Baseball as art? Maybe not as the Brewers practice it. Leave that to a Rubber Ducky:

— A bartender of more than two years is leaving the Village Inn for a new morning job that will work better with her art career (later in the day), allowing more time for those renderings. So I asked, among the local beer guzzlers, do you have any artistic subject matter from your time here? She said, somewhat sarcastically it was a “well duh” on that one. Then a lingering patron immediately produced a small plastic duck that he said could be a quick subject, although tiny in size.
— A couple of times during those moments, another patron lamented that the Brew crew acted like they were a little imbibed in trying to catch a couple of short flies to the outfield, (as in do you have it? No I got it? Who’s on first, what’s on second). The complaint was that’s just the way the team at the other end of the
state plays. And meanwhile, a country song played on the jukebox about taking your swing, and maybe thus batting out a flare the Brewers could misplay. (And maybe then there could be heard that song by The Outfield, “Put me in coach, I’m ready to play, today … centerfield).
— For more sports TV, on the typical business day involved with draft day, one venue that has such fodder for their stock and trade with things such as guy-macho draft day party with buddies, the bartender said that on her hyper busy day there was a the Twin Killing about the dishwasher conking out, and at the same time the cash register freezing up. A bar stalwart teased she could do something about the being in a variety of places at the same time. The response to her: Belly up to behind the bar and come help. But then technology came to the rescue, things started working again, and the busyness was no longer insurmountable. It should be noted that by all accounts, Buffalo Wild Wings, the king of such draft parties, had no such glitches, not even when rinsing down their super hot sauce for wings.
— For guys caught in the middle of macho versus trying to emulate mom, it was noted that shot glasses could be found in the size and form of sippy cups. OK, give it about two decades and then revisit that one.
— A couple of local guys recall being seated at a hockey themed sports bar and talking to a sort of mystery man, complete with hug, who told them he was grateful for the support they shared with the area team, the Minnesota Wild. When the short conversation ended, one said to the other, “do you realize who that was?” Turns out is was the owner of the Wild, buy the name of Leopold. And not Aldo Leopold.
— One of my favorite newscasters in Twin Cities television, who goes by Jay, is also one that seems to always get the big stories. But the story the other night was celebrating by tipping one the fact that his daughter has a new job. Which led to a short conversation about the merits of “one.” Let me explain. He said if you can see well with a single, clear eye, you can go home and continue celebrating there. But we said, if the single eye is that of a headlight, it changes things. To further the “oneness,” it was a few nights later I saw an old friend who said she didn’t immediately recognize me, as she had just had an eye procedure. That only left one eye, which was enough to clarify who I was, after a bit of eye-balling.
Prince fans at the drug store weren’t in any sense looking to become Zombies:
— Prince fans who last year were going over to the first-of-its-kind Vigil at Paisley Park — the kind that soon would become a regular ritual there — ended up making a detour to, of all the far-flunge places, a Hudson drug store. Yes, we know what you are likely thinking, all they were interested in purchasing were a few snacks. The story of their odd sidetrip came to the fore again in local conversation when law enforcement authorities made an official announcement about whether any drug provider would be prosecuted — for anything other than bad choices of sugery candy.
— The Bad Wolves group on the jukebox lately, with their version of the fittingly named Zombie, first done by The Cranberries, also brought something back to the fore, again bad news. Let me explain. A friend of mine has noted, spookilly, that in his occasional concert-going days, two of the last acts he saw live have experienced recent deaths of band members.
— Think spring and the cars that come out for it on the boulevard, and not even after your usual $10 off an oil change. I can think of five overly bright, neon colored cars, that I’m assuming are vamped up that way to garner attention, colored gold, (yeah), lime green, yellow lemon, purple and all-out pink (do we see a trend in color here?) But the cars were small in size (maybe we should compare them to what’s holding the steering wheel to drive them). Also seen was the three-wheeled cycle much like a low rider, and a car late night at Freedom Value Center that was no higher with its top up than the proverbial local band 4 foot 8. These short in stature cars and cycles are in a better place to negotiate the rather low railroad bridge from North Hudson leading into Hudson, the subject of the signs that have been erected as far away as the towntown as having a 13-foot, 11-inch clearance (I guess just an inch makes all the difference. Or he said).
— To go in or not to go in. That was my quandry about the negotiating the small breezeway at Buffalo Wild Wings. The hostess, as usual quite attentive, asked where I would like to be seated. I said I was just checking a few things first, if a friend of mine was there, if there was room at the bar, and perhaps most important, if the home team was winning and shown as such on multiple TVs. None of these applied, so strike three, and I apologized before choosing a have a beer that night. Turns out, she said, this decision-making quandry is not unusual before people step inside: “You’re just fine. No worries.” As so many servers — formerly — have wrapped up their phrase, in being like an Aussie. But these days the salutation upon finishing your order has become a simple word “perfect.”
— Bed and breakfast proprietor Brooke Fleetwood had more notoriety than just being the owner of a totally bright pink house. Her namesake, Fleetwood Mac, will be playing live in the Twin Cities soon. Also, she found herself on the cover of a regional magazine, and it was not just her Little Pink House (OK maybe not as small as in the song title) on profile.

