The thousands of you - well, make that the 18 of you that actually read my blog post from last week - may be wondering how the pre-Hallowe'en weekend worked out.  Well, do I have a story for you...

Thursday evening, (Sponsor's Name Here)'s Official Baby Brother, St. Jon, called with another potential doin' for the weekend.  I had forgotten that Downtown West Allis was holding its Meet & Treat from 10:00 AM to Noon on Saturday along W. Greenfield Ave. 

So during the best weather segment of last weekend, My-Sugar-Na and I took the daughters (Gooey and Sloppy) and met St. Jon and his wife, Strawberry Fields, and kids Jelly Bean and Mr. Cranky Pants behind City Hall to start meeting and treating.  The three girls ranged from scary to cute (clockwise from upper left, Gooey, Sloppy and Jelly Bean)...

Also in tow was Vier Pogo Squad 51, dressed as his "separated at birth" twin, Law & Order charachter Max Greevey...

Along the way, St. Jon mentioned that Jelly Bean was afraid of big, mascot type charachters.  But not too long after he said that, we found favorite Sesame Street charachter Elmo (on the left, with St. Jon in the center and Jelly Bean on the right)...

(Side note:  Nobody believes me when I tell them, but the puppeteer and voice for Elmo on Sesame Street is a 6'5" black guy.  Don't believe me either?  Read this.)

 Following closely behind on Greenfield Ave. were Strawberry Fields (pushing Mr. Cranky Pants) and My-Sugar-Na...

Overall it was a great time.  We started right about 10:00 AM and the volume was light as we headed east from S. 75th St.  But by the time we reached the turnaround on S. 70th St., there were kids everywhere!  At a couple of stores, the lines were at least 10 deep.  However, we completed the loop in about 75 minutes, and the kids got quite a haul.

After bidding adieu to St. Jon's family, we went home and plotted our course.  Still expecting bad weather all day Sunday, we let the girls talk us into driving to our previous neighborhood in Bay View for their nighttime Trick-or-Treat that Saturday evening.  (Side note:  I have lived in three different Bay View neighborhoods in my life, and some of the areas can get a little seedy.  However, there are a lot of nice homes in Bay View, especially between Howell Ave. and Pine St. just south of Oklahoma Ave.  It was in that area where I was stunned by the number of Obama yard signs.  They outnumbered McCain signs 10:1.  So the first house that we approach that has an Obama yard sign allows me to comment "Kids, get your candy here this year.  By next year if Obama wins, they won't be able to afford to give away candy".  Right next door was another Obama yard sign, and I said "Kids, get your candy her...." at which point, My-Sugar-Na says that kids dressed in costume don't care about what I think.  Sigh.  I'd better keep her occupied on November 4th, just in case.)

We get home around 8:30 Saturday night with enough candy to compete with Freese's.  Once the girls collapse into a sugar coma and go to bed, My-Sugar-Na and I discuss the fact that I only procured a cannister of 240 Tootsie Pops. Because I - as man and blogger - know everything, I assure her that due to the weather forecast, of course it will be enough candy.

So Sunday morning rolls around, and it is beautifully bright and sunny.  A little chilly, sure, but not nearly as bad as had been predicted.  Sigh.  So not only do I start worrying about my 240 suckers, but the girls start begging relentlessly about allowing them to Trick-or-Treat AGAIN.  I give in to them, and at 1:00 PM, my wife dutifully begins passing out the candy to the children.

Although the weather slowly deteriorated to cloudy and windy (and with a few rain drops for good measure), the kids kept coming...

OK, so we ran out of candy.  Sort of.  You see, two prior Trick-or-Treating events gave us lots of, um, let's call them "reinforcements".  I dutifully counted 25 suckers (Dum-dums, Charms, you name it) from both Gooey's and Sloppy's stashes, snuck them into the Tootsie Pop cannister, and we made it stretch until all children had been serviced.  And until they read this (unless they stop looking once they see their photo) they are nonethewiser.

