Gangnam Style

“I have my own style

It’s Gangnam style.”

    Psy

The latest pop star is a 34 year-old Korean who calls himself Psy (sigh: that’s how it’s pronounced).  Since “Gangnam Style” went viral on YouTube and soared to the top of the I Tunes charts, Psy has been enjoying his “15 minutes of fame” to the hilt.  He and a bevy of Korean beauties appeared on Friday’s Today Show before a huge crowd, and gave the regulars lessons on how to dance Gangnam style (it’s like a horse rider galloping to a techno drum beat).  Gangnam is a district in Seoul where young folks go clubbing.  The Korean lyrics, translated, include this nugget: “I am a man who drinks coffee bottoms up before it cools down.”  The following evening Psy made a surprise appearance in an SNL skit and the audience went wild.

Sports Illustrated carried Thomas Lake’s moving article “The Boy They Couldn’t Kill.”  Twelve year-old Chancellor Lee Adams is one of the most courageous people I’ve ever read about. Twelve years ago Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth wanted his pregnant mother to get an abortion.  When she refused, he paid someone to kill them both.  She died but first gave birth to Chancellor and provided testimony that implicated Carruth, who is behind bars. Chancellor’s brain was deprived of oxygen, resulting in his being permanently disabled with cerebral palsy.  Grandmother (G-mom) Saundra Adams has been a godsend, taking him to physically therapy and nurturing him to the point that he competed in the Special Olympics.  As author Lake remarked, “If a kid like this can be so happy, what right do I have to complain?”  I told Bill Pelke, founder of Journey of Hope . . . From Violence to Healing, about the article and he plans to read it.

Nancy and Ron Cohen invited us to her daughter Elizabeth’s wedding Saturday at Tryon Farm in Michigan City.  The weather was perfect, and hens provided background clucking during the ceremony.  Ruge Meats roasted a pig.  In use were the most interesting porta-potties I’d ever seen, attached to a vehicle with toilets that flushed and running water from a spigot.  In the men’s was also a urinal, and one slightly drunk guy emerged saying that two people could go in at once.  Nobody took him up on it.  If one line got too long, women used the men’s unit and vice versa.

Guests included Sue and Joe Farag (once known as “the blond Farag” to distinguish him from his many siblings, now he is white-haired like brother Omar). One guest had a funny anecdote about getting revenge on a bailiff who was always playing practical jokes.  Pretending to be an attorney’s secretary, she asked him to page a Jack Meoff. He repeated the name in the courtroom several times before gales of laughter caused him to realize he was saying “Jack me off.”

The deejay mixed in classic dance tunes such as David Bowie’s “Modern Love” with songs of recent vintage such as “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People.  No “Gangnam Style,” but the floor was packed with Thirtysomethings and a few of their seniors such as Tanice Foltz and the father of Jeremy Moore, the groom.  Some would put their arms around a partner to make it appear that the person had four hands. Sylvia Manalis, married to Rich, a friend of Ron’s from high school, took a photo of my old colleague and me. 

Ryan Maicki, the brother-in-law of the groom, wrote a hilarious account of Hobart high school high jinx for my class entitled “Bad Seeds” that’s in my Nineties Shavings “Shards and Midden Heaps.”  When I talked to the Hobart Kiwanis, I had several audience members read excerpts, including Judge James Moody and former mayor Linda Buzenic.  Parts of it got lots of laughs but Ryan also wrote poignantly about his buddy Bowman, who “had fun down to a science” but died in a car crash.

Lawrence R. Samuel’s “The American Dream: A Cultural History” examines a concept as old as America, one with myriad meanings having to do with opportunity, security, liberty, and happiness.  The book’s starting point is 1933, the year FDR took office, when historian James Truslow Adams wrote: “What is the next chapter in the epic of America?  What is the prospect for the fulfillment of the American Dream?”

Sunday Ron had a signing for his Woody Guthrie book at Angela’s in Miller.  Beforehand I gamed at Dave’s and then we had lunch and played bridge at Hagelberg’s. For health reasons we cut the day short.  I spent the evening rooting for the 49ers, especially tight end Vernon Davis, who was on my Fantasy team. 

