Paul Lori Linz and Liv
4/30/07
Happy Belated Birthday Erika
Donna
4/30/07
Gary, have you been following that accident near San Francisco yesterday? It sounds like a nightmare for commuters.
Yeah, I heard about it last night. It's near the eastern end of the Bay Bridge (Oakland), and not in San Francisco as I first heard. But it will be a mess for commuters, no kidding, as many of the people who work in San Francisco live on the less-pricey Oakland side of the bay and must use that bridge twice a day every day. I heard that the Governator (Arnold S.) will be providing free access to BART, the trains, and the ferries until the freeway is fixed -- which could take months. It's a miracle nobody was hurt! --Gary
Ryan, Amanda, Tristen & Teghan
4/29/07
Happy Birthday Erika!
Nicky, Cocoa, TJ & Napoleon
4/28/07
Happy Birthday Erika!! Meow, meow!
Emily
4/28/07
Happy Birthday Erika!
The Hatgidakis Family
4/27/07
Happy Birthday Erika!
Dad and Mom
4/27/07
Happy 14th Birthday Erika!!!
Donna
4/27/07
Happy Birthday Erika!
Grandma
4/27/07
Happy Birthday, Erika!!
Gary
4/27/07
Talking dogs and talking cats! :-)
Gary
4/26/07
If you missed the excellent "Buying the War" on PBS last night, check your listings because I think it will be shown again. Or, you can watch it online here.
Amanda
4/25/07
The Iz version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow was in a great episode for old ER fans. One of the original doctors died in Hawaii & they played this during that episode. Heart wrenching! (And I don't get THAT into TV characters!)
Gary
4/25/07
Wow, big news day:
1) a few days ago the Waxman committee (investigating 9/11) invited Condi Rice to testify; she informed them (through an assistant) that she was "too busy"; so this morning Waxman issued a subpoena for her! Go Waxman! :-)
2) Leahy's committee (investigating the attorney firings) just this morning granted immunity to Monica Goodling, who was Alberto Gonzales' assistant and who up to now has been refusing to testify. It rankles a little that she -- one of the guilty parties -- will get immunity; but on the other hand she is small fry, and her testimony will help get the big guys. Not only will she remember all the things Gonzales couldn't recall, but she can put this thing in the White House, as she supposedly had meetings with Rove and even Bush. Go Leahy! :-)
3) Dennis Kucinich -- who is rare in politics for telling the truth without considering the "political costs" -- introduced a bill this morning calling for the impeachment of Dick Cheney. This will be an uphill battle, no doubt -- but at least he has put the I-word on the table. Go, Kucinich! :-)
Gary
4/24/07
Okay everyone, last chance for football tickets! The deadline is 5:00 pm Friday night, and unless someone gets $716 to me by that time I will release the tickets back into the wild, and we will lose our place in line. None of my usual buyers were interested this year (at that newly-increased price, anyway), so unless someone reading this wants them and can get the dough to me, the tix are history!
Update: Just got an email from my usual ticket-buyer. She had been out of town and unable to respond to my email, but she does want the tix. So we will have them for another year.
Gary
4/24/07 New review! Thanks, Emily!
Marsha
4/24/07
Our favorite version of that song is by Isreal (Izzy) from the soundtrack of another great movie, Finding Forester.
Gary
4/24/07 Good article about the Problem That Is Katie Couric. It asserts that some people at CBS feel Katie is an "expensive, unfixable mistake." It seems that she is to CBS what George Bush is to America: someone committed to a course that nobody else likes, but nobody can stop her. Hey CBS, here's the answer to your problem: Hire an inexpensive nobody, with no political bias, and have them just READ THE NEWS! Sheesh! :-)
Donna
4/24/07
Ah, thanks! I couldn't even think of that movie -- which is where I first heard it. The version I was looking for is the one by Israel.
I had a horrible drive in this morning. Heavy rain the entire time from Lincoln to Omaha -- white knuckle driving all the way. This video and a little more coffee were just what I needed to calm down.
Thunderstorms off and on for at least the next 48 hours, or so I heard from the forecasters... --Gary
Amanda
4/23/07
My favorite version of it is by Israel Kamakawiwo Ole. I LOVE IT!
