Last fall I had a close encounter with a woodpecker. I posted a photo then but have finally gotten around to putting a short video clip up at Youtube.
12 February, 2026
Gifted
I was recently given this fine, capacious D&D themed mug by a friend of mine. I have yet to use it but suspect it will be overflowing with tasty beer ere long.
Why yes there is a 20-sided die embedded in it.
Piper's peepers
Piper had to have her eyes examined last week and she was, as usual when she is ripped from the safety of her home, scared.
Thankfully her peepers were in good working order. Her eye exams are now going to be annual instead of bi-annual.
Coming soon, 8 February 2026
Seen before a screening of Dracula.
I thought Dracula was fun. Not a classic but not terrible. A divergence from the novel, I am told since I've never read it. Dracula was sympathetic and driven by his love for his lady. Christoph Waltz is a priest in the X-Files division of the Vatican. Some of his dialogue felt stilted at times but I liked his character because he was driven to do what needed to be done.
Like I said, good fun but not a great movie.
Marcus showed about 33% fewer trailers than AMC generally does.
I was appalled to find out that there is a He-Man movie on the horizon. Is this a lure for nostalgic GenXers?
I think that trailers filled with laudatory quotes portend a lousy movie. I feel ambivalent about this one as I suspect I'd appreciate the creepiness but there were too many jump scares (and quotes).
Red band!
I got Dibs
Back in December I was in Chicago where I went to the Christkindlmarkt downtown. While there I ate at Goddess and the Baker where I bought some coffee - Dibs. "Dibs" is the practice of putting chairs, orange cones, or whatever it takes to reserve a parking spot out on the street and it is also Goddess and the Baker's special winter blend.
It looks like a blend of medium and dark roast beans.
My cup here had an oily sheen. Dirty cup? Or the from the lighter roasted beans? My understanding is that the more you roast coffee, the more the oils are leeched out.
It was tasty stuff. Roasty, a bit earthy, and with a nice level of bitterness.
So that's what they were for
As a fan of The Young Ones I've always assumed that the flashes of found footage was a send up of the notion of subliminal messaging or just goofy gag.
That's from "Bambi", a.k.a. - the University Challenge episode.
Now I learn that these images were part of a running gag that was meant to have a payoff at the end of the show but that it was nixed by bureaucrats.
So the flash frames were never intended to be just a random piece of nonsense. They were meant as a running gag throughout the six episodes, which cumulated in a punchline...All of which meant that when “Summer Holiday” was broadcast on the 19th June 1984, it was shorn of its intended flash frame, and the punchline to the whole joke.
05 February, 2026
Coming soon, 4 February 2026
I think JoAnne Pow!ers has been at every screening I've been at this year. It is not clear if this says anything about me or her.
These were the trailers at a screening of The Testament of Ann Lee which was excellent. I loved both kinds of musical numbers - the ones that gave exposition and the ones that were liturgical. The latter were quite effective in creating an ecstatic atmosphere and giving a sense of the characters' religious fervor. There were a couple scenes where I felt it would have been neat if the movie had let worshiping continue longer and more had been done with Mother Ann's visions. It would have been nice to have had a bit more that takes place outside the normal, workaday world.
While watching the credits I was pleasantly surprised to see that Amanda Seyfried did her own singing or most of it, anyway. The music was wonderful and I am curious to know how much of it was authentic Shaker music or at least based upon such songs.
An excellent flick.
The evening began with a commercial for the Metropolitan Opera. The show is Cinderella and it noted that it had a running time of 90 minutes and was in English so you don't have to be a sophisto to watch it.
Next was another commercial for Winter Olympics coverage at the cinema.
We then got a trailer for Dreams but it was not banded presumably because it had not been reviewed by the MPAA. Jessica Chastain has is a cougar here - a long way from Mrs. O'Brien.
Jessica Chastain & Neve Campbell flicks? Are middle-aged women having a moment at the cinema?
I am hoping to see The Odyssey on film in Indianapolis while I'm at Gencon.
The second trailer that begins in the desert. I am getting them confused.
More older Fraus.
Red band once again. Perhaps there is no green band version of this one.
04 February, 2026
Coming soon, 27 January 2026
Seen before a screening of No Other Choice.
This was a commercial and not a proper trailer.
A commercial for the Winter Olympics coverage followed.
This was a red band trailer.
Coming soon, 26 January 2026
Seen at a screening of Hamnet.
A commercial for the Olympic games followed.
New tunes
Jay Farrar continues channeling Woody Guthrie in a new song called "These Days Have No Shame". Also, Son Volt will be on tour later this year.
