Cap'n Frank and The Truth about Cats and Blogs

Shorewood Concert Band has a new web home

2011-05-05T16:36:00.005-05:00

Looking for information on the Shorewood Concert Band?

Check out the band's new web home at:
http://www.shorewoodconcertband.org

Recovering from a Birthday....

2010-08-12T15:50:00.003-05:00

So yesterday was my birthday. It was my number swap birthday, where the digits in my age are the opposite of my birth year.

My parents came down and even though it was really hot we went to the Racine Zoo to try and see the new Lion Cubs. They were smarter than us, sleeping in the shade inside their den.

For dinner we went to Olde Madrid for Tapas and Paella where my wife and I went for Valentine's Day in 2009. This time we tried the Gazpacho, Seville Crab Cakes, Roasted Chicken and Cherries, Almond Crusted Cod, Empanadas, Baked Goat Cheese, Spanish Meatballs, Don Quixote Paella "A legendary combination of garlic, sautéed chicken, and pork tenderloin, baked in a garlic lemon broth." We ended with the Plantana al Carmaleo "Sautéed banana with caramel sauce and ice cream."

I have not been that full in a long time :)

Today I got up early and checked the Weather Channel, more hot and muggy weather all week so went out started mowing the lawn **again**. I wish it would quit raining so the grass would go to sleep! I have two cordless electric lawnmowers which are nice and quiet but one of them stopped working - the ignition switch broke so it's a trip to the repair shop. But that's not the worst thing! "Me Ole Bamboo" from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang got stuck in my head! So here it is because the best way to get rid of an "Ear Worm" is to share it!

Caravan by Juan Tizol

2010-07-12T23:27:00.002-05:00

One of the number we are playing at Thursday's nights Shorewood Concert Band concert is Juan Tizol's Caravan.
Here he is with the Duke Ellington Orchestra taking the solo on his valve Trombone:

"Big Band Salute"

2010-07-12T23:18:00.002-05:00

This Thursday is the fourth and final free concert of the year for the Shorewood Concert Band.
7 pm in Atwater Park, where Capital Drive meets Lake Drive in Shorewood Wisconsin!

"The Shorewood Concert Band Presents: Big Band Salute" will feature these numbers and possibly some surprises:

Welcome March
High Society
La Virgen De La Macarena
Boogie-Woogie Band
L’Inglesina
Waltzes from Sari
Elmer Bernstein’s Jazz Selections
Progress March
Ballin’ The Jack
Caravan

Hope to see you there!

A Star Spangled Band

2010-07-03T22:46:00.003-05:00

The third concert of the 2009 Season is coming tomorrow July 4th at 6:30 pm at Atwater Park.

National Emblem - EE Bagley
You're A Grand Old Flag - George M Cohan
Bucky Badger - arranged by Wayne Becker
This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie
I Am The Guard - Arthur Fields
The Star and Stripes Forever - John Philip Sousa
Washington Grays - Claudio S Grafulla
Independentia - RB Hall
Semper Fidelis - John Philip Sousa
Armed Forces - The Pride of Americ - arranged by Larry Clark & Greg Gilpan
Beer Barrel Polka - L. Brown, WA Timm, V Zeman and J Vejvoda

Our last concert of the year will be Thursday July 15th at 7 pm.

Shorewood Concert Band - second concert tomorrow night!

2010-06-23T19:44:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow Night June 24th, 2010!
7 pm!!
Atwater Park, Shorewood Wisconsin!!!
Free!!!!

"The Shorewood Concert Band Presents: Movie Magic" will feature these numbers and possibly some surprises:
Noble Men - Henry Fillmore
Ewok Celebration - John Williams
Highlights from South Pacific - Richard Rodgers
I've Made My Plans for the Summer - John Philip Sousa
Highlights from The Pink Panther - Hanry Mancini
Under The Double Eagle - JF Wagner
Hollywood Serenade - Albert Oliver Davis

The Muppets sing Danny Boy

2010-06-11T23:16:00.001-05:00

Shorewood Concert Band - First concert this Saturday!

2010-06-09T22:38:00.003-05:00

It's time to kick of the 2010 Shorewood Concert Band Season this Saturday at 12:30 pm in Atwater Park in Shorewood Wisconsin.

"The Shorewood Concert Band On Broadway" will feature these numbers and possibly some surprises:
"Highlights from West Side Story" Leonard Bernstein; arr. Ted Ingram
"Manhattan Beach" John Philip Sousa
"Danny" Edwin Franko Goldman; arr. Erik Leidzen
"Rubber Ducky" Jeffrey Moss; arr. Paul Yoder
"Colonel Bogey" Kenneth J. Alford
"The Phantom of the Opera Medley" Andrew Lloyd Weber; arr. Jonnie Vinson
"Brighton Beach" William P. Latham
"The Klaxon" Henry Fillmore; arr. Frederick Fennell
"Die Fledermaus" Johann Strauss; arr. Charles Carter
"The Hustle" Van McCoy; arr. Andrew Balent
"A Festival Prelude" Alfred Reed

Order and pieces might change depending on instrumentation of the band.
In case of inclement weather the concerts will be cancelled - although the Shorewood Men's Club Chicken Bar-B-Que will continue so please still stop by and pick some up!

Hope to see you there!

Shorewood Concert Band 2010 Schedule

2010-05-23T11:43:00.002-05:00

It's summer so once again it's time for the Shorewood Concert Band!

This all-volunteer band plays a series of four concerts in June and July in Atwater Park in Shorewood, Wisconsin.

2010 marks our 30th year!

This year's concerts:
Saturday June 12th 12:30 pm <- note new time, we are starting this year's entertainment for Shorewwod Men's Club Chicken BBQ
Thursday June 24th 7:00 pm
Sunday July 4th 6:30 pm
Thursday July 15th 7:00 pm

If you would like to join the band please email me - shorewoodcncrtband [AT] sbcglobal.net.
We have 4 practices, June 10, June 17, July 1 and July 8 from 7pm to 9pm in one of the school district's band rooms.
You are welcome to play even if you can only make it for some of the concerts.

It's Kitten Season!

2010-03-29T12:17:00.002-05:00

A quick foster kitten update:

Rosamunde who we had living in our bedroom for over a year is no longer with us.
She had gotten *very* attached to me, meowing constantly as soon as I walked in the door from work.
Trish, another Kindred Kitties volunteer was in the same situation with Little Bear and Oochie Smoochie, 2 girls that were adopted but were returned because they were so shy.
We swapped cats and after a week and a half the girls are coming out from under the bed and will allow us to pet them little, but it will be several more weeks of socialization before we try to adopt them out again.

Walker is an 8 year old cat who was hanging out on Milwaukee's East Side after having been dumped. He was very skinny but is very friendly. He has some dental problems and will require special care in the future so we might have him long-term. He is staying in our Computer Room, but does come out and mingles with our 5 permanent cats for a couple of hours at a time.

Banu (Perisan for Princess) was found in a parking structure on 3 Mile Road in Racine and was picked up by a nice woman and dropped off with us. A Silver Tabby she was at our house only a couple of days before moving to another foster's. She was adopted from Petco two weeks later!

Tonight we are getting four new 8 week old kittens who will be in a kitty kondo until we determine they are all healthy and we go up for adoption in a month or so.
Time to pick more names.....

Pictures to follow!

2009 Book List Part 2

2010-01-02T16:47:00.004-06:00

Here are the audiobooks I listened to in 2009:

The Sword of Truth Book 10: Phantom
The Sword of Truth Book 11: Confessor
Pontoon (Lake Wobegon Novels)
Service With a Smile (A Blandings story) - PG Wodehouse
"A" is for Alibi
"B" is for Burglar
"C" is for Corpse
"D" is for Deadbeat
"E" is for Evidence
"F" is for Fugitive
"G" is for Gumshoe
"H" is for Homicide
Anansi Boys
Catch Me If You Can
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
The Anglo Files - A Field Guide to the British
Patriot Pirates: The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution
Wikipedia Revolution, The: How a Bunch of Nobodies Created the World's Greatest Encyclopedia
The Monkey's Raincoat
Three Cups of Tea - One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations... One School at a Time
Calendar Quest, A 5,000 Year Trek through Western History with Father Time
Orbit

I'll remember this year as the year I discovered non-fiction on audio disc.
After several years of long-format fantasy, [The Wheel of Time (well worth a listen), the Magic Kingdom of Landover (a classic comedy fantasy series) and The Sword of Truth (some interesting ideas but there were long parts of books 6 and on that I was bored stiff during)] I wanted a change. I dabbled in thriller/mysteries - the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet series, The Monkey's Raincoat and also in Sci Fi - Orbit, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, but for some reason the non-fiction portions of my library's web page kept calling me, and I'm glad I answered.

Non-fiction Highlights for the year:
Patriot Pirates about the war at sea during the American Revolution
The Wikipedia Revolution about the founding of Wikipedia
Three Cups of Tea, the story of a mountain climber and how he created a foundation to build girl's schools in Afghanistan and Iraq.
XXX XXXXX XXXXXXXXXX - the audio book I finished today so I won't talk about it until next year's round-up

Fiction highlight of the year:
Anansi Boys a book by Neil Gaiman, read by Lenny Henry of Chef

2009 Book List Part 1

2010-01-01T19:18:00.002-06:00

So last Jan 1st, 2008 I decided to keep track of all the books I read or listened to using my LibraryThing profile. You can see the 2008 list here.

The big news this year on my reading situation was the arrival of my Kindle DX in June.

Books I have finished in 2009:
Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep Book 1: Blackstaff Tower
Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep Book 2: Mistshore
The Citadels Book 4: Sentinelspire
The Dark Disciple Book 3: Amber and Blood
Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons
Adventurer's Vault
The Empryean Odyssey Book 2: The Fractured Sky
Small Gods [library]
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War, Vol. 1 [library]
Opening Atlantis [library]
Dragon Magic
The Immortal Iron Fist, Vol. 1: The Last Iron Fist Story [library]
Abolethic Sovereignty Book 1: Plague of Spells
The United States of Atlantis [library]
The Lanternlight Files Book 1: The Left Hand of Death
Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus, Vol. 3 [library]
Ravenloft: Shadowborn
The Haunted Lands Book 3: Unholy
Thorn of Breland Book 01: The Queen of Stone
Martial Power
Cairo, A Graphic Novel [library]
The Complete Persepolis [library]
Flight Volume 5 [library]
The Savage Sword Of Conan, Vol. 5
Kong, King of Skull Island
The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island
Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead
Dungeon Delve
The Making of Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Monsters Revisited
Grantsville Gazette II
1634: The Ram Rebellion
Ruled Britannia
The Wilds Book 01: The Fanged Crown
Red Sands
Player's Handbook 2
The Little Nugget
Book: The Sequel
Bill The Conqueror
Money In The Bank
***June 15th Kindle DX arrived***
The Adventures of Sally [Kindle]
1632 [Kindle]
1633 [Kindle]
The Ring of Fire [Kindle]
Grantsville Gazette I [Kindle]
The Clicking of Cuthbert [Kindle]
For Love of Mother-Not [Kindle]
Pride and Prejudice [Kindle]
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now With Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem[Kindle]
A Princess of Mars [Kindle]
The Gods of Mars [Kindle]
The Warlord of Mars [Kindle]
Down and Out In The Magic Kingdom [Kindle]
Thuvia, Maid of Mars [Kindle]
The Chessmen of Mars [Kindle]
Eberron Player's Guide
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [Kindle]
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe [Kindle]
Life, the Universe and Everything [Kindle]
The Briar King [Kindle]
The Charnel Prince [Kindle]
The Blood Knight [Kindle]
Monster Manual 2
The Lost Symbol [Kindle]
Divine Power
The Savage Sword Of Conan, Vol. 6
Revenge of the Giants
The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride, Book 1) [Kindle]
Thorn of Breland Book 2: Son of Khyber
Wheel of Time Book 12: The Gathering Storm
Barmy In Wonderland
The Draconic Prophecies Book 1: Storm Dragon
The Draconic Prophecies Book 2: Dragon Forge
City of Ember
The Fall of Highwatch
Urusei Yatsura Volumes 1-15
Arcane Power
Eberron Campaign Guide
The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos
James Cameron's Avatar: A Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pandora - An Activist Survival Guide - finished Dec 31st.

