As we approach Memorial Day, veterans all over the country will be accepting donations and distributing poppies in honor of the people we’ve lost in war. This effort seems much more poignant these days. The significance of the poppy and its relation to veterans goes back to World War I. During the conflict, there were …
I Was Just, Uh, Testing It
When I mentioned ABC’s Fridays yesterday, I started wondering if I was unfair in calling the show a Saturday Night Live ripoff. Then I realized I wasn’t unfair– it was a ripoff. That doesn’t mean the show was entirely bad, though, and after researching a little a whole bunch of memories came back about it. …
Satan’s iPod IV: Karaoke Edition
The Chicago Tribune printed an article last Sunday about the worst songs ever performed by karaoke singers. Now, I am not one to brag… and in fact, I won’t. Martini-induced singing is best left to the memories of Saturday nights that have faded with the ink on the request slips you pass to the karaoke …
The Return of Johnny LaRue
I read today that my favorite TV show of all time, SCTV, is finally making it to DVD. This is big news. SCTV was always funnier than Saturday Night Live, if you ask me. They had a very low budget and no big musical guests (at least in the beginning) so they made up for …
My Reason For Keeping My New Bike in My Living Room
“Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world.” -Grant Petersen (Thanks to Bill for this one.) I took the new bike through Busse Woods last night. I caught the trail at the north end (conveniently located one mile from my door) and buzzed through the entire loop in about 45 …
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Sportsmanship?
I mentioned there was an altercation at Emma’s soccer game on Saturday. Here’s what happened: At the end of almost every kids’ sporting event I’ve seen, the kids from each team line up and high-five the kids from the other team. This is designed to be a show of sportsmanship. After high-fiving, the kids run …
Ducks Deluxe
Today was the Lake Arlington Duck Race, and we couldn’t have asked for a better day– mid 70s and sunny all day. The day started out at the lake with our favorite adventure, assembling The Contraption. The idea is that we put all the plastic ducks the people “buy” in the big box at the …
I’m Not Whining, I’m Just Busy
Did you ever have one of those days when you wanted just 10 minutes to yourself? I’ve been trying to compose an e-mail since early this morning, and it’s still sitting on my screen because every time I sit down something pulls me away. The kids and I went to CNA for breakfast (I guess …
Ancient Scribblings
I used to have a weekly radio show on WHCM, the radio station at Harper College. Thursday afternoons from 5:00-7:00 pm was my gig, often going until 9:00 ’cause the guy who followed me didn’t always show up. When I joined in the fall of 1979, the station had a fairly loose format. The air …
Phil, About That Memo You Sent…
I loaded Office 2003 on my home PC over the weekend, and it was followed immediately by a “Critical Update” notice from Microsoft. The notice said that the suggested patch addresses the Bookshelf Symbol 7 font, stating: “this font has been found to contain unacceptable symbols.” Of course, I had to check it out. Under …