Happy All Hallows Eve!

All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jeff a dull boy.........

Read more!

Tom Wait's "What He Building in There?"

I've been posting this Tom Waits' song every Halloween. One of my favorites.

Read more!

A true "Halloween" story.

 

This really happened - trust me. I know the people involved...

A family decides to disinter their mother who had been deceased for 30 years and move her body to another state. After all the paperwork had been filed, the family is gathered at the cemetery for the disinterment - a breezy Spring day. Once "mother's" vault is raised out of the ground, the family decides they now want to see their "mother". A very unusual request. The family is dissuaded from doing so but they stand their ground. The vault lid is removed and the casket is opened. To the family’s surprise, “mother” is remarkably preserved, so much so that she looks as though she had been recently buried. “Oh how wonderful Mother looks!”, the family exclaims. Hair, nails, pink blouse, Mother-of-Pearls necklace, hands crossed holding a crucifix – all as it should be. The only thing that had changed was “mother’s” skin - it was dark brown, resembling a Native American Indian. As the family takes in "mother's" miraculous beauty after 30 years deceased, a sudden, light breeze blows up and instantly wipes away "mother’s" face and hands down to the skull and bones, scattering dust into the air. The family is aghast – and the lid to the coffin is quickly shut by the funeral director.

Read more!

Autumn Ginkgo.

Read more!

TGIF! presents...Floo floo time!

We bowhunt for pheasant. And that's when you use a floo floo arrow. Wide fletching helps so the arrow doesn't fly a hundred yards when you miss the bird. Here, my Uncle Fran Ircink, Brother Jason and Dad practice at a styrofoam target which I'm tossing into the air. This was during a recent camping trip to the Buckhorn State Park in Necedah, Wisconsin.

Read more!

 

Greendale (where I live) has officially been designated as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Interior Department.

...from the Department of the Interior:

"Greendale Historic District, Village of Greendale, Wis. Greendale, Wisconsin...one of three government-sponsored “greenbelt” communities built during the Great Depression, represents the federal response to the desperate unemployment of the era and the urgent need for housing reform for the urban working class."

There are a number of websites on Greendale - my favorite being this one - as I live in an "original".

My Grampa Ircink helped to settle Greendale in 1938. He served as a trustee, among other civic duties. My father grew up in Greendale. I was born here. And I have still have family here. It is a wonderful, unique community and it would be "perfection" - if only the lady four houses away from me would stop screaming at the top of her lungs at her dogs.

Read more!

TGIF! presents...Sirena @ Bristol RenFaire in WI!

Read more!

PTSP has a hankering for the Tallgrass of KS!

What may turn out to be our final film festival may, in fact, be a fitting post-script to a successful run on the film festival circuit for our short film, PASS THE SALT, PLEASE.

Wichita, Kansas. Tallgrass Film Festival. October 18-21. Instead of screening for public consumption, Tallgrass is offering PTSP screening in the Exclusive VIP Lounge Shorts package -
short films will play continuously throughout the weekend exclusively in the Consolidated Equities Trust VIP Lounge. Attendees must have a TALLpass, Sponsor, Filmmaker or Press Pass for entry.

Enjoy meals, cocktails and conversation, massage, manicures, hair styling, exclusvie VIP Lounge short films, happy hours and more, all weekend. Like flying first-class, sorta.

Thursday, October 18 - Sunday, October 21, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm and 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm on Sunday. 6th Floor, Orpheum Bldg. More information here.

And for you Glen Campbell fans, listen to this.

Read more!

Jim & Sir Jeff & the log cabin deer hunting stand.

I've known Jim Sickels (left) since the Fall of 1983 (my sophomore year) when he and I were Resident Assistants at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. This past weekend my brother and I ventured to Up North Wisconsin for a long weekend at Jim's brother's (John) cottage and hunting property - Gypsy Hunt Club. Jim was on a mission (he's ex-military...those guys usually are). He wanted to build a log cabin-style deer stand.

Took a day and a half (in between grouse hunting, deer hunting, eating, drinking, relaxing). I helped out. It was a bitch - but it turned out pretty damn good, if you ask me. Or Jim. More pics to follow on our long weekend trip to Gypsy Hunt Club....

Read more!

Bend it like....the BendFilm Festival!

