The more eyes, in particular if they are shown off by celebrity lookalikes, the better:

— The eyes have it, even if they are four eyes, or just sets of two. A late night clerk at Freedom Value Center noted that there were a couple of construction guys who came in and asked in her eyes “were real.” That’s usually not the set of eyes that guys talk about, which is quite atypical because the clerk is not tall in stature. So I looked deep into her eyes. They are a very light blue, which maybe makes them more noticeable. Then that weekend, dancing at Dick’s Bar and Grill was woman who was a dead-on lookalike for Kristen Wiig — get the double vowels — and even had the hairdo using a rubber band her character sported in Despicible Me. That and the fact that dancing the night away, rather then onstage, at the Smilin’ Moose recently was the splittin’ image of Avril Lavigne, complete with the essential peak-a-boo midriff of those days. And, at the new Pudge’s, was a guy who looked just the leading man in Burn Notice, and had the same goofy grin. One more? How about a friend of mine who had been showing up downtown more and more, and recently celebrated her not-yet-30 birthday, looking like a younger and hotter Patricia Arquette (remember her?)
— On the sports scene, as a server in North Hudson at a sports bar, is the guy who not only resembles former Wild player and current announcer Wes Walz, but also now a member and a quasi-namesake of TV’s Timeless, (he goes by the name of Wyatt). Now that’s a double doppelganger. In that spirit, my friend Doug looks like both a member of the Dweebs — who really rocked out on lead guitar to a rock classic during a cameo with Jeff Loven earlier this year — and sports TV’s Scottie Brooks, shown as both a point guard and currently a broadcaster.
— North Hudson’s Tim Zais was behind the grill last Saturday for a neighborhood breakfast party. It’s hard to miss that he resembles the owner of TV’s Bob’s Burgers, and they both were bringing home the bacon, just in different forms.
— Lastly, and this news has been around for a while, and is also Old School, a look-alike in the American Pie movies, for a randy character named Stiffler, has been serving and partying in Hudson. That would seem to entail some border hopping, as the guy who played that character a number of years back is from the Cottage Grove area.

Is this a sign of the times? Looking for a suspicious person after hours? Go figure:
— One of several local venues that post humorous messages on their signs, Casanova Historic Liquors, recently updated their posturing and has the sign running up and down next to their building, rather than the main body of it running left and right. They noted the new approach, fittingly, on their sign. I hope that this doesn’t mean that the nearby inflatable Packer and Viking plastic figures, where depending on winning or losing would have one on top of the other with the opponent laying flat on the ground, doesn’t change, as the vertical vs. horizontal theme takes hold. The Border Battle should continue on.
— The other night I went for a late night walk in North Hudson and was questioned by a local deputy. Seems that at a nearby residence, a rock had been thrown through a window and they were investigating. Was I a local resident, had I seen anything suspicious and what was my name? With those questions answered, I was told that if I happened to see anyone who looked “shady” while I was out for my walk, I should give them a ring. Hmm, shady, and that inspired a thought about where I might encounter such as person and then report back to the authorities. Well at a bar, of course. So, I reasoned, it was my civic duty to hit as many of the North Hudson night spots as I could to help out law enforcement. A tough job, but somebody’s got to do it.
While I was out on that jaunt, I encountered a couple of people who had just gotten back from spring break, and were debating the merits of visiting the north side of The Seven Seas where they could vacation, or the south end. The north, it was agreed, was a bit cooler, but hey, anything’s better then some of the temps we’ve had around here lately.
— Another spring break related tidbit just surfaced in North Hudson. A bartender was weighing in on going to Vegas, and much to my surprise didn’t really care for it. He cited the fact that there can be a gated community just a block or so away from a rundown trailer park, that there are concrete (or hopefully stone) walls everywhere, and that there are a lot of building lots available and not being purchased for development.
— Also, at the Village Inn, there has been what I can best describe as a donation of, a collection of old and vintage radio recordings (on vinyl of course). They included descriptions of historic world events from about a century ago, and the one that got the biggest buildup by the bartender was the explosion of the Hinderburg.

