This is Valentine’s Day, before and during and after the date itself, by the numbers: 40, then two-fer, then 100 for 20

— Why is The Moose Smilin? It might be because of really getting into its special menu for Valentine’s Day, which not to get into Biblical numerology, but is $40 a couple — a valued number for people who are very spiritual, and aren’t those the ones who are whole hog, so to speak, into V-day anyway? And for people who are watching their pennies, wouldn’t that price be the way to go to? And to carry the spiritual theme one step further, there is an area contact online who offers cool, Bible-based jewelry as a gift for a song, and that could be a love song.
— Also, we have to invoke Dick’s Bar and Grill, as they have a legitimate two-fer going, as far as days. On the Thursday itself, it is a snow crab and filet minyon special offering — because isn’t your significant other special anyway? — but then that special is revisited on Saturday after 4 p.m., in the form of that same meaty offering, which may be what she secretly craves anyhow. Oh, and also, The Extension Of That V-Day is marked as happening earlier on, at Dick’s, in the early afternoon on that Saturday, with a sweetheart’s dart tournament where you have to be a team, and isn’t that what being a couple is all about?
— And another extension. This is the Super Bowl special at The Village Inn in North Hudson, which still goes on, at least for a time, of a 100 ounce Beer Tower for $20. If you do the bar math, that’s a pretty good per-ounce price. (Your Frugal German who is doing this writing loves that). And what’s the only thing that could be better? How about the fact that The Village had a good run on their marquee of listing the exact temperature of the moment, complete with a decimal point — that if you haven’t imbibed to the point where you are comatose would be 98.6. (With an emphasis on the six). And in this Deep Freeze, we wonder how that sign’s listed would deal with negative numbers as far as temps.

— And a last minute update, as far as the Green Mill and its special V-Day offerings. You can share with your sweetie a large, heart-shaped pizza with multiple toppings at a special price (and isn’t that special, and take it to heart, especially since the heart is the shape?)  And its not too late to order online and collect an additional 100 points, half-way to a $10 redemption, if you are a member of their e-club and the “special,” sorry to use that word again, deals that it offers. And if you are not, why not join?

— And there is life after Valentine’s Day, and I will suggest a two-fer — although not having been mentioned for a while, it may be a Smokescreen. Oh, I’m sorry, that’s the name of the band playing at the Smilin’ Moose on Friday night. And talking about timing, its the Biermas, Nancy (piano) and John (bass) taking over the stage, after playing together for literally decades, and they may indeed need every inch when its for all that jazz, as they play Urban Olive and Vine on that same night, with a much earlier start, about 6-ish compared to 9:30-ish. So hey, why don’t you make it up to your sweetie, if you dropped the ball on V-Day, and take in both with her, as they are only a block apart?

This is not the blues, but a Berry-good time, in advance of the spring River Falls bluegrass fest:
— Bluegrass music fans, following the bands who appear regularly in River Falls and are slated for the big spring bluegrass fest there, can rejoice and get their fix ahead of time. Erik Berry, of Trampled By Turtles fame, is back on the road with his new project, LazyLightning420. They will be in-concert at a venue to the north, Big Guys BBQ Roadhouse, on Saturday night, Feb. 9.
— There are many more singers on the bill then you would see at any concert, including the opening acts. The annual Bungalow Idol competition in Lakeland — which has been going for the entire new year — has its finals on Friday night starting around 9:30 p.m. You can see and hear headliner quality well past this, the ordinary time a first or second act goes on, and the genres run the gamut from Sinatra, which you might expect, all the way through AC/DC.
–They are helping keep the sports watching tradition moving forward, even now that the Super Bowl is done. Buffalo Wild Wings is featuring their like totally stacked burger, with a number of patties that is more than you you can fit in a maxed out backfield formation, to keep the fan-tabulous experience going.You could also say that its as stacked with meat as an eight-man defensive line, stuffed inside the box to stop an Adrian Peterson rushing attack. So don’t get sacked, get your fan food.
— And speaking of meat, there is an annual chili contest at Dick’s Bar and Grill on early Sunday afternoon, where you get to be either the judge or the participating cook. Sample dozens of kinds of chili, whose variety include all of the different food groups, and meats that run from turf to turkey, and fish and shrimp of the sea to other kinds of featured fowl.