What are the odds of two guys with Hawaiian-sounding names (each starting with K!) recording the same arrangement of the same song? Somebody is a catty-copper! Here is Kanekoa's. --Gary
Donna
4/23/07
What's the name of the male singer that sings 'Somewhere over the rainbow?' He sounds a little like John Goodman. I heard him sing that song again but didn't get his name. I think I have to get that CD.
You're thinking maybe of Kaulana Kanekoa...? He's the one whose version of "rainbow" was included in the soundtrack for "Marilyn Hotckiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School." A great song. (And good movie!) --Gary
Gary
4/22/07
Ha! Here's an even better summary of the Gonzales Senate hearing, reducing his 6+ hours of testimony to just three minutes!
Gary
4/20/07 New review, thanks to Lindsey!
Gary
4/20/07
So, did you watch the Gonzales hearings yesterday? Probably not, as they were not well covered by the press -- they were carried only on C-SPAN3, available only on C-SPAN's website.... So you had to have your computer tuned into it all day -- like me! :-) Gonzales' performance was pretty pathetic. Watching him get worked over by the Senate committee (including even some of the Republicans who scolded him and called for his resignation) was like watching someone "clubbing a baby seal," as an unnamed "prominent Republican" was quoted on CNN. He's either massively incompetent, or a criminal, or both. Yet Bush -- who said he watched none of the testimony -- stands by him and says Gonzales did a "good job." Anyway, if you missed the hearings, here is a 30-second clip that will give you the flavor:
C-SPAN left the microphones open during the breaks, and once you could hear someone in the audience say, "How did this guy ever get through law school?" :-)
Amanda
4/19/07
Well, thank goodness Sanjaya is gone finally! We aren't really watching it this year, but we did notice that he is gone.
Today & tomorrow I am at this conference in Omaha. Today was great, edge of your seat interesting stuff the whole time. I am looking forward to tomorrow as well. The mother & aunt of Lori Hacking were very moving. I thought they would be "pros" at this speech giving & be stoic & somewhat confident. But they are not, it is still very fresh to them & their emotions showed. Interesting stuff, I told Ryan it felt like college only instead of my professor lecturing about profiling it was a REAL FBI PROFILER giving us a REAL CASE STUDY! Very cool, a Criminal Justice students dream come true!
Karen
4/18/07
Not much activity on the page lately. Guess everyone is busy. Another beautiful spring day coming for us. Tristen did you have a fun birthday? How was the pioneer school? I remember when Emily and Erika went, they loved it. Erika is planning a slumber party for her birthday. Emily and I went shopping for prom dresses last week-end. I think it's the 5th. Emily has a "fun" day planned for tomorrow. Her AP English teacher is taking her and 3 other students to Wayne for a poetry slam. Tomorrow is also the 1st anniversary of Brent's surgery! He is thinking he may take the day off to "reflect." Gary how is the knee and the recovery coming? Are you back to work yet?
I actually went back to work on Monday, for half a day (with a doc appt taking up the other half); then Tuesday for half a day (with a physical therapy appt taking up the other half); making today my first full day since April 5. Still feels a little weak, but it's getting better day by day. Tell Brent a day of reflection is a great idea! --Gary
Gary
4/17/07
Tristen dropped by Grandma's house tonight for dinner, and later (after a quick poker game) we all watched "Deal or No Deal." But because they had to leave early here is a special message to Donna and Tristen: With only two cases left on the stage (and the $750,000 was still unopened), she accepted a deal for $402,000. And her suitcase, as it turned out, held only $400. Good deal! :-)
Gary
4/17/07
Well, today was to have been the day Alberto Gonzales (called by some "Abu" Gonzales for his part in making the torture that goes on at Abu Ghraib "legal") was to have testified before the Senate committee. But this has been postponed, wisely, til Thursday because of the Virginia Tech shootings. His testimony would have been lost in all the media ga-ga today. Besides, this will give Congress two days to do what they always do when there is a terrible shooting: Talk about how awful it is, say over and over that this time we're going to do something, and then do nothing. Two days should be enough for all that. But Bush lost no time in putting the matter in perspective. The first sentence out of the White House (delivered by the new press secretary) was: "The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed." Don't identify with the victims -- identify with the killer and his right to own guns! And don't worry, NRA -- I'm on your side! Also, the media is especially sickening with how they quiz every witness, every security guard, and every talking-head psychologist with this: "Do you have any idea why he did this? Any idea what his motive might have been???" Here's a motive: He didn't like Spongebob Squarepants. Or, he prefers crunchy peanut butter, not smooth. In other words: Motive doesn't matter! What matters is, he had a gun. But the gun lobby (with the help of the helpful media) will try to show us that the real problem here is Spongebob, or peanut butter, or videogames....
