As we sit in our warm homes eating cake and watching "Dancing with the Stars," most of us aren't aware of the struggles other people in the world are going through.
Both the book and the movie "Pursuit of Happyness" are reminders that not everyone is going to sleep in a warm bed tonight and some people will fall asleep hungry.
"Pursuit of Happyness" is based on the true story of Chris Gardner. Chris is a failing salesman trying to sell a medical device that practically no one wants to buy. Chris loses his wife, his apartment, and almost his son, and becomes homeless. Chris never gives up. He juggles taking care of his son and an internship at a brokerage house. The story does have a happy ending.
The movie, starring Will Smith and his son, Jaden Smith, is great. And the movie was so emotional that people were crying in the audience, which is rare. I expect Will Smith will be nominated for an academy award.
The book offers more detail and explains a lot about Chris Gardner's childhood but is not a good read. The book doesn't get good until almost the end. And the idea that Chris had a maniac for a stepfather is stated way too many times. I'm not saying Chris didn't have a hard childhood. I'm just saying that telling us that 20 times 20 different ways does very little to bring the point home. And by the way, Chris grew up in Milwaukee. The book also tells how Chris, after becoming a successful stockbroker, has helped the homeless and other causes.
One thing I liked about the movie was the audience. The audience was 98 percent white. Why do I bring this up? Only a few years ago, a white audience would not pay to see a movie about the struggles of a black man. I think this audience saw a man struggling and didn't care about the color of his skin and cheered for him just the same.
So, if you're looking for a good Christmas movie, this is it.
Rated PG-13 for language.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Christmas in Las Vegas
Wendy and I flew to Las Vegas last weekend as a spur of the moment kind of thing.
We've been to Las Vegas many times before, but never in December. It was kind of nice because there were fewer people there. That meant shorter lines or no lines to get into different casinos, restaurants, and events. However, we've been warned by friends that it's a madhouse for New Year's eve because of all the California visitors.
Some of the casinos did a great job of decorating for Christmas but most casinos didn't decorate at all.
We went to a show featuring the Scintas. This is a family show full of singing, comedy, and impressions. It was fun.
We went toTodai, my favorite restaurant in Vegas, which has a huge selection of Sushi.
It's always interesting to look at the expensive stores in these casinos. It's strange to look at a shelf in one of these stores and see just one purse or pair of shoes on that shelf. You see that one purse or pair of shoes can cost as much as $600, or more.
Singers Celine Dion and Elton John have stores of their own in the Caeser's Palace casino. Maybe some people would like to be famous and have their name printed on shirts, key chains, and everything else. But I thought it was kind of silly. I'm sure fans of those two singers feel differently about it.
Our package deal arranged for us to stay at Harrah's. The room was very nice and fairly large. Only disadvantage was the view was terrible, but we could live with that.
The Las Vegas monorail had advantages and disadvantages. The monorail is fast and efficient. For a day pass, it's $15 per person/ticket. The disadvantage was that the monorail was built behind the casinos on the east side of Las Vegas boulevard. So, the casinos on the west side are quite a distance from the monorail. And to get to the monorail, one has to walk all the way through the casino to get to the back where the monorail station is. If the casino is crowded, getting to the back can be time consuming and annoying.
One thing Wendy and I noticed in the airports this time was the number of people who were traveling with their dogs and cats. The animals were in small carriers, which had to fit underneath the airplane seats.
Most of the time, our plane was too high to see Christmas decorations on the ground. But when we were landing and taking off, we could see Christmas decorations on some houses and they were very pretty. This must be the view Santa has when he is flying around the world.
We've been to Las Vegas many times before, but never in December. It was kind of nice because there were fewer people there. That meant shorter lines or no lines to get into different casinos, restaurants, and events. However, we've been warned by friends that it's a madhouse for New Year's eve because of all the California visitors.
Some of the casinos did a great job of decorating for Christmas but most casinos didn't decorate at all.
We went to a show featuring the Scintas. This is a family show full of singing, comedy, and impressions. It was fun.
We went toTodai, my favorite restaurant in Vegas, which has a huge selection of Sushi.
It's always interesting to look at the expensive stores in these casinos. It's strange to look at a shelf in one of these stores and see just one purse or pair of shoes on that shelf. You see that one purse or pair of shoes can cost as much as $600, or more.
Singers Celine Dion and Elton John have stores of their own in the Caeser's Palace casino. Maybe some people would like to be famous and have their name printed on shirts, key chains, and everything else. But I thought it was kind of silly. I'm sure fans of those two singers feel differently about it.
Our package deal arranged for us to stay at Harrah's. The room was very nice and fairly large. Only disadvantage was the view was terrible, but we could live with that.
