Vegas, baby!

Not to bore you (I do that enough already) and not to rub it in (you still want me to try Peter Luger's?) but my go-round for bowling the USBC Open Championships (aka Nationals) is about a week away, and is it my fault that the tournament is in Las Vegas this year?  And Reno in each of the next two years?

Unfortunately for those travelling with me, I am a planner... once I get going, I can't stop.  I started researching airfare before Christmas.  I bet that I had most of our itinerary set before the Super Bowl.  And now with T-7 days, I am improving just about everything I touch.  (Side note; Come to think of it, I don't know what I will do on May 2 when I am home.)  Adding to the challenge of overplanning is the fact that (Sponsor's Name Here)'s Official Parents along with Jendy Wo, Revvy Al, my sister (whom I believe I've named, but I don't remember it and I don't feel like looking for it) and her friend the Slot Jockey are all coming along.

My-Sugar-Na's children's father lives in Central Iowa, so we are driving them there, then driving to Des Moines for the flight to Las Vegas.  The perfect flight for us leaves at 3:00 PM and gets to Las Vegas around 7:00 PM (conveniently about 5 minutes after my parent's flight arrives from Milwaukee).  But American Airlines had that particular flight about double the price of one that leaves (and arrives) 90 minutes later.  So I set up YAPTA.COM (short for "Your Amazing Personal Trave Assistant") to trigger an E-mail alert when that price dropped.  It worked to perfection, and for one day only, my fare was $228 RT for the flights that I wanted.  Cool beans.  Now that D-Day is approaching, I see that the 3:00 flight is already sold out.  Methinks (or maybe more appropriately Mehopes) they will be looking for volunteers to be bumped.  If the offer is right (a travel voucher to cover next year's trip to Reno and guaranteed seats on the next flight), I'd take that bump.  That's like a Vegas win before I ever get there!  Besides, the car is in my dad's name... he and my mom can sight see for a few minutes before going back to the airport to pick us up.

Now let's talk hotel.  I don't know how this happened, but a concensus was reached to stay at the Excalibur.  In February, we found a "early bird" deal, in which rooms were $36.  Then I called a casino host, and based on my play in Reno two years ago, we were offered a limo ride from the airport, and some buffet comps.  A couple of weeks ago, Jendy Wo found a new promotion, one that keeps the room rates about the same, but throws in a 2-for-1 ticket to the Tournament of Kings show for each room.  Considering that show was on our to-do list, we all jumped on it and adjusted our reservation accordingly.  Then last week, I get a letter from the Tropicana, which is right across the street from the Excalibur. (Long side note; On the way back from Reno two years ago, when I was changing planes in Las Vegas, I was bumped from my Frontier flight.  In addition to the voucher for free air travel, they booked me on a Midwest flight direct to Milwaukee that left six hours later.  One short cab ride later I was at the Tropicana - the closest low-roller casino to the airport - rollin' them bones.  I played craps and a little blackjack for four hours and went back to the airport for my flight.)  This letter from the Tropicana bemoans the fact that I haven't been there for awhile, and they are offering two nights at no charge.  Luckily for me, the available nights are while I am already in Vegas, so I contacted both hotels and made the arrangements.  So now for My-Sugar-Na and I to lodge for five days will cost about $120... total.  In other words, flight and hotel for five days is $288 each. 

Car rental was admittedly a little tough.  My parents and My-Sugar-Na and I are splitting the cost of a mini-van, and that is about $225 tax included.  We get E-mail all the time from Hotwire and Travelocity and the like with $15 a day deals in Vegas.  but somehow our dates were never included.  $225 is not bad, but usually car rentals don't match airfare.

Three of the eight of us are Vegas Virgins - my parents and Revvy Al.  So we tried to come up with an itinerary that would cover those of us who long for; Old Vegas (the Rat Pack Tribute Show at The Plaza and the Neon Museum), Themed Vegas (Tournament of Kings show at the Excalibur), Free Vegas (the Fremont St. Experience, the Bellagio Fountains, the Mirage Volcano, the Siren Show at TI), Not What You'd Think of Vegas (Atomic Testing Museum), Fad Vegas (various poker tournaments) and Dammit, This Looks Cool Vegas (the Vegas Mob tour and Haunted Vegas tour).  The average age of our group is about 45-50, so one thing that is NOT on our to-do list is to wait in line for 90 mintues at a club on a Tuesday evening to buy $400 bottles of wine.

And the food!  Restaurant.com was selling $25 gift certificates for only $4, so we snagged one for the Hash House a Go-Go (as seen on Rachel Ray's Vacation show) and one for Pampas Churrascaria (think Sabor, but Vegasier).  Throw in an unadvertiesed steak special at the Ellis Island Casino, the unadvertised steak and shrimp at the Hard Rock Casino's cafe and the Burger Bar at the Mandalay Bay, and I've got a vacation fit for a king.

Now, to find time for the actual bowling...

I am one of those who will watch A Christmas Story marathon on TBS more than once today.   Watching it last night while I wrapped presents got me thinking about the process of making that movie.  When it was on a few weeks ago, I did some internetting and read all about the movie on Wikipedia, IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes.  Without spending too much of my Christmas morning recapping those three websites, the point I want to address is that the movie was set in a floating period of 1939 through 1942 (it was intentionally not specific) in a made up city that really was Hammond, IN (a Chicago suburb).  The movie was released in 1983 - 25 years ago... and set 40 years earlier

Let's say there was no movie made in 1983 that pretended to be 1940.  Could any filmmaker do this movie in 2008 in the period of about 40 years earlier?  I don't think there would be any chance.

The beauty of A Christmas Story is that there is no hint of any conflict other than within the family as it relates to BB guns, dirty words and a lamp.   Sure, there was political and economic strife in the early '40s... Germany, Japan and Italy were trying to drag the USA into a world war, and the country was just pulling out of the Great Depression.  But had Dad been unemployed for years in the movie?  No.  Did any charachters start a preachy-discussion about Hitler or Mussolini?  No.  Were there any Jewish or Muslim kids in the school hollering that you can't call it "Christmas"?  No.

