Brief reviews of a few things

Lincoln is a movie about ex-Raider OT Lincoln Kennedy and his rise to fame on FOX Sports.  No, not really, it's actually a film about people talking in poorly-lit rooms.  Most of the film is Abraham Lincoln telling amusing anecdotes.  Daniel Day-Lewis plays Lincoln and is already a mortal lock for the Best Actor Oscar, and I have no idea who else will even be nominated, doesn't matter, he's like the five dollar bill came to life and started chatting.  When other actors heard DDL was going to play Lincoln they were probably like "Well fuck that, I'm just going to cruise through a romcom with Reese Witherspooon and pick up a check this year instead of doing that film where I play a retard whose Dad died.  No sense wasting Oscar bait this year if Daniel's playing a historical figure and/or someone with a grave disability."

But seriously, it's really good, even if it is a bit hagiographical.  Is that a word?  I guess that's a word.  Only one brief mention of Lincoln suspending habeas corpus and nothing about him, say, executing 39 Native Americans after show trials, but hey, nobody's perfect.  (And also the first scene is kind of a groaner, but let's overlook that.)  (Oh, also, the guy who plays Lena Dunham's boyfriend on "Girls" is in one scene and that was a bit of a record-scratching-sound moment for me. Luckily, unlike in "Girls," he wears his shirt pretty much the whole time.)

The Tee Off is a bar and grill on Clement Street across from the Lincoln Park golf course.  We had dinner there Saturday evening at the suggestion of some people we were meeting up with.  I didn't realize it when we made the plans, but the TO was featured on Guy Fieri's show on Food Network.  (Here's a video of the episode someone made by pointing a camera at the TV. In it, Guy Fieri uses the word "macerates.")

Anyway, it's got your usual semi-dive-bar clubby vibe.  The bartender and server were both super nice.  In fact, when I was having trouble deciding which beer to have next, the server brought me little shot glasses of a couple of beers she thought I might like.  That's pretty good service.  The food was fine-ish.  I had the fish & chips, and the fish had a nice crispy crust but it was pretty mushy in the middle.  The fries were excellent, though.  Also, it was $100 for four people including dinner and multiple drinks, so try beating that, French Laundry!

Last night was the half-season finale of Walking Dead (link contains spoilers, so LOOK THE FUCK OUT).  I have a love-extreme nervousness relationship with Walking Dead.  The disclaimer at the beginning - that some material may be too intense for some viewers? - that's me.  I'm some viewers.  Anyway, I can't stop watching, and this season has been a vast improvement over last season. (Side note: when did we start having half-season finales? Is this going to be our new reality now? Do we just have to live with that?)

I guess I can't say much about last night without spoiling it for all you people who haven't seen it yet or whatever, but I think the takeaway from this season so far is that if last season was like an extended therapy session, this season has been more like testing how much disgusting shit people can handle.  Saddam Hussein would watch this season and be all like "Ugh, that is REVOLTING, get that shit off the TV."  Anyway, it's a must-watch in our house.  There are still a lot of flaws, but it's always interesting.

Rain is a naturally occurring climatological phenomenon that causes local TV news reporters to don silly-looking gear and go outside and report that it's raining.