Mmm... pie....

"I've made a nice pie. Mmm... blueberry.... But wait! King Arthur will want some, and so will his knights! Bunch of pigs.... I'll go eat it in the dungeon.... It'll be yummy and good... and all mine!"

Heaven help us....

Here's another "review" from Australia of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11.

It's really disturbing how badly Moore wants to create his lie, and how carefully he crafts it. Yet for all his work, it soon becomes easily discredited. Moore ignores timelines as he assembles his propaganda. Irresponsible himself, Moore shifts responsibility from the guilty parties to those he wishes to blame.

Moore shows the burial of U.S. Air Force Major Gregory Stone, killed in action. Moore, of course, milks it for all it's worth, an exploitation so tasteless it leads Stone's family to call Moore a "maggot that eats off the dead."

To Moore, facts mean nothing. All that matters is that he hates Bush, and he wants you to hate a country that has fought the hardest against tyrants and terrorists, from fascists to communists to Islamists.

To Moore, all that matters is hate.

Your melons are showing....

The whack-jobs at PETA pull some more shenanigans, this time in a claim that vegetarians are better lovers. How can you be a better lover if you don't eat wieners and tacos?

The wee hours....

Yesterday was geek day, as we got together for D&D. Eric and Tina arrived shortly after 3:30; Jenni and Jeff didn't arrive until after 4:00. We took some time for some preliminaries; no one had seen the house yet, and Eric and Tina hadn't seen Jeff's new vehicle yet. We didn't really get down to playing until about 5:00 or so. It turned in to a late night; we finally wrapped up around 1:30, mostly because Maryanne was having a hard time staying awake.

Just got back from seeing Spider-Man 2. We both enjoyed the movie. There was some good action, enough drama to offer some complexity to the plot and to the characters, and some obvious set-ups for a sequel. We had too much pizza, though.

Long time no see....

Last night Maryanne and I met up with some other people at the Ginza's of Tokyo located on the west side of Madison. Bernadette was in town, and a group was getting together for some food and fun. It was nice to see Bernadette and her former roommate Ron. The only other person there that we'd met before was Bernadette's friend Candy. We couldn't stay out late, though, as Maryanne had to put in at least two hours of overtime the next morning.

Later today we're expecting the crew for D&D. We'll be starting a little later than I would like, but I've prepared for a late night.

The liberal media....

If you still don't think the media has a liberal bias, check this out. Not only are the articles in such blatantly liberal newspapers like The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times clearly biased, but it appears they'll make stuff up if they have to.

Moral carpet bombing....

Here's yet another less-than-kind review of Michael Moore's duplicitous propaganda piece known as Fahrenheit 9/11.

Changes....

I've implemented a new guest book and a new mailer form courtesy of Bravenet. The mailer allows me to have the messages sent to my Yahoo e-mail address. While the new guest book isn't exactly what I want, I do like the interface better than that offered by Yahoo.

Parallel processing....

When computer geeks have too much time on their hands (way, way too much time on their hands), we end up with stuff like this.

A new demographic....

Michelle Malkin's op/ed piece in U.S.A. Today warns of a new portion of the electorate: the "security moms." You won't see them at the so-called "Million Mom March."

Gag rule....

The twisted, unintended consequences of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law comes to light again in regards to Russ Darrow. While Russ Darrow, Jr. runs for political office, Russ Darrow III may not be able to run advertisements for the car dealerships that bear their progenitor's name.

Closeted....

In Hollywood, it's just not chic to be a Republican. Be outspoken about your conservative politics, and you might face some backlash, or at least some blacklisting. Bridget Johnson offers an interesting op/ed piece on the topic.

Don't play with your food....

The whack-jobs at PETA are finally in the news again over an investigation at a supplier for KFC. Eat more chicken.

Shopping....

I had orginally planned on going to the gym yesterday after work, but Maryanne called and said whe was not staying late, so I told her to meet me at Rogan's Shoes. I had planned on stopping there anyway, because I needed new athletic shoes to use at the gym, and figured if they had some kind of sale, I could look at some kind of safety shoe for doing the yard work. They indeed had a sale, buy one item and get a second item at half off, so I started looking. I found the athletic shoes quickly; it took me a while to find some work shoes. I ended up with Columbia hiking shoes, though part of me now thinks I should have looked at leather safety shoes. Maybe next time.

