Homecoming 2023

This is Homecoming weekend for Junie, and it began with her wearing her homecoming 2023 t-shirt to school. 

(I mean, it began long before, with ordering the corsages and getting the nails, but you know what I mean). 

She and her friend Bella got ready at the house

I drove them to Hue, a Vietnamese restaurant where they met up with and dined with Kevin, another of the Core Four. 

Rebecca, one of our exchange student from last year, joined in over the phone. 

 

Then I drove all 3 of them to the dance at their school - during a chilly rainstorm, all the while while nursing a horrible cold I might add (I'm a hero!)

When I picked them up hours later they reported they'd had a great time, and it sure looked like it from the photos!

The Face of the Era

“see yourself on the big screen” II

Some loves never die

The 2023 NKOTB Cruise - arrival day

Wednesday, after months of planning and stress, Lisa and her friend JJ departed to Miami to embark on the 2023 NKOTB Cruise. This was to be the second such trip for Lisa and the first for JJ. 

As we learned from our own cruises together, it is always best to travel to the port city the day before embarkation, not only to avoid any travel delays that make you miss the ship, but just to de-stress and unwind. 

(Update: the next day a bomb scare in Baltimore delayed/canceled many flights and yes, some fans missed the ship and lost out on their vacation)

I dropped them off at O'Hare for an 11am flight and they were on the way!

Once I got to Miami they went to a merchandise pop up for the cruise where they were excited to see and take a photo with Danny Wood!

And they met Danny's Dad!

They eventually met up with Carina, Lisa's European friend and her roommate last year on the cruise.

Officially the vacation I hadn't even begun yet so there was a lot more to come . . .

An Evening with Smiley

After work, at his request, I went with Smiley to the library to keep him company as he wrote a paper.  We were there 3 full hours, right until they closed at 8.  On the way home we stopped at Pita Palace and shared a great sampler plate while we traded Pokemon and discussed WWI.

The Nun II

Yesterday YaYa and I went to a 9:50pm showing of The Nun II at South Shore. She selected seats in the back row, which is deeply unsettling to my sensibilities. Back row in church, as close as possible to the front for a game, mid-range for movies. That's the accustomed way to chose your seating in a civilized society, but whatever, just more evidence Gen Z is gonna ruin it all in the end.

'Twas a Tuesday, so at least the hot dogs were $2.50 and the soda 20% off. 

The Nun II takes up four years after the events of the first movie. As a string of Catholic clergy are killed/forced into suicide across Europe, the Church suspects the demon Valak has returned and orders Sister Irene (the future Lorraine Warren) to once again investigate.  She tracks it to a boarding school in France, where her old friend Maurice has taken a job as a handyman, and confronts the evil once again. 

I saw The Nun  with Lisa but forgot most of the plot until I reviewed its Wikipedia page before the movie yesterday. I think you can easily follow along without that knowledge, as little of it relies on the past installment besides Taissa Farmiga's portrayal of Sister Irene. They even dispose of a main character from number one off screen, giving him only a curt "He died of cholera" as an obituary -an odd and flippant dismissal of an ally and friend. 

As for scares, I can remember only one moment that made me jump, not that the rest of the film was completely absent of tension and fear. But much like the plot, I simply found the scares too predictable to not see coming. 

I  want to give  praise to the movie - the 8th installment of the Conjuring franchise  - for consistently portraying Catholicism and practitioners in a positive and respectful light. That said, I wouldn't write a new catechism based on what you learn on screen, as a lot of it seems like Catholicism visa-vis good-meaning Protestant writers. An upside down cross is NOT a sign of the devil (it's St. Peter's cross), only an ordained Priest can consecrate the bread and wine, and as I whispered to YaYa when the scene was playing, the Novus Ordo (modern Mass, post Vatican II) was most certainly not what you'd see in a quaint 1956 French parish. 

All in all, I grade this a B, and a C+ if you're going into it just for the frights. 

 

Selfie

Sept 29th

War In Israel

 

It has already been described as Israel's 9/11. 

In a coordinated terror attack by land, air, and sea - Hamas has killed more than 700 Israelis, and wounded north of 2000 more. This was not a military action, unless your definition of such includes going house to house, hacking and killing civilians, dragging bodies through the street, kidnapping civilians as hostages, targeting a music festival in the desert for attack where at least 260 were murdered,  raping, and posing for selfies next to destroyed vehicles. Hamas itself acknowledges launching 5000 rockets into Israel yesterday. 

President Biden condemned an “appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists” and said that “Israel has a right to defend itself and its people, adding “My Administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering.”

Right answer Mr. President.

Today, as causality counts mount and Israel declared formal war for the first time since 1973, Hamas acknowledged that Iran backed the attacks - no doubt to derail the treaty talks with Saudi Arabia. The US has responded by dispatching an aircraft carrier, six ships, and fighter craft to the region. 

