Thursday, July 31, 2014

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

"Judge dismisses bar owners' lawsuit"

From The Journal Times.com:

"RACINE— A federal judge has dismissed the civil rights lawsuit brought against the city by the former owners of six shuttered bars.

"The order was issued Wednesday morning in Milwaukee by U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller.

"Filed Feb. 25 in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the suit alleged that the city, Mayor John Dickert and 17 other defendants engaged in an elaborate plot to bankroll Dickert’s campaign while conspiring to drive minority tavern owners out of the city and give their liquor licenses to white bar owners.

"The judge dismissed those claims without prejudice so there could still be more pleadings and filings to follow in the case."

Read more: http://journaltimes.com/news/local/judge-dismisses-bar-owners-lawsuit/article_25f24552-02fd-5d01-9428-dffb13d0d250.html

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my perfect pals!  How are you?  No, you’re not becoming a schizophrenic; the weather is changing that often.  I check the temperature online, then open a window to double-check, but no matter what, I’m either over or under dressed, sweltering or freezing.  It’s been a cool spring and summer so far.  My electric bill is loving it. 

So am I.  I prefer cool weather to hot, but that doesn’t mean I’m a fan of 20 below zero days, either.  Somewhere, the climate has to be perfect.  Ha.

It looks like there may be more than one challenger to Mr. Mayor Dickert for the job of mayor next spring.  That would be a nice relief.  I wonder what kind of skeletons will be pulled out of each others closets?  Mr. Mayor seems expert at low blow, cheap shots just before election day.  If you have skeletons in your closets, expose them now before the opposition does.  A real election could get down and dirty fast.

So far, I like Ald. Sandy Weidner for the job.  But can she survive the full brunt of the Good Ol’ Boys network?  She’ll be hit from every angle.  Is it worth it to yourself and your family to get involved in such a rollercoaster?  I hope so, Ms Weidner.

It would be a breath of fresh air, a new start on community projects.  If you decide to run, you can count on me to provide positive political feedback.  Hell, I’ll even hypnotize the homeless to vote for you.

Thank you, my friends, for visiting my blog today.  You’re always welcome.

What to do if you’re feeling blue? Contact madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com

Have a good week, my dears.  Enjoy yourselves, but always in moderation.  Laconicum!

Open Blog - Wednesday


Uh, does something on Betty seem suddenly enhanced?

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

WIldflowers Pt 7!

I know it has been awhile since I posted my pictures I am really sorry about that. It is really hard to be on the computer when you have a one year old and a two year old running around the house. Then when they leave you are trying to catch up on what you have not been able to see on the computer. We had a great time with the Grandkids while they where here with us.

So here are some pictures that we have taken and I hope everyone enjoys them-

           This is a Black Eyed Susan taken at Richard Bong State Recreational Area in Brighton Wi.

This is a Bristle Thistle with a Goldfinch on it taken at Richard Bong State Recreational Area in Brighton Wi.

             This is Canada Thistle taken at Richard Bong State Recreational Area in Brighton Wi.

                                 This is Chickory taken at Pikes Pathway in Mount Pleasant Wi.

                   This is Common Milkweed taken at Mack Wildlife Refuge in Black Creek Wi.

               This is a Compass Flower taken at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge in Lomira Wi.

                                    This is a Downy Paintbrush taken at Shoop Park Racine Wi.

                  This is Milk Thistle taken at Richard Bong State Recreational Area in Brighton Wi.

                  This is a Pink Coneflower taken at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge in Lomira Wi.

                  This is a Sunflower taken at Richard Bong State Recreational Area in Brighton Wi.

This is just some of what I have to share there will be more to come. Yes we have been out birding and looking for wildflowers all summer long. If you can call this summer anymore. I hope everyone is enjoying the pictures as we do enjoy going out and taking them to share with all of you!

Open Blog - Tuesday


I'm confused now, too.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Any takers for a free ticket (and maybe a coupon, too) for Arab Fest?

Just wanted to share this with my extended blog family in the JT Irregulars...

I have 4 free tickets (and a coupon), to go to Arab Fest on August 10, 2014 in downtown Milwaukee.  There are 3 of us, so I have an extra ticket.  And, I also have a $2.00 coupon for a 5th person, if they are interested...  I'm thinking that what we could do, is to carpool, and I'm driving, so if the extra people could help pay for parking, maybe a couple bucks for gas, and bring your own spending money.

I'm hoping to be able to have a car full.  Any takers?  Email me @ lika.yvi@gmail.com - put tickets in the subject line.

