The Easter holiday held sway, but the nightlife still suffered no strife:
— The humorous ads for Hill City Church, saying they take the message of Jesus seriously, (and not so much themselves), placed in local bar restrooms have been attracting attention. Especially of late, when they threw their hat in the ring as far as attracting new members, for Holy Week. As they said, “Come for the story, stay for the celebration!” Kind of the reason you went to the bar in the first place!
— Bartender Sue and a Village Inn patron were talking at the bar late at night, and late in the week, and Holy Thursday church services were referenced as effecting a mutual friend’s schedule and ability to come in for a drink. The person’s Catholic vs. Lutheran persuasion came up as a factor. Maybe better to be a Jehovah’s Witness if you want a whiskey, or a Buddhist if you want a bourbon! (Or maybe not).
— Urban Olive and Vine posted a sign saying they would move beyond their typical weekend acoustic music and bring their home to yours, and cater Easter dinner and be a “secret chef,” letting you focus on other things, like the relatives. They’d bring the bunny and make it a honey of a deal
— Former Pepper Fest King Ron and I discussed the merits of Stairway to Heaven while at the Village Inn recently, and looking forward, said we should revisit it at his ultimate man cave, (much more than a garage). A similar set of song-lovers from Cherry Circle at one point had gone over to Guv’s Place and listened to guitar player/singer Kyle Kohila. One of the close-knit group was Michele, who tragically lost her husband in a summer plane crash, an event that unfortunately was revived in the media lately. A favorite song that was requested, although not exactly Kyle’s forte, was Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey. One of the group of friends persisted, and although Kyle initially was coy about knowing any Journey, he reportedly soon launched into a spirited version of the song.
— Brandon, the deejay at Dick’s, said on the night before Easter that he was taking some poetic, or should I say musical license, because the number of dancers was slim, (they waited until the next night to turn out in droves). So, said the former frontman for rockers Deviant Distraction, there would be much less of the usual hip-hop and rather six minutes of Tool, not to mention Motley Crue and AC/DC. Which brings to mind what I saw as an error on my car radio what-song-is-playing readout, “AC?DC.” No “Slash” here, but was there ever any question? Well, in a way, because if your from the former GNR, you’d have to be the lead singer, Axl Rose, to go on tour with AC/DC, in a gig that was just announced.
— A bartender trainee in North Hudson headed south to take in the boys hockey state tournament, and while still a Hudson High School senior, and girls hockey player, had a great time — like everyone does, including myself in days as a sports editor, as they don’t call it March Madness for nothing. (As an aside, I can only remember one other girl who, because of turning 18 early, was pouring drinks downtown while at the same time pouring through the books for her high school finals). This one plays as a defender, and wants to do the same at UW-Stout next year; she’d considered Iowa, but that’s too far away, (even Madison is closer).
— Last year around this time, tutus like those worn by a fairy were sported by several downtown patrons, and fittingly, a wand was left a short distance away on the sidewalk, the concrete of which was also sporting a sort-of disemboweled billiard ball. Did it get that way by any kind of magic trick? And both last year and this, detached sprigs of holly could also be seen dressing up the sidewalk just down the way.
Enjoy this content?
Let us know. Your support helps us bring you more.
Now accepting donations. Click the button below.
Then explore our website to stay updated on Hudson's Night Life!
March, 2016Archive for
Tuesday, March 29th, 2016
Mix best local grapes with those grown globe over, and Negret leaps into spring event
Monday, March 28th, 2016A new urban winery in downtown Hudson draws on a decades-old family tradition that started in Bogota, Colombia, then moved to the Midwest, and now is here along the St. Croix River, incorporating local grape varieties with the best of what’s available both worldwide and especially in Europe and the United States.
Even more exciting, the Negret Wine Company and owner Vincent Negret, a veteran of the winery business is inviting you to sample what they have to offer on April 7 with their 2016 Spring Fling, 5-course meal paired with 5 Negret wines, guided by winemaker Vincent and catered by top-notch River Valley Catering of River Falls (you can call email them at reservations@negretwinecompany.com to make your reservations). All Negret wines are made on site and there will be tours available to tour the production facility!
