John Deere Popcorn

Leap day, plenty of news articles about the rarity. I just mainly think of how I have to change the date on my watch, which already says March 1. But I will do that on the next day, much easier if I wait. At the comedy club tonight it went great onstage, though I would have liked more than 3 minutes. A new joke went well, it was a suggestion from somebody who knows me well, I like how they approved of me using it.
   At my job, I am nearly caught up at work since very little new work coming in today. So yes, Virginia, we did have work today. Figured so since the buses were still running. I at first liked the special project, or new assignment, given to me, but it is hard to keep up with it. But it is still nice to get a change of pace, as I was in somewhat of a rut and needed another challenge. There was a nice reminder of why I got into comedy, had to pause when seeing it at work. It was a document signed by a colleague named Jeff, who died of cancer in 2008. I still have a copy of an email he sent me about high school hockey teams, next to a puck I kept from a game at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood. I was telling him the story about how I got the puck, an unlikely one. I was holding a popcorn box in one hand and felt something hit the other hand, a puck! It was during warmups, and unlikely since it was way above the goalie net.
   I finally decided to pop the John Deere microwave popcorn from the state fair, but it didn't pop as much as expected and scorched. Don't know what lesson is to be learned from it. I like popcorn a lot, though not every place I frequent has it. And of course it can be expensive at the movie theaters.
   

Airline Mile Milestone

On the way to catch the bus this morning, I fell on the ice. Couldn't see it as it was covered by snow that had just fallen. I told myself right away to 'get up!' though I still needed a little time. But I didn't want to miss the bus, made it just in time. My knee doesn't feel quite right, but I've been walking on it without much pain so hopefully I just 'tweaked' it. At the comedy club tonight I kept it elevated on a nearby chair, I think that helps quite a bit. A friend was show closer tonight, he did many of my favorite jokes and will be performing at the same club this week. Will have to see if I have time to attend any of the shows.
   At work there was preparations in case the office closes due to weather on Wednesday, like postponing a 'Health Ahead' event. Hard to say the odds of closure, last year was the first time in my tenure with the company, over a decade. Driving back from the club tonight, it was still just wet but looked like it was starting to change to freezing rain. I did go slower than typical on the drive home. Also spoke with a comedian who is in town from Detroit this week for shows, I like his joke about K-Mart looking like it went out of business years ago.
    I reached a milestone on airline miles, over 25,000 now. It helps to answer online surveys. In the past year I have dumped 6,000 miles into the account from it. Just added 500 tonight to get it up to the plateau. I had a dream about a local sports reporter, I think the man is obnoxious but I defend him in it, saying the other man was disrespectful.
   There was a public hearing on Emerson Hough School in Newton on Monday, but there was very little online as to the results of it. There were proposals to move the alternative high school there as well as administrative offices, preschool programs are there now in place of the elementary. Relevant as I started the blog to write about the school's namesake. The founder of the Facebook page sais he fears that E.H. will never be an elementary again if this plan goes through, though it hasn't been one for nearly 2 years.

Two Theater Mailings

I get the typical junk mail, but keep noticing I get 2 flyers from Park Square Theater in St. Paul. Don't know why, but I think it's a good idea to contact them as I just need one flyer to know about upcoming shows. This tends to happen when things are computer generated, my best guess is another account was created when I last got tickets to see the Gershwin play in December as I paid with a debit card that time instead of with cash. I know this is more likely to happen if there is a slightly different spelling of a name, like if going by initials instead of the full name. There are plenty of possible variations of names as we know.
 At the comedy club tonight, I saw a comedian that hadn't been in town for a while, a Kansas native who spoke of getting gigs in the 'I-70 corridor'. This would include Columbia, MO, a college town, as well as St. Louis, MO. He had spoken of doing corporate gigs, as well as opening for Dustin Diamond, 'Screech' from 'Saved By the Bell'. This was relevant to me as I referred to him in my first ever time onstage, saying it was unflattering when classmates from high school and college said I looked and acted like him. Though our hairstyles are nothing alike. I still like how I can turn some of my pain into laughs.

Sticky Side

After watching inning 2 of the Ken Burns baseball documentary earlier today with my date, I knew I needed to get going on my errand running. Good segment, profiling the likes of Ty Cobb and Rube Waddell, along with 'Bonehead Merkle', so infamous it is now a bar and restaurant in Chicago. It was on to doing laundry, and I looked at an inactive soap vending machine. It had some broken glass as well as some visible but hard-to-reach coins. May not have been much, but I liked the challenge. I was able to fish out 32 cents in all, 2 dimes, a nickel and 7 pennies. I reminded myself how I had some tape in my car, and could put it on a pen sticky-side up to fish it out. There was likely even more in there, but I know I got the lion's share out of it.
    Somehow it does remind me a little of a book I read as a kid, called 'From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler'. The 2 kids in it, Claudia and Jamie, were staying at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. One time they bathed in the fountain, which was also a wishing well. Together they collected $2.87, they couldn't hold any more in their hands. There was another notable left-behind item, much like 2 weeks previously. It was unopened bags of candy on one table, just as odd as the George Foreman grill from before on top of one of the machines. It looks like the proper maintenance isn't being done, as there still were some notes up on some dryers saying 'do not use, lost a dollar, not warm.' One of the washers had water in it and other trash, so I didn't use it.
   I did make it to the fitness center after doing laundry, though I wasn't there for long. But I am thankful I made it back, as there is some exercise just getting over there after parking my car. There's a decent amount of walking involved, and I like walking. I got the groceries done next, and finished the dishes while watching a 'Simpsons' rerun, a Halloween episode. It was nice to be done with chores before watching the Oscars. I had seen some of the nominees like 'Moneyball' , 'Artist', and 'Descendants'. 'Artist' was best-picture winner.
   Also had some odd dreams recently. One was about walking a dog, don't have one. It was out of control, not sure what breed but I said I liked the looks of German Shepherds and Huskies, well known as work dogs. Or maybe I was thinking of a current SUV commercial with a 50-Cent song and the man in the Arctic had Huskies as his passengers. Another was me on a bus that moved because of a nearby late-night party, woke up before the dream ended.

