Mall of America Field

   I answer online surveys so I can get airline miles. It was odd to see one survey tonight, as it was about ordering food and drink at Mall of America Field, or the Metrodome in Minneapolis. I said I had been there, but it was for a Vikings football game in December. For this reason, my memory was a little fuzzy on the details. But I try not to get too much at a sporting event when it's expensive, like a hot dog and a soda pop and that's it. I will answer most surveys that I get, in fact this was three in one as I finished one and it said 'Another one available'. There are some days where there aren't any, so I know it's best to do them whenever one gets them, and right away. Some of them expire quickly.
    At work out staff meeting was moved back a day as our boss was meeting with a senior leader. We haven't met in a while. If we have meetings, they've been quick huddles.
    I went to the comedy club tonight for another week of the contest. It started off with a dustup where some of the judges said nobody was worthy of advancing, probably a joke. I saw this in advance on Facebook. Then the show runner had to respond to this message. I knew two of the three that advanced. One of them did a joke about a boudoir photo shoot that I thought was hilarious. This was the ex-New Yorker. I am surprised at times to hear what is claimed as a dayjob, as the other is a pizza man. But I don't talk to some of them all that much either. When I arrived I asked if he was in the contest, I said good luck as he was at my table. The show runner did a shout out for me, and I liked it as I recalled he did that joke for me as well. It was how I got myself out of the 'Pun-itentiary'.
   A friend was the show closer, as his friend- the 'Carrot Cake' guy, was not available. He did the one about the porn in the hotel room. He also did a newer one about somebody bragging about getting laid a lot. I asked if he would be judging this year's contest, it sounds like he may be later on. He was a judge last year on my contest night.  

Pina Colada Song

   At the comedy club tonight I heard two comics do jokes about the 'Pina Colada' song. When the proofreader did the joke I went to the Fargo native and said 'He's doing your joke'. I hadn't heard anyone tell it in a while. Well she did it again as show closer.
  At work the boss had a quick meeting and didn't recall why the lollipop girl was absent, but the boss is likely really busy and has a hard time recalling everything. She did try to be funny by saying 'How dare she' about being at a friend's wedding in the East. I think she will be back later this week, as there is a potluck she helped organize happening on Thursday.
   I went back to the grocery store tonight as there weren't any bananas last night, which was odd. Well they had them tonight! I got a bottle of Snapple and a box of Little Debbie brownies as well. One of the clerks is entertaining as usual, saying he was reading a paperback book from the bookshelf inside the store which serves as an unofficial 'Neighborhood branch library'. It was about how to prevent corporations from stifling people, I said good luck on that. It appeared to be something from a while back, like the 1970s. I know this was when many industries became dominated by corporations. This was in the movie 'Forrest Gump', as Forrest had no problem as a shrimp boat captain after a hurricane wiped out his competition and then he went corporate. Then there's 'That 70's Show', when Red Forman started working for Price-Mart after being laid off from the factory. It meant becoming a competitor to his friend, who owned a mom-and-pop shop.

Man On The Moon Stamp

   In the evening I decided to spend some time applying the stamps to a throwaway page. One of these was an airmail stamp that said 'First man on the moon'. Good or bad, it does make me think of an REM song, called 'Man on the moon'. I liked how there weren't many duplicates from this set I had just found, and I got most of them onto one page- over 40 in all. There are just three envelopes left- and one of these had German stamps on it. Most were American, and three were from Canada. Some of these I have acquired happen to be from E-bay orders. This is due to ordering mostly postcards which are sent in your typical envelope. Some of these I still see at work when there's something like contracts mailed in an envelope that isn't a Fed-Ex package, usually a single contract.
    Some were animated Christmas stamps, a series of four- Santa, then reindeer. Two were of Mary Cassatt paintings, to go with those I had already applied to one of two sheets from earlier. One is a makeup stamp with Father Flanagan of 'Boys Town' fame. Another is of President Harry Truman, and other are of entertainers like Audrey Hepburn and Roy Acuff. There's football player Bronko Nagurski, to go with Ernie Nevers from earlier. Also Houdini the magician, and Claire Chennault of the 1940s 'Flying Tigers'. The theater guy had spoken of Chennault. One is of Stand Watie, and I had just looked at a page advertising Civil War stamps that said he fought on the Confederate side of the war. I don't know much about him.
    The frog stamp makes me think of  'The Simpsons' episode I saw tonight after eating at Genghis Khan Grill with my date, as a 'Frog plague' was what brought Rev. Lovejoy back to the church. Apparently Homer became a deacon despite hating the church, upstaging Flanders. We joined it in progress, missing about half of it. We didn't do much today, reading the paper and walking the dog were notable things along with trying to plan out the summer as best as possible. It helped to look at the St. Paul Saints promotional schedule, but things are subject to change as we haven't bought many event tickets yet.

Kennedy Photo

    I was looking through a box of maps and tourist brochures this morning and found a photo of President Kennedy inside an envelope. I recalled getting it at the state fair a few years back, 2008 as I recall, since it was the night I wanted to see the Brandi Carlile free concert. The envelope said something about the Lincoln/Kennedy parallels, something I've heard about many times before.
    The JFK photo was one of about ten postcards that I decided to get into an album. Many of the others were movie lobby cards, especially the arthouse movies at the Lagoon in Minneapolis like 'Food, Inc.' Another thing I liked finding was more postage stamps. These were from when I handled mail when working in suburban Chicago, already nearly ten years ago now. There are about 30 envelopes, a few are duplicates but not many at first look. One was from Canada. I will have to look at the ones I have already added to some sheets to see if they duplicate them, but again it is probably not too many.  
   I went to see the Civil War exhibit at the state's museum in St. Paul with my date, in the mid- afternoon. I got a book of 30 postcards at one of the gift shops after seeing the exhibit. I had hoped to get one of the museum itself, at the other gift shop, but we ran out of time. I didn't get many pictures there, but one of them was of the Confederate flag that Virginia wants back. It was captured at the Gettysburg battle, and has received media attention already. In the evening we stayed in and watched a video, 'Sweet November', starring Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves.  

