The "Spirit" of Christmas

Christmas time is here again…

--From some kids as shown on the Charlie Brown Christmas

I remember as a kid with an overly eager attitude of “want” waking up Christmas morning to open gifts. Now my family is spread all over the USA, literally, so that same feeling has dissipated to a degree. Still the memories are there of my first G.I. Joe, and the “Mego Batcave,” and other cool gifts.

This year, Jen and I traveled to St. Louis area to be with her sister. We drove through rain, followed by icy roads in St. Louis, followed by clear highways on the way home.

We had fun as Zack opened his Batman Winged Fighter Batplane and we opened gifts. Jen’s Mom gave me an incredible gift of a gift card to the Coliseum for hockey and football games. Jen gave me the Batman vault book I requested, which is very cool. I also was given boxer briefs in the spirit of Mom giving me underwear and socks. These actually are kind of nice. I will also smell good, as Jen picked up another bottle of Hugo for me.

Now the joy of the holiday is giving, so I gave Jen an Illini jacket (normally $108.00 on sale at Gordman’s for $22.00 in clearance—I am all about the deal) and a necklace and her practical gift of a Crock Pot. I have less than flavorful and favorable memories of my Mom’s crock pot in the 1970s where everything tastes like stew coming out of it, but I caved, as this is when she wanted. It is programmable and holds five quarts, which means I will have five quarts of stew to eat every week when we are married. I am so looking forward to that.

In the coolness factor, Mark and Mary sent me a print of my second favorite comic character of all in Will Eisner’s The Spirit. This was a special personal and original drawing of the Spirit drawn by Alex Saviuk who did the inks over Eisner’s pencils for the Escapist. Nicely framed, I may add. Jen thought it was cool as well. Mark and Mary also sent seven rocking DC character watches for me. I have a character for every single day of the week, and I must admit, Green Lantern just rocks! The Plastic Man watch is cool as well. So my youthful energies remain intact.

Jen and I snagged Mark some Marvel Character glasses that represent the Marvel greats of the 1960s. Why they put Wolverine in the mix and not the classic X-men, is anyone’s guess. Still he liked them. I have to admit that I went Gift card crazy for my folks and Mary, but Karen and Bud will have things to open when we see them. My folks sent a great gift, as did Aunt Judy, both of which will serve as a contribution to the marriage fund or my dowry, whichever anyone wishes to call it.

Driving home from St. Louis was not so bad, especially because Jen drove, but the weather took an ugly turn for the worst on Saturday and Sunday as we were dumped on with eight inches of snow. It became unique as I was a greeter at church on Sunday while we had two inches fall in two hours, and I think I greeted about twenty people, as the church was fairly empty, especially those coming in my door. Speaking of the Church, Jen and I witnessed a lovely Christmas service at Wesley United Methodist in Bloomington. The music was incredible and the message was excellent.

Christmas is a time when we can teleport ourselves back to the past and enjoy the pleasures of our lives. That is the true Spirit of Christmas, although having an original print of the Spirit isn’t too bad either.

Happy Holidays to everyone and have a Happy New Year.

Christmas Well Wishes from Me

"God rest ye merry, gentlemen

Let nothing you dismay

Remember, Christ, our Saviour

Was born on Christmas day

To save us all from Satan's power

When we were gone astray

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy."

--Traditional

Merry Tull Christmas as Ian and the boys have a go at the tune…



Well after last night’s Bears debacle, I am calmer; wearing some Blackhawk’s gear, with Guinness the cat nuzzling me, every chance he has.

I came across a great article about what happened to me this Spring, which I will share the link and the relevant text:

http://www.aolhealth.com/health/senior-health/stroke-catheter-penumbra?icid=mainhtmlws-main-ndl5link4http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolhealth.com%2Fhealth%2Fsenior-health%2Fstroke-catheter-penumbra

Bobby Laird may owe her life to a tiny vacuum cleaner that sucked a blood clot out of her brain.

In late September this year, Laird, 57, was rushed by ambulance to the Loyola University Medical Center emergency room after suffering a stroke. Paralyzed on her left side, disoriented and lapsing into unconsciousness, Laird was first treated intravenously with a clot-busting drug. She improved slightly, but only temporarily, and needed further medical intervention to save her life.

After further testing in the Loyola Hospital catheter lab to determine if she would benefit from a procedure to mechanically unclog the blocked blood vessel, John Whapham, M.D., began the treatment that would save Baird's life.

"It's a very high stakes procedure," said Whapham, assistant professor in the Departments of Neurology and Neurological Surgery, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Whapham inserted a miniscule catheter device called a Penumbra into the artery in Baird's groin. He then guided the catheter slowly and carefully up through her heart and carotid artery and into her brain.

