Visit With Liz, Donovan's, Trivia, Saylor Mick's, Kent State, Star Wars and a Movie

WEDNESDAY, MAY 3

Visited Liz at Cole Cemetery and then went to Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes,Wisconsin, as we so often did.  Played live trivia with Uncle Jeffie.  Stopped at Saylor Mick's in Spring Grove for the wing special and those great retro $1 Hamm's pints.

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THURSDAY, MAY 4

Today was the 53rd anniversary of the killings at Kent State in Ohio.  That set off rioting and troubles in college campuses across the United States, including at NIU where I was a freshman.  I thought I was seeing the end of the United States.

On a lighter note, today, being May the 4th, has a play on words "May the Force Be With You" so it is an "Star Wars" day.  All of Bob Stroud's Ten at Ten had to do with space.  I wrote them down earlier in this blog.

Went to the Fox Lake Theatre and saw "Renfield."  That Nicholas Cage makes a fine Dracula.

--RoadDrac

May the 4th Be With You: 'Space Oddity' A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Away...

Bob Stroud played songs with this theme today on his Ten at Ten show on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM, the Drive, Chicago's Classic Rock.

The reason, of course, was a play on words for a signatiure line from the Star Wars movies, "May the Force be with you."

Pretty good song selection and you can still listen to it tonight at 10 PM, CDST as it sure does stream.

SPACE ODDITY--  David Bowie

MAN ON THE MOON--  REM

SPACE TRUCKING--  Deep Purple

FULL MOON TURN MY HEAD AROUND--  Off Broadway

ROCKET MAN--  Elton John

2,000 LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME--  Rolling Stones

SPACE COWBOY--  Steve Miller Band

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE--  Beatles

WALKING ON THE MOON--  Police

MAJOR TOM--  Peter Schilling

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "I Told You About Living In The US  Of  A, Don't You Know That I'm The Gangster Of Love?"  Answer below.  --RoadForce

"Space Cowboy"

Gas Gouge Getting Out of Control: May the Fourth Be With You, Donovan's Reef, Gas Gouge Shock

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4

How about this, 38 degrees this morning.  Welcome spring!  Bob Stroud did his Ten at Ten on Chicago's WDRV on "May the Fourth Be With You" for some reason.  Went to Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, and played trivia with Uncle Jeffie and, of course, enjoyed those half price (plus 25 cents) drinks from 4 to 6 pm.

On the way home, I was shocked at the price of gasoline at Rock Corner at the intersection of Illinois 173 and Wilmot Road.  I think I saw it listed at $4.70.  We've got to do something with these GRBs at Big Oil.

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THURSDAY, MAY 5

I set two new records today.  I drove to Bristol, Wisconsin,, and met the Magee teachers at the Bristol 45 Diner (it's on US Highway 45).  Gas on the way was $4.60 ($4.59.9) at Rock Corner, so I had made a mistake yesterday when I thought it was $4.70 (a whole ten cents cheaper).  My excuse is that I was shocked.  Gas at the three stations in Wisconsin was $4.20.

On the way home, I bought gas for the Dodge Dakota for $4.20.  This set a record for the highest I'd ever paid for gas.  Thanks GRBs.  Later, I cut the grass for the first time this year and unfortunately ran out of gas, so had to go to the Mobil station in Spring Grove and paid $4.60 for it.  A new record for highest gas for me.

Two Records in One Day!  Lucky Ol' Me.  --RoadDog

May the Fourth Be With You

Yesterday, May 4th, is sometimes called "Star Wars" day because of the line "May the Force Be With You."

Bob Stroud spotlighted it yesterday during his Ten at Ten show on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM, the Drive.  All ten tunes had something to do with space in their titles.

SPACE TRUCKIN'--  Deep Purple

SPACE COWBOY--  Steve Miller Band

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE--  Beatles

DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT--  King Harvest

ROCKET MAN--  Elton John  (Always reminds me of driving the Ramblin;' Wreck from Athens, Ga., to DeKalb, Illinois, to see him play at NIU's Chick Evans Fieldhouse and Liz had seats right up front.)

OUTA SPACE--  Billy Preston

WALKING ON THE MOON--  Police

FULL MOON TURN MY HEAD AROUND--  Off Broadway

MAJOR TOM--   Peter Schelling

SPACE ODDITY--  David Bowie

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "She Packed My Bags Last Night, Preflight, Zero Hour, Nine AM."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Rocket Man"

Past Movie Scratches: Purge-- KKKlansman-- Equalizer-- Star-- Book-- Godfather

Past Movie Scratches--  Movies I saw on TV in 2020.

