March Madness

It is that time of the year again when I stay up late to watch basketball, much to the chagrin of my wife. Indiana's fortunate 3 pointer, George Washington's miraculous comeback, Boston College's fortunate recovery, Adam Morrison bring Gonzaga back once again were all bracket savers. I picked 12 over 5 with UW-Milwaukee, but picked the wrong 12 over 5 with Utah State-Washington and didn't pick 12 over 5, Texas A&M over Syracuse. So much for the second round Syracuse win or for that matter, Marquette. Fortunately no money is on the line and 12 for 16 on the first day was okay. If they could all be the Minneapolis section I would have done great.

It is primary time in Illinois and next week we'll know who will face Governor of Great Hair Blagojevich. Most likely it will be JB Topinka, but wouldn't it be great if there were a major upset and Bill Brady from Bloomington gets the nod. I think it makes for fun alliteration to say Bill Brady from Bloomington. And besides, can we really rally behind an accordion player who isn't on the Lawrence Welk Show?

Let's see how today's tourney goes. Maybe a few of my upset picks will pan out.

Should he stay free or should he go?

The trial is over and the former pharmacist from Kankakee may find that justice is a bitter pill to swallow. Of course, prison food may be hard to swallow, too. Are Illinois' politicians running scared knowing that if Ryan can be convicted, then they are fair game? Or will we see that crime does pay, especially in the Illinois political game? U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitgerald seems like the no-nonsense kind of guy who won't stop with Ryan, or the middle-management cronies of Rich M. Daley.

Fitzgerald has shown a willingness to be bi-partisan when it comes to legal matters, see Valerie Plame and I. Lewis Libby. It would be intersting to see how he would proceed with the Cheney "quail hunting" incident. Is there more to the 24 hour lapse before the sheriff's office was allowed on the premises? Oh well, Atty. Fitzgerald has bigger fish to fry than checking out V.P. Cheney's hunting accident. Besides cocktails and hunting quails go hand-in-hand, don't they?

After the Awards

Well, it looks like the predictions were close. I should have qualified that The Squid and the Whale was my personal choice, but knew that it wouldn't beat out Crash. That's okay, though, because all of the hype for Brokeback Mountain ended up being just that... a lot of hype. The feeling that I would like to see Crash surprise Brokeback Mountain was justified after all.

Anyways, it has been a tough week for those in the acting business. Don Knotts, Dennis Weaver, Darren McGavin, Dana Reeve all within the past 10-14 days. It is strange that all four of their names begin with the letter "D". I'm sure it is just coincidental, but still kind of weird.

Just a few of Don Knotts famous scenes and quotes to end today's entry:

From Episode # 90, "Barney's First Car"
Barney: This is just about the biggest thing I ever bought.

Andy: It's a major step.

Barney: The last big buy I made was my mom's and dad's anniversary present.

Andy: What did you get them?

Barney: A septic tank.

Andy: For their anniversary?

Barney: Yeah, oh they're really hard to buy for. Besides it was something they could use. They were really thrilled. Two tons of concrete, all steel reinforced.

Andy: You're a fine son, Barn.

Barney: I try.


From Episode #91, "The Rivals"
Barney: Nice guys finish last. I know, I went through it. Little Vickie Harms. I wasn't no bigger than Opie. I met her over by the ice cream parlor. Stepped outside one day with my raspberry snow cone, there she was. She just stopped me cold. Head to foot, I was just clammy all over. I knew it was love. Icy chills just run all over me.

Andy: Sounds to me more like your show cone was leaking.

Barney: Boy I sure did like her.

Andy: She didn't like you back, huh?

Barney: Oh well no, it wasn't that so much. I don't know. It was mostly her stuck up attitude.

Andy: Yeah?

Barney: She used to walk around in long curls and print dresses and patented leather shoes and her nose up in the air. Boy she really thought she was hot stuff.

Andy: Why?

Barney: Oh her Daddy was in the civil service. Boy if I knew then what I know now. She used to do one thing that really used to burn me up.

Andy: What was that.

