The World According to Foggy

"Today is your birthday,
Happy birthday to you..."
--John Lennon of the Beatles, 1968.

Foggy is my female, three-legged cat. She is the only female I currently live with in this world.

Fog believes in a bit of a take charge attitude. The boys (Chum and Guinness) are fearful of her. Guin will taunt her; but the 26 pound Chum cowers at her 8 pound frame.

I think it is an attitude thing.

Foggy has taught me much. She has always belived she has a a certain right of passage compared to the boys, as she has lived with me for 13 years. She is right as I protect her.

Fog believes that life is for comfort as she lounges in front of the third bedroom window or the bed.

Fog believes all doctors are evil.

Fog hates change.

Fog believes in "getting even" as exhibited when Pep was ill last year. During Pep's last night with us, Fog hissed and snarled at her. Oh, poor Foggy does not understand that Karma is a bitch.

Then again, perhaps she does as Pep tormented her endlessly.

Fog believes boys are stupid--as she looks confused with Guinness. She accepts Chumley much more. It does my heart proud to note that she accepts other cats. She is also correct, Chumley is much less maintenence than Guinness and Guinness is a bit too playful for her.

Foggy is fickle. She loves me to death, but avoids me when the other cats are around. foggy expects me to make time for her--which I do.

Foggy, like many of us, hates loud noise.

As Foggy is nearing the twilight of her life, she has perservered as she was abused (some asshole cut off her foot and crushed her arm at a 90 degree angle and broke her pelvis when he/she threw her to the ground). I would like to catch the moron who hurt her; as I promise I would break his arm and his pelvis and destroy his leg.

While dealing with my anger, "Good Old Foggy" would warn me to be more forgiving if she could speak, yet she is no fool.

One of her more enduring traits is that she daily sits by the window and watches the children in the neighborhood go to school. She loves kids.

Fog is the consumate "mother" cat. She often looks at me with a mix of repulsion and humor at Guinness' antics. Sadly, Foggy is a relatively unintelligent cat, but even she knows Guinness is more emotional than intellectual.

Good Old Foggy. Happy 13th birthday old girl. I hope I have made your life better.

You certainly made mine better; it is a Karma thing.

For the Seniors of 2007

"I remember you..."

--Robert Zimmerman (AKA Bob Dylan).

I offer the class of 2007 a simple message: Goodbye and do well—your kind is not likely to come this way again. What a great group this year’s seniors were.

I often felt that this year’s seniors have traveled a long road with me. When they were freshman, I had my first heart surgery, and when I was having my second surgery, I had many of them as Juniors in US History.

This was a great group. I think I said that previously, but I cannot reiterate it enough.

I will miss them, but ‘tis is the season to feel so. I enjoy every class, but his one is special, so parting is such sweet sorrow. Many of them heard of my separation and went through that with me.

Many of them raised money for the American Heart Association in my name to sponsor my Heart Walk.

Many of them kidded and chided me along the way.

They were nice kids.

Thus the joy of teaching in a rural school—it is a blessing as much as it is a curse. Everyone is a bit more "homey" and as I claim that is a deterrent, I really understand its importance.

Every year it hurts a bit more when the seniors leave me, but I understand the natural order of things. This is the bane and the annoyance and the fulfillment of being a popular teacher.

Whereas I want the best for my kids (and I look at them as my kids), I also want to protect them.

This year must have been a record as far as pictures and the like with the seniors before and after graduation. Many compliments from the seniors and their parents later, I feel a bit empty.

It is so strange how life is ironic. The paradox of my job is that which brings me pleasure can also bring me pain or least a bit of discomfort.

But I am mature enough to salute the class of 2007 for being the great group they are. I posed with the girls above and asked them for a “Charlie’s Angel’s” motif and they all posed the same way. Girls want to use guns, I suppose.

So I offer the best of the best to Kim, Mal, and Brit—three of my all-time favorite students.

Go out and make a difference, like I told you that you could do.

A Great Loss

No flashy lyrics; no clever lines; no sense to it all.

Our family lost its newest member as Fredrik Hunter Nimke passed away last week.

Hunter was my niece's son, and my great-nephew.

I am holding Hunter in the picture on my first and only visit with him. He was being a bit fussy and I offered to take him.

He blissfully slept in my arms, as I tested the grasping reflex on him--notice his grip. He seemed to like Old Uncle Eric.

He was a loved little boy with a great promise ahead.

My niece Angela and her husband Fred showered this child with love and affection. They were excellent parents who loved their son.

My sister, Karen and her husband Bud, were grandparents for the first time. Their love and affection for Hunter was nothing short of incredible.

Hunter's five months with us was special as he touched so many of our lives. He will be as missed as he was loved by so many people. He touched our hearts--and I, personally, found him to be a wonderous child. He was so sweet and so kind.

Angela and Fred did a heroic act, as they kept Hunter alive and on a respirator for thirty additional hours so that his organs could be donated to other children. What marvelous and uncompromising valor the two of them offered. What a gift they gave to other children. They are so solid and so giving in their kindness.

I believe these young people went through a trial that no one should ever face; yet they perservered. May God bless them.

Please, take the time to donate your organs or arrange such for your children so that like Hunter, some sense can be made of his loss of life.