139.  THE FIRST PURGE--  10-31--  Let it hang out.  Let it all hangout.  Beware the Skeletor, he's a real nut case.

140.  BLACK KKKLANSMAN--  11-2--  Infiltrating the good old boys at your local Klan and David Duke.

141.  THE EQUALIZER 2--  11-2--  Don't mess with Denzel.  he has those certain skills.  Even if you'e former friends.

142.  STAR WARS VI:  RETURN OF THE JEDI--  11-2--  Like brings out the good in dear old Daddy.  The Wookie and Ewoks to the rescue.  The Imperial forces never had a chance against the lil' teddy bears.

143.  BOOK CLUB--  11-3--  Four ladies rekindling old and new flames.

144.  GODFATHER 2--  11-3--  Today and flashbacks tell the story.  The Cuban Revolution.

--RoadDog

Past Movie Scratches: Clones-- Sith-- Guardians-- Titanic-- Millers-- Vacation

Past Movie Scratches--  Movies I saw on TV in 2020.

25.  STAR WARS II:  ATTACK OF THE CLONES--  1-27--  Evil Count Dooku, Anikin falls for Padmon.  Clones to the rescue.

26.  STAR WARS III:  REVENGE OF THE SITH--  1-27--  Sneaky, coughy General Grievous gets his.  The Sith get Anikin.  "Good."

27.  GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2--  1-27--  Quill meets his dad.   Ol' Taser Face and Lil' Groot.   "You shouldn't have killed my mom and squashed my Walkman."

28.  TITANIC--  1-27--  Who says you can't go back?   "You jump, I jump."

29.  WE'RE THE MILLERS--  2-8--  A sham family takes an RV trip.  A lot dirtier than it needed to be.

30.  VACATION--  2-8--  This was the remake and wasn't as much fun as the original.

--RoadDog

QUESTIONABLE HEADLINES:  Joint Committee investigates Marijuana Use.

Past Movie Scratches: Museum-- Godfather-- Godfather-- Dark Knight-- Menace-- Return

Past Movie Scratches--  Movies I saw on TV in 2020.

19.  NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM:  BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN--  1-20--  Old Abe to the rescue and dear Amelia flies again.

20.  GODFATHER III--  1-20--  Every time he tries to go legit, he gets drawn back.  The loudest, longest scream ever.

21.  GODFATHER II--  1-21--  Fredo wants respect.  Sure doesn't get it.  Dad gets payback in Sicily.  Mikie wipes the slate clean again.

22.  DARK KNIGHT--  1-22--   "Let me get this straight."  "You complete me."  "I'm an agent of chaos."

23.  STAR WARS I:  PHANTOM MENACE-- 1-24--  Meet Jar Jar, R2D2, CP30 and Anakin Skywalker.  "How rude!"

24.  STAR WARS VI:  RETURN OF THE JEDI--  1-26--   "It is your destiny."  Right, Mr. Emperor?   "My young apprentice."  The attack of the Ewoks.

--RoadApprentice

STUDENT TEST ANSWERS:  A planet is a body of earth surrounded by sky.

Past Movie Scratches: Hunter-- Phantom-- Clones-- Resident-- Guardians-- Story

See if you can guess the movies in the title above.

Past Movie Scratches--  Movies I saw on TV in 2019

115.  THE LAST WITCH HUNTER--  12-20--   Been hunting witches for a real long, long time.

116.  STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE--  12-20--  We meet the future Darth Vader, the son of a slave and real nice kid.  That real ugly Sith guy gets his.  So does Liam.

117.  STAR WARS:  ATTACK OF THE CLONES--  12-21--  Aniken grows up, falls in love and starts drifting over to the Dark Side.  It's da Clones vs. Da Droids.

118.  RESIDENT EVIL:  AFTERLIFE--  12-23-- Running from the umbrellas and zombies.

119.  GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY--  12-24--  My favorite group of Superhero oddballs.

120.  A CHRISTMAS STORY--  12-24--  The famed Furnace Fighter, Christmas Tree Trader, Tire Changer and Bumpkus Dog Hater.

Waiting for Commercial Break.  --RoadDog

Past Movie Scratches: Minions-- Revenge-- Hope-- Strikes-- Return-- Trek

Past Movie Scratches-- Movies I Saw in 2019.

109.  MINIONS--  12-14--   How the Minions got to where they are now.  No laughing in the dungeon.  Bob, Kevin and Stuart save the Queen from Scarlett Overkill.

