The 2nd annual Humphrey Bogart Film Festival returns to Key Largo May 1-4. The fully restored African Queen is also available for cruises during the festival. Bogie is my all time favorite actor and I'm going to ride the African Queen someday.
The February jobs report came in slightly higher than anticipated this morning as did the jobs participation rate. January numbers were revised upwards which proved the investor panic that day was idiotic as I speculated at that time.
A speedy get well to Ted Turner who has been hospitalized in South America. He took a billboard company and turned it into a mega empire. This man truly is "cable television."
World famous surgeon Dr. Frank Jobe passed away yesterday. No, he didn't cure polio or the plague, but he sure fixed a ton of baseball pitchers. In my humble opinion, he deserves to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame for his contribution to baseball. With a revolutionary surgical procedure for both the elbow and the shoulder, he literally saved the careers of scores of players including greats such as Orel Hershiser and Tommy John.
President Obama is visiting Key largo today. He isn't the first president to visit the keys. President's Taft, Eisenhower, Truman and Kennedy have all visited Key West. Harry Truman actually spent 175 days of his presidency in Key West and his quarters at the Naval Station were dubbed The Little White House. We haven't toured the Truman Annex yet but we plan to on our next visit.
Gotta run, it's five o'clock somewhere and we have a happy hour to attend!
Later
Friday, March 7, 2014
Thursday, March 6, 2014
He Sank A Tugboat
I ventured out to Glorioso's Italian market this morning to pick up a few things. Even though it's only 21 degrees the bright sun is melting the snow pretty good. It will be interesting to see what the terrain looks like on St. Patrick's Day. We do a lot of walking to various places with friends starting early and getting a cab in this town on any holiday type day is damn near impossible.
Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears will not be returning for a 9th season. The man was purely electrifying anytime he touched a ball on a kick or punt return. Eventually teams quit kicking to him in crucial situations. He's a casualty of a tight salary cap but he will be playing for somebody next year.
A Southern California man is suing a Las Vegas casino because he lost $500,000 when he was obviously drunk. Not just drunk, but blackout drunk. He admits he was blackout drunk yet he is also suing the casino for sullying his name. The man owns a car dealership so I think perhaps his name was sullied a bit before he set a foot in Vegas.
An 81 foot tugboat from Key West sank about 2 miles away from the island in 35 foot waters. Yes, there is a lot of shallow water in the Keys which is why ship salvage wrecker's were very profitable back in the 1800's.
Apparently, the new owner took it out and somehow it sank. The man had just purchased the tug and had never operated a boat of any sort before. I find it's usually good to learn on a smaller boat closer to shore but that's just me. Unfortunately, Monroe County taxpayers are going to spend about $200,000 to raise and dispose of the vessel. They would go after the boat owner to recoup these costs but this knucklehead spent everything he had on the tugboat.
Later
Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears will not be returning for a 9th season. The man was purely electrifying anytime he touched a ball on a kick or punt return. Eventually teams quit kicking to him in crucial situations. He's a casualty of a tight salary cap but he will be playing for somebody next year.
A Southern California man is suing a Las Vegas casino because he lost $500,000 when he was obviously drunk. Not just drunk, but blackout drunk. He admits he was blackout drunk yet he is also suing the casino for sullying his name. The man owns a car dealership so I think perhaps his name was sullied a bit before he set a foot in Vegas.
An 81 foot tugboat from Key West sank about 2 miles away from the island in 35 foot waters. Yes, there is a lot of shallow water in the Keys which is why ship salvage wrecker's were very profitable back in the 1800's.
Apparently, the new owner took it out and somehow it sank. The man had just purchased the tug and had never operated a boat of any sort before. I find it's usually good to learn on a smaller boat closer to shore but that's just me. Unfortunately, Monroe County taxpayers are going to spend about $200,000 to raise and dispose of the vessel. They would go after the boat owner to recoup these costs but this knucklehead spent everything he had on the tugboat.
Later
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Johnny Carson On TMC
A second Bitcoin exchange called Flexcoin went under yesterday. The high tech cyber security for the exchange apparently faltered and it was robbed blind. Granted, this was a much smaller exchange but it doesn't bode well for the Bitcoin industry.