Post Office Grand Opening

    I went to the grand opening event at the post office in downtown St. Paul earlier today. There were some who spoke of the mayor being there by the time I arrived. It didn't surprise me much how the mayor wasn't there for long, likely has a busy schedule. I know that politicians like being part of openings, since it usually means a ribbon cutting ceremony and photo ops. I liked having the cake and punch. There were some free items as well- a newsletter with a word find, and a coloring book. I noticed the copyright date on the coloring book- 2006- and it explained why there were images of postage stamps for 39 cents instead of the current 'forever' stamps. It had 'the largest' of most everything, including the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the American Bison.
  I hadn't heard of grand openings for post offices before, likely since they are rare. So it was nice to be a part of one. I knew this one happened because it replaced two downtown locations. One closed in February and the other in March. This one is more accessible by the skyway system.
  Memorable was one of the attendees. She was an older woman that recited a rhyme, 'If the husband is cross, then pick up a broom and show you're the boss'. She later spoke of injuring her leg at age 6 when landing on a coffee can, while playing with a cocker spaniel dog named Blackie. She claims it has led to 80 stitches still inside of her.
   I made it to The Turkeys comedy show tonight in Minneapolis, and I did see the skit I am in. I also showed a friend the button I was wearing, saying 'Don't let the turkeys get you down'. He called it 'thematic'.  

Pedestrian Student

    I was walking in the skyway in downtown St. Paul and noticed somebody with a people counter near a bank entrance. His nametag said 'Pedestrian Student'. First time I think I've seen this and I've worked downtown for a while. In the morning I am sure he counted me twice, on the way to a food court and on the way back from it. I like reading the 'Community paper' if it's there. Read it, and then leave it behind for the next person. Then there would have been a third time that I was counted today, when I was going to lunch.
   I had two meetings today, which is not typical. Especially when at the start of the day my online calendar had just one on it. But I saw a colleague in the morning and was asked if I was attending a certain meeting, my response was I didn't know there was one. It was the Communications Council, an advisory board I had applied for. I am thrilled that I was finally picked for something again! It was my second attempt to join this organization. This meeting was just before lunchtime. The second was in the afternoon, and lasted much longer at two hours. But it was an 'All-employee meeting' and we don't have these too often. When it wrapped up it was time to leave for the day.
   At lunchtime I noticed how my lunch bag was getting torn so I started ripping it some more, as some of it was made of thin plastic which is easily torn. I had another one given by the company, so there was a simple (read:free) replacement available. It says 'Health coach' on it and gives a toll-free number to call, but I haven't called the number yet.
   From time to time I do order items from E-bay. I bid on a real photo postcard of Emerson Hough School but was outbid. I even bid higher than I typically do for a postcard, to no avail. I then decided to order some other postcards of my hometown, from a series I've been slowly adding to. I haven't bought one of these 'Real photo' postcards before but I know the listings suggest they are often old. For this reason, I would expect that they are more in demand due to being rare. It did prompt me to look at what is on Delcampe, another online auction site, but I've ordered from them just once- when I couldn't find some postcards I wanted when looking for them on E-bay.

Neighborhood of Make Believe

   I went to the Valley Meadows comedy show at Camp Bar in downtown St. Paul tonight. It was a fun show as usual, much of the material covered was on the CD I had bought earlier. There were other performers besides the headliners, and I knew all of them. One did his routine like he was singing the blues. I know him as the one that usually speaks of the venue and day of the week at the start of each set. Another spoke of photo shopping herself into various pictures of famous people. Then there was the show runner from another club, who gave me a shout out and I enjoy them as usual. He made a reference to 'Mr. Rogers Neighborhood' that he had to explain to me after the show. All I know was he said something about a cat when during the shout out, so I continued the bit and meowed. Found out this was from 'The neighborhood of make believe', which I do recall a little. My greatest memory now is seeing a display about the show at the Pittsburgh Airport as the show was produced in Pittsburgh.
  Another thing I liked about this show was seeing and hearing plenty of music in the bar section, the show was in the 'cabaret' section. The music was on the TV monitors. The first was 'Scar' by Missy Higgins, an Australian that I hadn't heard of before. Next was 'What's the frequency Kenneth' by REM, a reminder of being in college. I do have the album it is on, called 'Monster'. After the show it was 'All the right moves' by One Republic. The video was memorable as it showed couples dancing in formal outfits, must have been ballroom dancing.
   In many ways what a college roommate had said before seems to hold true about comedy. I have comedian friends because I come to their shows and laugh. One of the performers after the show said they liked seeing me as some responded to the Facebook invite but didn't show up. Well I said my word means everything to me. So when I say on Facebook that I am attending a show, I usually do. I like getting show invites and it keeps track of the schedule really well for me.
   This morning on the way to work I said 'You'll make it' to a woman in the elevator as she had just sighed. I said I try to encourage people as I would have liked this when I was younger. She seemed to like it, so I liked knowing it was effective on some level.

Hotels.com Loyalty Program

    I decided to look at some information I had on a contest sponsored by Hotels dot-com. There was mention of a loyalty program, so I had to see if I was a part of it already. All I knew was that I needed a password reset on my account. After this was done, it looked like I wasn't a part of the program so I signed up for it. Members get a free night after booking 10 nights. Now it means finding out if there is a membership card as I have one for all of the other loyalty programs.
   I had some popcorn at Candyland at lunchtime. While there I heard the song 'Girl, you'll be a woman soon'. I don't know what version it was but it didn't sound like the one by Urge Overkill, which was in the movie 'Pulp Fiction'. The Wikipedia article said it had been covered multiple times, and was first done by Neil Diamond.
   I did attend the contest at the comedy club tonight. Before I made it to my seat I gave a mailing tube to the show runner as I know he likes having these for his pet hedgehog. Much like last week, I knew some of the comics but not all of them. I knew two of the three that advanced. The rapping comic did not advance, but the show runner said the scores were very close. Many of the jokes were ones I had heard before. After I was at the show I watched a syndicated rerun of 'The Simpsons', it was one that I hadn't seen before. It was where Mr. Burns announced he was dying, then he hides out in Bart's room. It was a parody of 'ET'.  Before the comedy show, 'Big Bang Theory' was about Penny telling Sheldon what a tie on the door meant, as Leonard was playing stringed instruments with Leslie.

