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!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
Today on my lunch hour I finished reading "Destiny of the Republic" by Candice Millard, a non-fiction account of the assassination of President Garfield. Personally, I think Millard made it read a little too "pop history" for the subject matter, but she does a great job of letting the modern reader get to know Garfield. He sounds like a great man by any definition : the poor child who grew up without a father but scrapped his way to college degree; who led Union forces to victory in Kentucky during the Civil War; who not only didn't campaign for the Presidential nomination, he tried to refuse it; the man whose views on racial equality would be impressive in 1970, much less 1880; and the father who, on the day he was shot, started the day by playing on all fours w/ his children. His death was a waste of goodness and potential, and the method of his death (rotting away for 80 days as infection literally consumed his body from inside) is horrific. RIP. Grade: A-/B+
The Man from Primrose Lane by James Renner
I was eager to read "The Man from Primrose Lane", so eager, in fact, that I read it in a single day. I loved the first 3/4ths of the book, which was a compelling blend of mystery and thriller with a subtle thread of sci-fi sneaking around in the shadows. And then . . . ah, and then. Then the book hit a wall and turned 100% into a sci-fi novel, and not a very good one. Essentially it was two different books, pasted together under the same cover. Sadly, I have to give this a C at best.
The Man from Primrose Lane
I was eager to read "The Man from Primrose Lane", so eager, in fact, that I read it in a single day. I loved the first 3/4ths of the book, which was a compelling blend of mystery and thriller with a subtle thread of sci-fi sneaking around in the shadows. And then . . . ah, and then. Then the book hit a wall and turned 100% into a sci-fi novel, and not a very good one. Essentially it was two different books, pasted together under the same cover. Sadly, I have to give this a C at best
Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
Today on my lunch hour I finished reading "Destiny of the Republic" by Candice Millard, a non-fiction account of the assassination of President Garfield. Personally, I think Millard made it read a little too "pop history" for the subject matter, but she does a great job of letting the modern reader get to know Garfield. He sounds like a great man by any definition : the poor child who grew up without a father but scrapped his way to college degree; who led Union forces to victory in Kentucky during the Civil War; who not only didn't campaign for the Presidential nomination, he tried to refuse it; the man whose views on racial equality would be impressive in 1970, much less 1880; and the father who, on the day he was shot, started the day by playing on all fours w/ his children. His death was a waste of goodness and potential, and the method of his death (rotting away for 80 days as infection literally consumed his body from inside) is horrific. RIP. Grade: A-/B+
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
On Michelle Obama
Tonight, after work, while watching the Amazing Race with the kids, a PSA with Michelle Obama came on.
Me: I know you're going to think this is because her last name is Obama, but it's not; I don't see how people think she's so attractive. I mean, not that it matters what she looks like, but I think her face is very sharp and angry looking. I just don't get it.
Lulu: Oh, I know! Me too! But no one ever says it! And you know I don't care if she's a Democrat or whatever, so it's not that. I always thought she looked kinda like a hawk. Like, you know, she's pretttyy, but only if you look real fast. But if you keep looking, she looks mean.
edit from 2022: I wouldn't have posted this now. It just seems a little pointless and mean spirited. Not that I'm not still pointless and mean spirited, but publicly? No...
Mrs God by Peter Straub
I also finished reading Peter Straub's "Mrs. God", a ghost story set in the English countryside. While I 'got' the gist of the book, the last few pages left me scratching my head. Since it's clear the author meant the dénouement to make you gasp with delight, either I missed something or he got it wrong. Since I'm the schmuck that would be forking out the dough, I vote for "he got it wrong". C+/B-
Caligula by Aloys Winterling
I've finished reading "Caligula" by Aloys Winterling, an upcoming bio of the Roman emperor. It argues that, contrary to parochial belief, Caligula was neither insane nor, for that matter, all that wrong in what he did. I tend to agree. Look at his actions objectively in the context of his era, and you'll find an Emperor who was pretty good at what he did (and popular with the masses). It was the aristocracy that he treated with contempt, and of course its the aristocracy who lived to tell the tale of his life. Stylistically, not the greatest, so I rate this only a B+ for history fans.
