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.