Peter Criss had Breast Cancer

Haven't heard much from him lately, maybe this is why. Click the link to read the whole article.

(CNN) -- "A year after beating breast cancer, Peter Criss, a founding member of the rock band KISS, calls himself "the luckiest man in the planet."

While some men feel embarrassed because of "this macho crap," Criss said surviving breast cancer -- yes, men get it, too -- was actually a blessing. He was treated before the tumor could spread and said he's speaking about male breast cancer now -- during National Breast Cancer Awareness month -- to raise the profile of this rare disease....

...The 63-year-old musician is now cancer free."

Tauschhh!!!

Mark Tauscher is back with the Pack.



Number 65 has been one of my favorites for a long time. I followed his career here in Madison with the UW Badgers, then through all his years as a Green Bay Packer.

I recently bought my first Packers jersey. I got number 12, Aaron Rodgers. I like Rodgers alot and I think he is gonna be good for a long time. Which is why I got his jersey and not, say, Donald Driver who is getting to the end of his career. Except for a few items the last couple of years, I have never spent really hardly any money on sports clothing for myself. If I had been one to indulge way back then, I'm sure I would have had a 65 jersey a long time ago.

Now, he's not the saviour for that offensive line. Those problems run deeper than one position. Ten months rehabbing is a long time, but as long as his (twice blown-out) knee holds up -and once he gets into game shape- he has to be an upgrade. GO TAUSCHHHHH!

Grocery store deals that make sense

U.S. National Debt Clock

Wow. Check out the U.S. National Debt Clock. There's a lot to see here.

Lazy Corner

What a lazy weekend. My wife even called it a lazy weekend, and she does alot of weekly cleaning. I guess I really only have one thing to show for my time. A small project at the front corner of the house. As a condition of buying the house the electric had to be upgraded. So the outside electrical box was moved to the other side of the house, so its not next to the driveway anymore. I can't remember what this corner looked like before, but it obviousy was altered for that work. So I fixed it up a little.

Before:


...and after. I think it looks alot better, and it took less time than Mrs S cleaning the bathroom!

Piano Stairs or Escalator?

First Snow Of The Season

It's snowing outside. Barely flurries actually, but the first snow of the season nonetheless. I wanted to post a pic but it would be almost imperceptible. At least the only jobs I have left outside this fall (that don't involve leaves) are cutting down the plants and trimming the lilac bush. I have been waiting to do the lilac. Some say to trim in the fall, some late winter. I just want to do what is healthiest for the plant. I'll research it a bit more.

We were talking about projects last night, and again being thankful that this house has been kept up so well. All my projects are just little things here and there. I love our new house!

Wisconsin plays at Ohio State this afternoon. GO BADGERS!

Polanski

He was a bastard then, why wouldn't he be one now? In family safe terms, to heck with him!

It's a nice mash-up.

KISS on David Letterman last night

Packers Future and Past

Here's a good pic from after last night's game. I don't think there's any love lost between these two.

Petunia, Sticks and Packers

About halfway through the summer a lone petunia popped up out of the mulch. We have watched it grow all year, counting six at a time, eight and more flowers on it as it thrived. Now I believe the end is near. It had one lonely flower left this cool, windy and damp day. It will probably be the last with more cold temperatures coming.
I did say windy, and we have big trees. Here's a zoomed-in (blurry) pic of the sticks gathered from the shedding trees in the past 2 weeks or so.



Yes, last night's game was a bummer. The Pack lost 23-30 and showed how bad their offensive line really is. Good news: They brought Tauscher back in for a workout today. Expect him to be signed in the next few days. That will only help one position, however. Oh well, we get the Vikes here in less than a month! Hopefully that game will turn out differently.

Packers v. Vikings

Here it is, big game night.


If you take out the quarterbacks Minnesota has a little better team, I think. QB's are probably even at this point. The game is at the Metrodome, where thay had that big game winning pass at the end last week. It's gonna be a tough one, a close one early. Then the Packers need to adjust to keep the game from getting out of hand later to hopefully pull one out.

