"Ex-Wisconsin medical examiner pleads guilty; took body parts to train dog"

From Reuters: 

"(Reuters) - A former Wisconsin medical examiner who took a piece of spinal column that had been removed from a corpse to train her cadaver dog, pleaded guilty to felony charges on Friday, according to court documents.

"Traci England, 46, will be sentenced February 10 on two felony counts of misconduct in public office. Theft and obstruction charges against England were dismissed as part of a plea bargain, the Forest County Circuit Court records showed.

"The criminal complaint said England took a piece of bone from a corpse's spinal column after another medical examiner removed it during an autopsy on September 5, 2011.

"She told fellow employees she planned to use the bone to train her cadaver dog, the complaint said.

"Investigators wrote in the complaint that England 'made a comment on how lucky she was to have gotten this section of the spine because it was hard to come by.'

"During a search of her Town of Newbold home on January 4, 2012, investigators found what appeared to be brain and liver tissue along with a piece of bone in bags on a shelf in her garage, the complaint said."

Read more:  http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/18/us-usa-bodyparts-wisconsin-idUSBREA0G1QG20140118

Open Blog - Weekend

We wish.

"Devil Baby Attack: Evil baby prank terrifies innocent people in New York"

Submitted by lrgal stranger:



That's hilarious.

"Blaze Loves His Kennel (ORIGINAL) Husky Says No to Kennel - Funny"

Aw, poor Blaze.

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone and welcome back! It's a tale of two extremes within one week. The week started off slow then sped up like insane towards the end. Why can't things be steady? Anyways, your questions...

1) What do you think are the characteristics that make up a good pet?

2) What is your favorite knock-knock joke?

3) Have you ever been in a food fight?

4) Can you fake any accents?

Enjoy your weekend!

Angel of Clean Sheets

Angel of clean sheets, do you know bedbugs?
Once in the madhouse they came like specks of cinnamon
as I lay in a choral cave of drugs,
as old as a dog, as quiet as a skeleton.
Little bits of dried blood. One hundred marks
upon the sheet. One hundred kisses in the dark.
White sheets smelling of soap and Clorox
have nothing to do with this night of soil,
nothing to do with barred windows and multiple locks
and all the webbing in the bed, the ultimate recoil.
I have slept in silk and in red and in black.
I have slept on sand and, on fall night, a haystack.

I have known a crib. I have known the tuck-in of a child
but inside my hair waits the night I was defiled.

--Anne Sexton 

"Anne Sexton (November 9, 1928 – October 4, 1974) was an American poet, known for her highly personal, confessional verse. She won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1967 for her book Live or Die. Themes of her poetry include her long battle against depression and mania, suicidal tendencies, and various intimate details from her private life, including her relationships with her husband and children."

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Sexton

Bed Bugs: Pests from Hell

Until recently, I lived in an apartment building on the near south side of Racine.  I had a ground floor unit.  I lived there for 7 years.

About 2-1/2 years ago, a young woman and her toddler son moved into the apartment above mine.   She was a very nice person, always concerned about the noise her son made while running around in their apartment.  And I always told her I didn’t mind it.

The rear entrance to the building went right by the laundry room.  As I was leaving one day, I saw my upstairs neighbor and her son there.  She was near tears.  “Bed bugs,” she said, “My apartment has bed bugs.”  She showed me her son’s back.  He was all bit to hell.  She told everyone who went by.  She moved out within days and the rumor was that she left all of her furniture behind and successfully sued the owner for its cost.  I don’t know.

Shortly thereafter, a pest control company brought equipment into the building.  They had portable furnaces, fans, cables, and computer controls for heat treatment of the bed bugs.  Heat treatment is considered the most up-to-date method.  The area to be treated has to be brought up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit and held there for four hours.  The heat first attracts the bed bugs, and then kills them.  It kills all four stages of the bed bug lifecycle. 

They treated the apartment above me, and one next to me.  The guy in the one next to me had seen bed bugs that I didn’t know about.  The exterminators left and I didn’t hear anything about bedbugs for awhile.

