Team Saturdazzle: The One with Bits and Pieces.

Today's Team Saturdazzle is just a quick compilation of stories, clips and jokes.

Like many days when I was a kid it starts with Sesamee Strret and it ends with a snack,

One of the things I liked about Sesamee Street from an early age was the guest appearances.  One of the ealriest I remember probably since I like puns so much is when the cast of Bonanza came on the show.  They were on a lot of season 2 and did segments where they counted or recited the alphabet or demonstrated math problems like the video below.  

 

In the episode I remember they do a play on the Ernie and Bert banana in my ear sketch (original sketch below) except instead of saying banana in my ear they actually say Bonanza in my ear. Epic!

Sesamee Street has continued with their guest appearances.  I just discovered this gem with Billy Joel and Marlee Matlin (CODA, West Wing, Children of a Lesser God) . I'm a big Billy Joel fan and also love writing new lyrics to old songs and Joel does this by tweaking one of his standards and adapting it to Oscar The Grouch.  

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Yesterday I had one of my days where I was out of the house at 6:30 and not back for good until after midnight. I was home for about 90 minutes in the afternoon.  My wife and daughter were preparing for  an impromptu game night, where they had invited several people a day or less before the party was slated to begin.  A few people did manage to come, but when I was home the only people they had heard from were unable to attend.  This gave me an idea for a wry observation which I shared on my personal FB page:

A lot of times when people can't make it to an event youv'e asked them to attend, they will respond something like that sounds great, but I'm busy that day. Just once can't they say that sounds like an awful time, but I'm not doing anything see ya at 7?

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This morning, Amy and I were judging another speech tournament.  This time it was at held at Lucy's old high school.  When you walk in the hallowed halls of a high school there are pictures of accomplished student athletes and plaques with the names of students who received accolades, awards, accomplishments, and some words that don't start with A like scholarships. None of those halls in any of those schools contain my picture.  I wasn't that kind of athlete, and I was not that kind of student.  However the apple must have fallen far from the tree because my daughter class of 2024 is pictured at least twice and her name is engraved on a plaque as a recipient of a scholarship for mastery in Language Arts.  

Ending the day with a snack

My college friend Angela Rumbold's birthday was earlier this week.  We had many fine times over the years.  When she first moved from Illinois to Georgia, I had occasion to visit her there and she introduced me to boiled peanuts.  It was love at first soggy bite.  years later when I lived in South Carolina for 2 years the boiled peanut became my go to snack as there was a street vendor outside our local Walmart.  I generally did not go more than a fortnight without grabbing me a bag.  

When I ventured back to Illinois in '97 to forsake all others and marry my best friend, I also  ending up forsaking regular visits with my favorite boiled legume.  This +25 year absence of a boiled peanut routine ended about 2 years ago when I discovered inside A BP in Frankfort, Illinois where my sister in law  lives, a boiled peanut station.  So now 4 or 5 times a year on visits to her family I get the fruits of Jimmy Carter's first job (Boiled Peanut deliverer).

Tonight was one of those nights.  My Niece Gracie was in a production of Finding Nemo Jr.  Which is not it turns out a quest to find Nemo's progeny but a children's adaptation of the musical Finding Nemo.  I was glad to attend, but everyone in my family knew there was a boiled peanut quid pro quo in my attendance.  

By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo - https://www.flickr.com/photos/jenniferwoodardmaderazo/3563681031/, CC BY 2.0, Link

Well that's all the Team Saturdazzle I have for you today.  We learned some math, heard some jokes, watched some videos, I shared some stories and  even had a snack.  It's not exactly 3 points and a poem, but it will have to do.  

Muppet Movie Posters, Trailers & Clips. Oh My.

I found these posters for the Muppet Movie (1979) in draft status of my blog.  I probably put  then there in preparation for a post of the 45th anniversary.  Well the 45th anniversary has come and gone, but as it is one of my 3 all time favorite films I don't think it needs a special occasion to be celebrated.  The Muppet Movie is a special occasion.

All Muppet Muppet Movie Poster

Muppet Movie Poster Featuring Celebrity Cameos

 

 I really like the cameos in the Muppet movie.  