(Side note: When Mitten was way, way younger - as in "pre-Gooey", he was to small too eat all of the Hallowe'en candy and Easter candy that he received.  One particular year we ran out of candy for handing out, so we actually went into the cannister of Easter and the previous year's Trick-or-Treat candy that we never finished [actually, I think we had plum forgot about it until it was "go" time].  At least the re-candying we did Sunday afternoon was only a day old instead of that year old stuff!)

Now with that said, why isn't Trick-or-Treat on Hallowe'en Night?  It worked out great in Bay View, and also in the Wedgewood Park neighborhood (in which I lived in a prior life) where Trick-or-Treating is at night.  It is way cooler than on a Sunday afternoon.

There will be one last event for My-Sugar-Na and Vier Pogo Squad 51, that would be the "Howl at the Moon Dog Walk" in New Berlin on Wednesday, October 29th @ 6:30 PM.  Our own Max Greevey will hope to win the costume contest.

I am trying to like my kids more (today, at least).

When I was growing up, the worst thing about a cold day for trick-or-treat was having to wear a big winter coat over that wonderful Superman costume that had been handcrafted by some machine in China and purchased at the Chase Avenue K-Mart.  As I grew up, that is one of those images that is kind of depressing.... some parent spent good money on a cosutme - or worse, put hours and hours of love and care into a costume - that would be hidden by a jacket and mittens.

Now for some reason, as I go through the mental file of taking my kids trick-or-treating as they grew up, I remember scads of unseasonably warm, sunny days.  Last year, I believe, was a nice day (I remember walking to Walgreens for the emergency second supply of candy without any jacket).  I remember when Mitten was about six or seven, our Wedgewood Park neighborhood had a nighttime trick-or-treat, and we invited most of Mitten's class for trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  While the moms took the kids, the fathers sat on our front porch drinking beer and handing out the candy.  If it were cold, I don't know if we would have been outside...most likely we would have been in the basement ignoring the doorbell ringing.

Fast forward to this season.  Both of our girls, Gooey and Sloppy, are getting excited about Halloween coming up.  Both spent an unusual amount of time mentally designing their costumes.  I know My-Sugar-Na purchased Sloppy's costume a couple of weeks ago, I believe that Gooey got her's this week.  Both can't wait for West Allis'ses trick-or-treat this Sunday.

And last night the Weatherdick on the Weatherdeck (sorry, I can't take credit for that one... Dave Berkman had called him that for years when he wrote for the Shepard Express) said that it would be cold, rainy and possibly snowy during the day on Sunday.  My first thought was that there is no way they are going out without jackets.  My second thought was that in that weather, there is no way I am sitting outside handing out candy.

Thank goodness for third thoughts.  I think we're going to skip trick-or-treating this year, and instead take the girls - in costume - to varous Hallowe'en activites in the area.  Although I am still reviewing this list, it looks like we might hit the Zoo on Saturday for their Halloween Trick-or-Treat Spooktacular as the weather Saturday shouldn't be TOO bad.  Then on Sunday, we might take in Not-So-Scary Halloween at the Betty Brinn Museum.  Then just to get one final use out of those costumes, we might go on Wednesday to the Howl at the Moon Dog Walk in New Berlin. 

I'm sure Vier Pogo Squad 51 would get a kick out of that.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Animals and those creepy alien-type things on Stargate:  Today I am pleased to turn over my humble little blog to my favorite wife, My-Sugar-Na!  Please give her your undivided attention. 

After attending a MyCommunityNOW bloggers meeting last night I decided that my husband doesn't talk about West Allis enough in his blog so I am guest blogging.  Here goes.....