Early last year, I started to hear more and more about bed bugs.  A pest control company was coming twice a month.  It was obvious that some apartments were being treated with insecticide, but I didn’t know how many or which ones.

Over the course of the spring and summer, two construction debris dumpsters were brought onto the parking lot for the disposal of infested furniture.  Still, nothing was said by management.

In April, I spotted my first bed bug; in bed, of course.  I would come to see many, many more.  I would come to hate them for what they did to my life and the lives of millions more.  Bed bugs live on the blood of warm blooded animals.  They’re little vampires.

I don’t react to bed bug bites.  I’m told either 30% or 40% of people don’t.  (Information from two different exterminators.)  I didn’t show physical signs of their bites, but my sheets became pockmarked with little blood stains where they bit me.  They also became stained with bed bug shit.  Bed bugs crap all over the place, tiny little spots of poop.  I never even considered insects pooping until bed bugs infested my apartment.

My apartment went on the list and an exterminator came twice a month to spray.  The man sprayed the bed and surrounding area very thoroughly, but no place else unless you told him you had seen bed bugs there.  It was idiotic.  95% of the apartment was not treated.  I was once state certified as a pesticide applicator for turf and ornamentals (lawns, shrubs, gardens).  I never dealt with bed bugs, but I dealt with other insects.  I knew what they were doing wasn’t going to work. 

In June, I was hospitalized with kidney failure.  A pesticide application was done to my apartment while I was in the hospital.  I distinctly remember it, because when I returned to my apartment, the infestation appeared three times worse.  It didn’t make sense, and still doesn’t, but I couldn’t even sleep on the bed anymore.  I slept on the floor, but the bed bugs get wise to your new location and go after you there.  I was sleeping fully clothed ever since the bed bugs first appeared.  I was trying to limit skin exposure.

In September, an exterminator arrived who knew what he was doing.  On the appointed day, he went around to the apartments.  When he got to mine, he told me he couldn’t spray my closets and other areas because they hadn’t been properly prepared.  Other tenants had been forewarned of what to do.  I hadn’t.  I complained, loudly.  In response, I was handed a notice of non-renewal of my lease.

Legal stranger and BLB helped me toss a ton of junk from my closets.  The next time the exterminator arrived, my apartment was prepared for the application.  They were now treating the entire apartments.  We had to leave our apartments for two hours after they sprayed.

Around this time, I noticed that my cat, Charlie, had some bumps on his ears that would appear, heal, and then new ones would appear.  The pads of his paws were also cracked and bleeding.  I finally deduced that Charlie was getting bit on the ears by bed bugs.  Unlike mosquitoes, bed bugs have to hit a vein.  They normally don’t bite animals because the fur is too dense.  But if you look at a cat’s ear through light, you see tiny little veins.  The damn things were biting up my buddy. 

A visit to a veterinarian confirmed this, though the cause of his pad problems was less obvious.  The vet said maybe Charlie needed more omega fatty acids in his diet to soften his pads.  She sold me a supplement that Charlie won’t eat.  I was thinking that maybe all the chemicals sprayed on the carpeting and furniture in my apartment were affecting his pads.  I’m 210 pounds and Charlie is 12.5.  The poison must be much more effective on him.  And he walked through it all day long, and licked his paws.

Bed bugs made me feel like a leper or typhoid Mary.  A buddy who visits me regularly came by shortly after I realized I had bed bugs.  I told him he probably shouldn’t come in.  He said just for a few minutes.  He stood in one place and talked with me for about ten minutes.  Then he left.  When he returned home, he felt something on his neck.  It was a bed bug.  Luckily, he felt it outside, before he entered his house.  He stripped and found two more.  After that, we would visit in the building’s lobby, seated far apart.  Twice while doing that, he pointed out bed bugs on me.

I would check myself for bed bugs before going out in public.  Once, while waiting for my doctor in an examination room, I saw a bed bug come crawling up my knee.  I squished it.  It was sickening.  They give off a pungent odor when squished and I loathe it.  When they haven’t fed, they have a very, very low profile.  A friend and I joked you could hit one with a hammer and it would just keep going.  That allows them to squeeze into the tightest places.  After feeding, they pop like a blood blister when squished.