 It's interesting the next clip starts with Steve Martin who we saw in the last clip.    

Wordless Wednesday: 16 Years of Pictures from This Blog

 

For More Wordless Wednesday @ Comedy Plus Click here.

12 New Movies: Silver Streak 1934

The first New (to me) film I watched this year is the 1934 film, Silver Streak.

In each brief review, I will attempt to do the following.

1. I will rate each movie on a 1 (worst movie ever) to 5 (best movie I have seen) scale.
2.  I will provide a 2-3 sentence summary of the movie. 
3. I will share 1 theme from the movie. 
4. I will write one thing I liked about the movie and 1 thing I disliked about the movie. 
5. I will say who I think would make the best audience for this movie.

Silver Streak (1934) Rating 3 stars out of 5

Summary:  A young train designer challenges the train industry by proposing a new streamlined diesel capable of high speed travel. When his girlfriends father, a railroad executive, doesn't approve his designs, he quite his job and convinces another manufacture to produce his train.   The completed train must race against time to deliver medical equipment that can stop a polio outbreak and save the life of his girlfriends brother.  

Theme:  One theme of the movie is the the resistance some have to changing technology.

Likes and dislikes:I watched this film with my wife Amy a few weeks ago and we both really enjoyed it. Here is specifically why.

Me: One thing I liked about the movie is how the train that the Silver Streak is based on The Burlington Zephyr, is the real star of the film and is even given a screen credit. 

Amy: The acting was first rate.  You believed that the actors were the characters they were portraying. 

Dave: One thing I didn't like was that the spy subplot seemed contrived.

Amy: I agree, I know they have to create conflict and tension, but the fight on the train was too much.

A Good Audience for this Film: Adventurers, Train Buffs, and Obscure Train Movie  aficionados.

Sally Blane and WIlliam Farnum

By Burlington Route (railroad) This appears to have been given to those at the fair who toured the train on exhibit. - eBay itemcard frontcard back, Public Domain, Link

Now that this review is over let's look at my progress so far this year.  At this point, I have watched and reviewed 1 film.  

Films released from 2009 to 2024                  Watched 0 Remaining 2

Films released from 1994 to 2008                  Watched 0 Remaining 2

Films released from 1979 to 1993                  Watched 0 Remaining 2

Films released from 1964 to 1978                  Watched 0 Remaining 2

Films released from 1949 to 1963                  Watched 0 Remaining 2

Films released before 1934 and up to 1948   Watched 1 Remaining 1

Amy and I watched this film on You Tube and you can too.  I proudly present Silver Streak ...

Team Saturdazzle: The One With The Made Up Holidays

Hello and welcome to the last Team Saturdazzle post for January 2025.  Last April for the A to Z Challenge I wrote about Holidays. On most day of the challenge I found an event that was already taking place on that day and pair it with the letter of the day. 

For example each April 2nd is International Children's Book Day so since the letter of the day for April 2nd was B, I wrote about that Holiday and title my post, B is for Books for Children.  

Writing about made up holidays turned out to be not enough for me.  SO, I actually made up 5  holidays and added them into the challenge  for all the letters that were vowels.  Now that it is 2025,  It has come to my attention that these holidays are coming up again this year.  

A chart or graph of some kind might be helpful here:

Name of Holiday with link to         2025 Date           (When it occurs)

A to Z Challenge Post

Adult Children Appreciation Day                  April 21, 2025.  (The Monday after Easter)

 

 Wedding Planner Black Friday                     April 4, 2025     (1st Friday in April)

Indicted Illinois Governors Day                     April 10, 2025   (10th day in April)

One More Time and You Get A Parade Day   April 16, 2025   (Third Wednesday in April)

                        

Undecided, Undeclared & Unsure Day           April 30th 2025 (Final Wednesday in April)

This is me talking about one of the new holidays last year.

Good Grief! I'm Trying To Watch 12 New Movies This Year, Again!

