Movie review: The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
By Mark Czerniec
January 22, 2008 12:20 PM

The Motorcycle Diaries is a 2004 Spanish-language buddy picture about two guys from Argentina on a leaky Norton motorcycle taking a road trip through much of South America in 1952. One of the buddies is the young Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who would go on to become an iconic Marxist revolutionary, and a close comrade of Fidel Castro.

This movie received a good amount of critical acclaim, and I procrastinated in seeing it, afraid that it would be too political or too heavy. It is neither. It is a visually-attractive, atmospheric piece that flits from anecdote to anecdote and gradually runs out of gas. There are a number of enjoyable scenes — some humorous, others serious — that ultimately don't lead to anything more specific than an overall tone of wistful compassion.

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The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee
By Mark Czerniec
January 21, 2008 12:34 PM

Today, on the national holiday celebrating the birth of the Martin Luther King, Jr., there's a news story about how King has been simplified into an icon and a catchphrase, and the details of his life and work have been softened, blurred, and appropriated. Being seven years old when he was killed, I certainly remember the event, but could not begin to understand his significance at the time. We were not taught much about him in school; perhaps he was still too controversial. What I did learn came from public television and my own readings.

A few years ago, however, we visited the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, and I was surprised by how powerfully it told its story — a story which also has been reduced to shorthand even as it has unfolded, since some of its features are so uncomfortable to face in full.

The museum is built around the former Lorraine Motel at 450 Mulberry St., where Dr. King was shot and killed, and going in, I didn't know what to expect. It begins undramatically, with informational exhibits recounting the beginnings of slavery in the British colonies, then proceeds down halls and through rooms, laying out the history of the African-American Civil Rights Movement chronologically.

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Patagonia R3® Jacket: Warm, lightweight fleece against winter winds
By Mark Czerniec
January 18, 2008 3:47 PM

Every once in a while, you buy a product that turns out to be worth every penny you paid and then some.

I was out walking for an hour or so today ahead of tonight's ominous Wind Chill Advisory when it occurred to me that I really love my jacket. It's simple, lightweight, and it stands up admirably against Wisconsin's winter cold. Then I tried to remember how long I've had it. Let's see — I bought it just before we got our car, so this has to be winter number five.

Yeah, I know. I'm a slave to the whims of fashion.

Growing up here in the Badger State, I had been used to big goose down pillows of winter jackets. I can remember the first one my mom bought me at a local ski shop, when I wanted to fit in with my lift-ticketed pals on the way to school. It was bright red and blue and yellow nylon, and I looked like a Technicolor Michelin Man as I struggled to squeeze through the school bus door. To this day, I see a lot of kids bundled up in those puffy comforters.

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Vimeo: Streaming high-definition video on the Web
By Mark Czerniec
January 7, 2008 11:48 AM

You can always find it... from ben on Vimeo

We heard a story on NPR's Weekend Edition yesterday from Dallas Morning News technology reporter Victor Godinez. He was touting Vimeo, a video-sharing Web site which, unlike the others, offers high-definition. According to Wikipedia, Vimeo has been around since November 2004, but has only supported HD since mid-October.

The Vimeo HD Channel showcases about 140 high-def clips, some of which are sort of breathtaking, especially when viewed in full-screen mode. Besides looking much sharper than the typical YouTube video, the content seems a lot more artsy.

Now, after watching a number of these, I have the sudden urge to rack up one or three or four thousand more dollars of credit card debt buying myself a nifty HD camcorder. Then I could go outside and shoot an awesome time-lapse video of our snow melting in the 64-degree January afternoon. Maybe the soundtrack could just be the natural outdoor ambiance and some wind chimes.

Amy, if you're reading this, relax — I'm just kidding.

Pretty much.

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The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard
By Mark Czerniec
December 31, 2007 11:03 AM

Here's an infectious little 20-minute video that's apparently been loose on your Internet since December 4: The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard. If you have a broadband connection, it's very worth watching.

This environmental warning is a clean, clever, snappy production that delivers a lot of food for thought with minimal political abrasiveness, and when I finally saw it this morning after someone posted it to our local newspaper's blogging system a couple of days ago, it caught me at a receptive time.

Christmas is over at last, along with the endless news updates on whether consumers have been fulfilling their sacred duty to retailers. Just before Christmas, I bought a stunningly inexpensive digital camera. Prior to that, I went through the process of having our washer repaired at a cost approaching that of a whole new machine. Also, even though a couple of years have since passed, I am still not over having my $300 iPod die one month after its 12-month warranty expired, requiring repairs estimated at (of course) $300. I have yet to repair or replace the device and possibly never will.