Maryanne got new athletic shoes, too, and a pair of work shoes. Hers were steel-toe safety shoes, since they were significantly less expensive than hiking shoes.

When we got home I found that the drill I ordered from Amazon had finally arrived. Now we can finally get some work done on the stoop.

Culled....

In the effort to try to clean up this blog, I wanted to title all the posts. In some cases my memory needed jogging, though, which meant I had to skim the articles and other pieces I had linked to in some of my posts. A lot of these articles are no longer available; either they're gone entirely, or now require registration. I decided to delete these posts, culling out over sixty old posts, and thereby allowing me to edit more posts. Blogger only allows a user to view up to 300 posts. I wish it were more, but 300 is a good chunk.

Arguing semantics....

Many anti-gunners try to claim the Second Amendment is a states right and not an individual right. But when intellectual honesty prevails, even anti-gun liberals reluctantly admit that the Second Amendment, like the rest of the Bill of Rights, guarantees an individual right.

By the numbers....

The Brady Campaign is masterful at manipulating numbers in hopes of changing opinions in a truly deceitful manner.

Say it ain't so....

The Stoughton City Council gives in to the evil empire.

Inconsiderate....

This is one of the things that pisses me off about Dane County: bicyclists. It seems like none of the bicyclists around here know how to obey the rules of the road.

Admittedly biased....

Award-winning science-fiction and fantasy author Orson Scott Card theorizes on why Fox News Channel is winning the cable news channel race: honesty. They don't try to hide their biases.

We control the vertical....

The information gestapo strikes again, as AmFam has blocked access to web-based mail providers like Yahoo, MSN, and so forth. While they've had a long-standing policy against accessing these sites, they weren't actually blocked until today. Blame it on viruses, and the stupid end-users who spread them. I guess I can't really blame the company for wanting to secure the network and protect against these kind of threats, but there's always that piece of me that is frustrated when a few idiots ruin a good thing for everyone else.

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

Sunday morning I awoke earlier than expected, and took advantage of the time to get some work done on the computer.

After Maryanne woke up, I started breakfast, and we decided to go to Madison to see the latest Harry Potter movie. We were able to catch a 12:15 show, and the theater was pretty empty.

The movie itself was somehow... disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it was an enjoyable movie in and of itself. But if you've read the books, you'll notice that a lot of material was left out. And while a lot of that material wasn't terribly integral to the central plot of installment of the overall story, some of what was left out is important, or leads up to important issues for the next installment.

Personally, I wish we would have seen Spider-Man 2.

Sunday night we went over to Pauline's, since Narf is in Georgia serving his two weeks with the Army Reserves. It was enjoyable, probably more so for Pauline as she had some adult company for a change. As always, Katie was non-stop energy. I don't know how she does it. For that matter, I don't know how Pauline does it, either.

Weekend....

Friday night we had dinner with Maryanne's family, since her aunt Sarah was heading back to Mexico the next morning. We ended up at the old stand-by, Laredo's.

Saturday morning Maryanne went in to work for some overtime, and I stayed home since I was on-call. I was able to run the dishwasher, and then do a load of laundry before mowing the lawn and doing some other yard work. By the time Maryanne got home around 12:30 I had had enough, so she helped me finish up, and we went inside. I was able to shower, and then we had some lunch.

We decided to see the Madison Savoyards' production of Ruddigore, since Jeff was again the technical director, and Jenni had gotten a part in the chorus. After dinner at La Hacienda, we made our way to the UW campus for the show. It was a good production, and as always, Jeff's sets were superb.

Afterwards the four of us met at Badger Bowl with some of the other cast and crew, and went bowling. It was a late night, but fun.

A tangled web....

The thorny issues caused by the McCain-Feingold campaign-reform law hit a little closer to
home in Wisconsin.

Tightening the noose....

