Mark's blog
Sporadic blog posts on a wide variety of topics, by Racine, Wisconsin web designer Mark Czerniec.(Also check out my weekly roundups in Another Week.)
‘Muscle Shoals’ (2013 music documentary movie)
Muscle Shoals is a 2013 documentary about a legendary recording studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, way up in the northwest corner of that state, a 150-mile drive from Memphis, Tennessee. Actually, it's a documentary about two legendary recording studios in that little...
‘10% Happier’: Dan Harris’s book on mindfulness meditation
Right off the bat, I had two misconceptions about 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works — A True Story. One was that a book written by a Good Morning America guy would necessarily...
‘The Wire’: Must-watch HBO series from a decade ago
Amy and I just finished watching all five seasons of The Wire. While we were doing this, I was surprised by the number of people I mentioned this to who had never heard of the show. "The what?," they'd ask. "The Wire?" Yes — The Wire. The Wire was an HBO series that...
‘Tiny Dancer,’ by Elton John and Bernie Taupin
The Elton John song "Tiny Dancer" (lyrics by Bernie Taupin) is in my iTunes library because of its use in the sing-along scene of Almost Famous, the Cameron Crowe movie from 2000 in which a touring rock band, its crew and entourage are touchingly reunited by the song...
Waterford Hot Air Balloon Festival 2014
The 4th annual Waterford Hot Air Balloon Festival kicked off Friday afternoon on the grounds of Evergreen Elementary School, and our cameras were there to capture some of the atmosphere of this great family event for the YouTube video above. The weather was beautiful,...
SC Johnson headquarters tour, Racine, Wisconsin
The SC Johnson headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin is a peculiar little enclave. The company's heritage campus includes its iconic, Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Research Tower and Administration Building, as well as the Golden Rondelle Theater, transplanted from the...
Earthworms & vermiculture grow in Union Grove, Wisconsin
Perhaps you have heard that worm castings (a.k.a. worm manure or worm humus, the digestive waste produced by earthworms) might be the finest organic fertilizer on earth. Possibly, you read somewhere that earthworms can be raised for this purpose — and also to supply...
Shaving cream switch: Goodbye shaving gel, hello Cremo
After years of annoyance, I have ditched my blue shaving gel for a new type of shaving cream, and I am a happier man. The new stuff is Cremo Astonishingly Superior Shave Cream. It helps my razor glide smoothly across my face, resulting in a nice, close shave. It has a...
Chili recipe: Chicken Chili with Beans (recipe and video)
I love to cook, and one of the easy, healthy, go-to chicken recipes that I make quite a bit is Chicken Chili with Beans. I thought I would share it — and experiment with making a YouTube cooking video. I start off by making my own beans. I use my pressure cooker,...
Frances Ha (2013 movie, Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig)
If you'd like to spend an hour and a half sometime watching a thoroughly enjoyable portrait of an adorable young woman coming to grips with adult life in New York City, Frances Ha is the movie you should see. Directed by Noah Baumbach and starring Greta Gerwig as...
Jesus of Nazareth, the ‘Marginal Jew’ behind Jesus Christ
Who was Jesus of Nazareth, according to historical evidence? An ample crop of recent books on the "historical Jesus" has offered yet more answers to this perennial puzzle. Reza Aslan's Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth sounds very intriguing. Misquoting...
Mitchell School fire in Racine, Wisconsin: Video, photos
Amy was already up at 2 a.m. when the fire truck horns started blasting down our street. Mitchell School was on fire. Mitchell School and Mitchell School are co-located. The entrance to Mitchell Middle School is on Drexel Ave. at Webster St. Just south of that...
Barney’s Version (Paul Giamatti movie, 2010)
Barney's Version is a 2010 movie based on a 1997 novel by Mordecai Richler. It stars Paul Giamatti as Barney, a Jewish TV producer from Montreal who goes through a series of marriages. We didn't read the book nor hear much about the movie,...
Beatles cover band: My earliest Beatles memories were fake!
With all the nostalgia this past week over the 50th anniversary of the Beatles landing in America and appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show, I tried to reminisce about my own reaction to those first Beatles songs, only to recall that it was all a fraud. At age 3 and a...
The Kindle Fire HD is so stinking cool!
I love to read and never thought that I would have a need for a Kindle or any other e-reader device. There's nothing like the feel and smell of a real book. I like to look at the bookshelves and know that I completed most of those displayed. A few years ago, just for...
