The Frogurt Is Also Cursed

Hmmm, ...

I must admit, I was very troubled by this report from the Post today.

The administration got a counter-story out by this afternoon.

I certainly hope the second story is the accurate one.

3:30 PM

Money Supply

It's runnin' low. Real low.

Good thing my trip to Dublin is off, I'm not sure I could afford it.

Also, my federal tax return was returned to me due to insufficient address. I used the envelope they sent with my forms, but I guess I never checked the address. So ...my $800 has yet to arrive.

August in Wisconsin is hot and sweaty with occasionally insane thunderstorms. It starts off with the State Fair, held in West Allis, which is in Milwaukee county. All the rural folk from "outstate" (a Milwaukee term for all people living in Wisconsin but not living in the Milwaukee area) rumble into town for about 11 days.

The state fair is actually kinda neat. Lotsa farm animals, propaganda by the milk and beef counsels, rides, beer, fat people, and modern day snake oil salesmen. The state fair grounds contains many large exhibit halls that are filled with people trying to sell you crap by calling it "Miracle" this or "Magic" that. It's kinda neat to actually have someone trying to sell you something with conviction and flair. Normally, I buy all my wares on impulse at the mall or on impulse while browsing online when I'm supposed to be working. It's a nice change.

The state fair also has carnival rides and games. I've seriously outgrown rides. I used to love them. I was fearless (except for the rides that kept you upside down too long). But now, I'm just not interested. Phony thrills are just not my bag anymore.

I do like to play those games that only idiots play, ...you know, where you have to shoot out a star with your bb-machine gun, or knock down iron weights painted like milk bottles, or whatever. I hate the carny-folk, though. It takes a special kind of moron to insult me as a way of getting me pay $2 for the privilege of throwing darts at a balloon.

So, unless it rains (and it usually does during the state fair), I'll be going back this year (skipped last year). I guess I just miss the smell of manure, spilled beer, sweaty-overweight-baby-boomers, long lines, suffocating heat, and torrential rains.

On a related note, since moving back to Wisconsin, I've developed a renewed love-affair with California.

11:37 AM

Too Funny

Hipster Bingo

You can chalk me up for four spaces. Let me draw a star on my wrist so I can be a Bingo all by myself.

11:21 AM

Recall?

No, let's forget about recalling Gov. Doyle right now.

Focus on overriding his veto of the property tax freeze, ...we'll get to the recall at a later date, though I doubt it will actually work.

8:16 AM

Training ...

Sorry for the scarcity last week.

I'm in training, ...more about that some other day.

For now, help out some friends: The Mistreaters lost their van and all their musical equipment in the Great Van Fire of 2003.

8:14 AM

Gross

Story of a tongue transplant in Austria.

They say he will likely have no sense of taste. Now THAT would be horrible.

8:24 AM

Flush Three Times

First, Gary Payton is gone ...flush #1

Second, our GM is gone ...flush #2

Third, our coach is gone ...flush#3

Anyone want to flush one more time to symbolise the Buck's upcoming season?

2:26 PM

Study Links Obesity, Food Portions

DUH

10:22 AM

Sheriff Clarke for Mayor

The idiots on the County Board are mad at Sheriff Clarke because he is focusing on fighting crime and not writing speeding tickets.

Here is the story.

They see us as a punch of dumb pinatas. Citizens complain about overly agressive enforcement of parking tickets, the alderman and supervisors scoff. They really see the police and sheriff's department as money generating enterprizes. It never occurs to them that they are here to serve the people, not rob us blind.

The taxes in this state (and city) are oppressive. One of the worst taxed states in the country. Whenever someone tries to reign in spending, the race card is thrown around, liberal special interest groups attack attack attack, and the media rolls over.

They are tearing down the major interstate that feeds Milwaukee, but putting up another one that is no bigger than the old one. Even though the freeway is already clogged at rush hour, they do not want to expand it to alleviate traffic headaches. Why? Because they think that if they make the freeway more difficult to use, more people will choose not to take jobs outside the city, and more people will use public transportation.

Wrong. More people will just choose to leave the city altogether.

They keep raising taxes, harrasing night club owners, ticketing cars for parking, nabbing drivers for going 10 over the speed limit, and they wonder why the population of the city is shrinking.

People are leaving, and I don't blame them. For the first time in my life, I thought of leaving the city (one trip to the suburbs cured me of that).

Most people expect Sheriff Clarke to run for Mayor. Here's why I hope he does:

He has stated explicitly that the Sheriff's department is a "crime fighting organization" not a "revenue source for the county board".

