You could say its the market conditions. Or you could say its an extension of the usual open-close slate for a holiday weekend. Or you could say that everyone, even musicians need a family-or-such day off …
But this just passed Memorial Day found that there were not only the usual take-Monday-off schedule blips that included some nightlife spots that you’d think would be the last to shut down, but they transitioned into other closures earlier in the three-day weekend. But don’t let that mar a big musical Monday.
There was a way to still get such music shipshape, and holiday themed, come that day, with a rollout of five hours of tunes in the park along the water — as the Village People aren’t the only ones who as far as song are In The Navy — but more on that in a bit.
If you wanted to get what could be called a non-music fix that Monday, you were out of luck if your plans included the downtown Hudson cigar shop and smoking lodge, some local pharmacies, a grocer where you could find that chocolate ice cream to die for, and even the public library that could offer that addictive read you’ve come to crave, (better luck two days earlier if at the Friday Memorial Library in New Richmond).
Even that tavern a couple of blocks down that has on-again and off-again Mondays off, took the whole weekend closed (starting Saturday to put it in the books). A shop across the street made the odd choice to be shuttered on Saturday but then open on Sunday.
So what to do? Someone sailed in from across the seven seas to add bounty on Monday.
Riding the wave of country stardom, Sailor Jerri, a veteran of the U.S. Navy although still youthful looking with long brunette locks behind the mic, strummed and sang starting at 2 p.m. at Lakefront Park, perched along the St. Croix River in Hudson. She (metamorphically speaking) had sailed in after leaving Nashville by riding the Ohio River, then the Mississippi River and it locks, then the St. Croix River, passing the Kinnickinnic River to get to the Lakefront Park Park bandshell.
This was also a benefit for the Freedom Park Center in the county, which is shown on posters with a map that uses as a reference point, of course, Hatfield Lake.

— The show gained by trekking miles by the hundreds and hundreds from her home base brought in thousands for the cause, spearheaded by the local VFW. There remains an option for donations, of course. And for more holiday-ish happenings, now that its June 1, check out Notes From The Beat. —

This event to close out with better weather what had been a rainy and cold month. April showers bring … May showers and most flowers would have had to wait. And a sign alongside the street earlier had said it all, May Day and after, no mow of grass.

(As you read the below color commentary, consider that the coach of the St. Louis Blues, nemesis of the Wild, and a couple of sports talking heads from one of the new(er) mega-networks, all sported various duos of pastel colors on their suit-breasts and you would think that non-gainly for figures in a sport where the fathers of the current stars mostly had missing teeth from (well-placed?) pucks. Especially when it goes against sacred team colors. And then there is me, Howdy Joe, with still after all these years only a shadow of a photo up top, (no one has missed). Pitchers usually don’t get chipped teeth, but …)

