Friday, July 13, 2012

"Racine in Ruins"

A new addition to the local blogosphere: http://racineinruins.wordpress.com/

The lies from City Hall never stop.  Never.  

Party on, lying John.

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone! Welcome back to Four for Fridays after a week back to the grind. I'm ready to back on vacation again. Sleeping in sounds great.... Anyways here are some questions.

1) Did you ever have a tree house or build a fort when you were a kid?

2) What are the best seats for a concert or sports event you ever had?

3) If you were the U.S. president for a day, what would you do?

4) What foreign country would you like to visit?

Enjoy your weekend!

Why I Don't Ski

Open Blog - Friday the 13th


Be careful out there.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Keith Fair

How long is the City of Racine going to put up with this guy?

He is suppose to be an Alderman, you would think they should be responsible people.

He doesn’t show up for court, now his attorney doesn’t show, these two guys have more excuses then Carter has Little Liver Pills.

His liquor license hearing has been postponed for the third time and now Thursday prosecutors filed a felony bail jumping charge against him for missing a court date Monday morning.

If convicted of a felony he has to be tossed out as alderman; anyone who is convicted of a felony loses their voting rights and to me he then cannot vote whether it is for the city or his personal vote.

See the JT story here;  If convicted

How To Piss Off a Frog


IT'S SO HOT in Wisconsin

.....the birds have to use potholders to pull the worms out of the ground. .....the trees are whistling for the dogs.
.....the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance
.....hot water comes from both taps.
.....you can make sun tea instantly.
.....you learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
.....the temperature drops below 90 F and you feel a little chilly.
.....you discover that in July it only takes two fingers to steer your car.
.....you discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
.....you actually burn your hand opening the car door.
.....you break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 A.M.
.....your biggest motorcycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death"?
.....you realize that asphalt has a liquid stage.
.....the potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter.
.....the cows are giving evaporated milk.
.....farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.



Open Blog - Thursday


Yes, sir!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

The Goldberg Brothers


The Goldberg Brothers - The Inventors of the AAAutomobile Air Conditioner.

Here's a little factoid for automotive buffs or just to dazzle your friends.

The four Goldberg brothers, Lowell, Norman, Hiram, and Max, invented and developed the first automobile air-conditioner.

On July 17, 1946, the temperature in Detroit was 97 degrees. The four brothers walked into old man Henry Ford's office and sweet-talked his secretary into telling him that four gentlemen were there with the most exciting innovation in the auto industry since the electric starter. Henry was curious and invited them into his office.

They refused and instead asked that he come out to the parking lot to their car. They persuaded him to get into the car, which was about 130 degrees, turned on the air conditioner, and cooled the car off immediately.

The old man got very excited and invited them back to the office, where he offered them $3 million for the patent.

The brothers refused, saying they would settle for $2 million, but they wanted the recognition by having a label, 'The Goldberg Air-Conditioner,' on the dashboard of each car in which it was installed.

Now old man Ford was more than just a little anti-Semitic, and there was no way he was going to put the Goldberg's name on two million Fords.

They haggled back and forth for about two hours and finally agreed on $4 million and that just their first names would be shown.

And so to this day, all Ford air conditioners show – Lo, Norm, Hi, and Max - on the controls.

I can hear your groans from here. Control yourself!!!

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my dry, dormant dears!  How are you?  The heat of last week has moderated, but we’re still in the middle of a drought.  And more heat is on the way.  The weather was the talk of last winter and it’s the talk of this summer, too.  Today I had reason to walk on some grass, and it was crunchy underfoot.  That’s beyond dormant.  That may be dead.  Oh my.

The 4th of July was too hot for me to watch the parade in person.  Junior had a great time, but he came home sun burnt.  My tonic soon eased the pain and other effects of the sunburn, but nothing restores the initial damage done to the skin.  My generation had an excuse: we thought the sun was good for us.  As it turns out, the sun is out to get us with a vast array of light waves and radiation.  Junior knows this.  He probably considers it “lame” to put on sun block, but you can’t even see or smell the unscented stuff.         

No parade this week, but we do have this: “Ironman 70.3 Racine Triathlon Course to Cause Traffic Delays on Sunday” - http://caledonia.patch.com/blog_posts/ironman-703-racine-triathlon-course-to-cause-traffic-delays-on-sunday  Be prepared.  This one has snagged traffic a number of times.  I don’t think all of our current roadwork will help matters any.  I have someone to visit on the north side on Sunday, but he doesn’t live on North Main St., so I should be OK.  In fact, my plan is avoid North Main entirely.  Check out the story and maps to see if the triathlon will affect you.

