So, I have this nagging feeling of helplessness that won't go away. My Father-in-Law (I guess former since the divorce, but we don't really think in those terms) has been battling cancer most of the year, complete with two very invasive surgeries over at Roswell Peep. He went back over Friday to get the latest report and it wasn't good. The talk of more chemo is too manage pain for a "few more months." If long term terminal is a term, I think I discovered the definition. Since the holidays he was having a rougher go of it. He is one of those who never feels sorry for himself, always wanting the best for everybody and such. Seeing this twist isn't fair under the best of circumstances, but it's been a tough one to swallow. He did everything right. He was a smoker and managed to quit that. He doesn't drink, no red meat, no chicken, heavily into fish and veggies and still Karma decided to say "Fuck You."

Be enough to test your faith, as if mine isn't shaky enough as it is. Got the news yesterday that a distant cousin passed away from unknown causes. She was the daughter of my mom's eldest sister. The sister has long proven to be bonkers so I hadn't them in over 25 years. She was a whack job but I wouldn't wish that on anybody. Even whack jobs deserve a little peace.

So, the yuks aren't exactly plentiful.

I know Dad-in-law doesn't want us all sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves and that is the message my ex and I are going to try and convey to our kids later. At 13 and 16, I suspect my daughters are pretty aware. He's essentially dying, but trying to explain the vast amount of what isn't definite to a 9 year old (The aformentioned number one son). So, what isn't known is what any of this means because we're at a point where everything is just a guestimate.

Depressed yet? I know I am.

Came home from a rare exasperating day at work to that news and my time has been haunted by it ever since.

Next stop, Broadway.



I'm such a company whore

Got to tell you, this beats selling remotes



Got my first exposure to tiger training somewhat. After getting to take this photo, I got to watch as the tiger staff took the two 3 month old cubs outside for the first time. The girl cub went first sniffing around and exploring the new environs while her brother watched from the ledge of their indoor room.

After a few minutes, one of the keepers went over and gave the boy a little help. The little guy was a tad unsteady for a few seconds only to have his sister pounce on him and playtime was on. Fun to watch. They charmed the pants off even the steeliest of Zoo staffer for the next twenty minutes before going back inside for lunch.

Fun stuff

I had to take number one son to a birthday party yesterday out at Lasertron. After getting him checked in, the mom of the main party celebrant asked me if I'd go in the Lasertron game so our group of kids. I'm not sure what the deciding factor was in that regard: that I'd played before or that I was the only Dad to show up.

They take two groups at a time. 3 adults and 17 (I'm guessing) kids all around age 9 or 10, divided in two groups. You go through a little briefing, get taken out to your side of the arena and have at it. In no time, all these little kids are turning into Tom Sizemore in Saving Private Ryan. I have expected a few of em to sport the cigar stub that the crusty sarge in all the war movies sports. You play four games and I laughed my fool self through all of em. It's glorified capture the flag. At one instance, a little kid no bigger than my hip comes up to me and says "excuse me, sir, I think if we go up and to the left we can blown up their home."

Little twerp was right, we blew it up good. I told the moms I'd take one for the parenting team provided there was a beer waiting (Lasertron serves beer) and there was. Good mothers.

Maybe we should have an (e:strip) shoot'em up some night.

Got to love the entertainment value if Bloomberg gets in...

Might start paying attention to the election

Some mental leftovers from an uneventful weekend.

Watched the Canadian broadcast (well parts of it) on Sunday of the Winter Classic. I was curious to see what the shenanigans looked like on tv. The broadcasters didn't say "Shitty" although I've heard worse on Canadian TV. They were actually saying "Shinny". It's an old hockey term, essentially meaning no set plays, no fancy business, just when we get the puck everybody go that way. Essentially, what happens when you just choose up sides and hope for the best.

I discovered one of the downsides of getting older. My allergies have tranmogrified to when the weather changes, sinus headaches of ass-kicking potential get you and get you good. Hence, a late Sunday afternoon of watching the pretty colors of a five day old sporting event while making sure my couch didn't spontaneously levitate. Messed me up bad enough that I went to bed for good at 9:30. Hadn't done that in eons, but I'm a better person for it.

Never too old to sponge off the rents though. My Dad has always had a weakness for the Spaghetti Parm at Chef's. I was out at the folks for a time on Saturday when they confessed to heading down sometime this week to satisfy his pasta jonesing. I offered to save him from any wayward Chicken Parm that might get in his way. I wouldn't go out of my way for Chefs, but if somebody else is picking up the tab, all the better. And if they didn't want me to put in an appearance, they wouldn't have said anything right? That's what I thought.

