Halloween Flurries

We woke up to 34 degrees and the snow flurries followed a bit later. The wind gusts are huge. Unfortunately, the weather guys were spot on.

It's the Bulls versus Cleveland and LeBron James tonight. I can't wait to catch at least some of it.

Unknown drones have come very close to French nuclear sites the last few weeks. They were big enough to carry explosives. I still can't believe these things are legal. There's no better way to attack something than with a drone.

John Spinello the man who invented the game Operation needs one himself. A special fund was set up by other gamers and raised the necessary funds. Most people assume that Spinello is wealthy but he was a very young man when he invented the game and he sold it for a mere $500. He hasn't received a cent for it since.

Delta Airlines and Silver Airways have added a bunch of flights to Key West. I'm still baffled that some airlines pulled out of there.

We're heading out in the cold to people watch tonight. Be safe!

Later

Halloween Moons

Roughing It In Mexico

Bring Those Palm Trees In

Another typical October day. But tomorrow we will be seeing lows in the upper 20's. Yep, we need to bring in those potted palm trees.

The Bulls crushed the New York Knicks last night in their season opener. Derrick Rose didn't even play the second half.

Rumors have it that Joe Maddon will be hired to manage the Chicago Cubs. They already have a manager but it's hard to bypass the best manager in baseball. It's kind of like having a good house painter doing some work then a guy named Salvador Dali says he's willing to do it for a similar cost!

No heartburn scheduled for this Sunday. The Bears have their bye week so I can put away those stomach pills.

It's been pretty much confirmed that a small piece of Amelia Earhart's plane has been recovered on an island called Nikumaroro. It's about 350 miles away from where they thought she went down. It's only a small piece of aluminum that was quickly built to cover a window and it certainly looks like a match from the photographs. They even have a sonar image which could be the plane 600 feet below the surface next to a reef. A submarine is poised to go down for a good look next June with a 24 day exhibition.

I texted with a friend down in Florida today. They aren't bringing their palm trees in!

Later

Geckos

A cool fall day again but friday looks nasty. Possible snow flurries with 40-50 mph wind bursts. Yikes

Jose Canseco accidentally shot himself in the hand while cleaning his gun. Apparently he didn't know he should unload it first.

Speaking of brainless, Sarah Palin said she might just run for something again. No word yet if she would finish her term this time with no talk show to fall back on. This would keep Saturday Night Live ratings going strong for a few more years.

We went for a two hour walk with Chloe late this afternoon. She isn't tired but we are!

I talked to Coco for a while from Puerto Vallarta. He's having a good time despite that they have too many geckos down there. I'd give anything for a gecko problem at the moment!

Later

The Mexico Crew

Simone and Coco

Chloe

Work Down By The River Trail

Huge Mushroom

The President Is In Town

A normal October day with highs in the low 50's. It felt colder because of the fabulous monday we had. We took the dog for a walk last night and it was 72 at 6pm.

We bought bigger chews last night for Chloe and they seem to work. She's been calmer all day.

Krissy's charity bake sale went well yesterday. She's a totally great organizer so I'm not surprised.

NBA basketball opens up tonight with a few games. Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls open up tomorrow night. If they stay healthy I'm predicting they win the championship!

The Cubs appear to be taking a look at unemployed two time manager of the year Joe Maddon. They just hired a new manager last year but great managers don't come across very often. Hopefully this will be resolved one way or another by the end of the week.

Early voting in Wisconsin seems to be slightly up from 4 years ago despite shorter hours for early voting. It just seems harder every year for citizens to vote in this state.

The President is in town to campaign for Mary Burke today. First he will be hosting a fundraiser dinner at a sushi restaurant. I will not be attending the dinner. I can't remember if it's because I don't like sushi or I didn't have an extra 16 grand to buy a ticket!

Later

Parrot Head Time In Key West

A summer like day with temps hitting 75 degrees. It's hard to believe that we're five days away from a little month called November. The rest of the week's forecast is sunny and dry.

Lamarr Houston of the Chicago Bears is out the rest of the season after injuring his knee while celebrating a sack on a backup quarterback while being 25 points down. Coach Ditka would have cut this clown in a New York Minute!