The reality show “Breaking Amish” follows four Amish young people and one Mennonite who leave their communities, even though they realize they are certain to be shunned, and travel to New York City.  Two of them had been adopted; Sabrina wants to get more in touch with her Italian and Puerto Rican heritage.  Jeremiah has had a lifetime fascination with cars, planes, and other motorized vehicles he is unable to have back home.  In episode one there is a memorable scene of him cutting grass with a puny hand-mower and saying, in so many words, “WTF, isn’t this ridiculous?”  Once in The Big Apple, he decides he wants to be a taxi driver.  Suzanna, who describes herself as “Amish in my heart,” wrote: “My concern is just who are the people who gathered together these Amish young folks and herded them to New York.  It seems they victimized them. Whoever made it was obviously out for sensationalism.  I hope most of them go back but I am sure it is not the lifestyle for everyone and some communities are truthfully just way too restrictive.  New Order Amish are a lot more lenient.”

The NWI Times ran Jane Ammeson’s review of “Valor,” entitled “Rogelio ‘Roy’ Dominguez shares journey of his family to the Calumet Region.”  On their website were two comments.  “Mytwocents,” who had posted something sarcastic when “Maria’s Journey” came out, wrote: “Another immigrant struggle story.  Arredondoes of East Chicago vs. Dominguez’s of Gary.”  Maxwell Edison replied: “Did you read the book, mytwocents? I did and thought it was a great read! I love reading and like biographies best. Most of the bio's I read are published from prominent Universities; I know I'm getting quality material there. I'd highly recommend you buy a copy, read the book, and then you could make an intelligent comment. Good reading to you.”

Continuing my exchange with Vice Chancellor Malik, I wrote: “In the time you have been at IU Northwest you have provided both stability and innovation in a position that was badly in need of a strong, steady hand.  To further cement your legacy I am hoping that you consider ways to give sustainability to the Liberal Studies master’s degree program.  As you may know, efforts to launch Liberal Studies started three decades ago (when F.C. Richardson and John Kroepfl headed up Arts and Sciences) and only came to fruition after the tragic death of Robin Hass Birky, thanks to the commitment of your predecessor (Kwesi Aggrey) to finish what she had been working for as a testament to her memory.  Unfortunately, the degree program was never properly funded and virtually all offerings were simply cross-listings with undergraduate courses.  There is a proven demand for the program, but many students (Mary Lee, for example) have already taken most of the courses as undergraduates.  There are also limitations on the number of directed readings courses students can take and a requirement that they first complete a core curriculum first.  Your reply to a previous email suggested that emeritus faculty could teach courses gratis or that one-credit courses might be a way to get around the 15-student minimum regarding class size.  Both are possible perhaps, but what I believe is necessary is more flexibility and a fuller university commitment to a program that could be a model for other IU campuses.  After all, the main thing that distinguishes Indiana University from Purdue and other state institutions is its primary commitment to the Liberal Arts.”

Right after I sent that email, Chancellor William Lowe sent out the stunning announcement that David’s administrative assistant, Lydia Hairston had unexpectedly passed away.  I emailed Malik: “my condolences about Lydia, a sweet person whose passing I’m still in shock about, as you must be.  I still recall running into Kwesi Aggrey after he had just heard the news about Robin (Birky, assistant vice chancellor) dying (when a semi ran a red light and slammed into her) and how broken up he was.  Later he made a special trip to our campus with his family to see the plaque dedicating the Women’s Studies room in Savannah to her.”  Previously they had visited her gravesite.

Once, waiting for Malik, I took along a history of New Zealand, expecting that he might be late for our appointment.  Lydia Hairston offered to phone me when he returned, but I told her I was enjoying my book.  She inquired about it, and I mentioned that for thousands of years giant flightless birds similar to ostriches called moa lived on New Zealand’s two islands, but after the arrival of the Maori, they quickly became extinct because the Maori found them so delicious.  To my surprise the anecdote nearly moved her to tears, demonstrating what a compassionate person she was.

With bases loaded and one out in the eighth inning of a critical White Sox-Tigers contest Dewayne Wise tagged up on second on Adam Dunn’s apparent sacrifice fly and got thrown out at third before Gordon Beckham crossed home plate.  The bonehead play felt like a “Bartman moment” (forever etched in the memory of Cubs fans), but Chicago survived and defeated Detroit 5-4 to go three games up with 16 to play.

Cinco de Mayo

The Phoenix Suns have decided to wear “Los Suns” on their jerseys tonight for their NBA game against San Antonio as a way of honoring Latinos on Cinco de Mayo and as a protest against a recent Arizona law that seemed aimed against Hispanics. Owner Robert Sarver came up with the idea and got approval from all the players. Cinco de Mayo celebrates a victory by Mexican forces over French troops in the 1862 Battle of Puebla.