The Bucks weren’t out there for long — is it ever long enough even when savoring a title? — in the Wild this Deer District season. The Buck has stopped here, and fewer fear the deer. And the Minnesota Wild? Amounts to a Twin killing, to bring in baseball and our now boys of summer.
But in this year’s playoffs, both of those other two teams — thus like twins — pulled a Packer to pack in another squad and exited the playoffs early, as last weekend’s ending games revealed basically same day. There’d be no repeat of Charles Barkley making the then astounding prediction that the Milwaukee Bucks would find it all and win it all, and prompted the staging of the many hundreds of dollar bills — like their reigning down of threes — falling from the set’s glowing ceiling to the stage. Light is fleeting when you Ride The Lightning. The lyric could lie in a billboard, “Slay the Greenshot.”
We also had precious little time to watch the commentators … commentate … as was the new makeup of the old matchup between The Round Mound of Rebound — in the shape of a quarter, in both the first and the fourth — and the Shaq of similar girth. And Kenny would this year only have a few instances of analysis, by marching up to the Biggest Of All TV Screens and make his points about Midwest Xs and Os. Throw in one more analyst and they all needed more than 10 yards to be put between their Gang of Four sprawling set as they sparred and shouted, in front of a camera lens that shot more horizontal then vertical. There was not nearly as much social distancing by those who picked apart the puck use at the Wild games.
There also would not be a Bucks vs. Lakers best-of-seven, such as in days of yore, but we did have the Celtics coming to town to win a 4-3 series. They did just the opposite in their Game One of the next series, blowing a 13-point lead and going on to lose by 11, in part because of a record number of (other) blocks surrendered. The site where the Bucks lost their antlers would be in that other Milwaukee arena, the Bradley Center, which also provided a shift, not instead being called Miller Park. When I wrote about the retired jerseys hanging there with a different kind of sleeve, and not one of big center Bob Lanier who’s obviously and rightly been in the news of late, I forgot to mention that they indeed go on facia “around the horn” to encompass a series of banners seen from anywhere in the park, not just the Game Sevens.
To take it down a level, so many college stars, and not those in the sky, have announced that they’re entering the so-called “transfer portal” to go to a team with better perks than just parks, having been won over by chances of winning the playoffs and the heart of the fraternity girl provided. OK, that was a way Old School way of what shall I say, enticement to join?
Or, as Osbourne’s song goes, “the astral plane we’ll travel through.” And despite lack of regional games to cover, and such concerts to go to, Ozzy’s lookalike, with his big rounded shades, can be seen at your friendly area Super WalMart, hawking their eye glasses. What? Is it Elton?
And what about those avid viewers of color commentary who when the camera panned, drew a bead from behind, so they would no longer have to endure … Terry Bradshaw, in third and long, having three-piece-suit double trouble, via a wide pink and mauve tie. At the next chair was a talking head with one of tiny black and white polka dots. No self-respecting middle linebacker would wear that. Incomplete. And the Wildless foe, St. Louis, moved into a best of seven where both teams have the Blues on their jerseys.
Don’t know about Gopher coach Fleck in that regard. But he is the near namesake of Ben Afleck and the Aflack Duck via Gilbert Godfried in a football-game commercial — presumably the polar opposites of what is just ducky about sense of style. And we won’t go into those waters about the local real estate agent, sign on the corner, by the name of Fletch, and any comparison to the Chevy Chase portrayal of a defective detective by nearly such a name, although their first names both end in Y).
But the bartender had the Blues over her precious Wild, who set the stage for what was to come by dropping a 2-0 lead to lose 5-2. She was adamant about asking about the final outcome, as it busy and the opposing goals came too quickly to be tracked. Every Series Is One Less To Your Last. On the evening following the downfall, and deflating her mood, she kept the same murky expression while lamenting what had happened, even while turning her head away from me.
That what-are-you-known-by was called online a strange “illusion” when referring to the Minnesota Wild logo combining themes. It was not an illusion that the singer who did her National Anthem thing at a recent high school playoff game, and was caught similarly, on camera a different time, wearing the pro hockey logo-ed jersey and/or hat of the other team! Oh Canada!

This in, since bars and restaurants and music clubs in the area are “banding” together to help those most in need, and that’s saying a lot these days, even if its just the current thing to do. The war in the Ukraine yields this pronouncement, as the ultimate benefit event. Bring the trapped-there child Emmakay home, and I’m writing this at the same time as hearing while doing streaming, Dio belt out — and not screaming — and extend the word “home.” How? Buy a $5 flag of the besieged country, and consider doing two, then get a free drink from Dick’s Bar, home of the claim of being the oldest bar in Wisconsin — and in a twist of timing just found a man who I’m guessing must be from Minnesota taking a selfie that was pointed the wrong way and encompassing the sign that says so — and so Minnesconsin meets the Ukraine. For little Emmakay, even after finding her way from a sorta safe haven in an underground subway with bombs going off above it, that was a temporary “home,” to the initial depot, there’d be multiple bus trips taking in multiple countries. And even then, needs that include short-term and long-term housing once here will continue. Though not even a teenager she has seen the horrors of war, although the thought is still there to get back to the many interests and ones she loves. But does all this smack of the bombs bursting in air and their red glare, and a flag that was still there?
And it’s also out there in the media, mostly in columns, and not in just one place … “Not to make light of an intense moment.” Or more than one moment. But since these moments can’t be ranked — its personal for who all of us are — and build through time, one needs to bring about say a pound of light (if only) through laughter, even if it gets there through an ounce of darkness. But don’t make it more. And be careful about the way you lyrically/comedically/satirically dress it up to reach the light.
So these days, in our country that all is about materialism and only goes out there to fix the world if there is something in it for us, there are — and here I go — so much more important things right now then getting your Chicken Kiev. War and as part of that supply chains and more such factors. And (get it) at a great price, so we can later buy more.

— For more such silliness, the rule of threes times four, see if you can answer the question posed, in Where Did You See It? —