Waconia

Found a few more leads in the Charlie Brown and Snoopy statue search. There was an extensive collection of articles from 2002, about the Lucy series. It would have been 60 pages to print, so I decided to glean the most important articles, knocking it down to 7. I wanted more information about the one that was bought at an auction and at a park in Waconia, just outside the metro area. I did drive out there to find it, and after driving around the lake a little I turned by the sign directing us into downtown and it was there. There was a big playground nearby, I got a picture of it as well. It is likely the only one that will be found this month, but I like how we've kept the streak alive of finding at least one a month. I'm thrilled that we haven't run out of ideas yet, even though more than 120 have been found. With the later months, we will have to see about hours of operation if inside a business that may not be open on the weekends. Before we arrived back in the metro, we stopped at a Dairy Queen for some Blizzard treats. We had seen it on the drive over to Waconia.
   In the late evening, I went with my date to a comedy show at Corner Bar in Minneapolis. One of my friends was performing. Had to make reservations as the first show was sold out, it was crowded for the later show as well. We arrived just before showtime and were given the last two available seats, right by the stage. I had seen 3 of the 4 performers before, just not the one after the MC. It figured into why I left my seat and went up to get drinks during their act, also since the server was hard to find. I liked how he did my favorite joke, and getting a shoutout as well. Before the show we played Trivial Pursuit, and unfortunately I was a little preoccupied as I noticed there was a hole in one sock. The other was about to get one. So eventually I ripped up both to the level of knowing I couldn't wear them again and got out another pair.  

Battle Cry of Freedom

I like writing about music, as it seems to cover just about every human emotion possible. Recently I saw the first segment of the Ken Burns documentary about baseball, but couldn't think of the song I heard in it. After setting it aside for a few days, I tried a cross reference on Youtube and found it- 'Battle Cry of Freedom'. Listened to a few different versions, Union as well as Confederate. But it still sounded familiar to me, and then I found out where. It was in Disney's version of 'Robin Hood' ,which had animals playing the roles. The song 'The Phony King of England', about Prince John, had the same hook as 'Battle'. Then for some reason, I went on to 'The Thunderer', a John Philip Sousa march, maybe since it is patriotic as well. I first heard it in the Clint Eastwood movie 'Bronco Billy'. I was going to wait until watching my VHS copy of the biopic, 'Abraham Lincoln', but got it answered before then. I did still watch it tonight, but it took some time to figure out how to get everything hooked up as I hadn't played a VHS tape in a while. I had seen it before, but noticed something that I hadn't previously. It was more than just the Gettysburg Address that was referenced in the Ford's Theater scene when he arrives for the play 'Our American Cousin'. It was also the second Inaugural Address, which speaks of binding up the nation's wounds. Many movies invent scenes and characters for dramatic effect, or in this case they merge two speeches into one so they don't have to depict them in full. And as I recall from the history books, Lincoln made no speeches when he arrived for the play. Notable about the movie was Jason Robards playing his law partner, Herndon. I had seen all 3 movies about Lincoln made from 1930-1940, thanks to the library. This is the one I own, after finding it at a mall kiosk.  

The Bell and Rathskeller

This was my annual day for meeting my lawmakers at the state capitol. I decided to look around the grounds and I still find some new things there. This time it was a replica of the Liberty Bell, with no crack in it. Also found the bust of former vice president Hubert Humphrey inside the capitol, I told myself I had found it before. It was on my mind as there will be a Humphrey statue outside the capitol soon. It was nice to see the rathskeller inside of course, reminding me of my dad liking to visit them wherever they could be found. He would sometimes like to say 'they're in the rathskeller' so it has a nice ring to it. When I go to New Ulm for Oktoberfest, I do go to Turner Hall and like having a drink in the rathskeller, so when the time is right one can find me there. It is nice to learn wherever possible, as there was a display about the history of the rathskeller and the meaning since it's a German word. I like finding out how words can have multiple meanings, in this case 'keller' can mean 'cellar' or 'basement'. Part of its history, good or bad, was painting over the German words on the wall during World War I as it was unpopular then, I know this happened in New Ulm as well. Thankfully both were re-discovered and restored. Though the one at the capitol is harder to find, out of the way.
      Also went to renew my driver license, since I had the time to do so in the afternoon. I was mindful of what works on pictures so I was wearing a black shirt as I am more comfortable in that color and more likely to smile in the picture.