Goldman Sachs is predicting $70 buck a barrel oil in 2015. Gas has been going down at the pump and it will continue if this rings true.

We made a trip out for chew toys for Chloe. We have a walk planned after dinner. It's not even our dog but our plans continue to revolve around the dog. 

Radio personality Warren Ballentine was the self proclaimed "peoples attorney." He was just  found guilty of mortgage fraud and was sentenced to ten years.  I guess this now makes him the "people's prisoner."

One festival or event leaves Key West and another takes its place. Starting this wednesday the Parrot Heads will start arriving in the Conch Republic for their annual get together. No word yet on if Jimmy Buffett will make an appearance. He has played impromptu free concerts on Duval Street before. It looks like loads of fun either way!

Later

Punch Me In The Head Again Please

Wow, another warm October day. Krissy had a bright idea. Let's take our house guest of a dog Chloe for a long walk so she would be tired for the football game and just sleep. Ya, didn't work despite an hour and a half walk!

We went down the river trail by the Milwaukee River and came back on the bike trail. I'm tired though.

Krissy spent the afternoon baking stuff for a bake sale. Directions be damned apparently. If she's missing an ingredient she'll just substitute something or go completely without it. Timers, forget about it. Somehow it actually comes out okay.

I actually sat and suffered thru the entire Bears game. Just ridiculous how bad they are playing. They have so many good players. They have a bye week next sunday so maybe I'll get some inner peace next weekend. In the meantime, I'm calling for the immediate firing of the defensive coordinator. I can't keep beating myself up like this anymore on sundays!

Later

River Trail Sign

Conservatory Tower

Our October Surprise

We hit 68 degrees today but it might as well have been 88 the way everybody treated it. Nothing but pure sunshine and a beautiful month overall.

New readers in Mexico which makes it the 26th country to view the blog. Coco is working his action down there. Thanks son!

Kudos to Billionaire Paul Allen for donating 100 million greenbacks to fight Ebola. Those Microsoft boys keep fighting the good fight!

I was reading about a motorcycle company called Royal Enfield. They actually started making bikes down in India with British technology in 1899 which makes them older than Milwaukee's Harley Davidson. The Harley celebration in Milwaukee every 5 years is something everybody should experience. Royal Enfield actually is run now by an ex Harley executive and are trying to bring the Royal Enfield brand to the United States.

Hurricanes haven't hit the Florida Keys for 9 years now. That's quite a streak historically. There's a tropical depression down in the Yucatan that forecasters are keeping a close eye on. Let's keep that streak going!

Enjoy your saturday. I'm doing some grilling!

Later

Napping Dog

Chloe

World Travelers

Napping With The Dog

Bloodline On Netflix

Another great October day even if I'm a little tired. Coco dropped of his dog Chloe last night and she didn't adjust well the first night although she's doing better today.

My back is hurting today. Apparently Chloe doesn't like steps. Going up or down. So I ended up carrying her. Then she was up at about 4:30am. Coco texted me around 5am from Mexico City waiting for his connecting flight to Puerto Vallarta. It's like he knew that I would be up!

There is some justice in the world after all. That horrible Honey Boo Boo show has been cancelled. How it ever was on the air to begin with is beyond my imagination.

Krissy's sister Jen is coming over tonight. It looks like a Duke's On Water Happy Hour is on the schedule. One dollar drafts till 9pm.

Netflix finally put a name on it's 13 episode show that's been filming in the Florida Keys. It's called Bloodline and it premieres March 15th. Just about the same time the worst part of winter will be over in the midwest.

It has a stellar cast cast including Sam Shepard and Sissy Spacek. Previews look pretty good so far.

Gotta run now. Enjoy your friday night. I have some doggy doo to pick up now!

Later

Changing Out The Shoes

The weather took a turn for the worse with some rain today. Coco is taking off for Mexico tonight and dropping his dog Chloe off. She's still a puppy. A collie so this should be fun!

A big welcome to Hong Kong for visiting the blog. Thanks for the support.

Coco and I watched Survivor last night. We both agree that this season's cast is dull and boring. We're fans of the show but it's getting kind of tired this season.

We watched a FBI profiling documentary last night. When Ted Bundy was arrested he was actually a fundraiser for the RNC. They were so sure of his innocence that they even raised money for his defense. Certainly a moment that they would like to forget!