Dave Kopel reports on the continuing efforts to establish gun-rationing laws, laws that would be a first step in strangling the Second Amendment.

Thorny issue....

It seems that the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reform law presents an interesting conundrum regarding Fahrenheint 9/11. David Bossie, of the group Citizens United, offers a situation wherein the best intentions are horribly entangled with First Amendment rights, and the FEC is left holding the bag in a very unenviable position.

Dishonest....

James Lileks pulls no punches in his scathing, vitriolic analysis of Michael Moore's 4th of July op/ed piece for the L.A. Times.

Over there....

If you've ever wondered what it's really like for soldiers serving in Iraq, read this. Thanks to Nerzhin for the article.

The F word....

Written just in time for Independence Day, but posted here a couple of days late, Thomas Sowell opines on why some people, especially some Americans, hate America so: freedom.

You saw it here first....

Dave Kopel shares a draft of a forthcoming column for the National Review, a column which methodically addresses the deceits in Fahrenheit 9/11.

Adding insult to injury....

Michael Niewodowski shares his opinion on Fahrenheit 9/11: "Moore has not only insulted the nation, he has insulted the victims of the terrorist attacks."

If you're wondering who Mr. Niewodowski is, he was a chef at the Windows on the World restaurant at the World Trade Center until September 11, 2001.

Snippy....

Yesterday I had a flex day away from work, and was able to bring lunch to Maryanne. As usual, the visitor parking situation at WPS was atrocious, but I parked and made my way inside. I signed in as a visitor like I usually do, and waited for the receptionist to get off the phone. After I she was finished, I said I needed visitor's badge, and she asked who I was visiting. I had never been asked before, but I answered I was there to see Maryanne Anschutz, and she told me to write it down in the book. This being new to me, I didn't know where in the visitor book to write it down, and since I had already filled it out, and now lacked room to write it anywhere, I started scribbling out my old entry and creating a new one. She then got an attitude and started getting snippy, saying that I could just write it down, again, not specifying where. I told her, also a bit snippy, that the procedure had never been explained to me this way before. I finished it, and walked back in to the lobby.

When Maryanne and I sat down for lunch, I asked her if the receptionist worked for WPS or for the Blettner Group, the owners of the building.

"WPS. Why?"

"She's a fucking bitch."

If she does it again she'll get a piece of my mind.

Subtlety is an art....

James S. Robbins reviews the not-so-subtle disinformation of Fahrenheit 9/11: "I would sooner acknowledge Moore as the intellectual leader of the Left, and this film his (and their) emblematic masterwork. This is the best they have to offer."

The best laid plans....

John Lott again addresses the failed gun-control effors in Britain, Australia, and Canada.

Eess? Ice? I give up....

Last week Thursday I began reading The King of Ys series by Poul and Karen Anderson. I've read some of Poul Anderson's other work, including his Fantasy anthology, Orion Shall Rise, and the Hoka stories he wrote with Gordon R. Dickson. I'm familiar with his writing style, which I've found appealing, and dispite some disappointment with the aforementioned Orion Shall Rise, I've found his work very entertaining. I'm hoping this series will be the same.

Anderson is one of those versatile writers who can handle both science fiction and fantasy, and in the Ys series, he tackles not just any fantasy, but historical fantasy. So far it appears to be well-researched and the historical aspects seem to be accurate.

My only remaining question is, "How do you pronounce 'Ys'?"

Utilizing the 1st Amendment....

Film makers of a more conservative opinion organize their own film festival in response to the ignorant propaganda Michael Moore tries to pass off as documentaries.

Tell it like it is...

Michael Moore: propaganda trafficker.

More Lott, Less Moore....

Mike Adams comments on how even academia is becoming tainted by political opinions, but it is always one-sided.

It looks good on paper....

This morning I was finally able to finish Doctor Zhivago. It took about two weeks for me to finish it. I have some mixed feelings about it. The book is highly recommended, with Englands' The Guardian touting it as one of the top 100 novels of all time. Yet as I read it, it really seemed to be one of those "slice of life" stories. One of my college English professors, for a creative writing class, insisted that "slice of life" rarely works. And in a way, Doctor Zhivago doesn't work. It chronicles the life of Yuri Zhivago, first set against World War I, then the Russian Revolution, then World War II. Zhivago's life touches many other lives, especially amidst the continual chaos from World War I all the way through World War II.