I tried to read Gore Vidal’s novel “Duluth” but found it too convoluted. The author puts the Minnesota city next to the border with Mexico, and when characters die, they come back to life either as characters in books or on TV shows. The book is meant as a satire, but his stereotypes of Mexicans and African Americans are demeaning and not funny.

I voted in the Democratic primary yesterday in Porter County. Most Democrats, including Judge Julia Jent, were running unopposed. The races I really cared about were for Lake County sheriff and judge. My guys, Ligon and Dominguez, lost but both did much better than most people expected.

My talk to the Hobart Kiwanis went well. About 40 people were in attendance, including the woman from whom Toni and I bought our house. At the end I got six people to read paragraphs of Ryan Maicki’s “Bad Seed,” including Judge James Moody, former mayor Linda Buzenic, and former students Jeff Renn and Fred McColly. Fred looked great and said he’d lost 30 pounds by changing his eating habits. Mayor Brian Snedecor said he hoped I’d follow up on doing a Shavings issue on the social history of Hobart and offered his help if I did so. After I mentioned Hobart Jaycee Fest, someone mentioned that he had met his wife there. Afterwards, Jeff emailed me: “You did an awesome job and I know already that everyone really liked you. If you ever want to come back and just come to a meeting or join the club, let me know. They would love to have you. Once again thank you so much for your time and for everything else over the course of the past 5 years (teaching me).” I got laughs when I said that Ryan would have been here to read it himself but he was teaching school. I amended my remarks several times and in the end didn’t use notes because I virtually had everything memorized. Here is the final version:

I want to tell you about a magazine I edit dealing with the social history of the Calumet Region. Steel Shavings started out in connection with having students do family oral history projects and then publishing the best of them. Such an assignment can also help students learn about local and national events. Most articles focused on the immigrant experience since few Region residents have been here more than three generations. One early issue focused on Latinos. Others centered on themes within specific time periods, such as Depression experiences, WW II Homefront activities, the Postwar Age of Anxiety, Relationships between the Sexes during the Teen Years of the 1950s, and Racial Tensions during the 1960s. I have edited special issues on Portage, Cedar Lake, and Gary, with the dominant emphasis being family life and social change over time. I’m seriously thinking of doing one on Hobart.

I consider myself first and foremost a Social historian and am interested in such things as sports, work experiences, school experiences, popular culture, fads and fashions, and leisure activities of young and old. One of my favorite articles, in fact, was about a Hobart student’s grandparents who were really into square dancing.

Starting about ten years ago, I gave students the option to write about themselves, looking back on memorable moments as well as keeping journals highlighting day-to-day activities (everything from working out to making out, from body piercings to line dancing). Many had to balance school, work, and family obligations. The journals provided insights into what I call the contemporary history of adolescence although, I hasten to add, at IUN there also were many nontraditional students writing about the perils of married life, encounters with death and illness, and other life-altering events. One article, entitled “Emptying Nest,” dealt with taking one’s youngest child off to college.

During the 1990s Dorothy Ballantyne and Elin Christianson of the Hobart Historical Society edited two delightful volumes about growing up in Hobart. David Dunning recalled skinny dipping during the 20s in Duck Creek and Lake George. Ada Easton remembered wearing a long Indian dress at Campfire Girl outings. William Fowble watched silent cartoons at the Strand Theater listening to Ted Coons play the pipe organ. Dorothy Ballantyne heard the blind and deaf Helen Keller speak at a school auditorium. She got to school in a horse-drawn bus and was one of 27 high school students in the class of 1927. While most of these reminiscences are about the so-called “old days,” it is just as legitimate to record for posterity recent history.

If I were putting together a Shavings issue devoted to social life in Hobart, one subject could be how Lake George has changed over time (some residents refer to B.S. and A.S. – before silt and after silt). Another might explore the evolution of bowling alleys. At Cressmoor Lanes, where my team is in the Gary Sheet and Tin league, teams once tipped pinsetters by putting a dollar bill in one of the bowling ball holes at the end of the night and keep score themselves without the aid of a computer. Other Hobart institutions deserving of coverage include the YMCA (my son Phil met his future wife there), July Fourth parades and fireworks displays (I’ve attended many), the unique Art Theater, whose longtime owner was quite a character, and Hobart’s bar and restaurant scene (Rosie O’Grady’s, that grand old dive, is now Cagney’s). I’d love to see a history of the Hobart Jaycee Fest where in the Strack and Van Til parking lot I have seen Blue Oyster Cult, Cracker, the Smithereens, and Joan Jett perform, as well as my son’s band Voodoo Chili. Just last week I passed Hillman Field, where I played many a softball game, on my way to a tennis match at the new high school, whose athletic facilities are awesome.

