It's A Party, A Party Party Weekend

Friday - SHR and I had a shindig to celebrate my 34th birthday. And what better way to celebrate than with an alcoholic beverage with a Twizzler straw?
SHR and Dani
Introducing Henry Nelson
The second Rod inspired cake in the last six months.

And then it was Guitar Hero time. Some people loved it, some did not.

Movie of SHR and Hater Larry playing Guitar Hero.

Movie of Steve and me doing the same.

Saturday
Jamie's 32nd birthday celebration. Read about it here.

The post wings fiesta ended up at O'Connor's - my first time there since Bart's last night.

Balgavy, Jim, Ezra, and Mooney
Sunday: The annual Oscars party 0n Cumberland St. Congratulations to Ezra for taking the grand prize.
Snowball fight!
Cousin Leah
Movie of the snowball fight mayhem.

Movie of Cousin Leah hiding behind Clockwatchers and then playing the dog card as her brother pelts her with snowballs.

Happy Birthday Peanut

President's Day Weekend - The Peanut's 4th Birthday at the NJ Children's Museum.

Ahpa and the Buddha
Uhma and the Buddha
The Peanut makes an appearance.

Movie List 2006

Since 1999, I have written about every single film that I'd seen in the theaters that year and posted a list in early January. This year, I have relaxed my rules as a result of seeing many fewer films in the theaters.

This year, I have allowed DVD viewings to count on my list. And I also am following Balgavy's old rule of posting lists on his website as long as he received them by the Oscars. As I finish up this post, I've got to dash out to Sir Balgavy's for this year's Oscar Party. I'm getting this in just under my self - imposed deadline. Because as Mooney told me this afternoon, I'm allowed to make up my own rules, damnit!

There are still many many films I want to see to add to this list. I'll update this post in a few months and then leave it be. I can't believe that even with all of the DVD's and giving myself two extra months, my total is a mere 51 movies. Pathetic by my usual standards.

Final Update: 12/31/07
78 Movies

MY LEAST FAVORITE FILM OF THE YEAR
Sweet Land

OTHER STINKERS
Miami Vice

Invincible

Final Destination 3

X-Men: The Last Stand

Superman Returns

C.S.A. Confederate States of America

MEDIOCRE
Marie Antoinette

Running With Scissors

Notes on a Scandal

This Film Is Not Yet Rated

Thank You For Smoking

The Illusionist

Brick

KIND OF GOOD
La Moustache

13 Tzameti

The Aura

Gabrielle

Time to Leave

Inside Man

The Last King of Scotland

Sherrybaby

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS
The Black Dahlia

The War Tapes

An Inconvenient Truth

Mutual Appreciation

Why We Fight

The U.S. vs. John Lennon

Three Times

Shortbus

For Your Consideration

Little Children

Inland Empire

Stranger Than Fiction

The Prestige

Flags of Our Fathers

Half Nelson

The Puffy Chair

Jesus Camp

Fast Food Nation

Apocalypto

Idiocracy

GETTING WARMER
A Scanner Darkly

United 93

49 Up

Volver

A Prairie Home Companion

Infamous

The Descent

Little Miss Sunshine

Casino Royale

Neil Young: Heart of Gold

Days of Glory

51 Birch Street

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

TOP NOTCH
The Lives of Others

The Road to Guantanamo

Jonestown: The Life and Death of People's Temple

The Queen

Children of Men

The Cats of Mirikitani

Old Joy

The Science of Sleep

Duck Season

Dave Chapelle's Block Party

3rd M*nd*y in Oct.

Lady Vengeance

THE TOP 10
The Departed

Pan's Labyrinth

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Fateless

L'Enfant

Iraq in Fragments

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu

Letters From Iwo Jima

Mountain Patrol: Kekexili

MY FAVORITE FILM OF THE YEAR
Linda Linda Linda

Updated: 12/30

John Kerry Fights For My Inalienable Right to Listen to Vin Scully

Over the past three baseball seasons, SHR has permitted me to get baseball's Extra Innings Package on cable. For a mere 150 clams, I've had access to something in the neighborhood of 50 out of town games per week. But now, baseball wants to sell the rights to Direct TV which means that I won't be able to get the package anymore.

