We had an absolutely wonderful time.  So many things to see and do, and we are just plain worn out, lemme tell you.  However, that's the thing about vacation, you get home pooped out.  But, it's a good sort of pooped out.

However, there was one fatality on the trip.  Thursday morning my iPhone died.  The bottom half of the touch screen quit working the way it was supposed to.  I could see it just fine, however the little swipe to unlock it would not work.  Nor would it work to answer the phone.  It powered on and off just fine and as a perfect example of a high tech gizmo working well in paperweight mode, it did just fine.  However, I want more than that out of my phone.  So, Dad found an AT&T store, I replaced my iPhone with an iPhone 3G for not a ton of money, they made it work and off we went.  Yay!

More yay on that:  Dad told me he'd heard a story about some guy in New York City who had an iPhone poop out on him.  He didn't want to spend the money to get it fixed (or something like that) so he found another iPhone that didn't work and made one that worked out of the parts of two that didn't.  Sort of like people used to do with Model T's way back when.  My Grandpa Stratton did that, as a matter of fact.  Only in his case, it was three flivvers to make one that ran.  But I ramble...

Dad's story got me to thinking.  Where on earth did they get broken iPhones to cobble together parts and what have you?  I Googled 'broken iphone' and found a place that will not only buy my iPhone that works great in paperweight mode, but will send me packing materials and not charge me postage.  The best part is that if they actually pay the quoted price, I upgraded for free. Yay me!

Other than the phone shooting craps, we found a neat bookstore in Green Bay where I found a book of poetry by Ferlinghetti, and a few A.A. Fair (Erle Stanley Gardner) novels I needed for my collection.  The bookstore is called The Reader's Loft.  It has great atmosphere and two cats that sleep there.  Elaine played with Bailey the cat while I looked at books.  Heck, we waited around for them to total up the books I'd brought in for trade.  I'd taken a box of books to the local book store to trade and they didn't take the westerns.  Not because they didn't want them, but they didn't have anyplace to put them.  I just left the box in the car, so they were with me.  I did okay on that as well.  :-)

Next door to that bookstore was a place that sold, get this, Frou-Frou Vinegar's, Frou-Frou Olive Oil's and TEA!  I bought me some Organic Jasmine Green Tea and these nifty disposable tea bags that I can put my loose tea in and make a cup.  Very spiffy.

We did some other running around and went for gyro's at a new place (I don't know how new, I don't live in West De Pere) near the St. Norbert's College campus.  The restaurant used to be a Subway and is now called something like "Gyro's and Stuff" but I can't remember.  Food was good and service was prompt.  I like what Elaine got and that was a thing called a Vegetarian Cheater's Gyro.  They put just three long strips of gyro meat on an otherwise loaded veggie gryo thingie.  The Greek fries were good, even if we didn't finish all of them.  Dad's wife, Mary just loves gyro's and now they know the place near their home is worth frequenting.  I'm glad of that.

Another thing I found out is that she has taken up the craft of Garage Sales.  I say craft because the idea of just going to buy other people's junk doesn't hold much interest for her, but finding things that are useful to her, for very little money does.  She's pretty good at it, as far as that goes.  I think she bought a power saw for my dad for very cheap.  Cheap is good.

Saturday afternoon, while Dad and I went to the National Railroad Museum, Elaine and Mary went rummage sale-ing.  They really enjoyed themselves.  Dad and I did as well.  Of course, there's just something about the Male Animal and trains...

Thursday evening, Elaine and I got the chance to catch up with a couple of my old friends from when I lived in Green Bay. Neil and Michelle.  I've known the two of them *cough, cough* years and played a small part in their wedding which was *harumph* years ago.  They have a small place up near Sturgeon Bay near Potawatomi State Park.  Neil has told me that there are pink flamingo's all over the place up there.  Leftover's from the previous owner of the small place.  They elected to not only keep them, but they have added to it.

We elected to help them with their American Kitsch by presenting them with a Pink Flamingo Ice Bucket and matching Pink Flamingo (plastic) Goblets.  Complete with Flamingo heads on the rims and feet at the base.  Kitschy is one way of describing them.  Neil laughed out loud, he got a real kick out of them, and Michelle liked them as well.  Seeing them was wonderful.  Best part about my friendship with those two is how they just accepted Elaine and made her comfortable and welcome when she met them *mutter, mutter* years ago for the first time.