It's been said that communism looks good on paper, but doesn't work in practice. That's about the most I got out of this book. Don't get me wrong me wrong: the book was good, and after the initial onslaught of characters, the central characters were better developed. But in the end it almost seemed that Boris Pasternak was saying, "Communism might be a good idea, but it doesn't actually work. Look what it did to this guy."

Lies and videotape...

Christopher Hitchens, columnist for Vanity Fair, presents a scathing, no-holds-barred review of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. "Review" is probably a poor description of the piece.

The cutting room floor...

"It's representative of the fact that Michael Moore doesn't always give the whole story, and he's a master of the misleading."

And Michael Moore claims he's in touch with the people of the Midwest.

He's certainly not in touch with me, and I'd prefer to keep it that way.

I have a dream...

I had a strange dream early this morning. I dreamt that, for some reason, Mom wanted to plow up part of the old garden out by her house. I was actually able to fire up Grandpa's old tractor, and I actually knew how to operate it. I hooked up the little disc harrow and started working the soil. I was all very bizarre.

Comments, revisited....

I told Maryanne about my dilemma regarding commenting on the website. I told it would be nice to have everything in one place with Blogger, but that would mean loosing comments from HaloScan.

"No one leaves comments anyway," she said.

Gee, thanks.

So after some playing around, it turns out I'm not overly crazy about Blogger's commenting engine anway.

The (not so) great white north....

John Lott again chimes in on the gun controll issue, this time addressing Canada's failed past attempts, and what our neighbors to the north intend to do about it.

Decisions, decisions....

It would appear Blogger may have its own commenting engine now. The question remains, how easy is it to implement? It might be nice to have all my blogging needs in one place, but HaloScan does provide the track back feature. I'll have to check in to Blogger's commenting some more.

From Russia, with too many names to keep straight....

Last Thursday, which would have been June 10, I started reading Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. Almost a week later, and I'm just barely a hundred pages into it. It's been a slow start, obviously. Part of the reason for that is an onslaught of characters, and trying to keep them all straight has been a bit taxing so far. I imagine it's going to take me a while to work through it, as it's well over four hundred pages in length.

You'll notice that I've more or less titled this blog entry. Hopefully that will be a trend of sorts, as Blogger has added some features that don't work so well if you don't title your entries. Once I get more than ten titled entries, I may try that feature. In fact, I'm contemplating a whole website redesign in general, but not sure I'm going to have the time for it. Since Maryanne and I bought a house, we've got a lot of things we want to do with it, and since the summer weather is good for a lot of outdoor work, a lot of other things will be put on hold.

The Gipper on guns....

This article was written by Ronald Reagan for the September, 1975 issue of Guns & Ammo. It contains truths that are just as valid today as they were in 1975.

Made in Japan....

It took me a mere two days to get through Dave Barry Does Japan. Like much of Dave Barry's work, it was humorous, though this featured a more serious, thought-provoking chapter. It was a quick read. Unfortunately, I didn't bring anything else with me today.

Men in tights....

Today I was able to finish The Adventures of Robin Hood by Paul Creswick. I enjoyed reading it. While being very heavy on dialog, it was very character driven, and presented a plethora of characters, some with familiar names, others with unfamiliar. My only disappointment was that much like Roger Lancelyn Green's work on Robin Hood, this book, too, was ultimately a tragedy.

The illustrations, of course, were marvelous, being the work of N.C. Wyeth. The book also featured some ornamentation by Howard Pyle, making the whole edition a very beautiful work.

I don't know what I'll start on next.

Rewriting history....

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the most reversed court in the land, tries to pull another fast one. Prof. Richard Skidmore not only shows they have no precedent, but that the judges appear to be trying to legislate from the bench.

Having read the book....

Today I finished Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace. In a way I'm glad I haven't seen the movie version yet, as my interpretation wasn't skewed by it.

