Published writer, compulsive reader, Old School Whovian, Match Game enthusiast, NKOTB fan, data hoarder, and - surprisingly, given that list - married with four kids. Welcome to my take on life, fatherhood, entertainment, and whatever strikes my fancy. Enjoy!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Thank You
I'd like to thank Jeanne, Suda M nd Amy S or sharing a link to my column. I appreciate it :) By the time the JS site changed over to Wednesday, my piece had generated 69 comments and a half dozen emails.
Shockwave by John Sandford
Today I finished reading 'Shockwave', a Virgil Flowers novel by the great John Sandford. It's about the hunt for a serial bomber in a small Minnesota town, who appears to be trying to stop the fictional equivalent of a Wal-Mart from opening.
As expected from Sandford, it's a fine read with plenty of style and a who-dunnit that actually kept me guessing.
Recommended.
Today
CNN is reporting that the US has disrupted a plot by "elements of the Iran government" to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S.
In less important news I lost my fantasy matchup by 92.52 points. Not only was it the biggest whupping of the week, my opponents 164.67 points is some kind of league record. Good grief.
The Beast of Bray Road
The Beast of Bray Road is a low budget horror film centered around the werewolf legend of Walworth County (here in Wisconsin).
This was awful, but in a 'make you smile not retch' kinda way. The acting is rec-class awful (although the lead & Kelly were good), the costumes were ill fitting, everyone in WI apparently wears Stetsons, cops don't retaliate when punks spit at them, and the werewolf looked silly.
But it was set in WI, there are two nice sets of breasts bared for your viewing pleasure, if such is your preference, and what the hell - it's set in Wisconsin.
Porkenstein by Kathryn Lasky
LuLu is a big fan of the book "Porkenstein" by Kathyrn Lasky and has read it 2 or 3 times since checking it out of the school library this week.
October 5th - 8th
Wednesday October 5th
"QB Aaron Rodgers has been named the "NFC Offensive Player of the Week" for the second time this season"
"OK, just finished my 30 min phone interview, the 4th step in the WI Dells process. I think it went well, but whadda I know? If I get this, it means $ - the *starting* wage is more $ than I've ever earned - and relocation (she told me the $ they'll give me for relocation and apologized for the amount. Apologize? I thought the relocation amount was my ANNUAL wage - and I was happy.) Too good to be true, which means it won't happen."
"'Cuz I was asked: Philadelphia/Milwaukee NLCS, Yankees/Rangers ALCS."
"BREAKING NEWS:
Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, has died at age 56."
"We just finished watching Season Five of Hell's Kitchen. It's a lot of fun to watch, as I've noted five times now, but I do wish they'd add a little variety to the challenges. Still, congrats to winner Danny Veltri, who as usual went on to become 'the executive chef' at a Ramsay restaurant - aka, a standard sous chef. Most mislabeled prize in all of reality TV."
October 6th
"'Occupy Wall Street' protesst business while mourning Steve Jobs. Fine. But Steve Jobs had a net worth of around 7 billion and was one of the *gasp* 1% that 'undermine democracy'. On principle, they should toss out their IPads, IPods, and Macbooks. They won't, of course. Know this kiddies: Jobs created more jobs, and hence helped more people, in any given year than all you protesters will do in your lifetimes, COMBINED."
"Folks at work were soooo despondent over the Brewers dropping 2 games in a row to now face elimination in the NLDS. I'm talking hardcore, kept a day to day W-L count on the bulletin board kind of fans. Huh. That mindset is new to me. As a Yankees fan, they can be down 3 games to none in the LCS, losing 9-0 in the bottom of the eighth, and I'd still bet on seeing them in the Series. Milwaukee fans need to act like we've been here before and quit anticipating a collapse."
Smiley's Power Rangers Halloween costume:
"And . . . I didn't get the Dells job. I was just notified - @ 10:27pm!? - via a personal email. Ugh."
"Detroit just ousted the Yanks. What a crappy half hour for Danny."
