Jane Byrne

     Tonight I saw 'Storm Stories' on WCCO after the 10pm news. This one was of greater interest to me than most of the editions they've shown before. It was about the problems with snow removal in Chicago in early 1979 that led to Jane Byrne getting elected mayor. Since I used to live in the northwest suburbs I was familiar with some of those mentioned in the show. This included WGN weatherman Tom Skilling, who apparently was a rookie at that time. It was nice seeing familiar things like the Jewel grocery store in the background at one point. One thing I saw didn't surprise me much, since I think it is still happening there. I saw a chair on the street, this is a way of 'Marking territory' so no one else will park there after snow removal. I knew nothing about then-mayor Michael Bilandic, likely since he wasn't in office for long. It's known as 'The city that works', and since then- according to this feature- there have been no problems with snow removal. One of the things they use now is GPS on the snowplows, so as expected one of the helpful things is the advancements in technology.
     This was a day of errand running. First stop was groceries. Then on to Blockbuster Video, where I found a DVD I had passed on earlier- 'West of Memphis'. There are a few others that interest me, but I'm pacing myself. I know the liquidation sale runs until January. I also got more microwave popcorn and a pack of Nestle Crunch bars. Third stop was to a stamp collecting event at a Best Western near downtown St. Paul. I really felt like it was home, as I heard somebody speak well of a World's Fair while there. I was looking at postcards nearby when this happened. I got one postcard, from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. It was the Palace of Electricity. I also got four first day covers, which were cheaper. This included the Minnesota Centennial in 1958, Frederic Remington in 1961, President Kennedy in 1964, and Davy Crockett in 1967. Even though I really enjoyed being there, I had a limit for what I would purchase. When I was out of the cash money I brought, I left. On to the library, where I printed the schedule for an upcoming entertainment festival. It will last 12 days, and I wanted to study the available shows and then decide which ones I am attending. Wanting to see comedy, of course, narrows it down some, as just under half of the shows have it. Another thing that does is the days when I am already booked, like a play I already have a ticket for. Fifth and final place was Cheapo Records, where I got the '8-Mile' movie soundtrack. It was a replacement for the one I had which had been scratched. I waited until the claim on E-bay was closed, where the one I ordered through there was not going to arrive. It's doubtful that I will try to order a CD there again. This proves that I am more than likely able to find what I want, music-wise, in a local store. Some items are fine to keep ordering on E-bay, like the first day covers and postcards.
    In the evening I made it home in time to see the ending of the Alabama-Auburn football game. The ending was stunning to say the least, as Auburn ran back a missed field goal to win 34-28. I didn't feel like switching channels so it stayed in CBS, where a Christmas program was being shown. I fell asleep and eventually I said I should watch a video I recently acquired. I chose 'Sleepwalk With Me', the movie about a comedian.

Fundraiser At Eagles Club

      I am looking at a flyer from 2008, advertising a fundraiser for a colleague who was dying of cancer. It was the event that eventually led to me doing comedy since I got the gift certificate at the silent auction. This is a flyer that will be put in plastic and then placed in a binder. In some ways it is appropriate that I found it again shortly after returning from the comedy club tonight. I told myself I needed to get to a show tonight since I didn't make it to one on Wednesday. It did pay off, as I heard about a show next month really in need of performers as it is an anniversary event. Notable was me telling one new comic to tell some jokes as he wanted to talk with the MC first. He was late going onstage and at first it looked like he would be passed by. He wanted to know if he still could do jokes. Before the show some comics kept laughing when I spoke of the search for Charlie Brown and Snoopy statues. I was asked if I had spoken of it onstage and I said I had, last year.
   I did stay in for much of the day. There was plenty I wanted to get done. This meant cleanup of course. I found some old notes and consolidated them by recopying. This included my comedy notes, so now I have another full page in the binder. I really filled it up with various things I wanted to save, like mention of the funding approval for a new Saint Paul Saints baseball stadium. I went out at midday to eat at Taco Bell, and in the evening to eat at Subway. I watched Iowa's football game at Nebraska starting before midday, Iowa won something like 38-17. They led 14-3 at the half. In the evening before heading out for the show I saw 'The Grinch' and then 'Shrek The Halls' on ABC.

Lady Gaga Muppet Special

      This evening I watched the Lady Gaga Muppet special on ABC. I normally don't watch this network much but they had programs on tonight I liked. This started with the first hour, Charlie Brown specials. First was the Thanksgiving special from 1973 where they eat popcorn and toast. Then there was the Pilgrims on the Mayflower episode from the 'This Is America' series from 1988. Then an episode of 'Modern Family', finally Lady Gaga's special, which lasted 90 minutes. It was promoted as a love triangle between Miss Piggy and Lady Gaga for Kermit the Frog. I think much of Lady Gaga's music was from the latest album, 'Artpop'. I of course recognized 'Applause', it was actually played twice but the second time was during the closing credits.
   Since Thanksgiving is a day off from work, I did think of it as a day to get caught up on some things. This included writing some Ticketmaster reviews, three in all. The first, the Bob Newhart comedy show from last week, was done early in the day. The other two were done in the evening, after I had been to a Thanksgiving dinner in the early afternoon. The other two were events I hadn't attended recently, but told myself I should do reviews on anyway. One was the Eminem show I saw at MSG in 2005. Of the 6 musicians I claim as favorites, he was the only one not yet reviewed. The other was about the 'Don't Hug Me Christmas Carol' play I saw nearly four years ago. Since then I saw another one in the series, 'Don't Hug Me County Fair'. Since I like to write I take it seriously when somebody wants a review for an event. I am a little surprised about how it didn't take much to make the upper echelon. I have 35 reviews currently, and this puts me in the top 50. First one was 'Phantom of The Opera' from 2009.
    I liked the Thanksgiving dinner, it was hosted by a comedian friend who lives in Eden Prairie. She does some jokes about being married to a cop, and one of their dogs being put down with a house call. Her sister was another guest. Her husband did arrive in time for dinner, he was working today. I think we all got to know each other on a higher level due to this dinner. When we're at the comedy clubs for a few hours a night, and talking is frowned upon during the shows, it is hard to have lengthy conversations. They had another dinner to attend so I went home after three hours.
   When I got home I did try to watch some of the second football game, Raiders-Cowboys, but I was tired and fell asleep in my easy chair. I woke up in time to see the halftime entertainment, Selena Gomez was performing. She did sing 'Come and Get It', the song I know. I switched over to the Charlie Brown special before the game was over.   

