Blasphemy?

Not that I really needed one, but here's yet another reason to avoid AOL.

Deliberate or not, it's about as bright as the people who registered the domain for Pen Island.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys: "Blue Moon of Kentucky"

Cool

Here's a story about the most durable slang term of all.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Alice in Chains: "Heaven Beside You"

Musical Nerds

Take this test and find out if you're a music nerd. I was much nerdier than I thought.

Mood: Amused
Music: Rainbow: "Long Live Rock and Roll"

Halo Kong?

Halo guys invade Donkey Kong in this example of what happens when people who love video games have too much time on their hands.

Mood: Amused
Music: Marvin Gaye: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"

Silenced Guns

Some sad news from the firearms world.

Mood: Sad
Music: Andrew Gold: "Lonely Boy"

The Walking Dead

I thought things had been going fairly well, or as well as could be expected, with a new baby in the house. Maryanne and I balance chores and child care between us while I work, and I get my sleep at night while Maryanne pretty much sleeps whenever she can.

Today, though, I think it caught up with me a bit. Last night not only did I forget to pack my lunch for today, but I forgot a new battery for my MP3 player, which means it's going to go dead any minute now. In addition, I forgot to turn on my alarm last night, and I overslept this morning. I didn't have time to shave, and breakfast was a green banana as I drove to work.

Thank God I have a day off tomorrow.

Mood: Tired
Music: The Cars: "Moving in Stereo"

One for the Gipper

Here's an interesting op-ed retrospective on that much-debated economic policy known as Reaganomics.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: The Commitments: "Try a Little Tenderness"

The Dance

So Super Bowl XL (40, for the Roman numeral-challenged) will feature the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Seattle Seahawks.

I've got kind of mixed feelings about the game.

I'd like to see Mike Holmgren win another superbowl, and for Matt Hasselbeck to win one.

On the other hand, I like the Steelers, and I like Bill Cowher, and I'd really like Jerome Bettis to win a Super Bowl before he retires. Bettis has such a wonderful work ethic. Sure, he's got talent, but the man also works his ass off every game.

I'm sure it will be an exciting game, though. Much better than the blow-outs that were each of the championship games yesterday.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: David Ball: "Look What Followed Me Home"

Mini

Is it just me, or does this thing look like a mini on steroids?

Maybe it's just the paint job.

Mood: Confused
Music: Little Richard: "Good Golly, Miss Molly"

White Meat

It's been far too long since we've heard of any shenanigans courtesy of the whack-jobs from PETA.

Mood: Amused
Music: Jethro Tull: "Aqualung"

Drool Machine

And I thought the new Dodge Charger was exciting. Just get a load of this thing.

The very first model kit I ever build was a 1970 Dodge Callenger R/T.

Kudos to Dodge for resurrecting two of the greatest muscle cars ever.

Mood: Excited
Music: Rush: "Working Man"

Jump the Shark

A few seasons ago, there was an episode of "That '70s Show" wherein they discussed the episode of "Happy Days" in which Fonzie literally jumps a shark.

This episode of "Happy Days" was the birth of the term "jump the shark," or the time at which a shows turns from good to utter crap.

How ironic, then, that this has happened with "That '70s Show."

Luckily Fox has decided to kill it, cancelling it with some other shows. Unfortunately, we'll be subjected to "American Idol" in its place.

Mood: Relieved
Music: Traffic: "Rock 'n' Roll Stew"

Finis

This could have some far-reaching effects.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Coverdale/Page: "Over Now"

Offseason Moves

So the Packers have hired a new head coach, one Mike McCarthy, passing over Jim Bates. Bates thus decided it was best for everyone that he leave the team, which means that the defense will have to learn yet another new scheme. McCarthy has a new offensive coordinator hired in the form of Jeff Jagodzinski.

This is not at all what I imagined happening.

I imagined Bates being promoted to head coach, perhaps promoting one of his assistants to defensive coordinator, and finding an offensive coordinator that can run the West Coast offense in case Favre decides to come back for another season.

Packers GM Ted Thompson hired McCarthy because he can run the West Coast offense, in the hopes of luring Favre back for another season.

I'm not sure it's going to help if they can't get the offensive line to perform better. In addition, Bates had finally turned the defense around, to the point where they were the most consistent part of the team.

Part of me still dwells on the fact that the Packers had a shot at Andy Reid around 1999.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: The Rolling Stones: "Monkey Man"

Video Game Culture

It's things like this and this that show how things influence our pop culture.

Mood: Amused
Music: Little River Band: "Lady"

Priorities

The weather continues to be unseasonably warm and mostly dry. What little precipitation we have received has been mostly in the form of rain. What little snow has fallen has melted. Looking outside it looks more like March than January. Maryanne is quite happy about it. I think it's just plain wrong.

The arrival of our daughter is making us both wish we had invested in a cheap laptop so we could keep up with our e-mail and other routine computing tasks. It's hard to find the time to get down to the computer and get through any substantial amount of work. Sometimes the sheer necessity of getting bills paid gets me in front of the keyboard. Most of the time there have been other, more important things to do, though.

Mood: Disappointed
Music: The Osborne Brothers: "Rocky Top"

Censorship

Call it what you will, but I call this an infringement on the First Amendment.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: The Silhouettes: "Get a Job"

Changes

Maryanne and I continue to go through an adjustment period with our new daughter. Little Sarah's clock is backwards, and she doesn't sleep as well at night as we'd like. We're making some changes in our routine so that Sarah can adapt to it better.