October 7th
"Went to bed 3 hrs earlier than normal in a depressive funk, but time to nut up & keep slugging. Off to work soon, then afterwards I'm going to stop and price a new suit. I clean up well, emerging, when I care to, as a plump but politically wiser Alec Baldwin. Enough of this bulls--t. Time to make some money again."
"@ eric's watching game 5 of the NLDS"
"NLDS Victory in the 10th inning, courtesy of T-Plush! Fireworks went off in Bay View (literally) and cops are pulling people over everywhere, as the whole damn neighborhood is drunk (or just delirious w/ joy). Whoo-hoo!"
Pics taken during the game winning hit (plus Eric's 'Beast' pose)
"Work bit ass. Went to tailor shop afterwards, tried on some threads. Looked smashing. Par for the course. Came home, wrote and submitted JS column, it may run Tues. Wrote it intending to stir up some schtuff, so less than 50 JSonline comments will mark it as a failure."
"Home from Eric's. Once his wife came home it was kibosh on MLB night. Lisa and the kids are in the Dells with a friend (enjoying a haunted hayride, I'm told) so I Redbox'ed "The Walking Dead, The Complete First Season" and plan to knock that off tonight."
Our Miraculous Continental US Pancake:
October 8th
"Breaking news: Raider's owner Al Davis is dead @ 82. RIP"
I literally kissed the cover when I saw it on the shelf. Disturbing but true.
I'm a 30 point underdog going into this weekend's fantasy matchup. Playing QB Cutler WR's Moore/Desean Jackson/Manningham RB's Benson and Turner TE: Gronkowski K Bironas DEF New England. Opponent: Brees/Bowe/Calvin Johnson/Steve Smith/Jones-Drew/Adrian Foster/Vernon Davis/Minn D/Philly's kicker.
Courtney Love has gone on record as saying she'd kill Kurt Cobain if he came back to life. I guess if you've done it once . . .
"QB Aaron Rodgers has been named the "NFC Offensive Player of the Week" for the second time this season"
"OK, just finished my 30 min phone interview, the 4th step in the WI Dells process. I think it went well, but whadda I know? If I get this, it means $ - the *starting* wage is more $ than I've ever earned - and relocation (she told me the $ they'll give me for relocation and apologized for the amount. Apologize? I thought the relocation amount was my ANNUAL wage - and I was happy.) Too good to be true, which means it won't happen."
"'Cuz I was asked: Philadelphia/Milwaukee NLCS, Yankees/Rangers ALCS."
"BREAKING NEWS:
Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, has died at age 56."
"We just finished watching Season Five of Hell's Kitchen. It's a lot of fun to watch, as I've noted five times now, but I do wish they'd add a little variety to the challenges. Still, congrats to winner Danny Veltri, who as usual went on to become 'the executive chef' at a Ramsay restaurant - aka, a standard sous chef. Most mislabeled prize in all of reality TV."
October 6th
"'Occupy Wall Street' protesst business while mourning Steve Jobs. Fine. But Steve Jobs had a net worth of around 7 billion and was one of the *gasp* 1% that 'undermine democracy'. On principle, they should toss out their IPads, IPods, and Macbooks. They won't, of course. Know this kiddies: Jobs created more jobs, and hence helped more people, in any given year than all you protesters will do in your lifetimes, COMBINED."
"Folks at work were soooo despondent over the Brewers dropping 2 games in a row to now face elimination in the NLDS. I'm talking hardcore, kept a day to day W-L count on the bulletin board kind of fans. Huh. That mindset is new to me. As a Yankees fan, they can be down 3 games to none in the LCS, losing 9-0 in the bottom of the eighth, and I'd still bet on seeing them in the Series. Milwaukee fans need to act like we've been here before and quit anticipating a collapse."
Smiley's Power Rangers Halloween costume:
"And . . . I didn't get the Dells job. I was just notified - @ 10:27pm!? - via a personal email. Ugh."
"Detroit just ousted the Yanks. What a crappy half hour for Danny."
