Why I Oughta...

In my office at work, I now have two wall calendars hanging on the all.  Both of them were shipped to me as 'gifts' from two different groups.  The one of the left is a Disney calendar that came as part of my D23 membership .  The one on the right came from the University of Illinois as part of their outreach program.  I have them both hanging right by my desk and - as of now - they're currently set to the right month. But...I have to wonder:  do these things provide any utility any longer?  I certainly don't mark them up with important dates and events.  In fact...I'll be surprised that I keep up with changing the months in a timely fashion.  The number of times I've walked into offices and people had their wall calendars set to 3 months earlier is too many to count. So...what do you think?  Wall calendars still useful?  Don't tell me you give them as gifts, do you?  Or...maybe...people love them?  (Some people?!?) I'm all set, thank you.

We were in the Toys r Us over the weekend trying to get our hands on some Shopkins when I saw a whole aisle of these white-boxed Pixar-branded toys.  If you know your Pixar movies, you'll know that there are guys from Nemo and Incredibles in this photo.  There were also the robots from Wall-E, Monsters from Monsters Inc and even some guys from Up and Bugs Life. What struck me as odd, however...is that these things are branded and packaged in all white packaging with just the Disney Pixar branding on them.  Further down the aisle, there were ToyStory toys like Buzz packaged up in Toy Story-ish boxes.  But...not these guys. Seems strange, right?

Was in and out of Denver Colorado (Or Denver Avocado as The Babe calls it!) in the flash of an eye recently.  I took just one photo while I was there and it was this brochure sitting on the check-in desk of the hotel. Not exactly the way you want to 'see' Denver, eh?  Maybe next time we'll have more time to take in the local...ahem...culture.

Yesterday on the Dan Patrick Show, they had Bill Hader on the show to promote the big 40th Anniversary of SNL show that's airing tomorrow.  In the interview, Dan Patrick asked Hader (who has appeared on Stern and was/is hilarious) who on the show made him laugh.  He said that Jon Hamm and (surprise!) Taylor Swift were very funny as hosts.  And that one of the fellow cast members who always made him laugh was Will Forte. He pointed out the sketch where Forte was a basketball coach and decided to do a motivational dance at halftime.  Everyone - including Peyton Manning, Keenan Thompson and Bill Hader himself have to cover their faces because they're laughing so hard. I had to go back and find it and rewatch it.   There's a ratty copy up on YouTube that has low volume , but you can still watch it.  Man...Will Forte *is* committed to the sketch.  The Herb Alpert tune doesn't hurt.  Hilarious.

The Bulls/DRose stuff is great.  But...the Illini hoops squad making the homepage with a win? Makes this Friday morning all that much better.

Or...as The Atlantic says: 'Tangled Up In Ol' Blue Eyes" .  Yeah...that's right, Bob Dylan is making an entire record of Frank Sinatra covers.  But...not the usual ones you think of when you think of Frank Sinatra. Here's one of the tracks as uploaded on YouTube. (if you are reading in your email, the video below won't show up.   Click here to watch it .)  As David Graham on The Atlantic says:  this ain't Nashville Skyline.  But...it is something else. Sounds interesting, right?   You can read the whole story here on The Atlantic, but this passage sticks out for me.  Especially that last line: Before making Time Out of Mind, Dylan told producer Daniel Lanois , "There's some records that I really like from the '40s and '50s and I'd like for you to hear them to understand the energy of them, the beauty of them." His recent records since have included a wide range of styles: country blues, jaunty twang, folky ballads. Th

Over on Thrillist, you'll find the list of some of the best pizzas in Illinois .  They include a few from Chicago (Pequods, Coalfire, Vito & Nick's) and a bunch from around the State including Papa Dels down in Champaign.  We've been to quite a few places listed already, but Vito & Nick's - thus far - has alluded me. One of Nat's favorites - Burt's Place - is also on the list .  Here's what they had to say about that place: No pizza roundup would be complete without mention of the legendary Burt of Burt’s Place. While it may not be famous for its service, Burt’s is famous for its massive pan-baked pizzas with a perfect balance of ingredients served in a crazy lodge-style environment. Pro tip: Burt is something of a celebrity around these parts, so best to call your order in ahead. Outside of Papa Dels in Champaign, I'm a little skeptical of a lot of those downstate places.  The whole 'shrimp' or 'taco' pizza doesn't do

We couldn't pass up this 'Winnie the Pooh for President' glass when we saw it.  I thought it was too much for something silly like this (I think they were asking like $5) so I put it down after admiring it, but..when you put all the pieces together, it almost seems like this glass was destined for our family.   Nat said we *had* to buy it.   It is Disney (of course) and is marked with 'Walt Disney Productions' - which this page tells us that it could be from a VERY wide range of 1939 to 1986 when they changed to 'The Walt Disney Company '.   So...why buy it? Let's count the reasons: Pooh bear?  Check.  The Bird's favorite guy in the world.  She sleeps with a Pooh Bear everynight. Political reference?  Check.  I'm a sucker for political kitsch stuff. And...it was sold through Sears?  And has a Sears mark?  Check.  The Moran's have a deep Sears connection.   This guy now is ours and as you can see from the top photo is

Not sure of what he's targeting, but I'm seeing this promoted account from Kurt Summers - the new City of Chicago Treasurer - on Twitter A LOT these days.  I finally caved and added him.  Have to say...it feels a bit like the wrong move right now?  I'd be spending my money promoting the content instead of the account?  Driving people to a landing page to take some action?  But...perhaps...much like we learned with the State Treasurer's race....this campaign will get NO interest and barely any attention.  So...building up your own base of followers might be useful?

I dare you to watch/listen to this a few times right now and not want to continue to play it over and over again like I have been doing.  My buddy Adam mentioned to me that he's been listening to this thing since Christmas and I should check it out. This is from the record 'Lost on the River - The New Basement Tapes'.   (If you're reading this in your email, click here to play the video on the site .) It is the lead off track of the record that was released right before Christmas last year and that's Jim James supplying the vocals.   From Google Play :  Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes is an album produced by T Bone Burnett featuring a collective of musicians recording under the moniker The New Basement Tapes—Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, Taylor Goldsmith, Jim James and Marcus Mumford.   The album consists of a series of tracks based on recently uncovered lyrics handwritten byBob Dylan in 1967. Probably written in the period between his m