Well, we did some other things and I'm sure I'll write about them later.  I just wanted to say how good a trip it was and how much fun we had.  It is also quite good to be home.

 

I know I've mentioned before, in glowing terms, of my involvement with the online community of Middle Aged Fourth Graders...been a part of the group for more than 5 years.  Big part of my life.  Lots of fun and laughs to be had.

Until recently, that is.  Recently, it seems as if tempers are shorter and more personal discussions were popping up.  Opinions were being throw out as fact, and phrases like 'preposterous' and other dismissive terms were being bandied about.  And I was right along in there, being pretty darn combative myself.  To the point that on Saturday night when I read something somebody wrote, I could feel the surge in my blood pressure and my vision blurred from sheer anger.

Nothing in an online community should bring this sort of reaction to bear.  Nothing in the world of comic books, music, movies or Pop Culture in general is worth that sort of stress.  So, I quit.  Nothing dramatic, just a note to the group owner to tell him I had left, that I felt I was part of the problem and that I cared too much about most of the guys to continue cause a problem.

He'd quit an hour before I had...

So, I realized I wasn't alone.  That I wasn't the only one who felt things had gotten out of hand.  These feelings had been building in me for quite some time.  I stayed a member (after having gone no email once not long ago) out of habit, a sense of obligation and because the volume of material in my inbox kept me from getting bored (honest...).

I have missed the cozy, almost "winter around the cracker barrel" atmosphere for some time.  At times, I felt like we had all gotten TOO comfortable and familiar with one another.  That some common sense or contempt or a lack of fore thought had crept in gently around the edges then made a break for the center.  All I know is that I fed into it, contributed to it and couldn't stand it any longer.  I couldn't seem to ignore the bait, and I was unable or unwilling to let some things go.  So, I am hardly blameless.

I miss the guys, but in some respects, I've missed the peace for some time.  I will continue to miss the guys.  Just not enough to go back.  Life is just too damn short.

This is one of a series of vastly amusing and delightful photographs that LJ Flist member kaldiboo  took recently. She used cast iron mice, and while it's not visible in this instance, she added one or two lines of story.  Because all these mice had stories to tell.  The collection is at turns sweet, hysterically funny and always amusing.  This particular photo is titled "Bang & Lilly"

I so wish I had this sort of talent or the imagination to come up with it myself.

To see the whole set (recommended) just head on over to http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaldiboo/3515198759/in/set-72157605344012427/ (opens in new window)

I love me some westerns.  Books or movies, it doesn't matter.  I enjoy them. 

One of the joys of the Interwebs is coming across people who have similar interests.  One such place for me is that Yahoo Group WesternPulps.  Which is what they talk about, natch.  Old Westerns.  Max Brand, Zane Grey, Walt Coburn, and other greats of the pulp era of The Western story.

One of the people I met in the group is Jim Griffin.  Nice guy, and he was starting to write his own westerns.  He went the self publishing route and has done well enough that he's had a couple of his books published by publishers!  Anyhow, I bought a copy of his first book and posted my comments to the group.

Well, that started an email exchange and we became friends.  Jim's books are solidly in the traditional western camp.  They are good, clean fun. Well, except for all the shooting and mayhem, that is.  But, I enjoy them.  His writing has improved, but he was always a good storyteller.  And that shows in his books.  I reviewed one his books last year, as a matter of fact.

Anyhow. James J. Griffin is on a book tour and one of the places he's stopping is right here in Columbia, MO!  He'll be here next week at Village Books to sell you a book and sign it for you as well.  I'd buy one, but I've got them all already...

I'm looking forward to meeting Jim face to face.  His dad will be along with him, and Dougie the dog.  Should be fun.

Regular readers will recall that last July, I had the pleasure of regaling you with the first, epic, TITANIC meeting between Baseball Boy (that would be me) and Dr. Botany and his loyal sidekick, The Sprout.  (If you haven't read about this Marvel-ous Event, I suggest you do so....)

Tom Lammers and his Undergraduate Intern something or other, Laura K. are in St. Louis, MO again, hanging out at the Missouri Botanical Gardens doing research, labelling, indexing, indentifying and other nefarious and scientific plant type stuff.   Given the close proximity of St. Louis and Central Missouri, Dr. Botany and The Sprout traveled here for a visit.  