(Who ever said that HudsonWiNightlife never sleeps? After a (brief) vacation, We’re Back …)

Not all dressed for the recent bitter cold, such as Men Without Hats, and that’s no April Fool:
— And for everything there is a season, even if it means hogging the spotlight out in the cold. The sign outside Kozy Korner reads “Groundhog. Wanted dead or alive.”
— Many downtown patrons out in the unseasonably bitter cold of Easter Eve were wearing only T-shirts while going from bar to bar, not dressed for the weather. The first two guys I encountered were also dressed down that way, making for double trouble. Enroute to Pudge’s there was more of the same, prompting a woman who was part of a larger group to note that I was not wearing a hat. Maybe better to focus on the freezing effect of those in T-shirts in her crowd.
— A guy at the bar said he had partied the previous night, when it was much warmer, and he didn’t bother to change clothes, rather opting to sleep in them and not update his T-shirt to fit the weather, before getting underway early with partying again. He was lamenting his wardrobe choice.
— Meanwhile, the makers of the sign at Agave Kitchen had found religion, simply saying on the marquee “He is risen.” One of the first songs that I heard played on the jukebox that night was straight-forward Christian rock, kinda strange bedfellows for the bar scene.
— After almost a dozen seasons, and having made the pro bowl for virtually all of them, offensive lineman Joe Thomas has retired. He is married to a local woman who is a stellar athlete in her own right by the name of Nelson. There is no doubt that his jersey is hanging up as part of the many at Kozy Korner, whose owners also go by the way of Nelson. Will they now retire Thomas’ jersey, as well?
— Speaking of football, when Minnesota signed yet another quarterback, by the name of Cousins, he was shown on sports bar TV holding his young child while celebrating, who obviously is not a cousin but his baby.
— The new Rio Loco cantina and tequila bar was packed on their grand opening, even though it was on a Monday. There have since been streaks of such busyness, on both their very lengthy bar rail and dance floor, which even included the rarity of a female deejay.
— A downtown store has a sign out directing you to watch your step, and they top it off with a ramp the size of skateboard.
— Local singer Chaunte Shayne reports that attendance at her gig at the over-flowing international airport on the day after the super bowl was surprisingly slow, but there then was a huge turnout for a subsequent performance at the airport, which more than made up the difference.
And digging deeper into the vault, I’m finally reporting what was seen on St. Patrick’s Day. Sorry this is late, but a leprechaun took over my computer.
— The first greenery in celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, seen the night before, were a pair of over-the-top hats (read tall) at the Village Inn.
— You obviously have heard of green beer. But on St. Patricks Day there was a man sporting a green beard, from top to bottom. And an Irish lass tripled up the ante, with three hair colors that included green.
— There’s more to the food of the holiday then corned beef and cabbage. Girl scout cookie sellers at the all-night Freedom Value Center said they had a run on thin green mint cookies, going right up to the start of St. Patrick’s Day. A quick fix for a Paddy’s Day gift for your spouse, if she happens to be Irish, for those guys who forgot (and this is not even Valentine’s Day).
— There was a Boston Celtic theme to the wearing of the green on the recent holiday. Another take was the band at the American Legion hall in Bayport, Drinkwine and Friends, a six-member, all-female group that all were wearing green. At least one had flaming red hair, but one of the singers broke from form, since she is black.
— There are the bookend St. Pat’s Day parades surrounding Hudson, in both River Falls and New Richmond. A friend Dorothy said she takes in the latter each year in what has been a longstanding tradition, just the faces of who she went with have changed because of an unfortunate death. And not from any kind of potato famine.