Of course, there are scads of other events and shindigs occurring throughout Racine during the summer.  Check the paper, listen to the radio, and talk to you friends.  There’s something going on almost all of the time in Racine.  Most of it is legal.  Tee-hee, a little joke there.  I’m sorry, that doesn’t reflect positively on Racine.  Racine is the precious ship that carries my life.  I don’t want to become one of the cargo rats.  

If you have one, or more, of those small trees that the city planted this spring, you’d do them a great favor by letting a hose lightly trickle on the mulch near the trunk of each of them for ½ - 1 hour.  Once a week until the rain returns (if ever).

Thank you for stopping by to peruse my blog.  And for reading it, too.  I so enjoy the company.  My readers are my life.  Without them, I’d cease to exist. 

Let off steam with Madame Zoltar® Voodoo Dolls: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

Pray for rain, my dears.  If we can’t get rain, then pray for beer.  We might as well enjoy the misery of the drought with some of the draught. Look both ways before crossing the street.  Stay hydrated.  Wear clean underwear.  I love you all.  Vecordious!

Open Blog - Wednesday


"All you need is love." 

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Smallest Caliber Gun to Protect Yourself

Al Capone's Grandson Nearly Murders Local Man

From Oak Creek Patch:

"Police received a 911 call early Tuesday morning from a man claiming that Al Capone's grandson was in a car with him and holding a gun to his head, but that he was able to break his neck and kill him.

"Shockingly, this did not turn out to be accurate, and a 64-year-old man was arrested for drunken driving.

"According to an Oak Creek police report, officers responded to the 27th Street area about 2:45 a.m. and received updated information from the man: he must have only strangled him, because the person just walked out of the car.

"Police found the vehicle and conducted a high-risk traffic stop at the Villa Vista motel, 8060 S. 27th St., ordering the man out of the car.

"He was found alone sitting in his vehicle with the keys in the ignition. Police also found him to be highly intoxicated, according to the report.

"In addition to drunken driving, he was arrested for misuse of 911."



Thank goodness that the 64-year-old man was able to break free from Al Capone's grandson.

Open Blog - Tuesday


Have a great day.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Useless Information


Did you know:

Wesley Trent Snipes: Actor, martial artist, film producer has earned a 5th degree in Black Belt karate

Source Wikipedia

HEART WARMING LAWYER STORY

One afternoon, a lawyer was riding in his limousine when he saw two men along the road-side eating grass.

Disturbed, he ordered his driver to stop and got out to investigate.

He asked one man, "Why are you eating grass?"

"We don't have any money for food," the poor man replied. "We have to eat grass."

"Well, then, you can come with me to my house and I'll feed you," the lawyer said.

"But sir, I have a wife and two children with me. They are over there, under that tree."

"Bring them along," the lawyer replied.

Turning to the other poor man he stated, "You may come with us, also."

The second man, in a pitiful voice, then said, "But sir, I also have a wife and six children with me!"

"Bring them all as well," the lawyer answered.

They all entered the car, which was no easy task, even for a car as large as the limousine.

Once under way, one of the poor fellows turned to the lawyer and said, "Sir, you are too kind.

Thank you for taking all of us with you."

The lawyer replied, "Glad to do it. You'll really love my house. The grass is almost a foot high."

Come on now...you really didn't think there was such a thing as a heartwarming lawyer story...did you?

Cosmic Corner No Longer Cosmically Colored

I've written about this before, about a headshop on the corner of Main and Hamilton streets that was being forced to change the exterior colors of the store. See http://www.jtirregulars.com/2011/05/city-cites-cosmic-corner-for-colors.html and http://www.jtirregulars.com/2011/06/cosmic-corner-colors-will-change.html

Well, they finally did it.  It took them over a year, but the building was painted last week.  

The picture at top is the color scheme which offended city fathers.  Below are two I took today.  This time they painted the entire building:

 I stopped in to ask about the paint job, but the clerk didn't have a lot of info.  She did know that the original complaint came from a neighbor, and was followed by a complaint from the alderman, Jim Kaplan.  (I remember when he complained about the teachers from Janes School parking their cars near his house, which is across the street from the school.) 

Once again, the powers that be in Racine enforce conformity, in the name of "free enterprise."

Cheap Trick and Aerosmith at Summerfest

What a difference a few days can bring....

The heat wave that paralyzed Southeast Wisconsin, baking it like a blazing, superheated oven had moved over to the east. The cool winds over Lake Michigan had brought the much needed relief over the dry and parched landscape. Still no rain, at least not yet....

The standing room only on the shuttle buses were a sign of things to come. With the temperatures down to a more comfortable level in the high 70's, flocks of people migrated towards the Summerfest grounds, packing it like anchovies in a sardine can. It grew even more crowded as the day drifted along... As Tender heart Bear and I, along with some close friends of ours, filtered through the hordes met of with some good friends ours like, Aaron from the band Full Flavor and Dan and his lovely wife Cindy. Conversations were great and the beer flowed freely.

