The First Ever AOL Journals Guest Editor! June 17th

When AOL asked me to be their first-ever AOL Journals Guest Editor I was flattered.  

Flattered, and a little upset.

After all, the gig included posting a pic of me on the AOL Journals homepage.

With so many gorgeous pictures of me out there, how could I be expected to narrow it down to just one?  

Joe, the (paid) Journals editor, asked that I do two things: come up with a list of eight sites I'd recommend, on or off AOL, and do it with a theme in mind. Or not.  

I tried to go with a daddy-blog theme in honor of Father's Day, but aside from my site, there seem to be very few blogs written from a father's perspective. I know - I even asked other bloggers for recommendations, and they came up blank.  

(if you know of any, tell me about 'em. We'll form a club. A small one.)  

So instead I went anti-theme, picking out a wide variety of blogs on different subjects. I skipped my AOL faves - AlphaWoman, One Girl's Head Noise, Random, (sometimes) photoblog, etc - as I think they've all been featured as Editor's Picks before.  

First, there's Tom's Astronomy Blog, a fine site that routinely puts out great picsand articles on what's going on in - er, outside our world. Don't worry, you won't need a science degree to enjoy the blog as he keeps it simple and entertaining. And purty.  

For another view of space - this time from the point of view of an ET with an abnormal interest in Bigfoot, check out Not Paranoid.  

PostSecret is something a little different. People are encouraged to anonymously submit postcards bearing their most private, funniest - and sometimes darkest - secrets.

ColdHearted Truth is a political blog that leans right but encourages some spirited debates in its comments and community blog section. He has his flaws (he's a Minnesota Vikings fan, which to a Wisconsinite like me is just plain disgusting) but his solid blog more than makes up for it. He even has a section of his site devoted to, of all things, American Idol.

 No One's Child is a book written chapter by chapter on a blog. Based on the author's own abusive childhood, this site quickly became a favorite of my wife.

The author of The Mad Perseid was born in the Soviet Union, settled in Canada, and moves his opinions to the web on a regular basis.  

I'd say the web site created by the author of my favorite comic, Arlo and Janis, qualifies as a blog. Each day's commentary links to the current strip and some of his archived work. Neat little fact: my favorite author, Robert B. Parker, not only mentions the strip in his books, but has been featured in it in return.  

(btw, if you like Parker, check out Bullets and Beer, a great site devoted to the Spenser novels.)  

Lastly, I did find one blog that is written from a father's point of view: The Squatch.  

Go take a look, and don't forget to tell 'em Slapinions sent you.

[BTW - Shameless self promotion: please check out my own online home here at Slapinions, a mix of Erma Bombeckish family posts, comedy,photos, politics, and more.  

You'll find a nifty little intro to my site in the All About Me section. I think you'll enjoy your visit, and I hope to see you again soon.]  

Happy Father's Day  

 

Dan aka Slapinions  

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The Long Lost Post about Oprah June 13th

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. There is one person in this world that my wife loves more than me, more than her children, and yes, even more than chocolate.

That person is Oprah Winfrey.

Don't laugh. I'm not joking.

I don't know why I even bothered with her last name. It's rarely uttered anymore, lest you mistakenly believe Oprah unworthy of the 'Madonna-Cher-Gallagher' class of fame. Give her a few more years and she'll transcend that too, as the transformation to a single vowel moniker has already begun.

Her magazine is called 'O'. Oxygen, her cable network, has big name actors moaning 'O' in its commercials, and my wife claims to miss the 'Big O' whenever we‘re ‘together‘.

As if it wasn't enough that the woman was on TV 'only' once a day.

The Cult of Oprah is upon us.

Rest easy, dear reader, for I assure you I am no Oprah basher. I have watched many hours of the lady's work, enjoyed most of it, and I still watch an average of two shows a week. I think she is intelligent and highly talented, with one of the smoothest interview and hosting styles I've ever seen. She was born to do what she does, and no one does it better.

