I hope this long list doesn’t sound too fishy, with a multi-faceted news flash into what could be your activities, but it seems that these days when it goes to feeding your indulgence, Lent to close, into walleye and also wine and maybe whiskey, the place to go if you’re a local business owner is your annual dish-deciding trip to Canada, many a hundred miles to its streams and lakes. You know, Ontario and others, even now become tariff territory, but salmon seeking surmounted, you have options back here in The States. Local and around The Cities.

Now that they have returned home, some still supply a lingering example of spring, as now materializing among the many, Green Mill is back with their March-led foray into walleye and related fish dishes, and many have a somewhat-common tangy but dark-tinged sauce in common, above tartar. The way they use it all fits them to a T, several appetizers and entrees and sandwiches alike, first letter invoked. Check out their Hudson or other location, sit around the circle and also cite multiple Minnesota award-winning pizza, and see how quick a look it takes for you to tell what the sauce is. OK, bang bang or cajun, tap tempura. The walleye fest beckons, even when blackened, with several options, listed on their sign. This is beyond fish and chips, at one of my favorite haunts. And you may also win a fly-out fishing trip to a lodge in, as stated, Ontario, with KaBeeLo.

Take this one step, or door down further. With a seemingly isolated (another one) ingredient that keeps popping up across the road. Down that proverbial Buffalo trail. At those Wild Wings is to be found over and again the killer hatch queso attached that made the Young Guns take arm or aim. Maybe even in the red-hot blazin’ scale of semi-scalding sauces that includes in its heat range a BBQ ranch, very low on the totem pole as in second from the last, (but then there is a restart of the red-hot to cool ranch type colors that occurs with the five dry rubs, not the 20 or so signature sauces.)

Segue to Mad City and its Firehouse franchise that is set to sub next to the Tropical Smoothies Cafe, (a cool if not red-hot combo of things), right in the heart of the college part of town. And not college, but K of C if you’re Catholic, their fish fry also held beer and wine for sale, just for a $10 fee to the city treasurer, on what was called 3-21-25 all through the way to 3-21-25, note that’s the same day, so I’m guessing just one day is what we’re talking. (Like maybe, my stated as 30-day Xanax prescription that said start one day through only that same day for use, so that sounds like a party, if you can stay awake.) At the church a few counties away, being held after three earlier tries is their brew fest contest — together with fish tacos for Lent, and a theme here? — where you can vote for the best beer, and you can even BYOB of brew for people to partake in, although not eligible for the contest. So it’s OK to haul in some watered down Bud or Busch, no one will judge you.

— This is one spring activity, running for about two years, that has been changed up. Now called The Believers Church, they are still ordering appetizers through Juniors grill and bar in River Falls, but have found a site for them to construct an actual building, after having held late in the afternoon each Saturday at Juniors spacious venue at least the start of yes, a church service, according to a representative of Juniors. Beginning at 4:30 p.m. were snacks followed by the service itself. This was seen by the church as a way to increase the size of its flock, through an alternative setting that will appeal more to non-typical types of church-goers.

We have no word on the nature of their theology, or if they are aligned with a recognizable denomination. —

Speaking of this, and recalling a week decades ago that was involved in the countryside and a state park near Golden just outside of Denver with a papal visit, when he was well, and World Youth Day, we move to Colorado as far as trip location. Rapid-fire to 2025, the spring elections clerk joined myself and many others I’ve seen in Hudson sporting a sweatshirt touting with the temps bouncing around the Bulldogs — the university that thus is by far the most prevalent in these parts, behind of course the local Badgers and Gophers, (forget Hawkeyes of Iowa, though other college teams have stepped forward in the postseason), wearers who just might rip up your sweatshirt long sleeves and turn them into, well, springtime short sleeves. Many of those, too, have been seen lately around town as temperatures move up out of the 30s range, but soon to revert back.

As has been Waldo, as in my involuntary take. I have that telltale T-shirt — maybe you do too — a couple of years ago pulled out of my closet, that gets many remarks every time I don’t pay attention and put it on. “There he is. I found Waldo!” I am getting a little more self-conscious each time I encounter such people downtown, although I will have to admit some of their comedic bits are entertaining. (Moreso than the soft spring hues, much the same color as the stripes I wore, on a short-dressed model on the way-down-south-shot TV commercial.) But back to those quips I still get on occasion: It goes on and on and on. It’s heaven and hell. 

Ever watch golf on TV? Maybe before March Madness arrives? When you gaze these days, you see trees up and down the fairways that are already greened out, and look like that was not just the other day. We locally have only recently seen the beginning of budding, although moss grows green on decorative stones in our downtown. And with the March toward basketball, two local nightspots, tap the Hudson Tap and the Smilin’ Moose, which have similarities in ownership, started their specials for these games on The 18th, a Tuesday. One said they ended on the 31st. But we have only recently seen the beginning of The Final Four for men. Meanwhile, the U Conn women’s team set a record with its 12th title.

The newest series of commercials running on my freebie TV is of Maggie, the made-to-be-cool, red-haired woman who wants it all, Cosmo style and wonderful when she admonishes her bad dog. But what steals the show, so to speak, is the tall and lanky delivery guy who gives the most charismatic little wave you can imagine. Looks like a blue-collar guy I know with similar physique and hair. And Maggie appears to be a single woman, but just who is the guy who looks bored and is shown pushing the little girl, who also is a star, on the swingset. Is he a significant other? Or just some random and still nice but narrow attention spanned guy on the playground.

That’s it for this spate on what’s been going on in your neighborhood and on TV.

Tariffs may create a turnabout in how you drink. But what will the impact be at your local tavern?

Want like my friend to have a crown double, oh but wait a minute, you might have to pay a rate almost twice as high, over and above the drink being a double to start with, if it comes from a country that by chance has royalty …

If running a bar, being newly creative is now more important than ever. We need what is made local and regional, because what is international is now being basically shut off, pricewise. So concerning what’s in our country, and even county, with its new tariffs there and just beyond, whether brewery and winery, or even liquor amidst your comfort food as in what you see at or behind the bar, on those smaller counters, turn to what’s offered and made just down the street, as these things might be your answer.