Satire of a more serious note:
Someone in my family made this suggestion to end the war and its not necessarily diplomacy: Throw several million dollars or more, if needed, the way of the Russian Mafia (note the caps) and have them take out Putin covertly. I’d thought, dare I say this, the same route could easily have been taken with Saddam Hussain and/or Osama bin Laden, as we must have the capability, with our Intelligence, (although they did miss on Weapons of Mass Destruction). No other deaths would be needed, but he likely had his handlers too. They, spoiler alert, could have gotten in the way, or taken a bullet for him.
And on an analytical note:
One has to wonder, couldn’t portions of the Ukrainian populace be airlifted out, was as done last year? It could be noted that The Ukraine is a bit less spread out in overall population, but has more people in a larger number of big cities, so you would have to be residing in just the right location, even though it would seem there are more airports in the Ukraine. So no concentration around just one from which to serve an evacuation.
In the longterm, the Ukraine population is projected to trend around 41.46 Million in 2022, according to econometric models. The population of Ukraine represents 0.66 percent of the world´s total population which arguably means that one person in every 153 people on the planet is a resident of Ukraine.
Or was, after all the deaths caused by Russian flights and the refugee flight to leave it.
There are almost 40 million people, it turns out, in Afghanistan, and about 252,000 square miles. Even The Ukraine is less than 500 miles each way if square, but still it can be a long way to Poland. A trek from the Boundary Waters to the Twin Cities pales by comparison. Russia obviously is many times bigger than both together, and has 144 million people. So, the fact that soon after the last flight left Kabul, I saw a virtual caravan of jeeps taking refugees across Wisconsin to Fort McCoy, near its midpoint …
Stats to consider when there was only the one airport to take people out of Afghanistan, but what about the second when you did not hear about — but it was on the other end of town that was getting rural.
(I was writing this and listening, just by chance, to The Levee, which will soon break, by Led Zep. Could require another major Exodus, and we are not talking about rushing the stage at a concert by the death metal band. Lyrics comment on such a levee were given at length, like usual, by Vin and Sori on their channel — which I highly recommend — and included an important double meaning).
And of all these calamities of war and disease, a president such as Biden could not be faulted for dealing with the virus, since he did not create it, or with Putin or even Rasputin, since he did not procreate them, or the Afghanistan situation, since he did not start it.
Back to Dick’s and diplomacy and its dates, the art was shown by one of the bouncers a short time ago who stepped between a few feuding Twin Citians sporting an upbeat attitude and a sense of common ground, and in short order got them smiling like a moose and slapping each others’ backs. Don’t know just what he said that was so effective in simply seconds, but it was sad and sweet and I knew it complete when I wore a younger man’s clothes.

Fitting that there is the mammoth Mother’s Day buffet, since Fat Tuesday and Cinco De Mayo have been celebrated in slim form in these parts.
And also make mom proud by showing that you can take one of her standards and (don’t tell her this) improve on it, as a part of her celebration when you can fit it in — the Waldorf salad. And although the internet says you can make it in as little as 10 minutes, mom will appreciate it if you choose a recipe that takes a full 20. That way more of the items to throw in, as they abound, from all food groups.

— And how do they do it? (Not asked by Dave of Eddie of Van Halen, in this case). Keep the prices at Sunday’s brunch so low when offering many kinds of meat. Take for example what’s being offered at Wolters Shoreview Supper Club in Amery. They have a full five: turkey, glazed ham, chicken pieces, sausage, and BBQ meatballs. Many venues don’t generally run pricier stuff like roast beef, and God forbid, prime rib or steak.
This is where for a change of season and what it can bring, I’d like to give Mallard’s in New Richmond a plug, over and above what I listed for various venues in prior years, for going a bit beyond the norm, things like smoked salmon and peel and eat shrimp.
And Re: The main post left out the obvious, apple slices, mayo, grapes (of all kinds, but purple is the usual choice. But be careful about using any seeds — so picking jellied can be OK — for those would be too nutty). And their are alt options to just mayo, and just maybe visit ranch. But you knew those first things anyway.–

So: You can add not only walnuts and/or pecans, but get both and do it one better with just a bit of mixed nuts, and add the almonds that we recommend with light or no salt. Just slice them in half.
There is my mom’s old standby, one of a few I didn’t know we had in common until she told me so, just a bit of horseradish, which can be very inexpensive even when custom-made.
Then two of my old standbys that fit into many a dish, chopped green peppers and oregano. It should be noted that all things green-colored lend a spring theme to your creation. May Day lives a week later.

— The Cinco De Mayo scene I checked out in downtown NR could of been better — or worse — as the north end of the county went somewhat south as far as sustained customer traffic. Fitting I heard the jukebox song, “I’ve seen better days …” But the Corona, and not the virus, tasted great for $3 even when ordered at 12:10. However, the bartender said she’d seen enough for the night, and the karaoke-meister packed up early. But for more Mother’s Day music, the Wild Badger has Kevin Lombardo from 4-8 p.m. Next best thing to Guy Lombardo. Cinco stuff still was available and on special on Saturday at Your Local Hometown Grocer, at the same time as their Mom’s Day cupcake walk. And all around New Richmond proper continue to be cool trappings in that vein, with their bright colors and decor, and one even is shown on the (required?) mask of a cabbie. More of that flair is on downtown benches, facing both to and fro, the street his vehicle roams.–