The store’s 8,500-square-foot Hudson headquarters, which opened last fall, features a state-of-the-art 3,000-square-foot production area, a semi-commercial kitchen and a 50-seat tasting room with several very large windows. Vintage photos from the old country adorn a hallway that takes guests in back, where they can watch Negret’s wines being made and ask questions.
Included is a warehouse that seats up to 140 people for special events, gourmet snacks to enhance the sensory experience and a patio that’s in sight of the St. Croix River and Lakefront Park, shared by next-door-neighbor Pudge’s Bar on Second Street.
Next year’s wines will be made with grapes raised this season at local vineyards owned by two of Negret’s 17 business partners. Those wines entered the picture through harvesting done too late last year to be brought into Negret’s mix immediately. The Negret Wine Company opened in late October 2015 and the grapes currently are being fermented and processed in the Hudson facility according to Negret’s specifications. The wine blends also are incorporating grapes from California and Washington State.
One of the new wines — a soft, aromatic, semi-sweet red — pays local homage, being called “The Hudsonite.”
Negret began with a couple of soft openings, held by invitation only. “We didn’t need to open with a bang,” he said. It’s now open to the public Wednesdays through Sundays, and other days by reservation.
There is a lot to offer. “We’re also in the entertainment business,” Negret explains, adding the hope is that wine-loving patrons will fall in love with his varieties and all the accompaniments, which include food to amplify the experience and a diverse range of live music. In particular, bands are scheduled for Thursday and Saturday evenings.
Special events include classes on wine tasting, private wine tastings for small to large groups, a Hudson Sips Happy Hour, deals on Sundays, birthdays and “best friends” Wednesdays.
The family tradition that started this all has gone on since 1937, and the style of winemaking done by the Negret family will continue to evolve, Negret said. Much of this evolution involves combining blends using grapes the world-over with those from the coastal USA, and also Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Local grapes are different, as they must grow in a seasonally colder and different climate than most wine-producing regions. “There are only about 30 varieties that are this hardy,” Negret said. The climate and soils, along with genetics, help determine a grape’s character. So, the best way to incorporate grapes from various areas is to develop hybrids, in many cases crossing ones from America with those from Europe and other places. (An area man, Elmer Swenson, was a leader in this area, and did his work through the University of Minnesota, Negret adds). Because the differences in genetics are so marked and important, there are differing families of scientific names given to various grape varieties.
WHERE THEY CAME FROM
The first notable wine-making-grapes were imported to this country in the 1930s, as varieties from all over, which had existed for thousands of years, made their way around the world. Europe was the best fit for the initial expansion, taking place over the last couple of hundred years, and then North America, South America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and China. This is important to Negret, since he is trying to literally, incorporate the best of all areas in making his wine blends.
Does he have a favorite self-produced wine? That would be too limiting, he said. “All of them are like my kids, so you can’t choose just one,” he noted, adding it’s all about how to make a patron happy.
Possible plans for a somewhat longer term include a dandelion wine, with ingredients picked locally, a sparkling wine particularly for special events, and a “Marina” series that would appeal to the St. Croix River’s boating community.
A goal is to pair their wines to individual customer’s palates, and simply wow them “by having a story behind the wines” and being in tune with the local culture — like offering a special gift to a friend, he said.
Negret says he fashions blends that no one else does, speaking with politeness, grace and humility and showing a love of people. “Every time I make a wine to drink, I want the experience to be different,” he said, a little like music played in-concert. And loving wines of all sorts is an acquired taste, much like learning to appreciate something like bleu cheese, he said.
“Like painting a picture, there is always something to add,” Negret said, with the key being to know when to stop tinkering. Still, he added, he will not rest until it’s right.
NEGRET’S VAST EXPERIENCE
Since 2000, Negret has worked at the Carlos Creek Winery in Alexandria and as the chief winemaker at the Cannon River Winery, both in Minnesota, with a stint at an Ohio vineyard between those, growing his experience in the industry. His two children – daughter Camila and son Mateo – are actively involved in the development and operation of the winery, despite holding fill-time jobs outside of the winery. The winery is very much a family and community affair. Meanwhile, Cannon River is now Minnesota’s largest winery. But it all started decades ago in Colombia.