Even with holidays coming, you may soon have to pay bigger bucks at the tavern to tap into say, beer from Germany or wine from France or tequila and ethnic beers from Mexico or whiskey from Canada, so what is made right here in western Wisconsin, craft is what it is called, is indeed the key.

— The answer may not be blowing in the wind, but the signs are. Three of them were felled the other night in the downtown, but next morning were uprighted. Commerce continues on.

Here’s a new one: HudsonWiNightlife is giving you a rebate. Basically. That one who knows sayeth, as reported here the other day, that prices of everything are going up soon. But not quite yet. Your beer and such is safe another day. Or week. Or maybe month. That’s because most companies have a supply on hand, and the wholesale trucks from all those companies that supply those retail companies also have a backup supply in their warehouses. Before those that the tariffs target will hit the bars and liquor stores.

Another thing affected by these price hikes is the rate for aluminum, as it is a metal that is targeted, and what do you think houses that beer? Maybe bottles are a better choice. And those cans are more valuable, so keep them and recycle? —

A pertinent example, this time from the southeast of the U.S., is a craft-like and personally run brewery whose signature beer will now require a price hike for a six pack from $12.99 to $18.99. Tariffs will do that to you, because the company gets its telltale malt ingredient from Canada — and they can’t find it anywhere stateside — and most bottle caps, moreso than the 12 or 16 ounce cans cited above, are from Mexico. Any trademark hops from Germany might be even more expensive to import. Could it be jimmy-rigged so these lids are put on somewhere in the 48 — not 50 — states? Still, there are both pesky supply chain issues and the uncertainty they bring … (The named brewery has already had to let go two stalwart workers.)

So hops at Easter, in wine or beer, might be something that will have to wait until at least the next four Easters, and a turnaround this time in administration, to be affordable. So bunny up.

Wine snobs as well as beer snobs are caught in the mix. But there probably will be one less option … In order to “finish off” their wine making, one California brand from the vine says they have to look beyond China, where the tariffs affecting the U.S. are now more than half, and the already thin profit margin may force them to close the restaurant. And there already have been layoffs at their company. So do we make being a wine snob criminal?

To reverse it, such successes will require innovation to fill the tap gap. Also is thinking outside the box and changing up how people do things — qualities that I can tell you as an ad salesperson are in very short supply already with most tunnel-vision businesses. Thinking outside the box rocks.

And I as a music writer have said it: We don’t need so many dozens of slightly-different-than-the-other-guy craft brews or the coolest new form of wine remakes. But their place has been staken in the ground of market growth.

So if the intro example, of a six pack of beer going up by basically a buck a bottle, holds any weight all, the prognostications of all the media talking heads should be clear when clarified, as it is largely a simple numbers game of math: What goes up on a $10 purchase will assuredly cost you $1 more.

George Thorogood on “one bourbon, one scotch and one beer.” If top shelf, better have a hundred dollar bill in your pocket. And as far as that tip Lemmy from Motorhead so famously gave in multiples at one gig: Better get out some more.

Back on Tuesday, losing Republican candidate Brad Schimel was civil — although some of his followers were quick to question the result — and he in short order at his small venue took to the stage to play with his band. (Drinks on the house via him?) I will give him a great review for that civil overture, although I was not onhand being from the northwest segment of the state to see if the group had clarity in their sound — a sort of transparency. It was not reported if he was low-key while in the rhythm section, wailed on guitar in a sorta out-there way, or went on-stage with vocals and could interject with the crowd. Trumpets still blaring?

And why do all these staid Republicans play in a band? It could make them more user-friendly. Or populist? What is their lyrical content? In any case, thanks for being real. 

When that top shelf comes tumbling down as we’re already seeing, and I’ll call it, the weight of Trump’s empire is falling under its own greatly concentrated … weight. Does someone give him a pardon?

So when you come to the world of tariffs, think big in an attempt to take it back in that Trump prized ruler that’s namely our industry territory for workers, and great if we can? Or big if the matter concerns these thoughts? There is a dichotomy. Concerning our tariff territory. Expanding? On it? In more ways than one?

So when it comes to Musk constantly trying as a poser to adjust his Cheesehead hat, and chainsaw can’t save this comedic bit, Here’s the Canada response, before setting retaliatory tariffs themselves: A tariff on us Canadians is a tax on Americans, the far northland governor type said. And if you want it’s whiskey, you might now be talking triple digits. So just buy the generic-we-have-every-liquor-genre Phillips brand. Even that’s far from single digits these days.

Here is the reply of an old rock band, biting the hand that feeds them in a very-much needed these days and very sarcastic way, with their song On The Cover of the Rolling Stone: We sing about beauty and we sing about truth, at 10,000 dollars a show.

That’s it? That figure won’t even buy you a door at a standard rate you pay for an American/Canadian car these days.

The same number was referenced, by a bar owner’s wife, like in the old Tool song and its redo by a tribute band, which that friend of mine was just dying to see with me at the old Dibbo’s, 10,000 Days. To the digit. And the instance was about that many days ago.

You wanna call something a mandate? Weigh the weighty win in Wisconsin. Elon Musk and his millions to give out may soon be relegated to simply a seat behind the wheel of one of his Teslas, or in the back seat, as he may be shown the door. The rock band by that name may also have fizzled from the scene, and the inventor named Tesla is long gone too.

Democratic judge Susan Crawford’s victory over Musk-adopted and money-thrown Brad Schimel was unexpectedly easy, showing that voters — and I never thought they would — can grasp the great complexities and nasty nuances of sentencing certain criminals effectively. And if you look close, the candidates were much in agreement.