It's a little strange having been home for so long to help Maryanne with the baby. There will be another period of adjustment next week when I return to work and Maryanne remains home. It will definitely be a change from our old routines.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Donovan: "Sunshine Superman"

Picture Perfect

Here you'll find a picture of our daughter Sarah. Comments indicate most people think she looks like me. She certainly has my ears, and probably my nose. She has Maryanne's hair, though. Once she stops looking like a newborn we'll be able to tell better.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Chicago: "Feelin' Stronger Every Day"

Addition

I haven't been able to blog in a while due to an addition to our family. Maryanne was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital on Tuesday, January 3, and gave birth to a baby girl on Thursday, January 5. We decided to name her Sarah Elisabeth. There will be more details forthcoming as I find the time to post.

Mood: Tired
Music: Vanilla Fudge: "All in Your Mind"

The End?

The Packers won their final game of the 2005 season yesterday. Some people would see this as a bad thing, effectively putting them out of "the Reggie Bush lottery." I'd rather see them end on a high note. After all, even if they draft a playmaker like Bush, it's not going to help that much until their offensive line can improve.

There's a lot of speculation that it was also Favre's final game, and that he'll decide to retire. Time will tell, and we won't know for certain until we hear it from Favre himself. Until then, any word one way or the other will be pure speculation.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Cherry Poppin' Daddies: "No Mercy for Swine"

Happy New Year

Last night Maryanne and I went to Star Cinema out in Fitchburg and saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on the IMAX screen. It was a packed house, but the crowd was good. There weren't any screaming children like there had been for King Kong.

Good flick, too. Maryanne had seen it before, but I had not. There were a number of things from the book that were left out, but even at that running time was about two and a half hours. The special effects were good.

Afterwards Maryanne and I went to La Hacienda for a late supper. I was able to get my pozole fix, and Maryanne got her tamale fix.

After that we went home and Maryanne pretty much crashed. I guess we're turning into old fuddy-duddies.

Mood: Relaxed
Music: Aerosmith: "Drop Dead Gorgeous"

Cthulhu Carols

I don't think we'll be singing any of these in church any time soon.

Mood: Amused
Music: Aerosmith: "Sweet Emotion"

Advisory

This would be real truth in advertising.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Jefferson Starship: "Jane"

Puzzling

This article shows why history and archeology are considered social sciences.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Bill Haley and the Comets: "Rock Around the Clock"

Mod Squad

Here's yet another example of what happens when computer geeks have too much time on their hands.

Mood: Amused
Music: The Jimi Hendrix Experience: "All Along the Watchtower"

Bittersweet

It's been a bittersweet holiday season so far. Maryanne and I have been looking forward to the birth of our first child, a daughter, which should be arriving in the middle of January. The entire family is very excited, as are many of our friends. While I was apprehensive at first, the reality has settled in, and I'm finding myself feeling excited at times, as well.

However, on Friday, December 23, we found out that my paternal grandmother had passed away. The timing was very unfortunate. Not only did it put a blemish on the holiday season, but Maryanne will be unable to attend the funeral services. She's too close to her due date to travel that far. She feels very sad that she won't be able to attend.

Mood: Melancholy
Music: Blind Faith: "Can't Find My Way Home"

On Tap

While I'm not sure how much I agree with it, this article certainly puts a twist in all the recent hoopla about wire tapping.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Red Peters: "Holy Shit, It's Christmas"

Grimm

Today I finally finished Roughing It by Mark Twain. It was a fun read, though not in the same way a purely fictional work is a fun read, but entertaining nonetheless. The author was, by all accounts, a truly American writer.

Next on the list is Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales as published by Barnes & Noble. It contains 211 of their tales, though I believe there are at least 215 of them in total. This edition looks nice enough, but may eventually returned; there are pages missing. Not that there are entire sheets missing, but there is no printing on some pages where there should be. It may be simply exchanged for another copy of the same edition, as good and complete editions of the work are hard to find.

Mood: Disappointed
Music: none

"Satura was here"

More proof that the more things change, the more things stay the same.

Mood: Amused
Music: The Who: "Love Ain't for Keeping"

Starmen

This is freakin' awesome.

Mood: Amused
Music: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band: "Born in Chicago"

Don't Look at Porn

Where was this advice when I was in college?

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Steppenwolf: "Born to Be Wild"

Whacked

Here's a headline you don't see everyday: "Police whack giant snow penis."

Mood: Amused
Music: Van Halen: "Atomic Punk"

A Witch's Tit

The temperature when I left for work this morning was -4° F. A slight breeze put the windchill at -9° F. Even I'll admit that's cold. Bitterly cold.

Mood: Chilled
Music: Led Zeppelin: "Dancing Days"

In the ass

"You mean rectum?"

Mood: Amused
Music: The Yardbirds: "Over Under Sideways Down"

Great

Maryanne and I saw King Kong today.

A lot of people are beginning to say that Peter Jackson is one of the great film makers of our time.

I'd like to say he's fucking brilliant.

This movie was fantastic on so many levels. Great script, great cast, great score, great special effects, and great direction. It was a fantastic story that went not only beyond the action, but beyond the basic plot as well. The story has a lot of depth and complexity to it. Critics left and right are singing its praises as well. I highly recommend you go out and see it.

However, it is not a film for young children! Indeed, our enjoyment of the film was slightly dampered by some of the young children in the audience.

