Random Acts of Thursday - I had to work a double shift at Cinnabons

Oh, October, how do I love thee?  I love the mist in the mornings, the wind overnight, the smell of fallen leaves, fine seasonal beers and the re-appearance of pumpkin pie in the grocery store.  Given proper funding (see button at right) I also have some wonderfully gruesome, children-wetting-themselves Halloween ideas that need to be played out at some point. 

And this weekend, Lori and I will be attending a masquerade ball themed around Poe's Masque of the Red Death.  Among the tarot readers, headless horsemen and the "Guess who's Death" game, I found a new musical genre that just cries out to be loved:  Goth-a-billy.

I'm already a fan of rock-a-billy and psycho-billy, and despite having never worn black nail polish and a floor-length black coat, I love The Cure.  This just screams to be downloaded for my listening pleasure, I'm sure.

The band playing at this little soiree is named Cult of the Psychic Fetus.  If it wasn't already a band name, Cult of the Psychic Fetus would be a GREAT band name.

Speaking of macabre little pagan holidays, I must say I'm rather disappointed in Food Network even more than normal.  As if it isn't bad enough that Sandra Lee gets a Halloween special, last weekend we watched the Food Network Horror Cakes Challenge.  Judged by Leatherface himself, these were kindly little cakes with little actual horror.  Mock horror, perhaps.  Horrificomical?  Maybe.  But the judges were looking for gumpaste intestines dripping with raspberry blood, the glint of some medieval torture device sawing limbs from exchange students.

And really, who isn't?

And speaking of medieval torture devices, I've noticed an alarming number of dead blogs in my random trolling of the web.  People who clutter the limited disk space of the worldwide web with pages that haven't been updated in three or four years or more.  Sure, pages like MyDeathSpace can tell us when someone's page isn't updated for a reason, but how many people just forget their passwords or lose interest with no sort of sign-off? 

I'll do my best not to do that to my readers.  What I will do is leave you with the award-winning costume Lori made for me a number of years ago.

Now, your turn.  What's your best Halloween/Autumn memory ever?  And for my readers in the southern hemisphere, Spring memories work, too.  Until then, stay out of the daylight.

Random Acts of Thursday - Howard's End

(or, From Mr. C to Mystery)

October 1, 1927 — October 19, 2010

The world lost an icon this week.  Tom Bosley passed away at age 83, an American icon and a better father than Cliff Huxtable could ever hope to be.  I'm at least certain that Howard Cunningham could kick Cliff's ass around the block, given the need.

Certainly he was a better father than Danny Tanner.  And even Joanie Cunningham could kick his ass.

I grew up watching Happy Days, fictionally based in my home town and therefore riveting to an eight-year-old me.  However, my favorite Mr. C memory came later in life, watching the Christmas episode where Howard was going to drive Fonzie to Waukesha to see his family for Christmas, and wouldn't be back for many, many hours.  I lived in Waukesha at the time, and even without the Interstate, there's no reason it should take two hours to drive from ANYWHERE in Milwaukee to Waukesha. 

That Mr. Cunningham, he's good people.

Any other Happy Days memories you'd like to share?

Adjective Noun Day of Week - Interjection! Pronoun verb possessive pronoun adjective verb.

Verb noun conjunction verb.  And you didn't think I could nerd the place up any more.  Interjection, verb pronoun.

I seem to be in a mood lately, moreso than normal.  It means I'm quite sensitive to the verbal and written gaffes of other people.  I did well in English class in school, with the exception of that paper I failed to write on Camus.  That's okay, since Sartre is smartre, anyway.

What I don't seem to recall is diagraming sentences.  I remember seeing sentence diagrams on television and in movies, but, though I'm certain we must have done these in school, the memory of it has escaped me. 

I remember Schoolhouse Rock, with its Conjunction Junction (not as exciting as Petticoat Junction...), Lolly's Adverbs, and that depressing little Mr. Morton wandering about, but I don't remember ever actually applying what I learned on Saturday Morning television to my schooling. 

