more photos now posted!

Due to scheduling, we hosted a Halloween party on Nov. 3rd. It was a generally small affair, but did bring in some great costumes. Most of our parties typically last well into the early morning hours, but this one was dead and done by only 1am. I have no explanation, despite the extra hour received through the end of Daylight Savings Time. Are we really getting that old?

My effeminate pirate costume was the Hindenburg of all costumes: an incredible, flaming disaster. Interpret that as you wish.

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(A. Gerik / Journal Star) more photos

YATES CITY, ILL., Nov. 16 – With the 18th District Congressional race heating up here in central Illinois, I was sent to the tiny community of Yates City (pop. 751) to cover a town hall meeting with lone Democratic candidate Dick Versace. This is the same Versace that coached Bradley University basketball and eventually made his way into a cushy job as an NBA executive. About a dozen people show, all very pleasant and jovial toward Versace as hands are shook, hugs doled out and smiles exchanged. Then came the open forum portion of the meeting:

“If you can’t speak English within a year, you’re going back to Mexico!” yells a portly bald man in glasses. “I’m talkin’ about the illegals.”

Illegals. Should someone should tell him that “illegal” is an adjective?

Before I give this town a bad name, I do give credit to another guy in a hunting jacket who mentioned his energy concerns. He wants to produce wind energy on his properties, but finds it hard to begin due to red tape and local regulations.

“I haven’t seen anything that says we have an energy problem,” another balding guy retorts. This starts a back-and-forth where everyone is gravely concerned with gas prices, ignoring any political ramifications or environmental concerns.

“I heard that they got these cars that run on water!” yells the portly bald man again.

With gritted teeth, Congressional hopeful Dick Versace tries his hand at archery as he visits a local Yates City business Monday night during a stop on his ‘Common Sense Express’ tour of the 18th District. (A. Gerik / Journal Star)

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With last year’s Halloween a complete flop, I decided to actually put forth some effort this time. Pumpkins were purchased, terribly overpriced candy was thrown in the shopping cart and soon it was 4pm on October 31st. I started carving the two smaller pumpkins, thinking that they’d be quick and easy. Not so! These little bastards may look cute and fun, but they’re a complete bitch to slice into. Some blame could probably be placed on my garage-sale knives, too.

After mangling those two, I started on the large pumpkin. This was easy to slice, but I was already tired of the dumb faces I gave the smaller siblings. So I slapped my hand on the pumpkin, carved out a hand and called it good. A couple of candles inside and I had myself a few relatively decent looking jack-o-lanterns.

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Bradley University basketball -> high school football -> Chicago Bears -> high school soccer

As you can see, there’s very little time for anything BUT sports the past four days. Work’s a killer, eh?

Halloween arrives tomorrow, leaving me woefully unprepared yet again. Not only do I have no costume planned, I also don’t have any candy for the neighborhood kids. So it may be another year of “turn all the lights off and hide upstairs in my bedroom as the kids pound on the door and windows.”

This photo to the right was the result of a night out. There’s always more where that came from.

Clare and the Reasons – Pluto

How can I explain the burning-house fumes on my clothes and hair?

dot dot dot. more photos

I was also given the opportunity to rip apart a car with the “Jaws of Life,” but I declined. A horrific case of regret came over me during the trip back to the office; I will never have that chance again.

I locked myself out of my own department at work. I was en route to answer nature’s call when I suddenly realized that I had closed the door to the photo department and left my security wand inside. And my car keys. And my lunch. Solution? It involved a P.A. announcement and a helpful janitor.

The Office
Why, oh why, did they go with full-hour episodes this season? The jokes are still quite funny, despite a few plot developments that have turned certain scenes into a real yawnfest. Pam and Jim, anyone? I’m hoping that the Ryan character gets toned down and that Kree gets more screentime… [update! NY Magazine agrees on the full-hour disaster]

Pushing Daisies
Like a multicolored, sugar-infused treat, this new show on ABC makes me want to puke all over. Cutesy dialogue, reminiscent of the fast-talking conversation in WB’s Gilmore Girls, combined with Willy Wonka sets. Sickening! And did I tell you that I love it? Leading (dead) lady Anna Friel makes me wish that I had an opportunity to date a reanimated corpse (better look at the plot summary before you call me disgusting!) Who would like to bet that ABC cans it due to production costs and the “this is too different for TV” syndrome that plagues every great show?

The Big Bang Theory
I’m sure it was marketed as Third Rock from the Sun II, but Big Bang really falls flat. Lacking the incredible charm of an actor like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, it relies too heavily on annoyingly geeky dialogue and one of the stupidest hot girls ever to set foot on the tiny screen. Top it off with a loud laugh track and you have a shitty show that I can’t make it through each week.

Revised 10/22/07 to rid of possible spoilers… -ed

One of my fondest memories of movie theaters involve no one; an empty, midnight showing of “The Squid and the Whale” on New Years Eve. The modern day equivalent of going off into the woods to think, perhaps.

So I have the pleasure of adding a new film to that list: “Michael Clayton.” Strangely enough, I’m most enamored with its ending. I don’t want to give away too much, but the scene easily compared to the beauty and relative silence of many scenes in “Lost in Translation.” George Clooney plays a law firm “fixer,” a man left behind in the rat race to clean up others’ shit. It’s thankless and absolutely necessary, leaving Clooney in the uneasy gray area between good guy and bad. I haven’t had this much appreciation for him since 2000’s “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Tom Wilkinson also delights as a mentally ill – yet brilliant and entirely sane – power attorney.

I’m going to say very little more. Other critics have proclaimed it a “screenwriter’s movie.” They are right, in a way. Dialogue makes this movie; wordy, frequent and smooth as butter. I’ll let the trailer fill in any blanks I may have left. Go see.

Cooper Street, this evening.

Halloween is nearly here and my neighborhood is doing its best to look the part. An explosion of Jack-o-lanterns grinning from porch stoops have arrived. And not just one or two; these are carved armies five, six or even eight pumpkins strong.

“God damn it, no one has the right to haze you and call you a geek!”

What the hell was that? I turn to my right and notice a man on his bike with headphones on. He’s yelling at me, and so is his long curly hair. It’s a real life version of Otto the bus driver from The Simpsons.

“I worked the Unabomber case..” and with that, he turns and rides away to yell at someone else.

Scott Rader again joins us as a guest writer, giving you every last minutia of his week. Once again, any complaints should be given right to his face. -ed.

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