West Allis really is a great place to live.  I've lived in many parts of Milwaukee, from Bay View to the NW side of the city.  I even moved down to Racine for a while and then left WI all together for a few years, only to be lured back to Milwaukee.  My family has only lived in West Allis for a few years, but I really like the community.  The residents in my neck of West Allis are friendly enough and tend to keep their houses and yards well-kept.  A bonus, I thought, is that the city trims the tree branches away from the utility lines once a year.  That's a great service and saves me the time and money of having to hire someone to do that chore.

Recently the trees in our neighborhood received their annual trimming.  I didn't think anything of the tree trimming sign in the road (except that is was blocking my drive way and I had to drive up the curb to get into the drive) and I didn't even pay attention to the workers with chain saws or the wood chipper doing its thing.  I was actually glad to see my tax dollars at work.

Then it happened.  The tree in front of our house was really trimmed down; way down.  All the branches were gone; the only thing left was the bare trunk.  I didn't even notice.  My husband told me when he realized that the dog's two tree potty stop was a little brighter than usual.  Maybe the trimmers got carried away and took off too much or we misbehaved in the community and were being punished or maybe the tree was just sick.

Not knowing what was going on and being too lazy to call someone to find out, we just accepted that fact that we now had a bare tree trunk in the front of the house.  At least we would have an interesting landmark to tell people about when giving directions to our house...when you get to the giant stick in the ground, you've found us.

A few days ago I got home from work to find the tree trunk was gone.  Wow, either vandals were at work or we really did something naughty!!!

Yesterday I got home from work to see that the "Digger's Hotline" workers had made a visit to our front yard.  The underground utilities were pointed out with spray paint and little flags.

I asked my husband what he planned to dig for in the front yard - this is the same guy who made us use the broken kitchen faucet for two years because he didn't think he knew how to replace it and then boasted on his blog about practically being a plumber!!!  Needless to say, he's not very mechanically inclined.  The thought of him digging holes in the yard scared me to death.  Come to think of it, if he dug holes in the yard where would he park cars during State Fair????

After a whole lot of reassurances that he was not planning on nor intending to dig anything resembling a hole in the front yard we realized that the tree that was first shaved and then cut down would be completely gone.  The stump was going to be dug up.

Poor tree.... I wonder if we will ever we worthy enough to have another tree in out yard again?   I'm sure this is my husband's fault.  He probably wanted the tree gone to make it easier for State Fair parkers to get in and out of the yard.

1.  My-Sugar-Na and I stopped by Tommasino Italia' for dinner last night.  The restaurant on 74th & Greenfield (formerly the beloved Doyle's Milwaukee Inn) is owned by Thomas Doyle.  During dinner (fantastic pizza, by the way, with fresh giardinara and parmesan on the side), I spoke with Mr. Doyle.  He stated two very interesting and believable things. 

First, he is amazed that more of his business wasn't from West Allis residents.  Both the Milwaukee Inn and Tommasino Italia' were/are by no means George Webb-priced, but they aren't Eddie Martinis-priced, either.  My large, three topping pizza was about $16, and the restaurant featured checkered tablecloths, linen napkins and good silverware.  Some of the entrees were in the $15ish range, but that certainly compares favorably with other sit-down restaurants.  He said that business has improved since he changed the offerings to Italian, but there is certainly room for more.

The second thing he said was disappointing.  He said that the chain restaurants opening near Mayfair and Brookfield Square are killing the independant restauranteur.  The Cheesecake Factory, Maggiano's Little Italy and Bravo Cucina Italiana - though their employees are locals - take all the profits to their corporate ladder.  Sure, many of their offerings are good, but as Mr. Doyle said, if you ask for a Hollandaise sauce, Maggiano's will open a plastic bag that they received from their supplier.  Mr. Doyle would make his own for you.  All this, and a 60 minute wait for a table at Maggiano's, too. 

I have always, always preferred independant restaurants over chains (that's part of why the Devil Reincarnate has been replaced by My-Sugar-Na).  When I go out of town, I try shun chains (Do I really want to go to Applebee's in Durham, NC?).  I think West Allis residents - in order to keep local businesses healthy - owe it to themselves to make a point to go to independant restaurants... whether it is Tommasino Italia', Painted Parrot, or The Little Cafe.

