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.

The shades, on her face, show little gray, (that would be me), more or less, with football also in mind. Unless …

Gridiron going over or under, (like a zone defense), me looking grungy. But I digress.

My mom is not so much interested in colorful mascara or the Green and Gold, only watching with family when That Game turns up front and center, but she definitely does not bleed purple (and gold). So sans Skol, via very little Vikings, can we meet in the middle with Minnesota Gopher Maroon?

The side of her face recently showed a horse, and not just a pony, like the Four Horsemen of the Purple People Eaters foursome line, of a different color. Fearsome?

A tooth extraction when long in the tooth, unlike the knee injury suffered when you’re undercut by a very offensive lineman, will do that to you. As that temporary, like scab replacement teams, facial discoloration has a creep that like clock creep on those older — you know that second hand gaining a second here and there even if it takes a season — up the side of the face that will shake your grid iron beliefs, even if you have none.

Or more pertinently, the blood vessel breakage from such surgery that starts at the chin line and then proceeds up the jaw line and down the neck line, could also marr the look at holidays and wedding celebrations — not as mother of the bride, she simply has two sons, but for a niece. As centimeters become inches, or if the days become a couple of weeks, the marring becomes more of a concern.

— Would this be a Winter family abode for after New Year’s getaways? The name of the motel, viewed while on a Greyhound bus break, is/was somewhere between our season of the year and the name of our state. Farmer in the Dell? That name works, too, with our ag-oriented clan. The sign said it was not (no longer, I assume that meant) offering breakfast, but was adding a rooftop patio (both I think in vogue these days). And back in Hudson, via the trend, people have been showing up for each of them in T-shirts in three recent days.

All of which might attract someone “pastoral.” But maybe not Pope Francis. Even if he was not ailing, as he’d likely stay with the poor of the Ukraine and Hamas, and consider too those in Israel, but all things considered, it might be a bit too penthouse-suite posh. I think he is a plain Cheerios man, not dressed up with apple and cinnamon. But one thing I have never understood: Granted, I think there are more Catholics than virtually any other religion, but why for example moreso than Lutheran bishops, has his weight on the world stage been so … weighty. Maybe there is some papal envy weighing in here, as when I was growing up in the Missouri Synod that broke off from the ALCS, few in the pews would even acknowledge that they actually had a bishop as an overseer! Maybe it was just my particular church … —

On head-looks and their games on my end, one that is tilted along the lines of being challenged, I just was in the barber shop, which would be welcome news to mom and my largely shaggy gray. Most prominent on the upper part of the far wall, a cut across from the barber chairs, was a license plate that said simply “Vikings.” It was among many other pieces of sports and music and movies and more memorabilia that did not have much of any Packer presence until over near the corner. Various other Viking signs flow through their veins, even though its the offseason for most all but March Madness.

Some people have more pressing concerns than games. For mom, and a far greater dilemma than a tinted face, is the impact it could have on a hip replacement, though she has been told time and again these generally, as for a Green and Gold guard, go better than redoing a knee, always the knee, as famously said by legendary coach Lombardi. And Vince was no fan of the Vikings.

So on all fronts it means shoot for a pale-toned-skin Easter with family. Although I said hey, you all look fine. (The green of St. Paddy’s Day, us being German, becomes an insignificant factor, unless you’re talking about gangrene.)

To summarize, the purple hue of almost a full one side of her face came from having a tooth extracted on that side, and the purple tinge spread in coming days to not far from the eye, before just finally going away.

If that would have meant infection, that could have been trouble, as that would have messed with the timing of a hip replacement slated for about a week before St. Patrick would hold sway with his pot of gold, as that would nix putting in a new ball joint until it cleared up. And an epidermal in the interim first part of this year before surgery, which itself toyed with the timing of the surgeries since there needs to be a gap of about three months between one and the other. She still got one as a trial procedure.

