March 31, 2012
Random Soapbox for Saturday 3/31/12
March 30, 2012
Random Flashback for Friday 3/30/12
So long as Mark Zuckerberg, the Mayan apocalypse and my little heart cooperate (Mark Z in the affirmative, the Mayan apocalypse in the negatory and my heart in the sense that it needs to not stop beating), in 2032, I'll be flashing back on Facebook on Fridays to my current vacation in the sunny Mojave Desert. [Although I will hedge my bets and get my vacation photos up to Facebook by the middle of next week.]
But since it is currently 2012, I'm focused on 1992 -- and this picture that serves as a teaser for the set of photos I'll be posting over the next few weeks. So what does an abandoned run down hotel on rte 15 on the way to Gettysburg PA have to do with my activities around this time twenty years ago? You'll have to wait seven days to find out -- same blog time, same blog channel. [Or you can get all creative and float your own ideas ... (although that might be borrowing trouble as I might not want to know what you might guess ...)]
March 29, 2012
Random Thought for Thursday 3/29/12
In particular, I enjoy seeing how my home state has been featured in the national news (and although I've been in Chicago for a third of my life so far, it's Pennsylvania and not Illinois to which I am referring). And the stories that were featured have been all over the map (warning -- I said I'm catching up on news whist poolside, so these items may be up to a few months old):
Indiana PA was featured as the place where the November White House shooter was arrested,
Harrisburg PA had the headline of the Liquor Control Board defeating a $1 per bottle price increase,
Reading PA was where the story came from that should have been the plot to a horror movie and not real life (the lady who hid her affair fetuses in her closet),
Philly PA was portrayed as considering a soda tax (lesson -- alcohol is good, soda is bad), was cracking down on bicyclists who were running red lights and riding against traffic (would that they brought that attitude to Chicago) and was being named the top city where people lost cell phones ...
... but the most unexpected story took place at my alma mater Lebanon Valley College in Annville PA where Camp Hill high school students attending football camp last summer took the emmy award winning J. Timberlake sketch to a new level and hazed their underclassmen with a round of "d*#k in a PIZZA box".
It all makes Chicago seem a little tame ...
WOULD THAT IT HAD BEEN A FICTIONAL HORROR STORY:
http://www.theweeklyvice.com/2011/07/michelle-kalina-woman-charged-with.html
MAYBE TAX THE COCAINE TRADE INSTEAD OF THE COCA COLA TRADE?:
http://www.consumerfreedom.com/2011/06/4459-philly-mayors-new-soda-tax-proposal-is-plain-nuts/
I HOPE THEY WERE AT LEAST CLEVER ENOUGH TO REFER TO IT AS SAUSAGE PIZZA:
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/3_charged_in_trinity_high_scho.html
March 28, 2012
Random Wordplay for Wednesday 3/28/12
Used in a sentence: "It turns out I may be a bit of a nervous flier -- which now manifests itself as I find myself almost subconsciously becoming a build profiler as I survey the passengers before we launch."
Meaning ... I scope out all those on the plane to determine on whom we will collectively rely if something goes wrong. Like today, for instance, that giant man that spent most of the flight pacing the aisles because he didn't seem to comfortably fit in the seat -- he gets to sit on the person until the authorities arrive. And that young-un who was seated next to me and was apparently separated from the rest of his college soccer team, you (and your crew) have to make the first move (it's the price you pay for being young and athletic and impetuous). I don't know that you can count on me for much of anything now that I've aged -- but I do have a world class stubborn streak in case that becomes relevant to our plans.
Oh -- and hipster boy -- first, I do believe those are ladies' jeans, and second, could you do me a favor and document any potential incident with your instagrams? Thanks!
Mind you, I do have some humanity. I haven't advanced this behavior to do any profiling for any bad guys (you know, like those who wear hoodies) -- although based on all of the recent stories, it seems like the "bad guys" might be pilots and other over-stressed airline staff.
By the way -- these comments aside -- I've arrived without incident and my spring break has commenced!
SO THERE'S THIS GUY:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/27/travel/jet-blue-flight-diverted/index.html
AND THERE'S THIS LADY:
http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/09/10623880-ranting-flight-attendant-reportedly-subdued-by-passengers
BUT NOT THIS IT PROJECT:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/java/library/j-jip/
March 27, 2012
Random Tune for Tuesday 3/27/12
In addition to the sunning and the drinking and the pooling and the resting and the relaxationing and the bar-crawling that is always part of vacation, I'm looking forward to two additional things on this, my third annual trip to the Palm Desert on or around Palm Sunday ...
