One Donkey out of Many

Ok...1st things 1st....This is from Derek in Japan...apparantly this picture doesnt do the size of this fucker justice....

Back to my Ohio adventure....I enjoyed the con....had fun running MW....the Nationals were pretty good...its amazing how many people will cheat just to win a tiny plastic toy. Big fucking losers those guys....Mostly the players were good guys (I can say that since the only girl in the tourney dropped out) who were generally happy to play....a majority of the final 8 were kind of jags....please also dont get me started on the guy who won the whole thing....Not enough words in english to describe this donkey!

I did enjoy hanging with the envoys who ran the event with me, Josh, Matt, Joe, Joel, and Nick (also Rain and Matt (who reminds me of Finco in a good way...)

On Sunday I took it easy (I forgot how much your feet hurt when you walk on then 8+ hours a day) and ran some Mechhunter events, its a quick play of mechwarrior using a heroclix map and a booster..,its a very sneeky way to get people to buy boosters and keep on buying....Both Dale and Nick got some nice figures from playing this....

I also can't say enough how nice the Enjoy swag was....I have way too many figures now to know what to do with them!!!

On another note, baby #3 (and we are mostly sure its only one this time...getting an U/s soon) is due on January 13, 2005.....Lucky me.
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We had an earthquake last night here 4.5 on the richter scale at 1:11am...I slept right through it... Thus I really can sleep through an earthquake
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Hazah! I am back home from Ohio! The lawn across the damn street was bulldozed-yippie! We had an excellent time at Nationals. On Thurs we walked around, saw the con-stood in line at the WK booth to get our stuff-I went to the envoy rewards dinner (yum) and signed up to work nationals. That was a very good idea, I had fun with the Approved Play Lead, Matt and the Rules Arb for MW, Rain...Dale went 6-4 and Nick went 8-2 (was #10 in the nation, good job Nick) beating last years National Champion.

I also got a level 2 battlemaster bump which was very nice. I have to do some cleaning around the house, so I'll post more later (incl. pictures) plus I feel yucky from driving, lack of sleep, etc....Mail me!

Those Crazy People in Japan

Girl shoves little boy off building to hide video arcade visits



A 13-year-old girl who pushed a 5-year-old off the edge of a Tokyo building because she didn't want him to tell her mother she had been to a video arcade has been taken into custody, police said.
Mainichi Shimbun

The 5-year-old was pushed from this apartment block in Tokyo's Shinjuku-ku.

Miraculously, the 5-year-old survived the 11-meter fall with only light injuries after the branches of a tree cushioned his fall and he landed on shrubbery beneath the building, located in the Takadanobaba district of Tokyo's Shinjuku-ku

The 13-year-old said she regretted what she had done.

"I didn't want him to tell my mother that I was going to the video arcade. I had him sit on the railing of the stair landing and pushed him off. I feel bad about what I did," police quoted the 13-year-old as saying.

Because of her age, the girl cannot be prosecuted. She has been referred to a Tokyo child consultation center.

Investigators said the girl led the boy, Sun Jizu, who is of Chinese nationality, to a spot between the fourth and fifth floors of an apartment block at about 4:40 p.m. on Tuesday, and pushed him off.

The boy fell onto shrubbery below. As he was falling the branches of a camphor tree appeared to have cushioned his fall, police said. He reportedly suffered scratches as he fell.

Police said Jizu's 33-year-old mother had taken him to a pachinko parlor at about noon on Tuesday, and he had been playing by himself at a video arcade next to the pachinko parlor.

At about 3 p.m. the girl came to play at the arcade and said to the boy, "What are you doing at the arcade?"

Jizu reportedly replied, saying, "You always come here too. I'm going to tell your mom."

Because the girl had been told not to come to the arcade, she reportedly decided to push the boy off the edge of the apartment block to "shut him up."

The girl had reportedly met Jizu several times before at the arcade, and they knew each other well.

At about 4 p.m. on Tuesday, the girl led Jizu by the hand to an apartment block about 1 kilometer from the arcade, and they climbed the stairs on the outside of the building together, police said.

When they reached the space between the fourth and fifth floors, the girl said to him, "Why don't you climb up onto the fence?" After making him sit on the fence, she reportedly pushed him off.

Soon after the incident, the girl approached the head of a dry-cleaning store nearby and said, "A boy about 5 years old has fallen from the fifth floor," before going home.

Police said the girl told them she had lent Jizu money in the past but he had not returned it. "I had lent him money but he didn't give it back. From a while back I had thought he was cheeky," she was quoted as saying.