It is a busy weekend for nightlife that includes, but is not limited to, many primo activities of all kinds of things that only come around once a year.
The Hudson Hot Air Affair marks 30 years running, (the many music offerings are listed on the home page), but there is much more that is over and above the tunes, and here are the highlights: The torchlight parade goes on in the downtown (at the same time that music unfolds), and that kicks of at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, with fireworks to follow. There are balloon launches at the Rock School grounds, (that name is fitting considering the local music emphasis over the weekend), at dawn on Saturday and Sunday, and also one at about 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. The moonglow or field of fire occurs there at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. And don’t forget the combination of comedy, drama and athleticism (we use that term loosely), that occurs at the same spot at 1 p.m. Saturday in the form of the smoosh boarding competition. There are many other activities mixed in during these time frames and check out the Hudson Hot Air Affair online for the schedule.
And in related news, as it is also Super Bowl weekend, and Buffalo Wild Wings has you covered, even a bit early: Since this is no longer the pre-season, you can pre-order as a pre-ventive strike, in anticipation of the obvious two-minute drill that will always unfold after the teams feel each other out for the first half. But don’t wait that long to get your bid in, since this is the Big Game, and to twist a phrase slightly, as the people at BWW say, Go Big and Go Home. After all, this sporting-event-of-the-year has become House Party Heaven.

You don’t have to walk the plank to be part of this event, and there certainly won’t be a mutiny …
The seventh annual Taste of Hot Air Affair again kicks off the Midwest’s premier and longest running hot air ballooning event with the “Pirates Fly’n the Croix-ribbean” edition on Saturday, Jan. 26 from 7–10:30 p.m. in the Chateau Room at the Hudson House Grand Hotel, 1616 Crest View Drive. Another main sponsor of the tasting event is BMO Harris Bank, as they feel strongly about the value of contributing to community causes.
Enjoy spirits, wine and beer tastings, chocolates and cheeses samplings, along with hot hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. The evening includes live music by Boondoggle, a local group that over the years has honed its own style of down-home classic rock, and a wine pull and a silent auction fundraiser. Proceeds from this event go to to Hudson Relay For Life, and A Cloud Walkers Team Fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
Tickets may be purchased at the door for $20 per person.
Elsewhere around town, there have been great big white igloos (plural) constructed and available for use on the patio at Pier 500, for bringing added warmth to your party, even if it is outside in this current cold streak. They almost look like something out of a science fiction movie pod. Adding to that effect — and visible also around the roofing edges of Pier 500 — are in order the white “Christmas Tree” style lights off in the distance of both Dunn Brothers and the Smilin’ Moose, and beyond, and above, them are the purplish and blue bulbs, and their name in lights, overseeing Mallory’s Rooftop Bar.

They have more instruments than you can shake a stick at, and who knows, shaking a stick might be a part of that instrumentation:
— Greenwood Tree is the duo of Bill Cagley (vigorous flat-picking guitar, mandolin, bodhran and limberjack) and Stu Janis (hammered dulcimer, bowed psaltery and concertina), and they play the River Falls community barn dance at the The RF Academy locally, along with Greta Hunstiger on fiddle and Jim Brooks calling, on Jan. 19. Musical partners since 1985, Greenwood Tree’s is a blend of traditional Celtic-flavored jigs and reels, sweet waltzes, and American folk songs, with melodies traded between instruments.
— Part of the draw of Maverick’s Corner Saloon in River Falls is that they are listed as having bike parking. (Good for an enviro-friendly college town). An online bio mentioned that second in line as far as advantages, by luck of the draw, is the bike park asset, mentioned even above good for groups, alcohol full bar, outdoor seating status and has TV (singular? I doubt it). The only factor listed above bike parking is credit cards taken, as you know those people riding bikes are rolling in the dough, even if not carrying a lot of cash on them.
— In a recent shoppers guide ad, Big Guys BBQ Roadhouse took several hundred words to say how to negotiate the new Stillwater Bridge infrastructure on the Wisconsin side, broken into several categories, in a primer on how to get to their place from Stillwater. No doubt their shuttle bus has learned the ins and outs of the roundabouts and multiple lanes. And you can take all this as gospel. Why? The group Firewater Gospel will proclaim there on Saturday night.

— Can’t get enough football? And the beer guzzling that goes with it? Especially now that there are Saturday NFL playoff games? All weekend at Buffalo Wild Wings, there are $5 pitchers on select beers, so you can go for the glory!

A new club continues its invasion of the downtown Hudson scene with a series of bands, including a Beatles-led swarming:
— Ziggy’s is boasting three acts that are very different from each other, on three straight nights. First off, on Thursday night, is country band Tim Sigler, who will perform at Ziggy’s each time that weekday comes around, as a coup over the rest of the Hudson scene and the Smilin’ Moose in particular. On Friday, its the Lee Jiggs Invasion, covering all sorts of music from — you guessed it — the British Invasion that helped introduce the US to rock ‘n roll.Then Saturday its A-Nutha Level, a variety band that performs various genres from soul music (they look the part) to jazz, and blues to country.
— Make your bucks count, for a very happy hour, three-fold. At the Village Inn in North Hudson its $1.75 for a Miller Lite and only a buck for other drinks during the early evening weekdays. At Dick’s service industry night each Monday, its a buck off drinks and two bucks off specialty in-the-bar pizzas for not just a limited off-time, but all the way from 10 p.m. to close. And at Azul Tequila, they do up the timing end even more and have happy hour all day, which just might make people forget about their already great new menu.

