Gone too soon

Good Riddance!!

Thank God this year is over! 2007 is a year I'd like to forget, but will one that will be etched in our minds forever. If you've read some of the previous enteries, You'll understand why it was

a bad year for us. But, there is always the hope that 2008 will be a great year. So ring out the old and ring in the new!!

Why So Serious?

I haven't seen "I am Legend" yet, but I heard they show

a trailer for "The Dark Knight" before the movie.

If you go here:http://www.atasteforthetheatrical.com/

You'll not only get to see it, You can download it as well.

I did and watched the damned thing more than I can count.

Since I live in Corn County USA, We do not have an IMAX

theatre here,because if you go see "I am Legend" you'll be

treated to a 6 minute preview featuring The Joker. I was

able to catch it on youtube (Some one snuck a camera in

the theatre and filmed it) and I gotta say I was blown away by it. If you go to youtube

just type "Dark Knight Prologue". But hurry, they're taking them down faster than they can post 'em!!

Christmas is coming!!

The countdown is on and Santa's getting ready!

Only 7 days till Christmas. Thankfully, we've finished our shopping and my wife has the presents

wrapped up and ready to go. For some really good

Christmas music, check out Deacon's website

http://deaconblues1103xmas.blogspot.com/

You're sure to find something that will get

you into the mood if your still humbugging (that sound a bit dirty, doesn't it?)!!!

Black Friday!!!

Well another Thanksgiving full of football, turkey & crap I'd never eat any other day is over. Thursday Night my wife an I TRIED to map out some kinda plan of attack for Friday which is known as Black Friday( I worked in retail for years, believe me, we had a much different name for it). We got up at 3:20 a.m. and headed to our first store which was open at 4 a.m.

The parking lot was full and the line to get in the store was un-godly! They were only going to let people in through one set of doors and there had to be over 300 people wanting to get in. I got pissed and said to hell with this, we'll come back later ( and we did). On to our next store which was much smoother. Then at Target, my wife about got into a fight with some dumb lady who cut in front of while waiting to check-out. Now the line was clear to the back of the store and we were pretty far back. This goofy lady's excuse was she wasn't going to go back there!! GRRR!! I do remember one year I worked at Kohl's, I had a line waiting to be checked out, alright fine. Well some jackass decided he was to be before all those who waited and jumped in front of the lady who was next. Slapped a calculator and a $100 bill on the counter and said "I want this and I'm in a hurry!". I was like you know all of these people have been waiting before you, you need to get in the back of the line. He yelled a wonderful name at me and said no. I took his $100 bill and crumpled it in his face and took the calculater and tossed it and told him "back of the line!" His face was so red he just boiled over. he threatened to get the manager. I told him to please do and when were both escorted out of the store, I would kick his ass. Then the cool thing was all those people who were waiting cheered me and scared him off! Then one year when I worked at Shop-Ko, I helped the cashier by bagging merchandise. Well we had one lady who was just having a bad day and just gave the cashier Rena, who I was helping, a real bad time for no reason at all. I tried to defuse it but to no avail. This stupid lady had Rena in tears and the manager had to get her off the register for awhile to calm her down. But in a bit of poetic justice. The next day we were in line at Wal-Mart, in line was this same lady was giving the cashier a hard time. The cashier was about to burst into tears until I stepped in and said "Don't worry about her, she was mean to us yesterday at Shop-Ko". She looked at me and just froze and never said a damned word the rest of the time! I swear this is my last go round doing this crap, but I get sucked back into it anyway. The good news was we pretty much finished up our shopping in that one day.

The Dark Knight Returns

I am a huge Batfanatic! I grew up in the sixties glued to the television, sitting in my little rocking chair and wearing my Batman cape, watching Batman. Soon I started collecting the comics. In the seventies I watched Superfriends on Saturday Morning and the various Batman cartoons that were made by Filmation. Even as I grew older and got married, I couldn't shake it. My wife could not understand my glee in 1989 when Tim Burton's Batman movie came out or when I was mad as hell over the stinkfest Batman & Robin movie that came out with George Clooney. All hope was dashed for any other Batman movies after Joel Schumaker made a mockery of the legend. But when Batman Begins came out, I was blown away and became a kid again. If there is one thing I look forward to in 2008, it's the new Batman movie. Plus, it has my favorite Batman villian The Joker. If these posters that leaked out are real, then they are pretty damned cool. I love The Joker poster.

Let's get in the spirit.

Yes it's only 6 weeks away, and ready or not, Christmas is coming. My son is freaking out on getting a Playstation 3 for Christmas, will he get one? Here's where my favorite part comes in. Much to my wife's dismay I love teasing him on if he's going to get something or not. That's part of the suprise come Christmas morning to see what you got. I remember when I was 12, I snuck around and found my presents before my Mom had to chance to wrap them. It was great when I found them but come Christmas morn I had no real joy because I knew what everything was. That was the first and last time I ever did that! So anyway to help us prepare for the season, here is some Frank to enjoy...http://sharebee.com/10d3e81f

What a rough year

It's been a while since I've blogged on my site, but 2007 has been a rough and heartbreaking year. It started in January with the death of our beloved dog, then many friends that we knew passed away including an old boss of mine, Rich Lamsargis. Rich was a great guy who was quick with a joke and a die-hard Cardinals fan who never failed to tell me how bad my Chicago Cubs were. But Rich was kind of a mentor who instilled work ethics in me and pushed me harder because He knew I could do it. Rich is missed by many, including his wife and daughter. Then on April 18th, my Mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer and was given 8-10 months to live. You know, when they give you a time frame, you really hope and pray that they're wrong and that the odds can be beaten. But 6 months to the date, on October 18th, My Mother-in-law lost her bout with cancer. JoAnn was a brave woman and taught me much in that time. She relied on her faith and when things were starting to go bad, She questioned God, but she never blamed him or stopped loving him. In June, I thought my wife was having a heart attack! When we took her to the ER they found she had fluid built up around her heart. They operated and drained the fluid. She's doing fine now, but just dealing with the loss of her Mother. I swear, my wife has been through more crap than Job. But like her Mother, she refuses to blame God. I've never seen anyone as devoted as my wife. When I get discouraged, she's there to put me straight.
I know the holidays will be tough this year, but I know we'll get through it together. My wife's sister is having a baby next year, so there is hope that 2008 will be filled with wonderful promises.

