Bear Head

Just because I try on a bear head doesn't mean LuLu and Smiley  have the right to don one and engage in a wrasslin' match.

I Do Stupid Things

Here's a tip: if you try and burn off a gray chest hair the flame will quickly spread and light your whole chest on fire. 

Lulu : You do stupid things.

The Eclipse

I swear, this eclipse is the biggest bunch of overdone hoopla since Y2K. If it isn't endless prattle about the glasses, it's dire warnings to "save your eyes!," or worse yet don't let your dog stare at it. Newsflash: your dog doesn't care about the eclipse, and neither do I. I'll participate with the kids if they are interested, but otherwise, yawn.

Anyway. 

Continuing the eclipse phenomenon, I took the youngest two to make eclipse viewers and watch the event at American Science and Surplus. Ty to Tracy for the tip.

Welp.  Saturday was a day to forget.  Better tomorrows.

My Thoughts

I realize that I sound like a conspiracy nut when I rant about the media being "the enemy." It isn't that I think there's a monolithic entity guiding the media along a master plan to do X or promote Y. I think this Facebook comment I wrote does a good job of explaining the seed of my doubt

I came close to minoring in journalism, and spent three semesters in the program.  All the professors were very liberal,  but with the exception of one they were very honest and fair.  They took great care,  way back in '92, to point out what they saw as a decline in journalism standards and a slant to the left. 

In one exercise,  a comparison of news broadcasts from the same day,  that of a big event.  Each ran with different stories about the same event,  each obviously based on what exclusives they could muster.  One even ignored the event,  burying it in the broadcast, despite its importance to the community. 

Another exercise had us watch TV detective shows. Time and again, the bad guy was a businessman.  (this is the era before Law and Order made "ordinary" crime entertainment). The prof called on a producer/writer to explain why. The answer?  There wasn't enough conflict if the villain was a common thug,  and isn't corporate America evil anyway? Why not show that? 

Almost all in profs blamed  Watergate. They said it lead to an influx of liberals into the profession,  based on the glory of Woodward and Bernstein,  and that as a whole they were more agenda driven and far more liberal than what they'd seen before. 

Liberal as they were,  the professors warned that this lead to a decline in objectivity and an isolation of opposing pov's. 

The Chudnow Museum

My boy and I visited this neat little museum in downtown Milwaukee. Very neat, and worth a trip.

Went to a museum with. My dad had one fashion phone you can use to talk to people on the other side of building replying​ neat 😀 - Smiley

The Media

Yesterday NBC ‘s evening broadcast spent 60 percent more time on stories about Trump than on the terror attack in Barcelona that killed 14 people and injured over 100. Two days before that news that North Korea had backed down was buried fifteen minutes into a broadcast I watched. 

Just sayin', the media has an agenda. 

A Medical Concern - Junie

Lisa and I just returned from Children's Hospital with Junie. We didn't mention this publicly, but she's been showing signs of epilepsy, including having her eyes roll back in her head until only the whites were showing. Today was the EEG, and while the results won't come back until at least tomorrow, she exhibited symptoms during the breathing exercise portion of the exam. God willing, it's nothing more than some weird tic. The hardest part was keeping her awake from 2am on, per instructions, a process that meant Lisa and I took turns keeping her occupied. A special thank you to JJ for taking Junie shopping in the middle of the night.

Feeling Proud

Lulu, a freshman, is in Level 3 dance at school, which is typically a junior level. Tuesday she had a rough day and came home in tears. Wednesday she spoke to the teacher and told her she was new to the school and came from a non-competitive dance studio, but was committed to the class. She even told the instructor to "yell at me" if she got anything wrong. Wow. What an unscripted declaration of grit and dedication. It is honestly one of the proudest moments of my parenting career. Well done OJ!

We caught some fish!

One of seven fish we caught on vacation

All caught with net we couldn't catch any hook the fish knew not to eat it all together so they took tiny bites any unhooks it and just eats bait 🙀😸 - Smiley

"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right."

-George Orwell, 1984

Learn Something. Please.

F me people. I realize most folks don't study history as deeply as I have and do, but try and pretend you made it to class once or twice. Half my feed this morning is nonsensical gibberish. Native Americans originally migrated from South America; a WWII isolationist/pacifist group were skinheads; Lincoln was black; the Civil War South was supported by willing blacks; no President has ever called illegal immigration a problem before Trump. Really? Try real hard today to convince me this country isn't doomed by our own stupidity, cuz you've been working hard to convince me the other way.