Mood: Pleased
Music: Cat Stevens: "Another Saturday Night"

Emergency?

Between yesterday and Wednesday we've gotten quite a bit of snow. As I posted yesterday, I was able to keep up with it yesterday thanks to my day off.

However, apparently this constituted a snow emergency, so I found a parking ticket on my truck this morning since it had been parked on the street last night. I didn't see any evidence of a plow going through, though. Sounds like more of a fundraiser, to me.

The morning commute took much longer than I would have liked; I was about five minutes late, and saw four accidents on my way in to work.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: The Beatles: "Lovely Rita"

Relief

I was able to take advantage of my day off today and finish the Christmas shopping and get everything shipped off. Two packages went out via UPS, one to Virginia and one to Florida. What a relief!

I also got the oil changed in the truck today, as well as spent some time outside shoveling snow. Today's high, hovering near 32°, felt balmy compared to our recent frigid weather. However, it made shoveling the snow a much more taxing task.

Mood: Relieved
Music: Bruce Springsteen: "Glory Days"

"I want to ride..."

This is pretty out there.

Mood: Puzzled
Music: Queen: "Bicycle Race"

Incredibly Generous

If this doesn't make you a little misty, then... well, I don't know.

Mood: Misty
Music: The Moody Blues: "Nights in White Satin"

Stupid

I got a pretty good laugh out of reading this. It has the added bonus of making you feel smart.

Mood: Amused
Music: Traffic: "Empty Pages"

O.T.

The Packers actually won last night, in overtime in a closely contested game against the Detroit Lions. The Packers showed a lot of the same things they have shown the rest of the season: decent defense, inconsistent special teams, and too many mistakes on offense. However, against the Lions they were able to get a running game going, and I think that made the difference.

Mood: Pleased
Music: Queen: "Dead on Time"

Yesterday

Yesterday Maryanne and I were at Narf and Pauline's for a while; Pauline wanted to throw a baby shower for Maryanne, to include the Carroll people. It turned out to be a rather small affair, as not many people were able to make it. Indeed, not many people RSVP'd for that matter. It was a nice little affair, though, that didn't seem to have much of the feel of a baby shower.

John and Anne were previously expected to make it, but that was revised to just Anne, and then it turned out Anne didn't make it, either; it could have been the weather. However, Tina was able to make it, as was Scott and his wife Joni, whom we had not met before. Angela was able to make it as well, and brought Ashley with her. I hadn't seen Scott or Angela since Maryanne and I got married, which was over three years ago now. It was very nice to see them again, and to see how much Ashley had grown. She's a pretty mature seven year-old.

The most interesting piece of news that we learned is that Ashley's going to be a big sister; Angela's pregnant. We were all very happy for her, knowing how much she wanted to have another child. As Maryanne and I drove home, though, we both remarked how we were a little surprised by it.

The afternoon made me think back to my Carroll days, though. It's hard to believe sometimes that six years have gone by since I graduated.

Mood: Reflective
Music: Ray Charles: "It Should've Been Me"

Pest Control

If it wasn't for the fact we've got a child on the way, one of these might be useful for the house.

Of course, it would probably bother the cat, too.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Golden Earring: "She Flies on Strange Wings"

Driving Conditions

Last night's commute was a little hairy... or perhaps I should say snowy, as we got a couple inches of snow yesterday which made driving conditions less than ideal. Under the best of conditions my commute takes from twenty to twenty-five minutes, but last night it took about forty-five. I passed a few cars, including one driving very slowly with its hazard lights on. However, I myself was passed far more often. I guess I prefer to not be the one who ends up in the ditch.

This morning's commute took longer than normal, as well, but not due to weather nor to road conditions. In fact, the Interstate was in pretty good winter driving condition. However, a number of drivers felt it necessary to drive about forty-five miles per hour, when I felt conditions were good enough for at least fifty-five. Thanks to these dipshits, I was a few minutes late to work.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: Del McCoury: "Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms"

1337

Holy crap, I scored better than Westra....




Mood: Amused
Music: Extreme: "Decadence Dance"

Axed

I spent much of the evening trying to remove some spyware from the computer. Somehow some crap called SpyAxe had gotten installed on the system, and I had a devil of a time getting it removed. After Ad-Aware, Spybot, and Microsoft AntiSpyware all failed to remove it, I searched Google and found some additional instructions. These included such fun things as installing HijackThis and ewido, then booting in to safe mode to run all the tools. It took several hours to complete the process, but the system is finally clean again.

Mood: Satisfied
Music: Van Halen: "Fire in the Hole"

Blue Balls

Here's an excellent example of what happens when someone has access to a GIF animator and too much time on their hands.

Mood: Amused
Music: Led Zeppelin: "Night Flight"

Cheeseburgers!

"This story sounds pretty morbid...."

Mood: Amused
Music: T. Rex: "Jeepster"

The Other Side

Why is it you never hear about this kind of thing in the mainstream media?

Why is it that it takes a source like The Christian Science Monitor for us to hear about things like this?

Mood: Annoyed
Music: Nazareth: "Hair of the Dog"

For Narnia

There seems to be some hoopla over the upcoming film release of Disney's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Christians, of course, claim it as their own, citing its Christian message. A more secular demographic, including non-Christians, want to downplay that, and view it as a fantasy adventure story.