Making Up Time

I went to Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis earlier today for my monthly visit for the advisory program. It was odd how I was asked to give the students their schedule for the rest of the day, but none was supplied for one of the six students there. The lesson spoke of branding, and gave examples like Lady Gaga and other musicians. So I decided to get the students going by telling them about attending concerts, like Lady Gaga, and before that Eminem. Even spoke of singing a Whitney Houston song in Chorus class, and the response from one student was that I sing to them. I declined, saying I wasn't that good and there's a reason why those people were performing onstage in front of thousands and I wasn't. They're better at it than I am, and better at it than most are.
   I was trying to get caught up on work but to no avail, since the catch-up time in the morning wasn't there for me as I was at the school to start off my day. The special project where I am making plenty of copies is hard to keep up with, despite making up time with a shorter lunch and staying a little longer after my normal leave time. I was so busy that a colleague decided to re-pot a plant for me in a larger pot, saying it had grown that much, and to keep it away from light as the heat was killing the spider plant.
   Liked hearing on the news about the exciting win by the Wolves tonight, a 100-98 win over the Utah Jazz. Hopefully I will see a game in person in this shortened season. I don't attend NBA games much, since I grew up in a state with no NBA team I followed college basketball more. Especially when my family often didn't have cable, as one of my comedian friends reminded me he saw plenty of games this way. And he happens to be from Iowa like me. I set a record for carts found in my neighborhood, ten, and I got them back to the store. I have raised the bar so high that it would be hard to top it.

Volunteer Dinner

I left work 30 minutes early to attend a volunteer dinner at the Eden Prairie facility on the other side of the metro area. Saw a few people I knew, one of them was interested in how I do comedy, comparing it to public speaking. This is a fair comparison, as the tools needed for one are needed for the other.
    At the comedy club tonight, the show closer was wearing a suit, and said he remembered me from when he was at the club a year earlier. I liked knowing I am remembered, but I am just hopeful it is for the right reasons. I even alluded to this when he said he had seen me before, hopefully it wasn't on 'America's Most Wanted'. Actually this was a response I was given at a shirt shop when I was buying a patriotic 'God Bless America' shirt after 9/11, when they didn't ask for an I.D. when I was paying by check. For some reason I just expected it, but now it is a reminder of how I write way fewer checks than I did then.
   I have called myself an 'invite whore', as I try to go to as many events as possible when invited. I'm thrilled to be invited, no matter what the event is. Some of these of course are on Facebook, especially from comedian friends. This is one reason why I attended tonight, even though my attendance wasn't required as I made no speeches and had no awards to accept. It was also good food, likely better food than I usually eat as I often have TV dinners at home. I was still finishing up dinner when the speeches began, but didn't have much left as I am a fast eater. It was the first question I had as I didn't know how much I had missed of the program. Found out I hadn't missed much, so there still was time to eat.

Herbert Hoover, West Branch

Before leaving the area, I went with my date to West Branch, Iowa, 10 miles east of Iowa City to see the Herbert Hoover museum. It was, to the best of my knowledge, the 5th visit I've made in my lifetime. I might have made even more visits than this, but would have been too young to recall. My dad took me there the first two times I visited, and he gave me my love of history at an early age. The first visit was when I was 10, then again 4 years later, the third when I was in college, most recently it was in 2009.
   Being there did bring back the memories of the previous visits, like when I shared in a summer class in college about going there one weekend a classmate said 'that's boring', but they probably weren't a history major. It was my major, I wouldn't call it boring. For the second visit, I recall seeing an exhibit called '39 Men' which had artifacts of each president. When my dad saw the artifacts related to Jimmy Carter, like a candy dish in the shape of the peanut, he said he always knew him by his 'teethy smile'. For the 2009 visit, it was my excuse for making it back to eastern Iowa to use a rain check for a minor-league baseball game in Davenport. I had wanted to see a Quad City River Bandits game, but they were rained out in June so I went again in August. I felt kind of sad, don't know why, when I heard the music from the museum at the end of the day. Music usually has the opposite result for me, making me feel happy. Maybe it was the memory of a previous visit, and how I hadn't been there in a while. With one of the visits with Dad, he saw Hoover's birthplace, a cottage, and he spoke of 'humble beginnings'. I liked history more than my siblings, and for the first visit my sister was disappointed how we weren't visiting the Amana Colonies. We were staying in Iowa City/Coralville, so we were a comparable distance to both.
    The morning began with having breakfast at a McDonald's near the hotel, a Motel 6 in Coralville, on a road now known as Hayden Fry Way, after the former football coach. We ate lunch at a cafe in West Branch not far from the museum. I did all of the driving today, didn't mind it at all. It meant making just one stop along the way, in Clear Lake. This likely worked in our favor, as the weather starting getting bad after crossing the state line. But I've driven at night before, and through snow before. If it means going slower and letting others pass us, then so be it. I just care about making it home in one piece. There wasn't much to do in terms of errand running once I arrived back home, just grocery shopping. I purposely try to run out of food before leaving town so there is very little chance of any food spoiling.

Carver and Chili's

Drove to Iowa City today to see the Iowa-Indiana basketball game, which had a late afternoon start. Iowa won 78-66, after leading by 11 at the half. Plenty of 3-pointers went in, which is fun to watch. I thought of how I had seen plenty of events at this venue before, but mostly when I attended college there. This included not just student season tickets for basketball, but also my graduation ceremony, a Guns-n-Roses concert, and a speech by President Clinton, who was running for re-election. Carver-Hawkeye Arena has been there for a while now, when we walked through the part of the building where will-call happened to be it reminded me of how there had been renovation in recent years. Before the game we saw the art museum, which moved to the student union after the flooding in 2008. Nearby we also saw the writer's walk of fame, official name is 'Iowa Avenue Literary Walk'. I like it as one of the writers in it is Emerson Hough, my inspiration as a writer. My date got a picture of me next to the Irving Weber statue, which is next to the walk of fame.
    It was the first time that my date had seen the school I had attended. My college roommate showed up during dinner after the game. I was eating at Chili's in Coralville near the mall, using up another one of my gift cards. We made 3 stops along the way, more than I usually make, but we wanted to eat along the way. So we did so at a Subway near Waterloo, before that at a Casey's in Clear Lake. The final one was just south of Cedar Rapids, the airport exit, for fuel.