'Feel This Moment' Song

    When I was driving back from the comedy club tonight I heard a catchy song on my car radio. It was 'Feel This Moment' by Pitbull and Christina Aguilera. I like the reference to pro football in it, 'Undefeated like Shula', referring to Don Shula, coach of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins. It was no surprise to hear a Miami reference, since Pitbull often refers to his hometown. I think he has also mentioned the area code for the city- 305- in his songs as well. Not much different from Eminem referring to the '313', which is Detroit's area code.
   This was a longer drive home than typical, by personal choice. With the winter weather, rain mixed with snow, I didn't want to take chances so it meant staying off the interstate. Another song I heard during this drive was 'This Love' by Maroon 5, a nice reminder of how I've progressed in my life. It was the song I heard shortly after I was laid off from my job in suburban Chicago, and I understood it after a while to be a beginning and not an end.
   I did hear some comics try out jokes about the Boston Marathon. But this is still a subject that I have a hard time laughing about. One of these jokes was about carrying a backpack into a Cracker Barrel restaurant, and another patron asking what was inside. With any big news story, I know well enough to expect to hear some jokes about it. But I prefer to avoid telling those jokes myself, as my routine is usually not about news stories and world events but about my own life.  

'Save My Soul' Song

     I finished watching the History Channel series 'The Men Who Built America' with my date earlier today. I had been wondering about the theme song I kept hearing, and finally found it after an online search. The first hit wasn't it, called 'Blood on the Rails' by Silent Comedy. In the Youtube video it had clips from the series though. Eventually I found 'Save My Soul', also called the 'Main title theme'. I liked the mention of getting to Memphis in it, since I was there in 2008. It has prompted me to look up a few things being covered in it, which is a good thing. One of these was the National Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers, as there was a lawsuit between them and Henry Ford. The fifth and final 'robber baron' covered was Ford. I liked them having somebody portray President Theodore Roosevelt as well, since he looked the part. And of course Roosevelt figures into the story since he was known as 'Teddy the Trust-buster'. And the final segment covered the breakup of Rockefeller's Standard Oil.
   After watching 'The Simpsons' episode, which had some references to 'Homer's Odyssey' in it, we watched a syndicated rerun of 'Big Bang Theory'. It was one when Leonard was dating Dr. Stephanie, and insisted she hadn't moved in though Penny kept showing evidence that his girl had. Sheldon also proved to be a hypochondriac in it. I had seen the episode recently but still liked seeing it again.
   We also watched '60 Minutes', which had features about the Boston Marathon bombing, military and police dogs, and a September 11 memorial in New York City. 

Jackie Robinson '42' Movie

    I didn't drive anywhere for the past two days so I needed time to dig out my car before going anywhere this morning. It meant getting out my heavy-duty snow shovel in order to clear a path. This is what I bought the shovel for- to cut down on hearing my wheels spinning and tires smoking when trying to get around on the snow and ice. Then it was on to do laundry.
   In the late afternoon I saw the movie '42' about Jackie Robinson in St. Paul with my date, in the Highland Park section. I liked how it covered plenty of things relevant to the story, like Dodgers executive Branch Rickey speaking of how he didn't help out his catcher enough when he coached at Ohio Wesleyan. So he said he wanted to integrate the game at some point. I didn't recognize many of the actors in it aside from Harrison Ford, who played Mr. Rickey. But for those who enjoy baseball, history, or both, it was well worth seeing. It did say 'Based on a true story' so I expected a few characters and scenes to be invented for dramatic effect. This was true with Dodgers manager Leo Durocher, who was suspended but not for the reason given in the movie. Some notable players of the time were not portrayed but were mentioned, like Hank Greenberg, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, and Joe DiMaggio. Hopefully the previous biopic, called 'The Jackie Robinson Story' from 1950 where he played himself, will be more readily available on video soon like at Redbox. I had also heard of one called 'The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson' but haven't seen it. There was reference to his court-martial in this movie. I did like seeing a chalkboard in the background at one point, which said 'St. Paul' as a reminder of how St. Paul's minor league team was a Dodger affiliate then. So in many ways it was more appropriate to see it in St. Paul than, say, a suburb. Though there aren't many theaters in the city of St. Paul.

Facebook Friend Cleanup

   I got home from work and did the routine things like checking email. Then I turned on the TV in hopes of seeing the local news but the national news was on about the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombing suspect. I left it on there for a while and eventually went to eat at Taco Bell. I like 'the box' they have there, and now there's two Doritos choices on the 'Loco Taco'- as Cool Ranch has been added. 
   During this time I decided to clean up my list of Facebook friends. I was able to eliminate more than 5 percent just by clearing out the inactive accounts! I hadn't looked at the list in a while. When I did a cleanup before I cleared out those friends where I didn't recognize their names. Now when I add somebody I have to know them or have mutual friends, like from comedy. One comedian friend, the showrunner at one venue, responded to it right away about still being here, and then BOOM! Earlier he had suggested that I eat at Domino's Pizza as there was a joke on his comment thread about Domino's while watching the coverage of the manhunt.
   When I was having lunch at the Erbert Gerbert sandwich shop the TV was tuned to CNN and the sound was off but closed-captioning was on. There were updates about the manhunt in Boston. In the background, and I don't know for sure where it came from, I was hearing some music- 'ET' by Katy Perry and Kanye West. For some reason it seemed appropriate for the news that was being covered, since the beat was loud and fast. When I hear the song now I will likely connect it to this event. I fell asleep and missed the ending of 'Nightline' on ABC tonight but I think a big part of their show tonight was about the manhunt. This is typical whenever there is a big news story.

