You know a chilly but smokin’ and scarfed penguin in this, the land and ice and snow and Coldies, will mean fun that just keeps on ballooning!
That’s the theme mascot, of sorts, for the 2024 Hudson Hot Air Affair, and the multitude of music and tasting has been described in my previous posts but there is even more frivolity that will not fizzle in this, its 35th year of bringing the heat to the air. Newer much warmer weather, and mild wind in western Wisconsin, will likely mean hot air balloons indeed go up. There are burner-borne launches — following up on a space day of moon and Mars at the Hudson Public Library — slated for Saturday and Sunday morning at 7:35 a.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m. Add to that a 7 p.m. torchlight parade on Friday, and a moonglow/field of fire at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. Winds are forecast to be below the 10 mph threshold for launch, especially Sunday. Just don’t quite know about smoosh-boarding. (The named activities all are at the school grounds at EP Rock Elementary on the hill, except for the downtown parade.)
This music-heavy Affair even features a piano-theme balloon among its dozens, be it plinky or pounding like Tim Grady on the Grand, every early evening this weekend at Ziggy’s Live Music Bar and Restaurant. Other music rocks the whole town also. Penguin mascots love to mingle and dance — and even sample drinks that forget those fishy gars, are far beyond sea water — just not with killer whales, as that scares the wool-scarfed, feathered and flippered ones.
In a newer related event, also in the chilly water, the Hudson Rotary Club goes beyond its killer annual car raffle and jumps in the lake early-afternoon with a St. Croix River Dunk of polar style, at the Lakefront Park beach on Saturday from 1-3 p.m.

— Did I call this polar pizzazz chilly? As the time of this writing update, just before 10 a.m. after a night of checking out the sights and sounds of The Affair, it was hovering around freezing and expected to get several degrees warmer around the slosh-around-in-the-lakefront-or-is-it-a-river time. So they might get even more than their originally expected 200 water jumpers, per my pals at the Hudson Star-Observer, and thus make more than the $100K goal for charity! Great news for all but polar bears. So this event doesn’t have to be a bear for those who are timid, hey even up here in the Great Northwoods And Waters some of us have our limits, (as in Boundaries in our Waters), as per this the sixth annual, actually, event that streams. And in the HSO submitted photo, showing that being-in-costume lives beyond the Friday night torchlight parade, there was a man who looked like a combo of a bear and rocker Jack Black, as this is a HHAA music weekend, and a very much taller likeness of Will Ferrell. And such guys do indeed dress up, be that good or bad, or in-between.
(For occasional updates on the Hudson Hot Air Affair happenings, “shortly” after they occur or are ongoing, see this website’s Notes From The Beat department, listed alongside.) —

To wit, to steel yourself, at the sponsoring dance venues and various others: There will be the Sippin’ With The Hotties Beverage Crawl, with special prices on unique alcoholic and non-alcoholic creations, and you can start but not end with launch-timed bloodies.
All through the three-day event weekend, there’s this connected offering — giving a chance to sip without slippin’ on any newly formed ice — starting with the downtown and then broadening out across the greater Hudson area. Here are the participants: (Vote for your favorite for a chance to win a $50 Gift Certificate.) Visit these participating Hudson restaurants and bars all weekend long: Bennett’s Chop & Railhouse, Big Guys BBQ Roadhouse, Black Rooster Bistro, Buddy’s Bakery, Dick’s Bar & Grill, Grand Fête, Keys Café Bakery & Bar, Lucky Guys Distillery, Post American Eatery, Smokey Treats BBQ, The Cellars Wines & Spirits/Tonka Vodka and Ziggy’s Live Music, Bar & Restaurant.
To lead off the many examples, you may be beholden to the Hotchata drink with rum at Bennett’s, adding peppermint bark (or is it dark), with the first letter partly obscured by a mug handle, as shown on the sign on the wall — actually front window — that says it all. Such overt promotion will get you places not earlier seen with HudsonWiNightlife. There are three other deliciously “creamy” new signs in the area, that “milk” the theme of are you looking for a sign to do or buy something like such a specialty drink, and then the message in front of you that you see, suggested along the sidewalk, is just that sign. “You don’t need no astrology … or ticket to fly with me …” Listen to Ozzy expound, as he knows, having crossed through Hudson many times while touring with OzzFest.
Anyway, over at Ziggy’s, there is a special hawked on the bottom corner of their monthly lineup, on a marquee of bands that may or may not have to do with this not type of Affair, although that event is prompted by a similar and related sign in the upper corner of the same bulletin board. Thus pumped is the Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA. Given the music theme, at this club and the ballooning extravaganza as a whole, reigning with Purple Haze would also fit, and Sinatra and Godsmack and Jimi again, and Night Ranger also weighs in.
Since just before the new year turned, bartender Joe’s White Russian has been a resolution, and you can buy it with Cutwater Vodka, bringing it up to 13 percent alcohol by volume, and a coffee cream liquor. (Disclaimer: There is no official word on whether the last two drinks have been creations that go specifically along with the Hot Air Affair offering, but they show examples of what you can find and weigh in on. Check out much more, such as mulled wine decked out in a thin bottle with flower at Urban Olive and Vine, and play on with pizzazz as this weekend plays out.)