[I will, for the moment, practice intentional blindness and ignore the fact that the White House handed Iran $6 billion dollars this summer in a hostage deal, money Iran blatantly said they'd spend on whatever they wished]

Meanwhile, spontaneous anti-Semitic celebrations popped up all over the world, cheering on actions like this: 

The naked body of a  [Israeli] woman was paraded through the streets in the back of a pick-up truck on Saturday as Hamas fighters sat on her unmoving form.

A celebrating crowd surrounded the armed men in combat fatigues, who shouted “Allah Akbar” from the open back of the truck.

Some in the crowd, which included youngsters, spat on the woman’s body before the truck sped away on a day of unprecedented massacres of Israeli civilians.

The woman was later named as Shani Louk. Miss Louk’s family confirmed they had seen the video but said they “still have some kind of hope” that she had survived.

-https://news.yahoo.com/naked-israeli-woman-paraded-jeering-191753028.html 

What does US Congresswoman (D) Rashida Tlalib, of the so-called "Squad" have to say? 

“I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day.” Tlaib said, equating murderer and victim in her "grief" before calling the situation in Israel "apartheid" and urging a "cease fire" - aka no retribution and no justice against Hamas. 

Thankfully, even those in her party have reacted with disgust to her hate, and I hope - vainly, I'm sure - that she is formally rebuked. 

I pray for Israel and the safety of its citizens, and for the quick and total destruction of Hamas and its adherents. 

 

The Cat Tree!

After a study session at Collectivo, Smiley and I came across this colorful cat tree abandoned in our alley. A brisk vacuuming later, courtesy of Smiley,  Ralph (and to a lesser extent Kahuna) love it!!

Found it!!

Just a day ago I asked about a science-fiction short story anthology I had as a kid, the title of which had been lost to me for decades. 

It took a reader on Sci-Fi Stack Exchange all of about twenty minutes to give me an answer. 

Beyond the Stars: Tales of Adventure in Time and Space not only included the only known excerpt from the original Star Wars novelization, it also had an excerpt from a Doctor Who novel, a fact I had completely forgotten but that roared back with full clarity once I saw the table of contents. It also had a weird combination of Star Wars cosplay and Battlestar Galactica Vipers on the cover!

I found a copy for under six bucks on Ebay (albeit with no cover photo) and ordered it on the spot. It'll be good to have it back "home" on my shelves. 

How often do you think of the Roman Empire?

As I was sitting at a coffee shop with LuLu yesterday I overheard a conversation at a nearby table. They mentioned the recent Tiktok trend where men are asked how often they think about the Roman Empire.  The surprisingly common answer to that inquiry - "a lot/everyday/every other day"

Now according to these people - two men and a woman - this was "probably a lie," designed to woo potential female partners, and that no guy thinks of Rome that often. What woman, other than Mary Beard, would grow faint at such a line wasn't made clear.  Nor am I alleging these were America's best or brightest scholars: one of them said that the only time *he* thought of the Roman Empire was when he was watching a movie about it, "like 300" - which of course is a movie about Greece, not Rome. 

Now a few weeks ago Junie, asked me this very same question, phone in hand, probably to comply with that Tiktok trend.  And my answer was an honest "A few times a day."

I assure you, that wasn't to reel in a lady or because Rome was a "patriarchal,  militaristic society," or any other drivel that haters use to dismiss the answer. My reasoning is simple: Why wouldn't you think of Rome often? 

Not just the Empire, but the Republic that proceeded it, and Byzantium that followed it. The built a society that spanned three continents and lasted 800 years (1800 if you don't exclude the Eastern half of the Empire); not the largest empire in history, true, but no doubt the most influential to modern life. Law, politics, language, construction, you name it, the Romans had a hand in improving it. 

I think of their roads and their cement every time I drive over streets like Logan Avenue in Milwaukee, riddled with so many potholes you think it was target practice for artillery; I think of their language whenever I look up a term of art in the law; I think of their role as conquerors and their willingness to embrace change when I think of Christianity; I think of their art and their architecture and their weapons and their Senators and their Emperors and . . . 

Well, I think of them often. 

And NOT just when I watch "300."

A Nightmare in Las Cruces

 

On February 10^th, 1990 gunmen entered and robbed a bowling alley in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  They took around $5000, ordered everyone to get on the ground – and then opened fire. Four were killed, another died of her injuries within a decade, and two others were wounded.  

The age of three of the dead? Thirteen, six, and two, with the toddler shot point blank in the forehead.

 

The case was never solved.

 

 A Nightmare in Las Cruces is a full-length documentary, filmed for the 20^th anniversary of the massacre, that Lisa and I rented from Amazon Wednesday night.

 

It was not a pleasant film to watch.

 

That was to be expected. The film had extensive access to the family of the victims, and their pain, even two decades past the event, was raw and dangerously close to the surface. Add that to a detailed look at a gruesome and senseless crime and no, you aren't going to feel very good about humanity when the closing credits roll. 

But the filmmaker did the viewer, and himself, no favors either. 

For one, the audio  in the film was horrendous. Sinister music plays incessantly at times, even while family members are sharing their thoughts. Other parts of the film have the audio cut in and out and some scenes have an odd buzzing in the background. 