Winter Weather Drill

    I had just returned from lunch this afternoon at work and then there was a winter weather drill. I had a hard time taking it seriously as I knew a tornado was unlikely when snow was falling. I said I was taking my box of popcorn with me. The news said there would also be one in the evening, and there was.
   After taking the bus home from work I stayed in due to the snow. I watched 3 episodes of 'Big Bang Theory'. I think all of them were reruns, even the two in primetime. The syndicated rerun was nice to see, as it was the one that started me watching it regularly during its first season in 2007. It was when Sheldon and Leonard broke into their neighbor Penny's apartment to clean it after being entrusted with a package delivery. I had fallen asleep in my easy chair while watching the news and this is what was on. The first episode in primetime was the one where Sheldon and friends all end up in human resources after Sheldon throws them under a bus. The second was after 'Two and a half men'. It was when Howard was in space and Sheldon doesn't want to keep a secret from Leonard. He later tells Penny 'Don't hurt my friend'.
   After this I decided to read some more from the papers. I had a City Pages from late March and early April, and the cover story was about baseball's fiscal cliff. They made a big deal about the sharp drop in TV ratings for the World Series since 1980. There was also mention in a small article about how the Twin Cities is the 6th best pizza town in America, with mention of 'Punch Pizza', which I have had a few times. In the back was 'Savage Love', an advice column about sexual issues.
   Now for the Minneapolis paper from earlier this month. There was a big front page article about the death of movie critic Roger Ebert. A small article was about pardoning the Scottsboro boys. The political cartoon was about Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann facing ethics charges. A letter to the editor said Eisenhower should we warning us again about the 'Military industrial complex'- about how a big American export is weapons and not electronics. In the sports section was articles about basketball coaches, the new Gopher coach Richard Pitino and Wolves coach Rick Adelman. The latter was closing in on 1,000 career wins, and would be the 8th to reach this plateau. There was also mention of Siebert Field, the new Gopher baseball venue, and I did get to one game on opening weekend. It's rare for college baseball to get media attention in many areas. Another was about Wichita State reaching the Final Four, and their 1981 team had Xavier McDaniel on it. I knew he was somebody who guest starred on a basketball episode of 'The Bundys' (or: Married with Children). In movies, there was a writeup about Brad Cooper's latest, 'A place beyond the pines'. Carolyn Hax was on vacation, so readers were giving advice. In business, the union hall near the former Ford plant will now be a bike shop. The funny columnist had a ranting about going on vacation, asking if he left the iron on. It was also about stopping services like the mail and newspapers. In many ways I 'held serve' by getting one Friday paper read. I would have liked reading more, but at least I'm not falling behind like before. It's more manageable now, as there are just two editions waiting.  

Fake Hundred Dollar Bill

     I made it to 3 different Superamerica convenience stores today after work. First one was to get fuel, then on to my old neighborhood for dinner before the dental appointment. The third was after the comedy show. They are everywhere in the Twin Cities.
   The show went well, I tried some new material like one about a fake hundred dollar bill I picked up at lunchtime. I said I had nothing to lose, so it was odd that it said 'Nobody would drop one, the joke is in your hand'.
   I got some kind of bonus of nearly $20 in my E-Rewards survey account, so I already have the survey money I need to dump miles into my frequent flyer account when eligible in a few days. I have to wait at least 30 days of course between awards. I tried to click on it when seeing the listing but still not sure how I got it as I don't recall seeing such a bonus before.
   I saw a former colleague at the office, it was nice seeing a familiar face. He is in underwriting again. This was somebody I recalled sharing laughs with before, as he thought it was funny that there was a town called 'Dickeyville' in Wisconsin. There's a grotto in that town and then I had to explain what a grotto is: a man-made religious shrine that looks like a cave. I needed his help as 'Underwriter of the day' on a loan from this town. So I often called him 'Grotto Boy'. I was fairly good at recapping the past few years. This included my move to the vault at the end on 2006, along with getting into comedy less than two years later. And how the passing of an underwriter in 2008 was one factor to send me into comedy. Hopefully I will see him in passing again soon. This was as I went out at lunchtime to take a walk and drop off some mail. Looks like the new downtown post office will have a 'Grand opening' event with VIPs like the mayor, later this month.

Boston Comedian Friend

    I was checking Facebook tonight after being at the comedy club and saw an update from a comedian friend in Boston, who is attending college there. He said he's fine, at home studying. It was in response to those who expressed concern after the bombings at the Boston Marathon. My hat is off to him as he started comedy really early in life, while still in high school.
   I saw the first night of a contest at the comedy club. I was in this contest last year. I knew two of the three who advanced. I liked getting a shoutout from the show runner, who called himself 'the Michael Jordan of shoutouts'. There was one comic who basically fell on his sword since he was doing jokes about the Boston Marathon, which was too soon. He was booed, and when he left the stage it was to the tune of 'Hit the road, Jack'. It doesn't surprise me much how some are willing to try jokes like these, but I won't laugh at them. After the show I did go get a paper which is not typical for a non-Friday, but I tend to for big news stories. The front page of the St. Paul paper said 'No who, no why, just chaos'. There were two articles that started on the front page and had continuations. An online article spoke of the other tragedies that have happened in the month of April, such as Waco, Oklahoma City, Columbine, and Virginia Tech.
   The Lady Gaga gift tags I ordered arrived earlier today, I like having them. I plan on moving them to the office. When I was emailed recently about the merchandise available, it was the only thing that appealed to me. Already have some of Lady Gaga's CDs, as well as a program from the concert. And I didn't want a poster or a shirt. 

Fitted Sheet Replaced

   After I was at the comedy club tonight, I went to Target and got a replacement for a fitted sheet that had ripped. It may not match on color but I could care less. My sets have been mix and match already. It was nice to get a Velcro bag to go with it, easier for storage. I think I got the one I needed to replace at a Marshall Field's sale, before they changed the name to Macy's. So this had already been a little while, about seven years. I decided to take my time weighing the options and even a clerk in the aisle noticed, asking if I needed any help but I said no. If I want a full set of bedsheets later on I can get them. But I don't spend much on this particular kind of household item.
   In the afternoon I first heard the news about the bombs at the Boston Marathon, when a colleague, the lollipop girl, spoke of it to another colleague. So I went into the breakroom for a few minutes to find out what had happened. I said I'm hopeful they find who did it.
  Before I made it over to the comedy club tonight, I did see the clerk at Superamerica had a neck tattoo, and it did make me think of a fellow comic who has one as he does a joke about it. But it was on the other side of her neck compared to his. When I arrived I spoke of this, saying just about anything now makes me think of a joke I've heard.
   One of the newer comics tried to do a joke about sports team names that wasn't funny at all, as it was a cheap joke about shootings in Colorado- along with abortion. Before the show I did see the ESPN newswire which proved how big a deal the bombing at the Boston Marathon is. Multiple sporting events have been postponed or canceled- Bruins hockey and Celtics basketball. The Red Sox baseball game apparently finished before the bombs went off. The Red Sox like to be home on Patriots Day, which marks the start of the American Revolution.  