But this being 2008, I don't see any scenario where the problems of the 60s wouldn't overpower the picture.  The draft and the war in Viet Nam, free love, Haight/Asbury and the Civil Rights movement would surely find their place in the movie.  For example, while reading the paper in the morning, Dad wouldn't mention a non-descript Chicago White Sox player that had been released, he would instead complain about the damn college students protesting the war (and then the on-the-way-to-liberation Mom would comment about how horribly oppressive the draft is).  Another example is that the school would be integrated by then, and some black kid would want to know why Santa wasn't black, or instead of Flick, we would have Goldberg who gives the teacher eight gifts.

Movies just can't be fun anymore.  The conflict of a child wanting a BB gun and the world seemingly stacked against him wouldn't be enough for a movie these days.  Without sending a message (whether subtle, implied or amplified by flashing neon lights) a 21st century filmmaker couldn't pull it off.

So I am glad that A Christmas Story was made when it was, set in the period it was.  The movie still makes me smile, and has quotes ("I found that Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor - heavy, but with a touch of mellow smoothness") that are on par with classic quotes from movies like Caddyshack ("Gambling is illegal at Bushwood, sir, and I never slice") and Airplane ("Have you ever seen a grown man naked?").

Merry Christmas to all.

I voted this morning at Wilson Elementary School on 88th & Orchard.  I got in line at 6:40 AM and was about 30th in line.  By the time 7:00 rolled around there must have been 150 people in line.  I got out of there by 7:15, and the line was even longer than it was at 7:00.

I was 12th in Ward 20, I told the lady my name, and she wrote a "12" next to my name.  Then she found the page for the other book guy and waited for him to also write "12" next to my name.  God bless the election workers, but this elderly gentleman should have been nowhere near an area where speed would have been an asset.  I'm not trying to be mean, but his fingers weren't turning the pages well, and his hand was shaking when writing the "12" next to my name.  Notwithstanding the old guy trying to help America vote, but neither of these two did anything to check my address, nor did they hide the book from me.  As these two were getting their "12"s straight, I could have easily - easily - taken mental note of other people's last names and gotten back in line to vote.  I am sure they wouldn't have recognized me.  I also could have come back later when recognization would have been even more remote.

I look at the rest of the volunteers at the polling place and think of how much more organized and efficient it could have been.  For example, the line was single file on the school's playground until the doors opened at 7:00.  Then a worker came out and said that Ward 20 should use the left door and Ward 19 should use the right.  However there was no map available, and lots of people didn't know where they should be.  Nobody seemed too concerned about being shuttled from one line to the other or "skipping" somebody else in line, but the dual lines should have been set-up (with a ward map handy) at least 15 to 30 minutes before the polls opened.

Now picture a double door, with lines going into both doors.  Do you see this in your mind?  Do you now see people trying to EXIT the polling place?  I didn't have to picture it in my mind.  I did get the honor of squeezing my svelt 300ish pound frame past a lady of equal carraige through a door that she was in no hurry to vacate.  And with the speed of the checker-inners, that line wasn't moving really quickly to assist my egress.

I see the aging-but-trying-hard set running the polling place like it is an episode of The Wonder Years set in the early-70s.  But this is 2008.  Let's work smarter, not harder.  The whole set-up is due for a massive overhaul.  (Side note; please people, I am not picking on the workers.  Don't post comments that I don't want to see the old guy with shaky hands.  Don't tell me that seniors have a right to volunteer.  I get it.  But I think the entire idea of a quaint, small-town, everybody knows each other, "Gee, isn't the right to vote swell?" set up of Election Day should be abandoned at once.  I read JSOnline's accounts of long lines at the polling places, and know this can be improved.)

Let's start at the location.  Wilson School is nice, but the actual part of the building has a major bottleneck at the doorway.  If there isn't a different part of the school that would allow for exiting a different door than entering OR if there isn't a part of the school to allow the lines to be inside the building, then another location is needed. Think big and use the State Fair Park Expo Center.  Certainly the room is available for many, many wards from all over West Allis and even Milwaukee, and there wouldn't be problems both entering and exiting.  And nobody can complain about a lack of parking.

Next are the workers.  Maybe seniors can be used like a Wal-Mart greeter, but what kind of workers get excited about American civics and can also be motivated in non-financial ways?  That's right, high schoolers that can get a day off of school, earn a higher letter grade and also extra curricular credit on college applications.  Lots of high school students - pumped full of Mountain Dew and Rock Star Energy Drink  - will have the energy to work at a high pace all day long.  When a voter comes to his place in line, the voting log (hidden by the counter that would be there) would be out of site and the voter should have to state his name and address to get a ballot.

Now, about segregating the wards (or even the cities).  Think of the type of business that might have many people looking for something.  How do grocery stores do it?  Right.  Big ol' signs suspended from the ceiling or on a pole.  At Sentry, when you know exactly what you want (bread, peanut butter and milk), a quick look at the aisle listings get you to the areas you need to be.  And at checkout time, that "Express Lane" is pretty easy to find, isn't it?  Apply that logic to the polling place, and nobody should be confused about where to go to check-in.

Then we get to the on-site registration.  The fact that Wisconsin allows it is a joke, but the way it is administered is even worse.  At my site this morning, new registrants went to the front of the line.  I understand that the process takes longer, but even if you register them right away, then they should go to the back of the line.  However, in a larger venue with a clearly distinguished location for new registrants to apply, not only would they be "cutting" in front of people, but upon completion of the process the line in that person's ward would be quite short.

Vote fraud is a constant concern, and one of the objections is that there aren't enough officials to be stationed at all of the polling places.  But having many wards in one large venue would not spread election officials out too thin.