That was around the time of the eternal question of long life: Should I wear a mask? At least for a while, to hide part of her face. She was not past that one after being a staunch wearer back in pandemic days. This time for cosmetic reasons, and again we’re not talking makeup, which she seldom wore anyway.

So I leave this long play-on-football-colors-words with this thought, taken from a silly (successfully) sign seen at a local bar above a sink in the bathroom, where there was no mirror, (I can only speak of the men’s john, not knowing of the female’s), so take heart: “You look fine.” So don’t check any makeup you might be wearing.

Far be it from me to keep hammering like a homer on Hammerin’ Hank. But when the not-so-new news reels come calling …

I just got done phoning and/or texted my one and only brother dear, biologically speaking, about needing a new functional phone and/or fire stick, as he is the one techno one in the family.

I never wanted to be that guy who only contacted him if I needed something, but … However this case was memorable, because indeed he messaged me first!

This was back around the time Bob Uecker passed on … God rest his sarcastic soul … and I got that text from THAT guy. No not Bob, from beyond the grave, but about him, from my bro, asking if I remembered seeing this moment that he called a climatic, if only in our minds, homer that came via the bat of Henry Aaron, he of the brave who returned to our beloved Brewers after a longer-ago stint with the Braves, then in Milwaukee not Atlanta. The game was at the old County Stadium, at a quant old time when the team’s main popularity did not really go much farther than the county line on the reels, but when we drove from not far from northern Michigan that summer, it was a winner-take-all slam of grand proportions. And we were there. Sort of.

— But this is Wisconsin, home of Harvey’s Wallbangers, rather than Iowa and Field of Dreams. But at old Athletic northward Park centerfield, in Merrill, it be over 600 feet away from home plate and over a tall rock wall with spire, but in left some slamming a full 700 feet made it over the river too in back, and in either case — as in Wausau where that same river had flowed 20 miles south — a fielder might spin a full circle, on a bat head, before soggilly catching the ball for himself. —

Mother dear wanted to end our attendance early, understandable for 18 reasons below, not stretching past the seventh inning, as our home team trailed. But when Hammerin’ Hank stepped to the plate in an even later inning, there was a certain something in the air, even though we were sensing it from the car driving away, (having made it a short distance.)

At least known in our minds.

His home run was base-clearing and a game-winner for the Brew Crew. And my brother wanted to know if I recalled the moment, via a four-minute radio highlight clip he happened to stumble upon on the internet, then texted to me. Again, not to repeat as he had so many such homers, but it was Uecker who made the (main) call on play-by-play. The clip rolled on at length through the balls and strikes of the at-bat.

I texted Tom back that I vaguely recalled the moment, thinking that I might have seen it on a church youth group trip, but one such Henry home run that stuck moreso in my mind was a line drive that barely cleared the left field wall. I can recall it landed about 60 feet from the foul line that was running parallel from our prime-seat vantage point — unlike the upper tier blasts of today — and was noteworthy because of its low trajectory and still over the fence. Tom quickly texted back that righto, but that might have been from a different end of that particular doubleheader — we those days would usually take in playing two as we traveled from northern Wisconsin — since we were asking mom to sit through a pair of games.

I did ask Tom if this clip was something that was a product of his cutting and snipping of video escapades, as per capturing their recent family European vacation — and yes, oh you Chevy Chase fans, it did indeed include a long visit to Germany. (I was surprised to see that Tom knew punk rock well enough, even if in light form, to include a bit of tuneage of London Calling from The Clash in an early segment on trekking through the UK. Funky music running like Helter Skelter too. And son Matthew dancing for one of just a few specific times, after being pulled from the crowd by a man doing a stunt, and I think he was wearing lederhosen.) Tom said no, he just came across it while streaming.

I earlier chronicled a come-from-way-behind, walk-off grand slam at a recent game called one of the best ever, where we also had left around the end of the eighth inning, this time Matthew’s choice, and again heard the call over the radio, and do we see a trend here?