We in the Twin Cities and neighboring Minnesconsin area have seen pro players and musicians who undoubtably have gotten tight with their fan base, and especially some individual fans, to the point it underscores what they do on the field or rink or court or stage and effects in some way their business decisions, such as to go on the free agent market, or at which big city’s venues to choose to perform. After all, that formed fan base awaits, and both sides of it I believe stay longing for the act to continue. There is no intermission from such connection.
Even though this hyper-fandom — spun closely across from an arena, as is seen here like perhaps nowhere else — has always been around, these days such is more, as social media and just the general climate of faster and faster video-game-style pace ups the ante to stay in touch after away games, or become very antsy. Even if traded, which is unlikely with these popular ones, or cut or contract bought out. (Such situations seemingly have been seen here, in some years more recent than others, and the case is made below.)
There is always the regional relationship-making, aided by the fact that certain markets like ours are smaller and more compact in size (see down below), and that some clubs always hop with some talent and charm more frequently and people know just where to find each other, like a musician on a somewhat-small as to be closed circuit, but not to them. Regional can grow beyond regional, and then a bit of travel comes into play if keeping a budding relationship going. To see Brewers or Bucks or Blackhawks? But going beyond might be obsessive. Or …
There are times when cruising a select handful of after-game venues, grabbing maybe a quick and small beer and quaffing it at one, and then crossing sidewalk to another, especially if the places are close enough together for it — and that’s not in many cities and forget in those of any size — this subculture takes on an often night-life of its own. These super-fans have game on most every game night, and book it up-front into their maybe crammed schedules, so it reigns after their successful workday is done. And thus there is karma and beyond that rains and its increased psyche creeps into the brain.
So St. Paul ups the ante with its pro hockey team, The Wild, as an arena a couple of decades ago replaced the beloved North Stars and was crammed into a few city blocks to be built, where there was barely room. And additional sports (read hockey) bars would follow in construction, and buildings were revamped, basically in a clump, taking up not much more space than the Minnesota Wild’s arena ice and its seats.
I know of what I speak, although at this time am choosing not to speak too much.
This thing of The Fan and The Man can be a good one, not like checking a player in the back, or grabbing a facemask, not just jersey. It’s just the normal interaction that ramps up when one is a star player, and the other a fan, and a connection forms quickly, like at a meet-and-greet with the quick but soon to get more intertwined chit-chat over an autograph. Then where to go with that new and budding bond after all the names are signed — on books or even on babes — and the event is done? And the teams and bands played with often change, especially in the 2000s? And the new teams they go to, could be influenced by if they already know some people there, although that’s not something you often here about.

We love them here!
As I wrote earlier, they are our people, in the Twin Cities. And their fans drive them, like a rush to the end zone, or to put the puck in the goal.
That’s where the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul and the as-pertinent surrounding area are, to use an overused term, unique as far as their layout. The many hockey bars are, some more than others, within a few blocks — an easy walk, not much more distance than for a standard ice skating rink. Even the Center itself is not surrounded by plenty of parking lots and such — the only big ramp is flanking to the other side — and what stone-base is there is concise in the form of a triangle, you even if a player are right there to go ahead and mingle. And not even hardly any busy intersections to cross, and few expanses of concrete, and few other businesses to venture past but such bars, and those that do exist are tiny. The locker rooms themselves are not far.
Even Minneapolis, not a huge city, pales by comparison, concerning its pro teams and the distances to walk, no matter which stadium. Might be better to be northwesternly Medina. Perhaps with Radar Love playing.
And the Twin Cities as a whole, even with its few suburbs, is not nearly as huge as most metropolitan areas, and when you venture beyond those select suburbs there still is much farmland and large-lot sizes, so not too much population density. And no big lakes, but for one or maybe two, and mountains do not break it up. City and suburb lines are not stretched out much by rivers, as at this point the Mississippi one has gotten very narrow, and the same is the case for the only other consideration, the diminuative Minnesota waterway. So per capita, it’s more likely you know someone prominent, or went to the same high school, and there’s a greater chance they might be from your hometown. And still mingle later. Even as stardom rises beyond the regional. And their new world tour has to fit in a Twin Cities date, this time more likely Minneapolis, so you’ll have to hit the road across-city if a hockey buff.
(A beautiful black-haired Hudson bartender friend, as tall as a pro skater, though way too young to have much money saved up, was like many in saying she went to one Wild game and was addicted, flashing her eyes at those flashing lights, and getting season tickets like so many from even in Wisconsin to become one of these minions, without working at Valley Faire, only a regular night shift at a popular club, so again we must consider the constraints of tight schedules.)
To further this geography lesson, when I was at one of MY haunts … across the way just south of the freeway in Hudson, I saw an older film clip that would seem to back up my premise. In black-and-white it showed a team that had just gotten a big win and a designated person, and this seemed to be pre-planned in case the outcome of the game was right, immediately called a prime place — it looked to be one where many tables were placed together and a large number served family style but drinks too — for late-night dinner reservations that seemed to go far beyond just members of the ballclub. Numerous men and glamorous women were shown sitting down to dine as staff rushed to fulfill this newly received order.

Take for a fact, Zach …
So we must take into account the fact that star winger Zach Parise, of Minnesota Wild fame, ended up being with the New York Islanders for two vagabond seasons, then came back to live in the Twin Cities and did not look back to rejoin his new squad. He did not officially retire, but he was by no means playing either, although the window was eagerly left open for him and his NEW fans, whom based on his St. Paul experience of many years I can assume were legion.
Parise, who still has the itch to play, got back into a training regime late last year, then ramped it up, but still was not coming back, in full form, to the NHL. It was like he was torn, between two worlds, related but separate, and was holding out from having to choose just one. The sports pundits said he’d likely let us know by Thanksgiving, but then even Christmas passed …
So it was not a big surprise when Parise spent the summer without saying if he’d retire or not, then chose not to attend training camp, and even sat out the season opener — all while deliberating a possible return from his home near Minneapolis. He was said to be feeling a strong need to spend family time, as with his twins and not the team, and to do so stay back in Minnesota. Yes, but I think there was even more to it, as far as things to do and people to see around the arena. And if he would re-sign with someone in 2024, he’d have until the March deadline, then could participate in the playoffs, so use as much time as viable … But before I further retell, I must back up more.
This seems to mirror the situation of star Viking running back Adrian Peterson, who left Minnesota, at least officially, and although aging tried to play for other NFL teams, with moderate success. Prior to that, he was known to have flown between 140 and 200 people, by published reports, to key games he was playing. He was known to be a people person in every sense of the word and intimate in his relationships, and like Parise was very popular and outgoing to all he would see. Parise in particular is said to be the ultimate guy you would want in the locker room as a teammate. These are the kind of people who would seem to have difficulty bidding goodbye to their mates, of any type.