Another problem that we hear about on days with large voter turnout is in hardware... the lack of booths themselves, runing out of ballots, ballot reading machine fails, etc..  Having one large venue would certainly require numerous machines, so if one or two breakdown there would be many others on the same site so that the outage would be barely noticable.  And when it comes to reporting the precincts at the end of the day, one location reporting would allow for one large block of returns instead of having them trickle in.

Now, if the large venue couldn't be "donated" for the couple days, how could we pay for this?  Concessions!  Most polling places in schools already have bake sales so people are trained to buy brownies upon the completion of voting.  If the Expo Center won't allow their equipment to be used, you can still set up stands in many locations within the Expo Center for food, drinks, merchandise (what die-hard lefty wouldn't want to buy a donkey-logoed baseball cap?)

I realize that some of my ideas would need some fine tuning, and may not work in other parts of the city (I am thinking that the main concourse of Miller Park could be used, as could the east and west atrium of the Bradley Center, large hotel ballrooms, etc).  But overhauling the entire Election Day Experience is an idea whose time has come.

And I have two teenagers who will be told to happy to volunteer.

The thousands of you - well, make that the 18 of you that actually read my blog post from last week - may be wondering how the pre-Hallowe'en weekend worked out.  Well, do I have a story for you...

Thursday evening, (Sponsor's Name Here)'s Official Baby Brother, St. Jon, called with another potential doin' for the weekend.  I had forgotten that Downtown West Allis was holding its Meet & Treat from 10:00 AM to Noon on Saturday along W. Greenfield Ave. 

So during the best weather segment of last weekend, My-Sugar-Na and I took the daughters (Gooey and Sloppy) and met St. Jon and his wife, Strawberry Fields, and kids Jelly Bean and Mr. Cranky Pants behind City Hall to start meeting and treating.  The three girls ranged from scary to cute (clockwise from upper left, Gooey, Sloppy and Jelly Bean)...

Also in tow was Vier Pogo Squad 51, dressed as his "separated at birth" twin, Law & Order charachter Max Greevey...

Along the way, St. Jon mentioned that Jelly Bean was afraid of big, mascot type charachters.  But not too long after he said that, we found favorite Sesame Street charachter Elmo (on the left, with St. Jon in the center and Jelly Bean on the right)...

(Side note:  Nobody believes me when I tell them, but the puppeteer and voice for Elmo on Sesame Street is a 6'5" black guy.  Don't believe me either?  Read this.)

 Following closely behind on Greenfield Ave. were Strawberry Fields (pushing Mr. Cranky Pants) and My-Sugar-Na...

Overall it was a great time.  We started right about 10:00 AM and the volume was light as we headed east from S. 75th St.  But by the time we reached the turnaround on S. 70th St., there were kids everywhere!  At a couple of stores, the lines were at least 10 deep.  However, we completed the loop in about 75 minutes, and the kids got quite a haul.

After bidding adieu to St. Jon's family, we went home and plotted our course.  Still expecting bad weather all day Sunday, we let the girls talk us into driving to our previous neighborhood in Bay View for their nighttime Trick-or-Treat that Saturday evening.  (Side note:  I have lived in three different Bay View neighborhoods in my life, and some of the areas can get a little seedy.  However, there are a lot of nice homes in Bay View, especially between Howell Ave. and Pine St. just south of Oklahoma Ave.  It was in that area where I was stunned by the number of Obama yard signs.  They outnumbered McCain signs 10:1.  So the first house that we approach that has an Obama yard sign allows me to comment "Kids, get your candy here this year.  By next year if Obama wins, they won't be able to afford to give away candy".  Right next door was another Obama yard sign, and I said "Kids, get your candy her...." at which point, My-Sugar-Na says that kids dressed in costume don't care about what I think.  Sigh.  I'd better keep her occupied on November 4th, just in case.)

We get home around 8:30 Saturday night with enough candy to compete with Freese's.  Once the girls collapse into a sugar coma and go to bed, My-Sugar-Na and I discuss the fact that I only procured a cannister of 240 Tootsie Pops. Because I - as man and blogger - know everything, I assure her that due to the weather forecast, of course it will be enough candy.

So Sunday morning rolls around, and it is beautifully bright and sunny.  A little chilly, sure, but not nearly as bad as had been predicted.  Sigh.  So not only do I start worrying about my 240 suckers, but the girls start begging relentlessly about allowing them to Trick-or-Treat AGAIN.  I give in to them, and at 1:00 PM, my wife dutifully begins passing out the candy to the children.

Although the weather slowly deteriorated to cloudy and windy (and with a few rain drops for good measure), the kids kept coming...

OK, so we ran out of candy.  Sort of.  You see, two prior Trick-or-Treating events gave us lots of, um, let's call them "reinforcements".  I dutifully counted 25 suckers (Dum-dums, Charms, you name it) from both Gooey's and Sloppy's stashes, snuck them into the Tootsie Pop cannister, and we made it stretch until all children had been serviced.  And until they read this (unless they stop looking once they see their photo) they are nonethewiser.

(Side note: When Mitten was way, way younger - as in "pre-Gooey", he was to small too eat all of the Hallowe'en candy and Easter candy that he received.  One particular year we ran out of candy for handing out, so we actually went into the cannister of Easter and the previous year's Trick-or-Treat candy that we never finished [actually, I think we had plum forgot about it until it was "go" time].  At least the re-candying we did Sunday afternoon was only a day old instead of that year old stuff!)

Now with that said, why isn't Trick-or-Treat on Hallowe'en Night?  It worked out great in Bay View, and also in the Wedgewood Park neighborhood (in which I lived in a prior life) where Trick-or-Treating is at night.  It is way cooler than on a Sunday afternoon.