Just like last year, a lot of fantasy, D&D books and graphic novels.
But new this year were some classics - Jane Austin, more Sci Fi - Alan Dean Foster, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Douglas Adams, and some mainstream fiction - Dan Brown, James Patterson, JK Rowling.

This year's new to me PG Wodehouse's novel was "Barmy In Wonderland".

Highlights for the year were "Book: The Sequel", "Pride and Prejudice", "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies", and "The Gathering Storm" - Book 12 in the Wheel of Time and the first published since Robert Jordan's death which Brandon Sanderson helped finish.

Most Disappointing goes to Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" which is very similar to the other books and since it takes place in Washington DC and deals with the Free Masons felt an awful lot like the novelization of the movie "National Treasure 3".

Looking at the list today I noticed I have stopped going to the library since June. I can check out audio books through my library website and I have a NetFlix subscription so I'm not going for movies or TV shows. Since Amazon offers 10-15 free books every month for download to the Kindle I am getting eBooks faster than I can read them.

My 2009 audio book list tomorrow!

So long 2009...

2009-12-31T20:35:00.004-06:00

What? 2010 already? It can't be.
It seems like only a year or two ago we were running around Rockwell testing each PC and marking it with either a Green Y2K compliant sticker or a Red Non-Y2k compliant one. (As a side notes it's scary but some of those PCs are still in use on the manufacturing floor 10 years later!)
And then on New Year's Eve 1999 we were watching the massive fireworks from around the world, starting in Sydney, then Tokyo, and so forth to welcome in the new millennium (a year early). I remember rushing home to see the Paris and then the London displays, and the rows of fireworks running up the reflecting pools in Washington DC.

I guess I've been a little lazy about updating here but here's a dozen blog posts I never actually posted but meant to:

1) My Kindle DX review (amazing piece of equipment I love it!)
2) My Kindle Cover from Oberon Design review (even prettier in person!)
3) The Kindle DX screensaver Author Challenge (Try to read at least one book by each author who's picture is part of the screen saver. Of the 15 authors I had read 7 before getting the Kindle, and finished one since - Jane Austin, and started another - Alexander Dumas)

4) my reviews of the 3 free books I got from the Early Reviewers program at LibraryThing:
Dance in a Buffalo Skull
Dragon Forge
Any Given Doomsday

5) NetFlix and how I love discovering new TV shows (Castle, Big Band Theory, Leverage, Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Adventures, Heroes, Chuck) or revisiting old ones (To the Manor Born, The Grand, Flambards, Brideshead Revisited, The Good Life/Good Neighbors, Keen Eddie)

6) Monty Python For the First Time (One of the guys I work with told me he has never seen Monty Python. None of the TV shows or movies! So I took the TV show DVDs in to work and we are watching them at lunch. It's fun watching him encounter the dead parrot, Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern -schplenden -schlitter -crasscrenbon -fried -digger -dangle -dungle -burstein -von -knacker -thrasher -apple -banger -horowitz -ticolensic -grander -knotty -spelltinkle -grandlich -grumblemeyer -spelterwasser -kürstlich -himbleeisen -bahnwagen -gutenabend -bitte -eine -nürnburger -bratwustle -gerspurten -mit -zweimache -luber -hundsfut -gumberaber -shönendanker -kalbsfleisch -mittler -raucher von Hautkopft of Ulm, the Nudge-Nudge Wink-Wink Guy and the animation of Terry Gilliam for the first time.)

7) Return To Marching Band (I played in the South Milwaukee Heritage Days parade)

8) Return To The DM's chair (I had so much fun running the Free D&D days sponsored by Wizards of the Coast that I started a 4th Edition campaign with 4 of my friends. We're meeting roughly every other Saturday.)
(On another side note today Dec 31st, 2009 is the 32nd Anniversary of the first time I ran D&D. Peter Nelson got the basic set for Christmas 1977 from his uncle and I read and ran it at our family's yearly New Year's Eve get together.)

9) Return of the Owls (they are back in the neighborhood, I heard two of them in the woods hooting at each other while I shoveled snow for the first time this season.)

10) Root Canals Are No Fun (I really don't recommend them)

11) TurkeyCon 2009 (Our annual board game event the day after Thanksgiving, attendance down a little from last year but a good time was had by all)

12) The summer cats - this I feel the worst about, I don't have pictures of all of the foster kittens from this summer and I'm sure I've forgotten some of their names.
Rosamund (who is still with us)
The Great American Composers - Cole, George, Irving, Vivian and Jerome
The UK Counties - Stafford, Claire, Cornwall, Devon and Kent
The Tea Babies - Darjeeling & Jasmine (both adopted Dec 20), Oolong and Rooibos who died before they could be adopted and the two unnamed ones who died before we got them from the barn
Arwen from the same barn who only lasted a week and Brambles who lasted barely 4 hours
Ovaltine (adopted Dec 20th)
Frodo Baggins who was adopted but then returned and we kept him (Michelle scooped me on this story)

Domo Arigato, Mr. Scott-o

2009-08-29T18:23:00.002-05:00

The Office
One of very few TV series that we still watch (on www.nbc.com).

We fell in love with the British version when it was broadcast on BBC America and think the US version is one of the few who has successfully made the transfer over, unlike Coupling or Fawlty Towers.

Season 5 comes out on DVD Sept 8th and Season 6 starts on September 17th!

To hold you over here's a tribute video to the old Styx song:

Crayola Doesn't Make A Color For Your Eyes

2009-07-30T22:43:00.004-05:00

So I was listening to A Prarie Home Companion last week and this song totally got stuck in my head!
The singer plays patty-cake as a percussion line while she is singing.

Crayola Doesn't Make A Color For Your Eyes by Kristin Andreassen & Megan Downes

Crayola Doesn't Make A Color For Your Eyes, with Danny Knicely on a spectacular whistle solo!
Sunspot Concert Series at the Lyceum in Alexandria, VA, 06Jan07.

This is the version from A Prarie Home Companion that someone put behind a still picture of the singer, it's a little easier to understand the words on this video.

American Overture for Band

2009-07-15T23:01:00.002-05:00

Here's another video from the Shorewood Concert Band's 2009 Fourth of July Concert.

Joseph Willcox Jenkins began composing short pieces while in elementary school. American Overture for Band was composed in 1955 while Jenkins served on the arranging staff of the United States Army Field Band and he dedicated the work to their conductor, Colonel Chester E. Whiting. Reminiscing about the piece, his first for band, Jenkins states, “I wanted to write something for our magnificent horn section, because I was tired of them having to play off-beats. That was the inspiration for the piece. I have to admit that I was also inspired somewhat by the last movement of the Bartók Concerto for Orchestra. I heard it on a Boston Symphony Orchestra broadcast as a teenager and it really impressed me. Some of the themes in American Overture remind me of that piece.”

SCB Goes To The Circus!

2009-07-14T12:08:00.002-05:00

The fourth and final concert of the Shorewood Concert Band's 2009 season is coming this Thursday July 16th at 7 pm in Atwater Park.

Our salute to the Great American Circus will be filled with the sounds of circus bands and music about the circus including:

Entry of the Gladiators - Julius Fucik
The Billboard - John N. Klohr
William Tell Overture (Finale) - G. Rossini
Circus Bee - Henry Fillmore
Send in the Clowns - Stephen Sondheim
E Pluribus Unum - Fred Jewell
Lassus Trombone - Henry Fillmore
The Show Boy - Will Huff
The Walking Frog - Karl L. King
Bravura - C.E. Duble
The Big Circus March - Robert E. Foster
Barnum & Bailey’s Favorite Karl L. King

In honor of Lincoln's 200th birthday and the 100th Anniversary of the Lincoln Penny we are holding a penny drive to support the Shorewood Band Parents organization so please dig deep into the cushions of your couches, clean out your car’s coin holder and bring them to the concert!

Here's a number from our Fourth of July concert, Herman "Dodo" Hupfeld's 1931 novelty hit "When Yuba Plays the Rumba on the Tuba"

Stars & Stripes

2009-07-03T19:54:00.005-05:00

The third concert of the 2009 Season is coming tomorrow July 4th at 6:30 pm at Atwater Park.

National Emblem - EE Bagley
You're A Grand Old Flag - George M Cohan
American Overture for Band - Joseph Willcox Jenkins
Music from Les Miserables - Alain Bouil and Claude-Michel Schonberg
When Yuba Plays the Rumba On The Tuba - Herman Hupfeld
Theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Jerry Goldsmith
Summon The Heroes - John Williams
Bucky Badger - arranged by Wayne Becker
Armed Forces - The Pride of America! - arranged by Larry Clark and Greg Gilpin
America the Beautiful - Katharine Lee Bates and Samuel A. Ward
This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie
I Am The Guard - Arthyr Fields
Highlights from Oklahoma - Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein
The Star and Stripes Forever - John Philip Sousa

Our last concert of the year will be Thursday July 16th at 7 pm.

Here's a couple of videos from the second concert:

Instant Concert by Harold L. Walters

The 2009 version of Beer Barrel Polka now with 4 Tubas!

Bandology

2009-06-22T21:20:00.008-05:00

The second concert of the 2009 Season is coming this Thursday June 25th at 7pm at Atwater Park.

Bandology - Eric Osterling
Instant Concert - Harold L. Walters
Bombasto - O.R. Farrar
The Theme from Mannix - Lalo Schfrin
Feels So Good - Chuck Mangione
The Rail Splitter - F.C. Menges
Ceremonial Prelude - John Cacavas
The Cowboys - John Williams
Chicago Tribune March - W. Paris Chambers
Beer Barrel Polka - L. Brown, W.A. Timm, V. Zeman and J Vejvoda
British Masters Suite - Gustav Holst, Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan Williams
The Washington Post March - John Phillip Sousa

In honor of Lincoln's 200th birthday and the 100th Anniversary of the Lincoln Penny we are holding a penny drive to support the Shorewood Band Parents organization so please dig deep into the cushions of your couches, clean out your car’s coin holder and bring them to the concert.

