July 13, 2008
The Old Country With my BFF, Back to Normal Programming, Spock Philosophy, and an iPhone Update.
By:
The Dude on the Right
As you may have noticed there haven’t been any new posting since nearly a week
ago, and I have to admit that part of it was some laziness, part of it was being
a busybody, and part of it was caused by a quick trip to the old country, where
my BFF got to meet some of the members of my family. Yup, you can guess it, they
all like her more than they like me! Oh well. I’ll talk more about that trip
when I talk to Stu Gotz for our "Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast tomorrow, and
hopefully I’ll have my nephew along for this Thursday’s podcast so I can explain
to him why car doors do not need to be opened for dudettes anymore.
For some quick notes about the trip home, though, some of it was tad melancholy as my mom isn’t feeling too well, and I would have preferred my BFF’s first visit being under a different light, but on the other hand, mom’s meeting my BFF seemed to lift mom's spirits, especially when she could give my BFF her two word, blunt, synopsis, of the old country. The trip was also a great time for family members to pummel me about my lack of chivalrousness, when I was just trying to do some recon to assess the threat assessment of our group and make sure the coast was clear on the treacherous path from the safety of the craft store to the safety of the dude-mobile. I risk my life for the safety of the group, just like Spock philosophied in "The Wrath of Kahn," that "The needs of the many outweigh," responded by Kirk "The needs of the few," with Spock coming back, "Or the one.," and what happens, I get chastised for it! Some people are so ungrateful, but I’m sorry, I digress.
The trip home also had the tech nerd in me in total withdrawal because, while I was gone, Apple came out with their giant update for the iPhone, and although I’m waiting for a 3g version of the phone that will hold all of my music before I buy a new one (and from the news reports of the activation meltdowns that occurred last Friday I’m kinda glad for that), I kept looking at my iPhone, with its old, crappy, obsolete version of firmware, knowing it would be days before I could have a lightsaber duel with another iPhone user, be able to "scratch my records" like a DJ, or have a better way to organize my grocery store list. As I’m typing this blog, though, my iPhone is doing all of its updating, and hopefully, as opposed to those poor schlubs who had problems on Friday, maybe my utmost patience (it is a virtue, don’t ya know?) in not pulling out my laptop while I was at the old country, on Friday, to spend the time to upgrade it the minute I could and ignore my BFF, will pay off. See, who says chivalry is dead?
Well, my iPhone is almost done upgrading, it’s time to get back to work, so normal programming of Entertainment Ave! is ready to be back on track tomorrow, with a fantastic, phenomenal, enlightening, and exciting new podcast of "Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up!" podcast. I hope.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 6:43 PM | Comments (0)
March 23, 2008
Davidson and San Diego - I Hate You. And I Love You.
By:
The Dude on the Right
I'm
back! It was an Easter Weekend, and with
my Dad's passing in January, and my sister making her way to the cold
weather, instead of normally visiting a week earlier to avoid the holiday
traffic, well, I ventured to Ohio this Easter Weekend just in time for about 6
inches of snow to shovel. I also changed a bathroom sink faucet, but those
are both stories for another blog or maybe a podcast. This blog is about
basketball, and my not being able to scream at my internet screen.
You see, for the first time in years, I wasn't able to sit at work and waste the bosses money, umm, my money, by paying attention to the first weekend for the NCAA March Madness tournament. And then, when I was able to take a look, my picks were already looking bad. Siena beating Vanderbilt hurt me a lot, although it probably hurt a lot of people, except those folks who were Siena alumni, but what really hurt in that first round was San Diego beating U Conn, one of the teams I had in the final two. I figured I was sort of screwed, but who, other than San Diego fans, were actually thinking San Diego could win? And as my brackets started to fall, it was today that I knew I was done, because, well, my final four is left at a final two, with one of them not getting to my finals.
That said, Davidson College, University, whatever the hell you are, I hate you, because my last chance for maybe a couple of big screen TV's, or some cash, well, was left with Georgetown. If you had a fun college name like Gonzaga, or a fun mascot name like the Saluki's, or maybe a name referenced with God (Like St. Mary's who didn't seem to have God on their side losing to Miami), I would have picked you, but you were playing Georgetown, Hoyas, and you were a 10 seed, v. a 2 seed, whom I had at least going to the final four. In my goofy name category, Wildcats v. Hoyas, I'm picking a Hoya.
And I lost.
And so, pretty much, I'm done with this year's NCAA March Madness season. Davidson and San Diego, you both took me out of winning cool stuff, but with that winning I can quicklier get back to my life after one weekend.
For me it's one weekend and done for my NCAA Tourney picks, and now I have to go back to the Mega Millions this week, with a jackpot of $95 Million on Tuesday. With numbers like 65, 87, 69, 87, 96, and a Mega Ball of 102, I know I can win. Oh, wait, I don't think I can pick any of those numbers. Maybe I'll just go with 1,2,3,4,5 and a Mega Ball of 6. I think it has the same odds.