He deplors sending his men and women out to "hide under overpasses looking for a lone speeder."

Speeding tickets are down. Traffic accidents are up (a nationwide trend). But recovery of stolen vehicles is up 90%. Assistance given to motorists with disabled cars is up. Community contacts is up 900%. He created a program, GRIP, which removes guns from the streets. He wants to work with the idiot Police Chief on a gang squad to reduce inner city violence.

I like that he focuses on, y'know, crime fighting stuff.

I like his attitude, his outspokenness, his willingness to do the work other departments are too lazy to do. He's already got my vote.

8:35 AM

Like Costanza

I'm been in a lazy funk for nearly this entire year.

It comes and goes, but this week has been pretty bad. Coming in late (I'm averaging 25 minutes late for the week), not doing any work, and leaving early.

Remember that Seinfeld episode where George started a job he didn't know for sure he had been given. The boo was out of town, so he just showed up and said "I'm the new guy." They gave him the Penske file. So, he sat in that office all week accomplishing nothing.

They have a scene where he gets in at 9am sharp, sits down, the clock forwards to 5pm, he gets up stretches, and leaves, never having even opened his briefcase. That's how I feel about this entire week.

At least I'm not alone.

8:09 AM

I would have done it for free ...

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons License.

Get this pic of Aimee Deep when you
Sign the Petition to Reclaim Our Public Domain!.

12:49 PM

I dated a teacher

Yeah, I dated a teacher very recently.

She was just finishing up school and was teaching a half-day in MPS for her last two semesters.

I also graduated from MPS, and have lived here nearly all my life. I know a little bit about why education sucks in this city, and no, lack of money isn't it. Eugene Kane disagrees. In fact, he thinks that everyone agrees with him that money can always buy a better education. Not true.

I remember watching a news magazine show about 10 years ago about a wealthy benefactor who wanted to help struggling inner city children get a better education. He promised to give each graduate of a certain inner city school (don't remember the city, Philly, maybe) a full college scholarship. As you could guess, his money made no difference. Graduation rates were no higher than before.

Another education myth: smaller class sizes are always better. The school district with the smallest pupil to teacher ratio is the Washington DC school district. They are also one of the worst school districts in America.

Everything else being equal, proper funding, smaller classes, etc ...can all help provide a better education. But things aren't equal. There is only so much a large, unwieldy, bureaucratic monolith like a public school district can do when a large percentage of the school population doesn't come to class, do homework, or come from families that give a rat's behind.

MPS is and was a disaster. The teachers benefits are so lavish that they alone could eventually bankrupt the state. There is layer upon layer of administration and bureaucracy. Teachers are often in it for the summers off, nice pay, and great benefits, ...forget the kids. The education industry discourages qualified experts from teaching while consistently scooping up and hiring students who have failed out of every other major.

And

and

and

Qualified teachers are denied the ability to teach at MPS because they are white.

Think I'm lying?

Take the case of my x-girlfriend Jennifer. Like I said, she taught at an MPS high school for a year (for no pay). Taught actual, real life high school kids at an urban school (Milwaukee Tech). When her time was almost up, she applied for a full-time job at MPS like everyone else. They have a new hiring process at MPS. They call it "Urban Readiness" or some such thing. Basically, an MPS administrator calls you on the phone, asks a bunch of dumb, hypothetical questions, and then makes a decision on whether or not you are "ready" to teach "urban" children.

You are not scored on this test, so you have no idea how well you did. It's either a thumbs up or thumbs down.

Jennifer had her test given by the head of Human Resources at MPS. Jennifer is a white girl from the suburbs. She is liberal as the sky is high and full of so much white guilt that she is essentially a doormat for any liberal cause. She has wanted to work with inner city children her whole life. She wants to make a difference. She cares about these kids, and wants to help. She's the kind of person they need at MPS.

She was denied a job based solely on her urban readiness test.

She was shocked, ...as was the principal at Milwaukee Tech and the head of the English department at Tech. Both people intervened on her behalf, but the head of HR at MPS would not even take their calls. She was obstinate and rude. BTW, she is black and has a chip on her shoulders the size of Bernie's chalet. The head of the English department at Tech is a very close friend of this women, but she still would not take her calls on the subject.

The head of the English department pulled Jennifer aside one day after going down to the MPS headquarters and waiting until the head of HR would see her. She told Jennifer something like this:

"I would raise a complaint. Get a lawyer. I would do to her what she is doing to you."

"What do you mean?" Jennifer asked.

"Play the race card. That's all I'm going to say."