"Dickert fundraises as others mull challenges for 2015 election"

From The Journal Times.com:



"RACINE — April 7 is more than eight months away, but the 2015 race for Racine mayor may already have started — if only in coffee shops, living rooms and party headquarters.

"With Mayor John Dickert seeking re-election, and local political circles already buzzing about potential challengers, four local residents have told The Journal Times they are at least considering a run for the seat.

"While no one has officially announced that they are running, the would-be candidates — the Rev. Melvin Hargrove, Alderman Eddie Diehl, Alderman Sandy Weidner and Robin Coventry — all said they are contemplating throwing their hats in the ring."

Read more:  http://journaltimes.com/news/local/dickert-fundraises-as-others-mull-challenges-for-election/article_eba45f98-a460-57f1-bc5d-0d2ba3068876.html 


Run, Sandy, run!

"I'm So Lonesome I Courld Cry" - Hank Williams, Sr.


Hank Williams with His Drifting Cowboys - I'm... by CountryMusicExp

Alltime10s Thursdays

"Crabby Road"


http://www.hallmark.com/online/maxine/

Open Blog - Monday


Well spoken.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Lost in the Fifties- Another Time, Another Place

Lost in the Fifties- Another Time, Another Place

"A Tale of Two Liquor License Applicants"

From Racine Equality Project:

"Two different Downtown Racine Liquor License Applicants, same general area. The only difference between the two applicants is their Race and relationship with Mayor John Dickert. Doug Nicholson is a White male who hosted fundraisers for John Dickert and already operates two establishments with liquor licenses in Downtown Racine, Envi and Ivanhoe’s, which are less than a block away from his new establishment, Carriage House Liquors, which is located in an area that is considered fragile and which already has an excessively high number of establishments with existing liquor licenses."

Read more: http://racineequalityproject.org/?p=146

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Whatcha doin', Orbs?

I saw this story in my news feed, 
is OUR Orbs being naughty? 


I know our guy wouldn't cause such trouble,
but they just kept saying orbs. 
I think he's getting a bad rap!

Open Blog - Weekend


And away we go!

Friday, July 25, 2014

"Changes to make Wisconsin's Do Not Call list more user-friendly"

From JSOnline:

By Rick Barrett of the Journal Sentinel 

Sexually Experimental Geckos Lost In Space

If you do not want to read this story you have no sense of curiosity whatsoever!

Look who welcomed us home to Florida!

We arrived home yesterday to be greeted by Kermit hanging out in the hot tub room!  Aw, isn't he so cute! 

Moving on!

After 30 years, I am moving out of Sturtevant.  Here is one of the real finds that was rejected by multitudes! Impossible, you say. I cannot believe that no one would come over and grab up this wonderful TV!  Look at that picture...look at that cabinet.  Yep, about 27-28 years ago, we bought this CONSOLE TV new!  I even offered it with the most sophisticated VHS Player!  The price?  Zippo, nada, zero dollars!  And it swivels!  Yep, took us about five or six years to figure that out!  After we figured it out, did we ever use that feature?  Nope...

We were going to tape a ten dollar bill to it and put it at the curb, but thought someone would take the ten and leave us this beauty!  

Look at the clarity of that picture!  Can you believe it only weights about a zillion pounds!

This work of art is now available at the Goodwill Store on Durand!  Hmmmph!  You now have to pay big bucks for it!

The VHS Player?  Well, our dear friend SER grabbed that thing up in a heartbeat.  However, he tried to escape the house without that great collection of VHS Tapes! Ahem, that was part of the deal!  His media center is now the envy of the neighborhood!  Even had the remote for it!  I know you are all seriously jealous of his find! 

Wish I could have seen you all, but there was just not enough time for us to get this project handled and entertain.  Next time, we will be there for fun and games.

Oh, there is one other item still available (as far as I know) and that is an exercise bike.  One with the big fan-type front wheel.  The handlebars go back and forth alternately.  If you are interested, it's still in the basement.  The cost is the same as the TV!  Dang, I should have tried to find some sucker ( oops ) customer for both of them!

Next time we are in town, it will be at the Holiday Inn on 20.  They'll make us breakfast for FREE!  Don't worry, we aren't gone out of your lives forever.You couldn't be that lucky!

In the meantime, we will see you around here or Facebook!  Ta-ta! 


Four for Fridays

Hello everyone and welcome back! What a week a week this was! It flew so quick that it was a blur... Anyways, your questions...

1) What song do you love to dance to?

2) If you were a police officer for a day, what would you do with your authority?

3) Would you rather take a picture or be in a picture?

4) If you won big time in the lottery, how long would you wait before you tell someone?