“Our wine was the best in the country,” Negret says of his tenure there, which was cut short because of political unrest. His family launched the first sparkling wine ever in Colombia, and also was the first in the region to be served on the country’s flagship airline, AVIANCA. Negret used his study of enology at California State University, Fresno, to introduce innovations to their production facilities, bringing the family’s winemaking process into the modern age.
Now based in Hudson, he and his family can again get about the wine-making magic they know best, by having a somewhat urban shop in a smaller, neighboring city to Minneapolis-St. Paul. That was done when the Negret Wine Company opened Oct. 29 at 310 Second St. Negret developed a fondness for Hudson by driving through, and has compared it to the beauties of many European cities. “It is also much like the Riviera,” he added, noting Hudson has a gorgeous riverfront and active downtown.
Via the Hudson Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau, he became acquainted with county Economic Development Director Bill Rubin, who helped him gain a $3,000 small-business grant used for writing a business plan and assisted in the three-year zoning process.
Meanwhile, after a micro-distillery planner bowed out, Pudge’s Bar owner Michael Murphy offered to lease the versatile building next-door to Negret’s team. There have been bureaucratic snafus. A few months ago, the state of Wisconsin denied their permit based on a Prohibition-era restriction on a bar owner leasing another alcohol-related business. But Negret worked through it, being a perfectionist and persistent, driven and passionate about what he does. The building was purchased outright, solving the difficulty.
For more information, stop in, go to the company website www.NegretWineCompany.com. You can also:
Email info@negretwinecompany.com or to make reservations, including for the April 7th event, write to reservations@negretwinecompany.com.
You can also follow NWCo on Facebook www.facebook.com/NegretWineCompany and Instagram: @NegretWineCo
NEGRET WINE COMPANY BLENDS
RED BLENDS
WHITE BLENDS
ROSE BLEND
Thursday, March 24th, 2016
Drawing inspiration from the road. Just don’t hit a coyote:
— You’ll get a variety of song stuff from James Zackary of Cottage Grove, Minn. when he plays at the Willow River Saloon on Friday evening, March 25. These are the formative facets concert-goers can expect to see played out, in Zackary’s own words, and despite his description, he is more than just a sideman: “First and foremost I am a songwriter. I have written and recorded hundreds of songs. When I am on stage I have a five-string bass in my hands and a wireless system for both my instrument and my head set. When I write you can find me behind the piano or at the kitchen table with an old acoustic in my hands. A great deal of my songs start out in the car. If I don’t have my voice recorder with me I would call home to my machine and sing away. Now I have a phone with the voice recorder feature on it,” he said. Patrons can find 30-or-so of those songs online.
“I am currently touring with a bunch of guys in a totally unrelated genre then my original stuff, and these guys are so cool that I love being their sideman,” Zackary said.
— After several weeks drawing from the standard core of bands, the Smilin’ Moose is having one we haven’t seen for a while, Coyote Wild, on Friday night. The group has seven members which allows them to have a lengthy song list, 110 to be exact.
— As you might guess, beer of the month picks at local bars continue to be Irish driven, at least until March 31. Selections stemming from St. Patrick’s Day include Finnegan’s at the Village Inn in North Hudson and Mickey’s at Dick’s Bar and Grill. Incidentally, at the Village, their signs spelled the Irish beer using two differing vowels in the middle, so maybe they should back off a wee bit on the quality control, if you know what I mean.
— Ambergeddon Amber Ale may be the triple A of tough brews, even though you might not expect that from amber beer. The recent presence of this on the market, available at places such as Dick’s and the Village Inn, is billed as meaning “death” to typically weak, lame amber beers, for whom “extinction is imminent.” To counter those, Ambergeddon “brings not just the malt, but also the hops.” Try one yourself to see, if you survive … Likewise with the edgy death theme and skull art to go with, a brand of tequila know as Exotico, and the sometimes floral-themed tattooed skull that makes up its logo, sells for $4 shots at Dick’s. Just to max out, the flyer says “RIP a shot.”