First, the in-n-out burger that I will eat at some point on the trip (the theme song is one of today's two tunes) -- and thanks to work friends, I now know I can order things the secret way to get a 2x4 with cheese fries well done and a root beer shake (even though none of those items are on the menu)!
Second, the Joshua Tree National Park (this year's non-alcohol related tourist type trip) -- and so there's a little U2 sampler for some inspiration for me.
WARM UP THE GRILL, I'M ON MY WAY:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOpTv-d8Vfw
I'M GONNA FIND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR (WITH THE HELP OF GPS ON MY PHONE):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LMxmtTkXgs
March 26, 2012
Random Memorial for Monday 3/26/12
March 25, 2012
Random Scandal Sheet for Sunday 3/25/12
What Chicago is talking about this week:
Some of us are still reacting to the "surprise" move of the G8 summit to Camp David, depriving Chicagoans of part of our big international weekend (although we do still get the NATO summit on May 20th and 21st, so there's that). Leadership-types have gone out of their way to dismiss the suggestion, but if it smells, walks and talks like a credible security threat -- it was probably a credible security threat. [Note to self -- visit family in Indiana on May 20th and 21st, and consider taking the cats on the trip.]
Regardless -- what I am talking about this week (I am in Chicago until spring break starts on Wednesday, but I might be alone in my conversation about this) ... is the woodpecker that I swear I heard here in Wrigleyville when I opened up the windows this morning. And I'm not in anyway attempting euphemistic cleverness here, but I'm literally 95% sure that it was an Illinois woodpecker (like the one pictured in this stock photo) that was going to town on some trees on my street!
ILLINOIS GOTS WILDLIFE, YO!:
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/wildlife/directory_show.cfm?species=woodpecker
SURPRISE! NO G-8 FOR YOU!:
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/03/05/g8-summit-moved-to-camp-david/
SURPRISE, SURPRISE!! NO PARADE PERMIT DURING THE NATO SUMMIT FOR YOU!:
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/03/05/g8-summit-moved-to-camp-david/
March 24, 2012
Random Soapbox for Saturday 3/24/12
... although it's been eight weeks since I first saw it, the Chrysler Halftime in America ad that premiered at the Super Bowl still chokes me up when I hear it. Clint probably doesn't want my eyes to tear up, but it really did resonate (and it continues to do so) -- and hey, in the modified words of LMFAO -- "I'm sensitive and I know it".
[And a quick mini-rant within a rave (you can take the boy out of the rant, but you can't take the rant out of the boy) ... those who immediately dismissed it as pro-one-party or a veiled campaign message or a piece worthy of frame by frame analysis for hidden messaging, can I just say to you -- "Good Grief"! I remember when politics was more than just propaganda, and when it was a process to choose our leaders -- now it's just a machine that feeds on itself.]
I'll provide links to the ad and to the transcript to avoid any copyright concerns, but this passage just gets at the mindset of those of us who are looking forward to a better life in this country ... "It seems like we’ve lost our heart at times. When the fog of division, discord, and blame made it hard to see what lies ahead. But after those trials, we all rallied around what was right, and acted as one. Because that’s what we do. We find a way through tough times, and if we can’t find a way, then we’ll make one."
Amen ... Clint and Chrysler ... Amen.
THE AFOREMENTIONED AD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PE5V4Uzobc
THE NEWS RELEASE INCLUDING THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE AFOREMENTIONED AD:
http://www.media.chrysler.com/newsrelease.do;jsessionid=05575D5107F04B06A0FC1C983EC3E14E?&id=11963&mid=2
THE PEOPLE WHO TAKE THINGS TOO FAR:
http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2012/02/the-clint-eastwood-chrysler-commercial-controversy-and-the-doctored-wisconsin-footage/
Random Posting for Penn State 3/24/12
Is it because Facebook on my phone sent me a notice that spring practice starts Monday?
Or is it because all of the hoopla over Ohio U advancing through the NCAA tournament has me hearing too too much about the Bobcats (they are our opening game on Sep 1 this year -- I mean, the football team is, not the basketball team -- but I don't need any halo effect making it any harder to kick things off)?
