The Show Doesn't Go On, At Least For This Actor

David Neese led Wisconsin Police on a chase
after telling them he couldn't be arrested right
away because he had to perform in the play
"Noises Off." That didn't go over well. 

The show must go on, they say in the theater world. But it didn't go on for a very dumb Wisconsin.

According to Fox 6 in Wisconsin, David Neese, 61, of Sheboygan, Wisconsin was in a production of "Noises Off" in the Calumet County Community Theater.

He was on his way last month to one of the performances recently when Sheboygan County Sheriff's Deputies pulled him over.

The deputy quickly realized Neese was wanted for theft and wanted to take him into custody. But Neese told the deputy he couldn't be arrested at that moment because, well, the show must go on.

I don't know if THE show went on, but A show went on. He said he had to perform in the play and will be arrested later. Neese took off in his car, chased by the deputy. Neese stopped, but then floored it again.

Which, of course led to a whole bunch more charges against Neese. And there's a viral and embarassing for Neese video of the police chase. The video is at the bottom of this post.

So, alas, Neese never did appear in that Sunday performance of "Noises Off."   Presumably, an understudy filled in.

A Calamut County Community Theater board member confirmed to Fox 6 that Neese never showed up for Sunday's performance, but didn't know why until the reporter told them.

"Noises Off," by the way, is a hilarious farce about the cast of a failing theatrical production who falls into chaos, infighting and all kinds of confusion.

It gets worse for Neese, so "Noises Off" has nothing on his life. Neese is, or at least was, a district sales manager for the local paper, The Sheboygan Press.

Neese has a bit of a checkered past, anyway. Sheboygan.com said he received probation in 2014 or pawning church hand bells, of all things,  worth $10,000. He told authories he sold the bells on EBay.

Hope he has remaining revenue from that sale to pay for his court costs.

Here's the stupid video of Neese and the chase:

Skittles And Marbles Mystify Road Warriors

Some of the tens of thousands of Skittles spilled along
a rural Wisconsin road recently.

The road hazards people are encountering on the highway now seem to include Skittles and marbles

According to CNN affiliate WISN, a whole bunch of red Skittles were found along a Wisconsin .

Nobody is 100 percent sure who dumped them, or how it happened, but thousands of red Skittles. (missing the little "S" on each candy) appeared on a rural road in Dodge County, Wisconsin. 

The local sheriff said the Skittle spill was actually a bit helpful, because roads were icy and the Skittles afforded motorists with a bit of traction.

It turns out rejected candy, like the Skittles lacking the trademark "S" are often fed to cattle

This has been going on for decades, as candy makers and bakeries often sell rejects for cattle feed because it's a source of inexpensive carbs for the animals.

Animals like cows can digest Skittles and other candies easily, and can absorb what little nutrients the offer.

The local sheriff in Wisconsin later figured out that the Skittles fell off a flatbed pickup truck. It was raining as the pickup truck driver made his way down the road. The water disintegrated the cardboard box the Skittles were in, and so they fell off onto the road.

The mystery is that Mars, the maker of Skittles, says they don't sell rejected products directly to farmers, so they don't know how this ended up in Wisconsin.

Ah, the mysteries of life. 

Meanwhile, near Indianapolis, a truck carrying marbles overturned, spreading 38,000 pounds of the marbles on the road and roadside.

Yeah, insert slapstick comedy of cops, etc. trying to walk on marbles and failing miserably here.

As it was, one lane of an Interstate highway had to be shut down while people cleaned up the mess, undoubtedly while walking carefully. 

Guys Find GREAT Way To Load Firewood Into Basement

A treadmill does double duty as a firewood
conveyer belt in Wisonsin. 

This has to be a horrible chore: Finding a way to transport a cord or more of firewood into the basement to heat your home through the winter.

Two guys in snowy Avery, Wisconsin figured out an ingenious way to get the job done.

The just grabbed a treadmill, set it up near a basemen window, turned it on and Voila!  - a perfect conveyer belt.

Better than letting the treadmill gather dust because nobody want to use it for exercise.

Watch:

Downs Syndrome Cheerleader Vs. Bullies: Basketball Team's Got Her Back

Desiree Andrews walks down a hallway at Lincoln
Middle  School in Kenosha, Wisconsin with
three basketball players who defended her
from bullies during a game at the school.  

Maybe I'm being Pollyannish, but it seems this has been a bad week or two for bullies.

What with Curt Schilling's outing the Twitter bullies tormenting his daughter, and the dance party response to the heavyset guy who was fat shamed online, and now a new case, things are pretty good.

You take what you can get.

The latest bit of good news came from a middle school basketball court in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Desiree Andrews, 14, is enjoying some positive viral Internet fame, and so is the Lincoln Middle School basketball team after what started as another ugly case of bullying turned into a demonstration on how to do the right thing.