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Terry Armour, 1961-2007
By Mark Czerniec
December 28, 2007 7:20 PM

I'm sure everyone in the Steve Dahl Show family is stunned and saddened tonight as Amy and I were upon learning that Terry Armour has died. The Chicago Sun-Times has details, as does the Chicago Tribune.

Terry was an endless source of fun and humor at the remote broadcasts, concerts, and parties we had the pleasure of attending with him.

Our hearts go out to his wife LaNell, and to his friend and broadcast partner Stan Lawrence.

Update: The Chicago Tribune has published funeral arrangements for Terry Armour.

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Empire Fish in Milwaukee
By Mark Czerniec
December 27, 2007 8:44 AM

Empire Fish
11200 W Watertown Plank Rd
Milwaukee, WI 53226
(414) 259-1330
www.EmpireFish.com

There are two kinds of people in the world, and we spent Christmas Eve morning with our own.

The other kind wince and whine when passing the seafood case in the supermarket. They are circumspect types with upturned noses who complain that they don't like "fishy fish." They stick to the landlubbers' section of the menu at Bob Chinn's, and recoil in horror at the very mention of sushi.

Our people, meanwhile, slurp raw Fishers Island Oysters from the half shell and crack open lobsters barehanded. They enjoy music and sex, are more intelligent and better-looking, and can tell when someone is joking.

Amy and I are unabashed seafood lovers, and we are not alone. In what is fast becoming our holiday tradition, we pressed ourselves into Empire Fish in Milwaukee minutes after they opened at 9 a.m., and the store was already packed like George Bailey's living room at the end of It's a Wonderful Life. Outside on North 113th St., parking restrictions had been temporarily covered over to accommodate all the cars. We immediately took a number, which was 67. The cheerful staffers behind the display cases were now serving Number 12.

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Shirley's favorite pierogi recipes
By Mark Czerniec
December 15, 2007 12:00 PM

As a Chicago-born guy of Polish descent, my central Christmas food has always been the humble pierogi (also spelled "pirogi"). Pierogies are Poland's take on the ubiquitous filled noodle dumpling, enjoyed elsewhere as ravioli or kreplach or pelmeni or jiaozi (pot stickers). They consist of a simple dough stuffed with a wide variety of fillings such as potato, cabbage, mushrooms, cheese, and prunes. After the dough rounds are filled and sealed, the pierogies are cooked in gently boiling water, then finished by browning lightly in a pan with a little butter.

The Polish holiday supper is eaten on Christmas Eve. Known as the Wigilia (as in "vigil"), the traditional menu varies from family to family, but is generally a meatless meal with an accent on whitish foods such as fish and cauliflower, or my mom's oatmeal-mushroom barszcz. The essential Wigilia family custom is the sharing of the Oplatek, a Christmas card-sized communion wafer that has been blessed by a Catholic priest. Every diner offers sincere good wishes to each person present, as both break off small pieces of each other's wafers and eat them.

Our family always prepares the pierogies in advance, usually freezing them after boiling, then later steam-heating and pan-browning them in butter at mom's house in Kenosha on Christmas Eve. They can also be frozen uncooked. The assembly location and participants vary according to circumstances each year (tomorrow it's at my mom's), but the core recipes have been preserved for generations, first on paper and later on floppy disks.

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Buy a compact digital camera: Check.
By Mark Czerniec
December 12, 2007 5:50 PM

I finally bit the bullet and bought a compact digital camera this afternoon.

I am the exact opposite of an impulse buyer. I tend to fret and study and postpone for months before purchasing anything, so this is a landmark day of both relief and trepidation. Thank you in advance for your sincere congratulations.

This will be my third digital camera.

I bought my first, a Nikon Coolpix 700, in June 1999 and got a lot of use out of it, especially taking photos for Web design clients. A fantastic site that reviews digital cameras even noticed the online photo gallery I posted in 1999, when Kenosha, Wisconsin was especially photogenic.

That was in the previous century. Yes, I am a digital photography pioneer.

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Sacrificed lives
By Mark Czerniec
December 8, 2007 7:27 AM

Last night on MSNBC'S Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was named Worst Person in the World. He was recognized by Olbermann for this quote about the deaths of American military personnel:

Nobody is happy about losing lives but remember these are not draftees, these are full-time professional soldiers.

According to Thursday's Grayson County News-Gazette, the senator from Kentucky said this while campaigning for reelection in Grayson County on Wednesday, November 28.

It reminded me of something I had been reading earlier yesterday afternoon. Apparently, a family from Seattle is driving to Racine today. They're going to attend a memorial service at Racine Bible Church for Christian Skoglund, a soldier from Racine whose death was reported in the Journal Times on November 8. He had been killed in Italy that day in a Black Hawk helicopter crash southwest of Aviano that also took five other men's lives. He will be buried this Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery.

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