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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

I'm Angry

Most people are mostly good, most of the time. Unfortunately, when granted anonymity on the internet, all that goes out the window. If you wouldn't have the balls to say it to my face if you saw me at Kohl's - and you don't, you pu**y - then shove your opinion up your ignorant ass. Warmest regards, Dan.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy 4th of July!

home from wrk just in time to watch firewrks from my porch. Quite a view/sound! Happy 4th everyone!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

YaYa and Gizmo

My Day

Pretty sinking lousy 3rd so far. Worked, now home in an empty house. Lis and the kids are up north for the holiday, but I'm stuck working. I cleaned the living room, played some Atari BattleZone on Google Chrome, then wrote 750 words of a children's story I'm working on. I think I'll make myself some dinner, and either fire up some Netflix or go on the porch and read. Quite the life.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Smiley Cuts the Grass!






Anybody remember "Smash-Up on Interstate 5"?


It was a made for TV movie from the late '70's that cashed in on the "disaster movie" craze of that decade. It follows the victims of the crash over the course of 48 hours before the accident. 

I remember liking it a lot when I saw it a few years later. I wonder how it holds up. 


FB: April 14th thru the 24th

April 14th

ABC has announced they are cancelling the long running soap operas "One Life to Live" and "All My Children"

April 15th

"The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment." - Lady Dorothy Nevill

April 18th

Dance reherasal today. In the rush to get them out the door, it's "Breakfast for Dinner" (maple sausage and pancakes). In the words of the Lump: "Deeee- licious!"

Wait a minute - the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel won a Pulitizer in 2008, 2010 AND now 2011???? Say what - am I missing something here? Then again, they began publishing me in '08. Coincidence? Perhaps not.

April 19th

We finally got around to watching 'The King's Speech'. It was very good, but by no means the "Best Picture" of the year, an honor I still think belonged to "The Social Network". BTW, kudos to Helen Bonham Carter, who stole the show in every scene in which she appeared.

Smiley, showing off some Easter bread he made in school:

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April 20th

One thing I will miss when the kids are grown and off on their own: opening the freezer and finding random, ridiculous concoctions. Today's contribution: a fig newton stuck on the end of a skewer.

True story: ~ Two years ago I walked past a retail display and was sincerely outraged that they offered a gag gift called "The rapist In a Box". Then I got my head out of my butt and realized it read "Therapist in a Box".

[WI Supreme Court Candidate] Kloppenburg has the legal right to ask for a recount and so on we go - but if you're cocky enough to declare victory with a 200 vote lead, then turn around and ask for a recount when you're down by 7,000, excuse me if I think you're a hypocrite happy to waste taxpaper money to keep your dream alive a few more weeks.

I watched the sci-fi film Skyline. It is not merely a turd of a movie, it is a 'dog turd generously sprinkled with cholera' of a movie.

April 21st

YaYa gets new glasses:

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April 23rd

Twice in recent weeks I've been asked how "you" - meaning a conservative - could be a fan of lefty music, up to & inc. being a member of Pearl Jam's fan club. Easy. I simply alter the lyrics in my head to reflect a more appropriate social message. "Screamed and bit the recess lady's breast"" - I think not. "Dreamed of always doing his very best" - there ya go Mr. Vedder, Danny made it all better.

"The inability to forget is infinitely more devastating than the inability to remember," - Mark Twain

April 24th

Arod's stats on Saturday: 2 for 5 with a homer and SIX RBI.

‎600 [converts to the Catholic Church] today in the Milwaukee area, tens of thousands across the country. Welcome to the Church, and Happy Easter!

Some great TV, courtesy of Netflix

One of the great things about being able to stream Netflix directly to my TV is that I'm free to experiment with new shows that I would never have rented on DVD. One of the happiest of these discoveries is Heroes, the NBC series about a world in which mutants (aka superheroes without the masks) are drawn together to act against a prophesied destruction of New York City.

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I finished the first season in a little less than a year, polishing off an episode every few weeks. Now? Count me as a fan. Aside from the Nikki/Jessica subplot, I found the characters well developed and the storyline impressive. I think the season finale was a fitting denouement to the overall story arc, one so impressive I'm loathed to push on into further seasons - all of which, according to scuttlebutt, pale in comparison.

On the other hand, I was no so fortunate in Kolchak: The Night Stalker, starring Darren McGavin in a series billed as a spooky ancestor of the X-Files.

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Uh, no.

It was cartoonish, poorly written, and about as scary as the crowd at a harpist concert. C-

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To break the tie, let me introduce Parks and Recreation, a sitcom done in the pseudo-documentary style of The Office. Lisa and I finished the first two seasons in the blink of an eye and were left hungry for more.

I think this show succeeds for a simple reason. Well, two. One, it's funny. Two, it refuses to settle for taking the easy road and making the characters one dimensional. Grumpy libertarian boss Ron would normally be written as a straight jerk; instead he's given depth and feeling. Amy Poehler's character, who by rights should be pigeonholed as a dorky, ineffective bureaucrat, is instead a multi-faceted human being. A

I have fond memories of watching Buck Rodgers as a kid, and I wasn't let down by rewatching it on Netflix. Oh, sure it's cheese, but you know that going in. All in all its a pretty darn good show for what it is, and having the super hot Erin Gray around doesn't hurt.