Don't poach lobsters down in the Florida Keys. A habitual poacher was caught in the act and he's now sitting in Monroe County Jail with a 1.4 million dollar bond!

It's kind of a sad day. We have a small place so we're changing out the summer clothes and sandals. Out comes the sweaters and the boots. All labeled in bins stored in the basement. This weekend will probably be the yard and lawn furniture. My eyes won't see any of the warm weather stuff until next May. It's going to be a heck of a moving sale when we finally leave the midwest!

Later

Jerry Lee Lewis

Another great fall day. October might just be the best weather month we've had all year with above average warm days. Went to Discover America kick off with Coco last night and had a lot of fun with him.

Ben Bradlee the legendary editor of the Washington Post passed away yesterday. An outstanding journalism career even if one takes away Watergate.

President Obama comes to town next monday to campaign. We're down to 13 days until the election although early voting has started in some states already.

There was a shooting in the Canadian Parliament building today which would be the equivalent of our U.S Capitol building. This knocked the stock market down again. World events have kept the stock market in a constant state of fear this year. My biggest prediction about the DOW will not happen and I realized that a few months ago.

There's a new book coming out next week about Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jerry Lee Lewis. He's the last surviving member of the Million Dollar Quartet which also included one Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. They all ended up at Sun Records studio unplanned one day and made some brilliant recordings.

Lewis has lived a turbulent life with as many tragedies as he has accomplishments. Amongst his cousins are famed evangelist Jimmy Swaggart and country singer Mickey Gilley. He's still turning out recordings and even opened up a club last year on the famed Beale Street corridor in Memphis. I still have him on my list of musicians to see as the man is a legendary and intense piano player!

Later

Buffett Hits The Campaign Trail

Another sunny October day. The forecast for the next week is very good. I remember moving one October 31st and the windchill was close to zero. None of us had gloves neither!

Will be leaving shortly for Coco's Discover America meeting at school tonight. I don't know much about it so that will be informative. He actually has a basketball practice tomorrow morning before school.

President Clinton will be in town campaigning for Mary Burke. I shook hands and met him a couple years ago at an event in Milwaukee. He actually hung around long after it was over just talking to a group of us. The secret service guys sure looked intimidating. Too bad the media is jumping all over them because the majority do a great job. This event will be this friday at the Hyatt and tickets are free.

Speaking of hotels, there is a new documentary coming out celebrating 120 years of the Pfister Hotel. It's truly one of the magnificent hotels in all the world!

Jimmy Buffett is hitting the campaign trail in Florida for Gwen Graham in Florida. She is running for a House seat. Her father is the former Governor of Florida who helped Jimmy start the Save The Manatee Club. He'll be playing an acoustic set which is how he started out in the business!

Later

Beef Roast Monday

A fairly warm mid-october day. The forecast thru the weekend is calling for sunshine and 60's.

Fifteen days until the election. Not a moment too soon. I can't take anymore of these political pundits and the obscure polls coming out of the woodwork. Everybody is an expert and polls all over the place with wide variances. Funny how fast the wrong predictors and pollsters disappear yet come back every two years with more expert opinions. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while I guess.

Kyle Fuller of the Bears broke his hand yesterday. The bad news just keeps piling on.

Coco did some fundraising yesterday for his Discover America trip. He works the phone as good as anyone that I've seen in a long time.

I saw a picture today of President Hoover in 1958 going fishing in Key Largo. He was 85 years old and apparently a dapper man as he was going fishing in a suit complete with tie. Hoover was a Presidential Cabinet member who's first election ever was for President which he won. He was a geology major at Stanford University who made millions in mining after graduation. Obviously he probably should have stayed in the mining industry as he goes down as one of the worst President's ever.

We're cooking a big beef roast for dinner. Krissy prepped it yesterday. Yep, it's the highlight of my monday. Monday's have been kind of dull lately. I hope it's not a rut!

Later

A Unicycle Type Day

It's been a typical dry autumn day. Some trees have no leaves already and others are fairly full. The colors are pretty amazing at this time of year.

We watched Field of Dreams last night with Coco who had never seen it before. Such a classic and original movie. A baseball movie that really isn't about baseball at all. Kevin Costner was still in his prime during that era.