It was clear what Jennifer was being told. She wasn't hired because she was white.

With people like this in charge, more money can only be a bad thing.

9:37 AM

State of the Packers

I have not given pro-football, or the Green Bay Packers more than 4 minutes of thought since the playoff embarrasment last year at Lambeau.

Coach Mike Sherman addressed Packer stockholders and the media for over 50 minutes during the "State of the Packers" address. They don't have a transcript up at the moment, but they do have audio. Maybe tonight I will get around to listening to all of it, but for now I am going on the press reports.

Naturally, Sherman addressed last season during his speech:

"We've been a good football team," he said. "But I don't want you ever to think, as shareholders or as fans, that good is good enough. It's not good enough."

I'll tell you what else isn't good enough, ...Sherman's view of last year.

That team quit in the last two games. They looked weak, scared, tired, and unmotivated. There was no fire, no aggressiveness, and seemingly, no plan.

This all goes to coaching. This team was not prepared. They looked like they were in over their heads, and I blame the coaching staff. They are all new, holding positions they never really had before, and it is showing.

I would like to think they have learned from the past, but until Mike owns up, takes the blame, and gives me some indication that he "gets it", I won't be convinced.

Here's a few things we need:
More than 1 receiver
Plays that use our TEs to stretch the middle of the field, putting pressue on the safeties, and taking pressure off our wideouts.
A pass rush
Linebackers who can stuff the run
A defensive backfield scheme that focuses on defending the pass instead of merely laying 10 years off the reciever and tackling him after he picks up the first down.
More plays that put Favre on a bootleg
Players who can tackle

I love Donald Driver. I love Favre. I love Ahman Green.

If all our players played with their desire, their fire, their determination, we wouldn't be looking back in bitterness at a 12-4 season.

It's probably too early to make predictions about next season, but I'm already on record. It's not going to be pretty. This is the year where we all realise the Packers are in decline, and the era that began in 1992 is just about over. I don't know what to call this era, ...I guess the Favre era, but that makes it look like it is all his triumph and all his decline.

He can still win. I'm not sure about the rest of the organization.

Jeebus, ...please let me be wrong.

1:46 PM

Vacation can make you rusty

Instead of making yourself more productive, often vacations make you less productive, effective, accurate, informed, etc.

In most cases, the culprit is the time spent away from the action.

Showing clear signs of this syndrome, Eugene Kane returns to column writing today with a piece encouraging unnecessary litigation and defending ignorance.

First, he encourages Mandy Block (the Itallian Sauage clubbed by a Pittsburgh Pirate in the fiasco known as "sausagegate") to sue her attacker.

Why should she sue? She was not injured in any way. She's repeatedly stated that she thought it was funny and that it was a joke that got out of hand. That seems sensible to me. Kane sees it differently:

She was just trying to do her job and she was assaulted, however slightly.
By a millionaire. -my emphasis

He also suggests that we'll all look like a bunch of midwestern suckers if she doesn't sue because, "You think they'd let him get away with that stunt in Yankee Stadium?"

I guess it depends whose eyes are watching us. To a sleazy lawyer, sure, we'll look like suckers. But to a lot of people we will look like what we really,are, ...pretty descent folk with a good sense of humor and a 6th sense for a "good time".

Secondly, he defends the ignorant remarks of Dusty Baker. Let's just Fisk it a bit:

...Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker, roundly criticized for a supposedly politically incorrect statement about black and Latin players being better in the heat.

supposedly? Baker said that blacks and latinos play better in hot weather than white folks. Forgive me, but it IS politcally incorrect to say that blacks and latinos are biologically superior to whites in hot weather.

Kane continues:

Baker refused to back down from his comments, and I'm glad.
What is ridiculous about this story was nobody could identify which group Baker supposedly insulted.

Ummmm, how about his own white ball players?

Or prove he was all that wrong, given the scientific facts about the amount of melanin in the skin of blacks and some Hispanics and how that affects their ability to absorb heat and sunshine.

Huh? The day after the incident, Rick Morrissey did a pretty good job of proving him wrong in a lengthy column in the Trib.

Among Morrissey's gems are these:

"According to a study by Dr. Robert S. Helman of New York Medical College, 'heatstroke affects all races equally. However, because of differences in social advantages, the annual death rate because of environmental conditions is more than three times higher in blacks than in whites.'"

"Another study by the Borden Institute, which researches medical issues in the military, states: 'It has been suggested that as a group, blacks are less heat-tolerant than whites. This is certainly supported by U.S. Army medical reports.'"

