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Archive for the ‘Funny (ha ha)’ Category

David Foster Wallace–[Week 8] The Pale King (2011) [Pale Summer §48-§50]

Posted in Big Books, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Demons, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Huh?, Meta, Record Labels, Sex on September 1, 2014| 1 Comment »

backSOUNDTRACK: TOADIES-“Summer of the Strange” (2012).

summerstrageToadies had a hit (which is still played on “Modern Rock” radio today) in 1994 called “Possum Kingdom.”  I really liked the song because the tempo was way off kilter and the lyrics were inscrutable (“Do you wanna die?” “So help me Jesus.”).  And the singer had a screamy kind of voice that sounded like he might be unhinged.  It was a very improbable hit and yet there it was.  And then Toadies went away.

When I heard that they had put out other albums I was surprised, so I looked them up and saw that they got into all kinds of legal grief with their record label during the (abandoned) release of their second album.  And they basically broke up for like ten years. And then they got back together and then re-recorded their delayed album and then put out the album that this song is on.

I’ve only listened to couple of songs from Play.Rock.Music.  I didn’t like the one with the horns (that may have been a remix actually), but overall the albums sounded quite Toadies-like.  And this song (with the very weird–perhaps too intentionally weird) contained some of the craziness of that first single.  It opens with a simple bass and drum set up.  Then there’s some odd ball vocals and some fuzzy smattering of guitars.  Then the guitars roar in and the chorus is strangely catchy, and the lead vocalist sounds like he still might be a bit unhinged.

By the end of the song, the guitar solo is a wild affair and the rest of the band is noisy and distorted and a little sleazy and you kind of leave the song feeling just a bit dirty–a perfect Toadies song.

[READ: September 1, 2014] Pale Summer Week 8 (§48-§50)

Because I was on vacation, I didn’t notice that the Pale Summer group read had stayed on an earlier chapter and were just getting the read rolling again.  So, I’m already ahead of the spoiler line.  But since I have this post written and I’m anal retentive, I’m going to post my final sections on the originally slated date (okay a day late for Labor day).  But as a concession to everyone else, I’m going to save the end pages and my thoughts on the book for next week.

So this week’s post is about the end of the book proper.  And next week will contain the comments from Pietsch at the end of the book as well as the additional materials that were included in the paperback.

A lot of information is handed out in these first two sections.  However, it’s not entirely clear what happened. And as with the unfinished book we’re left wondering if any more of the story would have clarified anything. (more…)

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Andrew Norriss–The Unluckiest Boy in the World (2006) [audiobook 2006–Glen McReady]

Posted in Adventure, Andrew Norriss, Audiobooks, C., Children's Books, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Michigan, T., Travel on August 29, 2014| 1 Comment »

[LISTENED TO: August 2014] The Unluckiest Boy in the World

unlkcyMy kids enjoy just about any audio book, but I try to find ones that seem funny (and age appropriate for both of them).  For reasons I’m unclear about, it seems like most of the audio books that are age appropriate are British or Australian–either they release more audio books, or that’s just what my library orders.  So we wind up listening to a lot of British readers (I think my kids can tell a British accent now).

I didn’t know anything about this book (or its author) but the title sounded great and the age was appropriate.  We listened to it on our trip to Michigan, and it was a perfect length to fit near the end of our arrival.  Boy did we like this book.  There are so many funny unexpected moments.  And the story has a great sense of companionship and closeness among outcasts.  And of course, really bad things happen in inappropriate places, which is quite funny.

I’m really glad I got this book, and I’d be interested to see what else Norriss has written.

So just who is the unluckiest boy in the world?  Nicholas Frith is an average boy eleven year old English boy–not really lucky but not really unlucky either.  Indeed, nothing interesting ever happens to him.  Although he does have an interesting parental setup (which is complicated and best left for the story to reveal, but suffice it to say that his dad is in the United States, but not because he was trying to get away from Nicholas or his mum.