Mark Twain Prize

     A colleague was interested in how Carol Burnett just received the Mark Twain prize. I know it as one of the awards given at the Kennedy Center for the arts in the nation's capital. So I checked the Wikipedia article, and I had heard of all of the honorees, going back to inception in 1998. Richard Pryor was the first recipient, and Tina Fey was the youngest. I knew about it as Bob Newhart won it in 2002. This was mentioned in the promo for Bob's comedy show I attended last week. What stood out was two recipients. One was Neil Simon, the playwright. And the other was Lorne Michaels, the executive producer of 'Saturday Night Live'. Most of the others were performers, these two were not.
   This award is separate from the Kennedy Center honors, though both are held at the same venue. The Kennedy Center honors are for actors and musicians, the Mark Twain award is just for comedy. I knew how Mark Twain was sometimes described as a humorist, what they called comedians in his time, so it fits to have his name on a comedy award.
     I spoke to my 'Work spouse' at the end of the day about how I haven't yet done the annual viewing of a thanksgiving movie, 'Planes Trains and Automobiles'. Well I had the time tonight as I stayed home from the comedy club. After I took back four grocery carts to the store, and did a shortened walk around the neighborhood, I watched my copy of the movie. I recall once having it on VHS but found it on DVD so I junked the VHS copy a long time ago. In some respects it means more to see it after becoming a big fan of 'Up In The Air'. Part of 'P,T and A' is filmed at the St. Louis airport, much like 'Air'. Of course 'PT and A' looks a little dated now, having been released in 1987, especially seeing some TWA planes in the background. I liked this movie as it is a road movie, and I like to travel. I spoke of other road movies I've enjoyed, and yes I did miss a few while at work. I thought about the others when watching this movie tonight. But I have made a list so I can look at what I own at a glance. Seeing the movie reminded me of doing a double take when living in suburban Chicago, seeing the El Rancho Motel. I once stopped in and said to the desk clerk how it looked familiar, and a picture near the front desk confirmed it. The clerk said nothing, probably had dealt with this many times before. This of course was the motel near the end of the movie, after the car caught fire.

'Angel' by Shaggy

   When I arrived at the comedy club tonight I heard the song 'Angel' by Shaggy playing. It is essentially a cover of 'Angel of the morning'. Whenever I hear it I think of being at a baseball game in Milwaukee in 2001, about a week after September 11. It was playing before the game, along with 'Just a Girl' by No Doubt. Though I didn't know the performer until attending a class reunion less than a year later, as it was played there and I asked the DJ.
   I was the second performer tonight after the MC, and I did plenty of new jokes. Before the show I picked up a Harvey Pekar book I ordered last week. It was a graphic novel version of 'Working' by Studs Terkel. When I opened the book I randomly flipped to a page where the occupation being profiled was a grave digger.
     At work I stayed busy with special projects. I finished one of them by completing the spreadsheet.  This meant finding the three home improvement accounts I had passed over earlier. I printed contracts for two of them, unable to find anything for the third. Since there were hundreds to find it was tedious, explaining why I missed them on the first try as I needed to have really good notes, showing them as 'Not found'.  

Deer Hunting Is Like Craigslist

    At the comedy club tonight the show closer was the Worthington native, back from California. He did a joke about his family liking to hunt, including using deer urine to attract deer. This led to the punchline of 'Deer hunting is like Craigslist' as there is deception involved. And I liked how he did the carrier pigeon joke. I also liked how the 'Extra murder' comic brought back the 'Labyrinth' joke.
   At work I helped my 'Work spouse' out with the Gap payoff report. I got the lion's share done today, four pages out of nearly six, and this was nearly 80 titles found and logged out. I was available to help as there weren't many special requests to find.
   When I was driving to the comedy club tonight, I said the voice sounded familiar on a sports talk radio show. Sure enough, it was the Worthington native. He was a guest on the show, which of course this time of year mostly meant discussing the Vikings game. Usually I don't listen to sports talk radio shows but when it's somebody I know then I will.
   Another E-bay order arrived, this one was the Canada Centennial first day cover from 1967. I shredded the rest of the mail I received, so this was really the only wanted item today. It was the typical items, like non-profits wanting my money, and a postcard advertising a local playhouse theater.

Eminem Interview In Rolling Stone

    I found a copy of Rolling Stone magazine and liked seeing Eminem on the cover. It said 'Eminem reborn: looking forward, looking back'. The interview said it was covering the real Marshall Mathers. One quote was: 'Hip hop is the only thing I've ever been decent at. they have a word for that: idiot savant?' Plenty of pictures, one was with Jay-Z at a Detroit Tigers baseball game. Another was him on Saturday Night Live, guess I missed that one. Must have been recent as it said 'Berzerk'- which is a recent song. One question was about 'Stan' entering the lexicon. Found out it was an Eminem song about getting fan letters. It was a sad song, ending with the suicide of the fan. But it wasn't shocking at all, as Eminem has been willing to cover issues like these in his songs. After finding 'Stan' on Youtube, I went back to what is probably my favorite- 'Need a doctor'. This one had plenty of passion in it as well, as it was about his mentor, Dr. Dre. 'You risked your career for me'. Then I found an interview with his ex-wife, Kim, on ABC, and then his interview with Anderson Cooper from '60 Minutes' on CBS. I like seeing people get interviewed, as plenty can be learned from it.
    When he mentions in the Rolling Stone interview how he doesn't do many concert tours now, I am thankful I saw his concert at Madison Square Garden in 2005. It was the proverbial 'Two birds, one stone'- wanted to see his show, and an event a the world-famous MSG. So I did it on my week-long vacation that year. I have the postcard from New York where I mention it- how 'Lose Yourself'- from the movie '8-Mile' was the final song of the night.
     I called my college roommate before the pro football games began at midday. I did wish him a happy Thanksgiving and it was a good idea to call when I did. He likes his pro football and once the games started I noticed it was hard to compete, having multiple TV monitors on to different games. He would like to move back to suburban Chicago, closer to family and poker-playing buddies, but he hasn't found a job in his field and with his company there just yet. He did share on Facebook about a month ago about a trial run and being hopeful, but it fell through. He said he had been to a 9 Inch Nails concert in Newark, NJ- since he lives in eastern PA and works at a cyclotron in NJ.
   I watched the bonus features on the Anti-Walmart movie and returned the video to the library. There were commercial spoofs, and I recognized a production assistant in one of them as a comedian friend. He did acknowledge this when I mentioned it in a Facebook posting.
   I watched some of the pro football games today, but the day was also about mundane things like getting caught up on mail and paperwork. There was plenty of activity on E-harmony, as it is a free communication weekend. Now I have 5 matches up to email stage. But with the Thanksgiving holiday coming soon I know I need to be patient about setting up dates. On '60 Minutes' I liked seeing an interview at the end about author Malcolm Gladwell, he sounds like somebody who has many traits like me. Often being an outsider, and a recluse as well. But I know writers tend to be a recluse anyway. It was done as a 'David and Goliath' story as underdogs find their own paths to success. Another thing that resonated with me was how his critics will say he sometimes 'States the obvious'- well I know I can do this too.