Ken Burns Baseball

 I used up another gift card today, from BP/Amoco, after I was given this card at the holiday dinner at work in December. So I am back to 3, after getting a Target card at the attendance party on Thursday. It was 'Scene It' and I had 2 of the correct answers for my team. One was movie roles by Tom Hanks, I recognized Josh Baskin as 'Big'. The other was movie credits, I recognized Roman Polanski as 'Man With Knife' in 'Chinatown'. I am eligible for 2 more, but wanted to get the number of cards down before ordering more. I waited a month after the last one to decide what to order, figured that was long enough. Usually it is within a week. I know I have a year after they're deposited, but afraid of forgetting about it if I wait too long.
     In the evening I had dinner with my date and a friend of theirs from college. We ate at Old Chicago Pizza, which I enjoyed, since I like seeing reminders of an area I once lived in. Liked seeing some of the souvenirs belonging to their family, like a ball signed by the 1982 St. Louis Cardinals, who won the World Series. Later on I saw part of the Ken Burns documentary about baseball, the 'first inning'. I knew many of the names mentioned in it, like Cap Anson and John McGraw.

Whitney Houston

I activated a credit card tonight by calling a number on the card, but it was annoying as the customer service rep had too many things to sell me. I just kept saying no. I know this is called 'upselling', from my own experiences of doing call center work. I could have done it online but figured it would still be a quick process over the phone.
    On 'Nightline' tonight there was mention of the famous people scheduled to be at the Whitney Houston memorial service in New Jersey soon. It did remind me of one memory of her songs, it was from chorus class in junior high. We were learning the song 'Greatest Love of All' for a concert and the teacher was hard to please. I said they should just get Whitney to sing it for us. I did end up liking the song quite a bit, since the lyrics were what I agreed with. How I searched for a hero, but couldn't fill that need. Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all, something I know I didn't do for a while. The instructor was so unpopular that he was forced to resign before the year was over. He made us sit in the corner if we misbehaved, we were too old for that as discipline. Adding on time to the end of class was also a bad idea, especially when we were the lunch period class. It was a longer class than the others, and we went to lunch last. A bad idea to have plenty of hungry and angry kids around.
   I don't think I saw any of her movies like 'Bodyguard', if some of them were romantic movies then it wouldn't appeal to me as I didn't date much for a long time.    

The Real Slim Shady

I liked hearing part of the Eminem song 'The Real Slim Shady' at work earlier today, it was on a colleague's radio when I had to pass by their cube. It in many ways can apply to some of us, 'will the real me please stand up' when we can have varied interests. On Youtube I liked finding a version which had mostly clips from my favorite show, 'the Simpsons'.
   Back at the comedy club tonight, the 400 bar in Minneapolis. I was on first after the emcee as there were two that had to cancel out, one of them was scheduled to be right before me. It felt good to be onstage as usual, looks like the event coordinator would like to make this a regular event, once a month. Some of the new jokes worked well. Unfortunately one of those was were unable to attend is a good friend, and I wanted to give him a picture of us from when he was MC at a show last month. It was done as I wanted a comedian friend in the 'ring of honor'. Hopefully they will get a bigger crowd, as I showed up 30 minutes before showtime but it started 30 minutes late as they were waiting for a bigger crowd to show up. I know he was promoting it often on Facebook.
   I did see the news about the death of Gary Carter, the Hall of Fame baseball player. It can make me feel old when I remember somebody like him. He was one of the few notable players for the now-defunct Montreal Expos. I still have some baseball cards, despite throwing out many before starting college. I would like to think how I have one of his cards, but don't want to take the time to search right now as I am tired. I didn't stay long after the show, compared to last time, for this reason. Though I did go over to Bobby and Steve's to get 2 more small Godfather's pizzas as they are cheap when sold as cold, less than half the original price. I am still picky, which narrows it down real well, don't want cheese so I just get pepperoni and sausage.