Sorry for the grumpiness; I guess the painkillers haven't kicked in yet! But stay tuned on Thursday -- should be quite a show!
Livy
4/15/07
Happy Birthday Tristen!!!
Hope you got what you wished for!!!
Mom, Dad & Teghan
4/14/07
Happy Birthday Tristen!
Karen
4/13/07
Gary, how is your knee?
Getting better all the time. Pain is pretty much gone -- just a kind of stiffness that the exercises (from the physical therapist) are working out. Today I'm walking around (carefully!) without crutches. Spent about an hour at the therapist's today, doing exercises and riding a stationary bike. Given how fast it's improving, I'll be surprised if my knee is not completely normal by this time next week. I go back to the surgeon first thing Monday morning for a followup (when he has promised to give me an injection of what he calls "WD-40 for knee joints"), then to the physical therapist on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next few weeks. Best thing to me is the fact that the original pain I used to feel (pre-operation) is completely gone -- all this current stuff is a new thing, and on the way out. Again, getting better all the time! --Gary
Nelsons
4/13/07
Happy #10 Tristen
Donna
4/13/07
Happy birthday Tristen!
The Hatgidakis Family
4/13/07
Happy Birthday, Tristen!!
Grandpa, Grandma, Lindsey, Livy
4/13/07
Happy Birthday Tristen!!
Grandma
4/13/07
Happy Birthday, Tristen!!
Lindsey
4/13/07
We just got back from the Jason Mraz concert! It was at the Rococco Theater and it was really fun! It was way better than I expected it to be. If you know him or his music you would expect him to be kind of a quiet, shy guy but he was crazy and out there and hilarious! It was really a good show. We had 2nd floor seats with a table so we had a great view. It was a lot of fun and it was almost a concert and comedy show together, he's so funny! If you've never heard his music, I recommend listening to some of it. It's different and he's got a different voice from everyone you hear lately. After the show me and Liv got a shirt to remember the concert. I also got a bunch of pictures I'll put up!
Donna
4/12/07
Happy Birthday Mom!
Ryan, Amanda, Tristen & Teghan
4/12/07
Happy Birthday Grandma!
Paul, Lori, Lindsey, Olivia
4/11/07
Happy Birthday Mom/Grandma!!!!
Karen
4/11/07
Gary, how are you doing? Sorry to hear that you had a bad day.
I'm doing better right now. Last night was very rough, but I'm sure it was my fault. The 24 hours following the operation I felt so good that I just overdid it -- it felt so good after all those months to walk around without pain that I just did too much walking! Which caused some swelling and stiffness in my knee, and a bad night last night. Went to the physical therapist today (and thanks again to Paul for kindly chauffeuring me around), where I went through some exercises that helped my knee a good bit right then and there. The therapist also adjusted my crutches to the right setting, which improved things dramatically. Tonight: Still on crutches and using ice-packs and painkillers, but feeling noticeably better. I have no doubt I'll feel much better still tomorrow morning. I go back to the therapist on Friday, and see the surgeon for a followup on Monday. --Gary
Nelsons
4/11/07
Happy Birthday, Grandma!
The Hatgidakis Family
4/11/07
Happy Birthday, Mom/Grandma!!!!!
Gary
4/11/07
Sorry for the lack of updates here. I expected to be more or less back to normal by now. After I gave glowing health reports to everybody I spoke with on Monday, Tuesday was a different story. Swelling and a lot of pain in my knee. After feeling so good that first day (thanks no doubt to the hospital-strength painkillers), I think I overdid it. Paul is giving me a ride in a few minutes to the physical therapist who hopefully will be able to take care of this. In the meantime, it's crutches and icepacks and staying horizontal.