Things are really BIG and dynamically explosive for music this weekend, to the point that Mr. Trump might have to take down that wall (blowing it to bits?):
— The Willow River Saloon has two relatively new bands back-to-back this weekend. Come calling for The Farmers Daughters on Friday night and Bigley on Saturday night.
— With all this talk about “building” a wall, how about actually “blowing up” things instead? The rockin’ sounds of the M8D’s will take you down, at the Smilin’ Moose on Friday night. And arrive early, on Wednesday night, for karaoke at The Moose, (a relatively new offering), maybe as practice for Bungalow Idol in Lakeland on Friday, if you decide not to take in the M8D’s.

— And to finish off your Saturday night’s alright party, and more accurately start the night off as the show gets going early, check out the group Empire Night at Urban Olive and Vine.

I zig and you zag, and we both get to see bands, as they can be found on both the upper and lower levels of Ziggy’s on NYE, on either end of the ornate staircase:

— The new Ziggy’s in Hudson promises to take Hudson by storm as the primo music club and has not one but two bands playing on New Year’s Eve — simultaneously. Heartless takes the stage upstairs and a second act downstairs at the downtown’s newest venue, which until recently was Pudge’s Bar. On Saturday night it was another tribute band, Tumbling Dice, and the six-man-band looks the part of looking like the Stones. On Friday, the band was FiveMinuteMajor, and you could say the same of the looks of their locks, although a bit younger in appearance with some Springsteen mixed in. Both Bruce and this area version of Mick are backed by a sax player. On Thursday it was longtime country stalwart Tim Sigler.

— Besides music, Dick’s Bar and Grill adds in wild-harvested snow crab legs and filet mignon as its dinner featured offering, with the option of a reload for only a Perfect Ten Dollars. Reservations are required for dinner. In the next room, music will be supplied by Joel Kachel from 6-9 p.m., followed by deejay tunes until what would normally be bar time and passed. Then consider catching some sleep and being back the next morning for the annual pajama party, with first, second and couples prizes offered in the early afternoon for the best duds. A free drink for the duded up and of course, only $2.25 for Bloody Mary’s and minosas. The advertising flyer shows two women who are beautiful in a nostalgic way despite having lots of big rollers in their hair.

— At Season’s Tavern in North Hudson, the draw may feature drawn butter. They again have their time-honored, and honed over time, specials with your choice of two dinners that are two-fold, steak and lobster, and steak and their ongoing specialty of succulent walleye that has become well revered over years of building a reputation. And that walleye can come prepared in a number of different and creative ways. There of course are multiple side dishes that go with this set of entrees, fitting in all the main food groups and more, with more than one choice for dessert. And the house band Thirsty Camel is taking a rare holiday-party break, since after two sets of four-days-straight holiday observance, that camel indeed is thirsty and is electing to just be at the bar, or at work to serve you in a different way other than guitar solos. All this opens the door for what you want to play on the jukebox. This is better than Jack FM. Reservations are recommended for the dinner.

— Unlike most such things, this Ponzi Scheme promises to be worth the price — which is zero! The band by that name that plays the Village Inn in North Hudson with no cover on New Year’s Eve, known from their area appearances to offer a wide range of older classic rock, via around a hundred covers that can even include a full set by Chicago.

— At the Bungalow Inn in Lakeland, there is the tried and true crooning ideal for New Year’s Eve of Gary LaRue, backed by a host of featured wines for the evening — Allure Bubbly, Pink Moscato, Little Black Dress Moscato (perfect motif for New Year’s Eve), and a trio of Kendall Jackson juices, Vintage Reserve Chardonnay, Cabernet and Sanvignon. And there are scores of seasonal drinks, boasting as many as six primary ingredients, as more is better. Another place to catch LaRue is every other Thursday at the Postmark Inn, in the former Hudson Post Office, with regular recurring gigs.

— Not all parties are for New Year’s Eve. At Cheap Andy’s Saloon in Hammond they are giving you a holiday alternative, stuck smack dab between Christmas and New Years, and offering a length of partying hours that rivals both those holidays. On Dec. 29, it is their Christmas and customer appreciation party, with food and drink specials that are not limited to a happy hour, but go on all day, and add to that games, prizes and giveaways that have similar longevity of hours. This is their second annual such observance, with a sponsor in Miller Lite — On Wisconsin! — as their 16 ounce taps are one of the drink specials, for only $2.50. And then on New Year’s Eve, its the interesting twist of lasagna rolls, to accompany what promises to be an extended happy hour for “New Year’s drinks,” a staffer said.