October 7th
"Went to bed 3 hrs earlier than normal in a depressive funk, but time to nut up & keep slugging. Off to work soon, then afterwards I'm going to stop and price a new suit. I clean up well, emerging, when I care to, as a plump but politically wiser Alec Baldwin. Enough of this bulls--t. Time to make some money again."
"@ eric's watching game 5 of the NLDS"
"NLDS Victory in the 10th inning, courtesy of T-Plush! Fireworks went off in Bay View (literally) and cops are pulling people over everywhere, as the whole damn neighborhood is drunk (or just delirious w/ joy). Whoo-hoo!"
Pics taken during the game winning hit (plus Eric's 'Beast' pose)
"Work bit ass. Went to tailor shop afterwards, tried on some threads. Looked smashing. Par for the course. Came home, wrote and submitted JS column, it may run Tues. Wrote it intending to stir up some schtuff, so less than 50 JSonline comments will mark it as a failure."
"Home from Eric's. Once his wife came home it was kibosh on MLB night. Lisa and the kids are in the Dells with a friend (enjoying a haunted hayride, I'm told) so I Redbox'ed "The Walking Dead, The Complete First Season" and plan to knock that off tonight."
Our Miraculous Continental US Pancake:
October 8th
"Breaking news: Raider's owner Al Davis is dead @ 82. RIP"
I literally kissed the cover when I saw it on the shelf. Disturbing but true.
I'm a 30 point underdog going into this weekend's fantasy matchup. Playing QB Cutler WR's Moore/Desean Jackson/Manningham RB's Benson and Turner TE: Gronkowski K Bironas DEF New England. Opponent: Brees/Bowe/Calvin Johnson/Steve Smith/Jones-Drew/Adrian Foster/Vernon Davis/Minn D/Philly's kicker.
Courtney Love has gone on record as saying she'd kill Kurt Cobain if he came back to life. I guess if you've done it once . . .
Monday, October 10, 2011
Raking the Autumn Leaves
With YaYa visiting Grandma the rest of Team Slap turned out to help me rake the yard!
Comment on FB: why is LuLu so upset, and Junie laughing....Junie has no shoes....sounds like last summer..
My reply: why would Junie need shoes? It was 70 degrees. LuLu was upset for 20 seconds over Park having the rake and not her
The Perfect Host
This morning we watched "The Perfect Host" an indie horror film starring David Hyde Pierce (Niles from Frasier). A bank robber on the run worms his way into a dinner party hosted by Pierce, only to discover the foppish host might have plans of his own. Pierce was great, the early twist was devious, and we enjoyed it. My one complaint was that the story should have ended at dawn, and ixnayed the rest. Available to stream on Netflix.
Humbled
Down by 91 points in my fantasy game going into tonight. All I need is for Jay Culter to throw 400 yards, w/ 4 TDs and scramble for ten yards - and I'll still lose by 50 points. A humbling week.
Facebook - October 1st thru the 4th
October 1st
"It's Saturday morning and our fantasy commish has finally! acknowledged my awesomeness in Week 3. I won the weekly cash prize (deducted from dues) by whupping on my opponent 115.30 to 67.9, a league best difference of 47.40 points. Quoteth commish: "Thumbs up to Slapjacks for winning ass kicker bonus - thumbs down to Slapjacks for whinning about the lateness of this post.""
"Unless MLB has failed to update stats in the last few days, Pujols finished shy of 100 RBI, thereby ensuring Arod's consecutive streak of 100RBI/30HR years is safe for another decade. Booyah. And all this talk about how Terry Francona should be held accountable (but not to blame) for the Red Sox collapse ignores one issue: where was their so-called "Captain" Varitek? He bragged about that 'C' on his uniform enough in the past, but where was his leadership when someone needed to yank those guys out of the weeds?"