That having been said, I dig the guys at Dairy Queen too, and feel no need to elevate them to Gods.

The problem lies with her success. I've long worked on a theory about how Americans love the underdog until they actually win (don't worry, I'll treat you to the long version sometime). The trouble is that didn't happen with Oprah.

Aside from some tragic events in her youth, there’s been no insider trading scandal, no slanderous ex with a nasty videotape, no anything to tarnish her gold.

What's the worst dirt there is on the woman, that she has a weight problem? Big shock there fellas.

Without that bump in the road to slow things down, Oprah and America have turned a perfectly good talk show into a syrupy love fest. You would think, as a red-blooded American male, that I'd enjoy watching an hour of woman after woman professing love for a large-chested woman.

You'd be right.

But these women keep their clothes on, and that changes everything.

Is there any reason for Oprah to be the cover girl for every issue of her magazine? Martha and Rosie didn't do that. Couldn't she cede some cover time, or at least appear with someone else? Do we really need an hour of "After the Show", the boring drivel that didn't make it into the actual show? And is there anything more gratuitous than "Oprah's Favorite Things", her annual Christmas giveaway show? [of course, by my wife's own admission, 'Favorite Things' is her favorite show of the year and must (by law) be accompanied by twenty cries of "Why can't you get me tickets for that?"]

Now, as I said, I like Oprah. I wish her no harm, to her person or her pocketbook. And I certainly don't long for the days of Phil Donahue. Call Jerry Springer evil all you want, at least the only people wearing skirts on the show are the guests - male guests, but all the same . . .

So I guess we've reached a stalemate. A rather one sided one, as Oprah herself doesn't know or care, but a stalemate none the less. And there are worse things in the world than having my wife devote an hour a day to the woman.

Now about The View . .

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Life Cycle of a Blogger

I stole this article on MinJungKIm.com from Mad Perseid.

I'm posting it here to honor all my fellow bloggers out there. 

1. Start reading blogs.
You start out as a lurker and by either having met a blogger or run across an intriguing and challenging post from someone else’s blog, you start mulling about in your head for either a forum for response, challenge, or agreement. You *could* start by commenting on other folks blogs first, but you start having a gradually increased desire for a space of your own. Like when you’re living in your parent’s basement and the rest of your friends are making weekly trips to Home Depot and using words like “mulching”. You begin to wonder if you want to belong.

2. You start a blog.
Maybe at first it’s on blogspot or livejournal. You start writing about cheese sandwiches. You use your full name and the full names of your friends that are involved in your occasionally mischievous exploits. These things satisfy you. Hubris starts taking a more significant part of your site as you develop your tiny homestead online. The notion of fleshing out your online personality becomes important.

3. You become a stats whore.
Daily stats/referrals and meme participation for webrings, quizlists, personality profiles, and the occasional sepia toned webcam photo to make you look all “emo” and “sultry” and “sensitive” or at least a little bit thinner. And definitely like a Kpop music video still image. You voraciously groom your links list as you build a posse. The wishlist makes it’s initial appearance and creepy strangers start sending you gifts when your birthday comes around. You consider this slightly weird, but hey, then again, you *did* get that Star Wars Box set that you always wanted. You *start* memes just for the additional traffic. Perhaps you even start a webgame of sorts.

4. You become really personal on your site as the online and real-life worlds start confusing you.
As you recognize the possibility of being an opinion leader in your personal circle, people flame you. You occasionally flame back. You cry about comments that certain people make to provoke you. You bitch about these things as well. Then you take into consideration that comments were made by pimply 14 year olds who post jpegs of their warcraft characters online and realize that these lOZeRs aren’t worth your time. This gives you an sense of superiority. Haha! you say to yourself. I have a posse and a blog and you don’t. So fuck off, you lame twat. Hazzah!