As the book opens, Nicholas and his mum are on a vacation in Spain.  They don’t speak Spanish and while the taxi driver/tour guide is nice, neither he nor his mom is really sure what’s going on.  At some point he leaves the taxi to go pee.  As it turns out though, he winds up peeing on the ancient grave of a very bad man, Toribio de Cobrales.  Of course, there is a curse on this grave (it really should have been better protected, no?)–anyone who defiles it in any way will have nothing but bad luck thrown at him for the rest of his life.  Nicholas is really sorry, he didn’t realize any of that, but it doesn’t matter.  As soon as he defiles the grave the curse comes at them, with thunderclaps and earthquakes and all manner of trouble falling on them in the next few minutes. (more…)

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Tom Angelberger–Horton Halfpott: or, The Fiendish Mystery of Smugwick Manor; or, The Loosening of M’Lady Luggertuck’s Corset (2011) [audiobook 2011–Ron Keith]

Posted in Audiobooks, C., Charles Dickens, Children's Books, Decadence, Etiquette, Funny (ha ha), Marriage Trouble, Mystery, Romance, Sam Riddleberger, T., Tom Angleberger on August 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: August 2014] Horton Halfpott

hortonLast summer we listened to Angleberger’s book Fake Mustache, which was one of my favorite audio books ever (until the League of Princes series).  In fact we just re-listened to fake Mustache and enjoyed it even more the second time! I was pretty excited to listen to Horton Halfpott as well because it has two subtitles.  Since we had a long drive ahead of us, it seemed the ideal time to bust out Horton.

And while I did enjoy the book by the end (quite a lot in fact), I found it a little slow going in the beginning.  This book was narrated by Ron Keith, who is British.  There is nothing weird about that because the book is set in Britain.  It is just such a stark change from Fake Mustache (which was so very American) that I think it took a while for us to adjust to the rather stiff and formal (but funny) reading that this book had (compared to the wild and crazy reading of Mustache).  Since the book is a kind of spoof on Dickensian class stories, the narration makes perfect sense.

This entire adventure begins on the day that M’Lady Luggertuck loosens her corset (the narrator apologizes for even talking about an old lady’s underwear, but it is crucial to the story):

There are so many exciting things in this book — a Stolen Diamond, snooping stable boys, a famous detective, the disappearance of a Valuable Wig, love, pickle éclairs, unbridled Evil, and the Black Deeds of the Shipless Pirates — that it really does seem a shame to begin with ladies’ underwear.

M’Lady Luggertuck usually wears her corset very very tight, and she acts like she has on a very very tight corset–there is no happiness to be found in Smugwick manor. But on the day that she asks her maid to loosen the corset a little bit, a kind of shock wave floods through the castle, which seems to encourage everyone to loosen up just a bit.

Everyone, that is except for Horton’s superior, Miss Neversly.  Miss Neversly is a mean mean woman, always ready to hit someone (especially Horton) over the head with a wooden spoon (ouch), always ready to doubt someone, always looking for and never receiving praise from M’Lady Luggertuck.

Horton, by the way is a kitchen boy.  He is not a bad boy at all, just an unlucky boy in a bad situation (see, the set up is very Dickensian, and Angleberger thanks Dickens in his acknowledgments).  Horton’s best friend is a stable boy named Bump. They are also friends with the other stable boys Blight and Blemish.  And the story is certainly sympathetic to these poor lower class individuals. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–[Week 7] The Pale King (2011) [Pale Summer §46-§47]

Posted in Advice, Big Books, Boredom, David Foster Wallace, Echo & the Bunnymen, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Huh?, Marriage Trouble, Memoirs, Meta, Pale Summer, Psychiatry, Romance, Supernatural, Taxes, The Big Bang Theory, The Exorcist on August 25, 2014| 1 Comment »

reySOUNDTRACK: ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN-“The Cutter” (1983).

echoI’ve never been a huge Echo & The Bunnymen fan, but I do like their greatest hits.  This is one of them, and it’s a song I’ve liked from pretty much the minute I heard it.  Ian McCullough has a Jim Morrison vibe in his vocals, and there are interesting Eastern melodies and pieces thrown into the song (like in the intro).  These give it an unconventional feel, even though the main melody is pretty straightforward.

I have no idea what the song is about–I sing along without really thinking about it.  And the “spare us the cutter” chorus, complete with screechy guitar chord is pretty dynamic.  As is the loud drum change during the “drop in the ocean” part.