I came to learn a lot about bed bugs, stuff I never wanted to learn in the first place.  The internet is full of conflicting information about them.  Their resurgence is so overwhelming that everyone and their uncle posts about them.  Studies of them done by universities will have opposite results.  I know that they can get flat enough to enter between the pages of a book.  If a host isn’t near, they can go dormant and not feed for a year or more.  People looked at my books and said I would have to toss them.  Puh-leez.

Bed bugs can go dormant, but they don’t when there’s a fat old man and his cat around to feed on.  They don’t want to crawl into a book and sleep.  They want to feed and then return to the closest possible nest (usually in the bed).  Yes, they can get into everything.  But, again, follow the warm blood.  When legal stranger, BLB and I tossed out all that stuff from my closets, I didn’t see one bed bug, dead or alive.  There’s no percentage for a bed bug buried in a closet.  He/she isn’t going to eat in there or in a book or anyplace else that isn’t close to a human.

As the date approached for my move, I grew more and more apprehensive about the bed bugs.  I was hoping that they would be eradicated before I moved.  No such luck.  I spoke with the exterminator a number of times.  He indicated that leaving behind my bed and upholstered items would be the best protection against bringing the bed bugs with me.  I think the carpeting was also infested.

As it turns out, the reason the heat treatment didn’t work previously was because the apartment where the original infestation took place wasn’t treated.  Management didn’t know about it.  Nobody did. The tenant had bed bugs and told no one.  He lived next door to the apartment above me, above the guy who saw bed bugs.  Eventually, 32 out of 51 units were infested.  It was taking months and months of chemical applications to knock them back.

My apartment was treated days before I moved.  I piled up Charlie’s cat tree, a loveseat, and other furniture in a corner of the main room, away from the moving boxes.  I had to leave those behind.  In my bedroom, the mattress and box spring stayed, as did an entertainment center cabinet that was in the room.  I took my dresser with me.

Some of the JT Irregulars came to my place on moving day and moved me to my new apartment.  It was incredible and it was very loving of them.  I didn’t have to do too much other than direct them.  I was and I am very grateful.  Another of my concerns was endangering my friends with bed bug exposure during the move.  Nobody saw any bed bugs.

A few days after I moved in, my friend who stopped by regularly at the old place came to visit.  The apartment was still filled with boxes from the move.  He asked about bed bugs and I told him that I think I avoided bringing any with me.  “Like that one?” he asked as he pointed at a bed bug crawling along the living room floor.

I was mortified.  I was dumbfounded.  I was upset.  The very last thing I wanted to do was bring bed bugs to my new apartment.  Apparently, I did.  Maybe a TV I was given by another tenant as we moved had bed bugs.  (That would be ironic as I don’t watch TV.)  Maybe not.  There’s no way to know for sure. 

I panicked and my first instinct was to lie.  (That’s why I ride lying John so hard.  I know liars.  I’m one of the best.  And that’s a lie.)  I sprayed the baseboards with Raid Maxx Bed Bug Killer.  My plan was to pretend I knew nothing about the bed bugs.  I was afraid that management would throw me out if they knew about them.

Thankfully, my AA training kicked in.  My new apartment is in a larger building than the old one.  Most of the tenants are senior citizens.  As I thought about it, I realized that I couldn’t “infect” this building and spread bed bugs to more innocent victims.  That would’ve been horrible.  I hate bed bugs.  How could I do that to others? 

I talked to the building manager and told him about the bed bugs.  He was not happy, but he didn’t blow his top.  In fact, he ended up consoling me because I felt so bad about the bed bugs.  It was a nightmare come true.  I was the villain when I had absolutely no intention of being one.  The manager told me that they had bed bugs twice before (in different units).   They used a pest control company that utilizes the heat treatment method.