The March of the Belgian Paratroopers from the June 13th, 2009 concert:

Michelle got her Birthday present today too!

2009-06-15T16:18:00.004-05:00

Sizzix BigShot from Stampin' Up!

Guess what arrived a day early!

2009-06-15T14:11:00.002-05:00

Hands Across The Sea

2009-06-08T21:53:00.005-05:00

The first concert of the Shorewood Concert Band season is always the most interesting for me.
So many questions awaiting answers!
Will we have any Saxophones?
Can we play another season without Percussion?
Can we dodge another weather bullet? So far no concerts of Dr. Pat's tenure have been rained out although last year's opener was a close call!

Here is our tentative play list:

The Shorewood Concert Band Presents:
Hands Across The Sea

March of the Belgian Paratroopers

British Master's Suite

Scottish Ballads

Pirates of the Caribbean

Sousa's Hands Across the Sea

Fiddler on the Roof

Osterling's Thundercrest

Star Trek

At the Summit

Vaugh William's Rhosymedre

Holst's First Suite for Military Band

Hope to see you there!

Shorewood Concert Band 2009

2009-06-03T22:21:00.008-05:00

It's June so once again it's time for the Shorewood Concert Band!

This all-volunteer band plays a series of four concerts in June and July in Atwater Park in Shorewood, Wisconsin.

I've been playing in the group since the early 1980s and have been the announcer for four years.

This year's concerts:
Saturday June 13th 4:30 pm - Hands Across the Sea
Thursday June 25th 7:00 pm - 100th Year of the Lincoln Penny
Saturday July 4th 6:30 pm - Stars and Stripes
Thursday July 16th 7:00 pm - SCB Goes to the Circus

If you would like to join the band please email me - capnfrank [AT] sbcglobal.net.
We have 4 practices, June 11, June 18, June 30 and July 9 from 7pm to 9pm in one of the school district's band room.

Here are some pictures from summer 2007:

And here's a video of last year's encore "Skoda Lasky" aka "The Beer Barrel Polka"

My Kindle DX is coming!

2009-06-02T21:44:00.005-05:00

So I have been waiting for *years* for a decent ebook reader.
Back around 1992 I bought an Apple PowerBook 100 as my first notebook.
I purchased several electronic books in HyperCard format including Sara Paretsky's Indemity Only and Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
At a little over 5 pounds in weight it was not very comfortable reading in bed, etc.

I have tried several PDAs over the years including the Apple Newton, the HP Jornada and the Dell Axim but the screens were all too small for easy reading. The main problem has been my rate of reading is faster than I could change screens.

I almost bought a Sony 505 Reader in December 2007 after seeing a first-generation Kindle which I thought was just ugly. At that time I heard from someone who knew someone that Apple was coming out with their own version. Since then Amazon has released their Kindle 2 which looks much better physically and Sony has released their new 700BC which has a touch screen with a slight loss in letter clarity, but no official word from Apple.

Last month Amazon released the specs for their Kindle DX and I was hooked. This version is the size of a hardcover, rotates the screen automatically when you turn it and has native pdf support so I can read my RPG documents and anything else I create. I just got word today that it is being officially released on June 10th and mine should ship the 15th!
Go watch the video on Amazon's site, it's amazing!

I'm going to be able to download for free any of the thousands of public domain books from Project Gutenberg and many other places around the web.

Now the question is what to read first?
PG Wodehouse? ER Burroughs? Book: The Sequel?

I'm a published author!

2009-06-01T21:45:00.004-05:00

My submission was accepted and will be included in Book: The Sequel!

You can get more info here at their website!

Or check out the widget on the right ----->>>

Pictures from a Caledonian Garden

2009-05-27T22:52:00.012-05:00

So the new kittens haven't sat still long enough to get their pictures taken yet so here are some of my flowers.

The first fall after we put in the grass and flower beds I planted about 400-500 bulbs - daffodils, hyacinths, crocuses and tulips. I love bulbs - just plant and forget! Sadly, the voles also love my bulbs and most of the tulips have been eaten. Here's a couple that haven't.

Our Irises have done pretty well. Most have not bloomed yet, here's an early one.

This is a new plant for us this year. My parents bought us some bulbs for our anniversary last summer and the Allium made it. I tried planting some 5 years ago or so and they never came up.

This is not a flower. This is Sunshine "Miss Frecklenose" Laycock watching out the back door to make sure Daddy refills the bird feeder. We call this "Paying The Cable Bill" because our cats love to watch the Nature Channel!

Book: The Sequel

2009-05-24T22:30:00.004-05:00

My sister sent me a link to very interesting website called Book: The Sequel where people are invited to write a short one sentence sequel to a famous book.

They have a couple of examples like:
HappyMeals are all alike; each unhappy meal is unhappy in its own way.
—From Anna McKarenina (sequel to Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy)
Bob Marley was dead, to begin with.
—From Kwanzaa Tunes (sequel to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)

Anyone can submit one and this one popped into my head almost immediately:
73X7 m3h 15HM3al — From m08Y d1CK 11 (The L33T edition)
(sequel to Moby Dick by Herman Melville) Submitted by Frank Laycock

L33T or Leet is a way of writing on the internet that use symbols and number to stand for letters. More info can be found on Wikipedia.
My line translates as "Text me Ishmeal" - From Moby Dick II.

Submitted versions scroll up along the right hand side of the site and Mary emailed me this evening to let me know she saw mine!
Now I just need to wait until the end of the month to find out if mine makes it into the compilation book!

The Great American Songbook (as sung by cats)

2009-05-23T09:22:00.015-05:00

Kittens?
Did somebody mention kittens in a last post? :)

It's spring so once again we have kittens that we are fostering for Kindred Kitties.

Our first cat of the year is Rosamund.

She is about a year old. Her family lost their home to foreclosure and when they moved into an apartment they kept their dog but turned their female cat (who they were calling Buster) over to Kindred. Rosamund was *very* unhappy about living with us and since we had just watched the BBC adaption of George Eliot's Middlemarch we named her after the young blond troublemaker in that story. Since we have gotten her fixed she has settled down a lot and can now be annoyingly nice, sitting on my book while I am trying to read.
She does not travel well or get along with other kitties so she is with us until the population drops at the Kindred storefront in downtown Kenosha.

Our first set of kittens for the year were also victims of a foreclosure. A family lost their house and gave their cat and 5 newborn kittens to their neighbor. After a week they called Kindred and we got the 8 week old kittens while the mom went stright to get fixed and then adopted.
We decided to name them after great 20th century American composers.
These five kittens went up for adoption on May 9th and were all taken by May 13th!
One family took two of them.

Cole Porter

Cole is now known as "Tigger" and was adopted right out of carrier as soon as he arrived at PetCo, not even getting into one of the display cages. He is living with 4 other cats and 3 children.

George Gershwin

Irving Berlin

Vivian Kubrick

Jerome Kern

Jerome was the last one adopted and could have been adopted twice, a family who adopted one of the others came back to get him too but he had already left with a family an hour before.

Action shot!

In the litter pan back to front are Irving, Jerome and George. Vivian is about to exit the Kitty Kondo and Cole is eating.

We now have another set of kittens but that's a subject for another post.

Test

2009-05-23T07:52:00.003-05:00

This is a test, it is only a test.

Here is a wafflehead ->

So if I get 6 people to "follow" this blog on Facebook it will start automatically loading my new posts to my Facebook wall.

Argh!

2009-05-21T20:41:00.004-05:00

So I got a Wii for my birthday in August of 2007 and a Wii Fit for my birthday in August of 2008.
I have been checking my weight and BMI every day since then.
*Every Day*
For 282 days.
Including the days I hurt my back in December and could barely stand.
Including the six days in April when I lost 8.4 pounds because I had the flu and couldn't eat or keep anything down.
Including one day in October or so when I woke up at 11:50 pm out of a sound sleep and went into the living room and "Wii'd" myself.
And then yesterday morning I got on the Wii Fit and the little animated Wii Fit board said "So I guess you were too busy to exercise yesterday, Cap'n Frank?"

Some how I missed Tuesday!
Still not sure how.

I blame the kittens.......

A Night in Olde Madrid

2009-02-15T21:41:00.003-06:00

So last night for St. Valentine's Day we went out to eat at a restaurant called Olde Madrid here in Racine that we had never been to before.

It is a Spanish restaurant featuring Tapas and Paella.

Michelle had a glass of Abrazo Garnacha while I had Sprite.

To start with we were served a basket of small breads with a orangey spread which turned out to be a mild red pepper hummus.
Our first Tapas to arrive was Baked Goat Cheese in a homemade tomato basil sauce served with toasted baguettes.
The second course was Totilla Espanola, a Spanish style quiche with bacon, potatoes and onions.
Our final Tapas was Almond Crusted Cod, tender cod filets rolled in slivered almonds and herbs, served with a dill sauce.

Paella is a traditional Spanish dish containing an assortment of vegetables and saffron rice plus whatever extra ingredients you would like. This is mixed and then needs to simmer over a low heat for 25 minutes. We figure the restaurant must have 12-18 burners in the back to handle to amount of pans we saw come out.
We tried the Salmon Paella which includes fresh grilled salmon and shrimp, tossed with a white wine and Spanish Seasonings.

To finish the evening off Michelle had the Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake and I had Plantana al Carmaleo, a sauteed banana with caramel sauce and ice cream. It even had thin slices of grapes on the banana!

Discussing the meal today we can't decide which Tapas was best so have determined that a follow-up visit will be necessary, especially because they did not have any Gazpacho and we need to try the Seville Crab Cakes and Spanish Meatballs and Pork Scallopini and Serrano Ham Wrapped Potatoes and the Empanada's and at *least* two other kinds of the Paella.

Kitten Update 02-08-2009

2009-02-08T22:03:00.003-06:00

It's very quiet around here tonight.

Two weekends ago Fermi went to Petco again on Saturday. He does not like to travel and was being a big butt-head to the other kittens there, hissing and swatting them. He even reached out and smacked a teenegaer on the cheek while she was holding him. Carolyn took him home and got him fixed on the following Tuesday and since then he has been living in the Kindred Kitties storefront in downtown Kenosha.

Last weekend the NY Boys represented Kindred at the Great Lakes Pet Expo. You can see pictures here, but none of our booth.
Sunday they went to Petco but nobody got adopted.
Yesterday I drove them down to Petco again and within the first 15 minutes a family with four kids had decided to adopt Bronx! They also have a 13 year old cat.
By the end of the day a boy who decided he wanted a grey cat for his 18th birthday present took home Brooklyn!
Today I drove the remaining two back again.
A nice couple adopted Manhatten and the family with the four kids came back and said the Bronx seemed lonely so they adopted Yonkers!