Or is it because the season opens in 161 days or so, in the aforementioned battle of the big cats?
Maybe a little of all three -- but it's probably just that I'm a contrarian and want to post about football to counterbalance all the Madness out there ...
IT WILL BE SEPTEMBER 1st BEFORE YOU KNOW IT!:
http://www.happyvalley.com/penn-state/psu-football/2012-penn-state-football-schedule
WELCOME BACK TO PRACTICE FERA AND REDD:
http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/032112aaa.html
ENJOY YOUR TIME IN THE SPOTLIGHT NOW, BOBCATS ...:
http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/index.ssf/2012/03/former_bobcats_enjoying_ohio_u.html
March 23, 2012
Random Flashback for Friday 3/23/12
Hats off (or I guess hats on in this case) to skinny me!
March 22, 2012
Random Thought for Thursday 3/22/12
March 21, 2012
Random Wordplay for Wednesday 3/21/12
March 20, 2012
Random Tune for Tuesday 3/20/12
CIRCA US 1987 (BUT WHY OH WHY DOES HE HATE JAZZ)?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctwqa3QCwMw&ob=av2e
CIRCA RUSSIA 2006 BY SERGEY (EURO-POP REDUX?):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bglJ5FESws
CIRCA FRANCE 2009 BY "FITNESS MODEL" QUENTIN ELIAS (FOR THE CLUB KIDS?):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjdjIxsoMpM
March 19, 2012
Purposeful Memorial for Monday 3/19/12
March 18, 2012
Random Scandal Sheet for Sunday 3/18/12
... the fact that we are now a 2012 Spring Break destination! I've already lost count of how many days we've set a record in the 80's for mid-March, but I did spy the overall US weather map and I'm pretty sure we're having nicer weather than Florida and California. To be honest, 85% of me is just fine with this turn of meteorological events -- leaving 5% apprehensive about the summer (if it's in the 80's in March, will be in the 110's in July?), 5% I-told-you-so-ing about the upcoming end of the world prophecies (the magnetic poles are switching as we speak/type/read) and 5% upset that my own personal spring break in 10 days (my third annual trip to the Palm Desert area) might result in me being in a cooler place than I'm leaving!
REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS:
http://blog.chicagoweathercenter.com/2012/03/chicagos-all-time-top-5-warmest-temperatures-through-march-17th.html
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO REALLY GET INTO THIS END OF THE WORLD STUFF:
http://www.survivalcenter.com/Planetx.html
AVG TEMPS IN MARCH/APRIL RANGE FROM 48-87:
http://www.palm-desert.org/visiting-palm-desert/weather
March 17, 2012
Random Soapbox for Saturday 3/17/12
... after walking three miles around my neighborhood today (most of it was on my way back from the Chicago History Museum [yep, I'm a square -- or I would be if it were still the 50's]) and seeing lots and lots of drunk young people covered in green, I can state affirmatively that the only thing I saw that was authentically Irish was the poor setter that was being walked a block away.
Don't get me wrong -- far be it from me to begrudge anyone their fun. I mean -- I did the same thing when I was younger (circa Feb 2012). And I fully support all the money that will flow into local businesses to help us get out of the recession (if you're still going hours later and can go all night -- may I recommend TRACE in Wrigley ... til 5AM on Saturdays! ...), but here are some of the problems I'm having:
1.) I feel certain that the good name of Guinness is going to be besmirched by many who think they have to drink it because it's St. Patrick's Day instead of because it's the most amazing drink in the world that provides more-buzz-per-unit and has restorative powers. If you order it, you best drink it to the last drop. I don't want to hear of any waste!
2.) I think it is a crutch to start drinking before noon "in honor" of the celebration. I have the same feeling about this as I do about drinking games in general. I don't need anyone to tell me when I'm supposed to drink. I will drink as much as I want too and as quickly (or slowly) as I want to and at the time I damn well choose. As for me, even when on vacation (with the exception of my trips to Mexico in 07 and 08), it must be noon:01 before I start imbibing. [To be clear, that holier than thou statement needs to be put in the context that I've been known to still be drinking at 6am on occasion, so my blackout period (pun half-intended) is just that 25% of the day between 6 in the morning and noon -- but everyone needs some rules to live by.]