I suppose between Grammar Rock and The Electric Company, there was a lot of education snuck into my entertainment, like the school lunch programs that added pureed prunes to their hamburger patties.

Because really, would you have watched if you thought it was good for you?

The Doob-la-vay Say

We have a Wisconsin Connection, and that's a good thing.  Despite Cleveland feeling much like home, the people and the climate and the environment so similar to Wisconsin it's comforting, we find that the few things we miss outside of family and friends are certain foodstuffs specific to America's Dairyland. 

When our friends Bob and the lovely Mrs. Bob made the trek across timezones last weekend, they offered to supplement our food supply with fine Wisconsin comestibles.  It seemed unfair to send them all the way to Oconomowoc for Hungarian bratwurst from the Sausage Haus, so I'll get those at Thanksgiving.  However, Lori is hooked on Widmer's brick cheese, and no other brick cheese will do.  In addition to that, Bob took it upon himself to bring us Usinger's summer sausage and Nueske's thick-cut bacon.  Mmmm, bacon.

In return, we headed off to the Westside Market after lunch at Melt Bar and Grilled, and took a brief tour of the city, both the hifalutin' and downtrodden areas.  For the record, I have yet to find a sandwich that hasn't been improved by the addition of fried eggs when the option is available.

Sunday, we hit Bob Evans, since it's Ohio-based and therefore relevant.  And because I'm an adult, I had pie before my breakfast.  Then Diane and I toured waterfalls and Amish country while Bob and Lori waited in line for roller coasters.  We were denied Amish baked goods, since the Amish don't work on Sundays, but I did get a 45-pound pumpkin (and a few others) at the roadside market, and we saw snakes and vintage cycles in Chagrin Falls.

And last night I watched Alton Brown make pralined bacon, so I think we know what's going to happen with the Nueske's. 

Remember, it's not what you know, it's who you know.

Random Acts of Thursday - Will the real Act of Thursday please stand up?

So yesterday, in my infinite absent-mindedness, I posted, thinking it was Thursday.  That was because I was so convinced that Tuesday was actually Wednesday, I left work having prepared for Wednesday to be Thursday.  Even my not getting up at 5:30 so I can drive to Columbus (like I'm doing today, maybe even as you read this) didn't trigger that it was still Wednesday.

Quick trivia for you kids today.  As you've figured out already, I love film.  Don't have much respect for awards shows or, for that matter, the awards themselves.  However, film and trivia?  Sign me up. 

All of the following actors have won academy awards portraying real people.  The added bonus?  Each of them portrayed a person who was still alive at the time these films were released.

• Spencer Tracy - Father Edward Flanagan in Boys Town (1938)
• Gary Cooper - Alvin C. York in Sergeant York (1941)
• Patty Duke - Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962)
• Jason Robards - Benjamin Bradlee in All the President's Men (1976)
• Robert De Niro - Jake La Motta in Raging Bull (1980)
• Sissy Spacek - Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
• Jeremy Irons - Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune (1990)
• Susan Sarandon - Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (1995)
• Geoffrey Rush - David Helfgott in Shine (1996)
• Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich (2000)
• Jim Broadbent - John Bayley in Iris (2001/I)
• Jennifer Connelly - Alicia Nash in A Beautiful Mind (2001)
• Helen Mirren - Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006)

Now, the quiz.  You didn't think I'd let you off that easily, did you?

1)  Two of the actresses listed above have released albums - one a compilation from one of her films, the other a novelty album released under a fake name.  Identify the actresses and albums.

2)  Which two of the actors listed above actually died before the characters they portrayed?

See?  Two questions.  Easy-peasy.  Show your work, kids, and spelling counts.

Random Acts of Thursday - He's Alive!

Not gone, just busy.  Not to worry, quizlings, there will be more to tax your life-wearied brains.

Just in case you were worried.  And if you really, really need something to do, go ahead and click here.  There's unfinished business to attend to.

Oh, and if you're interested (pretend, will you?), there's a wonderful scathing review of my other blog here.  Read it and enjoy.

(And yes, it just dawned on me hours later that today is Wednesday, not Thursday.  Whoops.)