Returning a Hammer

I was in such a rush on Tuesday that I didn't return a hammer that was on loan from the weekend, a tool used to assemble the bookcase. So I returned it tonight, even though it could have waited until the weekend. I just didn't want to have it on the counter staring at me, saying in its own way, 'you're an idiot'. I try to follow the advice of 'neither a borrower nor a lender be'. Before that I called customer service and got my Paypal account linked to my new Bill Me Later account. There were password issues, but I hadn't used Paypal in a while as there was just a dollar and change in the account.
    I made it to the comedy club just before showtime, and a good friend was emcee, while another was performing and doing a bit about life coaches. I spoke with the former after the show, sounds like she will be emcee this weekend but unsure yet if I am able to attend any shows then. I joked around a little with the latter before the show when I went to get a drink, on Facebook we have been called 'besties' which is definitely accurate.
    I liked getting a comment about an entry from December about the theme song to the TV show 'The Jeffersons'. Apparently it was from a pizza place in Portland, Oregon, called 'Jefferson's'. I would have to tell them that I haven't been to Oregon but would like to visit as I liked reading the story of track star Steve Prefontaine. 'Go Pre'. My favorite movie director, Gus Van Sant, is from Oregon and has filmed there. He's a favorite since he directed my favorite, 'Good Will Hunting'. Another memorable one he directed was 'Paranoid Park', about skateboard punks in Portland.
   It is relevant somehow that I've written about fictional character George Jefferson but probably not yet about an early President, Thomas Jefferson. I'm sure some bemoaned this about American society now, where pop-culture seems to win out. The pizza place may also like to hear how I do have some bobbleheads, and one of them is of this president. It was acquired at a Washington Nationals baseball game in 2007. This was a good tie-in to their 'Racing Presidents' in-game promotion. I would have liked getting the Lincoln bobble as he's a Midwesterner like me but you go with what's available. On the box for the Jefferson bobble I like how they try to educate kids by mention of his accomplishments. Three are mentioned, though just one was as president, the Louisiana Purchase. The other two, Declaration of Independence and founder of the U. of Virginia, were before or after those 8 years.

2 Shout-outs

No, not shutouts. I got 2 shoutouts at the comedy club tonight. One was from the emcee, who did the joke with the 'crappy parents' punchline. Then from another performer, when I laughed at his 'To the Moon, Alice' joke. I knew it was a reference to an old TV show, 'The Honeymooners', and I like many of those older TV shows that I first saw in syndicated reruns.
    I had a date before the show, some dinner and gift exchanges to mark what once was my least-favorite holiday, Valentines Day. In many ways it came as no surprise how there were many who did jokes about it tonight as it's topical. It's rare to have a date on a weeknight. Since I used a different route than typical to get to the club, I needed some time to find what was familiar, but once I got close to the destination I was fine. It was a comparable driving distance, which helped.    
   At work I am doing more cross-training, found out why. A colleague is leaving soon and has to train others on what they know. I found this out when I did my 'one on one' with my boss late in the day. I came well-prepared for the event, having an agenda of things to discuss, as before I was told I wasn't well-prepared. I hate to disappoint people and I like to try to learn something whenever and wherever possible.

They Like The Movies

I looked at the stats for the blog  as I hadn't seen what the traffic was like for a while. I am pleased whenever anyone reads what is written. Somehow it comes as no surprise when the most popular postings were about movies like 'Ides of March', the biopic on J. Edgar Hoover, and 'Horrible Bosses', a Redbox rental. On some level, it makes sense as it's a fairly big common interest- entertainment. And some likely want to hear from those who've already seen it before they go see it. I may not read blogs to decide on what movies to see, but it's a way that many of us communicate now, along with Facebook.
   At the comedy club tonight the show ran long as there was a bonus performer, somebody I hadn't heard of but the emcee said he had been performing at the Guthrie theater. I will admit that I didn't give him much of a chance as I just wanted to get home and wasn't expecting a bonus performer. I laughed some, but a minimal amount.
   Because of the winter weather I made it to the club just before the cut-off time to get signed up. Even though I wanted to return the Redbox movie, that didn't take long, and I got started a few minutes earlier than typical because of this errand.

Taxes and Grammys

I  had plenty of errand running to do today, accomplished most of it as I got started early on trash and dishes and groceries. Wanted to get to the fitness center, but it was more important to get the income taxes done. The federal has been e-filed with H and R Block, the state I am mailing in. I like filing taxes for free.
    After watching a Redbox movie, 'Our Idiot Brother', starring Paul Rudd, I tuned in for the news at 10pm. But it wasn't on yet, as the Grammy awards show was running long. Some media outlets had features about remembering Whitney Houston, who was found dead on Saturday.
    I liked the Redbox movie, a good family story. Funny how the main character's dog name was Willie Nelson, and there were 3 Willie songs in the movie, I checked the credits. I had seen some of Rudd's movies before, like 'Overnight Delivery', with Reese Witherspoon. Still wanting to have dinner sometime at one of the restaurants featured in it, but hard to schedule, and a little bit of a drive as well. It was my second rental of the year, though I am waiting until the next day to return it as I have until 9pm Monday before further charges. He has 3 sisters, one bisexual, another a celebrity gossip reporter, the third married to a documentary filmmaker.
    Even though I didn't see much of the Grammys, I saw how Adele won some awards. Also saw the performance by Nicki Minaj, about an exorcism. I know musicians have dealt with religious faith before, such as Madonna's 'Like a Prayer', which was controversial as well. It also reminds me of Lady Gaga's 'Judas', with what appeared to be an auto-biographical lyric: 'in the most Biblical sense, I am beyond repentance'. There's also the Smashing Pumpkins song 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings', 'I still believe that I cannot be saved'. I like hearing musicians exploring their thoughts so honestly.