3.) I tried to stop myself from doing so, but I just couldn't resist judging those green-wearing hussies stumbling around the hood as if I were a candidate for president in the Republican party. And all things Rush aside, I HOPE you're the kind that are taking birth control, because I am not convinced that you are completely in control of your faculties. [Please note: the underlying misogyny in this bullet point is intended to be (wink-wink) and not a part of the "war on women" of Election 2012.]
4.) And boys -- your extreme alcohol intake that's on display might not get you pregnant (although stumble too close to the lake, and you might end up having an unexpected sexual experience all the same) but it sure does seem to lead to a few fights as you play bumper people with other drunks on the sidewalk. If you're going to perpetuate the Irish stereotypes on this holiday, how about you consider the one about the Irish being quick to resort to fisticuffs. To be clear, I'm not endorsing the kind of fisticuffs that result in one person hitting the sidewalk too hard and the other person being hauled off to jail -- or the kind that Chris Brown and Rihanna engage in (the domestic violence, not the post-abuse duet-ing) -- but the kind that doesn't involve knives or guns. A hit, a punch, a slap, a tickle -- just some good old fashioned (and safer, relatively speaking) pugilism and nothing that gets too drastic please.
5.) I'm sure this will be news to those of you who think fortune cookies come from China, but the true color of Ireland tradition is blue -- and not green. So there. That's why I think you look so silly.
Happy St. Patrick's Day to you and yours!
DON'T YOU WASTE A DROP OF MY PRECIOUS GUINNESS:
http://appletonhub.postcrescent.com/ic/beerman/beer_9575486.shtml
THE TOP 10 IRISH FIGHTERS OF ALL TIME:
http://www.northtexasfisticuffs.com/2010-articles/march/qeire-go-brawl-the-top-10-irish-boxers-of-all-time.html
NOT TO RAIN ON YOUR PARADE, BUT THE TRADITIONAL IRISH COLOUR IS BLUE:
http://www.bloggernews.net/120122
March 16, 2012
Random Flashback for Friday 3/16/12
March 15, 2012
Random Thought for Thursday 3/15/12
Just looking out for those of you who might be like me and who sometimes are expected to know the most random of facts.
Now available should you find yourself with strangers who expect you to say something OR in your next round of trivia OR if you find yourself playing trivia with strangers.
1.) Water boatmen river bugs (who are 1/10 of an inch in length) make noises up to eight times louder than a human (relative to its body size) and are therefore now considered one of Earth's loudest creatures.
2.) The number of member nations of the UN now stands at 193, after South Sudan recently joined.
Good luck in your conversations/at your games of trivia!
SOUND MADE BY STRIDULATION (like a cricket):
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-07-05/news/ct-talk-loudest-animal-0705-20110705_1_windmill-insect-body-parts
OR, AS THE BRITISH SAY, IT'S HIS MUSICAL WILLY THAT MAKES THE NOISE:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3669816/Bugs-musical-willy-breaks-noise-record.html
BUT DID YOU KNOW THE 54 THAT AREN'T MEMBERS?:
http://www.worldometers.info/united-nations/
March 14, 2012
Random Wordplay for Wednesday 3/14/12
March 13, 2012
Random Tune for Tuesday 3/13/12
... LOVE NEVER MADE A FOOL OF YOU ... YOU USED TO BE TOO WISE ...:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgt-pqlIC6I
March 12, 2012
Purposeful Memorial for Monday 3/12/12
March 11, 2012
Random Scandal Sheet for Sunday 3/11/12
The international home and housewares show is at the convention center!
Although several sections were marked "no photography" to protect the hottest items, I think I am allowed to report on what I discovered on the floor of the exhibits as my brain was not wiped out a la Men in Black upon departure:
1.) Someone is still making and marketing and selling Krazy Straws!
2.) When Paula Deen gets confused (she was a guest presenter at one of the sections) and is given the wrong recipe, and says over and over again "where's my celery", she sounds unexpectedly like Harry Caray.
3.) Innovative products I saw -- the two tiered cereal bowl that allows you to pour milk in the bottom section and keep the cereal in the top, so that you can drop it in the liquid one spoonful at a time to avoid the dreaded cereal sogginess, the meatball griller that allows you to make meatballs in a cupcake like tin, the hot dog slicer to help your kids eat more hot dogs, and the specially formatted spoon that lets you dip your Oreo into your milk without touching it.
