THERE ARE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF FOOD BLOGS, BUT ONLY ONE CULINARY NO-NO!
To introduce this week’s no-no, Maestro, please!
This summer at the movies…
Disney and Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, passed James Cameron’s 2009 behemoth Avatar to become the top-grossing film of all time at the worldwide box office.
We’re talking a couple billion dollars. Even so Hollywood’s coffers are down more than 7% from last year in the midst of the holiday movie season. I shed no tears.
You won’t find me too much at movie theaters, for a few reasons.
1) There aren’t many good movies in my view these days, so why would I go?
2) Tough to catch a movie with a 10-year old.
And…
3) I refuse to spend my money regularly on those Hollywood pukes.
Folks I know attend movies every week. Sometimes twice a week. Conservatively that’s about 78 movies a year. Again, there just aren’t that good movies. The Oscars can nominate 7, 8, 9 films for Best Picture. Sorry. You couldn’t get me to agree there are that many that warrant the “Best” title. But people flock to the cinema each and every week, spending cash on mediocre movies and mediocre food.
Eating options have definitely exploded over the years. Good thing? Being waited on at your Dream Longer? A colleague told me some time ago that he ordered a personal pizza on a theater visit that was okay, but too expensive.
Yet the few occasions our family goes to a movie there’s generally a crowd gathered at the concession stand even though popcorn and Raisinets are about as costly as a martini in downtown Milwaukee.
Those movie-goers clamoring in line for snacks are being screwed.
By law theaters and studios split the profits of the movies they make and show. Is the split 50-50? Not even close.
The theaters will submit that from the revenue they take in they get to keep 20%, maybe 30%. The movie studios get the rest. So what recourse do the theaters have? Simple. Rip offs on concessions.
That doesn’t mean the customers have to line up like pigs for the slaughter. But they foolishly do for the fleecing. Week after week after week.
Finally, if that isn’t wasteful enough. Check out the theater floor when the movie’s over. Apparently patrons are a bunch of slobs that senselessly don’t pick up after themselves and dump too expensive popcorn everywhere.
I’ll catch a movie in the sanctity of my own home, thank you.
1) Families waited as students were released from Waukesha South High School following shots being fired by a Waukesha police officer after a student brought a gun into the building and did not comply with orders to hand it over, school officials say. The School Resource Officer was present during this event, but did not fire their gun, officials say. A student brought a gun to school and did not comply with handing it over. Photo: Waukesha Freeman
2) A Waukesha South student finds her parent after being let out early after a student brought a gun and then was shot by police after he pointed it at police officers inside the school on Dec. 2, 2019. Photo: Rick Wood / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
3) Gabriela Mauricio, 14, right, a freshman, hugs her mother Meche Mauricio, after the two were reunited outside Waukesha South High School in Waukesha on Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. Waukesha police say a student pointed a pellet gun at a student and then officers inside the school. He was then shot three times by police. Photo: Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
4) Parents line up Tuesday at Perry A. Tipler Middle School in Oshkosh, Wis. after an officer-involved shooting occurred at Oshkosh West High School. The students were bused to the middle school to be reunified with parents. Phoot: Doug Raflik, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
5) Sarah Rogstad, right, hugs freshman Morgan Sarah Rogstad after being reunited at the Tipler Middle school reunification center on Tuesday in Oshkosh. Earlier, police responded to an officer-involved shooting at Oshkosh West High School. Photo: Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
6) U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) and Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) attend a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the impeachment Inquiry into President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington. Photo: Reuters
7) House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy delivers remarks during an impeachment press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Photo: REUTERS/Tom Brenner
8) The legs of a man protrude from a collapsed six-story building in Nairobi, Kenya. Photograph: Daniel Irungu/EPA
9) Animal rights activists, naked and covered in fake blood, protest against the use of fur and leather in Barcelona, Dec. 1. Photo: Reuters
10) From left: Sheila Bailey, Judy Brady, and Clinical Director Cheyne Flanagan tend to a koala named Paul from Lake Innes Nature Reserve as he recovers from burns at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie, Australia, Nov. 29. An estimated 1 million hectares of land have been burned by bushfires across the country in recent weeks, killing an estimated 1,000 koalas and other wildlife. Photo: Getty Images
14) The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, harvested from the Carson National Forest in New Mexico, is lit on Capitol Hill. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
15) A military band plays during a media preview for the 2019 White House holiday decorations, in Washington, D.C. on Monday, December 2, 2019. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI.