*** The Minnesconsin theme, now elaborated, and the ways the tightly taut geographical landscape allows atypical fan-star interaction, carries eastward to Green Bay, which at one time under 100,000 is even smaller in size then St. Paul. (Star Super Bowl lineman Fuzzy Thurston, after retirement, chose to field a fantastic local sports restaurant and bar that was known for his personal appearances as a post-Packer as well as its full quarter heads of lettuce salad, which I once ate in whole, then found it challenging to consume the equally bountiful entree. In the Twin Cities other old players have followed suit with such places, and they always seem to be linemen.) With even more surrounding farm fields nearby to Lambeau, almost right off the city limits. As an example, the Metal God himself, singer Rob Halford of Judas Priest, has chosen later in life to live here or at least in one of its, again, very few suburbs. In a farmhouse? Get to know those (Whiskey Woman?) neighbors, who might have seen him do such songs in-concert early-on, while Living After Midnight, before his full beard but in full Harley gear from a hundred miles south in Milwaukee. If such a Door County farmhouse is a really older one that’s long fallen into disarray (and then rehabbed I hope) this might be more Black Sabbath-esqe, in this the Badger State. Like the cover art on their first album.
Even Prince, a regional musical legend who rose far beyond that, kept close to the Twin Cities throughout his long career, and enough people got to know him that everyone had a Prince story or two in their hip pocket. He started here and largely stayed here, as his professional base, rather then focus solely on the scenes on either coast. Too many local ties to take care of.
For many such players and to varying degrees — based on scans of social media, and not-often-seen smiling photos of they with their fans, and news accounts — a picture is painted of them having social lifestyles that would be open to not being just tied to the house. Nothing wrong with that, or having such eagerness. Games let out well before 10 p.m. Some have shown a bit of hesitation to officially, though eventually, tie the knot in their relationships. Nothing wrong with that, either.
So, when you know one superstar well, it usually does not stop there. You may get to know, like with your fave bartender, their friends and family and co-workers and pets, and pretty soon you know more than a dozen people, many in a way a bit beyond being acquaintences, and possibly taking in a couple of the opposing squad’s players. And sports stars tend to hang out with other sports stars, and musicians with other players, so more there, even moreso in what also helps form a growing network, crossing the reason for celebrity. Fandom becomes more than fickle, and the connections formed just take over. And multiply.
Although its obvious that the emotional bond is what gets these things going, at times those who are sought out most, by each other as its mutual, are those with a similar physical look. Usually found in the facial features, chiseled chin and oh those eyes, as they are the windows to the soul.

We go to CO
But not necessarily OCD. So here we finally go with some news. Parise just broke free from living Minnesota, (and/or The Big Apple), at least for a few months and at least on game days, and signed a late-season deal for the rest of the year with the hated titans of Colorado, who are trying for an elusive second Stanley Cup in three years, the one thing that Parise’s soon-Hall of Fame career has not garnered.
One of the first photos trolled out by Colorado, over the weekend, showed him with a bit of a goatee and scruffy sideburns, so cool but alone in the pix, as he has been a very high-profile and unusually sought-after free agent for months. More so than you would think with an aging star, despite the goals he has to score more goals. There is that absolute sheer sense of presence that he has — like I’m guessing have some of the fans with whom I’m guessing such players know — and that takes these things and those abilities to another level.
Such stars have a sense of charisma, as can he shown after the (one-legged-standing) fist pumps after scoring a run or touchdown or goal, since that further enables these pristine and profound capabilities, with their fans or coaches, or other players or the media. If very tall like some, taking it all in while leaning backward against the wall of a locker room, or box seat, or bunch of concert-goers, or raft of roadies, there exist even more possibilities.
When there is more time off from the rink or field, there is more time available at the rim of the bar, or other social places to gather, for those on both sides of the equation. Who choose to feed off of it. Some leagues have newer rules that allow certain days off from competition, and there are also all-star breaks mandated as well, when the potential time to mingle hikes. And when players are off of playing because of injury for a week or two or even three, there is even more opportunity. After all, yes, you indeed sit with the team during the game, but there is no time that needs to be taken for dressing into playing gear, or later showering and changing out of pads and back into street clothes. So away you can go, if chosen, more quickly to meet up with fans, even if for just a passing moment, as they try to catch your eye as they roam and gain at least a wink.
Methinks that despite a language barrier and the fact he at first, at least, stayed tied to his new apartment, new Wild star Kirill Kaprizov took such a new opportunity when he had a couple of rather long injuries. That would have allowed him to showcase both the newfound English skills he was learning and his babyface Conan O’Brien-like looks. A leading music video reactor and singer is also a doppelganger.

Next-level-friends
But when does interacting with fandom hit a higher level? Yes, venue proximity and scope of the layout is a big issue, but … This goes back to some people indeed being people-people. And then given an opportunity to boot …
I will present a possible greatest-case scenario. First, we consider a woman who is among the most verified psychic minds who has been studied, to the point that she went completely the other direction and became a bit of a recluse to avoid such attention. She could tell you with amazing accuracy what card from a deck was being held up, and learned how to move some other small, circular objects with the just power of her thought. Could be useful in another game, say checkers. So what, you might say? Consider that she formed super-strong bonds with certain people, to the point of virtually being “one” with some, a same ability as was reported by others in her family. Synergy beyond being like Tom Brady with his receivers.
And that she has the same surname, which is not a common one, as a luminary from the Twin Cities sports scene, to the degree that you might wonder if there exists a family-line linkage involving some such abilities. That pervades into close-knit relationships with other people, so much so they need occasional attention??
This woman established a very close relationship with a guy friend, and after wartime duty they communicated regularly by letter — this was before most people had phones and they lived far apart, in different cities.
To summarize details for the sake of peoples’ privacy, she fell very ill one night and woke from her sleep shocked with a particular set of symptoms, and right away sought out the help of her mother. She found out soon afterward that the guy friend, during that same night, died from a similar cause, and she had felt it in her own body.
Where there is such linkage, there can be a need to reconnect with some people fairly often, as with seeking out fave fans. Are you getting my drift?
Such people and yes players often are very high energy, like few these days are not afraid to get physical and down and dirty, have a great work ethic, and these charisms combine onto a crazy training and practicing regime. All the people mentioned in this post check-out with that description. So they may come back from injury in record time, like Adrian acting like a little kid with his awesome training activities after his ACL, I think it was, acted up. The degree of such activities is already well documented.
What, on Kirill being too soft? And not deflecting with his own physical play the cheap body checks he often gets as a superstar? Hey, I think he’ll be fine, because after all, he is a Russian … with all the grit that comes with that.

