Some family pics from the most traditional days of traditional days. Christmas Day 2009. My adult children are by far the most thoughtful and generous gift-givers. Their gifts were awesome. Sean got Erin a Kindle and Erin got Patrick the most amazing antique map of Texas -- done in German, no less!
Today is in fact one of my furlough days. It's 4 days before Christmas, and two of them are paid holidays, so I'm taking the whole week off. Much to my surprise, my daughter Erin spilled out a jigsaw puzzle on the dining room table. What fun! There are two 500-piece mystery puzzles. It just wouldn't be the holidays without working on one of these. It's kind of a tradition.
UW Madison has officially cancelled classes. This almost NEVER happens.
MADISON, Wis. -- The Madison Metropolitan School District, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Madison Area Technical College have all canceled classes for Wednesday due to the winter storm. All Madison School District schools will be closed Wednesday. This also means that all school buildings will be closed for the entire day and evening Wednesday for MSCR, athletics and other activities. UW-Madison has canceled classes for Wednesday and asked all nonessential university employees to stay home.
We're getting hit with a major snowstorm tonight. Everyone has been downright giddy and excited about the prospect of one big collective snow day. We can only hope. Here's a look at the radar. Madison is in yellow. The evening is young.
Last night, Patrick and I managed to win the "money question" in our favorite weekly trivia contest. The question was: what Sesame Street character first appeared in an IBM training video? We happened to guess Cookie Monster correctly. We won $75.
This set off my curiosity about muppets and commercials. I came across these gems on Youtube today.
Wikipedia supplies this backstory about the Wilkens Coffee ads.
Among the most popular of Henson's commercials was a series for the local Wilkins Coffee company in Washington, D.C.,[10] in which his Muppets were able to get away with a greater level of slapstick violence than might have been acceptable with human actors. In the first Wilkins ad, a Muppet named Wilkins (with Kermit's voice) is poised behind a cannon seen in profile. Another Muppet named Wontkins (with Rowlf's voice) is in front of its barrel. Wilkins asks, "What do you think of Wilkins Coffee?" to which Wontkins responds gruffly, "Never tasted it!" Wilkins fires the cannon and blows Wontkins away, then turns the cannon directly toward the viewer and ends the ad with, "Now, what do you think of Wilkins?" Henson later explained, "Till then, [advertising] agencies believed that the hard sell was the only way to get their message over on television. We took a very different approach. We tried to sell things by making people laugh."[11] The first seven-second commercial for Wilkins was an immediate hit and was syndicated and reshot by Henson for local coffee companies across the United States;[10] he ultimately produced more than 300 coffee ads.[11] The same setup was used to pitch Kraml Milk in the Chicago, Il., area.
We decided on a whim several months ago, to check out the second largest Octoberfest in the world. Cincinnati is right behind Munich when it comes to celebrating all things German. Food, music and BEER are the main attractions. We're talking wall to wall brats, sauerkraut and goetta balls (what the heck is that?). And the deserts? Out of this world!
Our friends, John and Shirley were great traveling companions as we discovered the sights and sounds (even smells) of downtown Cincinnati. We had an absolute blast!
I was getting sick of looking at this unchanging page. So I'm adding this bit about the new bird feeder we installed when we finished the deck. It's a finch feeder, a long tube with very small holes filled with nyjer seed. The chickadees were first to latch onto it. But the goldfinches soon discovered it and are now the primary visitors. They are tenacious little birds who hold their ground. They go through the seed like no tomorrow and they seem to spill as much as they eat.
Yes, its that time of year again. The annual PBS Kids Open House. This is the Sesame Street crowd, which is a major segment of the PBS demographic. The kids were adorable. The weather was uncharacteristically bad.
Today is my first actual unpaid furlough day. I promised myself I won't log onto my work email and do any work. I am planning to start a week-long series of home projects starting with our deck. It desperately needs cleaning and a waterproofing. Will update my progress.
Had a fabulous weekend in the Windy City with my good friends Regan, Jeanette, Heidi, Gail and Debbie. This photo was taken out the car window on our way out of Chicago. Brilliant.
Saw the movie last night and really liked it. 1930s gangsters, prisons and Johnny Depp. What more can you ask for? Sure, the tone was dark. These were tough times. It was the Great Depression for crying out loud. Michael Mann's characteristic attention to detail and his appreciation for style made the film very watchable. I'm intrigued by the story and want to learn more.
What do you get when you combine a weight loss reality show and dancing competition? It's an actual show on Oxygen. "Dance Your Ass Off." The contestants get judged on their dance routines and then get on the scale to determine their scores. Un-effing-believable!
They won tonight when it looked like the game was going to go the Giants' way. In the bottom of the 9th Prince Fielder hits a double to score the winning run, 7 - 6. Shirt tails out!
The view from my motel window is this BBQ joint called Bandana's. The pork sandwich was really quite good and the cold beer was especially quenching. After about 7 hours of highway driving, I was ready for it. I'm on the Missouri side of St. Louis and will make my way to Joplin tomorrow to visit my folks.