What a difference your sex makes. And how much more or less than with indulgent (headliner) rock stars. And how it is reported by various outlets in the news media, and not just the biggest blaring tabloid headlines. And the long arm of the legal system having been reduced to mere inches. (See a few column inches down.) By a sitting president. So we are not talking about Bill Clinton. And not his sex or sax.

President Donald Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against ABC News and its presenter George Stephanopoulos for on-air comments where he asked congresswoman Nancy Mace in an interview why she backs Trump despite him being found “liable for rape.” The joke is obvious here, he might as well have been maced. She doesn’t seem to have much of a sense of humor, however, as we will see later.

Last year, a New York civil court found Trump sexually abused E Jean Carroll in 1996.

But the jury did not find the president had actually raped her. The anchor, can I accurately call him that, should have been more vague, like grunge band Stone Temple Pilots around that same time in titleing Sex Type Thing.

The judge in the case later stated that the claim that Trump had raped Carroll was “substantially true … albeit [with his fingers] rather than with his penis.” Under New York law, rape can only be committed with genitals.

— This gets newly Wild although there’s not a big wilderness to traverse, and the XCel Energy Center, as stated, has a whole bunch of sports bars, some more prominent than others, within a few block region right adjacent to the rink, and if you travel a few dozen miles, you’re out in traditional farm country, usually sans ice.

So for hockey fans looking to hook up briefly with one of their faves, that’s not a lot of country to cover. Now a leader in that field as a fan choice, recently retired Zach Parise, is known to be cruising the various rinks in not much more than a quadrant (southwest) of the Twin Cities, going to his kids various youth hockey games. Fans are following behind, running the circuit formed by a small series of major highways, and becoming an entourage.

With Kirill Kaprizov there is less ground to peruse to keep track of him, except when he goes for offseason in Russia, but at first his English would make conversation difficult and he stuck mostly to his apartment. It did get better and he took on a girlfriend and its now becoming steady, and not just on the ice — a third access blocker for crazed local fans wanting a word with him. So there are just as many shorter-stint roadrunner routines done, as the KK, and not Dowling, breakaways on ice. His recent and latest lower body injury and subsequent surgery might end up keeping him at home sooner after various games, or if not having to shower and change after the contests, more accessible. So you have until his March 2 return … —

Carroll was awarded a sum of money for battery, and defamation over disparaging comments made by Trump when he denied her accusation.

The last March interview on ABC’s This Week program began with an archive clip of Mace, who has advocated on behalf of rape victims, talking about dealing with her own previous experience of sexual assault. A serious matter on all ends.

“You endorsed Donald Trump for president,” Stephanopoulos, a former Clinton White House spokesman, said to Mace. “Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape. How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony that we just saw?”

She also drew a distinction between sexual assault and rape, and said the allegation against Trump was not proven in a criminal court. And she alleged that Carroll had joked about the settlement. ABC News had said they settled to avoid being involved in a legal action against a sitting president, but let’s face it, chances of them winning were very high. (And the high amount given was called unusual.) But look how far Jack Smith got ….

Trump has a history of filing defamation suits against the news media, most of which have been unsuccessful.

Now what if I had said a “long” history? And that earlier, I inserted the word “actually” concerning the jury’s findings. Would he come after me?

Or, a question I put to a female friend and Trump supporter and got silence: Would you still vote for him if he groped you?

Since when is a president not considered a public figure; U.S. law says it is difficult or not impossible to libel such a figure and “actual malice” must be shown, not someone just going about their reporting business job and making an honest mistake. In this further step to silence the media and attack the likes of ABC News, MSNBC and CNN, Trump has again defied and denied existence of basic legal principles. Will I be next, I wonder, but doubt I am a big enough fish to merit.

But he can get away with such, so why not her?

I am talking about Lily Phillips, the 23-year-old — can’t be younger than 18 or in practice older than say 25 or 30 — who claims to have broken a record by having sex with more than 100 men in a 24-hour day. She has been labeled as a porn star in headlines by various news outlets that in most cases do not have the respect of those listed above.

