"Lok'tar ogar"! Enjoy the Halloween posts and videos that follow....there's 12 more after this one. And BOO!
Minnesota Vikings & Brett Favre @ Green Bay Packers November 1, 2009. Favre's "return" to Lambeau Field.
Just saw this program for the first time. Very interesting. Here's the site. Go knock yourself out... :)
This movie frightened the shit out of me when I was growing up. And it was this scene in particular that still spooks me. The movie plot is confusing (look it up on IMDB) but I'll tell you this - the house this family is temporarily staying in "rebuilds" itself each summer by feeding on the lives of the family/caretakers. In this clip (which is near the end), Oliver Reed finds out that his wife has "transformed" into the old lady he thought his wife was looking after. Was there ever an old lady? It's confusing...just watch it.
(You're going to want to mute the jukebox at the very top of the blog before you watch any of these videos.) And no, Oliver Reed is not overacting at the end. His horrific screams are justified. Rent the movie. And scream yourself.
I posted this last Halloween but it's a favorite - 'cause it's a ghost on the Queen Mary in Long Beach. Snapped it last year. Sent this to two paranormal experts and neither could say it WAS or WASN'T a ghost. What do YOU think?
In order. Maybe. They're all great flicks. I posted a couple vids from these movies below - check'em out.
1. The Exorcist
2. The Shining
3. House of 1000 Corpses
4. Burnt Offerings
5. The Ring
6. Aliens
7. Seven
8. The Omen
9. The Thing (remake)
10. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original)
11. Salem’s Lot
12. Hellraiser
13. Jaws
14. Rosemary’s baby
15. Night of the Living Dead
Classic. Posted this last year as well but it's genius. Thought I'd end this year's Halloween post with it. Don't be too creeped out.
Much is being said about Brett Favre's return to Green Bay's Lambeau Field this Sunday as the Minnesota Vikings clash with the Green Bay Packers in their 2nd meeting of the season (MN won the first game).
Some say cheer Favre. Others say boo Favre. Some say be silent. Even the mayor of Green Bay has gotten in on the action, asking fans to email him tasteful ways to welcome Brett back to Green Bay for his first visit since his "divorce" from the Packers after the 2007 NFL season. I emailed the mayor and told him to do nothing - just let the game be played. All the hub-bub concerning Brett's return will play itself out - no need to add fuel to the fire. Wasn't it the Packer organization that breathed a sigh of relief once they traded Brett to the Jets last year? No more media circus? Get on with their season? They why is a politician stoking the flames by taking fan requests? Dumb question, I know - and an even dumber idea, Mayor.
The most intelligent article I've read detailing how fans should react when Favre strolls onto Lambeau Field Sunday as the "enemy" (after 16 years with the Packers) comes from Gary Howard's "Cheer first, Jeer later" (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 10-27-09). YOU are a classy man, Mr. Howard.
Being that I and my brother and mother are staunch Favre supporters (dad's ambivalent), we obviously want Minnesota to kick the shit out of the Packers. But here are two of my favorite quotes regarding Brett's playing for the Vikings this season - the Packer's most hated rival:
No. 1 = Cool quote:
"Seeing Brett in purple, when I first saw it I kind of threw up in my mouth...When that jersey comes off and he decides to retire, we'll bring him back home." - Ex-Packer Defensive tackle Santana Dotson (above), Super Bowl XXXI winner with Brett on the 1996 team, regarding Favre playing with the Minnesota Vikings
No. 2 = Dumb fuck quote:
"I'm still green and gold all the way. I hate Minnesota...It didn't bother me, him (Favre) with the Jets. But Minnesota I know personally I could never do it. I would just retire." - Ex-Packer Tight End Mark Chmura, Super Bowl XXXI winner
Well, you basically DID retire, Chewie, 'cause no one wanted your happily married-w/children- skank-ass after the Packers released you following those charges of inappropriate contact with a minor in a hot tub in Wisconsin, dipshit. You were good with the Pack, but no one cares if you'd retire or not, given the opportunity. You fucked yourself, asshole.