Number one son got invited to test for his black belt in Tae Kwon Do, so don't mess me now. I can sick old Hands of Stone "Son of MrMike" on ya. I was intrigued by his teacher is suffering from the same disease as many Elmwood landlords, put a surcharge on everything. Hell, I didn't need that tax refund anywhoo. Was only going to go on vacation. Got to admit it was pretty cool watching him smash boards on saturday.

Actually saw a promo for the return of American Gladiators last night. Reminded me of one of the few comical stories from working the Bills games. Hulk Hogan hosts the new show. There was a guy in one of my sections who came to the bulk of the Bills games outfitted as the mid 80's Hulkster, hulkamania t-shirt, feather boa, whole thing, phony fu-manchu mustache, the whole deal. During the sunday night Patriots game, this otherwise amiable gent needed my middle-aged self to rescue him from a verbal assault, from you guessed it, another Hulk Hogan wannabe. The second Hulk was in costume for Hulk during a match and was drunkenly assaulting the first for idea stealing.

How can I not want to be a part of that again?

And how was your weekend

Hey folks, slowly thawing out from the hockey Game. Driving back, I couldn't help but laugh a little. What kind of idiot would leave a nice gathering at the 24 chock full of good convo, surprise guest appearance of (e:Ladycroft), (e:Jenks) and (e:theecarey) redefining yowza. Sorry ladies, you were all stunning.

Well, a little respect please as I am MrMike, lord of the idiots. I breakfasted at Spot and headed out into the cold. It was pretty surreal to be a part of it. The hockey game was the centerpiece to a carnival like atmostphere. I suppose the thing other than the money that attracted me to working on this stuff was that it is just good for your soul to be a part and even backstage at something bigger than you. Despite my forgetting to set my DVR for the shenanigans, I was glad to go and do my thing one LAST time. I want my Sundays back, and my late saturdays for sure. I couldn't snap all the pictures, but I got a few good looks.

The parking lot was overrun by inflatable jerseys

I thought of (e:chico) was this one as they were raising NHL team flags, this was the Islanders colors going up (trust me)

Here's were NBC's announcers had to set

This was at the bottom of my Isle, where they kept Bob Costas. I got a handshake, but I'm pretty sure I can get him into the movies at a discount (Not a tall guy)

The Canadian equivalent

What it looked like from the ground level

I smelled like Co2 all day

More big inflatable crap

A little more ice level

Opening Faceoff

Parking lot yahoos on stills

The calm before the snow storm

The players come out preceeded by bagpipers, hokey but cool

The seats of the affluent

The wealthy children got to play

Vile critters, get out

Thanks for coming, tip your usher


Missed the shot of the four blackhawk helicopters coming over during the anthem, but it was nice to say seeya to reclaim some of my own time again. Got the job thing fixed thanks to the Zoo, time to work on the other stuff.

Where were you when 2007 began?
At PMT's

Who were you with?
The divine populace that is (e:strip)

Where will you be when 2007 ends?
A little unclear

Whom will you be with when 2007 ends?
Your guess is as good as mine

Was 2007 a good year for you?
Somewhat, got professionally righted, the other stuff is a work in progress.

What was your favorite moment of the year?
Taking my eldest down St. Marks Place -

What was your least favorite moment of the year?
Schlepping to Roswell for the wrong reason altogether

Did you keep your New Year resolutions of 2007?
Didn't make any

Do you have any New Year resolutions for 2008?
Not going there

Did you fall in love in 2007?
Hell, a second date would have been cool

Did you breakup with anyone in 2007?
I didn't have anyone to break up with

Did you make any new friends in 2007?
yes

What was your favorite month of 2007?
Nah, they all looked alike

Did you travel outside of the US in 2007?
Only to Toronto to get them to adopt Buffalo (the Springsteen concert was just a ruse)

How many different states did you travel to in 2007?
Two - Pennsylvania and Jersey (Can I pick hotspots or what)

Did you lose anybody close to you in 2007?
Yeah

Did you miss anybody in the past year?
Fewer to miss, but that makes it harder

What was your favorite movie that you saw in 2007?
No favorites really, but I enjoyed Superbad, Simpsons, Juno, Walk Hard

What was your favorite song in 2007?
Not sure, liked "Windows in the Skies" by U2 a lot

What was your favorite album in 2007?
Nothing really grabbed me and monopolized my cd player -- spent a lot of time with "Orphans" by Tom Waits.

How many concerts did you see in 2007?
Not many, 7, I think

Did you have a favorite concert in 2007?
Neil Young at Shea's

Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2007?
uh huh (hic) (burp)

Did you do drugs in 2007?
Only Advil

Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year?
Nah, I spent much of the year under the proverbial radar

What was the worst lie someone told you in 2007?
"We're friends, right?"