Wisconsin State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald wants to change the campaign finance laws to allow lobbyists to pass along campaign checks in the middle of lawmaker sessions. Really? That doesn't reek of potential impropriety during a tough vote? Why not just allow a lobbyist to come down to the Capitol Building with a wheel barrow full of cash? Maybe the lawmakers could wear campaign style buttons that read "I Take Bribes." Better yet, maybe we should just replace lawmakers with lobbyists. In my humble opinion, any lawmaker who votes yes for this change is just a common street whore.
I watched the Johnny Carson interviews last night on TMC hosted by Conan O'Brien. It was brilliantly done and long overdue. A lot of the younger generation have no idea how legendary Johnny Carson was. Paraphrasing his style in his own words, Carson just wanted to talk to his guests like he would if they were having dinner together. At one time, The Tonight Show was 90 minutes long and relied on long interviews. It wasn't nearly as choreographed as talk shows these days.
In case you missed it, there is a total of 50 interviews and the program is on Tuesday nights. Last night I watched interviews with Jimmy Stewart, Jack Lemmon, Diane Keating, Angie Dickinson, Sammy Davis Jr. and Sally Field. Sammy Davis Jr. was the epitome of cool back in those days. Stylish, funny, respectful and a first class all around entertainer.
In many ways, The Tonight Show is still Carson's show. You know when somebody is the best ever when everyone else in their genre wants to be that person. Not bad for a kid from Nebraska.
Later
Wisconsin State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald wants to change the campaign finance laws to allow lobbyists to pass along campaign checks in the middle of lawmaker sessions. Really? That doesn't reek of potential impropriety during a tough vote? Why not just allow a lobbyist to come down to the Capitol Building with a wheel barrow full of cash? Maybe the lawmakers could wear campaign style buttons that read "I Take Bribes." Better yet, maybe we should just replace lawmakers with lobbyists. In my humble opinion, any lawmaker who votes yes for this change is just a common street whore.
I watched the Johnny Carson interviews last night on TMC hosted by Conan O'Brien. It was brilliantly done and long overdue. A lot of the younger generation have no idea how legendary Johnny Carson was. Paraphrasing his style in his own words, Carson just wanted to talk to his guests like he would if they were having dinner together. At one time, The Tonight Show was 90 minutes long and relied on long interviews. It wasn't nearly as choreographed as talk shows these days.
In case you missed it, there is a total of 50 interviews and the program is on Tuesday nights. Last night I watched interviews with Jimmy Stewart, Jack Lemmon, Diane Keating, Angie Dickinson, Sammy Davis Jr. and Sally Field. Sammy Davis Jr. was the epitome of cool back in those days. Stylish, funny, respectful and a first class all around entertainer.
In many ways, The Tonight Show is still Carson's show. You know when somebody is the best ever when everyone else in their genre wants to be that person. Not bad for a kid from Nebraska.
Later
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
King Cakes On Fat Tuesday
Woke up to a couple more inches of snow this morning. I started shoveling early but I'm running out of places to put it. At least it warmed up to the lower 20's. Krissy is heading north next weekend to see the ice caves on Lake Superior with some of her family. You actually have to walk across the lake to get to them and it's only possible during a real frigid winter like this year's. It could be years again before people can make the trek.
It's Paczki Day in Milwaukee. A paczki is basically a delicious pastry of Polish cuisine that fly out of the National Bakery on Fat Tuesday. They've been around Poland since the middle ages. Traditionally, it's purpose was to use up all of the sugar, flour and lard in one's household before the start of lent. It leads off the morning news in Milwaukee with customers lining up outside the bakery to buy them.
Radio Shack (RSH) is closing 1100 stores and revamping their remaining stores. It's been reported that the store closings are due to dismal holiday sales when it's actually been a dismal century for this retailer so far. Their stock is barely over 2 bucks and they even made fun of themselves with a Super Bowl commercial this year. Their stores are like a time warp from the 80's but they were just plain annoying asking for your zip code every time you bought batteries.
It is Fat Tuesday today. In the French language the word is Mardi Gras and derives from the last night of eating fatty rich food before the fasting of the Lenten season which begins tomorrow as Ash Wednesday.
Naturally, people in the U.S. associate Mardi Gras with New Orleans because of their enduring French culture. When I worked for a major insurance company all of our Louisiana vendors would send us King Cakes from the Randazzo bakery. Some other bakeries also but the Randazzo King Cakes were the best ever!