The Chronicles of Narnia as a whole are indeed a wonderful fantasy adventure. C.S. Lewis was, after all, a friend of J.R.R. Tolkien, and both were professors at Oxford. Favorite topics included fantasy, metaphysics, and (gasp!) theology.

As the article explains, Lewis was an atheist for much of his life, before converting to Christianity at age 32.

Anyone reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will see within it a message of sin, redemption, and forgiveness. Anyone with any familiarity with Christianity will see so much Christian symbolism it will make their head spin. Indeed, the climax of the story is a Passion play.

In the end, it doesn't really matter how an individual reads the book or views the movie. Some will see the Christian message, others will see only the fairy tale. However, to completely deny the spiritual significance of the story is not only ignorant, but stupid.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: The Monkees: "Valleri"

A Mummy Playing Tennis

This is why I want to buy the Yamara book.

Mood: Amused
Music: Willie Nelson: "If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time"

Ruined

This was my problem with high school English classes.

Mood: Bemused
Music: none

American Wannabes

We're going to be subjected to six more seasons of this crap?

Mood: Disgusted
Music: none

Lost Opportunities

The Packers found another way to lose yesterday, turning the ball over five times. You can't win a football game that way.

The defense continues to play at an acceptable level. There aren't any real stars on it, at least not yet, but Coach Bates seems to be getting the job done.

The culprit continues to be the offense. While they were able to get a bit of a running game going, fumbles and interceptions caused a number of good drives to come to a halt.

I'll continue to watch them, to see what they accomplish the rest of the season. But at 2-9, there's no chance of even a .500 season.

In somewhat better news, Maryanne and I went up north to have Thanksgiving with Mom. There were six of us in all, a little shy of the days when we had at least eight. We stayed with Adam and Sammie, though, and got a chance to see Jesse and Barret and Jenny. We had to cut the weekend short, though, and return on Friday in time for Maryanne's doctor appointment.

We left Door County around eleven, and thought we'd have plenty of time to get to Madison. Around Beaver Dam it began snowing in earnest, but once we reached Sun Prairie we thought we'd still have plenty of time to get to St. Mary's hospital not only in time for the appointment, but to get a quick snack as well. Once we reached I-90 our plans changed though. Between the Interstate and the Park Street exit off the beltline we saw at least eight accidents. It should have taken us at most 30 minutes to cover this distance. However, it took us over forty-five, and Maryanne was actually late for her appointment.

I've always thought that Madison drivers were idiots. Apparently it doesn't take much snow to turn them into even bigger idiots.

Mood: Disappointed
Music: Electric Light Orchestra: "Jungle"

No Surprise

Is it sad that I wish my score was higher?

Mood: Wondering
Music: Procol Harum: "Whisky Train"

Down

This article about sums up last night's debacle at Lambeau.

Last night's game was pretty indicative of the season. The defense continues to play fairly well as a unit. They don't generate many turnovers, unfortunately, and a couple of big penalties were very costly. Still, they can't be faulted for the loss, as they were on the field so long during the second half, and were obviously tired.

The offense continues to be anemic without some big play makers at some of the skilled positions. The lack of an effective running game is putting too much pressure on Favre, and he's been trying to do too much, resulting in a lot of interceptions. With Green and Davenport out, their best backs are Fisher and Gado, who haven't been producing big numbers. I think this goes back to the loss of Rivera and Wahle to free agency. I think they should have at least tried to hold on the Wahle. He only has one bad knee opposed to Rivera's two, and is several years younger.

At this point, the Packers are 2-8; they'll have to win out the rest of the season just to break even, and with Chicago playing fairly well, I don't see that happening. The team continues to be optimistic despite the obvious. I think Mike Sherman deserves some credit for keeping the locker room together in spite of disappointed players, disgruntled fans, and scathing media.

I think we're watching Favre's first losing season in Green Bay, and the only light at the end may be the draft picks come spring.

Mood: Disappointed
Music: Led Zeppelin: "I Can't Quit You Baby"

War on Brats

This interesting article is very thought-provoking. Right now I'm inclined to side with the business owner. I'm not sure if that opinion would change once I become a parent myself, though. I understand parents who want to have a nice family outing. I have no sympathy, though, for elitist power couples who think they are superior or entitled, and let their children run rampant with no attempt at discipline.

I've seen these kind of people. A couple years ago, Maryanne and I went to brunch at Cherry Hills in Door County. At a nearby table was an older mother with some young children, the youngest of which looked to be four or five. He was running around the dining room, crawling under the tables (including ours), and otherwise being annoying. Part of the problem was that he was being treated like a two-year-old: his mother offered him a bite of her omelette, asking if he wanted a "bit of eggie."

Growing up, there was never a place that my parents needed to be so badly that they wouldn't leave if my sister or I acted like this.

In a situation like this, as a person currently without children, I try to look at the age of the child before passing judgment. Infants and very young children can't be expected to be absolutely quiet. However, there reaches an age where children can be held to a certain standard of behavior. When their parents fail to discipline them and hold them to this behavior, it seriously affects my ability to enjoy myself.