What is old has now become new again. Paddy Ryan’s Irish restaurant and pub has had new owners for just over a year now, but is rolling out Irish food and drink that has its own unique style, incorporating all sorts of ingredients that can give a bit of a different twist, while remaining true to what you’d expect from Irish fare.
If you need evidence of how Irish this place is, consider that they were one of only a handful of such venues to take out an advertise in the Irish Gazette, for a long time a go-to Twin Cities metro publication. And Paddy Ryan’s ad took up more space than most among these precious few.
For record, the newer owners of the establishment in the town of Hudson are named Kirk and Jaclyn Mueller. Kirk worked for the previous owners for four years before purchasing the restaurant in December, 2016. “We feel we are the perfect destination restaurant in St. Croix Valley and our food is epic,” Kirk said, with possibly a bit of Irish bravado, adding that it is all made from scratch to preserve freshness.
If you want to tip one or two drinks while dining, Paddy Ryan’s provides a whopping 21 varieties of single malt scotch and a baker’s dozen kinds of Irish Whiskey. There also are 13 of the house cocktails, featuring not only Jameson Irish Whiskey, but other kinds such as Bushmill’s and Tullamore Dew. The Irish Seabreeze ups the ante in a way you might not expect of Ireland, with Boru Irish Vodka. Add to that Absolut Citron and wine selections and you have a party!
These are the flavorful names given to the house cold drinks: Wild Irish Rose, Paddy’s Cosmo, Irish Martini, Dublin Handshake, Luck O’ the Irish, Irish Raspberry, Lemondrop Martini, Celtic Bull and Crabbie Jameson.
But there is beer, too. Among their brew selections, Paddy Ryan’s also offers 28 kinds of Wisconsin craft beers, many with colorful names that indicate they are truly novel. Included is Pitchfork Brewing Paddy’s, incorporating the name of both their place and the craft brew taproom nextdoor. There are also six international beers, including ones from Ireland.
And of course, there also is Irish food. There is creative use of items like lamb, often topped with different enhancers such as several varieties of vegetables in a single dish, and many items are spiced with Jameson and Bailey’s Irish Creme. That is a theme that is followed through in their desserts and many of their weekend specials. And on the menu you’ll even find a splash of sherry listed.
And to go by the numbers concerning the varieties of mainstay toppings, their is the Build Your Own Farl, chiming in at eight. There also is a reuben farl. Many dishes utilize braising.
And continuing the trend of taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary is the prime rib sandwich, which adds Irish cheddar, not the also-ran cheese, and both sour cream horseradish sauce and au jus.
The grilled cheese sandwich also goes well beyond the basic, featuring among other items applewood smoked bacon, and apple slices with Irish bacon mayo.
The chicken wings take what is prevalent on the rest of the menu and give it a new twist, offering among their kinds of glaze the Jameson sweet sauce. It is another prominent Irish drink that stands out in the beer and Guinness pie, as that dark brew is used to make a stout gravy.
The Dubliner chicken, well named, has not only apple bites, (do we see a theme here?), but ingredients such as bacon smothered in cider sauce for a second kind of meat.
But carrying on the theme of Lent, Clarenbridge calamari is offered with the house seafood sauce.
The breakfast boxty gives you two Bailey’s pancakes, smothered with four ingredients, that are well, great breakfast food. Compare to McDonalds.
For starters, chips that are made to include Yukon potato wedges can be served with another Irish favorite Poutine, consisting of cheese curds and brown gravy.
In addition to traditional Irish fare, often with their own twist, throughout the year, Paddy Ryan’s is doing a summer menu, in addition to offering more Americana food. Also, promised is noteworthy lighter fare such as summer salads… the Rachel sandwich with turkey in addition to their traditional Reuben, and for a new take, shepherd’s pie quesadillas, goat cheese citrus salad, and more such creative items.
“We are starting to offer catering services. We feel our food is too good to not be shared with the community outside the restaurant. We also plan on doing more community events to share our food with the public as well,” Kirk said.
Paddy Ryan’s is located directly west of the truck stop in the town of Hudson, on the other side of Hwy. 12.
To see what they have brewing for St. Patrick’s Day, see this web site’s Picks of the Week department.

My use of sports slang may be a bump in the road, or the ski hill, so I don’t sound like a country bumpkin when describing the successes of athletes from across the river.

— Based on my experience at the sports bar, I need to climb the hill as far as my use of trendy Winter Olympic terms. I remember when a mogul was a music executive, not a bump on the hill like that star skier from Afton would land on. And I was told the other night while viewing at the bar, that the right skating term is a “triple axle,” not a “triple lutz.” (Maybe that last characterization describes me). And worst of all to me, a “Latvian speed machine” sounds more like a drug than a luge. To which I must refer to a friend I encountered at Buffalo Wild Wings, who is like a walking encyclopedia of such terminology, having invoked the phrase “150 hours” to describe his watching of the chilly games, or playing like-minded action games, I wasn’t quite sure which. The friend that he was with, Grace, said that she is the antithesis of this, and both of us agreed in any case that we suck at video games, losing at even something as basic as the Old School version of Pong! And if it was up to us to save the universe via Space Invaders, the universe would be toast.
— It’s been all over the news about Afton’s Jessie Diggins essentially digging for gold and carrying the flag at the closing ceremony of the Winter Games. But this in itself is not Game Over. A member of US womens’ hockey team that also won gold is from Andover. But as I jokingly told my bartender friend Matt, the squad actually continued winning medals, surprisingly, led by the Andover player, Over And Over And Over. Matt responded that I should consider doing stand-up comedy. Or provoking collective groans.
— Also concerning the Olympics, word around the sports bar was that the only woman Donald Trump wouldn’t screw, especially if they are an immigrant or celebrity, would be a Russian weightlifter. Just kidding.
— On the other end of things, my old friend Bree was prominent a few years back with Caryn Models out of, you betcha, Minneapolis, which just had a super online offer to make: “The Super Bowl will be here in 11 days! If you need any influencers, models, actors, or hosts be sure to contact us!” In a separate ad, they said they need actual security guards to pose in photos as, essentially, themselves. Along those lines, Time magazine just did a survey, of both men and women, of what is the perfect female body, listing parts of it that belong to various actresses. Of the two groups categorized by gender, the women, not the men, picked a composite who looked just like Bree, because of the thinness of “her” lower body. Its surprising that this was the womens’ pick, as you would expect such a focus on thinness to come from the guys.
— A frosty-looking couple came in from the cold quite late to Dick’s during a recent snowstorm. I asked, “it looks like you’ve been out in this extreme weather?” For about five minutes, the man replied, making me wonder just exactly where they were coming from. The woman also had sparkles that were much like snowflakes on her forehead. Just what that was about also made me wonder. The “bitter” conditions also evoked another response: A number of us had a spirited and in some cases slightly angry debate about what, concerning the idea that the city had posted notice of a snow emergency for parking on its streets, constituted a legal notice of that situation. Is social media enough to meet the posting standard? That didn’t deter the last call numbers, which more than quadrupaled the number of people in the bar.
— A Dick’s regular is spreading her love of trivia around, in large part hitting what might be the next big thing, (and this could be a trivia question itself), through her experiences with DJTrivia at two different venues, Dick’s on Monday nights and also at Bo’s ‘N Mine in River Falls, where she has also trekked with staff members of the aforementioned bar to play. Plus, there is a third local venue, The Village Inn in North Hudson, that is offering DJTrivia, making it a gaming trifecta. There are twenty weeks of what might be thought of as a regular season, with the games going on once a week, followed by an end of year tournament worth $1,000. As the say, you don’t have to be a genius to play but it might help. What won’t help are computers and cell phones and social media devices of all types, as you are not allowed to have them during play. That would kind of be like receiving radio messages inside a quarterback’s football helmet, (oh, yeah, that’s now allowed).
— I was asked, do you know this guy? The woman posing the question said she had met met him at the truck stop and he paid her $100 to be his date for the night, just hang out and listen to music. They appeared to have hit it off and both were wearing Harley Davidson shirts. They waited a bit to get started on their date, however, as they didn’t make it out on the town until well after midnight. Right at last call, however, you could see the two counting out bills to finalize their transaction.
— A journalism student Molly, splitting her time between writing for regional magazines and bartending, in of all places Utah, was home for a funeral. Gee, her work sounds a lot like my kind of schedule.