There will be one last event for My-Sugar-Na and Vier Pogo Squad 51, that would be the "Howl at the Moon Dog Walk" in New Berlin on Wednesday, October 29th @ 6:30 PM.  Our own Max Greevey will hope to win the costume contest.

I am trying to like my kids more (today, at least).

When I was growing up, the worst thing about a cold day for trick-or-treat was having to wear a big winter coat over that wonderful Superman costume that had been handcrafted by some machine in China and purchased at the Chase Avenue K-Mart.  As I grew up, that is one of those images that is kind of depressing.... some parent spent good money on a cosutme - or worse, put hours and hours of love and care into a costume - that would be hidden by a jacket and mittens.

Now for some reason, as I go through the mental file of taking my kids trick-or-treating as they grew up, I remember scads of unseasonably warm, sunny days.  Last year, I believe, was a nice day (I remember walking to Walgreens for the emergency second supply of candy without any jacket).  I remember when Mitten was about six or seven, our Wedgewood Park neighborhood had a nighttime trick-or-treat, and we invited most of Mitten's class for trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  While the moms took the kids, the fathers sat on our front porch drinking beer and handing out the candy.  If it were cold, I don't know if we would have been outside...most likely we would have been in the basement ignoring the doorbell ringing.

Fast forward to this season.  Both of our girls, Gooey and Sloppy, are getting excited about Halloween coming up.  Both spent an unusual amount of time mentally designing their costumes.  I know My-Sugar-Na purchased Sloppy's costume a couple of weeks ago, I believe that Gooey got her's this week.  Both can't wait for West Allis'ses trick-or-treat this Sunday.

And last night the Weatherdick on the Weatherdeck (sorry, I can't take credit for that one... Dave Berkman had called him that for years when he wrote for the Shepard Express) said that it would be cold, rainy and possibly snowy during the day on Sunday.  My first thought was that there is no way they are going out without jackets.  My second thought was that in that weather, there is no way I am sitting outside handing out candy.

Thank goodness for third thoughts.  I think we're going to skip trick-or-treating this year, and instead take the girls - in costume - to varous Hallowe'en activites in the area.  Although I am still reviewing this list, it looks like we might hit the Zoo on Saturday for their Halloween Trick-or-Treat Spooktacular as the weather Saturday shouldn't be TOO bad.  Then on Sunday, we might take in Not-So-Scary Halloween at the Betty Brinn Museum.  Then just to get one final use out of those costumes, we might go on Wednesday to the Howl at the Moon Dog Walk in New Berlin. 

I'm sure Vier Pogo Squad 51 would get a kick out of that.

What a silly question.  Of course I saw Mamma Mia! this past weekend and not Batman.  Are you daft for thinking otherwise?

Everybody is Ohhh'ing and Ahhh'ing Batman's record setting weekend, and based on the critics opinions, there is a reason for it.  Meanwhile, Mamma Mia! was a distant, distant second this weekend (with about 1/7 of the attendance) and the critics were far more iffy about this movie.

I learned a long time ago that I am not a science fiction fan.  I loved Batman growing up... the Adam West version.  In the mid-80s I bought the paperback book companion to the show.  I saw Michael Keaton's Batman in 1989 and fell asleep in the theater.  In the 20 years since, I haven't seen another Batman movie, as each one has gotten darker (both in plot and screen visuals).  I have also long since tired of big explosions / special effects / camera tricks / have you seen The Matrix? / CGI video games, etc.  When the climax of a movie is 50% animation, it's like a dead ball... it stops everything.  My mind (and sometimes my mouth) says "Come on, now"... then I lose focus on what I am watching

An example?  In Indiana Jones and Company Travel to South America to Send an Alien Skull Back to Planet Rencar, there is a jeep chase through a jungle, around trees and over bumpy terrain in which both jeeps travel side - by - side for about 213 miles with characters standing on the hood and seats to battle.  That scene, which clocked in at about 43 minutes, shut me off for the rest of the movie. 

It is one thing to suspend belief and get lost in a movie.  It is another altogether to disobey the laws of physics and computer animation for the sake of making a movie important enough to tie into a Burger King sandwich.

The former brings me back to Mamma Mia.  I saw the show in Las Vegas in 2005, and my parents had seen it in May on Broadway (hours before I started diving into my 3/4# rueben sandwich), so My-Sugar-Na and I went with them to see the show at the Palladium at the Majestic Theater.  You have to suspend belief when - to the tune of "Dancing Queen" - Christine Baranski is singing into a stick of deodorant.  You can get lost in a movie when Pierce Brosnan throws out a vocal chord trying (in vain) to get through "SOS".  Mamma Mia! is fun.  And for $50 (tickets and dinner), I sure want to have fun... not to ponder that potential grey area between good and evil.

Besides, look at the supporting players... You have the super-hot Amanda Seyfried in a bathing suit doing a cat walk across the beach versus a character with bad make-up played by a guy that wasn't smart enough to stay alive until the movie premier.

And you're surprised I chose Mamma Mia over Batman?

The other day, when I posted about Shakey's closing, I didn't know where I wanted to go with it.   Did I want to go down memory lane?  Did I want to talk about how I currently prefer Shakey's way more than Old Country Buffet?  Did I want to talk about iconic businesses closing?  Did I want to scold somebody (not sure who) about "other business interests"... I mean, what the hell does that mean, and why did the little blurb in West Allis Now (it certainly wasn't an article or story) not press that question?  Apparently sensing this blog entry coming, I see that they did post another couple of paragraphs the other day.

But when it came right down to it, the title that I posted said it all.  Nothing more needed to be said.

That didn't stop me from researching the other angles that I had mentioned above.  After spending too much time on this over the weekend, I just found too much of a gold mine on-line that I couldn't keep to myself (Carol, you missed the boat.  This one is all mine now!)  So that I don't spend all day summarizing what you can find by clicking the link, I won't actually write much about each one below.  But if you click the links you will find that you could spend hours reliving your childhood (or teen years, etc.)... make sure you follow the other links contained on each page!