Gary
4/9/07
Okay, I'm off to the doc for knee-repair. I won't be able to update this page til I get back, and that won't be until sometime Tuesday as I will be staying overnight at Mom's tonight. Feel free to send in items, but don't expect to see them until tomorrow...
Karen
4/9/07
I am still off for Easter break, Emily and Erika also have tomorrow off. Just checked out the Journal and saw Mom's picture -- nice. Emily was in our paper on Friday. The governor finally signed the Keg Registration bill. A reporter called a few days ago and asked Emily for some quotes. I'll have to scan it and send in a copy later. Didn't do too much for Easter, had a big meal and watched some movies (and sent in reviews). Gary -- good luck this morning. Keep us posted :)
Congratulations on the bill, Emily! --Gary
Nelsons
4/8/07
Happy Easter
Gary
4/6/07
Very good piece on John McCain -- very powerful, and worth the five or six minutes it will take to read.
Gary
4/6/07
A new review up today -- thanks to Erika!
Grandma
4/6/07
Well, my Birthday "week" is over and I want you all to know that I enjoyed every bit of it! The party at Paul and Lori's couldn't have been nicer and was great to see so many people that I haven't seen in a long time. Thanks so much to all of you! Was good to have the Hatgidakis and Nelsons here and YES, we all missed Emily and Zach.
Had some really fine Spring day's and some really cold ones too. All in all, a good time and the disk of pictures Amanda put together for us is very, very neat. Have heard lots of compliments!
Thank you all!!
Gary
4/6/07 New photos -- lots of 'em! Thanks, John.
Gary
4/5/07
Another new review from Lindsey. Thanks!
Karen
4/4/07
Sounds like everyone had a nice time with the Hatgidakis. We have been having a cold snap here. Yesterdays high was 33 and today wasn't much better, also quite a few snow flurries. Tomorrow is our last day of school. I actually get out at one, and then off til Tuesday. No big plans for the week-end, just enjoying it. We spent last Easter in the hospital waiting for Brents surgery. So it will be nice to be home this year.
Gary
4/4/07
So John McCain went shopping in Baghdad with his pal Lindsay Graham to show how safe it is because of the "surge"... They shopped in a cordoned-off and secured section of the marketplace while surrounded by over 100 American soldiers and protected by three Blackhawk helicopters and two Apache gunships overhead. Not to mention the flak jackets and body armor each was wearing (which is more, by the way, than we have provided for the troops). McCain said the media hasn't been showing all the good news coming out of Iraq, and Senator Graham grinned into the cameras and said, "I got five rugs for five bucks!" McCain also bought a rug, and he said to the shopkeeper (through an interpreter): "I want to run for president. And don't worry, because I'll handle the war better than Bush."
Less than thirty minutes later, mortars exploded on that spot; and the next day, 21 market workers who had been there when McCain went shopping were captured, tied up, and shot. Later a suicide bomber detonated a truckful of explosives nearby, killing 14 adults and children (including one newborn baby). Since McCain visited that marketplace, snipers have killed at least one person there per day.
Good article here by Cindy Sheehan on the third anniversary of her son Casey's death in Iraq. Amazing that only three short years ago, before her son was killed, Cindy Sheehan was a complete unknown and Bush was riding high. Then she started following Bush everywhere he went asking one simple question: For what did Casey die? Bush never acknowledged her. But people began to follow her. When she set up "Camp Casey" on the road outside Bush's retreat in Crawford, Sheehan entered -- without intending to -- the public spotlight. She was the first one to dare to talk back to the Emperor.
The good news today is thanks to Nancy Pelosi. She went to Syria for talks with that country's leaders. No American official had been in contact with them in over four years; and Bush threw a hissy-fit when he learned she was there, accusing her (in so many words) of dealing with terrorists, and saying it sends "mixed messages" to have her talking with the Syrians while he is ignoring them. And now Pelosi is on her way to Saudi Arabia, which must really be sticking in Bush's craw! Saudi Arabia has been Bush's only "friend" in the Arab world, but just today the Saudi King Abdullah has rejected an offer from Bush to visit Saudi Arabia, preferring instead to cooperate with the U.S. Democrats. In other words, bypassing Bush and cutting him out of the picture. Every passing day, and every passing hour, Bush (and McCain) are becoming more and more powerless, more and more irrelevant.