Back to mom: Cole slaw greens and even dressing can be mixed in with a small form. Or if your bowl is oblong, just wallop in a dollop at each end. And lettuce is particularly a part of the package, iceberg is good and romaine is better, and if you’re daring for a bit bolder taste, the sprigs of green like parsley at the end of your celery, but you don’t get that if buying only hearts. And spinach anyone? And one recipe adds that it should be “Boston” lettuce, which is where some of my matriarchs hail from.
Here is a listing of the other ingredients that will show mom you did your homework, in order from the dollop size doses, down to the mere dustings, working with the well-said wonder of Wikipedia and its wonks, with my own adds. To wit: Chicken and/or turkey chunks (watch out for the other white meat), pears, yogurt whether plain or flavored to mesh with what’s listed above, raisins or sliced raisinettes candy, apple juice, orange drizzle and chunks or juice, olive oil, cinnamon, lemon juice and lemongrass, whipping cream, vinegar, black pepper …
May need to make it 1 salad 2. And watch your combos of sauces and juices, don’t overdue with multiples.
As always, other than the above ranking, HudsonWiNightlife leaves it up to you to experiment and come up with your own measurements for the ingredients, (that way we can let you plagarize and make it your own, and it can be our little secret, we promise we won’t tell mom). Just like she never told you about that thing she has … woah, we won’t go there, especially on this, The Eighth. And yes, we do again encourage you to use up what’s already in your fridge (just don’t let mom think you’re being cheap, so hit the store for a thing or two and keep the receipt).

It started with some bittersweet dreams, but May Day — and some checking revealed that this date might be fitting — brought with it a reaching out across that apparently thin veil from some people who passed on suddenly last summer, only now evoking a mid-summer night’s dream, and a group from earlier on who paved the way for the more recent ones.
It seemed, indeed, that they wanted me to join them. And the framework of why now was given by themes pervading the music of a heavy metal icon who passed away over a decade ago.
So three layers of departure stepped forward in far less than 24 hours, that ended fittingly, I think, on a Sunday morning.

— Thought(s) for the day(s). And it’s about the day(s). My beloved screen saver new thingee told me that May 1 is the first day of Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2022. Also, earlier this year was (play your) Jukebox Day, (Capitalism motive). Wait, aren’t there a lot more music lovers broadly speaking, than those type of Islanders (and not New York). Shouldn’t that order be flip-flopped and we have a whole such music month? But wait just a minute, the former also encompassed Asian Americans, so I guess my theory was a Shot In The Dark. While I’m at skewering people, I reminded myself of a plea made on social media when a particular enclave ended up on the wrong end of the shtick on a certain issue: “Lake Elmo people are people too.” Uhm, are you sure? C’mon man, you’re telling me those (hefty) Iowans are the only ones we can make light of … —

This thus was a weekend marking remembrance of spring renewal and a halfway point of the sun year, International Workers Day and the well-known pilot’s signal of May day, May day, to show their distress is real. Ah, distress.
It also for me became a time to give memory for in many cases really the first time, to those who have passed on months ago, and in some cases longer, but not to the degree of a day of the dead. But now accentuate the positive fully.
Thus it did leave me, after a half-day process rang through completely, to have a burst of renewal. Have a pint for that midpoint?
But first I needed to do my homework.
Online information gained in several different searches was helpful, and although it provided a framework for dealing with individual situations and ways to grieve, it gave lots of detail. When offering condolences, timing is vital, from immediately to after months, and I was away for the summer when some loved ones passed. But the upshot was clear, write letters and notes to them, think of them and make it be known the fact that they will be remembered, recall specific warm memories — like the cheesy photo of Danyiel in her snakeskin pants on a Harley, and yes I was able to get it published — and even “talk” to them. I had not done this, I had not even taken time to grieve in any of those cases, just went to the next step of life, rather than acknowledging death. My mental way of doing this was, typical for me, a combination of telepathic message, prayer to them also, and meditation. It was short and sweet, but conveyed what had long been needed to convey, if only in short form. (I kept thinking immediately afterward, is there another facet they I have forgotten to stick in, did I emphasize the key points enough). And writing this post sealed the rest of the deal, and I will get some closure to this part of the process by adding for each of them this omission: I love you.