By the end of the song the drums seem to sound bigger, and the fills really propel the song to the end.  It’s a fine song by a band that I’m not sure I need to hear more of.

[READ: August 25, 2014] Pale Summer Week 7 (§46-§47)

After the pile of small chapters that last week gave us, this week offers just two.  One is a very lengthy discussion between two characters.  The other is another piece of the Toni Ware puzzle.  I enjoy the way the first of these sections balances the medical, the emotional and the supernatural.  And it makes me laugh that Drinion’s supernatural bit is never addressed directly in any way–it just is–as assuredly as Rand’s psychological problems just are.  But I do find it interesting that more people have talked about Rand’s problems than Drinion’s (even though his is as fascinating as he himself is dull).
(more…)

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Patrick Jennings–My Homework Ate My Homework (2010)

Posted in Acting, Beastie Boys, C., Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), Muckaferguson, Patrick Jennings, Set at School, Short Books, T., They Might Be Giants, Unlikable main character, Wonder Showzen on August 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »

myhomeSOUNDTRACK: MUCKAFERGUSON-“MC Speller” (2010).

muckaI had never heard of Muckaferguson.  Okay, that is not true, as I see I made a post about them because of the They Might be Giants song “John Lee Supertaster.”  Because the real John Lee is a indeed a supertaster and was in the band Muckaferguson. (And John Flansburgh of TMBG produced this album).  So there.  But I still hadn’t heard them until now.

This song comes from that album.

The album is a flurry of genres and styles, and amid all of this, we get this old school beat box rap (sorta early Beastie Boysish).  And I like it because it is quite funny.  And since it’s only a minute and a half long, I’ll put all the lyrics, because I can’t pick a favorite line:

my name is mc speller and i like to spell…s p e l l spells spell. mc speller and i love to spell…q u e u e spells queue.

he’s a maniac, ya’ll. here comes the heart attack, yo. chris likes food. andy like atari. i like the work of john baldessari. my rhymes are fresh and my moves are hard. i play the plastic guitar like baudrillard.

my name is mc speller and i like to spell…d a d spells dad. mc speller and i love to spell…r h o n g spells wrong.

i’m mc scared of bees, ya’ll cause you know that i’m scared of bees, ya’ll. when i see a bee i run because by definition i’m scared of bees.

yo, i’m comin’ to you straight out of sutton in suburban south london. white, middle class, educated 20 something. i got me degree in pure mathematics. i don’t like to rap i’m just being sarcastic.

r i g h t spells right, mc speller’s gonna spell all night, talkin’ about. n i g h t spells night, mc speller spells everything right

Despite the kid friendly nature of some of some of these songs, the album as a whole is definitely not kid friendly (I mean, look at the cover and, frankly the band’s name).  The song “I Wanna Get…” is all about getting, well, F’d up, so be mindful.  But many of the songs are delightfully witty.

John Lee, incidentally, is also responsible for the show Wonder Showzen, so if you know the show, you get a sense of the kind of mischief he makes.

[READ: August 9, 2014] My Homework Ate My Homework

Regardless of how I felt about Guinea Dog 1 and 2 (overall I liked them quite a bit), it was impossible not to snap up a book with a title like this.  Especially when the book is about a ferret.  (The cover is by the same artist as the Guinea Dog books, which led me to assume the style was similar, which it was).

This book is about 10-year-old Zaritza (the unusual name is never explained).  She is… dramatic.  And is a fan of dramatic….  pauses.  She is incredibly excited to be playing Calamity Jane in the upcoming traveling theater production of Calamity Jane.  She has watched the film dozens of times and has her “Calam” down perfectly.

The problem is that if she doesn’t bring her grades up she’s won’t be allowed to do extra curricular activities.  Like drama.  She is not the best student, so rather than actually doing her work, she decides to do some extra credit.  Like bringing the classroom pet Ferret home for the weekend.  She hates the ferret.  She hates its smell, she hates its look. Hates it.  But she needs the credit.  And so it comes home.  And then she forgets to close the cage door and the ferret gets out.

Panic!