Kristin and Coco made a cake this morning. It turned out pretty well for the two rookie bakers!

Today was conflict day. The Bears and the Packers played at the same time today but on different channels. Krissy watched the Packers upstairs while we watched downstairs. Needless to say that she had the better afternoon and I'll leave it at that.

Was driving back from downtown this afternoon and I saw a guy riding a unicycle. I can't remember the last time I actually saw someone riding one. Not much traffic so he just went slow and steady and seemed content in his own little world. Everyone should have a sunday like that!

Later

The Heat Is On

A damp and chilly day. A bit of grocery shopping and grilled some yard bird for dinner.

Coco had a tough race yesterday. The ankle pain was a bit too much for him but I'm proud that he finished the race. He has it wrapped today and he's limping pretty bad. Slept most of the afternoon away!

Bono Vox from U2 announced that he does indeed have glaucoma which is why he wears the sunglasses all the time. I've seen U2 multiple times. The first was 1984 just as they were getting big at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. A truly legendary show!

We have to bring the palm trees in sometime in the very near future and breakdown the backyard. It's actually a bit of a process but it involves taking the bamboo off the fence for starters. 

The damp air was too much today. Yep, we actually turned on the heat. Yikes!

Later

Recovering From A Long Season

Friday Course Trail

Trail

Watch The Roots

Beautiful Course

Better To Be Not Known Sometimes

A windy but dry day so far. Hopefully the wind dies down some as we have a cross country meet tonight.

Congrats to the San Francisco Giants making it to another World Series. I don't see how they lose but that's why they play the games!

Fantasy Fest starts for 10 days in Key West today. The whole town goes nuts. Disney has two cruise ships coming to Key Fest this week. Somebody didn't do their homework that's for sure!

There's hurricane action near Bermuda. Hopefully it will loose some power before hitting land.

It looks like we might check out the Why Not 3 tonight. It was a bar that Bar Rescue visited a few weeks ago. The place was a dump so it will be interesting to see the change.

Florida Congressman Dennis Ross isn't very well known and apparently felt the need to get on the political television shows. He's actually moving forward with legislation to ban direct flights from Western Africa to the United States. The only problem is that they don't exist but he didn't know that. Most people fly to Europe first then come to the States. The Ebola victim flew in from Belgium. No health officials have called for a travel ban but suddenly we have 435 doctors in Congress. Tough choices for Congress members today. Be a well known idiot with a 13% approval rate or just be quiet and actually do something constructive for a change!

Later

Burger King Boycott

A foggy and drizzly morning but we still had cross country practice. We ran to Reservoir Park which is probably the highest point in Milwaukee. It's filled in now with a nice path. You can see both downtown skyscrapers and Lake Michigan. On a foggy morning it's a special site.

Starting next year HBO will be available without having cable television. There's an industry that is constantly changing. With their price gouging and monopolies they deserve to go extinct!

For some odd reason Coco and I watched the Florida Governor debate on C-Span. We caught the beginning and couldn't believe there was that much unrest over a fan so naturally we had to watch the rest of it. Boxing gloves would have been more appropriate.

Congrats to the Kansas City Royals on making it to the World Series. On a fraction of a payroll compared to the Yankees also!

First, I leave a job then a Dunkin Donuts opens up in the building after I leave. I moaned for years about not having a Dunkin Donuts. Then, Burger King drops the King from it's advertising so I had to start my own personal boycott. Who drops the King when he's part of your name? It makes no sense. Everybody loved those commercials.  Nobody loves a Whopper more than me. I grew up on them. But, I think I've made my point and I'm sure I dented their bottom line pretty good so I am going to think about lifting my boycott. Besides, they opened a new Burger King less than a mile away and I've got some great coupons!

Later

Stone Crab Season

A rainy day but Coco and I got in a running workout during a dry hour. Ankle is bothering him but the hip pain is gone.

Happy Belated Birthday to Jim Guthrie. It was yesterday but Krissy told me after the blog was posted.

Coco has a cell phone now courtesy of his mother. I'm suddenly receiving more texts!

Congrats to Fox News. My little guy is flying next week and you scumbag fearmongers have him convinced that he's going to die from Ebola. Take your piece of crap agenda and shove it up your ass! 

