80 years ago today a Milwaukee Woman Was Beheaded on the Hitler's Direct Orders - The Life of Mildred Harnack

Born in Milwaukee, and a graduate of West Division High School (now Milwaukee High School of the Arts) and UW-Madison, Mildred Harnack was 26 when she moved to Germany to pursue a PhD.

As an American grad student in Berlin, she saw Germany swiftly descend into a fascist dictatorship. She and her husband Arvid began holding secret meetings in their apartment. She recruited working-class Germans into the resistance, helped Jews escape, plotted acts of sabotage, and wrote leaflets that denounced Hitler and called for revolution.

The Gestapo arrested her on Sept 7, 1942 and postwar testimony attests to the daily interrogation and torture she endured.

Mildred and 75 of her German co conspirators were tried before the highest military court in Nazi Germany. A panel of judges sentenced her to six years in prison but Hitler personally overruled the decision and ordered her execution

On February 16, 1943 at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin, she was strapped to a guillotine and beheaded. As far as is known, she was the sole American in the leadership of the German resistance during WWII.

May she continue to RIP

Tim McCarver

Tim McCarver, the All-Star catcher whose career spanned four decades, and who later spent another four decades in the broadcast booth, has died of heart failure. He was 81. 

He was often criticized for being overly-analytical on TV, but I liked his work, and I can still hear his distinctive voice in my head. 

RIP sir. You did well. 

 

Raquel Welch

Raquel Welch, the actress and sex symbol whose beauty transcended the decades, died yesterday at 82. 

My introduction to her? Watching Fantastic Voyage on TV as a kid, and feeling some grown up feelings when her skintight suit was covered by antibodies that had to be ripped off her body LOL 

RIP 

The Forecast Was Snow Joke

Look, I'm not saying this is the storm of the century. So far, it's so mid that I think MPS jumped the gun by cancelling school (and to do so yesterday evening? Waaay too soon). Then again, I chose to work from home rather than commute, so who am I to talk?  

But it's coming down, and coming down steady. It's a mid snow too, not airy but not completely wet and sticky. 

Anyway, to stay ahead of the curve LuLu and I headed out to shovel and cleared the property, and our share of the alley, of the first couple inches of the mess. 

Future efforts will be delegated to Dem, Smiley, Lisa, and Junie. 

The dogs don't seem to mind it tho

Cupid Calling

 cupid calling

always such a great time photographing the lovely yelene!

need creative portraits or just some fun new photos? booking through may '23 now!

Slapczynski Shoots

A Gray Morn

Slapczynski Shoots

 

Pretty Kitty

pretty kitty - Lulu

Free

Still need a cute bra for Valentines Day? 34c heart bra. Could fit 34b maybe too. - Lisa (for Lu)

Another Presidential Valentine

IYKYK

 

My Valentine :) XO

 

Free

6 clear bags left for vday..would be cute w a donut in it for co workers .....or? Stickers too. 

 i love tattoos  - LuLu

Dan and Lisa's Day of Fun

Today Lisa and I spent the day together on a "Dan and Lisa's Day of Fun." 

It started at 8 am, with dropping Junie off at her job. Then it was on to 49th and North, to have breakfast at McBob's, a Scottish themed restaurant that has garnered significant praise online of late. 

Full embarrassing disclosure: they do not have the strongest commercially available chairs, and the rickety wood left me nervous. On the other hand, they held me without incident, so I guess that's a moot complaint. 

Lisa got an apple crisp scone with her breakfast. 

I ordered "Bacon Benedict" two medium poached eggs with bacon, served with hollandaise over a slice of "bacon bread" (what that is, I am not sure.)

It was a good dish but not spectacular. The eggs were done perfectly, but I should have ordered them over easy. The accompanying hash browns (not pictured) were greasy and not to my liking. 

Lisa ordered steak & eggs with American potatoes. The steak was cooked expertly but was a bit cold by the time it reached the table. 

The total (including a 18% automatic gratuity) was $49. A little steep, in my opinion. But not completely out of line. 

It was good enough to return but not good enough to brag about - yet.  Maybe next time. 

Then we went thrifting at Goodwill, wasted an hour in the car playing on our phones, and headed to the movies to see the 4k/3D 25th anniversary release of Titanic.