— Speaking of lame, its March Madness time again, and not all the college basketball teams are top-notch seeds, although a wide variety of the contests can be seen at local sports bars. One of them, on Friday evening, features Wisconsin taking on Notre Dame, or as Kozy Korner in North Hudson has said on its sign for several days, Notre Lame. The winner will face the winner of the North Carolina and Indiana game, and hope for an upset, in Sunday’s regional finals.
— The Easter brunch and breakfast at Seasons Tavern carves out a lot of territory, with prime rib carved just for you as you pass through, in what is becoming a less and less common restaurant offering, (and would you want it any other way?) Kind of like taking in that especially good band the night before. And along with the prime rib are lots of other items, such as scrambled eggs, bacon, eggs, cheesy hash browns, French toast, fresh fruit, home fried potatoes, sausage and pastries.
Wee bit of ‘green’ couldn’t buy any green beer, so just tip your wee Irish hat to karaoke
Saturday, March 19th, 2016On Irish funny money (can they buy green beer?) and other St. Patrick’s Day abnormalities, which become normal except for 364 days a year, (OK I know that Leap Year skewers it).
— A woman who won a local costume contest, in part because of her wee little bit of a green Irish top hat, smaller than an Irish clenched fist, was asked what she would do with her pot of gold, now that she’d won first prize? Even when combined with her funds leftover at the end of the night, that wee little bit would not get you far, she replied. The few bills she had remaining were Irish funny money that was white with no green tint whatsoever, clipped with a scissors and given to patrons.
— Another friend brought out to Green Mill karaoke on St. Patrick’s Day, after playing it heavily at home, a couple of CDs that included “28 Irish Pub Songs,” which if you can count that high for one drink per song, is fitting for singing — after all, this is a pub-like grill and bar. On this CD is a plinky instrumental of “Whiskey in a Jar-O,” (which was mentioned previously on this web page), not the rock-out version by Metallica. Those were the stylings sang by friend and former karaoke-meister Dave later at The Mill. The more traditional version was brought to mind later in the evening by someone I know who I swear has to be at least 120 percent Irish! He called late, better than never, about getting together for Irish song fests both here and down yonder in Milwaukee.
— A young guy (still wearing green) who was starting early — or continuing — early on the Friday after St. Patrick’s Day, said that on these holidays amongst his friends, this style of surrendering for a few days a sane schedule is so persistent it’s “straight through.” One of them (just green shoes) lended credence to that, he said, when buying another beer while the one she already had was only half empty. (Or half full?)
— Down the street at Emma’s in River Falls on St. Patrick’s Day, some off-sale liquor bottles still contained the cardboard tag of a “Christmas” special, with the price printed inside a picture of a circular wreath. I think that kind of “green” is the wrong holiday.
— A North Hudson bartender who has been on that job for a few months said that a prior stint was at an Irish Pub in the St. Paul area, adding that a longtime regular customer there had reached out and tried to renew acquaintances, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. When Irish Eyes are Smiling …
— Bartender Emma just got back from Daytona, and on the wall at her place of work is a tongue-in-cheek flyer that says Hurricane Evacuation plan, an exit that consists of two steps: Buy beer, then get the hell out of town. I’m assuming these things are related. And the Irish would be proud.
— Peyton Manning may or may not be Irish — his hair has become too thin to tell — but has retired, and likewise, I have not seen his lookalike who used to hangout at Guv’s Place since the days it was in Houlton. OK, the local guy looked a little older and thinner then the five-time MVP quarterback, but there still was a resemblance, especially earlier on, when it was Manning’s heyday.
Lady Luck gets lucky with synergy to Ozzy tribute bands that played locally
Friday, March 18th, 2016The Lady Luck band, a staple at the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt, (see this latest Picks of the Week department entry), also has had more on its resume in the last few months, namely sharing the stage with perhaps the Twin Cities hottest tribute band to Ozzy Osbourne, named Diary of a Madman. The band was especially known for its tribute show at Venue 13 last fall, a place that has a connection with the ownership of the Smilin’ Moose in Hudson.