Nuff said.

It's just another case of that famous search to uncover proof of the insidious double standard or "reverse racism" some always point to as evidence racial minorities have somehow become a privileged class in society.

Given the reality of being black or brown in America, it's a flimsy premise, not worth the energy it takes to debate it.

I don't think I would say "privileged", ...but there is certainly a double-standard when it comes to things like this. Baker's comment is really not that far off from Jimmy "the Greek's" comment stating that blacks are better athletes than whites because they were bred that way. Dusty Baker's career will not be ruined, nor should it be, but let's at least acknowledge that this would be a much pricklier pear if Bobby Valentine or Lou Pinella said it.

And I will add that you should always debate something that you think is incorrect, even if you think your side is so self-evidently right. Just a little bit of effort would have led him to the Trib column by Morrissey and the scientific studies he cites.

My position: lots of people who really aren't that bright (Baker included), say stupid ignorant things without intending offence. They don't realize the comments are wrong or insensitive or borderline prejudiced. Baker isn't a racist, he's just uninformed. Let's remember this the next time some old white guy says something equally as dumb.

2:50 PM

Bastille Days

Each year, Milwaukee, WI (of all places) has a huge 4 day party in downtown to celebrate Bastille Day. It's usually a really great time, as it was this past weekend.

Unlike other places in the US, block party type events are a big deal in Wisconsin. Put up some tents for any contrived reason, sell beer (essential), put on some dorky white-guy blues, and just rake the cash in.

I especially like Bastille Days because it is free, it is very close to my house, the food is great, the setting is nice (Cathedral Square), and there are attractive-single-urban-female-professionals everywhere.

I neglected to get any pictures of the event. I had wanted to get a shot of the mini-Eiffel tower, I guess it is about 3 stories high, but that will have to wait until next year.

Naturally, there is a cultural tent there that sells items you'd expect to see at the Charles de Gaulle International Airport gift shop. French flags, coffee mugs, sweatshirts, t-shirts, books, games, etc ...

I approached a table featuring a large cluster of French flags (there appeared to be several varieties) when the nice lady behind the table smiled and asked if I needed anything. Looking at the flags, I almost asked, "So, where are the white flags of surrender?"

Don't worry, I kept my mouth shut. I would have been funny, but rude. Too rude.

Too "French".

12:18 PM

The "Bush Lied" Crock

Nuff said.

12:16 PM

Just another night

A tragic, yet interesting tale of modern day crime.

Three teens buy $10 worth of pot from a dealer in an apartment. One sees lots of money laying on a living room table. They get a gun, return to the aparment, bust into the wrong one, and kill an innocent man.

Read it.

12:12 PM

DUH

Anyone who thinks that crop circles are caused by alien spacecraft is a complete fucking moron.

This is mostly (but the only) reason the movie Signs sucked so much ass.

11:33 AM

The |Sabateur| checks in

She found an email dated March 10th that she never sent to me.

In it, she bemones how much she has regressed in the past year. Spurring this longing gaze at the past was a message from me about the 1 year anniversary of April 2002. That is when everything changed for all of us. Why April? No reason. A confluence of coincidence brought sabateurs into the balconies of our poorly written, play-like lives.

She feels less like a participant in her own life now, ...more like a recepticle, sleeping where and with whom she falls. She feels like she is in college, ...and in that way, has adopted a life that makes her more like a normal 20-something.

But less of who she really is. Like our lives before 9/11, before 4/02, like today, ...it is all temporary.

I also miss those days sometimes. But, moving forward is necessary. Always forward. Life will change whether you want it to or not. Forget that the world and the universe is round, and that going forward is really just going in circles.

With any luck, we'll have another temporary period of time where love and drama and glitter fall to the ground and crunch under our feet, where our bodies reignite with the purpose of production, and our minds play and fight and be dulled. Maybe we will be smart enough to profit from it. Yes, and maybe we will all have flying cars.

In the future, there will be robots.

9:06 AM

The Bat and the Sausage

As many of you already know, last night Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Randall Simon clubbed a Milwaukee Brewers mascot in the back of the head with a bat. It's a national new story, believe it or not.

You can see video of the act some are calling an assault here.

In the 7th inning of each game, the Brewers run a extremely popular and highly entertaining faux-race pitting costumed sausages against one another. The hot dog, bratwurst, Itallian sausage, and Polish sausage all race from the left field bullpen around the edge of the field to a finish line near first base. Yeah, we likes our sauage here in Wisconsin, ...and our beer and cheese and fish fry and sports teams. This race is often the highlight of the baseball game, even when the Brewers win. The sauage costumes are 7 feet tall, and Simon hit the mascot about 2 feet higher than the head of the person inside would have been.