Sign Me Up

Watching the Astros-Diamondbacks game

A utility company on the broadcast just advertised free electricity for their customers from 9pm - 6am each day.  I wasn't paying attention until then and missed the details,  but.  .   .  . Sign me up.

An Insane Conversation

A (lily white) liberal just claimed my possession of a cellphone and a 15 year old Ford with a busted hood latch (said hood now secured with bungee cords) is evidence of my white privilege. He literally quoted those very facts as his proof, then implied that only a white man could afford such luxuries in the first place. That isn't proof of privilege; that's proof of some sick racism unsuccessfully cloaked as liberal empathy. Cell phones are exclusive to white people? Say what?

Note: I've screenshotted the exchange, in case some comments magically disappear.

May I also point out that my super liberal, rainbow flag flying, Outpost shopping, Impeach Trump neighborhood went crazy when the local park allowed a peaceful Puerto Rican celebration this past weekend. Facebook was littered with complaints that in the end amount to "they are brown and don't belong here." I find the hypocrisy to be exhausting.

But you know we disagree about white privilege.... But his argument falls way short.It's cloaked racism to assume all whites are rich and all blacks are poor. I supposed all whites are educated and all blacks drop outs.... No whites do drugs and all blacks do.....its all just bullshit.

Some People

At the pediatrician:

Receptionist: What's your daughter's date of birth?

Me: Edit-Edit-Oh Seven

Receptionist: Edit Edit, oh-seven. . . . is that 2007?

No, it's 1907. My kid's 110. WTH?

Upchuck

I had to stop at the high school to pay the year's fees, and while I was there a student vomited all over the floor of the office. I don't consider the matters related.

I 100% Agree

For once we agree. All speech is protected, or none of it is safe. Arguing otherwise is both egotistical (thinking you and you alone are smart enough to draw the line) and an infringement of the rights we supposedly hold dear.

Unremarkable Bigotry

Misspelling my name is a form of ethnic bigotry.  And yes,  I'm serious.

Pronouncing It incorrectly after being corrected and given a simple way (slap-chin-ski) over and over and over gets old too. It wouldn't be tolerated for an African American's difficult first name, why is it so acceptable for a polish last name? - Lisa

Flashback to Logic class in college. - Tre [where a TA asked "May I call you Slappy?"]

And wouldn't you know it, went to pay a bill today and, thinking they were out of earshot, the three clerks laughed about and mispronounced my name - nevermind they had first names as long as my last one. And yes, I did speak up, corrected their pronunciation, and said if they're going to take my money they need to do while at least coming close to my name. I said it nicely, with more humor than growl, but point made, and one spent some time writing my name phonetically for the next time she sees me.

The first day of the new School Year (for the highschoolers)

Today my two oldest started school!

A Boring Day Gone Good

A boring day, so I gathered up the two youngest and took them to a park by the airport.  They played awhile, then LK chose to write, and Smiley took out his sketchbook. I mainly hopped around wishing the park had a restroom lol

You really do take pictures of everything - Smiley

The Media Loves Division

Did you know there was a white nationalist march scheduled in Virginia yesterday? I didn't. And I'm willing to bet you didn't either (unless you're on their membership list, in which case, eww.) Ignore it, let them march in accordance with their Constitutional rights, and all they hear is the sound of crickets. But instead the press, pretending this was newsworthy and not a gathering of kooks, gave them all the publicity and notoriety they desired, and brought along Soros's Antifa to make sure there was suitable dramatic tension. Congratulations, MSM, you proved yourself unworthy of respect yet again.

The Polish Officer by Alan Furst

I read this on vacation on the dubious "recommendation" of Sandra Sh--i, who didn't like it and passed it on to me. I loved it. A detailed, fictional account of a Polish agent operating from the fall of '39 to 1942, it drew me in from the start. Furst has a way with words, and fleshes out even the characters you only meet in passing.

An Update on the Debit Card Fraud

While on vacation the bank mailed me a letter informing me the money was credited back to my account, the overdraft fees waived, and all scheduled electronic payments had been honored. It made for a thin wallet while on vacation, but it went EGBAR in the end.

fergalicious - Yaya

A Walk Interrupted

My hip was so bad last night I considered going to the ER, but I knew they wouldn't do anything. I was a cripple confined to the couch. Thankfully this morning it's back to normal. Criminey.

I went for a walk with LK to stretch out the hip. Made it 3/4th of a mile when it buckled and I had to call for a ride home. Not my proudest moment.