To be an actual porn star, does not the result of your most graphic work have to be readily accessible to viewers, as in at least the infamous shot on video. And attaching the word star implies this person has high viewership. So legally, unless her FansOnly web endeavors or other such things go viral, has she not been libeled by being so labeled? It isn’t a certainty for one thing to stem from the other.

Can’t she sue just like Trump? At least the stardom of Stormy Daniels has had a more lasting effect than the 15 minutes, in working just a bit over 15 hours — were not talking only time-and-half but triple time — of fame now gained by Phillips? This form of news media will soon forget about her exploits and go exploit someone else with its news coverage, probably less willing.

To be clear, Phillips is in some part of the “adult industry” and has been photographed appearing in a dress, not undress, at the adult video awards, but it is not clear in which category or if just a presenter. OnlyFans has a lot of nudity, and although straddling a line and may be vague, prohibits on-camera antics such as sexual intercourse, that might be considered illegal or now with new rules even immoral. Granted, they can’t control what models do in their off time and it might be niave to think they don’t stray from the rules. Phillips reportedly filmed her stunt, but it is not clear if it was “published” per se, and that is a requirement for libel. The existence of the stunt came to light via a documentary, and she may have had porn offers since then that are too lucrative to turn down. It may be a matter of what came first. Any such thing she may have done has remained under the radar, or has ramped up in recent weeks, based on a google search. At issue, potentially, is on what date the headlines invoking “porn star” actually appeared. Considering all the adult videos that flood the ever-changing market, of all types, many prosecutors might relish being tasked with the job of “discovery.”

Their behavior invoked, it is unlikely Phillips would get much public sympathy, but Trump won’t or shouldn’t either. But all this raises another question: Is someone showcased in racy Cinemax-style movies, a “porn star.” They more typically are termed as being in “erotic thrillers.” Yes, we may be talking about splitting hairs here — although that’s the case also with the suit brought by Trump — and perhaps my query depends on who, which side, is the legal burden of proof. The work done by Phillips on OnlyFans may even increase.

Move on now to the lawsuit brought by actress Blake Lively in her alleged on-set sexual victimization. A friend of mine, a man, said this of that: What does she expect when shooting a racy movie? A point to be made, but now I have this one to add: For example, if your co-star is supposed to be in a steamy dance with you and the camera is just going to be on your two faces, it is not justified to grab her butt. 

At the place at which I asked him that question, a longtime local bartender has said that a former Cinemax actress used to come in for a drink on that one weeknight she had off. But the guy is cool and I doubt would have asked her about her on-screen work, much less touch her.

I’ve got a grab bag, again, of observations from Valentine’s Day, as we desire to gain in a desirable way that which we desire, but just don’t get her only a grab bag. Put something desirable in it. Or consider making it a small, or bit bigger, box. The Never Ending Story.

A guy pulls into The Nearest Store With V-Day Stuff Or It Will Be D-Day. Like if you forgot her B-Day. He grabs a card quickly, without reading much of it, just enough to know it will pass muster. Sweats a bit as it’s 1:26 p.m. The card, not the one being purchased, but the credit one to pay for the one being purchased, isn’t working. Whew. Then like the magic of the holiday, it’s approved, not necessarily yet by her, but by the key component of the transaction. He motions early with his hand toward the machine to pull it out and get going, but like the Hand Of Doom the Remove Card button just wouldn’t Busta Move. When it finally did, maybe prompted by something like the traction grid at the intersection that gives you a green when risking death and you creep forward and thus sit on it, he made the card(s) grab instantly, Like One Who Knows, and doesn’t want to be a Heartbreaker … Whew again.

This intersections into something my driver has taken to love, one of his online videos. It showed an out there babe he has been following — only online and just viewing her videos — and her preference for pink and white striped flooring, “like a carpet puked.” Do you like the colors, honey? Honey …This is where the experts, on relationships, driven to explain these things, give the same answer to the question of when she asks, I think she looks better than me. Do you agree? Say as little as possible, young man.    