110.  STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH III--  12-16--  Aniken goes to the Dark Side and becomes Darth You-Know-Who.  Jedi wiped out except for Yoda and Obiwon Kenobe.

111.  STAR WARS:  A NEW HOPE IV--  12-17--  The original first episode.  "Help me, Obewon Kenobi, you're my only what?"  That really cool bar scene with all those derelicts and great music.  "I've got a what about this?"

112.  STAR WARS:  THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK V--  12-18--  "A long time ago in a galaxy what?"  The battle in the snow.  We meet Yoda.  "Your worship."   Han and Leia sitting in a tree.  "I am your father."

113.  STAR WARS:  RETURN OF THE JEDI VI--  12-19--  Jabba the big slug that laughs way too much.  It's all about your destiny.  Luke finds the good in his father after much effort.

114.   STAR TREK:  BEYOND--  12-20--  The crew's all together now.  Versus the Bee Swarm  "Let's make some noise!"

--RoadFlick

Past Movie Scratches: Megalodon-- Godzilla-- Brother-- Impact-- Lethal-- Rogue

Past Movie Scratches:  Movies that I saw on TV in 2019, before the virus.

67.  MEGALODON--  8-17--  It's the U.S. Navy vs. a really, really big shark.  Svenghouli will have a field day when he gets around to hosting this movie.  Pretty dumb and dumber.

68.  GODZILLA--  8-18--  The big guy actually saves us.  Go, you GODZILLA!!!

69.  ON BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU--  8-20--  Great story and even better music.  Good old Pete the Toad.  More characters than you can believe.

70.  DEEP IMPACT--  8-22--  Another rogue asteroid menacing the Earth.  But Fish gets it.

71.  LETHAL WEAPON--  8-29--  Mel's a wild child,  but vengeance-minded.

72.  STAR WARS:  ROGUE ONE--  9-1--  Getting the plans for the Empire's Death Star.  How it all started.

--RoadZilla

Past Movie Scratches: Guardians-- Awakens-- Empire-- Ride-- Wolf-- Rogue

Can you guess the names of the above movies before you look at the list below?

Past Movie Scratches:  Movies I watched on TV in 2019.

55.  GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY--  4-27--  What a wacky group!    "We are Groot!"  My favorite Marvel heroes.

56.  STAR WARS:  THE FORCE AWAKENS--  5-27--  Or, Finding Luke Skywalker.  And, what about Han Solo's kid.  His grandfather's kid.

57.  STAR WARS EPISODE V:  THEN EMPIRE STRIKES BACK--  5-27--  Welcome to the Ice Planet, the Abominable Snowman and we get to meet Yoda, we do.

58.  RIDE ALONG 2--  5-30--  A little bit of Ben Barber goes a real long way.

59.  THE WOLF OF WALL STREET--  6-1--  More sex and drugs than you've ever seen. If you see Leo copulating once, you've seen him a 100 times.

60.  ROGUE ONE--  6-14--  Sets the stage for the first (or the 4th) Star Wars movie.  That is why Obi Wan Kenobi had to help.

Pass the Popcorn.

--RoadWars

Past Movie Scratches: Country-- Joyful-- Awakens-- Minions-- Mummy-- Jurassic

Past Movie Scratches--  Movies I watched on TV in 2019.

37.  PURE COUNTRY--  2-16--  Great music, but George should definitely keep his day job.

38.  JOYFUL NOISE--  2-17--  Singing through the hard times.

39.  STAR WARS:  THE FORCE AWAKENS--  Sure gonna miss Han.  Imagine getting killed by your son.

40.  MINIONS-- 2-23--  How they began and how they found Gru.  "No laughing in the dungeon!!"

41.  THE MUMMY--  2-24--  "Bugs.  I hate BUGS."  Especially those little scarab flesh-eating ones.

42.  JURASSIC WORLD--  2-24--  Those pesky assets.  It's corporate greed vs. the dinosaurs.  The dinosaurs win.

But, At Least Jimmy Buffett Didn't Drop His Margarita During the Bird Attack.  --RoadDog


LAUGHTER'S A GOOD WAY TO DEAL WITH THE "V":  To the tune of "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover."

"Don't visit your Gran, Jan
Wipe down every toy, Roy
Don't horde all the food, dude
Please buy sensibly."

Movie Scratches: 1917-- Rabbit-- 1917-- Skywalker

Movie Scratches--  Movies I Have Seen At the Theater This Year.

5.  1917--  1-23--  Fox Lake, $6--  Trenches, rats, planes, snipers and the horrors of war.  What more could a guy want?