A couple of days later, a guy from the pest control company stopped by to inspect my apartment.  He said he was going to give management an estimate.  A couple of day after that, a representative from the company stopped by to explain to me what the extermination process was.  They heat treat one day.  Charlie and I had to be out of the apartment in the morning and couldn’t return until the evening.  One week after that, they do a chemical application.  Charlie and I had to be gone for only an hour.  Two weeks after that, they do a final chemical application.

For the heat treatment, I had to remove all of the meltables in my apartment.  I had candles and wax stuck in various boxes.  They also want all of your aerosol cans in a box so the technician makes sure nothing explodes.  All loose papers and materials have to be stowed because of the force of the fans they use.  At the same time, every drawer, cabinet, etc., is opened for the heat treatment.  Plants have to be removed in you want them to live.  140 degrees for four hours.  It takes awhile to build up to that temperature.  Everything has to be heated to the core to 140 degrees for four hours. 

The technician who arrived on the day of the heat treatment was nice.  He does the heat treatment alone.  The company representative who had explained the process to me said, “Watch him set up the equipment.  It’s interesting.”  He must’ve looked at my boxes of junk and figured that I’m a gear head.  Unfortunately, getting Charlie into the carrier was becoming more and more of a chore.  Once I had him in there, I didn’t want to wait around to watch.

Charlie and I spent from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM in my truck in the parking lot.  I had originally thought about taking him back to visit with a friend at the old apartment building.  His cat and Charlie are pals.  Then I thought, “No, dumbass.  There are bed bugs there.”  Charlie was a real trooper.  I reclined my seat and tried to snooze.  I turned on the engine for heat every so often.  I brought Charlie’s litter box along just in case.  That was on the passenger seat floor.  Charlie’s carrier was on the seat.  I opened up the carrier in case he had to go.  He explored around a little bit and then went back into the carrier. 

The apartment was incredibly hot when we returned.  All the windows were open, but the heat was still oppressive.  Charlie was freaked out.  I set up fans to blow in cold air.  It took a few hours to get everything to near normal.  I closed the windows.  Later that night, I woke up shivering in my bedroom.  The technician had turned the thermostat down so that the furnace wouldn’t fight the open windows.  I didn’t realize that.  The apartment was cold.  I set the thermostat and went back to sleep.

The chemical applications were no big deal.  There was no odor afterward, unlike the applications at the old place.  Charlie’s ears healed and there were no more bites.  His paw pads stopped cracking and bleeding, too, so I think it was the chemicals causing that.

My apartment has been officially declared bed bug free.  It still hasn’t sunk in.  I’ve spent so much time and energy dealing with these demon bugs that I can’t fully accept it yet.  I still sleep on the floor and Charlie has no cat tree.  Every time I have a twitch or an itch, I jump because I think it’s a bed bug.  They added stress and anxiety to my life for months.  They ruined my furniture.  They almost ruined my life.  I can smell them.  I keep waiting for the stink to arrive.

Open Blog - Friday

That sounds yummy.

"Trevor Noah: That's Racist - Tacos"

Not Rodney Dangerfield, but pretty funny.

"Dickert in Mexico for sister city’s celebration"

From The Journal Times.com:

"On Wednesday City Administrator Tom Friedel confirmed that Dickert had left for the trip early Wednesday morning. Friedel did not know what members of the Sister City delegation had also flown out."

"Administrative Assistant Greg Bach said Wednesday that he won’t know the cost of Dickert’s flight to the city until after the delegation returns to Racine on Saturday. Bach also could not say how many people made the trip to the city."

Read more:  http://journaltimes.com/news/local/dickert-in-mexico-for-sister-city-s-celebration/article_3a6bdf20-7e4c-11e3-91ad-0019bb2963f4.html


LOL.  Lying John is vacationing in Mexico on our dime, but no one knows the cost or who went.  You can't make this stuff up.  Our streetlights come down and city services are cut because lying John says we're broke.  But when he wants to party, there are plenty of taxpayer dollars available.  What an utter swine, inflicting massive damage on our city and forcing us to pay for trips to France and Mexico that produce  NOTHING for Racine.  He went to France to look at fish farms when there was one three blocks from City Hall.  Failure after failure, lie after lie.  