Farrell's lasted at Southridge until the mid-80s.  But reading this, it is clear that the chain was in trouble for almost ten years before it closed.  Baker's Ice Cream Parlor in New Berlin tried to recreate the fun of Farrell's, but that is gone now, too.

Dutchland Dairy was a little before my time... I barely remember the one in West Allis on Lincoln Ave. and the location in Cudahy on Packard Ave.  I mostly remember driving past those locations and listening to (Sponsor's Name Here)'s Official Father prattle on discuss eating there.

Allis Chalmers was the place to work earlier in this centruy.  Now nobody knows what the company is or does.

Did I miss your favorite?  Check this out from Retro Milwaukee... and do right by yourself and check all nine pages of memories!

Some time in 2007, (Sponsor's Name Here)'s Official Daughter, Gooey, and (Sponsor's Name Here)'s Official Stepdaughter, Sloppy, concocted Cheer Day.  Conveniently held in conjunction with Sloppy's birthday party, Cheer Day was to be a day when the two girls thrilled us with their repartee of cheers and dances.  However, Gooey had broken her arm in the week leading up to Cheer Day, and on the big day wasn't feeling well.  In other words, the First Annual Cheer Day fizzled.

About two days after the first Cheer Day, the girls started planning the Second Annual Cheer Day... which ended up being today (Saturday 6-7).  Amazingly coincidentally, today was Sloppy's birthday, so a grand gala celebration was in order.  I honestly have to admire the two girls dedication.  Every conversation out of their mouth centered around Cheer Day... even the conversations at Halloween, Christmas, etc.  They planned a menu, a schedule, games and - of course - the cheers.

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Below, please relive Cheer Day with us in pictures.  First up is the preparation of the house, with Knobbleknees and Gooey getting the fruit platter ready, and (Sponsor's Name Here)'s Official Stepson, Grizzly showing off his sporty summer doo.

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Next up is Grandma, who apparently really loves the late Spunky the Weather Dog's owner.  That red blob on the radar is heading our way... better get Cheer Day started!

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You can already see the sky turning Ominously Dark (it'll cost Crayola a pretty penny to use that color name).  Undaunted, the ladies continue their routine.  It is very clear that they did a lot of practice.

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A standing room only crowd is in attendance.  Out of the range of the camera is Knobbleknees, who is dancing like a groupie at a rock concert.

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The last cheer of the afternoon included the assistant from the audience.  This time, sorta-sister Jendy Wo filled that role.

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Some of the family members took shelter from the Tornado Warning in the basement.  When not taking the photos, (Sponsor's Name Here) was standing on the front porch, watching the storm pass.

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Some families, when riding out the storm in the basement, do arts and crafts to pass the time.  Or pray.  But not the James family.  Below is (Sponsor's Name Here)'s Official Son, Mitten and Mr. Uncie playing a foosball match against Knobbleknees and My-Sugar-Na.

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Finally, since it WAS Sloppy's birthday, everybody gathered up the gumption to go back upstairs, sing Happy Birthday to The Sloppy One, and partake in the Roundy's Birthday Bounty (aka a cake and ice cream from Pick N Save).

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All in all, it was a great day... one of those days that you look back on in 25 years, and remember how great it is to have a big family.  With that said, there is a chance that the Third Annual Cheer Day in 2009 might be expanded.  If my schedule is accurate, we will be selling out the State Fair Grandstand by 2014, Miller Park by 2018, and world domination by 2027.

Long version (with photos), see next post. 

Short version, see below...

Thursday - Grayline Downtown loop.  Cool.  Lombardi's.  Where's toppings?  Great crust.  First pizza place in USA.  Gray's Papaya.  Read long version.  Grayline Night Loop.  Way, way cool.  Double decker. Lights. Brooklyn Bridge.  Peep show on walk back to Penn Station?  Nope.  My-Sugar-Na was along.

Friday - Raw windy rainy yukky day.  Statue of Liberty. Not exciting.  Ellis Island. Very interesting.  Too Long.  Tired.  Sore.  Cold.  Wet.  Hungry.  Gray's Papaya.  Read long version.  Dave & Busters is adult Chuck E. Cheese.  Meh.

Saturday - Nice day.  Missed train from Central Islip.  Only 2 hours in Manhattan.  Run, My-Sugar-Na.  Run.  Labor dispute on Grayline bus.  Zip through M&M Store.  Gray's Papaya.  Read long version.  Back to Long Island.  Mr. Uncie's wedding got in the way.  Long ride to boat.  Cold appetizers.  Nice boat ride.  I was Belle of the Ball.  Great time ('xcept for food).  Back to Dave & Busters w/ sorta-sister.  Had foo-foo drink in stem glass.  Stem broke.  Free drink!

Sunday - $70 per couple for Mother's Day brunch?  Back to Manhattan.  My-Sugar-Na.  Shoe blow out.  Payless is there.  New shoes $13.  No tax.  Went to OTB.  Lost $4.  Peed at OTB.  Sopranos tour through NJ worth $44 each.  Pic taken with Vito.  Stood on steps where Christphuh gets shot.  Satriale's torn down.  Will become "Soprano Condominiums".  Had onion rings at Halston's.  Ordered Cookie Dough ice cream at Halston's.  Got vanilla with hint of Oreo.  Sat in Tony's seat at Bada-Bing.  Back to Manhattan.  Top of Empire State Building.  Nice view.  Gotta buy map or audio tour.  Sucks.  But love capitalism.  Carnegie Deli.  One pound Reuben sammich $22.  Finished 3/4 of it.  Back to Long Island.  An hour to pack?

Monday -  Gotta go home.  Last trip on Long Island Railroad.  Bus to LaGuardia.  Plane late.  Will miss connection to Des Moines.  What?  Read long version.  Home at 2:00 PM.  Got dogs from kennel.  $200 for boarding?  Anyone wanna buy a dog or two before July?

