Buffett Throws A Fundraiser

Jimmy Buffett is a busy man this week. A couple of shows this week including the Alpine Valley Show this saturday plus he held a fundraiser at his home in the Hamptons for Hillary Clinton. He played solo and with Paul McCartney and Jon Bon Jovi. He's come a long way since playing for beer at the Chart Room in Key West!

Trump flew to Mexico today and Jet Blu flew to Havana as the first American airline to do so in years with a commercial flight. Pan Am actually started in Key West which flew that route and many others. It's Key West headquarters is now Kelly's restaurant but it still has the Pan Am sign out front.

Mexico was in the news all day today and I found it curious when I heard the population is about 124 million people. It's such a big country area wise and Mexico City alone has a population of over 8 million.

The Cubs are winning in the 7th inning against the Pirates. Just hold on and complete my day the right way!

Mango has been throwing a fit and giving Krissy a hard time today when I leave the house. We've got some work to do with our pup!

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Reindeer Shortage

Sometimes there isn't safety in numbers and being a pack animal isn't wise. A lightning strike in Norway killed over 300 reindeer grouped together in a matter of seconds. Luckily, Norway has plenty more but still sad.

There's a hurricane warning for the GulF Coast of Florida. It's that time of year for the coastal waters.

Finally some good news on the music scene. Both the Rolling Stones and Sting are releasing new albums this fall. That's right, some of us people in this world of download still like to visit record stores!

I was walking Mango and a lady came up and asked me how long I had the dog and where I picked her up at. When I replied the Humane Society last monday she said that was the reason Mango looked familiar. She worked at the Humane Society. Yep, we've got ourselves a celebrity dog!

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Gene Wilder

Milwaukee native Gene Wilder passed away today at the age of 83. That was his stage name but he grew up in Sherman Park and graduated from Washington High School. Young Frankenstein is one of my all-time favorite movies. He will be missed!

The Cubs are battling the Pirates as I write and down by a run in the 7th inning.

Coco started soccer practice today. A lot of running he said and there's 32 guys on the team.

Krissy and I watched the Roadies season finale today. Such a great series and I hope it comes back for another season. Fantastic stories by brilliant writers.

A sad day for our neighborhood last night. Less than a 100 yards from our house a man was stabbed to death. Things like this don't happen in our neighborhood. Apparently he was in an argument with someone he knew. Police haven't released a name yet. We slept through it as it happened around 1am. I must have been tired because I heard there were a ton of police and I don't sleep through much. It was very quiet in the neighborhood tonight. A little too quiet!

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Celebrity Dog

Everybody wanted to meet Mango this weekend so we went on tour with her. First, to the Bavuso's last night and then this afternoon to Krissy's parents house. She acted up a bit at both places but fairly good for the most part. She's sleeping well tonight!

Key West is one of three finalists for a Drone Base on the East Coast.

Both the Cubs and Bears lost this weekend. I'm not worried about the Cubs but concerned for the Bears.

Soccer practice starts tomorrow for Coco. He's been working hard since the end of last season in October for this outdoor season. They were second place last year in their conference but making it to the championship game was unexpected. This year they wanna win it all! Go Mustangs!!

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Is It Election Day Yet

I'm not sure how much more of this election banter I can take. The majority of the ads haven't even hit yet and we have almost 11 weeks to go. Maybe we should follow the England model. The had a new Prime Minister in a matter of days!

More dog training with Mango. He just let me know she had to go out as I was writing. Now she just picked up her metal food dish and ran with it down the hardwood floor. Small steps. small steps!

No Cubs game today. Their magic number to clinch is 22 and it's still August.

Coco and I went to his fall sports mandatory meeting. It's the same exact stuff every sport season but as I explained to him you have to follow the rules and be a team guy. It didn't relieve the boredom but he understands!

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Hello Mango

We have a new arrival since Monday night. I've been so busy with Mango that I didn't get a chance to blog. She's a one year old Treeing Walker Coonhound. Just a sweet little 41 pound dog. They were raised down South to tree raccoons. She came to the Wisconsin Humane Society from a shelter in Tennessee. I can't say enough good things about the Humane Society and all four of our trips there. Anyways, she's adjusting nicely and seldom barks and I'm sure I'll be writing more about her. Krissy is working on getting her up the stairs as she seems a little weary of them.

I ended up in 30th place in my Olympic pool only 29 points behind the winner. It was a fairly tight pool and Cuba not doing much was the downfall of my picks.

I saw the Haboob in Phoenix on the news. It was a giant sandstorm that overtook the city for awhile. It looked massive on television.