We are down to just our four tonight - Gitana, Wooster, Jeeves and Sunshine. I just realized that I have not posted and pictures of Sunshine yet. She is our oldest cat, being 10 years old who we got just after we moved into our house. You can see her Catster profile here. Our first cat Stormy also has a page there.

Are you lookin' at Me?

2009-01-20T07:02:00.007-06:00

Yonkers

Manhattan

Brooklyn

Bronx

I Heart NY

2009-01-08T12:53:00.003-06:00

The boys are doing better, they are meowing at us and purr when we pet them.
They still smell like a barn so Fermi is hissing, but they seem interested in him as a potential wrestling partner.

We gave them names! (drum roll.....)

Bronx
Brooklyn
Manhattan
Yonkers

4 new boys!

2009-01-07T17:55:00.002-06:00

Just a quick post - 4 new boy kittens arrived at our house last night.
The still to be named boys are former barn cats about 9-11 weeks old.
They have had all of their shots and are old enough to be adopted but are still a little skittish around people.
They have been sent to the Caledonia Cat Academy for 3 to 4 weeks of Charm School and Finishing.
School Pictures will be posted on Sunday

2008 - A Year's Worth of Reading

2009-01-01T17:51:00.004-06:00

So last Jan 1st I decided to keep track of all the books I read or listened to using my LibraryThing profile.

Here is what I read:
The Forge of War
The Grand History of the Realms
The Doom of Camelot
Skreyn's Register: The Bonds of Magic
Wizards Presents: Worlds and Monsters
The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 1
Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell
Heirs of Ash Book 2: Flight of the Dying Sun
House of M Complete Collectors Edition
Black Wind
Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold - The Batman Team-Ups, Vol. 1
Showcase Presents: Metamorpho, Vol. 1
The Twilight War Book 1: Shadowbred
Erevis Cale Book 1: Twilight Falling
Erevis Cale Book 2: The Dawn of Night
Erevis Cale Book 3: Midnight's Mask
Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Volume 1
Drawing the Line: Tales of Maps and Cartocontroversy [library]
Heirs of Ash Book 3: Rise of the Seventh Moon
The Twilight War Book 2: Shadowstorm
The Blade of the Flame Book 2: Forge of the Mind Slayers
Tales from the War of Souls Book 1: The Search for Magic
The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop [library]
The Blade of the Flame Book 3: Sea of Death
The Pythons: An Autobiography by the Pythons [library]
The Haunted Lands Book 2: Undead
Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall
The Order of the Stick Volume 0: On the Origin of PCs
The Legion Companion
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 1
The Order Of The Stick Volume 1: Dungeon Crawlin' Fools
The Order of the Stick Volume 2: No Cure for the Paladin Blues
Dork Tower Volume 1: Dork Covenant
Secrets of Xen'drik
Earth (A New Perspective)
The Barrytown Trilogy Book 1: The Commitments
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 2
Stardust (Gaimen/Vess)
The Best of the Legion Outpost
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 3
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 4
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 5
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 6
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 7
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Vol. 8
Pathfinder Player's Guide: Curse Of The Crimson Throne
Pathfinder 07 Curse of the Crimson Throne: Edge of Anarchy
The Barrytown Trilogy Book 2: The Snapper
Pathfinder 08 Curse of the Crimson Throne: Seven Days to the Grave
The Barrytown Trilogy Book 3: The Van
Pathfinder 09 Curse of the Crimson Throne: Escape From Old Korvosa
Dance in a Buffalo Skull
The Draconic Prophecies Book 1:Storm Dragon
Ptolus: Secrets of the Delver's Guild
The Knights of Myth Drannor Book 2: Swords of Dragonfire
The Citadels Book 2: Obsidian Ridge
Pathfinder 10 Curse Of The Crimson Throne: A History Of Ashes
Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide: Roleplaying Game Core Rules, 4th Edition
Dungeon Master's Guide II (3.5 Edition)
Dork Tower Volume 03: Heart of Dorkness
Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual: Roleplaying Game Core Rules, 4th Edition
Dork Tower Volume 06: 1D6 Degrees of Separation
Dork Tower Volume 07: Dork Side of the Goon
Castle Waiting
Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook: Roleplaying Game Core Rules, 4th Edition
The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 3
City of Stormreach
Showcase Presents: Teen Titans, Vol. 1
Bathroom Book of Wisconsin Trivia: Weird, Wacky and Wild
Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition For Dummies
Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress: A Girl's Guide to the D&D Game
Dungeon Survival Guide
Storm of the Century: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935
Pathfinder 11 Curse Of The Crimson Throne: Skeletons Of Scarwall
Dragons of Faerun
A Practical Guide To Dragon Riding
Denizens of Freeport
Pathfinder 12 Curse Of The Crimson Throne: Crown Of Fangs
The Inquisitives Book 4: The Darkwood Mask
Forgotten Realms Player's Guide
Red Hand of Doom
The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 4
Races of the Dragon
The Savage Sword of Conan, Vol. 2
The Citadels Book 3: The Shield of Weeping Ghosts
Sandstorm: Mastering the Perils of Fire and Sand
Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, 4th Edition
Cocktail Time
Manual of the Planes, 4th Edition - finished Dec 31st!

A lot of fantasy, D&D books, graphic novels and a little science and history.
I read Dungeon, Dragon, Budget Travel and AAA Living magazines every month, the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel every Sunday and probably close to a literal ton of comic book and manga.
I also read PG Wodehouse's "Cocktail Time" a novel of his I had not read yet. It's getting harder to track down his last 15 books or so that I don't have of the 96+ he wrote.

In late 2007 and early 2008 when I was driving to Munster Indiana every week for work I got even more hooked on audio books than I was previously. In late 2007 I finished listening to all 11 of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series so I needed something new. My library system has an online service where you can check out books and burn them to CD to listen to in the car.
Here is the list from 2008:
The Sword of Truth Book 01: Wizard's First Rule
The Sword of Truth Book 02: Stone of Tears
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
The Sword of Truth Book 03: Blood of the Fold
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
The Sword of Truth Book 04: Temple of the Winds
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
David Attenborough - The Early Years: Zoo Quest For A Dragon
Eva March Tappan - When Knights Were Bold
The Sword of Truth Book 05: Soul of the Fire
Penny Arcade / PvP D&D 4E preview
Magic Kingdom of Landover Book 01: Magic Kingdom For Sale - Sold!
The Sword of Truth Book 06: Faith of the Fallen
Penny Arcade / PvP D&D 4E preview (repeat listen)
Al Franken - The Truth (with jokes)
The Sword of Truth Book 07: The Pillars of Creation
Magic Kingdom of Landover Book 2: The Black Unicorn
The Sword of Truth Book 08: Naked Empire
Magic Kingdom of Landover Book 3: Wizard at Large
Magic Kingdom of Landover Book 4: The Tangle Box
Magic Kingdom of Landover Book 5: Witches' Brew
The Sword of Truth Book 09: Chainfire - finished Dec 31st!

So that's all of Harry Potter, the whole Magic Kingdom of Landover series, and 9 of the 11 books in the Sword of Truth series, plus a little science, history and politics.
I also listened to "This American Life" from Chicago Public Radio almost every week. You can download the current episode for free from iTunes.

So what's in store for 2009?
On the audio front I have the last two Sword of Truth novels, then I might start getting the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries by Sue Grafton (A is for Alibi, B is for Burglar, etc.) or maybe the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. I'm getting a little over loaded on fantasy mega-series.
On the book front I have a whole shelf in the computer room of unread books, several boxes of unread in the basement and a pile of 10 or so by the bed in various levels of doneness. A couple of Clive Cusslers, JK Rowling's new book Beedle the Bard, etc. etc. etc.
I also need to read and review the 3 books I got as an Early Reviewer from LibraryThing - I guess I am a Late Reviewer by this point :)

They Blinded Me With Science!

2008-12-28T17:51:00.025-06:00

Introducing our current batch of foster kittens!

These four boys and one girl were found by nice lady in Northern Illinois who called Kindred Kitties and we got them.
This is our second batch of black & white kittens in a row.
As I have mentioned several times in the past, it's sometimes hard to name kittens, but not this time.
As soon as the kittens got here and we let them out, they were tearing around the rooms exploring. One of them found the plastic ring with the ball inside of it and was spinning around and around so fast I was worried he would create a black hole. He was instantly dubbed "Fermi". I looked to my right and saw another boy playing with a small stuffed monkey and he became "Darwin". The other three quickly acquired the names of other famous scientists - hence the last video post :)

This is Marie who we named after the Polish chemist and physicist Marie Curie. Marie is almost totally black, with only white hairs in her ears. Two sisters, aged 15 and 16, from Kenosha pooled their Christmas money and adopted Marie on December 27th from Petco. Marie's last name is now Schultz.

This is Einstein who we named after the German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein.
He is the most fearless member of the family, first up on the sink, first jumping onto the dresser, first out the door into the loft to visit with Wooster and Sunshine and Gitana. He has a lightning bolt shaped white mark down the center of his back.

This is Pasteur, named after the French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur. Louis Pasteur is best known to the general public for inventing a method to stop milk and wine from causing sickness - this process came to be called pasteurization. This was a very important discovery for kittens too!

Einstein and Pasteur were both adopted by our friends Pete and Julie on December 28th.

From left: Julie, Osty (aka Pasteur), Pete, Lynx (aka Einstein)

The other two kittens have not gotten permanent homes yet but are showing no signs of being in a hurry to leave.

Fermi, named after Enrico Fermi, the Italian physicist most noted for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor is a very laid-back kitten with a huge purr. He follows me around whenever I am in the room.

Darwin aka Monkey Cat is named after Charles Darwin the English naturalist who first realised and demonstrated the process of natural selection, which has lead to the modern evolutionary theory. Darwin is a climber who spends his time either sitting on top of the dressers or on the kitty condo staring out the window watching the birds.

Both Darwin and Fermi will be at the Kenosha Petco this Saturday and Sunday and will be available for adoption for a tax-deductible contribution of $80 for one or $120 for both!

Update 1/3/2009
Darwin got adopted today!

She Blinded Me With Science!

2008-12-27T12:04:00.006-06:00

And now a blast from the past!

From the depths of the 80s....

Thomas Dolby's 1982 Top 5 Hit

You can listen to another great version of this song by New England Folk Singer Bill Parsons here.

Why am I posting this? Check back soon!

Brrr

2008-12-21T10:17:00.012-06:00

Current conditions per the Weather Channel

Snow Day!

2008-12-19T21:29:00.003-06:00

It snowed today.

*A Lot*

Michelle got home from work about 2:30am and shoveled the driveway and by the time we went out this morning at 7 you could not tell she had done anything.

So we shoveled half of the driveway - enough to get my little Kia Spectra 5 out to the street, which took about 1/2 an hour.

