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A Brit may be coming to run a block, and maybe he also will take in some local music:
— To prepare for the annual One Block Fun Run to benefit United Cerebral Palsy, there are many Dick’s Bar and Grill
patrons among the well over 100 who have signed pledge placards, where only an obscure or quirky nickname is provided, but
perhaps THE most unusual is the one who goes only as “The.” Next would have to be a signature from one of the many people
from Great Britain who happen in while in the area, “Benedict Cummerbatch from England.” You’ve got to wonder if he will be
“coming” back to the States to participate, when it only entails running 100 yards. The event is slated for Saturday, Jan.
17, with registration at 10 a.m. and the run itself at noon. The entry fee is $20 for adults, but you get a lot: A free
beverage, lunch ticket, raffle ticket, Taco John’s coupon and UCP raffle ticket. For kids its $10 and includes a T-shirt
and lunch.
— The Smilin’ Moose will have Flashmob on stage on Friday, Jan. 16, and the last time they played there, earlier last
year, the band offered a show that lived up to its name — both from the action on the dance floor, and from the two
syllables of their name taken separately. In other Moose news, when Rock Godz played there the previous weekend, they
featured a bassist who jumped off stage and did a somersault on the dance floor while not missing a beat, almost exactly
like I saw Ozzy’s lead guitarist do in concert in the mid-80s. And the lead singer sported a baseball cap that when he
turned to face the drummer, had a skull and crossbones where the strap normally is; in fact, all the band members wore
something on their heads. Lastly, when Tim Sigler’s country was the musical act, a worker said the reason the cover was
high on a night where they still were packed is that he’s possibly their No. 1 performer.
— When I took in the male and female duo Wade and Ella as they moved up the road from their native Hudson and did their
once-a-month, early-in-the-month act at Guv’s Place in Houlton, they boasted almost constant harmonizing on songs where you
usually wouldn’t hear it. They might need to be conserving their energy, as area venues they have been penned-in-for during
recent times — and they have been busy — include Maverick’s Corner Saloon in River Falls, the Boardman Bypass, Champs Sports
Bar in New Richmond and the Sail Away Cafe in Afton.

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