Further study also revealed, more fully, that so much of the content of all those political flyers was just so much bunk. So very confusing that even critiquing them was hard to do because you didn’t know exactly what it was that you were debunking. (Along the same level of clarity as picking Zeppelin above or below Sabbath.) This state race had the most money thrown at it, than any other judicial race that we have seen. At those rates, both sides, you could even at 2025 prices have the where-with-all to get tickets to both shows, (and multiple nights if you are in a big town.)

I start with a reading of the reality, and not Master of Reality, an Ozzy tool. If you want to know more on all that has to be weighed in various parties coming to the sentencing table, look at the lengthy and involved coverage by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. A prime point: Judges in such prominent cases in particular, need to rather closely follow prosecutor guidelines, and both candidates seemed to do so. The flyers, often did not come from the candidates themselves, but they didn’t seem to ask those other groups that named them, many times PACs, to tone it down either, if they even could accomplish that squelching. So much of this dark PR made it sound like the offenders hardly even saw the inside of a jail or prison cell, and were out very quickly as even hourly on bond, which even itself usually has you-can-reference guidelines, although Wisconsin is woefully short on such, seen as a problem. And as we have seen locally, DA’s may only take on cases they know they can win, or cop a plea deal in problematic ones, to potentially save face. This is also referenced in ads.

The flyers supporting Schimel, from a group out of Texas, America PAC, only cited two cases of what they called excessive leniency by Crawford. One of these young men was 19 when arrested, had special needs and his fitness for trial was questioned, as were his chances of getting access to rehabilitation resources if in prison. He had been kept in holding status in jail for months, (atypical?), which has been found to increase the likeliness to reoffend.

The reasoning of the flyer was hard to follow. It cited “releasing child molesters and rapists back into our community,” when the reality is that unless you serve a full life term, that release is going to happen at some point. In another case, cited was a reduction of charges, which suggests using verbal phrases to describe these, then listed a length in years, something that didn’t fit. It said that at issue in the election was supporting the agenda of President Trump and cited securing our borders. A Wisconsin Supreme Court justice does little that affect that situation, just as they don’t often get involved with sentencing individuals.

All of this seems more like a question of a judge’s ability to hold people in custody, and allowance of no cash bail, and this had been on my list of things to address with a post. The following is an example.

A man I know of is a respected, I assume, and successful businessman but when he and his significant other go out for a couple of drinks each, he often gets a little owly and uses a bit of foul language. To the point that he would be on the border of being at risk if a police officer saw the behavior. He once got upset and scrutinized her about how she had voted on a few questions.

This is not important as far as being gossipy tidbits. It is important in noting that if something got a bit out of hand, as far as being loud, someone like him could be a poster child of the need for no cash bail.  

But much farther along, in sentencing, it’s recognized that judges should follow recommendations by prosecutors fairly closely. Crawford was the candidate who at times strayed from such plans just a bit more than Schimel, but both remained in range. It has been noted that she comes from a liberal county and he a conservative one, so it could follow that one set of prosecutors would ask for more jail time than the other.

(In general, ironically and to make a musical comparison, decades-long national band leader and rocker Steve Miller, recently feted, has his feet early on in the county of both candidates. However, his anthem Fly Like An Eagle in particular, and song themes overall, fits better with the Madison crowd.)

Judge not lest you be judged. But we have to make judgments, (I right now am listening to how they are emassed in Holy Wars/The Punishment Due, as in my later discussion of needing due process), to back our decisions, like for statewide or local or federal judge votes, much partisan rather for or against a man or woman. (Yes both sexes are allowed that these days, although some people would probably take a reverse on that.) But go beyond mere abortion and getting a handle on it, allegedly letting the ugly and bad guys go, and how you get to that point, (and the verdicts chosen and sentences given go both ways including by the good.) So at least for a while, in how long you keep them in a cold cell. As the bell begins to chime, and for whom it tolls.

Commence Susan Crawford, and her kinda common-folkish ilk running at the local level, vs. that Trumpish token and allegedly for-pay (at least once and so sorry) lead Republican, Brad Schimel. And beyond the county circuits, reach this decision will, our 72 counties, as they’ll all, each and every one, be hit by the ramifications sooner if not later.

OK, as I evaluate the claims of letting the bad goons go way too easy, on which much of this election is based, so easy to find (but it can at times be justified), these days. It’s been said, and this time it’s true, that if it sounds too good (or should I say unrealistic) to be fact, it probably is not. Truth be damned. Yes, I want to let loose a child killer, it is central to my platform?!? OK … Tell the tale, it is central to no one’s agenda, regardless of gender or even party mostly, unless at times if there’s money to be donated. And it may or may not have to be big bucks. That is universal politics, though not to get partisan, but one party is far more beholden then the other. So if you hear BS, turn the other ear.

— But not all news is that terribly bad. I got a lotto winning of pick 100, plus one of those $100 checks from Elon Musk, and a third of the same denomination from back-pay social security, plus adding to the trifecta the fact that I of usually bad luck also won while playing the ponies at the race track, all in one day. But be aware that today is April Fool’s Day. I really left the casino with just a bit of fool’s gold. —

I have told this (lectured them) to others who blindly just believe whatever they want to hear, and to them I would say cross-check it, and not like a hockey player, across say, more than one news outlet, and God forbid don’t just rest your case on Fox News. MS-NBC maybe. CNN for sure.

Crawford has just let vile people go? Check out the facts behind the BS. And here is what you just might find. You can’t just hold people forever, and keep them locked up for much more than an overnight when they can post bail, without enough evidence to charge and convict and later keep them there. (And when drugs and deals are involved, there may be big money well behind it to get people out, making the task harder.) Or you eventually lose the case, and that helps nothing. And because of, read this truism first, staff cuts, the staff is very short handed anyway. Even if you think in your own heart and mind and soul they are the rare next coming of a Hitler/Dahmer, there is the rule of law that hear this, our country is based on. Due process, too, much neglected today for most. You know, that follow the constitution thang, much touted. Minus Jan. 6. Sorry Trump, in a Democracy you can’t just do whatever the hell you want.

