AMC car show

I went to 3 shows today at the fringe festival. after the first one, about 'Charlie brown and snoopy' creator Charles schulz, I was driving past a gas station that had a rooftop concert. there was an AMC car show there, so I parked nearby and got a look around. there was mention of the company origins going back to the 1800s, about rambler bicycles, made in Chicago. it does remind me of how the athletic teams at Loyola university in Chicago are called 'ramblers', but I still wonder if there is a connection at all. American motors lasted from 1954-1987, and was 'the last of the independents'.
  and yes, I was beaming while watching the play about Charles schulz. I didn't learn all that much as I was already well-read about him, but it was great to see such a good impersonation. he even drew the characters well! I probably should have been wearing my Charlie brown 'trucker hat'. second play I saw was 'most dangerous game', whopper was in it. I had read the story in high school. this play version of it was funny. I liked the venue as well, southern theater, great backdrop, well-worn bricks. third one was a love story called 'the invention of baseball', but it wasn't all that much about baseball. still a weird but compelling love story. the promo card was misleading as it had a parody of the album cover from 'born in the USA' by bruce springsteen, but bruce isn't mentioned at all, let alone any of his music though there were plenty of songs in it. it was nice to go home after the second show for a little while and rest, as well as do the dishes. I tried watching 'the simpsons', about lisa wanting to go to mars, but I fell asleep before it ended. I called and left a message with my ex about the Charles schulz play, as we were both big fans of Charlie brown. now I have seen 6 shows at fringe, and have reviewed each one I have seen. reviews on the show I am in are mixed, after one performance. though one reviewer did say the stand-up sets were good.

call and answer, barenaked ladies

I went to a fringe show this evening, and I liked hearing a barenaked ladies song, 'call and answer', being part of a dance choreography segment. I am thankful it was listed in the program so that made it easier to find online later. the video mostly takes place in a cookie cutter world, with white VW cars and suburban homes. I liked various lyrics in it, such as 'be myself again', 'i'll point you home', and 'crazy messed up things you do'. I saw this band in concert at allstate arena in Rosemont when I lived in suburban Chicago, memorable as it was on new years eve. of course, like many others, I know them for having the theme song to the TV show 'big bang theory'. so now I have seen three shows at fringe besides the one I am in.
   it was no big deal changing my schedule a little today, a day known for errand running. I moved up when I went to my post office box, there was two postcards and the amazon orders- two Charlie brown books, and the don rickles DVD. after the show was done I went on to the Roseville library, where I printed things and wanted to order a plane ticket for new York city. except I got bogged down in the cost of the plane ticket, knowing full well it should have been ordered earlier in the week. eventually I said 'just get it done', but it was after the show that i attended this evening. I will be flying into Newark and out of LaGuardia, a layover in Chicago on the way there but nonstop when headed home. I still need to figure out the other logistics like the hotel room, but shaving a day off the trip may make it easier to find an affordable hotel in manhattan. I will be there for 4 days now instead of 5. I let my new Yorker friend know, as well as my college roommate, as I hope to see both while in the area.
    it was no problem getting ready for the show, of course a shower and shave before I departed for the venue. since it was at 1pm I got lunch before I arrived. it was at Bryant lake bowl in Minneapolis, so I went to the super-America across the street. the clerk recognized me from me stopping there before the rehearsal nearly a week ago, and he said 'break a leg'. my set went fine, though I could tell my voice was slipping a little. I might have talked a little too much before going on, though I had gulped down a bottle of sparkling water from super-America so I had hoped I would be fine. I am not sure how many people actually noticed, but I did since I know what I sound like. a fellow cast-member did say I was fine. I asked to keep one of the programs let behind, as I want as many souvenirs as possible from this venture for my comedy binder. we left the 'green room' shortly after we were done, as another show was happening shortly after ours. but I pack light so it didn't take long after our show was done.

weirdo haven

I am wearing my 'artist pass' from the fringe festival and it says on one side 'theater is a haven for weirdos. glorious, glorious weirdos'. I am already taking advantage of having this pass, by attending two shows tonight, both at the 'round theater'. one was a satire about air travel, and the other about being biracial. I had seen shows done by these actors or directors before. I laughed more at the one about air travel, but I liked the honesty in the other one. I spent some time going over the schedule of plays that were of interest to me, and what my schedule allowed. looks like the first weekend will be a busy one for me. and I got some ideas for a few more shows to attend just by seeing the cards at the venue tonight. I did get reviews of both shows on the website already. I knew I needed to get on the road to the venue shortly after I was done eating at taco bell in the evening as they do not allow latecomers to be seated. I arrived about five minutes before showtime, after walking from my parking spot of course. somebody said they recognized me after the second show, as I was walking back to my car, but I didn't know them. I thought it was odd.