My first day of substitute teaching. October 22. Here's the title song (same name as the movie) from the greatest "teaching" movie, "To Sir, With Love" , starring Sidney Poitier (1967), sung by Lulu (girl on right of bust).
I've had some good luck at Short & Sweet - Australia, dubbed "the biggest little play festival in the world". "The Bed" - semi's in Sydney 2009, "Pass the Salt, Please." - semi's both in Brisbane and Sydney 2009, and "Billy Balfoor Wants An Apology" - Brisbane 2009.
At the famous Safe House in downtown Milwaukee. After the Brian Wilson concert (which was excellent, by the way).
Good Craic. Welcome to Eire. "Na sacar". After you click on this link, you may click on HOME at the bottom of that post to return to the main page fo that blog and see the previous posts. OR, go to the top of the right panel on this page and click on the link below the pub picture.
Good Craic. Welcome to Eire. "Peil ghaelach". After you click on this link, you may click on HOME at the bottom of that post to return to the main page fo that blog and see the previous posts. OR, go to the top of the right panel on this page and click on the link below the pub picture.
Vikes had their chances. Way too many dumb penalties. What are the odds that a ball gets stripped from Favre and is recovered by a lineman who runs it in for a TD? THEN, Chester Taylor misses a ball he should've caught and THAT ball bounces into the hands of a Steeler who runs that one in for a TD? GOD DAMMIT! No pictures from the game 'cause when we lose I get pissy for 3 days.
(Not meaning to be a complainer 'cause every team gets bad calls, but the ref who called tripping on the Vikes player...he needs to read his ref manual again. That call negated a Viking TD and might've have been a momentum changer. Blatantly bad call.)
You would think I wasn't capable of using a camera. Dammit! Had it set to "museum" in the theater so it wouldn't flash and didn't reset it afterwards. Taylor said the shot looked good so I never double-checked it. I hate her now. Haha. Back-up singer Tay and I became FB friends and I got to meet her in Manhattan Beach earlier this year when I lived in Cali, so we - chit chat, you know. Jas and I have past dealings with the extended Beach Boys family through the Carl Wilson Cancer Foundation so we were pretty pumped to see Brian again - and Taylor.
Picked up Taylor's new album, "Under the Surface" More on this after I've listened to it a few more times. But I enjoyed it thoroughly. She's got a lulling, beautiful voice. Click on READ MORE! for a couple more shots of the evening.
3rd floor of the historic Pabst Theater. Sound was excellent and the view was nice. $50 seats though. Is that expensive for this vantage point?
Downtown Milwaukee riverfront.
To say the least. Lots of "looks" when I wear this hat around Wisconsin. I wonder why? Isn't it just a game???
Took off Monday for Iowa for a couple days to catch-up with some theater people. Nice visit. Typically, when I lived in Cali, I'd come home in May for three weeks and fish for a week, then visit people in Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois. Lots of running around. Not any more. Now that I'm back in WI, I'll take my time visiting certain people. Quality versus quantity.
Anyway, here are a few shots of the ride from Iowa to Wisconsin - took the northern route home, up through Dubuque and into WI via Madison. That's Delafield, WI above. The better route by far (as opposed to Rockford, through the Quad Cities on Hwy 80 to Iowa City and then Cedar Rapids). Click on READ MORE! for a few more shots.
Delafield, WI.
Mineral Point, WI. The first capital of Wisconsin.
Mineral Point, WI.
Iowa hayfields.
Good Craic. Welcome to Eire. "An bia uile". After you click on this link, you may click on HOME at the bottom of that post to return to the main page fo that blog and see the previous posts. OR, go to the top of the right panel on this page and click on the link below the pub picture.
Vikings offense played great. Defense played a great first half - then completely dismantled in the 2nd half...particularly the 4th quarter. Call it what you will - injuries in the Viking D, prevent defense, soft coverage. Whatever...the Ravens missed a FG with 2 seconds left on the clock that could've won the game for them. Too bad. Vikings need to finish games. If they're having trouble putting away opponents, then they need to play every minute as if it's a 2-minute drill.