— A last gasp if you still have not met your Valentine’s Day obligations, as this is the season of Red Alarm, or maybe only 3 on the heat scale, chili contests to warm your cackles and her heart and thus your soul, and could that not also melt the snow out in Malibu so it could be diverted into rivers that are further diverted over many acres to put out wildfires? No word on the mudslides. The grand-daddy of such chili contests takes place at Dick’s Bat starting at 1 p.m. Sunday. But based on what the bouncer said there last night, all the size-of-a-nightstand cooking or just maybe reheating spots over three rooms have been taken, so even if you have that killer new recipe to impress her centering on kale-basted-pickle-fried smelt, all that’s left to do is sample the many other entries. But will the roaming judge, as they all do that, still have the old-British-looks-like-white-ropes hairpiece, as in colonial times, as we are going back to that conquest era fast? —

— And there does seem to be some dissatisfaction with The Old Guard of been-in-there-forever circuit court judges, based on the turning out of candidates for last night’s election. And this was only the primary, the first of two. (And there was That School Board Thing also, at both the state and local level, and in a right society that would also attraction attention.)

So the signs have been out and about. Support who and diss who. There were for example, the big and bad almost billboard-size signs for James Johnson, a veteran of the local attorney scene, with those depictions of justice in the form of scales of justice taking up space, glaring at you, staring at you. They didn’t seem to help, as justice is blind and he did not win the contest and be the very top dog, thus one of three. Like in Metallica’s infamous album (back in the day) cover showing a blindfolded statue of liberty. Other signs, for Board of Education, showed things like check marks, pencils and stars. As it was, this primary election only attracted voters in the thousands, not tens of thousands. And with the election only in the books for far less than a day, there was a drapery of a sign posted over a metal fence that pumped up to-be turnout for another such April election, still coming.) —

Ah yes, on the 14th. But what if it was on the 15th? Will she cut you a bit of slack just past midnight? At my Kwik Trip, a cool V-Day special awaits your loved one, via you — as it says, will you be mine — via the killer convenience store. Buy one of a certain few things for her and get something free for her via the 15 visits-as-put-on-your-rewards-card. But then will she no longer be yours, if you try to visit on the 16th? How many are your numbers as per shades of gray, not pink?

You might not make it to Day 17, if you’ve botched this one up. At a local store, its candy special is billed as super sweet, as may be so at first glance. But then there’s these that don’t exactly say love, at least to her, and you don’t want to be a tool: A tool box with (kick) stand and other guy hardware although she can do it too, mongo man’s sweatshirt, guy grub and other gear, and stuff like mop and bucket.

Maybe that’s what he did. An open ended story follows. His frustrated wife put a coffee mug on his face, as it was written, and said to be done. As in a lower form of chuck it onto your cheeks. Just a note: If you’re going to get in his face like that, make sure it’s not decaf as that would not have the same (deathly) sting. Maybe substitute Liquid Death?

So what do you and I really know about Elon Musk, the pseudo-president and ultra businessman, space traverser and South American, god and geek.

There is a lot to say and more of it bad, but some good too, and if you were to pick this interloper’s cabinet it would tell more.

Cut, slash and burn people’s jobs and lives. Yes, as I and others have said for eons, there is waste everywhere in Washington and beyond, and in whole departments but no, not necessarily whole agencies. Especially if you have to make alliance for your boss, it probably gets as bad and specific as ad hocking without bidding private pork hocks onto every government convention menu in the land known as the Midwest, to benefit one little ol’ but well connected (not to Musk) pig farmer in one of the Dakotas. At prime rate paid. OK, not an actual example of pork-barreling, but you get the point. It gets that broad and ranging, and everyone’s pocketbook is hit. But this kind of thing is a Musk must hit target.

But give kudos to Musk for being in businesses and seeing that there is a problem and trying to do something about it. We all have had those many experiences, just for starters, where the same basic information was given and taken more than once, and by different methods, where one would have sufficed if there was more efficiency. But what’s called for there is tweaking, not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, or gutting an entire agency.