An Even Bigger Bookcase

Assembled bookcase #3, got some help, earlier today. Still need to fill it up some more with books, but wanted to get to a comedy show tonight. It has 5 shelves, same as the second one, but it is wider and taller.
     A friend from open-mic nights was able to get me into a comedy show, liked hearing longer sets like his jokes about watching the movie 'Labyrinth'. The headliner was good as well, especially his jokes about bathroom attendants and exterminators. Met the headliner after the show, along with some of my other comedian friends. Two of them were the opening acts, and two others showed up. I hadn't done many of the non-open-mic shows before, this one was notable as it meant having an assigned seat. But it is a smaller club than some others I've been to. I did send my thanks through a private message on Facebook. I said how comedy has taught me many things, one of them is being gracious. A simple 'thank you' does fine for those who said I did well when I'm onstage, but also when somebody is able to get me into a show.
    I did get some errands done before the show, since it was a later show. But it meant having to line up alternate plans. After getting the bookcase assembled, I went to Maplewood Mall to eat and to use up a gift card at Kohl's. Arrived just after 8pm, and all of the places in the food court were closing up. Didn't want to eat at the McDonald's nearby, even said so to a security guard who was helping to close up the mall for the night. I was informed of an alternate entrance to the Kohl's and avoided going away empty-handed, and bought a replacement pair of Levi's jeans. I knew it was time as I have a hard time ignoring a rip or hole anywhere on clothing. I kept searching for a place to eat, I was picky and by then it was just after 9pm, came up empty at one place as they had just closed. But I finally found a place, open until 11:30pm, and had a gyro sandwich. I like those, they're tasty. It was a place I had wanted to try for a while, but kept passing it by for some reason. I like knowing they have pizza by the slice as well.
   I did have a date in the early afternoon, before the bookcase assembly. We went to Mall of America and played mini-golf, using a free game earned from the last visit in May. There was an Amish couple behind us, as I could tell by the girl's hat. She had an unusual pattern for her dress as well, a pink John Deere dress, may have been hand-sewn.

Claddagh Coffee Shop

Went to a post office to mail a utility bill at lunchtime, odd how there was a sign up saying it was closed. Claims it was due to short staff. But there still was somebody inside. Planned on opening again in less than an hour later, according to the posting, but thankfully I didn't need anything.
    This evening I went with my date to a birthday party at a coffee shop called Claddagh in St. Paul, looks like it was fairly new according to the sign, opening last year. It was held in the basement, kind of crowded down there, so eventually I went up to street level and listened to the music playing. A duo was playing 'Dream' by the Everly Brothers, a reminder of being in chorus class in junior high as we sang it then. It was nice to see the wall art, and even a sign about the 'Senility Pledge'- instead of  serenity- which made it funnier. We stayed for about 90 minutes, liked seeing little grilled sandwiches there as well as some tasty cookie bars.
     After the event I watched a video of classic TV commercials, I had found it in a discount bin when I lived in suburban Chicago. In a critical writing class at the Loft in Minneapolis, I once wrote about this video as there was some catchy commericals in it like Ed McMahon bowling in a Budweiser beer commercial. Plenty of soap commercials, as well as some no longer done like cigarettes and Frito Bandito.

Resumed Magazine Sort

I progressed further on the magazine sorting, resuming for the first time since late December. There was a fairly small stack of Sporting News editions I hadn't looked at yet, ranging from 2000-2009. So of course looking at the address label it really had been a while on some, seeing the suburban Chicago address. I got them tied up in 2 bundles, and hope to reduce it even more at some point. There was also the Centennial issue from 1986, which is showing its age. Also put some outdated income tax guides in the bag for recycle with the discarded magazines, and took out the forms that had any personal information like my checking account number.
     I read a TSN article from 2002 in these editions, about the baseball labor dispute which was averted at the last minute. There were predictions in it, but there were off a little. One was the Montreal Expos would move to the D.C. area, and they did, but in 2005, a year later than predicted. The other was about the second rumored club for contraction, the Minnesota Twins, how it gave them more time to get a new stadium, also not within the timeframe predicted. Same was true about the Pohlads selling the club, didn't happen. The 'cleanup' was done after watching 'Big Bang Theory', good episode about Sheldon having to take a vacation. I thought about how it wouldn't take long, and it didn't, little over an hour. Even had enough time to call my college roomate, for the first time in about a month.

13 Years of Service

I marked my service anniversary at my workplace today by bringing in 2 different types of store-bought cookies. One of those was spritz cookies, a memory from 6th grade as we were given the recipe then. The other type had a Valentines theme, no surprise in this month.
    Had to look it up online to see if any notable events happened that day. I found some mention of King Hussein of Jordan being laid to rest that day. I do recall mention of him coming to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and when he left he said he wanted to die in his own country. So he flew back to Jordan and did just that. It will be 2 more years before I end up with another gift besides just a gift card. For 5 years I chose a 35mm camera, for 10 years I chose a clock. I still have the latter but not the former.
    At the comedy club tonight I didn't see the owner, but then one comic made mention of it how he was in Alaska, so his wife was in charge. The final comic wasn't getting many laughs, a new comic, I didn't like him doing so many fat jokes. One needs to diversify. A regular likes me laughing at his joke, and said I was a ray of sunshine but I see myself as dour. But the comic is memorable as I once heard 'tough act to follow' from the same comic.
  One colleague at work spoke of helping with re-potting a plant, and at first I was confused when she spoke of going to night-school. It was to help drug addicts, I heard 'addiction' and asked if she was a speech therapist, thinking it was 2 words (a diction) instead of 1 (addiction). I was in later than typical today due to a physician appointment. I was a little early for it so I decided to drive over by an A&W location I once liked eating at. It still has a 'for sale' sign up, has been closed for more than a year. I hate to see empty buildings, but I usually know it's best to write it off as 'that's the economy'.