NEXT WEEK: Vikings (6-0) @ Steelers (4-2).
Good Craic. Welcome to Eire. "Mé". After you click on this link, you may click on HOME at the bottom of that post to return to the main page fo that blog and see the previous posts. OR, go to the top of the right panel on this page and click on the link below the pub picture.
“The guy I was dating when I first got to L.A. was not supportive of my acting,” she says. “He was like, I don’t think you’re going to be good at this. So—fuck you! He only has nice things to say now—if anything, I should thank him. Because the minute you tell me I can’t do something, that’s when I’m most motivated.” That guy was Ashton Kutcher.
Read the full interview on GQ online.
(photo by Craig Sanford)
I met up with my close college buddy, Jim Sickels, and his family on a slightly overcast but beautiful fall Wisconsin day as his oldest daughter, Morgan, competed in the Classic 8 Conference Championship cross-country meet in Hartland, WI (I forgot my camera). Morgan placed 5th (she was lauded to finish first or second but was sick) and is headed to sectionals. She's a talented runner (top-ranked in the nation) and is contemplating several offers to run in college.
After the race, Jim and I retired to the Delafield Brewhaus to discuss one of the many adventures we plan to go on since my moving back to Wisconsin. Jim's an avid outdoorsman and hunter (like my family) and the 11+ years (not counting the 5 1/2 years I was in IA before CA) I've been away haven't afforded us much time to enjoy the outdoors together.
Click on READ MORE! if you're curious to find out what we're up to. If not, enjoy the above picture of a scenic Wisconsin vista north of Rice Lake.
Jim and I are tackling the 1,099.5 miles of Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail. We'll take it in segments (no particular order), a weekend here and there over the next 3 years or so. We've talked about this for a few years - and we're gonna make it happen.
"More than 12,000 years ago, an immense flow of glacial ice sculpted a landscape of remarkable beauty across Wisconsin. As the colossal glacier retreated, it left behind a variety of unique landscape features. These Ice Age remnants are now considered among the world's finest examples of how continental glaciation sculpts our planet. The Ice Age National Scenic Trail is a thousand-mile footpath — entirely within Wisconsin — that highlights these Ice Age landscape features while providing access to some of the state's most beautiful natural areas." (Ice Age Trail Alliance website)
The Ice Age Trail is a designated National Scenic Trail in the United States that will run some 1,200 miles through the state of Wisconsin once completed. As of 2008, the trail is 1,099.5 miles long with 467 miles being traditional hiking paths, 103.2 miles being multi-use trails, and 529.3 miles being connecting roads and sidewalks. The trail wanders through 30 of Wisconsin's 72 counties, following the southernmost location of the last continental glaciation. The first person to backpack the entire length of the Ice Age Trail was 20 year old James J. Staudacher of Shorewood, Wisconsin during the summer of 1979.
We plan to begin hiking in December (we think). Stay tuned for a new blog tracking our progress and adventures. For more information, go to Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail on Wikipedia or check out the Ice Age Trail Alliance website.
Good Craic. Welcome to Eire. "Madra". After you click on this link, you may click on HOME at the bottom of that post to return to the main page fo that blog and see the previous posts. OR, go to the top of the right panel on this page and click on the link below the pub picture.
Good Craic. Welcome to Eire, "Scannán caillte". After you click on this link, you may click on HOME at the bottom of that post to return to the main page of that blog and see the previous posts. OR, go to top of right panel on this page and click on the link below the pub picture.
Alec Finn performs, "Lady Hamilton" , on the bouzouki, a Greek instrument akin to the mandolin. We visited with Alec and his wife, Leoni, at their home, Oranmore Castle, in Oranmore, Co. Galway, during our visit to Ireland.
"Hey look, ESPN's Adam Schefter...it's a schism in the Viking's locker room!"