Excuse the language but it isn't a political issue no matter how often Rush the king of prescription pills wants to blame Obama for bringing Ebola to the United States as payback for slavery. If anybody out there actually believes that I genuinely feel sorry for your parents!

A big welcome to Netherlands for being the 25th country to visit the blog. I really appreciate the support!

Stone crab season starts today in South Florida. If I could do it all over again I would have moved to the Keys after college and bought a commercial fishing boat. I'm feeling a bit crabby today, how ironic!

Later

I'm A Sideline Judge

A foggy and rainy day. Coco qualified for a championship cross country race friday night so we had practice this morning. What a pleasant surprise. He's nursing a sore hip so we have 72 hours to fix that.

We watched a new show last night called Gracepoint. One of my favorites, Nick Nolte is in it. It's a 10 episode murder mystery. We watched the first two episodes and so far very good.

I made fudge brownies today. Not sure why but they taste much better when they are room temperature than hot out of the oven.

I was listening on a radio station about an attraction down in the Miami area called Monkey Jungle. It's where the monkey's roam free and humans walk thru tunnel cages for people to see them. The even have an Amazon type rainforest. I'm going to have to check that out next time I'm down there.

I picked Coco up from school and ended up being a sideline judge for a 5th grade volleyball game for one game. Even though it was a 5th grade game I did feel a little pressure as nobody likes a botched call. Luckily, I was errorless. At least I said so!

Later

Old Mexico Photo

Sun Burned

Prosthetic Legs

It's rained on and off all day. No more cross country practices so we'll start practicing basketball for Coco to get him ready for the season and fill the void.

Yesterday afternoon I saw a bunch of people taking pictures of one of the trees on our block. Turned out to be a squirrel carrying around a large slice of deep dish pizza that he scrounged from someone's garbage. No wonder they are getting bigger every year.

Still feeling good about the Bears game yesterday. Next sunday will be a dilemma as the Packers and Bears play different opponents at the same time. Good thing we have two televisions!

The Philadelphia Eagles fans have always been famous for rowdiness and sometimes poor sportsmanship. But yesterday a woman dressed in Eagles attire stole a prosthetic leg from a Vietnam War veteran. That's pretty low. Fortunately the leg was recovered on a train later in the day. 

I actually saw a prosthetic leg at a pawn shop in Key West. Actually there's a lot of interesting items at pawn shops there.

There's a prosthetic leg hanging from the ceiling at Captain Tony's Saloon also. The bartender says a regular patron decided to go the pirate route and get a wood peg leg so at closing time he took it off and tied it to the ceiling. I'm assuming that worked out okay as the prosthetic has been hanging off the ceiling for many a years!

Later

Looking Like An Englishman

Fall Colors

Smash Mouth Football

Another glorious 50 plus degree day with plenty of sunshine. Krissy and I were up early grocery shopping this morning. It's apparently an easy thing to do if one doesn't have a drop of alcohol on both friday and saturday nights!

I saw a video today of a hawk attacking a drone. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen as it was mid air footage. I still think drones will eventually be limited in this country due to the terrorism angle.

Krissy and I watched a documentary on the band Genesis. They always opened up an album number 1 in the United Kingdom. It took them a while to get popular here but they had a string of hits for 15 years that is hard to match. Then add in the solo careers of Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins and it's so impressive. My friend made a delivery to what is now called the Allstate Arena and bought us third rows tickets to see Genesis. What a wonderful show and the same for Peter Gabriel who I saw a few years later!

I saw some great football today. Somehow, Miami stayed in the game playing the Packers until they lost it with 3 seconds to go. Then the Bears game which looked like trouble. All three starting linebackers were out with injuries. Over 300 career starts amongst them. So, two rookies and a second year guy with 20 starts amongst them come in and play fast smashmouth football. The whole secondary did against Atlanta. Two all-pro receivers on the Atlanta end who just plain looked scared. The Bears defense looked like the 85 Bears. Give me some young hungry players anyday. Smash Mouth football still wins games. The Monsters of the Midway are back!

Later

The Who

Another sunny 50 plus day. Krissy went to Stevens Point today while Coco and I headed out to cross country race number 2.