Wal-Mart: High Cost, Low Price

      This evening after calling a college roommate I watched a video: Wal-Mart: the high cost of low price. After a while it did make me think of a 'Simpsons' episode- when one clip revealed illegal aliens were hired to clean the store overnight and were locked in until morning. In that episode it was Homer who was a part of it and the store name was changed to 'Sprawl-Mart'. A thing that surprised me was claiming the management was fine with recommending employees go onto the state government's welfare insurance. Or having a task force in place to stop unions from forming. It ended with mention of places that were successful in keeping the store from coming to town. It did sound familiar when they spoke of many former storefronts being vacant- I know this happened in my hometown. Somebody told me it was due to Wal-Mart not wanting to have a competitor buy the building after they had moved to a larger building.
    There were some errands I wanted to run today before seeing a football game at a sports bar. I made it to two of these places. The first was Walgreen. I had hoped to find a certain DVD there, which I was available earlier in the week, but it must have already been sold. I did decide to get another one, it was 'Batman' from 1989 starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Next was to Cheapo Records. I got three CDs there. This included the Simpsons 'Yellow' album, naturally it was a Beatles parody. Others were an import CD- Pearl Jam's 'Dissident'- and Green Day's 'Nimrod'. I can take a while in this store, even got two postcards as well, so by then the game had started so I headed over to the sports bar.
   The game I saw was Iowa against Michigan. Iowa had just tied it at 7-7 when I arrived, late in the first quarter. It appears Michigan's score was on a 'Pick 6', based on the highlights I kept seeing. Iowa fell behind 21-7 by halftime, so it didn't look good. Michigan's second score was set up by an interception. I was getting annoyed with the people I was sitting behind, as they kept yelling. So I moved near the end of the first half, before the score was 21-7. I was closer to the bar and near a much smaller monitor but I didn't mind. Eventually the server found me and I did order a Reuben sandwich to go with the beer I had already ordered shortly after arriving. I was much happier after the move. The momentum changed in the second half, as Iowa outgained Michigan by plenty and went on to beat Michigan 24-21. Iowa got the ball back with just over two minutes left, but still had to run some plays as Michigan had all three timeouts left. Iowa picked up two first downs, and were finally able to do the 'Victory formation'- the kneel-downs. They have another game, next week at Nebraska, so the bowl game they are headed to is still 'To be determined'. But seven wins looks better than six.
  After the game I did make it to the library where I printed a few things, along with return the Yellowstone video. Then in the evening I made another visit to the Blockbuster Video liquidation sale. I made a nice find there- the first season of 'Newhart' on DVD. Also got another pack of little Butterfinger bars, as well as two bags of microwave popcorn. It does look like some other liquidation sales I have been to- where they truly mean 'Everything must go'. A few things not normally available are there- like 3-ring binders and Blockbuster 'Ticket' logo signs.

Bob Newhart In Minneapolis

     This evening I went to the Bob Newhart comedy show at the State Theater in Minneapolis. One thing I did in preparation for this event was go into a sandwich bag full of event tickets and find the stub from the previous Newhart show I had attended. It was at the Coronado Theater in Rockford, IL, in October 2002. It was between stubs from two events at Allstate Arena in Rosemont: the No Doubt concert, and the Barnum and Bailey circus. Notable was that this was the first time I had attended the circus. My parents wouldn't take me when I was young.
   It is relevant to mention the earlier show I attended, as some of the jokes sounded familiar. But I didn't mind hearing them again. This included ones about Vietnamese gangs, a one-eyed bullfighter, and Delta pilots are paid well. Same is true for the Catholic priest swearing during confession as he was watching Notre Dame football, and clips from his two sitcoms.
  I liked how he railed against political correctness in it, saying people are funny. This reminded me of another early joke in the show: it's all about people. Why not just pay each other $10 or so and ask them to do what jokes you really like? It was brilliant when he made fun of TV evangelists, saying when one wrote about meeting Christ it would have been mentioned in the first and not the third book. It was helpful to finish his memoir book just days ago, as some of the bits were covered there. Like how the woman driver bit is funnier than if it was changed to a Chinese driver.
   I am thankful I attended this show. He is still a really good comedian at age 84. Intelligent humor and excellent timing. It was fine when he tooted his own horn a little before doing the woman driver bit, saying one of his comedy albums is a preserved recording by the government. This is elite company, with the likes of Martin Luther King's 'Dream' speech and President Kennedy's 'Ask what you can do for your country' speech.
   After the show I did spot somebody I knew from comedy, sort of. I recognized his jacket from Stand-up Records. We do know some of the same people. There was an opening act, Patty Peterson and her Big Band, pretty good music, as I don't hear big band music too often. I recognized the final song as being in a movie that Newhart was in, 'On a clear day you can see forever', from the 1960s. There was no intermission, as the curtain came down and the crowd no longer saw the band, and Newhart arrived. He did do an 'Encore' bit, about being in Dubuque, Iowa. I cheered this one as it is my native state, and I did visit there with a companion last year. It was a throw-in with seeing the Field of Dreams. I didn't get dinner before the show, but I did get some trail mix and a juice at the venue. After the show I went to Bobby and Steve's and got a little Godfather's pizza and apple juice. When I was in line to get the trail mix there was a confused man asking us where to find someone in particular. Me and another patron directed him to the nearby ticket office.
   Notable at work was having to call the help desk twice. I had password issues and was completely locked out of the system at midday, right before I wanted to go to lunch. So lunchtime was entered manually onto my timecard. Not sure why it happened, may have been a user error as some computers lock up after too many failed attempts. But I don't like how our systems are auto-fill, so when I have to enter passwords less often I have a hard time remembering them when they expire and I have to enter another one. So the comedy show arrived at a good time, as I like being able to laugh off things about my life that annoy me. The syndicated rerun of Big Bang Theory was on before I headed to the show. It was the one about the girls going to Disneyland, and the guys speak to students. It was one that I had seen before, but I really liked it.  

Yellowstone DVD by BBC

     I finished the Yellowstone DVD by the BBC this evening, on loan from the library. The final episode of three to watch was autumn. Notable was seeing beaver dams built, and some trees falling after the animals gnawed on them. I watched the special features as well, three in all. There was a snow removal man, geyser gazers, and a fish man who swam in the river with the cutthroat trout. I liked the snow man, seeing him on a rooftop and cutting the snow into blocks and some of it fell off in an avalanche. I stayed in as it was snowing when I got off work, under ideal conditions I think
I likely would still have done the walk around the neighborhood. I did make it over to Taco Bell for the big box meal, and brought it home and ate it there so I wouldn't miss a favorite show.
   I watched two episodes of 'Big Bang Theory' tonight. The syndicated rerun was the one where the gang went to see penny act in 'Streetcar Named Desire'. And Amy lost her gig on a tobacco study with monkeys. The prime time episode was the gang having Thanksgiving with Howard's mom. Bernadette's dad connected with Sheldon over football and beer. A big part of the story was Penny having to annul a marriage to Zac after revealing it to Leonard.
   I liked finding a comedy video of mine on Youtube tonight, and I told a friend about it on Linkedin who is now a journalist in Florida.

Spinning The Office Chair

     We have had plenty of meetings to attend lately at the office. Not sure why, but I think some of it is due to having a new boss. This afternoon it was one about updating a procedure manual. Some things needed to be added, but not many. At one point I was so bored, and tired, that I decided to spin around my office chair while I was sitting in it. Don't know if anyone noticed. May be close to where the inspiration of 'Spinning the wheels' comes from, usually meaning 'Getting nowhere'. There was mention of the supply drive for the troops being extended another week, through this Friday. When I found out one thing on the list was dental floss, I decided to donate some as I get it all the time when I have dental appointments.
    At the comedy club tonight there was one comic near the end of the show where I said 'WTF'? It was the oddest comic I had seen in a while. He went way over his time, was lighted numerous times, finally the MC just went back onstage to say his time was up. He was laughing at his own jokes, and said he hadn't done comedy in a while. One joke was about President Kennedy, which wasn't funny to me since we are seeing plenty of news lately about the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination.
   At the same show, I liked speaking with the show runner after the show. I said I often find inspiration for writing after attending comedy shows. This was in reference to hearing how she does some blogging as well. I liked her joke about being diagnosed with lupus by an aunt who flunked out of nursing school. Another one about dinner reservations for Thanksgiving was good as well, since it is relatable to my own family. And one about offbeat seating arrangements at the office was brilliant.   I saw the neck tattoo and GED comic before the show and said he should be in the ring of honor. Hopefully that will happen soon, but it has to be when schedules match up and when I bring my camera of course.