It was 6 p.m. on April 30 and although dog tired — like Ozzy asking in song why darkness is overdue? — I feared another sleepless night. So I took two different forms of sleep meds, the recommendations for dosage of the 25 mg of that one I can’t pronounce, and 10 mg of melatonin, and a half can of NA beer. Did this sway what I experienced in near sleep, or is there more to the story?
I kept getting this feeling of quickly being pulled toward the abyss through knock-dead fast sleep, and have to mentally fight it off — or should I? — and later when May Day arrived, deciphered this could have been a means for those summer people to have me come join them in an afterlife. Strange, but not unprecedented, but I wondered since this was the first May Day after those Big Three had passed on last summer …
So I googled like only I can google to get a handle on this, as this is what I and almost all in our internet-based society come to do in times of trouble: Is May Day a time when people who are deceased reach out to the living?
The answer was interesting as there was a pagan religion that stressed the belief, through an observance called Beltane, that May Day was a time when the year is divided in half between light and darkness. This resonated. Why? Another part of the death picture on last night was that, as an introduction to it from favorite rock lyricist Ronnie James Dio who died over a decade ago, and was a friend of a friend, his words of the interplay between light and darkness spawned many an album. This spun off to dreams where in the process of counting my batches of coins, which I kept on finding in new places, I had to enter the houses of such people while having a limited time to look, and not have materialism overshadow the main theme of the day — a parade/funeral that featured music. Prior to this in the dream I had the first few digits for my bank account number appear before me, and an invitation to try to remember the rest. I declined, for fear I would remember them in the wrong order. Meaning? There were many events we’d all wanted to get tickets to and attend in order to bond much further, but with finances always extremely tight, never could because there was never even a Benjamin to throw to it. (That denomination is chosen with purpose, and yes I remember the instance — with more then one person).

An alert for a later and related post: The deep meaning behind such things, in many different layers, as the Slayer song, Seasons in the Abyss. Much more as I eventually segue into that type of lyrical analysis.

Need more spring and its activities? Walk out of the darkness and into the light, like Pantera sings, as the darkness that filled the void (that’s only the case at this venue on scattered weekdays) gives way to sun rays. But wait, that Pantera reference could be backwards.
This Saturday, somewhat-post-pandemic Dick’s Bar holds, for the first time in three years, its spring break beach party, complete with sand-to-play-in (not contaminated of course) that’s way beyond a few buckets worth, filling the dance floor. That fun in the sun is followed, for perhaps the first time making this a duo and not on separate nights, by its black-out party that historically has had all the lights turned off and a series of tarps, black of course, taking care of any stray ray of brightness, even neon beer signs.
It all starts, including live music, at a 7 p.m. time when there still is … sunlight before it yields, hence my reverse order reference. And Black Out Bash, its semi-official title, is BOB but you don’t bring your own bottle, as they have you deeply covered on that.
This night also, fittingly, as part of the long and winding road, brings the band Redemption Road to Ziggy’s. (The next day is May Day, which can bring shades of dark and light, depending on your theology and politics). More on that in a later post.
With that said, have you finished all your Easter candy? Sin of gluttony? Maybe you weren’t able to fully go there, since some stores with full aisles of sweets did not have the prototypical jelly beans. It did not go unnoticed by staffers, in off-the-cuff conversations on both the day before Easter and a week later, when they still were not in and on the shelves. Supply shortages? Market conditions? The economy? Business decision-maker decision? Take into account that the same was true of some fairly common herbal supplements, better for you anyway then candy, although chocolate is said to have health benefits. That is not a license to go all out, as then you might need to add a weight loss supplement to your regime, caused by your “broadly” speaking high inflation.