Ode To Maxwell

Well, this weekend started pretty weird with an ice storm warning being posted in our area
Friday night and extended until Monday morning, thankfully Mother Nature took it easy on
us and nothing happened. Sunday the Bears beat Seattle in OT & I was happy...but that was
to be short lived. Our Dog, who had been acting goofy the past few weeks took a turn for the
worse. Monday night we had to put him down. Maxwell was 16 ( or 112 in dog years), one of those "mexican rat dogs" with a heart of gold and and inclined to get himself in trouble. My
wife took it really hard as Max was her "baby", I didn't cry...until today. Thoughts of Max
rush through my head, I try to remember the goofy ass things he did or the loving he wanted
when he would jump on your lap and curl up and want you to pet him. Or when you said
"Bedtime" and he'd race you to the bed. When my wife would come home from work all I
had to say was "Mommy's home!" and he'd run to the back door waiting for her with his tail
wagging. I keep feeling guilty "did we do the right thing?", the vet seemed to think so and
didn't think he'd make it. He was suffering & I was powerless to do anything about it. Right
now my wife & son & I are in mourning over our family pet. R.I.P. Maxwell, We'll miss you.

Gaze into the crystal ball

Well 2007 is here with it's promise of a new year. My Bears ended on a sour note by getting beat by the Packers (much to the delight of my Farve loving wife). Now they play Seattle in their opening playoff game, Nervous? Sure, but that's what being a Chicago fan is all about. With the Cubs spending money left and right like a business man in Las Vegas, I know that they will be better than last year, hell, Sports Illustrated thinks they have improved by at least 20 games, but is it enough? Will I finally get to see that Cubs world series or am I doomed? Hope springs eternal every year. Here's hoping Andre Dawson makes it to the HoF!!!

Ready for the New Year

Well another year has come and gone. As I reflect on 2006 I found that it was a very strange year. We dealt with 4 tornadoes, 2 on March 12th and 2 more on April 2nd (no damage to our house), My wife had surgery in June ( no cancer!) another bad storm in July( minor damage, nice insurance settlement) and my wife also got her notice at work ( 2 weeks before her release, she was hired in a different department). It was kinda like "even steven", something bad happened, but then something good happen to even it out. Here's hoping 2007 will be a great year and I hope you and yours have a Happy New Year!

Christmas is coming!!!

Good Lord, I have been busy. Working 2 jobs can kill you. But I'm starting to get into a nice
Christmas mood..and I've got the perfect
backdrop for a nice holly jolly mood. Not
since I played the hell out of my Dad's Ventures
Christmas Album have I enjoyed some festive
music..check out Los Strait Jackets!
http://rapidshare.com/files/6937671/lsx.rar

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Monsters of Midway

Well, while I'm still recovering from my bout of deppression following the Cardinals winning
the world series, The Bears have been giving me something to cheer about. 7-0 after
a severe ass-kicking they gave to the 49ers, yeah, yeah I know..all those damned St.
Louis Rams fans keeping telling me "well that's only because the Bears have a light early
schedule and they have been playing bad teams". Yeah, well a hearty hi-ho f.u. too you to.
Let me enjoy my football season !!

Not In My Life Time

Always about this time of year, I always get a liitle down,
being a Cubs fan in Cardinals country is pretty hard.
Not only do I have to put with the abuse of Deadbird fans,
I get to watch them gloat as their team once again gets
in the play-offs. I'm rooting like mad for the Mets, but
with one game in the balance...anything can happen.
I'm pulling for the Tigers in the world series. Thank God
I at least have football and my Bears team on top right now!

Martha gets in the spirit

About this time of year I go check Martha Stewart's website because she usually
has some cool Halloween ideas that I pass on to my wife. Who knew Martha
could be so goulish.....http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=learn-cat&id=cat20519&rsc=090506_slot3

Music for October

Opeth has to be one of my favorite bands ever and they are so damned hard to classify.
Are they Death Metal? Progressive Metal? Folk Metal? How about all of the above?
Damnation was a departure for what Opeth usually does, no heavy riffs or loud growls
just quiet reflective music that sounds like a combo of Pink Floyd, King Crimson & Camel.
With Porcupine Tree's Steve Wilson at the helm doing the producing, piano & keyboard work
and helping out with the song writing, Damnation is a perfectly haunting cd to listen to
on a cool lonely October night!
http://www.megaupload.com/fr/?d=GV7KW51M

Mood for October

It's a cold crisp October morning here in the mid-west and Halloween is in the air.
There is always local Haunted Houses to visit this time of year...but my favorite
would have to be "Terror on the square" in Petersberg IL. It was actually an
old funeral parlor and they use it every year as a haunted house. And they do it well
with state of the art special effects and ghostly illusions. Check it out :http://www.terrorontheweb.com/home.html

An exercise in stupidity

All righty then..everyone has a freakin' blog..why not me?