There is a lot of Charlie Brown in me. My middle name is Charles, I had a dog named Snoopy when I was a kid, my love for baseball has always exceeded my ability to play it well, and like the storied definition of insanity, I often do the same thing and expect different results

Charlie Brown Football GIFfrom Charlie Brown GIFs

This is particularly true regarding my annual plan to watch 12 movies I've never seen before and post the reviews here. The way it works is supposed to work is each year, I choose 12 films I haven't seen or haven't seen in their entirety, watch them, and then write a quick review and post here.  I also add a few wrinkles to the plan:

1. The movies have to come out no earlier than the year before the challenge. In this case 2024.

2. Although this is not a hard and fast rule, I generally do not count movies I watched in their original theatrical run if they came out the year prior.  For example. I watched  A Complete Unknown tonight at the theatre where I work.  Technically, it was released in 2024 and I watched it in 2025 so it could count, but since it hasn't left my theatre yet I'm going with the spirit of the law and not counting it.  If I had not watched it today and then watched it on DVD or streaming in a few months after its theatrical run ended I would certainly count it.

3. I divide the movies into 6 sections by years released. This year the sections are:

Films released from 2009 to 2024

Films released from 1994 to 2008

Films released from 1979 to 1993

Films released from 1964 to 1978

Films released from 1949 to 1963

Films released before 1934 and up to 1948

4. Since I'm trying to watch 12 films, I choose 2 films from each section.

This year I have already watched 2 films but have yet to review them.  This is where I usually get into trouble because until I review them and post them and have documentation of them, it is easy to lose track of what I've already seen.  In one of the first posts I did this year I mentioned the 

1976 Gene Wilder , Richard Pryor movie, Silver Streak.  In preparing that post, I discovered that there was also a 1935 film with the same name.  I have since watched that film and hope to post a review here before the end of the month.

The other "new" film I saw was at a staff party for the movie theatre I work at.  After all the last runs of movies in the theatre had begun they had a special showing of cartoons, and tow feature length movies.  the first film they showed, I had seen parts if but never in it's entirety, so I counted it as new to me. I hope to reveal the name of that film, and a review sometime in February.

Until then I see a girl holding a football for me, and I'm off to kick it. 

2025 Baseball Hall of Fame: If I Had a Ballot

 Since the inception of my illustrious blogging career, This part of January has been reserved for HOF talk.  It started on my sports blog Crazy Uncle Dave's Sports Blog and moved here when I incorporated all my blogs into Leap of Dave a few years back.  

While I certainly had HOF thoughts in 2023 and 2024 I did not post them here.  Since this is my 3rd installment of the 2025 Hall of Fame, you may have correctly concluded that my respite is over.  

Each year certain members of  The Base Ball Writers Association of America are given a ballot containing the names of former baseball players eligible for enshrinement in Cooperstown. While technically not a member of this august body, the same part of my brain that thinks I'm one phone call away from being the starting 3rd baseman for your Chicago White Sox, supposes that the BBWAA would welcome my inclusion into their body. even though  I've never covered my favorite sport in a professional status. 

The BBWAA ballot contains 28 names this year, 14  returning players and 14 on the ballot for the first time.  The writers are asked to vote for no more than 10 of these players on their ballots.  

As I have done here in the past, I imagine a scenario where I was a member of the BBWAA given a ballot and asked to vote for exactly 10 of those players.  Then I imagine the same scenario where I am asked to vote for only 9, then 8, and so on . and add some infinitum.   At some point in these imaginings, I imagine what I have come to call my official unofficial ballot or OUB,  This is where I state who exactly I would vote for if I chose the players who would be on my ballot. Also, as I have done here in the past, I reserve the right to add some purposeful randomness in the proceedings.

Examples of that purposeful randomness are evidenced in my 2022 Ballot which included 12 names. (My OUB is in bold, and HOF after their name indicates that since my previous post, they have been selected for enshrinement. 

12. Barry Bonds

11, Roger Clemens

10. Jeff Kent

9. Scott Rolen HOF

8. Andruw Jones

7. Omar Vizquel

6. A.J. Pierzynski

5. Curt Schilling

4. Todd Helton HOF

3.David Ortiz HOF

2. Mark Buehrle 

1. Dick Allen HOF

So enough introduction, let my imagination run amuck...