A tiny agitator was activated which broke up the clot, suction removed the clot fragments through the catheter and blood circulation resumed in the right side of Baird's brain, which controls the left side of her body.

"The mortality risk without this treatment was 60 to 80 percent," said Whapham. "The surgical risk was only three to four percent." But although the procedure must be performed cautiously, so that a blood vessel is not perforated -- which could be fatal -- it must also be done quickly because "time is brain," Whapham said. "Each passing minute with the clot still in place increases the risk of permanent brain damage."

Whapham has done hundreds of these life-saving procedures, "from teenagers to people in their 90s," he said.

"It's basically plumbing on a grand scale, like snaking through a clogged pipe."

Note to the self: Sound familiar?

I really feel that I had some fate and faithful intervention when I went down. My thanks again to my lovely fiance’ Jen , my uncle Dan, my sister Karen, my brother Mark, My niece Angela, My sister-in-law Mary, My brother-in-law Bud, my parents Lois and Dean, my soon-to-be inlaws Pam and Gene, my incredible doctors, coworkers, all other family members, all other friends, my former students, my current students, Chumey, Guinness, Foggy, and anyone else I may have missed who offered prayers of help and support.

This one, even months later, is still frightening to me.

So while I may whine about the Bears, complain about the State Farm Insurance People, attest to my usual minor curmudgeon-laced episodes, I must really say that I am very glad to be here and I wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year.

Just think, I might have missed it…

Now That The Chicago Bears Season Is Over...

“Shut your mouth...
My mother said...
Don't saddle me...
With selfishness.

Do you feel your tongue quivering?
It's moments like these I revel in...
Your conversation never sticks,
'Cause no truth in you exists

Yeah you bite before you lick
I love ya 'cause you're such a pr#ck…”

--Ed Roland of Collective Soul from the song “Vent” from the album Blender, 2000.

I am not even slightly kidding about this. I hope that NO ONE buys me any further Chicago Bears items for two reasons; since they have stopped caring, so have I and I do not want any money even associated with me going to that organization.

After the Bears shockingly ugly loss to the Bengals, Lovie Smith told the media that many teams would quit if they were in the Bears’ situation and the Bears were not going to quit. Guess what Lovie, you, your team, and coaches under you have all quit. Here’s some advice, do the respectable thing and make it official. Resign, tomorrow.

Millions of people are out of work in this great nation while Jerry Angelo, Lovie Smith, and Ron Turner have multi-million dollar jobs? No way, folks; that is hardly justice. The worst thing about this pathetic loss (the latest pathetic loss) is that Cutler finally quit playing the Ron Turner/Lovie Smith game of Russian Roulette. He simply refused to fake it any longer. Some might call Cutler’s throwing the ball out of bounds, running out of bounds, and spiking the ball plays he showed today as poor sportsmanship; instead I view it as Cutler saying in actions rather than words, the Lovie and crew have no idea what they are doing.

The way to win football games is a relatively simple formula: a strong offensive line and a strong defensive line give a team their best chance. Lovie has invested draft picks and future drafts picks, as evident by Gaines Adams joining the squad, that the D-Line is a priority, misguided in Adams, but a priority nonetheless. In the off season, the acquisition of Orlando Pace and Frank Omiyall show how misguided the O-Lone priority is. The former is an older, injury-proned, overweight, player that could not even make the roster on last year’s worst team, and the latter is an untested four year vet who never even started before the Bears shelled out 14 million dollars for him. In the meantime, starting tackle from last year Josh Beekman is left to wonder about his career as he is now confused and former first round draft pick Williams is showing how incompetent he is and how incompetent the Chicago Bear scouts truly are. .

The best receiver on this team is a man who did not even play significant time before last week in Devon Aromashadu. There are some who question Cutler, but I think he has made a player out of Earl Bennet and has shown the same sort of hope for Johnny Knox and the fore-mention Aromashadu. I think, under Cutler with the right lineman, the three will flourish.

Almost as bad as the Offensive line is, the safety position is in worst shape. Since Mike Brown has been down (and now out) that position has never been a serious draft consideration. Look at how awful Craig Steltz and Kevin Payne have played. In a cover two, the strong safety is probably the most important position on the field and if one ignores that player, the cover two is doomed to implode.

So fellow wary Bears fan, follow my advice and leave football. Remember it is Hockey season and the Blackhawks look great. And as positive as they are, the local Bloomington Prairie Thunder at least will go out and try and fight for a victory.