Hitchers by Will McIntosh
I've finished reading "Hitchers" by Will McIntosh. It begins with a terrorist attack that kills half a million in Atlanta, but oddly that plays almost no part in the bk; saying it does would be like saying a bk that starts w/ a rainstorm is all about meteorology. Finn is a 30'something on the rise when he becomes possessed by the voice, then the personality, of his gruff, abusive - and quite dead - grandfather. Soon the phenomenon becomes widespread, and Finn must scramble to find a way to close the 'hole' to the afterlife before the dead consume the living. If you can tolerate a brief foray into New-Agey philosophy, it's quite and intelligent novel. A-
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Atrocious
The other night I watched the Spanish language film "Atrocious". When a family is brutally murdered in the Spanish countryside, the police (and viewer) examines 37 hours of "found" footage left behind by the victims. It's a ho-hum horror film with a few scares, but you're often left wondering why they don't just drop the camera and run already. Still, the end was a nice (if small) twist. C.
Jack and Jill
It's a travesty that the Academy Awards don't give proper weight to a performance in a comedy. You want proof? Al Pacino in Adam Sandler's "Jack and Jill". He was GREAT, and if it's possible he climbed up a few notches on my 'best of' list. He deserved a supporting actor nomination. BTW, the movie itself was surprisingly funny. Given Pacino's performance, and the LOL's w/ Sandler, I rate it an A.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
A New Cat for Team Slap
Tonight I took the kids to pick out a cat from the Humane Society.
Idiotically, I took them along and so suffered through two plus hours of misery w/ Junie and Smiley, while LuLu was cool and YaYa was very helpful.
The cat we wanted was adopted out. We chose another but he was too eager to flee and would prob drive me nuts worrying about his whereabouts. We settled on a 4yr old male short haired cat named Flock(!) who has lost the sight in one eye due to glaucoma or cataracts (I forget which).
Anyhow, he seems to get along with Angel, which was our main concern, and he's a loving and spry cat. LuLu wanted to change his name to David, but I told her to reserve that for her future son. We may go w/ the name of the cat we originally wanted: Gus-Gus.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
A Lost Boy in our Yard
Yest evening I came home and found an 18 month old boy playing in the yard, enjoying my kids toys. There are no kids on my block, or across the alley, so we had no idea where he came from. I set out to see if there was a search party out while the kids and Lisa enjoyed his company. After 20 min we called the police. Just before they showed up (10 or 15 min later) the boys Grandma came down the alley calling his name. Apparently she was babysitting and he wandered out of the yard. He must have seen our toys and decided it was as good a rest stop as any. In the end we let the boy take Junie's old pushcar and a toy lawnmower with him.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Success
A successful Tiger meeting today, with the kids doing color wheels and magic tricks. I had a third project ready, but we ran out of time - always a good sign.
2 Movies
Two films last night before retiring by 11. 'Beneath the Darkness' a 'thriller' (yawner) starring Dennis Quaid, who seemed to either be off his game or so nauseated by the script he decided to ham it up. We didn't even finish it. Then on to "Shut up Little Man" a documentary about the audio recordings two guys made of their argumentative and violent alcoholics. I don't see the appeal of the tapes, but the documentary was entertaining, if a little prone to reading to much 'art' into the candid vulgarity. B.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Smiley's Birthday!
We just got back from Smiley's 7th birthday party! We held it at LIGHTSPEED, a go-cart and Lazer Tag center that occupies the former Allied Pools building at Coldspring & 27th. It's a brand new business that opened on the 1st, and the kids had a blast. We played two games of LazerTag, had a party room to ourselves, and had a free go-gart ride for Smiley. They need to organize themselves better, but again this is a mere four days after they opened. Lu's already talking about having her bday party there in June. Stop in and take a look.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
What Can I Say?
Lisa, on my status update about the exam: I would've hated you if we'd gone to school together. Who refuses to use the book during an open book test? I'd have stolen your lunch money. Seriously, who does that?
LuLu: (looking confused): I have
YaYa: Yeah, me too.
LuLu (bewildered): Uh, if you know the answers, why do you need to look in the book? It just takes longer that way.
(silence in the car) Lisa, to me: Your kids suck.
Three Movies
3 movie marathon w/ Entourage last night, and I'm afraid they were all mediocre.
"Dream House" with Daniel Craig: I guessed the big twist a few scenes in, and while it still had a ways to go after the reveal, it was never very special.
C. "The Thing" - like the first two versions, only with a lot of CGI that ruins the suspense and adds needless gore.
C. "Hugo" - it was fine, but the story never moved me and the look was too Polar Express. Plus Sasha Cohen sux. B/B-
Junie on the Phone
Today being my sister Katie's birthday, I had the kids call and wish her well. Before we put Lauren on the phone LuLu warned her that she'll talk forever.
Most people assume we're being cute or exaggerating when we say that, but Junie will talk non-stop FOR AN HOUR OR MORE if you do not intervene. I have personally taken a 45 min car ride with her and never had a moment to interject a word. Not a word. I'm not sure she even breathes during her monologues.