I had to adjust to Wallace's writing style; once I did so, however, it was a good read. Each chapter started with some exposition before moving to the more dialog-driven action. The story runs parallel to the Gospels, starting with the Three Wise Men, and ending with the Crucifixion and the persecuting of Christians by Rome. The story in between, though, was very character-driven, and while some parts were predictable, others were not.

Next I start on The Adventures of Robin Hood by Paul Creswick. I'm not familiar with Creswick's writing, but I had to buy the book. Not only is it a nicely bound hardcover published by Reader's Digest, but it contains illustrations by the great N.C. Wyeth.

Idle hands....

Another example of what happens when people have too much time on their hands. It's even somewhat appropriate for Memorial Day.

Lest we forget....

In honor of Memorial Day.

Meow....

On one of our recent trips to Bed Bath & Beyond, Maryanne bought me a Kit-Cat Klock. It's an amusing piece of retro kitsch, and goes well in our kitchen. It's kind of fun to look at, and I find I can't help but smile at it, but Maryanne finds it vaguely creepy.

I need syrup....

John Kerry is still the victim of a Google bomb. Mmm, waffles.

Dear Senator....

Now here's something to write your congressman about.

Gotcha!

Fred Barnes catches Michael Moore red handed.

Shenanigans....

Have I ever mentioned I also hate Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY)? Check out his latest shenanigans. Luckily, The Wall Street Journal is there to expose him.

We the people....

Arnold Beichman of The Washington Times gives a lesson in Constitutional law.

Hypocrites....

Do you still think campaign-finance reform was a good idea? Guess who was first to exploit the loopholes....

A sheep in wolf's clothing....

Author Harold Hough chimes in on John Kerry's dubious hunting credentials in this op/ed piece.

Fighting the evil empire....

Add the National Trust to the list of Wal-Mart's foes.

Mawwiage....

I was unable to post for a few days while Maryanne and I were out of town for Caly's (my sister) wedding. In retrospect it would have been a good opportunity to test out posting by e-mail. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Maryanne and I made the trip to Sturgeon Bay on Thursday morning after our final closing for our house. The weather was pretty good, so I tried to get part of Mom's lawn mowed before the rehearsal. I accomplished what I wanted to, and was even able to say "Hi" to Aunt Mary and Uncle David before hitting the shower.

The rehearsal went well; everyone was able to find the Bridal Chapel with little difficulty. Afterwards it was off to the Nightingale for the rehearsal dinner. It turned out to be a lot of fun.

Friday were were mostly left to our own devices. Maryanne had an appointment for a manicure, so she and Mom drove in to town, and I took care of some other things around the house. Later the three of us met up with Aunt Mary, Uncle David, and Grandma A for dinner, then shared an after-dinner drink with Craig and Cynthia. Maryanne and I later met up with Adam, Sammie, and Jesse to hang out for a bit.

Things weren't looking too good Saturday morning, though as the weather was generally dismal-- the skies were overcast, and it had drizzled throughout the morning. Things cleared just in time to warm things up a bit for the preceremony photos, and then we made our way to the Bridal Chapel again for the ceremony. It went smoothly and quickly, and after some more photos we made our way to Stone Harbor. Caly had made arrangements with Carriages of Door County to get three carriages at Stone Harbor for the wedding party and families to ride to Leathem-Smith Lodge. The ride was fun, if a bit on the cool side.

Things were a bit chaotic upon our arrival. Guests were still arriving, and there was a tremendous hassle with the seating arrangements because someone with Leathem-Smith Lodge failed to follow directions. Everything got worked out though, and it turned in to a fun evening. It was nice to catch up with some people that I had not seen since my own wedding, and some people I hadn't seen for much longer.

The end of the evening brought its own frustrations as we tried to figure out the logistics of getting to our hotel room at Bridgeport, complicated by the fact that Mom's car was still there. We finally got it taken care of, though, but when the gift opening rolled around on Sunday, we were still exhausted. Unfortunately, Maryanne and I will have little time to recover this week, as we finish moving out of our old townhouse.