Enjoy your weekend!

Open Blog - Friday


Aeen't you guys supposed to be in the antarctic?

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Racine County Fair

"A Barn Good Time” – July 23rd to July 27th 2014 

  http://www.racinecountyfair.com/

"The Most Controversial Commercial Spot Ever - Romanian Ad"



Kids grow up way too quickly these days.

Rogers Out for Season

Click here for more info ---> Arron Rogers out for 2014 Season

 
Rogers was seriously injured in a boating accident and was arrested for driving the boat while intoxicated...
 
 

Best of Racine 2014 - Formal dining

Special occasion,  monumental birthday, 
impressive anniversary, big date, whatever the reason, 
once in a while, we have a need to go out special. 
Somewhere you don't have to rush, somewhere nice, 
we even clean up a bit and get all prettied up. 
Where do you go when you want to do something really nice?

Vote now!

Open Blog - Thursday


Yes, ma'am.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my hearty hotcakes!  How are you? I had the a/c on for only a little bit before.  I’m afraid of the electric bill.  I’m trying to survive on fans and breezes only.  Fat chance.  August is usually the hottest month, so the best (worst?) is yet to come.  I feel sorry for Ms. OKIE and Mr. hale-bopp for their hot locations. 

Things have settled down here with the leaving of Señor Zanza’s 15 “children.”  I’m beginning to think that they were little people somehow related to Señor Zanza’s “business.” My, oh my.  He’s a man of mystery, or a jerk, or both.

I read about RUSD stripping most of their libraries of books.  Before they ship them to Africa, how about allowing the people who paid for the books a chance to look them over?  I’m sure there’s many books there that community members would like to have.

RUSD says that they want to make the libraries less boring with more recent works.  At this stage of the game, I suggest that RUSD just allow students to watch television, surf the net, and/or text all day long.  For the few serious students, give them the grades that they earned. For the rest, hand out grades randomly.  Win-win.

There just was the most amazing “light show” from Mother Nature’s lightning in the east over Lake Michigan.  They sky kept lighting up, but no thunder was heard.  A storm was passing through and doing its thing out on the lake.  Or perhaps it was heat lightning.  I don’t know, but it was impressive, either way.

Remember to not stand underneath trees and other objects during storms for “lightning protection.”  Lightning can play strange tricks. There’s even “ball lightning” that can shoot through your house.  Are you covered for that?  You might want to visit your insurance agent.

Thank you for visiting me today.  I'm always open to new friends.  I love the older ones,too.  

When your life becomes stormy: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com

Enjoy the sun and fun, Irregulars.  We all know what the flipside of this is: December, January, February.  And the dreaded "s" word.  Ariose!  

Open Blog - Wednesday


Have a good Wednesday.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Alltime10s Thursdays.

"Thousands Of Books Removed From Racine Unified Schools"

Credit: Racine County Eye
From Racine County Eye:

By Denise Lockwood in Breaking · July 21, 2014

"Members of the Racine Education Association are calling on the Racine Unified School District to stop 'weeding' school library books out of school libraries by the 'tens of thousands,' including the Bible, Koran, and The Iliad & The Odyssey of Homer.

"The Racine Unified School District is purging 'tens of thousands of books' copyrighted prior to the year 2000, according to a statement by the REA. But Racine Unified School District spokesperson Stacy Tapp said the district works with school staff members each summer to refresh the libraries.

“'We provide a list of books to the library media specialist to consider pulling from the shelves because they are outdated, in very poor condition, don’t align with curriculum or have not been checked out in many years,' Tapp said. 'There are additional factors that are considered as well. The school libraries have funds each year to replace old items.'”

Read more: http://racinecountyeye.com/2014/07/21/thousands-books-removed-racine-unified-schools/

Related: http://racineuncovered.org/2014/07/rusd-removes-thousands-of-books-from-schools/

Related: http://journaltimes.com/news/local/librarians-concerned-over-removal-of-books-at-unified/article_c58ce08e-66d3-520c-a60f-6aec92491401.html

Open Blog - Tuesday


Deep thoughts.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Friday, July 18, 2014

"Intermarché - 'Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables'"



Please do it here. Please, please.

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone and welcome back! It has been a unique week of sorts.... I've got little Munchkins running around my place. Exciting and busy at the same time.... Anyways, your questions.

1) What is the greatest amount of people you've had in your home?

2) What is the perfect outdoor temperature for you?

3) What is your favorite T-shirt?

4) What is your favorite vacation spot?

Enjoy your weekend!