Simpsons Hindenburg Parody

I like Youtube a lot for music. When looking up 'Where is My Mind' I found a version which began with a 'Simpsons' clip of the newsman Kent Brachman. It was announcing the explosion of the Duff beer blimp, piloted by the town drunk Barney Gumble, and Kent saying 'oh the humanity'. It looked a lot like a parody of the Hindenburg explosion from the 1930s. It for some reason makes me think of a 'Ducktales' episode I once saw where there was a movie about the 'Hindentanic', a merger of 2 disasters of course.
    At the comedy club tonight one friend did a joke about a hotel he stayed at on the way to a gig, and a cat that was there. I had to ask where it was, informed it was in the south suburbs of Chicago on the way to a gig in Michigan. I spoke of once living in the northwest suburbs. I liked a reminder of an area I once lived in. I did share a story about staying in a fleabag hotel when I first moved there, where a sign posted at the front desk said 'no drugs, we call the police'. The hotel was called the 'Haven', which was a joke in and of itself. A haven for, or from, what? I've realized, whenever something triggers a memory, that there's plenty of material available from my life experiences. And much of it from a while ago is funnier to me now since it's in the past, and I found my way out of the ordeal.

Soul to Squeeze

On the way back from the comedy club tonight I heard 2 songs I liked, 'Say It Aint so' by Weezer and 'Soul to Squeeze' by Red Hot Chili Peppers. The latter was in a movie, 'Coneheads' which I haven't seen. Nice video to it, a circus theme. I imitate the video when I hear it, as the frontman Anthony Keidis will touch his shoe during one lyric, 'on my feet'. I do the same when hearing 'Interstate Love Song' by Stone Temple Pilots, as one scene in the video shows a band member just tossing playing cards.
   Before the show I saw one comic on a lower level, we spoke briefly. I did say I was tired as I had been busy with work and writing a blog, they were impressed with hearing how I write a blog. I said I like to write about music, and this entry is evident of course. I did speak of Emerson Hough being my inspiration as a writer, and I still think about this every so often like when I wear the hoodie with the Hough name on it, from the school named for him.
    Again, I did not get a 'Superamerica special' tonight for dinner, as there was another small Godfather's pizza to eat. I bought 2 last week while nearby at the Guthrie, as they are sold at a convenience store near 35W.  

Iron Lady Movie

Saw the movie 'Iron Lady' earlier today in Eagan, in the early afternoon. I got popcorn after the movie at the Target nearby, way cheaper at a dollar and change instead of $6 for a small at the theater. I liked it, they got the accents down for Margaret Thatcher as an American, Meryl Streep, played her. It was the first British PM I knew of in my lifetime. Much of the storyline was familiar like the Falkland Islands war, as well as Irish Republican Army bombings. Notable in the previews was a writer's movie starring Robert De Niro. I went solo to the movie as my date was ill. It was over well before the Super Bowl began, it continues my tradition I started a few years back of seeing an early showing of a movie on Super Bowl Sunday. Good game, all I ask for is no 'super bore' as there has been some in the past. Giants beat the Patriots 21-17, the scoring started with a safety for the Giants and it was 10-9 Patriots at the half. There was a Met Life commercial in the second half featuring various animated characters, including Charlie Brown and Snoopy, the mascots for this company. It was expected as to who was the most common commercials, based on previous games seen. This would be car companies, soft drink and beer companies, as well as snack food companies. Two of those three go hand in hand with watching sports. Also notable was a Chrysler ad featuring Clint Eastwood. He directs more than acts now, but hopefully will act in another movie, I think the last one I saw was 'Gran Torino', another Super Bowl movie if I'm not mistaken.

Where Is My Mind

A shirt I got at a cancer walk back in 2002 was ripped up this week and tossed in the trash earlier today. If I see one hole that usually happens, as I will fidget with it. I have plenty of other shirts, and this one served me well, nearly 10 years. Have to reflect back on where I was then, working in suburban Chicago. I think I still have another one, the 2003 edition, as I did the walk twice. I was way better at the walking than the fundraising. One year a perky supervisor named Mary Lynne helped with the fundraising. I hated the feeling when I moved and she called at the office, singing 'Happy Birthday', and I didn't guess correctly who it was. Even though it has been a few years now. I sure have met many different people in my life, and recall many of them real well. Still surprised as to what can trigger a memory of somebody I haven't seen in a while. Reminds me of the movie 'Stand By Me' where the narrator speaks of friends in your life entering and leaving like busboys in a restaurant.
   Once I got my errand running done, which consisted of taking out trash among other things, I did got antiquing to a place on St. Paul's east side. I bought an antique Grain Belt beer can, since I like the beer. Judging by the way it looked it may have been intended as a change bank, due to the slit in the top. But I won;t be using it for that purpose. I had hoped to get a look at the buttons from Winter Carnival and other events but the man in charge of that department had left for the day. The others  said he was old and had just been released from the hospital, didn't want to work too hard. It was an anniversary event, there was cookies and crackers and cheese and meat for customers. I like cheese, had some of it. The cookie I chose reminded me of Le Petit Ecolier, as the chocolate was on top of the wafer, a 'fancy' cookie.   
  In the later afternoon, we went over to the winter carnival. Some idiot jammed up a machine when trying to pay for parking, inserting his card in the wrong slot. So I decided to park the car somewhere else. Sadly it was too warm for the ice sculptures, as just one was recognizable by then, a lion. Then on inside to Landmark Center where we saw costumed characters Snoopy and Linus from Valleyfair. Also got a picture of the display in the heritage section, included some buttons with the Snoopy theme from 1990 as well as some of the mini-statues from the 5-year series sponsored by the Winter Carnival. We have at least one picture of the real, life-size version of the statue.
    In the evening, it was on to a comedy show at a casino. Liked hearing a song that sounded familiar when the final act of the 3 was announced, looked it up and it was 'Where Is My Mind' by the Pixies. I knew it as the closing song in the movie 'Fight Club'. All 3 comics were good, though the show closer was more daring in his act. Big venue, not many empty seats. My date got me front-row seats, near one end of the stage. The opening act was somebody I knew from the clubs, who was on the Letterman show last July. Even though I had heard most of his jokes before, I still enjoyed them. I think I had heard the show closer before, as his joke about the Kardashians sounded familiar.
    My date has a membership card at this casino, Mystic Lake, and after the show it meant some gambling on the slot machines. The member card had 5 dollars on it. I put in one dollar and quickly won $10.80, then immediately said I would quit while I was ahead. Usually I win nothing there, and put in little, like 5 dollars or less as I don't gamble much. I said I could find some uses for it. There was a wait to eat at a cafe onsite before the show, I had spaghetti with 4 big meatballs in the middle, and some bread pudding for dessert. Also notable was the coat check person at the casino, who spoke of how old he was, but claimed he was 97. I said he was a flatterer, but also a BSer.  