Did you treat somebody badly in 2007?
Not intentionally

Did somebody treat you badly in 2007?
Yeah

What was your proudest moment of 2007?
Quitting my job and getting the former employer to sponsor the new one

What was your most embarrassing moment of 2007?
Too many mortifications to list

If you could go back in time to any moment of 2007 and change something, what would it be?
No going back only forward

What are your plans for 2008?
Making it up as I go

See some of you at the party tonight
happy new year (e:strip)!

Talk about your critical reentries.

My poor ex was trying to enjoy a quiet cup of tea yesterday when the old folks drove their explorer into the river. 10 feet away, I'm appreciating that she had her minivan wrapped around her. Watching that and being the link to the coast guard left her a little shaky. I didn't find about it till later, but spent the night with the kids, eating pizza, assembling more christmas booty. Gave her a chance to collect herself without everybody going "mom, mom!"

She told me that she didn't sleep last night much. Me neither. Both together and separately we've taken the kids down there plenty of times. I'm thinking the old man driving hit the gas instead of the brake and then shit happened.

Shit, indeed.

The holiday was nice till then. Had a good time with my folks and sister on Christmas eve, the ex and the kids on Tuesday for brunch and back to the folks for dinner. Despite economic travails, the kids made out pretty good. Didn't get much, didn't want much other than three happy kids. Got that.

The news from the San Francisco Zoo made a quiet week get a little more interesting. I had to become an expert in tiger holding dimensions in a hurry for the benefit of the socratic wisdom that is Buffalo media. Stuff like that puts you on your toes, almost too on edge. A little paper called wanting a schedule of events for January and February, not caring about the other news. My neck was tightening expecting a question in the vein of "Can it happen here?" When he said thanks and hung up, I almost felt kind of gyped. Had the speech already.

Got my quote in the Times though, so I guess I'm a star.

I have my parking pass and assignment for the Ice Bowl and I'm looking forward to it, despite it cutting into my new year's. I am left with the question "Is a hockey game that won't be played for another 5 days so important it overshadows the Bhutto assasination?" That is some deeply warped priorities in terms of News coverage. Another section of the world imploding or the pregame entertainment to a hockey game? Decisions, decisions, must suck to be a news director.

I will be taking a camera along for my duty at the hockey game, but the hype is a little excessive, but I guess that is why they call it hype.

Got away with telling my boss she is full of shit today. She told me November is a quiet month for Zoo activity, we all know what happened there. Last Friday, she joked that my phone would need dusting off from lack of use. If only.

You know, it's been kind of cool to be seen deftly swatting away the calamity. Not bad for a one man band this week

Got to tell you. I have a new definition of a tough day at the office. I worked my final football game yesterday. It was blowing pretty good by the time I got to Orchard Park. Once the game got started, the rain was coming down heavy and sideways. I actually had to interrupt a "spirited discussion" between two people who had disagreeing senses of entitlement as to where to stand in the freakin hallway.

Customer: "I paid to be here"

Me: "No, actually you paid to sit out there"

Ever was it thus. Full out storm driving home, despite me hiding in the Orchard Park borders store for a half hour. I got home to find that my block was one that lost power. Goddamn!! Went over to Spot to wait it out. Usually a CocoMoco is a god like beverage, but having it in a paper cup didn't do it justice.

Drove back, still no power, but screw it. I grabbed a flashlight and scaled my three stories (Always keep a flashlight in your car kids). Got out of my football garb and wrapped presents by candlelight. My daughter said it was just like the pioneers did. I could only respond with "look what happened to them."

I suppose wishing for Saturday's weather would have been too much so I am grateful it at least wasn't a night game. I am working the Ice Bowl so some pictures may have to come of that. It may cut in to how crazy I can get for New Year's, but it's the price you pay for being a star.

Did the last bit of xmas shopping on Saturday and got estrip secret santa help from my eldest. We got the last little bits of family stuff done, parlayed a great suggestion from darling daughter for my (e:peep) secret santa, and celebrated our success at Louie's.

So, here it sits, Christmas Eve and I'm at the Zoo till 1. Reading the lovely (e:imk)'s journal entry about secret santa and this little community of (e:strip) made me well up a little. It's a beautful thing, this little group of ours. Best present I got last year came from the NYE party at the 24 (won't be the same with (e:Ladycroft), or nearly as fabulous).

Hope it's a very fine holiday for you all



May all the presents be the right ones. Keep it safe and happy and see ya New Year's Eve