Coco started 7th grade today. He has a nifty new haircut and a lot of high academic and soccer goals this year which he made all by himself. It's going to be a heckuva school for him!

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Mango

Irish Fest

What a busy weekend and feeling a bit under the weather. Irish Fest last night was a good time though. We ended up seeing Whiskey of the Damned and it was a fantastic show. A bit chilly but the Irish whiskey coffee helped with that.

We followed that up with a stop at Hosed on Brady. Always a fun time and we got in pretty late as I recall.

We ended up going to Tosa to grocery shop. All the stores by us totally suck so we made the 20 minute trip, Kind of sad actually that the stores are so bad with poor service and poor selection.

The Cubs lost today but still have the best record in baseball.

No dog yet. Looked at a few and maybe one prospect that we shall sleep on. Going to bed now so I can feel better!

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Oh Rudy

I've given Rudy Giuliani a free pass all week because he seems like a tired grumpy old man going senile. But for the third time this week he's been reinventing facts and I just can't take it. He's a buddy of Trump and this is his last grasp at power so I get it but he's being ridiculous. He keeps saying we had no terrorist attacks before Obama from radical Islamists. The 9/11 attacks were just that Rudy. It happened on your guys watch and you were actually Mayor of New York at the time remember. So cut the crap and quit insulting everybody's intelligence because you just look like a fool!

Coco and I did a nice soccer practice in the humidity then watched the Olympics. Bolt gets another gold medal in the 200 meters. He's incredible.

The Cubs won again today sweeping the Brewers in a 4 game series.

Happy 80th to Robert Redford. One of the all time great actors!

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CongratsTwinkie Man

Yep, the Twinkie man just paid 100 million bucks for the Playboy Mansion and it comes with a 90 year old Hugh Hefner until he passes away. The Twinkie man bought Hostess the maker of twinkies out of bankruptcy and returned Hostess products to the grocery store shelves. He lives next door to the mansion and his place was originally part of the original grounds before it was parceled off. He simply wants to restore it to it's original glamour. I caught a glimpse of the mansion in January as it is just off the UCLA Campus. I for one will buy some Twinkies this weekend and congrats on preserving some history.

Adele is sick and cancelled her Phoenix show tonight. We had talked about getting tickets for that show and stay in Scottsdale with Angela and John. Glad we didn't.

Those 3 dogs we looked at yesterday are gone already. Back to the drawing board and yes we did find some more!

John McLaughlin passed away yesterday. He was a Catholic priest who quit and became a political pundit. I'll leave it at that.

I watched a great Olympic race today. The 3000 meter steeplechase. Evan Jager from Algonguin, IL and attended UWM for college came through for the silver medal. Incidentally, I used to hold an invitational record at his high school track. Two of them actually but one race they discontinued. The other record was broken. Yep, by Evan Jager. Records are made to be broken but having it broke by an Olympic medalist makes me feel a bit better about it. Ok, only for a second now I'm pissed off again!

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Dog Shopping Finally

Krissy and I looked at dogs today. This is much tougher than buying a car. I don't really think I'm the one making it tough. After all, my last two dogs were bought as I went to buy a fish both times. Both of them were Labrador Retrievers. After the second one I gave up on my fish tank because I probably would have ended up with a third dog. They both lived to 17 and 15 respectively and they've been gone about 9 years now. I'm sure it will all work out.

Anyway, Coco caught a stomach flu from his sister but appears pretty strong tonight.

Trump is speaking in West Bend, Wisconsin as we speak. The crowd seems pretty mellow and I'm not sure why he came here. He's down in double digits in this state!

The Cubs are 3 outs away from completing a double header win and shutouts in both games none the less. This team is something else!

Getting up at 5am to take Krissy to spin so I'm hitting the hay.

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Fyush Finkel

Famed character actor Fyush Finkel passed away at the age of 93. To many people that name doesn't ring a bell. Google him and you will recognize him instantly. One of the most memorable faces ever and he will be missed!

For two days in a row I ran into a group of Arizona woman. They came for a ballgame then hit the town right. A real fun bunch and they've been to my favorite bar in Scottsdale called the Rusty Spur!

A 21 year old kid from Ohio won the bronze medal in the 800 meters at the Olympics today. A wonderful race with a fast time!

We've spent a lot of hours trying to find the perfect party bus for the Buffett concert Labor Day weekend. It's been a fairly hard task and no bars seem to be participating this year. Maybe because of the holiday weekend I guess but it's certainly been time consuming.

Still dog shopping. I have my eye on one but I won't jinx it and go into detail just yet.

