Body Scan Weigh-In

  Today was the last day to do a body scan weigh-in at work. I got mine done in the afternoon. It was a disappointing result as there was a gain of two and a half pounds since late May, when I had most recently done the scan. But I will do my best to do something about it soon. Best to evaluate my diet and exercise habits first. It was easier for me to wait until the final day as it was also my final day of the week in the office since I am doing the convention for the rest of the week. I like to see how things are 'cleaned up' before I am out of the office, sometimes it means staying a few extra minutes until satisfied. And of course it ends with putting up the high and low tech 'out of office' signs at my workspace.  
   At the comedy club tonight I saw a comic I hadn't seen in a while, who uses a stage name. We spoke outside the venue before the show. I think he is based out of Kansas. When he spoke of Milwaukee I said it made me think of the comic that I call 'The Milwaukeean', and yes he had worked with him. He had done a show in Shakopee recently and said he was back for a few weeks before heading onto the road again. Hopefully he 'keeps it squishy'. He said something about living in the area, or at least his lady does. It does seem to be another item to add to the argument about how I am in many ways the 'Norm' of the comedy circuit, since I know many people.

Released Balloons, Musical Chairs

   I went to the National Night Out event in my neighborhood tonight. I knew I needed to go to it eventually after being online for a little while after work. I got a hot dog and what equaled a whole cookie, and shortly thereafter they were done serving food. They started to close up shop kind of early as there was a threat of rain. I saw the kids playing musical chairs. As they were taking down the tent they also released the balloons. I followed their flight as long as I could. This did remind me of when we released balloons in elementary school. A note was included in hopes that whoever found it would contact us so then we knew how far it traveled. In many ways it was meant to be an educational exercise, at least I understand this now.
   At the comedy club tonight, a friend was MC- the one that does the neck tattoo joke. The headliner had a CD out as of recently, and does the joke about hiding his lady's birth control pills in her cake. I already have four CDs made by comedian friends. There are likely a few more that I would like to have, unsure if this one is on my list as don't see this comic quite as much as the others. It is infrequent at best.          

New Hire No-Go

   Early this morning at work I got an email from my boss saying the new hire was a no-go. Not sure why, other than he may have had another offer. He was scheduled to begin today. So it means they will be interviewing again and it means getting by a little longer, like two weeks or so. It hasn't been that big of a deal to et by wit who we've got. But I know they want someone in place so we have coverage for the holiday season, when many of us are using up vacation days before year-end.   
   At the comedy club tonight I was asked about the movie that I have been cast for. I said I hadn't heard anything lately as to specifically when the filming will be happening. At this point I understand it would be in September, but trying to figure out how schedules will work for all of those involved. When it is still a little way off, it is best to describe it as 'still in flux'.
    One comic sure looked familiar, a middle-aged woman who tried to act like a dominatrix as she had a whip on stage. But I commented to another comic near me that it felt like she was trying too hard. The Cardinals were on TV at the bar, playing the Dodgers. There was plenty at the bottom of the screen- it was on ESPN- about the suspensions due to drug use, especially about 'A-Rod'. But he plans to appeal his suspension.

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You

    I rented a Redbox movie this afternoon, 'Someday this pain will be useful to you'. I had seen a preview for it but didn't get around to seeing it in theaters. But this tends to happen with arthouse movies as they usually are in limited release. It had a good cast. I liked seeing Marcia Gay Harden in it as well as Lucy Liu and Ellen Burstyn. It took a while but eventually I did hear the movie title as an actor's line, as expected it was said to the main character. Lucy Liu played a life coach or therapist that counseled the main character, a teenager who said he didn't want to attend college. She helped with bringing out the story of what happened on a trip to D.C., something he had been unwilling to discuss with anyone before then. It was one reson why he said he didn't want to attend college. I liked hearing one song in particular in it, 'Love is requited' by Elisa, in the closing credits. 'Maybe sorrow is my gain, and I'm learning from the pain, but I'm ready to move on.' The special features even had a video of this song in it.

   I made it back to my employer's fitness center for the first time in a while. It wasn't for long, just a few minutes, as it was near closing time. I also heard from my college roommate out east. He said he would be in the Midwest in a few weeks, apparently to do his fantasy football draft. I had to ask where he works again, found out it wasn't at a super collider but at a 'cyclotron'. It is still something that I am sure few are qualified to do, but I know he is a sharp guy.
   This evening I went to a Minnesota Fringe Festival show, and many of my comedian friends were in it. When I was looking for show cards to collect after the show, I saw two of them as they were leaving. I spoke with both briefly before we went out separate ways to find our cars. It is likely the only show I am attending in the festival, as I will be busy for much of the upcoming week. I told myself how I wanted to see a show this year, and I narrowed the list to comedy in case any of the people I know would be in shows. Since he show has a vulgar title I likely wouldn't have attended it if just looking at titles. There are over a hundred shows going on so one has plenty to choose from. I saw some crowdmembers near me who said they were 'collecting' the shows the main character's wife is in, as this one was one of five.  