While the ferret is out, and they are trying to catch it, Zaritza hears something–gnawing.  And that’s when her homework ate her homework. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–[Week 6] The Pale King (2011) [Pale Summer §35-§45]

Posted in Big Books, Boredom, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Death, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Harper's, Law, Memoirs, Meta, Pale Summer, Research, Taxes, Violence, Yuck! on August 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

tpk5SOUNDTRACK: INTERIOR DISPOSITION-“Fornix” (2008).

Critical Injuries Five Years of RehabilitationIt was challenging to find a related song for this week’s reading, although frankly a band called Interior Disposition would fit with just about any DFW passage.  But having a song called “Fornix” paired nicely with the computer problems that the author faced this week.

From the online information, it seems like Interior Disposition is a metal band.  And yet when I tracked down their full album and listened to a bit it’s largely trippy outer space noodling, or as one of the sites labels them: dark ambient.  There’s bubbling sounds and sounds of what I think of as deep space.  It is strangely relaxing and yet with a hint of tension all the way through (so yes, dark ambient is a pretty good sum).

Okay a little more digging tells me that the band is actually a guy, Oleg Hurvatov, who is Russian and also records under several other aliases: the wonderfully named Exploplasmatic Coagulation, and the puzzling Lanceolaria Im Licht Der Laterne

“Fornix” is only 1:46 and is probably a good introduction to the band/album.  If you like the 2 minute sound, the rest is pretty darn similar, just much longer.

[READ: August 18, 2014] Pale Summer Week 6 (§35-§45)

This weeks read was mostly a series of smallish sections.  some of them are entertaining, some of them provide interesting insights into the organization of the Service and of some of the characters.  And some of the sections are just downright funny.  The more I read of this book this time, the more bummed I am that it was never finished.  I even just wish I knew how much more he had planned.  There’s potential for this book to have spiraled out to 800-900 pages, there just seems to be so many things he could have followed up on–the Sylvanshine transformation to mastering RFI; the whole business with the infant, I love it; learning more about Mr. X (although likely there wouldn’t be much more about him); and of course what led to David Wallace leaving the Service and what compelled him now to write about it (which I don’t think is really addressed).
(more…)

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David Foster Wallace–[Week 5] The Pale King (2011) [Pale Summer §27-§34]

Posted in Big Books, Boredom, Boredoms, David Foster Wallace, Death, Demons, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Ghosts, Law, Memoirs, Meta, New Yorker, Pale Summer, Religion, Research, Supernatural, Taxes, Today's Accountant on August 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

tpk6SOUNDTRACK: BOREDOMS (various).

borepageBoredoms are an experimental noisy band from Japan.  I am completely unqualified to talk about them as I only know snippets of their output.  But I have always been intrigued by them.  Lead dude Yamataka Eye has been the main impetus behind the band.  And it seems like exactly the kind of noise/music one might play if one were horribly bored.

Yoshimi P-We is the longest serving drummer with the Boredoms.  She is the “Yoshimi” in the title of The Flaming Lips’ album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.

Over the years they have gone from outright nose (listen to the track “Bubblebop Shot” from Soul Discharge or “We Never Sleep” from Onanie Bomb Meets the Sex Pistols which is mostly screams and drums) to a more ambient (but still noisy) style. They performed a live show with 77 drummers  on 7/7/07.

They’ve even changed their name to V∞redoms.

Here’s an interesting clip of the band from All Tomorrow’s Parties in 2012, being a lot less noisy but still pretty weird.

[READ: August 11, 2014] Pale Summer Week 5 (§27-§34)

There were a few things in this week’s reading that seemed to contradict other things in the reading.  This is not surprising as Pietsch says that there were things that he knew DFW would eventually change.  The notes at the back of the book (yes, I peeked, bit no spoiler here) say that there were different possible plotlines for some of the characters and even a duplication of a weird character trait.   But it’s funny to see it evolving in front of you.

In §27, Sylvanshine seems to be able to control his Random Fact Inference somewhat–and he seems to be using it rather than being inflicted by it.  This is either a big change or a cool development in Claude’s life.

There is also what I think is an actual mistake: two people have the same number: 907313433 (see §30).