Contrary candidate Brad’s band of beholden brothers argues that also, candidate Crawford is rejecting a bit of alleged natural scientific evidence that there are only the two sexes, and replacing it with mere ideology. Real science, not weird science, itself actually says far differently.

And it is said, (by a Brad PAC?), that Crawford wants to redefine what it means to be a woman in statutes, when they also want to do the same. In reverse effect.

It is of interest — and I’ve heard Musk gets around 27 percent so that’s millions a day — that liberal prosecutors have been criticized for not getting around to gathering enough evidence quickly to put away alleged gang members, when the ones beholden to Trump have been guilty of the same laxity involving lateness when not uncovering info on a similar plain, to deport by flights on a plane 200 people of questionable guilt to Venezuela. I guess finding the facts when you go well into the triple digits of alleged offenders …

Why do I say questionable? One is a pro soccer player from that country who was alleged to not have run illicit arms but have on his arm a gang tattoo. It was actually the logo of a favorite soccer club. Guess it’s gotta be a country club. One thing U.S. officials did know was that he would likely be tortured, again, once arriving back home. Asylum anyone? This would seem to merit. (Back to the scope of that in a minute — the computer tells me how long a read takes.)

But beware. Will we fall just like an empire, as alt music has warned, of old? Even the eternal Hammer of the Gods of the Immigrant Song had its Achilles Last Stand. Always new are your then old overlords.

All this chaotic activity, and to a lesser degree the Wisconsin justice jam, have attracted attention of the national news media, even days before the election, as again the presence of Elon seems to have pushed us back eons. His pay-you-to-vote $100 rate (for whom it tolls and later raised to a pared-down million dollar winner) scheme is I thought, something that if I run up a gas tab too big covering elections, I might bite on if bearing a-what-Musk-makes interest level, that could push it a Benjamin higher, selling your soul with putting miles on my soles. But with the markets his stock is likely plummeting like all the rest, or maybe not, and there could be a big bump with X being sold to XAI. Billions beget billions. (All these figures offered are not guaranteed like the FDIC would pledge to incorporate.)

Back to the pro soccer players. He should be vexed via being vanquished without valid reason back to his viral Venezuela. A judge or judgment chiming in said that the Trump response to why it was taking so long to produce evidence and them blowing off a deadline for such, and when it finally came: “Woefully inadequate.” Kick the proverbial can forward, and easily get it past a bad goalie. Their team further said, they will not freely in any way give out information involving a “counter terrorism operation.”

Apparently it’s terroristic to even challenge, say, the US in a World Cup competition. What else has he done wrong? Ditch due process. For foreigners.

A return from the lower Americas, aside the newly named Gulf: Our local mayor, and this is not a southern town where the mayor rules as law, is running for re-election, and one of his flyers stated he was “humbled” by the opportunity to serve. (Not as with Boss Hogg.) We could use more of that.

But a group touting his re-election bid is not so humble.

The Forward Freedom Alliance gives the same tired old tack that the alternative to Rich O’Connor, “Liberal Liz” as in Malanaphy, will increase taxes “on families,” not to mention electric vehicles, and touting DEI initiatives. Are we talking an automotive union rep here? The group in such a way mentions neighborhood watch and shows a picture of the foe of O’Connor that looks like a jail mug shot and says what she’d do would be “criminal.” If you look closely you will see that what she’s standing in front of is actually a standard height chart for if you stand tall, so it is unclear if what was implied was taken in jail or … wherever.

The guest of honor key candidate would not arrive for fully another ten minutes if on time, but in the already full-to-the-brim main room of the tap-room-brewery, a look-alike campaign worker could be seen standing about 15 feet toward the west end away from the podium.

The arrival soon came, and brought the house down, but that first one before then … She greeted one person, then another, and then there was an opening. So I sauntered by, asking if she was indeed the infamous chosen one? as in Susan Crawford, candidate for the state of Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The answer? No, but I get that all the time. A key point because Crawford herself soon showed, (with tell-tale cheeky mole and I got close enough, for a few moments, to check?), and thus took the stand. As her very entry soon came, it brought the house (and Senate?) down. A takeaway from what’s-in-a-name came that I found interesting but not crucial: No noted the first one, I am not, (nor am I at least closely related to), as she said, fashion cup if not plate Cindy Crawford. And since she has typically logged, as per another volunteer, 2,400 miles a day while stumping for herself. If stamina is a question, like Maiden’s album-a-year Death on The Road and Live after Death, while Trump merely strolls the golden golf course …

— March is ending and whether it goes out fought like a lion or a lamb (specific Dio song reference) depends on time of day or night. Past days, even before the recent snow, have seen lots of T-shirts and bare ankles up the pants-leg, (Aldi has for $7.99 an added strappy shoe), and there already has been one farmer’s market. Moss sweats with the dew in the cold, as it had long ago greened out in a series of bins below a shop window. And for you pol or poll followers, there is a campaign sign sticking atop an old Christmas tree in a big pot. Much has changed since then. —

Crawford sermonized, in a good way, and made a few points that were new to me about why she is the right choice, including how we treat those with disabilities such as her own ilk child and the possibly pending cuts in special ed, (more on that in a future and even earlier post), and then people lined up at a full-or-so 10 percent of those populees attending at the time. And as such After Forever, the dwindling after things died off, and I thought that if to make an-inroad with this globetrotter, I could wait it out. But wait, with every token two people who got mugged in this way, with semi-awkward arms around each other, there were three who joined the line. And then re-hit after-photo-opp the back of (or thus again jumping coyly into the line to make it worse?) Concern if that altar is all their after?…? To be or not to be Crawford-like? As the line continued to show length. To be and shine, Ronnie James Dio, The Last In Line.

I had a handful of not questions for her, but observations and/or scenarios, musing Dave Mustaine style, to see what she’d say about these thoughts. I did manage to corner her, at the end of the hall, as she was walking out after a trip to the can — no not that one — but as we both noted it was 11:04 a.m. (and past as one more jumped the now such as it was line) with an 11 O’Clock slated closing. We concurred, maybe next time to exchange, if there is one based on voting. More of a happy ending. 