Broten too …
In coming near a close, and case in point, we go back to a now-retired, North Star hockey player who lives near Hudson in Wisconsin, Neil Broten. As we here are indeed a bedroom community, and there is a coziness as far as being central that’s much like the Xcel Energy Center, and the way things are close in proximity, even with nightspots being in the same block, not a ways to walk. And Broten for years has been known to be very social, regularly, and almost to a fault. As a mutual friend said a number of years ago, we both have our various people with whom we are very close, but it’s moreso with Broten, “he’s wired differently.”
Is there more info that I am holding back, to be stated at the appropriate time? Of course. Much more. But for a later occasion …

Around the time that the millennium turned, a local candy and chocolate, nut and ice cream and more store opted to open, at that peak moment, and quickly become iconic in downtown Hudson — historic its such streetscapes and landmarks itself — with their hundreds of item options.
You can trust Knoke’s many trophy truffles, reviewers say, and maybe purchase with a glint in your eye some jolly “ginger” varieties. And you can even get gourmet popcorn, gelato and sorbet and more.

— Also see the two posts below this one for other within-miles-or-mere-minutes ideas on delicious ways to locally dine.
Or just read on for the rest of this post, to get the rest of the story on great chocolates, ice cream and nuts from Hudson. —

Place an order, sweet, to take delivery of these or other goodies via Doordash, or do take-out, or if you wish to dine in at Knoke’s, there are two tables positioned by the large front windows, making up the entire front facade of the building and showing the historic layered and tiered streetscape. Across the way by the door, you can see a multi-colored and pink painting of an ice cream cone as tall as a person.
Large plastic and mouthed jars, some round and some rising higher, are setting on the numerous shelves and counters placed in the midst of a huge room and they number in the hundreds, filled with candy of all colors, sizes and shapes, and various nuts.
The longtime spacious store at first sported a great brick, vintage storefront, and now it has a more modern construction and contemporary look on Locust Street. The appearences of the food and home guru Martha Stewart, multiple times, and other such lumenaries, have been well documented, both locally and regionally. With multiple photos taken and reams of copy written and published.
By the percentages, when quantifying their raspberry truffles and such candies, the individual flavorings are arranged with more than just dividing the ingredients into mere thirds, rather being much more specific in their numberings that total one hundred. There is honey-ginger, for example, and 23 other truffles, as well as more treats regularly added. Their handcrafted truffles are made fresh weekly, at their special production facility, with flavors from old favorites to the newest creations!
Many delicious creams, caramels, nuts and mints make up their other assorted chocolate offerings, they say. Thirty-two or more of them, adding for example, more than one kind of cashew cup, and also mint smoothie.
Featured products include: Knoke’s Caramel Popcorn, from $10, given a 5.0 star rating; Assorted Caramels, from $7.95, 3.7 star rating; and Sugar Free Assorted Chocolates, $9.
There are many specialty sales, seasonal chocolates and tasting events.
And get your shipment on time! Orders are processed and shipped between 3-5 business days (January-October). Plan for an increased processing time (7-10 business days) during the months of November-December, but you won’t have to worry about that for several months. Also, and you gotta love this whole lotta attention to detail, they say to please note that extreme heat will delay order processing. But you can still get your ice cream in the cold, just like a cute older couple the other day who dropped their gloves to eat a chocolate version.

We’ll let them tell it from here:
History of Knoke’s.
“Just two blocks from the St. Croix River in downtown Hudson, Wisconsin, Knoke’s Chocolates & Nuts sits ideally located to draw in passing locals and tourists alike. Since 2000, this locally owned and operated business has called Locust Street home, where its handcrafted confections are made daily, and with love.”
On owner Dave Knoke. Our “why” and purpose.
“Dave’s reason for building his company can’t simply be boiled down to just work ethic; he loves serving the people of Hudson. From the very first time he made someone smile with his chocolates, he was hooked. ‘Instant gratification,’ he calls it. Dave believes in the importance of an owner’s presence in his shop.” If he’s able, he will be available recommending flavors.
“Dave is originally from Lancaster, Wisconsin. He was raised on a cattle farm, an experience to which he credits his work ethic. While the idea of opening a chocolate shop wasn’t something he would describe as a lifelong dream, Dave recalls noticing the similarities between farming livestock and making chocolate. Both require hard work. For 23 years, Knoke’s has stood as a place for family and friends to enjoy sweet treats together.
“In addition to chocolate and candy, the shop offers a fine selection of house-roasted nuts, gourmet popcorn, ice cream, gelato & sorbet, and gift boxes that range from humble to extravagant.” And economical.
You can follow on Instagram at Knoke’s Chocolates and Nuts.

Winter can be wonderful for winning over your taste buds.
As in the Taste of the Hot Air Affair, tantalizing for your tongue with many types of food, which is one of a whirl of kickoff events to the annual Hudson winter ballooning extravaganza, to be held on Saturday evening, Jan. 27.
Enjoy many spirits, cheese, wine, beer samplings and sweets at this, a stellar by-product of the entire early-February affair — as event sponsors and event partners of The Hudson Hot Air Affair have offerings that include distillery, vineyard wine and craft beer products, and also candy, nut, cookie, bakery, ice cream and creamery items — and also eat an Italian buffet meal while at the tasting event. Hey, as far as that buffet meal, we come from a community where there are the old Italians and their ethnic-based eats of North Hudson, and such eateries, so we know such stuff.
The tasting event is sponsored by the Hudson Lions Club and the venue holding it is the White Eagle Golf Club, so there may be white sauce amidst the white snow for the winter ballooning and its various winter-oriented accompanying events. The golf club is just north, a bit into the Great White North, of Hudson itself at — theme here? — 316 White Eagle Trail.
There are also wine-pull fundraisers — you don’t see that every day — and a silent auction and live auction.
Music is provided by the beautiful Jenny DeLoux, who you can turn to for various vocal-based tunes you can even see in numerous varieties longtime on YubeTube that are jazzy and hair-tossing, or operatic and classical, and symphonic and orchestral, and include love songs. Her voice has been called “strong yet subtle.” The Hot Air Affair’s title theme in this, its 35th year, is Rockin’ With The Coldies, so this treatment is fitting.
Tickets are $50 per person, for the tasting event that runs from 6-9:30 p.m. See HudsonHotAirAffair.com for tickets and details.