5. You faux “retire” from blogging.
Having temporarily exhausted the emotional reservoir from which your personal blog has sprung forth, you post about retiring. Or a vacation. Or a hiatus. Or a sabbatical. You say this will be permanent. Or last a month.

6. You cave back into blogging in less than 72 hours.
You candy pants blogging crack addict.

7. You decide to “get serious” about blogging.
You seek out “The A-List” of bloggers and start reading more of them, and news about them, and news about blogging in general. You come to the conclusion that if you ever hope to join their rank, then you need to at least register your own domain. After all, http://candypantsnewbiebloggeraboutcheesesandwhiches.blogspot.com will not get you linked by Kottke.

8. You have a pseudo flirty im/blogging/flickr flirting relationship with another blogger whom you have never met.
This will likely end badly. Very badly.

9. You decide that you must meet other bloggers.
SXSW seems like a good way to go about it. Or attendance at Fray Day. Or finding any excuse possible to move to San Francisco. At least a trip, after all. With a visit to SF, meeting other “celebrity” bloggers is just as tasty a tourist destination as going to Fisherman’s Wharf. Or more so. Definitely more so. Your blogroll grows threefold.

10. You take a step back and metablog about blogging and what blogging has done about your blogging.
You become pedantically navelgazingly annoying. For some reason, your blogger readership eats this shit up. This does not convince you, however, that you want to do something silly like smoke weed with Marc Canter. Because even *you* know that’s a bad idea.

11. See step 5.
Shampoo, rinse, repeat.

12. You decide that as a result of step 10 and having repeated step 5 more than 3 times in the course of your lifecycle as a blogger, that you need to sanitize or reinvent your blog.
You purge or hide archive entries and take more note to remove full names of your friends/crushes/accidentaldrunkenfondels from your site and links list. Your blog goes back to cheese sandwiches. But this time your site validates.

13. You either lose your job because of blogging, are afraid of losing your job for blogging, or join a company that builds blogging tools.
Either way, your blog either dies a horrible painful death, or becomes significantly less personal to the degree of trite and uninteresting compartmentalization or subject matter discretion.

14. You decide to start an anonymous livejournal blog.
Here is where you still talk about your crushes, the he said/she said crap, and that you really really really really really really really like Maroon 5. And it’s on your wishlist.

I'm currently stuck between a mix of #'s 3 (stat wh*re) and 4 (mixes personal and blogging worlds as I lose track of the difference between the two).

And yes, I have received birthday gifts off my wish list (which, sadly, is currently misplaced - the link, not the gifts).

If you're interested, I'll sum up the wish list: a copy of Death of the Messiah by Raymond Brown, and a decent laptop to use on the go.

I'm not picky though - feel free to send me a used laptop if that's all you can afford ;)

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A-Rod hits his 400th, Joe Torre is ejected and some women flirt with my son June 8th

Anyone who knows me knows I love the Yankees. So when interleague play brought them to Milwaukee this week, it was a given that I’d be there to cheer them on.

I decided to bring my three-month old son along too. After all, what better way to introduce a son to the great game of baseball than to show him what 26 world championships looks like?

[Yes, I know the Yanks are sputtering along this year. Maybe they will watch the playoffs on TV, but I’d watch my mouth if I were a Yankee-hater. I think the best is yet to come]

[personal note #1: Sure it was a little conflicting for the kid, rooting against the home team while wearing a Brewers outfit and a Yankees bib. Life is one big confusing mess; its best he learn that lesson young]

I made it a multi-generational affair. Just my me, my father, and Parker. Testosterone, hear us roar.

Except that once we learned I’d have to buy a ticket for Parker if I brought his car seat along, I took it back to the car and carried him in a Snuggly.

It’s hard to project manliness with a baby strapped to your belly.

The little guy did me proud though. He was very alert and curious about the sights and sounds around him, much more than I remember his sister being at her first game.

It was not, I admit, the most family friendly atmosphere. Success breeds jealousy, especially in a town that hasn’t seen a winning season in over a decade. While the Yankees were well represented, the Brewers faithful were not only vocal but bloodthirsty.