I quickly noted, and bookmarked in my brain for further checking, that there were very few 35-and-under people visiting, and few of those male, which should concern those questioning the breadth of the electorate. I did make that quip to an (admittedly) beautiful 45-year-old-or-so and her (obviously) quite young daughter, as when I am tempted to say it, I will say it, query both of them that their sheer youthfulness bucked the trend. I just got and that’s OK, the typical, and the even posting of this question shows I have quipped this far too often, oh you’re so sweet …

She, too, could have been Cindy Crawford. Like the first person I encountered on this maiden voyage at Hop N Barrel (blatant promo) into one-of-what-I’m-sure-will-be-many political meet-and-greets, minus again a mole, or was it two? Three would be very cheeky.

Back to meeting and greeting, I ran into a (late-staying) real cool guy from past days, who works construction and has a cool amped-up gun collection, so you would think he’d be among the first to rally behind Trump. Not so … We come from entirely different worlds but we can bond, now for more than one decade, over even things like this …

Despite the breadth of people in the big main brew back room, that could have been a small banquet hall, there were not even a few stragglers in the front room by the windows with no curtains just ad signs for the station. Is this a case of the MNG being held in the a.m. vs. p.m.? Unusual, as this is Wisconsin. Would Mr. S., he of his allegedly highest standards, admit to even drinking an occasional beer and be truly state-worthy? And then driving like a local conservative judge, and being let off, (twice)? Think about it …

A point I think can be apropo … Walking away from the main gathering, I saw posted and perching upon the top crosshairs of 2-by-4s that had formerly (now removed) held a Trump sign or two, but not three, (Biblical note), on an otherwise vacant grassy lawn, (a point here), a much smaller Go Crawford sign.

Everybody is talking about cutting waste. How to trim the fat? Or chew it, and get lean? (Or you could be Old School German like me and eat the gristle, as in the days of my youth I was told what it means to be a man …) So you might start not with your political pundancy but with the pope and your for-various-reasons Friday fish fry. Although your waistline might suffer, up or down. But take heart, bikini season is still about two months off. (One-piecers might like, say, give you three, but look what they’re wearing to the beach these days.) If other, donate the saved food to the increasing number and magnitude of poor.

So, instead of taking in one of those once all-you-could-eat fish fries, for around 15 dollars, or a salmon fillet, (flown in?), bite the bountiful culinary bullet as far as your breading by replacing the flake-off fish-meat, and pay out as little as half that. It could be in the form of a tartar-topped fish sandwich, or a meal itself, or cut the mustard and price even more with something from the deli. Crab meat and the little bit less for lobster might cost much more, ranging up to around $35 per pound, hope you get a lotsa, and you still have to boil it, too.

— This is about stealing signs, and not the opening day baseball kind. Some by one of the local partisan offices must indeed be fearing such, as they’ve been taking haste to haul in the ones for their most prime hopefuls, from in-between the concrete pillars, and not the political kind, each night at closing time. Some of the stark messages on them are smudged on with black paint.

But some signs are just too big to be lugged away without attracting attention. The largest can be seen in each election at a house made into several apartments a block to the north, or at a designer construction business put aside its doors just a block to the south and pumping (for justice) Brad S. and Brian S. by name. A much smaller banner in square footage but still in the neighborhood is one pushing for a “yes” school referendum vote at a long established business catering to kids. So I guess you can bank on these things, as someone has to pay the fiddler eventually with taxation, if your company has been proven financially successful enough to be around for decades. —

So forego the Musk mussels with mongo money-making forms of marinade, and also multiple merlot, and consider the following, walleye over that T fish. A smattering of local prices, from my immediate area, for salmon and scallops and shrimp and such, (based on the couponing sheets that keep coming from the postal carrier):

— At County Market, leading off an ad, $8.99 a pound for Atlantic salmon, the good stuff as in the form of fillets and not the fish equivalent of chopped liver, paired for comparison sake, alongside premium salad kits at rates around $5 to $7 per pound, although sold in ounce-based smaller units. A price from back in December, from before Thanksgiving to right before Christmas, again for comparison sake, is walleye fillets or breaded strips for $6.99 for a package of up to a pound, and large marinated shrimp skewers, defined as 4 ounces, three for $5. 

— At Subway, you can get a full footlong tuna sub for $6.99, or other varieties including all-veggie-that-matters as in up to about a dozen and you can get meat too, for $7.99. Also, buy a footlong (most any kind) and get a free six-inch. And for a single six-inch, $4.99.

— At Perkins, which can be your Denny’s alternative, which often has been slightly cheaper in some cases, you can get for under $10 crispy cod sandwich or double catch.

— At Arby’s, hawked is the Kings Hawaiian fish deluxe sandwich, at participating locations in the U.S. (no word on Canada or Mexico) while (can be tricky these days) supplies last.

— Across the highway at Culver’s, (hi Mike), they suggest getting that fish fry feeling with the Wisconsin (and Minnesota) tradition on hand-battered North Atlantic (not the south part) cod and butterfly jumbo shrimp, and for the sandwich version you can use a coupon for $1 off a value basket.

— At Applebee’s its welcome to the Big Easy for $11.99 for any of the Bourbon Street mushroom swiss burger, Bourbon Street steak, Bourbon Street chicken and sausage penne, Bourbon Street chicken and shrimp, and (not necessarily Bourbon Street) blackened shrimp and sausage penne, (may be for limited time).

Good God. What will be cut next? The state vs. federal Department of Religion, (which we might now need more then ever, depending on curriculum quirks and quagmires?) Seminaries and such aside.