Harry Nilsson

     At the comedy club tonight, I liked discussing music with the show runner as I learn plenty since he knows music well. He was lending a CD to my 'Bestie' and it happened to be a Harry Nilsson special. I said I mainly knew his song 'Everybody's talking' which was in the movie 'Midnight cowboy'. The song was also in 'Forrest Gump' as a scene from 'Cowboy' was copied in 'Gump'. He told me he has done plenty of other songs, even if just writing songs that others perform. Youtube confirmed it.
      My 'Bestie' did a new joke about a lost dog, which was brilliant. It was about losing someone else's dog. A touring comic, who will be headlining another club in the area this week, did a joke about eating raw cookie dough and not wanting to donate Coinstar change to charity.
    At midday I would have predicted a different title for this entry. I was walking through the skyway and I heard a song being played in one of the businesses I was passing by. It was the Eddie Vedder  cover of 'You've got to hide your love away' by the Beatles. I stopped to pause and say I liked hearing it, and the man inside liked my comment. I do recall hearing the Beatles version on the 8-tracks my parents had. I think I liked the 'Hey!' in it a lot. I've said it before how I like hearing a pause in songs, where they aren't necessarily singing like hearing a grunt. But I also liked the story that Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder told before playing it when I saw the show at Alpine Valley in 2003. It was a memory of a family member who had passed.
   More of the E-bay orders arrived, three in all. The Lewis and Clark nickels, a first day cover from the New Orleans World's Fair in 1984, and a postcard of the Ford Motor Company pavilion at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. I made a nice find on Emerson Hough items, a flyer from Great Britain advertising the movie 'North of 36', based on his novel, at a theater in 1926. It was annoying how some of the listings on E-bay spelled his name wrong. Two reprints of his books listed him as 'Houghton' and not 'Hough', likely confused with the name of a publisher, Houghton Mifflin.
   At work there was a office-wide meeting in the lower level near the street in the late afternoon. I liked the food made available there, the little chunks of cheese, pineapple chunks, and little potatoes as well.

Quit Confusing Yourself

     I went back to Walgreen tonight after I was at the comedy club and I did get the photo and CD order right this time. I added one to it, as I got the 'Extra murder' comic into my ring of honor. He spoke of opening for Dave Chappelle over the weekend at First Avenue. While I was there I bought two Charlie Brown and Snoopy candy bars, as they were a dollar each. When I got to my car I was ready to leave, had the engine turned on, then asked myself where the receipt was from the previous day. I was about to go back inside the store and then checked my wallet, it was in there. Then I said I should quit confusing myself. For those who know me, this probably doesn't surprise you too much. I can be obsessive-compulsive. I liked how another comic, the show closer, did his time-honored 'Aggressive cuddler' joke.
    At work I was busy for most of the day. This was partly due to having an advisory board meeting mid-morning. I didn't like this but I attended anyway, as I am serious about being on this board and making a contribution. We needed to discuss things related to the holiday party next month so I really needed to be there. Then in the afternoon I needed to complete my self-evaluation as we are having mid-year performance evaluations coming up. I had to submit it by the close of business, or end of the day. I basically wrote the same as I did from the previous one six months earlier.
   It was nice how 5 E-bay orders arrived today. Two were half-dollar coins, one American and the other Canadian. The other three were first day covers. The first was from 1976, about the American  bicentennial, two stamps from the same series as it was a joint issue between the U.S. and Canada. The other was of the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. There were some slight differences on the color of the stamp on the bicentennial edition. To the right of the Ben Franklin image it is blue on the American stamp and brown on the Canadian stamp. At midday I went to the bank and asked about the half-dollar coins they had. Not many, but some. I wanted one more recent than my newest one, which is 1995. They had a 1998 so I got it for face value. So now it means I have 12 half-dollar coins. I was informed by the teller how they get them from customers and not directly from the mint. So it is truly the luck of the draw. I was advised to try other banks to see what they have. According to the Wikipedia article sometimes they are minted just for collectors, since they are not in circulation much. So it may mean checking E-bay for particular years.  

Snoopy Snow Globe

     I went to Walgreen tonight and wanted to get some photos scanned onto a CD. I get it home and no photos on it, so I will have to try again. I also got some dish soap and laundry soap, as well as a Snoopy snow globe. It has a Christmas theme, and of course Woodstock is in it as well. I like most anything Charlie Brown and Snoopy. I also saw a Rihanna CD there, must have been an early one as it said it was from 2005. I didn't get it as I was unfamiliar with the songs on it, 'SOS' must have been on a later CD.
    After doing some chores, I noticed it was midday. So I checked the Bears schedule and noticed they would play the Ravens, a non-conference game. The paper said they would be on local TV, on CBS. Less competition for the time slot as the Vikings and Packers get priority in this area, especially when most of the games played by these three teams are on the opposite network, Fox. The Bears fell behind early, 10-0. Then near the end of the first quarter the game was suspended due to severe weather. There were tornado warnings in the metro area, and it was delayed for nearly 2 hours. No surprise how they switched us to alternate games, first Jets-Bills and then Browns-Bengals. Updates were given periodically. Well the Bears made the most of the delay, as the momentum swung their way. At halftime they had narrowed the gap to 17-13. They went on to win in overtime, 23-20. Some of the stats said plenty, as the Bears had more penalties and the Ravens were intercepted twice. These picks were turned into 10 points for the Bears. Another stat-third down efficiency- was comparable, as the Ravens converted more but had more attempts.
   I found things to do during the delay besides watch the alternate games. First I went to do grocery shopping. It was the first shopping cart of the day that I took back to the store. Then at halftime I took back five more. In the evening after going to Walgreen I found 6 more, so 12 for the day, tying my record. I ended up missing the start of the second half, but no points were scored during that time, in fact none were scored in the third quarter at all.
   When I did laundry after the game I saw a man enter and say some odd things. First he asked for a light, then said something about a Spielberg movie and a Panasonic 32-inch TV, and said how this was the best dryer. Then he left. Another patron said the best thing with somebody like him was to avoid making eye contact. After I returned from doing laundry I saw plenty of the video I just checked out from the library. It was made by the BBC, and was about Yellowstone Park. There were 3 episodes and I have watched 2. So it leaves one more and the bonus features.

