It's Obvious

Octopuses are sentient. I'm not budging on this point. 

The Doggos

 

Double Standard at the Grammys

If men can get a ticket for walking around naked then why can't women?

I'm old enough to have memories of when Madonna was chased out of certain towns and cited for swearing during concerts smw.. things sure are different!

- Lisa

A Pilgrimage to Clear Lake

Late Friday night YaYa invited me on a trip the next day to Clear Lake, Iowa, where Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens passed away. I was already committed to visiting my Mom, having done some grocery shopping for her, and so passed on a trip I would have thoroughly enjoyed. Late Saturday night, YaYa posted a wonderful tribute to the lost stars - Dan

* * * 

Early trip to Iowa to commemorate the Day the Music Died. I've always wanted to visit as i grew up listening to Buddy Holly’s music often (thanks, Dad) but it’s surreal to think that at 23 I've lived longer than a musical icon whose art is still appreciated today. It was freezing and got dark quickly but I'm glad to have gone. We got to see the Surf Ballroom as well - line out the door for a tribute event. -

Yaya

Again, We Mourn

 

My thoughts on February 3rd inevitably focus on the three artists (and their pilot) who were killed on this date in 1959. 

The loss to their families, and of course to rock and roll itself, is immeasurable. 

RIP Buddy, Ritchie, and The Big Bopper. 66 years later, you are still missed. 

Kudos

Smiley got this wonderful thank you from a table he served last night at work.  Great job!

(She wrote the note on a birthday card she'd received at the dinner)

Why??

 

After only one week back in use, the Little Library we take care of in front of the high school was vandalized again, with someone apparently punching through both layers of plexiglass on the door 

There is no reason to do that, no reason to harm the property of another, much less shared property used for the common good. No reason, that is, except a lack of decency, upbringing, and manners. 

Will we repair it yet again? 

Probably. Maybe. I don't know. 

Ten Years Ago Today

Ten years ago this morning, I was in a car accident that was so minor it warranted only a paragraph, and one of my big complaints was that my fingernail had been bent back. 

Of course, that was the accident that busted up my right hip, led to surgery, countless cortisone shots, daily pain of one degree or another, and a lawsuit that shorted me (seeing as its seven years since it was settled and I'm still in pain). 

But as I wrote then, it could have been worse. 

Later that evening, in a snowstorm, Team Slap and attended the 40th birthday party for Lisa's stepsisters husband Dan, held at Classic Lanes on Howell Ave. We sat with Lisa's stepmom Louise (and probably drove her to and from - I don't recall). 

What I remember most about that party was the awe and incredulity on the faces of my kids as they watched a roomful of adults - minus me -  dance to the DJ. There haven't been many weddings in our family in recent years, and that was the first real time they saw grown-ups break loose. 

Rustic Road

Right before Christmas I went with a couple co-workers to Rustic Road, a Kenosha bar and restaurant. After a frighteningly long 40 minute wait for lunch - despite being some of the only diners - they delivered me the wrong dish. As we needed to get back to work, I couldn't wait for it to be redone, so they gave me a $20 gift card for my trouble. 

Well, back on Jan 9th we went there again, this time with Lorenzo in tow. This time, they got the dishes right. 

They just weren't very good. 

Sandwiches? Mid. 

Tater tots - dang good, I'll give them that. 

The chili? Bland. 

To top it off, that $20 gift card I was given? I presented it for payment and it was empty, with a zero balance LOL

To their credit, they honored it. 

Regardless, if I go back, it won't be for quite awhile. 

Thanks, I'll Just Watch Paint Dry Instead

Ladies and Gentlemen, a contest absolutely no one outside of Missouri and Pennsylvania wanted or desired: Eagles vs Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.

Open Flame

Back on Jan 5th, the 47th anniversary of my paternal Grandpa's death, Lisa treated me to lunch at Open Flame, a restaurant on Hwy 100 that she'd been to as part of the "lady's lunches" she attends with her Mom. 

She loved the Christmas decor and excused herself from the table to get these pics. 