I think the whole incident went viral because people are clammoring for news of people acting with a bit of dignity.

As the Kenosha News reported, Desiree,has Down syndrome and is a Lincoln Middle School cheerleader. She was bullied by some jerks in the home bleachers as she cheered on the school's basketball team recently.

During a time out, three members of the school's basketball team, Miles Rodriquez, Scooter Terrien and Chase Vasquez, stormed off the court and told the bullies to knock it off

Desiree's father, Cliff Andrews, said the basketball players intervened in nick of time.

'She saw that I was upset,' Andrews said. 'She threw her hands around me and made me look at her face and said, 'Papa it's OK. I still love them even if they don't like me.'"

It turns out, unsurprisingly, that lots of people in Kenosha and Lincoln Middle School like Desiree.

The school and its students now refer to the gymnaisum where the incident took place as "D's House," named for Desiree. 

Students and people throughout town also bought and wear lots of t-shirts with a "D's House" logo on them.

Still the Andrews family isn't letting this attention go to their heads.

In the Kenosha News article, Desiree's father said:

"'My concern is putting Desiree out there and people thinking we're doing it just so she can get all this attention,' Andrews said. 'It didn't start out that way. It started out when some fine young men stood u for her in a bullying situation. I didn't want to lose track of that. I don't want to take away rom what those boys did."

People with Down syndrome seem to be increasingly getting the positive attention they deserve. Actress Jamie Brewer, who has Down syndrome, recently modeled an original design by Carrie Hammer on the runway at New York Fashion Week to high praise.

I'm not quite sure why the scummier people among us bully people with Down syndrome anyway. Everyone I've ever met with Down syndrome have been nice, engaging people who you want to be friends with.

Or as Scooter Terrien, one of the basketball players said, 'It's not fair when other people get treated wrong because we're all the same."

A Wisconsin Winter Valentines Love Story To Warm Your Heart

Bud Caldwell leaves a penny and a daisy for his
late wife at a Fond du Lac, Wisconsin park bench.
Park employees saw this going on every day, so they
keep a path cleared in the snow for Caldwell
so he can get to the bench daily.  

Valentines Day is coming up, so that puts people in the mood for love stories.

Plus it's winter, and we all need any excuse to warm our hearts.

Which might make it strange then, that I'm now taking you to the bitter cold winter winds of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

But here it goes:

Bud Caldwell's wife of 56 years died two years ago. Caldwell, 82, bought and dedicated a bench in his wife's honor at Lakeside Park in Fond du Lac, a very nice, semi-forested area of the park.

Every day, day in and day out, Caldwell brings a penny and a daisy to the park bench so he can commune with his late wife, says television station WDJT in Milwaukee.

The songs "Pennys From Heaven" and "Daisy A Day" were the couple's favorites, so that's why Caldwell does this.

"A lot of people might think it's a dumb thing," Caldwell told Fox 11, another television station in the Milwaukee area.

That's the one thing the otherwise perfect and adorable Caldwell is wrong about. I bet everybody joins me in thinking that's the most charming thing in the world.

Needless to say, it snows quite a bit in Fond du Lac in the winter. Last year, Caldwell fell while trying to trudge through the snow to the park bench.

This year, when it snowed, Caldwell understandably didn't want to risk slipping and sliding through the deep snow to the bench.

We'll let WDJT pick up the story:

"So, he sat in his car and spoke to Betty instead, that is until two Fond du Lac parks employees noticed his routine.

Jerrod Ebert and Kevin Schultz got shovels and cleared the path for Bud.

The gesture brougth them both to tears, but Ebert and Schultz couldn't bear to see Bud not be able to leave his daisy and penny.

'We have to make sure he can get to his bench and talk to his wife,' Ebert said.

Bud said that Ebert and Schultz have vowed to keep the path clear all winter for him. So, as long as he can, Bud will leave his daisy and penny for Betty."

When Caldwell visits, he catches her up on the events of the day, how her friends are doing, and all that. When he leaves, he says "I'll see you later, Munchkin."

Honestly, it melts your heart, if not the snow.

Of course, visuals always help with the story. So, here's video from another local television station, Fox 11, which also covered the story.

Warning: Major Kleenex alert if you watch the following video:

Do Armed Creeps In Wisconsin Want To Scare Democratic Voters Away From The Polls?

A few supporters of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
might be trying to intimidate backers of
his Democratic opponent into not voting. 

If reports on left-leaning Talking Points Memo and Capital Times are true, here's a really disturbing bit of news out of Wisconsin:

An armed militia group apparently wants to harass people who are voting against Republican Scott Walker.

Back in 2012, there was a big petition drive to kick Walker out of office because of his political actions, especially his move to limit collective bargaining rights for state employees.