After much planning, it’s official: The Club 304 that has opened in the same building as the new Pudge’s Saloon and Eatery is now also open for dinner, as well as lunch and breakfast.
Club 304 had been serving since 7 a.m. for that most important meal of the day, and now will go straight through to between 9 and 11 p.m., depending on the number of customers at the locality.
Executive chef Josh Furman, obviously a key part of the refurbishing, said this supper club and American Bistro theme, among other possible descriptions, is unlike anything else in Hudson and the result of staying passionate and sticking to a concept of being “approachable.” He noted there are the higher-end places in Stillwater, but that his is a different mix of the best of several such things. Furman wants familiar food where people can pronounce what they are ordering, not have it be, say, an obscure French word. Think of going beyond the gourmet, he adds.
Which is not to say that his menu won’t have French sauces, which like so many things at Club 304, he makes from scratch and using locally sourced ingredients, such as oatmeal, which is beyond the usual standard, having among other things, only coconut milk and steel-cut ingredients and like everything on their menu, no processed white sugar. That’s not even to mention the hoops they jump through to make their own hollendaise sauce, to go with their lobster eggs Benedict. The idea is affordable comfort food, although variety of food options and being treated special while ordering them is indeed their spice of life, and there are even “small plates” if you just want a somewhat-filling snack. And Furman says he will be a consistent presence at Club 304, especially if people have questions, and thus come out and talk to customers.
They might want to ask about the various steaks, made from Hereford beef only, other beef as in great burgers, and ala carte breakfast choices and hot dish, many of which patrons can build it their own way. Signature dishes include crispy pork belly with celery root, an inside-out Scotch egg, beer battered fried, cheese-stuffed onion rings and several dishes using their own made-in-house bacon.
All of this is creating a buzz, even across the border into St. Paul, Furman says, as people have become curious about the intentional, whole experience they are offering. Add to that the ambiance and experienced staff and you have a destination, he said. And as an add-on, so many people have already speaked glowingly to him about that pervasive limestone wall in all parts of the building, even though he spends the majority of his time in the kitchen.
Furman is a veteran of such popular Twin Cities eateries as W.A. Frost, Masu, Shanghai Bistro, the Rivertowns bed and breakfast in Stillwater, and some venues in California.
For more information about the Pudge’s Saloon and Eatery, or the accompanying Club 304, call (715) 386-9975.

The Fat Tuesday crowd was massive, then slim, but the fish fry crowd was quite a catch:

— The crowd on Fat Tuesday was large at first, but then dwindled off toward closing time. That’s probably the main time that tales of favorite flashings, long ago and not-so-long-ago, and involving some women who have at times been a fixture, flourished downtown. And maybe a reason for the sign at Season’s Tavern, two miles north, that said simply You Look Marvelous. Meanwhile, the first Friday in Lent at one downtown establishment brought no more flashings, but a full 80 pounds of fish served, which was followed with a similar showing the next weekend. That’s a veritable “school” of fish, even if its old school. Enough to conceivably deplete the St. Croix River population.
— That’s around the time Joe Miller passed away from a heart attack while out in California. He was an occasional presence downtown and known for his work as a psychic locally. When hearing of the way-to-early demise, a bartender at a favorite haunt said jokingly, but then ceased to smile, “what and he didn’t leave us lottery numbers?!?” Joe would have laughed at that one.
— Hudsonites were fleeing western Wisconsin on a recent weekend, to go east and west. The Raider boys hockey team was a favorite at the state tournament down in Madison, and as usual, lots of local fans made the trek, and then on Sunday a busload was scheduled to leave Kozy Korner for a Badger hockey game in the Twin Cities, sitting right next to the marching band. There also was word of a UW-River Falls basketball team making the trek to Mad City. And it can be cold during March Madness, but that hasn’t kept some guys from tossing on their flip-flops even when temps are near freezing. Ladies, take that to heart with your strappy, open toed party shoes.
— The band Johnny No Cash, which just played the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt, has a promo photo of the members positioned inside a crystal ball. That’s just too fitting, as lately at the Village Inn in North Hudson I’ve heard that classic song by Styx pulled out of the vault at least twice. And it also seems fitting that Johnny No rolls off the tongue a lot like J-Lo.
— My bartender friend Terry at Dick’s Bar and Grill is my favorite Pundit with Perfect Perspectives (triple P) at a local sports pub. So I asked him: With the free agency market starting ASAP, here does he think AP will land? For once, Terry was without words, in other words, at least for this moment, AWOL?
— A sign at Kozy Korner pizzaria: “T-Rex with white sauce. It will change your life.” Or at least be the best thing since sliced bread.” (White of course).

