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Wednesday, July 6, 2011
I'm Angry
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
My Day
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
FB: April 14th thru the 24th
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:
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:
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
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.
Uh, no.
It was cartoonish, poorly written, and about as scary as the crowd at a harpist concert. C-
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.
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.
The biggest suprise to come via Netflix? Babylon 5.
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
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Playing Columbine
Monday, June 27, 2011
My Day
The Bigamist
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."
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
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.