— Also on Jan. 27, it’s the annual one block fun run or is it walk, as now is clarified. Aside, or just behind, those quick and quirky llama mascots, with spit or some sprite in their step. But they weren’t fast enough to book this into their schedules a bit earlier in January, which is more typical. While their Lakefront Park site has melted, for charity, creating a likely un-ice — but damp, so don’t slip, if you’ve had those couple of Bloody Mary’s that usually preceed the trek, since after all, you don’t have the hoofs of llamas — dike road. The run/walk/stroll occurs at high noon, so even an aging Clint Eastwood might be able to hobble through it. But he rides horses not llamas. However, Clint could be in like Flint, since he is used to much-more-vast desert expanses, even though if you continue down the dike road past the event’s turnaround point, you go about a half-mile.
On Jan. 30 is a high school trivia night at Hudson Tap, and they ask you to bet on it. Or get it on. Or get in on it. Or all three. Taking this quiz starts at 6 p.m., just enough time after the school day to hit the library first and bone up on your facts. —

In undoing some past and unrelated doings, there were a pair that expired on Dec. 31, but then still were touted, at least in the following day or two.
There is a rotating electronic ad on a Hudson Tap bathroom wall — eye-high in front of the guy’s urinal — that listed a discount expiring on New Year’s Eve, but the offer still was up on New Year’s Day, hours after saying goodbye to the old year, or maybe a bit beyond that time. So nothing changes, apparently, on New Year’s Day.
The same time pattern was seen on the sandwich board for the Sub House, hawking its December dill-based special, in both pickle and seasoning.
Now there follows a promoted “resolution buster” creation, maybe not prompted by the lemon pepper, but rather the hearty beer cheese sauce, to put to rest what you vowed during that champagne toast at the very beginning of the month.
The half-year before, two seasons back, there was on such a sign an ad on special(s) that had teamed hot peppers, sauerkraut, BBQ sauce, pineapple and more, such as meat and cheese. Hot on the tip of your tongue in a more-and-more these days, heated summer. North Hudson Pepperfest also will please, come August.
So, when going Italian, smolder your taste buds instead, during the winter, at the Taste of the Hot Air Affair.

Great pizza in numerous styles also, but Green Mill right now is indeed going green and beyond with a special staying-fit menu of seven dishes, and that number is symbolic of perfection, to add to their many food options. And these entrees can — and virtually always do — have a perfect ten number of ingredients. Or even as many as 15. And still manage to stay healthy, using lighter ingredients such as cavatappi (multiple times) and even making the ranch dressing smokin’ in style. And bunches of bruschetta.

The Green Mill Eating Fit! menu features healthier alternatives, just in time for keeping your New Year resolutions, but it’s only here for a limited span, so get in shape by way of Green Mill and their greens and much more quite fast. This menu is available through Feb. 18. So have you kept your weeks-old resolutions, maybe with Green Mill’s help, through then? And dropped a few pounds too? Fit can be fun and fantastically tasty. Ask The Mill, as they’ve been through that drill …

— Did we mention garlic? The ways it’s served up at Green Mill include as straight-up, in rounds, buttered and/or mayo, and cream sauce that can be seasoned, including as “hurricane.” See some of this on their occasional, cool and also can-be-fiery specialty burger special with fries or fruit for $9.99, and these are stacked much higher than the fist of a big guy with a hearty appetite, or via their $5 quick satisfaction survey to get discounted grub, and maybe woven into their special homemade dough in take-and-bake (see below.) —

So many of the fit pastas you can tie into, can be served gluten friendly by swapping out a main ingredient of the dish for gluten-free penne noodles, for just $2.99. That’s like for three bites of a typical cheeseburger! But they really change up and vary their components, especially on this special menu.
Thus, try the gluten-free Sausage Bruschetta Cavatappi with Italian as the sausage, roasted tomato bruschetta, spinach, and cavatappi tossed in a garlic cream sauce. It’s topped with fresh basil and parmesan for $16.99, weighing in at only 490 calories.
Another such Cavatappi, the Grilled Parmesan Chicken, uses cavatappi noodles, garlic, spinach, and tomato bruschetta sautéed in an Italian herb sauce. And topped with zesty tomato sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, and fresh basil.
The BBQ Grilled Chicken Bowl tosses in so many veggies such as cabbage, spinach, and brown rice quinoa. Topped with corn, tomatoes, red and green onions, black beans, bacon, roasted jalapeños, cilantro, BBQ sauce, and smokey ranch dressing. Only $15.99.
Also take your Chicken in an Asparagus Stir Fry Bowl, adding again cabbage, red bell peppers, celery, and onions tossed in a sesame stir fry sauce atop a bed of brown rice quinoa. Topped with roasted jalapeños, cilantro, green onions, and fried noodles. You can substitute shrimp for a couple of bucks.
Italian Sausage Goddess Pizza makes the crust extra thin with spinach, portobello mushrooms, onions, tomato bruschetta, garlic, and mozzarella. Spicy sausage, parmesan, and green goddess dressing are piled on and the price drops to $14.99. It’s at 80 calories per slice, and has eight slices.
In the Meatball & Roasted Bruschetta Fettuccine, the meatballs are crumbled a bit, there’s the garlic again, and spinach, roasted tomato bruschetta, and fettuccine tossed in a zesty Italian tomato cream sauce. Topped with parmesan.
The Chicken Stir Fry Salad throws in romaine and uses marinated meat, broccoli, water chestnuts, pea pods, red peppers, red onions, mushrooms, and roasted cashews, in teriyaki sauce. Topped with fried noodles for $15.99. You can substitute shrimp too.
Why do they call it Gluten Friendly? The following is Green Millapedia. The indicated items are termed gluten-free, but because of using high-gluten flour in their kitchen, there is a (small) chance of cross-contamination on menu items.