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Roseanne, alas, lacks a resident beauty, unless you wait around for Becky #2 to pop up in later seasons. I saw nearly every episode during the series run, but harbor a bit of a resentment towards the show. No, it's not about the star' I grew up in a home not dissimilar to the Connors' and it's too close for comfort. Yet I have to admit, the writing holds up well after a quarter century, and the love between Roseanne and Dan is palpatable.

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The biggest suprise to come via Netflix? Babylon 5.

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I'd never seen a single episode, and had the show sitting unwatched in my queue for ages. When I began watching it last week I found the special effects appalling, hardly top of the line for a video game of the era much less a television show. Still, the writing of J. Michael Straczynski (whose screenwriting book I read and owned as a kid) hooked me. By the time I began season two I was mesmerized.

Naturally, it was then I discovered Netflix was losing the streaming rights begining today. Great timing. I've completed season two, and for now that's where I'll have to leave off.

It is a remarkably well crafted show. Not a single episode is a 'throw away'. Each show provides some nugget, however small, that adds to the overall story arc. It is a single story, carried out in multiple acts over a five year run. The twists and turns, the development of characters - how the Narn and Centauri defy the intial impressions we have of them, for instance - wow. Wow.

I can't wait to see more of the series. Three notes:

One, I much prefer Capt. Sheridan to Commander Sinclair. Sinclair, played by Michael O'Hare, always seemed to be in contention for Overactor of the Year.

Two, Bruce Boxleitner has excellent hair.

Three, I should make a drinking game. Every time Security Chief Garibaldi puts his hands in his pockets, take a shot. You'll be drunk in half an hour.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

MySpace was sold

Myspace was just sold for $35 million to a group that includes Justin Timberlake. While that sounds like a lot to you and me, the current cover story in Bloomberg quoted an asking price of $100 million, and mentioned that *that* figure would be an embarrasing loss for their ownership. Wow.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Pictures of my kiddos








Playing Columbine

A days ago we watched "Playing Columbine", a film about the video game "Super Columbine Massacre RPG!". It was made by the vid game creator, and it lacked a narrative thread, instead piecing together endless soundbites justifying the game on artistic and constitutional grounds. (2 its credit, there were three dissenting views)

I agree that in theory it could have been an expression of art created w/ a desire to spur debate, but I call B.S. I think he made it knowing it was in poor taste but thinking it would have an intimate audience. When it blew up and he lost his anonymity he was more than happy to embrace the role of "constitutional martyr" and milk the attention.

Monday, June 27, 2011

My Day

Wrote and submitted a column, got word back it's accepted. Hung out with my friend Tre for a few hours, now off to get Lis and the kids from day camp.

Lisa and the kids, heading off to camp!

Lisa is volunteering and so Smiley gets to go along!


The Bigamist

Today I watched The Bigamist, a 1953 drama starring Edmond O'Brien, best known for his role in D.O.A. It wasn't Big Love, but it was a pretty good flick. 

And for the record, if I had to choose between Joan Fontaine and Ida Lupino, I'd be a bigamist too.



Sunday, June 26, 2011

An Interesting Conversation

Just spoke to a woman who survived the Depression, had a son born with a birth defect she was told would kill him before his fourth bday (he's 53 now), had a hospital perform the wrong operation by mistake, and has survived 11 strokes over the yrs. She said she is literally working on a autobio called "So you think your life sucks? Try mine"

LOL Snooki

Tonight I found this slipped into a novel written (yeah right) by Jersey Shore's Snooki: "Dear Reader: Congratulations! Just by opening this book your stock in life has gone down. I suggest you drop it right away and re-evaluate. [With] your best intentions at heart, R."

My coworker, filmmaker Ashley Altadonna,is the subject of a full page feature in Milwaukee magazine, on stands now. The 2nd to last paragraph is waaaay TMI, but even so it's worth a read.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

The KIllers (movie)

Just emailed my column to In a rare daytime opportunity to watch TV, Lisa & I watched "The Killers" with Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl (sp?). I know it was panned by the critics, but we both thought it was cute and a fun watch.

Just for the record: today is 2 years to the day since MJ died, 61 years since North Korea initiated the Korean War, and 135 since Custer fell at Little Big Horn. It is also the first day in weeks my sleep hasn't been interrupted by nightmares. Yay me.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

After a hiatus of nearly 30 yrs, I finally finished reading 'Treasure Island'. I don't know why I had such a hard time of it as a youngster, as the prose is to the point & surprisingly modern to my ear. A fine adventure tale; I enjoyed it. I also appreciated that it was a '47 Grosset & Dunlap editon w/ both b&w & color illustrations - that's a great addition to any bk & a practice I regret has gone out of fashion.