But now John Kerry is fighting for the downtrodden amongst us.

"I am opposed to anything that deprives people of reasonable choices. In this day and age, consumers should have more choices -- not fewer. A Red Sox fan ought to be able to watch their team without having to switch to DIRECTV."

Nothing like our leaders fighting for what is truly important. I say that without an ounce of sarcasm. Ok, well maybe a little.

Eddie Feigner, Hard-Throwing, Barnstorming Showman of Softball, Dies at 81

From yesterday's New York Times:

Eddie Feigner, who for 60 years barnstormed the globe with his four-man softball team, hurling 100-mile-an-hour pitches that struck out Willie Mays and 141,516 other batters, died on Friday in Huntsville, Ala. He was 81.

Last summer, Feigner (pronounced FAY-ner) sometimes rose from his wheelchair to throw a pitch or two, despite dementia and a succession of strokes and heart attacks. He died of respiratory complications, said Del Reddy, a friend.

Feigner and his team, known as the King and His Court, traveled around the world with a flamboyance that recalled the barnstorming teams assembled by Babe Ruth and that perhaps most resembled basketball’s Harlem Globetrotters. He was the clown prince of softball.

He pitched behind his back, from second base, between his legs, when kneeling and, of course, while blindfolded. A story is told of the time he stood in right field at Yankee Stadium and fired an underhand fastball over home plate. Feigner swore the tale was true, except that it was a curveball that crossed second base on its way to the plate.

He and a changing supporting cast that included only a catcher, first baseman and shortstop eventually logged more than 4 million miles, covering 50 states and more than 100 countries to play in front of 200 million people.

They played racetracks, stockyards, rodeo grounds, cemeteries, pastures, an oil rig off Norway’s coast and the Houston Astrodome. On “The Tonight Show,” a blindfolded Feigner knocked a cigar from Johnny Carson’s mouth.

In 1972, Sports Illustrated called Feigner, who pitched 238 perfect games, the most underrated athlete of his time. He said: “I’m a pipsqueak because I’m caught in a nothing game. It’s like being a world-champion nose-blower.”

In 2000, the same magazine ranked the King and His Court as the United States’ eighth-greatest team of the 20th century. In 2002, ESPN.com listed Feigner as one of the 10 greatest pitchers in a list that included Walter Johnson and Sandy Koufax.

In the 1940s, when countless small towns had softball leagues, the King and His Court was one among many barnstormers. By the 1960s, Feigner was top dog and made $100,000 a month at a time when baseball stars headed for the Hall of Fame made $100,000 a year.

And maybe he deserved it. In 1967, he faced, in order, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Brooks Robinson, Maury Wills, Harmon Killebrew and Roberto Clemente. He struck out all six.

“It was a mismatch,” Feigner said in an interview with a publication of the Loma Linda University Adventist Health Science Center. “A baseball batter has no concept how to hit a fastball that rises like mine, or sliders and curves that break 18 inches.”

A former marine with a crew cut and a right arm noticeably more muscular than his left, Feigner threw hard. His fastest pitch was clocked at 104 miles an hour.

Feigner was born in Walla Walla, Wash., on March 26, 1925. He was abandoned as an infant and was named Myrle King by his adoptive parents. He was expelled from high school for troublemaking.

When joining the Marines during World War II, he had to find details of his birth. He discovered that his birth mother lived nearby and that as a teenager he had mowed her lawn. He took her last name and the name Eddie from a friend.

His gimmick of fielding four players against nine began with his response to losers’ taunts. He first said he could beat teams with only himself and a catcher, then realized that would leave the two vulnerable to being walked and stranded on base.

After decades of popularity, fast-pitch men’s softball lost ground to slow pitch (“a sissy game,” Feigner said) and to women’s fast pitch. Barnstorming softball faded into the Americana of wooden roller coasters and hula hoops.