Speaking at a news conference on Friday, an official from the child consultation center that received the girl said the center had received a report about the girl in the past from her school. The school reportedly told the center that the girl found it hard to form relationships with those around her and that she occasionally caused trouble. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, June 23, 2004)

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We found Mustard Man!"
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Milwaukee's "Rhythm Chicken" hops around the world
By Molly Snyder Edler

Long before "flash mobs" made it fashionable to create public diversions, a Milwaukee man -- who goes by the name "Rhythm Chicken" -- started spontaneously playing the drums on street corners, wearing a ridiculously large bunny head.

"There's something totally absurd about a street musician hauling a drum set around," he says.

But even more absurd is a man masquerading as a bunny who calls himself a chicken. Or is it?

Rhythm Chicken has performed all over Milwaukee - from East Side street corners to festivals to outside rock show venues - as well as in Door County, Green Bay, Indiana, Chicago, the Twin Cities, Kansas City, California and once at a "men's drinking day" in Germany.

"I prefer to perform in places where it's the least expected. Sometimes I just drive around until I see two people sitting and I'll set up (my drum kit) right in front of them, just because it's so out of the ordinary," he says.

Rhythm Chicken's favorite public event is the South Shore Frolics, where every year he rides in the parade on the Rush-Mor Records float.

"To Rhythm Chicken, South Shore Frolics is better than Christmas," he says.

Four years ago, someone who worked for the Brewers spotted Rhythm Chicken in the parade, and later hired him to perform at a home game. Footage of the Rhythm Chicken also regularly appeared on the scoreboard, but the organization changed his name to "Rally Rabbit."

"They said the fans wouldn't understand why I was called 'Rhythm Chicken' and wearing a bunny head," he says. "I later went to Poland for a year, and when I returned, they had gotten a Disney-fied version of Rhythm Chicken, named him 'Rally Rabbit' and I have not heard anything from them since."

Rhythm Chicken's usual routine is to stake out a spot, set up his drums and play for five or 10 minutes before anyone gets angry or annoyed. Sometimes, tension is unavoidable, like the time he started drumming in front of a Minneapolis apartment and a tenant was trying to sleep.

"He threatened to dump water on my head if I didn't stop. He was even holding a bucket of water out the window," he says.

The police have given Rhythm Chicken many warnings but never a ticket. "The police don't know what to do. They usually just tell me to stop or to move along," he says.

Coincidentally, Rhythm Chicken's existence began with a crime. Rhythm Chicken stole the bunny head from work, and even though most of the employees knew who did it and thought it was funny, one co-worker took offense. To avoid conflict, Rhythm Chicken bought the co-worker a new bunny head for $80.

"I gave them the brand new one and I got to keep the really stupid-looking one," he says.

Rhythm Chicken started his gig in 1999 when his punk rock band broke up after many years together. "The best part of being a one-man band is it never has to break up," he says.

But there's another reason why he continues his white meat music-making.

"I just want to make people smile. Some people are way too into the daily drudgery of their job," he says.

Although he calls Milwaukee his home, Rhythm Chicken often flies the coop. He spends summers working in Door County and recently went to Poland for a yearlong vacation.

"A lot of people thought Rhythm Chicken was dead," he says.

But Rhythm Chicken has no intention of permanently moving from Milwaukee or ending his public performance career, at least for now. "Someday I might burn the head in a ritualistic ceremony," he says.

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This is by far the worst and most disturbing picture I have ever seen. That being said to not wash your hair for 6 years makes me want to puke....or else the morning sickness makes me want to puke-one of the two.


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As promised here are some new pictures of the kids. Malinda is on the front lawn of the capital building in Madison, Mya is trying to cammo herself as a cow with Auntie Robin, and the kids are at the zoo trying to see who is bigger, themselves or a baby orangutan?



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My neighbors and their shitty weeds: The city said they have the order to cut the lawn with the maintenance department. It's all been signed. Just need the weather to clear and they will cut the lawn. They probably will only be able to cut it when the weeds grow big again - will see when they get to it. At least the paperwork is in order....

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It was a long and sleepy weekend. Friday we did something.....my dad cut on the trees in the yard and I think we watched Secondhand Lions (which was really good). Saturday we had a LONG day. We staretd out by going to Mickey's Dairy Bar in Madison to get scramblers and meet Breezy to say Hi!

We then went to the farmers market (pictures coming asap) and walked around with Robin and Jason...listened to 10,000 political/jesus will save your soul from the damnation of hell speeches as we walked around. Bought organic green beans, strawberries (extra good), some breads (pumpkin and banana) and cheese curds (extra squeeky). The girls got to pet cows (it was dairy day) and eat hot cheese bread that Auntie Robin bought.

The drive home sucked as Mya had a hissy fit and we had to pull over in dodgeville for cuddle/bottle time. Then we watched two movies Sat, Holes (which was great!) and Freddy vs. Jason which was horrible! My parents came over as well to say Hi and drop off their lawnmower as our $20.00 wondermower finally crapped out on us.