FB April 25th to May 10th

April 25th

the new Nook update is out! Apps increase from a handful to 139! Now it not only wups the Kindle, it makes it put on makeup and call Barnes and Noble "big daddy"

April 26th

13:01 Since I worked all weekend and Lisa was up north on Saturday, our Easter is *today*. Took the kids to Mass at 8:15, big dinner at 4:30. Ham is in the oven, kielbasa in the slow cooker, potatoes peeled and cut, hard boiled eggs peeled and ready for . . er, deviling. Desperately hoping for a nap b4 the final push . .

19:28 outside Stonefire Pizza waiting to conduct a Craigslist purchase of kids clothing. Big scary man alone outside kids play area = not most well thought out meeting place

I love playing "Old Cannon" a simple little 'physics' game where you attempt to knock down castles using only 3 shots from an old cannon. Smiley, oddly, aced every level while I struggled with a few :)


22:34 chilling w/ my friend erv, who just got out of the hospital (complications of diabetes)

RIP Poly Styrene (born Marianne Elliot), who has died of breast cancer at age 53.

April 27th

On a lark I watched "GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra". For a big budget popcorn flick, it was fine. Better than I expected really, tho' the Flash Gordon technology was tiresome. So was the acting. Channing Tatum seemed to think he was hired to imitate Mark Wahlberg's worst traits, while Marlon Wayan's signed on for a degrading minstrel show performance.

April 30th

Today marks 36 years since the Fall of Saigon.

Watching the Channel 10 Auction with Lisa and LOL at all the crappy artwork and tschotcke's (sic) they're peddling.

May 1st

After a miserable day at work yest I finished CJ Sansom's "Dissolution", a Tudor era mystery featuring King's Commisioner Matthew Shardlake. I liked it quite a bit, but admit to becoming irrationally angry at some of the Reformist actions/thoughts expressed through the character. Also, I guessed the murderer's identity - but not until about 20 pgs before it was revealed. A good read and recommended.

Pope John Paul II was named 'Blessed' today, a step below Sainthood. God bless him, what grand news! I love John Paul, and look upon CNN's reporting of protests as nothing more than anti-Catholic bigotry in action.

May 2nd

Just back from Parker's 1st ever Tiger Cub Scout meeting!

<---- perhaps the only man to ever complain to a Scout leader that his son's meetings conflict with watching Dancing With the Stars

May 3rd

For $3 I bought an old hardcover copy of "Little Orpan Annie and the Gila Monster Gang" (Harold Gray, published 1944) and loaned it to YaYa at 5 o'clock. She just came downstairs to return it, having finished the 248 pg bk. Just in case she was full of it, I skimmed the last two chapters and quizzed her, & she aced it. Well done, Danny Jr.

Seriously, how many times does this have to happen to me before I take the hint? Do NOT handle jalepeno peppers and then use the restroom *unless* you wash your hands first. I tell you this to spare you pain greater than any other . . . shoot me now.

May 4th

So, the Prez is cool with lifting the ban on photos of American KIA's, and w/ releasing photos of alleged abuse by our military - but he won't release a photo of OBL because he's afraid of offending our enemy. [crickets chirp] Wouldn't that be the same enemy that drags bodies through the street and beheads reporters on camera?

Gas in Chicago inching towards $5 a gallon. (I've seen $4.44 confirmed in print)

[gas prices peaked that day or the next before moving downward]

May 5th

Something's gone goofy here. I woke up with shooting pain from my wrists up to my elbows, and I barely had the strength in my hands to take apart the bikes this morning & replace their inner tubes. It's prob this flu that's been making the rounds, but I feel like an old man, and I still have a workday ahead of me . . .

[oh man, did I feel awful. Just awful, for about 48 hours. But I made it work both days]

May 7th

Don't linger on moments of no consequence, and don't rush over moments worth examining

RIP Sada Thompson, 83, actress best known from "Family"

Now that Obama has essentially sanctified Bush era polices by keeping Gitmo, using info obtained by EIT, and pre-emeptively attacking targets wherever they appear, I expect it will be harder for the Left to attack him on those points without looking like a complete hypocrite.

RIP, Claude Choules, the last known WWI combatant, age 110 - and thank you.

May 8th

Today was a perfect day, just the kind of day you'll jump to relive when your life flashes before your eyes. Just perfect :)

May 9th

Whaaaa??? Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver, have separated

I just finished 'Last Men Out: The True Story of America's Heroic Final Hours in Vietnam" by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin. The book focuses on the Marine detatchment at the Saigon embassy, the last group of American's to exit Vietnam. Very compelling, and written in an easy and entertaining manner. Recommended.

May 10th

10:20 am - ok, about to exit the car and walk into an interview. Wish me luck

Interview went well (I think) lasting for 45 minutes and eventually involving the owner himself. Nice to wear a shirt and tie again, if only for a morning.

Lump passed her in-school eye test today, scoring a 20/50 in each eye. That's normal for a three year old. By 4-5 years old it should be 20/40, then 20/32 by age six.

Friday, June 24, 2011