This is more doggone funny then most nature puns, straight from the sponsoring store’s marketers, and is how this raft of information/recommendations got going. But unlike most puns, it didn’t pour from my mouth/fingers all too Kwikly. To wit:
“Celebrate National Banana Day (or can I declare it a week)! We hope this “ap-PEELs” to you.” (Producing one is something that now and then has been fruitful and gotten you into concerts both local and regional for free, but now with Covid fears and the need to feed so many people, promoters have steered more to a food shelf donation of a canned good or two, non-perishable of course. For such bananas have lasted through a long trek from a continent or two away, but Kwik Trip has that base covered with ripening rooms, as will be described below).
The little smiley icon that went along with, (I am boycotting use of the actual name as its just one more thing to have to remember to google), looks more like another fruit, from a land not as far away. Peachy-keen! Georgia on my mind.
For peanuts? But instead, a free pound of bananas, all day unlike various happy hours, when you use your Kwik Trip reward cards with coupon. And this was put out there by their marketing department on, when, the 20th? That is the official day of this fruit, when they’re top banana. So why didn’t I get, or at least see, it in my inbox until the 25th? (See near the end of this post for techno info, and not from Joe).
But I have a great big ol’ conspiracy theory, and yes HudsonWiNightlife has them also, just not as frequently and non-satirically: The powers that be at this being the Kwik not the dead, are hoping this will be a foot in the door, to get you into the store, even if the bananas will soon fade, (but at Kwik Trip I know people who know people, so I know the stock is updated and the rest tossed EVERY MORNING. Again, see the end of the post for more of what this convenience store does for you in such cases to make them … convenient). Back to my conspiracy point, the everyday price is 49 cents per pound, and that’s when they really want you to buy — if its a true freebie are you actually buying It? And to have you do it this spring, which is what they are banking on, before there is a price rollback, to borrow a WalMart term, that brings the rate down to just over a quarter.
And I do think they first hatched this email plan, on 4-20, not taking into account what the other holiday is on that day. Pound of pineapples? OK, considering the possible recipient error message going bananas — or not — that would seem more likely someone on my end.
So was there a techno lapse? A Joe lapse? A lapse on both ends? Have you had this happen?
It can be a thing such as the size of the email and its attachments, and network latency, or most often, a case of sender or recipient client delays, online info says. Still, we are usually talking a few minutes. And I won’t make a Spam joke, although it may be peripherally relevant.
From earlier, there are many ways that Kwik Trip really kicks it in gear to beat its competitors as a quick change artist, reacting to market conditions and in many cases making changes overnight. But here is some stuff they have come up with, going forward, to float your banana boat.
“We have 10 banana ripening rooms located in our distribution center in La Crosse, which allows us to ship out over 21,000 cases of bananas per week!
“We ship our bananas to stores in two stages – green and yellow – to ensure folks like you can find the bananas of your liking!”
There have been such other Kwik Trip freebies hawked through email and its usage of coupons, and just as you can roll out the barrel, they keep rolling them out, so take a close and timely look. This is the biggest and best beer state, and pay attention to National Made-Holiday Days Of …
Other such freebies have included a pair of different Topo offers this month, the most recent a Chico Margarita on the 15th. And at times you’ve been able to get a can of beer, spiked or otherwise, for under a dollar.

The last time(s) I had been to a ballgame in Milwaukee, it was before even the name Miller Park, and namely County Stadium.
Same county, much different friendly confines for this, the recent home opener.
Bernie Brewer might have to go sans suds to find his new place of work, as it has moved to a new spot along with bleachers, from which he slides after homers, and I recall this from way back in the days of Harvey’s Wallbangers. The slide twists in a slightly different fashion that just might be needed because its now perched just inside the left field power pole.
Up on The Irons, the facade that faces home plate, are many listed in the state baseball hall of fame. Two that I did not expect, so I had to ask my brother as he knows such things while sitting aside me, yes Bob Uecker is there even though still behind the mic up above us, and yes so is Jackie Robinson — I didn’t know he had a late career stint with the Brewers, but no, I was assured he was up there due to a rightly ordained MLB order.

— I also note you’d need to be really nerdy.
To miss these monsters of rock and more.

Going hours longer than most such flashy options, the GasLite Bar and Grill in Ellsworth holds its annual Victory Fireworks Demo on Friday. With plenty of food also featured for fun and family, while you wait for the big bangs. But that won’t be as long as during mid-summer — as dusk comes about 8 p.m. and the show carries on to closing so its a barrage — and you can still bring your lawn chairs.
P.S. Then its the Dweebs checking in at the GasLite next Saturday night. Just took in the act for the first time in a while at a New Richmond venue they used to frequent. People didn’t stray from the dance floor during the sets, and then but only then went out and about the downtown during the breaks, showing their veracity. The group put in very un-dweeb-ish splashes to some hard rock tunes, with the singer’s snarl being dead-on. And I’d never seen such good use of a guitar-neck/beer-bong. So as a follow-up to this weekend’s River Falls Bourbon (highlighted here since its a cool term) fest that features well over a dozen bands … —