I backed out and got stuck in the middle of Sunshine Lane, but was able to rock back and forth and get going again.

I went around the corner, down the block and was making the second turn and got stuck so bad in the middle of the intersection that I called Michelle to come down and help me out.

The Spectra was too light and too low to travel without it being plowed.

At this point I decided to not go to work today which is probably the first time weather has stopped me since I was living in Hales Corners - roughly '92 or '93.

Then it was 10 below zero with wind chills in the negative 30s and my car would not start for 3 days, even with a new battery.

After I shoveled the car out today with the help of a nice lady who had a snow blower we got the Spectra 5 turned around and back to the garage.

The plows came through about 11:30 so I ate lunch, went out and shovelled again and hit the road around 12:30.

I made it to Rockwell at 1:45, a trip that normally takes about 30 minutes.

I put in 4 hours and came home and had to shovel again and will be heading out shortly to shovel a 4th time today so Michelle can get in easier after work.

I'll try and take some pictures of the piles of snow and post them tomorrow.

Look Who's 1!

2008-07-08T18:51:00.008-05:00

Gitana Marcella Laycock, born 7/07/2007

Our little girl, all grown up and is officially a cat and no longer a kitten.

Her birthday was yesterday, but between me cooking the birthday dinner (Tortilla-encrusted Tilapia, Shoepeg corn, Spanish Rice, non-alcoholic Peach wine and then yellow cake with chocolate frosting with vanilla ice cream for the humans and a *WHOLE* can of tuna for Gitana) and then trying to take her official birthday portrait (I might post some of the outtakes later) and then a thunderstorm rolling in, I did not get a chance to post this last night.

You can read more about Gitana here.

Kitten Update 6/4/08

2008-06-04T09:55:00.005-05:00

Just a quick update:

Magnolia (the mom) and Livia (the kitten) are both doing fine.

Livia has started eating the "Baby Cat" dry kitten food which is for kittens 1-4 months old.
She has mostly figured out how to drink water, but still dunks her face in like she is bobbing for apples.

Livia is driving her mom crazy, as she has figured out how to climb up to the second level of the condo, so the "dairy bar" is always open. She also has taken to jumping on her Magnolia's tail.

Livia will soon have other kittens to play with as we are getting another foster family and will be babysitting Karen and Darin's pure-bred kittens while they are on their Alaska Cruise.

Kitten Update 5/27/08

2008-05-27T22:00:00.007-05:00

Here are the names we finally decided on, all from a road map of Kentucky we have.

Mom is Magnolia.
Little Boy #1 is Lexington (Lex)
Little Girl #1 is Livia.
Little Boy #2 who passed away last week would have been Louisville.
Little Girl #2 was Cynthianna but she got sick and died last Saturday.

Right now the condo is in our Computer Room because it is going to drop down into the 30s tonight!
(Who decided to skip from Spring to Fall?!?!!?)

Little Lex is not doing so well, he is showing some of the same signs - losing weight, not nursing, messy eyes, breathing through his mouth - that his brother and sister did.
We are giving him some of the Clavamox we are dosing Magnolia with for her sneezing and have started hand feeding him KMR formula, hoping for a better outcome with him.
He is definitely perking up as we give him the KMR,squirming and meowing at Michelle, so everybody keep their fingers crossed!

Edit 5/28/08: Unfortunately little Lex was not strong enough and he passed away this morning.

Woo Hoo! I'm an Early Reviewer again!

2008-05-22T17:50:00.004-05:00

I got another email from LibraryThing today!

"Congratulations. You've snagged an Early Reviewers copy of Dragon Forge: The Draconic Prophecies, Book 2 by James Wyatt.You should get your copy in the mail shortly. The publishers ship the books directly--some are speedier than others, so please be patient!

We hope you find the time to read the book and review it on LibraryThing. You are free--indeed encouraged--to put your review on your blog, or wherever else you want, and to talk about it in the Early Reviewers group. I want to repeat that, although writing a review will help your chances of getting more books, the actual content of your review will not.

We hope you like the book! Let me know if you have any questions.

Best,
Abby"

Here is the link to Wizard's of the Coast's description of the book.

I really should post my reveiw of the first book I got which I have about 85% written :)
Watch for it this weekend!

Kitten Update 5-21-08

2008-05-21T18:10:00.003-05:00

Another day of Highs and Lows on the kitten front.

Low: Last night little Hero passed away.
The veterinarian did some tests on her and determined that she had caught a virus and she was not strong enough to fight it off. She did test negative for Distemper so we do not have to worry about her siblings or any of the other cats in the house.

High: Beatrice and Benedick were both adopted over the weekend and have permanent homes.

High: We found out the story behind the Kentucky babies.
There is a Humane Society in Kentucky with a large number of dogs and cats that they could not take care of. They were going to have to start putting the excess animals to sleep so the word went out on the no kill animal shelter network that the animals were available. A Kindred Kitties volunteer drove down to Kentucky and picked up 5 mother cats that were pregnant or had recently had their litters and drove them back to Kenosha. Our new set is one of those rescued families.

High: We have decided to be name our litter after towns in Kentucky but have not finalized the names yet.
When we do watch this space for the pictures!

Low and High: The two Soccer Kittens Parminder and Keira are going up for adoption on Saturday at Petco. It's great that they are going to their real homes but we sure are going to miss the patter of little paws in our bedroom. I guess 6 cats is a *couple* too many :)

The Sad with The Fun

2008-05-20T20:28:00.004-05:00

Fostering kittens is not all fun.

We noticed last night that one of the little orange boys was not as active as the other three kittens.
This morning he was barely crawling and making low sounds, not quite meows.
Michelle had the day off so she headed to Kindred Kitties' preferred veterinarian but by the time she got there, he was already gone.
The Mom and the other 3 kittens are still doing fine.

We have also heard that little Hero has a temperature and diarrhea and is under the care of a vet.

On a better note, Claudio was adopted this weekend from the Kenosha Petco and is living in his new home.

New kittens have arrived!

2008-05-19T18:06:00.003-05:00

Karen and Darin dropped off our new foster family on Sunday night.

Mom is a very long skinny Tortoise Shell cat.
Two daughters are also Torties.
Two sons are orange all over.

She hissed a bit when she got there but I'm sure it's just from the car trips.
She and the kids supposedly are from Kentucky?! I'll report here when I find out more on that story.
By bedtime, when we had to give Mom some Albon to take care of her sneezing, she was all purrs, bumping her head against our hands.
The kids are about 3 weeks old.

None of the five have names yet.

Who stole the Custard?!?!

2008-05-19T17:57:00.004-05:00

So Saturday night we went on our standard "Date".
Dinner at Noodles & Company and then out for Custard.
N&C was fine - Pesto Cavatappi with Parmasan Crusted Chicken for me, Japanese Pan Noodels with Beef for Michelle.
We then left for Old Dutch Custard on County Hwy C but when we got there they were closed! And I mean closed as in out of business with a big For Sale sign out front.
Well, we thought, we'll go try Paesano's Custard next to the Racine Airport which we have been meaning to do.
Strike Two! Paesano's is boarded up too.
Well, there's the new ice cream place on 4 Mile Road next to the new butcher.
Strike Three! It's 8:30pm on a Saturday and the lights are off! We didn't even pull into the parking lot to check the hours.

We ended up at Dairy Queen on Hwy. 32 as as we stood in line, it started to rain. Michelle ran for the car but darn it! I wanted a blizzard so I stuck it out.

For our next date we will either go to the Noodles & Company at 27th and Oklahoma which is next to Leon's Custard or the N&C on 76th near Southridge so we can go to Kopp's Custard Stand.

Edit May 27th: I swung past the custard stand on 4 Mile Road and they are still in business, they just close at 8 pm.

Hero - Escape Artist

2008-05-17T17:39:00.003-05:00

We got a call this afternoon from our friend Karen.
Our set of four kittens were broken up today, with Claudio going to the Kenosha Petco, Beatrice and Benedick headed to PetSmart in Northern IL and Hero went to the Petco in Lake Geneva.
Within 5 minutes of putting Hero into the cage, she figured out how to squeeze through the bars and take off down the aisle!
Karen said that her husband Darin was going to be holding Hero for the rest of the afternoon and Hero showed no problems with complying with that :)

Kitten Update 5/17/08

2008-05-17T08:44:00.003-05:00

The "Much Ado" kittens spent their day yesterday with our friend Liz as kitten sitter and then were tested and given their final shots.
Today they will be taken to Petco in Kenosha to find new homes.
If they do not get adopted today or tomorrow they will either go to the Kindred Kitties storefront or to Carolyn's House. Carolyn is the founder of KK.
*But* yesterday when Liz's boyfriend Eric got home from work he appeared to bond with little Claudio. Is there a possible home there? We will see.

Today is cleanup day. We need to clean the vacated Kitty Kondo, as well as the normal weekend mowing, litter duty, vacuuming, laundry, etc etc etc.
We also need to straighten and kitten proof our garage because the next litter is coming! Sunday night our friends and fellow volunteers Karen and Darin and bringing over a mother cat with four kittens for us to take care of for KK.
Karen and Darin are the ones who raise the pure-bred cats whose cat Captain Morgan became a Grand Champion in Asia.
They are going on vacation for a week in June and we will be taking care of one of their purebreds who recently gave birth.

Spring is kitten season!

The Naming of Kittens Part 2

2008-05-14T21:25:00.012-05:00

As I mentioned in this post it's sometimes hard to name our foster kittens.
After our 5 boys left we got a set of two sisters to watch over.

They were very friendly right from the start but no names came immediately to mind.
Their fur is a light calico underneath with tabby stripes over the top. (Calibbys? Tablicos?)
These are some of the most elegant looking kittens we have had.

We considered naming them for the two sisters from Parent Trap but their names were Sharon and Susan and we have the name Susan reserved for a 3 boy/3 girl litter in the future. (Can anyone guess the TV show?)

Next we thought about the two sisters that sang the song "Sisters" in White Christmas.
"Lord help the Mister, who comes between me and my Sister. And Lord help the Sister, who comes between me and my Man!"
The names of those two characters are Betty and Judy which weren't right either. The names of the two actress are Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen, not much better.

The second night in our house we had the girls running around in the bathroom. We brought out our Tub'O'Kitten Toys and gave them their choice. They both instantly grabbed a tiny Koosh Ball and started playing Football with them. (That's Soccer for our American Readers).
We realized they should be named after the heroines of Bend It Like Beckham.
A quick glance showed the two characters were "Jules" and "Jes" which are too similar so we named them after the actresses.

The larger of the two sisters is Keira Knightley. Keira is now best known as "Elizabeth Swan" in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
Our Keira is a tough little girl who takes no back talk from the boys in the other litter, wrestling and jumping on them during combined play times.

The smaller sister is Parminder Nagra. Parminder has gone on the star on ER as Dr. Neela Rasgotra.
Our Parminder's nose is actually half light and half dark like in the picture, it's not an optical illusion. She is always eating but is staying small, a very dainty little lady.