With heat gone, good beer and good friends is was perfect night for some good old fashioned rock and roll....

As the clock struck 8:00 (Or should say 10? It's a joke...) Cheap Trick burst into action, led the quirky guitarist, Rick Nielsen launched the band into their raucous blend of rock and roll. Trademark checkerboard guitars flashed in the spotlights while vocalist Robin Zander, dressed in his customary Dream Police cop outfit, belted out the words to classics like "Clock Strikes Ten" and "ELO Kiddies". The show was on!

After being bombarded by some classic tunes, Cheap Trick, kept rolling along, laying down some more... 12 string bassist Tom Petersson held his ground, thundering the audience with his own tune,"I Know What I Want". Nielsen tossed a KISS record so far in the masses, that it somehow managed to reach the middle of the arena on "Surrender". Zander sang his heart out during the "The Flame". The crowd roared to their feet upon hearing the first notes of "I Want You to Want Me'. Rick's own pride and joy. Daxx Nielsen, filling in on the drums for Ben E. Carlos set the the backbone for the band seamlessly. The biggest highlight of the show was the five necked guitar that Nielsen brought out in the closing number, "Goodnight" . Never have seen one those before....

At this point, Tender Heart Bear and I looked at each other as if to say, this going to be one a hell of a great night....

The setlist

Clock Strikes Ten
ELO Kiddies
California Man
Ain't That a Shame
Sick Man of Europe
Baby Loves to Rock
Need Your Love
I Know What I Want
Surrender
The Flame
I Want You to Want Me
Dream Police
Goodnight

Aerosmith was the headliners for tonight's show... This is band that just won't quit rockin'! Aerosmith earned their stripes early in their career with their massive success of their phenomenal 1975 release, Toys in the Attic. Wildfire success followed by endless tours, drug and alcohol abuse and the the departure of the original guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, led to the downfall of this great American band.

Under new management, Aerosmith cleaned up their act and checked into rehab. After signing under a new label, Aerosmth reunited with the original members with a new attitude. Renewed, revived and ready to rock, this Aero Force was set to take on the world. Thanks to the help of MTV for spawning an unbelievable set of hit singles and albums, Steven Tyler and the boys set a course of world domination. A success story that still stands today and unparalleled by any other act ever.

Undaunted by the recent fiascoes surrounding Steven Tyler's employment as an American Idol judge and near break up rumors, these Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees come out to do what they do best....ROCK! Starting with the opening bars from their title track of their fifth album, Draw the Line, Aerosmith proved that they will never be forgotten. Joe Perry blazed his slide up and down his famed glass guitar. The Demon of Screamin' vocalist, Steven Tyler dressed in a black vest, a golden turncoat, jeans and a red bandana twirled his trademark scarf dressed mic stand to the sky as if the lead the band. The Toxic Twins were taking no prisoners!

As Aerosmith was barreling though their 19 song set list, they stuck basically to their golden classics from the '70's with a few great tunes from the 90's for good measure. Guitarist Brad Whitford led the band through a searing replica of "Last Child" from the Rocks album. Joe "F@#king" Perry seared the frets off his guitar on "Boogie Men" while he sang his ass off on "Combination". Tom Hamilton displayed his bass prowess, introducing the band to the legendary classic "Sweet Emotion"; even nudged Perry for a killer song ending guitar solo. Tyler rapped and danced has way through the fan favorite, "Walk this Way". Skin master Joey Kramer even banged his head (literary!) on the drums during his solo.



Their were many highlights in this show. For me, it was the between of the tossing of the colorful lights and the performances of "No More, No More" and "Lord of the Thighs" of the endless sea of cellphone lights of Tyler sat down on the piano to perform "Dream On". Only two songs, "Oh Yeah" and "Legendary Child" from their upcoming release, Music from Another Dimension were played. This is the classic Aerosmith show, the way it's meant to be played...The way I like it!

The setlist:

Draw the Line
Love in an Elevator
Oh Yeah
Livin' on the Edge
Jaded
S.O.S (Too Bad)
Last Child
Drum Solo
Lord of the Thighs
Boogie Men
Combination
What It Takes
Legendary Child
Sweet Emotion
Mother Popcorn
Walk This Way

Dream On
Train Kept a' Rollin'

As we were corralled out of the packed Summerfest grounds like herds of cattle through mazes of fences, I couldn't help my smile knowing I had witnessed a great show. Then again, I could tell you about the first time I saw Aerosmith. Seventh row at Alpine Valley... Then again, I could wait till another time....

Open Blog - Monday


Have a swinging day.

Sunday, July 8, 2012