This restaurant and bar establishment caters to many people with more upscale nightlife and dining tastes and for example, you are likely to encounter international business travelers staying at nearby motels, and also the group of local regulars with much similar resumes that lay claim to the south side of the big circular bar, most all of whom can engage you in some fascinating conversation. At Green Mill, it can be anything from Kashmir, or Hong Kong, to the Green Bay Packers, and one of their globe-trotting patrons has combined all those ends of things. And oh, this is more than drinks, as their food is award-winning, with the pizza and its creative takes voted best in Minnesota and the surrounding area for several years running. But those drinks … Just for starters, there are long happy hours twice a weekday and beer on a month where you can get a draft for three bucks or just a bit more.
(For a rerun on my breakdown of pitcher price versus buckets of beer, as it concerns Green Mill, see the Blasts From The Past department. And the post below.)

Take advantage of these takeout and delivery specials — with a new one offered every day of the week, and there’s an ongoing seven-day special — when calling a favorite location, such as Hudson. (Add an order of Cheese Bread for $5.) Sorry, but you can’t eat it in. Valid at participating Green Mill locations. You can choose between their well-known Classic Thin, Old World, and Pescara crusts only, as Green Mill gives you all kinds of different takes on pizza thickness.
On Mondays, a large one-topping pizza for just $11.99; Tuesdays, any of their numerous two pastas for $26.99, or any specialty pizzas for $17.99; Wednesdays, their large pizzas, two toppings this time, $14.99; Thursdays, two-medium, two-topping pizzas, at another great price.
Then Friday and Saturday, feed the whole family with a massive meal deal, $37.99, with two large, two topping pizzas and an order of garlic cheese bread.
On Sunday, fork over just $14.99 for a large, one-topping deep-dish pizza. Everyday, for just ten bucks more, get a large, two-topping pizza and an order of wings.
Enjoy lunch, the staff suggests, as they wait to serve you. Then get back to your day. They trust you will be back.
For slices, a choice of pepperoni, sausage or veggie combo for $4.99; such a slice along with a side salad for $8.99; add a second salad to that for two dollars more; and soup of the day in a bowl for $7.49.
Go big with a pizza party that includes a large, 2-topping pizza and an order of award-winning wings, available for takeout and delivery only and around for a limited time for a special $24.99 pricing, and an order of cheese bread for $5.

Or slide some soprano or salsa or swing into your song set, as you’ll want to do more than one, since in music it’s the more the merrier.
Yes, Bungalow Idol is going all in again, back in full force for singers all this month, and this is not your father’s karaoke contest, or your mom’s melodies. Although you’re likely to see classic rock and country and even a show tune or two performed at this Vital Idol karaoke competition. And more at this year’s installment of the long-running set of shows, at which you can compete.
And granted, as far as what you’ll be going up against, this competition has what you’d expect to hear as far as the karaoke classics being crooned, but it in a more diverse way here often has a harder edge. You could come listen, not only sing, to Shinedown as well as Sheryl Crow, with Kid Rock. So country also stakes its claim.
So if you think you’ve got the goods, there are still qualifying rounds with singers advancing the next two Fridays, and then the prizes will be bestowed the first Friday in February. You can begin by throwing your hat in the ring at the pristine Lakeland club, the Bungalow Inn, just shy of 9 p.m. So don’t be Twice Shy.
Speaking of twice, we will double down with the tunes at the Willow River Inn in Burkhardt, also referencing Friday night. Then it is Burning Daylight (taking the stage a few hours after sunset) following up on Double Take, last weekend’s gig by another somewhat newer band to the area. But this Friday’s band that burns with classic music covers has been around for more than just a few days — they’ve been rockin’ for enough years to have heard their artists perform onstage early-on, then emulate. That’s quite unlike another band by the same name, just now playing on the other end of The States, that’s a bunch of young guns just getting going.

This is more about my cold, cold heart and how it has turned blue (banners aside):

The snowy season has brought with it a change in pace as far as holiday decorating downtown in Hudson. While the cool and newer and more prevalent big ornaments on the light poles didn’t last, as they were taken down soon after New Years, the fully ablaze Lakefront Park, more than two blocks running sideways, still has a holiday light for virtually every twig on every tree — and let me tell you, there are a lot of them. But the display gets shut off before bar time.
Hey, you can’t have it all, as it takes bucks to run those bulbs. Ask the folks who — to their credit still have kept doing their big front yard that’s fully decked out with lights — found it necessary to ask the city for a permit to sell fireworks in summer to help pay the big electric bill in winter, and had a fight on their hands. All has been resolved (apparently?) as their are still bright lights in that part of our bigger city, as this had become, while traveling the freeway, a lighthouse-like beacon beckoning holiday travelers to slide their eyes to the side and behold.
(But those holiday ornaments on light poles, and some of them could have been called Big Balls, have been replaced with numerous tapestry-type banners promoting something again, really cool, the Hudson Hot Air Affair in early February with its theme Rockin’ With The Coldies.)
I also spied a sparkly snowman up high, frozen in place in the left-side window of a second-story, brick-facade-offered-otherwise, apartment in mid-downtown — just above one of those balloon affair banners.
A hockey-rink-length away, Season’s Gallery had hawked its winter sale, by using a whole white sheet that fully covered one of its four big windows, then the next day reduced it to just a two-foot-high strip mid-window that put on full display all the cool art items behind.
Speaking of hockey and its rinks — one but is there a second one? — there is an outdoor variety in New Richmond that now has, finally, been fully re-introduced and re-made since temps are now below freezing. But what about the equal-in-size space next to it that is only half iced over? Is it a rink waiting to be made ready, or simply a lot for your rigs.
And in a like manner, if you get my drift, we wonder if this has been used yet … New Richmond has again placed big plastic bags over its fire hydrants, to protect them from snow and such. But this has been scarce and sparse. So could the hydrants be used for another, even higher purpose?