Barney: Well you know how I like snow cones...

Andy: Raspberry.

Barney: Right. Well there wasn't a day went by that I didn't offer that girl a bite of my snow cone. You know what she used to do every single time?

Andy: What?

Barney: She used to bite off the end, sip out all the syrup, and leave me with nothing but the ice.

Andy: The ice?

Barney: Yeah, the ice.

Andy: That's terrible.

Barney: Yeah.

Andy: Today you'd know different.

Barney: Oh are you kidding. Listen if I had a date with Vickie Harms today, and I got myself all shaved, and I went over to her house with my snow cone, you know what I'd do?

Andy: What?

Barney: The minute she opened that door, I bite off the end of the cone, sip out the syrup, and hand her the ice. What do you think of that?

Andy: Well I'll tell you the truth, Barn. If I was Vickie Harms and a thirty-five year old man come up to my house with a snow cone in his hand, I wouldn't even answer the door.


"It's not a whim anymore if you put on clean underwear." - Barney

"Like they always say...the quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth like a gentle dew from Heaven...well, you're not talking to a jerk you know!" - Barney


"Do you have any idea how hard it is to work with someone who thinks he knows everything?" - Barney

We'll miss you, Mr. Knotts! Glad you never had to use your bullet on anyone. Now go and nip it in the bud. Yes, it is time for a little bud nipping in Mayberry in the sky!

Academy Awards 2006

It is that time of year again where the women wear dresses that are designed to stun, but often end up leaving us to say, "Huh?" The men typically wear their tuxes, except for the occasional incidence of "Duh?"

Last year we did okay with the predictions, but this year we are ready to rock and roll with our picks:

Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, just because it was the only movie I saw with a best actress nominee and because my daughter lives in her hometown of Nashville.

Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz. I don't know why, but I do like her accent.

Best Actor: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, because Truman Capote's In Cold Blood was the first creative non-fiction book that I read and couldn't put down.

Best Supporting Actor: William Hurt, still one of the best around.

Best Original Screenplay: The Squid and the Whale. I thought that Jeff Daniels should have been nominated, but this will have to do.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Brokeback Mountain just because it is going to win.

Best Foreign Film: Tsotsi. I like the way the letters rolllllll off of my tongue when I pronounce it.

Best Animated Film: Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit because it was funny and fun to watch.

Best Documentary: March of the Penquins, though Murderball may surprise.

Best Song: It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp because somewhere Heidi Fleiss is laughing.

Best Director: Ang Lee. See Best Adapted Screenplay.

Best Feature Film: Brokeback Mountain, though wouldn't it be great if it didn't win. I mean if Shakespeare in Love can somehow beat out Saving Private Ryan ( a travesty in voting if there ever was one in the Academy Awards) then perhaps Crash can somehow pull a win out of the wreckage that is the culmination of this year's movies to choose from.

Film That Was Robbed: Walk the Line. I'm biased toward this film. I admit it without reservation!

Thanks for the Memories

Today I want to thank the readers of my column, "For the Love of Community," that is found in The Journal-Standard each Thursday. This past week I have received numerous letters thanking me for the column on Father Norbert Richter (see previous post). Your kind words and remembrances of Father Richter were so heartfelt. The pleasure I have in sharing memories and thoughts of special people in our community is well worth the time and effort to write the column each week. Of course, there is a 700 word limit for the column, so it isn't possible to always convey all of my thoughts about a person or topic. I guess that is the beauty of having another outlet for writing.

To date there are no blog sites available online through The Journal-Standard, though a recent column by one of the editors did state that they are planning on updating the website to match current trends in online news availability. It would be nice to see the paper have some of the same format as many of the major newspapers, i.e. The Chicago Tribune, USA Today, The LA Times, WSJ, or New York Times. I know that there are other small town papers that are updating their websites on a regular basis to give other voices a chance to be read.

I do see some of these changes happening in the near future. So for now, enjoy Pretzel City Logic and keep reading the column. Thanks to all of you who respond either through the written word or in person. It gives the inspiration to keep writing.