He ran ok at the WISCO meet last night but saved his best for last at the state meet today. He ended up with a 15:34 for the two mile course as one of the youngest finishers. He missed out on qualifying for the national junior high meet but looks forward to next year already. His Aunt Mary, Uncle Steve and my god daughter Sara made it for the race to cheer him on.

The Who is coming to Milwaukee next year it was just announced for their 50th anniversary tour. I saw them at their peak at Alpine Valley and they are a great concert band. The show is next October and tickets actually go on sale next week. Crazy!

Football tomorrow. I'm sticking with the Bears over the Falcons!

Later

Friday Night Finish

After the Race Friday

Last Minute Advice

Sara and Coco

After Saturday Race

Sara, Tonto and Coco

Coco Wheats Are Back

Another sunny day in the 50's. Coco has his conference cross country meet tonight so I'm heading out shortly. It was 32 degrees in the outlying areas this morning. It's always warmer by Lake Michigan this time of year as it takes time for the water to cool down.

Another Octoberfest celebration down at Cathedral Square this weekend. Pretty much every weekend has some kind of German celebration this month I think. There's a huge tent set up already.

Krissy brought me a Sugar Daddy last night. I'm talking about the candy on a stick that was invented in 1925. I love them! Sugar Babies didn't make an appearance until 1935 and those are definitely easier on the teeth.

My back was sore all night last night. Grilling in the dark will do that. I had to keep bending over to make sure nothing was burning and checking to see how close it was to being done. Grilling ain't easy sometimes! It's a skill like anything else.

People in Arizona are complaining about the influx of Filipino teachers in their school system. It's happening in Louisiana also. That's what happens when the good ones retire and you offer new college graduates a pittance that they couldn't live on. Applications were a lot lower than available positions. For the Filipinos it's ten times what they make in the Philippines teaching and they are fluent in English and Spanish so it's a no brainer.

Krissy bought some Coco Wheats yesterday. Yes, it's that time again which makes me sad. They taste so good but I only eat them in the cold weather. When the warm weather comes it's back to Captain Crunch. See you again in six months Captain!

Later

Yogi Berra Has A Museum

Another fall day much like the rest of the week. Very dark as Coco and I woke up early for practice. We could still see the full moon past 7am when practice was over.

Fleetwood Mac is coming to Milwaukee February 12th. Great news as the Chicago show already passed as it was one of the first shows on the tour. I'm surprised they are coming actually. Neither the Rolling Stones or U2 sold out their shows at the Bradley Center and they just quit coming to Milwaukee.

Poker player Phil Ivey lost his London court case with a casino over there. He still has one pending over in the states. Apparently he won a ton of cash playing baccarat as he spotted an imperfection on certain brands of cards. They called it cheating, he just called it smart observance. Funny how the casinos can fill one up with alcohol and make up house rules as they go and it's fine.

John Rocker was voted off Survivor last night. None of the professional athletes make it very far. They already have millions of dollars and nobody wants to give them another one million bucks. He wasn't as bad as I thought he would be. His statements 20 plus years ago were terrible but he was still rather young and I hope he changed. 

The Yogi Berra Museum in New Jersey was robbed tuesday night. I never knew he had one. All 10 of his World Series rings were in the museum along with a lot of other sports momentos. They will be very difficult to sell or darn right impossible. Much like a famous painting they will be impossible to sell without getting caught. Stay strong Yogi, the rings are just a symbol but no one can steal what you accomplished!

Later

Cigar Was A Legendary Champion

Another wonderful fall day and the leaves are really coming down with the wind gusts. Picked up Coco from school and had another bang up practice.

Also a big thanks to Jim for installing the flashing on the back patio. Hopefully that will solve the drainage problems.

The central bank in Russia is starting to prop up their currency. It looks like the sanctions combined with lower natural gas prices is starting to make a dent.

Walmart is cutting benefits to their small part time workforce. The richest family in America just shows where their true hearts are. In a field of gold. Costco has kept their benefits going intact and has been making big gains against the Arkansas greedies. My boycott shall continue! Kudos to Costco.