In another “unfinished” issue, the surveillance in §29 is one of those situations that would certainly have been explained in greater detail (or had another scene about it).  I initially assumed they were doing surveillance for deadbeat companies (maybe for new vehicles), but there are indications (in later sections) that perhaps something else is going on, maybe to do with the Glendenning/Lehrl issue that Reynolds and Sylvanshine are talking about in §30.

One thing that I hadn’t explicitly noticed earlier, but which comes out in Cusk’s section below is the idea that “more information is not better.”  While this seems to be very true for their job, it can certainly be a debilitating world view and I wonder if that is at play as well. (more…)

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Jason Shiga–Meanwhile (2010)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Adventure, Alternate Reality, Choose Your Own Adventure, Death, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, Ice Cream, Jason Shiga, Short Books, Technology, Violence on August 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »

mewanSOUNDTRACK: “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC-Mandatory Fun #1 (2014).

way1So, yeah I’ve spent the last few weeks talking about the songs from Mandatory Fun.  What could I possibly have left to say?

Well, only that I think it’s pretty awesome that Al’s viral campaign worked and that his album made it to #1 on the Billboard charts.  (Of course, I have my disclaimer that I really don’t care about charts and usually have no idea what is number one, but I’m always pleased when a band I like can get that honor).  I think it’s pretty cool that he’s been doing this forever (and I’ve liked him since “Another One Rides the Bus”), and that he is not only still successful, but is even more successful than ever.

I’ve also enjoyed seeing him all over the media lately.  It’s interesting to see how smartly he deals with stupid interviewers and how much he enjoys the intelligent interviewers.  I met Al once and he was a very nice  person (as far as celebrities go).  He seems to genuinely appreciate his fans, and so I’m glad he’s collecting more fans.

Clearly, the album sales will plummet after this #1 accomplishment (it’s not like people are going to start buying the album as if they were unfamiliar with it), but while it lasted, it was pretty cool.  And this scene on the Tom Green Show (who even knew he had another show?) when he was presented with this plaque was quite touching.

[READ: July 29, 2014] Meanwhile

This book is like a culmination of cleverness from Jason Shiga.  As the cover states: Pick Any Path.  3,856 Story Possibilities.  And while I did not count them all, I did run through all the possibilities.  And it is a crazy, time bending, mind-swapping fun ride.

And is it really a choose your own adventure?  Indeed it is.  Each page has a tab and each panel in each cartoon has a tube. The tube runs from one panel to another, sometimes going to a tab so you go to another page.  The author’s note at the beginning of the book says it began as a series of 7 increasingly complex flowcharts, then he used an algorithm to determine the most efficient way to make each story line.  And wow, what a doozy.

The story starts simply enough with the main character getting an ice cream.  And your choices are chocolate or vanilla.  The choices lead down a series of deepening paths, bringing you to a scientist who has created the Killitron 2000 (which does what it says), the SQUID (which transfers memories between people) and a time machine.  As you can imagine each of these thing leads to very different results. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–[Week 4] The Pale King (2011) [Pale Summer §23-§26] #palesummer14

Posted in Big Books, Boredom, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Death, Demons, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Ghosts, Law, Memoirs, Meta, Negativland, Pale Summer, Research, Sex, Taxes on August 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

tpk4SOUNDTRACK: NEGATIVLAND-“Nesbitt’s Lime Soda Song” (1987).

limeThere are multiple references to Nesbitt’s soda in this book.  I am unfamiliar with Nesbitt’s except in this funny little song from Negativland (on their album Escape from Noise).  I have always liked this song, perhaps because it is so simple (and is an actual song) amidst the chaos of the album.

A simple strummed guitar introduces this quaint song about everyday frustrations:

We spent a lovely summer, my wife Elaine and me,
We bought us a great big motor home, with a shower and TV,
We was camping and having a great time, watching Brokaw on Today,
Till a bee flew into the Nesbitt’s Lime Soda, and we had to throw it away.

Now most of the time I’m a peaceful man, but I lost my temper that day,
Just one last bottle of Nesbitt’s Lime Soda, and we had to throw it away.