Throughout the weekend I thought of Dad's absence. There were reminders everywhere. Caly had included some words in her program, and had also chosen for one of her readings a passage written by Kahlil Gibran, an author whose appreciation we both learned from Dad. Aunt Mary passed on the necklace that Dad had given her for her 16th birthday. Caly had done me the honor of walking her down the aisle along with Mom, and later at the reception, dancing with her, in place of the father-daughter dance. I told her then that one of the first things I thought of when Dad passed away a year and a half ago was that he wouldn't be able to be there for her wedding. Later I danced with Mom, and she also mentioned how much she misses him. I know we all do.

Film at eleven....

Popular Mechanics chimes in and takes a shot at TV news anchors.

You're our only hope....

Can Starwars Episode III be saved? Christopher Bahn shares his ideas on MSNBC.

Intestinal fortitude....

Check out this interesting op/ed piece from Mark Holmberg of the Richmond (VA) Times Dispatch.

Dark and light....

Last week I was able to finish reading Bram Stoker's Dracula. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though for some reason found the ending a little less climactic than I had hoped.

Thus, today I started on Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace. Wallace's writing style thus far is a little long-winded, but some of the theological ideas presented so far have alone been worth the time.

Cheesy....

Here's some info on the forthcoming new Leisure Suit Larry game.

By the numbers....

Check out this handy list of why gun bans don't work.

Oh say, can you see!

This guy's got a lot to sing about, and not because he sounds a little like Darius Rucker.

A few moms short....

The National Review also chimes in on the "Million Mom March" courtesy of Daniel J. Flynn.

A double standard....

Here's another reason I'll never live in Illinois, especially Chicago.

No substance or style....

I dropped "The Big Picture" comic strip from my comics page, along with some other strips. The other strips I dropped hadn't been updated since I added them. The reason I dropped "The Big Picture," though, was because it had really stopped being funny. Now, before you get on my case about not all comic strips being funny, let me explain. I'm really not sure what "The Big Picture" was supposed to be in the first place, other than a sounding board for its artist, Lennie Peterson. While that still isn't a problem, it became increasingly offensive and less entertaining to me. The final straw was Peterson's attitude regarding people who would e-mail him disagreeing with his opinions: he called them "stoopid."

I seem to remember an expression something to the effect of "Why offend people with style when you can offend them with substance?" Well, "The Big Picture" lacks both, but most importantly, it started lacking substance a long time ago.

Bring out the gimp....

Sunday's "Million Mom March" was more of a limp.

Movin'....

A truly exhausting weekend began Thursday as I prepared for our big move into our new house. I finished the painting, and got things cleaned up just in time for the cable guy to hook up the cable. It was then off to the town house to get showered for the concert that evening: Aerosmith, with Cheap Trick opening. It was a good show, and piqued my curiosity regarding Aerosmith's new album, Honkin' on Bobo. The only downside is that the Kohl Center is not a good place to hold a concert; the acoustics were terrible. I really could have used a set of earplugs.

Friday, then, was the big move, and as Caly and Jim were in town for the concert, they stayed for a while to help us. We also had some help from Jenni, and from Maryanne's dad, Jim. We were able to make two big trips before reaching the point of needing to get stuff put away before we could move anything more. We finally got sick of things just in time to head over to Narf and Pauline's for what turned out to be a birthday dinner for me.

Saturday it was more of the same, with Maryanne's coworker Sue helping us this time. The weather was inconsistent, so we weren't able to use the truck. We filled Maryanne's car and Sue's car, and then went back to make one more trip with Maryanne's car. We went to Sears to buy a lawn mower; that's a story in itself! Later we grabbed some dinner from New Orleans Take Out. Much of the remainder of the day was spent unpacking and putting things away, especially in the kitchen.

Yesterday, Sunday, we loaded a few things into Maryanne's car as were were again expecting inclement weather. Afterwards we took a trip to Target and a trip to Menard's to get some sundries for our new house. After unloading the car, we spent more time again unpacking before Helen and Jim picked us up so we could take Helen to Laredo's for a Mother's Day dinner. Maryanne and I then did some grocery shopping before heading back to Stoughton for yet more unpacking.