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 12 players the 12th player would be Alex Rodriguez. 

There is no doubt in my mind that if the former Mariner, Ranger, and Yankee was not an admitted PED cheater that he'd already be in the Hall of Fame.  This is why I have him 12th on the ballot.  But he is an admitted PED cheater which is why he stops here at 12.

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 11 players the 11th player would be Bobby Abreu. 

In 2021 I said this about Abreu explaining why he was 10th on my theoretical ballot ... I don't think he's worthy of Cooperstown. I think he had a distinguished enough career to be in the conversation for a year or more.

4 years later ... I'm not sure if he's worthy of Cooperstown, but he's growing on me.

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 10 players the 10th player would be Andy Pettitte.  

Pettitte is a lot like college graduates flying back home for the summer.  They have a resume and they have baggage. The 3 time all star has pitched in 8 World Series with 5 rings to show for it.  Being listed in the Mitchell report for using HGH has deterred many actual voters and at least one imaginary one.

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 9 players the 9th player would be Carlos Beltran.

Speaking of former Astro's embroiled in controversy, Carlos Beltran received 57.1% of the vote last year in his 2nd year of eligibility despite his involvement in the 2017 sign-stealing brouhaha. He may well make the jump to the Hall this year, if he does not I'll consider him again next year.

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 8 players the 8th player would be Torii Hunter. 

In 2021 I said placed Hunter 9th, 5 spots short of the 4 players I put on my official unofficial ballot and said this: When I hear the name Torii Hunter. I think Hall of Fame. When I look at his stats they tell a bit of a different story. He falls short of making My OUB but it would certainly be nice if he could get enough votes to be on the ballot again next year.

Well he made it back to the ballot in 2021 and was not one of my 12 votes, he made it back to the ballot in 2023, 2024, and again this year, but I no longer think of him as Hall of Fame material.  I think there is a good chance this year that he won't make the 5% needed for future consideration.

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 7 players the 7th player would be Omar Vizquel. 

This is Vizquel's 8th year on the ballot and he made my OUB in 2018 through 2021.  I In 2022 I wrote this explaining why he was no longer on my OUB: 

I still think he's a Hall of Fame type player. However, some of the controversy that has swirled around his nomination has made me decide to put a pause on voting for him this year and look at him with new eyes next year.

The controversy still swirls and like many actual voters, I am waiting for that fog to clear before proceeding any further.  

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 6 players the 6th player would be Pete Rose. 

But wait you say Pete Rose is not on this ballot and besides that he is dead.  That is my point exactly Rose was given a lifetime ban from baseball.  Since his life is over his ban should be over and the Veterans committee should be allowed to consider his inclusion in the hall.  

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 5 players the 5th player would be Joe Jackson. 

But wait you say Joe Jackson is not on this ballot and besides that he is dead.  That is my point exactly Jackson and other players from the 1919 "Black Sox" were given a lifetime ban from baseball.  Since his life is over the ban should be over and the Veterans Committee should be allowed to consider his inclusion in the hall.  I am placing Jackson ahead of Rose because he's been dead much longer.

If I could vote for as many players on the 2025 BBWAA ballot that I thought were worthy for inclusion to the Hall of Fame, my ballot would contain 4 names.  The 4th name on that ballot would be Andruw Jones.

This is the first year I have included Jones on my OUB.  In 2022 while explaining why Jones fell 2 places short of the 6 player OUB of that year, I hinted of a change of heart that might be on the horizon: 

The truth is that I'm not sure that Andruw Jones taking a giant step down in his performance in his final 5 years is as much of a detriment to voting for him as I've made it . His star is definitely on the rise and I can imagine a time when my evaluation of him would increase to the point where I'd vote for his place in the hall.

 

That time came in my 2 years absence and while he may fall short again this year, I do believe that Cooperstown is calling.

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 3 players the 3rd player would be C.C. Sabathia.

The former Indian and Yankee hurler is in his first year of eligibility and if voting tracking numbers are to be believed, he will be a first year hall of famer.  I'll have more to say about him after I reveal my next  2 votes.   

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 2 players the 2nd player would be Ichiro Suzuki.