Happy March Madness! Umm, it's almost April.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)
March 9, 2008
Daylight Saving Time Just Isn't the Same
By:
The Dude on the Right
So a group of us got together last night and since this is the new weekend for
Daylight Saving Time, we reminisced a bit about how back in college the changing
of the clocks pretty much had two meanings - "Spring"ing forward sucked because
it was one less hour to drink, while Fall"ing backward was party time, but for
each season there was always the untold rule of pretty much doing absolutely
nothing during the afternoon except watch TV (my choice was golf) in order to
begin resetting the body clock, and then getting back to studying that night. I told the tale of how I was late for Easter mass one
Sunday because I forget to set my clock ahead and walked in halfway through
mass, while Whammy now laments one less hour of sleep. The Dude on the
Left sees things a little differently, namely that you shouldn't miss out on
your hour of sleep, that you should still get your prescribed nine hours and the
hell with the rest of the day, while Stu Gotz and Mama Gotz quickly reminded The
Dude on the Left of his lack of children who don't really grasp the concept of
time changes nor sleeping in.
And while I had many intentions of being very
productive today, maybe catching another movie, doing some DVD reviews, or
cleaning, when I woke up this morning, looked at the clock that said 8:15, which
really meant 9:15 because I didn't reset it yet, I knew today was going to be
pretty much useless in terms of getting much done because I was already out of
synch with my day. So resigned to the fact of a discombobulated Sunday, my
accomplishments have been few today, but I think I'm okay with that. I did
watch a DVD I need to review, called "Spiral," which I'll write about later this
week, I did get this cool Headline Animator going for our
Mostly Entertainment
link on the web site (sure, it's only on the home page right now, and here, but
I did say today was going to be useless). Such was my afternoon.
My
evening is even looking even more exciting as I finally decide if Flickr will be
the site for posting all of the old family photos I am trying to scan,
archive, and get out on the web for all to see.
I mentioned in a previous blog about enlisting Mom's help in
identifying a batch of photos, and since I've finally settled on my Canon
scanner to do the job, I've been e-mailing her copies of the pictures, at first
just looking for simple things like who is in the photo, maybe an age or year,
but Mom has gone a step further, giving some nice back stories, like for this
picture of a baby and a dog she e-mailed me back (My Mom is so hip!): "I'm
positive that is me in the
rocker as Mother always talked about how the dog would be by my side to protect
me. The dog's name was Skippy. There was another dog who was the
mascot of the Boy Scout's Troop, and he was called Trooper. A beautiful
dog. His dog house was back by the garage."
My body clock should be back to normal tomorrow, and maybe having Daylight Saving Time a few weeks earlier isn't so bad, especially since it looks like those of us in Chicagoland will be breaking out of our cold spell for a week. All I do know is that it was so much easier to deal with time changes back in college.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 4:13 PM | Comments (0)
March 1, 2008
Mom, You Better Stick Around for A While.
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The Best Buy and new scanner stories kind of fold together, so this blog starts with my scanner buying experience. As I mentioned in a previous blog my scanner shopping was necessitated by needing to scan medium format negatives, and although liking the Epson scanner, I hated their software. Best Buy let me return the scanner, which was nice of them, and then I headed to Staples who had an HP flatbed scanner that almost sounded too good to be true, and it was. First I was disappointed in the software they were using (maybe I am just too used to the Photosmart S20 software and afraid of change), but when it started to look like it would take hours to scan negatives, well, I started to get worried that my search for a medium format scanner under a thousand bucks was for naught. Staples took the HP scanner back (Yay!), but I had one more hope, a Canon flatbed scanner, and that took me back to Best Buy. The medium format photos in this blog were all done with my new scanner, a Canon 8800F, and so far I am happy with it because the speed of the scanning is acceptable for what I want to do, and their software is a little more intuitive (but damn, I still like that Photosmart S20 format), so I think I'm going to stick with the Canon scanner. As such, Best Buy, don't expect another return from me, at least for this scanner.
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But Best Buy, what the hell is with the overly-friendly associates.
In this world where they say the easiest way to get sick is to shake the hand of someone who has a cold/flu virus, both of my trips to Best Buy were greeted with dudes overly-enthusiastic to help me, and wanting to shake my hand. There I am, just looking for a scanner I already had decided I wanted to buy, but it was "Hi, my name is Joe. What's your name?" as they extended their hand for a handshake.