We visited for a couple of hours, talking about plant stuff, travel stuff, comic stuff, painting stuff, and stuff stuff.  Turns out The Sprout has a neat part time gig being a corpse for Murder Parties.  Gets paid, fed and bumped off.  Only to rise again.  That probably explains why she loves Zombie Movies so much.  She identifies with them.

As an added bonus, Friend Eric came from Kansas City to join in the festivities.  Thus, we had three members in good standing of the oft-mentioned KirbyKomics Yahoo Group (and it's a bunch of Yahoo's in the group, lemme tell ya!).  I dunno if it counts as an official meeting or anything, but it sure as heck was fun.

After talking about all the "stuff" and making silly and funny remarks about our 17 pound cat (poor, Stoopid Polly), we loaded up in the Baseball-Mobile (or Mini-van, whatever suits you) and headed to HuHot for lunch.  Elaine went in her car as she had errands to run after lunch.  It was going on 2:00 pm (in the afternoon even!) and the place was pretty well packed.  After a short wait, we hit the line, hit it hard and enjoyed.  Mongolian Grill is so much fun, and so tasty....

After we bid Elaine adieu (sniff), we again piled into the Battle Wagon and headed to the Capital of the State of Missouri (Jefferson City) to The Antiquarium.  It's a comic shop and used book store that is one of those really neat, offbeat whacky places everyone should visit if given the chance.  Everybody except Eric bought something to read.  Tom went in looking for comics that he was looking for and found old Science books and such.  We spent close to an hour just looking around and talking with the owner.

After that, we headed to another landmark in Jeff City and that's Central Dairy.  It's an old ice cream parlor.  Green porcelain covered cinder blocks, wooden booths and more ice cream flavors than you can shake a dipper at.  The beauty of the place is that Central Dairy doesn't run this place to turn a huge profit.  A pint container of handipped ice cream is around $3 or so.  It's like 4 scoops of whatever you want.  Me?  I get strawberry cheesecake on the bottom and top it off with chocolate.  Woo Hoo! 

As it is never really too cold for ice cream, this seemed like the thing to do.  Even with the time that Eric had spent in Columbia, he'd never been to Central Dairy, so that was a treat for him as well.  Tom and Laura enjoyed it, and I always do.

Silliness aside, it was a terrific afternoon spent yakking about silly things that we all enjoy.  I look forward to more such fun adventures!

8:48 A.M. found me on the Gold Wing, zipping along I-70, somewhere between Columbia and Concordia, MO, the Brian Setzer Orchestra is a gonna "Rock This Town" and they are blaring their intentions out of the speakers as I was heading to Kansas City to go to the MoKan Comics Conspiracy (which is about the dumbest name for a convention I've every heard in all my born days...).   The black-eyed susans littered the side of the highway scenery, combined with a few smaller trees with leaves turning red, made for some pleasant visuals down the road.  The lack of rain, and bountiful sunshine also contirbuted.

Besides the funny book show, I was also going to see friend Eric, meet his friend Matt, and also be able to see Eric's charming and long suffering wife, Sarah and their two little boys.  I wheeled into Eric's driveway, stowed my motorcycle stuff, changed shoes, and away we went.  I learned from last year that engineer boots on conrete for several hours can be wearisome on my feet.  I started throwing money at dealers almost immediately upon  arrival, using my handy-dandy nerdy checklist to fill holes in my collection.  Very quickly, I filled one of the reusable grocery sacks I brought from home.  So, I felt the need to empty it out in Eric's car, and go back in to refill it.  Which I did, thank you.

In between bargain hunting, I spent some time being a geek and hanging around the comics creators (writers and artists).  Sergio Aragones and the entire Groo Crew were there.  I've never read any Groo.  It just never appealed to me.   But I have read some other stuff that Aragones wrote, so I stopped by to tell him how much I enjoyed the recent Bat Lash series, and his work on The Spirit.  Since the Spirit is something of a sacred cow of mine, comics wise, he had to be doing a good job.  I even had my picture taken with Sergio!  (click here...then come back!)

I have to admit that going through long boxes of comics, or digging through bargain bins, sort of makes me feel like a bit of a dumpster diver.  Especially in a Convention setting.  But, with all the nifty bargains I picked  up, I shouldn't complain.  Eric found some things he was looking for, including a small ton of comics for his not quite 2 year old son.  The little guy sits there and lets you read the whole darn comic book to him.  Apparently, he's riveted to them.  Which is a good thing.  Should help him learn to read on his own and appreciate the beauty of sequential art as a medium for telling stories.