Later
It's Paczki Day in Milwaukee. A paczki is basically a delicious pastry of Polish cuisine that fly out of the National Bakery on Fat Tuesday. They've been around Poland since the middle ages. Traditionally, it's purpose was to use up all of the sugar, flour and lard in one's household before the start of lent. It leads off the morning news in Milwaukee with customers lining up outside the bakery to buy them.
Radio Shack (RSH) is closing 1100 stores and revamping their remaining stores. It's been reported that the store closings are due to dismal holiday sales when it's actually been a dismal century for this retailer so far. Their stock is barely over 2 bucks and they even made fun of themselves with a Super Bowl commercial this year. Their stores are like a time warp from the 80's but they were just plain annoying asking for your zip code every time you bought batteries.
It is Fat Tuesday today. In the French language the word is Mardi Gras and derives from the last night of eating fatty rich food before the fasting of the Lenten season which begins tomorrow as Ash Wednesday.
Naturally, people in the U.S. associate Mardi Gras with New Orleans because of their enduring French culture. When I worked for a major insurance company all of our Louisiana vendors would send us King Cakes from the Randazzo bakery. Some other bakeries also but the Randazzo King Cakes were the best ever!
Later
Monday, March 3, 2014
Michael Jordan And The Good Life
We woke up to -1 and snow in the forecast today. St. Patrick's Day is exactly 2 weeks away and the Milwaukee Brewers home opener is exactly 4 weeks away. Good thing they have a dome to play in. We'll have to brave the elements to chase the shamrocks!
Congrats to all the Oscar winners last night. Ellen DeGeneres did a bang up job once again. She's been an astounding Oscar host every time they've handed her the reigns.
Jimmy Buffett announced a June 28th concert stop in Chicago. He's also playing in Paris, France at the end of September. No information yet on an Alpine Valley date. Stay tuned for updates.
Buffett is also opening a new resort this summer. It's called Margaritaville Island Hotel located in the majestic Smoky Mountains. That's sounding intriguing at the moment. Well, at this very moment anything further south sounds tempting but I'm going to gather some more information on this resort.
The DOW was down over 250 points today before making a modest recovery. Investors are a bit cautious with the Ukraine situation. Some select tech stocks finished in the green today. There's always a few winners even on a bad day.
Most athletes take a significant income drop once they retire. Not Michael Jordan though as it's been reported that he made $90 million in 2013. No wonder he can afford to sit on an empty $30 million mansion in Highland Park, Il.
Besides owning the Charlotte Bobcats he has a large vested interest with his shoe line in conjunction with Nike. He's a top notch golfer with a model wife and can still play competitive basketball with anybody on his team. If only we could all retire like that. Heck, I'd just take the golf part. I've already got the best girlfriend in the world!
Later
Congrats to all the Oscar winners last night. Ellen DeGeneres did a bang up job once again. She's been an astounding Oscar host every time they've handed her the reigns.
Jimmy Buffett announced a June 28th concert stop in Chicago. He's also playing in Paris, France at the end of September. No information yet on an Alpine Valley date. Stay tuned for updates.
Buffett is also opening a new resort this summer. It's called Margaritaville Island Hotel located in the majestic Smoky Mountains. That's sounding intriguing at the moment. Well, at this very moment anything further south sounds tempting but I'm going to gather some more information on this resort.
The DOW was down over 250 points today before making a modest recovery. Investors are a bit cautious with the Ukraine situation. Some select tech stocks finished in the green today. There's always a few winners even on a bad day.
Most athletes take a significant income drop once they retire. Not Michael Jordan though as it's been reported that he made $90 million in 2013. No wonder he can afford to sit on an empty $30 million mansion in Highland Park, Il.
Besides owning the Charlotte Bobcats he has a large vested interest with his shoe line in conjunction with Nike. He's a top notch golfer with a model wife and can still play competitive basketball with anybody on his team. If only we could all retire like that. Heck, I'd just take the golf part. I've already got the best girlfriend in the world!
Later
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Oscar Night
The Tosa Thunder started the second half of their indoor season with an 8-3 victory. Staunch defense and stellar passing were major highpoints of the game.
After the game we all headed to Krissy's mom's house for a birthday dinner for her nephew Dom and myself. A wonderful meal with a fantastic homemade key lime pie. Thank you to everyone for a wonderful night.
This morning we headed out to the grocery store after Meet the Press. If our grocery bill gets any higher we might have to finance it. Good thing Krissy is the Houdini of coupons or it would be even higher.