One of the mothers in the article stated, "You go to a coffee shop or a bakery for a rest, to relax, and that you would have to worry the whole time about your child doing something that children do -- really what they're saying is they don't welcome children, they want the child to behave like an adult.' "

It would appear that she fails to understand that the undisciplined child is preventing the other customers from resting and relaxing. Any adult with common sense will know that kids are kids, and can't be expected to behave like an adult. However, children should be expected to act their age, and act appropriately in a public place.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: Badfinger: "No Matter What"

Signs

Yesterday Maryanne and I tried to get some Christmas shopping done, but the day started out with a trip to Sam's Club. Now, I don't mean to stereotype the people who shop at Sam's Club. I'm sure there's all kinds of people who go there, and for some it's a good place to shop. However, comparing some of the prices there, many of their items are not really that much of a bargain. I can get the same prices, if not better, at the local Pick 'n Save. We picked up a few things, but only things that were actually cheaper than at the grocery store.

Of all the observations I made there, I think one sums up the experience the best. We were heading to the checkout aisles, where some of the aisles are marked for flatbed carts only. A guy, who as it turns out is involved with a catering company, pulls into one of these aisles with his flatbed cart. Ahead of him are two other customers, each with their own cart-- regular carts.

I don't know if this is a greater commentary on the customers who shop at Sam's Club, or the people that work there.

Mood: Snippy
Music: Alice in Chains: "Sea of Sorrow"

Get Your Own!

The governors of the Great Lakes states want to form a compact regarding who can use water from the Great Lakes and who can't. Check out this article for more on this story.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Heart: "Crazy on You"

Revealed

Well, well, well.

White

Today we got the first snow of the season. Nothing significant, at least around this area, but it's still snow. I feel it's a little early for it, but things could be far worse. I've seen snow as early as October and as late as May.

I'm not particularly fond of the snow and cold, but I do enjoy a white Christmas, and am fairly used to the prospect of a white Thanksgiving, as well.

What we've gotten today won't last, though. In a couple of days it will warm up enough that any accumulation will melt.

Mood: Ambivalent
Music: Van Halen: "Runaround"

From Art to Propaganda

I found this interesting poster collection courtesy of James Lileks. There are some truly artistic examples, such as this one and this one. There are also some apropos eco-political statements such as this psychedelic-inspired one, and this ironic one.

Unfortunately, though, it didn't take long for the finger pointing to begin, producing such purely political diatribes such as this one and this one.

Mood: Critical
Music: none

Onward

Autumn continues to wend its way onward. This morning was brisk, and there was a fairly heavy frost on the windshields this morning. I decided it was time to put the liner in my jacket.

I'm well over 11,000 hits on the site now. I continue to average about a thousand hits to the site per year. I'm glad to see that I'm getting some traffic, though more wold be nice.

Maryanne's due date is only about two months away now. I don't think it's time to panic. Hopefully there won't come a time to panic. I'm no longer feeling apprehensive about it. At times I'm excited, and at other times I'm nervous. While I'm sure it's all perfectly normal, that doesn't make me feel much better.

Mood: Reflective
Music: April Wine: "Roller"

W

So the Green and Gold got a much-needed win today against a statistically better team. But today's game shows that there's more to football than just the statistics, and throughout the season it's been apparent to me that the Packers were a much better team than their record suggested.

Mood: Pleased
Music: Iron Butterfly: "Stone Believer"

Disappointing Ends

Today wasn't nearly as productive as Maryanne and I would have liked. We had a lot of things we wanted to do today, but I think we only got a small number of them completed. We got a late start, and then rain set in, putting a damper on the rest of the plans for the late afternoon.

It allowed me to watch three quarters of the Badger game, though. They started out well enough, but couldn't keep things moving. I was hoping they'd get a win in Barry Alvarez's last home game as head coach. Sadly, they didn't, but Alvarez still deserves a lot of credit for his coaching success at the University of Wisconsin.

Mood: Disappointed
Music: Tonic: "You Wanted More"

Indisputable Evidence

A long while back I had posted about a guy by the name of Steven Avery who had been freed from prison in 2003 when DNA evidence cleared him of a conviction for an assault. He had been in prison for 18 years, which brought about a fairly high-profile case when he sought compensation over that provided by the state for his imprisonment.

Now, he's back in jail on charges, but may also be implicated in a recent homicide case. For the second time in his life, his freedom depends on the results of a DNA test.

Mood: Contemplative
Music: ZZ Top: "Just Got Paid"

Obligatory

Maryanne was pestering me, wondering why I never post about the baby. I replied that if she was so concerned about it, then she could post about the baby in her blog. She didn't like that so much.

Anyhow, I believe I've mentioned something here in the past about our impending parenthood, if not exactly explicitly. So now, lest Maryanne start haranguing me again, I'm here to produce an official baby post. Yes, Maryanne is pregnant with our first child, due in the middle of January. It's a girl, and our top choices for names are Adelia Mae and Sarah Elizabeth. I'm more fond of the former, while Maryanne's first choice is the latter. Her reason is that while she likes the nickname Addie, she doesn't so much like the sound of Addie Anschutz. I think that's a pretty silly reason.

Preparations are thus underway for the new addition to our family. So far we have acquired a stroller, car seat, crib, and a few other sundries, but we are far from having everything we need. We've registered at Target and at Burlington Coat Factory. I think Maryanne's going to end up with at least two showers, which is fine by me.

Mood: Snarky
Music: Uriah Heep: "Gypsy"

Honest

So the next book I've chosen for my reading pleasure is Roughing It by Mark Twain. I've already started it, and it promises to be very interesting. While it's not a work of fiction, Twain's writing ability has already shone through, at times humorous, at times biting, at times serious, but always entertaining.