Walker ultimately survived the recall effort and now he's running for re-election.  Polls show a close race between Walker and Democrat Mary Walker.

The list of people who signed the recall petition back in 2012 is public record, and the so-called militia group Wisconsin Poll Watcher Militia are using that to intimidate people who would vote against Walker this coming November, according to Talking Points Memo and Capital Times. 

The militia was able to figure out some of the people who signed the petition against Walker have warrants for things like being in arrears on taxes or other arrest warrants. They plan to follow these voters home and also report them to the authorities.

Here's what some of their Facebook exchanges, which have since been taken down:

"Some will be heading to some of Milwaukee, Racine and Beloit's worst areas. We will be armed with a list of people to look for at each location."

OK, they're armed with a list of people, that's not so bad, right?

That's not the only thing they plan to be armed with, though.

"'We prefer our people be armed,'" reads a Facebook post by Wisconsin Poll Watcher Militia."

True, they're worried about being in supposedly bad neighborhoods, but I suspect personal protection isn't the only thing at work here.

It'll get people thinking: "Guys with guns following me? Maybe I shouldn't vote."  That seems to be the intent.

Of course, people aren't taking very kindly to all these threats. Another Facebook page popped up, one in which people could vent about the Wisconsin Poll Watcher Militia.

Here's one of the milder comments: "If you have to terrorize voters into staying home, then you've already lost."

True, that.

Of course, all this talk from the alleged Wisconsin Poll Watcher Militia might not even be serious. Maybe it's a small group of people just yanking the public's chain.

But this is still dangerous. The people behind this militia, or whatever it is are making noises about threats now, because word gets out before the election. Maybe it will cause some Democrats to stay home, helping out Walker.

Even talking about threatening voters ought to stop. Let Walker win or lose on his own merits.

I hope Walker denounces these efforts to intimidate voters. Everyone, Democrat, Republican or whatever, should vote without some fascist creeps lurking in the background.

It's amazing how a few people who call themselves proud, patriotic Americans are anything but.

Unrest Over Asparagus In Wisconsin

Via Jim Romenesko, we've gotten word that there is ill will among people near Janesville, Wisconsin, some of whom are picking wild asparagus, some of whom are not.

But anyway, judging from the news from the Gazette Xtra in Janesville, things aren't pretty. (Click on the image to make it bigger and easier to read)

Wicked Creepy Guy Banned From Internet Due to Bizarre "Prank"

This is Jason Willis' idea of a good time:

Jason Willis has been kicked off the Internet
for committing a weird crime against his neighbor.  

Put an ad on Craigslist, telling people to show up at his unsuspecting neighbor's house naked.  He put her name, address and photo in the ad, too.

So the neighbor had all kinds of weirdos show up at her doorstep. And these weirdos now know where she lives.

According to police, Willis, 31, of Wisconsin, thought this was a great prank. Kind of on par with dropping a water balloon on a kid out in the yard on a hot summer's day

Of course the neighbor, police and society got the last laugh.  A judge has ordered Willis kicked off the Internet. He cannot go on line for at least 30 months, during his probation. If goes on line even once, Willis could spend 18 months behind bars.

According to Uproxx:

"Judge Pat Torhorst determined the Internet was Willis' 'weapon' in the crime and issued the ban as a way to disarm him. 'If you want to drive drunk, you're not allowed to drive! To me, a public availability of the Internet to use it the way he did, is unconscionable,' he said."

Nowadays, such a sentence, being kicked off the Internet is severe. If you want to apply for a job, you usually have to do it on line. Most jobs are done in part on line.

Increasingly, you have to pay your bills on line.  Most people communicate on a day to day basis via email, text or social media, so having friends is tough without the Internet.

Who'd want to be Willis' friend anyway? But that's another story.

Being kicked off the Internet is far more difficult than being barred from driving, using the judge's drunk driving analogy. You can take public transportation, bum a ride from a friend, or, yes, go on the Internet to get stuff done. You don't need a car so much.

Normally, I'd be opposed to a judge sentencing someone to stay off the Internet. It almost amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

But GAWD, what Willis did is so creepy. That neighbor could have been raped or killed. She's probably still afraid.

(Note: Me, and the rest of the media are not making the woman's name or any other identifying information public. She's been through enough.)

So I'm glad Willis is not online, at least for awhile. The only bummer is he can't read on line how many people think he's disgusting. He can't read this blog post, for example, given that it's only available on the Internet.

Willis apparently never did give a good explanation as to why he conducted this "prank."  According to the Journal Times in Wisconsin, he did it for "fun" and as retribution to the woman for picking on him for previously being in jail on an unrelated charge.

I'm personally tempted to put an ad out and send creepy people to his house to see whether he likes it, but I'll resist the urge.

I'm too addicted to the Internet.