Voyage on the Great Titanic

One of YaYa's self-described favorite books of her childhood. 

The 2022 MLB Draft

Tonight I watched the 1st Round of the 2022 MLB Draft.

For Father's Day Junie bought me Baseball America's annual draft issue.  I have fond memories of dissecting those issues in years past,  highlighting the bio of prospects I thought were future big leaguers. On the day of the draft I would track the event in notes scribbled on the pages,  identifying where reality differed from the predictions of the writers.

Today I did much the same thing,  this time with Junie watching most of it with me - not by intention, she just wandered in - and asking some good questions.  She even offered to watch the next rounds with me,  although that might have been just a polite social lie. 

The Brewers, with the 28th pick, chose Eric Brown, a shortstop out of Coastal Carolina. BA ranked him the 53rd best prospect in the draft. 

Here's hoping he succeeds.

A Gift

These are the Polish headrest covers YaYa gave me last month. 

The Troublemaker

Taqwa's

For years now I've ignored Taqwa's on 27th and Layton.  After all,  I snootily thought,  how good could a Mediterranean restaurant be if it sets up shop in an abandoned Burger King?

Well,  as it turns out, pretty darn good. 

The interior of the restaurant was comfortable and attractive, and displayed no hint of its fast food history. 

We started off with delightful tabun bread,  served with oil and herbs.  

We tried a spinach fatayer, an individual pie cooked in a burning stone oven, and vegetable sambousek, a deep fried pastry that could pass for an eggroll. The fatayer was excellent; the sabousek merely good.  

For an entree we split a mixed platter of one skewer each of Shish Kabob, Chicken Shish Tawook & Kufta Kabob. They were wonderful,  although the rice it was served with was a little lacking in flavor. 

To drink: a mint lemonade smoothie that hit just right.

All that, and a reasonable price too.

It's worth a visit, and I regret not going  sooner!

Ivana Trump

RIP Ivana Trump, ex- wife of the former President. She was 73.

Mulligan's Irish Pub

My mom and I lunched at Mulligans irish pub and grill on 27th street in Franklin. Sandy was our server, what a cool lady! We had the pretzels and Asian chicken salad. Both were very good! We had Irish coffee and the naughty school girl for drinks and they were delicious and well priced. Can't believe it's taken us so long to try this place..there's quite a few things left on the menu we need to try. We'll be back! - Lisa

Sonic

I’m currently obsessed with the mini brand surprise bags at Sonic. The mini drinks fit in the mini cup holder they have 😭  - YaYa

Good Job Milwaukee!!

I stand here incredulous. 

Say what you will about Milwaukee,  but here is a fact: over the weekend I filed a short online request to have the treacherous pothole in my alley filled. 

Today I returned home from work to this!

In less than two business days the City sent out a crew and resolved the problem. 

Well done!

If you need to report potholes or other road maintenance issues in Milwaukee,  you can do so here. 

LOL

- Lisa 

The Sparrow

I'm sitting on the patio with huck and there's a pretty good rain coming down. God bless the patio umbrella.  Before that,  I found this sparrow sitting on my car's rear wiper when I was taking out the trash.

I think the bird was injured or stunned, bc he didn't fly away.  I fed him some mealworms, and when I returned to check on him ten minutes later he was nowhere to be found. 

Lenny Von Dohlen

 You probably know him best for his role on Twin Peaks. Curiously enough, I know him best for playing a version of the same character in "Dual Spires," an episode of Psych that parodied Twin Peaks. 

He has passed away at age 64. 

Von Dohlen also holds a special place in my memory for starring in the '80's dramedy Electric Dreams, in which an architect, Von Dohlen, falls for his beautiful musician neighbor, played by Virginia Madsen. Alas, this couple must compete with the jealous emotions of the architect's newly sentient home computer who is intent on driving them apart. 

I loved that movie, and its soundtrack (new original songs, including one by Culture Club!) so much that I went out of my way to track down and buy a cassette tape of the same. I think I may have actually had to special order it at one of the mall music stores. 

Oh, and this has always stuck in my head: the character's solution to earthquake damage: construct building from bricks based on interlocking jigsaw puzzle pieces. 

I've always wondered if that would really work. 

RIP sir. 

Tony Sirico

My heart aches. Tony Sirico, who played the tough but loveable Paulie Walnuts in all six seasons of The Sopranos,  has died at age 79.

You will be missed.