The Las Vegas monorail had advantages and disadvantages. The monorail is fast and efficient. For a day pass, it's $15 per person/ticket. The disadvantage was that the monorail was built behind the casinos on the east side of Las Vegas boulevard. So, the casinos on the west side are quite a distance from the monorail. And to get to the monorail, one has to walk all the way through the casino to get to the back where the monorail station is. If the casino is crowded, getting to the back can be time consuming and annoying.
One thing Wendy and I noticed in the airports this time was the number of people who were traveling with their dogs and cats. The animals were in small carriers, which had to fit underneath the airplane seats.
Most of the time, our plane was too high to see Christmas decorations on the ground. But when we were landing and taking off, we could see Christmas decorations on some houses and they were very pretty. This must be the view Santa has when he is flying around the world.
If you would like to see more Las Vegas photos, click on the link below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jack390/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jack390/
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Friday, November 24, 2006
Lost Can Get Lost
My daughter, Missy, got me interested in the TV show "Lost." I ignored the show during its first season but Missy convinced me to give the show a try. So, I rented the first season and got interested. And I've been watching and enjoying it except until this fall season.
Granted, "Lost," doesn't follow a normal story line but this year's episodes were just a little too random and crazy. And I'm beginning to wonder if the show's main writer is an alcoholic on skid row working for a bottle of whiskey per script.
And, now "Lost" is on hiatus until January. What's up with that? Now, I don't have a show to watch that doesn't make sense and gives me a headache each week. I'm deprived.
Some people might say that once it starts up again in January, I will be watching it again. I'm not so sure. There are plenty of other shows that make sense and DON'T give me a headache every week.
Granted, "Lost," doesn't follow a normal story line but this year's episodes were just a little too random and crazy. And I'm beginning to wonder if the show's main writer is an alcoholic on skid row working for a bottle of whiskey per script.
And, now "Lost" is on hiatus until January. What's up with that? Now, I don't have a show to watch that doesn't make sense and gives me a headache each week. I'm deprived.
Some people might say that once it starts up again in January, I will be watching it again. I'm not so sure. There are plenty of other shows that make sense and DON'T give me a headache every week.
Chas Gets Straight AAAAAAAs
One of my nephews, Chas, recently got straight As on his report card. We're all proud of him. And like me, he and his brother, William, like to play video games. So, yes video games can be good for you and your brain.
Black Friday Adventures
According to about.com, this is the origin of the term "Black Friday":
"...The origin of Black Friday comes from the shift to profitability during the holiday season. Black Friday was when retailers went from being unprofitable, or "in the red," to being profitable, or "in the black", at a time when accounting records were kept by hand and red indicated loss and black profit"
I started my black Friday, yesterday, on Thursday. CompUSA was having a sale last night from 9pm to midnight. I got the $200 computer I wanted for a relative and other techy, geeky stuff, including a laser printer.
Now before you start thinking that I'm rich, I got the laser printer for $69. Laser printers have come way down in price.
Why a laser printer? I got upset and irritable recently because we've had so much trouble keeping ink in my ink jet printer. Ink jet cartridges are very expensive in my opinion. There's no gold in those cartridges. We've tried having the cartridges refilled at a nearby store but the cartridges have been real hit and miss once we got them home. Laser toner cartridges commonly cost between $60 and $75 and can last up to 5,000 pages depending on the brand.
I've just got to the point where I want to print when I want to print. I don't want to stock up on cartridges, run to the store for a cartridge, or anything else. And I don't print that much, really.
I also got a couple of laptop coolers for $10 each. These metal devices sit under your laptop and keep them cool. If you've used a laptop for a long time, you know they get pretty warm.
CompUSA did a great job of having enough cashiers and being organized. They also handed vouchers out at their front door which calmed people down. And CompUSA had plenty of stuff for everyone. We got everything we wanted.
Now, Wal-Mart was another story. They were very disorganized. Also, on their web site they had a computer for sale. I found out after waiting and fighting the crowds at Wal-Mart that that computer was not sold in Wisconsin. WELL, why not tell us that on your web site before we spend all of sorts of time at your store???
Also, my wife, Wendy, had a bad experience at American TV where she waited for 2 hours.
Black Friday is supposed to encourage customers to buy at your store. A little planning goes a long way.
"...The origin of Black Friday comes from the shift to profitability during the holiday season. Black Friday was when retailers went from being unprofitable, or "in the red," to being profitable, or "in the black", at a time when accounting records were kept by hand and red indicated loss and black profit"
I started my black Friday, yesterday, on Thursday. CompUSA was having a sale last night from 9pm to midnight. I got the $200 computer I wanted for a relative and other techy, geeky stuff, including a laser printer.
Now before you start thinking that I'm rich, I got the laser printer for $69. Laser printers have come way down in price.