(Yes Virginia, there is life after Fat Tuesday. Only it may not be New Orleans themed. Now to the movies, as the dark subject inside in Notes From The Beat strays from music, as it is about Black Panther, (and not the past revolutionary group), and not Steel Panther).

Fat Tuesday may have tanked as far as attendance, as is typical in recent years, but don’t use that F word when it comes to treating someone on the day that follows, that being Valentine’s Day.
Or maybe you don’t have a worry about it at all.
A bartender I know, although quite popular with the ladies, said on Tuesday night that even though he’s not that terribly young, he has never been in the midst of a serious relationship when V-Day rolls around. So, again, no worries. Even though there was a tin of chocolates setting on the bar counter (small in size), that ended up being shared with the only two patrons sitting on the other side (both men). Limited attendance was the norm all around town.

Which brings me to the sign outside Season’s Tavern that said optimistically, Love Is In The Air. That replaces the message that was posted for a few days prior, Six More Weeks Of Fun, referring to the groundhog that was challenged to see his shadow a couple of days beforehand. He may have been as challenged with that as all those guys trying to figure out the perfect gift.
Fail at that and you could be left out in the cold. With the way the temps had been — fittingly warming up for Valentine’s Day, and not being so “frigid” — there was a sign posted on the second door to Stone Tap that said because of often sub-zero temperatures, patrons should only use the main door, exactly 25 feet to the south. The place was indeed trying to warm things up by offering a smokin’ hot V-Day menu. For other last-minute of the last-minute gift ideas, see this web site’s Picks of the Week department.
For someone in need of no such help, my friend Mackenzie, there was this to offer near bar time at Pudge’s once V-Day was only a few minutes old. We both wear hugging on our sleeves, and we talked for several minutes about the different kids of hugs and what they mean. The manner in which hands are used in conjunction with someone’s back is everything.

And then there was that Root For The Vikings poster that was still up at Buffalo Wild Wings, referring to their special offer on shared appetizers when Minnesota gets three or more quarterback sacks. Uhm the football season is over, and would be even if the Vikes had made it to the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl weekend promised much and — depending who you talked to — delivered, although the process continues on, locally and nationally.
Sports bar TV junkies can continue their fix in coming days with the also-much-televised Winter Olympic Games, but what’s listed in the next paragraphs is how the local Big Game experience, and overflow, was fulfilled:
— In the end, the victor was not the usual-finish Pats, or the Pates as a friend Out East, with that accent, seemed to have said after the game.
— It was very late on a Thursday, days after the Big Game, and there still were Super Bowl workers hanging around. A group of them in construction were at Pudge’s ordering Wisconsin-ish drinks.