Tuesday -  What?  Vacation ended Monday.  Connecting flight to Des Moines the next day.  Why Des Moines?  Read long version.  My-Sugar-Na watching Survivor.  Yawn.  Another Yawn.  Blogging instead.  You're up to date.

Aimless, middle-of-the-night surfing has led me to some classic broadcast NFL openings.

First, I found an early-70s opening to ABC Monday Night Football (warning, only watch this if tripping on acid).

Next is the late-70s opening to CBS NFL Today.  This is from right about the time I started watching football.

Then I found an early-80s CBS "NFL Today".  More hi-techhie, no?

Later in the 80s, ABC's Monday Night Football opening looked like this.

In the early 90s, ABC produced the ultimate opening for their 25th season. 

Unfortunatly in the 15 or so years since this, ABC (and now ESPN) has bastardized this to where it is almost unrecognizable.  Overproduced, too many sounds, words that sound made-up along the way all helped to screw up a good thing.

Bed time.  Catch ya later for MLB and NBA openings!

(Side note:  I can't help it.  "You'll see the best in basketball, when you watch the NBA... when you watch the NBA on CBS!"  I started singing it in my head before I even found the clip.  Now I am going to be humming it in my head, and I'll never get to sleep!)

Belated Happy birthday Sis, two years younger than me, but somehow she is quite old, while I am quite distinguished... Can someone explain that with the prices of corn and wheat, fuel, steel and copper - as well as a down housing market and scads of homeowners nearing foreclosure - how we aren't headed for a massive recession?... The Michael Buble concert on Tuesday night was way cool... My-Sugar-Na really liked Buble's opening act, Naturally 7, an a capella soul group... Since my January surgery I have been cold a lot... My elbow isn't at 100%, yet (gettin' a little worried), and thanks for asking... Derrick saved the day Wednesday... All four of my kids are well past middle age if they don't get their schtick together... My home computer won't let me blog.  Mark?... Speaking of New York City, I am flying into LaGuardia and staying in Central Islip on Long Island and just learned that Long Island may as well be on a different planet than Manhattan... No, My-Sugar-Na won't let me eat my way through New York; "The Port Authority Bus Terminal is just ONE of the sights I came to see"... I am more excited at going to Albuquerque in July... XM Radio doesn't play enough Metallica, but they are too giddy about U2 and Lenny Kravitz... If NASCAR didn't have sponsorships, left turns or sheep, it would be a park and ride... This is underrated... So is this... Guess what, Time Warner's new Navigator software stinks... Eight more months until Christmas...  The office biddies are fretting about the IBM Selectric that isn't working right, apparently it is 1978 in that end of the office...  In February, I had a trivia question and nobody even hazarded tried to guess the answer of Henry Aaron and Warren Spahn... I couldn't have said it better myself... I broke the driver's seat in my car, I now have a rocking chair... Check the playlist, then get yourself Paul Anka's "Rock Swings" CD... I'd like our dogs better if they didn't bark... The last night of bowling league was last night, I haven't bowled competitively since November and I finally get paid.... Ciao.

John Paul Dellacamera is a soccer announcer.  Maybe it falls into the category of "You never forget your first", but he is the easy choice as my favorite soccer announcer.

I first came across him in the mid 1980s, when I would watch the original Major Indoor Soccer League games on ESPN.  Dellacamera was usually working the games with Seamus Malin, and their chemistry was top notch.

When the original MISL folded in 1991, Dellacamera kind of disappeared.  I am sure he did some broadcasting somewhere, but he resurfaced when Major League Soccer formed in 1996.  I believe he was the broadcaster with the MSG Network for the New York/New Jersey MetroStars (now known as Red Bull New York - Did you read my post from earlier this week?).  But he also did some work on ESPN's MLS broadcasts.  Unfortunately, he always seemed to be on the second team.

He did broadcast some of the 2006 World Cup games, but I don't know if he was in Germany, or from a studio in Bristol, CT.

Over the past few years, ESPN's MLS broadcasts have had multiple changes to the play-by-play guy.  There has been Jack Edwards, Rob Stone (who now butchers the PBA broadcasts on ESPN), and Dave O'Brein (who does a far better job on ESPN as a baseball guy).  During this past offseason, however, ESPN and MLS got their heads out of their collective rears and assigned John Paul Dellacamera as the #1 guy on this year's broadcasts.

Dellacamera, teamed with former US National Team star John Harkes, still has that smooth voice from 25 years ago.  He knows when to raise his voice when the situation calls for it, knows the history of the players and teams and brings Harkes into the conversation when the game starts to slow down.  Harkes himself is a technician of the game, and while he may talk over the heads of the "common Joe" watching the game, in reality there aren't any "common Joe's" watching soccer on a Thursday night, so it works out fine.

So the next time you find yourself watching ESPN2 on a Thursday night, take in and enjoy the sounds of a classy, professional play-by-play guy.

I joined my first Fantasy Football League in 1993 (while I was working at the now-evil USBC, then called the American Bowling Congress).  One guy in the league had a wife who owned a business, and his team was named for his wife's business.  Seeing that, when asked what name I wanted, I said that I didn't have a corporate sponsor, yet, so I would take (Sponsor's Name Here).  Nobody much got it then.

Fast forward 15 years, and for a few days last winter, as a gag, I had asked the editor of the MyCommunityNOWs to change my blog name to Tomassino Italia' Presents Michael James' Blog.  It was cute and got a few comments for me, but I don't know if my blog reaches enough people for the full message to sink in.  Now, nobody notices it.

In the span of 15 years, we have gone from a society in which product placement and corporate sponsorship's happened and were a big deal, to a society that doesn't even notice that most school cafeterias get money from Coca-Cola or Pepsi to install a vending machine.