I'm in the top 50 now in my Olympic pool just 35 points behind the leader. Track is moving me up quick but Cuba should help me in the boxing and wrestling events.

Some blowhard pundit is on the news telling us what we have to do to fix the ongoing tension in Milwaukee. Of course, the guy has never been here. Never talked to anybody from here. Doesn't really have his facts straight at all but he has all the answers. And no, this guy isn't Trump as he actually strung a couple of sentences together without calling someone a name!

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You Talking To Me

Travis Bickle Trump had a nice ring to it. Robert DeNiro recently compared Trump to the mentally unstable character he played in Taxi Driver. Except he says Travis Bickle wasn't nearly as unhinged than Donny Boy!

A hot and humid day today. Coco and I played some soccer and we were pretty wiped out at the end.

Fidel Castro turns 90 today. All those assassination attempts on his life and the old geezer is going fairly strong still. He might make it another ten years. It must be the Cuban cigars and the high quality rum!

Krissy and I are headed out to Brady Street for a few hours. It looks kind of loud out there already.

The Cubs finally lost a game ending their 11 game winning streak. Time to start another win streak tomorrow!

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More Milk Please

I ran out of stomach pills for a couple days so every time my acid problem came up I just drank some milk. I drank almost a gallon of milk until I bought some more pills today!

The Cubs won their 11th straight game today. Pounded the Cardinals in an afternoon game.

I'm up to 55th place in my pool about 50 points behind the leader. It's okay though. Track, boxing and wrestling hasn't started yet so I should be making a big push next week.

Coco is over and it's raining. We'll try and get a soccer practice in tomorrow. He's getting antsy and dribbling a soccer ball around our floors.

Stay safe and have a great weekend!

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Hurricane Season

A hurricane hasn't struck the U.S. mainland since 2005 but this season is expected tp be stronger than normal with 5-8 hurricanes and 2-4 of them could be major. Not the best forecast!

The Cubs are tied and the Bears are getting clobbered. How come they all can't do well for me on the same day?

Macy's is closing 100 stores. I haven't heard if any local ones will be shuttered. They want to focus on online sales. The internet sure changed the world and not always for the good. I like going to the mall for some reason/

For the first time since 1999 all three major stock indexes ended up with record highs. Good for everyone's 401k.

Krissy is going with family to the State Fair tomorrow afternoon. I won't miss that humidity!

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Kohler Andrae State Park

Krissy and I spent at the afternoon at Kohler Andrae State Park on Lake Michigan this afternoon. We haven't been there in a couple years. The water level is so high that most of the beach is now gone. A lot of rain this spring I guess. Still a great time!

Again with the Trump idiocy.  Trump is blasting Clinton for having the Orlando shooter's father sitting behind her at a rally. Trump says every candidate knows who is sitting behind them. As he was saying that very line he had a pedophile sitting over his shoulder. Poor Donny. Either a liar or stupid and maybe both! Some people say!!

The Cubs won again!! What a team!! Best record in baseball!!

I'm in 55th place in my Olympic pool. I'll make a big run before it's over. The gymnastic heavy countries are helping a  lot of people but they don't have any track or boxing countries. I have Cuba, Jamaica and Kenya. The marathon is the last event and Kenya could sweep.

I'm halfway through reading Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King. Such a good book by such a brilliant writer!

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Some People Say

Krissy and I voted in the Wisconsin primary today. For some reason it was a difficult ballot to understand. I actually had to read the directions a couple times and it's never been that way before. At this rate, no one will want to vote more than once!

Prince Fielder had to hang it up today at the age of 32. His second major neck surgery strikes him down in the middle of his career and halfway through his mega contract. It runs through 2020 and he'll still collect a bit over 100 million. With A-Rod retiring Friday and a year left and no production those 9 and 10 year contracts don't look so good.

The Manson murders happened 47 years ago today. I was watching part of the mini-series from the 70's on the events. Most people don't remember anymore that it took a few months to figure out who did it.

Another news conference and another idiotic statement from Trump. He always starts out on stuff that he knows isn't true by prefacing something with "some people say." He never once says who these people are which is a cowards way of saying something. So, I'll say this. Some people say that you're a bigoted manchild who acts like a complete moron and only cares about yourself. And I'm one of those people Donny!

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Pacing Myself

I'm in 56th place in my Olympic pool. No worries. Track and boxing will bring me up quickly. I have Cuba, Jamaica and Kenya to score a lot of points for me. Everyone who picked gymnastic countries are leading at the moment. Interesting strategies were played and it will be interesting to see how it prevails.

We grilled out today. Chicken and steak slow heated on a low heat fire. Fantastic!