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Not wanting to seem like a total ass, I extended my hand to shake theirs (how do they know I didn't just pick my nose or scratch my ass, and conversely, how do I know they didn't just pick their nose or scratch their ass), and said "I'm The Dude. I want to buy this scanner." Suddenly germs were transferred, Best Buy doesn't have an easy access to Purell, or those wipes the grocery stores have so you can clean off the cart handle, and now, in addition to finally hoping this scanner will do the job I want to do, I have to remember not to let my hands get anywhere near my eyes nor mouth, much less pick my nose. And if these Best Buy associates are going to continue this process of wanting to shake my hand I'm going to have to either be an asshole when I shop there by not shaking their hands, bring my own bottle of Purell, or just not go to Best Buy anymore and shop online where now all I have to worry about is if the UPS driver has a cold, but can, at least, easily wash my hands before I pick my nose.
So what does any of this have to do with my Mom and her sticking around a while? Well, since I have a new scanner that seems to do the job, I have over 100 medium format negatives to scan and post somewhere, and the only person I know who can help me identify the people, places, and things in these photos is my Mom. For example, from the photos I have posted for this blog, I have no idea who the dude is with the old car, the delivery truck is for the old Home Dairy in Lorain, OH, but I'm wondering who is John Lopatkowvich, and have I always been spelling my Mom's maiden name improperly, or what happened to the "w"? The photo of the three children, I'm assuming, are my Mom, my Uncle Ed, and my Aunt Lily, and I'm 99.9999999% sure the cute girl in the dancing outfit is my Mom. As I quickly flicked through these negatives they almost seem to encompass from about 1935 thru the late 1950's, and Mom, if you're reading this, I'll need your help to identify/place them all, and it might take a little while. You'd better stick around.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 6:29 PM | Comments (1)
February 17, 2008
I Don't Think Mom Will Need a T-Shirt
By:
The Dude on the Right
As I continue to use my blogging for some psychotherapy in dealing with the
death of my father last month, a couple of strange thoughts hit me the last
couple of days, some now dealing with my Mom, brought on by the death of my Dad.
And as bizarre as this sounds, I’m wondering now what should be put in her
coffin. Since she’s still in the land of the living, I suppose we should just
ask her, but hopefully she won’t need a t-shirt.
Here’s the thing: Even with my Dad’s many health issues, he always seemed to just soldier on, but with Mom being diagnosed with lung cancer a few years back, and sorry, no offense Mom, most of those in my family figured Dad would stick around and Mom would be the one to go first. But Dad had other plans, because he always had to do things his way, and last month his time on Earth was done. As we finalized his official obituary (I’m still working on my version), we also found/wanted some things buried with him.
In the couple of days following his death, as we were going through things, we found his wedding ring, which he never wore as long as I could remember, but it was stowed away, separately, distinctively, in his box of cufflinks. It was decided Dad would be buried with his wedding ring on, and from my perspective, to make sure, in Heaven, he remembered he couldn’t pick up other women.
It was also decided that Dad would be buried with a puzzle, because he liked doing puzzles. We debated about burying him with an old puzzle he had already completed, or a new puzzle for him to work on. So there, for him, is a puzzle of the Chicago skyline that I gave him for Christmas but he never got a chance to work on.
And as his official obituary stated, Dad enjoyed eating chocolate. One of his favorites was a coconut/chocolate concoction called a "haystack." Back in Lorain there was a chocolate/candy company called "Faroh’s" that had the best "haystacks." They were made with long strands of coconut draped in tasty chocolate, but sadly they aren’t there anymore. Dad did have some "haystacks" left with him, even though the newer version from another supplier look like turds with white speckles, and I have to admit, I snuck a few out of the box before I left the rest for him for his eternity. Though not as pretty as the Faroh’s brand, they were tasty. Sorry, Dad, I couldn’t resist.
But it wasn’t until the other day when I realized Dad had something of mine, for the rest of forever, and it’s simply a t-shirt.
I normally don’t wear t-shirts but with the colder winter we have been having this year, and my wanting to be a little more stylish, on colder days I started wearing a white t-shirt, and with the pending passing of my Dad, I packed my arsenal of four, white t-shirts for the trip back home. It wasn’t until the other day when it was cold outside, and I was looking for a t-shirt, that I realized I was one short, and that Dad was wearing my t-shirt. Forever.
You see, like most people dealing with the passing of a parent, there is always that awkward part of what to have them wearing in their coffin. Dad wasn’t a suit man and definitely not a jean’s man. His general attire, before he become bedridden when it was just easier to stay in a hospital gown, was a dark pair of slacks, usually blue, a t-shirt, and a flannel shirt in the winter, something lighter in the summer. We found the pants, found a nice shirt, but couldn’t find a crisp, white t-shirt in his dresser, so I gave Dad one last gift – a t-shirt.
It was weird when it donned on me that Dad was buried with my t-shirt. It didn’t make me sad, just seemed weird. I hope Mom won’t think it weird when we ask her if she wants anything buried with her. I doubt she’ll need a t-shirt, but when that time comes, I might just bring a spare one anyway.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 4:03 PM | Comments (1)
February 1, 2008
Today I Cried a Little. For Me He's Just "Dad."
