Two old guys sitting on a sofa

 

Me and Otto sit together on the sofa, two old guys quietly passing the day.

I read most of the time. Spend some time writing a few short essays, and break now and again to complete a task in the kitchen or somewhere else in the house.

Otto spends his day sleeping, but lifts his head now and again to look at me. He seems to give a slight smile, reassured, I think, to know I am still in my place on the sofa. He enjoys a refreshing drink of water, shares a meal with me, and together we walk the neighborhood at various times during the day. 

Otto is an amiable and patient companion. He listens to my comments and observations about neighbors and items in the news. He never objects to the radio programs I choose to listen to or the volume levels I select. He shows a bit of concern if I leave the house, but he always welcomes my return.

Neither of us receive phone calls. I get some mail and some emails, but Otto doesn't receive either. My daughter will send me a text at night, and regularly visits. But it is an honest assessment to say that Otto and I are two old guys that are largely forgotten by the outside world. 

That's neither a complaint nor a point of distress. We are not isolated. We are not completely alone, and we enjoy the benefits of our solitude. It is an acknowledgement that we, me more than he, have reached that point in life when we are called upon less, contribute less and noticed less. It's a point we all reach, and one we can either make peace with or not. 

Otto and I made peace with that fact long ago. 

- Thank you for reading. Your comments and questions are always welcome.

That time I entered Elms Liquorland and asked for a job

 

It was 45 years ago this month that I started what was to become the best part-time job of my life.

I walked into Elms Liquorland July 3, 1978. The store was located at 510 W. Northwest Highway in Arlington Heights. I met Tom Barkulis, the son of the store's owner, Nick. I introduced myself and explained that Mike, a high school friend and the store's only stock clerk, told me Tom was looking to hire additional help. 

I completed an application, and Tom asked me a few questions about the number of hours I was interested in working and the kind of previous experience I had. Satisfied with the answers I gave, he offered me a job and asked if I could start the next day. I said I could. I did, and I continued working with Tom for the next several years. 

It's interesting how we never know how important a simple decision will be to us at the time that we make it, but accepting that job proved to be one of the most important decisions of my life, one that shaped the man I was to become, the man I am today.

I had completed my junior year in high school at the time I accepted the job and was awaiting the start of my senior year. My junior year was a good one for me academically, and I had competed well on my school's track team. I was optimistic about my senior year.

I had performed well at two previous part-time jobs, and was confident in my ability to perform my duties at the liquor store. I was blessed to work with a good group of adults there. They were friends with the owners. The owners had recently expanded from a neighboring property. It now occupied a 100,000-square-foot space (large for that time and town) and the business was thriving.

My friend, Mike, and I stocked shelves, cleaned the store and took out the trash. Adults operated the registers and acted as supervisors. In time the stock staff expanded to include a few of our high school friends and my two younger brothers. Later on, another brother and sister team joined the staff. 

My employment continued during my college years. Tom always had part-time work for me and my brothers during summer and winter breaks from school. It was a busy store and there was always work to be done, but no one worked too hard, and there was time at the end of the day for a few laughs.

The passing of time is an odd thing and 45 years is a long time, but I have clear memories of those days.

I remember the names and faces of coworkers. I remember the salesmen and the delivery drivers. I remember customers were regulars and their favorite brand of beverages or preferred brands of cigarettes. 

In those days, Old Style beer was popular, so was Budweiser, Michelob, Stroh's and Lowenbrau. Light beers were becoming popular, too, but not to the extent that they are today. We sold a lot of half barrels of beer during the summer months. You rarely see those today.

No one had heard of microbrews then, and imported beers such as Beck's, Heineken's and Harp's were about as exotic as it got in the Midwest, although Tom offered a cooler of imported beers that was ahead of its time. 

Many of today's popular brands of bourbons, Scotch whiskeys, vodkas, gins, liquors, and rums were popular then. Some have disappeared from store shelves. The same is true for other products. Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill and Riunite Lambrusco wine were popular brands with young drinkers, but are no longer available. 

Tom also was ahead of his time when it came to wine, and he offered a selection in the early 1980s that would impress serious wine drinkers today. He taught me a great deal about wine then, knowledge I retain to this day. 

Independent liquor stores, ones with an extensive inventory and knowledgeable staff, are hard to find today. They still exist, but many have been replaced by chain grocery stores. Those qualities were commonplace at Elms, and they contributed to making the store more than just a neighborhood stop. 

I look forward to sharing more about the store, but those details will have to wait for another time. 