AT&T sent me 3 statements for the same account, all dated Sept 27th, all w/ different totals. I called & was transferred 2x then was accidentally disconnected. Time wasted 12:44. 2nd call, transferred 2x, ended up on the phone with an Indian woman w/ no English comprehension beyond her script. I was not kind, and was tx'd to a woman in Chicago who did a decent job but had to transfer me again, waited five minutes on hold, hung up. Total time wasted: approx 47 minutes. WORST COMPANY EVER.
Worked the concession stand at the kids' school, then stayed late when our replacement failed to show. Then home to watch the Badgers-Nebraska matchup in primetime.
"Congrats Badgers! What an impressive wupping of Nebraska - 48 to 17 @ Camp Randall! Great game, great team, great state."
"Before I forget, today marks the 50th Anniversary of the day Roger Maris set the MLB record with his 61st home run of the season. I'm not an anti-steroid nut, barking at the moon and asking for records to be wiped, but when it comes to Maris and Aaron, my gut and my heart still think of them as the *true* home run record holders. RIP Mr. Maris, 61 is still the number to beat."
"Writing with "McCartney II" playing in the background ("Waterfalls" at the moment). My current job may bankrupt me and drive me to the Rescue Mission, but I'll say this for it - it's given me a great appreciation for the catalog and talent of Paul McCartney."
October 2nd
"Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away - Arthur Helps"
"Speak to the organ grinder, not the monkey"."
"If I were asked to name the . . . writer who I think has stuck most closely to that idea—STICK TO THE STORY, STICK TO THE GODDAMN STORY—it probably would be James M. Cain. There’s not a word in Cain that does not apply to the story he’s telling you - Rex Stout"
"Playing my hunches today. With Hillis weakened by illness I'll play Benson in his place, and w/ Sanchez playing Baltimore I'll start Cutler. After Knox was announced as the #2 WR for Chicago just an hour ago, I decided he'll sub in for the 'probable' Manningham. *Fingers crossed*"
"Whoo-hoo! Netflix has added additional seasons of The Office, 30 Rock and Parks & Recreation to streaming! G'd bless 'tis a good night!"
"Dang it, I lost my fantasy game by *point six five* points. My decision to start Cutler looked like crud when he earned 1.85 pts (!) but in fact it was the right move; Sanchez earned *negative 9.98*. Benson outscored Hillis, ditto Knox over Manningham. So far so good - except I played Arizona's D over NE. There wasn't much of a scoring difference, just four points, but it was enough. Losing sucks, but I'm confident I'd make the same decisions again, and I was right 3 out of 4x - and the 4th was by a hair. Slapjacks now 2-2."
Monday October 3rd
"The column I wrote Friday will/should be published in Tuesday's Journal-Sentinel. Please buy a copy, or at the very least link to/tweet/FB/comment on the published piece on jsonline."
Amanda Knox wins appeal, judge orders release . ."
"Smiley and I walked to his Tiger Cub den meeting today. It was a nice walk on a lovely evening, but near the end he was pretty tired - until some girl from school saw him walking and said hello. Then he was all smiles and asked if we could walk home afterwards too. :) At the meeting my suggestion of a relay race involving Q&A on the motto, etc, rocked. . . .BTW - Park's selling popcorn as a fundraiser for the Pack. If you'd like to place an order, let me know. A heapin' helpin' of the $ raised stays in his personal Scout account."
October 4th
"Quoteth the Ginger: "Pig-a-lee Wig-a-lee, Shop Da Pig!""
"It's Saturday morning and our fantasy commish has finally! acknowledged my awesomeness in Week 3. I won the weekly cash prize (deducted from dues) by whupping on my opponent 115.30 to 67.9, a league best difference of 47.40 points. Quoteth commish: "Thumbs up to Slapjacks for winning ass kicker bonus - thumbs down to Slapjacks for whinning about the lateness of this post.""
"Unless MLB has failed to update stats in the last few days, Pujols finished shy of 100 RBI, thereby ensuring Arod's consecutive streak of 100RBI/30HR years is safe for another decade. Booyah. And all this talk about how Terry Francona should be held accountable (but not to blame) for the Red Sox collapse ignores one issue: where was their so-called "Captain" Varitek? He bragged about that 'C' on his uniform enough in the past, but where was his leadership when someone needed to yank those guys out of the weeds?"