Years ago, TV shows had the corporate sponsors in the name of the show, for example, the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports.  In the '70s, TV movies were often preceded with "Hallmark Hall of Fame Presents:...". 

Remember in 1992, when the Milwaukee Brewers (along with the Montreal Expos and Detroit Tigers) put rotating advertising boards behind home plate in their stadiums?  Such was the outcry!  People were horrified because these stadiums were desecrated with this advertising.  Now, such teams with licenses to print money like the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees also have this type of advertising.  It is so commonplace that the FOX network superimposes advertising in the studio.  At the games, you see a green screen.  On TV, however, might be an advertisement for the all-new Simpsons this weekend.  It is now expected.  Neilson even monitors that.

And stadium naming rights, don't get me started.

When will it end?  At what point will people wake up and see that the world is being overrun by advertising?  Now don't get me wrong... I am all Mr. Free Market, and I wouldn't stop MLB from selling advertising on baseball bats and home plate.  But part of that free market is the possibility of going too far and screwing up a good thing.  Americans (without the help of government) can start fighting back, if they choose, and start boycotting the companies with the offending advertising.

In researching the links, I came across this.  I don't even know what to say, but if this happened four years ago...

Until that point, my blog name - as always - is for sale to the highest bidder.

Yes, I know the Super Bowl (Side note - The MVP selection was a crock.  David Tyree caught one of the two TDs, and made the catch that saved the game for the Giants, and instead a marketing machine was named MVP) was just played yesterday, but on Saturday, I went to Long's Wong and attended a viewing of Game 4 of the 1957 World Series (the "Nippy Jones" game).

The Ken Keltner chapter of SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) and the Milwaukee Braves Historical Association are both very heavy into the history of the Milwaukee Braves.  Overall, the groups do a lot of research projects pertaining to baseball and the Milwaukee Braves.

Last February, I was unable to attend the showing of Game 7 of the 1957 series.  But knowing that Game 4 was the most exciting game, when I heard that it was to be shown, I made sure I scheduled my life around it.

While the game progressed, (Sponsor's Name Here)'s Official Son, Mitten, myself, my good friend - I'll call him John from New Berlin, and others within ear shot all delivered commentary, trivia and other noticements.  For example...

• WTMJ-TV had provided the cameramen and technicians for the NBC broadcast, and Game 4 was only the second game (with Game 3 being the first) that had the centerfield camera that has become the standard for watching each pitch.  WTMJ-TV had also placed a camera in the first row of seats behind home plate at County Stadium that offered a phenomenal view of Perini's Woods.  Though I wasn't crazy about the camera angle for baseball reasons, it did offer a perspective that you don't often see these days.
• The televised broadcast featured no replays, and the only graphics were big, block letters across the screen as a player came up to bat.  Replays are nice when done in moderation.  Believe it or not, I did miss the "Fox Box", giving the score, inning, and count.
• About three pitches all day were in the dirt.  Curve balls started shoulder high and crossed the plate between the knees and waist.
• In the top of the 9th inning, the Braves were leading 4-1 and Warren Spahn was still in the game.  Spahn had two runners on and the tying run at the plate.  NBC showed Ernie Johnson up in the bullpen, and Mel Allen stated "Johnson is throwing again, in case Spahn gets into trouble".  Maybe this is easy to say 51 years later, but if your starting pitcher laboring in the 9th inning with the tying run at the plate in the World Series isn't considered trouble, I am not sure what is.
• The play in which Vernal "Nippy" Jones got hit by the pitch in the 10th inning was Jones' last major league plate appearance.
• As opposed to baseball broadcasts these days, the parabolic microphones did not pick up the CD spinner playing snippets of "We Will Rock You", or "Centerfield", or "Car Wash" or a Briggs and Stratton lawn mower sound extorting the fans to make noise.  (What?  Those didn't exist in 1957?  And yet, the Braves were still able to win a game in extra innings?  And the crowd got excited on their own?  Sheesh, I didn't think that was possible.  Well if the crowds in 1957 were smart enough to know when to cheer, and the players were smart enough to know that a clutch base hit was needed, why aren't crowds and players in 2007 able to do that?)
• There were a couple of commericals that were shown.  Once was of a very un-camera-friendly Henry Aaron talking about how the new Gilette razor gave him a comfortable shave.  Way, way cool.  Another was Art Linkletter pitching hair spray, complete with a pretty model spraying her hair, and combing it into style.  Then (and this must have been a problem in 1957) she mussed up her hair, and with a little water and a comb, she was able to re-style her hair.  The problem is that I don't remember the product name.  My-Sugar-Na has told me that if you don't remember the brand in a commercial, then it wasn't meant for you.  Quite true in this instance.
• Who were the only two Braves players to have a home run in 17 consecutive seasons?  For clarification, this is not specifically a Milwaukee Braves question, as the Braves did not play here for 17 seasons.  (Take a guess in the comment section.  John, Bob, and Rick and Mitten aren't allowed to post the answer). 
• As long as we are at it, Sports Illustrated's first issue featured the Braves' Eddie Mathews and Milwaukee County Stadium on the cover.  What pitcher gave up that home run to Mathews?

I can't wait to see what game they come up with next February.

Maybe a check into some of the lists (lower right of this page, but conveniently linked in this post) would give us an idea...

Al's Ramblings - This is my favorite Brewers info blog.  The updates are quick and an easy read, and usually the links contained within do the talking.  I like this blog even though I am in complete disagreement about the Brewers rise and fall of last season (Al says that the 24-10 start, or the slide in August are small cross-sections of a season, and the final record is almost always what it deserves to be.  I say that the 24-10 start shows how good the team can be, and the slide in August was a red flag that needed immediate attention.)

