No Beaks: The End?

The Official End of the Summer of Art Season 4!

I'll be going to what I hope is a short but most likely will be long and pointless meeting.  Then, tomorrow will be the first day of school for all of the teachers.  We used to only have two institute days before the start of school...  now we have three.  And usually get very little self directed time to set up our rooms with the whips, chains and other torture devices to keep the students in line.

While it is kind of sad to be done with the Summer of Art Season 4 which included The Boss, Bascom the Wonderdog and our newest addition the Lil' Boss, all good things must come to an end!  You can feel it in the air...  it's the little bite in the breeze symbolizing a playoff run in baseball and the beginning of football.  It's in the darkness creeping in during the evening hours and taking away our summer daylight.  It's the end of summer.

The end of summer was effectively and officially called on Saturday at the 1st Annual D. Cassata Picnic in the Woods where we celebrated the Squad's B-Day in the thick and humid air of the Pioneer Forest Preserve.  It was a fitting end, which you can read more about at www.SpeedyWillie.org , where we battled the rain and humid air to party through the final afternoon and evening of summer.

Then... the next day the humidity broke and summer was over.  Back to reality for us teachers!  Bring on the Fall of '08!

This is the end... the end my friend!

Well as they say or at least Jim Morrison did..  This is the end.  The Boss, Lil' Boss and I returned home on Friday afternoon from the peace and serenity of the Northwoods to the sound of jet planes screaming across the clear blue sky!  Have I ever told you how much I live the annual Chicago Air and Water Show?

The return home usually brings a feeling of contentment and happiness.  The hiss of city buses and roars of sirens usually tells me I'm home and can relax.  Like the jingle of returning Mexican ice cream carts after a hard days work peddling hot dogs and balloons on the beach signifies an end to a day...  my friends, these days in the city may be numbered.

Having a baby and living in a city is very hard...  which was exemplified after spending over 14 days out of one.  Things are just much easier with a driveway, garage and yard!  And much quieter.  While true that the roar of the Big W in the Northwoods is often loud and annoying, eventually that bear passes out and sleeps.  The bears here seem to never go to sleep, pass out or stop roaring by at mach speed.

Anyway, here we are...  at the end of another Summer.  The Summer of  Art Season 4:  The W's Summer is nearly complete.  The Boss returned to a full day of work today and tomorrow and I'll be headed back to school three days this week, four the next and then students after Labor Day.  Bam!  Summer over...

Still, there were some wonderful times had on our trip up North!  It started off a little shaky with the Lil' Boss having an explosive bowel movement on the way up which required some hard core scrubbing somewhere outside of Black River Falls, WI.  Then, the Boss and I picked up a stomach bug that really was quite unpleasant.  Furthermore, the Sox vs. Twins game disappointed as the White Sox lost and the crazy Twinkie fans started throwing baseballs at the players.  But the Baptism and visiting with family and friends was wonderful.  We had a great time and being with the Lil' Boss made it seem much more real, like we are a real solid family of four!  That will never end even though the summer may.

Thus, we look forward to the Fall.  There will be some more trips, hopefully a run to the World Series for the Sox and the start of football for the Bears and Badgers!  But best of all, I'll be spending some more quality time with the W's...  which is a tale of new beginnings everyday!

I'll try to get some pictures together from the trip and another video.  Always make sure to check out Lilboss.net for new photo albums as well!  Have a day folks!

Christened Up North!

The family and I will be heading North today...  as we partake in a two week journey which will include spending time with family and friends in the Twin Cities and Northwoods of Wisconsin.

Thursday, the Boss and I will enjoy a "date" night, our first since the birth of the Lil' Boss, by taking in the Sox and Twins under the dome in Minneapolis.  This may or may not include dinner in a restaurant.

Saturday is dinner with the W's and the Boss family...  a meeting of the two families!

Sunday is the Christening for the Lil' Boss.  We decided to go with Catholicism for the little tyke!  She doesn't or didn't really have a say in the matter...  but we hope she enjoys it!

Then it is just a week of friends and family in the Land of 10,000 Lakes!  Sweet...

Next Friday we head up to the Northwoods of Wisconsin to spend a week with the W's....  an annual event we started several years ago.  It will be the Lil' Boss' first trip Up North!  It should be fun.

And all of you will get to see all of it upon our return in pictures and video...

To tide you over head over to You Tube and watch these!  Or watch this if you're not interested in any mRw Productions...

Till next time!

The Movies Watched

As has happened in previous years during the Summer of Art, movies have been a focal point of accomplishments during this time period.  I thought this may get lost in the mix with a newborn and all...  but turns out that newborns sleep an awful lot, nearly 16 hours a day, which opens things up for some quality movie watching!

I finally finished Season 3 of Entourage!   Which I almost finished last summer and wasn't entirely impressed...  Anyway, I'm finished now and really not that into it anymore.  Since the Boss is off with me for the next few weeks still for the Summer of Art Season 4, I've decided to jump into Season 1 of The Weeds because she mentioned interest.  Has anyone else watched this show?  It gets great reviews, and I always liked Mary Louise Parker on The West Wing, so we'll see!