— Some area venues are offering great dining specials on New Year’s Eve, for the especially delectable, by steering away from the usual fare they would offer, but not too far. Meister’s in Boardman has several steak themed dinner entrees, with a newer-than-the-norm take on steak, one of them being Steak ala Oscar. Mallard’s resort on the St. Croix, in Bayport, is having some great stuffed stuff for additional meaty entrees, with a thick sauce based on bleu cheese stuck right in the middle. And Paddy Ryan’s in the town of Hudson, which all year takes traditional Irish fare and gives it their own modern-leaning twist, they’ll tweak it a little further for meaty effect (think prime rib, as is noteworthy for being not just the usual corned beef, although Paddy’s does go way beyond that for the Irish delicacies).

— Indeed, some now opt for other options than music on New Years, and may be focusing on The Day rather than The Eve. A full buffet is offered on New Year’s Day at Pier 500, with its schedule falling a bit on the later side to accommodate people who were up all night.

— Also accommodating partiers is the West Wind Supper Club in River Falls, but in a different way as far as timing, as their varied and hearty buffet is early, from 4:30-9:30 p.m., on Dec. 31. This is billed as their biggest buffet of the year, and that’s saying something for this place that offers various such eating options throughout the course of every week, not just holidays, although its then that they do it biggest. The NYE buffet features seafood (various kinds) and prime rib (the one and only), and thus reservations are encouraged. So start your holiday with a bang of a brunch, before checking out the rest of the town and its revelry and music (we recommend Johnnie’s and the band Blue Moon Drive). This West Wind event comes on the heels of a Christmas buffet where the staff donate their time and make possible a primo charitable event to benefit the Pierce-St. Croix Free Clinic.

— Mallory’s is closed for annual maintenance from Jan. 1-4, so their niche is NYE, but you have to get there early because about the time that the bands at other places start in, Mallory’s shuts down so their employees can do some of their own celebrating, whether it be those music acts and/or God Knows What.

— Guv’s Place in North Hudson has a large-scale dart tournament on New Year’s Day, starting in the morning. Ouch. And it was unclear whether Kyle Kohila would be playing as usual, though he’s been a virtually lock for the place at such times over the last few years. People, it was said by one of the bartenders, come for a different kind of place over New Year’s, to just have a few drinks, hang out, and just be there, in a way you will understand if you’re there.

— Billed at Buffalo Wild Wings as the perfect holiday drink is Stella Ambrose premium, which you can get for a Five on the Head, (that being the head of Old Abe, and of that ol’ beer froth).

— Now I segue into the one last set of stuff that simply sizzles all night long, and its at the Smilin’ Moose, which has so much going on that it’s beyond description, you just have to smile about it.

On this, the last weekend of 2018, there is one band that stands out in the Hudson scene before the coming of the real party of the period on New Years Eve. That is the three-word rock ‘n roll party machine, with R&B and rap, that is lovingly known as The Flaws. They started as a two-piece drums and keyboard outfit that with the persistence of adding instruments and members allowed them to branch out and expand the party. They play the Smilin’ Moose on Friday night, for their first time there to be seen, and they’re a sight, hence the plug

Music can’t come before holiday shopping, and allow me to share this experience. I was getting my couple of last things, but my gift card was not swiping, and the clerk could not fix it, so the woman behind me offered her help as far as buttons to punch, and swoop, there it was. I said this could get her a trouble-shooting consulting gig at the North Pole, with only one (long) shift a year, but great vacation benefits. She thanked me for the compliment, but wasn’t too sure. I said that based on my experience of a moment ago, I would give her a great reference, being nice not naughty. “I think I’ll pass,” she said, although smiling. Want more stories like that, plus the latest on new clubs closing (that’s not nice)? A primer will come on this site before the new year, as a retrospective, with more of the same to follow on 2019 when, well, its 2019.

This might be the best activity next to sugar plums dancing in your head, as an alternative Christmas pasttime.
Seasons Tavern in North Hudson is serving “Christmas Eve breakfast,” following forward in a tradition they’ve long established of having this most important meal of the day available every Friday and Sunday, all throughout the year or even on holiday weekends. It typically, as in basically yearlong, goes from 9 a.m. and runs into lunchtime. So if you get tired of REALLY last-minute holiday shopping …
Have all those dishes you like in the morning made fresh for you, and yes Virginia, it is far more diversified for having all those things on your brain than just the sugarplums. To wit, there is also the option of a Bloody Mary, and as has become a trend in the area Seasons really stacks it, so its worth your money, to wash down things like breakfast sausage. Seasons is more than just its well-known walleye.
Don’t want to egg you on any more, but see you there.