The best (PG)chant the crowd came up with? "Yankee fans suck, you only like them 'cuz they're good."

Uh, yeah.

‘Tis a shame for them then that the Yanks piled on 16 hits and 12 runs before it was over.

[personal note: while I am a rabid Yankees fan, I’m also a lifelong Brewers fan. Normally I wouldn’t conceive of betraying the home team, but I’m still reeling from the Brewers disheartening collapse of, oh, 1994 to the present]

With a two minute exception, Parker was the ideal child.

Quiet, alert, and cute, earning no less than fawning compliments from three hot women in the crowd.

Sadly, my son is already doing better with the ladies then his old man ever did.

You can’t blame him for paying attention. Not only was it a riotous atmosphere, history was made.

Along with home runs by Carlos Lee and Derek Jeter (accompanied by chants of ’Jeter has no peter’), and the unusual sight of having Tino Martinez ejected while playing in the field (leading to Joe Torre joining him moments later), there was one big milestone that was reached.

I’d mentioned to my Dad on the way to the game that Alex Rodriguez had 398 home runs, putting him on the cusp of history.

“Watch him hit two today,” I said.

Add psychic to my resume.

In both the first and the eighth innings A-Rod took the Brewers deep, becoming only the 39th man to ever rack up 400 home runs.

Even the Yankee haters gave him an ovation.

So the Yankees won. My Dad was disappointed in the lopsided score, a Yankee fan came up and shook my hand after the game, we got a free hot dog with our tickets, and waited out the crowd in the parking lot while soaking up a gentle summer breeze.

Not a bad time at all. We even had a chance to see the start of a drunken fight in the parking lot.

Good times, good times.

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YaYa's Final Week of K3 and my ensuing Depression June 8th

note:the pics of YaYa's first day of school featured in this post are of dubious quality as they were taken with an old, borrowed digital camera. Sorry about that  - Dan

This is my daughter’s final week of school before summer vacation.

I should be grateful. It means no more twice daily trips across town, no more school board meetings, and no more worries about whether or not her uniform is washed and ready to go each morning.

I should be grateful, but in fact I’m a little down in the dumps.

When the school year began she was two months shy of her third birthday. When I told people we were putting her in a full-day, year long K3 program the reaction was somewhere between pity for my daughter and disgust with us for ‘shipping her away’.

Much as I hate to admit it, I sort of agreed with them.

But my wife thought it was a great idea and my daughter, truth be told, had been asking to go to school since she learned to talk.

So I sucked it up and agreed to it.

I’m glad I did.

Of course that didn’t stop me from nearly crying when I learned she was required to eat breakfast at school, ending the daily routine I’d shared with her since her birth.

And it didn’t stop the actual waterworks that came every time I wrote out a tuition check.

It sure didn’t start on a great note We’d been sold on the promise of an ethnically diverse Catholic school with a strong tradition and even stronger academics.

What we got was a school where not only was my daughter one of only a handful of Catholics, she was the only white child in an otherwise all African-American school.

No one had mentioned that we were the reason they could henceforth use the word ‘diversity’ in their sales pitch.

When we showed up for orientation I think they were expecting us to walk back out again. It certainly would have been reasonable; no matter how open you are on the subject of race, no child should be put in a position where they are so easily singled out as ‘different’.

Thankfully, with the rare speed bump the issue quickly became moot.

Within weeks YaYa became the most widely recognized kid in the history of the school. When I dropped her off everyone from eighth graders on down would call out to her by name and say hello.

As a side effect, I stopped being an individual and simply became known as “YaYa’s dad“.

[I suppose I should have demanded some more respect, but it’s hard to be taken seriously when you’re seen doing the ‘Tootytot” dance with a class of three year olds.]

They were spot on about their academic promises, though.