AT&T sent me 3 statements for the same account, all dated Sept 27th, all w/ different totals. I called & was transferred 2x then was accidentally disconnected. Time wasted 12:44. 2nd call, transferred 2x, ended up on the phone with an Indian woman w/ no English comprehension beyond her script. I was not kind, and was tx'd to a woman in Chicago who did a decent job but had to transfer me again, waited five minutes on hold, hung up. Total time wasted: approx 47 minutes. WORST COMPANY EVER.
Worked the concession stand at the kids' school, then stayed late when our replacement failed to show. Then home to watch the Badgers-Nebraska matchup in primetime.
"Congrats Badgers! What an impressive wupping of Nebraska - 48 to 17 @ Camp Randall! Great game, great team, great state."
"Before I forget, today marks the 50th Anniversary of the day Roger Maris set the MLB record with his 61st home run of the season. I'm not an anti-steroid nut, barking at the moon and asking for records to be wiped, but when it comes to Maris and Aaron, my gut and my heart still think of them as the *true* home run record holders. RIP Mr. Maris, 61 is still the number to beat."
"Writing with "McCartney II" playing in the background ("Waterfalls" at the moment). My current job may bankrupt me and drive me to the Rescue Mission, but I'll say this for it - it's given me a great appreciation for the catalog and talent of Paul McCartney."
October 2nd
"Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away - Arthur Helps"
"Speak to the organ grinder, not the monkey"."
"If I were asked to name the . . . writer who I think has stuck most closely to that idea—STICK TO THE STORY, STICK TO THE GODDAMN STORY—it probably would be James M. Cain. There’s not a word in Cain that does not apply to the story he’s telling you - Rex Stout"
"Playing my hunches today. With Hillis weakened by illness I'll play Benson in his place, and w/ Sanchez playing Baltimore I'll start Cutler. After Knox was announced as the #2 WR for Chicago just an hour ago, I decided he'll sub in for the 'probable' Manningham. *Fingers crossed*"
"Whoo-hoo! Netflix has added additional seasons of The Office, 30 Rock and Parks & Recreation to streaming! G'd bless 'tis a good night!"
"Dang it, I lost my fantasy game by *point six five* points. My decision to start Cutler looked like crud when he earned 1.85 pts (!) but in fact it was the right move; Sanchez earned *negative 9.98*. Benson outscored Hillis, ditto Knox over Manningham. So far so good - except I played Arizona's D over NE. There wasn't much of a scoring difference, just four points, but it was enough. Losing sucks, but I'm confident I'd make the same decisions again, and I was right 3 out of 4x - and the 4th was by a hair. Slapjacks now 2-2."
Monday October 3rd
"The column I wrote Friday will/should be published in Tuesday's Journal-Sentinel. Please buy a copy, or at the very least link to/tweet/FB/comment on the published piece on jsonline."
Amanda Knox wins appeal, judge orders release . ."
"Smiley and I walked to his Tiger Cub den meeting today. It was a nice walk on a lovely evening, but near the end he was pretty tired - until some girl from school saw him walking and said hello. Then he was all smiles and asked if we could walk home afterwards too. :) At the meeting my suggestion of a relay race involving Q&A on the motto, etc, rocked. . . .BTW - Park's selling popcorn as a fundraiser for the Pack. If you'd like to place an order, let me know. A heapin' helpin' of the $ raised stays in his personal Scout account."
October 4th
"Quoteth the Ginger: "Pig-a-lee Wig-a-lee, Shop Da Pig!""
Buy a Copy
I just got word that the column I wrote Friday will be in tomorrow's (Tuesday's) Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Please feel free to comment on it the JS site.