When he hit the sausage, the young lady "Mandy" fell over. As related by another one of the sauages from the JSonline story:

"He didn't hit her on the head," Borghoff said, referring to Mandy. "He just hit the costume and she fell over. These things are so top-heavy that it doesn't take much."


Naturally, fans are pissed. You don't club an Itallian sausage from behind in this town and get away with it. Simon was led away from Miller Park in handcuffs.

Forgive me, but mascots aren't fans. If Simon had clubbed a fan, that would be a different story. But mascots are kinda "in play" for this sort thing, aren't they? We all laughed in Bull Durham when Tim Robbins threw a fastball and hit the Durham Bull in the head, right?

I think he should get a hefty fine from MLB and a suspension. Leave it out of the courts. The young lady inside the costume had some scrapes on her knee from the fall, but is otherwise ok.

Nonetheless, Simon is an idiot. He's being roasted on ESPN.com:

How was Simon not ejected immediately? (Later inserted to pinch hit! Hadn't he used his at-bat?) ... Why the sausage? (Because she was leading the race? Did he have a bet on another meat contender?)

Also, ESPN.com is running a poll, Who would you want to have you back in a street fight? Possible answers are The Itallian sauage, the Polish, the Bratwurst, or the Hot Dog. As of this posting, Itallian is up with 42.5% of the vote.

More to follow, I'm sure ...

UPDATE

No charges against Simon. National sentiment is that it was harmless, not intentional, and thus, will likely blow over soon.

8:00 AM

Sooner or later, headlines catch up with you

When my grandmother Ana died in 1993, I had managed to escape a confrontation with death for my entire 23 years.

As a child, I would often think about it, dream about it, wonder what it would feel like to have someone close to me die. Worse yet, I would think about how my parents would feel if I died. At around the age of 9, I remember having a dream about my grandmother Ana's funeral. The funeral was at the Sears on 13th and Lincoln (no longer there). On the fake white marble floor, next to the light colored walls, the brightly lit expanse of a retail show room, ...her casket laid open with a stone marker fixed on top.

In the dream I read the marker, but don't remember what it said now. I remember my father talking to someone behind a counter, as if he was handing in a ticket and picking up merchandise. The casket, with my grandmother inside, was the merchandise. I didn't want her remembered this way. I was upset, sad, wanted to reverse time, ...so I awoke. Fourteen years later I discovered what it felt like for real.

We had placed her in a nursing home months earlier. None of us visited as much as we should have. I think it was too painful for my father to visit, ...I remember on several occasions he put off his visit. One day I came home and my parents were both in the kitchen, my mother was on the phone. They asked me to stay in the kitchen rather than hike up to my room as I always did. I could tell from the tone and phrases of the phone call that my grandmother was gone, but I couldn't be 100% certain. After the call, she told me.

All I can remember thinking is, "so, this is what it feels like." I was asked if I was ok, and suprisingly, I was. I wished I could display emotion at that moment, but I couldn't. My father had just lost the last of his parents, ...I knew it was very tough on him. My mother told me to hug him, so I placed my hand on his shoulder and squeezed, as I know my father dislikes displays of affection. My mother insisted, "hug him". I looked at my father, and for the first time, he did not give closed body language. It was open. He wanted a hug. So I gave it. And then, the sadness hit me.

Still, my tears were few. There was no shock, perhaps even a little relief, as my grandmother's health and awareness deteriorated drastically in the last few years. Sometimes she did not know where she was, or who I was. To her, I was still a little child. I remember, the first mothers day after she went into the home. I had not seen her in a long time. I came to greet her at the dinner table, and she said "hello senor". She did not remember me.

In her last days, she wanted to leave the nursing home because she wanted to look for me and my sister. She was cold. And therefore, thought it was winter. She remembered my sister and I as school children, and thought that we had left for school without our jackets. She was worried about us, terrified that we would catch cold. She wanted to leave, retrace our steps, and deliver our jackets. In her mind, she could see us, shivering on a street corner, unprepared for the winter winds. In her last days, her thoughts were of me and my sister. Giving us comfort.

I was to deliver a small speech about her during the service. I did not know what to say. I could not touch these subjects, or else I would end up a blubbering mess in front of a crowded church. I spoke about her amazing green thumb. About how she could seemingly make plants grow on a whim. She would have made a great gardener or florist or botanist, ...but she was born in Mexico, and likely had no education beyond grade school. Her life was geared towards being a housewife, mother, grandmother.