As of this writing YaYa, now age three and a half, can identify and write the letters of the alphabet. She can count to 40 (if you don’t mind her constantly forgetting ‘17’). She can write her name and the word ‘the’. She knows her prayers and the meaning of each holiday. She’s learned to brush her teeth after every meal ,wash her dishes after snack time, and just shy of a thousand ways to create art with macaroni and a glue stick.

Smart as we are, with two other kids to take care of, I can’t imagine her learning all that at home.

She’ll miss the routine, the interaction, and the challenges over the summer. No amount of swim and play classes can take the place of that.

But there’s a far more insane reason the end of the year brings a tear to my eye. Miniscule as it may be in the long-term, she’s done with K3.

Her first year of school is over, forever.

To me, it seems like the days of driver’s ed and prom dates are just on the horizon.

I’m not ready for that yet. If it was up to me, I’d like her to stay in K3 for, oh, another decade or so.

Which is why, I‘d imagine, father‘s don‘t have much say in the matter.

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Best of the Best

 

While, ironically, I find most of the hallmarks of blogdom annoying (quizes and memes and assignments, oh my!), I think I'm going to start a new blogish feature here at the good ole U.S. of Slapinions.

Every once in awhile I'm going to feature a blog I actually frequent on a daily or near daily basis. I'll still have the blogroll on the sidebar, but consider this the Best of the Best.

The fine author of  (sometimes)photoblog has done me the honor of spotlighting me on two occasions, so the humble first offeriing goes to him.

His site (updated daily) features some beautiful photos, mostly of nature and the insect kingdom.

I respect his work and enjoy having the opportunity to view it. Please stop by and take a look for yourself (and tell him slapinions sent you).

*A word of warning though - if you are going to subscribe to his site, skip the aol alert feature. He updates daily - no really - and it can clog your incoming mail in a hurry. (I have the misfortune of having my alerts ring my cell phone. My phone bill is now sky high :)

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Quote of the Day

I was at work the other night when a boy approached the desk.

"I'd like a Henieken please," he said in his best immitation of a James Earl Jones bass.

My co-worker and I laughed. The kid was no more than eight, ten tops, with a nervous but impressive habit of twisting his right ear into a knot that stayed tied until he unwound it.

"Do you have I.D?" I asked.

"Why do I need I.D?," he said. "Don't I look twenty-one?"

By now my co-worker had collapsed in giggles. Somewhat cooler, I kept a straight face and looked him in the eye.

"Either you come up with some I.D showing your twenty-one, or you find a hundred dollar tip for me. Those are the only two ways you're getting a beer tonight," I said.

[Yes, I was joking about the hundred dollars.

I'd have done it for fifty.]

The kid broke into a big grin and dropped the rumbling voice.

"I'm only kidding, I don't want no Heinie," he said.

He paused for a moment, just long enough for us to let our guard down.

"The stuff tastes like shit. I'm a Bud man myself.", he said.

I haven't laughed that hard in a good long time.

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The Birthday Party June 5th

Okay, I said three updates, I meant four. :)

We had the party at a McDonald's. When YaYa had her 2nd bday party at McDonald's it was a disaster. Crowded, ill-run, just a horrible experience. This time my wife scouted out a location at the far end of town with a heck of a play area and less of a midday crowd.

It worked. Not only was it roomy, it was well-run and just a very pleasant, relaxed party. They even had a tiny toilet in the playroom - perfect for my daughter, who is in the midst of potty training (two successes at the party, 1 mistake :)

Anyhow, here's Parker at the party

and YaYa

and the birthday girl on her throne

we brought a cake just for the adults

while McDonald's provided one for the kids

speaking of kids, here's one of the four group shots I took. Good luck getting them all to have their eye's open and a smile on their face at the same time.

and one of my daughter with one of her godmother's (she has two godmothers and no godfathers; YaYa has two godfathers and no godmother. Long story)

And lastly, I thought I'd add this pic of one of the many great gifts she received. It's a sandbox that now resides in our backyard, courtesy of her other godmother.