Shirtless Dancing Fool With Kilt

    This morning I went back to the Canadian Days festival, in Little Canada. It's because I wanted to do the pancake breakfast and see the bagpipe band from their sister city, Thunder Bay. I already had my festival button from the previous day so I didn't need another one for the pancakes. As expected, it was good that we got in line as early as we did, as we were sitting down with the pancakes before the bagpipe band came marching down the street to play in the park. I recognized one song as 'Scotland The Brave', after searching for bagpipe music on Youtube in the past year. There was no dancing girl this year, though she still seemed to be there taking pictures up close of the band. Last year a crowd member said she had injured her knee.

   There was a shirtless dancing fool with a kilt at this event, much like in a previous year but can't recall which one. But it was a green kilt, and the ones worn by the bagpipers are red. It was nice to see somebody enjoying themselves, though I did keep my distance from him. I did get a picture of this man. I once knew the town drunk in my hometown in small-town Iowa, so I wasn't sure if he belonged in the same category.
   It was nice to see some old haunts today in this town as I am a former resident of Little Canada. I decided to drive past the apartment building I lived in. But this is a small suburb so I'm not sure what I have for old haunts besides this festival. It did get me thinking about the ones I have in other areas, like St. Paul's East Side. So in the evening I went to have some Little Caesar's pizza, actually across the road in Maplewood. I wanted to have some since one much closer to me had closed recently. Then it was to get the Blizzard of the month at Dairy Queen, Smores, and the Dairy Queen wasn't too far away.
   I saw a friend at the clubs this week that suggested I see a show this weekend, since I saw the same comic in Sioux Falls last week. So I did tonight. I like seeing the weekend shows as there are longer sets than at open-mics.
   In other issues, I ended a relationship today. This is something that I take no joy whatsoever in doing. I said I was fine with remaining friends, as we did have some things in common that I greatly valued. This definitely includes history, attending museums and such. And as Forrest Gump said, 'And that's all I've got to say about that.'               

Irish Temper, Polish Humor

   I went to Canadian Days tonight, in Little Canada, after I finished with work for the day. I did make it in time to partake of the corn on the cob feed. While there I saw a man with a shirt on that said 'Warning: Irish temper, Polish humor'. I have a good idea what this means, as it suggests a really bad combination. I have heard 'get their Irish up' before. I was wearing my buttons from 1976 and 1985, in addition to this year's, but nobody noticed. Or at least nobody commented about it.

   I was at the festival for about an hour, and had some pizza as well from one of the food trailers. After the event, I went to do laundry. I could tell that the other patrons were fully aware of when the doors would lock up as they all left for a while and came back right before the doors locked. I stayed there the entire time except to use the bathroom at a nearby business. Naturally, I finished with the washing and drying well before they did.
    There is plenty of plywood up covering what had been the windows. I got a picture of it when I was outside. I am unsure as to why and how long it will be up. Also noticed how they took down what is best described as areas to plant flowers, where the glass had met the rest of the wall. It was just as well, since I often found trash in this area. I would pick up this trash and then place it in the metal trash cans inside the laundry facility.   

Pierre Trudeau Letter

    The events I did this evening after watching 2 episodes of 'Big Bang Theory' were truly a case of running out of time. First on the list was an ice cream social in Little Canada, sort of a kickoff for Canadian Days, as the festival is this weekend. I arrived about 10 minutes before the end of the event and was told they were out of ice cream, apparently it was sponsored by Culver's. There was a puppet show for the kids near this shelter house, it was from Roseville and on the back of a truck. I did get pictures of the puppet show. 

   Next was the town's history center, where I had hoped to see displays about the festival but there weren't any. I liked seeing a Montgomery Ward magazine ad on the wall, I got a picture of it. Aside from this, a notable item was a letter from Canadian Prime Minster Pierre Trudeau. It was from 1978 and referred to the festival. My dad spoke well of Trudeau. Near the front desk was a Sunday edition newspaper article from the Toronto paper, pulished in July 2007. Mention was made of the festival there as well.
   After stopping at Walgreen for some drain opener for the bathroom sink, it was on to Super-America for food and fuel. I did make it to the library before closing, but had less than 10 minutes to print a few things. So I didn't get to all of the things on my list, but I can try again this weekend when I have the time for it. I did see to it that the highest priority things were printed tonight. Since I will be nearby for the festival it will be easier to justify going back to print some more items.