game @ Miller Park. Courtesy of my buddy Tre, I'm seated in the Founders Suite (#2) right behind the Brewers dugout. Pics to follow.

Best t-shirt so far: I'll root for the Cubs the day they play Al Queda

A moving rendition of God Bless America here @ the ballpark, w/ the flag @ half mast for 9/11. @ least for a moment, common ground w/ the Cubs fans here.

GREAT catch by Braun! (8:09 pm)

Note: The Brewers lost the game.

Dinner in Chicago

out at a restaurant in Chicago, and Smiley is macking hard on the cute waitress.

Net Issues

Were having some internet problems (by 'problems' I mean I forgot to pay the bill) so for the immediate future all FB will be by mobile only.

Lawrencia Bembenek - Update

WISN is reporting that Lawrencia Bembenek has been moved to a hospice & won't live to see 2011. I can remember my Grandparents looking at newspapers during her trial & saying they were sure she was framed; it'd be nice if some measure of justice took place while Bambi was around to see it. A request for a pardon is in the works, but the powers that be have kept her down for 30 yrs, so don't hold your breath.

Full Dark No Stars

Is anyone reading Stephen King's "Full Dark, No Stars"? I am, and right now it feels a lot like work. The first novella is so derivative of Poe it reads like student work from a creative writing course. The 2nd story is better, but naturally has a writer as the protagonist, just like, oh, Dark Half, The Shining, Bag of Bones, Misery, The Body, etc. Way to think outside the box Steve.

Lauren Conrad is Da Bomb

Lauren Conrad = Yum da YumYum.  She looks like Marcia Brady, only not fifty and poor. Better yet, she's the super hot Marcia Brady as you *imagined* her to be when you were a kid.

Passin' Time

I spent part of the morning surfing FB on the new NOOK color.

Lu, a model?

I took LuLu to get a haircut today, & while she was in the chair I went next door to do some shopping. When I returned a man approached me and asked if I'd be interested in having Lu model for him.  

I know - instant creep factor, & I brushed him off. 

But he left a business card behind & to my surprise he cks out, w/4  decades of legit art exhibitions (assuming he hasn't rigged a half dozen websites). In fact, he's the brother of Lance Sijan, the Medal of Honor winner whose name is honored throughout Bay View. 

Huh. Weird.

Lost: The New Man in Charge

I finally saw the LOST epilogue, "The New Man in Charge". Eh. So-so. 12 minutes is too short a time to answer any question worth asking. I'd like to see Hurley's 'reign', and Walt and Ben's employment, explored further in other media as the years go by.

A Temper Tantrum

Junie got off the school bus in a dark mood. We sat outside on the porch, enjoying this warm Nov day, but when I stopped Ms. Grump from writing on a fundraiser form she picked up a flowerpot LuLu had made over the summer & intentionally shattered it on the ground. She is now screaming at the injustice of my anger & her banishment to her room - oh, she just yelled that she hates me. I must be doing something right.

Ah, just a moment ago she yelled "Daddy - you can die!". Charming lass.

Congratulations to Archbishop Dolan!

In an upset, former Milw. (current NYC) Archbishop Timothy Dolan has been elected Pres of the U.S. Conf. of Catholic Bishops! "It means the bishops have decided to opt for a confident Catholicism. They had a choice, & they chose the boldest, most outspoken bishop. U wouldn't choose him as ur leader unless u thought what he was doing in the capital of the world (NY) is what we want the church to represent."

btw, this was a clear and bold rebuff of the passive, submissive wing of the American Church, the folks who try to get by with wringing their hands and saying "can't we all get along, even if it means we give up everything we believe in???"

No Luck

Just tried and failed to win tickets to the New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys [NKOTBSB] concert in June. Crap. Still, it's not like I won't buy tix eventually. At least the winner is a Joey fan, although I'm not keen on her bringing up Jon's sexuality on-air, and I sure as hell don't like Alley's anti-Jon bias. A woman cursed with kankles should have better manners - words to live by Alley, words to live by.

A Royal Congratulations!

Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton have announced their engagement. 'bout time you made her an honest woman William!

Football and Dancing Baby

With a win this past weekend I'm now 3-7 in my fantasy football league. I could go all petty and mention I lost 2 games by under 10 pts, but big wup - change the outcome and it would still only take me to .500. Meanwhile, three weeks in I'm 12-6 in my fantasy basketball league. Yawn. Wake me when spring training starts.

Meanwhile, a 'Dancing With the Stars' upset - Bristol Palin sends Brandy packing. Wow. Good for her, but there's no way she was a better dancer than Brandy. Not that I care; IMO folks that spend more than half their workday dancing have an unfair advantage that skews the results (cough Nicole Scherzinger, cough). But again, congrats Bristol. Good luck next week in the finals.

Full Dark, No Dawn

I'm 50 or 60 pages into Stephen King's new story collection and yawn yawn yawn. Hopefully it picks up. BTW,  I hate when King writes about sex, even in passing. I don't care how many kids he has or how long he's been married, the text always comes off crude, like it was written by the ugly kid in high school who has to pretend he knows what boobies look like.

LuLu - the jigsaw queen!

Lu with a 100 piece jigsaw puzzle she finished 11-15-10