Sunday we mowed the lawn and took the girls swimming at Westwood. They had fun in the big pool and the small pool. Malinda is very possessive off her rubber bouncy balls-FYI. We then went over to my parents house for fathers day, watched Golf and A Knights Tale, ate Beef Stew outside. Went home late and I watched a double feature (IE me flipping back and forth) between Inside the Actors Studio 10 year special and Zoolander....3 days till Ohio!
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My neighborhood saga goes on...update on the crazy grass house, the city didnt want (and still hasnt) to mow the lawn because they didnt want to get sued for tresspassing! (even though the house has been vacant for months!), two days ago at dinnertime there were no less than 2 cop cars, 2 fire trucks and an ambulance next door at my neighbors house (they are quite elderly, I think either katie or Ray got taken to the hospital?), then this morning across the street at the Reed's (the family that has 2 sets of twins plus a singleton) there were two cop cars with lights on (I have NO idea why-but no one came out in handcuffs!) I'm wondering what's next, Hazmat?
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I also forgot to mention but my friend Shannen has a blog now, you can check that out at Shannon's Blog
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Watched a pretty OK movie last night, "Win a date with Tad Hamilton." It didnt suck and was pretty funny, it also helped that Topher Grace was the star and I really like him!

Girls decided this AM that they no longer want to eat a bottle before daycare, they want to try and bite everyone.

It rained this AM which sucked since the whole office had to dress nice for tonights board meeting, which entails Larry giving a speech and us getting a cookie at the WAC, or something.

Im sneeking a cup of Oolong Tea (naughty) but I have fallen asleep 2x at my desk and that isnt really ok.

Off to the farmers market in Madison on saturday with Robin, Breezy and the family, we also get to watch "Holes" and "Secondhand Lion's" tonight
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Ran MW last night. Had two jags there that I had never played against before. One guy was so loud Mya couldnt sleep (usually the girls can sleep through a war) so she was up till 9pm....and crabby. One guy was too busy 1: asking silly rules questions that even I know the answer to and 2: bitching about how "stupid" the rules are and how he quit playing for this reason etc....

I seriously hope these guys never show up again....our core group are nice and most importantly quiet people. These guys were incredible fuck ups. They showed up late, took like eons to build an army and bitched that I didnt give them extra time....arg.

Today I get to take myself out to lunch and I am debating on what to eat as I'm not really hungry for anything in specific...maybe I'll walk down to the public house....
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I went down to Boarders for lunch and bought a plethora of kids books. One of them is fuzzy and brown and is shaped like a monkey and is about-monkies. Then their is a bunny shaped book which when you pull its tale scoots all over the floor, and then two other books which make silly crinkly noises when you touch them. I also had a field day reading the Joss Weadon scribed X-Men comic as well.
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Had every intention of going to the gym last night after work. I felt like doo-doo afterwork and went home and had a much needed 40 min rest before picking up the girls at daycare. Apparantly, Mya attempted t o crawl into Morgan's (who is about 4 mo old?) carseat on top of her to try and go home with Morgan and her dad. Nice, my kid is already trying to escape me!

The grandparents came over and played with the kids for 45 min or so and then we put them to bed with no crying or waking up-yippie!

Dale actually got to play his PS2 game (something about a robot freedom fighter?) and I fell asleep reading my biography of Billy Wilder-so I got more sleep than I usually do.

COUNTDOWN TO OHIO!! WE LEAVE IN 9 DAYS! You can see what I plan on doing for 4 days by checking here Origins
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Picture of the day....why doesnt everyone own a wombat?


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A PICTURE OF ME AT THE ZOO:

ZOO PHOTO
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This is what we did this weekend: On Friday I had my Twins Club meeting, afterwards, Gretchen, Barb, Terri, Erin, and this other lady who used to be in the club but isnt now and I forget her name, went to Gretchen's Uncle's coffee shop (downtown Milwaukee, next to Hannon's) to chat. Remind me never to bring up religion in mixed company that I don't know well.

The lady whos name i dont know (here after referred as "lady") has 5 kids (in 5 years) and her husband was going to be ordained but wasnt and so is now just a deacon or whatever at the lutheran church they go to. We got around to discussing baptism and how we just got our kids done to please our parents etc... The lady apparantly is very devout about her faith and went into this whole "why did you baptise your kids if you dont believe etc.." riff. I also got the "well do you believe in god" riff.

I didnt bring it up because I could tell she was getting really pissed but my main problem with organized religion is that YOU (meaning the not me) have to be "right" about your (insert religion name here) faith. YOU then need to browbeat, argue, pamphlet ME showing me how right YOU are.