 

PASS THE SALT, PLEASE screens twice at the BendFilm Festival in Oregon - this Friday evening at 5 30 pm @ Tower Theatre and Saturday @ 10 30 am @ Tin Pan Theater.

 

Click here for details.

 

 

Read more!

Gumbo, jambalya & PASS THE SALT, PLEASE!

Our short film, PTSP, will screen before the feature film, FOURPLAY, this Saturday evening at the New Orleans Film Festival. Click here for details.

.

Read more!

TGIF! presents...Bartholomew's "The Silent Comedy"!

Read more!

Separated at Birth? Grampa Datka & Robert Shaw?

 

 

Grampa Myron Datka (mom's father, top) and actor Robert Shaw (Jaws, A Man for All Seasons, The Sting, and From Russia, With Love).

Read more!

Happy Birthday, Brett Favre!

The NFL just isn't the same - for me - without you.

Read more!

Propagating chocolate mint.

Read more!

Bellissimo! PTSP @ Reggio!

 

Our short film, PASS THE SALT, PLEASE, which has been making the festival circuit rounds since April 2011, will screen at the Reggio International Short Film Festival in Italy this evening at 9 p.m. (2 p.m. CST). Check out the festival link here and click on Reggio FF 2012 on left panel, then scroll down. Salute!

Read more!

Separated at Birth? Bérénice Marlohe & Claudia Cardinale.

 

Come on! They're almost dead-ringers for each other! French-born Marlohe (above) is the newest Bond girl, appearing in the 23rd James Bond film, "Skyfall", due in theaters in November.



 

Italian-born Cardinale was a 60's sex symbol (one of my favorites) whose American films included "The Pink Panther" (1963), and "Jesus of Nazareth" (1977). Cardinale seldom left Europe to make movies, keeping close ties with Italian cinema, including the classic Sergio Leone "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968).

Read more!

TGIF! presents...Coach Brett Favre!

WLOX.com - The News for South Mississippi

Read more!

For Urban...

For the first time, I buried someone I knew. When I say "buried", I mean that I helped dig the hole, set it up for the ceremony, lower the casket, and put dirt in the hole. You see, this is the third summer I've worked at my cousin's cemetery as part of the grounds crew.

Funerals - the passing of a loved one - is a very private matter. I suppose I wouldn't normally blog about this but how often does one actually bury a friend or family member, right?

Urban's mother ("Aunt" Hano) was my Grama Datka's (mom's mother) best friend since they were 13 and Aunt Hano, Uncle Roy and Urban were close to the Datka family. I'm close in age to Urban's son, Brett, so we spent many occasions at my grandparent's farm in Hales Corners or Aunt Hano & Uncle Roy's home.

As the year's passed, I saw less of Urban and his family. 6 years in Iowa then 12 years in Los Angeles was quite the time away for me. Brett and I reconnected on Facebook and it was through emails that I found out of Urban's passing.

Urban's obituary is listed here. There are many things Urban was known for...he still owned his first car, a 1930 Model A and his love of model railroading and photography (both passed down from his father). Uncle Roy's railroad in the basement was something legends are made of and kept us entertained for hours. But what stood out most about Urban was that he was one of the kindest, most affable people I've ever known. If he was around and we were visiting Aunt Hano, Urban (who lived next door) would always come over and say "hello". Always. He was engaging - he didn't talk down to you - he looked you straight in the eyes and smiled and conversed like he was fascinated with everything you said. And that's because he WAS.

Again, my deepest sympathies to Urban's wife, Marilyn, his children, Wendy and Brett, their spouses and the rest of the family. I took great care of Urban, Marilyn, as you requested. ;)

You are missed, Urban.

Love,
The Ircink's

Read more!

Cafe Hollander on Downer. Mill-e-wah-que.

Cafe Hollander. A frequent haunt of mine. Alright, I've been there twice. But I love it. And I'll go more often.

Read more!

Bush Katydid.

The Bush (or False)  Katydid (Phaneropterinae). "False"? Hmm...maybe it's a Katydidn't then. WHOO! There's over 200 species of katydid. This one matched the pictures. She/he (unsure) was sunning on my front porch Sunday. Obviously appreciating the gorgeous Fall day we had. Here...listen.

Read more!