Do You Know the Way to the Style Shop?

Driveway, Chalked

I've Passed This Way Before

Two American Flags

Thursday, November 19, 2009, during a 3.2-mile walk.

Perkins Restaurant, University Avenue, Madison, Wisconnsin.


Department of Transportation Building, Sheboygan Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin.

Cooking Bacon the Silpat Way

Place the strips of bacon on a Silpat-lined baking pan.


Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. It'll be the crunchiest, tastiest bacon you've ever eaten.

Men's Health Magazine Ranks.....Most Charitable Cities?

Doesn't seem like their bailiwick.

And it's a very limited sampling.

Link to November 18 Wisconsin State Journal article, "Madison tops list of most charitable cities in the nation".

Excerpt: Men's Health's ratings were based on how much a city's residents gave in online contributions during the holiday season, to Goodwill Industries International in December, to the Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign, and to the Marine Toys for Tots program.

According to the magazine, Madison was the only city to receive an A-plus for its charitable spirit. The other top 10 cities earned an A or A-minus. Milwaukee ranked 46th with a C-plus.

Pam, you coulda knocked me over with a feather!

Drudge Retort: In the Market for a Proofreader?

Click on buff rectangle to enlarge

Actually, here's what Sarah is standing next to.

The BCS Craziness Continues

Face it, folks. It's an exercise in eternal futility. Even with a playoffs series, someone has to choose the 8 -- or however many -- teams that participate. And it's in the pickin' where the flaws reside.

Nothing will stop the arguments.

Click on chart to enlarge.

"Mashed Potato Time" Quiz

Take the quiz. Then watch the video.


Older Baby Boomers probably have the advantage here, but all visitors are welcome to test their musical knowledge.

DeeDee Sharp gives a shout-out -- though that's not what we called it back in '62 -- to three pop hits as she belts out the lyrics to "Mashed Potato Time". Can you name these three songs? (And if you can do so off the top of your head, without referring to the lyrics, you are the MUSIC MASTER!

1.
And then they dance just grew and grew,
They looked for records they could do it to,
They found this dance was a-outta sight,
To, "__________________."

2.
Now everybody is a-doin' fine,
They dance alone or in a big boss line.
Then they discovered it's the most, man,
The day they did it to, "____________ ."

3.
Well, they got with it more and more,
You ought to see 'em 'round the floor,
The Mashed Potato took a long, long list,
They even do it to, "_____________" .

How'd ya do?

Spanish Peanut Cookies

Found the recipe here. I was looking to bake a Spanish peanut cookie similar to what Scott's Bakery in Middleton offers. This isn't it, but the results are still very good.


The ingredients. All ready to go. (Oh, and the drizzle icing. Fuggeddaboudit! Add 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips to cookie recipe. )


Butter. Brown sugar. Blending.


1 egg added. Beating well.


I never crowd the cookie pans.

I picked up the parchment paper idea from JoAnna. She always knows what she's doing in the kitchen.

Cookies. Cooling.

Cookies. And Milk. A treat awaits.


Ahhhh, all's well in the world. A full cookie jar.

Retiring Guy Takes the Scenic Route from Portage to Middleton

Someone should start a pool as to when this building will finally topple. (It's just a stone's throw -- be careful! -- from the Interstate, a few miles south of where 90/94 & 39 separate.)



If I told you there is an elephant hiding in the picture, would you believe me?


Two words. Slasher movie. Or maybe just one. Chainsaw.


My first drive on Columbia County Highway U after 31 years of living in Wisconsin. Had to stop and take in this view.



I definitely like the landscaping framing better.


The Merrimac ferry, which Gerry & the Pacemakers never sang about. Everyone obeys the sign. Even me while taking this picture.

If you tilt your head to the right, Lake Wisconsin looks like a donkey about to suck its thumb. . (Yeah, I know.)

A sign in downtown Merrimac announced that state highway 78 to Prairie du Sac was closed. LOCAL TRAFFIC ONLY. If the ferry had not been operating, I would have added some serious extra mileage to my scenic-route jaunt.

The railroad bridge detracts from the panoramic view of Lake Wisconsin.

CU BYE

Song of the Day: "Broken-Hearted Melody" by Sarah Vaughn

Just because it's SUCH a great song.

It spent 19 weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1959, from mid-summer to late fall, peaking at #7.

From the PBS American Masters website. Jazz critic Leonard Feather called her “the most important singer to emerge from the bop era.” Ella Fitzgerald called her the world’s “greatest singing talent.” During the course of a career that spanned nearly fifty years, she was the singer’s singer, influencing everyone from Mel Torme to Anita Baker. She was among the musical elite identified by their first names. She was Sarah, Sassy — the incomparable Sarah Vaughan.