17) The Cross Hall is decorated for the holidays during a media preview for the 2019 White House holiday decorations, in Washington, D.C. on Monday, December 2, 2019. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
18) The White House gingerbread house is seen on display for the holidays during a media preview for the 2019 White House holiday decorations, in Washington, D.C. on Monday, December 2, 2019. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI.
20) The State Dinning Room is decorated for the holidays during a media preview for the 2019 White House holiday decorations, in Washington, D.C. on Monday, December 2, 2019. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI.
21) The East Room is decorated for the holidays during a media preview for the 2019 White House holiday decorations, in Washington, D.C. on Monday, December 2, 2019. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI.
22) The Red Room is decorated for the holidays during a media preview for the 2019 White House holiday decorations, in Washington, D.C. on Monday, December 2, 2019. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI.
23) Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor runs for 44 yards for a touchdown during the first quarter Saturday night in the Big Ten championship game against Ohio State. The Badgers lost, 34-21. Mark Hoffman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“I personally hope Rebecca Kleefisch runs for governor. I think she would win, and I think she’d be a hell of a great governor.” Former Gov. Scott Walker speaking at the Milwaukee Press Club
“This report chronicles a scheme by the president of the United States to coerce an ally, Ukraine, that is at war with an adversary, Russia, into doing the president’s political dirty work. We do not intend to delay when the integrity of the next election is at risk. We should care about this, we must care about this. And if we don’t care about this, we can be darn sure the president will be back at it, doing this all over again.” Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said three House committees investigating the potential impeachment of President Trump found that Trump withheld official acts such as a White House meeting and nearly $400 million in military aid in order to compel Ukraine to deliver two investigations to help his reelection campaign in 2020
“At the end of a one-sided sham process, Chairman Schiff and the Democrats utterly failed to produce any evidence of wrongdoing by President Trump. This report reflects nothing more than their frustrations. Chairman Schiff’s report reads like the ramblings of a basement blogger straining to prove something when there is evidence of nothing.” Trump’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, criticized the 300-page report from the committees and the process that yielded it
“The Democrats were able to act as judge and prosecutor. The Democrats essentially stacked the deck in their favor.” The House Republican Conference chief, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said the “sham impeachment effort” was fundamentally unfair because they decided on all of the witnesses and prevented Republicans from asking certain questions
“Name me one problem you have solved.” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the American public would like to know from Democrats and that lawmakers should be working on a trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, and a government funding bill, rather than pursue impeachment
“Does the opposing party actually have a plan or is their whole focus just an impeachment. I think that’ll backfire. And I think in the end that makes it more probable that the president gets re-elected.” Former Gov. Scott Walker said he saw “a lot of similarities” between his successful effort to beat back a recall in 2012 to the current impeachment inquiry against President Trump
“The testimony by three distinguished professors in favor of impeachment reveals the sheer evil that is poisoning our young people. One of them, a radical feminist who sneered at the very name of the President’s son, is stereotypical. Avoid the sight of such academics at all cost. Condemn the Left for inflicting them upon us.” Retired SE WI professor Thomas C. Reeves
“I don’t hate anybody. That has nothing to do with it. I think the president is a coward when it comes to helping our kids who are afraid of gun violence. I think he is cruel when he doesn’t deal with helping our DREAMers, of which we’re very proud. I think he is in denial about the climate crisis. However, that is about the election.