Winter is finally in almost-mid-January here — in what already is a 72-hour (now 96 and still counting) wind-and-snow-shot — and not just this writer, fittingly named Joe Winter, as those few hardy people who have gone to the local watering holes with their now-frozen H2O, have been scrambling to their cars to get their forgotten-as-if-this-is-months-earlier coats in the midst of quaffing their beers. In this The Land Of Ice Cold Waters!
But it you know where to go here in Hudson, you will still find sports fans and slippery sidewalk stumblers …

We take, in reverse chronological order, as my fingers are frozen (as if that matters). More pertinent might be the roar of spinning-on-ice tires from the parking lot of the nightclub nextdoor. But first …
The sign says it all, come Sunday: The Arcana Apothecary is closed (today). Witch Ball class continues. Nearby, two different Hudson Hot Air Affair flyers, to their tune of Rockin’ With The Coldies, were seen in a single ice-tinged doorway, for of all things a bike shop, to promote the event that celebrates our frigid. But a counterpoint, an older couple were seen walking hand in hand, one of them gloved and the other not. Like you might see one laying, singlely, outside a bar. The other may have been holding a beer, (as it takes more than a bitter Wisconsin winter to make alcohol freeze. Usually.)

— My friend Jennifer said that although not a perfect game, she saw at the Hudson Bowling Center the Green Bay win over warm-weather-wanting Dallas, and how many times did she razz her homie friend, a Cowboy fan? At least 15! That’s a full two touchdowns-worth, plus two-point conversion for an exclamation point. To the point that the friend, backing the usually stoic Dallas team, begged her to stop. So bow your 10-gallon hat, as the Dallas divisional level playoff drought continues. (See more below where starred.) —

But then late Saturday night, there was Dick’s Bar and Grill and their several cars parked in front amidst small and spotty snowbanks, and it lately has been back to old days and resurgent as far as volume of customer traffic, apparently the town’s again hot spot as things always evolve. The DJ mix? “And three times more (it was last weekend), three times I tried to be with you …” And they were last week, especially. Their crowd was that much bigger that three-day period, said a longtime bouncer.
“People talk s— about us, but here we are.” Both life and the bar business are not a sprint, but a marathon, I agreed. A patron laughingly teased about him saying “overweight,” which he denied, and then (both) looked at me and I was told to just agree, bringing more chuckles from all three of us. Then there came the debate about when is the start of Black History Month, and even more respect? (It’s Feb. 1, so check out the scene then.)
Overall, it had an urban and not as much cowboy vibe. And on the steps leading outside …
“He forgot his coat,” said a pale young woman. “He’s figured out he brought it in,” added another. So there’s no need to run to Target and buy one. Oh wait, they’re closed right now.
Then earlier in the eve, as a trio whipped around the corner past The Agave in the whipping wind: “I gotta run fast without my coat,” said a young woman to me, moving rapidly. “Hey big bro,” added a guy who also appeared to know me. “Hallaluia,” said a third.
I could see my breathe on the way back, more easily than any time since last February. And there was a big, black flapping plastic tarp on the back side of the Smilin’ Moose, with a moderate number of people inside.

In the intro to the storm …
Closing in on midnight on Friday, there was a 100-yard stretch on the main drag with just one car, and none were parked in front of Ziggy’s — likewise, there were only that many in the full-block area of the Moose — but Z was the place I wanted to check before off-sale ended at 12, and things would be shutting down on the lower level.
So off to Hudson Tap. The one bartender left on duty framed it, “We were good for the game, but after that …” (That game was only Chiefs vs. Dolphins).
For the middle of the walk downtown I was out of the wind, because the buildings were at least two-story and facing west, but on the south end and its battle to get inside, a guy was talking about a yet-different long haul, the workout that is his relationship. As he closed a drawn-out sentence, a tall guy conducted his own workout, sprinting by in only shirtsleeves, rishing across the wide street of at least two lanes.
But inside The Tap, there sat at the long bar, with others soon joining, a few Flyers fans and a Kings fan, on this Kirill K’s night of return from injury to NHL hockey. The guy lauding LA, which once had a player from Hudson, said mistakenly, that it’s too cold to walk to Jonesy’s, which is way up the hill. It quickly became certain he meant to The Moose, which makes for long blocks, but only two of them.

A straight-shot north …
The Green Bay-and-its-frozen-tundra-based Associated Bank (I almost said US Bank as that is/becomes basically universal) revealed, midstream, on its handy-dandy, 800-number hotline that there may be delays talking to a customer service agent for … why? Inclement weather! (Love that “I” word). Even though on the phone, not at a blizzard-ridden branch! Two thoughts: Is not the actual frozen tundra hundreds and hundreds of miles north? (John Madden rolls over in his grave.) Otherwise to say, is there not a US Bank Stadium in (neighboring) Minneapolis, also hit by storm? I do believe they’re (still) in the playoffs, too.

*** But at least on Sunday eve there is the wild-card playoff game of the Pack to rack up business at the many state sports bars — those who braved the cold saw a flurry of points by Green Bay to handily defeat Dallas, who although supposed to be tough could not handle the predicted single digits in their state, 48-32 — even though temps were supposed to remain hovering around, and I’m afraid mostly well below, Ice Bowl-doing-in-Dallas-style zero here the whole day before. The temperature is currently, as I’m writing this update, 8 degrees below at the dawn of a new Monday, as Cowboys still cowered. A bartender friend said early in this onslaught that the wind chills were supposed on max out at 30 below. I think she was being as far generous with that figure, as a slim-figured server who’s topping off the booze in the drink of a favorite customer, to the point that even a tough Texan might be tipsy.
And for Dallas, my niece who spend her whole childhood in Wisconsin and trudged through waist high, as she’s short, snow while attending UW-Madison and now has moved to Austin, has had the last laugh, as those Texans might as well be wearing tiny hats, not the Tory bowlers, as their state shut down — like the Dallas defense — when temps dropped only to the freezing level. Those “ten-galloners” bowed their hats down to a second “quarter” of 20 points. So tip a “pint” as Green Bay Does Dallas, who is drowning in their tall premium beer.
In my dad’s nursing home, they were wheeled off to a Dallas dinner just prior to halftime, so he got to see all of those 20 points. Mom hadn’t noticed that the intermission activities were on not offenses, “the players tried to take the field but the marching band refused to yield.” Staff were stressed to get the meal and clean-up done so the residents would not have to miss very much of the third quarter, as for some, the dining room TV was in the far (hind?) end and they were essentially back bleacher bums.