This particular edition was published by Reader's Digest. While the cover looks like leather, I suspect it is not, though it is quite nice, being quarter bound in two different colors: tan, with a deep red-brown along the spine. It's also illustrated with drawings and woodcuts by "eminent artists." We'll see if I can tell who they turn out to be.

Having now read a number of Twain's works, I can see why he is considered by many to be one of the great American writers. Indeed, I think it can be said that Twain's works are a commendable contribution to Western literature in general. He was a brilliant writer, being observant, thoughtful, and (sometimes brutally) honest.

Mood: Reverent
Music: The Jimi Hendrix Experience: "Killing Floor"

Double Standard

I'm sure Title IX was never intended to cause a mess like this.

The Way to a Man's Heart

Now if only I could get Maryanne to do something like this.

Unresolved

Today I finished Knife of Dreams. It was good, with enough excitement to draw you in. It wasn't as satisfying as I would have liked, though. While it didn't introduce many more plot lines, and indeed advanced quite a few, it didn't really resolve a whole lot. It was easy to see, though, that many of the plot lines are heading in the right direction, leading some portions to seem almost --almost-- predictable. Still, it will be interesting to see how Jordan manages to wrap everything up in the twelfth and final book of the series.

I don't know what will be next. I didn't bring anything else with me today, unfortunately, forgetting that I was nearly done as of last Friday. Tomorrow we'll find out what will be next.

Mood: Undecided
Music: none

Frustrating

I've been putting a modicum of thought into getting a small carrying case for my MP3 player, something to keep it and its accessories together in case I want to use it any place other than the gym. I looked at what's available at Target, but nothing really struck me as being a must-have. I searched the web today, checking a few sites, and was disgusted by the fact that almost all MP3 player accessories are for the iPod.

I don't have an iPod. I'll never have an iPod. The iPod has an aura about it that rubs me the wrong way, and I'd much prefer to continue using some MP3 player designed more for Windows users, something that supports the WMV format. What's not to like about a format that provides all the quality in half the file size?

Mood: Frustrated
Music: Collective Soul: "Where the River Flows"

Cheese Turnover

The Packers lost again today, dropping to a dismal 1-and-7 record. The story of the game was turnovers. They had many of them, and each of them were costly, as Pittsburgh was able to capitalize on everyone and score 17 points as a direct result.

There were some bright spots, but all too few. The defense is starting to gel, thought the offense is unfortunately prone to unraveling due to the absence of many starts. Their new running back, Samkon Gado, was quite impressive. If he can continue to perform as he has, especially if he helps contribute to a win, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ahman Green cut.

Mood: Irritated
Music: The Eagles: "Heartache Tonight"

Name that Tune

I've been taking my MP3 player to work with me, so I have some tunes to listen to during my lunch, especially if the weather is pleasant enough to go outside for a walk. It's done the job, making the time a little more enjoyable. Some of the songs, though, remind me of my college days, and indeed have made me think about my relationship with music in general. There are a lot of songs, sometimes entire albums, that I associate with certain events or times in my life. They make me think about things that maybe I shouldn't, wondering how my life would be if some things had happened differently.

It's said that smell is the sense most strongly tied to memory. There are times when I agree with that. But I also wonder where music fits into the picture. Certainly my love of music has an influence on my life, and therefore on my memory, and the two are closely tied together. One will trigger the other.

Ever since high school, if not earlier, there would be time when certain things would jog my memory and put a song in my head. I don't mean just hearing a snippet of a song, or thinking you hear the song, or hearing or reading the lyrics. Sometimes things that are seemingly unrelated will do the same thing.

An excellent and current example is the book I'm currently reading, Knife of Dreams. For some reason it makes me think of Street of Dreams by Rainbow.

Likewise, As I Lay Dying by Faulkner would frequently make me think of In My Time of Dying by Led Zeppelin. And I've never even read the book.

Stuff like this happens to me all the time. It confuses Maryanne to no end. She's pretty much given up on asking me how I get from Point A to Point B.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Joe Cocker: "Cry Me a River"

Unusual

We've had some unseasonably warm weather for a couple days now. Yesterday we broke into the low 60s, while today it's predicted we'll hit the high 60s. The sunshine and warm weather are certainly nice, but it's a bit unusual for this time of year, to say the least.

Mood: Ambivalent
Music: none

Schneider

I spent a four-day weekend out of town, driving to Mom's on Saturday and returning yesterday. Maryanne was unable to get any time off, and thus stayed home. The purpose of the trip was to assist in moving my paternal grandmother from an assisted living facility to a nursing home. We were able to get most of the tasks for that accomplished while I was there, and the remaining tasks could be done without me.

Halloween night there was a card game. I didn't do well, losing $9.75, but it was a lot of fun, since it had been so long since we'd had a card game like that.

Bon Voyage

And we thought Daisy's recent vet visit made her an expensive kitty.

Nicknames

Despite the fact that Narf already blogged it, I thought it might be important to link this article as well. No matter what your opinion on the war in Iraq, I think it's not only important to put some names and faces with the fighting men and women serving over there, but to learn their opinions about what's going on there, as well.

Tall Order

Now that's a lot of dog.

Tempestuous

Last night Maryanne and I finished watching Frida. It was an interesting film, probably what you'd call a "biopic," though probably not what you'd call entertaining in the sense of a more fictional work.