Anyhow, according to my phone my sister lasted 9 min 42 sec listening to Junie ramble, then surrendered and hung up. No matter; Junie continued to speak into the dead phone for another ten minutes before she noticed. {shakes head}
Angelmaker by Nick Hardaway
Tonight I finished an e-ARC of "Anglemaker" by Nick Hardaway [publication date 3/20/12].
It's the story of Joe Spork, the son of an infamous but beloved gangster, who tries to live a good and peaceful life as a clock maker. Unfortunately, his family's past includes the construction of a doomsday device centered around mechanical bees, and things begin to go poorly for our hero.
It's a "modern world collides with secret steampunk" set in London, and features a 90 yr old female super spy, mysterious monks made out of metal, and a dastardly villain worthy of a movie serial, the horrid Opium Khan.
It's a rollicking adventure, but Hardaway will have to tighten up the construction a wee bit before he earns an A from me: B/B+
Friday, March 2, 2012
Folks, I guess my status updates have given the impression I'm worried about the job, or intimidated by the casualty rate among the new-hires. Not so. I'm doing fine. It just boggles my mind that 7 people have been cut out of such a small group. I didn't expect that. That's all. But thanks for the well wishes anyway
Warning: Obnoxious smarty pants bragging ahead. Not only did I score only one wrong on the final (on a subjective question I still believe I got right), but I was also the first one done in the class. Oh, did I mention it was an open book/notes test, and yet I refused to use either? Holla.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Archer - Season Two
I finished season two of Archer on Netflix. Lisa doesn't dig it, calling it 'vulgar', but I think it's one of the funniest, best written shows out there. The episode where Archer goes on a rampage against the Irish mob ("The Placebo Effect" was wicked good, btw. A.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
YaYa has been bugging me for months to take her to the Hunger Games movie (opening March 23rd) and to see what all the fuss is about I read the book by Suzanne Collins. The verdict? To my chagrin it's a pretty damn good read, with a good mix of action, character and chaste romance. I'm actually kind of looking forward to the movie now. Huh. Whodathunkit? Grade: B
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Patriot Acts
Today I finished reading another Greg Rucka novel in the Atticus Kodiak series, "Patriot Acts". For the +/-'s of the book see my review of his last one, as there's little difference in the flaws and triumphs of the book. I will say that I'm consistently annoyed by authors who paint gov't's, business, etc as evil and act disgusted by their violent acts, while ignoring the fact that the protagonists - and by proxy the author's wallet - thrive on acts just as violent, and often more unconscionable. The 'bad guys' in this one crushed a Communist revolution in Latin America (egads!) while the 'good guys' once burned a reporter alive and cut strips of flesh off a man just to make him scream. Hypocrisy anyone? Grade: C (tho' the writing deserves a solid B)
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Smiley and the Prism
Smiley's been begging for a coin-counting bank for weeks, and we finally gave up on waiting 'til his bday and agreed to get it today. So how does he wake me up this morning?
By asking for a prism instead.
"Dada, if you buy it I can play with light, and bounce it and divide it and make colors on the wall." He was more detailed than that, explaining the whosit and whatsit involved. It was enough of a presentation that we agreed (plus it was 7 am, and I wanted to get back to sleep). Come ten o'clock we were at American Science and Surplus buying him a prism.
This, on the heels of him spending two weeks poring over YaYa's books on space, watching Nat Geo docs on the cosmos and drawing both constellations and galaxies on scratch paper
The Walking Dead by Greg Rucka
On Thursday I finished reading "The Walking Dead" by Greg Rucka. Yes, the title is confusing and out to be changed, because it's not a zombie book. It's a thriller, the 7th of the Attitcus Kodiak series. I've been a fan of the series for over a decade, but I can't say I'm in love with the abrupt change in direction it's taken. Atticus started out as a professional bodyguard/bouncer with a foster child in his care. Now, he's a globe trotting fugitive trained as an elite assassin. Uh . . . ok. Still, Rucka has a great style that makes up for many flaws - such as having a plot that could double as the movie "Taken". Grade: B/B-
Elmo and Me
Last night we watched "Elmo and Me" a documentary about the life of Elmo's puppeteer Kevin Clash. It's a great story, w/ Clash creating his first Muppet at age ten while living in a distressed Maryland neighborhood referred to as "Chocolate City". By 18 he was a star of a local TV show, and soon caught the eyes of the legendary Jim Henson and Kermit Love. The part that got me the most were the scenes of Clash training the French cast of Sesame Street, where his talent and passion were on full display. That, and a scene of a dying child meeting Elmo as her last wish; that part choked me up. Grade: A
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Business Closings
soref's carpet city just went out of business, acc. To jsonline
the Rosebud and Times theaters are also closing their doors . . As Appliance World did a few wks back
A Short Update
The new job is going fine, but I've never made a habit of talking about it online and I probably won't change now :) (but feel free to ask me privately). So far though it's just training and book learnin' in a classroom setting, so there's not a whole lot to discuss anyhow.