4.) As you can tell from the above, the overall theme of the kitchen area seemed to be the ongoing lazification of America.
5.) Other interesting items on display -- a toothbrush that sings Justin Bieber to you as you brush (an innovation we probably could have done without), a toilet seat with a lighted nightlight on the lid (for better aiming) and a toilet seat with a UV light under the lid to kill the creepy crawlies that might be on your seat.
6.) Tangerine Tango was declared 2012's hot color.
7.) Mr. Clean really exists. He's not just a cartoon. I saw him today at the convention. (And how's that for a temp job for muscle bound bald men? I now have a part time job to which I can aspire.)
So ... you heard it here first!
THE DIPr (for germophobes who want their cookies cradles while they are dipped):
http://www.thedipr.com/
TANGERINE TANGO (or just plan orange for those of us who aren't so fancy):
http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/12/09/tangerine-tango-the-bright-encouraging-color-of-2012/
NEVER EAT SOGGY CEREAL AGAIN (or how to get to world peace, one problem at a time):
http://www.obol.co/
March 10, 2012
Random Soapbox for Saturday 3/10/12
March 9, 2012
Random Flashback for Friday 3/9/12
[Bear with me ... I'm midway through my flashback to LVC's Barefoot in the Park from 1992 -- here's pic 3 of 5 (with credit to the Lebanon Daily News photographer visible).]
This photo was accompanied by the official local review, which said nice things about my "ease of delivery ... with just the right touch of self assuredness", about co-star Brigette C's "bouncy ... and completely convincing portrayal" of the new wife and about how Shawn W and Sarah T (who joins me in the picture) "[rose] to the challenge of playing roles by actors who are less than half the age of their characters".
As I recall, this was one of my two favorite scenes -- returning from a night out, drunk on uzu. (The other was a fight scene shortly after this where I got to clear the coffee table of its contents, at one performance flinging pieces into the front row as if it were a Gallagher show.)
Good times ... good times. And a foreshadowing of sorts, as I was to actually make my return to the same stage (albeit one that was remodeled thanks to the goodness and the dollars of the Leedy family during the interim) in just a few years in another lawyer role (everyone remember what they were doing on the night of January 16th?)! But that's another flashback for another set of Fridays in another few years ...
March 8, 2012
Random Thought(s) for Thursday 3/8/12
First thought: To the 7-11 employee (for whom English is clearly not your first language) that stopped mid-transaction this morning when I was buying the paper to stare at the picture in the corner, with flabbergasted-ness clearly communicated regardless of the language barrier, and to say so sadly, "Oh ... they let him go" ... please know that I am not your sports authority. I feel like many more words have been provided on this subject and hours of commentary can be sought out on the right channels, but at least we could connect on the thought that Manning's departure was sad. And I wasn't wrong to say he hurt his neck and couldn't heal -- and you weren't wrong to say that he was the one who played in ... "that championship".
Second thought: To the lady who was raised Catholic, but even so still thinks that those men running for President are just taking it too far, and who finally confronted the person who thought you were mean based on that incident from three years ago but whom you told that you weren't mean at all, and that, if anything, you were guilty of the sin of omission (providing you another chance to mention that you were raised Catholic) because it was more about what you didn't say than what you said -- the reason I startled you and said "good luck" as I left with my Bacon Mac-n-Cheeseburger from Noodles and Company is because I thought that, even though you were embracing your modern technology, maybe you shouldn't have been so loud in that restaurant as I could really care less.
ONE FOLLOWED BY ONE HUNDRED ZEROS OF RANDOM THOUGHTS:
http://planetmath.org/encyclopedia/Googol.html
IN INDY, THEY HAD A "PEYTON's PLACE" BLOG:
http://www.theindychannel.com/sports/30410253/detail.html
MMM ... DELICIOUS!:
http://noodlesandcompany.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/mac-cheese-isn%E2%80%99t-just-for-kids-anymore/
March 7, 2012
Random Wordplay for Wednesday 3/7/12
March 6, 2012
Random Tune for Tuesday 3/6/12
Somehow in my barely 40 years, I've yet to stay over in the hospital a night (as a patient) [which probably speaks more to my relatively risk-averse sedentary lifestyle than anything else] -- but I'm pretty sure that the House back home near the (Penn State) Hershey Med Center has had a Neidermyer or two stay there over the years. And, to be clear, McDonalds was a huge part of my youth, so this was an easy pick of a charity for me.