Stories about Hobart’s social scene have appeared in most Steel Shavings issues. In the Nineties volume, entitled “Shards and Midden Heaps” (a phrase borrowed from my favorite Region author Jean Shepherd) eight pages alone are devoted to Brickie Pride, the football program under Coach Don Howell and three humorous remembrances of high school days. I’d like to conclude with excerpts from one of them, Ryan Maicki’s “Bad Seeds.”

I Do, I Do

Toni and I saw the play “I Do, I Do: A Musical about Marriage” on Saturday evening with the Hagelbergs in Munster. Beforehand, we ate at a nearby Mediterranean restaurant (Mishkenut) run by Palestinians that served delicious food at very low prices (my shish kabob was $10,99 and could have been enough for two. The place doesn’t serve liquor, so I wonder if they’ll make it financially. My back was really sore, so I wasn’t very good company. I noticed the radio was on near the kitchen, and I heard familiar songs by Owl City and Phoenix. The station was probably WXRT. “I Do, I Do” was witty and kept me awake most of the time. It had a cast of just two and just one set – a bedroom, living room and focused on married life episodes over a half-century, beginning in 1895. The songs were snappy although none was memorable with the possible exception of “My Cup Runneth Over.” On Google I learned that it opened on Broadway in 1966 and starred Mary Martin and Robert Preston (the “Music Man” guy who sang “Gary, Indiana, Gary, Indiana”). Most of the audience was older than me probably and very appreciative.

Got in seven board games at Dave’s on Sunday. My two victories were both in St. Petersburg, which until recently Tom Wade dominated. Dave won three games, including Air Lords, invented by a friend of ours who changed the rules several times in an effort to get it marketed. We like the original version best, however, and have a homemade board so we can play it. Dave put the Cubs game on, a rout of the Brewers to complete a three-game sweep in Milwaukee. In a bold and somewhat desperate move manager Lou Paniella has moved Carlos Zambrano to the bullpen to be a set-up man. So far, so good.

Wrote down some things to include in my Wednesday talk to the Hobart Kiwanis, to wit: Steel Shavings magazine started out in connection with having students do family oral history projects and then publishing the best of them. Most articles focused on the immigrant experience since few Region residents have been here more than three generations. One early issue focused on Latinos. Others centered on themes within specific time periods, such as Depression experiences, WW II Homefront activities, the Postwar Age of Anxiety, Relationships between the Sexes during the Teen Years of the 1950s, and Racial Tensions during the 1960s. Doing family histories can teach students about both local and national historical trends. I have edited special issues on Portage, Cedar Lake, and Gary, with the dominant emphasis being family life and social change over time. Social history encompasses sports, work experiences, school experiences, popular culture fads and fashions, and leisure activities of young and old (i.e., square dancing), and I have put out issues on all those subjects. Starting in the 1990s I gave students the option to write about themselves, looking back on memorable moments as well as keeping journals of day-to-day activities (everything from working out to making out). These stories often provided insights into what I call the contemporary history of adolescence although at IUN there also were many nontraditional students writing about the perils of married life and encounters with death and illness. One article, entitled “Emptying Nest,” dealt with taking one’s youngest child off to college.

If I had a future issue devoted to the social history of Hobart, one subject could be how Lake George has changed over time. Another could explore how bowling alleys have evolved. At Cressmoor Lanes, where I bowl in the Sheet and Tin league, players used to keep score themselves and tip pinsetters by putting a dollar bill in one of the holes at the end of the night. Other topics deserving of coverage include July Fourth parades and fireworks displays, the unique Art Theater, and Hobart’s bar and restaurant scene (Rosie O’Grady’s is now Cagney’s). I’d love to see a history of the Hobart Jaycee Fest where in the Strack and Van Til parking lot I have seen Blue Oyster Cult, Cracker, the Smithereens, and Joan Jett perform, as well as my son’s band Voodoo Chili. Stories about Hobart social activities have appeared in most issues. In the Nineties issue, entitled “Shards and Midden Heaps” (a phrase borrowed from my favorite Region author Jean Shepherd) there are eight pages alone devoted to Brickie Pride, the football program under Coach Don Howell and three humorous remembrances of high school days. I’ll conclude by persuading six people to read excerpts from Ryan Maicki’s humorous remembrances of his high school days, entitled “Bad Seeds.” Volunteers will get to keep a copy of the issue.