- Thank you for reading. Your questions and comments are always welcome.

The valuable reminders I found in "The Post"

 

I had a chance to watch "The Post," Steven Spielberg's 2017 film version of the Washington Post's publication of the Department of Defense's study of the Vietnam War that became known collectively as "The Pentagon Papers." 

The movie isn't perfect - it omitted details I thought should have been included - but it got many of the details right and is worth viewing. (I'm typically several years behind in my movie viewing, mostly because I don't care much for Hollywood's productions of the past 25 years. But that's me.)

"The Post" reminds us a lot was at stake for news-reporting in the U.S at the time, and the fight being waged involved the First Amendment and Freedom of the Press. 

It was a fight that culminated in a U.S. Supreme Court decision clearing the way for legal publication of the documents. One justice wrote, a free press is intended to "serve the governed, not the government." Chew on that for a minute.

The movie also reminds us that Katharine Graham, publisher of the Washington Post at the time, had more courage and personal integrity in the early 1970s than most business leaders, male and female, have today.

 

Graham defied a court-order halting the New York Times from publishing additional reports based on the Pentagon Papers and authorized The Post to print its own reports using the prohibited documents. Newspapers across the country subsequently followed her lead. 

The movie reminds us that lies, deceptions and falsehoods from the White House and the Pentagon are not new, but have been with our country for a long time. 

During the days depicted in "The Post" successive White House administrations and the Pentagon misrepresented the truths about the Vietnam War but also deceived the public about the war in Laos. 

Beginning in 2001 and continuing for 20 years successive administrations and the Pentagon lied to us about our progress in Afghanistan, and we all know how that episode ended. (Read "The Afghanistan Papers" by Craig Whitlock of the Washington Post, you should.) 

Makes one wonder about the reliability of what the Pentagon and the White House are telling us about Ukraine or the Nord Stream pipeline. 

(Do you believe the pipeline's destruction was an accident or the work of Ukrainian special forces or do you think reporter Seymour Hersh accurately established that the Biden White House ordered US operatives to destroy the pipeline as part of our proxy war with Russia?) 

Sadly, those who question or challenge the official version of things today are labeled cranks, conspiracy theorists, and worse. They are banned from popular social-media platforms  and "canceled" from their jobs.

Much of corporate media today appears to be in bed with one of our national political parties, all but ignoring that party's missteps, while finding only flaws with our second national political party. 

How and why did much of the national media ignore the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio for more than a week? To be clear, much of the media ignored the story until 1.1 million pounds of vinyl chloride, a toxic chemical, were set afire within the boundaries of the small town.

I try to be optimistic, but I doubt news-reporting will ever return to the days of quality and integrity, the days depicted in "The Post."  I hope I am wrong about that. 

In the meantime it is so very important for each of us to question, question, and question those we elect to public office and those who serve in the shadows - the people who take us to war and kill others on our behalf.

-- Thank you for reading. Please post a comment here or email me at kbotterman@gmail.com. 

I enjoyed 1982 at the movies

Before closing the book for 2022, I need to fulfill a commitment made earlier in the year, and compile a list of my favorite movies from 1982, 40 years ago. 

A reader asked me to compile the list a few months ago, but schedule commitments kept me from completing the task. So here's a look at my top 10 films from 1982, Ronald Reagan's second year as president, and a pretty good year for movies. I also added a few titles on a short list of honorable mentions. (All are presented in no particular order.)

My Top 10:

1. Blade Runner - Director Ridley Scott's dark but fascinating look at Los Angeles in the future (2019), where special police units known as blade runners hunt and "retire" human replicants. It remains one of the best sci-fi movies of the last 50 years, in my opinion. Harrison Ford stars and the cast includes Rutger Hauer, William Sanderson, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah, M. Emmet Walsh, Edward James Olmos, James Hong and Joanna Cassidy. 

2. Diner - Director Barry Levinson's first installment of his trilogy of films set in Baltimore. Mickey Rourke, Steve Guttenberg, and Kevin Bacon lead an ensemble cast as a group of young men preparing for a friend's wedding. It's a wonderful movie that sadly is mostly unknown to younger audiences. 

3. The Year of Living Dangerously - Dark, moody, and moving. Mel Gibson plays an obnoxious young reporter covering political turmoil in Indonesia. He's in over his head, but is helped by Sigourney Weaver, who plays an assistant in the British embassy. Linda Hunt won an Oscar for her work as an assistant to Gibson's character. 