‘The Emperor of All Maladies’: Cancer history bestseller
I haven't blogged in months. I've been mostly absent from Twitter and Facebook as well. Initially, I wanted to spend less time in these scattered and distracted modes of thought, and more time on focused and linear avenues like reading books. But then my wife Amy was...
Ellen’s haunted house video and my reaction
My sister in law Karen shared this video from The Ellen DeGeneres Show — "Andy and Amy's Haunted House" — in the comment area on my previous post. While I watched Amy and Adam go through Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights, Mark caught my reaction on camera and...
Pumpkin Spice Pancakes for breakfast!
I came across this recipe for Pumpkin Spice Pancakes the other day while I was tracking my food online at the Weight Watchers website. I absolutely love anything to do with pumpkin so I just had to give these a try. I was really happy with the outcome. They were...
Woody Allen: ‘Midnight in Paris’ (2011 movie, Owen Wilson)
Once upon a time, Woody Allen made films like Annie Hall, which featured his angst-ridden but lovable persona, was brilliant yet accessible, and won four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay (Diane Keaton also won for Best...
‘Hot Coffee’ movie: How tort reform smothers your rights
Hot Coffee is a 2011 documentary film directed by Susan Saladoff which reveals that corporate interests have systematically muscled the American people out of their own legal system, and that the ability of ordinary citizens to seek fair compensation for harm done to...
Web marketing, conversion book: ‘Convert!’ by Ben Hunt
As a web designer for the past 17 years, I have had varying success in helping small business owners understand web marketing and conversion techniques — how a website can work like a machine to attract people who are searching for your offerings, and then guide them...
‘The Power of Habit’: Break bad habits, form good ones
The Power of Habit in paperbackUpdate: A paperback edition of The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg, was published on January 7, 2014. Although we may not be aware of it, we spend most of our lives doing routine things that...
Chris Rock: ‘Good Hair’ (documentary movie, 2009)
Often, a documentary movie can reveal a whole world you never knew existed. Sometimes, that unknown world may even be occurring right alongside your own. Good Hair, comedian Chris Rock's documentary about African-American hairstyles, was like this for me. Growing up,...
‘Silver Linings Playbook’ (Jennifer Lawrence movie, 2012)
Silver Linings Playbook (trailer above) is a thoroughly wonderful movie that holds you captive for an up-close and personal two hours with wounded, middle-class Philadelphians struggling to navigate each other's emotional glitches. Unappetizing as that may sound, what...
TeraBrite: Music videos, daily YouTube vlog, Conan O’Brien
The YouTube video above is something I stumbled upon while researching the Canon PowerShot S100. It's a great little camera — but who are the kids in the video testing it? Their YouTube channel is called VleraBrite, and it is said to contain "TeraBrite daily vlogs!"...
Adolf Hitler’s death in Berlin bunker: ‘Downfall’ (movie, 2004)
In November of 1942, a small group of women waits anxiously at a job interview. Before long, one of them is selected. Traudl Humps (soon to become Traudl Junge through marriage) is attractive, but only 22 years old and not a very skilled typist. Nevertheless, she is...
How to sleep: Candy Cane Lane tea by Celestial Seasonings
Looking for tips on how to sleep? You may want to try a peppermint green tea from Celestial Seasonings. No, I'm not talking about their Sleepytime Herbal Tea, or any of their expanding line of Sleepytime teas. The original blend — with chamomile, spearmint and...
FIPEL lighting to replace LED lights, CFL light bulbs?
Imagine high-quality light that's flicker-free, produced by light bulbs that don't shatter, contain no mercury, and are cheap to produce. According to a variety of news reports today, these new FIPEL lighting units (an acronym for "field-induced polymer...
Greer Garson: ‘Mrs. Miniver’ (1942 movie)
I've been reading about World War 2 lately, so, as a step toward immersion, I thought it might be edifying to watch a related movie or two. My first selection was Mrs. Miniver, the 1942 hit starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, and Teresa Wright, an Academy Award...
‘Catfish’ (2010 movie, Nev Schulmann documentary)
Thanks to incredibly clever electronic gadgets and the miracle of the Internet, we live in an age when anyone, anywhere, can potentially produce words, audio, and images, and share them with the world at large. Further, we can use inexpensive tools to assemble and...