It's the job of the city administrator and the mayor's administrative assistant to know what is going on.  They say they're ignorant of what lying John is doing.  Then they should be removed from their positions.  If the city administrator doesn't know what's going on, who the hell does?  We spend over $200K on these clowns per year, but they know nothing.

You can contact the president of the Mexican town that Dickert is vacationing in by email: presidencia@zapotlanejo.gob.mx  Let him know what you think about lying John stealing money from our city to give to his friends.  Let our sister city know that our city is massively corrupt and we need their help in exposing the criminals in our government. 

Open Blog - Thursday

Are those Easter eggs? Already?

"God Bless America speech and finale"

Related: http://www.jtirregulars.com/2014/01/police-texting-in-movie-theater-sparks.html

What a movie.

"Meet Racine’s New Assessor, Bill Bowers"

From Racine Exposed:

"While Bill Bowers appears to brings some serious credibility to the job,  it remains yet to be seen if he, like so many other Department Heads at Racine City Hall, will morph into just another John Dickert Lap-Dog and do what he’s told instead of what is right for the Community.  His involvement with the troubled Vessels of Houour Church, Inc. must give one pause for concern. Given that influential, well connected, wealthy and Democrat candidate for Governor Mary Burke previously appointed Bill Bowers to a position as Minority Business Development during the Jim Doyle Administration, Mayor John Dickert’s motive must be suspect.  And once again – Mayor John Dickert brings in an outsider who does not know Racine intimately. Why does the Mayor so disdain locals who know the community?"

Read more: http://racineexposed.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/meet-racines-new-assessor-bill-bowers/

December Property Reports

From Property Reports:

"The last month of 2013 saw 33 foreclosures in the City of Racine. Prices continue to fall, and while the OVER-assessments in the poorer areas of Racine are just glaring, likewise is the UNDER- assessments in the wealthier areas.

"How Greedy can Wisconsin Realtors get? You won’t find this in The Journal Times…"

 

Read more: http://racinesales.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/december-property-report/


The realtors of Wisconsin don't want to pay taxes on their commissions on the sale of foreclosed property worth less than $50K.  Why?  Because they don't want to, that's why.

Spam

On average, we've been getting less than 50 spam comments per day.  Yesterday there were only 17.  Today, I think, is a record. 

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my wonderful wonders.  How are you?  We’ve had a delightful January thaw, but more cold and snow are on their way.  The snow skiers and snowmobilers are having a good time.  Think of the snow as a boost to our winter tourism industry.  It’s also a boost to the body shop industry and the hospital industry with the numerous car crashes caused by winter weather. Oh my.

I know that NFL playoff season is here, but I must admit that I care only when our succinct Green Bay Packers are playing.  I’m still mourning their loss.

Another school shooting.  This time the shooter was 12 years old.  These incidents are a manifestation of a sickness in our society.  We are becoming violent, deranged, and deadly.  I dislike being negative, but the evidence is overwhelming.  We must come together to heal.  We’re degenerating into warring tribes.

Just so everyone knows, I will be attending the premiere of Pattern or Practice.  The institutionalized racism in our city government is repugnant and soul-destroying.  We must root out the racists who wield power in Racine.  The taxpayers will be on the hook for millions of dollars in civil rights damages while the racists in Racine’s government “party on,” as Mr. OrbsCorbs would say.  Racists are usually bullies, too, and that shines through the regime of Mr. Mayor Dickert.  Stop pitting the races against each other, Mr. Mayor.  Stop sacrificing our lives for your and your pals’ personal gain.  Oh dear, I get so worked up . . .

I’m going to cut it short here.  There is scant good news to discuss and too much bad.  Thank you for reading my blog today.  I love visitors.  I love love.

What’s the meaning of meaning?  Find out: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com

Take care my dear Irregulars and try to enjoy the winter.  It’s not too bad when we have temperatures in the double digits.  That below zero stuff is for the birds.  Blepharal!

Open Blog - Wednesday

Groovy!