Enjoy the game, I'll be back tomorrow. GO PACK!

100 Posts!

Hmm, 100 posts, my first blogging milestone. I almost missed noticing. Aw what the hell, I'm having fun. Here's to maybe 100 more!

Tweaks

Yes, I have been playing around in Blogger and making a few little changes. The most obvious being the header picture. It may change again, we'll see. I plan to explore and learn some more this weekend when I have the time as well. Though, the less it rains the more I plan to get done outside. So if its dry I can actually get necessary things done.
Happy Friday!

Happy October!- New Alice Cooper

The New Ace Frehley and Kiss albums

Well, I've been thinking of what to say about both of these new albums. This sums it up: Both albums are exactly what I would have expected. That's not bad, mind you, I have been listening and liking them most of my life (Ace was always my fave). If you like them you should know by now, 35 years later. If not, you may not enjoy these new CDs.

Much more after the break.

5 Amazing Holes!

My Mom used to send me all sorts of odd emails until I got her to stop. She did pass this on today, though, and I thought it was funny enough to share here. I read an earlier email from her last night (which reminded me that my wife told me about a phone message last week!). She has news to pass but not here or by email or by phone message so I guess I best call now. Enjoy!


5 Amazing Holes! - These holes are not only amazing, but some are really terrifying! The sheer scale of these holes reminds you of just how tiny we are.

Kimberley Big Hole - South Africa

Apparently the largest ever hand-dug excavation in the world,
this 1097 meter deep mine yielded over 3 tons of diamonds
Before being closed

The rest -and the punchline- are after the break.

Easterns Motors Jingle

Back before The Mike O'Meara Show ended, whenever I wanted to listen to the live stream I had to watch and listen to this commercial first. And I'll be danged if this was one commercial I didn't mind waiting through. I came across this original one that I sat through (sang with) often:

Is that catchy or am I nuts? Don't answer that.
More after the break

Packers Win! and Absinthe last night

The Packers Won! As they should have. The Rams are regarded as one of the worst teams in the NFL right now, so that was a good game to bounce back after the loss to the Bengals last week. The worst part of the game was losing the video. With my service only that particular channel got stuck on one frame for almost an hour. From shortly after 1 o'clock until shortly after 2, from about 5 minutes left in the first half - through halftime - until about 8 minutes left in the 3rd quarter I got only the sound and that same still frame of when it last showed video. I wanted to call and complain but I would only get a machine sending me in circles, I'm sure. I hope you got to see all the game (if you were watching).

So last night we had some friends over for a couple hours. I'd say it went pretty well except for one stubborn cork in the bottle of wine. It broke our corkscrew so we'll need to get another. Later, we all walked down to the local tavern to meet up with more friends. All was well, I had a couple of drinks by then. I noticed they had absinthe.

Now I've never before partaken of the green fairy. But I decided then that this was the night. I have heard many things about it, though. On the old Don and Mike Show they had a few 'absinthe shows' and got all loopy by the end. Then they would come in the next day to tell us what happened after the show. Mainly they just got real drunk off the absinthe.

I had the original absinthe with the wormwood and prepared traditionally. Overall I had three over the course of the night (at $7.50 a pop!). While it was a little different buzz, the fact that it was like 140 proof is what got me drunk. No great poems written. No artistic masterpieces painted. Just me, inebriated, walking home, saying our goodnights and settling in.

My wife went to bed very soon after getting home. I stayed up for a bit, still surprisingly lucid for what I had drunk. Then shortly after, while out for a smoke, I realized I needed to go to bed NOW. So I did. I got up, put out the smoke went in and shut everything off and went straight to bed.

This morning I got up around nine. I felt like hell for about a half hour, but after a shower I felt fine. I even mowed the lawn this morning for the first time in about a month. No rain = no growing = no mowing. Now, we have gotten record rain a few days ago (the first rain of September btw), rain since, and it is raining now. Feast or famine, I guess.