I’m including the second verse not only because of the sodas listed, which I find endearing, but also because of the phrase “good old Mountain Dew” which reminds me of something DFW would say:

I brought a case of Nehi, and Double Cola, too,
A half a dozen Upper 10’s, and good old Mountain Dew,
I bought a quart of cola-a, to get me through the day,
But just one bottle of Nesbitt’s Lime Soda, and we had to throw it away.

I think most of the Nesbitt’s in the story is orange (that was their big seller) but Nesbitt’s did actually did have a Lime (or I guess Lemon-Lime) soda as well

[READ: August 4, 2014] Pale Summer Week 4 (§23-§26)

After last week’s massive 100 page section inside of one person’s head, it’s nice to get back to some of these smaller sections.  I’m particularly pleased to have another David Wallace section, as I find his the most entertaining.

§23

This is a brief First person section that begins: “Dream:”  Rows of foreshortened faces, many blank doing endless small tasks. It was his psyche teaching him about boredom.  He was often bored as a child, but that boredom was not actual boredom.  Back then he worried and fretted a lot, feeling the “sort of soaring, ceilingless tedium that transcends tedium and becomes worry” (253).  It was anxiety with no object.

He was the nervous delicate son, as opposed to his brother, the gifted driven son whose nightly piano practice coincided with their father’s return from work.  I section that says “after the incident with my own son” (254) reminded me that someone suggested that “Incarnations of Burned Children” may actually fit into this book and it seems like that could be applicable here, although I shudder to think it.  In psychotherapy he realized that his family was Achilles.  His brother was the shield and he was the heel. His father was a warrior, but his mother’s role was unclear. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–[Week 3] The Pale King (2011) [Pale Summer §22] #palesummer14

Posted in America, Big Books, Boredom, Boston, Chicago, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Death, Deep Purple, Demons, Drugs, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Jethro Tull, Kansas, Kiss, Law, Memoirs, Meta, New Yorker, Obetrol, Pale Summer, Pink Floyd, Religion, Reo Speedwagon, Research, Rush, Styx, Taxes on July 28, 2014| 1 Comment »

tpk3SOUNDTRACK: OBETROL-“The Sound Machine” and “Chopped an Dropped”(2011).

obetrrolObetrol is a band that I can find out very little about. They seem to have 5 songs out and each one is quite different. My favorite is “The Sound Machine” which has a lush sound with twinkly guitars and a wispy female vocalist singing over the top of it.  It has a very trippy slow motion quality to it.  The singer sings a bit like a delicate Kim Gordon (in that shes not always exactly on key).

It’s hard to get more out of this song since it’s only 2:25, but I think it would make a cool intro to any record.

“Chopped and Dropped” on the other hand opens with buzzy guitars (and a “Kick Out the Jams” sample).  The vocals are sung (screamed) by a man. It is a fast-moving tinny punk song with trippy female echoed vocals in the background.

Hard to pin them down, but you can check them out here.

[READ: July 28, 2014] Pale Summer Week 3 (§22)

This week’s read is only one section because it is almost 100 pages of one person’s testimony.  Presumably, this is also part of the testimony on videotape which was broken down into smaller sections.  But there is no “context” for this section;  no ID number.  Although it does address very similar issues and questions.  I was on the fence about how much to include here.  So much of it is “irrelevant,” that I hate to get bogged down in details.  So I think it will be a basic outline of ideas until the more “important” pieces of information surface.

§22

For the most part, this is all inside one man’s head as he talks about his life in college, after college, and into the Service.  In terms of advancing the “plot,” there’s not much (until the end).  Mostly this is simply a wonderful character study, full of neuroses and problems that many people face at some point (to one degree or another).  We don’t know who this author is (very minor spoiler: we will learn who it is in §24 [highlight to read]).

The interviewee states that “A good bit of it I don’t remember… from what I understand, I’m supposed to explain how I arrived at this career.”

Initially he was something of a nihilist, whose response to everything was “whatever.”  A common name for this kind of nihilist at the time was wastoid.  He drifted in and out of several colleges over the years, taking abstract psychology classes.  He says that his drifting was typical of family dramas in the 1970s–son is feckless, mother sticks up for son, father squeezes sons shoes, etc. They lived in Chicago, his father was a cost systems supervisor for the City of Chicago. (more…)

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