6.  JOJO RABBIT-- 1-27--  Fox Lake, $6--  A unique movie set in the waning days of Nazi Germany.  Humorous, sad and horrible at the same time.  And, the pretend Hitler.

7.  1917--  1-28--  A day in the life and what a day.  What a way to deliver the mail.  Gives new credence to that old saying about the mailmen and delivery.  One of those movies you just have to see on the big screen twice.

8.  STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER--  1-28--  Fox Lake, $5--  "Rea, I am your grandfather.  You are a Palpatine Sith.  YUCK!!!

Love Those New Seats in the Classic Cinemas Fox Lake Theatre.  --RoadDog


RANDOM ANIMAL THOUGHTS ( From the Orange Peel Gazette) DOG::  "They keep putting the lid down on the big water bowl."

Movie Scratches: Jewel-- Skywalker-- Spies-- Ronstadt

Movie Scratches--  A Dog's Eye View of movies I saw in the theater.

1.  RICHARD JEWEL--  1-6--  Fox Lake, $6--   From hero to terrorist thanks to the FBI and the media.

2.  STAR WARS:  THE RISE OF SKYWALKER--  1-7--  Fox Lake, $5--  "Rey, I am your grandpa."  Sorry, Emperor Palpatine, her name is Rey Skywalker.  The end of the Sith.

3.  SPIES IN DISGUISE--  1-7--  Fox Lake, $5--  Learning to be a pigeon.  Pigeons aren't so bad.

4.  LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE--  1-13--   My all-time favorite female singer.   What a cutie!!!  And that voice!!!

Beware Seats With Plastic Covers.  --RoadDog

TAX FACTS:  The IRS sends out 8 billion pages of forms and instructions each year.  Laid end-to-end, they would stretch 28 times around the earth.

JSS: Last Week for Lin Brehmer's WXRT Morning Show-- "1917" and "Star Wars IX"-- Jo Jo Rabbit"

JSS--  Just Some Stuff

1.  LAST WEEK FOR LIN BREHMER'S WXRT MORNING SHOW--  After a real long time, WXRT's Morning Show host, Lin Brehmer is leaving the show, but not going too far as he switches from his 5:30 to 10 am slot for the afternoon slot from 10 am to 2 pm.

Most every morning, I listen to him (and former co-host Mary Dixon) if I am not listening over the internet to Jim Morgan at the Surf 94.9 FM out of Myrtle Beach, S.C.).

I'll sure miss him in the morning, even though he had that really bad case of Cubitis,  a huge love of the Cubbies.  Bit, at least now he will be able to stay up to watch his favorite team when they have night games.

2.  "1917" AND "STAR WARS IX"--  Yesterday, I went to the Fox Lake Theatres and saw these two movies for the second time.  Movies like this need to be seen on the Big Screen and in that wonderful surround sound.  And, not just seen once, but twice.

A 70-inch screen is good, but no comparison to the Big Screen.

3.  "JO JO RABBIT"--  I went to see this because it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, along with Scarlet Johansson for Best Supporting Actress.  This was an outstanding movie with humor, sadness and the horrors of Nazi Germany.  Well worth seeing.

--RoadDog

TAX FACTS:  Even the easiest form, the 1040E has 33 pages of instructions, and all of it is in FINE PRINT!!

Getting In the Yule Spirit-- Part 5: Christmas Songs, Christmas Parties, Bands, the Civil War and CDs

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20

The Drive (WDRV, 97.1 FM, Chicago) did their Ten at Ten on A Merry and Bright which were ten Christmas songs, many of which you don't often hear.

I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS--  Greg Lake
HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS--  America
I SAW MOMMY KISSING SANTA CLAUS--  John Mellancamp

FROSTY THE SNOWMAN--  Ronettes
WINTER WONDERLAND--  REO Speedwagon
MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY--  Bruce Springsteen
THE RIVER--  Joni Mitchell

WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS TIME--  Paul McCartney
SILENT NIGHT--  Stevie Nicks
CHRISTMAS IS THE TIME TO SAY I LOVE YOU--  Billy Squier

WE went to the Sunnyside Christmas party in Johnsburg.  The place was packed and we had a duo entertaining.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21

Went to Crystal Lake for the McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group whose topic this month was Civil War engineers.  I, of course, talked about Maj. Gen. W.H.C. Whiting, CSA.  Someone should write a book about him.  Fascinating guy.  On the way home, I stopped at The Vinyl Frontier in McHenry, my local mom and pop record store.  I love these places and am sio embarrassed I missed Record Store Day this year.  Bought five CDs.