In a way it's nice to be back at work so we don't have to pack and unpack. We have a lot to do yet, though, but it's getting to the point where I just want to throw things in boxes so we can start cleaning.

Socially mature....

Earlier this week I was finally able to finish David Copperfield. Whew!

Coincidentally, about a week and a half ago, Maryanne and I helped Narf and Pauline move. After calling it quits for the day, we were able to relax and have some conversation. That conversation turned to highschool English classes. Pauline mentioned her revulsion over the graphic scenes of All Quiet on the Western Front, and the conversation eventually turned to Charles Dickens.

Pauline remarked that highschool students usually aren't socially mature enough to handle Dickens, and considering the only Dickens I had read in high school was Great Expectations as a freshman, that was probably correct. Fast forward several years, and here I am having completed not only David Copperfield, but The Old Curiosity Shop as well. Being (presumably) more socially mature, I'm better able to see Dickens' social commentary interwoven in his tales. While his dialog doesn't seem very natural by today's standards, his characters are so vivid that you inevitably find yourself rooting for the protagonist. Fortunately, his work usually has a happy ending, if by degrees, that makes reading his books enjoyable. I'm at least able to feel that way now without overanalyzing the story.

I've begun reading Bram Stoker's Dracula, and find myself thinking of the 1992 film version featuring the direction of Francis Ford Coppola and a top rate cast. I'll probably revisit it at some point, but I think I'll wait until I'm done with the book.

The book, so far, has seemed to do a better job of being creepy, as in the case of Renfield, and depicting the feeling of futility that Jonathan Harker experiences.

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it.

Retro chic....

I've come to the conclusion that the people at Food Fight, Inc., the owners of several restaurants in the Madison area, including Monty's Blue Plate Diner and Delmonico's, have a penchant for the retro. Delmonico's and and Monty's both feature art deco decor, the former being swanky and the the latter being delightfully colorful. It turns out they also own the Hubbard Avenue Diner in Middleton, which also features the same delightful WWII-era art deco style, even when just seen from the outside. While browsing their website I found similar styles in some of their other restaurants, though some of the decor could be said to be Arts & Crafts influenced.

Checks and balances....

In a way, I'm glad Maryanne and I are moving out of Madison because of things like this. Leave it to a bunch of power-grabbing, bleeding-heart liberals to try to usurp power.

Invaded!

Maryanne and I had some company this weekend; our friends Adam and Sammie and Barret and Jenny came for a visit Saturday morning and stayed until Sunday afternoon. It was a pleasant weekend; next time some kind of itinerary would be in order, though. The weather was beautiful Saturday. We had lunch at Monty's Blue Plate Diner, then decided to check out the Celebrate Madison festival at the Monona Terrace. It seemed a bit disorganized, but we got to try some bocce. As were were leaving a bunch of demonstrators showed up, carrying signs about peace. We discovered they were a bunch of Socialists. Socialism might look good on paper, but it doesn't work too well, so while they certainly had the right to peacably demonstrate, I also didn't want to stay and listen to it.

Afterwards we decided to head to State Street. The parking ramp was insane, as the downtown area was inundated with students finishing their semester, many of which were visibly drunk. We were able to spend some time on the Memorial Union Terrace eating ice cream. We later picked up some Papa Murphy's pizzas for dinner, and I unfortunately burned the crust on one of them. We spent the evening playing Trivial Pursuit.

Sunday started off with snow, but had melted by the time we finished breakfast. Everyone departed sometime in the early afternoon, leaving Maryanne and me some time to load up my truck, and her parents' car, and take some boxes over to our new house.

Call to arms....

Members of the House of Representatives create the Congressional Second Amendment Caucus.

Interestink....

Here's a thing to make you go "Hmmm...."

What's for breakfast?

I don't know how long this will last, but it's damn amusing: John Kerry gets Google-bombed, and is now the top-rated hit when searching for "waffles."

Changing your answer....

Apparently the question as to whether the Second Amendment was an individual right or not was answered shortly after World War II. This, along with all the historical evidence, keeps me wondering why so many people even try to argue against it being an individual right.