Visually, actual footage of the slaughter, up to to and including video that lingers on the corpse of the six year old, plays far too often. Including the unblurred footage is questionable but impactful, but that impact lessens when it is played over and over. 

In terms of telling the story, small but vital details are omitted. You're left wondering why two middle school girls are in a bowling alley office on a Saturday morning, and why an employee would bring his two and six year old with him to work.  The answer? (thank you Google) is that the bowling alley had a daycare for the bowler's children, which the middle school girls were going to supervise. With no babysitter that day, the two and six year old were going to spend the day in the daycare while their Dad worked. 

The documentary also (in my opinion) wastes time trying to imply that this was a deliberate assassination, as a vendetta against the business owner. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, but it reeks of desperation, of  a frustrated public being unable to rectify the sad fact that humans sometimes kill, and kill children, for no reason we can fathom. 

The documentary had the best of intentions and occasionally, it is moving and powerful. But overall, I would rate this as a C. 

Star Wars Question

In my childhood I was gifted a hardcover sci-fi short story anthology that featured an excerpt from the novelization of Star Wars by George Lucas/Alan Dean Foster. As I recall, it was from their time on the Death Star, and it was illustrated with sketches that were either drawn a) by someone who'd never seen the movie or b) by someone really careful to avoid recreating the movie designs for legal reasons.

I mention that the book was hardcover, but as I recall the dark cover was oddly glossy.  For some reason now lost to my subconscious, I think the book may have been published in England. 

Does anyone know what this collection was called? Does anyone know where I can find a list of collections that were authorized to excerpt the novelization? 

Surrender your keyboard

Loose for lose

There for their (twice!)

Sense for since

All in the space of a mere nineteen words. 

Good Lord. She's a college graduate (and a native speaker too). 

Tell the sun that whenever it wants to supernova, it can go right ahead with my blessing.

Congratulations on doing what you do Best.

Congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers for finishing with a 90-72 record, a National League Central title . . . 

and then getting swept by an 84 win team in the first round of the playoffs. 

#$@$%%

49 years. 

FORTY NINE YEARS this team has disappointed me and left me bitter and angry and incapable of EVER trusting that they'll win a Championship. They would have to be up by six in the ninth inning of game seven of the World Series before I could feel certain of victory. 

You think I'm kidding? 

In the example above, I originally wrote "up by 5 in the 9th inning." Why did I change it? 

Because, hand to heart, I immediately pictured a scenario where they allow a couple runs and some baserunners, fall apart as the momentum swings, and surrender a grand slam to lose the Series. Right here, at my desk, I could see it clear as day, and my heart dropped. 

No mas. No mas. 

This isn't the kind of history you want to see created

 Let’s be clear about one thing: the unprecedented – literally – ousting of sitting Speaker of the House by a maverick group of extreme-right Republicans yesterday?

Idiotic.

Last week Speaker Kevin McCarthy orchestrated a bi-partisan effort to avoid a government shutdown. Whatever the merits of the act, and your opinion of it, it was mundane. It was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a grand betrayal of the Republic.

Enter Rep. Matt Gaetz, who as part of the deal McCarthy made to secure his leadership, had pushed for a rule change to allow any single lawmaker the ability to file a motion to vacate the Speakership.

He did so.

Gaetz and seven Republicans voted to oust; they were joined, ironically, by 208 Democrats.

No Speaker had ever been ordered to vacate the post. Until yesterday.

Don’t try and tell me that this was some triumph of principle over tradition. That’s a lie, both for the extremist cadre of Republicans and their newfound Democratic allies. The former are content to scorch the earth, as governance seems a secondary desire to them. And the Democrats? A petty, partisan pile-on. Unless you think they voted to oust McCarthy because he worked with them last week, which seems like a good way to ensure no olive branches are extended in the future.

Chaos rules the House today. There is no Speaker. There is no easy *path* to Speakership, as any candidate would have to concede points to the fringe to get the votes, and after yesterday, who will trust them?

If Gaetz and company wanted to demonstrate to the world that the party is in turmoil, mission accomplished. If they wanted to handcuff a third of the government, the mission was accomplished.  Beyond that . . .

Shameful.

Our Junie

Tim Wakefield

 

I am no Red Sox fan - may the baseball gods kindly grant them another 86 year championship drought - but I was a fan of Tim Wakefield. 

Originally an eighth round draft choice by Pittsburgh as a position player, he learned to throw a knuckleball when told he would never make the bigs with his bat. 

Despite a strong showing on the mound for the Pirates in their ill-fated 1992 playoff run, Wakefield began to struggle the next year. After being released by the Pirates, he was picked up by Boston, where he would retire 17 years later, the longest tenured player on the team and the oldest active player in the major leagues. 

During his career, he recorded 200 career victories, won two rings, threw more innings than any Red Sox pitcher in history, won the second-most games at Fenway in history, and notched the third-most career wins of anyone in a Red Sox uniform, trailing only Roger Clemens and the immortal Cy Young. 

And by all accounts, he did it while being a pretty darn good human being. 

Wakefield died today of cancer at the age of 57. 

RIP Tim, RIP.