As for the food: 

The french onion soup was delicious and affordable. Unlike most places, who so water down the broth you can barely distinguish it from water, the flavor was strong and fresh. 

The complimentary bread and oil was ok, but I found the oil terribly bland, despite the seasonings that had been added to it. 

Lisa enjoyed the vegetable soup. I don't get it. I can think of few soups less appealing, and I don't like soup at all.  But she's a soup person, so take her word on it. 

My burger was ok, but the meat was melt in your mouth soft. If I'm eating a burger, I like a textural difference between the bun and the meat. 

Lisa adored her steak and shrimp, taking enough home for a second full meal. 

I didn't care much for the service, although one server/one visit isn't enough for me to call that a concern. I did NOT like that the restaurant's bar was filled with Packers fans cheering, booing and screaming along as they watched the Packers lose to the Bears in week 18. At times it was too loud to carry on a conversation, which I find obnoxious given the location. I'm fine with that at a tavern or a Buffalo Wild Wings. Not so much at a restaurant charging what they did in the middle of the day. 

Now stay off my lawn! 
 

Our Huckleberry

 

Boston Strangler

 

Lisa and I recently watched this Hulu original, and we were both pleasantly surprised by the quality of what we thought, wrongly, would be a sensationalist rehash of the killings. 

Instead, we found a film primarily concerned with two real-life Boston reporters, Loretta McLaughlin, (played by Keira Knightly), and Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) who overcome the sexist structure of early '60's journalism and became the first to identify that a serial killer was on the loose in Boston.

The film, just like the real life case,  leaves you with questions. Was it really the work of one man, or multiple killers, including those who killed for personal reasons and disguised it as the work of the Strangler? Cole and McLaughlin believed  in the latter, and again had to fight the system to get their belief in print. 

Don't go thinking this was dull or preachy:  it has plenty of twists and chills, it just doesn't rely on them alone to drive the story. 

I very much think it's worth a watch. 

Grade: B+

The Ubiquitous Pattern of the 1990's

Maybe I've written about this before; with twenty years of blog material you forget about the random post.  But seeing these pictures (none of which are mine, they were all posted in the comments of a Facebook post) brought nostalgic thoughts to the front and center. 

Lisa and I had a bedding set - sheets, pillowcases, comforter - in this very pattern. As I recall we picked it up from a store in the Gurnee Mills mall in Illinois. Pricey, by our poverty level nineties income: I think it was somewhere between $35 and $50. But man, we had that set forever - heck, we might still have the odd pillowcase laying around. 

As much as we loved it, I can't imagine buying a shower curtain in the same pattern, as in the photo. That, in my opinion, is a bridge too far. 

 

It's Back in Action

Nearly six weeks after vandals destroyed the plexiglass door of the little library outside the high school, I reinstalled the repaired door yesterday.  

It took awhile to do the repair, with the holidays and whatnot keeping the project on the back burner. But Lisa and I cut and installed the plexiglass Sunday, and I ventured out into the deep freeze to put it back up. 

Sorry for the blurry "after" photo, my hands were frozen. (It was 2 degrees F according the radio on the way there; my car's exterior thermostat said 7 degrees)

Now, to restock it . . . 

Bingo with YaYa!

Friday night YaYa joined us for bingo, where I ran into Cheri, my old boss from Job Prior, who I probably haven't seen since 2005. She was there with her Mom Melissa, who used to work in our cafe, but alas Melissa didn't remember me. 

YaYa was admirably into the action, paying careful attention to her sheets and coming close to victory on a few occasions. 

"Close", of course, betrays the fact that we never did reach a successful outcome that evening. Well, we won $4.50 on pull tabs but spent more on those than we took home. Cherri and her Mom, however, both won different games. 

You'll have to forgive me for staring into space in this last picture. There are other versions where I look a little smarter, but in those my lovely companions weren't facing the camera, and I think you'd rather see their faces anyway :)

It was a fun, relaxing evening with the 2001-2003 version of Team Slap!