Anne Marie, Feigner’s fourth wife, became the first woman on the team. She survives him, as do his son Eddie Jr.; his daughters Shirley, Carol and Debbie; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Feigner, who at the end made a tiny fraction of the fabulous salaries of baseball players, never slowed down. “Too dumb to quit,” he growled.

His team, clad in red, white and blue uniforms modeled after those of the Globetrotters, played in ever-smaller parks. He still signed free autograph after free autograph, as his players hustled programs.

“I hope they think of me as an honest, sincere performer who always put on a good show,” he said.

Why had I never heard of this guy before?

Am I Funny Like a Clown?

Ah, Valentine's Day. As in past years, I asked my students to write something that they like or appreciate about each kid in the class. I then typed them up and tomorrow each kid will get a sheet with what all of their peers said about them.

Some of the highlights:

I like the way you smile when you get tagged in tag.

You are very nice and I liked the Britney Spears thing you are doing AND your sister is fun to play with.

Zombie!!!!!

You are so good at Art. Don’t tell anyone but you might even be the best artist that is a kid that I have ever seen!

I appreciate you because you have a cat and even if I wanted a cat, I could not get one.

I like you because you are a smart one.

You are one of my best friends so I’ll say you’re my BF because you are nice and you’re on my side (like laughing together) or playing THAT game we play.

Cheese, cheese, cheese, cheesearoni. Cheese is good. Mushroom Man is cool and so are the other guys.

I appreciate you because you are one of my best friends and I like your pen.

I like you because you are just a ball of fun waiting to explode.

Let’s just say that I think you are one heck of a good guy.

I like you because you are silly. You pretend to have short term memory loss.

I like you because you are good at defending yourself.

I appreciate you because you found the meaning of life.

I like playing the cootie game with you.

You are a good guy because you never try to get me out at Elimination.

I appreciate you because you think I’m sometimes funny. Thank you.

I appreciate you because you gave me two Cheez-Its.

I appreciate you because we have so much in common. For example: We are both named Max and we are both good in keyboarding.

And the ones I had to edit.

You are cool and funny like a clown.

You are so funny that I forget to laugh.

I like you because you are easy to get out in Elimination.

I like you because you are unpredictable. I never know if you are going to be funny or nice or neither.

Your hair feels funny.

A Saturday of Gaming

While some of my Brooklyn crew focused in on some hot board game action, I went another route.

Alex, Anne, Chris Larry and I went to the NY Hall of Science, where Chris works, to screen a documentary about the evolution vs. intelligent design debates.

Before the movie, we had a chance to goof off a little.

The Great 2007 Virtual Wheelchair Race.
Virtual Armwrestling. You can armwrestle against people in other museums. In this case, they wrestled each other.
Watch the movie here. Was Chris able to avenge his wheelchair race defeat or did Alex win his second straight?

After the museum Chris and I traded the double A's for SHR, Jim, and Mike. And before we knew it, it was Guitar Hero time.
Then I blew yet another poker game and it was time to head home. But not before one more solo.

Mondays come way too early.

Oh David

Dear David Wright,

I stuck with you through this.

I was amused at your silly GQ antics.
But this? I really think you have gone too far now.
Signed,
A Disappointed Fan

Overheard Today

Boy Who Cut His Hair to Look More Like Mr. Mondale sat down next to Boy Who Will Sometimes Put His Head on His Desk and Cry Because He Doesn't Want to Do Work, and promptly said, "I've decided that I want to marry my mom even though I know that she's already married."

I'm a Cold Blooded Snake

I bet a student (Tanner Boyle) a pack of Skittles that Spiderman 3 would not be rated R. He kept insisting that his sister told him that it would be rated R. I kept telling him that a movie like that wouldn't be rated R because it wouldn't make as much money that way. "Yeah but Mr. Listmaker, Venom will be too scary for PG-13, trust me." The bet is on. By the way, one of his favorite movies is This is Spinal Tap.

Earlier in the day, I took the class out for a few minutes to run around in the cold. It was about 19 degrees or so when we went outside. Girl Who Has to Be Asked to Do Something Five Times Before She Even Considers Doing It was trying to go outside with only a sweatshirt. When I told her to put on her heavy jacket, she complained that she didn't need it.

