Carter Paul Nowak! Powitanie!

Congratulations to Cousin Joe Nowak (Aunt Ev Ircink's 2nd youngest son) and his wife, Ashley, on the birth of their first-born - my 2nd cousin - Carter Paul Ircink. "Powitanie" is Polish (as is "Nowak") for "welcome". Cheers!

Read more!

"Reveille!" party pics!

The staged play reading of my one-act, "Reveille!", on Saturday, Sept. 25th was a huge success. 105 family and friends turned out in the threshing barn at Trimborn Farm in Greendale to witness my "coming out" party (it was the first playwriting event I've had in WI since moving back here last September from Los Angeles).

Click on READ MORE! to see a few after-show pics taken at Ray & Dot's (The Legion) in Greendale.

Jas and I with Dave Hranicka.

Uncle Bob, his brother Rick and me.

Jas and I with the Nowak's, Schmidt's and Hranicka's!

Me with actresses Megan Turner (foreground), Marty Norton and fiddler John Losiniecki.

Dean and Leslie Keller from Iowa.

Bev Schmidt, Aunt Ev (Ircink) Nowak and Barb Hranicka.

The Nowak's! Uncle Bob (left) and sister, Bev, and brother Rick.

Gary Schmidt (left), Dave Hranicka (middle) and my brother. My guess is they're talking about hunting or fishing. Dave and his wife, Barb, flew in from MN to be at the reading. Nice.

Read more!

90 minutes ago. Paddy's Pub. Milwaukee. St. Patty's Day. (and Guinness)

Cousin Joe Nowak, Aunt Ev and Uncle Bob Nowak and me. Paddy's Pub on Murray in Milwaukee. Nice, authentic Irish pub. Enjoying the fellowship of family on St. Patty's Day.

Interesting bathroom. Notice the boxing gloves around the shower head?

Even more interesting bathtub. Full-size babe, she is. Quite attractive I might add.

The ceiling was covered with LIFE magazine covers. The photo turned out even more interesting.

Read more!

Santa Ynez wine country. Gurgle, gurgle.

The last weekend during my trip to Cali (a week ago0 we went wine tasting in the Santa Ynez Valley (Santa Barbara County). Spent some time in Solvang with my friends Sam, Josh and Erica, and my family - the Nowak's (Grafton Uncle Bob's family). Hit some old wineries and some new. Had a limo (thanks, Sam), which is a convenient way for winos to travel. Beautiful weather. Good wine. All in all, an excellent time.

Click on READ MORE! for more pics.

Read more!

"In vino veritas". Cedarburg "wine country".

We partook in some vino at the Cedarburg Winery and Ernie's Wine Bar Friday evening - my Aunt Ev and Uncle Bob and U. Bob's brother Tom, who's visiting from Santa Barbara. A+.

"The king sits in Dunfermline town Drinking the blude-red wine." Trad Ballad, 'Sir Patrick Spens'

"Wine gives us liberty, love takes it away. Wine makes us princes, love makes us beggars." Wycherly, The Country Life

"Drink wine, and you will sleep well. Sleep, and you will not sin. Avoid sin, and you will be saved. Ergo, drink wine and be saved." Medieval German saying

"I'm drinking some wine, eating some cheese, and catching some rays, you know..." Oddball in Kelly's Heroes (1970)

Read more!

Part Deux! Fiesta! Old Spanish Days in Santa Barbara!

Seems I forgot to regale you with pictures from Fiesta! 2009 in Santa Barbara. Click on READ MORE! for more shots. If you love horses, the horse parade on Friday (this was the first weekend in August) was quite spectacular. I've been to Fiesta many times since living in Cali but I prefer Solstice in May. I thought this may be my last "Old Spanish Days" for a while so I took in the sights and sounds as one last swan song before I move back to WI. Plus, any excuse I can use to party with the Santa Barbara Nowaks is an excuse I'll snap up in a minute. Incidentally, my parents and Brother Jason were partying that same weekend with Tom Nowak (of Santa Barbara) and Rick Nowak (Greendale, WI) at Village Days in Greendale. It was a West Coast/Midwest Ircink/Nowak party weekend! (If you don't know, the Nowak's are family through marriage - my dad's youngest sister, Aunt Ev, married the oldest Nowak, my Uncle Bob.)

The dancers above were featured on that same Friday evening at the Sunken Gardens (part of the Santa Barbara courthouse grounds).

Greg Nowak (standing), Chuck Nowak and his wife, Heather and their four children at the Children's Parade on Saturday.

Horses during Friday's horse parade, one of the largest in the country.

More dancers at the Sunken Gardens.

Mark Aldecoa, Laura (Nowak) and their eldest, Melissa, who's off to start her freshman year at UCLA.


The Santa Barbara courthouse.

Chuck's two oldest. We passed out flowers to the pretty senoritas during the parade.

Even this dog got in on the festivities.

This lady, I believe, was a Fiesta parade grand marshall or Fiesta princess back in like 1900.

Read more!