Don't Toss Your Butts

"Police: Texting in movie theater sparks fatal shooting, retired officer arrested"

Update:

Check out the movie clip below. It's the one I referred to in the comments. The movie's title is God Bless America.




Originally posted on January 13, 2014 at 8:06 PM:


It was bound to happen, sooner or later. There are more rude people every day and more nut-jobs, too.

"How Much Air Can A Tire Hold?"

That much.

Film Premiere: PATTERN OR PRACTICE

Update:

FOX6now's coverage.:  http://fox6now.com/2014/01/13/documentary-claims-racine-waging-war-on-minority-bar-owners/

Racists lying John and swine Helding spew more lies. Helding says that Spodick should pay his back taxes.  What about your pals downtown, swine Helding?  They don't pay their taxes and you don't even oink.  Shouldn't people who sit on the various boards and committees of lying John's regime pay their taxes?  They are our "leaders," but they ride on our backs for free.  Racist, lying swine.

TMJ4"s take:  http://www.jrn.com/tmj4/news/New-documentary-accuses-Racine-committee-of-racist-practices-239851581.html


Originally posted January 12, 2013 at 7:07PM:

The Journal Times attacks a movie that hasn't been shown:

"Film accuses city of targeting bars owned by minorities: Alderman calls claims of racism ‘utterly false’" - http://journaltimes.com/news/local/film-accuses-city-of-targeting-bars-owned-by-minorities-alderman/article_aa49013a-7b3e-11e3-b241-001a4bcf887a.html

"Spodick, City Hall have been at odds before" - http://journaltimes.com/news/local/spodick-city-hall-have-been-at-odds-before/article_264f47e4-7b3f-11e3-92c7-001a4bcf887a.html 

This is a preemptive strike against what they fear the most: truth.  They haven't even seen the movie, but the thought of what it might contain has them trembling in their boots.  Truly, the Journal Times is the propaganda arm of lying John's regime.

The rest of the world will now be able to see what the decent citizens of Racine have had to put up with.  And racism is only one aspect of city government abuse.

Here's a link to the JSOnline's blurb about the film:  "MLK Day screening set for film accusing Racine panel of racial bias" -  http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/movies/mlk-day-screening-set-for-film-accusing-racine-panel-of-racial-bias-b99182492z1-239827461.html


Originally posted January 7, 2014 at 6:34 PM:

From Racine Community Media:

 

"THE INSIDE SCOOP: RACINE’S NEW RIVETING DOCUMENTARY 'PATTERN OR PRACTICE' WHAT IS IT? AND WHAT’S IT ABOUT?"

"150 years ago, Racine, Wisconsin was an important stop on the Underground Railroad. (the escape route used by 'runaway slaves' during Civil War times) But times change, and so do cities. Pattern Or Practice is the story of change for one upper Midwest town, (Racine, Wisconsin) that took away the welcome mat and hung out the 'no vacancy' sign for minorities and residents alike. Pattern or Practice is a documentary film being shown at the Oriental Theater in Milwaukee on January 20, 2014. Pattern or Practice is a discouraging portrait of the effects of institutionalized racism, enabled by local government officials, detached from a community and stimulated by fears drummed up by those with something to gain.

"'I knew something was wrong when my dad was selling our building to the City of Racine, but I was 16 years old at the time and I knew he was being forced into it, but I couldn't stop it.' said Fabian Maldonado.

"The film focuses on City Of Racine restaurant /bar owners who have had their license and businesses taken away by the City of Racine. Much of the film is heavily documented with actual City of Racine videotaped meetings, newscasts, articles and the procedures the city used in removing an alarming number of minority businesses in three targeted areas in the City of Racine. In depth Interviews of businesses owners staggered with persons associated with the behind the scenes activities conducted on the business owners.

"Ken Lumpkin-Racine County Supervisor and local business owner states, 'I was raised in Montgomery Alabama during the marches for freedom with Dr. King and thought this type of activity was dead.'

"Eric Marcus- Former City Of Racine Alderman and Member of City Public Safety And License Committee 'If You Cannot Count On City Government To Follow The Law, How Can You Expect The Citizens To Follow The Law?'