As for movies, I have watched 30 Days of Night, Hot Fuzz, Dan in Real LIfe, Rescue Dawn and Charlie Wilson's War in the first half of the Summer of Art.  Here are the official No Beaks details on these flicks:

To begin, from worst to first Charlie Wilson's War...  is crap.  It is mostly all bullshit and the acting by Julia Roberts made me want to jump out of the window.  The historical validity of this movie is suspect and in the end this Wilson character is lauded for essentially starting the war in the Middle East in the 80's.  The movie tries to argue that this was some sort of accomplishment because it stopped the Red Army and defeated Communism.  Bullshit!

Dan in Real Life was okay except for Dane Cook who is a douche.  Steve Carrell was pretty good... and the story was okay for a cheesey romantic comedy.

Rescue Dawn was a great story about real life events of an American pilot who crashed and was held prisoner in Laos in the early days of the Vietnam War.  Christian Bale is awesome!  But the movie kind of hits a bump with Steve Zahn as another American soldier in the prison camp.  That guy is always the goofy guy in comedies like Saving Silverman, although he seems to be attempting to be in more dramatic roles these days.  Still he ruins this movie.

It was a tie for 30 Days of Night and Hot Fuzz.  30 Days of Night was good, not great, but good for a  vampire movie.  This horror crap is usually not my forte but the story of vampires taking over a small town in Northern Alaska where there is 30 days of night and a small group must fight to survive till the light comes...  was unique from most others in this genre and entertaining.

I really enjoyed Hot Fuzz.  I've only seen parts of Shaun of the Dead but Hot Fuzz was much funnier!  If you watch this movie...  stick it out to the end, it's worth it!

That's all for now, coming up will be Season 1 of Weeds, The Brave One and The Counterfeiters!  I would also like to get out and see The Dark Night but not until the crowds and freaks dressed as the Joker and Batman thin out...

Weekend Notes...

Chicago festivals are interesting...  They all have their own unique mood to them.  I met my wife at the Lakeview Festival, which used to on Clark and Addison and was moved over to Sheffield and Addison.  Today, I'm not sure that festival still goes on since the Metromix Festival Guide doesn't seem to list it.  That festival was about drinking...  considering all the bars on the street in which it was held...  once it was moved over to Sheffield, it changed.  I went the year it was moved and did not have a good time. 

I find Ribfest to be enjoyable because of the good food and descent location on Lincoln right at the six corners of Lincoln, Irving Park and Damen.  I first met a helping of ribs and cheese fries there, which has brought me back year after year...

This past weekend the Boss and I returned to the Folk and Roots Festival sponsored by the Old Town School of Folk Music on Lincoln at Montrose and Welles Park.  I like this festival because it is great for hippie watching.  It is less about food and more about the music, (which from what we heard, granted we were only there for the first three hours of the festival with baby in tow, sucked and the band Unibrown is NOT good) and sales of hemp necklaces and ferret discs.

Anyway...  these are three unique festivals that vary so greatly in what they offer and the vibe they exude.  And that my friends, in a nutshell, explains Chicago.  Much like the differing neighborhoods and diverse population, summer in the city of "Big Shoulders" is about the different ways we like our festivities and how ALL of us can go to each to enjoy and take part in it together. 

The Tuesdays...

So far this morning my daughter has spit up on me three times, I've watched the same newscast three times in a row and the dog threw up. I woke up to feed the little one at 5:30 am... after eating she spit up on me. I changed her and did some clean up...  sat down to watch the news and she spit up on me again.  Repeat clean up...  during which time the dog comes out from the bedroom, walks down the hallway and pukes in the hall.  So I finish with the Lil' Boss and clean up after the dog too.  Now, in a new outfit and all cleaned up we sit down to check out the news...  and she spits up AGAIN!  Third time is a charm...  cleaned her up, covered her in a blanket and then she fell asleep.

I learned from the news that it will be hot and muggy as well as the fact that the Indians essentially gave up on their season.  Good news for the Sox!  Not so good for the Cubs!  So all in all I have a case of the Tuesdays...  not as bad as the Mondays, but it isn't jubilee either!

Anyway...  I'm going to go email Ozzie now on how I think Jim Thome and Paul Konerko in the same line-up ruins the White Sox.

Holiday Week... Ends.

The 4th in Chicago was...  interesting.  Besides the thousand or so Blackcats blown off by the neighborhood kids until 10 pm and the quarter sticks of dynamite exploding across the street, as the Boss said, "I don't think we're staying in Chicago for the Fourth again..."

I am sure that the people across the street spent between 1 to 2 grand in fireworks as their display was the equivalent of a small town in Nebraska's yearly Homeland Security Defense Fund 4th display.  The problem is they were blowing their rockets off of their roof and they were exploding over Montrose!  I really don't know the safety precautions of rocket propelled aerial displays, but I'm thinking the fact that most "legal" displays only light off such fireworks in pretty controlled areas far from the crowds says, they were not taking proper safety measures.  Furthermore, they had been outside drinking since about 2 in the afternoon...  which also may prove this point.