Here's what Henchie said after the Vikings beat the Packers in Week 4: "When you assess Brett Favre's 24-for-31, 271-yard, 3-TD, 135.3 QB rating vivisection of the Packers, the numbers alone don't tell the whole story...Favre was so precise in dismantling his former team it almost didn't matter if his receivers got any separation at all. If he doesn't do something worth making fun of in the next couple of weeks this segment is going on hiatus."
I, for one, will not jump on the "Hench loves Favre" bandwagon because the minute Brett and/or the Vikings screw up, Hench will renege on his Favre lovefest comments and tear him a third asshole - that's what the media does. They have no allegiances to teams that they can admit to publicly - they're SUPPOSED to be objective. Unless it concerns Brett Favre. However, at least Henchie admits that he was premature in judging Favre - through 5 games into the season
As I've mentioned before, even if the Vikings go the Super Bowl and lose, Favre will be vilified by the press for being an old, over-the-hill, egomaniacal waffler. And if the Vikings go to the SB and win it - the media and Favre naysayers around the world will say 1) it was everyone on the team that contributed to the win BUT Favre, or 2) good - now that Favre has another SB ring maybe he'll finally retire and disappear. It's the fight Brett will never win (when you see groups of words highlighted, it's a link - click on it).
Like I said, it's a 16-game season. I'm simply going to continue in my enjoyment of watching the "Silver Fox" (as Favre's been dubbed by "the beast", Viking DE Jared Allen) play his 19th NFL season. And hope he continues to have fun.
Watch this video. What you're seeing is, in a nutshell, what the drive from Denver to the Wisconsin border looked like.
Were you bored to death? So were we. My brother arrived in Los Angeles to accompany me on my move back to Wisconsin. After eventful visits with the Nowak clan in Santa Barbara, Donovan & Maria and family in Tujunga (my best friends in Cali) and a coffee with the actor, Bo Svenson (more on those visits in another post) we made the long drive to Wisconsin and arrived home on September 11.
I wish I could tell you it was an eventful journey. My picture-taking is a sad reflection of what turned out to be THE most boring, piece of shit drive of our lives. At least that was the case from Denver east to the Wisconsin border. Denver and the remaining part of CO. NE, IA, IL - Jas and I were looking for guns and ammo in the car to shoot our brains out. And EVERYONE I've related our experience to agreed.
Click on READ MORE! if you wanna see some average pics of the most boring drive of my life. My advice to you wanderlust Bohemians looking for solace on the open road: do not take the northern route. Unless of course you're looking to become suicidal. Then by all means, knock yourselves out.
Iowa.
California desert.
Utah.
Colorado Rockies. The best part of the trip.
I wish I could tell you the name of this rest area, but...
Almost there. Thank God.
Something silly. "Foppotte" means "a simple-minded person". It was a writing assignment for a blog which I contribute to.
A man walked into a coffee shop unaware that a book signing reception was in progress. Looking around, he recognized no one. Course he wasn’t from the area so why would he recognize anyone. The coffee shop was a-buzz with activity – people eating cheese and crackers, sipping wine, a violinist playing a cello in the corner (the cello player took sick), chit-chatting and – drinking coffee. In another corner there was a stately, middle-aged gentleman signing books. The author. The man walked up to the author and, noticing a few hundred books stacked on the table, grabbed one and paged through it.
"This your book?" asked the man.
"Yes," confirmed the author. "Would you like to purchase one? I'd be happy to sign it for you."
"No thanks." Uncomfortable pause. “What’s your book about?” asked the man.
“Growing up in Cambridge, Wisconsin.”
“Cambridge? Never heard of it,” said the man.
“It’s near Madison,” said the author. He returns to signing books.
Odd, thought the man. He imagined anyone could write a book about their childhood, particularly if they grew up in an interesting place. But Cambridge, Wisconsin? Never heard of it.
The man stated, "Now...if you had written about your life growing up in Madison, that would have been interesting." The author smiled. "But I didn't grow up in Madison. I grew up on Cambridge."