End of Fish Poll

Friday night was the closing of the Fish poll. 5 votes. I'd lie if I said I wasn't disappointed. Especially since I can see that I usually get at least 10 different visitors a day.

The 3-2 winner is to get rid of the fish. However, with that low amount of votes and hearing that my nephew likes to feed them, I will keep the Fish. They will be moved lower down the page, though. Also, I think I'll get rid of the google search box on the right. I like it better than the blogger search in the top left, but it is redundant so it is gone.

I'll be back after the Packers game to write about my first absinthe experience last night.

Badgers Win, Dinner Plans, etc

The Badgers won! They lapsed late again, making the final score much closer than it should have been. Hopefully they'll learn from it.

It's Saturday afternoon and about all I've done is watch football. My wife has been busy all day and much of yesterday. A couple friends are coming over for dinner tonight and then we're going to go out for a little while. Mrs Scoakat says she's not doing much for dinner, but you know it'll be an impressive spread.

I have been thinking about what to write about Ace and Kiss' new albums, since I have been saying I'm gonna do a post on it. I still will, but I want to hear them more. My project last week at work kept me from my ipod all week, but I should be able to use it much more next week.

Now I think I'll go downstairs and put a blanket on our water heater. I bought it a while ago and need to do it anyway, but I feel guilty when my wife is running around and I'm not doing anything.

Jay Cutler hit by Ref...

...and tries to play it cool. I actually remember seeing this, do you?

Health Care Reform

I'm for it anyway, but when you put it like this I like it even more!

Safe and funny for (most) all.

Fish Poll

The deadline for the Fish poll is now Friday at midnight. Come on people, 2-2 doesn't help me decide! I'm not asking you to actually type, just two clicks! Tell me what you think!

Weekend Birdsongs, etc.

Saturday turned out as i predicted a few posts ago. Not a hectic day, just planned out, I guess. Before the concert we had dinner at a mexican restaurant about a half a block from the Overture Center. Bland. Not bad, just no spice at all. Even the salsa was more sweet than spicy.

This kind of concert was actually a first for me. It was held in a very nice venue with good sound. It was a sit-down concert. Everybody sat until the end of the show and waited for the last note before applauding at the end of every song. Of course, inbetween songs someone yelled 'freebird' once. Andrew Bird started solo for the first song then was joined by the band until towards the end, with a few more solo. I enjoyed the performance very much. My only disappointments are that I thought it was kind of short show, though I did not pay attention to actual start or finish times. And, unfortunately I did not hear my favorite Andrew Bird song, 'A Nervous Tic Motion Of The Head To The Left.'

I'm not sure if any of you have watched the Andrew Bird videos that I have posted. If not that's okay. I think it's beautiful music, and it's my blog. ;P
I highly recommend watching this fascinating video of him set up in some huge church that I recently found online. Just him in the middle playing his music. That's a wall I'd like to be a fly on.

Badgers and Packers? Ehhh. I still feel the same as I did and see the same things you and everybody else does. But, what can you do? GO TEAMS!

Updates postponed...

Well, I was planning a bigger post tonight but our friends B & Z finally got us to go out to one of the neighborhood taverns tonight. It was fun! Usually mondays are a pretty low key night for us. Now it's almost 8:30 and we need dinner then bed.

I received the new Ace Frehley album friday, post coming soon. Weekend activities with the Andrew Bird concert review also coming soon. And my views on the Packers and Badgers will wait.

Good night for now.

Superhero Personality Quiz

Go on... do it.  Which are you?

Your results:
You are Superman



<><><><><> <><><><><>

<><><><<> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> <><><><><> Superman 70% Spider-Man 60% Green Lantern 60% Iron Man 60% Robin 55% Catwoman 55% Supergirl 52% The Flash 50% Batman 45% Hulk 35% Wonder Woman 27%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Busy Saturday

Here's a look at our busy day today, with visual aids, after the break.