These kittens will be with us at least through Memorial Day weekend and will probably be the last that will need to live inside out bedroom suite.
It should be warm enough to set up the Kitty Kondos in the garage by then, and our permanent cats will be happy to be able to sleep with us again.

Obviously not taken today :)

2008-05-09T18:20:00.005-05:00

Sad House In Snow
December 30th 2007

Much Ado About Kittens

2008-05-06T20:55:00.016-05:00

The naming of kittens can be a difficult thing.

It took us several days to name the second set of kittens we got this summer. (More about them next post).
We never did come up with names for the first set of 5 little sick boy kittens we took care of.
This third set of kittens were a breeze though!
There are two little boys and two little girls.
One brother & sister are very outgoing and the others are quieter.
We turned once again to the Immortal Bard of Avon for names and picked a set from one of our favorite films "Much Ado About Nothing".

Benedick, the comic male lead of the play was portrayed in the movie by Kenneth Branaugh.
Kenneth has since gone on to star in movie version of Hamlet, Othello, Love's Labours Lost, Wild, Wild West and was Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Our Benedick is a grey tabby with a white tummy and a brown nose.
He is always eating and is growing very rapidly.
He is very possessive of his toys. Whenever another kittens tries to take his he growls just like a tiny tiger.

Beatrice, the comic female lead of play was portrayed by Emma Thompson.
Emma has been in Sense and Sensibility, Love Actually and was Professor Sybil Trelawney in both Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and HP and the Order of the Phoenix.

Our Beatrice is a creamy white kitten.
She is slowly turning darker, though her eyes still appear pinkish in certain lighting.

Claudio, the romantic male lead was played by Robert Sean Leonard, now best known as Dr. James Wilson on House.

Our Claudio is a grey tabby with a white tummy and a pink nose, slightly smaller than his brother Benedick.
Claudio has become a great explorer, being the first kitten to climb the outside of their Kitty Kondo and the first one in the bathtub.

Hero, the female romantic lead was portrayed by Kate Beckinsale.
Since Much Ado she has starred in Serendipity, Pearl Harbor, Van Helsing and both Underworld movies.

Our Hero is a small calico kitten.
She is the quietest and was the most skittish of the four but has become much more friendly in the couple of weeks we have had them.
She loves to bump noses!

These four kittens are now old enough for adoption and will be at the Petco in Kenosha, WI on Saturday and Sunday May 17th and 18th, or you can contact Kindred Kitties or email us: capnfrank AT sbcglobal.net

Guess Who's 6!

2008-05-01T22:10:00.010-05:00

Bertram Wilberforce Wooster
birthdate : May 1, 2002

Wooster (As he's known to his friends) originally belonged to Frank's co-worker who named him Harley because of his loud purring.
Wooster was getting into trouble at John's house. He was an only cat and he got bored during the day, so he was acting up, chewing on furniture.
He came for a visit to see if he got along with our 3 cats and he obviously did because he is still here!

As Woo has gotten older he has put on a bit of weight and has developed asthma, but he has no problems taking his medicine once a day in a chewy tuna or liver treat and he is doing much better now. He has even stopped snoring!

You can see Wooster's Catster profile here.

Fun with Cars - Not! Fun with Cats - A Lot!

2008-04-28T17:46:00.002-05:00

So Friday night was my regular gaming night. We started a new D&D campaign, this one based in the Dragonlance world. I am playing an Elven Wizard with a cat familiar, like Hermione Granger has in the Harry Potter books. Because it took a long time for everyone to create their characters, I did not get home until after 1 AM.

Gitana was feeling lonely so I had to sit and pet her awhile before bed, so I did not get to sleep until 2 AM.

Saturday morning, Michelle got up and went off to teach a rubber stamp class to a bunch of 4-H kids while I stayed in bed.
I was woken up by the phone ringing less than 30 minutes later around 8:15 AM, although I missed answering the first 3 times it rang!
It was Michelle, who had gotten a flat tire on the way to class and needed me to come give her my car so she could get there while I waited for AAA to come change the tire. (Thanks Mom and Dad!)
I was dressed, gave Jeeves his insulin shot, grabbed breakfast (a granola bar and the Diet Dew), cleaned the gaming stuff out of the car, and was out the door in 12 minutes.
I was very cold and windy for April Saturday morning too.
I only had to wait about 5 minutes or so for the AAA guy to come and he had the tire changed in under 10 minutes.
I drove away on the tiny spare tire but the PT Cruiser was steering very poorly. After 500 feet or so I stopped and found the spare was flat!!!
I put on the hazard lights and waved my arms at the tow truck, which had not left yet.
He told me that that was the first time he had ever had that happen.
He put the PT on his flat bed and drove me and it to the Goodyear store (Richlonn's on Washington Ave.)
Three hours (and one walk to the Piggly Wiggly for a real breakfast) and was on my way home with a new tire.
I stopped to pick up more thyroid medicine for Jeeves and was home about noon.

About 12:30 we got a phone call from Kathy at Kindred Kitties, asking if we could handle a second set of kittens. These four are older than the two we already had. The four are now in the second kitten kondo in the master bathroom and the two girl's kondo has moved into the master bedroom.

Tonight is school picture night at Caledonia Cat Academy so the formal introductions with pictures and names will be coming shortly!

Kitten update 4/23/08

2008-04-23T07:18:00.003-05:00

After some discussions with Kindred Kitties we are not going to be getting Da Boys back.
When they are a bit better they will be travelling to a home in West Allis where the lady specializes in "problem" kittens.
She will be taking the 5 plus a diabetic kitten that was at a different Kindred foster family.

But because nature (and Kindred) abhors a vacuum we have two new girls already.

Watch this space for more details and pictures!

Another Sign of Spring!

2008-04-22T07:23:00.000-05:00

The Ice Cream Truck is back :)

Local Kitten makes it Big in Asia!

2008-04-20T19:17:00.004-05:00

Our friends Karen and Darren raise purebred cats and sent us this email today:

"My first Grand Champion in CFA of my breeding, Murrznpurrz Captain Morgan of Kit. Captain is a Cream Classic Tabby out of CH/PR Crown E Mayflower of Murrznpurrz (Odd Eyed White, Female) - (GC Stedam's Silver Certificate X CH Chanti Aurora of Murrznpurrz) bred to CH Crown E Blue Chip of Murrznpurrz (solid Blue, male) - (CH Stedam's Dressed in Blue X CH Crown E White Heat - White Heat's dam was also CH Chanti Aurora of Murrznpurrz).

Captain was shipped to Hong Kong late in 2006 and started his quest to become a Grand Champion in Asia this year's show season, which was accomplished... Captain was Kit Cattery's first Grand Champion as well and foundation stud. I also understand he was the first Cream Tabby Grand Champion in Asia!

I was very scared to ship overseas but he is well loved & a very cherished (and spoiled member) of their family.

Just had to share...
Karen"

Kitten update 4/19/08

2008-04-19T21:04:00.004-05:00

Kitten update 4/19/08: The kittens are not doing so well.

We got home Friday night and one of the kittens was severely dehydrated and we had to run him over to another volunteer's house for emergency care. She had IV fluids and a hot rock and some other equipment for taking care of very young kittens that we don't have.

Today a couple of the others very dragging so I hand fed them KMR and A/D prescription kitten food.
I was spending about 1/2 hour out of each 2 hour period in the bathroom taking care of the kittens.
They have diarrhea and even though they were eating they were not gaining any weight. We think they might have worms from living outside.
Because we both work and wouldn't be able to give them the care necessary on Monday we have handed them off to Peggy, the other volunteer who is retired and has more time.
When the situation clears up in a week or so, we will getting them back as we have more space at our house than Peggy has in her apartment.

Kitten update 4/17/08

2008-04-17T22:23:00.003-05:00

Kitten update 4/17/08: All five kittens are doing fine.

After two days of KMR we have switched them to kitten kibble and kitten canned food.
I do not have any more pictures yet because these are some of the messiest kittens we have had.
They have food all over their faces (and tummies) (and tails) (and paws) and they would be too embarrassed to be seen in public yet.
They should shortly learn how to clean themselves and will be camera ready then.

One of the little grey and white boys has figured out how to climb up the side of the cage and get onto the second level, where he can sit and gaze down on his brothers. He then has to time it just right so he lands on one of them when he jumps off.

In other news I received by free book from the South Dakota Historical Society, which I read this weekend and then will be reviewing.

The Boys

2008-04-13T15:53:00.008-05:00

The 5 new kittens arrived safe and sound yesterday afternoon.
Because it is still so cold out they are living in their cat condo which has been set up in our master bathroom.

They appear to be about a month old and are so small and furry we are not 100% sure but we think they are all boys.

3 grey & white boys and two boys who are mostly white & very very light brownish-grey patches.

They are drinking their KMR (Kitten Milk Replacement) formula from a bowl, but their depth perception isn't well developed yet, so they are all walking around with big milk mustaches.

No name have been chosen yet but the following names have been proposed and rejected:
Henry I, Henry II, Henry III, Henry IV, Henry V
Pikachu, Snorlax, Charmander, Bulbasaur and Meowth
Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Scooter and Animal
George Foreman, George Foreman, George Foreman, George Foreman, George Foreman

It's Kitten Season!

2008-04-12T09:13:00.002-05:00

Our first batch of foster kittens are coming today!

They are being dropped off around 2pm CDT.

All we currently know is that there are 5 of them and no Momma Cat.

Watch this space for more news soon!

Woo Hoo! I'm an Early Reviewer!

2008-04-11T11:07:00.004-05:00

When I logged into LibraryThing.com today I had a private message.

"Congratulations. You've snagged an Early Reviewers copy of Dance in a Buffalo Skull by Zitkala-Sa.You should get your copy in the mail shortly. The publishers ship the books directly--some are speedier than others, so be patient!

We hope you find the time to read the book and review it on LibraryThing. You are free--indeed encouraged--to put your review on your blog, or wherever else you want, and to talk about it in the Early Reviewers group. I want to repeat that, although writing a review will help your chances of getting more books, the actual content of your review will not.

We hope you like the book! Let me know if you have any questions.

Best,
Abby
private comment posted by ablachly at 10:23 pm (EST) on Apr 10, 200"

Every month or so publishers offer early review copies of books to Library Thing and you can request the one you would like.
I have put in my requests every month and was finally picked!

Here is the description from the ER list:
"Dance in a Buffalo Skull by Zitkala-Sa (South Dakota State Historical Society)

Dance in a Buffalo Skull is a tale of late-night frolics, danger, and survival on the prairie. Join tiny field mice for a great feast and dance inside an old buffalo skull. Out of the dark, two fiery eyes glide through the prairie grass, drawing closer to the mice who are oblivious in their merrymaking. What happens next reveals as much about the mice as about their unexpected guest.

