March of the Penguins

This is a charming documentary about how penguins live in Antarctica. How they struggle to survive in an extremely harsh environment. And how family plays an important part in their survival.

If you like wildlife documentaries and you'd like to watch something the whole family can enjoy, rent this movie.

Mr. and Mrs. Formula

I rented Mr. and Mrs. Smith recently. And it was pretty bad.

In this movie, Mr. and Mrs. Smith are married to each other and paid assassins. What you're supposed to believe is that they don't know what each other really does for a living. After a few years of marriage, they end up trying to kill each other.

Mr. Smith is played by Brad Pitt. Mrs. Smith is played by Angelina Jolie. I like both Pitt and Jolie but this movie is wasted on them. The plot is predictable and unbelievable. There are a few funny moments but not enough of them to recommend this movie. This is a formula movie through and through.

We received this photo, among others, from James and Carmen in an e-mail. And I thought I would share. 

Here's a new photo from Barb in Thailand. 

Don't Expect Much in December

I won't be posting much on this site this month. It's going to very busy: a trip to Chicago; Christmas parties; and finals are coming.

Christmas CD Coming

Wendy and I took a bunch of photos at the annual Christmas dinner. We are in the process of mailing out a photo CD to everyone.

The dinner was very good. Fun was had by all. And we drove through a blizzard getting home. So, it was just about perfect.

Christmas Party 2005. Merry Christmas to all. 

Here is William enjoying a piece of pumpkin pie without using the proper untensil. Check out the photo below where you may figure out where he got his manners from. 

William's photo is above this one. As you can see Lisa here is demonstrating that the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree. 

Be forewarned: This is what happens when you eat too much turkey and drink too much soda. 

At the annual Christmas dinner, one of Bernice's presents was a recliner.  

Here is the latest photo from Barb. She is working in Thailand in an orphanage. Her recent e-mail says shes facing many challenges there but through faith is able to meet those challenges. We wish her well. 

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving dinner today. But we missed some of our friends, Liz and Peter, and some of our relatives.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!!

Muhammad Ali Museum Opens

I've been a fan of the boxer Muhammad Ali all my life. Years ago, before the invention of the video recorder, I had to rearrange my life in order to be home on the right nights to watch Ali's fights on TV.

Ali was larger than life. He made boxing a must see form of entertainment. And it's interesting to note that after Ali quit boxing, I lost interest in the sport. I tried watching thugs like Mike Tyson but found myself disappointed time and time again.

Anyway, my point is that a Muhammad Ali museum opened today in Louisville, Kentucky. I plan on visiting it someday and truly believe that Ali deserves the honor he received today.

Bad Christmas Commercials

In the last two days, I've seen two really bad Christmas commercials.

Early Bird Specials: Kohl's is running a TV commercial advertising early bird specials for Black Friday using chickens racing down a road. Here's the problem: thousands of chickens and other types of birds are being killed because of the avian/bird flu threat. And this avian/bird flu has already killed people. This may not be the best time to use chickens/birds to advertise your sales.

Honda Holiday: Honda is now running commercials that say something like have a happy Honda holiday! Talk about the commercialization of Christmas!!!! How about Merry Honda and a happy new Honda? Or how about the twelve days of Honda. You get my point.

Snow arrived in Madison, Wisconsin, this week. 

Missy performing her first surgery. We're very proud of her.  

We don't have grandkids yet but we do have a grand-kitty now. This is a photo of Bailey. Missy adopted this kitten after she performed surgery on her.  

Jerry celebrating in this photo. He was in a bowling tournement last Saturday. His team came in 3rd and will be going to the Wisconsin state bowling tournement on Dec. 3rd.  

Jerry made a strike with this throw. 

Chas and William were at Jerry's tournement. 

Lisa and the boys were watching Jerry bowl at his tournement. You may want compare this photo with the one below of Justin. 

If you've been wondering what Justin has been up to lately, just take a look at this photo. I usually make him laugh but he got me this time. 

Jessie and Oscar are waiting for more trick or treaters. 

This is a kid that came to our door on Halloween wearing a table as a costume. What a great costume! There is a little hole in the table on the right side to place treats in. 

Food and Wine Show

My daughter and I attended the Food and Wine Show today in Madison, WI, at the Alliant Energy Center exhibition hall.

Some people think that these kind of events are for rich people, which isn't true. Most of the wine costs about $10 to $20 a bottle. And the beer is even less espensive.

Once we paid the fee at the door, everything else was free. And the best way to find out which wine you like is to sample many different kinds. My wife and I have discovered that we like the sweeter wines. And I tend to like either the lighter beers or the very dark beers.

My favorite was the Blueberry Mead at the White Winter Winery booth. My second favorite drink was the pumpkin spice coffee at the Cameron's Coffee booth.

There was a variety of things to drink and eat at the show: different kinds of cheese, wine, beer, pizza, barbecue sauce, and more. And there was a chef's cook off and cooking demonstrations. Some grocery stores and restaurants had samples and exhibits.

My daughter and I had a lot of fun at this show on this rainy day in Madison.

Some people at the Food and Wine show today. 

This very nice lady was selling a kind of cord necklace you could put your wine glass into and hang the glass around your neck. 

I had great pumpkin spice coffee at this booth with a shot of caramel in it. 

I sampled the barbecue sauce at this booth and it was excellent. The brand is called Saz's. 

Great metal art by Steve Combronne. See more at stevecambronne.com I especially liked the Tiki Bar piece. 

Great beer from a Canadian brewery. I liked the Original Dark. The story of this brewery is interesting and can be found at sleeman.com under the section called Our Story. Basically, the brewery was shut down during prohibition and then started back up in 1988. 

I really liked these wine glasses. They're even more attractive than the photo shows.