A little over 24 hours until the first wave of trick or treaters ring the bell and I don’t have candy in the house.  You might remember I got a sweet deal on mini sized Play-Doh for treats…well, my husband is demanding candy be given out as well. 

     See, he’s from Detroit.  And he remembers what Detroit kids would have done to the house that didn’t give out candy on Halloween.  I believe he specifically mentioned me finding Play-Doh in the keyhole of the front door.  So, I’ll grab some candy, for sure, before tomorrow evening.  Two treats are better than one, right?

Popularity: 15% [?]

My oldest son Max, the one some listeners might remember as the Packer Guru, is home from college this weekend “for the holiday.” He’s a freshman first child, so his homecoming might be even more of a holiday for me and his mom than it is for him. But make no mistake, Halloween on State Street is a holiday to him!

Funny thing is, before last year he had never gone to State Street on Halloween. Even as a high schooler, he had mostly been content to wander our neighborhood trolling for treats and girls in cute costumes. But now it’s a “holiday.” And boy,  do I know why…

My first visit to Madison was as a college freshman on Halloween Night. I came in a van with a bunch of other students from Ripon College, unloading on Gilman Street just 10 yards away from State Street.

Within seconds of climbing out of the van I was face to face with two huge examples of complimentary human anatomy, certainly the biggest I had ever seen before or since. The man and the woman inside of those costumes could tell that we had just arrived from out of town and shouted,  ”welcome to Madison!”

They had me at “welcome.”

I don’t remember much that happened after that; I can only imagine why. But I DO remember that it was a blast and that it might have been the planting of the idea to live in Madison that eventually sprouted for me a few years later.

So I definitely get it that Max wanted to come “home for the holiday.” I just hope that he’s as enthusiastic about a return trip at the end of November….

Popularity: 15% [?]

I review the Michael Jackson documentary: This Is It.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Rated PG – 1h52 -

Prepare yourself for a Michael Jackson love festival, that will please the fans, but is just a touch too long.

The documentary This Is It is a collection of footage filmed as Jackson was preparing for a series of sold out London concerts that never happened. The footage was supposed to be kept in his personal library.

After hearing the length of the film, I predicted a run time of 1h52 might be a bit too long. Most documentaries need to keep under 90 minutes or they run the risk of repeating themselves. That is also true for This Is It.

On a purely technical level, I can’t say this documentary is anything great. The focus is mostly on Jackson, but it also drifts to the other, less interesting performers in his entourage. They’re just a googly eyed as the fans that scream their heads off at the mere sight of MJ.

What was interesting is something you don’t see. Jackson is not sickly and drugged out. If anything, he’s drunk on his passion for his music.

There is a certain grandiose sort of tragedy to this film. You get to see some excellent behind the scene footage showing Jackson’s persistently striving for perfection. You get to see being a shot caller. You get to see the reason why he’s known to the world as the King of Pop. You also get the feeling that this is the last you ever get to see of him.

I took particular note of some things I consider to be trademarks of a professional performer. 1. Do they keep going even after making a mistake? 2. After stopping in the middle of a song, how quickly can you pick up exactly where you left off. Jackson nails them both.

I feel for the filmmaker in this case. He obviously spent a ton of time prepping the video sequences that were to be used in the concerts. If I were him, I would have demanded that this film be made just so somebody could watch them.

I can’t say I felt any more for Jackson after watching This Is It. I knew he was a great musician. I knew he was a professional. I knew the guy had moves.

I guess the film achieved its goal, because I still wish I’d be able to see more of him. That’s a true professional. Always leave them wanting more.

Overall Ratings: (Out of Four)
Date Friendly:
Good Humor:
Artistic Value:
Drama
Kid Friendly:

Popularity: 22% [?]

There seems to be much less animosity heading into this weekend’s Green Bay-Minnesota game. Just to make sure nobody ends up with hurt feelings…I’ve decided to make Fletch, Heather and myself do a little dance with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.

I’m so good at this, I should start negotiating worldwide peace talks…

Click to listen…

Popularity: 17% [?]

     My mom finally made it in last night from Tallahassee (via Memphis)…I say finally because she should have arrived at 8:30pm but it was after 10pm before the plane touched down.  There is not much you can do in a case like this but laugh so here’s the scenario we came up with…

     What if an airport employee on the west coast decided to stop for coffee on the way into work and ended up running three minutes late.  That led to throwing off the baggage department, who had to hold a plane for a bit due to needing the right amount of workers to load suitcases and whatnot.  And so on and so on, until it’s 7:15pm in Memphis and the plane from San Antonio hasn’t arrived yet to ferry passengers up to Madison.  All for that one, lowly cup o’ joe…

     Again, might as well laugh in situations like that because you sure can’t do anything about it!

Popularity: 13% [?]

If you want to make something gruesome and delicious …well then, there’s only one thing you can make, and that’s a meat hand.

Go ahead, click here if you dare, and see the possibilities for something that somehow could be both gruesome and delicious!

Popularity: 13% [?]

All this week football fans, Favre fans, Packers fans, and Turmoil fans are debating how or if to cheer or boo Brett Favre when he returns to Lambeau Field on Sunday. And nobody is wrong about what is the right thing to do, because it’s all just personal opinion anyway. And in America, by gosh, the Constitution guarantees our right to think as we please,  no matter what those thoughts might say about us.

My friend and longtime partner on the morning show, Adam Elliott, strode into the studio this morning wearing a Yankees cap. Wearing that cap said a lot to me about who Adam is. And it surprised me since I had never known that Adam cared a whit about the New York Yankees.

While we could pointlessly debate the good and the bad about the New York Yankees ( it’s all opinion, anyway, so that’s why it’s pointless), what remains is how I look at Adam now that I know he’s a Yankees Fan. Sure, I have my own opinions about the Yanks, and that’s why Adam’s fandom affects me.

Does it mean I don’t like or trust Adam anymore? Of course not. What it means is that I now know what I’ll give Adam for his birthday this weekend: a screwdriver, since his hat is telling me that he might have a screw that needs tighetning….

Popularity: 11% [?]

Browsing through the news today, I saw this story which caught my attention. It nearly gave me a headache, but I’m sure it’s not a tumor.

California’s Governor Arnold “The Governator” Schwarzenegger seems to be a bit upset with his state of politics. From what I can see…he told his fellow politicians to go sit on it. OK, that’s putting it nicely. He didn’t full out pump them full of lead, but in  a rather boring letter about budget negotiations, he seemingly drops a major F-BOMB in their direction.

I’ve been known to do a puzzle or two, so I know when the words line up the right way it’s rarely a mistake. As you see in this letter, the letters on the left side of each paragraph seem to spell out the naughtiest of all curse words.

Was it a mistake or on purpose?  I think he may be getting bored of all that governing and was trying to entertain himself.

Then again, this seems kind of clever.  I may be giving him too much credit.

Hasta la vista, Baby. I  gotta go.  Somebody is knocking on the door asking for a Sarah Connor.

Click on the image to see the full thing. Careful. May be NSFW.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Popularity: 19% [?]