There is no doubt that Ichiro Suzuki is a first-year ballot Hall of Fame, he may even be the 2nd ever unanimous choice for the Hall of Fame.  He is definitely on my OUB.  However, I am not passionate about Ichiro and I am passionate about the player I  put ahead of him on my ballot. And like my pal Irene Cara used to always tell me, take your passion and make it happen.

If I were given a Hall of Fame Ballot and told to vote for exactly 1 player that player would be Mark Buehrle.

There are 3 starting pitchers on the ballot this year who have some comparable stats. In my opinion, Buehrle outshines Pettitte and Sabathia.  True, I am a lifetime White Sox fan and Buehrle is my daughter's favorite player. 

When you look at some of the hardware and accolades they have merited Pettitte has 5 World Series Championships compared to Buehrle's and Sabathia's 1 each.  Sabathia has been elected to 6 all-star games, compared to Buehrle's 5 and Pettitte's 4.   Sabathia is the only Cy Young recipient and both he and Pettitte have a a league championship series MVP.  Buehrle is the only one of the 3 with Gold Gloves and he has 4 of them.  So when you total them all up it is Buehrle who has 10, Pettitte with 9, and Sabathia with 8. Buehrle also has a perfect game, an additional no-hitter, and a streak 0f 14 seasons where he pitched 200 or more innings.  

2025 Baseball Hall of Fame: New On The Ballot

 The 2024 Baseball Writers Association of America Hall of Fame Ballot contains 28 names of former MLB players being considered for enshrinement. This year the ballot has been split right down the middle with 14 players returning to the ballot and 14 players eligible to be on the ballot for the first time.   Players have 10 years of eligibility to receive the 75%  or more votes needed to make it to the Hall this way.  If they have additional years of legibility remaining and receive between 5% and 74.9 % of this year's vote they will remain on the ballot for next year.  

The 14 players on the ballot for the first time in 2025 are in Alphabetical Order

Carlos González OF 12 Seasons 4 Teams: Rockies, A's Indians, Cubs

Curtis Granderson OF 16 Seasons 7 Teams: Tigers, Mets, Yankees, Marlins, Bluejays, Dodgers, Brewers

Félix Hernández P 15 seasons : 1 Team: Mariners 

Adam Jones CF 14 Seasons 3 Teams: Orioles Mariners D-Backs

Ian Kinsler 14 Seasons 5 Teams: Rangers, Tigers, Angels, Padres, Red Sox

Russell Martin C 14 seasons: 4 teams: Dodgers, Bluejays, Yankees, Pirates 

Brian McCann C 15 Seasons 3 Teams Braves Yankees Astros

Dustin Pedroia 2B 14 Seasons 1 Team Red Sox 

Hanley Ramirez IF 15 seasons 4 teams: Marlins, Red Sox, Dodgers, Indians

Fernando Rodney RP 17 Seasons 11 Teams Tigers, Rays, Mariners, Angels A's D-Backs, Twins, Marlins, Nationals, Padres, Cubs

CC Sabathia P 19 Seasons 3 Teams: Yankees, Indians, Brewers

Ichiro Suzuki RF 19 Seasons 3 Teams Mariners Yankees, Marlins

Troy Tulowitzki SS 13 Seasons 4 Teams: Rockies, Bluejays, Yankees 

 Ben Zobrist IF 14 Seasons 4 Teams: Rays, Cubs, A's Royals

Fun Facts: 1) Only the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, and San Francisco Giants do not have any 1st-year eligible players on the ballot this year.  

2) The 2 players on the ballot for the first time this year who played the most seasons, Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia both played on 3 teams and were teammates on the Yankees. 

Not Sure How This is A Writer's Workshop But I'm In.

Here are the prompts for this week’s Writer’s Workshop: 

1. Write a post based on the word surprise. 
2. Write a post in exactly 8 sentences. 
3. Tell us about your favorite restaurant when you were a kid. 
4. Share links to 5-10 of your favorite non-political YouTube videos from this past week. 
5. Tell us about a time you had a really elaborate project in elementary school. 
6. Tell us how you named one (or more) of your pets.