School phone message

I just saw this here and had to share it.  Listen to the end.  I wish it was real.

Weekend Football Insulation Ace

I hope everyone had a nice weekend and start to the week.  I know I've not posted the last few days.  My back had been acting up on me, so I wasn't up for most usual things.  I considered another 'filler' post, but I have done alot of those lately, posting almost every day.

I didn't do much over the weekend, except watch football.  I did get handrails up around our little stairs and landing area.  Now I need to see if I can find a stain to reasonably match the trim in the house or else I'm thinking of just spray painting them with some kind of offwhite semi-gloss or gloss.  I may stop at Ace Hardware tomorrow to look, or then again, maybe this weekend.  While Ace is on my way home, the traffic at that time of day at that area....  hmm, I'll probably wait for the weekend.

Much more after the break.

Ten cutest cat moments

Because I don't have much to say today, enjoy these kitties.

Andrew Bird Coming Soon!

Andrew Bird will be at the Overture Center in Madison on September 19.  I can hardly wait!  If you thought you knew me, then this may be a surprise:  I listen to more than just Heavy Metal!  Andrew Bird sings, whistles, and plays the violin, guitar, glockenspiel, and of course his looping machines.  I would be more than happy to see him solo, but he does have a band with him on this tour.

This is my earliest favorite song of his, that first got me interested.  The song (at least in this incarnation) is circa 2004, this video is from earlier this year in Edinburgh, Scotland.  Yeah the light is annoying, but the sound is good and I wanted to put up a recent one.  Also, no band for this one.  I think he'll do a few more solo during the show here as well.



There is more to this post. From now on, some posts may be continued to another page, so if you are interested, you can continue reading.  Also, it allows me to post as much as I want in one post without filling up the front page.  Just look out for the 'read more' below.

Unique Stepfathers

A bit ago I left a comment on Uncle Bill's Canadian Blog. He was talking of putting together notes he has written over the years on raising his two stepdaughters. Into book form, I assume.

I know he is a good writer, I have read his blog(s) more on than off now for several years. When I went to explore the 'follow' button on his blog, that is how I got this blog (I had a wee bit to drink that night, too, as I recall). And I may not have had the confidence to do this if I hadn't read Bill's and several other's blogs over time. He offered his assistance right after I started, but I didn't want to be a bother. I don't do much here, and shouldn't.

Anyway, I left a comment on that particular post meant to encourage, and I think he was surprised. I used the word 'unique', but of course it is not unique to him at all! He lives it. So I hammered out a comment on his follow up post, then, well, thought about it.

A couple years ago one of by best buds from high school got married, now is stepfather to two children, I think. He lives quite a distance, though, and for several years now we have only spoken a few times a year, unfortunately.

My Sis has a guy now that she's really been wanting me to meet. She sounds very happy so eventually he may be a stepfather to my niece and nephew.

If(when?) my Mom gets married, I'LL have a stepfather!

2 possibles and 1 distant. So as of now it does seem pretty unique to me. I welcome those 2 possibles to make it more common in my life, though!

7. Madison, Wisconsin's Official City Bird:

The Pink Plastic Flamingo.



Here's the whole list of The 12 Strangest State Symbols.

I was aware of this happening recently and other than thinking about how much this is a waste of time, I thought little else of it. Now here it is showing up on a list already. Maybe that was the plan all along. Madison does seem to like all the lists it has been on the last several years.

I noticed everything else on the list is a state item. Madison is a city, yet it still made this list? Be careful what you read on the internet...

An Honest R&B Song

This is hilarious. It's kinda like Regular Everyday Normal Guy.
Kid warning for lyrics.

Happy Labor Day

Updated 4/28/13.  I effed up while trying to upgrade the video in this old post because I sent a link to friends and wound up losing the original post somehow.  Don't edit when drunk is all I can say.  I lost all my text from the old post, my only save is to post the video again, that's all I can do now.