This was our 14th theater viewing of the film, but the first since its original release. 

Still a great film. The second half, from iceberg hit onwards? Incredible. 

But age grants you a different perspective on art. 

Lisa was the first one to say this aloud after the show, but Rose, as seen from the POV of a pair of late forty-somethings who've raised four kids? Well, she's a whole heck of a lot more entitled, spoiled, and bratty than she was in 1997.  

She's 17 and rich. She spends the trip partying and sleeping around behind her fiance's back, then paints him as irrational in his anger. She callously abandons her Mother, leaving her to forever mourn her daughter's "death."  She literally calls her first class accomodations "a slave ship" carrying her "in chains" because of the  burden of living in a stifled, privileged level of society. That's hyperbole of massive proportions. 

I mean, she's 101. Did her perspective remain that narrow, even into old age? Why would she be happy her fiance eventually killed himself? It's been 84 years Rose. Forgive a little. 

Anyway, afterwards we ran to Walmart, returned home to a meal of walking tacos cooked by JJ, then I went to Collectivo with LuLu to keep her company as she did her homework. 

A long, happy, productive day!

 

So A Cat Walks into a Bar . . .

Originally posted by YaYa on this day in 2015

Early Voting

Only she used a different letter in place of "H"

A chat message from Junie this morning: 

I might’ve missed this bus bro. Lacing up converse LITERALLY takes three minutes from my day wth. kms.

Nugget's Meal

 The sound of Nugget’s cricket snacks chirping is so unnerving. - LuLu

Knock at the Cabin

 

Yesterday, after the art show, Lisa and I took in a showing of  M. Night Shyamalan's Knock at the Cabin.

A vacationing gay couple and their daughter are held captive by four home invaders who believe the world will end unless they convince the family to willingly sacrifice the life of one of their own. Are they insane, or prophets of the apocalypse? Or have they targeted the couple in a complicated, twisted version of a hate crime? The couple must decide before time runs out for them - and maybe the world. 

This is, by my count, the eighth Shyamalan movie Lisa and I have watched in a theater. It's kind of a tradition of ours. And as much as we love his work overall, there's never been a film where we didn't identify a conspicuous flaw that knocked you out of the moment, even if only for a moment.  It was just his "thing."

I'll be danged if I found any such flaw yesterday.

Start to finish, it worked. It kept you terrified for the family, constantly feeding you just enough clues to make you start to believe the intruders, before tossing doubt into the mix and bringing you back to Earth. The backstory of the couple? Not a bit of it was superfluous, all of it clearly shaping the events of the day. The acting? Spot on. Dave Bautista, man, he deserves to move past the spectre of "wrestler turned actor." 

Now kudos of course to Paul Tremblay, the author who penned the novel on which the film is based.

There are, the internet tells me, significant plot points that diverge from page to screen, but clearly having Shyamalan work off a strong pre-established source paid dividends here.  (that doesn't explain the Airbender debacle, but still). 

I grade this a solid A. 

Go see it!

Hostile Architecture

I hate hostile architecture...just seeing any version of it makes me sad for humankind. - Lisa

Paint & Play

So yesterday evening Lisa and I (and, independently, YaYa and her BF) went to see Smiley's art show at his school. 

Now I  thought it was to be an exhibition of visual art work - you know, painting on a wall, sculptures on a pedestal. Nope. It was something far better, a combination of art, music, and game. 

A music major would perform a solo piece of classical music, while a single art major would stand in the front of the room, canvas to the crowd, and paint a piece in only the time provided by the music. When it was done, so was the painting. When it wasn't their turn to paint, each art student would complete the same task at their seat, but with dry media. 

Smiley painted to "Watashi No Uno" accompanied by a great pianist who was at our house for Halloween, as she's a friend of Dem's. 

After the intermission the six art students rotated out, and he jointed us to watch the rest of the show. 

After the show each drawing was up for sale for a $5 donation to the school, and we took home 5 - two of Smiley's (the dual faces and the flowers), a sarcastic Shrek work that he thought was hilarious, a drawing by his ex CeeCee (which we gifted to her) and a drawing of a woman in the woods the we all admired. 

Good job man! We're proud of you!!

* some pics courtesy of Yaya