I love writing too much, too look for a loophole when it comes to these Workshop prompts.  But if I were, prompt 4  would be right up my alley.  A writing prompt that just has me sharing links?  Bring it on.  

Some of the videos are not from  the past week but were in my you tube feed in the past week.  I had already put a few You Tube links in previous posts which is why I have the minimum amount.  Yet another loophole.  

Bob Bennett Weekly Live 1/12/2025

 

Ving Rhames Give His Golden Globe to Jack Lemon

MLB Remembers Legendary Broadcaster Bob Uecker

1987 Dal@Phi Buddy Ryan Runs Up The Score

The Newsroom: That's How I Got To Memphis

That was almost too easy,  So I decide to do # 6 as well. It's how I renamed a pet.

When I was in highschool my family bought a cat.  They named him Tiger.  I say they because If I had been conulted in the naming process such a predictable name would not have escaped my lips.  One of my best friends already had a cat named tiger, and of course every other striped cat was named tiger.  

Not only did I refuse to call the cat Tiger. I unilaterally decided to change his name.  So in my family of 7 people, 6 people called  our new cat Tiger and I called the cat Larry. I was very aggressive  and vocal with my naming preference. While no one switched over immediately I wore people down. My Dad would  accidentally call  him Larry, sweat under his breath and switch back to Tiger. I was always a pretty obnoxious teenager but this was me ar my most obnoxious.

in the early 80s VCRs were coming on the scene and our family got one before a lot of my other friends had them. So that summer I had a big party and we watched a number of movies. In between and even during movies people hung out I’m different places in the house and on the front porch and people came and went freely.

At some point during the party Larry/Tiger went freely but didnt come back. He probably got tired of  all the name calling. We never did see Larry or Tiger again. 

2025 Baseball Hall of Fame Voting: Returning to the Ballot

The 2024 Baseball Writers Association of America Hall of Fame Ballot contains 28 names of former MLB players being considered for enshrinement. This year the ballot has been split right down the middle with 14 players returning to the ballot and 14 players eligible to be on the ballot for the first time.   Players have 10 years of eligibility to receive the 75%  or more votes needed to make it to the Hall this way.  If they have additional years of legibility remaining and receive between 5% and 74.9 % of this year's vote they will remain on the ballot for next year.  

The returning players are listed here in descending order of the % of votes received in the 2024 BBWAA election.

Player                  Position                 YOE           Highest PCT. (YR)         Lowest Pct. (YR)

Billy Wagner       Relief Pitcher        10th            73.8 % (2024)                 10.2% (2017)          

Andruw Jones      Centerfielder         8th              61.6%  (2024)                 7.3% (2018)

Carlos Beltran      Centerfielder         3rd              57.1 % (2024)                 46.5 % (2023)

Alex Rodriquez    Shortstop               4th              35.7 % (2023)                 34.3% (2022)

Manny Ramirez    Outfielder              9th              33.2 % (2023)                 22 % (2018)

Chase Utley             2nd Base                2nd              28.8% (2024)                  28.8% (2024)

Omar Vizquel           Shortstop               8th               52.6% (2020)                 17.7% (2024)

Bobby Abreu            Righfielder            5th               14.4% (2023)                5.5% (2020)

Jimmy Rollins          Shortstop               4th              14.8% (2024)                 9.4 % (2022 )

Andy Petitte              Pitcher                  7th               17.0% (2023)                9.9% (2019)

Mark Buehrle            Pitcher                    5th              11% (2021)                   5.8% (2022)    

Francisco Rodriguez Pitcher                 3rd             10.8% (2023)                  7.8% (2024)

Torii Hunter              Pitcher                5th               9.4% (2021)                    5.3% (2022)

David Wright           3rd Base               2nd             6.2% (2024)                    6.2 % 2022

Billy Wagner who is in his final year of eligibility missed enshrinement last year by only 1.2% of the votes.  

Fun Fact of the 12 players who are on the ballot for the 3rd time or more, only 4 of them received the highest percentage of votes in their election cycle in 2024. 