Tomeka Reid has a new album out on the 13th called dance! skip! hop!. The 2nd single from it, "oo long", is previewed on Youtube and can be found in full on her Bandcamp page. Both it and the title track are available there and they both are fantastic. Hopefully she and her band will return to Madison this year.
A brace of bocks and sayonara snakes
When I went to the liquor store last weekend I noticed that Lakefront is not messing around when it comes to helles bocks. They had a couple on offer.
Have they brewed the honey bock before? I cannot recall. It was just nice to see a brace of bocks to push back against the 8 gillion IPAs.
I see that they have also resurrected Snake Chaser.
When did this go away? Was it around last year? Not sure when this came back. Regardless, it's good to have it back for a little St. Patrick's Day cheer.
In the cards
I recently received a couple handmade cards. Aren't they lovely?
They're from my eldest stepson and his fiancée. Last summer they moved to Albuquerque but have been having a hard go of things. And so I worry about them.
Soon, well, soonish, I'll be heading to New Mexico to visit them. It will be wonderful to see them again and to check out the Southwest, taste Albuquerquean beer, sample hot sauces, and just see what there is to see.
Look at my new hat!
My youngest stepson knitted it for me. He is a very talented fellow.
But he too is having problems that make me worry about him.
I will do what it is in my powers to do.
30 January, 2026
22 January, 2026
Learn to polka
Listen and dance to polkas (and waltzes, & schottisches) at The Bur Oak on 22 February! Oh, and drink some beer too.
A The Name of the Rose moment
A pen leaked in my pen holder thingy so I spent some time this morning cleaning up the mess. The result was...
...and they also will have black fingers and black tongues!
15 January, 2026
A walking bundle of frequencies
Seen at a tavern.
After seeing this I had to fight the urge to get a kitten ASAP.
I have a home! And I'd bet Piper would get into the mothering routine by keeping a kitten clean and showing it around the place.
My latest bit of home decor
It's Grabby!
Isn't she lovely? It's a metal print and so it has this glossy finish and it looks wonderful in my living room.
I ♥ Enrique's
My bread machine keeps churning out the staff of life unabated.
A loaf of herb bread turned out well.
The recipe called for tarragon but I had none so I threw in rosemary instead.
I don't dislike tarragon, but I prefer rosemary. Tarragon has an anise/licorice thing to it which is not my favorite whereas rosemary is more like mint. The brot made for some tasty sandwiches at a friend's place.
Most recently I tried my hand at challah.
It turned out well except I misread the recipe and attempted to decorate the top of the loaf with poppy seed at the wrong time. Oops.
I was pleased with how it turned out beyond a paucity of poppy. Light, fluffy. Eggy. This stuff makes some fine toast.
Earlier this month I got the craving for Italian food. I suspect I just didn't get enough at my Italian uncle's home over Christmas. A stop at the Willy Street Coop yielded some smoked mozzerella tortelloni from RP's Pasta. Next I made a trek to Fraboni's as I had a hankering for their XX hot sausage.
It had been a while since I'd had their sausage as my wife doesn't care for it. The grind is too coarse for her taste. Fair enough. Now that I am no longer cooking for her, I indulged myself. Also, I bought a quart of their marinara and voila! It was a fairly quick and easy dinner.
While at Fraboni's it was brought to my attention that they now offer Mystery Sausage Coils.
Who knows what lurks in the heart of mystery sausages? The Fraboni knows...
When dining out, it's been Mexican lately.
It had been a while since I'd been to El Pastor. The fajitas were fine. Grilled jalapenos are da bomb.
Is there a 12-step program for choco-flan addiction?
I love this stuff!
More recently I ate at Enrique's Market for the first time. It features a small selection of groceries, including a brand of salt & vinegar potato chips that I'd never encountered, as well as a kitchen offering a smattering of Mexican staples.
My asada torta was simple yet very delicious.
I really like Enrique's. The food was good, the staff friendly, and it had a wholly unpretentious, hole-in-the-wall vibe that I adore. It's a neighborhood joint, not a Michelin starred destination for the well-heeled. As Douglas MacArthur once said, I shall return.
09 January, 2026
Book, cat, and rain
My new book arrived.
It's a neat tome and has an entry per day so I can get a microdose of nature every morning to start my day.
Here's Piper this afternoon catching some rays on my clean comforter.
Finally, here's a shot of the rain from a morning earlier this week. I eschewed the auto settings which brighten everything into unreality.
Urban Driftwood is here
My Yasmin Williams CD has arrived. Since I bought it from her directly, she autographed it.
I am looking forward to seeing her this spring at the Stoughton Opera House.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)