"Yes," said the man, "so you've said."
Madison would have been much better place to write about, the man thought to himself once again.
The author asked the man, “If you'd like some wine or cheese...”
“No thanks,” said the man.
“Well - enjoy your visit,” the author said and returned to signing books.
The man nodded at the author - and stood there for a few seconds.
“Foppotee,” said the man to the author.
“Excuse me?”
“Foppotee,” repeated the man.
“What does that mean?” asked the author.
The man stated firmly, “Foppotee.” He paused. “Foppotee, foppotah.”
The author sat there dumbfounded. He chose his next words carefully. “You’re a simple-minded person, aren’t you?”
The man stared at the author. It's not known whether the man was staring at the author or staring through him. It made no difference.
The man repeated himself. “Foppotee, foppotah.”
Then the man turned, walked out of the coffee shop as quickly as he had entered it.
The author stared at the door for a few seconds then returned to signing his books.“Foppotee,” he muttered under his breath.
I'm not a basketball fan. But it's difficult not to admire a 99-year-old man who's revered in the sports and coaching world.
This groundbreaking, silly, television series, broadcast by the BBC from 1969 to 1974, was conceived, written and performed by the late Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.
The above video is my favorite sketch. Click here for more info on Monty Python. Here are the CBC's 10 favorite Python moments.
Damn, silly show.
Today's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Shucks...I thought I was the only one who felt this way.
Got a wild hair and took off for Door County the other day. Wanted to capture the peak colors and I've only been to DC in the winter. Wasn't anticipating the snow flurries just past Green Bay. These two shots are about the only things I captured on my very wet trip. If you like Nantucket, you'll like Door County. Egg Harbor. Fish Creek. Very nice.
Good Craic. Welcome to Eire. "Pobal na hÉirean". After you click on this link, you may click on HOME at the bottom of that post to return to the main page of that blog and see the previous posts. OR, go to top of right panel on this page and click on the link below the pub picture.
Your Minnesota Viking Cheerleader of the Week! The Viking website posts this and I stole it. Not sure if I'll do this every week. Click here to watch Bailey "live".
Good Craic. Welcome to Eire. "Ceol". After you click on this link, you may click on HOME at the bottom of that post to return to the main page of that blog and see the previous posts. OR, go to top of right panel on this page and click on the link below the pub picture.
Good Craic. Welcome to Eire. "Teach ceann tui". After you click on this link, you may click on HOME at the bottom of that post to return to the main page of that blog and see the previous posts. OR, go to top of right panel on this page and click on the link below the pub picture.
Above: Favre congratulating Visanthe Shiancoe on his TD catch.
Nice ass-whooping by the Vikes. I understand the Rams were 0-4 going into this game and there's probably a lot of people thinking, "yahhhh but look who the Vikings beat". As I stated last season when the Jets (under Favre) beat the Arizona Cardinals (who lost in the Super Bowl), I will now repeat. "Yahhh, but..." comments are misnomers. To attain perfection in the NFL (perfect season including a SB win), a team MUST beat the "yahbut" teams. Period. On any given Sunday, ANY TEAM CAN WIN. We saw that a couple weeks ago when five or so favored teams lost to the underdogs. Look at the Patriots loss to Denver today. Nice job, Donovan & Maria & Tamra!
A win is a win. Period.
By the way, this is the first time in Brett Favre's illustrious, Hall of Fame, 19-year tenure in the NFL that he's been 5-0. NEXT WEEK: Ravens (3-2) @ Vikings (5-0). Tough game. GO FAVRE! GO VIKINGS!
I'm watching the history of the Ku Klux Klan in the United States on the History Channel. There was a modern day video of a child dressed in the KKK robes helping to light a cross. This picture off the Internet was the closest thing I could find to that image on the program.
I saw a snowflake today. Brrrrrrr. Didn't add up to anything but it made me think about experiencing my first full winter in Wisconsin in over 11 years
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