Fore: What for? Some killer shades:

– It’s amazing what some younger people know about pop culture from back before they were born. A server friend of mine, Brooke, who works at Green Mill, strolled in the door wearing some amped up sunglasses, and I joked about them looking like Foster Grants. She knew all about the brand, back to when the pitch person was a very young Rachel Welch! The other day, she ventured over and said that while watching the tube, she saw that the new spokesmodel was another Brooke, that being Shields, and not from her Blue Lagoon Days, but currently.
– The golf season is well underway, and the Golf Network is often being shown at sports bars. One of the up-and-comers who is getting some fine finishes, Steve Stricker, got part of his start right here in the Hudson area. The Nationwide Tour was in full force as a stepping stone to the PGA, and there was a regular stop at Troy Burne south of town. As a sports reporter, I photographed Stricker winning one of those tournaments, years before his current glory days. During one of those other meets, I was directed to follow around a young man from Fargo and take photo after photo for virtually the entire tournament. The man was related to one of the head honchos at Forum Communications in Fargo, and he pulled rank to persuade the local paper, the Star-Observer, to free up a reporter for the better part of a week. The Star-Observer is owned by Forum Communications. So if you didn’t see a shot of little Johnnie hitting a home run that week …
– I’ve reported before on this web page that that a bartender friend, Michelle, has a (not so) secret crush on Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers. So I had to tease her that as part of a marketing promotion, a lucky fan would be invited to “spend a night in Braun’s suite.” She gave a disappointed little pout when I informed her that (1) that suite was a luxury box at the ballpark, not a room elsewhere, and (2) the offer is being rescinded since the suite is now given as a perk to the administrator who will decide on the latest round of his steroid allegations. (OK I made that last sentence up).
– Speaking of Michelle, she engaged myself and an out-of-town visitor in fantastic conversation just the other day. It came up that a favorite cartoon character is a creature called Sharkopus, and we think that he just might reside in the St. Croix River. (Does regular patron “Bones,” who insists that Hudson has tree leaches and other mysterious quasi-marine animals, know about this?) The visitor also said that he works for a railroad company and was sent up here from Kansas City for the sole business purpose of attending a pair of meetings, both of which only went ten minutes. So he had some time to kill talking about Sharkopus. (Revoke this man’s expense account!)
– It is now what we hope will be an extended summer, which means music festivals, and a recent one in River Falls that featured folk tunes filled most of the venues that entire weekend. One twist I didn’t expect was an offering at the West Wind supper club, which is more known for their food than having bands. The West Wind was the only place in town to have a music offering that Sunday night, and a packed house watched them play.

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