Jeff Renn, who invited me to speak to the Kiwanians, is one of my favorite former students. Going into his final year, he was the second leading scorer on IUN’s basketball team. Then some really talented players were recruited, and Jeff was happy letting others take most shots so long as it helped the team. He’s a real class act and invited Toni and me to his graduation party at the Patio. I invited Fred McColly to be my guest and read part of Ryan’s “Bad Seeds” when I talk to the Kiwanians. His latest Facebook message deals with a story that made yesterday’s news shows. He writes, “Eggs and smoke bombs in the Ukrainian parliament over an extension of the Russian lease on the naval base at Sevastopol...I have to admire their editorial elan...perhaps bottle rockets in the imperial Senate would enliven public interest in the legislative process here.” One Ukrainian legislator was fending off eggs with an umbrella.

Finished Anne Tyler’s “Noah’s Compass” – the title is from a question Liam’s young granddaughter asks him about Noah’s Ark. Noah didn’t need a compass because he really wasn’t going anywhere, just trying to float above water. As in many of Tyler’s books, the main male characters are less interesting than the women in their lives. Finished it and picked up Kurt Vonnegut’s 1997 novel “Timequake,” in which people (including one of the author’s doppelgangers, Kilgore Trout) are thrust back in time ten years and doomed to repeat every thing they did once again. Vonnegut claims ‘Timequake” would be his final novel since at 74 he was way past his prime and with his older brother having died, “Now I don’t have anybody to show off for anymore.” Vonnegut constantly belittles those with literary pretensions and writes: “If you really want to hurt your parents, and you don’t have nerve enough to be a homosexual, the least you can do is go into the arts.” At one point in this semiautobiographical novel he writes: “You want to know why I don’t have AIDS, why I'm not HIV-positive like so many other people? I don’t fuck around. It’s as simple as that.”

I have two new Facebook friends, Lorraine Todd-Shearer and Colin Kern. I was surprised but pleased that they requested hooking up with me. Lorraine is married to former Voodoo Chili drummer John and is one of my favorite dance partners. She is always upbeat and fun to be with. She was at Marianne’s Superbowl party and had dinner with Dave, Darcy, Marianne, and me prior to the Steely Dan concert a few months ago. Colin is the son of friend and former colleague Paul Kern. I knew him when he was a kid and would talk to him at some length when he’d answer the phone when I called Paul. He is a graduate student at the University of Delaware, where I once applied for a teaching position. The school is a traditional rival of Bucknell, where I was an undergraduate. I applied for a job there, too, and never heard back from the History Department. I had sent them copies of my books “Jacob A. Riis and the American City” and “City of the Century” and told them they could donate them to Bucknell’s library when they were through with them. Some months later, the librarian wrote me a note thanking me for the donation. Looking back, I am glad I stayed at IUN.

Indiana History

The Indiana History magazine TRACES put Michael Jackson on the cover of its Fall 2009 issue plus contains a nice article on him and his Gary roots. Ray Boomhower’s Editors Note mentions how he played the Jackson Five hit “ABC” on his little 45 rpm record player.

Spoke to Steve McShane’s Indiana History class last evening about Gary, the importance of social history, and Steel Shavings. I told them I was tempted to do an issue on “Social Life in Hobart, Indiana” featuring school experiences, workplace experiences, sports, leisure time activities, and the like. Mentioning how history is essentially the record of change over time, I suggested someone might do a paper on bars and bowling alleys. Cressmoor Lanes, where I bowl, dates at least back to the Forties, and one fellow whom I see every Wednesday was a pinsetter a half-century ago. Another topic I told them would be fun to research was the annual Jaycee Fest held in the Strack and Van Til parking lot, where I have seen Joan Jett, the Smithereens, and Cracker perform, as well as my son’s old band Voodoo Chili. To induce some audience participation I showed the class the same photos I took to the third graders at Aspire Charter School and then had seven volunteers read excerpts from the Steel Shavings “Shards and Midden Heaps” article by Ryan Maicki called “Bad Seeds” (a hilarious account of high school high jinks). One part that got a big laugh was his mention of having S.A.F.O. meetings Fridays before school. The initials stood for “Smoke A Fat One.”