I met a nice couple from Ohio today in town for a conference. Certainly not Trump fans neither!

Every time I see Trump read off a teleprompter it's like he's reading a hostage statement with someone holding a gun on him. Now wonder he just wings it most of the time. He's terrible with a set speech!

Fifty Republicans from various security positions endorsed Clinton over Trump today. I hear a fat lady singing warming up her voice somewhere today!

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53rd Place In Brazil

It's been a rough start to my Olympic pool as I'm in 53rd place out of 59. It's okay though. I will make up a lot of ground with my Track strategy. Every person gets 300 points to spend on a country and you get 3 points for a gold medal, 2 points for the silver medal and 1 point for a bronze medal. I chose the USA which took up most of my points plus Cuba, Jamaica and Kenya. I'll make a killing in Track and boxing. The early leaders are cleaning up in gymnastics right now. We'll see which strategy works!

Coco caught a fish up North. He texted me that it was a small mouth bass.

The Packers play tonight in the Hall of Fame preseason game. Only fitting since Bret Favre was inducted yesterday. He certainly played the game the right way!

Krissy and I read some works, I worked on my writing and then to the grocery store. Next up is chicken and corn. A lazy Sunday indeed!

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Empty Seats In Brazil

I watched some of the Olympics today and was surprised at everything I watched had more than half the seats empty. From beach volleyball, gymnastics and tennis it looked empty.

Tim Kaine was in town at the Lakefront Brewery last night just down the street from us. A good turnout it appears.

We went for an early dinner at Harry's with John and Angela. Hope soon afterwards as we're recovering from the State Fair last night.

An excellent time at the State Fair with a lot of time spent at the Tropics watching King Solomon. Then we ran into friends and went to the Tavern at the Park and watched a band called Johnny Wad. They played well known 80's hard rock hits and they play them well. The crowd loved them and they played over 3 hours without a break. We'll catch them again soon!

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State Fair Time

It's hot and humid so it must be State Fair time in West Allis. Krissy and I are leaving around 3pm to go check it out on our annual pilgrimage. I'll want to hang around the Tropics bar and drink Red Stripe and watch King Solomon the great Milwaukee area reggae band.

She'll prod me to go to some other bars, watch some other music and check out the cows. Then we'll finish at the Tropics and head home. It's always a fun time.

We went to Mimmas last night on Brady Street. A nice Italian restaurant that neither of us have been to and it's only a couple hundred yards away from our house. We'll be back.

An excellent jobs report today. You won't hear much about it on the news because it doesn't fit into the narrative that we are on the brink of disaster and being run over by Putin. Everyone has an agenda and the truth is rarely involved in it!

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Tony Bennett Turns 90

Tony Bennett turns 90 and the guy is still singing strong. He comes to town every once in a while and I'm going to see him. I had a chance to see Sinatra's last concert in Chicago but somthing else came up so I said next time. Well, next time never came!

Krissy and I did lunch at Hooligan's and hung out at the Tiki Bar at Bradford Beach for the afternoon. About a 5 mile walk after we finished.

We're catching up on the new Cameron Crowe show called Roadies. A brilliant show starring Luke Wilson about life of concert roadies. Very well written like all Cameron Crowe shows.

I saw a short documentary from the last year of Trump speeches at various cities. It is the most disgusting vile collection of political supporters that I have ever seen. Anybody voting for this guy should be mentally examined because this guy isn't from the country that I live in!

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My Five Foot Man

Coco finally hit the 5 foot mark today at the ripe old age of 12. He's grown 3 inches since his January birthday and 2 of them have been since the last day of school. Only 10 inches to go to get even with the old man!

We went to the Tuesday night concert on the hill with John and Angela to see 5 Card Stud. Another good show and the city view from the hill is breathtaking!

The Cubs won another 3-2 game today. They are on a roll!

Krissy is off tomorrow for some Dr. Appointments then heading to Bradford Beach for lunch.

Rosati's is having an Olympic pool contest much like their March Madness pool which I did well at. This should be fun again!

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A Monday Of Leftovers

We've grilled so much food that we have enough leftovers for a small army. Always low on beer though for some reason!

The Cubs shutout the Marlins today and look in great shape until the playoffs arrive. The trade deadline ended without any major moves by the Cubs who already traded for Arondis Chapman last week!

Coco and I went to the soccer field and practiced today. He did well under the blazing heat.

State Fair starts this week. Krissy and I are planning on going Friday afternoon and staying through the evening.

I just read that Trump is coming to Green Bay this week. Somebody wake me when this pathetic election is over!

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