Really, a nice, nice day.

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One pic of Park for good measure

What a stud.

My Daughter's 2nd Birthday

Man, I can't believe it's been two years since this little cupid came into our lives. While her birthday party was today, her actual birthday was Saturday. As a present we took her to Build a Bear at the mall.

While there she picked out a bear

helped stuff it by using a pedal

and put a heart inside her bear

and gave it a bath

We named it (drum roll) Birthday Baby Bear. She loved it, almost as much as we love her.

 

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Family Pics

This is the first of three - yup three - family pic updates due today.

These were taken Wed or Thursday in our backyard. Note the long sleeve shirt. It's the last you'll probably see of it, as the temperature has been a muggy 80ish for a few days now.

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Reader Survey/De-Lurker Day

Welcome to my 1st annual?

De-Lurkers Day

and

Readers Survey!

With 14,000 visitors and relatively few comments, I know there are folks who take a peek without saying hello.

That’s fine by me, but for one day I’d like to change the rules.

Whether this is your first time on the site, your fifth, or your hundredth, leave a record of your visit. If you‘re not on AOL, it isn‘t a problem. Just click here to leave a comment.

(btw - if this is your first time visiting, click here for an introduction to the site, and be sure to check out the blogroll and guestmap now up and running on the sidebar to the left!)

Thanks!

For people that have stopped by before and found something they enjoy, could you please take the time to answer a few questions?

1. What’s your site address/screename/email address? (optional)

2. Do you subscribe to this site? By what method?

a. AOL updates

b. Bloglines

c. RSS feed

d. Atom

e. other

3. How did you find this site?

a. Blog Explosion/BE Directory

b. Blog Clicker

c. AOL journal directory

d. other traffic exchange

e. another site’s blogroll

f. a comment I left on a site

g. other

4. If you came in on a traffic exchange, what ‘surf settings’ where you using when you found it? I.e. general, family, kids, politics?

5.How often do you visit Slapinions?

6. What category of post interests you most?

a. politics

b. sports

c. family comedy

d. photo posts

e. ‘scrapbook’ family entries

f. other

7. What’s your favorite post? (click here for a rehash of the past seven months of entries)

8. Would you continue to visit if/when this site moves to Slapinions.com?

That’s it. Just leave the answers in the comment section or email me at slapinons at aol dot com.

I appreciate it, and hope you continue to visit!

Dan

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Deep Throat: Hero, Villain, or Both? June 1st

Somehow, when I imagined how one of the 20th century’s greatest secrets would be revealed, I never thought Vanity Fair would get the credit.

Of course, that’s exactly what happened. W. Mark Felt, former number 2 man at the FBI, admitted in a Vanity Fair article to being Deep Throat, the Woodward and Bernstein source that's perceived as being critical in exposing the Watergate scandal.

The Washington Post confirmed his role Monday.

“I guess people used to think Deep Throat was a criminal, but now they think he's a hero,'' Felt is quoted as saying.

I’m sure the majority of people do view Felt as a hero, a man who brought down a corrupt administration that was involved in a criminal conspiracy.

“Felt had the means and the motive to help uncover the web of internal spies, secret surveillance, dirty tricks and coverups that led to Nixon's unprecedented resignation,” the Washington Post wrote.

Unfortunately, it’s Felt’s motives that bring the debate back into focus.

When J. Edgar Hoover died Felt believed he deserved an appointment to the top spot in the agency he loved. He didn‘t get it, and the Watergate scandal began with a key figure in the FBI disgruntled with the President he served.

“Wounded” and “furious” are how the Post itself described Felt’s state of mind.

And he wasn't leaking information in idealistic opposition to Nixon. On the contrary, he had a reputation for talking to reporters, and had fed Woodward secret information related to the shooting of George Wallace.