125 Years Ago Today
125 years ago today New York millionaire James Potter showed up at a dinner party wearing a new style of jacket, one suggested to him by the Prince of Wales. The jacket proved a hit and people soon referred to it by the name of the place where Potter debuted it - the Tuxedo Park Club.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
The Event/Alias/The Walking Dead
With the family out of town enjoying a visit to Wisconsin Dells, I fell asleep after work watching the DVD of Season 1 of "The Walking Dead". It's a zombie series that follows the plight of one sheriff's deputy intent on guiding his family through the post-apocalyptic hell that's become contemporary Georgia.
There's nothing overly original about the series, no unique advancement in zombie physiology, our reaction to them, or our methods of killing them. (you still shoot 'em in the brain). Actually, it may have one original trait: an intelligent script and a decent respect for characterization. Sure, sure, I saw the cheating wife coming, and the goody-two-shoes lead can infuriate, but all in all it's well written and certainly worth your time.
And I want to know what secret Keller whispered in the deputy's ear in the season finale.
Grade: A
I've been meaning to watch Alias for quite a few years and finally got around to watching most of season one. I like it, and find it entertaining and decently complex. But - and you know there was a but coming - it's also tedious. Keeping a weekly spy series going, especially one that has an overall story arc, demands that for every X amount of episodes there is a mandatory X amount of death defying, all hell's breaking loose missions. Hard to believe, but 8 or 9 episodes in I felt it was very mundane.
Plus, as a network show intent on showing Sidney isn't 'bad', she continually exhibits what I feel is Slapinions Golden Flaw of Action Characters: she fails to end the threat. John Doe is a bad guy, you say, one who constantly is trying to kill you and has nearly succeeded in the past? You just defeated him in a fight, and despite his spiteful warning that he'll be back to kill you . . . you handcuff him to a radiator and move on. Bulls((t. End the threat. Kill the guy. Not because you are bad, or evil, or callous, but because by letting him live you're not proving you're better - you're endangering your own life and that of the world as a whole.
Grade: C
I haven't seen but two episodes of The Event so far, so my judgement is incomplete. It's a Lost-ish thriller about a group of aliens who have been kept prisoner by the US for decades and now may/may not be orchestrating a violent takeover. I like it, but again, there's plenty of time for it to go south.
Grade: Incomplete
Saturday, October 8, 2011
YaYa Rides a Horse
This past spring YaYa attended a Girl Scout camp (I think it was 3 days/2 nights) and the highlight, nay, the very focus of the experience, was a chance to ride a horse.
Of course, other activities were scheduled too
but as I said, it was all about the four legs.
She had a blast, and was convinced her horse was smarter than the others because it took care to journey around, not through, some puddles on the trail.
Another great life experience courtesy of Scouting!
Of course, other activities were scheduled too
but as I said, it was all about the four legs.
She had a blast, and was convinced her horse was smarter than the others because it took care to journey around, not through, some puddles on the trail.
Another great life experience courtesy of Scouting!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Haunted Hayride and Zombie TV
Home from Eric's. Once his wife came home it was kibosh on MLB night. Lisa and the kids are in the Dells with a friend (enjoying a haunted hayride, I'm told) so I Redbox'ed "The Walking Dead, The Complete First Season" and plan to knock that off tonight.
On to the NLCS!!
I'm @ eric's watching game 5 of the NLDS
Update: NLDS Victory in the 10th inning, courtesy of T-Plush! Fireworks went off in Bay View (literally) and cops are pulling people over everywhere, as the whole damn neighborhood is drunk (or just delirious w/ joy). Whoo-hoo!
My Day
Work bit ass. Went to tailor shop afterwards, tried on some threads. Looked smashing. Par for the course. Came home, wrote and submitted JS column, it may run Tues. Wrote it intending to stir up some schtuff, so less than 50 JSonline comments will mark it as a failure.
Big Plans for the day
Went to bed 3 hrs earlier than normal in a depressive funk, but time to nut up & keep slugging. Off to work soon, then afterwards I'm going to stop and price a new suit. I clean up well, emerging, when I care to, as a plump but politically wiser Alec Baldwin. Enough of this bulls--t. Time to make some money again.
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