At least, God willing and the lesser regions seem to be gaining strength, you can still, locally, re-elect in our generally-good-test-score state, the state superintendent of public instruction. The ed behind the id (and odd?) That would be Jill Underly, or as a JC friend badly phrased three times in this state, Udderly or about Utterly, with over and under, without going under (completely.) Note the very nattily like-a-gnat notorious statement about construction not destruction, a flip, like the classic Black Sabbath song titled forever War Pigs, “evil minds that plot destruction. Sorcerer of death’s construction.” That song being the studying of battle, and darn politicians soon to be damned, whether learning or warring — and in the same warped ways such ills are being spun in our books that often take a confident confederate turn — Just before the transfer the fighting of it. Unless somebody with targeting takes out too many Teslas. Toucan touche. 

A counterpoint to turning the DEO to the Dept. of Duh. Throwing money at problems is not always an answer, but hey, money talks. Or the teachers like in Denver who walk. So in many ways less feet on the floor, so who is going to run through those PELL grants and put them in place? Not the overworked DOJ? And will they provide justice to AD(H)D and autistic kids who fall through the cracks, with no one around in their (former) offices to defend their civil rights? With half of staff, already spread thin in transfers to other agencies, laid off? So why do our students turn to alt and metal, death and otherwise, even punk? (Country does have whole-grain values). Maybe our leaders should listen to more of it (and alt) …

— So a smattering of seasonal sautes. People are now, with Easter coming, not stealing egg nog (with tariff-taxation coming on such) but eggs, as per your omlettes, to make $9 per your $10, if paid up front. Also necessitated is ordinance by ordinance of number of chickens you can have in every residential garage, and rooster crowing restrictions. (If he happens to be well hung, does he count for a hen-and-a-half?) And a breakfast cafe down the way has had the balls for their eggs, to say their prices will be going up by 50 cents (per egg we assume) and also to say Billion $ Bacon Rate and that OJ, fresh squeezed, is also possibly going up, and they even said so on (three) signs. And at Agave, they are your base for March Madness bracket adjustment if your beer goggles ale you, so you can afford those nachos (egg based?) And the empty bowl fundraisers, as such, continue to up the ante and never fail to come up in occurrence, and that Coldest Night (historically and that has changed per each passing decade) fundraiser, one of those more than one I think locally, raised $47K for causes various. (Is that based per degree?) —

And was it one of those astute leaders who said “we are absolutely and fundamentally committed” to helping students of all abilities. Uhm, we’ve heard that tired old tack before. ADD slash Elon?

I was one of those students. But have become a productive member of society, if columns like this one qualify, however it was because of some compassionate principals and teachers — and some students — not the bureaucrats. (And how will DOE cuts affect anti-bullying measures is an issue that the bullied will be for the ages?)

All this is said to hurt the “red” states — read as more poor — the most. (The hue of the blue will range new.) Is that redness not the Very Great Republican Conservative Constituency? Rich districts will find a way without things like bloc grant dollars and if need be their bake sales will up it to $5 a bun and people will still buy. As it goes to soccer balls.

— I now digress with a Kwik Trip into equinox. March 31 is the last day to take advantage of their free car wash with a key card offer, (does this with your car count as spring cleaning? Equinox over, and solstice, whichever, but summer is still coming.) But you can still get in on their Fan Zone sweepstakes to obtain Kwik Brew Crew tix! For various levels of what should I call it, the terrain of various terrances and maybe mezzanines and other tiers? —

Was it not that Peanut Farmer Leader state — give them nuts, not cake, as some poor students get their only grub from school lunch —  that first gave us the DOE? People say we existed just fine before that, in 1979. Well that same existence gave us Beaver Cleaver Land, and Nixon and pre-Nixon. I reference Soundgarden and Black Hole Sun. And Pearl Jam and Jeremy. And that’s only starting with grunge …

So, just throw it back to the states … Which assumes they are astute enough to get it right, without a whip. Yes, an extreme example, but what if say, Mississippi, decides in their beloved courts that a convicted black man — and that is always questionable — gets as their punishment a bull whip to the back, formerly known as a Black Betty in slave times, as in the soulful song, a total of ten times, where a white man only gets a couple of slaps with a singletail for, I must note, the same crime. Oh its state’s rights, so just let it alone. Three words: The Green Mile. We can’t automatically assume that the states are not racist, or unjust, after all it’s some of them that have given us the mantra, to be taught in ALL our schools, that slavery actually had some benefits for the black enslaved. That’s part of what they want in their curriculum!! And Jews actually gained in some respects from the Holocaust …

And OK, in a related way, just give authority, for things like curriculum, back to the parents, (and more about such blanket authority later.) We’ve seen how well that worked for not school choice, but rather that control over having your kids immunized. Fear autism? You should much moreso now that there are all those DEO layoffs. No bucks or feet on the floor to compensate. Or teach. Or just hold a hand.

And concerned about comprehension test scores? Comprende? Is not being in the top half, or the upper half of that, among (educated as they only rank 85 countries) fair to midland, and better than none? Again, I reference Mississippi, and yes there are these and many more problem districts, but maybe the answer to improving school success — and are test scores the only way it is rated? — is a few bucks for a gifted himself or herself assistant from that world. Even if off the books.

Yes, there is so much more to be said, but hear this: There is inefficiency and there is wasted money. But gutting a whole department, and its spending and staffing and spreading it to other overworked workers, is not the way to go. Aren’t our kids worth those extra few sheckles? So where to cut, and even what districts, and there are many to analyze, takes very much careful consideration and study, and not mererly a shoot-from-the-hip approach. This has been tried and has failed many times before, outsides of sanheidreidrique.

So, they shoot old horses don’t they?

It was St. Patrick’s Day, sleepy from green beer that’s fake but still potent, and time to dream up a good ditty, so I plopped down next to the waiting roots of a willow tree to conjure up a good nap.

So then this was dreamt …

There we were, a complete eight of us to constitute a good Irish number, although it was implied that only two should square off, but still formed of all my immediate family and I don’t think anyone was missing and also a few of my friends, playing an extended game of cards, poker I think it was, in a big carnival centered around the bit ashen theme, a pocket full of posies set to all fall down. We were all of us — although none Celtic in any way — somehow still sitting partially inside a set of eight half-folded envelopes from which to make our plays, but with hands free so we could indeed cast our crazy but lifesaving cards. Would the loser lose his or her head? Alice in Wonderland lives?