My thoughts and hopes are with my niece, her husband, my sister, and her husband as they somehow make peace with this tragedy.

I only hope that they reach a sense of relief.

Bless this child.

Oh, I Just Had To Show It Off....

The new logo for The Dark Knight, the next Batman film due out July 8, 2008.

Enjoy,
ES

At My Wit's and Wheat's End

“Now I'm sitting here, sipping at my ice cold beer,

All I've got's this sunny afternoon.”

--by Ray Davies of the Kinks; Sunny Afternoon from the LP Something Else.

This is my personal favorite time in the year for beer.

Summer is here and it is time for some great wheat beers.

I like the Belgian wit beers, but to be quite frank, German Wheat beers are the best.

I am a Hacker-Pschorr (pronounced Hacker SHORE) fan, but I like Tucher and Paulander, and a few others.

As far as American wheat beers, I am a fan of Sunset from Leinies, Solstice from New Glarius, and my favorite is Flying Dog’s In-Heat Wheat.

The other day, I ordered a case of Hacker-Pschorr, and Chris (owner of Budget Liquors) said “Eric, this is your favorite time of year—you are the Wheat Beer expert.”

Thank you Chris, but others may take exception to the word “expert.’

Still I love it and I HAVE to join Keith at Oktober-fest in Germany once in my life.

I love the “clove-banana” taste in certain wheat beers. Wheat beers should be cloudy and have a rich, thick head.

They should be bit orange in color and they should go down smoothly.

I hooked my principal on Blue Moon, more of a wit beer to the mass market. Blue Moon is owned by Coors, but Coors promised not to tamper with the original recipe for fear that their tampering would destroy it. In my opinion, this is a smart move for Blue Moon and for Coors. By the way, I truly think this helped me secure a spot as a department chair.

Wit beers are generally given an orange slice to bring out the flavor, as pure wheat or weisse (German for wheat) beers have a lemon. Normal, I think fruit in beer is like asking for a kick in the skull, but it is a good thing in the case of wheat beers. Most purists will not imbibe with the fruit, but I am a “lemon freak” and enjoy them—as I do oranges.

For the record, novices out there, never put an orange in a Weisse or a lemon in a Wit. Both will ruin the flavor.

After mowing the grass, a wheat beer is pleasurable. When Guinness and Chumley and I sit on the porch with a nice breeze filtering in, a wheat beer is ambrosia. Take a chance and cool down, relax, and taste the true flavor of liquid bread. Wheat beers are perfect any time of year, but summer loving is the best.

Spider-Man III and IV has arrived

“Spider-Man, Spider-Man
Does whatever a Spider can…”

Here is my quick review of Spider-Man III:

First and foremost, the special effects were very good—and there were more than a few fighting sequences.

In that positive note, anyone notice how much more often McGuire is seen without his mask on? Must be some contractual thing, because it seems as if half of the time; McGuire is mask-less to give him more face/camera time.

Sandman was handled OK, but it was kind of corny tying in the death of Peter’s Uncle. Other than that, Sandman special effects and all were very interesting.

Green Goblin was just out of sorts. Either do a movie that focuses on Harry and Peter or move on. In this film, Harry hates Peter, Harry becomes Goblin, they fight, Peter gives him amnesia, they are friends, Mary Jane goes to Harry, a Venom-induced Peter is PO’ed at Harry and practically kills him, and Harry and Peter team-up at the end. All a bit much and also stressing the common sense logic point—even for a comic book movie.

Personally, I thought the Venom storyline was the most interesting, and I cannot stand that character. I thought the scenes with Peter struggling with the Venom persona were by far the most interesting. The bell sequence was an awesome nod to the comic series.

For the critics in the crowd, the obvious comparisons to the last Spider-Man films might be unfair because the first two were so good and this one was kind of “ehh…” Not great and not horrid. It seems that the only series I saw that was almost flawless from each movie was Lord of the Rings, and they were essentially filmed at the same time.

There will also be the comparisons to the Batman films (where they try to do too much in the movies) and that I think is also a bit unfair as Raime has more knowledge of the Spider-Man character (along with more joy) than Shoemacher will ever have for Batman. This film was cluttered, but it was NOT a mess like Batman II and III and IV. To be fair, however, we truly were given a bit of Spider-Man III and Spider-Man IV here as there was more than enough material for two films.

I would have liked to see less fast-paced story and more character (face-paced as I like to call it) development.

I would have liked to see much more Aunt May and J. Jonah Jamison. I would have liked to see more Gwen Stacy (a lot more if you know what I mean—heh heh) as actually she played her role very well. I would have liked to see less Harry and Mary Jane (sorry, Dunst’s version of Mary Jane seemed bored and bitter—not the Mary Jane we know from the comics—like she would give in to Harry’s demands when ordering Peter to stay away—please).

I also miss Spider-Man trading quips of sarcasm when fighting and having some genuine fun. The film dealt with too much of the “Spider-Man is a burden” aspects and not enough with the “Hey, being Spider-Man is a complete blast” part of the character.

Overall, I give the film a B-.

Now, go web swing along and catch it at a local theater near you.

Oh and here is the trailer from YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OA01InN8l0

Enjoy!