The further point is that for every such crimp stopper Musk and his mites snuff out, there are several that for too many reasons to name here that even he will never be able to touch. Every politician, and that’s what Musk is or has become, says they will tackle Washington inefficiency, and every politician eventually and inevitably fails. So you do the truest best you can, and call it good, but don’t bet your entire agenda on it — such as economic growth coming out of nowhere will fix all our problems — or there for sure will be no second term or second chance to fix all that waste that didn’t wane. For either Musk or Trump. And have a little compassion for those lifer corporate-government workers who are depending on that pension.

Then back to the latest gaffe of the week or even day, that being the goof-up take on racism by The Two concerning South Africa. Specifically on the new government plan to take back your rich white man farmer land and redistribute some of it to black farmers. Black people reportedly make up 80 percent of the country’s population but only 4 percent of private landowners.

So Musk and his men, Trump among them, are pulling out of the plan, saying this disenfranchises white farmers. There may be some of that, but let’s back up.

If there is to be such a plan, some of the money fleeced from black farmers over centuries should be used to carefully vett the program and who gets what. I am sure that much of the landowning is an, if slightly scaled back version, JR Ewing corporate model and thus pity them. Those, and not the average family farmer, should be the people the government program targets.

I will give this to Musk and his take on the inefficiency of bureaucracy, that there may be some smaller, white sharecropper-types that get stung in the process.

I will now address that whole thing of White Power salutes; you might add on those shown by the older-day Black Panthers. There are about two, or three things, at work here: White or Black or Power. They can be separately taken. Like when Phil, the lead singer of metal pounders Pantera struck such a pose, at a poignant point near the end of an all-out rocker. It could be that a fist is simply a show of power, and an embracement, of any type of unusually strong (and maybe not altruistic) sentiment and nothing more. Especially if done spontaneously, like when being in-the-moment like Phil. Musk may or may not have had time to plan or reconsider before thrusting.

So with Musk … Is he straight up racist? I would almost for sure say prompting white privilege.

That cabinet …

So who should he hire to help him? A planner and strategist, someone who takes a fleeting idea or raw concept and turns it into a full-blown, workable plan. A PR hack, who can take some of his more far-flung ideas and spin them for a semblance of sense. And a personal presence coach, to show a better grip and grin, and less geekishness.

And make him more of a rock star.

What’s hot stays hot. Including the Super Bowl. So then there was that one nun, you know, the one I’ve talked about who got the name of the Philly team wrong and thought it was a small dog, not a Big Dawg that was let out. Or was it Cincy? I’m guessing the first since her (B)Eagles are still Stayin’ Alive and Flyin’ High Again and High as Heaven. (Like Mary Jane these days.) And now to complete the joke, the Bengals now are has-beens — like the Chiefs? And as things go in cycles, possibly soon Taylor Swift too (and beau? Or will he renew?) But their end is still tight …

This one, not so much so. (Old) news from one of my other Holy Friends. There was a balloon, actually a blimp, over The Big Game that dragged a banner backing inclusion and diversity. But apparently it’s not big enough for that, as with the presence of Trump, it was ordered taken down. So she boycotted the game. As in have none.

Back back to more hot air, as in the Hudson Affair. Which will be back again early next February.

Staying Alive takes a lot of effort, like putting colored checkers on a hot air balloon canvas — and you can paint those too — to resemble disco-ball-type sparkles. Or kinda like shoveling snow but much better. Of course there is much more than music, (which was profiled in the post below), to Staying Alive in 2025! There are a full 38 separate semi-events listed for the Hudson Hot Air Affair, spelled out and slated out in not skated out in this winter event, in pink capital letters.

— Overnight into Monday morning, crews will be showcasing not their football analysis, but in a backwards way their teardown skills as they remove Super Bowl merchandising. As this is a commercial-driven event. At Walmart, for example, the late advertising forming a second entryway by the front door featured another gateway of sorts, a goalpost shaped rendition of boxes of potato chips and Pepsi. But don’t they know that the crossbar is the lowest, not highest-horizontal-running bar, in forming this big-box-shape of stacked boxes, metaphorically and otherwise? Dunk height, to mix sports.