The cast was fantastic, with Salma Hayek in the title role of Frida Kahlo and Alfred Molina as Diego Rivera. Their performances alone were fantastic, but add to the cast such names as Ashley Judd, Geoffrey Rush, Antonio Banderas, and Edward Norton, and you're well on your way to a first-rate production. The script was decent, easily demonstrating the tempestuous relationship between Kahlo and Rivera. The visual effects were stunning, giving life to Kahlo's surrealistic --and sometimes nightmarish-- paintings.

It also doesn't hurt that you get to see Salma Hayek in the nude, even if she is sporting a unibrow.

Catch Up

The issue with Microsoft Money has been rectified, after spending over ninety minutes on the phone with Microsoft themselves. Part of it was to fix the billing issue, and the rest was to make sure that the correct version of the software installed correctly. Everything's taken care of now. The only thing left is to get our data caught up.

Projects

Sunday afternoon Maryanne and I took a drive in to Madison to shop for a few things. We stopped at Barnes & Noble, and I picked up book eleven of the Wheel of Time series, Knife of Dreams. I'm hoping to get a chance to start it today.

You may be wondering why I didn't start it yesterday. Well, I had the day off, so I thought I'd take some time to work on some projects around the house. Well, it turned into mostly only one project, because our data file for Microsoft Money became corrupted, and I didn't determine that this was the problem until after I had downloaded and installed Money 2006. I thought I had downloaded Money 2006 Standard, but when it runs it keeps stating it's in Trial mode. I'll be watching my next couple of credit card statements to see if they charged me for the download or not before jumping to conclusions.

Last night Maryanne and I drove to Sun Prairie because Al Harris and Mark Roman of the Green Bay Packers were at a sports memorabilia shop signing autographs as a fundraiser. We had to wait in line for about an hour, but it wasn't a terrible experience. It provided us with a couple of Christmas presents, as well.

Unreasonable

Sunday afternoon Maryanne and I tuned in to watch the Packers play the Vikings at Minnesota. Things started off well; they looked like they were picking up from where they left off before the bye week, and went in to the locker room at half time with a 17-0 lead. While the running game wasn't spectacular, it was at least present, and they completely dominated the game up to that point.

After half time, it was a different story. The injuries piled up to the point where there was no running game to speak of, and the offense wasn't effective, frequently sputtering to a stop in a failed field goal attempt. The defense was suddenly ineffective, allowing the Vikings to rack up 20 unanswered points. A final field goal attemp was successful, tying the game with hopes of over time. The hopes were shattered though, on the unlikely 56-yard field goal by the Vikings as time expired.

The Packers fall to 1-5 for the season, with a goal of just having a .500 season being more reasonable than a winning season and a shot at the playoffs.

Done

Today I was able to finish Treasure Island. It was good to be able to return to it.

I don't know what's next on the list. We'll find that out on Tuesday, for I've a day off on Monday.

Dreck

So I've come to the conclusion that LiveJournal sucks.

Blogger may have its shortcomings, but it's at least navigable and user friendly.

LiveJournal, on the other hand, is a confusing tangle of links, some of which will prompt you to login even when you're already logged in, and some features are only available if you've paid for your account. Even their little Mood and Music features aren't enough to make up for what's a travesty of web design.

I could set up a Blogger posting template and do the same thing that LiveJournal does.

I wonder how well Brad Fitzpatrick sleeps at night.

Reproductions

Today I finished The Martian Tales Trilogy. It was an omnibus containing the first three books of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars series. While they lack the character development of something from Dickens or Dumas, they were fantastic adventure stories. I'm kind of surprised that no one has tried to translate them to the big screen.

Unfortunately though, this edition was very poorly edited. I'm thinking it was somehow produced through OCR, spellchecked, but never proofread. All the words appear to be spelled correctly, or most of them, but there are many places were the wrong word is in a sentence, despite being spelled correctly. For the most part I've been able to figure out what the word should be, but I wonder how many readers would be able to do that.

This has caused me to put some serious thought into whether I want to keep this book, or replace it with another book, or multiple books. Indeed, the Easton Press recently published a beautiful set that contains the first five books of the series, but Maryanne would probably kill me for spending that much money on books.

Next on the list is Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. This particular edition is from Atheneum, and reproduces the classic 1911 Scribner's edition which featured illustrations from the great N. C. Wyeth.

I've read the book before, in junior high, wherein I got my first taste of adaptations. I was lucky enough to have a paperback copy at home at the time, for the copies that were handed out in class, and which I declined, were adaptations. Being able to compare the two when the text was read aloud in class, I was frustrated by the fact that the original text had been "dumbed down." Indeed, it could have been this experience that has led me to seek original texts and faithful translations whenever possible. And it was this experience that probably so stifled my future enjoyment of English class for a long, long time.

Ready for Adoption

It looks like Pinky the cat is really ready for adoption.

Expiration Date

This is pretty interesting.

Evolution

This is pretty amusing.

Productivity

I somehow managed to get a four day weekend this last weekend. I got Friday for my flex day last week, and Monday for my flex day this week. It worked out well, as I was able to get some things done on Friday in preparation for Mom's visit. The weather was cooperative, and I was able to plant some flowers and mow the lawn in addition to other indoor chores.

That's right: Mom actually came for a visit. She came down with Ed, a long-time family friend, early on Saturday, and they departed Sunday afternoon. We watched the Badger game, complete with its exciting and improbable ending, before Ed departed for Whitewater to visit a cousin. Mom enjoyed her visit. We were able to show her some of the sights of the area in her short visit, and she was able to take in some shopping, which she clearly enjoyed as well.