— Did any of the servers I know see a $100 tip? I asked this after the fact. “Now that would be news,” one said, although with a wink of an eye, indicated he’d gotten near that mark.
— The chef du jour for the Super Bowl has a lookalike, although a bit younger, in North Hudson. So Andrew Zimmern had his face continued to be splashed all over the place well after the game itself ended. That was even more so than my neighbor, who is well known himself for being a former Pepper Fest king and having a man cave to die for. Chances are that one watched the other. And Zimmern would fit in well as a Minnesota name if you’d just add two more letters near the end.
— This was the best trash talk cut against the Patriots, overheard in Minneapolis and repeated at Dick’s Bar later: “You had Benjamin Franklin and have been back sliding since!”
— While local servers said the visiting patrons were well behaved, there were exceptions, emulating the testosterone-fueled rant of the Eagles’ center in Thursday’s victory parade in Philly. While at the microphone, he was definitely at the center of things. As were a group of three downtown newcomers on Saturday night, dressed like they were attempting to be preppy, but not quite able to pull it off. They like many others appeared to think that simply sporting a North Face sweatshirt would make them fit in. However, their look was more like Duke University meets St. Elmo’s Fire. After bugging me to find out my political views, and I knew well enough to keep quiet, the shortest of them called me a socialist, then picked up a bar stool as if he was going to hit me with it. That was my ticket to exit, stage left. When I dropped back in to the venue later in the week, the incident was well talked about, and I found out the guy had been kicked out just a few seconds later.
— Some venues were actually closed for the day, and Kozy Korner in North Hudson gave it a new twist, shutting down at 4 p.m. to have their company Christmas party. At least that kept them busy watching the pregame shows. Other places just stood pat with their offerings, or just served their regular snacks. It was the day before the Super Bowl and staffers at the Agave Kitchen still weren’t certain if they would be serving their standard complimentary hot dogs that have been a game day staple. It did look, however, like that dog decision would eventually be a do. The afternoon of the Super Bowl, the downtown was hopping, with lots of people in small groups entering and exiting the venues I write about.
— Near the end of the whole situation, I needed to go, late, to a bank from the nearer portions of the Enemy State to cash a check. I noticed that there was a mock $1 million bill sitting behind their counter. The clerk entered longer than usual information on my records and seemed to be referring to what was writtem on that $1 million bill! As this ended up taking longer and longer, lapsing into several minutes, I was wondering about both whether the check was good and also, if there was some karma between the fact that the bill was for one million, and that the number of people from out-of-town was one million. After all, everything was resolved, unlike the crazy celebrations in Philly.
— I signed up to rent out a room with one of those Super Bowl hosting companies, but they appeared to have bitten off more than they could chew as far as volume of potential clients, as except for initial conversations in mid-January, they for days on end they would not answer their phones, pick up on the other end, or return voice mail messages. I never did get a person on the line or my room actually listed. So in the long run this poor ink-stained wretch was out a few thousand dollars in potential revenue.
— Along with those hosting lines, we needed plenty of boxes to throw things into, then shift them around into the basement, so I enlisted the help of some bartenders I know and asked if they could throw several of these containers my way after stocking boxes of liquor. I simply said, “hey buddy, can I get a few boxes,” without elaborating. A few days later, at The Village Inn, the bartender asked me as an aside, “hey, how did your Super Bowl hosting go?” Was it that obvious that’s what they were for?
— Out-of-towners especially might not know the full implications of negotiating the monuments-to-themselves that occur when you get the Department of Transportation involved in road construction, and this enormity has been shown in particular with the massive Wisconsin side infastructure that went along with the Stillwater bridge project. Some from other states didn’t know quite what to do with the current love of the DOT, that being roundabouts. In particular, a guy who looked the part of the average farmer, with the farmer T-shirt, drove his truck, with Nebraska plates, to the front of the first roundabout you get when traveling north on Hwy. 35 toward Houlton. There were no other cars in sight, but rather than simply merging, he pulled to an almost complete stop when coming to the turn lane at the entry of the concrete circle. Then on this day of sub-zero temperatures, a bit further down the road, there were drivers coming out of the car wash with plates from Texas to North Carolina. Don’t they know that the water from the wash will quickly move to ice on their vehicle?
— At Buffalo Wild Wings locations, including that in Hudson, local control of publicity efforts was taken over by their sponsored brands for food and soda, meaning they would do no such thing themselves, a manager said. So no ad for them other than this at HudsonWiNightlife.
— Late last year I ran into someone while waiting in a lobby in Hudson who said she had a friend who was in charge of an effort to build a few more motels in The Cities just for the Super Bowl. And as far as the international airport, it had traffic totals that were easily the largest on record on Sunday night/Monday.

(For more on these topics, see the Notes of the Beat department, and for a last-minute primer on things to do locally with your Super Bowl experience, see Picks of the Week).