Hell's Kitchen Restaurant

   I went to The Turkeys comedy show at Hell's Kitchen in Minneapolis tonight. It was my first time at this venue. According to the menu the name has nothing to do with the neighborhood in New York City or the TV show about cooking. Some of the videos were shown but not all of them as there were technical difficulties. There was a drawing for a free shirt as the show ended. I had already eaten before arrival so all I ordered was a beer. I parked at a ramp where I was given presidential dollar coins as change. I am keeping one of them, the Lincoln coin, but will be using the others. I don't value dollar coins much, same as most people.
   I didn't watch any of the Masters golf tournament today, and it rained for much of the day. No surprise to hear how the Twins baseball game was called off, although the reason given was snow and not rain. Found this out on my car radio while driving to the show. I did the grocery run before going to the show and not after as I was unsure when the show would end.
   I was discussing scheduling of events with my date and it looks like some of our summer is already booked. But I am sure we can find a way to do other events we're interested in. We didn't want to see the Jackie Robinson movie on premiere weekend, so next week is likely. I found out it did well on opening weekend, as it was number one. The online article said it was rare for a baseball movie, and it did better than 'Moneyball' from a few years back.  Another thing would be seeing the Civil War exhibit at the state's museum, but we have until Labor Day for that one.

Baseball Book Sale

    I went to a baseball book sale in the afternoon with my date. I was shown an article about it last week. It was a good idea to have a limit on what I'm willing to spend, much like when I order things on E-bay. I looked at 12 books and bought 8 of them. Many of them were biographies, like the ones about Bob Gibson, Leo Durocher, Yogi Berra, Bob Uecker, and Bill Veeck. I liked finding one about the St. Paul Saints and their league, called 'Rebel Baseball'. It will go well next to the one I already have, 'Wild and Outside'. I got 'Baseball by the Books', which has listings of various books of baseball fiction. Then there's 'Henry Wiggen's Books', 3 books in one, including 'Bang the Drum Slowly'. I had seen the movie version in college after taking a baseball literature class. This was one of the books in it but I didn't like the class despite liking the material as I didn't like the instructor.
  I even saw copies of plenty of books I already had, or ones I had read before as my family had some of the books when I was young. The sale mostly had books, though there was also some LP records and even a ball that was stamped 'official ball of the 1994 World Series'. It reminded me of a 'Simpsons' episode where Homer had some of these and Bart said 'Dad, that was the strike year'.  
   This morning I read an article about the castmembers from the TV show 'Family Ties'- a 'Where are they now?' One of them I already knew about, from doing comedy. Marc Price, who played Skippy the neighbor, does comedy now. Haven't met him but some of my comedian friends have worked with him. And there's his picture up at one of the clubs I frequent.
   In the evening I saw two more segments of the 'robber baron' DVDs with my date. It is now covering J.P. Morgan, and to a lesser extent Thomas Edison as Morgan was his financier. They did cover how Morgan brokered the deal that created General Electric, merging Edison's company with a rival.

Make Your Own Nametag

    I went to a member event at the Loft in Minneapolis tonight after work. When I arrived I checked in and was asked to make my own nametag. It included the name of my mentor, and I decided on a former boss from when I worked in suburban Chicago. We haven't spoken much since I moved to the Twin Cities over nine years ago. On a wall we were asked to include advice that mentors gave us, I chose a different mentor for this exercise- from comedy. I shared two things, one was basically 'Go big or go home' and the other is to be self-validated. Another one I liked was how the teacher teaches the student to teach themselves. This was a happy hour before readings from three writers. The first did a short story about ancestry and 'Eating her dad', who was a Vietnam veteran apparently. The second was a teacher and passed out one poem with a few lines highlighted, we were asked to help read the highlighted lines. The third, the headliner, was really animated and I liked this as I like seeing those who have enthusiasm. She has various books about New Orleans, despite being a Pittsburgh native and now lives in Phoenix. One of these is a children's book called 'Ninth Ward', inspired by Hurricane Katrina. After the reading I did have more of the food, which included chicken on a stick and quesadillas. I passed on what I was told was tofu, saying 'I'm from small-town Iowa and we didn't eat tofu'. It led to being introduced to somebody who said she was from Des Moines and lived in the Valley Junction section of West Des Moines like I did. But she did so in a different time, from 1978-1981 and I lived there for a year and a half, all of 1997. I saw a writing instructor there who recognized me from an earlier event. Eventually he said he's on his third marriage, after I spoke of how there were plenty of weak marriage jokes on 'Hee Haw'.
   The 'Nightline' edition had a feature about a war correspondent, based on what I saw since I joined it in progress. I was trying to watch a VHS tape but fell asleep. So I decided to shut it off and switch over to the show but it meant unplugging the video player first. There was also a segment about the decade of the 1980s, saying much of the technology we use today had its start in this decade. It seemed relevant as there will be a mini-series about this decade soon, on another network.
   Before I went to the loft event, I did have to brush heavy, wet snow off of my car as I didn't drive it anywhere yesterday. There still was some light snow falling at this time but it was no problem getting around. I heard the Nirvana song 'Rape Me' on my car radio on the way there.