"Pattern Or Practice also sheds light on the practice of selective legal enforcement that is enabled by a passive public perception of 'I'm glad it's not me'. The name of the film 'Pattern or Practice' comes from the Justice Department term meaning a pattern of discrimination that has been conducted against a group of persons or an issue of general public importance. The film crew spent two years in Racine doing interviews gathering footage and documentation, in the hopes to raise awareness of how racism can be perpetuated in new and different ways, and also the fair, equal treatment of all citizens of a community. The story also touches on how local media plays a part in the institutionalized racism.

"Pattern or Practice shows the cruel side of racism and how denial and disbelief smooth
one's conscience, but does nothing to prevent the damages brought by bigotry and
prejudice. This is an oustanding and riveting film and shows how to recognize these
things in your community."

Read more: http://racinecommunitymedia.tumblr.com/post/72555179947/the-inside-scoop-racines-new-riveting

Originally published January1, 2014 at 7:52 PM:

Monday, January 20, 2014  7:00pm until 9:30pm  Oriental Theatre, Milwaukee, WI 

"Pattern or Practice peels the veneer off that shoddy pretense and provides a stark view of what institutionalized racism looks like. Racine, Wisconsin, once a manufacturing powerhouse, is a backsliding, post-industrial community with a race problem so pervasive that disbelief is nearly always the observer’s first reaction. By the time the final credits are rolling, that disbelief is replaced by anger, disgust, perhaps shame and hopefully a desire for change. Tickets www.patternorpractice.com Landmark Theatre http://tinyurl.com/lkyden8 or at Box Office Tickets $10.00"

http://patternorpractice.com/

https://www.facebook.com/PatternOrPractice

https://www.facebook.com/events/690139521020644/ 




I'll bump this up as the date approaches.

Open Blog - Tuesday

We're getting there.

School Picture

Toad, I found this old school picture.

I am not sure of the year exactly, and I don't know who everyone is, but I am about 99% sure that is you in the back row on the right.

"Confused little girl meets her fathers twin for the first time"

There are copies of this all over the interweb, but if you haven't seen it, here it is. It makes me smile and smile.

Huggies vs Depends

Someone has finally explained the reason baby diapers have brand names such as "Luvs" and "Huggies," while undergarments for old people are called "Depends." 

You see, when babies poop in their pants, people are still gonna Luv'em and Hug'em.


However, when old people crap their pants, it "Depends" on who's in the will. 

Glad to get that straightened out for you .

Local Loyalty - Hot Shop Glass

Welcome back to another week of this feature!

Today, brings us to a new find, 

Hot Shop Glass 

 239 Wisconsin Ave.
Check them out! 

I didn't even know it existed and what an amazing, unique, awesome place!

They've been there for 8 years, and do glass blowing, classes, rent time and space to local and not so local artisans. When I went to see what they are all about, one guy was there working on making an ornament. The skill and talent that go into these creations is mind blowing, pun not originally intended! :)

They are open to the public Saturday's, from 10-4, and have workshops Thursday and Saturday nights. They offer classes that are 2 hours, by appointment, and you make (will assistance of course!) either an ornament or a paperweight. 

They keep a molten glass furnace running 24 hours a day, every day. When I went, it was downright cold out and it was warm and toasty inside. I couldn't imagine working in there in the summer tho!

They can make custom gifts, light shades, just about anything.

They offer a gallery of gorgeous, unique things they've made for sale or just for drooling over, yes, yes I did! Everything is so pretty, it blew me away at the things they created. 

They like to discover and help promote local artisans. The theme continues, that their goals very much include wanting to help support their neighboring businesses and support each other. It's such an awesome community down-town. They truly care for each other.

The 3 words (again, the stumper of a question) that were chosen - 

1. HOT 

2. Beautiful

3. Magical

I whole heartedly concur and am glad for the education I received and am thankful for the time they shared their time with me. Check them out, enjoy the heat this winter!

Open Blog - Monday

Have a good day.