{image1}Athough all of the films nominated for an Oscar are good on some level ("The Aviator," "Finding Neverland," "Million Dollar Baby," "Ray" and "Sideways"), are they really the very best of the year? Which films do you feel deserved to be on the short list of nominees but weren't?
E-mail us at soundoff@staff.onmilwaukee.com and if picked, we'll post your response next Sunday. Only submissions that include your full name and where you live will be considered.
Last week's question: Have Wisconsin winters changed over the years?
Ann Wade
Mequon
I absolutely think that Wisconsin winters have changed. I grew up in Janesville during the '70s. We had snow days, permanent forts at the end of my dead-end street and sledding was a weekly, if not nearly everyday, activity -- not one or two times a year if the kids are lucky now. I was in ski club in high school and we always seemed to have a snowstorm on the bus ride home from a day of skiing in the winter of 78/'79. Just another thing to tell my kids about the difference between Mom's kid years and their kid years, right along with how we only had three of four channels to watch on TV, not all the choices they have now.
Don Resch
Milwaukee
I think we are getting much less snow now than when I was a kid.
Beverly Jenkins
Milwaukee
I am a Milwaukee native and although it may be my perception, it really seems as though global warming has credibility which can be observed here in Milwaukee over time Perhaps in addition to perception, more money is being spent on city snow removal.
Jim Wappenschmidt, Jr. Mukwonago
Snowfall totals have drastically decreased since I was a kid. I remember my dad having to shovel off the roof because of the weight of the snow. Also when I was a kid in the '60s, snow blowers were a luxury and we couldn't afford one. So when the snow came our whole family (Mom included ) would shovel the entire driveway I am a snowbird and these winters are getting really depressing.
Diane Wagner
Waukesha
You bet winters have changed! It's rarely "cold-cold" anymore, and we barely get enough snow to make a snowman, much less a snow fort!
Sandra Crisp
South Side
I am a native of Milwaukee. I was born in 1948. As a kid growing up in the '50s, we would play outside every day. It got cold, but the windchill wasn't bad, so we could play outside for hours. Yes, we had a lot of winters with a lot of snow. In fact, my sister and I got in trouble for building an igloo in the middle of our alley and poured water over it to ice it up. We went iceskating at the parks and at that time we had the old-fashioned sleds as a way to get our friends out of the house. The answer to your question: Has the weather changed a lot since we were kids? Yes, it has.
N. Bundy
Milwaukee
Absolutely!! I can remember a snow storm in 1978 where we had to crawl out of a window because the front and back doors where drifted shut! It was that same year that we also walked down the middle of Beloit Road in our snowshoes to have a beer at the local bar. We were the only ones in the bar since cars were not out on the roads that evening.
Carol Smith
St. Francis
Yes, I think the winters in Milwaukee have changed. I know that as people get older, the things they remembered as children are smaller, but even if I was 3-feet tall, the snowbanks were as tall as I was.
Sherry Handlos
Germantown
We had more snow when we were kids in the '60s and '70s. We lived in Milwaukee, and we would always play in the snowbanks between the street and the sidewalk. They always seemed so high!
Wendy Winkler
Milwaukee
I can say that winters used to be WAY WORSE than they are now We were bundled up in our wool snow pants (worn under our dresses), put on a wool coat, rubber boots with bread bag liners, had a wool scarf wrapped across our face and tied in the back (which, before too long, would be full of nose drippings and partially frozen from mouth breathing through the wool), and were sent out the door. And dont get me started about the smell of wet wool coming from the coatroom, until we dressed for recess.