Sherlockian Civil War

    This was a day to get caught up on reading the paper after I got home from work. The snow seemed to be much ado about nothing, as I made it to work on time in spite of it. Though some colleagues were not as lucky, I found out.
    I read three more editions of the Minneapolis paper, so now I have read it through the end of March. One was a Wednesday edition, as I wanted to read about the Pink concert I had attended. The title was 'Pink swings through St. Paul' and it said there was a wide range of ages at the show. There was an article about Pope Francis saying 'Let us be protectors' and how there was interfaith outreach. The leader of the Orthodox Christian Church and the Chief Rabbi of Rome attended this event. Senator Amy Klobuchar led an inquiry about the proposed airline merger between American Airlines and US Air. The cartoon said 'You shouldn't have, really' as it was about the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War. John Elder Robison, the brother of 'Running With Scissors' author Augusten Burroughs, appeared at the Central Library in Minneapolis and the article also spoke of his being autistic.
   The most catchy article of the day would have to be the one about the 'Sherlockian Civil War' related to the Sherlock Holmes/Sir Arthur Conan Doyle estate. It did mention some recent TV show versions of the stories, like 'Elementary' on CBS and 'Sherlock' on the BBC. Carolyn Hax said in her advice column to a young woman that she 'Didn't have to prove herself to anyone'. The judge approved the sale of some lines from the now-defunct Hostess Bakery. But it may be a little while before their products are available again. The special section was about spring cleaning, how to reduce, reuse, recycle and resell your stuff.
   In the next one, a Friday, the watchdog group known as the Government Accountability Office said the Postal Service can't cut mail delivery on Saturdays. This is due to take effect in August, and I still see them ending Saturday service to save money. Plenty of articles about the college basketball tournament as expected, also known as 'March Madness'. There were writeups about the movies 'Admission' and 'On The Road'. I have seen the latter and would still like to see the former. Carolyn Hax said in her advice columnist how 'Being right is an addictive substance of its own' in response to the parents being right about their daughter's relationship being a bad idea. Supervalu grocery stores closed their deal to sell four chains, including Jewel-Osco, which I went to often when living in suburban Chicago. But of course Supervalu is keeping Cub Foods here in the Twin Cities. There was a Los Angeles Times interview with Andy Puzder, the CEO of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's. I've eaten at the latter but not the former, but the latter is more common in the Midwest of course. The funny columnist had a simple guide for sampling at the supermarket. Neighbors in St. Paul are opposed to the opening of a sports bar, Buffalo Wild Wings. It is in a former Cheapo Records location, which moved across the street.
   The third edition, also a Friday, had an article about the death of Rabbi Herschel Schacter, who liberated Buchenwald at the end of World War II. There was also something about the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, but I noticed some of the paragraphs in it were redundant-a better editor would have helped. The pope washed the feet of 12 young detainees, as it was Holy Week. It was Maundy (or foot-washing) Thursday, but as a joke I liked calling it 'Monday Thursday'. The funny columnist wrote about road projects he'd like to see, such as one of them happening as the man who rips up the road is going to be fired. Also mention of feeling every groove in the road. The sign from the Cottage View Drive-in Theater will be going to Hastings, next to Porky's at the Pioneer Village.
    I liked seeing both episodes of 'Big Bang Theory' tonight. The syndicated rerun was when Sheldon wanted his paper read by Steven Hawking, and Howard made him polish belt buckles and put on a French maid outfit. The first-run episode was about various stories. It included Amy Farrah Fowler conning Sheldon into taking care of her when she was ill. Then she enjoyed being spanked for lying about it, as she became healthy but didn't say so for two days. Penny showed the others how to bait a fish hook and clean a fish, as Howard was planning on a fishing trip with his father-in-law.  

Billygoat Curse

    I read a Yahoo article about a goat head being sent to Chicago's Wrigley Field. It of course is a reference to a 'Billygoat curse' that according to legend goes back to the 1945 World Series, which the Chicago Cubs played in. A tavern owner had a pet goat that was banned from the stadium. I understand the 'Cheeseburger' skit from Saturday Night Live, done by John Belushi, was inspired by this tavern. The article claims the goat head was likely sent in response to planned renovations at Wrigley Field, with more advertising and more night games as well. The Cubs last won the World Series in 1908, so I wonder what they had to say for why they couldn't win the Series before this 'curse'.
   I watched Brad Paisley on Jay Leno, he performed a song and then was interviewed. It's not too often that a musician is interviewed on this kind of show, usually they do the song and that's it. But the interview was about a different song called 'Accidental Racist', with rapper LL Cool J. There was mention of a firestorm of debate in social media, including Youtube, and I did find some of it. But what I couldn't find for whatever reason was the song itself, which is kind of odd unless it's due to being controversial. I did find the lyrics eventually when doing a search outside Youtube. A commenter on Youtube said the lyrics given on one video weren't accurate. I'd like to hear the song at some point, as hearing other people's comments about it is a poor substitute. Based on the lyrics I found, I would say it appears one observation in Time magazine if I'm not mistaken is still sadly true: we Americans are still fighting the Civil War.

Imagine Dragons

   There are some songs that stick with me from the first time I hear them. This is true with one I just heard on my car radio recently- 'Demons' by the Imagine Dragons. With music of course an excellent combination of instruments and lyrics makes a world of difference. But the lyrics have to be memorable, and this song has them: 'Don't get too close, it's dark inside. it's where my demons hide.' It's relatable for me when it speaks of demons, we all have some. The same is true about not getting too close, as I feel as if I let no one get close to me for a long time, not knowing who I could trust. When I found the song on Youtube there was a mention of a 'teaser trailer' for '50 Shades of Grey'. I had heard of the book series but that is all, I know it's a big best-seller.
   At the comedy club tonight I liked seeing some familiar faces as usual, including the neck tattoo guy who did a joke about eating cheescake in private. This is due to being over 300 pounds. The 'Old so and so' was there as well, and performed although he wasn't on the printed list I saw. He had a good 'Six and a half' joke, saying he got a yawn from an ugly woman.
  I added a few more things to the strong box, thinking of what I hadn't looked at yet. This included a box with old mail in it as it had a letter to the editor I had written.
   A coworker is back from maternity leave, as usual she asked me some questions about my life. She also said something about how long she's been married, nearly five years. She was going to give me a lead for a Charlie Brown and Snoopy statue, but after finding out where it was I said we've already found it.