Meeting Matt and his family was a real treat.  Matt is a friend of Eric's from Eric's Karate Club, and both are members of the KirbyKomics Group of Yahoo's, I mean Yahoo Group that I belong to, so that made for an interesting and fun get together.  My only regret is that Matt and family couldn't join us for dinner at this nifty German place in Independence.  A place called the Rheinland Restaurant and you know what?  I TRIED THE VEAL!!!

That's right!  I wasn't there all week, I did tip the waitress, and I tried the Veal!  Jagerschnitzel, to be exact.  Und it vas gutt! (Comic book German for ya, right there).  It was served with a side of Spatzle, and the whole thing was great.  Had I not been looking at a 120 mile ride home, I would've had some yummy dark German beer in a bucket big enough to dive in.  Alas, keeping what few wits about me whilst piloting the Gold Wing home won out, so I had Apple Cider instead.

Visiting with Eric and Sarah and getting a little caught up with them, in between paying attention to the kids was lots of fun.  I always enjoy seeing them and spending time with them.  I have got to get Elaine to go with me to the Rheinland.  She won't try the veal, but they have plenty of other stuff I believe she'd like.

The ride home was uneventful, which is a good thing.  I did realize that I had conflicted perspectives, often at the same moment.  Or so it seemed...I would look at the odomter, and marvel at how much ground I covered in what I thought was a short time.  I was going to get home so much sooner than I had originally thought.  Yay me!  Then again, I'd immediatley think, I've still got so far to go!  I'll never get home!  WAUGH!

I made it home in good time, hugged Elaine mightily (because I missed her) and pretty well collapsed in a tired puddle on the floor.  I'm getting too old for this sort of stuff.  :-)

Ok, so I can actually hear the "WTF's" going on in assorted people's minds.  Good.  Keeps you on your toes....

I belong to many Yahoo Groups.  Have for years.  One that I am particularly fond of and enjoy the most is KirbyKomics.  It's mainly a bunch of guys my age (give or take) who share many similar interests.  Comics, cars, food, family, bad jokes, pop culture, literature and "spirited discussion" about topics like Religion and such.  They really are one of the finest collections of men I've ever run across and I count myself fortunate to count these guys amongst my friends.

As you might expect, there's a lot of give and take on this list.  As in, giving and taking loads of sh!t.  Putdowns, insults, and general guy stuff.  Saying things to each other we'd never say were our wives around, or any other Lady present.  Mean, nasty things like Dr. Tom Lammers ending up with the nickname Dr. Botany!  Protector of Plants and what have you (it's a bunch of old comic geeks!  What on earth did you expect?!?)  And since I love the game of baseball, I got stuck with the nickname (mean, I tell ya...) of Baseball Boy (I'm actually one of the younger members of this group).

Tom and his Undergraduate Assitant, Laura (code named The Sprout) are working at the Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, working on some hyper secret project that I'm sure will have dire consequences for Mankind As We Know It!  Actually, he's working on veryfying findings on a collegues paper and he gets to hang out in St. Louis for a month.  During the hottest time of the year, to boot!  He leads such a charmed life...

So, I called him and challenged him to lunch at 20 paces.  He accepted and we agreed to meet at a Steak 'n Shake in Wentzville, MO.  I rode the Gold Wing in the blistering summer heat (felt like the inside of a blast furnace outside yesterday...heat index over 100) 80 miles one way.  Tom walked in to the eatery, and after the customary and overly used battle between heroes due to confusion, we finally agreed to attack our common enemy:  Lunch!  (we won!)  In person, Tom is exactly as he appears online.  Nice, polite, witty, self-depracating and genuine.  I am glad we had the chance to meet in person.  His assitant Laura was a nice young lady and enjoys the work that they are doing.   What was refreshing was that her eyes didn't glaze over and roll back into her head as us Olde Guys talked Olde Guy stuff.

After a nice visit of about an hour and a half, we took pictures to immortalize such an auspisiouc occasion and agreed to do something similar again when he returns to Missouri in January.  So, astride my trusty Gold Wing (wishing it had A/C) I returned home to my lovely wife.  We went out to dinner at the HuHot and enjoyed a wonderful dinner.

So, there ya have it.  The first Titanic Meeting between Dr. Botany (And The Sprout) & Baseball Boy (who needs a more adult name...)

A couple of photo's from the historic and epic meeting!