red robin burgers and brews

tonight after watching 'big bang theory' I went to a red robin and had a drink as I was meeting a friend there. I hadn't been to this establishment before as far as I know. I said it was hard to mapquest it as it was on a 'half street' in Bloomington, but I still found it no problem. I checked an online map so I had a good idea of the cross streets and major arteries. notable was seeing some artwork behind us, it was 'the dude' from 'big lebowski'.
    I watched two 'big bang theory' episodes tonight. syndicated rerun was when penny claimed a chair that had a critter in it, and amy Farrah fowler was asked by Sheldon to speak to her about it. I liked penny saying 'what's up, buttercup' to Sheldon after his knocking. prime time episode was when leonard and penny see the same psychiatrist.
   at the office I let the Filipino man know that I was interested in helping out with the backpack drive, as it is proven that this is somebody I can work with well. I said I would probably need to be caught up on my normal duties and notify my boss as to where I happened to be. I said my slowest day is Friday, and I have been wanting to help out in any way I can- especially after ending my involvement in the Roosevelt mentoring program earlier this year. I claimed the final pack of contracts and perfected them, but due to the boat tour the previous day there was no new titles submitted to us. I did do more settled and paid in full letters, but only after the manager of that department was done for the day to avoid duplication of efforts.
  

padelford boat tour

at the office this afternoon we did a boat tour on the padelford. I think we had done this before, but it had been a while. I recalled seeing a picture of dred scott on a boat before. good food and drink there, and of course it was more photo friendly as well.
   I did make it home earlier than usual, even after going back to the office to get my backpack. but when I got home I slept for a little while, then had dinner and knew I needed to get more cards displayed for the upcoming fringe show. pleased that I got to five more places with bulletin boards. the barnes and noble book shop did not have one, but the guard recognized me from performing at chatbox so he got one! then it was one of the stories I told in my set when I arrived at the performance venue. a spoken word artist was wearing a Chicago bears jersey, devin hester, number 23. he had spoken before of beign at the e-2 nightclub on the night of the tragedy in 2003. he was on tonight before I was.

american association all-star game

I was back at the saints stadium tonight as the actual all-star game was being played. the north team, which had saints players on it, beat the south team 6-1. I had a hot dog and some root beer at the game before I got an 'ice cream cookie'. it was a chocolate chip cookie and vanilla ice cream. I arrived after 7pm but the game hadn't started yet. this came as no surprise as a special event like this usually has plenty of ceremonial events. I got to my seat just as the first batter came to the plate and stayed there until the after-game fireworks were done. I had a little trouble getting the root beer can open and it led to a minor cut on a finger, but it didn't seem to break the skin. I had it wrapped in  a napkin for a while, keeping an eye on it, but it was fine. the ceremonial 'last pitch' of the game was in reference to the site of next year's American association/can-am all-star game. it will be in Ottawa, Canada, as part of the nation's 150th anniversary celebration. it was one of my pictures of the video board, one of many pictures of the night.
   at the office, i was telling the Filipino man how I decided to research hotel room rates in his native land and was surprised how low they were. I did this on hotels dot-com, where I have a loyalty account, I was pleased to find out they have hotels listed outside of the USA and Canada. but that still leaves the plane tickets, which are expensive. so I still need a good reason to fly to manila. although it intrigues me when he tells me I would be treated 'like a god' over there as they seem to like americans. he claims it is due to the americans liberating them from the Spanish, and then the Japanese. I said I would still want to study the culture before I went there. it was an easier day as expected with my normal duties. and I liked getting another thing crossed off my list, getting a room key from a Hilton hotel back to a Hilton downtown close to work. that is the kind of thing that I do, return what I find instead of just throw it in the trash. I had headphones on as I was listening to a CD this morning so I left it at the front desk and left without saying a word to anyone there.

soul asylum concert

I went to the saints baseball stadium, CHS field, tonight. it was the first of two All-Star nights. there was a home run derby, and some musicians. soul asylum capped the night, a reminder of my college days in iowa city. I had bought their CD, 'grave dancers union', when it was new. and I bought another one, 'let your dim light shine', over the weekend. listening to both, as expected, really primed me well for this show. I recalled 5 songs from 'union' being played, 'somebody to shove', 'black gold', 'runaway train', 'april fool', and 'without a trace'. I recalled 2 songs from 'shine' being played, 'misery', and 'just like anyone'. I liked getting some pictures of the band during the show, fairly close up, since I have the zoom lens. their set was just over an hour long.
   I arrived after the first event of the night, a celebrity softball game, had started, but it didn't interest me much. the home run derby and soul asylum show interested me more. a saints player, Alonzo Harris, did reach the finals of the home run derby, but he was edged out by a player from the Lincoln, Nebr., team. I am thankful it finally worked out on seeing a concert at the saints stadium again. it was just the second saints concert, and the first since I saw bob Dylan and willie nelson in 2005. of course that one was at the previous one, midway stadium.
   it was a busy day at the office, so of course I looked forward to getting to the baseball stadium tonight. I had to cover for my colleague, on a day that of course is already high volume. and I had a meeting through the mentoring program in the afternoon. I got more cards distributed to office colleagues, about the fringe show I am in. I am now down to 15. looks like I can move up the night when I can go display more on bulletin boards, as the match dot-com event I signed up for was canceled. a bummer, but they did refund to paypal.