Earle Brown

     I went to a sports collectible convention in Brooklyn Center today, at the Earle Brown Center. I liked reading the historical marker out front, explaining who this man was. Apparently he was a gentleman farmer and this land was the site of one of the first airports in the state, around 1918.
   I liked what I bought at this event. The first item was a Ben Franklin half dollar. I did order one this week on E-bay, but from a different year, and it is still on the way. I also found a first day cover of the Babe Ruth stamp from 1983, the 50th anniversary of the first All-Star Game, in Chicago. Finally it was two packs of baseball cards. It reminded me how I had a pack of a hundred from Walgreen in the past year, not yet in the binders. So this evening, before and after the Gopher hockey game, I got them in the binders. There were some duplicates, 11, and I destroyed them. I did have lunch at the event, chicken chili. It is true that I went due to hearing 3 Cardinals would be there signing autographs- Lou Brock, Ozzie Smith, and Bruce Sutter. But it would have been expensive to get them and I figured there still would be things of interest there. I actually arrived after they were done signing autographs.
   Before heading to the Brooklyn Center for this event, I went to the Blockbuster Video in West St. Paul as I knew their liquidation sale is now underway. I bought two movies, one was 'The Patriot' and the other was 'Sleepwalk With Me'. These were cheaper than most of the others. With 'Patriot' it meant I was able to replace a movie I had on VHS, and I destroyed my VHS copy as they are nearly worthless now as a trade-in. 'Sleepwalk' was about a comedian, and of course it spoke to me as I do comedy. I even recall seeing a poster for it at one club when it was at theaters. I also got two bags of Orville Redenbacher microwave popcorn, and a 6-pack of little Butterfinger bars.
    I saw a colleague at the Gopher hockey game, much like last year, what are the odds? I was on my way to my seat after getting a hot dog and a drink. The Gophers beat Mankato 3-0. The Gophers had won on Friday, 4-1, so it was a sweep of the weekend series. I liked having a seat in the first row near one of the corners, as many times one saw the players go there to get the puck. After the game I was walking back to my car and somebody must have seen my Iowa Hawkeye coat as I heard them say 'Who hates Iowa? We hate Iowa!' I ignored them, as it would have been a no-win situation.
   After the game I made it home in time to see Lady Gaga hosting Saturday Night Live. She did get the song 'Applause' into the opening segment, as well as another skit. She did two songs, one of them had R. Kelly in it apparently. The second was at a piano. I had some of the popcorn while watching the show.
    The program after it was an infomercial for Pawn America, a place I haven't been to yet. They went through some of the history of pawning, claiming the song 'Pop goes the weasel' was about pawning. Another claim was how Queen Isabella pawned some jewelry to finance the Columbus voyage. The host also said he didn't like the image of pawning shown all too often in movies.  

Fan HQ

    I made my first visit to a store known a Fan HQ this afternoon, at Ridgedale Mall in Minnetonka. Based on this visit, I found out the admission ticket can be bought at the venue. The advance tickets are for the autographs, which are expensive. It's a collectible convention so I think there will still be something that I will like, especially if it's related to baseball. I left the store without buying anything as it was mostly sportswear and I already have plenty of this. I did make a nice find at a Hallmark store in the same mall, where I stopped before HQ. I found some Charlie Brown items- Thanksgiving stickers and puffy Christmas stickers. I also had a Blizzard treat at Dairy Queen.
   I had the day off from work to attend a mentoring event at Hamline University in St. Paul. My student didn't make it, and we were served lunch early, before 11am. The notable event was the campus tour. The event was complete before 2pm, and then I headed to the mall.
   In the evening I went to have some Little Caesars pizza. I saw a pizza taken out of the warmer and not given to me when I ordered something. The order taker said they don't serve pizzas that have been there for 30 minutes. I went to see my 'Bestie' perform the late show tonight, and the MC was somebody I knew as well. She does the joke about how a man said she looks like Adele, the singer.    

Visitor From Alpharetta

     At the office today we had a visitor from Alpharetta, an Atlanta suburb. He showed up at two meetings, and moderated the second which was a roundtable. Though I was bored after a while at the second one. I started off with a valid question, as to why the survey results left a lot to be desired. Then it became one big gripe session, and it lasted way too long. The allotment was one hour, though it lasted at least a half hour beyond this. But I left as it was afternoon and I needed to get my normal duties finished for the day. It was just a brief appearance that he made at the end of our senior leader's meeting in the morning. I got an employee of the month certificate, for August. It had been a while since we had held this meeting, usually it is every two months I think our AA had been out on leave for a while. It was the typical day before I am out of the office, staying a few extra minutes. Part of this is due to wanting to put up 'Out of Office' signs on my computer, and a similar reply on my email inbox as well.
    I watched two 'Big Bang Theory' episodes tonight. The syndicated rerun was the one where Howard tries to learn how to fish, and Amy is spanked by Sheldon after she lies about being ill. She just wanted Sheldon to take care of her. The prime time episode brought back Lucy, who had broken up with Raj. Much of the episode was about Sheldon trying to teach Leonard a lesson about not returning a DVD from seven years earlier. Leonard was wearing a red sweater with 'Lenny' on it that gave him a really bad rash.
   One E-bay order arrived, the Fort Snelling first day cover. I decided to place some more orders, five in all. Four were first day covers. Two were from the same series, Ben Franklin from 1976, a joint issue between the US and Canada. Two others were from World's Fairs: Seattle 1962 and New Orleans 1984. I chose these two as I have been to both cities. The fifth item was a Ben Franklin half dollar coin from 1963, and I did do 'Buy it now' as the auction prices weren't any lower once they arrived at the end of the auctions usually. I still may get a second Franklin coin, but for now I like having at least one. I liked how the first day covers were real cheap, this helped offset the cost of the rare coin. I am thinking about placing a few more orders this weekend, like a World's Fair postcard.
  I did the E-bay orders after watching some of 'Sherlock Holmes' (officially known as 'Elementary') which was on after I got back from a long walk around the neighborhood. I tried to call my dad back, but got voicemail. He had called me a day earlier, but I don't have my phone on much.

Rasputin

     I did the Wii dancing thing this afternoon. One of the songs we danced to was called 'Rasputin'. I don't think I had heard it before. It did tell a story, the nice thing about the lyrics being on the screen. There was something about his love life, and being poisoned, and the Russian czar. Of course any mention of the czar I will think of seeing the play 'Fiddler on the roof'. Other songs we danced to included one by the Beastie Boys, called 'Body movement' if I'm not mistaken. Another was the one by Fat Boy Slim that was in the movie 'She's all that'. I said I was too ashamed to say to a total stranger- when I was living in suburban Chicago- how I was on my way to see the movie. I needed directions to the theater. Why? Likely since it was a 'Teeny-bopper' movie as my dad would say. But I still liked the story in the movie quite a bit.
    I thought about placing some more E-bay orders today, but after doing plenty of research I decided to wait. I've ordered a decent number of items recently, and it's fine to wait until some of them that I've already ordered arrive. I've placed 9 orders in the past week. I liked some of the finds I made during this research, like the 1967 Canadian coin series for their centennial. I have the penny, a bird is on it, I think a dove. The nickel has a rabbit, the dime a fish, the quarter a big cat (I think a cougar), the half dollar a wolf, and the dollar a goose. So they liked celebrating the wildlife there. Another thing I found was more Franklin half-dollar coins. I know the items available on this site do ebb and flow. I am still hopeful to get a good deal on the half-dollars. As expected, it does tend to be easier to order a set than to try to complete it piecemeal.
   At the comedy club tonight my 'Bestie' was next to last in the lineup. He did some new material, like being hit on at a wedding recently. And more about his relationship, how there was a long dry spell before the current relationship. He is performing locally this weekend, and I will try to figure out how to attend one of these shows. I was hearing some about the Dave Chappelle show from the server, as she attended the show at First Avenue. Something about no beer being sold.

