Only The Claus has the holiday karma to get away with it:
— Could it be that Santa not only makes deliveries, but also does takeout of things like chicken Wings? That apparently was the case at Buffalo Wild Wings when a guy with the typical red stocking cap with white trim dropped by and was set to get something he could eat on the run. Or was this indeed not a delivery? Turns out, in what was a trend for this evening right before the holiday, he was actually dropping off some Christmas cookies for one of his favorite bartenders.
— That’s OK for Santa, but could be creepy for some other late night patrons (me included?) I reference, for intelligent dialogue, the guy who was out on the night of Christmas Day and looked like one of the villains from the movie Fargo (still love the sideburns).
— And the frigid weather has returned, as was prominently pointed out by some NFL players on sports bar TV, who were talking about the possibility of frostbite in the dawn of the New Ice Bowls. It’s likely that to heal fast enough from such an injury to play in a balmy Super Bowl, you’d need the superhuman ability to come back from the mishap shown by Adrian Peterson.
— And we do, of course, like our beer chilled. But one of the clerks at the Freedom Value Center in North Hudson didn’t seem to be onto that idea. She said on a recent bitter night when I grabbed a six pack to take out to the car, “your beer might get cold.” Hey yeah, that’s the idea. There was a sign, too, back by the cooler, that said: Free beer when you buy two. That’s kinda like the sign at The Village Inn across the street that used to say “Free beer tomorrow.”
— At the Height Of The Last Bitter Cold Of The Year Season, The Agave Kitchen had one of their funny signs that jokingly called for us to — temporarily — bring back attendance out on the patio, in particular at “Pedro.” Might be better for that idea, at this time of year, at The Moose. Especially now with Ellie’s never to see a new year.
— And with that new year basically here, might take this to heart. The 93X deejay fielded a request from Hammond the other day, then added he loves ‘Sconsin’ and had just partied down there, specifically in a place he called Plum River, (I’m pretty sure it’s actually Plum City). “I got two beers for like $1.50. Go to downtown Minneapolis and that might cost you $28,” he said in mock dispair.
— A birthday guy at Guv’s Place had celebratory balloon that reached halfway from the top of his head to the height of a basketball hoop. How did I surmise he was the man of the group who was at the center of partying? Maybe having a Christmas birthday?
— When two friends — of opposite sexes — rocked the dance floor at Dick’s, (in prep for new year’s?), how could you tell which one is the top dog? I said my choice was the guy and quickly invoked the dance-off in the remake of Starsky and Hutch. How long had it been since he was such a winner? He said 1974. I added that’s like the Cubbies claiming the World Series (some sports cliches just stick with you). He didn’t dispute, but just was kidding, about his basically hitting a newfound home run. When I saw him again the next weekend, we fist bumped as usual, and I joked with him that his newfound power meant I’d gotten broken knuckles.
— A car stopped late at night by the police on a frontage road had both front headlights out. It did however, put on a functioning left blinker. Think that’s going to help?
— Lastly, it’s that time of year for the cop’s neon DUI enforcement messages to be seen on seemingly every freeway overpass. In particular, I like this one that was displayed earlier in the year that’s soon to be gone: Leave driving buzzed to the bees. Don’t drink and drive.