— They are cover girls and boys. Sometimes they are on the glossy mags sitting right next to you on the shelf, or the coffee table. Both of them celeb models. Side by side. But the same person. I have seen this many times. The first time it was Nicole Kidman. With the same hairdo on competing covers, interestingly looking just like the nearby clerk, again then possessing the same “do.” This next time it was Kevin Costner in an “exclusive” talking about listening to his “heart” — then long subhead about personal stories. Both rags used that first emotion-tinged word. There are a couple of flecks of hair out of place. I will bet that the next tell-all-only-here from, on both ends between the sets of staples, is a little-known (now) star (each) called Stelavive Equaravitz. —

The games finished, we all then got in vintage cars and made a grand journey — maybe across all of Ireland — but as we approached the coastline one or two of us behind our wheels slid into right near the waterline … by a bridge with a great big span. Our front two wheels angling toward being slopped down, rather than in a quest for a big fish, one of us mostly — I think it was I — another other nestled into the mud nearer the gravel shoulder of the winding road, had to both be tethered to the other six and pulled out firmly into the craggy hillside.

And so the grand journey continued, with the rest of Ireland waiting to be crossed, hopefully without further ado and accidents and mishaps, and so on and so on …

So maybe next St. Patrick’s Day I should lay off the Guinness … And even if I don’t, refrain from further embellishing the dreams produced. (There was no willow tree whispering in my ear, but the rest is very much truthful.)

However, an also likely explanation is that with my profound, if I can call it that Tourette Syndrome, I am prone to wild dreams that are vivid and graphic, fanciful and sometimes to the point of being nonsensical.

But still silly as one can get from the Harp Lager at Hudson Tap.

This is a story that could use a good prop. (Please, make me stop!)

And about a man who had one to swap. And another man who was eager on such a one to hop, buy it and get it in place by Easter and its bunnies, (as in Mile High Club?) And a third who long ago, before the hand-me-downs, just may have used the aforementioned on crops as a duster.

Now this long tale I mop up …

— Since I had not posted for a while, here is a ditty of a bonus coverage. Pre, pre-St. Patrick’s Day slammed Bobtown in Roberts, despite serving just their usual fare, as early as Saturday afternoon, and at McCabe’s Shamrock Club they weren’t answering their phone even after full-length ring, but kitty-corner it was much slower of course in Hudson. River Falls and New Richmond I’m sure were what they usually are on a three-day-plus St. Pat’s, despite wind chills not far from zero once nightfall came, to make my nose run again like a spiggot, (seems like a good Irish word). But in Hudson green bling was in short supply — although there continued to be a weathered-confounding T-shirt or two to be seen — with an almost moderate amount of people at late-night closer Dick’s, however, there was that guy emulating one of the few last people at Hudson Tap, rockin’ the Irish hat/biker look, so stay out of his (rowdy?) way as he shoots darts not soccer balls. And Mallory’s rooftop patio looked great with its green glow. (Some arms were around each other.) And there was at least one party bus, but it was manning The Moose.

The king this year as far as specials that are Irish as you can get is the progressive ranks at Hudson Tap. Starting at $5 and going up by a dollar until $8 are Harp Lager and Guinness Stout in tall boys, Baby Guinness shots, Bushnill shots and Irish Mules, Shanky’s Whip Dark and Irish Whiskey and Old Fashioneds. Others thrown in at other venues include green tea shots and Jameson Mules. Some started rolling through the specials like a lass in the grass as early as Friday night, throwing in Rueben’s and corned beef to boot, and at Kwik Trip even a free pint, that of Mint milk. —

Christmas is in the books, but people still need gifts and to fly for all kinds of holidays. So just fly with it, like a new pole placed in an old hole? Now propelled with this new part in place across most continents?

This late-present idea is all about a rare, sizeable old airplane part with as its central component as in its wheel hub a rotor or rudder, shaft or rod, or whatever else you would call it. It is no ordinary thick stick, and comes from the heyday of aviation. So somebody you know with aerial aspirations might like it as a present, or a great big stocking stuffer, even if this means it is a case of it being regifted to you. That’s what’s happening here.

Oh yeah, the owner who is considering doing his part and donating the part has a pilot’s license, but too busy to build it in and make use of it, since he’s a mega-hours pharmacist and a good-size apple orchard operator, too. But not Big Pharma, just a big airplane, via his medium-size store and the small counter in front of him that lets him interact with customers On The Other Side. And he is bearing a bounty of gifts (in threes that go one better, that take away both symptoms and the side effects, and then avail an aviationist apple too? Like manna falling from the heavens.) So if you fly even a crop-duster — killing weeds and bugs, not germs and flu bugs — if you also go out and buy a tank and sprayer … But maybe that’s built into the housing of your gift? Or if you have a 747 or 757… Or cram it into a 717, if they make them that size, and come bearing a Boeing that’s a big ol’ jet airliner. Nothing more “metal” than that, as the owner of Iron Maiden’s private jet that he flies with a license, while singing Ace’s High, might have hopped on board and gone for a spin when putting his landing gear down in the area a few months ago.

The connection? Both men are named Bruce. Or his brother.

So this parts is parts may be uncommon, but is indeed an airplane part hand-me-down, and something special, and by no means a white elephant. If buying it, just put it on your 1944 credit card.

And not a payment to Roto Rooter, though what you’re getting is basically and roughly a rotor. Shaped as just maybe, in much bigger form, like one of those old oblong orb-like mashers that crushed pills in a bowl back in the day when both of the old parts had actually been put into use. One such ceramic pill crusher still sits in front of Bruce, chin-high on the counter, as an ancient if not archaic antique reminder of how pills long ago used to be dispensed. And setting next to it is a joking sign of how pharmacists are the “pillers” of society. Especially if they fly you there, too.