On the sobering side, Ryan wrote of his buddy Bowman dying in a car crash. As I mentioned in the Editor’s Note: “Adolescence was truly a period of danger. Young people succumbed on the highway, at unprotected crossings, from drug overdoses, at the hands of predators, and from insidious diseases such as AIDS and asthma. Ryan wrote of Bowman: “We had fun down to a science. He was my partner in crime. His family had a cabin in Michigan. We decided to take a trip there with three other party animals. We arrived in the middle of January to find that his dad had shut off all the water facilities and taken the heater home for fixing. We were hundred of miles away from home with only Tequila, cigarettes, beer, and laughter to keep us warm.”

In many ways “Shards and Midden Heaps” is my favorite Shavings, starting with the Jean Shepherd references in my Editor’s Personal Note, where I brag about bowling a 600 series and pitching my softball team to a championship. On the cover are two all-time favorite students, Sam Barnett and Sarah McColly, who contributed memoirs. In my survey classes I used to spend ten minutes a week going back in history from the present to 1990, and for each year of the Nineties I’d read excerpts from a student story, including Marshall Lines talking a friend out of committing suicide and Anne Marie Laurel being thrown in jail for underage drinking to Samantha Han’s Band camp memories and Rebecca Irwin getting her tongue pierced. Among my favorites was Sandra Avila’s account of eighth grade experiences. At Hammond Eggers, she wrote, she and her best friends would squeeze into a photo booth at Woodmar Mall to take photos (sort of like Facebook now). When she began dating Daniel, she had to keep it from her parents. When Daniel gave her a dozen roses and some balloons on Valentine’s Day, she had to pop the balloons and squeeze the flowers into her back pack to avoid getting into trouble.

Always complimentary, Steve said I was fantastic last evening and he thought it was my best appearance yet. Got a call from librarian Anne Koehler, who ran into Sam Johnson, an old teammate of mine on Porter Acres softball team. Gave her my latest Shavings for him plus others that contained photos he’s in of our championship season and from a trip a dozen of us took to the Bahamas around 1979. He and Ivan Jasper took my then-ten year-old son Dave out golfing with them and let him drive the cart. He overturned it and didn’t suffer even a scratch, but they warned him if he told Toni and me about it, they’d kill him. Dave told us the story 25 years later.

Ruth Needleman asked me to proofread an article about the 1919 Steel subtitled “An Untold Story of Solidarity Strike” that argues that in Gary African Americans supported the strike. Most accounts just talk about the bringing in of black strikebreakers, but she focused on two community leaders, Louis Caldwell and C.D. Elston, who spoke at mass meetings in favor of the union cause. Unfortunately, there isn’t much biographical material available about Caldwell and Elston.

Indiana Historical Society Press editor Teresa Baer had a couple queries about “Maria’s Journey,” which is nearing publication. She fine-tuned a chapter introduction dealing with the Red Scare and how it affected unions and had a question about information that appeared in the book I edited with Ed Escobar, “Forging a Community.” Teresa had sent both authors Ray and Trish Arredondo and myself the photo captions, which contained virtually no errors.

People say Facebook can be addicting, and it is amazing how becoming friends with one person can link you to so many others. Granddaughter Miranda has some great photos and posts, plus gets messages from my nieces Alexandria and Jacklyn, who have neat photos of their own. On one post Miranda said she “totally told Robbie off for dissing Owl City (my current favorite band whose CD I gave her dad and several others for Christmas).”

I went to see “Cop Out” with Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan despite Roger Ebert giving it a “thumbs down” review (he is getting pretty crotchety when it comes to comedies). Being a Willis fan from the “Die Hard” series and a Morgan fan from SNL and “The Office,” I thought the banter between the two cop characters quite witty. Some of the villains are quite scary, but a thief named Dave (Seann William Scott, most famous for “American Pie”) nearly steals the show, he is so hilarious. The Bruce Willis character Jimmy has a valuable 1952 baseball card of Andy Pafko stolen that he’d hoped to sell in order to pay for his daughter’s wedding. “Handy Andy” Pafko played for the Cubs before being traded to the Dodgers during the 1951 season.