Vietnam Discussion At Macalester

    I gave up a comedy night as I was invited to a discussion about the Vietnam War 40 years later- on the Macalester campus in St. Paul. It was at the Macalester Plymouth Church, which claimed a Presbyterian affiliation as well as United Church of Christ. It was scheduled to run two hours but wrapped up more than an hour later. I did like hearing the speakers tell their stories. Some were refugees from Vietnam, others were soldiers sent there. I was at a table with somebody who had played in a music group that opened for the likes of the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Doors, and Steppenwolf. It was called Cap'n Zigzags Blues Band. He said the band can be found online, under Curtis and the Kicks. He had a photo album there, and in one photo he was holding a patriotic guitar.
   This was a notable day on trying to do E-bay orders. I placed one for an Indian head penny, then was told it was not available. The money was refunded to my Bill Me Later account. No harm, no foul. I would still like one, and will have to re-think my strategy. I said the same about getting a Ben Franklin half-dollar. If I want a cheaper one I have to bid on it, and today's research confirmed this. The half-dollars aren't seen much in circulation, and Kennedy has been on it for 50 years, ever since the assassination. So finding a rare coin at least 50 years old won't be easy. But it will be nice to claim 'I have a Benjamin' though this usually refers to the hundred dollar bill. The other orders should be just fine. This includes a Canadian half dollar coin, and some more Canadian pennies, especially from the 1920s. So when it's all said and done I will have 27 pennies in the folder, well over half full as there are 36 slots. I reminded myself about the Lewis and Clark series nickels from 2004 and 2005. I just placed that order as well. There are four, currently I have just one- the buffalo. The other three are a handshake, a boat, and the ocean. I was smarter about the special Lincoln pennies in 2009, saving each one of the four when I got them as change.      
   At work it was a little busy since we had to re-deploy the work a little. The new guy is on bereavement leave, said there was a death in the family on Monday- a grandma. We had a meeting about the special project- pulling sold accounts- but we still need to hear what we are doing about the not founds.

Canadian Pennies Ordered

      After getting the folder for the Canadian pennies, I started thinking about ordering more and did so on E-bay today. I did this in three separate orders. One was the 2012 edition, the final year. One was from 1911, the oldest one I found on the site that was a 'Buy it now' and on the cheaper end of the spectrum. Then there was a lot of 8, and the oldest in this order was from the 1930s. It will be nice to have the folder more filled up, and be able to look at the evolution of the coin at a glance when they are right next to each other. I may want to order more but hard to say how many. The one from 1911 is larger, I understand, so it will not fit in the folder. Having one from the 1920s, when they first got smaller, would be nice. Many of these are 'Bid on' which I don't like as much since it means waiting longer for it, and it may get more expensive as well. There are 36 slots, but it may be unrealistic to try to fill all the slots. The coins are becoming more scarce and it means ordering them and paying well over face value, partly due to shipping fees. This was why I selected these- seemed to be more bang for the buck. At the same time, I found out there is a Canadian half-dollar coin, though not many are in circulation. I still need to study the listings more before I select one.
   I went to the Artists Quarter in downtown St. Paul tonight. First time there. It was nice to see some familiar faces, as some comedian friends were there. I did perform, I was fourth in the lineup, and got a business card about how to find my video on Youtube as they did film the show.
   At work we were short by two people, though one was a scheduled day off. We figured out how to see that the highest priorities were covered, this meant the payoff report of course. Some had a later release date than others, so some of it waited until afternoon. It looks like all of it was finished by the end of the day, and this is the most important thing.
   After work I watched a DVD I bought at Walgreen this weekend. It was called 'MLB superstars show you their game', hosted by softball player Jennie Finch. It was copyright 2005, which may explain some of the footage seeming a little dated. A Phillies player was shown at what looked like Veterans Stadium, and of course the Phillies haven't played there in 10 years. It was mentioned that Jennie is a journalist for 'This Week In Baseball', a show I have seen before.

Fort Emerson Hough Demolition

     I was checking videos on Youtube recently and noticed they now have some tagged 'Emerson Hough'. Some are of his first book, 'Singing Mouse Stories'. Another was about the demolition of Fort Emerson Hough, a wooden playground with a western theme on the grounds of the school of the same name. I left a comment saying it didn't have to happen, how too many things in Newton have fallen victim to neglect since Maytag left town.
   I liked getting plenty of things crossed off my list today. It started early, with getting a funnel to replace the one I had that was cracked. Not every convenience store sells them, so it has been hard to find in terms of the stores I frequent. Next was getting a Visa card as the reward from my Super-America loyalty card. Takes a while to get enough points for it, but it will pay for groceries for a week. Then it was claiming a cabinet that was left on the sidewalk. I saw it when I went out this morning to have a breakfast sandwich at McDonald's. It sure was a chore to get it home, as it wouldn't fit in my car. So I had to move it end to end, and end over end. Since my cases and box full of CD's is now inside it, and my CD player is on top, I think of it as another entertainment center. I posted a photo about it on Facebook, already got a few likes.
   In the early evening I went to Walgreen to get some picture prints and a CD of photos, in order to add some to Facebook. This included adding some more comedian friends to the ring of honor.
    While I was waiting I went to Barnes and Noble and got a Charlie Brown book, called Peanuts Treasury, and Snoopy is on the cover, dancing around. Also got another coin folder, this time for Canadian pennies. I have 15 in it. This was the lion's share of my Canadian coins. It left just 7- nickel, dime, 3 quarters, 2 dollars. The first one had King George VI on it, from 1949. The newest is from 2010. I would just save them whenever I got them as change, same as many other coins in my collection. Though I do recall dumping some of them in a fountain at the Detroit airport when I was there for a writer's convention two years ago, as I had too many. Not sure how many pennies I dumped then, but I said certain ones I wanted to save at that time. The anniversary editions are nice- from 1967 and 1992. So is 2002- 50 years of Queen Elizabeth II as monarch. I had two from 2001, so I will send one of them to the wishing well the next time I am at Mall of America. There is another penny I have kept, it is at the office. It was memorable to me as I got it at Charlie Brown's barber shop when I was very young. It was a big deal to see a Canadian coin at the time, it was why I wrote down the date on the tape when I kept it in a photo album for a while. Eventually I transferred it to an index card with some other notable coins. I like the description that goes with the folder, going through the history as well as the dimensions of the coin. I haven't visited Canada for a while, been there twice. Most recently was to Winnipeg in 2004. But someday I would expect to be there again. Hard to say if I want more coin folders, though I do have plenty of Lincoln pennies, nearly 20, especially from the 'Wheat ear' era before 1959. I also kept all four types from 2009, an anniversary year.