“This is about the Constitution of the United States and the facts that lead to the president’s violation of his oath of office and as a Catholic I resent your using the word ‘hate’ in the sentence that addresses me. I don’t hate anyone. I was raised in a way that is a heart full of love and always pray for the president. And I still pray for the president. I pray for the president all the time. So don’t mess with me when it comes to words like that.” Nancy Pelosi in a meltdown after a reporter asked her if she hates President Trump
“If you’re not on the debate stage, it’s just impossible. Not being on the stage, probably means you’re doomed.” Matt Bennett, the executive vice president of public affairs for Third Way, a center-left think tank, on presidential candidates starting to drop out
“You’re a damn liar man, that’s not true. And no one has ever said that, no one has proved that. And by the way, I’m not sedentary. Look, the reason I’m running is because I’ve been around a long time and I know more than most people know, and I can get things done, and that’s why I’m running. And if you want to check my shape, let’s do pushups, let’s do whatever you want to do, let’s take an IQ test.” Joe Biden called a man a “damn liar” during a heated exchange at a campaign event in New Hampton, Iowa, on Thursday. The remark came after the man brought up the conspiracy theory that Biden secured a position on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company, for his son, so that his son could sell access to the president. Biden also called the man, an unidentified farmer, “fat.”
The manger scene “is a genuine way of communicating the Gospel in a world that sometimes seems to be afraid of remembering what Christmas really is.”Instead, the world “eliminates Christian symbols in exchange for banal, commercial imagery. I wish to encourage the beautiful family tradition of preparing the nativity scene in the days before Christmas, but also the custom of setting it up in the workplace, in schools, hospitals, prisons and town squares. It is my hope that this custom will never be lost and that, wherever it has fallen into disuse, it can be rediscovered and revived.” Pope Francis
“I have abused my lungs quite a bit in the past, so breathing is a little more difficult these days and I have to be careful. I don’t smoke anymore. I take better care of myself today. I started smoking cedar bark, went from that to cigarettes to whatever. And that almost killed me.” 86-year old country legend Willie Nelson
The Barking Lot is a regular weekly feature of This Just In…Written by my lovely wife, Jennifer and me. It opens with the weekend dog walking forecast followed by the main blog from dog lover, Jennifer. Then it’s DOGS IN THE NEWS and our close. Enjoy!
THE WEEKEND DOG-WALKING FORECAST: We grade the weather outlook for taking your pet outdoors.
TODAY: Cloudy this morning. Partly cloudy this afternoon. Cold. A high of 39. “D”
SUNDAY: Cloudy. High of 45. “C-”
Now, here’s my lovely wife, Jennifer with this week’s main blog.
I want a dog.
Our daughter wants a dog.
Kevin?
Well. We’ve been through that before.
I know he’d like a dog. No, really. Just not now. Not yet.
Naughty Kevin.
Bad Kevin.
One friend jokingly referred to Kevin as my “dog-hating husband.”
Okay. I’ve committed a journalistic no-no by burying the lead. So let’s get to the major point.
There are countless reasons why dogs are amazing and here comes another. First, some anecdotes that involve, hmph, Kevin.
During the summer of 2016, the Fischers were at neighbor friends for a bonfire. Gatherings at these neighbors are always sure to include the following: kids, beverages, laughter, s’mores, mosquitoes, and most importantly in my estimation, dogs. Kevin enjoys the conversations, Kyla the s’mores and hello what do you think I enjoy the most? One neighbor dog is great. Three neighbor dogs at a bonfire? Yep. Heaven.
We still talk about that particular night. It’s not what anyone said, it’s not what anyone did, it’s not what was served, and it’s not what anyone wore. It is a great memory that still tickles us. On that particular evening, Kevin met Rainbow for the first time. Before I met her and found out her real name, I just called her “Crabby Dog.” That was of course a joke; she is one of the most enthusiastic happy dogs I’ve ever seen.
Rainbow’s owners were there, needless to say. But I’m not sure she even realized that. It was as if she had a magnet in her belly and Kevin’s leg was made of pure steel. She did not leave his side that entire night and of course he didn’t mind.
Fast forward to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade of 2018 in downtown Milwaukee. Kyla danced in the parade with her school mates from Cashel Dennehy (now known as Cashel Academy)
At one point in the parade a particular dog came down the street and made a beeline for Kevin.
That’s Molly cozying up to the “dog-hater” and the German Shepherd is a local celebrity.