This Prairie Tale recreates a world in miniature, with elements of classic fairy tales and traditional fables, and its messages still resonate today. A traditional American Indian story passed orally from generation to generation, it was translated in English and written down by Zitkala-Sa in 1901.
Contemporary Lakota artist S. D. Nelson has created vibrant pictures that add drama to the story. He fuses traditional Lakota Indian styles with modern interpretations to provide visual clues to ancient words.
"The art blends Lakota tradition and modern styles to match the tall tale and bring it to life."—The Midwest Book Review

"Nelson's illustrations add to the tension between the creeping wildcat and the celebrating mice."—School Library Journal

"The narrative tension builds deliciously . . . This tale would be perfect in a scary story time, told with the lights down low."—School Library Journal

"An enjoyable story faithful to the original legend."—The Midwest Book Review"

When I get the book I will post my review here as well as at Library Thing!

Calvin & Hobbes

2008-04-08T14:08:00.008-05:00

My favorite comic strip ever:

Calvin and Hobbes (picture by Bill Watterson)

Calvin and Hobbes (picture by Nina Matsumoto)

Calvin and Hobbes: Magic On Paper is Tim Hulsizer's exhaustive look at all things Calvin and Hobbes.

You can also check out the complete archive of Calvin and Hobbes comic strips.

Guess Who's 8!

2008-04-07T21:19:00.005-05:00

Jeeves Alexander Laycock

birthdate: April 7th, 2000

photo taken November 2000

Make Your Own TV Season!

2008-03-30T18:09:00.002-05:00

We don't watch much live television any more.

We had cable but dumped it for DirecTV.

We dropped DirecTV for NetFlix.

Our TV picks up only the local NBC, Fox, ABC and PBS stations - no CBS, CW or WB.

The only cable/satellite channel we miss is BBCAmerica.

The only shows that get regularly watched live are Heroes, Chuck and The Office.

Heroes and Chuck got delayed until the fall season by the writer's strike but The Office returns April 10th!

Thanks to NetFlix and so many TV series coming out on DVD, we have decided to make our own television season.

It's easier to watch one episode during dinner than a whole movie.

We have worked out way through Mr. Bean, Black Adder, Love For Lydia, Monarch of the Glen, and the new Robin Hood.

Shows that started and were cancelled after only one episode include Pink Lady and Jeff (a very bad 70s variety show) and The Mighty Isis.

Our current schedule:

Sunday: Masterpiece Theatre on Disc - currently showing Danger: UXB

Monday: The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles

Tuesday: unassigned

Wednesday: unassigned

Thursday: The Office (when the new shows start we will watch the current one, then an old episode)

Friday: probably never to be assigned - every other week is Dungeons & Dragons gaming night.

Saturday: Arrested Development

Odds and Ends

2008-03-17T14:29:00.004-05:00

Just a quick post with some bits of news from the last couple of weeks.

First Robin of the Spring sighted in Caledonia on Tuesday March 4th

Two of my favorite comic book author/artists passed on this last month.
Steve Gerber, creator of Howard the Duck and the Mysterious Man-Thing died of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis at the age of 60.
Dave Stevens, creator of the Rocketeer died of leukemia at the age of 52.
The Rocketeer is probably my favorite comic-book adaptation movie as it was very close to the look and storyline of the original. It also has a great soundtrack by James Horner which included arrangements of "When Your Lover Has Gone" and "Begin the Beguine" that WOKY used to play.

Munster's coming to a close!
CompuCom has hired a new person to take over the computer support at Rockwell's Munster facility. She is starting next week so we will both be there March 26th and 27th and then I'm finished!!!!!!!

Vacation? What's that?
I hope to take off the week of April 7th to do stuff around the house, get my car worked on, and possibly have the first meeting of the Shorewood Concert Band board and do this year's Reunion Newsletter. I'll let everyone know soon if this is going to happen.

Larisa's got a home!

2008-03-16T13:49:00.008-05:00

Our first foster family of kittens for 2007 arrived on March 17th. A family here in Racine was moving back to Serbia and could not take their female cat, Larisa, who had just given birth to 3 girls and a boy.

Here are the girls: Natasha, Svetlana and Tatiana:

and here is Boris:

Larisa was such a good mother that our friend Karen, a cat breeder, brought over one of her pure-bred kittens to stay and be socialized. He was very small and soon was named "Little Tyke":

After the kittens were grown and adopted Larisa was fixed and went to live in the Kindred Kitties adoption center at Carolyn's House. The volunteers there quickly found out the Larisa does not like other cats, and she was picking on them and getting into fights.

When we heard this we volunteered to let Larisa live in our upstairs Bedroom/Bathroom area where she has been since last September or so.

We have been keeping our sweater boxes on the inside of the door and blankets and pillows on the outside because she would hiss and poke at our cats.

Since we adopted Gitana it has gotten worse, with the 2 of them going at it nearly every morning somewhere between 4 and 6 am!

Michelle has been taking her to Petco and Cat Shows on the weekends to try and find a home where she will be an only cat.

After several possibilities, it has finally worked out.

She is going to be living with a single guy in Kenosha and where she can be the ruler of her own domain!

Good Luck Queen Larisa!

London Administration Building, Part 2

2008-03-15T22:25:00.003-05:00

I have recently started playing with Google Earth again and decided to get a screen shot of last post's building.

There is an arrow pointing to it, with Tower Bridge to the right and the Tower of London to the top.

London Administration Building

2008-03-10T18:11:00.004-05:00

This is the City of London's Administration Building, where the Mayor of London has his offices. It is on the South Bank of the Thames, just west of Tower Bridge.

I think this would be a *very* cool place to have an office, with views of the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the HMS Belfast and Big Ben/the Houses of Parliment.

This photo was taken from the observation deck on top of Tower Bridge in January 2005.

Probably the best since 1950

2008-03-09T14:59:00.003-05:00

Belgaufra Belgian Waffles

Photo taken Brussels, Belgium, 2003

Spink, founded 1666

2008-03-08T21:58:00.003-06:00

Photo taken in London, 2003

Me and E. Gary Gygax

2008-03-05T19:53:00.019-06:00

The coverage of Gary Gygax's death is just amazing to me. Not only are there tributes on all the gaming websites and in several webcomics I have also see stories in the New York Times, on BBC, NPR, Popular Science.com, slashdot, and even the Northwest Indiana Times.

My favorite so far has been from the LOLCats:

I think I first became aware of the name Gary Gygax in 1977 when Peter Nelson got the basic "Blue Box" Dungeons & Dragons set from his uncle for Christmas. We spent our traditional New Year's Eve with them and he handed me the box and told me he wanted to play that night and I had to be "DM". I spent an hour or two reading then we five kids started exploring The Keep on the Borderlands. After creating characters they entered the dungeon and after checking every 10 feet for traps they got to the first encounter with a couple of kobolds. I then had to stop the game for about 30 minutes while I tried to figure out how fighting worked!

Here are my original (well used) First Edition books:

This is the title page from the Monster Manual:

Let's zoom in on the lower left corner:

In 1986 my friends and I on the UW-Platteville campus got an official, recognized gaming club started so we could use rooms in the Student Center on the weekends to game in. In 1988 the "Platteville Gamer's Association" held "Plattecon Beta" our second gaming convention, and we had Gary come as guest of honor. I got my book signed but I didn't get to play in the dungeon he ran. I did watch him Dungeon Mastering, which was a lot of fun. I saw him a couple of times at Gen Con over the years, before it moved to Indianapolis from Milwaukee.

So long Gary, and thanks for everything!

"I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else"

2008-03-04T12:01:00.001-06:00

E. Gary Gygax
July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008

More info here.

Just a quick post so Mom won't have to see Godzilla anymore...

2008-02-27T13:26:00.001-06:00

Caption confusion mangles The Queen
By Nick Squires in Sydney
Last Updated: 11:01am GMT 26/02/2008

An Australian showing of the award-winning film The Queen was unwittingly turned into a farce by woefully poor subtitles.

The captions were included because the film was being shown to an audience of the deaf and hard of hearing by a council in Sydney.

But the movie, starring Helen Mirren as the Queen, became a comedy of errors thanks to the oddly rendered captions.

“Buckingham Palace” appeared on screen as “Burking in Paris” while the question “did you vote?” flashed up as “dead in a boat”.

When a character spoke about former prime minister Tony Blair being “educated at Fettes", it appeared on screen as “educated the fattest".

The observation that “every newspaper proprietor has blood on his hands today” became “every newspaper proprietor has blown in his hands today".

The film chronicles the royal family’s struggle to meet public expectations in reacting to the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

The outdoor screening of the film at the weekend was an embarrassment for Ryde Council.

The council’s Derek McCarthy conceded that the captions, produced either by a crude computer translation programme or somebody with only the faintest grasp of English, were bizarre.

“The copy shown did have some spelling mistakes and interpretations of the script which affected the experience for the deaf community present,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Originally posted by The Telegraph.

Godzilla Unleashed!

2008-02-11T19:55:00.002-06:00

I have finally decided to wait and see what the @pp1e ebook is like before I buy the Sony.

So since I did not get anything from Wifey for XMas I got to go to Best Buy and pick out a game for my Wii.

I picked this:

And here are some YouTube videos showing the gameplay:

So far my favorite monster Anguirus. When he charges he rolls up ino a ball just like in the movies!

Lots of Snow = No To Munster Go!

2008-02-05T10:34:00.000-06:00

Milwaukee is getting 12-16 inches of snow starting this afternoon through tomorrow and Munster is getting rain then freezing rain then 6 inches of snow so I am not going tomorrow morning!

I will be playing it by ear to see if I will instead go down Thursday morning and back Friday instead.

Update: Due to the higher amounts and later arrival time of the snow today I do not have to go Thursday or Friday either!

No cavities!

2008-02-05T07:17:00.000-06:00

I saw my dentist yesterday and I have no new cavities!

Unfortunately, one of my molars in the back left top is cracked and I will be getting a new crown :(

Calabash Music - Tune Your World

2008-02-02T16:41:00.000-06:00

In our area the cable provider is Time-Warner. After they raised their rates for the 3rd time in a year, we dropped it and got DirecTV.
After about a year of that we realized we were only watching about 5 channels and dropped that too.
So now our TV is used for watching DVDs and playing video games.
I don't miss it much although I do miss the LinkTV channel. A commercial-free channel they specialize in showing non-US news, documentaries and movies. My favorite program was the World Music Video Block, and you can watch some on their website.
Calabash Music is their associated website where you can support musicians from around the world by purchasing mp3s of their songs and albums and the artists get 1/2 of the money from the sales.
Each weekday they have 2 free songs that you can download and listen to. You will need to create a free login. Or use the handy new widget I have added over there -> below the LibraryThing box.
I have downloaded over 260 songs since April of 2006 when I discovered the site!
They also post video over on YouTube.

I think I saw the owl!

