Adventure Evening

Got home and started cleaning. Dave texted saying he was the first to find a new cache. I checked it out. A beer puzzle. I took a little time to solve it. Just enough light left in the day to find it. And hit the Bell on my way home.

Like water

Men At Work was my first favorite band. And I've always liked Colin James Hay's solo work. I just found this one tonight.

Tidying

Started cleaning the grill, needed a new shop-vac filter, drove to Home Depot, moved my new cache away from the wasp nest, stopped for allergy medicine at Wal-Mart, finished chore, tested grill with two quarter-pound beef patties.

Works well.

Adventure Day

On Saturday, the 23rd:

Started the day with some spelunking at Maribel Caves.








Then on to play in the waves of Lake Michigan.


Went to the Milwaukee Public Museum to see an IMAX film, Mysteries of The Great Lakes. And walked across the Milwaukee River downtown to the Safe House.
















Then we surprised the Scobey-Polachek's with a visit.

Chicken Fried

This is a good song.

Baby, the rain must fall

(found creative usage)

Mary, Dave, Scott and Angie and 4 chitlins came over for a brat grill-out and Rock Band playing Tuesday night. Nicky had to work.

Last night I placed my frst geocache in the Green Bay area, then rested.

Tonight I fueled the truck for this weekend's excursion down Wisconsin's East Coast. Then I cleaned it out.

Trevor called this evening. We had a good talk.

Big waves, busy harbor.

Logan #9

Worked on the house up north this weekend, then made it back to GB for Logan's birthday party.

Wicked Awesome Drummer

Dan Hogan showed me this clip of a virtuoso drummer.

Assaf Seewi

More videos

Showtime

Last night, Dave & I went to see The Fuchsia Band at St. Brendan's. Good time.

Tonight I went with the Gibsons to watch the Waterboard Warriors. Good show.

Summer Packer

Went to my first preseason game, good stuff. Gilbert Brown signed my jersey.

Dude, I am so Irish

I have tasted beauty.

Let me preface by saying that I am probably more prone to emotional stimuli than usual these days. But feeling is life, and I felt something I never had before.

Maybe it was the lone wolf state I was in. No, lone badger. I was not a predator, I was just checking things out.

I went down to Taste on Broadway tonight. The restaurants in the downtown district all bring out a signature dish or two, and the brewpubs provide a quaff. Live music from three stages, and a large crowd of curious townsfolk. I first heard of it yesterday, from Dave on our bike ride. It's on my way home, so I thought I might stop by. Not until the moment I was in front of the parking lot did I know if I would. I'm glad I did. Life is about experiences, and though I'm not dreaming of scaling Mount Everest, I might like to see some of the colors inbetween blue and green, and hear the subtle difference between a cacophony and a din.

I parked my motorcycle, left my lunch cooler (I like to think that other commuters have labeled me "lunchbox") bungee-corded to the back, and carried my helmet. I stood out in the crowd: pinstriped shirt, black shoes and SpeeDee socks, and carrying a full-face Honda-red helmet.

I checked out a few booths. Deciding to correctly peruse the menu - I should have a beer in my hand. So I got some tokens, and in turn a Hinterland Weizen. I walked the length of the mall slowly. (By mall I mean business district to you 21st century Americans on the other side of the internet. Plaza, if you will. Temporary, albeit, but the feeling was sublime, especially with the warm August evening sun. I'll also note, in this extraordinarily long parenthetical notation, that there were a few raindrops. Not rain by any stretch, only a few crystal beads falling, as if God thought the evening needed a little something.

)Almost forgot to close that.

I seemed to have chosen a couple of dishes to try - I was not demarcating anything this evening. Only following the stream. It was good. I was about to start with the Irish dish, thinking it be mild, then the chorizo. Until I noticed the chorizo was labeled "Spicy Chicken and Chorizo Salad" (emphasis mine.) I asked, and it was cold, so I started with that. It was good, a well balanced flavor, not just harsh burn. And that finishes the Weizen portion of our evening.

Intermission. Rob Anthony was on the center stage when I was there. Good stuff.



I'm Irish. I'm Slovak and German, too. Other history within me also. But let's talk Irish.



Not afraid to do it. Lanny used to say that. I think that's Irish. Sometimes it hurts, but that's life. You can't stop. You've got to keep moving. Push through. "With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world." And this is my life. And I wanted an experience. And that "Braised Pork with Strongbow Irish Cider & Apple Compote on Colcannon Whipped Potatoes" was beauty. The first thing I thought of was the peace of autumn. And before I knew it, tears were welling in my eyes. "What?!" I thought. Food inspiring emotion? Food satiates, but inspires? Wine maybe, beer or whiskey, aye! But meat and potatoes? From first bite to last, I savored the magical "feeling", not taste.



Mom never made this dish. It wasn't a memory struck. I rather prefer salt and herbs on meat to sweet. But this was, ...wow.



Right about now I should probably say, "How 'bout them Packers," so nobody thinks I've gone fruity. But you probably know I'm emotional.



And a Guinness. Brilliant! I could see a crowd. I could hear music. And I tasted home. I'm going to have to head across to the Emerald Isle someday. There are more things in heav'n and earth...


Hinterland Brewery

St. Brendan's Inn

Big Tomatoes

Betcha din't know

Uncle Bruno's Christmas story.

Chixbax

I took some chicken out to thaw. It didn't thaw in the fridge in a day, so I had pizza last night and waited 'til today. It wasn't a couple of breasts, like I thought. It was 4 backs. After pondering, I remember Mom helping us prepare a large amount of chicken for Jamie's birthday last year. We saved the backs of the whole chickens that we cut up, for soup maybe. I still followed through with my soaking in Italian dressing and grilling plan. Just a little less meat.

I ate a little later though. Dave called and invited me to a bike ride. We rode the length of the East River trail, about 12 miles round trip.

Roundabout Monday

Today after work my new neighbor and I introduced ourselves to each other. We had said hello in passing a few times. Her name is LaVerne and she has two cats. She asked me if I like soup, and I said yes. She offered me some, and when I saw it, I said my mom makes a soup like that, she calls it hamburger soup. She said, "That's what it's called!" It looked and tasted just like Mom's.

I also checked out the big waves, and worked on my motorcycle.

Tangential information

The painting carried by the king in the alternate Coldplay video is Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix.

It also appears on the cover of the album, and in the official video.

Awesome cache!

Had a good time in Galena and Platteville. On the way back, Dave & I went to Coloma to find a geocache I had wanted to find for some time now. It was better than I hoped - a hidden treasure of a place right behind a wayside on the freeway. The rocks are tippy, though ;)

I used to roll the dice, Feel the fear in my enemies eyes

Anyone else notice the irony in the Packers' use of the Coldplay song to finish the fireworks show at Family Scrimmage Night 2008?

video --- lyrics

Touch the Sound

I watched a beautiful movie tonight.

a selection