That all brings back memories of another band of Ozzy backers, fronted by Michael Ault and his Aultimate Ozzy show, which graced the former Dibbo’s many times over a several-year period.
The guy was scary/impressive in his dead-on duplication of the so-called Prince of Darkness himself, from the onstage mannerisms to all the tattoos in all the same places as Ozzy, even the beast that’s soccer ball sized that adorns all of his right shoulder. Making this even more surreal was that Ault would not break out of the character of Becoming Ozzy, even on set breaks when mingling with the crowd.
Ault’s finest hour, in my book, was when he sang during one of those occasional in-concert bonding moments that are shared between the audience and the band, when it becomes something deeper, almost spiritual. He started this run of good karma with a perhaps unusual song opportunity, Children of the Grave, which rails against how war effects kids, then jumped into some Black Sabbath songs that are more standards.
Friday, March 18th, 2016
St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean you have to stand pat with this weekend’s entertainment:
— Leisha Gust, originally from Durand, Wis., rather than the typically based lead singers from the Twin Cities, fills that role for the band Lady Luck, which plays the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt on Friday, March 18. She also is the former Mrs. Minnesota International from back in 2008 and features long dark locks and even darker, lacy garb on stage, and on top of that, the group’s signature symbol is an Ace of Spades.
— The latest special of Irish eats and drinks goes on for the remainder of the month of March, not just St. Patrick’s Day: A Reuben sandwich and McGuiness beer for just $10.95.
— And to incorporate another timely spring event that is marching in, there are lunchtime tokens at Dick’s from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. during March Madness. And up on The Hill, Green Mill and also Buffalo Wild Wings, historically, are billing themselves as Hudson’s headquarters for March Madness basketball and at-your-house bracketing parties, offering special deals that are heavier on food, such as family size offerings on things such as Buffalo wings and pizza for the price of a Benjamin. But like any sport, there are rules to follow.
St. Paddy’s Day: More than corned beef — try a blarney burger, other eats and arrive early
Friday, March 11th, 2016There are lots of ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and they are both traditional and newfangled, so don’t get your Irish up.
Lots of places offer corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day, to the point where its sometimes less than noteworthy, but there are some such as the Green Mill and Season’s Tavern in North Hudson that take Irish food to a new level, and that’s no blarney. It’s also true that you might have the luck of the Irish across the St. Croix and get serenaded by a Sinatra songster.
But enter the blarney burger at Seasons, which has a seven-ounce hamburger patty (not paddy), plus corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and 1000 Island dressing, on an egg-washed bun. That means lots of two kinds of meat, despite the lingering presence of Lenten Fridays, and with all those other ingredients, it’s great tasting, Season’s owner Brad says.
But in back to the basics, Season’s last year sold 80 dishes of the obligatory corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day, but they expect that this year the sales could be up by 50 percent, to 120, as word about it gets around. Rueben soup rounds out the mix.
Brad says he is not a believer in the cliche green beer and other such drink specials, especially when it comes to holidays, although all the usual varieties popular for St. Patrick’s Day are available for purchase. He rather chooses to stick with what they do well, and not rely on what could be seen as a onetime gimmick. He says that many venues have plenty of beverage sales where an idea is forced, but when it comes to follow-through is not effective.
— On the flipside of a similar note, Dick’s Bar and Grill and other area venues are promoting Miller Lite for St. Patrick’s Day, but the beer mug photos shown in the ads display it as regular light brown in color, not the notorious green beer. However, this option is billed as appropriate since it is of a pilsner variety, and to boot, Miller Lite is the beer of this month, which obviously contains St. Patrick’s Day, at Buffalo Wild Wings. At least one other bar says that they’ve tapped a full kegger of green beer in recent St. Patrick’s Days, but it hasn’t gone over too well with patrons as far as orders.