Good Will Hunting

   At the comedy club tonight I heard a joke from the comic that likes to do the 'Aggressive cuddler' joke and he tried one about 'Good Will Hunting', my favorite movie. It fell flat, but I did find him after he was onstage and said I am hopeful that he turns it into a better joke. It was about how he was surprised that the main character wasn't offered a scholarship when he's a genius janitor. I said being a violent genius janitor may have covered it in the storyline. I even shared my story about how the movie changed my life. I was temping for the State of Iowa government, not that far removed from college graduation, when I first saw it at theaters. The construction scene where he hears that he's sitting on a winning lottery ticket resonated with me. I decided that I should move on before I got the same speech from somebody. First saw it in late January 1998, and I moved to suburban Chicago less than four months later. It's the only movie I've seen at the theater twice, as I saw it in June after moving. I packed up a U-Haul and moved there before finding a job or a place to live. It was a gamble, but it paid off for me.
   I did do more with the strong box, taking some things out and adding other items. I was pleased with what I found when looking for things to add. This included a wind-up toy that plays the Iowa Hawkeye fight song. This is still definitely a work in progress but I like how I was finally willing to tackle it.
   At work there was the typical high volume for a Monday. The lollipop girl said she was going back east to New Jersey for a week in late April and early May for a wedding. I noticed it when checking the calendar, seeing she would be out of the office on Arbor Day. But of course Arbor Day has nothing to do with it.

Siebert Field, Gopher Baseball

   Went to a Gopher baseball game at Siebert Field in the afternoon with my date. It was opening weekend at this venue after an extensive renovation, and the Minnesota Gophers beat Ohio State 1-0. The game's only run was in the sixth on a home run. It was nice seeing a pitcher's duel. It was a quick game, the announcer said it was one hour 37 minutes. This is about the length of many movies. I had seen a game there in 2009, against Iowa. It's much nicer there now that the stadium has been rebuilt. As expected, I got plenty of pictures while there.
   I made it home in time to watch '60 Minutes' on CBS. There was a feature about the parents of the Connecticut school shooting victims, trying to lobby Congress to pass tougher gun control laws. A later feature was about pro basketball player Jeremy Lin. Watching 'The Simpsons' was fun as usual. It was about a standardized test at the elementary school in order to save the school. At the end they found a way to intertwine it with Homer having a rogue parking meter. He claimed the meter from the landfill after throwing out electrical appliances because the utility rates went up.
   Eventually I told myself I needed to see about finding a strong box for valuable items. I did so at Target after going grocery shopping. I was pleased with what I found when I started filling it. As expected, some of the things moved into it were taken out of a file cabinet I got at a secondhand store when I first moved to the Twin Cities over nine years ago. I liked finding the copy of my great-grandma's Ellis Island records from 1902, so I put it in the box. I decided to search for it when I was in New York City in 2005. It can be tough to select what belongs in it, but one must establish priorities in life. And of course with anything, what I have in it is subject to change. I also decided to scout out a venue for a baseball book sale which is in a week. It's in a part of the metro area that I didn't know well. Looks like it's a good idea to bring quarters with me as I saw plenty of parking meters nearby.

Caught On Tape Movie

     I saw the Redbox DVD 'Caught On Tape' this morning. Not your typical movie, as it was just over an hour and mostly told the story through raps. Cedric The Entertainer is in it, and this is why I chose it. But he had a small role in it. Looks like there are some other similar type movies out there, based on the previews. So now I have used the free day from my Redbox anniversary.
    In the afternoon I went to see a photojournalism exhibit at the Weinstein Gallery in Minneapolis with my date. It was called 'I have tried to let truth be my prejudice' and the photos were by W. Eugene Smith. I did learn something while there. One of the photos was the newspaper headline 'Dewey Defeats Truman' that Truman held up. It is a famous photo but I was unfamiliar with the photographer of it, as they can be kingmakers and not kings. There were two baseball photos, one of Joe DiMaggio waiting to take batting practice. Another was Babe Ruth at the World Series, as a spectator as he had already retired. Next to these two was one of Tony Bennett.
    We also continued watching the series of DVDs from the History Channel about robber barons. We are seeing two segments at a time as each segment is under an hour. It ended with an anarchist trying to kill H.C. Frick, an employee of Andrew Carnegie. So now we've seen them cover three of the five, starting with Vanderbilt and continuing with Rockefeller. The 9th segment is actually bonus features. I hadn't heard of Frick before but the part of the Carnegie story about a strike while he was in Scotland reminded me of a 'Simpsons' episode when Bart led a mutiny at Camp Krusty- as Krusty was out of the country and waiting to get an honor from the British Queen.

Garbage Concert

    I went to a concert tonight. The band Garbage was playing at Mill City Nights in Minneapolis. It was a general admission show and at first I didn't have a good view of the stage. I recognized one song about wanting to be a 'Dirty little secret' and then moved around some more. Eventually I did have a partial view of the stage, could see one of the guitarists most of the time and sometimes frontwoman Shirley Manson as well. She spoke of an early show at First Avenue in 1996 and seeing a line out the door, thinking it was for them. But it was for another band, and meant to say 'Jump the gun' but said 'Jump the shark' instead. This was the same year I had hoped to see them open for Smashing Pumpkins- in Moline, Illinois. But I didn't make it in time to see them as an opening act.
   They had a song for the 'Romeo and Juliet' soundtrack if I'm not mistaken- called 'Number One Crush'- and it was played at the show. I especially liked hearing them play 'Only Happy When It Rains' and let out a primal scream at the end of the song. It's proof of how I go to concerts to remember the pain, and forget it, at the same time. During encores they played 'Stupid Girl'. I like being on the upper level to stay above the craziness but it meant a bottleneck when leaving. I still didn't waste much time walking back to my car once leaving the nightclub. I had a Stella Artois beer. There was an opening act but I arrived for the show near the end of the opening act's time onstage.
   This evening before the show I ate 'The Box' at Taco Bell. Notable was seeing a job interview begin as I was eating there, and hearing the Billy Joel song 'For The Longest Time' as well. On the bus this morning the grouchy woman was herself as usual, unfortunately.