By:
The Dude on the Right
We got snowed-in here, today, in Chicagoland. Some didn't, or maybe they
had the proper vehicle, equipped with snow-shoes, to travel the glistening,
white roadways, but I didn't and the snow-plow people
didn't show up until around 2PM to get the driveway in my townhouse area
cleared. Hunkered down in my bunker I did get a little bit of work done in
the morning, but shirking some of my duties I also did some cleaning of the
Dude-Pad. But that's not why I cried just a little, as the title of this
blog tells. Nope, as much as my pad needs a good cleaning, and that does
make me sad, it wasn't until this evening when the tears came.
Because, tonight, I figured, I would also work to clean up and delete stuff on my computers, and that is when I came across a picture.
There I was, haphazardly deleting stuff, when I came across a folder named "Home Photos," and the first picture showing up was one of a lazy, chubby squirrel. I remembered when I took it, back in July, for a blog posted in August, and for a moment I was just ready to hit the "Delete" key because I already had a blog, posted, with photos of that lazy squirrel. But then I scrolled through the digital camera roll, and there it was, a photo that made me cry, and it wasn't just a little.
And that was a couple of hours ago.
As I have been working on typing, editing, re-typing, re-editing this blog, I have been torn as to if I should post the picture, or not, because if members of the "... on the Right" family view this, they might cry a little as well, but hopefully, for the world that is forever in the Internet, and in having one of the last pictures of my Dad, maybe the better picture all of us can go to is an image of him smiling, with his granddaughter. And that's not such a bad thing for the world to see.
So here it is, the last picture I took of my Dad and Favorite Niece - His Favorite Granddaughter.
As I have been trying to digitize all of the pictures I have taken in the old version, that with film, in one keystroke I almost lost a picture of my Dad. He's gone from me now, but with this picture he will live forever, in the digital world. His name is, umm, Frank John Labis, it might also be Frank Joseph Labiszewski, it might also be Frank John Labiszewski, For me he is, and always will be, just Dad.
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 9:19 PM | Comments (0)
January 23, 2008
What's the Deal with Food? And, Oh Yea, My Niece is a Rocker!
By:
The Dude on the Right
With the passing of my father, and not wanting, yet, to get into some of the
philosophical questions an event like that can bring, there was something that
came up prior to his funeral that I suppose I can understand was important in
the older age of funerals, but in this day and age, especially when my dad
wanted a small, private funeral ceremony, why do some people assume that you
need food and just show up with it, unannounced? And why am I conflicted with
this topic because in the same gesture (by a different family friend) I was able
to remember a dish I love?
Now I’m not saying the bringing food gesture isn’t nice, but shouldn’t the gesture start with a quick phone call offering condolences and then tossing in a "If you’d like I can bring you a ham dinner, complete with vegetables, coleslaw, and a store-bought jello mold in case you need something to eat?" But no, there it was, the night before, or maybe it was the night before the night before the funeral (they blend together right now), that a friend of the family showed up with half a ham, vegetables, coleslaw, store-bought jello mold, and lots of conversation for my sister to hear. The issue was that, in the land of the "on the Right" family, we had already planned for a small gathering of family following dad’s burial by securing a party tray, which, fine, for this occasion should probably be called a remembrance tray, but in any case the family refrigerator was already ready to be packed. Somehow, and God bless Sis on the Right, she found a way to stack, move, renegotiate, and fit everything in there, including the ham dinner, so that no one would get sick, and let me tell you, she knows all about the importance of refrigeration and reheating with her job in Lunchlady Land!
My confliction on this issue comes because even though the gesture on the part of our one family friend was nice, but wasn’t necessary, well, a neighbor baked a small dish of Noodle Pudding, and oh my God, it was so good. I forgot about Noodle Pudding, haven’t had it in years, and after getting back home found some recipes on the internet to try (although I should probably just call our neighbor and get hers, because, can I say it again, it was so good), so even though one family friend went a little overboard with her food gesture, that small dish of Noodle Pudding really hit the spot, and as more important in the time of comfort food was necessary, my mom loved it.
I guess I'm just really confused about sending food to the families of those going through the loss of a loved one, especially with the joy and tastefullyness of the Noodle Pudding that came our way, so to alleviate my confusedness, and because it's really not long enough for a blog, and because, during my "A New Chapter for the "on the Right" Family" blog, I mentioned how my niece is a rocker, I thought I would include in this post, my niece being a rocker. Sorry for the sort of crappy video, but I think it really shows that my niece ROCKS!
BFF and favorite niece - YOU ROCK!
That's it for this one! I'm The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Posted by Rightdude at 7:13 PM | Comments (2)