A sad day in the world of sports. The great racehorse Cigar passed away at the age of 24. He won 16 races in a row and I was at the Arlington International track to see this historic event. I was there most saturdays anyway but the place was packed for Cigar. I even bought a Cigar poster that I still intend to get framed.

He was a so-so horse when he first came up. But when he became great he was one of the greatest that ever lived. He was named after an aviation point in the caribbean. Like most great horses he seemed to have a big personality, bigger than most humans.

Secretariat was definitely a faster horse by time and my childhood favorite. A lot of old timers will say Citation was the best. But on this particular day with the infield packed and politicians everywhere arriving by helicopter, Cigar was THE horse.

He galloped along in second place and came around the homestretch and turned his head to look at the leader. After a long glare he just kicked it up a notch and won by 6 or 7 lengths. He only ran at about 90% effort. He was the superior horse and he knew it. Champions always do!

Later

The Blood Moon

Another 60 something fall day with no rain. Coco and I went to cross country practice this morning and it was still midnight dark. He had another great workout and has two races this weekend!

Krissy made brown eggs for us this morning. Her sister Jenny gave them to us from her volunteer work at a farm. They did seem to taste better than the grocery store eggs.

Twin Peaks is coming back. It put David Lynch on the map in 1990 and 1991. A lot of future stars were in it including Lara Flynn Boyle, Kyle MacLachlan and my personal favorite Joan Chen. This will be a limited edition 9 episode run on Showtime in 2016. David Lynch will direct all of the episodes. This will prompt me to go out and buy the original series now.

The Un-Cola man passed away this week. Geoffrey Holder a Trinidad native made those 7UP commercials one of the best of all time. He also played a Bond nemesis in Live and Let Die in 1973 which stands the test of time as one of the all time best Bond films!

If you stay up late enough or get up early enough you can see a Blood Moon tonight. It's a total lunar eclipse that turns the moon very reddish. It will last about an hour and the best time to see it is 5:25am CST. Coco plans on seeing it. He asked me if I would be seeing it or if he should send me the video of it. Send me the video son!!!!

Later

The Hydro Pod

A dry and 50 something October day. Kind of chilly last night but it's kind of an unwritten contest to see who the last ones are in Wisconsin to turn their heat on. I've never won that contest and don't expect to this time around neither!

Chicken and shrimp on the grill tonight. Krissy made up some marinade for the shrimp. Pepper and garlic is always good!

After that we'll probably watch the Blacklist and anything else we have taped. It's like 8pm dark already. What a difference 4 or 5 weeks make for daylight at this time of year.

A man tried to run on a Hydro Pod from Florida to Bermuda which is 1033 miles away. He wasn't a total nut as he was doing it for charity, never the less the Coast Guard monitored him closely.

About 70 miles away from St. Augustine he became disoriented. What a beautiful town St. Augustine is. It was so neat and clean with great original restaurants. I must have seen ten Rolls Royces being driven around town when I was there.. Anyway, the Coast Guard rescued him and his Hydro Pod as he was too fatigued to go on. Basically, he looked like a human hamster in a big hamster wheel. Hopefully he picks a shorter distance next time as I'm sure he'll try it again.

Time for the shrimp!

Later

The Carolina Blues

A cold windy typical October day. Coco and I were up early for a running workout and Krissy made the first crock pot creation of the fall. It won't be long before I buy Coco Wheats and bring them back in season.

We had a great time at Michelle and Gary's last night. Pizza and casual beers while we caught up on the kid's sports season.

It was a slow morning waiting for football. I watched a documentary on how 65% of the world's cork comes from Portugal. The cork trees are basically skinned every 9 years for the cork and it grows back. It was actually more interesting than it sounds.

Somehow, the Bears gave away the game to the Carolina Panthers today. I'm still in disbelief. They were up by 14 points at one point but a missed field goal changed momentum and they never got it back. It actually has me down a bit that it's starting to ruin my night. Maybe a Corona will help.

I'm at 25,000 words so far in my book. I think I'll write a chapter and try to forget that lousy game!

Later

Gordie Howe Hat Trick

It's been a cold windy day with some sprinkles of rain. Coco ran well in his 10am race. Finished 77th overall and 24th amongst 5-6 grades. There were over 200 runners. They didn't break it down anymore but he looked to be amongst the top 5 or 6 fifth graders. He'll run the same course again in two weeks!