NIT Final, Madison Square Garden

   I went to Gabe's bar in St. Paul tonight as I kept seeing emails saying the Iowa Hawkeyes had made the NIT finals. Iowa ended up losing to Baylor by 20, but it was still a fine season. It seemed like Iowa wasn't getting the rebounds much in the first half, and Baylor was more aggressive on defense as well, with a few takeaways. I have been to this venue, Madison Square Garden, in 2005 to see the Eminem concert. I called my dad at halftime, he said he had sent me a pocket Iowa Cubs schedule but I hadn't seen it in the mail just yet.
  Both episodes of 'Big Bang Theory' were good tonight. The syndicated rerun was the one about Sheldon being forced to take a vacation- and decided to be an assistant to Amy Farrah Fowler in her laboratory. The first-run episode was about a tenured position opening up at the university. It serves as a powerful reminder of how sometimes it means doing some of the politicking if one wants a coveted job, as sometimes 'Letting the record speak for itself' is not enough when it's competitive.
  On the bus tonight after work, I heard a younger man speak of being caught with drugs, don't recall how much. And something about asking for directions from an officer, then being searched by the same officer. It rivals the one I heard the previous night. It was a couple who swore a lot, and the man said he wouldn't allow his mom to speak like that again. Both spoke of people being beat up but I'm not sure as to what it was for. Some people give 'Fair Warning' that there's no winning with them, and I pay attention to these warnings. Same was true at the sports bar, when somebody wanted to argue football players with somebody on the other side of the bar. Others did make it worthwhile for me. A woman who was sitting next to me with her young daughter said 'I'm not a crazy customer, I work here' in response to saying I wanted the TV switched over to ESPN to the game I wanted to see.

Baseball Cards For Comedians

   At the comedy club tonight I got a baseball card from one of the comics after the show ended. He stuttered a lot, and said he was from the Los Angeles area. I liked seeing many of my friends in the lineup, such as the one who does the 'Porn in the hotel room' joke. This included the show-runner from last night's show, doing the joke about the hot-air balloon announcer. I did see the 'Magic Man' but he did not go onstage, unsure why unless the lineup was full.
    I liked hearing a 'Scared Straight' joke from one comic, in reference to how kids shouldn't give up on their dreams. They were implying that working in an office was like jail. Well, not quite. But the joke was still funny as I have seen 'Scared Straight' so I understood the reference. I was riveted when I watched it on an anniversary showing as it's rare that they allow swearing on broadcast TV. But they do if it's a documentary, as too much of the impact from covering real life would be lost if they took out the swearing.
  I find out there is just about everything on E-bay, including the album for the 'National Park' state quarters. I do have some from this series already. It prompted me to look at the map from the original state quarter series. I noticed in the booklet how the wrong silhouette is used for some of the states, I counted three. Even the quarters themselves are available on this site, though at this point I haven't felt the need to pay more than face value for coins. I've lucked out as I've found most of the ones I want without having to order them. With the first three years of this series, I have all but two as I just picked up another one after doing laundry. I pay attention when using the dollar bill changer to see which ones I don't have yet. It helps to shop around for things like the albums, as I've told myself I shouldn't have to pay more than the face value of the coins. Don't recall what I paid for this map, as I got it at a Montgomery Ward liquidation sale. But there are multiple listings for the album on the site, and I did see some for under $10- lower than the face value of 56 quarters.
   I also looked up the American Indian Movement, after finding out this movement had occupied more than just Alcatraz after it was closed as a prison. This movement also occupied Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota for a few days in 1971. I must have been thinking of how South Dakota has Mt. Rushmore on both of their state quarters in one form or another- the original series and the National Park series.

Mr. Belvedere's Hot Air Balloons

  At the comedy club tonight there were some no-shows, which explains why there were some replacements including the show-runner himself. He did some new jokes like how he could call his dog 'Mr. Belvedere' if he wanted to as it's deaf. Then there was one about his dad being a volunteer announcer at hot-air balloon events. It seems to explain the need for doing comedy, and of course is relatable to me. I liked hearing the mention of 'Mr. Belvedere' as it's the first one I've heard in a while. It was a show that Bob Uecker did in the 1980s, with a setting in Pittsburgh. One of the other replacements included the Kentucky native that I hadn't seen in a while. I've seen him at Alary's before as we like the same football team. He did a joke about having colleage girls living at the house with him and his wife.
   The lollipop girl was asking about liquor stores downtown, and I like helping out as I like being able to find things. With a quick online search I found out there is one in Lowertown, close enough. Something about wanting cooking wine if i'm not mistaken. Though the joke from one colleague was how she was already drinking it at the office.
   I watched a quick video about my new Hotmail inbox from Outlook, it was a silent one that lasted about two minutes. Seemed fairly straightforward, at first look I'm not sure how much has changed as I usually delete most emails right after reading them.
   Not much postal mail today, two of the items received were catalogs from The Loft about upcoming classes. Haven't taken a class in a while so I would need to look through it more closely to see if anything interests me and meets my needs. There is even special catalogs about retreats and conferences like for mystery writing and children's writing.

Cracker Jack Prizes

   There was an Opening Day celebration for the Twins at work. There was peanuts and Cracker Jacks, and I picked up a small bag of each. I was too busy for the games as I wanted to finish the payoff report, the typical high volume for a Monday. The Cracker Jack prize looked familiar, as it was an Abraham Lincoln sticker. I already had one of these, along with one of Alexander Hamilton.
   After I was at the comedy club tonight, I went to the grocery store as I was out of food. Had to move back a day doing this weekly errand. I liked seeing a bag of Easter candy so I bought one. They are Snickers minis. When checking my voicemail after work I noticed there was a message from my dad, and I responded but I got his voicemail as well. He spoke of having an Iowa Cubs baseball schedule. I had already printed one from their website but there is no color difference between the home and away games. I said I was unsure at this point as to when I would make it to Des Moines for a game, but this month is not likely especially when the weather can be iffy. Here in the Twin Cities it was chilly for the Twins opener, they lost to the Detroit Tigers.
   I didn't stay for the full show at the comedy club as I was thinking about what errands needed to be run. At first it looked like the leadoff comic was a no-show but he finally emerged, I did the typical thing which was to say 'Where are you, man?' The show-runner from the 400 Bar before this show spoke about boxing champion Mike Tyson, I think in reference to a Broadway play about him. He also spoke more about having a gig in New York City, and the high cost of seeing a show there with the two-drink minimum. Before the show I liked hearing some Johnny Cash songs, including 'Hey Porter'.