“Down south” in Milwaukee, where the Pack used to play …
This could be called a lower-key blizzard emergency, 260 miles southeast of my Hudson that was by comparison quite balmy, as it’s still early in this until-now, precipitation-less season, without the also-necessary fury of snow, when it’s wind-driven.
The song Rime of the Ancient Mariner had it rite (intentional spelling) when their protagonist traveled, likewise but also conversely in direction taken, “north until all is calm.” Then the boat was stuck in its place, since they needed the roar of wind power, which could wreck their ship but also allow them to sail along. But thus it was in reverse … The wind power, when not windmills doing beneficial generating, can seek and destroy.
But my non-metal mom still ended up staying at the nursing home, with blanket and pillow on the couch, and dad, as she can’t get the car out of the garage because of the power failures, that are rampant and effect the door opener, and this keeps on racheting up. (Once back inside and the service finally came back on, those inside lights had ended up staying in their “on” position for about those, again, 72 hours.) My cool and encumbered bro managed to — get her back into her condo later — but for now give her a lift to “the facility,” as we in the family have come to call it. And the facility is not a power plant, but it apparently has its own generator.
Both for a couple of days have had electricity out, even though in the midst a daughter had to stay the night with him and also move a bit of stuff into his house, and forget running the stove — just fireplace — as its been out for a couple of days running. As long as there still is water running in non-frozen pipes, my mom’s concern, and she would call her also-cool neighbors to check, but their cell phones and cable are also out.
With generator, partly, my bro kept the sump pump going, oddly, but at least that would keep any slushy snow/water, as has at times been their lately case, out of the basement. With people shoveling, literally, the snow off the tops of their too-tall SUVs while standing in the slush, all so they could venture out on black-ice roads. Might not want to go to that Vanilla Ice or black metal concert.
And you thought it to be bad up here in the frozen tundra!

Methinks this may be the new torrid tagging. Hey, grafitti can actually be a bit of a good gig, and not just gonzo — ask Simon and Garfunkle and their lyrics about the words of the prophets written on the subway walls and tentament halls — given their right platform and placement on it. And we have seen such locally, and especially in the last few weeks. Things got started down in River Falls, near music clubs, with the promos for some alt bands, with their insignias.
The trend newly minted, is when people place posters of index-card-size on a power pole, or that propping up a street sign, sticking on/to their message via stickum. 3M thus disavows. Although people continue to post it.
Just a different mechanism. Similar messages, as when my friend yesterday noted that the lettered images tagged on the many sides of railroad cars that streamed past as we sat placid at — a flashing red crossing signal — were indeed beautiful, or when I first saw all those colorful and cool cartoon characters painted all along the dike road leading into the St. Croix River. (Just don’t tell the past parks and rec director.)
One sticker that stood out for me, set just a nod to north of two downtown Hudson bars, could be seen as contradictory, if not quite controversial. It at length calls for all gang activity to just go away, then adds, “police not welcome.” After about a month, the sign had been taken down, but again, the stickum remains dark brown against lighter brown, to this day. With pole position by many-shades-of-multi-ethnic Rage Against The Machine? And Ziggy’s enters in with their stickers that say to support local and live music, and police too, that are plastered everywhere within their block.

— News break: I love the Hudson Hot Air Affair this year more than ever because given the nature of my website, this affair is all about … music! A marriage made in heavenly tunes. On this the coldest night (Thursday) of the new winter, there is a launch party with this year’s theme, Rockin’ With The Coldies, at Ziggy’s Hudson. Tim Sigler and his expanded country-based act is upstairs 8-11 p.m. and Tim Grady is on the sing-along piano on the level Down Under, if you hurry on down there. See a much expanded promo of the Hot Air Affair, which takes place the whole first weekend of February, later on this website. —

— Hey, did it start here? On a (single) intersection next to a bunch of fast food and grocery and convenience stores, there were posted numerous stickers on the back of stop signs saying “Drive now, text later.” (Don’t assign and post the stickers while doing those other two aforementioned activities.) Was the DOT behind this, as the same message is on their many glowing standalone marquee signs along the freeway? Or was this a grafitti artist with a message that matters?
At the next place where streets collide — OK this is just a parking like with like stores all around — there where no such insignias. I guess going at crawling speed as you approach an actual intersection doesn’t count. So forego the headset here?
On the back of one last sign and its pole were a code for construction workers — and I don’t want to get religious again but here I go — that used three numerals that when combined spelled out seven total. Get it you numerology freaks? And with the DOT, there was a truck parked nextdoor that had yet another code, text me about “how I’m driving.” (Even though the parked vehicle was not in motion.) The code consisted of six digits — is there a theme here? — in total. These could be a lot of calls to keep track of. —

It seemed just, right and salutary to write this post on (the debacle that was) Jan. 6.
Nearby, and also contoversial, was a sign with an image of someone who looked like Stalin, or Lenin, adding a big gray beard, with its left side sheen worn away. I think that when the missing letters are added, it spells out Communism. Get Organized. Followed by what’s illustrating either a letter T or a pistol, or a combo, then Revolution.
At the nearest stage, the Friday night band pounded out Nothing Changes On New Year’s Day, by U2. TGIF.
Up the way, pasted on the back of a stop-sign-like-light-signal, reads something like this, listed at eye level as a dot.com. Where is Jack? Was Jack Here? Or, you don’t know Jack.”
Seems odd that I then looked up and saw, a newly placed and fully lit plastic sidewalk snowman.
In response to people who have messaged me with various questions, and described the desire to fully subscribe, please hang in there as that option/button is being added very soon. For sure before the next new year. I could be coy and convey that good things happen to those who wait, and patience is a virtue when it comes to publishing, and not just print. Until then, you can reach me, Mr. NonTechno — and that’s a clue for you questioners — at joewint52@gmail.com.