2.  That nutjob, Mike McGee, Jr., made it on the local “bleeding heart or scare people needlessly entertainment program” (aka the news) from jail the other night.  Why, exactly did channel 4 do this?  McGee didn't say anything other than the garbage he usually does ("I'm a political prisoner", "I will be acquitted", etc).  McGee terrorized his district - and as far as he is concerned - "white" Milwaukee for years to the point where is ego is larger than Terrell Owens.  So channel 4 seeks him out to let him prattle on some more?  He has been held in jail since Memorial Day (that is seven months now) with no end in site, as he awaits both State and Federal trials.  He's done.  Toast (burned toast at that).  Let's leave him be.  We will all be better for it.

3.  Professional Bowlers Association exempt player Chad Kloss, from Greenfield, is back in town after completing the first half of the PBA schedule.  Because of an elbow injury, I am done bowling for the season and Chad bowled as my sub yesterday.  Not only did he shoot 792 for three games (and nobody else on our lanes had more than 650), he also made a bet with teammate one of my good friends - I'll call him Brad.  I don't remember the exact details, something about if Chad makes the Round of 8 in any event in the second half, Brad will shave his head, and if Chad qualifies for TV, he will shave his head.  I could be wrong on the specifics, but it is definatley worth keeping tabs on from early-January till the end of March.

4.  The Federal 2008 omnibus spending bill has been released, and Republicans are calling on George Bush to keep his committment from the 2007 State of the Union address to reduce both the number of Pork Barrel projects and overall pork spending.  I took a look at some of the pork projects (thanks to some prodding from My-Sugar-Na), and I can't believe one particular item that I saw.  Las Vegas is planning to open a Mob History museum in a shuttered post office in downtown.  Well, $200K in federal pork is earmarked for "a post office museum in downtown Las Vegas".  Now, that doesn't mean that they are connected, but they appear to be.  In a city in which billionaires are spending as much as $5,000,000,000 (that's five billion bucks, folks) to build a resort to outclass the guy next door (whose resort is only $4.8 billion), why in the world is my federal tax money going to finance yet another Las Vegas attraction?  A Las Vegas Mob History museum would really satisfy two of my loves, but my discretionary money should pay for it, not my tax money.

5.  To keep the karmic alignment proper, since I praised one West Allis business, I need to talk down one of them.  My-Sugar-Na is starting a new job in late-January (let's keep this to ourself, as her current employer doesn't know yet).  Panicking, she is now trying to find occasional doggie day care for Vier Pogo Squad 51.  I've learned not to argue this with her, and the pastures at the new place are, um, greener, so today she visited one potential place.  Playtime Doggy Daycare on Hwy 100 near I-94 told my wife that pomeranians aren't good at day care, but "we'll give it a shot".  My-Sugar-Na is horrified that her dog has been profiled by The Man (maybe she should talk to Mike McGee, Jr?).  Playtime also wouldn't show her the crating area, where they park the dogs during rest time.  Needless to say, Playtime Doggy Daycare is off of her list and she will continue looking.

6.  Work has been quite slow the past couple weeks for a variety of reasons, allowing me plenty of time for mindless internet searching.  I have seen a couple other blogger's lists of horrible Christmas songs, so I decided to make my own short list.

A.  My Favorite Things, What a Wonderful World, Let There be Peace on Earth, and Same Old Lang Syne.  These are not Christmas songs... they aren't even winter songs (like Jingle Bells and Sleigh Ride).  These songs don't belong during the Christmas season, and I believe that they only exist because they have too many hours to fill when radio stations go to "all-Christmas" formats.

B.  Any "new" Christmas song, because they attempt to be commerially saleable.  If a writer wants to pen a new Christmas song, how about something fun, like Rudolph's new girlfriend, or a strike at Santa's workshop, or something else fun.  But listening to some pop star warbling about how she misses her boyfriend at Christmas time... nah.