Oil for Terror

Sadly, you probably won't be reading about this in any of your major news outlets any time soon. However, it's very much worth a look. While it remains to be seen whether or not Saddam Hussein had an weapons of mass destruction, it appears that he indeed was bankrolling terrorism, including Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, all under the supposedly watchful eye of Kofi Annan and the U.N.

All of this makes a person wonder: If George W. Bush's reasons for going to war in Iraq are dubious, does it really matter what those reasons are now that Saddam's deposed? If so, does it matter if we compare it to John Kerry's view that we should get the U.N.'s permission for everything first, the same U.N. that was so watchful of Saddam in the first place?

Rational....

For any of you have yet to explore James Lileks website, here's a good place to start. He's got a variety of interesting material, but his blog, which he calls The Bleat, is always interesting. He seems to be politically independent, spiritual without being religiously dogmatic, and intelligent. I enjoy reading his material. I don't always agree with what he has to say regarding some topics (though I happen to agree this time), but, unlike some other sources, he has such a clear, intelligent, rational way of presenting his opinion that I find I can't begrudge him when his opinion differs.

Spring....

Spring is upon us... but it seems to be a sort of incongruous spring for some reason. Perhaps it's just me, or perhaps it's just from not being quite used to South-central Wisconsin yet. Some trees are budding, while others are not, and a few flowering shrubs are blooming. The daffodils are starting to bloom, and the tulips are finally starting to bud as well. Perhaps things seem unusual due to a lack of the familiar spring sights I'm used to: trilliums, wood violets, and marsh marigolds.

Friday was a truly beautiful day -- the high reached 81° F at least. I was very fortunate to have the day off, but spent much of the day running errands or doing housework in preparation of our move. Saturday was a fine day as well, though I had to work in the morning. Maryanne and I spent the afternoon running some additional errands, and it was quite a pleasant day.

Sunday was another matter. The day started well enough, but quickly headed downhill as the remnants of a storm moved through, bringing with it a lot of wind, but very little in the way of much-needed rain.

Progress....

It's a shame we don't hear about this kind of thing on the news.

Istanbul not Constantinople

Easter miracle: Pope John Paul II apologizes for the Catholic Church's involvement in the sacking of Constantinople on April 13, 1204.  I'm sure Maryanne will have something to say about this.

Satire....

After making quick work of Dave Barry's Bad Habits and Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, I started on Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. It was a slow start, and I was initially a bit put-off by the irreverence of the satire. I've read Mark Twain before, but little had prepared me for what this book would hold: biting satire, a variety of humor, a scathing view of the Catholic Church, and some truly heart-wrenching tableaus. It was hard dealing with a work that treated King Arthur so poorly, while other works I had read held him in such high regard.

Nonetheless I enjoyed it, though it's now making me debate whether I should reread T.H. White's The Once and Future King. I'll probably move on to something unread, instead.

"'Patriot' Games"

A fight could be brewing over the fate of the Patriot Act.

Use both hands....

You hardly ever hear about this kind of thing in the news.

History....

I found this interesting.

Over-priced....

It's been a while since I posted about that hotbed of unrest known as Carroll College.

"Lying for Dollars"

Caught in the act! The Brady Campaign is a bunch of lying liars.

Priorities....

Here's yet another reason not to live in California.

Vexations....

The past several mornings at work, while not hellish, have certainly been demanding. Something, certainly the result of a lack of foresight by someone, has been causing (painfully) slow login issues for a multitude of users. As a help desk analyst, I'm very frustrated by this. My job is to help people after all. It's, shall we say, vexing, when it seems that someone else's lack of preparation or planning makes matters worse by creating more problems than we already have.

Card-carrying member....

Here is an interesting op/ed piece from Mike S. Adams about why he joined the N.R.A.

Disarmed....

Here is yet another reason why I'll never live in Illinois.

Domestic terror....

James Swan offers some sound advice for dealing with what he terms "animal rights 'humaniacs.'"

Killing the dead....

Apparently vampires are still a problem in Romania. And since civilians have taken matters into their own hands, the police have become involved.