Not Wearing Red

A colleague said I wasn't wearing red for Heart Health Awareness Day at work, then I pulled up my shirt and said there was red lettering on my undershirt. Reminded me of those in school who said they were still wearing green on St. Patrick's day. Thankfully nobody pinched me like some are known to do if they are caught not wearing green on that March day. After reminding myself about not wearing enough red, I left the breakroom before the picture was taken around midday as I didn't want to ruin the picture.
     It did lead to thinking about a relevant 'Simpsons' episode where Homer is considered to be subversive because he isn't wearing the same shirt as the others are at work. He was spotted on the TV monitors in the office of Mr. Burns.
   At lunchtime I liked how the sandwich maker in the back still knew what I would be ordering and had it made shortly after I saw the order taker, who must be new as I didn't know him.
   In the evening I decided to use my 2 Target gift cards. I got a second as a senior leader gave me a certificate and card, marking my service anniversary a little early, as it is next week. It was a smaller value than the first, which was acquired for winning the attendance contest recently. I got 2 items there, one was a bookcase with some assembly required, and the other was a Charlie Brown DVD, 'Snoopy's Reunion'. Thankfully there was a shopping cart close by so it was easier to get the box into my home. I also filmed a little on my video camera I acquired late last year, while watching a syndicated rerun of 'Monk'. I like the theme song by Randy Newman, as he speaks of how 'it's a jungle out there'. What was unflattering was an ex-boss claiming I was just like Monk, since the character is obsessive compulsive. The episode was part 1 of 2, where he helps with an investigation after an assassination attempt.

Counting Flowers On The Wall

For some reason I have the song 'Counting Flowers on The Wall' by the Statler Brothers stuck in my head. I knew it was in a movie, Pulp Fiction, but I haven't seen it in a while. Liked getting a new assignment sent my way at work, more cross training. It may just be data entry, but I feel more valuable when learning another skill. Most people do.
    All I can think of as to why I was thinking of the song was that I must have been bored. At times I feel like my job doesn't challenge me enough. The lyrics speak of smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo, but maybe I was just thinking of Pulp Fiction as to what triggered the memory of the song. I know after that movie I think of the song differently since a violent car crash involving Bruce Willis is happening when the song is playing. I think I said the same thing about a Johnny Cash song, 'Tennessee Stud', which was in the movie 'American Gangster' if I'm not mistaken. It's the power of movies, shaping the way we think and see things. Of course it meant going onto Youtube to listen to the song, since I like that site for music.
   Naturally the big news is about Groundhog Day, I am still wondering how many of those are entrusted with weather predictions. I know there is one in Pennsylvania, which led to the movie of the same name starring Bill Murray. But I think there are some in other states, like Wisconsin.

Miss Irvina's Charm School

I was taking the train home after seeing a play earlier today, 'Julius Caesar' at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, and spotted somebody who reminded me of a woman I knew named Irvina. I often joked how she would be sending me to her 'charm school' since she cared about manners a lot. She was the type that would run up to you and hug you. Normally it would give me the willies but I sort of knew her well enough so it didn't bother me as much.
  I had the day off from work so I could attend the event, it is a mentoring program I participate in through my employer. I made it home well before 'Jeopardy' began in the late afternoon, and notable was one of the clues in the 'married a singer' category. Since the answer was Brad Paisley, but the contestants didn't know it.This has happened before, where I know it and the contestants don't.
   Also notable was some of the cleanup and improvements done since I had the time. Like sweeping under my bed, there was a big clump of dust bunnies since I hadn't done it in a while. And I noticed how another channel came up missing on my TV, so I finally got motivated to replace the broken antenna. I didn't care as much for the past 2 months as long as it was just one channel, where I was watching 'Nightline' since it was the ABC affiliate. But when the CBS station came up 'no signal' I said it was time. So I drove over to the Best Buy in Roseville to get another antenna. Then it was on to the comedy club right after it, so the installation wasn't until after the show and during the news. But thankfully I am able to watch 'Nightline' again, features tonight included a child adoption case in the courts in Missouri as well as the python problem in Florida.