Moreover, he was hardly an innocent: less than a decade later he was convicted of authorizing illegal wiretaps and was pardoned by Ronald Reagan.

For thirty years Felt denied his role in Watergate, going so far as to tell his son that Deep Throat was no one to be proud of, that it was wrong to leak information for any reason.

So why the about face?

Now 91 and in poor physical and mental health after a stroke, the new motive seems to be cash - though he may not have much say in the matter.

His daughter said she hopes his admission allows him to "make enough moneyto pay some bills, like the debt I've run up for t[my] children's education."

Woodward, for his part, said he doubts Felt has the mental acuity left to make the decision.

Personally, I think motive is irrelevant, at least after the fact.

If a man rescues a drowning child solely to land on the news, so be it: the child is still safe. And if the man keeps walking and the child drowns, who cares if he had a good motive for his action?

If Deep Throat was the sole conduit to the truth, if without him the law would have been abused and cast aside, then I could care less if he did it out of a sense of justice or revenge.

The problem is he wasn't that important.

Woodward and Bernstein have always seemed a tad annoyed at all the attention their source received. To them, Felt was nothing more than a source that collaborated facts learned after endless hours of pounding the pavement.

In other words, history books would probably be the same, with or without Felt.

(of course, there’s that pesky motive word: Deep Throat’s importance diminishes their own hard work, rendering their opinion suspect)

My opinion? If Felt was anything more than an embittered employee he would have skipped talking to the press and gone to the grand jury, or publicly resigned his position in protest.

He may have been a necessary evil, but he’s no hero of mine.

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Memorial Day Pics

I've seen several blogs that lament the Memorial Day holiday as superficial and  disrespectful of the sacrifice our veterans have made for this country. I disagree.

While it's important to remember the fallen I don't think there's anything wrong with celebrating the weekend as a holiday. For me, the idea of traveling hundreds of miles just to eat and visit with family doesn't diminish their sacrifice; it highlights just what they fought and died for. 

Enough of the soapbox:

This year the family met up at my mother-in-laws house, where we spent nearly the whole day basking in bright sunshine (for a change).

Aside from great food there was a pool for the girls

and a baby swing for Parker (yes, I know: he doesn't look happy - trust me, it's just a bad pic) [er, actually, despite trying three different ways, the pic won't load right. I'll tinker with it later and try again.]

 

but this pic makes up for it. Not the greatest quality, but I chose this over a 'better' pic because it shows just how happy they were (YaYa had confiscated the baby swing for herself)

On a seperate tack, I couldn't resist putting up this pic of Billy the Cat with my Dad. It gives you some idea of his size (the cat, not my Dad).

Before I forget, check out the new features in the 'about me' section, including a link to an 'intro' page, a guestmap, and (old news) my graphic. Btw, I should have a reader survey up in the next 48 hours as well.

Hope your holiday was a happy one

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Whoo-Hoo! 100 Mystery Credits!

Tidbits from Blogdom

Here's a chilling report about a blogger that was murdered. His killer was identified through the last post he ever wrote, in which he mentions the unexpected arrival of his sister's ex-boyfriend.

Perhaps only minutes later, the boyfriend took the lives of the blogger and his sister.

The brief mention in his post was enough to blow the ex's alibi and bring him to justice.

You can check out the blog here. As of this writing, more than 250 comments have posthumously been added to the post expressing condolences for the writer.

* * * *

On a less serious but equally creepy note is this widely-circulated report of a lake in Russia that vanished (yes, vanished) overnight.

Naturally they blame the U.S., even though its perfectly obvious Canada is at fault. :)

* * * *

And on a much more lighthearted note, Random did a write-up on the USPS Photo Stamp program.

Thought the web link she provides you can add a picture or graphic of your own to legal tender U.S. stamps.

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Police Department at a Crossroads May 28th

On Friday an inquest jury unanimously recommended a Milwaukee police officer be cleared in the shooting death of William Javier Prado.

