It doesn’t take a Lambeau Leap to see that the main topics this time around are the cold (still) and Packer football (now that its fully back in gear), as well as the bar signs that tell about these and other things. (And, if you’re reading this post after the Packers’ debacle on Sunday, take note of the sarcastic sign on the Agave Kitchen marquee that quotes Aaron Rodgers and says simply “Relax.” Then, in what’s becoming a trend, that message was reiterated on the marquee of Season’s Tavern a day later, when it read “Relaxed too much.”)
— Even in the coldest of the weather we’ve had, people have been out at night in shirtsleeves — or less. The worst-case scenario was seen when two young dudes were shirtless and in sweat pants at bar time, and when a man had some major bling going on, but again no shirt, while sitting in a small sports car. Since he had to take a ride back to Minnesota, I hope he rectified that clothing glitch. There also was a sweatshirt that someone had taken off and plopped in a snowbank, and it was still there the next night, this time draped over a “sidewalk closed” placard near the patio construction at the Smilin’ Moose. Down the block on a parking meter, there was a similar positioning of a big chunk of carpet; what’s up with that? I think the meter was the same one that was literally late-night hurdled by a very tall blonde earlier in the construction, or should I say football, season.
— With temperatures as they have been, you knew you would see this miscue eventually — a bank sign that said, “-0 degrees.” Math majors they are not, as you don’t really need the “minus” part. And certainly not Saved By Zero. That’s also because I don’t think they have to worry about these things in relatively warm and rainy Seattle, the Packers Sunday afternoon NFC Championship opponent.
— The other night at Dick’s Bar and Grill, there was a man nattily clad in an ill-fitting stocking cap, so much so that when you factor in his facial appearance, he looked just like Bill Belichick, the New England coach whom the Packers just might end up facing this postseason. As a counterpoint, when I was in there after that, the many TV screens showed his quarterback Tom Brady also wearing such a hat, (just looking much better in it, maybe taking tips from his supermodel wife). Truth be told, there has been a man in Dick’s many times who greatly resembles Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, (who does not look nearly as good in State Farm commercials). As a last note on the subject, did anyone see yet another QB, Jay Cutler, while viewing him at a sports bar, sitting on the bench for a powwow with the Chicago Bears other critical thinkers, and holding a pen that because of the camera angle looked like a cigarette hanging out of his mouth?
— Now that the season has (mercifully) come to an end, a post mortem would be to revisit the incident where a Viking lineman was one of nine people shot near a bar in downtown Minneapolis. This raises a good question (and maybe answers it, too): Why do so many people from the metro forsake the Warehouse District entirely and come to downtown Hudson to party?
What follows is some sage wisdom from some people who do just that. Hudson is less pretentious (most would say) and often more friendly, not to mention safer, drinks are much cheaper, bars are closer together, people who include celebrities can party while under the radar, and of course, we are the first place over the border in a new state where some of the laws are different.
— The deejay at Dick’s yelled to dancers for an applause shoutout, individually, for both the Packers and the Vikings, and the reply actually seemed to favor The Other Side. That’s like because a party bus had just pulled in From Foreign Soil.
— A friend from Hudson I’ve known since back when the Vikings sometimes had winning records is also their official tailgate deejay for home games, and said that during the Packer postseason he will be “downtown” at local sports bars in his Viking gear to rub that fact in, or at least to remember when it was the case.
— A man at Dick’s mentioned that the bar at which he works had two deejays for New Year’s. I asked him where that bar is. He replied River Falls, adding that they have specially customized beer pong tables. “Do they have the logo on them?” He replied again, “the whole nine yards.”
— The latest marquee signs of interest in North Hudson are led by one outside Kozy Korner that read as such, but you had to read both sides to get the gist: On one side was, “Why did the hipster burn his lip?” Then on the other side: “He ate the pizza before it was cool.” Just a block down was this from Village Liquor, with apologies to ZZ Top: “5% off. Wear a pearl necklace.” And then at Agave Kitchen, there was an accurate prediction of a Packer win that read across the bottom as a hashtag “ISEETHINGS.” It was followed the next day by “Nomo Romo.” That same message appeared a bit later outside the Village Inn in North Hudson. (Apparently imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, especially if you’ve been tipping a couple).