— In the best tradition of St. Patrick’s Day, things get hopping early for specials at the Bungalow Restaurant and Bar in Lakeland at 11 a.m. (until its gone) with their corned beef and cabbage, and Irish beer and whiskey. A wee bit later, its both singer and deejay Gary LaRue and his Rat Pack Band from 7-11 p.m. LaRue plays the best of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nate King Cole, Chet Baker and more, for an evening of “dining, dancing and romancing.” LaRue was named best unique entertainer of 2015 by a publication just up the highway, White Bear Lake Magazine.
— Green Mill is again going totally green on not only St. Patrick’s Day, but from March 16-19. There is traditional mulligan stew with special seasonings and beef and four kinds of vegies, cream based Rueben soup, Rueben sandwiches and of course, corned beef and cabbage, and that’s just the eats. There also will be leprechaun jello shots, Jameson shooters, and three specialty drinks, Irish Flag, Irish Gold and Shamrock-Tini, which are heavy on Irish ingredients that include Baileys. The Shamrock-Tini even features a chocolate-rimmed martini glass. Add to that karaoke and a costume contest on the night itself and you have a party, the 17th annual St. Patrick’s Day one, no less.
— Paddy Ryan’s in the town of Hudson has all the standard fare that you would expect of an Irish pub, and in the evening of St. Patrick’s Day they add the vocal stylings of The O’Briens, a family group from Hudson that is big into Irish music.
— If you want to get your Irish up prior to St. Patrick’s Day, options for other kinds of music include Rough House and Country Outlaws, on Friday and Saturday nights respectively at Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt, Whiskey Stone at the Smilin’ Moose on Friday night, and Ella and Wade at Dick’s in an early Friday performance, starting around 6 p.m.
Thursday, March 3rd, 2016
This weekend, drink some new brews while you march to old standards:
— Want to be, or drink, Like Mike? For those who enjoy craft beer sampling of new brews, consider the MKE Tap Takeover at Stone Tap on Friday, March 4. (It actually stands for the Milwaukee Brewing Company, that being the city of the archrivals of Michael Jordan). Things get going at 4 p.m., then there is a meet and greet at 8 p.m.
— They’re again marching through western Wisconsin to get to Twin Cities tournament action, where the Badgers will try to be Like Mike. The University of Wisconsin band that will spur them on will also stop at the Village Inn in North Hudson on Saturday at around 10 a.m.
— They are new, having been around since the New Year; that being the American not the Mexican version of the changeover to 2016. Ellie’s on Main has settled on a menu format, and its all things Mexican, with the addition of 24 ounce brews of that style for $3.50. The logo for Dos Equis is all over the sign that’s announcing the relatively new food and drink emphasis.
— On the Seventh, you can be in Seventh Heaven for yet another beer sampling. Tickets go on sale March 7 for the cave beer fest of Historic Casanova Liquors, which will take place April 30. The opposite side of that sign says that there are job openings for beer nerds and wine dorks. I guess those would be the people who will serve you in the cave.
— On the first Friday of each month, such as March 4, Soulful Tryst will literally be in the house at Maverick’s Corner Saloon on downtown River Falls offering its grooves. Their self-described genre is house, tech house, deep house and bassline house.
Is pizza presidential? Is this a hangout that could trump an after-caucus political hangover?
Thursday, March 3rd, 2016Aren’t we glad that Super Tuesday, like Leap Year, only occurs once every four years? In the other three years, you might even get someone to reach out with that phone call? But St. Patrick’s Day, by comparison, is omnipresent.
— Politics or pizza? A Tuesday night patron at Green Mill said that she was going to call her father earlier, “but the caucuses just got too crazy.” (Just maybe that’s if they were talking about all the political things related to Green Cards, and that’s not to be confused with the grill and bar’s email gift club). Despite the hubbub, it obviously didn’t keep her from finding time to border-hop on Super Tuesday, and try out a stellar establishment at night — after trying to be anti-establishment all day?
— Is this a four-for-one? Some local places on Feb. 29 announced a Leap Year special for items such as a slice (of pizza) and a salad that occurs only, well, once every four years. And it wasn’t required to have a table for four.