Harvey Pekar's American Splendor Movie

    This evening I watched 'Harvey Pekar's American Splendor' movie. Found a DVD copy of it at the Shoreview library. Really liked Toby the nerd. Was odd to see a can of WD-40 in the bathroom. Liked hearing a Pretenders song in it, 'My city was gone', it was on an album I have, 'Learning to crawl'. Also liked seeing Molly Shannon in it in a small role, as Pekar's wife, Joyce, in the play version. I am thankful that my comedian friends told me about this entertainer. Saying 'I have a job' sounded familiar to me, needing reassurance. In my case I have had a recurring dream about how I didn't finish my college degree. But I have. More recently I am thinking of dreams I haven't written about but should have much earlier. One was being in a pickup truck with my dad who was driving kind of fast and I didn't say anything. This is unusual for me. Another was of hurting a coworker that I now avoid as he got really annoying to me, always trying to out-argue me about petty subjects. Along with giving me unsolicited advice about my relationship. The third dream may have been the oddest, a mom who used a Tazer to keep her kid in line. But who was the mom? Still not sure.
   I got plenty done besides finding the movie and watching it. I also went to a secondhand store and made some nice finds, especially books. Though two items I bought weren't books- a photo frame and a 'Simpsons' dice board game. It's the 5th 'Simpsons' game I have now. With the books I got a Charlie Brown coloring book, and a Simpsons Christmas book. Two others were a Dilbert book, that I plan on storing at my office, and a stamp collecting book from 1978. Another was a 'Chicken Soup' book- I already had at least one before today- this was for singles. The final one was about the movie 'How the west was won'. I guess I was thinking of Emerson Hough on that one, though he had nothing to do with this specific story despite being a western writer. Another Iowa native, John Wayne, was listed as an actor in the movie.
   I really liked looking through the stamp collecting book already, in more ways than one. First, it was nice to know how I got it for real cheap, less than a dollar. But also since it serves as a reminder for my growing stamp collection thanks to E-bay orders, be it individual stamps or first day covers. I have a decent number of those profiled in the book, like from some World's Fairs. Surprising how the Huguenot series from 1924 is not mentioned at all. It has given me some ideas for more E-bay orders on first day covers. There is one of Fort Snelling, which I have toured multiple times. Another is of the Turner Society, a nice reminder of the annual visit for Oktoberfest in New Ulm as I like having a drink at Turner Hall.
   I did return to my home to unload things and get groceries, along with bid on a postcard from E-bay. And I did get the postcard- it has images of 6 buildings from my hometown of Newton, Iowa, from 1920. It appears to be Lincoln School, the courthouse, the Methodist church with a big dome, the August Bergman home, the Carnegie library, and the One Minute washing machine company. I have been in all of these buildings except for the last one.
    Then it was on to Blockbuster Video in West St. Paul. I was expecting there would already be a liquidation sale in effect, due to the recent announcement, but not yet. The signs up said it was the last day for rentals, and the liquidation sale will begin in less than a week. Guess they need time to go through all of their inventory. I got a good look around but bought just one item, a bag of Orville Redenbacher microwave popcorn. I ate half of it while watching the video this evening. I have been to liquidation sales before, so I know how they work. Of course it is all sales final. But I also know it is like an auction, as the discounts are small at first. Since I already have plenty of DVD's I will have to be careful about what I buy. But this is also why I made a list in the past year of what I own, to cut down on the chance of duplication. If it means bringing the list with me then I will do it. There is plenty of popcorn and movie candy there, so it may mainly be getting the food items.

Dope By Lady Gaga

      I wanted to listen to some versions of the song 'Hallelujah' by Leonard Cohen tonight after work but with one of them there was an 'Ad' and it showed Lady Gaga's song 'Dope' first. Since I was in the bathroom when it first started playing I didn't pay close attention at first. So I will need to listen to this song again soon to get a better opinion of it. It seemed to be a piano ballad.
   I had a first date tonight at the Chicago hot dog place, and I am hopeful that there will be a second date. But of course this is out of my hands. I spoke with the order-taker about comedy before my date arrived, as he was interested in the subject, saying he once lived near a Minneapolis Warehouse District comedy venue.
   After the date I did go home briefly and then headed out again, going to the comedy club. I got some shout-outs which feels good as usual. I know some of this stems from sitting in the front row. I got another comedian friend in the 'Ring of honor' tonight, getting the picture before the show. I bought his CD this summer, he does jokes like the one about the bathtub and 'party foul' along with 'happy divorce day'. He's also done ones about working in a book shop. He was thrilled to be a part of my 'ring of honor', and I think most of these comics are. It's my circle of friends.

Professor Proton Returns

       I was thrilled to see Bob Newhart- one of my comedy influences- guest star on 'Big Bang Theory' tonight. I read how he did get an Emmy for the first guest appearance as Professor Proton. I had seen online comments giving more ideas for a third guest appearance. I think my favorite line was 'Back off, bowtie!' to a rival show host. I'm still reading through his book that I bought recently. The syndicated rerun of 'Bang' that I saw tonight was one where Howard returned from being an astronaut and nobody really noticed except for a server at a diner.
    Watching the show tonight sure figured into my logistics. I needed to make a quick run to the grocery store for a few items and I did it in the 30 minutes between episodes. I liked seeing Egg Nog, as it's the season for it. So I got a quart. I usually get a quart a week until it's all gone, and it tends to stay available until January.
      After the show I took care of a little housekeeping and then headed out for a walk around the neighborhood. It seemed to take less time than usual, likely since there are plenty of leaves on the ground now and it is harder to see any trash. Usually I pick up trash if I can see it. I did pick up some trash, at a bus stop. And I got three pull tabs from pop and beer cans.
   At midday I walked a little near my workplace and picked up an abandoned pencil, not yet sharpened and pink. It can be hard to find this kind of office supply. I had been using some of the hollow ones with thin lead that breaks easily, and these don't really do anything for me.
   I read the news about most of the remaining Blockbuster Video stores will close soon. I haven't been there in over two years, ever since I first tried Redbox, which had a movie that Blockbuster didn't. I checked how many stores are left in the Twin Cities, according to their website just four- West St. Paul, Minneapolis, Bloomington, and Rosemount. I may want to find my way to one of these for the liquidation sale. Besides movies I knew they had popcorn, candy, and some art. The membership cards are likely a collector's item now, mine is in a binder with other inactive member cards. I was issued the card in 1998, my first year living in suburban Chicago.

We Can't Stop By Miley Cyrus

     It surprised me a little to find out a song I recently heard was by Miley Cyrus, called 'We can't stop'. Sounded more like an R and B or hip-hop artist, at first I guessed Rihanna. I really like it, for the same reason why I like many other songs, as its sentiment is 'It's my life'. It speaks out against those who judge, and haters as well. I like the contrast to the haters as it is followed by 'Someone loves you'. I haven't known much of Miley's music but I was familiar with 'Party in the USA', when she was known as Hannah Montana. This is her other big hit. I liked 'Party' as it's about moving to seek opportunity, so it's relatable. And a reference to a Jay-Z song also works for me. Another concert of hers was just announced for the area, and the media said she was 'Controversial'. Not sure why, but I know other popular singers before her were labeled as controversial. I may not necessarily understand what 'Twerking' is but I am familiar with how music has long been a way for people to express themselves, young or old. So who am I to judge?
   After a dental appointment I headed to the comedy club. Once again the dental assistant asked me if I had been to any concerts lately, specifically Bruno Mars. I had to say I wasn't familiar enough with his music. At the comedy club the 'Extra murder' comic was the show closer. I liked how he added a swear word to his 'First world problem' joke. I said it reminded me of another comic who did this when doing a pizza surgery joke. A comic that also seats people at this show said he liked my car, and how the makers of it were introducing a new model soon at the Detroit Auto Show.
   We did finish watching the health movie at work, and I didn't win anything in the drawings. I had more V-8 juice in the cans, there was plenty available.