Why a laser printer? I got upset and irritable recently because we've had so much trouble keeping ink in my ink jet printer. Ink jet cartridges are very expensive in my opinion. There's no gold in those cartridges. We've tried having the cartridges refilled at a nearby store but the cartridges have been real hit and miss once we got them home. Laser toner cartridges commonly cost between $60 and $75 and can last up to 5,000 pages depending on the brand.
I've just got to the point where I want to print when I want to print. I don't want to stock up on cartridges, run to the store for a cartridge, or anything else. And I don't print that much, really.
I also got a couple of laptop coolers for $10 each. These metal devices sit under your laptop and keep them cool. If you've used a laptop for a long time, you know they get pretty warm.
CompUSA did a great job of having enough cashiers and being organized. They also handed vouchers out at their front door which calmed people down. And CompUSA had plenty of stuff for everyone. We got everything we wanted.
Now, Wal-Mart was another story. They were very disorganized. Also, on their web site they had a computer for sale. I found out after waiting and fighting the crowds at Wal-Mart that that computer was not sold in Wisconsin. WELL, why not tell us that on your web site before we spend all of sorts of time at your store???
Also, my wife, Wendy, had a bad experience at American TV where she waited for 2 hours.
Black Friday is supposed to encourage customers to buy at your store. A little planning goes a long way.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Christmas Dinner 12-2-06
Christmas Dinner will be held:
12-2-06, Saturday
1:00pm
at Bernice's in Janesville.
12-2-06, Saturday
1:00pm
at Bernice's in Janesville.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Wine and Cheese Show at Madison, WI
Missy and I attended a wine and cheese show in Madison, Wisconsin, last Sunday.
At the entrance, you are given a wine glass, a cloth shopping bag, and a wine list of vendors that you can check off when you find a wine you like. At each booth, you are given a sample of wine or cheese to try. The wine vendors were being very generous with their samples. Because I was driving home, I had to tell each vendor to give me just a small amount.
The fun part of this is trying different wines. At the end of the show, I bought two bottles of Late Harvest Riesling from the Washington Hills winery. Wendy and I like sweet wines. I would have bought some Sweet Mead from the White Winter Winery but they weren't for sale at the show. But I was told that this mead is available in the Madison area.
In addition, I bought some Bee Barf honey (they have to come up with a better name), a bottle of MFP Barbeque Sauce, and a bottle of Di Salvo's Italian barbecue sauce. Unfortunately, I left the bottle of Di Salvo's BBQ sauce low enough for our dog, Jessie, to get into. I never thought Jessie would be able to get a hard plastic cap off of a glass bottle, but she did it. So, Jessie ate my bottle of Italian barbecue sauce (with no obvious ill effects). (I'm sure after she got it open, Oscar helped her eat it.) The Di Salvo's barbecue sauce I tried at the show was an excellent mix of pasta sauce with a slight barbecue flavor. Di Salvo's has a place in Stoughton, just south of Madison, where I can go and buy more sauce.
Admission to this type of wine show is not cheap: $35 per person. But it's better to go to a show like this and buy and discover wine you like than buying 20 bottles of wine to try and then throwing some of them out. Most of the wines offered at this show averaged $8 to $10 per bottle.
This was a fun activity for a Sunday afternoon.
At the entrance, you are given a wine glass, a cloth shopping bag, and a wine list of vendors that you can check off when you find a wine you like. At each booth, you are given a sample of wine or cheese to try. The wine vendors were being very generous with their samples. Because I was driving home, I had to tell each vendor to give me just a small amount.
The fun part of this is trying different wines. At the end of the show, I bought two bottles of Late Harvest Riesling from the Washington Hills winery. Wendy and I like sweet wines. I would have bought some Sweet Mead from the White Winter Winery but they weren't for sale at the show. But I was told that this mead is available in the Madison area.
In addition, I bought some Bee Barf honey (they have to come up with a better name), a bottle of MFP Barbeque Sauce, and a bottle of Di Salvo's Italian barbecue sauce. Unfortunately, I left the bottle of Di Salvo's BBQ sauce low enough for our dog, Jessie, to get into. I never thought Jessie would be able to get a hard plastic cap off of a glass bottle, but she did it. So, Jessie ate my bottle of Italian barbecue sauce (with no obvious ill effects). (I'm sure after she got it open, Oscar helped her eat it.) The Di Salvo's barbecue sauce I tried at the show was an excellent mix of pasta sauce with a slight barbecue flavor. Di Salvo's has a place in Stoughton, just south of Madison, where I can go and buy more sauce.
Admission to this type of wine show is not cheap: $35 per person. But it's better to go to a show like this and buy and discover wine you like than buying 20 bottles of wine to try and then throwing some of them out. Most of the wines offered at this show averaged $8 to $10 per bottle.
This was a fun activity for a Sunday afternoon.
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