The Chicago Bulls beat the New York Knicks by 29 points this afternoon. At one point in history this would be a big fun sunday afternoon game to watch with friends at a local watering hole but the Knickerbockers haven't been any good in ages.
Tonight is the 86th Academy Awards or Oscar Night as we common folk say. It started in 1929 as a private dinner at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. Less than 300 people attended and tickets were five bucks. The actual ceremony itself was less than 20 minutes. No windy acceptance speeches at the very beginning.
Today over 40 million people watch the live telecast. Several years ago I attended an Oscar party at the Rosebud Theater in Tosa. The awards were shown on the big screen with an open bar and buffet dinner. It was a quite nice event at my second favorite movie theater.
A lot of people go out and make sure they see every movie that's up for nomination. I suspect that's the underlying real reason why they raised the number of movies nominated. I've never had that desire but I did see two of the nominated movies. "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "American Hustle" which I really enjoyed. I'm not sure who will win any of the major categories but I'm sure studio politics has a part in the process. Regardless, I think it's an extreme honor for any artist that is nominated. Good luck to all and thanks for a great year of entertainment.
Later
After the game we all headed to Krissy's mom's house for a birthday dinner for her nephew Dom and myself. A wonderful meal with a fantastic homemade key lime pie. Thank you to everyone for a wonderful night.
This morning we headed out to the grocery store after Meet the Press. If our grocery bill gets any higher we might have to finance it. Good thing Krissy is the Houdini of coupons or it would be even higher.
The Chicago Bulls beat the New York Knicks by 29 points this afternoon. At one point in history this would be a big fun sunday afternoon game to watch with friends at a local watering hole but the Knickerbockers haven't been any good in ages.
Tonight is the 86th Academy Awards or Oscar Night as we common folk say. It started in 1929 as a private dinner at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. Less than 300 people attended and tickets were five bucks. The actual ceremony itself was less than 20 minutes. No windy acceptance speeches at the very beginning.
Today over 40 million people watch the live telecast. Several years ago I attended an Oscar party at the Rosebud Theater in Tosa. The awards were shown on the big screen with an open bar and buffet dinner. It was a quite nice event at my second favorite movie theater.
A lot of people go out and make sure they see every movie that's up for nomination. I suspect that's the underlying real reason why they raised the number of movies nominated. I've never had that desire but I did see two of the nominated movies. "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "American Hustle" which I really enjoyed. I'm not sure who will win any of the major categories but I'm sure studio politics has a part in the process. Regardless, I think it's an extreme honor for any artist that is nominated. Good luck to all and thanks for a great year of entertainment.
Later
Saturday, March 1, 2014
King Solomon
We ventured out to the Up and Under bar last night to catch King Solomon, a top notch local reggae band. We've seen them quite a few times throughout the years and always see them at the state fair. The bar is less than a minute from our house so we didn't bother with coats. Naturally, it was snowing as we left. We had a nightcap at the Standard Tavern on our block.
The local paper is reporting that this is the coldest winter since 1979 and the tenth coldest ever in Milwaukee. March is starting out like the rest of the winter months. Slushy and about 16 degrees. It won't stop the St. Patrick Day festivities but I hope it gets a little better than this.
The second indoor soccer season starts today for the Tosa Thunder at 2pm. Hopefully, we'll regroup the defense and get a win today.
It will be interesting to see how the stock market reacts to the Ukraine situation this week. I'm thinking it will trade sideways until the Friday jobs report. I'm sure we'll end up seeing some sanctions or trade embargos so now is a good time to research how heavy any U.S. companies are business wise with Russia.
Gotta run to soccer.
Later
The local paper is reporting that this is the coldest winter since 1979 and the tenth coldest ever in Milwaukee. March is starting out like the rest of the winter months. Slushy and about 16 degrees. It won't stop the St. Patrick Day festivities but I hope it gets a little better than this.
The second indoor soccer season starts today for the Tosa Thunder at 2pm. Hopefully, we'll regroup the defense and get a win today.
It will be interesting to see how the stock market reacts to the Ukraine situation this week. I'm thinking it will trade sideways until the Friday jobs report. I'm sure we'll end up seeing some sanctions or trade embargos so now is a good time to research how heavy any U.S. companies are business wise with Russia.
Gotta run to soccer.
Later
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