I'm back from Sconnie, armed with enough material from there to hopefully get me through the winter without a trip back as our plans stand currently. Fall in Wisconsin really has always been my favorite time of year. True, multi-varied fun was had by all I encountered and accompanied in Madison, Milwaukee and many points along the way. There was, however, one poetic autumnal moment in Milwaukee yesterday that caught my eye when I was driving back from the Waterfront to my hotel. I was stopped at an intersection - just another one of the tens of thousands that we all stop at in our lifetime. The red light was long enough for me to notice the leaves falling around my rental car and the light blue worn and weary Dodge with a few prominent Obama stickers waiting in front of me. The short sleeve of my shirt had blown up my left arm as my arm draped out the open window. I had the music up a bit too loud. I had plenty of time before check-out to get ready to head to Miller Park for the last home Brewers game of the Season (just "188 days until Opening Day"). When the light turned green, the car in front of me took off a bit too fast and the leaves around it tossed and turned in upon themselves as if unsure what to do with their newly found freedom. I followed, wondering how the swirl might have looked in my wake.
When I got up this morning before sunrise and shook off the stiffness of sitting too much of the day yesterday in cars, chairs and in the air, the thermometer read 47-degrees. Hot coffee felt good through the mug that I cradled in my hand. The day is warming up, but these days will soon shrink and chill even further. I know that is true. For Milwaukee told me so.
Hope your own fall projects get a little kick in the pants from the world's little things all around you today. Rock on.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Who's next up after Tucker and Delay? Easy - Fred Thompson.
I'm drenched in shame by the admission, but I watched the clip of Tom Delay on "Dancing With the Stars" last night. It was worse than a car accident. No one tries to immediately joke about a car accident. And the choice of "Wild Thing" was such an inarticulate nod to bad taste that I hope he gets a letter of reprimand from Tony Perkins and all those Family Research Council peckerheads. Everyone knows that the only barely permissible use of the horribly overused "Wild Thing" was to accompany Charlie Sheen's laughable presence in the movie "Major League" - a true blue guilty pleasure of mine with the only pairing ever on celluloid of Bob Uecker and Pete Vuckovich. Vuke plays a Yankee. Uecker plays himself, as usual. No one does it better.
Speaking of Uecker, I'll be in Milwaukee on Sunday at Miller Park for the last Brewers home game of the Season. It will be part of a larger trip to Sconnie for me. Expect lots of details later.
One last quickie pop culture mention - if you don't watch "Mad Men" because you feel like you need to start from the beginning, I say hogwash. Catch a re-run of Sunday's episode whenever you can. It will spoil nothing and even though it isn't anywhere near the top of this glorious show's arc, there is one surprise that will shock each and every one of the initiated or otherwise. I won't say what it is. But you'll know what I mean when you see it. Gruesome hilarity.
Hope your own bags are packed with lots of gifts and a Polaroid camera for special shots, too. Rock on.
Speaking of Uecker, I'll be in Milwaukee on Sunday at Miller Park for the last Brewers home game of the Season. It will be part of a larger trip to Sconnie for me. Expect lots of details later.
One last quickie pop culture mention - if you don't watch "Mad Men" because you feel like you need to start from the beginning, I say hogwash. Catch a re-run of Sunday's episode whenever you can. It will spoil nothing and even though it isn't anywhere near the top of this glorious show's arc, there is one surprise that will shock each and every one of the initiated or otherwise. I won't say what it is. But you'll know what I mean when you see it. Gruesome hilarity.
Hope your own bags are packed with lots of gifts and a Polaroid camera for special shots, too. Rock on.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
In the REAL future, everyone will think they're famous for 15 minutes. Even though they're not.
Is blogging dead? Nah. Dumb question, really. But this form of shorthand self-published blather is certainly being usurped by the applications preferred at the moment. Such as Facebook, Twitter and other micro-blogging sites that encourage writers to become even more lame and shortened in their observations. I'll admit that I'm also less interested in the longer form blogging that I've typically done over the last 4 and a half years. So as I'm working away on a much longer form project that I do not intend to self-publish, I'm going to do this differently for a while as I prepare to entirely change what I publish here. Confused? Don't be. I'll still throw up pics and reviews from time to time. More often than in the last number of months, actually. But along with that will come indications of what's the next what for me and what I do here. Thanks for reading. Check back. Take the cannoli. You know the drill.
Just to be fair, a few quick reviews follow. We recently saw "Julie and Julia" and thoroughly enjoyed it. A very slight movie with a stunning performance by Meryl Streep as Julia Child. Plus I love love love Stanley Tucci in anything, including this. My rating - a solid B.
Also, I just finished "This Is Where I Leave You" by Jonathan Tropper. Hilarious, delightful family dysfunction written with a spare, perfectly-timed wit. A highly recommended book, even though I limped through it for weeks just before falling asleep at bedtime. Big payoff. My rating - an A-minus. Sure to be a star-studded Hollywood yukfest in the nearish future. Beat the rush and read it now.
Just to be fair, a few quick reviews follow. We recently saw "Julie and Julia" and thoroughly enjoyed it. A very slight movie with a stunning performance by Meryl Streep as Julia Child. Plus I love love love Stanley Tucci in anything, including this. My rating - a solid B.
Also, I just finished "This Is Where I Leave You" by Jonathan Tropper. Hilarious, delightful family dysfunction written with a spare, perfectly-timed wit. A highly recommended book, even though I limped through it for weeks just before falling asleep at bedtime. Big payoff. My rating - an A-minus. Sure to be a star-studded Hollywood yukfest in the nearish future. Beat the rush and read it now.
Monday, September 07, 2009
Maya waiting for Auntie Becca to arrive.
Sarah insisted I add this and the next one to show just how eager Maya was for Becca's arrival. Maya curled up on the floor at the front door and fell asleep when Becca was a few minutes later than promised. Thankfully it all worked out just fine.
Maya and Auntie Becca checking out traffic along the Ballard Locks.
Over the weekend, Auntie Becca was up for a visit from the Bay Area. Good times were had by all. When the rain stopped on Sunday, we headed to the Chittenden Locks in Ballard to see the salmon working their way back upstream to spawn. A few pics follow. Rock on.
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