This was Labor Day 2009, the original vid was uploaded to blogger, when you used to be able to upload vids to blogger.  It still worked but was small, in 2010 I put stuff on youtube and was just trying to upgrade the post tonight and it went bad.  Sorry.  But the video from our dinosaur camera is still pretty neat.

Deep Fried Butter

• Deep Fried Butter could push the grease-o-meter to a new high. "100 percent pure butter is whipped 'til light and fluffy, then specially sweetened with a choice of several flavors." It is then surrounded by a "special dough" and quick-fried.



Raw butter. Deep fried. Cheese curds weren't bad (good) enough. Also, mushrooms, jalepenos, pickles, snickers bars, twinkies, etc... We now have to deep fry battered raw butter? What The Hell, People!!?? And No, Wisonsin does not need to respond to this atrocity from Texas. I seem to remember Texas being not far behind Wisconsin in a list of fattest states, but I could be wrong. But if they eat like this, it won't be long!

Facebook? Myspace? Not for me...

...heck, I still refuse to get a cell phone. This blog is as social as I've ever been on the internet, and this is mostly one-sided (since YOU aren't commenting!).

I'm not saying this would ever happen to me, but you know it is happening all the time these days. Yeah, it's a whole 5 minutes, but actually a quick watch.



Note: This is a post I wrote about a week ago and hung on to for when I needed something. After reading Bill Sticker's post today I respect him even more and thought it would be a good time to post this, in agreement if you will. Read his post here.

So Happy It's Tuesday

S.o H.appy I.t's T.uesday, get it? Yesterday was not a good day but today was better thankfully.

Well, we did have company Friday night for the Packers game (they still look great!). I think it went well. It's nice to have the freedom to entertain and socialize in our new house. In the old apartment, we never went out of our way to make our place a destination like we can now. I like the two other couples very well and they seemed to get on together as well. It was a pretty good night of football, food and drink with hardly a lull in the conversation. I think everyone had a good time. I still worry about being a host, I have little practice. There was enough room for six (incl. wife and I), but for something like this, six is probably max. Other social occasions (like not a game on the telly) more people could be spread out to the porch and kitchen.

I also saw some of old B.F. as a Viking last night. I haven't been moved to comment on his unretirement here. Same for Michael Vick. I'm disappointed Favre is playing for Minnesota, and that any team would take Vick right now. But, bully for each of them. Me, I'm still just watching, taking it all in. Like I said before, I'll just enjoy the sideshow. I have faith in the main attraction - the Green and Gold can whoop 'em both! :)

btw, My mom stopped by Sunday, but she doesn't want me to say what she did while here!

So, how evil is your cat?

Here's a fun quiz if you have a cat. I scored 83 with my wife's cat in mind.Via I have seen the whole of the internet

I'll try a more personal update tomorrow. Really not in the mood tonight.

The Official God FAQ

The Official God FAQ

Just because I find Space fascinating, that's why.

Humans - homo sapiens

I find this hilarious. This was a prank, but I really don't see why this kind of sign shouldn't be in a zoo. Pause it and you can read the sign, fullscreen helps.


via Attu

Chicken, Friends, Football

Hello, just a middle of the week blog post here. Not much going on, just the usual daily grind. My wife is cooking a whole chicken, so tonight I eat well!

We're having friends over Friday night for the Green Bay Packers game. It's a late start, 9:00 pm, so I hope to get a short nap in first. (Is that me showing my age?) I'm looking forward to it! Pizza, beer and NFL Football! My only concern is that we have no real good seating in one room for entertaining. We have our two recliners and the dining table and chairs. I guess we'll see what happens. Perhaps we'll all alternate as the game progresses, or the girls may go out on the porch to talk, we'll figure it out.