She's one of those kids who would want to wear it if I told her she didn't have to. She told me, "I hate the cold because I'm hot blooded and all the adults are cold blooded like snakes and they make me wear my jacket." She's also a kid who will complain she's too cold sometimes in the classroom but refuse to put on a sweatshirt. A real sweetheart.

For the Record, Mr. Listmaker and Mr. Mondale Do Not Have Any Plans To Have Children Together

I dashed this off after a recent class discussion that began with the Great Migration turned into something else. Click on the picture to enlarge.
And in Outline form:

The Great Migration
Black people in the South moved to the North.
1. Me: They hoped that they would be able to vote in the North.

2. Student Question: Why is voting so important?
Answer from another student - To get power so they can make laws to make things more fair for black people.

1st Student - But what about the European immigrants? That's what I meant. Could they even vote?

Only U.S. Citizens Can Vote
1. Me: Mr. Mondale can't vote because he is not a U.S. citizen.
2. Me: His infant son is a citizen and can vote when is 18-years-old.
Student Question: What if you and Mr. Mondale got married? Would your child be able to vote?
1. Another student - Two men can't have babies!
2. Me - Actually they can.
3. Student - What? How?
4. Me - Does anyone have an answer to that question?
A Doctor Can Help You
1. Student - Um, I'm not sure how but a doctor can help you do it.
2. Another student - They can adopt.
3. Me - That is true but I want to talk more about the other way.
How are Babies Made?
1. Me - I don't want to get to into this because this is the kind of thing that most parents would rather share with their children at home. But I will say this in scientific terms - you need two ingredients to create a baby. You need a sperm and an egg. A man has the sperm and a woman has the egg. So how can a doctor help two women, for example, have a child?
2. Student - Um, they have to get sperm for an egg?
3. Me - Yes, one of the moms decides which one will have the baby. Then she gets sperm from a doctor. He gives it to her and she can get pregnant.
4. Girl with 2 Mommies - Like me!
5. Me - So how do two men have a child?
6. Another student - Oh that is gross. Ugh. I just ate.
7. I sidetrack to talk about being respectful of people and that you don't have to agree with things that people do but you can not be mean to people just because they are different from you.
So How Do Two Men Have a Baby?
Student: They get an egg from a women and one of the men has the baby.
Me: Ok, let's review. Men can not have babies. Only women can. So how could two men have a baby? Remember that when two women have a baby, they get sperm so one of them can have a baby. How would it work with two men?
Students: No guesses.
Me: Okay, one of the men would decide who's sperm they wanted to use. Then they could a female friend to have the baby for them with the help of a doctor. Or sometimes there are women that agree to help out by having a baby for them with her egg and one of the man's sperm. Then she gives them the baby or shares in raising the baby.
I suggest you ask your parents about this if you are still curious. Who's ready for recess?

And this is part of the letter I e-mailed to parents before the end of the day.

Hello,

I just wanted to let you know about an interesting discussion that occurred this morning. The topic was the Great Migration. This led to questions about voting rights which led to whether or not the European immigrants we studied in the fall could vote. We spoke about how only citizens could vote and how Mr. Mondale couldn’t vote because he is not an American citizen.

A student asked, “Mr. Listmaker, if you and Mr. Mondale got married and had a baby, would the baby be an American citizen?” One child asked, “How can two men have a baby?” Another said, “Two men can’t get married!” I explained that gay marriage was a topic that was being widely discussed in our country over the past few years and how at this point, all but one state did not permit it. However, we also discussed that some states give gay people and couples more rights than others do even if they don’t allow marriage, per se.

We also talked about how two men or two women could have a baby. I told them that I did not want to get into too detailed a discussion in school about something that most parents would prefer to talk to their children at home about. I told them the basics about sperm and and an egg being necessary to have a baby and that men had sperm and women had eggs. I asked, “So how can two men or two women have a baby?” A student offered, “The doctor can help you.” With that, we briefly discussed this thread.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know about this conversation so you could be prepared for possible dinnertime questions tonight. At this point of the e-mail, I recommended a number of books about how to discuss the topic with children.