American Apparel. Part Sept. "Camping with Cailin."

Part 7 in a PASSION = TRUTH pictorial series. In French, of course.

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EAA @ Oshkosh!

Since 1970, the EAA Airventure is the largest of its kind in the world. 500,00 visitors in one week generating $110 million. This was our first visit. Above:  Close-up of Corsair - my favorite plane. It's the wings...I love those wings!

The $41 ticket was worth every penny. It's rare anyone these days gets to see vintage (or modern) planes up close and personal AND in action. Couple negatives - the $9 parking was BS, especially since there was a $5 lot across from where we were told to park and CLOSER to the complex. Also, why screw a captured audience by charging $8 for a cheeseburger? I know you can - but why?

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Jas & "Glacier Girl", a Lockheed P-38 Lightning, rescued from the ice in Greenland after crash landing in 1942. No crew members were injured. Read about the story here.

Some plane. A training plane, I guess. Vintage. I don't know shit about planes except the Corsair and this ain't it. Still looking...

Corsair. The plane Pappy Boyington's Black Sheep Squadron flew in the Pacific.

Ran into my old theater friend, Steve Rezabek, from Cedar Rapids, IA. Well, I figured he might be there and emailed his wife and she got ahold of Steve who called me. ;) Steve, his brother (Mike?) and father are heavily into planes - fly them, own them and build them - and they've been attending the EAA for 30-35 years. Had some time to catch up but mostly Steve enlightened us - on planes! Next beer in CR is on me, Steve...it's been too long

 This is how not to dress. Even in Wisconsin.

Sum Udda Bitch.

Why would throngs of people want to stand in line to board a Southwest Airlines plane? To see the cockpit? I can't think of any other reason....

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Where'd ya go, Pop Culture Chick #11? Deborah Raffin.

Former Revlon model and one-time unoffical Hollywood ambassador to China, Deborah Raffin first hit her stride in the made-for-TV movie, Once Is Not Enough (1975). I fell in love with her when she played the beautiful Chris Farris in the made-for-TV mini-series, The Last Convertible (1979), still one of my favorite television films of all-time.

Raffin was next in line for the role of Sandy in Grease after Susan Dey turned it down, As fate would have it, producer Allan Carr bumped into Olivia Newton-John at a dinner party and...well, you know the rest.

Raffin was seen on 7th Heaven for a couple years and most recently on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Not sure what she's up to these days and can't find any up-to-date information.

Here's Deborah in a scene from Once Is Not Enough.

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TGIF! presents...Roger Miller's "King of the Road"!

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"Give the Left their assault weapons!"

(Above:  Camping trip, Mauston, WI, October 2011. Dad and Uncle Fran Ircink, back row. Brother Jas & I, front row)

I don't hunt with guns. Always a bow. But I know plenty of gun hunters and gun owners so I've always handled NRA discussions with kit gloves. I support guns and gun owners' rights. And if I had a gun and an intruder broke into my home, I would support my right to blow said intruder's head off. Or at the very least, a bodkin point in the person's skull. That all being said, the shootings in Aurora, CO last week have once again brought up the discussion of the NRA, gun ownership (specifically automatic assault weapons) and how another crazed, gun-totting whack job slipped through the mental health cracks - and left me contemplating my NRA stance.

One of the things I always tell advocates who are in favor of reining in the NRA's stronghold on gun ownership and lobbying, including a ban on assault weaponry (and this is my theory alone and can be challenged by any gun owner if they should choose), is that the NRA realizes people don't need an assault weapon to shoot an animal. I don't think by law you can shoot a deer with an AK-47. But you know how environmentalists tout, "if we don't start cleaning up the planet now, in 50, 150, 300 years this will happen or that will happen".

I believe the NRA feels the same way about assault weapons. You take that right of ownership away today and, over time, gun owners' rights will be whittled down to nothing. As I said, that's my theory - I could be wrong.

Gun advocates quote the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution - "the right to bear and keep arms" - as their main legal stance regarding gun and assault weapon ownership, among other weapons. I get that. But the amendment was written in 1791, a much different United States as compared to today, Actor Jason Alexander had a nice Tweet (no - a TwitLonger) about this very topic. Read it.

Our Founding Fathers could not have possibly imagined the advances we would make as a nation over the next 221 years; thus, no sliding scale law that changes as the times change.

So to the NRA, I say, give up the assault weapons. You've got hundreds of other guns and rifles at your disposal. It's not giving in - it's a compromise. Hey, at the very least, give it one year. If the government can't determine that a ban on assault weapons has effected a measurable change, change the law back. I will always support you but this way, you can get the Left off your back and still keep most of your guns. Maybe the Left will compromise on an issue it holds dear to its heart.

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Zucchini Numba One!

If you pick it, the zucchini bread will follow...

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Scout Lake. Latitude, 42.940175, Longitude, -87.987066.

I spent a lot of time here while growing up in Greendale (off and on as I was born here, moved to Milwaukee, moved back to Greendale, moved back to Milwaukee, then to Waterford). My father, who was born in Greendale, spent time here as a child.

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You can fish here...with a state license. One walleye - pretty much anything you catch here you can only keep one of. We fished it. It's been so long...I must've caught something.