Speaking of football, the Wisconsin Badgers should be starting soon. I followed them as much as I could, but for the last couple of weeks I've been burnt out on the "filler" type articles on little known kids that have yet to do anything. Sorry, just prioritizing what junk I fill my brain with every day. Still, once it becomes game week, count me all in!

Have a good week, all, and don't let the supposedly upcoming cooler weather get you down yet! Last I saw forecast was a high in the 60's for this Saturday. That would be kinda cool on the lake.

Ace Frehley - Anomaly 'commercial'

This cheesy 'commercial' is hilarious! See Uncle Lumpy? That could be me (in another existence)!

Well, here I sit

Well, here I sit, at the computer. There are more productive things I could be doing today, but I'm really not feeling very healthy or active. My wife is out on the boat this afternoon; I declined. It's not the warmest weekend we've had and I just decided not to go. There are things I've needed to get to on the computer, so that seems to be what I shall do today.

Meanwhile, there are several more albums to be released soon that I am looking forward to. I have to pay attention or these things can get by me these days!

Oct 6 Kiss - Sonic Boom (first new stuff in like 11 years!)
Oct 12 WASP - Babylon
and on Sept 15 Ace Frehley - Anomaly!

U.D.O. - Dominator - Out Now!!

U.D.O.'s new album 'Dominator' is released tomorrow... which must be by now on the other side of the world, because I'm listening to it right now! The website, UDO-online has been updated as well! I know nobody cares, but I'm excited!

An End To The Catbox Saga?

There just is no good place on the main floor for a little box where vile things happen and from which odors emanate. No matter how cute the user is, this kind of thing belongs in the basement, in my view. We have one now, so I just can't see the catbox anywhere else.

The drama started right away with our crazy cat, and quickly abated with my 'stair shelf.' I thought it was a good plan to slowly move her down the stairs step by step, but it was taking so long and may never have been successful with this cat. Meanwhile, our stairs were narrowed to fit the box there. Bearable, but an imperfect solution. Here is how it looked then, and since moved down 4 stairs, and abruptly back to this point recently:



And now here is how it is - off the stairs! The top shelf is down several inches from maximum to line up with the stairs, so 1 of the 5 shelves went unused. That is the cardboard from the box the shelves came in between the shelves and the stairs. Kind of an afterthought, but should help keep any dust off the things we store underneath.





These are the same shelf kits in another part of the basement. We got these two a couple of months ago, shortly after we moved in. One tall and one set up as my workbench (and it has really come in handy!). As you can see, they're all full up, thus the need for another anyway. That's the old step shelf in the corner.



So hopefully this saga has ended and my pet posts will be all about cute and fuzzy things instead of the crap issues. Keep your fingers crossed!

Fishies

Fish have now been added to the right... until I tire of them, anyway. I've just been exploring blogger a little, there is much more to learn but finding the time is the problem. So as I learn, changes will come. As for Fish, I know it's just a lame little blogger gadget, but it is kind of cute. So, click to feed my fish, already!

A Busy Weekend

Happy weekend, all! It's been a busy day so far here. We got up early to take in Mrs. Scoakat's car. Proceeded to the grocery store. Went home, changed and did food prep, and we were on the boat by just after 10:00 am!





We picked up the car from the shop on the way home, about 3 o'clock. (Bigger repairs, unfortunately. Exhaust, tune-up, and a few other things.) I love being on the water. It is relaxing, but I'm still tired when I get home, so next on the agenda is a nap. After all, I must be good to go again by 7:00!

GO PACKERS!

Yes, tonight is finally Packers football. It's always such a long wait until next season, I don't even care that it's just a pre-season game. Watching baseball is mostly just biding time til football season starts.

I wanted to do a project in the basement today to help address the catbox situation, but that will have to wait. I might get it done tomorrow, but there are already plans made for tomorrow as well. I plan on putting the catbox just off the stairs, on a shelf. Sounds easy, doesn't it? It is a bit of a project to do, though.

Now, about that nap...