Stranger Things Season 4

I finished watching Season 4 of Stranger Things last night. Season 4 didn't disappoint, and I continue to be grateful for tuning in and getting invested in these characters when the show first premiered. 

That's not to say the season was perfect. For every hint of a Steve/Nancy Rekindling there was a Wil crying and moping, and for every Eddie Munson there was the ridiculous Russian smuggler. 

You take the good with the bad, what can I say.  SPOILERS AHEAD

The Good: I enjoyed Steve's continued renaissance, my only issue with it being that he's become so dang close to mature and wise that they HAVE to be setting him up to die miserably, right? 

The Bad: Seriously - when did the Robin of Season 3 become an intelligent but scatterbrained comic foil? 

The Good: pretty much every scene set in and around Hawkins

The Bad: The California expedition seemed bleh, minus the shootout, anytime Eleven wasn't around.  

The Good: Nice revelation as to the identity of Vecna. I didn't see it coming. 

The Bad: I like Hopper. But he should have stayed dead at the end of season 3. Resurrecting a character cheats the audience out of the emotional impact of the death and plays with their trust.  

The Good: the scenes with Papa

The bad: Eddie dies for, essentially nothing. Which, in the real world, of course, is what most deaths amount to. But to "buy time?" To "not run away."?  The gang had already been captured. What a waste. 

The Good: how neatly the three divergent storylines merged to take on Vecna, even when separated by continents.

The Bad:  Max dies, but doesn't, and may awaken, or may not. Bah. Another Hopper. She opened the fourth gate, she should have remained lost to the group. 

I eagerly look forward to season 5. I imagine the grand finale will be quite the doozy. 

 

Gregory Itzin

 Familiar character actor Gregory Itzin has died at 74. RIP. 

Shinzo Abe assasinated

Whatever the reason, whatever the rationalization: it's wrong, and it's an affront against the democratic process. 

James Caan

Godfather, Misery, and Alien Nation star James Caan has died at 82. Like Luca Brassi, he sleeps with the fishes now. May he RIP.  

Happy Birthday Dad and Grandma

Tommorow would have been my Dad's 76th birthday,  and today is my Grandma K's bday. She always said my Dad was her bday present. - Lisa

Unless

Solid marriage advice:

Your wife won’t start a fight with you if you are folding the laundry.
#youarewelcome  - Me

Unless you're not folding towels the right way. - Lisa

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Birthday America! I love you very much!

The Big Ten expands - again

So the Big Ten is expanding again. In this day and age, the playoffs have rendered the Bowl system and inter-conference contests superfluous, so here come the super conferences. I admit they are quality schools, and I'm proud the conference is now coast-to-coast, BUT...

I do miss the days of the Big Ten being synonymous with the Midwest and corn-fed linemen who return to the farm each summer. 

Now, it stands for . . .  well, not much of anything in particular. 

Happy Fourth!

I know many feel like America doesn't deserve a birthday party this year but I love my country and love this holiday. WE WILL RIGHT THIS WRONG. I'm going to remain disgusted with the lawmakers, but not my country. 

I hope everyone has a safe and fantastic holiday weekend! I'm very excited for ours! 

- Lisa

Running up the Hill

There’s a kids bop cover of running up the hill playing rn [at the 3rd St Market] - Smiley - Kate Bush's 1980's release has found a new life with Season 4 of Stranger Things

56 Pitches of Shame

 

Now normally, I'd love to see a score like this, so long as we're on the winning end of it. And I thoroughly enjoyed watching the game .  . . until the 8th inning. 

In that inning, this happened:

Now, it's fine, when the game is long past rescue, to leave a pitcher on the mound, even when he's getting rung up, and spare the rest of the bullpen. Except . . 

56 pitches in a single inning. 

Vieaux didn't just "not have it" tonight, he was woefully lost at sea. And yet he was kept out there. 56 pitches on a reliever's arm in a single inning. 

Oh, I know he was well rested. I know he *used* to be a starting pitcher. And I know Fletcher, the Pirates manager, was trying to save his bullpen. 

But F' Vieaux I guess. Risk his arm, and while you're at it risk his head, as a new big leaguer, by humiliating him. 

I know what you're going to say: "Back in the day, they threw that many pitches EVERY inning."

Eh, back in the day they smoked between innings and wore wool uniforms all summer. 

Times change. 

This was, at least in my opinion, ridiculous. 

Smiley's Car