The old, and now refurbished to the hilt and turned into an ongoing night spot, Armory in The Cities has a local man at the forefront of getting the place ship-shape for pre-Super Bowl concerts, which have been held in the highest esteem among those shows available when written up by Twin Cities newspapers.
This local mainstay in the hip hop producing business, who in this latest case is working on the production end such as sound and lighting at the venue a few blocks away from the Super Bowl stadium, says its not as easy as it looks.
The venue in the days before the Super Bowl hosted concerts by Pink, Imagine Dragons and Kelly Clarkston, (who has chimed in about the pressures of performing on this type of weekend), and also showing at the venue, to be seen, are Kanye West, The Arnold and Mike Tyson.
The very young man from Hudson tells story about how some stickler venues have micro-managed the situation that some workers showed up without the obligatory steel-toed boots and were not allowed to go on the job, one where time is money and the lag can cost upwards of thousands on dollars. There are different approaches to such questions by various event venues, and among the many companies they have worked for in arranging large-scale gatherings, Blue Cross Blue Shield proved to be stellar as far as just going with the flow and being practical.
Perhaps the most difficult venue to deal with in such a way, as far as exactingly meeting the letter of the law, is Mystic Lake Casino, he said. The casino got embroiled in some legal troubles over such things in the couple of weeks before the Super Bowl, but the show(s) there did end up going on.
Guitarist Carlos Santana, performing a bit earlier at his venue, already has his $70,000 in pocket, the local man said about 10 days ago, so he doesn’t care, but the show must go on even if others aren’t so lucky. His company is in the loop to get $40,000 for their services, but at that time we talked their money was not in pocket yet, so as far as being corporate …
And my first question for him was the prevalence in their work of ensuring that there isn’t another warerobe malfunction. He said that at there production meetings, it is a constant topic of discussion.
— There have been some folk who wanted to visit Hudson during the past week, but get far out of town before it got nearer to the game and the craziness spilled over. One such couple from the West Coast was at Dick’s Bar and Grill late-night just before bolting ship, as they had been in Hudson for a few days doing construction work, but said on Thursday that they were making it an aim to get out of town pronto after that. They had been at Buffalo Wild Wings earlier, and as one person to another wearing hunting caps, he said as leaving that he was apologizing for some offense that had been taken about a comment that was made: “I’m sorry, but I am from Washington,” since as I was to find out in detail in a later conversation, things are a lot different there.
— Finally, this wrap-up on how the Super Bowl scene has played out in Hudson. After a couple of slow nights midweek locally, largely because of the cold, bartenders said there were a lot of Super Bowl visitors out early on Friday night, although things slowed later. Such things were back to being mostly dead on Saturday night, even slow at a standard-bearer, The Smilin’ Moose, as out-of-towners were mostly out in Minneapolis. This was the top night for partying there outside of the Super Bowl itself, a bit more so than Friday night. Bartenders late Saturday were holding out hope that there would be the not unusual bar time rush from The Cities, even the Minneapolis end.

Fans take their football seriously, which when combined with other local attractions setting the stage, has meant there’s plenty of acrid activity of all types locally. (For a running listing of these things, visit this web site over the next few days, and also see its Picks of The Week Department for things to do outside of Minneapolis):

— And we all thought Philly fans could be Surly, even before they took in some of those brews over in the metro, but in a former time also, before the NFC Championship Game aftermath brought it to light, the wrath was targeted at an (also mildly misplaced?) Purple Person. A time-out was required at the old Guv’s Place in Houlton, right across the river from Viking territory, when an early-season punch was thrown by a Packer Backer during their game against the Vikes, as told by the recipient of the smackdown. I guess that’s why to this day, the two-sided sign shows players from both teams shaking hands, but one on crutches (from a punch?), with the gridder shown as being injured flip-flopped, depending on which part of the sign you were looking at.
— The Hudson Buffalo Wild Wings was hit from three different places, including the Hudson Hot Air Affair and a big annual youth hockey tournament, not to mention the Big Game, like so many local venues last Saturday — as for the first time in years, both morning balloon launches went up, a seeming-to-be good omen. A server said that that when things picked up at her place of work, she had been waiting to go on break for 90 minutes but couldn’t, since a family was lingering at their table. Such long visits were typical in local establishments, which makes one think they were from the ballooning event — timed between its many activities — and not Super Bowl visitors. Yet.
Midday on Saturday, parking spaces for grill and bars were full everywhere around Hudson, with the occasional stall empty because again, people would stay for much longer than usual and occupy a prime location with their car, before bolting to the next activity and leaving the space empty.
— On Sunday night, there were so many strange hangers-on that they just had to be from out-of-town, said a downtown chef. Not viewed as so inhospitable a few weeks earlier was a tip left at Pudge’s, and missed out on from the source of my information because she ended up serving rather than bartending that day, to the tune of $550 on a $30 tab. Such workers are hoping for repeat performances when the biggest and most monied Super Bowl clients arrive in the Hudson area later in the week.
— Also looking to take advantage of the increased customer inflow is local pop and country star Chaunte Shayne, who has landed a gig at the Twin Cities International Airport on Feb. 5. A footnote, as talked about over coffee at the Village Inn early Tuesday morning, is that flights were so booked full there that people were taking their private planes to airports in Duluth and La Crosse — noteworthy again by being one place in each state — then getting however they could to the Twin Cities.
— A Mallalieu Inn placard over the door references the 14th Super Bowl with a theme that has Packers written all over it. Elsewhere in North Hudson, The Village Inn was known for an oversize photo of Coach Mike Holmgren being hoisted on the shoulders of various Packers after the team won their Super Bowl.
— The Hudson Green Mill was already Super Bowl full almost a week in advance, to the point where the manager was too busy to talk, even for a moment, and said this overflow likely would not change throughout the week. And no one I talked to disputed the idea that even at that point, when getting on I-94 and heading on down the highway to Eau Claire, there were no motel rooms left to be found there either. (What there was already had been going for $500 a room in Hudson, I was told by someone who got left out in the cold).
— I know from my time as essentially a bureau person for the Pioneer Press way back when, that on occasions where there was a late evening event or meeting, time was crucial to getting stories (or more likely photos, as a space could be held open for a bit longer) to the copy desk right after 9 p.m. This appeared to be the quandary editors faced when there was the media day (night?) and Prince musical tribute late on Monday. There were photos galore slapped on those pages, and I found myself combing them for any inclusion of an acquaintance to whom I once gave a lift home, again back in the day, a former guitarist for Prince’s backup band. No luck spotting him.
— The Super Bowl has brought an extra presence security all over, and also prompted the local police to step up patrols on certain nights, as the revelry has brought with it a certain amount of stupidity. The height of stupid criminal activity was seen on Tuesday night in downtown Hudson, as a car was pulled over and found to have dozens of “bricks” that local cops laid out on the sidewalk, but there might not have been quite enough light to see them because the car only had one working headlight! These guys might not see the light of day for awhile.
— With the onset, finally, of some warm weather, a woman at The Moose was sporting two of the lowest-cut bare shoulders I’ve ever seen. But not low enough to allow a wardrobe malfunction.