In other fronts, tonight was my Tiger Cut den meeting. The thrust of the meeting was communication & manners, which was fortuitous: I failed to communicate well & they were shy on manners ;) Actually, by the midway point I found my groove and the meeting picked up steam. (and the kids were actually pretty good). Still below par tho', but maybe the kids learned a thing or two.
Monday, February 20, 2012
3 Movies
Sunday night our friend Chris came over for a mini-movie marathon. We watched "Wake Wood" an Irish film about parents who broker a deal with a local villager to resurrect their daughter from the grave. Shockingly, this proves to be ill advised. It's nothing you haven't seen before, but it is well made and the actors do a convincing job of expressing the pain of their loss. B.
Also on the agenda: "In Time" a sci-fi thriler starring Justin Timberlake. In a future where lifespan is the currency of the age, Timberlake plays a poor working stiff who exists by scraping by, always hours away from literally running out of time and falling dead in the street. It's a silly premise, and really just an allegory for a perceived inequity in our own economic system. Still, I've seen worse thriller/Robin Hood tales. B
Our last flick: "The Ward", a 2011 John Carpenter film set in a psychiatric institution in 1966. There are some glowing reviews out there, and Carpenter fans seem willing to disembowel you at the merest criticism of the movie. What the hell - my stomach is too big as it is; the movie SUCKED. It's a cookie cutter plot with bits of Shutter Island, Identity, and The Ring tossed in like a poor man's 'Scary Movie', and other than the shrink I thought the acting was right up there with the best of off-off-off-off Broadway. Yeck. The only thing saving this one was that the hospital itself defied cliche, with male orderlies acting professional and refusing sexual advances, and a psychiatrist who seemed to care. That earns the film a reluctant C+.
Zone One by Colson Whitehead
Today I finished reading "Zone One", a novel by Colson Whitehead. It is, on the surface, a zombie book, tracing the life of a single soldier assigned to Zone One, an area of Manhattan being cleared for reoccupation. What the book really is is a beautiful examination of our selves, our fears, and what it means to be human. It's a powerful literary work, and Whitehead can dance with the English language like he's one of the few to hear the music. I loved it. A+
Saturday, February 18, 2012
2 Films
2 films tonight.
First up: 'The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane', a 1976 suspense film staring a 13 yr old Jodie Foster. The 'shock' was plain to see from the start and honestly, the danger that powers the whole film could have been avoided if the girl had just locked the front door (not once, but many times people just walk right in). I also strongly objected to a full T & A shot of Foster. Not only was she a middle school aged minor, it was unnecessary to the plot. Grade: C
2nd billing: "These Amazing Shadows" a documentary that I streamed because I was told that it was about the preservation and conservation of our movie heritage. That's something I strongly believe in, and long ago in the pre-Lisa days I would occasionally donate some of my pay to restoration efforts at the Library of Congress. Anyhow, about 10% of the film was about that, with the rest being the standard self-serving documentary Hollywood loves to make about itself. Of great interest, however, was the shocking side by side clips of the censored & uncensored versions of "Baby Face" (Barbara Stanwyck, 1933). The censors changed the whole philosophy and drive of the film simply by tinkering with a few key moments. Revolting. Grade: C+
Friday, February 17, 2012
Hamburger Mary's
I took three of the kids (LK was at Grandma's) plus one of YaYa's friends to Hamburger Mary's for dinner. Nice place, friendly staff, decent (but not mind-blowing food), but the price . . . yowsas. (and remember I usually dine with 6 people, not 5).
FYI
For those of you in Milwaukee, at 3:30 this morning Channel 58 (the CBS affiliate) will be airing Timothy Dolan's elevation to Cardinal. Other local stations will stream it online, but this is your chance to view it live on television. I've been getting up for work at around 5:30 this week, so it'll be a stretch, but I'm going to set my alarm and hope for the best.
A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas
We watched "A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas" last night. It isn't as funny as the original, but c'mon, who could match that? Anyhow it's a fair approximation and way better than the gawd awful 2nd film. I LOL'd several times and found the plot pretty decent, given it was just an excuse to get the guys in awkward situations. They all but abandoned the adoration of weed, which is sad, but in exchange the film did have a baby try cocaine and Ecstasy. B+
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