It was here, as a child, where I defied my father and trudged up this hill. See - I was gonna run down it. Dad said, "You don't wanna do that." But what did he know, right? Trudged up - and rolled down. When I picked my face up off the ground and my father could see I was alright, he said, "I told you, you idiot." I love my father.

Not exactly sure in what capacity this building was and is used. Years ago we used to ice skate here but not sure if they allow that anymore.

My start and finish point.  Made the trek around the lake in 8 minutes. Seemed like an hour back in the day.

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TGIF! presents...The Beach Boys' "Do It Again". Redux!

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'nite, Ang.

That's how Deputy Barney Fife addressed his cousin, Sheriff Andy Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show. "Nite, Ang."

Andy Griffith passed away last Tuesday - my Dad's birthday. The Andy Griffith Show is one of my favorite television shows for many reasons - the humor, the life lessons, the country charm of "days gone by".
In a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel opinion piece, a woman from Burlington, WI writes, "If you know where "Mayberry" is, please write to me."

Well I know of "a Mayberry" - Greendale, WI, where I was born and my father was born and where I live today. And Wayland, IA, where an ex-girlfriend's from. Both towns have many of the same qualities as Mayberry. I'm sure there are lots more.

You just have to look a little harder these days, that's all.

Here's a favorite scene of mine from TAGF. It's the reason I fell in love with the show, the actors and the characters. Nite, Ang...and thanks for all the good times you gave us in Mayberry.

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Japanese beetle...

...is dead. Oops - wrong Japanese beatle.

There we go. Is dead. Now stay the fuck out of our garden.

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Gracious, Keith....and SEAF!

Photo courtesy of Geoff Carter/TheSpellout.com

Hi Jeff,

Just wanted to share with you the great audience reaction to your film PASS THE SALT, PLEASE at the Seattle Erotic Art Festival over the past two weekends. I personally attended four screenings of the program your film was part of, and it consistently....generated applause and lots of vocal reaction.

An independent theatre in Bellingham, WA (about 2 hours north of Seattle) has expressed interest in running the SEAF programs at their venue in early October. We'd love to include your film as part of that; more details to follow in the coming weeks.

Thanks for sharing your work with us!

Best,
Keith Bacon
Lead Programmer

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Dad's 75th Shindig!

Above:  me, 2nd Cousin Gerry, Aunt Ev (dad's sister ) and Brother Jason.

The party my Dad didn't want to have. He just wanted to go down to the beer tent in Greendale. But the temp was in the mid-90's and no one was really geared up to do much of anything so we stayed longer - and Dad had an excellent time. Cousin Ger came down from Steven's Point (couple hours north) and it was wonderful to see him.  Here's the playlist I put together for the shindig, featuring songs from 1956, the year Dad graduated high school.

Bob (friend of mom and dad's) and Dad.

Paula (Bob's wife) and Mom.

Bernie & Frank (both childhood friend's of my Dad's) & Aunt Ev.

Left:  Bernie & MaryBeth (she's Dad's first cousin) and Therese & Arnie. MaryBeth & Therese are sisters and grew up in the house next to mine (it's a side-by-side duplex).

Crowd shot. Tani and Uncle Bob (Aunt Ev's husband) are to the far right.

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Raphanus sativus.

Our first pickin's...from the garden at Glen Mar.

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China King Bonn International Short Film Festival.

So our short film, PASS THE SALT, PLEASE, was invited to the China King Bonn International New Media Short Film Festival. Never heard back from the King Bonn folks and the festival, which was in May, came and went without even a peep from the Chinese. No screening date/times - nothing. I finally emailed them and got this response:

Hi Jeff,

I just find your email. I`m so sorry for my later reply. Yes,the 3rd China International New Media Shorts Festival has closed in May. It`s very successful. The Main Section has received 2,733 entries from 63 countries and regions around the globe for the 3rd China International (KingBonn) New Media Shorts Award. Regarding the transaction activity, we have played your film in our festival. Many chinese film makers and producers were interested in it. We have distributed some materials about your film to who attended the festival, including Chinese Media, director and producers. I think they will contact you if they would lke to buy your film.  

(Blah, blah, blah....)

I`m looking forward to hearing from you!
Alice Yang
China International New Media Shorts Festival

Course we're interested but I'm stymied as to the lack of communication on the part of some of the festivals we've screened at. One fest in CA never informed us we were in the Gala Top 5 screening. One fest screened our film with another film titled, PASS THE SALT. One fest didn't get us pertinent info our attendees needed until two weeks prior to the festival. The lack of follow-through boggles my mind.

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TGIF! presents...A Conversation with my 12-year-old Self!

Genius!

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organic bug spray.

My friend Renee is dabbling in organic bug spray. Still testing. Will keep you in the loop.

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Happy 4th of July...from Glen Mar in Greendale!

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3 Faces of Jim.

75 years of life in that face...that pose. One of the most content men I know.

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Happy Birthday, Jimmy!

My dad's big 75th birthday. Today. I love you, pop.

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garden. part deux.

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Black raspberry patch No. 1.

Vegetable garden. 8 less tomato plants than last year. Still too many.

Back - which is really the front in Greendale.

Side patio.

Black raspberry patch No. 2.

Earwigs. I hate them.

Chocolate mint. Hands off.

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