Sixteen inches of snow? Not a problem for partiers across the valley, although you can’t necessarily say that about all their venues:
— When The Blizzard Of The Last Five Years hit, some local haunts closed as early as 5 p.m. because of the bad conditions. There were a couple, though, that generally close prior to actual bar time, but stayed open later than usual, possibly to take a bigger share of what customer traffic there was, (after all it was a Monday night). A couple of guys who I used to hob-nob with at the former Guv’s Place in Houlton, said they ended up at Dick’s Bar because everything in New Richmond and Stillwater was shut down early. Word had it that MnDOT decided not to get its plows out on the interstate until 2 a.m., which of course is bar time, since it wouldn’t be prudent. So much for the last-callers from Minnesota.
— A local guy who considers himself to be somewhat psychic predicted that the Vikings would beat the Eagles 14-10. That falls closely in line with the prediction of sportscaster Mark Rosen. Rosen and 10 make Zen? Guess not. Although I did talk to my quasi-psychic buddy in the middle of the Jacksonville and New England game and he noted the score was, indeed, 14-10 for the southern team in that contest. However, he added there was a whole half to go. Or in the Vikes case, a whole 50 minutes before the end of their huge downfall.
— A couple from Boston called back about our invitation to have them come for Super Bowl week. They noted that they are not big sports fans, and that it probably showed, even though their surname is the Holsteins, so you would think they’d fit right in over here in Minnesconsin, where football is god and cows aren’t far behind. Apparently that situation isn’t automatic or big news, as Alice said, “so what is happening? Are the Vikings playing the Patriots?” At least she won’t have a cow if there is another Deflategate.
As far as such travel situations, people who are dealing with putting people up say their guests have already arrived almost two weeks in advance of the Big Game, just to watch the teams practice. As far as making these arrangements, such companies were very busy with just less than a week before the Super Bowl, as their was a dump of 20,000 more tickets now that the final two teams have been determined, (plus the blizzard to keep their reps from getting around the metro). And people from Philly are standing in line, figuratively, to get such tickets and get over here. If you see someone partying downtown with an Eagles jersey, don’t admit you are a Packer or Viking fan, or you might get slugged!
— Kozy Korner in North Hudson changed its tune and got kozy with the Vikings, in the absence of a Packer Backer playoff possibility. Their sign said simply: “Go Vikings! We believe in you.” Even the following Monday.
— He became a legend, locally, if only in the late night: Around closing at The Village Inn, the bartender across the way from Guv’s Place in the village came over for last call, and part of the conversation revealed that she has a friend who knows Kerry Collins, a retired quarterback who had success in his career, even in the postseason, but not consistently so.
— Its been a long time since I saw a street musician in Hudson, but there was an old graybeard plucking his guitar and singing on a recent weekend night, when the temperatures had warmed. I parked on Locust Street where the old newspaper office was and he was doing his own take on an old pop-ish love song. I got my prescription at Micklesen’s, talked to the pharmacist to the point where I had almost overstayed my welcome, and when walking back the guy was still at it. By this point he had drawn a couple of followers who were listening intently.
— In response to the overwhelming demand for all sorts of craft brews from this region and beyond, Surley Beer out of St. Paul laid off 10 about percent of its workers in late 2017 and cut its production significantly. So, some of the local beers of that type are having an impact beyond just the pallets of their fans.
— The other night I was walking up to the corner of Second and Walnut, when I noticed something odd sitting on the frozen tundra that is currently the curb area. It was an orange, rock solid! This is where the cabbies usually sit, so perhaps the flavorfully frozen fruit of favor would more fittingly be a lemon? (OK, we know that these local drivers have much better equipment than that). More poignant this holiday season might be the beer kegs filled with greenery just up the street, in front of Stone Tap.