Abandoned Loaf Of Bread

   When I was on my way to catch the bus tonight after work I saw a loaf of bread on the street. I hated to see it as abandoned, as it was a waste of food. It reminded me of seeing something similar this summer, a jug of milk.
   We did the second segment of the health movie at work, and in it I said I recognized the grocery store as Hy-Vee, being from Iowa. Sure enough, it's where they were. The filmmaker, Joe Cross, was helping somebody from Sheldon, in northwest Iowa.
    It was busy after work. First I briefly went to a networking event across the street. I had some of the furnished food but no drink, which cost extra. The senior leader I know said he wouldn't be attending it. After I got home I went to vote, which didn't take long. Only things on the ballot was mayor and school board. Then it was on to get a haircut, at Sport Clips.
   I did have to wait a little for the haircut, but I didn't miss much at the comedy club. The show closer was a member of the Valley Meadows act. I thought he was going to do a joke about working in a bookstore just to be eye candy for the cougars. He said he may do this joke later in the week. After the show ended I heard some music and was surprised how it wasn't the typical lounge singer versions of popular songs. Still don't know who the lounge singer is.
    I made it to a Barnes and Noble just before closing and got another little Charlie Brown book, 'Be Kind' and another Simpsons comic book. When I was at work I started to think about how many Charlie Brown books I have. Tonight I did check my bookcase, and it comes as no surprise how I have plenty- 38! I was looking at E-bay listings and said I wanted to avoid getting books I already have.

Fat Sick And Nearly Dead

   At work we started watching a health movie at lunchtime. It will be shown in three segments, about 30 minutes each day for three days. It is called 'Fat sick and nearly dead'. At the start of the movie they played a version of the song 'Down Under', not sure if it was the one by Men at Work. This movie is a documentary, and the main character, an Australian named Joe Cross, is using a juicer to prepare his meals. He is traveling America in it and trying to lose weight by just drinking juice. I do like documentaries and I do like road movies. I like seeing how real people live, and there have been some good documentaries over the years like 'Scared Straight'. There are drawings for a juicer and a copy of the movie on DVD. We did screen a health documentary before, 'Super Size Me', one I had wanted to see for a while.
   At the comedy club tonight the Fargo native was the show closer. At times during the show I did briefly go to the bar to see how it was going with the Monday night football game, as the matchup was Bears-Packers. The Bears won 27-20, and played ball control for much of the fourth quarter. At first I was surprised to see them ahead, then I found out later on that Packer quarterback Aaron Rodgers left the game due to injury.    

Mary Todd Lincoln Play

    This afternoon I went to a play at Park Square Theater in St. Paul called 'Mary T and Lizzy K', about Mary Todd Lincoln. It is the 3rd Lincoln play I have seen, but first I saw in the Twin Cities.
'Our American Cousin' was one I saw in eastern Wisconsin in March, and 'Our Leading Lady' I saw in the Carolinas in 2010. I stayed for the post-play discussion, and asked the actor playing Abe Lincoln if he had played Lincoln before- he had not. I said there was a call for Lincoln impersonators, and the rest of the crowd laughed when hearing this. I also said I liked mention of Ann Rutledge in it, something that some historians ignore when telling the Lincoln story and others write off as a myth.
   In the morning I did see the DVD copy of 'Kings Speech', the movie I got from the company's United Way silent auction. It is a rare movie in terms of one that got me emotional. It is because many things depicted in it were relatable. The speech therapist was tough, reminding me of a former boss and mentor who wouldn't give up on me but also wouldn't put up with my whining. Also the parts when the king allowed himself to swear, reminding me of the John Wayne movie 'The Cowboys' where John's character allowed a kid to swear to cure a speech problem.
   I saw an odd thing when I was taking back some carts to a grocery store this evening. It was a wet-dry vacuum at a bus stop.

Nike #Harder Shirt

  I went to the Mall of America today and bought a shirt at Foot Locker. It was a Nike shirt, a replacement for one that was becoming too ratty to wear. It said '#Harder' above the Nike logo, and in much bigger letters as well. It is funny on some level as I don't have a Twitter account, and I understand the 'Hash tag' is something common on Twitter.
   It does bring back memories of some of the Nike shirts I have had previously. This one is black, the previous one was white and had a small Nike logo in red thread. Below it was 'There is no finish line'. Not sure how long I had it, but it was likely bought when I was living in suburban Chicago. So there is a good chance it was at least 10 years old as I haven't lived there in a while. There were some others, as far back as high school and I think one was gray and another was white. But those early ones had a bigger Nike logo on them. I say back in high school as I recall a friend of my mom's from church once referred to me by the shirt, and she died when I was in college. I've just wanted to keep one around so it means getting a replacement whenever needed. This one was found on a discount rack, as I know plenty of good clothing can be found there.
   I did one thing with the new shirt that I did with the previous one. This would be adding 'Go Pre' onto the tag with a marker. I liked reading the story of track star Steve Prefontaine, and knew he worked for Nike in its early days since his coach was a founder of the company. Fans often said 'Go Pre' when he was running. I wasn't a track star, but I liked his determination. He hated to lose and hardly ever did once he found something he was good at. I even bought a book about his life, called 'Pre'- The story of America's greatest running legend, written by Tom Jordan. Haven't been to Coos Bay, Oregon, his hometown, but my college roommate has been there on business. Someday I am sure I will see it, and it should have a familiar feel since it sounds like a working class town, much like where I grew up. I did see both of the movies about his life, 'Prefontaine' and 'Without Limits', and have the latter on DVD, found at a secondhand store.
    I had to go to a Fedex Office since a print of a hockey ticket for this month wasn't good enough at the library. The library closed before I had a chance to have it redone properly. I like visiting with one of the employees there, somebody I have kept in touch with over the years of my patronage there. He is in training to be a chiropractor. He asked if I had a business card. I said I keep forgetting to have them on me, usually they are in my backpack and I don't take it everywhere with me. So after some more errand running- like to visit Godfather's Pizza in Burnsville and to grocery shop- I made it back just before his shift ended. He said his California friend also does comedy, and may be in town soon. I said I am quite knowledgeable about the Twin City comedy scene so I am willing to help out with recommendations on venues and the comics as well. I liked how he said he likes to visit Hell's Kitchen restaurant in Minneapolis, when I said I had a gig there in September.  

Pop A Top Again

   When I was driving home after the comedy show tonight, I heard a song on the radio called 'Pop a top again'. I know this was something my dad would randomly say when I was young, and didn't understand why. This was also true with 'King Creole', then I found out it was an Elvis Presley movie. Wikipedia said there were two different versions of the song, first by Jim Ed Brown in 1967 and then by Alan Jackson in 1999. It was likely the one by Jackson that I heard. The article also said it was part of a popular drinking game in the South, having to drink a beer after hearing those words in the song. It seems to be about relationships, since it does say something about another fool sitting down.
    Notable about this comedy show was one comic saying 'This mic is for talking into' and I said 'Yep', then he acknowledges me. This is the one that does the Tetris joke and the 'Pump and munch' joke, and has an Oregon Trail shirt. Though he wasn't wearing the shirt tonight.
   At work I did take down Halloween decorations. I made quick work of it, and the toughest thing was getting the ghosts down that were hanging from the false ceiling. I had to kneel on a table to reach them. I didn't want to use the office chairs since those aren't stable enough when standing in them.
   Also notable after the show was stopping at a Walgreen for toothpaste, and noticing there was some discounted Halloween candy. So I got two Reese's peanut butter pumpkins, and a box of Booberry cereal as well. I haven't had this kind of cereal in a while. I think I saw the same man when I arrived at a parking lot as when I was leaving after the show, as he had a Sherlock Holmes outfit on. Even though it is the day after Halloween, some are wearing costumes tonight. Even one of the comics did. I did a doubletake at first and noticed it was just a police officer costume and not a real cop.