But back at the Brewer ballpark, you knew them by their … never mind. It seemed all the exquisitely beautiful women — better to eye then Uecker — were able to progress to The Front Row and stake their claim. And I swear, the more buxom, the more likely they got so close to the field they could lean over the railing. Oddly for the times we’ve had, and moreso because it was a rare warm day, very few weren’t dressed down so far as they’d sure get a tan.
And the sunglasses were on everyone’s face, nary a cloud up above so it made sense. But there is the age-old way to attract attention by taking them on and off — like a bartender and her sweatshirt in fall — indiscriminant of those slight clouds that there were at a given time. And as the sun drew westward and thus the shadows in the lower deck eastward, there was no change in the frequency of the tip it up the head. Just sayin.
But I was really impressed by the woman selling boxes of lemonade who was hawking it while filing up and down the perpendicular walkway, and all the while keeping it balanced atop her head, and hands had to be busy doing other sales things. And nary a drop spilled by dropping the box.
Boxes that were kept perfect were also on the field. The grounds crew seemed to be out there all the time, serving as a greenskeeper to keep grass positively glowing. And the sand in the infield was similarly immaculate, and the color kept that one same tone throughout and always. When that first pitch was thrown out — by a three-headed trio of dignitaries — it upset the applecart or more aptly the intricate order of the dirt’s positioning. Only made the ball go 58 feet.
The Brew Crew home now has the flash and flare of a brightly liquored cocktail, or one could say the neon displays closer to home at a Minnesota Wild game, where pro hockey meets rock concert. All those colors streaking along and replacing one another as they move sideways along the facade that makes up the front of the upper deck.
In back of home plate, halfway up the deck area, were smaller numbers listing not only balls and strikes but pitch speed. My brother pointed this out as the Brewer ace — we were lucky enough to catch that part of the rotation — neared triple digits. My older squinty eyes were having trouble making out just where that key number sat on the facade, and at first I was looking at a different part of this faux scoreboard, but then Tom pointed it out again. By that time I had figured out that I was initially looking in the wrong column, as I vaguely recall while writing this, as I knew no one could have a speed of only a single digit.
A star of this day ended up being on the other team, someone who had a big but not really bulked up frame, and took center stage for a bit. A guy in front of us, informed us that the man’s father had once been a Mr. Canada, so such acclaim was not unknown. The bearer of this news seemed very eager to talk about it, and at length. Maybe the family’s publicist? Give that guy in the stands a mic!
What’s up above…
Of course this field has a roof, and the girders that held in place what on some days might have been extended, were way up there and oddly parallel to the base lines and looked almost freestanding. A newscast we saw shortly before our day in the park had a young reporter say she was given a tour when it was built — and it included a perch on one of the girders! An addendum: The day featured a high pop fly over the infield that for the first and only time hit not only the roof, which was under wraps on this day, but even one of those girders, altering the ball’s flight before it dropped to not near third base, but closer to second.
A 40-yard-dash distance away, in the left field corner, up above the wall, sits a prestigious sports bar, and my nephew said it was going to be the site of a company gathering later in the summer. So maybe I can get an invite, and thus go again?

This Easter, why not get your wine that’s a festive part of the dinner from a store that has a full four aisles of that option, Spirit Seller liquors right in downtown Hudson, as they have 28 Easters under their belt as a family-run business. So Minnesotans take note.

— Also make note of this thought of the day — or yesterday. It was set that April 15 be both the day of two certainties, taxes and since it was Good Friday, death. But the U.S. government created another holiday, pushing tax-filing-due-day to Monday, so there was an alteration, in the name of emancipation. So tax prep people may may been missing out on three days of collecting interest, and arose to help tax-minuters after three days. The bottom line? The H&R&B and blues players alike, I’m told, kinda kicked around the idea of funding fewer feet or the floor, so to speak, and putting more on another type of floor, in the from of lobbyists against a flat tax. Hey just kidding, since Their Time Has Come To Be Gone, and I Ramble On, so get back to you with an update in 365, or should we say 361!–

But then, the Spirit Seller still has a series of long and high aisles displaying your favorites in every liquor category. Four of the ten are devoted exclusively to wine, and greet you right when you walk in the door, so they create a hard-to-beat selection — literally hundreds and hundreds of wines — for your Easter, and its dinner, and otherwise celebrating on this holiday that kicks spring into gear. And that extends to making your minosa too. And Bloody Mary’s anyone?
And the cost also is hard to beat, with there always being dozens of great wine specials on top of the regular prices — with their prices cut by several dollars and giving new options weekly — on things that are not just the usual run-of-the-mill. For one example of many, and also topical, if you want to hold out the option of extending your holiday into an Easter Monday, there is CK Mondavi at two bottles for only $10. On a shelf a couple of feet way is a quality pinot gringo for only $6.99. That price range is easy to find at The Spirit Seller.

— New break: We offer an again-current message that converges two of the last three days of holidays, but you might need a musical concordance. We take on two of three, as one, in Uncategorized–