On Saturday, the Chef and Molly threw one heck of a party with great games, food and more.  The Boss and I had to depart prior to the more...  the the games and food were wonderful!  Happy 30th Chef and thanks for the great eats.

A side note...  the Rooster made his return appearance to the Chicagoland area at the Chef's party.  It was good to see the little guy.  It has been nearly a year since we hung out...  last August to be exact, but as always it was good to see him.

Other than that...  Bascom the Wonderdog goes to the Doc for a final check up on her dog flu.  We're hoping she is done with the antibiotics.  She has been acting much more lively and not coughing over the last few days...  which we take as a good sign.

Hope you all had a good weekend!  Talk to you later.

To the Fourth! Of July...

John Adams predicted it...  the Chinese helped it happen!  The 4th of July!  The fireworks, parades and pomp...  is exciting.

This will be the first time the Boss and I have spent the 4th in the city in over 5 years.  Each year we ordinarily head up to the Northwoods and visit with the W's.  Last year, DJ McPickleshitters and the Bird stayed at our place over the 4th while moving to Chicago.  They said some people spent the night lighting off large rocket fireworks from the lot across the street which seemed to be falling on the roof of our home.  So...  our 4th promises to be an exciting one!

Many of us will be celebrating the Chef's 30th on Saturday the 5th, which I'm sure will prove to be a blast at the Chef and Molly's house!  It will be Frannie's first party!

Word has it that most people will be sticking around town because of the small loan required to purchase gas to travel.  However, with the sales tax up to 10% in the city, they won't be sticking around to shop or apparently buy milk, which is also very expensive.  Good excuse to drink more beer!  Right?  I think the saying is...  "When milk is more expensive than beer, buy more beer!"  Of course there is one of those for gas too...  "Don't drink and drive, gas is too expensive.  So just drink more!"  Or something like that... or this.

Later.

Some News and Notes... After a week of parenthood.

Things are well after a week of parenthood but some issues have arisen over the past few days.  First of all...  the Lil' Boss seems very reluctant to poop, which is odd considering that her parents, namely her father, is a big time pooper from way back.  That is until we shoved a suppository up her pooter last night...  and well the geyser she did blow!  Without getting into details...  there were some after explosions following the initial discovery of mineral deposits.  It was quite a show.

Secondly, we had a major issue with Bascom the Wonderdog on Monday.  After returning from the kennel due to the Lil' Boss' arrival, she started coughing on Monday and by Tuesday was listless and glassy eyed.  When I asked if she wanted a treat...  she didn't even move.  At that point, we knew something was up.  We made a trip to the vet and discovered that she caught the dog flu or canine influenza that has hit the Chicagoland area over the last few months.  The "cough" was a sign of the serious strain that gestates into pneumonia.  However, after a day of antibiotics and iv fluids at the hospital, her temperature broke and was allowed to come home.  Her temperature was gone by Tuesday, but she is now on a two week routine of 6 pills a day...  which she loves! 

This all went over well yesterday as the Lil' Boss was geysering poop and the Boss and I spent an hour or so getting Bascom to swallow three pills, one of which is the size of a Tums!  Peanut butter shoved into the back of the throat eventually did the trick...  and breaking up the big pill and hiding the pieces and two others in a glob of wet food worked today, but she seems to catch on to our tricks and won't eat them if she thinks we're giving her the pills.  Yesterday morning she ate ALL of the wet and dry food mixture we gave EXCEPT two of the pills!  That's what led to the peanut butter force it... 

In other news...  word is that the Rooster is finally heaving ho in Texas and coming back to Chicago. 

That's all for now!

Summer of Art Season 4: The W's Summer Off

Today is officially the start of the Summer of Art Season 4...  this season is special for a couple reasons.  First, the Boss will be joining me and Bascom this summer on what we call a veee-cation.  Also, soon, we should be joined by the Lil' Boss.  Any day now...  seriously ANY DAY.  And you can stop calling to ask...  we'll tell you when she comes.  Seriously!

So far we've spent three straight days in some very gorgeous weather down at the dog beach and relaxing around the house.  We did head to the Old Town Art Fair for a spell on Saturday, which about wiped out the Boss, but had a great time nonethless. 

On Sunday the Boss tried to feed me guvbement (that's government pronounced GUB-A-MENT) cheese.  She made hot ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch, putting the sharp cheddar deli cheese on her sandwich and the plastic wrapped guvbement cheese on mine.  She didn't think I'd notice the difference...  but I did.  I'm from Wisconsin...  if there is one thing we notice it's subpar cheese along with beer and bratwurst.  I called her on it...  and trust it won't happen again!

Today we ventured down to the dog beach and hung out in my "spot" for a couple hours...  and the Boss met her new BFF riding on her bike pictured below!  If you can zoom in close enough...  that is an older Mexican woman riding a bike wearing a sombrero!  Which I think wins some sort of contest somewhere...

Alas...  let the Summer of Art Season 4:  The W's Summer Off  BEGIN!!!