These two guys look like they've had their fill too.
It's a picture perfect day. Temps in the high 70s. It's finally feeling like summer. Let's go for a day trip. Got the Audi washed. Off to Monroe we went.
The famous Baumgartner's Tavern and Cheese Store in Monroe. We had a perfect view of the front counter from our booth. The place captures for me the unique character of Wisconsin. Gotta love that cheeky humor. Notice the "ring bell for service" sign on the wall.
This notice for taxidermy was posted on the board just above the booth we were in. How appropriate.
There just isn't anything that can't be connected to cheese in this town.
After leaving Monroe, we decided we had to stop at the new, palatial New Glarus Brewery. Their grand opening was the day before. They did it up right.
A classic thunderbird convertible in the parking lot.
Ok, so this isn't a new photo. It was taken in late May on the Library Mall on campus. The Mallard is blissfully enjoying the fountain. And who could blame him. The weather lately has been wet, cool and...well, mostly wet. When will summer get here?
Beautiful day. Sun is shining. It's even my birthday. Let's go to Brat Fest. Only $1.50 for a grilled Johnsonville brat complete with requisite condiments. Combine that with a cold Capitol Island Wheat and this is the life! The brats were so good that I confess I ate TWO of them. Okay, one I ate at the festival. Brought the other one home for later. About twenty minutes later. I'm so full...and it's so worth it.
Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne is here to serve you.
The Weinermobile!
And so much more...
Spotted this sweet Jaguar XKR in the parking lot.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Just got back from, you guessed it. Got some landscaping stuff, a new cordless trimmer, etc. It's a nice, warm, chore-filled Saturday.
I really liked these big banners. Gives me an idea for our Expos.
We have some spectacular irises in bloom right outside the front of the house. I took these pics this morning after the rain stopped. PMO is cooking breakfast as I blog. What could be better.
Just returned from a nice impromptu visit to a local eatery. This place is special for personal reasons. PMO brought me here for our first date in 1979. We had the famous onion rings (both times). Decided to stick with the appetizer menu tonight. Shrimp cocktail and Shrimp and Scallop Satay. The scallops were microscopic, but the dish was very flavorful. Outstanding service.
It's where all the oldsters go, which is amusing.
I had a gift certificate ... sweet. The waiter, who was great, persuaded us to have dessert. PMO had chocolate cheesecake. I had a rich chocolate cake made from Guiness. The topping was a drizzle of white chocolate and Bailey's. Needless to say, I brought most of it home.
What a great night and super fun way to end the week. I'd go out of my way any day of the week to see Dan Hicks.
We went to see Dan and his band The Hot Licks at the Majestic Theater. He sounded great -- just like he did 30 plus years ago. I had been listening all day to one of my all time favorite albums of all time "Striking it Rich" from the 1970s. Dan's humor and western swing style still holds up today. He did "I Scare Myself" from the old days, but mainly did material from his new album "Tangled Tales." The crowd was mostly boomers like us, but I spotted a few young people.
Patrick gets his poster signed by Dan Hicks. I got a chance to chat with the fiddle player at the bar. PMO bought him a beer. The Majestic quickly started shutting everything down right after the show.
Dan and the lickettes sign their autographs for fans.
It was a very nice Mother's Day at our house. Patrick cooked shrimp creole that was outstanding, as usual. Erin made a killer creme brulee. She even torched with top with one of those kitchen blow torches, which gave it that wonderful sweet crust.
Sean came over, which made the day complete for me. It's always nice to see my boy.
Then he gave his sister a lift to work. What a nice young man. They both make me so proud. Like I said, it was a very nice day.
Working for the state of Wisconsin means taking unpaid furlough days this year and next. This blog is sometimes about how I'm spending my free time, but mostly it's just random stuff.
Saw the movie last night and really liked it. 1930s gangsters, prisons and Johnny Depp. What more can you ask for? Sure, the tone was dark. These were tough times. It was the Great Depression for crying out loud. Michael Mann's characteristic attention to detail and his appreciation for style made the film very watchable. I'm intrigued by the story and want to learn more.
What do you get when you combine a weight loss reality show and dancing competition? It's an actual show on Oxygen. "Dance Your Ass Off." The contestants get judged on their dance routines and then get on the scale to determine their scores. Un-effing-believable!
They won tonight when it looked like the game was going to go the Giants' way. In the bottom of the 9th Prince Fielder hits a double to score the winning run, 7 - 6. Shirt tails out!
Just returned from a nice impromptu visit to a local eatery. This place is special for personal reasons. PMO brought me here for our first date in 1979. We had the famous onion rings (both times). Decided to stick with the appetizer menu tonight. Shrimp cocktail and Shrimp and Scallop Satay. The scallops were microscopic, but the dish was very flavorful. Outstanding service.
It was a very nice Mother's Day at our house. Patrick cooked shrimp creole that was outstanding, as usual. Erin made a killer creme brulee. She even torched with top with one of those kitchen blow torches, which gave it that wonderful sweet crust.