The Chicago Bears quit, checked out, and folded the circus weeks ago when they lost to the Bengals and the Cardinals. If the fans really want to show the team what they think, I say that they should not give the Chicago Bears any further financial support. A friend of mine who is a season ticket holder told me the Chicago Bears organization sent him an email noting there were still seats available for the Bears Packers game. What? When was the last time, Bear fans, a seat was available for the greatest rivalry in football? Shameful really, and now the Bears ownership needs to know how the fans feel.

Go ‘Hawks! And as far as the Bears are concerned, I wish Lovie, Ronnie, and Jerry would just go!

The Gift That Kept On Giving

“So woowooooh,
I wanna be just like you...
I wanna walk like you,
Talk like you do...
You see it's true,
An ape like me,
Can learn to be human too, yeah”

--from Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's second album, This Beautiful Life, adopted from the Jungle Book Movie Soundtrack song.


In an effort to declutter our houses and avoid “trinket” types of gifts, Jen wanted to "do something" for my birthday. She bought me dinner at our favorite local steak restaurant, Central Station, and she took me to see the band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

They are great and it is difficult not to really just want to stand up and dance to their music. I was into Big Bad Voodoo Daddy big time a few years ago when the “swing” music made a commercial comeback in such groups as The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, and of course Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. This was always the most traditional of those swing era retro bands. I have truly not followed them too much since, but I enjoyed their older CDs of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and This Wonderful Life, the latter containing my two favorite cuts I Wanna Be Like You and Big Time Operator.



The band came to the Bloomington Performing Arts Center as part of the Center’s Christmas show extravaganza. I was not even aware that the band had a Christmas CD out, but they do and I ordered it from Amazon after we saw them play.

The night was filled with fun and great swing songs such as King of Swing, Jump With My Baby, Go Daddy-O, I Wanna Be Like You, and the hit from the movie Swingers, You And Me And The Bottle Makes Three Tonight from the classic era albums of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. The new CD came out when I was recovering from the stroke and Jen picked it up for me, as it is their tribute to Cab Calloway songs, which Big Bad Voodoo Daddy highlighted and sprinkled throughout the concert, including a rousing version of Minnie the Moocher, complete with audience participation. The Christmas songs they performed were intriguing and entertaining as well including: Rockabilly Christmas, Is Zat You, Santa Clause, Jingle Bells Cha Cha, and my personal favorite Mr. Heat Miser/Mr. Cold Miser; a cover from the Year Without A Santa Clause Rankin and Bass Animated classic. That was purely fun.

After the show, Jen and I waited in line for the band to autograph our program, which they did. We wandered down after the show and found our way in line, fairly quickly,; timing being everything. After a ten minute and fifty patron wait, we were face-to-face with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. In the ensuing wait in line, I made conversation and chatted with band members as they signed my Program. The bassist was clearly a showman and had fun throughout the show, and I complemented his singing and his fantastic bass strummming. I talked to the trombone player about my good friend Pete, who loves jazz and once played with Sun Ra.

He seemed honestly impressed with hearing that of Pete. I clued the band members that my fiancé’ Jen had bought me the tickets as my birthday gift, and they congratulated us on our impending nuptials. The lead singer/guitarist/leader of the band, Scotty Morris was very kind after hearing of my birthday and Jen and my wedding plans and posed for a picture.

When the first one Jen took was blurry, she asked to try again, and Morris said, “for a birthday, we gotta get this right.” He was very grateful for the fans and very humble about his fame, I felt.

Last night, before heading ff to the land of nod, I went online and picked up the Christmas CD and the Save My Soul CD to round out the collection.

What I appreciated about the show, besides the great toe-tappin’ songs was the fact that Big Bad Voodoo Daddy looked and acted as if they thoroughly enjoyed performing and respected the talents of one another. They also played for over two hours and rocked out the finale, another of my personal favorites, So Long—Farewell—Goodbye.

Go out, "jump with your baby," and see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy if you have a chance. They will not disappoint. What a great birthday present.

Another Year Older...

"I'm a runaway train on broken track;
I'm a ticker on a bomb,
You can't turn back this time…
That's right…

I got away with it all and I'm still alive.
Let the end of the world come tumbling down,

I'll be the last man standing on the ground…
As long as I got blood rush trough my veins…
I'm still alive.
--Meatloaf, “I’m Still Alive” from Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster’s Loose, 2006.

I wish you and yours a Happy Saint Nicholas Day.