After the service, I and my grandfather (from the other side of the family) carried the casket to the hearse. As we carried it down the long cement stairs of the Our Lady Guadelupe, I could hear the body inside slide and bump against the sides of the casket. We apparently put the casket in backwards, I didn't know there was a right way to do it. I guess there is a locking mechanism on one side and not on the other. The hearse has a rolling track that enables you to easily slide the casket in.

At the cemetery, they opened the back of the hearse and walked away. I was maybe 20 feet away. I saw the casket begin to slide out. My first instinct is to look away, this can't be happening and someone will grab it, someone is responsible here. No one stepped up. The casket started to slide further out and in a mere moment my mind argued with itself ...risk running over there looking like a buffoon or stop a disaster from happening. My muscles overrode my mind's logjam and ran. The casket slid faster, I did not think I would make it. In a blur, I was there, slightly relieved as I touched the casket, expecting it to easily slide back up. But momentum and weight kept pushing the casket, and I had to lay my weight into it to stop it, which I thankfully did. I slid it back into the hearse, and stood guard until the men came to take her away.

Years later, my girlfriend at the time was wearing a scarf. The same kind my grandmother wore. That light, see-through, porous fabric with a petroleum smell that matched it's touch. I touched it against my face, smelled it, and the reality of my grandmother came back to me. Then, just as quickly, the reality that she was gone finally hit. The tears were uncontrollable, unstoppable. The pain, all-consuming. I was trapped. No where to turn. So I let it wash over me. Bury me. I was helpless and weak and at the mercy of it. That is the first time I understood death.

Last week, my friend dialed me up to tell me that the father of a high school friend murdered his wife and killed himself on the morning before July 4. That's a pretty big shock. I'll not mention their names here in respect for the family.

The daughter, I'll call her Rachel, and the son, I'll call him Tommy, were friend of ours in the last years of high school and first years of college. Rachel was maybe 3 years younger than me, but I had a huge crush on her. Her brother was my age, and someone I knew from here and there. I spent my 18th birthday with them. I think Rachel always knew I liked her, but she had a crush on a slick-talking no-good-nick who played by his own rules. So, I pined after her for a year or two. We were friends, actually. I always thought she kinda liked me, but with a big "but" or "except" at the end.

Rachel was beautifully gifted at playing the piano. She could tackle classical compositions with such grace and beauty that you thought you were listening to a CD. I found many things to admire about her, ...much more than just her physical beauty, but her intelligence and personality. She was a very nice, but honest person. Smarter than even she knew.

Everyone was afraid of their parents. Her father was a big-wig cop, and her mother had a reputation for cutting up her friends and spitting them out. Except for me. I never met the dad, but the mom loved me. I was the only one. She talked with me with ease, probably because I respected the house as her domain, gave her a ton of respect right off the bat, and talked to her, rather than ignore her. Granted, I did all this because I liked her daughter, but I liked the mom too. She was a good egg. I think she would have liked it if Rachel had chosen me instead of the no-good-nick. I remember once, she even let Rachel stay out way past curfew because she was going to be with me. She even drove Rachel to my house once, so I could help her with a term paper. For such a protective and suspicious mother, she gave me a lot of credit. It's a good thing Rachel did not like me, because we would have certainly taken advantage of that.

Eventually, we all went our own way. Every now and then I would think about them, Rachel, Tommy, their mother. I remember hearing about her father retiring from the force. Tommy became a cop just like his dad. Rachel too, had started on that career path.

I guess the father was depressed about financial trouble. They had retired and moved away to a home up in Waupaca, a quiet, rural town. On the morning of July 3, he shot his wife, called 911, admitted it, asked them to come over before he did something to himself, put the phone down, and shot himself.

I don't know how Rachel and Tommy are doing today. I imagine they can't be doing all that well. I wish I could hug them both right now. I wish I could bring them comfort. I wish I could let them know that I've often thought of them, and have always thought highly of them, ...and that I always thought highly of their parents. I still do. I wish them well. And I wish there was more I could do. But are helpless in situations like this.

Helpless by design.

12:55 PM

Sex on the Golf Course

The local Fox affiliate WITI, broke a story yesterday about a strip club sponsored golf outing that delivered girls in the buff granting sexual favors for cash right on the golf course!

This all took place in Caledonia, a small community south of Milwaukee that is famous for absolutely nothing. It's a suburban/rural area that has always reminded me of Bomont, the town in Footloose.