 
Prado had allegedly engaged an off-duty officer in a traffic encounter in March, tailing the officer as he drove home from work. While many of the facts seem contradictory, and even the officer admits to being confused about the chain of events, two things are not in dispute:

First, that the officer fired nineteen times, hitting the unarmed Prado eight times in the back and killing him.

Second, that no inquest jury has recommended charges in an officer related shooting for more than twenty years.

Like most of this city I paid scant attention to the Prado case. I barely remember hearing about it, and I certainly couldn’t have recited any details until the inquest made headlines this week.

Some of that is, shamefully, because it didn’t seem all that important of a story to me. By nature and by upbringing I tend to trust the police, and so I gave them the benefit of the doubt without much thought.

But some of it was because another case was crowding the local news outlets.

On October 24th, 2004 several off-duty police officers accused Frank Jude, Jr. of stealing one of their badges at a party.

When he denied it he was dragged out of his truck, beaten, kicked, stripped naked, and threatened with a knife - allegedly by as many as a dozen off-duty officers.

On-duty officers who responded - and who found no badge among Jude’s belongings - didn’t call an ambulance. Instead, after letting the suspects converse and wander around the crime scene, they arrested Jude.

The charge? That he had resisted and fought the officers, a charge denied by witnesses and rejected by prosecutors who refused to file charges.

It wasn’t until four months later that the case progressed, as the investigation was stopped cold by a ‘wall of silence’ - officers who refused to speak against their own.

This Tuesday - seven months after the beating - nine officers were fired and four others disciplined for the events of that night.

This follows a year that’s seen Milwaukee officers accused of evidence tampering and extortion, falsifying reports when injured sledding on the clock, and other abuses of their power.

In all, 21 officers have been fired since Police Chief Nannette Hegerty took office in November of 2003.

Eighteen officers were fired in the seven years her predecessor was in office.

The temptation, of course, is to hold the uniform in contempt and distrust those who wear it. That’s understandable, but near-sighted.

Someone said to me last night that 95% of cops are good people, and the other 5% ruin it for them.

I’d go one step further: I’d say 95% of local cops are good people who’ll spend their career avoiding a front page headline or the glare of a TV camera .

Another 3% are good and honest people who’ll have the same mistake filled workday we all have from time to time - only in their line of work, mistakes cost lives.

The final 2% have no business wearing a badge.

Truth be told, I have friends who are Milwaukee officers. While I’m a little old to idolize anyone I’ve had over for a barbeque, I respect them for the dangerous work they do.

I hope that the past eighteen months are an anomaly, and the Department rights itself before it’s reputation takes another hit.

Both the citizens of Milwaukee, and the officers that risk their lives to protect it, deserve no less.

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The Milwaukee Art Museum May 26th

Today was a heck of a day. After a scheduled half-day at school, Lisa took YaYa to the Milwaukee Art Museum's Degas exhibit. Lisa took some postcard-like pics while she was there.

The Art Museum is the newest archetictural jewel here in Milwaukee and so popular it's the only image on the new city logo. It's the first U.S. design by Santiago Calatrava, and along with a 90 foot high glass reception hall its highlight is the Burke Brise Soleil.

With a wingspan greater than that of a 747, the fins open and close in a 'flapping' motion, creating a vibrant moving sculture.

Combine that with a world-class art collection, and I'd say it's a must see if you're visiting this neck of the woods.

           

As for YaYa, she loved it! I was suprised (to be honest) but with a guided tour from her Aunt (a longtime Art Musuem employee) she came back raving about the place. Not just the obligatory "It was fun" but a genuine enthusiasm for the museum.

I'd say the place has a new fan.

Afterwards we all went out to dinner at Chili's, spent an hour at the library for storytime, and caught a movie at a friend's house. A very relaxing, fun day.

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Yay!!

Just now my pics popped back onto my storage space and are once again showing up on the site. Thanks to everyone who offered their voice on my behalf and (for once) thanks to AOL!