Independent Voters: Required Reading of the Day

Danger: Pundits at Work

Link to November 5 FiveThirtyEight post, "Independent Voters and Empty Explanations".

Excerpt: Part of the problem is that 'independents' are not a particularly coherent group. At a minimum, the category of ‘independents’ includes:

1) People who are mainline Democrats or Republicans for all intents and purposes, but who reject the formality of being labeled as such
2) People who have a mix of conservative and liberal views that don’t fit neatly onto the one-dimensional political spectrum, such as libetarians;
3) People to the extreme left or the extreme right of the political spectrum, who consider the Democratic and Republican parties to be equally contemptible;
4) People who are extremely disengaged from politics and who may not have fully-formed political views;
5) True-blue moderates;
6) Members of organized third parties.

These voters have almost nothing to do with each other and yet they all get grouped under the same umbrella as 'independents'.

But that's getting away from the point. Independent voters are treated as a cause, when all that they really are is a symptom. The key is in figuring out what ails the patient.

Thursday's Wambulance Run

Cal Thomas: Media are Communism's enablers. (Rising to the bait.)

Jonah Goldberg: True conservatives? After 15 or 20 years of steady moderation, many conservatives think it might be time to give their ideas a try. Moderation? Oy vey!

Wednesday's Wambulance Run: Just One Stop

Letters: Democrats are destroying capitalism. The United States of America is currently engaged in a dangerous Civil War II. This is a test whether our country will survive in liberty, under our Constitution, or be destroyed under the leadership of President Barack Obama, his unelected czars and congressional tyrants.

This Dittohead has had enough, and he's not going to take it anymore.

Tavern League Unable to Scrounge Up Enough Votes

Deer Hunting Season in Wisconsin

Please place the items pictured above in priority order.

Tuesday's Wambulance Run

Letters: Why is Obama taking over everything? Writer kickss out the jams with How long are we, the people, going to put up with this? "We the people" are coded words, of course.

Potential challenger says Baldwin's not liberal enough. "I'm talking to people to see if they feel as I do that there needs to be a voice on some of these issues," de Felice said. "I think Democrats should act like Democrats." Perhaps like some of the Democrats I knew the day after 1972's Presidential election. "I can't believe Nixon won. Everyone I know voted for McGovern." The observation still rings in my ears.

Camp Randall Stadium: the View from Section BB

Saturday, October 31, 2009.

Too early for most of the students to show up. It's nowhere near the 2nd quarter.


ThePurdue Boilermakers come to town to play the Wisconsin Badgers. At least, that's what we had been told. Once the game got underway, it quickly become obvious that Purdue had not come to play.

For Purdue's sake, it would have been better to let the UW Marching Band play for 3 hours. I've never seen such an embarassingly inept college football team.

The student section is starting to fill up during the pregame festivities.

The Badgers take the field.

The team heads for the sidelines. (Hey, this was actually more exciting than most of the game.)

Badgers had a 31-0 lead at the half at went on to win 37-0. Oh, and the student sections started to empty out immediately after "Jump Around".

11/01/09. Brett Favre Day: All the News You Need to Know in Wisconsin Today

Raise your hands if you love football rivalries!



Appleton Post-Crescent. Brett Favre's return generates gamut of emotions among Green Bay Packers fans.

Appleton Post-Crescent. Brett Favre's return generates gamut of emotions among Green Bay Packers fans.

Fond du Lac Reporter. Editorial: Packers fans can tip scales for Rodgers, Packers today.

Fond du Lac Reporter. Letters: Packers fans tell Brett Favre what they are thinking.

Fond du Lac Reporter. Aaron Rodgers Drive sign stolen, recovered.

Manitowoc Herald-Times-Reporter. Fans chime in on Favre's return to Lambeau Field.

Green Bay Press-Gazette. Home decor: Get your piece of the Packers.

La Crosse Tribune. The Packers-Vikings rivalry sometimes starts at home.

Capital Times. Packers vs. Vikings: Who has the edge?

Capital Times. Braced for Brett: Packers' defense seeks balance of pressure, coverage.

GM Today. Brett Favre expects mixed reaction when he plays in Green Bay on Sunday.

GM Today. Vikings-Packers game not all about the Brett Favre hype.

Janesville Gazette. Opinion Matters: Brett Favre should shut his mouth.

Janesville Gazette. Icon booed, grudge renewed as Vikes and Pack feud.

Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. Packers hope 'Bad Brett" resurfaces.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Their prodigal neighbor: Green Bay torn as man who fit so well returns as a rival.