Naturally, Calendonia is up in arms about this. They have a point, especially since most of this behavior was plainly visible from a public road bordering the course and from public areas of the club like the driving range.

It appears that the golf course and the strip club both knew exactly what was going on. The spokesperson for the course went as far to defend the private event, saying:

"We keep all the entertainment in the center of the course where it is not seen from the road." That comment was made BEFORE seeing the undercover video. After viewing a few seconds of the video, South Hills manager Tracy Jensen responded, "I have no further comment," as she walked into the country club's banquet facilities.

Some more of the details:

The undercover cameras captured video of some golfers as they were fondling, groping and licking strippers from Heart Breakers Lounge in West Allis. Most of the strippers seen on tape are wearing little or no clothing as they "entertain" golfers in exchange for money. Several of the golfers are also seen taking off their clothing as they interact with the women.

The Fox website shows a picture, but no video. The video I saw on TV showed topless strippers being fondled by ugly men in golf clothes, a women apparently "going down" on a guy, and a man dropping trou.

Now, I think the strip club and the golf course have a right to have such events. The general idea is to keep this out of the public eye. This is no more lurid than your average bachelor party (sorry girls, it's the truth).

I expect the golf course to take much of the heat here, ...taking away their liquor license has been mentioned. But the real trouble is for all the guys who never told their wives and girlfriends that the golf outing they attended was just an excuse to lick whipped cream off a strippers chest. Most likely the women will be able to pick out their men from the video being shown. I suspect some men will be sleeping in their cars tonight, ...but it's really hard to feel sorry for them.

4:29 PM

How Polite am I?

SCORE=55

"While you're certainly not the Queen Mother, you do manage to follow society's rules of decorum - when it suits you. You know that etiquette exists to provide guidelines, but that nothing is set in stone. The rules of decorum, after all, evolve with time (how many men you know would lay their jacket across a mud puddle for a lady friend?) and sometimes you have to simply throw them out the window. You bend - and sometimes break - the rules depending on the situation. You may, for example, give in to the occasional urge to snoop in a host's medicine cabinet or sneak into the express line with 15 items when you're in a hurry. While none of these social faux pas are too horribly offensive, be sure not to push the envelope too far. Some rules are not meant to be broken!"

Take the etiquette test.

10:21 AM

Quagmire

We all knew that the political opponents of President Bush, the left, the left-leaning media elements, the democrats, the anti-US/Peace crowd, and the prominent showbiz leftists would soon be using the word "quagmire" to describe the situation in Iraq.

In the past few weeks, the blogosphere has been relentless in covering the comparisons to Vietnam made by Vietnam era journalists who see everything through the prism of Vietnam.

Last week, the Milwaukee Journal's Eugene Kane threw out the "q-word" in one of his columns.

He starts off by giving a great synopsis of Liberia and why the US should be/is involved. He states that some people in the military are questioning why we're sending troops into Liberia, "warning that current military forays into Afghanistan and Iraq are still not settled. They're worried about stretching our military presence too thin."

He then drops this line, "These are the same folks, by the way, who refused to listen when critics of the Iraq war accurately predicted the quagmire that has emerged out of that particular foreign policy."

So much to say about one little line.

First, this is NOT what critics of the war in Iraq were arguing. I could not really tell you what the critics of the Iraq war were trying to argue, because they never really gave us a good reason. Mostly, I remember them saying that we have not found WMDs, that we should give the inspectors more time, and "we must be wrong if the rest of the world disagrees with us".

Second, it is true that SOME people (mostly military) did raise reservations about the Iraq conflict with regards to spreading our boys too thin. I don't remember anyone suggesting that we could not win in Iraq and keep an eye on Afganistan at the same time. They were just concerned about the slippery slope of sending our troops everywhere. In fact, I think it is the same people raising the same question.

Third, Kane seems to be suggesting that the critics of the Iraq war were right. These are the same critics who predicted doom for our troops, an exploding middle east, the arab street teeming with rage, world war III, ...did any of that happen? Just the opposite. Al Qaida is on the run and can only hit small targets in muslim countries. The Palestinians and Jews are closer to peace than ever (though no one is optimistic about it lasting). The Iranian street is rife with pro-democracy protests. The mullahs in Iran are showing signs of weakness and worry. Afganistan is still crawling slowly ahead. Other arab coutries seem more willing to toe the US line. Despite being shown to be buffoons, Kane is suggesting the Iraq war critics were actually right.