Top Dog/Smoke'd on the water menu

Recently Orbs posted about Top Dog closing. 
Smoke'd on the Water is open, and this is 
the updated menu for the summer, 
thought I'd share.  I can personally vouch for the cheese curds, super good!
If it's the same as he did Top Dog, prices include tax, great food, check him out! I'm in for going sometime next week if anybody wants to join. My sister and I may be down there Wednesday, weather permitting :)

Open Blog - Friday


Every day excites me.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Bump or Hump?

I learned to call them speed bumps. They're usually a raised rumble strip.


Then I read the signs at WalMart's Neighborhood Mart:


Of course, I noticed the sign before, but I never read it.  I assumed it said "Speed Bump."

I checked the other sign just to be sure no one was whiting out parts of the "B."

So, what do you call them?


 P.S.  If they put these up, I'd notice them for sure:

Why Women Can't Sleep

This is from the link provided by jed on today's open blog:


Have you ever wondered how a woman's brain works?   Well....it's finally explained here in one, easy-to-understand illustration: 

  
Every one of those little blue balls is a thought about something that needs to be done, a decision or a problem that needs to be solved.

A man has only 2 balls and they consume all his thoughts.

Best of Racine 2014 - Sandwich shop

You can think of it as a diner, or sandwich shop. 
It has a feel all of it's own. 
Do you have a favorite sandwich shop?
Maybe it's the food, maybe it's the atmosphere, 
somewhere has to be your "go-to" in your mind
when you think "sandwich shop", 
who is yours?

Vote now!

Alltime10s Thursdays

Open Blog - Thursday


Count your blessings.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

A Different Type of Sunset Picture

I took these a couple of weeks ago but am just getting around to sharing them. Both of them were taken with my cellphone through a telescope.

The first one was taken through a Lunt 60mm hydroghen alpha telescope. This telescope only lets through a very specific color of light given off by hydrogen (656nanometers for those keeping track at home). This lies in the red-orange part of the spectrum. As the Sun was setting, I got some saguaros in the foreground.


I then hopped over the to the 6 inch Nexstar scope I had setup with a white light filter. As the name implies, this filter lets trough all colors of light (at least visible light) but filters out enough that it is safe to look at the Sun with a telescope.


Look closely at the top limb of the Sun in this pic. You can just see a little bit of the blue rim in this pic. Earth's atmosphere acts as a prism and separates sunlight into its component colors. You can't see this naked eye, but with a telescope you can magnify it enough to be seen (and yes, this is the first step in forming the green flashes I try to photograph).

We have lots of clouds in Tucson, so it is kind of the off season here for photography. The improv theater is also keeping me busy between performing in shows, working tech and teaching classes.

"ACLU gets involved. Questions Racine DA Rich Chiapete’s dismissal of Racine Police Dept in fatal shooting of mentally ill man."

From Racine Community Media:

Image Credit: Racine Community Media



Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my cool cats!  How are you?  We’re having a chilly summer.  I wonder if our grass will go brown in August.  Maybe not this year.  Everything is growing very well except at a few flooded out spots.  But already I dread next winter.  The last one made an impression.  When did Wisconsin move to the arctic? Who do I complain to?

Climate change is probably the result of humans poisoning our environment.  If it is, does anyone know how to set things “right?”  Just cutting back on emissions won’t do it.  It took millions of years for our atmosphere to form.  We ruined it in a hundred years or so.  I hope that Mr. Stephen Hawkings or some other super brain figures it out.  If not, we might be out of luck and soon living in igloos.

The political climate is poisonous, too.  All that hot air hurts the atmosphere.

Last week, Señor Zanza suddenly announced the arrival of his children for a visit.  11 boys mad 4 girls.  I didn’t know what to think: “So, he’s married.  Or maybe he’s divorced and doesn’t have many visitation rights.”

Whatever the reason, there were 15 children who we had to take care of for now.  Where would they sleep?  Señor Zanza kindly offered to take his car out of our garage so his children could sleep there.  Before I could object, all of his kids were out there, having a ball.

I finally got some time alone with Señor Zanza.  I asked him about the children and his martial status.  He vowed to the gods above that all of the children were from pervious marriages, now deceased or divorced. 

Oh my, I’m terribly mixed-up and hurt now.  My eyes are blurring from tears and I can’t see the screen.  I’m going to cut this short.

Thank you for taking time from your busy day to visit with me.  I always appreciate visitors.

What’s next in technology?  Ask: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com

Enjoy the weather, Irregulars.  Be careful. School is out and everyone is into full summer fun mode.  Vaginate!

Open Blog - Wednesday


May your day be as beautiful as these flowers.