I will try to get back on track. Or runway. Bruce is the only one at the helm behind the counter, putting in 11 hours or more in the tin can, flying solo while dispensing pills not pez, and he is also quick with a joke and a light up your smoke … Naw, he discourages that and will help you quit. And his gift also might be for those 18-and-up. A work requirement? For getting a pilot’s license? Or a selling-second-hand-parts stipulation? Stocking stuffer suggested age? Or even getting on a plane?

Oh those stocking stuffers and the “toys” that go with them … And need to make them go, screws and bolts and batteries, like Bruce’s gift. Is this subject to gift tack?

You know who would love this airplane part as a gift. My brother-in-in-law, who goes gaga over every last gilded gizmo. So maybe I can make a deal with Bruce to obtain it, and for next Christmas …

You will have to wait for then for the rest of the story, part and parcel to invoke shipping, concerning just what this mystery part indeed is.

So, what can you afford to bring to the concert or ballgame or just plain party? And we’re not talking about ticket prices.

Hey, you still want your holiday fish (all of Lent, at least Fridays), potatoes (St. Patrick’s Day), tequila and spirits (Cinco De Mayo and other days) and beer (hey this being in Wisconsin, just about anytime), fruits and veggies for your deli plate (all your parties through the summer), among other things you consume? If you thought when your spouse says leaving a 25 percent tip is too pricey … And you have to be able to drive to get to the restaurant.

Uhm, that percentage, the whole of it, is the typical new tariff cost imposed by us, the US, on many countries. And these above are some of our biggest imports.

They are from our neighboring countries (mostly), the big three (conspirators) that constitute 40 percent of our imports. And in most cases are charged a tariff of give or take a bit, and not coin, 25 percent when they cross over the border.

— WARNING: The following jokes may be sensitive to people in certain regions. (Try to not be too offended).

If government workers were purged under Stalin (how far under), they were sent to Siberia. Under Trump they are sent to Iowa. Furloughed to nothing but farmland.

And a print ad for a company that does homeower repairs and replacements such as transforming your bathroom and more shows a leprechaun. I think his “world class” specialty care is fixing clogged and stained urinals and toilets after St. Patrick’s Day. The offer expires on April 3. —

I will say President Trump — maybe some of the Art Of The Deal is actually legit — is onto something with his threaten-and-then-reap method of handling foreign relations. Subsequent negotiation can be a viable tactic, it turns out.

Cars are shipped here in large numbers from both Mexico and Canada. So with the auto industry facing rising costs for their parts even greater than before, cars will cost more and sales will go down, because of the newer expense, which almost counter-intuitively will impact auto workers in a BAD way. The whole idea behind tariffs is to PROTECT Americans jobs, and in many cases it may do just that. But …

One chart trekking the journey of rods for cars being finished takes them from Canada to Mexico and parts between and back. With each border crossing, more of an ouch!

So if you couldn’t even afford a car before … You better get used to walking. In what will become expensive boots. Since taxis and rideshare companies have to pay for their now more pricey vehicles they operate, too. 

So who will benefit from the huge tariffs? In practice, the rich of course. How? These monies can help fill the gap in revenue made by the tax cuts to those who already have mega maga money.   

Still, even though it’s not something trending, there exists a trade deficit with some countries, such as England. (Forget British Steel and maybe Judas Priest.) But hey, in the US nobody’s working anymore, so not as much to sell, so no big surprise. Nobody’s winning? Among those American companies in the past facing tariffs in the reverse direction from the EU are Harley Davidson and Jack Daniels. So if you want the likes of rocker Zakk Wilde and band to come to your house there …

Our sales of high powered weapons to other countries will, back at ya, be hit with higher tariffs — but at least this might in a slightly related way curb frequent trafficking.

Pricey prescriptions will get worse, back to pre-Biden days? Toy makers have complained about facing the woe in getting parts, so your tots might get ticked, and there is no way Santa will bring his base here. Across Canada.

Trump has said he wants to paste these expensive tariffs onto our neighbors, in part, to stop horrible drugs like fentanyl into the US. Uhm, the Canadian prime minister says only 1 percent of that drug that comes into here is from his country. But I could see its rural areas being great places for drug labs — like long has been the case in just-past-Hudson northwest Wisconsin. 

Not all is isolationist …

So, we’re seeing land grabs of everything anywhere that’s nearby to certain countries. Trump’s plans to deal, or not deal at all, with the likes of Putin appear to be as such. OK, you have the Ukraine. And take Poland, please.

And likewise, would Trump himself stop with Canada? What’s after Europe? North Africa?

That’s in large degree the order that they fell, or were tried to be taken, around 1940.

Hell, Putin might even take Gaza, or what’s left of it. Does he want us?

Cos hey, Trump could be his twin, as far as being territorial. And kick butt and conquer and colonize.

And what’s finally been said, now, is what was being theorized for a while. One of those “brothers” is holding something over the head of the other?? Guess which is which.

Some of the tariff shit has already hit Minnesota — and its social media — like a dirty bathroom wall, via Ontario and its counter-tariff on having us take their imported electrical energy. But since this measure has already been made and its still winter, maybe global warming will really kick in and essentially put some logs on the fire. Because of the scenario, Hudson, sitting nextdoor, will not overheat. Unless Xcel Energy comes through, and with today’s new challenges they may need to become the prophets over profit with this supply situation.

But wait, the solar energy opportunity (SEO) that could save the thermostat has been sent everywhere other (SEO) by our local authorities. Eventually, rolling blackness across the land? You never know.

Yes, energy and oil, crossing both borders, sometimes in direct form to several states and their residents, had come flowing into the good ol’ USA. Wood too, as you thought housing prices were high before? Hey, Canada’s stuff gets sent to China, as well, making the export lines even more complicated.

Maybe as an aside, will courts step in and slay all the tariff madness? The swaying on the high one, which could be called Justice No. 4, is like the Four(th) Horsemen of the Apocalypse. After all, that seems what’s coming.

Since we have been having far more legislation by litigation. If you have enough money to bring the case.