So, you now have two more examples of why dogs are amazing. Dogs love you. Because dogs…love…everyone. That’s not just this dog lover’s opinion. There’s science behind it, which, as you know, fascinates me.
Researchers at Princeton University were able to pinpoint genes in dogs that in humans are associated with Williams-Beuren syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. One of the features in the syndrome is, are you ready, indiscriminate friendliness.
I’ve blogged about Gregory Berns who has studied the brains of dogs extensively. Berns found that the portion of dogs’ brains that generate excitement when they hear their owners’ voices is actually the same part of the human brain that perks up when we are fond of someone or something. That’s a discovery that further explains the affection dogs have for humans.
There’s more. Clive Wynne, a psychologist at Arizona State University who specializes in dog behavior says dogs not only bond exceptionally with humans, but with other species as well.
Wynne’s latest book is flying off the shelves. Sounds like a nice Christmas present.
Another author, Kate Harding says, “Dogs don’t care what breed anybody is or where they used to live. Dogs just act as though they believe everyone deserves to be happy, fed, sheltered and comforted when they’re sick or sad. Radical, unconditional love — giving it and inspiring it in others — is one key to their survival.”
Finally, there be science involved, but it’s also very simple. To borrow from Elvis Presley, dogs can’t help falling in love with you. —-Jennifer Fischer
After hitting a dog with his car, a Canadian man drove it to safety. Turns out …
THAT’S IT FOR DOGS IN THE NEWS.
HERE’S OUR DOG PHOTO(s) OF THE WEEK.
A man dressed as Santa Claus skateboards down Fifth Avenue towing a dog before the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center in New York. Photograph: John Angelillo/UPI/Barcroft Media
We saw this on Facebook this week…
And also on Facebook, from my cousin Doug MacKenzie in Minnesota…
So last Sunday my love was on patrol and got a call about a dog in distress. She found this beautiful girl chained to a fence on 3′ leash. She was curled up in a ball so tight just to try and keep herself warm and according to neighbors, had been outside for a few days with no food or water. Niki only found her because of the reflection of her one open eye off her flashlight. Once Nik was able to get her into the squad, this beauty got to show her her true self…a beautiful young pup! I got a Facetime msg then and knew right away that this little beauty was going to be ours. Nik dropped her off at Animal Control and said that we would be very interested in adopting her. Somehow this beauty’s reputation got out with some of the other officer’s in the department and she seemed to be popular. Sorry guys…We’ve got her now. We’ve named her Chloe. She’s fantastic!We close as we always do with our closing video and we have a few.
First, to the rescue.
NEXT…Alabama is the only state in the nation to have a statewide facility dog program for victims telling their story in court or to investigators. Currently, there are eight facility dogs– one in each region of the state– who are deployed to courtrooms, child advocacy centers, or law enforcement offices by request.
Earlier this week the dogs waited patiently in line to see Santa Claus at the Bass Pro Shops in Leeds.
Every Friday night we smooth our way into the weekend with music, the universal language. These selections demonstrate that despite what is being passed off as art today, there is plenty of really good music available. Come along and enjoy.
More Christmas music in this week’s installment.
Tonight, the albums your father had that you thought weren’t cool…..
Turns out, they’re mighty cool.
More sounds of the seasons, wrapped with Christmas cocktails.
We take you inside music from the Ultra-Lounge series, described by the record company as:
“An era batted in gimlets, hi-balls, straight up, on-the- rocks, shaken not stirred, hi-octane elixirs dressed in garish garni. A time viewed through the seductive daze of slow-burning lipstick-kissed cigarettes that end up dancing ashtray dancing with cigar stubs and cherry stems. The atmosphere mambos to the soundtrack of cool. Rumbling saxophones. Jazzy vibes, over-heated Hammonds, and the sexy chill of a brush a cross a cymbal. So pour yourself a cocktail, slip off your shoes, shuffle across the shag to your favorite easy chair and enjoy an intoxicating taste of the Ultra-Lounge.”
“Ultra-Lounge” is a series of 1950’s to 1960’s lounge music cds released by Capitol Records. It’s our feature tonight.