4. An Officer and a Gentleman - Richard Gere portrays an officer candidate at the Navy's challenging aviation training center. Debra Winger plays a new-found girlfriend, and Louis Gossett Jr. won an Oscar for his performance as the drill sergeant. It's an entertaining movie that stands the test of time.

5. Tootsie - Dustin Hoffman stars as a man dressed as a woman in order to land an acting job on a day-time soap opera. The supporting cast includes Jessica Lange, Dabney Coleman, Teri Garr, and Bill Murray. Lange won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Director Sydney Pollack delivers a comedy for the ages with this work.

6. The Verdict - Paul Newman is a lawyer on the back end of a once-promising career who takes a case to trial when everyone around tells him to settle out of court. The supporting cast includes Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, and the great James Mason.

7. 48 Hours - Nick Nolte plays a cop who teams with temporarily paroled convict Eddie Murphy to hunt a cop killer and his partner. Director Walter Hill delivers with the best action film of the year and one of the best entries in the "cop-buddy" genre of the 1980s. The supporting cast includes Frank McRae, Annette O'Toole, and James Remar as Albert Ganz, a criminal audiences loved to hate. 

8. The Thing - Director John Carpenter gives audiences the best version of the sci-fi classic. Kurt Russell leads a solid cast that includes Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Dysart and David Clennon. A team in Antarctica confronts an alien creature that is killing them one at a time.

9. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - Arguably the best of the Star Trek movies. The special effects have lost some of their impact over the years, but the movie still delivers, thanks to the cast and an engaging story about revenge and friendship. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and others from the cast of the original TV series appear and are joined by Ricardo Montalban and a young Kirstie Alley.

10. Fast Times at Ridgemont High - This movie led the field in the genre of 80s teen movies, and there were many good ones in that category. Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judd Reinhold, and Phoebe Cates. The movie remains a classic for its characters, their lines and for a few key scenes.

Honorable Mentions:

My Favorite Year 

Cannery Row: 

First Blood 

Missing 

-- Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment or submit a question. I can be reached by email at kbotterman@gmail.com.

Some Macro Views and Few Micro ones, too

 

The macro view:

Will the 2022 midterm elections ever end? 

It's a fair question, I think, even if it is a rhetorical one.

I write on Nov. 18, a full week and three days after the Nov. 8 balloting, and several races remain either undecided or not finalized. A school-related referendum in my town remains an open question, with a final determination set for Nov. 22.

News reports are full of possible reasons for the counting delays - some reasonable, some outlandish - but many reports cite mail-in ballots as a common reason for the long delays. If that is true, I hope voters will demand changes to the mail-in option. 

No Beer For You

Qatar officials announced Budweiser beer is prohibited at World Cup stadiums, reversing an earlier decision to allow beer sales during the games. Considering it's Budweiser, a watery, near tasteless version of beer, the decision should be applauded, in my opinion. Enjoying a soft drink is a better option than choking down a Bud. 

Happy for those Vikings

As a life-long (so far) Chicago Bears fan, it pains me a bit to note the Minnesota Vikings are enjoying a great season. The Vikings are 8-1 and lead the NFC North Division, where the Bears are 3-7, last place in the division. 

I don't follow the NFL as much as I once did, but I've always enjoyed the NFC divisional rivalries. As a young lad, I enjoyed watching Bart Starr QB the Green Bay Packers and liked Joe Kapp when he was QB for the Vikings. In the early '70s, I was a fan of Fran Tarkenton, and I respected the Vikings defensive units of the 1980s. 

And I am a big fan of Bud Grant, the team's coach from 1967 until 1983, with a subsequent tour of service in the 1985 season. So while I remain a Bears fan, I am happy for the Vikings and their fans for the season they are enjoying.

The Micro View:

The area where I reside (the Fox Valley in Northern Illinois) received the first snow of the season Nov. 15. We received a little more than a dusting and most of it melted by evening. We received a little more this morning (Nov. 18). Not much, but enough to contribute to some car accidents on area roads and interstate highways. We're expecting temperatures only in the mid-20s for the next two days (unusual for us in late November), but temperatures are expected to return to seasonal averages (low 40s) before the Thanksgiving Day holiday. I enjoy seeing some snow during the holidays, but I don't like driving in it. I can cope with the cold temperatures, but prefer to avoid icy roads. 

As one season ends, another begins

College football is my favorite sport to follow. I've enjoyed much of the 2022 season and will take a closer look at the details in a subsequent post. As the regular football season nears an end (it seemed to go by so quickly this year), I am enjoying the early days of the college basketball season and I'm excited for the start of conference play.