Team Saturdazzle: The One With Downtown Chicago

Third Saturday of the year. Third Team Saturdazzle post. For Christmas this year I gave Amy tickets to a Bulls game. We used them this weekend and drove to the city to watch The Bulls lose a close one to the Charlotte Hornets. Amy likes either playing sports or watching them live. I like those as well as watching sports on TV. , listening to sports on the radio and reading the accounts of a game in a newspaper or online.  But being with Amy makes everything even losing to the Hornets better.

Horace Grant 87-94 Bulls (1st 3 championships)
Randy Brown 95-00 Bulls (Last 3 championships)

A case in point is after I gave Amy the tickets she decided that staying overnight in Chicago would be better than driving back to our home in the suburbs. This is why I sit here at a Chicago hotel chronicling our adventure so far early on a Saturday morning.

One thing Amy and I like about staying in a hotel is television. In the 26-plus years we’ve been married many of those years have been spent without a TV. A few more years have been spent owning a TV. You can only watch DVDs or video cassettes.  So on those  occasions when we have stayed in hotel rooms we have enjoyed watching broadcast television. Yesterday after the game we watched a couple episodes of Seinfeld followed by an episode of Friends.  After that we turned on TUBI and watched a part of an episode of What's Happening and part of an episode of The Floor,  We watched the former because one of the Bull's bench players, Jalen Smith gives off a big Roger vibe from the show.

The latter is because we have been catching up on the 2nd season of the Fox game show sporadically over the past few months.  

This morning I went downstairs for some breakfast and I encountered a young man with a Hornets hoody and a Bulls Cap.  It's the kind of thing I would do with Cubs and Sox gear so he let me take a pic of him. The breakfast was good.  I don't see grits as an offering very much in the Chicago area but was glass to partake.

Bulls Cap Hornets Hoodie

Breakfast these days takes grits and hard-boiled determination.

Checkout at the hotel wasn't until noon.  So we lingered and then on the way home we stopped by a restaurant I'd seen on Friday that appealed to several parts of my nature.  

1. It's a classic Chicago Hotdog spot.

2. The name of the place, LuLu's is also one of our nicknames for our youngest daughter.

3. Three Words: Home Made Chili

4. Art work reminiscent of the Little Lulu comics without giving any of the credit. 

5.  When I went  in I decided I would see if they could put Chili on my Polish.  Not only could they but the Chili Cheese Polish, which I thought I had invented seconds before, was their special of the day.

While I don't subscribe to the no ketchup on hot dog 

theory, I do appreciate the wry wit of this poster.

For the last 3 years our Saturdays were too busy in the winter to get away for the weekend.  Almost every weekend, we were judging a speech tournament which took a huge portion of our Saturdays.  Even yesterday we drove by a high school on our way home blissfully unaware that the Larkin Speech Team was participating in a tournament there.  

Last 5 Sporting Events

1/17/2025 Charlotte Hornets Defeat Chicago Bulls 125-123 @ The United Center Chicago Illinois

11/16/2024 Class 7A Football Quarterfinal IHSA Batavia 17 Downers Grove North 7 @Batavia High Scool Batavia IL

11/2/2024 Dad's Day Weekend Minnesota 25 Illinois 17 Memorial Stadium Champaign IL 

10/26 Mt Carmel 34 Loyola Academy 20 Mt. Carmel High School, Chicago IL

10/19 100th anniversary game of Dedication of Memorial Stadium Illinois 21 Michigan 7 Memorial Stadium Champaign IL 

 

The Newfangled Four - A Spoonful of Sugar (parody) [from Mary Poppins]

I  found this the other day on YouTube while looking up prune videos.  Not sure why it would come up there, but I am glad it did.  

This video resonated in me for multiple reasons: 1. I have had multiple family members over the years who have participated in singing groups.  My first trip on an airplane was because my Mom's Sweet Adeline's group was going to sing in Washington D.C. and families were allowed to come with.  Both my sisters have been in Sweet Adeline's as well. I also have several family members who have been in Barber Shop Quartets.  2) I love parodies, write them myself, and love to see them performed.  3) Since the time my youngest daughter was in 4th grade started performing in speech contests, my wife and I have been volunteer judges in them. This performance is a send-up of judging rubrics, especially for judging barber shop quartets, but I found it matched up to speech judging in a most delightful way.