From the back cover notes of Christmas Cocktails-Part Two:
“Another Round Of Cool Holiday Spirits. Christmastime is here again and Santa’s mixed up another batch of intoxicating hi-fi holiday highballs, cooler than Jack Frost’s smile and sweeter than a candy cane swizzlestick. If these 18 hot chestnuts don’t jingle your bells, then you’re Scrooged, man. Fruitcake!”
Let’s get our Santa Claus’ party going with duel pianists, Ferrante and Teicher followed by Les Baxter.
That was from Christmas Cocktails Part Two.
We move to the first installment of the series. From the back cover notes:
“Hi-Fi Holiday Cheer From Santa’s Pad. It’s Christmastime and we’ve gone north for the holidays (North Pole that is!). These eighteen hot toddies will surely melt your snowcone. So deck the halls, spike the eggnog and hang the mistletoe, you’re in Yulesville, baby! Ho-Ho-Ho. Cheers!”
You’ve probably never heard of Al Caiola and Riz Ortolani. But you’ll love their “Holiday on Skis.”
“The music captures the sultry, and sexy side of the 1950’s and early 1960’s. It’s kind of like a Mad Men soundtrack with a bit of jingle thrown in.
“All the women singers on this collection purr their songs, while the men croon like velvet and the big bands belt it out as only bands from that era can.
“The other great thing about this set is the variety of artists on the CD’s. You get classic Dean Martin and Nat King Cole singing some of their Christmas standards, but then you also get Lou Rawls, of all people, adding his own brand of swing to the mix. They’re the perfect CD’s for a Christmas party, and take the worry out of creating a mood for your get together.”
This ensemble has been highlighted in the past on our Friday night feature. Who knew an orchestra could be so cool.
“A perfect martini-and-mistletoe combo, Christmas Cocktails will gaily seduce you with its bevy of nostalgic and occasionally campy holiday fare. This CD features Christmas music from the 50s and 60s that would have been considered to be ‘adult pop’ at the time. That is to say, pop music for adults, instead of teenagers. In short, if you like lounge music–and especially pop Christmastime music from the 1950s and 1960s–you have got to get this album. It’s worth every penny you’ll spend on it. Overall, if you want some swingin’ lounge music for your Christmas party–whether there be cocktails served or not–you truly can’t afford to go without this fine CD. It’s chock full of great performances and I predict you’ll be listening to it over and over again.”
The Capitol Studios, Studio A
This series features artists like Peggy Lee, Julie London, Kay Starr, Nancy Wilson, Lou Rawls, Dean Martin, and Nat “King” Cole. It is worth your purchase since you won’t hear most of these tracks if any on your FM radio.
It went to #1 in the United Kingdom, but bombed in America, only reaching #85 on the Top 100 Billboard chart.
I repeat. This is a great Christmas song.
At one time, this particular recording found its way into radio play. Not anymore. And that’s sad. If radio programmers across the country would play this instead of listening to consultant after consultant, this recording, it would explode in popularity.
Guaranteed you won’t hear this on the radio this Christmas season. Last time I did was on WOKY AM 920 in Milwaukee. WOKY is no more. It’s a sports station.
So this is a perfect forgotten oldie. If you’ve never heard it, you will love it. If you haven’t heard it in decades, you will love it once again.
By way of introduction, in 1956 Harry Belafonte released a Christmas song that has been highly regarded. Actually, in my view, it’s a complete bore. A brief clip.
Boring, boring, boring.
Back then no one covered popular Christmas songs. Today, 800 gazillion folks have done White Christmas, et al.
Behind today’s advent calendar door lies surely the happiest and most uplifting of all Christmas songs… that’s right, it’s Boney M’s Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord. Not only is it seemingly impossible for anything with a calypso rhythm to be depressing, you get two songs for the price of one and a whole heap of disco loveliness thrown in for good measure! If any song could encapsulate how joyful Scrooge must have felt waking up on Christmas morning a changed man, this must surely be it.
Released in 1978, Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord is still one of the top ten best-selling UK singles of all time…. It made Christmas number one that year and stayed at number one for four happy, joy-filled weeks.
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