Contact us
Back to All Posts

Too ‘Hot’ for snow, but still cycle through to things other than Flood Run

Spring is here, and has sprung into some crazy activities in which you might want to participate.
— Dick’s Bar and Grill is following their pattern of providing off-beat activities to patrons that go beyond dancing. They suggest you might want to forego the motorcycle Flood Run and ride instead at 1 p.m. Sunday in the Hot Wheels and Matchbox races, which have been linked up to Nascar racing and whatever other mode you want to include. Just know that the car must finish to be eligible for prizes including the fastest race, first, second and third places, and best decorated car and most creative design. As they point out, your car may not be the fastest, but it likely looks fantastic. Verbage of the flyers at Dick’s say things such as “test your childhood skills on our Hot Wheels racetrack! Feel free to tweak and design your car or truck any way you like (stock or modified).” There will also be cash prizes, door prizes and a drink token for everyone (just not any youngsters) who bring a car. You might even stay for Jeff Loven’s one-man-band show in the evening and perhaps win an even faster car by guessing the name of a tune.
— Beers on tap at Guv’s Place in Houlton are Fat Tire and Farm Girl, from Lift Bridge Brewing locally. The gal on the picture for the latter is quite skinny, so the overall concept of excess girth does not run concurrently, despite what you might order. This brings to mind a couple of other specialty drinks that might not be served universally, depending on the bartender: A breakfast-based concoction at the Green Mill, with not only orange juice, pancake and syrup, but also a (small) side of bacon on top; and a beer at the Village Inn in North Hudson, with a cherry floated on top, just because.
— Guv’s Place is among those with a NHL playoff hockey beer special. A sign said that their Wild Game Special is $2.50 domestic beers, although we think that could be a better name for a venison offering.
— When Uncle Chunk played the Smilin’ Moose, the new lead singer wore a Star Wars Death Star T-shirt that is a look-alike for that regularly sported by a shall-I-say regular downtown patron. Likewise, the lead singer for Cherry Gun, Amy M., drank her drink from a Mason jar while there, which is the house variety, but also harkens back to a song from a few decades ago. These are two of the four bands this month who are regulars at the Moose, and will almost certainly be back again soon. Although slated are Rhino (April 17) and favorite Tim Sigler (April 24).
— Stone Tap held a “Welcome to Wisconsin” beer tasting party featuring the Fulton Brewery from Minnesota on Friday evening. On tap were four of the company’s beers, plus a couple of other highly welcomed mystery brews, from this brew crew who bill themselves as a bunch of ordinary guys making extraordinary beer. Even though this party is now passed, there promise to be many more sampling events like this in the future.
— Monday is the infamous 4-20 day, and we assume you know what that means, and the Smokedale locations in places such as the hill in Hudson are marking the date by opening at 4:20 a.m. with prizes for early arrivals and other specials, for those who have not already indulged and could be too sleepy to partake.
— When Smokin’ Whiskey played at Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt earlier in the month, they may have considered fan favorite The Ocean by Led Zeppelin if going deep into their play list. When I sang with Jeff Loven a night or two later, The Ocean was the winning “name that tune” song for a free drink, which prompted me to ad lib and break into the song’s refrain, with Jeff picking up the guitar riffs. And wouldn’t you know it, twice in the next few nights I heard The Ocean played on the jukebox. I guess it’s played from sea to shining sea. The previous Sunday, I had conducted the same ad lib treatment after winning the free drink by guessing Breaking the Law by Judas Priest. Jeff sometimes makes me sing for my supper, so to speak.

Share the Post:

Related Posts

  • I’ll be brief and punchy with this headline notation, as we transition to giving you more and sometimes shorter choices. And you may notice some of that as you beckon forward. It’s circular. Like a flush. Be careful what you mix, heads vs. text, drinks vs. food, and all kinds of potions — that may go bump in the night. —– Punchy, potentially, but I digress or progress with a new patriotic addition.
My mom has told me not to be a potty mouth when I write, as she certainly would not appreciate hardly any of the standup humor on say, Comedy Central Radio. SNL maybe. But after 11:30 p.m. … But there comes a time where a man must make a stand. And for this jokester, it was now when he had to choose whether to pass on the opportunity that would otherwise bite him in the butt, for in front of and behind him is the Mother Lode. Or should I say load. Or “Mothers” of Invention. Heh heh, heh heh, Butthead, look...
Read More
  • This coulda been Vanna White’s next Big gig In The Sky, if the scaffolding was not so high. So this is how the project went, by the letters and numbers, of get Trump’s name erased from the Kennedy Center. The $250 bill might be tougher. Sad but true. So, What are there more of going on right now, wars or Trump pet construction projects?
So the wall is down. Of letters, that is. Not down by Mexico. Cemented into the concrete. Of the Kennedy Center. Where music has sat. (Near where a now defunct wrestling arena rusts in peace. Or a bloodied White House lawn. With leftover paper cups and plates, more likely bowls and small utensils, anyone?) Or more ornate than inside? A tarp the size of Pennsylvania, the predominant battle state, covers workers as they chip. So geez, how big are the letters? Four times 50 living workers high? But now none remain, or so we are told by flunkies. Or is...
Read More
  • Stressed out as a caregiver? She’s back at yah. This is a rare case of a husband and wife being joint caregivers — for each other — aided and abbetted by the fact that they have a lot of the same disabling conditions. So she shovels snow using a walker/scooter, while he cooks gingerly using a microwave and offers her a plate when she sits down, in an easy chair, in a reversal and new take on traditional roles. Whatever it takes. Necessity is the mother of invention. —– In a new add, Towns and the champion Knicks got kicked around but still got their kicks in the long run … As do Norwegian dancers.
A few years back, I wrote an article about Hudson Deacon Tom Kroll and how he did so many extra dutiful tasks, his living out the Gospels tirelessly, when his wife was ill, in addition to his regular job. I was inspired at the time to pen this, about my own lovely, disabled wife — we were separated briefly but now back together with our 40th anniversary this month, as wholehearted caregiving has many strains — and how an atypical view of standard roles, out of necessity, made things work, as far as our approach to work and home that’s...
Read More
  • He says, and goes fishing with the boys. She says, then goes to the middle of Texas, inviting her mates to a ranch/villa built for the ages. The bachelor and bachelorette parties were on the same night, but though very different, they had some things in common … like the snakes, at least three kinds, to avoid. (None with exotic dancer.) But while away, they did not avoid each other, completely. He made a phone call. —– Just added, last call included a Carolina cowpoke.
What do fishing, maybe in the dark, thus a Texas ranch, snakes of various types and do they come or stay out after dusk, eating either and only fine food or snacks, and a game of cards — likely just one each — have in common. And no strippers or Chippendales. And an only half or quarter, not full Monty. (Who is Monty anyway?) Or cowboy or cowgirl hats. Although there was some dress-up. More Barbie than boots on, I think. It’s an easy answer, connected and conflicting, but not in all or dirty ways, bachelor and bachelorette parties. One of each...
Read More
  • Full metal jacket? Hey, I wasn’t exactly to the point of going Rob Halford. But tastes aside, there must be some reason why after 26 years I was shunned, like going Bob Daisley by Ozzy at his reunion? OK, I know, my style may not have fit with the packed crowd. And the last couple of times for this, I tried to do too much with ad-libbing. So yeah, I get that this time around, I was the somewhat unusual choice to be the one left off the set list, with singers clamoring to get up there. But seriously, just being analytical of strengths and weaknesses as a singer here, no hard feelings. I’m not Dio. (Or Traveling Wilburys, a when jumping inside, inside joke.)
It was clear to me at the most recent Jeff Loven music show in Hudson, for Memorial Day weekend, that there has been a changing of the guard. The sword has been passed. New blood, like Yungblud, has been brought in. And, I must say, loyalty — amongst the devotees who travel frequently and all across the two-state area to virtually all of Jeff’s shows — has been rewarded. They are the royalty, in what just makes good business sense that I can appreciate. In a significant but not unprecedented altering of course, I was not one of those asked...
Read More
  • Songs by Napalm Death? A fire swept down my very street today, where the babies were burned. (But alas, a new A/C unit is on its way up the freeway.) The Stones did not leave these themes unturned, either, or should I say unrolled. Oh wait, this all was my cooker of an apartment, and we are not talking the kitchen. But all these matters will become more pressing, a pressure point, as the new normal especially in southern climes is temp well into the triple digits. It is these people, the third world, and their heat stroke not mine, that most concern me. (Another example of hellfire temps just added. Sin after Sin.)
Trial by fire. My broiling heart in my efficiency flat still beats a bit, in concern over those boiling over in worse apartments in a Chicago tenancy, or on an ocean island instantly-burn-your-feet beach or dessert, or forced to endure ice baths just to keep cool — or simply be offered no way to maintain an ice-dripping body other than also read a non-cookbook at the library, or select not a big steak you can’t afford but a 73/27 burger from a freezer and slap it on your forehead. Just not too hard. All these things are ones where you especially today either burn or...
Read More
Scroll to Top