Yesterday was fairly productive as well. Not only was I able to find some repellent to keep the squirrels out of my bulbs, but Daisy's checkup with the vet showed that she's coming along quite nicely.

No surprise

Something like this can't really be considered unexpected.

Welsh

So I spent the last two work days at the Monona Terrace for the American Family Insurance Field Management Conference. It was an interesting experience. We had a booth set up in a high-traffic area, near the event's registration desk, in case any of the participants had any questions for us.

Due to our location, though, we were also in the path of the tours that are offered at the Terrace. See, the Terrace was originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and bears striking similarities to the Guggenheim in New York, which was actually designed later. Part of the tour included some photos in the hall near our booth of Wright's work, including his home in Spring Green, WI, Taliesin, and his home in Arizona, Taliesin West.

Unfortunately, though, all the guides were saying "Tally Essen" which is incorrect. Since Taliesin is a Welsh name, it should be "Tal Yessen."

Plausible

It looks like MythBusters may have gotten one wrong.

Inverse relation

There may be something to those who say there is a correlation between the Badgers' performance on Saturday and the Packers' performance on Sunday. The Badgers defense broke down on Saturday, resulting in a loss to Northwestern in Evanston. Strangely enough, the game wasn't even televised in their local market.

Today, the Packers demolished the Saints in a game that became so lopsided that it became boring. I'm surprised they didn't put Aaron Rodgers in sooner along with some of the other backups. But today's game could be the boost the team needs to regain their confidence and get back on track.

Home

I was able to pick up Daisy from the vet's office yesterday. She was a little skittish when I first got her home. She started exploring the house before kind of settling down. I decided to watch some T.V., and a little after four o'click she decided to join me, and more or less sat in my lap for the next two hours.

She's slowly returning to her normal self. She's yet to become as active and playful as she normally is, but it's obvious that she's got some soreness. If Maryanne or I try to pick her up, she cries a little bit. She's been eating though, and it wasn't too difficult to get her to swallow her medication this morning. She's clearly on the road to recovery.

Misery

We found out late yesterday afternoon that Daisy has to stay at the vet's a little longer because she was running a fever. Of course, the voicemail message that informed Maryanne of this wasn't received until after she had left work to go pick up Daisy, about five minutes before she arrived at the vet's office. Maryanne was very upset. She wasted two hours of vacation time for almost nothing. After chewing out the staff for not calling her work number, she demanded to see Daisy, and they wisely showed her the way.

Daisy has apparently been eating and drinking, but Maryanne was quite concerned because "she looked miserable." I told Maryanne that she'd probably look miserable too if she had just had surgery for a blockage in her intestines and was running a fever. This didn't help much.

Maryanne has been very pessimistic about the situation. We're both hoping that today's diagnosis is much better, and that Daisy will be allowed to go home and recuperate.

Question of Faith

Last night Maryanne and I met with Pastor Lehman from First Lutheran Church in Stoughton. I for one need to find a new church in Stoughton, because Bay View in Sturgeon Bay is just too far away. Maryanne is at a bit of a crossroads with her faith right now, and she needs to find a place where she feels comfortable, as well.

The meeting went well. Pastor Lehman was able to answer a lot of our questions, and even some we hadn't thought to ask. It'll be a nice fit for me, and I hope a nice fit for Maryanne, as well.

Backed up

The Packers dropped to a bleak 0-4 last night. As Maryanne noted, we didn't know which was worse: another loss putting them at 0-4, or the fact they came so close to mounting a winning drive.

I was looking forward to using today as a day to get some things done; unfortunately, Daisy had some different plans.

She had been lethargic and subdued most of the day yesterday, and there was evidence that she had done some vomiting sometime between Sunday night and yesterday morning. I didn't think too much of it, but she hadn't changed by yesterday evening. Maryanne called the vet, and if things hadn't improved by this morning, we'd take her in.

Well, she was still subdued today, so we took her to the vet right away at seven o'clock when they opened; we then learned an actual vet wouldn't be there until nine o'clock, and the first appointment they had open was for 9:45. I knew Daisy would be more comfortable at home, so we took her home and would return later. Maryanne went to her doctor's appointment alone in case she wouldn't be back in time, and I took Daisy back to the vet for 9:45.

The office was very busy, and it was almost ten o'clock before they weighed Daisy and got us in an exam room, giving Maryanne enough time to meet me. After half joking with Maryanne that Daisy may simply be constipated, an x-ray showed that Daisy is indeed constipated, because she swallowed a paper clip.

So our kitty underwent surgery yesterday, and the last we heard was that she was recovering. No news is good news, and barring any complications, Maryanne will pick her up tonight.

Reflection

Maryanne and I went to Door County for the weekend, and stayed with my mom. There was nothing particularly spectacular about the weekend, per se. The weather was good, and we got a few things accomplished, and were able to take things easy the rest of the time. I'll probably be returning at the end of the month if everything goes as planned, but the next time Maryanne and I both go won't be until Thanksgiving.

Friday night was apparently a momentous occasion: Sevastopol won their homecoming game! I was flabbergasted. It wasn't a fluke, either. They beat Oconto with a score of 23-8. It marks the first time since 1983 that Sevastopol has won a game with an independent football team. More here.

Today marks the third anniversary of Dad's passing. It's not a celebratory anniversary by any means. It's just another time to pause and remember him, and wonder if things could have been different.