Professional Bowlers Association (specifically, the Message Boards) - These can be a lot of fun, like the discussion about the olden days, they can be serious, like discussion of the PBA Experience leagues, or (like 90% of the discussions), they can be a mystifying arguement where everybody will argue and contradict each other.  These are the most entertaining.

Pro Football Weekly - Simply, in my opinion, the best source of football news.  Not much hype, very few puff pieces, just football talk.  Quite a departure from ESPN.com, where they get off on being silly (Side note, great thing ESPN does, though, by publishing an ombudsman.  Too bad they don't pay attention to her.)

Wizard of Odds - Some people think I talk about gambling too much.  But I do it for two reasons; (A) I enjoy it, and (B) so do billions of other people.  Why are casinos going up and expanding faster than anything else?  With that said, if I am going to gamble my precious money, I want to go into a casino armed with as much information as possible.  The Wizard of Odds has more info on any game than any one can hope to digest (you've got to try to read the optimum Final Jeopardy strategy), but spend a couple of hours surfing this site and you are bound to find something to give you an edge the next time you go out to gamble.

Las Vegas Casino Death Watch - Just that... fans of "Old Vegas" won't be able to get enough of this.  Do a complete read.

Cheapo Vegas (and the related Cheapo Reno) - Even if you have only been to Las Vegas or Reno once or twice, it is fun reading these reviews of hotels, casinos and restaurants.

Big Soccer (specifically MISL and Indoor Forum) - For better or worse, the Milwaukee Wave and the MISL are hurting for media attention, and the best way to read up on the teams, players and the league are through the keyboards of othe fans.

Our Sports Central (specifically the Soccer portion) - Our Sports Central focuses on minor league sports, and links easily to the leagues and their websites, as well as linking to any and all related newspaper articles.  This comes in handy when the Wave plays a game out of town.  We might get a few sentences in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, but this site handily links me to the opposing team's more complete game article.

Czabe.com - Steve Czaban has a morning show on Fox Sports Radio, does a 30-minute sports segment on the Bob and Brian show on 102.9 "The Hog", writes a weekly column on OnMilwaukee.com and has a daily sports blog which is a nice five-minute way to start each morning.

UniWatch - C'mon, what do you expect?  The subtitle for this site is "The obsessive study of athletics aesthetics".  For a small fee, you can join the club as someone who "Get's It".  I "Get It".

The Amazing Race Sucks - Actually, I quite enjoy the show.  So much so, that there are three sets of required reading each week.  First is the interview with that week's Philiminated contestants.  Then during the week, a "regular" contributor posts a comical (often hilarious) review of the previous show.  Then before the next show, a very thoughtful discussion of the racer's edits... and trying to gleen clues as to who might be elminated next.

The Baby Name Wizard - Great fun to type in name after name after name after name after name to see the rise in fall in poularity (try William, Mortimer, Dakota and Conner.)

The Transport Company - Why-oh-why am I fascinated with busses?  Trust me, I ain't a green freak.  I believe it was because my parents would send me on bus trips around town to get rid of me (and I had to walk to the bus stop, barefoot, uphill - both ways).  That got me used to them to the point where, if possible, I would take the bus to the next door neighbor's house to borrow a cup of sugar.  But really, who can resist looking at photos of busses over the last 40 years?  It is like a window to the past.  Quick, without cheating... where was this picture taken?  This one is a gold mine.  I am getting giddy just looking at the photos!

Game Show Convention Center - Game show news!  Granted, a recent site revamp made it more clumsy than it used to be, where where else can you learn that 1 vs. 100 is coming back soon, or that Regis Philbin has been signed on to host Million Dollar Password?

Industrious clock - More accurate than your watch, I assure you.

Adomiable Penguin Fungo - How far can you hit the penguin?  Keep trying.  My record is about 325.

Roadside Peek - This is along the lines as reading about old Vegas or old busses.  When I first found this site, I spent hours looking at old road signs of bowling alleys, motels, restaurants, gas stations, etc.

Keep checking the side links, as I add more as I find them.

As we all know, everybody goes mental over the "miles per gallon" of his or her car.  Car companies tout their mileage estimates.  Consumer Reports and various other websites say that by keeping your car tuned up and tires inflated, you can increase your gas mileage.

Great.  But I don't have gas mileage in my wallet (Side note, I don't actually carry a wallet.  My duff is big enough without another two protruding inches.)

So I've been using the similar but far more useful "Miles per Dollar" (or M/$) when budgeting for my car.  The concept is brutally simple... If I get 300 miles on 10 gallons of gas, my result is 30 MPG.  However, if it costs me $30.49 (10 gals @ $3.049/gal) to get those 300 miles, my "M/$" is 9.84

In real life, I can get about 27 MPG in my ‘98 Ford Escort (Yeah, I said '98.  I like retro.)  Also, with the cost of gas... especially with the wild price swings, I don't want to spend the $35 to fill my tank.  I generally put in $20 in my tank once a week.  I reset the trip indicator and see if I can get to 200 miles. I can't these days.  A few months ago when gas was around $2.79, I did get 10 M/$.  Now of course, it is back down to about 8.85 M/$.

But with the newly invented M/$ statistic, I can actually see how much it costs to go places (like work... it costs $1.51 to go the 13.4 miles to work).  My wife's SUV (Suburban Ussault Vehicle) gets 5.57 M/$, so it costs me $2.40 to take the truck to work.

I can tell (Sponsor's Name Here)'s Official Step-kids how much it will cost to drive my car the 175 miles to Dubuque ($19.77) to drop them off for a trip to visit their father (then I will mention that we will have to drive back, then to Dubuque again to pick them up, and back again, for a grand total of $79.07.)  And that's in the "crappy car".  For them to ride in style halfway to their dad's house, the entire set of there-and-backs would be a hefty $125.59.  I wonder if they have enough aluminum cans for that.

Some days are just made for surfing the internet.  With the Bears/Oakland tied 3-3, and Cinti beating Balto 6-0, this was the day.