(Sponsor's Name Here)

Weather forecast

Posted by Michael James on May 27, 2011

The way I look at it, using "Weather forecast" as a blog title is guaranteed to increase the amount of page hits.  Between my Vegas/Reno trip report (which I linked to in numerous other locations) and this title, maybe I can make up for the two months in which I didn't blog.

Here are a few thoughts on a few things ....

* Christmas is seven months from yesterday.  And I am still running my heat at home.

* Monday is supposed to be above 80 degrees (finally).  But if I can hold off for two days, it will be the latest that I have ever put the central a/c on in the house.

* As I type this, I am listening to downloaded music, including Metallica, Jim Croce, Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam, Simon & Garfunkel, Aerosmith and, yes Weasel, even Barry Manilow.

* Most of it was downloaded illegally.  I have never paid for downloaded music... which is why my 400 or so songs doesn't include anything released in the last five years.

* C'mon, John from New Berlin.  You know you're going to bowl with us.

* Next year, a pared down roster will join me in Baton Rouge in February, 2012 for the USBC Open Championships.  We bowl on the 23rd and 24th.  Which conveniently is two days after Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  Guess where I'll be on Tuesday, February 21st?  I will be partying in the French Quarter, while you are shivering while in line for paczkis at the National Bakery.

* Speaking of New Orleans, time to start concentrating on the best jazz bars, based on Treme and the companion blog written by the New Orleans Times Picayune.

* We need Miami to win the NBA Championships.  I hate Dallas... As should you.  I rooted against the Texas Rangers in the World Series, I felt schadenfreude with the weather in Dallas for the Super Bowl, and they stole the USBC headquarters from Greendale (and that has blown up on them).  I'm not going to break stride now.  That, and their best player is my cousin.

* I've blogged in the past that two of my favorite boutique TV series are Mad Men and Breaking Bad.  Because of AMC's successes, I started watching The Killing.  Not a bad idea for a show - taking 12 episodes to follow a murder investigation and also how it affects families, hanger-onners and people that don't even seem connected.  Each episode is a day in the investigation.  The problem is that part way in, its all the same.  The girls parents are still sad.  They are sad at the police station, they are sad at home, they are sad picking out the casket, they are sad at the funeral.  Repeat that for the police chasing down leads and not having them pan out.  At this point, there are, like, four or five episodes left and I am going to continue watching just to see who killed Rosie.

* And if you believe The Killing, it never, ever stops raining in Seattle.

* (Sponsor's Name Here)'s Official son, Mitten, is coming back from UW-Oshkosh next weekend for the summer.  The kid needs a job.  Anyone know if a summer job for him?

* Tim Cuprisin says that Channel 4 won the news sweeps in May, with the help from their Storm Team.  I say "nonsense".   It stopped being a news broadcast about 10 years ago.  They actually won the "Bleeding heart or scare people needlessly entertainment program".

* Some people say that the concealed carry law will allow access to guns by any nutjob.  The nutjobs already have handguns.  The law will put me on par with them.

* Saw Bridesmaids last week.  A very good movie, but was compared to the The Hangover.  The Hangover was one of those movies which was special because it was unexpected.  Things like the naked Asian in the trunk, or the tasers in the police station.  But you can't make a movie with funny sight gags, double entendres, fart jokes and a moral and say it was "like The Hangover".  It doesn't do justice to Bridesmaids OR The Hangover.

* That said, I am going to see The Hangover Part II tonight.  Gosh, I hope it doesn't suck.

* Two weeks ago I cut the grass for the first time in about 25 years (that's what extended periods of apartment living and kids will allow).  And with Mitten coming back, I expect to get the rest of the summer off, too.

* My-Sugar-Na bought a dress for (Sponsor's Name Here)'s Official stepdaughter, Sloppy for her eighth-grade graduation.  Hopefully, she doesn't grow and she can wear it to her prom.  It cost almost as much as a tank of gasoline.

* For those who complain about the profits of oil companies, it's called capitalism. Think of it this way.... If BP were somehow prevented from making as much money as they can so you can save a dime per gallon of gas, when the oil well disaster occurred last summer, they may not have had the funds available to fix the problem and pay off the cleaning crews, fines, etc.  If they don't have the money, who pays for that?  You and I.  And when government is in charge, it costs way, way, WAY more than the private sector.

* Razzle-Dazzle is a cool word.  So is tchotchke.

* Without a new arena having broken ground in the next three years, there will be no more Milwaukee Bucks in five years.  And I am pretty confident that there isn't any tax money available.  One word: LettPotawatomiFinallyPutACasinoDowntownAlongTheRiverAndHaveThemBuildTheArena.

* The NFL is on a lockout.  The NBA will have one this summer, too.  But not indoor soccer.  Get your season tickets order for your MISL Champion Milwaukee Wave.

* My supervisor, probably the second best one I've ever had, gave me a huge hunk of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  He says he wife made it Monday, and he's been eating it all week and can't take it anymore.  I am not a huge chocolate fan, and I've eaten about three bites and now I've had enough, too.  

* On a holiday Friday with the weather finally warming up (if not a little too breezy), everybody is going home early.  Give me a chance to finish this masterpiece!

* Notice all the weather references?  Pretty slick, eh?

* Don't forget to check my Twitter feed @mjames1229.  I don't post anything earth-shattering, but I re-tweet lots of interesting articles and links that others have posted.