We will now let the Spirit Seller let their story, as with dozens of years in the business, they know it well: “Spirit Seller Liquors is a locally-owned family business serving the Hudson area over 30 years, donating to many local causes to benefit our community! Dick and Carole Fey have been in the business for over 28 years and have been active in the Hudson community for most of their lives. John Kromer, Dick and Carole’s son-in-law, came to the Spirit Seller in 1997, and has been actively managing the store ever since. (And you will typically find him right there, on-site, and ready and accessible to help).
“John, and his wife Jamie will be happy to provide you with wine pairings, catering advice, or just a friendly hello.
“Whether you’re looking for the best-tasting beer when you get together with friends? Or a wine list that’s larger than at any fine restaurant? A place where the prices are much more affordable? Or perhaps you are looking for that classic Vodka, aged Kentucky Bourbon, or other spirits?
“At Spirit Seller Liquor, we’ve been providing residents of Hudson, WI with all of these, at the best possible prices. We buy in bulk, and pass the discount on to you (click to see this week’s specials). That’s why we’re proud to be the “Low Price” leader for this part of Wisconsin, while offering the widest selection anywhere.
“Call us today at 715-386-5995 to learn more about our huge selection of quality wine, liquor and beers and our special discounts.”
So when pairing a wine with ham or turkey, or even a last Lenten foray into fish, there are plenty of choices, no matter if your preference is red or white wine, and so many other options or in-between. And when making a pick to go with the meat as an entre, the store employees are knowledable to guide you in the right direction.
Spirit Seller Liquor knows the importance of great taste, and also etiquette, and likes to share this with their valued customers, they say. Their website offers a full five links, and great references, for coordinating meals or discovering new tastes.
And we know that Easter is not just about wine. People who are especially part of a younger crowd and back home for the first time in a while, but at some point want to get away from the older generations and have a gathering that’s more for kicking up the heels that come with that new Easter dress, the Spirit Seller can set you up with a six-pack or more, or whatever else can set a new tone for a new party.
It is the first liquor store you encounter when coming in from The Cities, across the street from Ziggy’s, Hudson’s main music club, but with even more parking readily available, and on the other side Lakefront Park and the St. Croix River. And the sales tax for such here in St. Croix County is only 5.5 percent, rather than the nine or such number across the river in Minneapolis.

As long as there are bars and grills and music clubs, there will be a need for servers.
It only starts there — but as shown by the big signing bonuses being thrown around — that is a biggie, as performed in the Key of G, (I am assuming there is such a thing).
But a microcosm, as seen as a sign on a corner, (and not the corner bar). The battle had begun for employees. One placard for factory workers said $15 per hour, but with a large signing bonus for … signing on. Within three feet away — is that a legal requirement? — was another that offered a full $17. What’s marginally employed man, or women, to do? A hint that’s vital with these days of bureaucratical management, the former has a really sucky HR director who pretends to be friendly at first. So read the fine print.
We’re at the other end with KFC, offering only $13 to start, even at this advanced state of the staffing crunch. On another corner and well around the corner, is a pitch for an ongoing job fair. Why that way? It has not been taken down for months, and that means up 24-7. Midnight martini lunches and breakfast meetings? But only 8-to-5, in actuality, in offering to meet and greet.
Open the door to Popeyes poultry and even as we speak up in these northern parts, Chicken-a-Fil. But at least they are not closing dining rooms here and there, like some of their burger competitors. And across the driveway at up to $15 is Taco Johns, and further nearby is The Bell from the land of belles, who has long beckoned with the teasing worker come-on-(board), Wanna Taco-bout it.
The war for workers started way back in early Trump days, getting going with dueling signs between Home Depot and Menards — and they will train — which oddly are only a big parking lot from each other. And co-leading the list are the local Kwik Trip(s), among the first to offer the most competitive wages, especially when beefing it up for the night shift, and by diversifying the dollars between the three, eight-hour hands-on.
Culvers in New Richmond went to another level, or lower level if we are talking just about age. They through their sign pointed out that they, specifically, would hire 16-year-olds for many types of positions — and they spelled it out to a degree. Largely untapped labor market? (Unless you happen to be McDonalds, et al).
And if you have a green thumb, even if you maybe are all thumbs, check out the hiring possibilities at a gardening center in the town of Hudson, which if you have that specified skill, offers some new types of perks. And one of the perks for the owner is a sign positioned on a trailer in the ditch of the U.S. 12, four-lane expressway.
Along another busy route in New Richmond, is a pitch from Hudson Staffing for its own help. Let me get this straight — a staffing store needs staffing so they can have the staff to help other firms seeking staffers get those positions staffed.

— Right now, kitty-corner across the street is a like-minded business with a similarly signed need for hired help. Simply Staffing carries on the theme of a string of S consonants, and even adds one more to the list with its opening word.–

A block away a sign was still up as summer nears, they will hang Christmas tree lights on your front porch, or elsewhere all year long, and never out of season.
Many different opps exist to scan the app and zap, and get paid, although you may need to code, as employers hit social media from all sides, working-it in the early cycles. Who knew there could be almost a dozen different job descriptions for places serving beer and burgers.
Early-on was when a large downtown brewer put up a sign, rather then hiring at all positions, specifically seeking a brewmaster, and requiring a resume. The mind boggles about what would be on it. References?
Lastly, national beer day is upon us. Positions filling up fast for quality control.