Valentine’s Day, there was this update on what would seem an appropriately named band, KISS, featured on a long-running pinball machine at Dick’s Bar and Grill, and taking another turn on this holiday of “I was made for lovin’ you baby.” (Almost makes you forget about one of the bartenders and his famous cyborg arm worn while gaming when off-duty).
On the machine, bassist Gene Simmons is shown typically spewing fire, but there is a problem. His non-guitar arm is displayed pointing to the crowd with Devil Horns — a signal that has been given many meanings and he helped popularize — which meant that there is no ignition device being held on his person. An explanation offered by my visiting nephew: Its Dragon’s Breath.
Nephew Ian then played a standard on the jukebox that was perfect for its Sick Of Love Songs theme, Paint it Black by the Stones. I then looked at the Simmons head displayed on the middle of the pinball machine and thought, yes indeed, he’s painted black (and white).
Ian, a Burnsville resident, by the way loves to check out Hudson, even though he has been steered to the dark side by his online friends. They have made it known that on the world-wide web, Hudson’s political climate has been singled out as decidedly “non-nightclub.”
At the Smilin’ Moose, there was a new way to treat your “dear,” or should I say “deer,” by blowing them up! No not seriously, but by virtue of a video game where zombies that included that Wisconsin rather than Minnesota antlered creature just kept on coming at the shooter, in greater and greater numbers. Ian’s adversary mentioned the obvious that God, what hunter wouldn’t love this!
V-Day also was spelled out on the signs of certain establishments, such as Dairy Queen, where that night there was a one-word slogan honoring the holiday with a single letter missing (think heart-y fare) and other such single letters scattered around the border (remind you of your date?) Also, there was RJ’s Meats, which advertised on their marquee a steak and seafood special for the day, then added at the bottom that they were looking for new hires, (was their V-Day traffic, with guys looking to be over-the-top, and cooking for their dates, that pronounced?)
Lastly, on a more timely and much more serious note, news traveled around the area later on Sunday about a mother’s murder in rural Hudson and the high-speed chase involving the shooter, who fired at police and later shot himself. The daughter of that woman works in the hospitality industry in the downtown and fellow servers from various venues (check the name on the Agave Kitchen sign) were among the many people out and about that night, bringing a more somber tone to the whole evening.

First there was Jackson and Tyler, and now Incubus singer leads the way with a local connection:
— Hudson’s own Taeja, who is known for her California connections with some prominent musicians that include Jermaine Jackson and Steven Tyler, (via his throwing an item of clothing her way in-concert), was back in town after being a worker from the area where stars live, on a family business matter and was able to report there was another luminary on her list — yet another lead singer, this time from Incubus. She couldn’t quite rest on her laurels by just knowing the main screamer from System of a Down. Turns out Taeja had approached the Incubus guy with a gift in her pocket, but since couldn’t quite get up the courage to hand it over, settled for a selfie with him, which was shown to a few select people downtown. Got one hand in my pocket and the other’s (holding a camera) …
— And then there’s yet another Prince connection, this time via the airwaves. The group Still Runnin’ that again played the Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt, and is known for having Prince songs in its set list, had during its time on stage an alternate deliver method. I tuned into the radio during the timing of what was both their first and third sets, and each time the song playing was by The Purple One. Same station, but separate titles, just ones not as overplayed as Purple Rain. What are the chances …
— My former neighbor Mackenzie and a friend were chatting up a storm outside of Dick’s Bar and Grill, when she pointed out that a third woman was wearing a shirt praising New York girls, and that the word “new” had been inadvertently — I’m assuming — placed right between her breasts. Is that truth in advertising?
— More fun with words, where a copy editor is needed. The most recently honored Buzztime trivia player at Buffalo Wild Wings goes by the play name “Editer.” May I suggest that he now needs not only a publicist, but an actual editor. Between them, can their correct his spelling?
— North Hudson bar signs are having fun with the whole birthday thing. One at Kozy Korner has said that David Hohler should have a happy 70th. I bet it will be a howler. Earlier, very similar well wishes were given to the North Hudson Man of the Year runnerup for 2016, stating that maybe 2017 might be his year. Or probably not, it read with tongue in cheek. And back a door or two, on the big sign in front of Village Liquor, for what seems like weeks now it has said, from the north side, a happy birthday to Rachel. I’ve heard of a birthday week, or even birthday month, but this is ridiculous.

The Packers last-second playoff win over Dallas proved that they are the real America’s Team, as the sign at Kozy Korner in North Hudson would have you believe, but you might have to resend that memo to The Simpsons and Babe Ruth, as they focused on another sport, doing a vintage baseball-themed show that temporarily left the NFL out in the cold.
Immediate post-game analysis was interrupted by a few minutes of the regularly scheduled Simpsons episode, before the commentators came back on again to sing the Packers’ praises, a lapse that sent people using the time to wander to the bar for a drink. This was also because people were lingering after the final whistle to celebrate at places like the Village Inn in North Hudson, not leave them to go home just yet. One of those revelers wore a jacket with the logos of all the NFL teams, although only one of them mattered today.
Also making a return visit to the venue was Mandy Heidenreich, who was known as a participant in the lavish Viking-themed parties formerly thrown by her father, Al, at their place a few blocks away as the crow flies. On this day, though, she sported Green and Gold. We reacquainted and agreed that somewhere in the Mandy file must be an old photo of both of us at one of those shindigs, each wearing our teams’ colors.
Meanwhile, there is the unfinished business of one more win before getting to the Super Bowl, and this was already being addressed right after the Cowboy game. A man on his cell photo just outside the door was heard saying,” Yeah, I think we can beat them.”
This was not the first time in recent memory that the Cowboys and Packers have had such a playoff clash that was decided by a late flurry of offensive activity. At one such TV game a few years ago, I was taking photos for the Hudson Star-Observer at Dick’s Bar and Grill and met a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, who said she had made the trip north in part to get away from Texas and re-evaluate her romantic relationship. On this day she was more boisterous about football.
And, this wasn’t the only time a former Cowboy cheerleader has hung out at Dick’s. One such woman used to do so on occasion after her work shift at the current Pier 500, then called Sunsets.