On the Vikings recent playoff last-play luck, most everyone is on the bandwagon, although it still might be considered a crap shoot, as to invoke a popular song back from one of the last days Minnesota was in a Super Bowl, “traveling twice the speed of sound, it’s easy to get burned”:
— The sign a few days ago at Kozy Korner in North Hudson said it all: “We are Saints fans today.” And into tomorrow, as the sign stayed up the day after the close loss. Across the street at the Village Inn, the lot was basically full, even though this was not a Packer game, and the only number of parking stalls available was about equal to the number of losses the Vikings have had this season (not many).
— A new sign inside at The Village, right next to the one listing their specials, and showing a rather dorky guy in a suit who looks like he’s stepped out of the 1950s. “Meet Dick. Dick is a Vikings fan. Don’t be a Dick.” Also don’t be a Dick and give your support to Leigh, the owner, who is on the mend after getting in a snowmobile accident where he broke several ribs and sustained other serious injuries. He is not expected to get out of the hospital until after the Super Bowl is played.
— There was also a full house at Woody’s in Bayport, despite the blowing snow. The crowd was much like a Packer game in that for even the most mundane successes, such as the Vikings getting a first down — whether on a gain of five yards or 15 — the reaction of the crowd was huge. One can only imagine the way they went nuts on that final game-winning play, which was — and I have to say it — what had been an Aaron Rodgers specialty.
— Despite the reversal of fortune for the Vikings in the late-going of playoff games, such as the missed field goals that gave them losses in recent years, not everyone is on the trend that a Super Bowl appearance is a sure thing. My friend Matt fully expects that the Diggs divine display at the end of the Saints game will be followed a meltdown in the game against Philly, which would mean yet another postseason disappointment.
— A company whose specialty is making arrangements for renting out houses for Super Bowl visitors told me we could get up between $1,000 and $1,500 a night for our run-of-the-mill place. And those numbers could go even higher, if the “home team” somehow advances. A rep said that they’re thinking it will the Patriots and Philly, and as far as that goes, Jacksonville has a good team, too. What about the Vikes? After all, they are favored by a point or two in Sunday’s game. Can we get a little love here?!? With all that said, there is a local B and B that is asking a whopping $7,000 a night in order to stay there, as incoming football fanatics get more and more desperate.
— Do you believe in miracles? Officials at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis apparently do, while both looking heavenward and seeing the football head that way. These beliefs were bolstered after the Aaron-Rodgers-like (sorry about that reference) touchdown pass that covered most of the field and allowed the Vikings to advance against all odds to the NFC championship game. Only hours after the play in question, our family that has a member who graduated from that school got an email that specified such a miracle and said it would occur again, as the school announced holding a contest to give away a pair of Super Bowl tickets. Holy smokes!
— It’s still a couple of weeks before the Super Bowl in Minneapolis, but there already are signs of it hitting late night shopping in the area. A clerk reached for one of my night-time munchies to scan it in, and the bottom of her blouse caught on a metal edge and stretched out. She needed to quickly fix that. I quipped, at the risk of being slapped, “we already have a wardrobe malfunction.” She laughed, which these days is not a slam dunk. Copy this to Justin Timberlake, for reference involving his Feb. 4 appearance here.
— Favre jerseys that are now being worn to sports bars during the end of the Packer and Viking seasons have invariably shown him in purple and gold, not green and gold. At least there is that commonality of a Gold Standard, and it started before Green Bay was mathematically eliminated from the postseason.
— The Big Guys BBQ patron bus may have been frozen out in the (recent) cold big time, as it lately has often been parked at one of its new homes, the lot at the Dairy Queen — and its frigid treats inside and out — but way out in back, not by the stop light as in the past.
— Also, from the Fox New Year’s Eve broadcast where noteworthy deaths from 2017 were recognized, these names can be added to the list of celebrities with local ties being reported by HudsonWiNightlife: David Cassidy, who once sung karaoke with my friend and former duet partner Kara, (our choices were from the body of work of Motley Crue), and Gregg Allman, who had been known to party down at Pudge’s, (one wonders what he would think of the new digs, much better than most dugouts. See further). On this topic, also concerning Pudge’s, is the reference to all-star pitcher Jack Morris of the Twins and other teams, who had a favorite spot at the bar there. He was at long last named to the pro baseball Hall of Fame in 2017.
— Switching gears to politics, recently seen late night was a rusty truck that flew a tattered-at-the-bottom American flag from its back payload, which I thought that veteran’s groups say is a patriotic no-no. However, all things considered, this display seemed to be quite fitting …
— So Trump is in trouble, yet again, for using not the F word, but the two-syllable — can I get away with describing it that way? — S and H word when referring to certain countries rife with immigrants. This spurred a debate on the FCC worthy of George Carlin about whether certain some words can be said on the air, and what exactly the word is and type of air (read media) it is on. The odd thing is the censors requiring bleeps have for decades missed certain usages of the F word in popular songs, while being hyper-zealous on others. With that said, HudsonWiNightlife gets bold and notes that there are literally millions of times The Who has gotten away with screaming, “You the fuck are you?” in one of their signature songs. One artist who hasn’t had as much success is Alanis Morrissette, when after a brief period of true First Amendment rights she got censored from posing a different question, “Are you thinking of me when you fuck her?” In my book, that’s the strongest part of an already strong song, You Oughta Know.