Liz and I went to the Squaw Bar in Ingleside for their Christmas party later in the afternoon and enjoyed the Average Joe Band.  Later to Sunnyside then home for "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones."

May the Christmas Parties Be With You.  --RoadDog

DID YOU KNOW:  A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.   Sometimes, I think I do as well.

Getting in the Yule Spirit-- Part 4: Movies, 5-Course Dinner and Bars

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18

Still watching the "Star Wars" movies.  Today "Star Wars"  The Empire Strikes Back."

A cold day, but went to the Fox Lake Theatre and saw "It's a Wonderful Life" on the big screen.  It is always good to see a favorite movie on the big screen.  This was the first of two showings and there was a fairly large crowd there doing the same.  Quite a bit of laughing at the funnier parts.  This is my third all-time favorite Christmas movie.

Later went to Sunnyside and then over to Stucky's for their five-course dinner for $12.99.  Then back to Sunnyside and home.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19

I went to the Fox Lake Theatre in Fox Lake, Illinois, and saw two current movies:  "Frozen II," and "Jumanji: The Next Level."  These are the last two movies I will see until after schools reopen in January as the theaters are too crowded during Christmas break.  I had my own private showing of "Frozen II."

Later, we went to Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, and to Bricks & Ivy in Spring Grove, Illinois.

Came home and watched another Star Wars movie  "Return of the Jedi."

--RoadDog

Getting in the Yule Spirit-- Part 3: "Star Wars" and Old Friends, Pizza and Beer

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17

I've been watching and recording (on VCR, that's right, VHS tapes) the various "Star Wars" movies in preparation for seeing the "last" one, "Star Wars:  The Rise of Skywalker" after schools are back in session and people go back to work.  I don't like crowds.  I'm a "Star Wars" fan.

We went to Half-Times in Johnsburg, Illinois, and met up with Usual Suspects Sue and Paul as well as Pam.  We used to do this at least once a month before Sue and Paul moved to New Mexico, so this was definitely kind of like old times.   Also, great pizza deals and cheap beer.  Our preferred pizza there is our special:  black olives, pineapple and sausage.

It was fun talking with them and planning our trip to the Indy 500 this coming May.  Stopped at Sunnyside afterwards.

Came home and watched "Star Wars:  A New Hope," the original "Star Wars" in 1977.

--RoadWars

JSS: "A Christmas Story"-- The Drive's A to Z-- "The Last Jedi"

JSS--  Just Some Stuff

1.  "A CHRISTMAS STORY"--   My all-time favorite Christmas show starts in a few hours and runs a 24-hour marathon on both TNT and TBS.  I will watch it straight through at least twice and definitely will catch parts here and there.  Watch out for whose dogs?  We will be having out Christmas dinner at a Chinese buffet, a regular tradition, but no Chinese goose.

2.  THE DRIVE'S A TO Z--  It started at 6 am this morning and will run until sometime after New Years Day.  They do take a stop from midnight to 6 am.  There will be over 2,000 songs arranged alphabetically by title.  It streams at www.wdrv.com. 

First song was "Abacab" by Genisis.    They are up to "At the Station" by Joe Walsh right now.

3.  "THE LAST JEDI"--  The last two weekends, I have watched all the first seven "Star Wars" movies on TNT as I get ready to see the Rise of Skywalker after schools go back in session.  This Sunday they will run "Rogue One" at 1 pm, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" at 4 and "The Last Jedi" at 7.  I'll be recording on my VHS tape.

--RoadWalker

Past Movie Scratches: Klunks-- Phantom-- Clones-- Clones-- Sith-- Hope

Movies I watched on TV in 2017.

73.  CHRISTMAS WITH THE KLUNKS--  12-15--  There goes the Caribbean Christmas trip.

74.  STAR WARS:  PHANTOM  MENACE--  12-15--  We meet the cute little Annikin.  You know what he grows up to be, though.

75.  STAR WARS:  ATTACK OF THE CLONES--  12-15--  Annikin starts showing his "problems" which does not bode well for the Jedi.

76.  STAR WARS"  ATTACK OF THE CLONES--  12-16--  Probably the worst romantic effort ever.

77.  STAR WARS:  REVENGE OF THE SITH--  12-16--  Annikin goes "all the way" to the Dark Side and becomes evil Lord Darth Vader.

78.  STAR WARS:  A NEW HOPE--  12-17--  The original "Star Wars,"  now #4 with the prequels.  "Your worshipfulness."

Star War Me.  --RoadDog

FOOD COMMENTS:  "I will not eat oysters.  I want my food dead -- not sick, not wounded -- dead."  --Woody Allen