Oh, yeah, it’s my birthday as well. From the web I found it to be a day of Celebration in Europe:

Traditional celebrations of Saint Nicholas Day in Northern Europe included gifts left in children's shoes (the origin of our American Christmas stockings). Good children receive treats - candies, cookies, apples and nuts, while naughty children receive switches or lumps of coal. Sometimes coins were left in the shoes, reminiscent of the the life-saving doweries the saint provided. Today - especially in families of German extraction - children still put a shoe outside their bedroom doors on the eve of Saint Nicholas Day, and expect to find candy and coins or small gifts in their shoe on December 6th.

It is also the day that Samichlaus beer is bottled and then re-distributed a year later as a never-ending cycle of enjoying an 18 proof beer. Sadly, there cannot be a Samichlaus (like Santa Claus) for me to imbibe this year.

Quite a year has past since I last took up my traditional Birthday Blog. Here are some highlights:

December 12, 2008, I proposed to Jen and she said yes. I am very fortunate.

Christmas, 2009: Jen and I travel to see both families, visiting Anna and Joe in St. Louis where Zack is given his “Bat-friends” gifts and visiting Karen and Bud; Angela and Fred in Ottawa where Kaleb is given his Superman and Krypto.

January Through March, Jen and I enjoy the Hockey of the Bloomington Prairie Thunder. Great fun and fantastic action. The team is weak, but the fun exists.

Early April, Jen and I head out to Starved Rock. She enjoys it and the dinner we had at Lou Grottos Pizza.

April 22, 2009: I suffer a major stroke in Medici’s Restaurant, that my uncle, Dan Kuglich, catches. He insists I have an ambulance take me to the hospital; next thing I know I am in a hospital moving down a hall; then I am in a machine as I have a head ct, then I am in surgery with a pain behind my eye as a 100 CC clot is removed, then I am making jokes with Karen and Jen and the nurses about my medical condition, then I start the road to nearly perfect and complete recovery (in my world a 95% with some minor residual affects in my left hand). In the hospital stay, Karen, Mark, Mary, Angela, Dan, Dar, and friends visit and I begin to understand what is important in life.

Late April through May: no work as I recover. In the recovery I learn to accept that life is a gift and my faith grows. Strange, one might suspect the opposite, but not so. My weight loss begins as Jen, Mark, and Mary de-carb my house. May sees me return to action at PTHS by giving the Social Sciences Award and Baccalaureate, where I am allowed to address the Seniors. Also, one of my favorite institutions/past times is gone, as I decide that I should no longer drink beer. German Wheat Beer stock drops fourteen percentage points (or something like that).

June—final OK’s from Doctors. Bears sign Cutler. My hopes of seeing another Super Bowl (and sooner, not later) are rising. I attend a bridal show with Jen and her sister Sarah.


July—Family reunion at Aunt Cathy’s. Lots of fun and great food for all.
August—my boredom ceases as I begin a new school year. Great kids, great classes, and everyone is very welcoming. Hopes are continuing on the Bears. Jen and I begin serious wedding planning. Jen and I pick out wedding bands.

September—Jen and I go to the U of I, ISU game. My alma mater is slaughtered and we find out it is only one of three games U of I will win this year: Go Illini, Go Redbirds. Bears look OK in the Pre-season and start out well. Bear fans lose some hope as Urlacher goes down. Jen watches the games with me, as proudly wears the Calib Hanie jersey I bought her. Don’t ask…

October: Highlight is we see Mark and Mary in Ohio, as Jen saves our lives after we hit an errant hunk of wood on the road while she is driving at 9:00 PM. Car damaged, but we are fine and we still are able to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (the band formerly known as the Heavy/Epic Metal band Savatage--a personal favorite of mine) in Youngstown for a terrific show. Car fixed, to a degree, and now I fight with State Farm Auto Insurance. Weight down around 40 pounds.

November: By the week before Thanksgiving, State Farm finally pays me for my car damage. It is only been 21 days, but who am I to complain, right? Jen prepares a lovely Thanksgiving Turkey breast with great flair. She is an excellent cook. A nice, quiet, and loving Thanksgiving is had by us both.

Late November: Bears are now realistically out of contention for post-Season play. Cutler has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns, especially in the Red Zone, and my faith in my sports teams has been rocked, as even the Prairie Thunder lose two games Jen and I witnessed, but played well.

Early December: My faith in Chicago Sports teams was restored when the Blackhawks signed Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

In Summary: I learned that life is a gift this year. In many ways, even with the stroke, it was one of my best years ever. I learned that Jen is perfect for me and our relationship gives me a chance to love life. I learned that family is more important than I ever knew and I love them all. I also think the stroke was a wake-up call to restore faith and promote a healthier lifestyle. I also have been more intelligent and more compassionate to others since it happened, so maybe God was letting me know that some corrections were needed.

Same time next year…