I had taken a cab to get to this last place of buying madness, arrving just before gametime, as the two AAA batteries in my TV remote had run out. Small but powerpacking. Also got some chips and trail mix and beef jerky, turkey-based this time, and — yuck for this day? — cranberry juice too. I was going to duck into Green Mill and check out the first quarter, but I figured things would not be just ducky there, and the place was probably packed. The cabbie concurred, saying that I was and is his last running fare of the day. —

There are of course the three signature balloon launches, weather permitting of course and we’re expecting at least some ice baby — but there are plenty of other activities to provide melting — where more than three dozen will be perched on the ground and waiting to go, burners on. They occur around dawn on Saturday and Sunday morning, (set for 7:35 a.m. if you’re counting), and 3 p.m. on Saturday.

This is important: The launches are this year at a different location, as in a different school, this one just south of town. And the only parking there is for disabled — people not their cars — others must take a shuttle, so don’t wait until the last minute if you’re lingering at something (such as the traditional smoosh boarding set for 1 p.m. on the other end of the playground) for such comedy/competition/chaos as hey, four boards are not too many for eight feet, and oh that’s a weekend band! The actual site for the balloons to crest is the River Crest School.

Don’t forget the torchlight parade at 7 p.m. at this time, the same downtown site and route, with dozens of glowing and glaring gonzo floats to entice you.

And all weekend long, the event is driven by the Eat-Shop-Play promotion at Hudson and its area businesses, shops, run destinations and restaurants and nightspots, across more than one commerce district. A few dozen of these. There are coupons on the event flyer. And there is also the accompanying Sippin’ With The Hotties beverage crawl, with liberal loads of locally-created libations to sample, loaded or NA, and you can vote for your favorite and get a chance at a gift certificate — to come back for more, close to a dozen’s worth.

For example, Pedro’s Pizza Lounge invites you to try their Hot Buttered Rum, and if you order a big enough pizza, (see more about pizza and the Super Bowl below), as the Hot Air Affair like Texas goes big, you get a free glass of wine or beer. (Pedro’s is going out of its way, as it normally specializes in small plates.)

For more info, especially on the shuttle service, see HudsonHotAirAffair.com.

To spread out, and along the lines of diverse activities, musically, check out the genre-bending (about three or four kinds) band The Wilderness (much more than kill deer) at the Gaslite in Ellsworth on Saturday evening, profiled earlier on these pages.

— But with The Big Game coming, said thus for copyright reasons, you can go pizza, but maybe even more with produce, as they go together, with taco too. At County Market, there are four big bins right when you walk in the door, and they are telling. There are of course limes and avacados, (as when mixed with tequila, get your margaritas before tariff time), and also purple onions, (not lighter colors), and tomatos, (the red more than green bell pepper shaped kind.) Note the presence of Purple and Green in such bins, but those Minnesconin teams will not be playing Sunday. And as for the Gold shared by both squads, there are no lemon bins up front either, or yellow peppers.)

But on The Tube at the sports bar, there were more pizza ads, like at The Hut where you’ve never seen so many mounds of cheese (we are in Wisconsin) and pepperoni and the like and I’m guessing we’re talking at least three pies for a special price — but they were already being crowded out by admonishments for that materialistic holiday of holidays, Valentine’s Day. And online being floated by Fleet Farm, you could see specials on all related things such as garbage bags, pizza ovens and frozen pizza too, and even easy chairs if your spouse is the one sticking it in.

Meanwhile, across town we have just in time for all of the above celebrations, winter sales and such, winter frosty hair creations being hawked, and yes the winter market (made up in part by my Winter family?) at The Phipps Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, as not to compete with the Hot Air Affair events. There are also two more on Saturdays in March, third and fifth. —