 

Extra Bonus Video: Judges by The Fabulous Bentley Brothers from Jelly Telly which was Phil Vischer's follow up to Veggie Tales.  And, yes the Bentley Brothers are Rhett & Link.  

Team Saturdazzle: The One That Got Post Dated

I had big plans for the Team Saturdazzle segment in 2025.

First, I was going to post content for the segment to be published each Saturday of the new year.

Then, I would attempt to generate a little readership for it by linking it through the blogosphere via other established blogs , memes, and various Social networking sites.

After a while, I would gauge interest in making it one of those segments that others could link their content to.

All these plans were contingent on stringing a number of Weekly Saturdazzle posts together.

the Jan 5th edition went fine, in the sense that there was a Jan 5th edition. I had a few ideas for this edition. 

One idea came to me when I took my waiting with my Mom on one of her recent doctor appointments. She kept on talking about going to get cookies. My Mom often brings cookies up to her room which she gets from the dining room at the place where she and my Dad stay. Instead of eating her desserts in the dining room she brings them up to her room and puts them in her refrigerator aka the place where desserts go to die.

This was made on Christmas by my youngest daughter and my Mom. Left to 
 my mom’s devices it would have stayed in her fridge until the 15th anniversary of Covid.

As my Mom kept on talking about cookies, I thought that it might be cool to bring my daughters over there on Saturday and do some baking.  My parents have been living in  a senior living facility for the past few years where there meals are served to them.  While they have an oven and stove int heir apartment neither one of them is really able to use it anymore.  I thought it would be nice to have the sweet smell of baked goods wafting through their kitchen.

Due to being triple and quadruple booked for most of the weekend, we did not get over there on Saturday.  This was actually a good thing as it gave me a moment in the madness of a weekend with little sleep to rest a while.  We rescheduled the baking for Sunday when a number of us visit my folks anyway, which seemed like a good solution.  

The only problem was that the baking expedition was going to be the main point of my Saturdazzle feauture and now I would need to write about something else.  Then I remembered technology.  Blogger allows me to predate my posts and it also allows me for some reason to post date them.  So here's what I did, I went baking on Sunday am blogging about it now and back dating the post so it looks like it appeared on Saturday.  This was if and when I build a following with Saturdazzle, and the Saturdazzled (tm) pending are looking for back issues there will be continuity that it gets posted each Saturday.

Here are the pics from our multi generational cookie day

Gather the ingredients at home

Assembling The Troops



Giving the aged sharp objects

Giving the aged with sharp objects supervision

Obligatory Baking Picture (OBP) #1

   

OBP #2

OBP #3

Finished Product: Happy Parents

Overall the event was highly successful.  My Dad kept on saying he didn't remember the last time someone came over to bake for him.  We left a good amount of cookies in a tupperware on the table and took the rest home so none would be subjected to the refrigerator where desserts go to die. 

The first comment of the year

To many.  comments are the currency of the blogging world.  To some, it's page views, but having someone stop by and write about your content is a gratifying thing.  I blog for me.  I would like to have a large readership, but it doesn't matter that I don't have much of one.  

I post on other people's blogs and participate in their blogging events in part so either people will see and comment on my blog.  But even when they don't I still like to post content here and comment on their content there.  

SO it wasn't surprising on January 8th that I still did not have one single comment on any of my posts since last year.  I was glad that I got 3 comments in somewhat rapid succession the next day.  I work both my jobs in Wednesday and and in between them I stopped at McDonalsd for a snack knowing I wouldn't be eating dinner until 9:30.  I got one of my favorite snacks, a deconstructed root beer float.  That's my name for an ice cream cone and a glass of root beer,

While eating it, I remembered there is a way to post my content by sending an e-mail and did that.  I posted it on here, and linked it to the Wordless Wednesday page of Comedy Plus. On Thursday Morning I received this nice comment from Sandee the proprietor of Comedy Plus.  I received two more a few minutes later from another one of my posts.

Well that's it for this weeks installment of Team Saturdazzle.  Next time I hope to actually release it on Satuday and not fix it in post.