2008-02-01T21:07:00.001-06:00

Math problem:
If yesterday = 12 inches snow then today = ???
Please show your work...
....
....
....

the correct answer is today = 90 minutes of shoveling to get 1/2 driveway clear

I like snow, really I do.
I don't mind shovelling at night in the cold, clear, quiet it's very zen-like.
After all the other people with their noisy snowblowers finished and went inside I was pausing to catch my breath and I heard the owls again!
One north near the tree farm and one south by the woods.
I decided then that I had cleared enough to get the cars in the garage so I went and got the binoculars and walked up towards the tree farm.
I think I saw the owl up on a bare branch in a tree moving back and forth, but it's been awhile since I used binocs and couldn't hold them very steady.
I'll go back tomorrow when it's light and see if I was looking at a squirrel's nest :)

But....
I was down on one knee in a snow bank trying to get a different view of the branch and when I took the binocs from my eyes and was about to get up I realized that there was a coyote staring at me from about 20 feet away.
Coyotes are NOT small, as I found out when I hit one on the freeway with my new Kia in September of 2006.
This one seemed not quite as big as that one.
It looked at me as I stood up slowly, then it turned and ran off towards the pond, leaping over the snowdrifts.

I like living on the edge of the country, but I know animals can show up in the most unexpected places, like the fox that we saw several times walking down the road at night in London when we there in 2006.
We were staying in the Bayswater area on the north side of Hyde Park and see the fox as we were walking to the tube station and to "The Swan" a very nice little pub that we ate at twice.
Mr. Fox was too quick for us and we never got a picture of him.

UPDATE: I walked down to the tree farm this afternoon and there was nothing on the branch I was looking at last night! Owl confirmed!

I made in home from Muster

2008-02-01T07:37:00.001-06:00

It normally takes me between 2 1/2 to 3 hours to make it home from Munster.

Can you guess how long it took me this week?

a) 12 minutes
b) 4 hours 17 minutes
c) 6 hours 23 minutes
d) 8 hours 6 minutes
e) none of the above
f) all of the above

Stupid Snow!

But at least it's better than a hurricane.
Or an earthquake.
Or a wildfire.
Or huge flocks of foul smelly budgies breeding in the sewers and then flying out of people's loos and infringing on their personal freedoms.

(The answer is C)

Return with me now to the thrilling days of....

2008-01-19T16:04:00.000-06:00

1985!

I was attending the University of Wisconsin at Platteville and living in the dorms, Morrow Hall 3rd floor.
The guy in the corner room had bought the first CD player on the floor.
He only had 2 CDs, one of which was Pink Floyd's The Wall.
I'm sure some of you remember this album - "We don't need no education", "It's just another brick in the Wall", "Is there anybody out there?" etc. etc. etc.
He went to his morning classes, ate lunch lunch and came back and played this album.
Monday through Friday.
Every day.
Let me repeat - Every day!

VERY LOUDLY!!

EVERY
SINGLE
STINKING
DAY!!!!!

After about 2 months of this my roommate Ron and I decided to get even.
Ron had a Commodore 64 computer and the video game M.U.L.E.
One day we hooked up his computer to my stereo system, cranked the volume, and went to lunch leaving this playing:

We came back an hour later to find about 20 guys outside our room, pounding on the door.
We posted a note later explaining why we did it.
And threatening to do it again.
The other guys on the floor chipped in and bought "The Wall's" owner a set of headphones. :)

@pp1e eBook? Where are you?

2008-01-16T21:13:00.000-06:00

I want an eBook reader!
I have been looking at the Sony Reader for over year now, saving all my change.

But I knew that Amazon was coming out with one so I was waiting.
Amazon has now released the Kindle except that I think that it is just ugly, like a miniature Apple IIe with the qwerty keybaord stuck on the bottom.

I had decided to go ahead and buy the Sony but I got an email from an unnamed source who had some info from another source that a certain large computer company named after a fruit was going to introducing their own version.
The annual MacWorld Expo (which I attended in San Fran in 1990 and 1993) is this week and so far I have not seen any mention of in the coverage.
Inside Mac TV has posted the Macworld 2008 Steve Jobs Apple Keynote Highlights but nothing there :(

So do I wait another 6 months and see what Apple will do?
Or get the Sony now and take advantage of the 100 free classic books they are offering through the end of January?
Or do I forget the whole thing and start saving for this?

Owls in Caledonia!

2008-01-16T11:59:00.001-06:00

Last night as I was reading in bed I heard an owl outside my house, pretty close by.

A couple of minutes later I heard it again to the north, near the Tree Farm.

Suddenly I heard it again near the house and realizied it was two owls!

They hooted back and forth in a 5 hoot pattern (whowhowho-whowho) several times.

I'm not sure what kind they were.

There is a pack of coyotes that spend several nights a month in the Tree Farm, we can hear them howling at night.

This is another reason why we keep our cats inside at all times.

Wowio.com Free Books • Free Minds

2008-01-13T15:48:00.000-06:00

One of the only things I like better than buying books is Free Books!
I recently found a free legal online source for pdf books and comic books.

Wowio.com has a huge selection of books and you can download 3 a day.

They have everything from mysteries to textbooks to comedy to comic books to classics to travel to romance, etc. etc.

Several comic books series well worth downloading: Inverloch, Swords of the Swashbucklers, and The Dreamland Chronicles.

Recent books I downloaded include: Ancient Natural History: Histories of Nature, Soldier and Society in Roman Egypt: A Social History, The Songs of Robert Burns (originally $335.00!), The Early Works of Dr. Seuss - Volume 1, The Early Works of Dr. Seuss - Volume 2, The Land That Time Forgot - Three Book Special Edition by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

If you check out their site and find some book or series you find interesting please leave me a comment!

LibraryThing.com Part 2

2008-01-10T15:22:00.000-06:00

I have books.
Lots of books.
Lots and Lots and Lots of books.
I checked and the only room in my house that does not have books in it is the dining room.
(Yes, there are books in both of the bathrooms.)
I have tried numerous ways of keeping track of what I have, from notebooks to index cards to spreadsheets to FileMaker databases.
And then I found LibraryThing.com

LibraryThing allows you to enter your books into their database using either the title or the ISBN.
They pull data from Amazon.com, the Library of Congress, Oxford University and over 200 more libraries around the world.
The British Library was just added on January 9th!
You can enter your own books manually if LibraryThing can't find a source for your particular book.
Every book can have "Tags" added to it like nonfiction, Poirot, not read, or anything else.
Once you have entered books, LibraryThing can compare your collection to everyone else's showing you how popular a book is or whose library is most similar to yours.
It has both a "Suggester" to find books you might like and an "Unsuggester" to find books that will probably not be in your library.
People have currently added over 22 million books into the system!

It's fun poking around the site because they keep adding new features.
Most owned book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (26,381)
Most reviewed book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (550 reviews)
There are authors who are staring to post their libraries on LibraryThing.
Even Thomas Jefferson, our third president has his library posted on LibraryThing!

I changed my LibraryThing sidebars so now you see 6 random books plus the last 6 books I entered.
(Can you tell I was bored in the hotel last night???)

Deja Vu All Over Again

2008-01-08T18:20:00.000-06:00

My sister posted the same Human Tetris video on her blog the day after I posted it here.

And we did not talk to each other about it either!

Welcome to the Laycock Twilight Zone de-be-do-be de-be-do-be!!

I'm off to Munster tomorrow.

2008-01-08T11:50:00.001-06:00

Going to Munster again...

No, not Münster Germany

I wish it were Munster, Ireland :(

Not these Munsters either!

Yep, It's Munster Indiana!

Every Wednesday and Thursday for work.
My trips down there have been extended another 8 weeks, through the end of March.

Important tip: If you have to drive through Ilinois on a regular basis get an iPass! Half the cash price and saves probably 50% travel time.

It's still about a 3 hour trip so I stay overnight at the Munster Hampton Inn, which has a pool and whirlpool and free breakfast, but no cats in the room :(

Human Stop-Motion Tetris

2008-01-07T21:54:00.000-06:00

Amazing!
Also check out the versions of Pong, Pole Position and Space Invaders they animated!

http://youtube.com/profile?user=notsonoisy

LibraryThing.com Part 1

2008-01-07T15:40:00.000-06:00

See that yellow box over there? ------>

That is a random selection of 5 books we own out of the 1300+ books I have entered into My Library at LibraryThing.com. I think this is about 25% of the books in our house.

Unfortunately I need to work some overtime tonight and can't explain anymore about LibraryThing today but I promise I will soon.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2008-01-06T13:04:00.001-06:00

75 trips around the sun!!!

Introducing.... Gitana!

2008-01-05T15:27:00.001-06:00

This is Gitana, the newest member of our family.

Born in July 2007, along with her mother Gypsy and two siblings came to foster with us.

We foster kittens and cats for Kindred Kitties, a no-kill cat-only animal shelter in Kenosha Wisconsin.

After a quick Google search on "Gypsy baby names" we named her brother Mander, her sister Chavali and her Gitana, which is Spanish for "Gypsy".

Mander

Chavali

Gitana and Mander are polydactyl having 6 toes on their front paws and 5 on the back instead of the standard 5 and 4.

Gitana got an ear infection and a scratch above her eye and had to live inside our house for several weeks, away from her family who were staying in a cat condo in our garage, where most of our foster cats stay when it is warm enough.

Mander was adopted by our friends Brent and Jackie who have named in "Lando Catrissian" after the character "Lando Calrissian" from "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi".

After she was not adopted at Petco for two weeks we realized we missed her very much and brought her back home to live with us permanently.

She has adapted very well, getting along with Sunshine and Jeeves but she is particularly good friends with Wooster.

Gitana can not bear to left out of what's going on. I cannot go up or down a flight of stairs without her following me, even if she was sitting in Michelle's lap at the time. She is also waiting for us outside the bedroom door every morning and by the back door when we arrive home at night.

Does the world need another Cat Blog?

2008-01-04T22:10:00.000-06:00

Hi and welcome to my blog!

I am Cap'n Frank and this is my Cat Blog.

What's a Cat Blog?

First a bit of background info - I am a reading junkie - books, magazines, newspapers, websites, comic books, cereal boxes, whatever.

I recently was poking around electronic book sites and found an ebook called "Who's There? Seth Godin's Incomplete Guide to Blogs and the New Web". (You can get your own free copy at http://www.sethgodin.com/)

In it he defines three types of blogs (page 16):
1) Cat Blogs
2) Boss Blogs
3) Viral Blogs

"CAT BLOGS are blogs for and by and about the person blogging."

This is definitely going to be a cat blog!
In addition to my wife and I there are 4 permanent Feline-Americans in our house and between 0-10 foster cats and kittens present at any time. There is currently one foster female cat living with us.

The last two summers my wife has been posting pictures of our current foster kittens over at her rubber stamping blog (http://www.inkartist.net/) but she has stopped posting much there so I will be doing it here.

The other reason I am finally getting off my butt and starting a personal blog is that my 13-year-old nephew has started his own blog!

I'm not only going to be talking about cats & books but also the Wii, Tubas, board games, movies, music, webcomics and whatever else strikes my fancy.

Does the world need another Cat Blog? According to my Cats it does!

Cap'n Frank