It was one of my first real jobs in high school, and I met a lot of quality people there -- including those that would help me when I struck out on my own and ran away from home and friends that helped shape me from "little Troy boy" to "older boy with some responsibilities" [I was still just 17 and 18 after all.] Looking back, the only times I've ever been to the ski slopes or white water rafting was with other McFolk -- and my best friends and I all met by working the grill and the drive through at the East Lebanon McDonalds.
I still have a McNugget buddy. I can remember eating a McDLT. I made the double quarter pounder with cheese before it was a menu item. I greeted most of the population of late eighties Lebanon and worked on my speaking voice by having many many shifts at the Drive-Thru. I distributed game pieces, made biscuits, ran the clam grill, double-folded take out bags, changed the fry grease, built salads in the back, cleaned the ice cream machine, ate "just-expired" food at the end of the night as we closed (and blasted music through the empty dining room).
And I worked there in 1989 when they ill-advisedly tried to have this commercial's "McDonalds Menu song" catch on:
MCDLT FEATURED RIGHT UP FRONT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqXTAXjMHvg
March 5, 2012
Random Memorial for Monday 3/5/12
[Two things -- this has ended up as a bonus entry to that "My Kind of Sports Center" Theme Week I did in Feb 2011 and, with that list in the opening sentence, I would almost rather that Carnac the Magnificent take it from here ...]
This past November, Penn State mandated that the clothing shops along E College Avenue are no longer allowed to sell Penn State licensed products featuring Paterno's name, likeness, and/or image, in what may be an ill placed attempt to welcome Coach O'Brien.
A few days ago, John Levi Miller, a pro wrestler, is suing the bout's promoter over an aggressive opponent who went rogue, kicked him in the groin, and ruptured one of his testicles -- that then had to be removed.
And last year around this time, it was announced that the NCAA paid $17 million dollars to protect the term "March Madness" (TM) from being used by a local company who was including it in programming for mobile devices. Some may be focused on the "loose" language about Israel bombing Iran any time soon -- others are just protecting their money making efforts.
Days of reading the sports pages for only local team scores, you are missed.
WHAT'S NEXT -- BANNING THE ICE CREAM?:
http://www.centredaily.com/2012/02/21/3097941/paterno-products-leave-store-shelves.html
NOT SAYING ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR, BUT IT MAY HAVE HAPPENED IN KY:
http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/offbeat/story/2012/02/29/wrestler-unscripted-kick-lawsuit.html
HOW TO GET 17 MILLION FROM YOUR MARCH MADNESS ACTIVITIES:
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/5321086-419/ncaa-paid-17-million-to-protect-march-madness.html
March 4, 2012
Random Scandal Sheet for Sunday 3/4/12
... more and more big box stores are proving that there's a way to do it in the big city (despite initial concerns over a working wage and annihilating mom-n-pop stores).
Latest to the party ... the "Clybourn Corridor" near Goose Island will get a brand new PetSmart and a BuyBuyBaby (ooh -- pets and babies for sale in a young professional 'hood -- perfect match). Target was the first big box to make its imprint in the area (and now I can walk to one), and Walmart found a way in despite lots of opposition (and now I can walk to a Walmart express and soon I can walk to a full blown one in the space near where I used to work in the office before taking this remote workforce role).
Final thought: to that lady in the faux fur lined coat at the Walmart Express check out line yesterday who was bragging about how it was the "first time you stepped foot inside a Walmart", I call bullsh!t. You looked just as plebeian as the rest of us ...
PETS AND BABIES FOR SALE (coming soon to the Clybourn Corridor):
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/02/03/new-big-box-shopping-center-coming-near-goose-island/
THE 2010 VERSION OF THE STORY:
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2010/12/10/controversy-erupts-over-east-lakeview-wal-mart-plan/
JUST ONE YEAR LATER, IT'S A DIFFERENT TALE:
http://progressillinois.com/posts/content/2011/10/28/walmart-quietly-gaining-chicago-faces-neighborhood-resistance
March 3, 2012
Random Soapbox for Saturday 3/3/12
... there's a time and a place when the spirit of the law needs to be honored instead of the letter of the law.