The new year was all about glamour, but first a report on another thing that was over the top, the response of four diehard fans at the back bar at Buffalo Wild Wings to the college football national championship.

The Four Horsemen, as is often the case at BDubs for such games, were likely from out of town and staying at local motels when judging by the way they watched with rapt attention even before the climatic final plays. Why would Hudson-area people care that much about a contest between two way-out-of-the-Midwest schools?
Right around the time of the final-second game-winning play, when a football version of the pick and roll was run by receivers after being dialed up by their coaches, the bartender fitting shouted out “last call.”
The four men, now having done enough shouting out themselves, one at a time quietly exited.
At an earlier extravaganza, dress styles for New Year’s Eve were heavy on sparkle and glitz, while still respecting the rather cold temperatures, as only one bare midriff was seen and there were a few women who didn’t wear a coat, so as to show the slacks and blazer combo underneath.
Noteworthy was the Pudge’s bartender who while having the night off, hit the town as The Lady In Red. That was the color of her patterned dress, with even brighter high heels to match. On Halloween weekend, she’d sported a similar slinky dress, this time glittery silver. It’s fitting that 24 hours later on Sunday night, one of the miniature cars given away in his trivia contest by one-man-bander Jeff Loven was, of course, fire engine red.
Although there were exceptions, most places were packed to the gills for at least part of the night, and around 1 a.m. there was a line about two dozen people deep waiting to get into the Smilin’ Moose.
With this new year’s their was no more redux of what I saw previously at the now-closed Ellie’s on Main, when a very late night partier danced with hands on the floor and her feet firmly planted about five feet high on the wall. Someone at their friendly rival Dick’s Bar and Grill tried a version of this, but was not nearly as effective.
On new year’s at the Village Inn, listeners and the close to a dozen dancers who stepped forward were entertained by a much older guy wearing a party hat and really Old School rapping out (is that a real term?) He even kept up the fast pace of the song, despite his age. Earlier in the year, there was a guy who fit onto the category, Who woulda thunk it? Bill, a former North Hudson man said that in his new stomping grounds of New Richmond, much to his surprise, he encountered an Andersen Windows retiree who also was killing it in karaoke. Usually, this is a Sinatra wannabe, but this former foreman who was partly management was doing none other than The Boss. The conversation then switched to open mic nights, and Bill recalled the most recent time he heard me sing in that manner — which was back in the heyday of the former Dibbo’s. Bill quickly added that in his extensive video library, he’s quite sure he has some footage of me on stage from those days.

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.

The joke’s on you, if you’re an old graybeard or just look like the Viking mascot of that type:

— And you thought the penalty for being tardy was bad in grade school. Longtime patron and former bartender Forrest played a joke on friend at the Village Inn in North Hudson, who has a reputation for being late and such things. An old picture was posted of him with a bee sting near his eye and a sunburn, among other maladies, and said he responds to being called “Dork.” It was surmised that this photo should be posted on a vodka bottle, not a milk carton. And so it was done, all over the Inn. Sorry to say it took much of a night for the victim of this practical joke to see he had been targeted.
— One of the bartenders in on that last joke was asked for whom the response was greater, the recent hands-to-the-face non-call involving Sam Bradford that cost the Vikings at least a tie, or an Aaron Rodgers touchdown. It seems the amount of noise for the two equates. The server responded with laughter, then said well you know the Packers do kinda suck this year …

— That same bartender in North Hudson, who is as sick of the cold as anyone, noted that her friend and colleague in the biz from across the street had closed a bit early on one of the first December frigid nights — the first time that’s happened since, say, the days of the Ice Bowl. Then just minutes before closing, the ‘tender in the third part of the triangle stopped in, just because. On the following weekend and Monday, as the an-manageable middle part of the month manifested itself, multiple Minnesotans made their way downtown sporting T-shirts and shorts.

— Speaking of over at Guv’s Place, they were “liked” a few weeks ago on their Facebook by none other than Adrienne Peterson. So that’s where he/she was been keeping his/herself during the most recent injury. (It should be noted that during the ACL-tear-trying-time, Guv’s was at its former location in Houlton, not in North Hudson).