I do not know if it is wishful thinking on his part, ...but we are not in a quagmire. Are things rosey? No. Are things better? Yes. Is the administration feeling pressure from these attacks? No. We will not abandon the Iraqis. No one thought this was going to be easy. We were all prepared for the worst. The difference is, some of us were prepared to face it head on, and others like Kane, were not.

It is going to be a difficult and historic rebuilding effort. The opponents of the effort want it to stop it all costs. Unfortunately, people like Kane are all to eager to give them a victory. No Mr. Kane, the Iraq war critics were not right. Then or now.

2:24 PM

Summerfest Highlight

Ben Folds playing Careless Whisper with passion and emotion. Just him and a piano. Wow.

12:11 PM

Summerfest down 11%

Yeah, I agree it's partially the weather and the economy, but there are some other reasons.

1. Not enough big name acts. There were only a few stages that really packed them in the person/people who book acts should be fired. They really don't know what they are doing.

2. Demographics. There are 3 main age groups they are aiming at: baby boomers, Gen Xr's, and Gen Yr's. Because of some trouble last year, they reduced the number of attractions that would appeal to Gen Y kids. Also, they have done nothing to accomidate the aging Gen Xr's like me. Unlike the boomers, I don't want to stand and party all night long drinking overpriced light beer and watching cover bands play a toxic mixture of safe alterna-rock and CCR. Time to start thinking about our needs here ...we want great music (original music), good beer (imports, more micro brews, some malternatives, liquer), good/interesting food (sushi, anyone at Summerfest hear of it?), a place to sit and chat while taking it all in. It was no wonder that two of the biggest crowds were there to see Ben Folds and Wilco. Duh. Come on Summerfest, give us just one stage! We're the age group still most likely to go and spend money, but you've got to aknowledge us.

3. Same-old. Build a permanent structure for the merchants. You will be able to fit more of them in there, and give people one more reason to go. Part of the reason people go to the Wisconsin State Fair is to see all the products for sale.

4. How about some 21st century entertainment?

12:10 PM

A little late

Eugene Kane's columns are always interesting, except when he decides to write it in the car on the way to work as it seems he did here.

He's a very good writer, probably the best the paper has, ...and I'd say I agree with him 25% of the time. When he writes about non-race or political issues, I usually agree with him 99%. When he dips into race and politcs, I agree with him 0% of the time.

So, his Friday column about Jordan not buying the Bucks is a rare example of a non-political column I disagree with.

Eugene is a little let-down that Jordan and a bunch of his wealthy celebrity friends aren't going to be buying the Bucks. It seems that everyone else in the city is glad Jordan won't be setting up camp at the Bradley center, so it is not really a suprise that Eugene goes the opposite way.

He's disappointed because of all the headlines and attention our little city would get by having a big name like Jordan attached to the team. One of the reasons I didn't want Jordan involved is because one of those attention-getting headlines would eventually read: "Jordan moves Bucks to Nashville".

The second reason ...he's an egomaniac who thinks he can succeed at anything he tries. Who knows if he has any ability to put together a winning team as an owner. And what happens if he fails in two years? Will he dump the team? I don't want my team to be a mid-life crisis project for a retired athelete. I'm glad Kohl held on to the team.

Hmmm, ...maybe if I win that big lottery jackpot tonight I'll give Herb a call.

2:39 PM

This long weekend

I'll be working it.

Not 8 hours a day, although that is possible on Sunday, ...but I'll be working every day for several hours for two reasons:

1. I slacked off quite a bit this go-around. Days went by where I didn't do much, now I'm paying for it.
2. However, even if I had been working hard all year, I'd still have to work the weekend because development has not delivered the required or expected functionality in their software builds. So, I'm stuck waiting for the latest GUI and the latest round of testing. Always the last in line. The developers will mostly have their work done this weekend and just make themselves available for some hot-fixes, ...but I'll be just getting started on many things that should have been started weeks ago. But, you can't work with vapor-ware.

Anyway, it look like rain for this weekend, so I guess I won't be missing much.

4:31 PM

New Crime and Judy CD

I just got ahold of an advanced copy of the new Crime and Judy CD, Vendetta Chants. They recorded it live at the Miramar theater a few weeks back. For a live recording, it is excellent quality. Heck, it's good enough to claim to be a studio recording.

Anyway, some of the lyrics in their newest song (I think it is called Intimacy Surface) really struck me.

For me, the greatest part about connecting with music is when you can tell that the lyrics are at once personal (in that they relate to a specific event or memory in the singer's life) and universal (in that we've all been there).

Here are the lyrics:

Every time we get dressed again
you leave more of yourself behind

8:21 AM