I developed at a young age the habit of marking the passing of a year with the start of seasonal sports. It's something I picked up from my father and older siblings. College and high school basketball always helped me pass the months of January and February, and I remain a loyal fan of the NCAA tournament in March. 

A Happy Thanksgiving

Most of my family will be traveling for the Thanksgiving Holiday, so my wife and I have plans to visit a favorite restaurant for our holiday dinner, which we'll enjoy in the early afternoon. Lori and I have said we might order from the menu, rather than partake in the traditional holiday offering. I'm likely to go with the Turkey dinner. I'll also purchase a pumpkin pie from a local bakery, because dessert is my favorite part of the holiday meal. I might even offer a special treat to Otto, our dog. 

I pray you and the ones you love most will enjoy a safe and happy Thanksgiving Day celebration. Remember the reason for the day and offer thanks for the many blessings you enjoy. I know I will.

-- Thank you for reading. Feel free to leave a comment. 

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Autumn's sights and sounds

 

Autumn is my favorite time of year, and the period between mid-September and Thanksgiving in Northern Illinois presents days of breathtaking beauty and temperatures we wait all year to enjoy. 

For those who endured winter's bitter cold and summer's unrelenting heat and humidity, early October's daytime highs of 70 degrees and low humidity are akin to a refreshing cup of water after a long period of physical work. 

From September 20 to Oct. 12 the region experienced a pleasant stretch of moderate temperatures and low humidity during the day and cool nights when the low reached the upper 40s where I live. Air conditioners that had operated nearly non-stop since June were finally shut-off and heating furnaces were idle. We opened windows and left them mostly open for days on end. It was a welcome relief and many enjoyed it all to the fullest.

My wife and I enjoyed walks in parks, forest preserves, and just about any location where more than few trees could be found. And nature did not disappoint, fall colors were abundant and leaves were only beginning to fall. 

Pumpkin-spiced items from beer and coffee to cookies and even Twinkies are everywhere. As one who enjoys pumpkin spice, apple cider doughnuts, and sweatshirts, I couldn't be happier than I was during these past few weeks. Heck, I was even wearing a pair of shorts on October 12. 

We're now beyond October's halfway date and temperatures are steadily declining. The next few days are expected to see high temperatures only in the low 40s and overnight lows will reach 32-degrees. Snow showers are predicted for late this evening.

Autumn is settling in and November quickly approaches. The combination of the honking geese and the sound of their flapping wings is a personal favorite. It is to me the sound of autumn in the Midwest. 

Autumn sights in film

I'm frequently asked about my favorite autumn films, and I'm happy to offer a few titles, films I return to again and again to celebrate the season or when I need a fix of cool temps. What makes a film set during autumn truly enjoyable for me is the atmosphere the director captures through images, sound, lighting, and special effects (generally called cinematography).

I distinguish films set in autumn from horror films, although I can name several horror films that successfully capture the spirit and familiar images of autumn. Those images include shadows, brilliant sunsets, falling leaves blown along lanes, skies that are either cloudless azure or overcast and windy. 

Here are a few films I think capture autumn's images and sounds, if even for only a few moments.

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) Directed by Frank Capra

The Trouble With Harry (1955) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Ghostbusters (1984) - Directed by Ivan Reitman

Dead Poets Society (1989) - Directed by Peter Weir

October Sky (1999) - Directed by Joe Johnston

Far from Heaven (2002) - Directed by Todd Haynes

Knives Out (2019) Directed by Rian Johnson

Did I miss one of your favorites? Let me know in the comments or send an email

Thank you for reading. I can be reached at kbotterman@gmail.com.

It's hot and humid, but it's time for college football

 

It's time to welcome the 2022 college football season, even though it's 84-degrees and humid outdoors. While many programs are playing tune-up, non-conference games this weekend, there are several interesting games on the slate. 

Here are a few of the games we follow at my house: 

NC State at E. Carolina - NC State

Rutgers at BC - I'm a BC fan from way back.

Oregon at Georgia - Georgia all the way

Cinn at Arkansas - Arkansas at home

BYU at S. Florida - I'm down with BYU

Utah at Florida - Utah is on the road, but I'm taking 'em.

Notre Dame at Ohio State - Let's go Buckeyes

Florida State at LSU - I'll go with LSU

Clemson at Georgia Tech - My brain says Clemson, but I'm a ramblin' wreck from Georgia Tech. 

Enjoy the games, and thank you for reading.