Mark and Tom














The Botanical Duo!
The Sprout (Laura) and Dr. Botany! (Tom)

  LOL!  No.  My closest friends have always been guys.  Until I met my wife, that is.

I'm just not wired to crush on guys, so it was never an issue.

    I was listening to music recently (something I do quite a lot), and the old Charlie Daniels song, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" came up on my iTunes.  With over 10k songs, that's hardly surprising.

  What is surprising is the memories that came flooding back.  Mainly, it made me think of the last time I went to Frank's house when I was in Green Bay visiting family.

    I'd met Frank when I was attending De Pere High School.   I had just moved there, and had some difficulty settling in.  By the time I'd managed to give myself a less than stellar reputation, I couldn't be too choosy about who my friends were.  Which really does Frank a disservice, as he wasn't a bad guy.  Strange, to be sure.  But, considering all that life had handed him up to that point, that made sense to me.

    Frank had severe scoliosis.  Long before I met him, when he was a boy, he had his back fused.  Apparently, he was told he'd never walk, much less run.  He did manage to walk, and run after a fashion.  But, he had a pronounced hitch in his gitalong, and kids being kids (read: cruel), he was hung with the nickname, "Bun Bun."  Why?  I have no bloody idea, but there it is and there it was.   Needless to say, he didn't like it very much.  Which made calling him that mandatory, when the time was right.  Like, when he was hitting on a girl.

    Guys being guys, we tagged him with another nickname (Needledick), and we called him that whenever the embarrasment opportunity was highest.  Like, you guessed it, when he was hitting on a girl.  Which he did with alarming frequency.  He could be charming as hell, and a lot of fun to bullshit with.  However, he was just "different" enough that kids being kids, he was always the friend and seldom the boyfriend.  Didn't keep him from trying, and I have to give him credit for that.

    Frank was one of the most annoying, irratating, oddly compelling friends I ever had.  He thought nothing of calling people at 2 in the morning if he couldn't sleep, which was far more often than the rest of us, apparently.  I had to tell him in no uncertain terms not to do that.  Mainly because I was drunk and was trying to pass out.  Talking to somebody whilst trying to do that was difficult, to say the least.

    Frank developed a love for cars and working on them.  Never mind his physical limitations, he was bound and determined to learn to fix cars.  He helped me to repair the 1966 Dodge Dart I'd bought when I was 17.  Car wouldn't start, and had a lot of problems, but I'd dropped the whopping $75 on it, and I was going to see it running, and then drive it.  After looking at a generic "How to fix your car" for complete idiots book, and a Chilton's manual for the specific car, we finally figured out that the Alternator was shot, and the voltage regulator was also no good.  As a result, the battery was deader than a tax increase bill on a Republican's desk.  So, after replacing said no good parts, the car fired right up.  Ran like bloody hell, but it did run.

    After that victory (a great moment in my life, I can assure you), we proceeded to do the things needed to tune the car up.  Again, neither of us had any real knowledge about how to fix cars, but I guess I took my Dad's words (If you can read, you can fix most anything) to heart.  Long story short, we got the car running pretty well for an old clunker. 

    After this, Frank started puttering around on cars, and then went to school to become a mechanic.  He did well in school, but couldn't get a job because people were afraid he couldn't do the physical parts of the job.  I guess it was a valid concern, but I'd love to have seen him try his hand at regardless.

    Life had dealt Frank some nasty knocks.  It saved the worst for last.  Frank developed cancer.  I don't really remember where it was, and it doesn't make any difference.  It took his life.   I had no idea that this had happened when I rang the bell at his folk's house.  His mother answered the door and invited me in.  We talked for awhile, and I asked about Frank.  I thought she was going to stop breathing then and there.

    She looked at me and said, "You don't know, do you?"
    I must have looked about as dumb as a stump, because she continued with words that hammered into my head, "Buddy died 5 months ago..."   (Buddy was his family nickname.  He'd been named after his father...)

    I asked some questions, we both sniffled and sobbed some.  Then came the awkward silence because I had no idea what to say next.  Frank's mom decided I needed something to remember him by, so she went to his room and brought down a Charlie Daniels record, Million Mile Reflections and gave it to me.   That was 20 years ago.

    I didn't listen to it much, as it wasn't a great album.  However, it had personal value to me, so I kept it for many years.  I no longer have that album, as I unloaded all my vinyl a few years ago.  Still, I have my memories of Frank and the time we were friends.

R.I.P. Frankie...