— A visiting friend named Mark is a member of a fast-becoming-prominent Irish song circle in Milwaukee. I don’t know that much Irish music, but I asked him if he knew “Whiskey in the Jar-O,” (the only reason I am familiar with it is that it was covered by Metallica, often performed as a cover locally, and is friend Dan’s by-far-and-away favorite Metallica song). Mark replied that he knew the song well, and that it also was covered by another Irish rock band, Thin Lizzy, although both cover songs are among the lighter ones played by those particular groups.
— Only Rich, the flamboyant Pizza King himself, can get away with singing the bawdy backup lyrics to the song by GNR that goes “I used to love her, but I had to kill her.” (Don’t get too upset, the song is about having to euthanize a female dog). Or so I thought only The Rich Man could pull it off.
Jeff “One Man Band” Loven surprised me the other Sunday by asking that I sing the backup vocals in the absence of Rich, who has reprised the role for years. So, like Rich and his improvisation, I just had to put my own punny stamp on it … “She drove me nuts. That the squirrel had buried right in my backyard.”
To which all the while, my wingman Tom did his swaying with imaginary microphone, dead-on Axl Rose doo-rag impersonation of that same singer. Maybe he was drinking that beer being hawked on a sign behind him, fittingly called Fat Squirrel.
And from a while back, one more Rich story: He is also known for his tongue-in-cheek, sign language treatment given to a popular Steve Miller Band song while Jeff sings and says this one is for the hearing impaired. One night a somewhat older gentleman thought the music was too loud and put cotton balls in his ears, thus becoming one of the beneficiaries.
— The other night, I talked to the bartender who helped blow the whistle on those awful Minnesotans who tried to illegally export our special Badger State, Spotted Cow beer. On this particular night it was the Bacardi booze in question, as her thusly named shirt was just low-cut enough to obscure the top of the letter “a” and make it look like Bacurdi. As in cheese curds? Or am I having a cow over this?
— A local bartender was in a blues-bordering-on jazz band, now in hiatus, that was his full time gig for the first half of the current as-far-as-it-has-played-out millennium. They have snaked their way all the way down to New Orleans, playing various venues in-between, including a recurring engagement at a prominent juke-joint festival. No stranger to music, his uncle was in a band that opened for Creedence Clearwater Revival, among others. A newly surfaced fan asked if he could get a copy of one of their old vinyl recordings, but was told that these days, such a Gold LP would run for about $500 on Ebay, the nephew said.
— This is a tale of throwing both darts and dice. The bartender at Guv’s Place in North Hudson took a few moments out to do something you’d only be able to at a place such as this, which specializes in tournaments of the type. Upon the invitation of a patron, she tossed a couple of darts from standing behind the bar rail and even came close to hitting a triple. But there were other things also on her mind, like the next evening. Since she hadn’t had a night off in a long time, she was really looking forward to crossing the highway the next day and participating in the high-profile and potentially lucrative Casino Night at the Village Inn.
— A local suppertime stop of the History Happy Hour at Dick’s Bar and Grill was attended by about 60 people, who learned about Wisconsin’s dozens of brews and, I’m guessing, designed hundreds of new beer labels as a related activity, before loosing count. Well into the evening, the crowd that lingered was getting a bit tipsy — like the one at the chili contest a few days later — which in both cases had it serve as a happy hour of historic proportions.
— One more punny reference about the Grammys/Oscars made at Dick’s, where a crowd had gathered to watch the academy awards and cheer on Leo Dicaprio, to a favorite bartender into the Old School metal. I asked him, with tongue in cheek, if his fave Slayer had gotten the lifetime achievement award? We then shared info about the idea that Pantera had actually gotten one of the statues that night. What that actually was about, the two of us concurred, was an indie movie about a regular guy who lived out his fantasy and started drumming to the songs of, well, Pantera. Which brings me to the woman I’d met there a few nights back who was a deejay for five years in Red Wing and raised some hackles by often finishing off the night with a Pantera standard. She was now living in Hudson and was looking for a local club that could be a new haunt “where she could make this world my own.” As for any rock star status, she said that deejaying had just been a job, like any other.
— At Agave Kitchen, the second story marquee during the middle of a week read “Wednesday spelling test,” but all the letters were posted backwards. How did they do that?