Arg.

I got home around 11 and crashed.

Saturday we took the girls to the zoo for a twins outting and didnt run into anyone but it was fun for 2 hours or so, the girls liked the monkeys as they came right up to the window to watch the girls.

Sunday my parents took the girls all afternoon to graduation parties. We went to the Home Depot for supplies and managed to sand and paint the new wall, take the stickers off the new door, scrape more wallpaper off the bathroom, go to the store and get home to kids who hadnt eaten since 11am (it was now like 4:30) except for fruit at the parties..we gave the girls a bath (Malinda has a bad diaper rash) and they were out for the night by 6pmish.

Mya kept waking up and wanting to be cuddled, get a bottle etc...Malinda slept straight through till her new wake up time (thanks kid) 4:15am. I am a zombie today.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE FORD-MOODY!!!
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# posted by Darlin : 7:41 AM  1 Comments

THE GREATEST GIFT EVER...(HINT HINT)

By Glenn Abel

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - All 45 episodes of the kids-and-critics fave "Pee-wee's Playhouse," including six "lost" installments making their home video debut, are headed for DVD this fall.

 

The shows will be packaged in two box sets, with a separate release for "Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special." A collector's set is due next year, which includes commentary and bonus materials from Paul Reubens (news), star and creator of the series.


"I am extremely pleased that 'Pee-wee's Playhouse' will be available on DVD," Reubens said, "The digital medium affords the shows a look that was not possible when they were originally broadcast or made available on VHS in the 1980s and '90s."


The show ran on CBS from 1986 to 1991, the year that Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure at a Florida porn theater, and picked up 22 Emmys. Electronic rock pioneer Todd Rundgren (news) did the theme song and music for many of the episodes.


Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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Also watched 3 movies this weekend, "Kill Bill V. 1"-4 outta 5 stars, "Big Fish" 5 outta five ( l really liked this movie) and we also rented "Slapshot" which was funny sometimes 3 outta 5, maybe if i cared about hockey????
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Harry Potter, 3 outta 5 stars-Just wasnt long enough...and they left out a few important things from the book (like Lupin and co made the map and Harry's dad was a stag when he transformed etc..) all and all it was good...maybe I just need to see it on DVD.

Saturday we had picture day and then went to watch a baseball game that my brother coached (they lost). Sunday we went to Jeff and Kristie's to game. Girls have colds and so do I.

The pictures have been disabled while I argue with my picture hosting service. arg.
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I have a headache.
I am going to see Harry Potter tonight If i can stay awake.

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The kids refuse to sleep unless we rock them to sleep. I guess starting next week we will have to endure a week of crying and baby benedryl.

Dale played MW against his nationals army last night and I read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban last night for the 10th time (to prepare for my Mary Night Out to see the movie at 5:15 tomorrow) and started on book 5 for shits and giggles.

I had my review last night at work and I get re-reviewed in 45 days (I think I may move up here to a new title-I dunno)

Gaming this Sunday at Jeffs....Pictures This saturday and then watching Uncle Bucko coach the West JV team if its nice out.
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for all my twin buddies out there:
WISCONSIN TWINS FESTIVAL:

wisconsin holds its own twin festival in Cassville, WI. Cassville is one of the oldest towns in WI, located in the SW corner of the state right on the banks of the Mississippi. The festival celebrates biological twins and multiple births!

This year the festival is scheduled for July 17th. Activities include food, a carnival, games, boat rides, a parade, music, fireworks, and much more!

For info contact Kathleeen Polich at 608-725-5855 or email her at twinorama53806@yahoo.com. Spend a day with your twins and many others enjoying a beautiful WI day!

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If you would like to see more of Craig's wedding pictures from the UN ceremony (plus nice shots of the statue of liberty) check out
craigs wedding pictures


and ill put up a nice picture of my favorite lawyer and his new bride!



are'nt they cute?!
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Also here is a picture of Mya with Breezy.


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AS PROMISED THIS IS CRAIG'S NEW WIFE :)

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It was not a long enough weekend. It rained too damn much (although congrats to the Mierzwa's who had nice weather for their wedding-i'll try to post a link to a picture here in a few days), I was very tired all weekend and sick most of the time.

Friday we stayed in with the kids-Saturday we went to Sam's club and the mall (note to self, do not go to Sams Club on a saturday when its raining no matter how many tasty free samples are offered.)-Sunday went to my aunts house for my cousin Matt/Pauls graduation (college and HS), Monday we were going to go to Mike's annual BBQ, but it was raining and cold and I didnt want to drive to tosa to hang at mikes house with the girls-so we spent a fun afternoon @ the Reynolds playing with Kieran who is a walkin' machine!

Today I have some calls to make and I will have some interesting news for everyone next week....
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