Gary
4/4/07
Okay, trivia time! Who, back in 1991, said this: "I think for us to get American military personnel involved in a civil war inside Iraq would literally be a quagmire. ... I do not think the United States wants to have U.S. military forces accept casualties and accept the responsibility of trying to govern Iraq. I think it makes no sense at all."
Give up? It was none other than the guy who shoots his friends in the face, Dick Cheney! At the time he was Secretary of Defense under Bush I. So I guess you could say he voted against it before he voted for it.... (The great Helen Thomas dug this up.)
Gary
4/4/07
The Hatgidakis vehicle is now somewhere between Lincoln and Minneapolis. Great to see you all again! There were a few shopping trips yesterday, lunch for a few of us at King's, and dinner for a crowd of us at the Cracker Barrel. Weather was beautiful the whole time, though a cold front rolled in last evening and today the temps are only in the 30s. Brrr....
Nice article from the Chicago Tribune on Keith Olbermann, for all you K.O. fans.
Emily
4/2/07
Hey everybody! I haven't been on here for awhile, pretty busy with school, activities, and work. School is really starting to wind down for me, except for my AP classes, we are spending a lot of time getting ready for the AP tests. But, only a few more weeks and I am all done!!
We have a short week this week and next week. We start spring break on Friday and go back next Wednesday, I am looking forward to being able to sleep in for a few days! Does anyone have any fun Easter plans??
What all has been going on in Lincoln, besides the party of course? Are Hatgidakis' still around?
Sounds like Grandma's birthday party was a lot of fun, I still really wish I could have been there!! I watched the DVD Saturday night, it was really nice! I can't wait to see more pictures from the day!
The Hatgidakis bunch is still here through tomorrow -- returning to MN on Wednesday, I understand. Activities have been low-key: Some of us went to a really nice brunch yesterday at The Green Gateau; several shopping trips; many great meals provided by Grandma; some gardening and landscaping (and pizza!) at Donna's this morning; and we watched a bit of the Twins season opener on TV tonight. Tomorrow I think a trip is planned to Eyes of the World. Plus, the weather has been beautiful. --Gary
Gary
4/2/07
And yet another new review from Lindsey -- thanks!
Gary
4/2/07
And thank you for the new review, Emily!
Gary
4/1/07
Thanks for the new reviews, Lindsey!
Livy
4/1/07
Hey everybody! Happy April Fool's Day! Boy did I get a lot of people! I got Linz, my mom, dad, just a lot of people. But it was kind hard to get Linz.... I had to sneek in her room with Sam, Anna and Linz sleeping at like 7 in the morning, and I took Linz's cell phone and hid it. She said that she started to freak out, and from my phone I sent her a text saying April Fools from Livy. But i didn't open the message, because then she could still read it! Then I got mom and dad this morning too! For mom, I made a pot of coffee, but instead of putting the coffee in it, I put hot water! She thought that I just took the coffee out of the coffee maker from yesturday, but I didn't! Then I finally got dad, a few weeks ago, like 2 or something we went to Granite City and dad's food was cold, so he got another plate, but he wanted to write a letter to them talking about it. So I wrote a little message myself, saying like we can no longer take requests like this and things like that. It was funny! He fell for it pretty good, but then he saw in small print that it said April Fools from Livy! I even went to google and got a picture of the Granite City label and stuck it on there and printed out all of the info that you put on envelopes and even went out to the mailbox and pretended to stick it on there and there was mail already in there from yesturday so then he read it. Today was good! I wanted to make a record for getting a lot of people, and I think I have set a new record for myself!!!
Way to go, Livy! :-) --Gary
Karen
4/1/07
What a great day yesterday! Paul - Lori, thanks for going to all the work to have it at your house. Amanda - the DVD is great - watched it again last night (had missed a lot of it during the day). It was really nice to see everyone there. I hadn't seen most of the guests for close to 20 years. Now I am looking forward to seeing all the pictures from the day. Thanks to everyone for getting it together.