Want an example? How about the Omaha Burke High School girls basketball team, who recently played their rivals Columbus High and wore pink in support of a Make-A-Wish Fundraiser -- and who were then called for a technical foul after the Columbus Athletic Director raised the issue to the officials. Why? Because state rules say that home teams must wear white.
Look -- I can already hear the arguments of the need for bright line rules and the slippery slope of how one exception would lead to a destruction of the integrity of the game. But with the strains of "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" as background music slowly building to a crescendo to accompany my thoughts ... surely there can be exceptions made when youth are being taught to give back to the community -- to think of others instead of themselves -- to exhibit charitable behavior.
And I know that not everyone manages to escape Plato's cave to learn the difference between the "reality" of the shadows vs. the "reality" of the blinding sun of truth -- but once presented to the refs (and I blame the AD for even bringing it up), couldn't they have somehow found a Solomonesque solution that could honor the spirit of what the Burkian girls were attempting to do?
Shame on you, Columbus High AD and coaches! Fie on you, game officials for your foul behavior! Kudos, Burke High girls bball team, for standing up for recognizing reputable worthwhile charities!
[By the way, I'm doing something different this year, and celebrating FB birthdays by donating $1.00 for each one that is publicly posted to one of my favorite charities. The calendar is set for each month for the rest of the year, and here's the upcoming line-up (referenced in case someone wants to move their 100 pennies to a different organization than the calendar dictates):
MAR -- PAWS
APR -- Lustgarten Foundation
MAY -- National MS Society
JUN -- Vital Bridges
JUL -- Save the Children
AUG -- Muscular Dystrophy Association
SEP -- Autism Speaks
OCT -- Susan G Komen for the Cure
NOV -- Greater Chicago Food Depository
DEC -- Trevor Project.]
HECK, I'VE TURNED WHITES TO PINK JUST BY LAUNDERING THINGS WRONG:
http://www.omaha.com/article/20120208/NEWS01/702079815
THE CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION INDIRECTLY AFFECTED IN NEBRASKA:
http://nebraska.wish.org/
NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9D7y0omnN4
March 2, 2012
Random Flashback for Friday 3/2/12
Here's the second of five shots from 1992's 'Barefoot in the Park' at LVC's Little Theatre twenty years. Let's see if I can list the things you see here that you just don't see any more nowadays:
1) me with my long-ish curly hair (I mean, I could probably grow the front this long again -- but not all of my follicles are team players anymore, if you know what I'm sayin') ...
2) me on stage (don't get me wrong, I can still turn on the shtick from my performance days in my modern routine -- it's more that I haven't memorized lines to perform in front of others since the century started a dozen years ago) ...
3) the tie without a collared shirt look (sorry about that -- I think I was just posing during rehearsals for a "play prep in progress" photo) ...
4) a corded phone (clearly almost another character in this shot -- but the play did premier in the sixties [not our version, the original], so it's way before bag phones, and smart phones and all the i-cult products).
My oh my ... how twenty years have gone by so quickly!
March 1, 2012
Random Thought for Thursday 3/1/12
[I'm thinking about starting a chapter of student loaners anonymous, but then I guess I shouldn't publicly announce those plans on this blog or on Facebook.]
News is that total outstanding student loan debt will hit $1 trillion this year, and will burden our economy far into the future, much like the other bubbles a-bursting that led us to the recent Great Recession.
To be certain, my contribution is apparently 1/4 millionth of that overall situation, so I don't need any villagers to come busting down my door with pitchforks and torches. But I will admit to a life as a professional student with mild hoarding tendencies who only stopped collecting degrees when he maxed out of loan money eligibility.
In summary, I plan to refer to myself from now on as "Troy -- I'm one in a trillion."
FORGIVING STUDENT LOANS AS A PART OF A STIMULUS:
http://www.forgivemystudentloans.com/is-forgiving-1-trillion-dollars-in-student-loan-debt-the-right-plan/
DEBT GROWS BY $2853.88 PER SECOND, SAY SOME:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/campus-overload/post/one-trillion-dollars-student-loan-debt-builds-toward-yet-another-record/2011/10/19/gIQAbUoJyL_blog.html
SAYS CNBC, WE'VE JUST SURVIVED THE BUBBLE DECADE:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/33972968