C.  Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer is about 20 years past its expiration date.  Kind of a dark song for Christmas, no?

D.  Any song where the singer (usually female [sorry, but true]) whose entire goal is to cover as many octaves as possible to show off (a la Joy Bach) and thereby ruining the song.

E.  Some song (don't know the name) about "Mary did you know / that your baby boy" somthing or other.  Pure schmaltz... Jerry Taff-esqe schmaltz (As Lisa Simpson said "They want cheap sentiment? I'll pump 'em so full of sap they'll be blowing their nose with a pancake".)  That song is extra bad when sung by Mr. Schmaltz, Kenny Rogers.  I need to take a shower.

F.  Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt or Madonna (or anyone else).  Christmas songs should be religious or Santa-ish.  Songs sung from the standpoint of a horny golddigger just don't cut it.  Eartha Kitt was fine purring as Catwoman on Batman, not so fine purring for this song.

You know, maybe this post was long enough to justify multiple entries.  But the damage is done.  If I don't post again this weekend, have a blessed Christmas.  Don't do something stupid like celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, by drinking yourself into oblivion and shooting your neighbor because he bought his wife a new SUV for Christmas and your car broke down.

Everybody makes a big deal about how the USBC Masters finals will be held at Miller Park on Sunday.  But only four bowlers will be there for the finals.  What happens to the rest of the bowlers?

The format is as follows....

• There are four squads of approximately 125 bowlers each (the final field size isn't yet known as walk-in entries are still being accepted today).  Each squad will bowl two 5-game blocks today and tomorrow.
• On Thursday morning, the top 1/4 of the field will bowl an additional 5 games.  At that point, the 63 bowlers with the highest 15 game scores will advance into match play.  Last year's champion, Doug Kent, will also be seeded into match play.
• On Thursday evening and all day on Friday, the remaining bowlers bowl 3-game matches in a double elimination format.  It is impossible to properly describe the format here, suffice to say that if a bowler doesn'tt lose a match, s/he won't have to face nearly as many competitors.  By Friday evening, the final four bowlers will be known.

With that said, I have been waiting in giddy anticipation of the results of the first block.  Here are some of the notable names...

• 1st place - Chris Warren (a pro that has been on the tour for at least 15 years).  235 average for 5 games
• 2nd place - Lennie Boresch, Jr. from Kenosha (bowled a 300 game during this block).  230.4 average
• 3rd place - Tim Janz from Beaver Dam.  225.8 average
• 19th place - Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, (the highest woman player, former PWBA superstar). 209.8 average
• 38th place - Patrick Allen (made the Finals at Miller Park in 2004).  201 average
• 41st place - Dan Nowakowski from Oak Creek.  199.6 average
• 44th place - Chris Galovits from Racine.  199.4 average
• 46th place - Ken Muscato (made the Finals at the US Cellular Arena in 2005).  198.8 average

There are numerous other Wisconsin residents, but their scores... well, let's say that they may be happier that they aren't mentioned here. I don't know if I will be able to post an update after the next squad.  After obeience class for Vier Pogo Squad 51, I plan on going to AMF Bowlero to watch tonight's qualifying round.  Either late tonight or early tomorrow I will post the complete first round results.

Meet Vier Pogo Squad 51

Vier Pogo Squad 51, a Pomeranian, joined our family on October 5th, adopted from Happy Tails Dog Rescue.  (Excuse his accent when he barks, he is originally from Kentucky.)

He and Brownie Girl, our Doberman, seem to be getting along quite well.  It is interesting to note, however, that this 7 pound ball of fur is clearly the Alpha Dog of the two, and our fraidy-cat 65 pound dog is begrudgingly learning this.  Rest assured that My-Sugar-Na remains the Leader of the Pack.

And unlike that nutjob Ellen DeGeneres, we don't plan on giving this dog to our hairdresser.