Three new ships are going out to the Indian Ocean to look for the missing Malaysia airliner. They've been drawing up new maps for the last 4 months and think they'll have better luck this time. I'm still having a hard time believing they can't find this plane yet.

Netflix is still filming their still un-named 13 episode series down in the Florida Keys. Academy Award winner Sissy Spacek is one of the stars. It will be released sometime in 2015.

A goal, an assist and a major fighting penalty all in the same hockey game is called a Gordie Howe hat trick. I was reading an article on the toughest guys to ever play NFL hockey and Gordie came in at number 1. The golden jet Bobby Hull was up there also. Hockey is just around the corner. Here come my Blackhawks!

Enjoy your saturday night!

Later

Welcome To The Hamburg

A wet and rainy day. It will be cold and wet tomorrow also for the cross country race.

The NFL Draft will return to Chicago next April for the first time in 50 years. It's nice that they finally decide to move it around instead of having it in New York City every year.

The Chicago Bears reported that their left tackle Jermon Bushrod accidentally injured himself in practice. So glad it wasn't on purpose. Nice reporting!

An excellent jobs report today and the previous two months revised upwards which is why I never freak out if it's a low number. Naturally some people found some fault in the numbers and will just keep rooting against our country for political reasons.

I saw an episode of Ray Donovan last night that had an interesting moment. He had two guys at gunpoint and left a million bucks on the desk with two options. They could split it evenly or one person could take it all. As he was making his getaway you hear a single gunshot ten seconds later. Sometimes you just don't need words!

The Hamburg pulled into the Port of Milwaukee this morning. It's a 400 person German cruise ship taking a tour of the Great Lakes. Milwaukee is a German founded city and Octoberfest celebrations just happen to start tonight. I do have some German readers of this blog already. Welcome to Milwaukee and I hope we run into some of you on Old World Third Street tonight!

Later

Iron Mike Ditka

What a great morning. Sixties with a slight clean breeze after a 3am thunderstorm. Up at 5:30 to get Krissy to spin class then to St. Marcus for cross country practice. Coco tore it up. Last weeks race and 4 great workouts in a row has his confidence super high. Should be a fun race this saturday!

More storms for tonight. They Packers are playing the Vikings tonight in Green Bay. Not sure who the rain favors more but the Packers should win since they don't have to stop Adrian Peterson.

Coco and I watched Survivor last night. So far, I don't seem to like any of the contestants. Former MLB player John Rocker is on the show trying to be someone else. It didn't work as someone recognized him. He was basically shown the door on his career because of some bigoted statements. The guy has a golden opportunity here to show people he's changed. So far it doesn't look too good as he still seems like a jerk but I'll give him another week or two.

Some people were criticizing Bears Coach Trestman for calling out Brandon Marshall for a wrong route. Apparently they don't remember or weren't around when Iron Mike Ditka used to go off on players for bad performances. If players didn't like it they were always free to walk out into the parking lot to settle it. Nobody ever took Ditka up on that challenge.

As a player, some fan once ran onto the field and Ditka tackled him so hard he was carted away. Ditka casually remarked that he didn't barge into other peoples offices so they shouldn't do it to him. They don't make them like Iron Mike anymore!

Later

Goodbye Creeky

A sunny 60 degree day. I picked up Coco from school and we did our favorite hill workout. He's looking really good. Can't wait for saturday's race.

The Secret Service Director resigned today. Probably a good idea. She didn't do well at her hearing and it's hard to have any confidence in her. The people under her at the White House performed poorly and someone has to pay the price. It could be worse, she could be coaching the Oakland Raiders. She did make it slightly longer on the job than the guy they just canned.

I read today where Henry Kissinger had plans drawn up to attack Cuba in 1976.  I guess he didn't want to leave anyone out.

The baseball playoffs are under way. I'm already looking forward to next season as the Cubs will be division contenders next year. You heard it here first. All those young guys can play. The actually finished over .500 the last two months of the season and had a better record than the Brewers!

The Packers have a short week and play Thursday Night Football this week. It's going to be packed in our neighborhood!

Creeky the Clown passed away today. He was the oldest clown in the United States. This moves several members of Congress to the top of the list!

Later