It only took hours upon hours of sitting on the couch, but the four heroes (Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Bowser) prevailed, and the universe is safe in Super Paper Mario world.
August 25, 2008
August 24, 2008
Our 2nd Anniversary
Last week, Apryl and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary by visiting the Upper Mississippi River in the small town (pop. 871) of McGregor, Iowa. McGregor and the even smaller town of Marquette are located right across the Mississippi River from Wisconsin’s second oldest city, Prairie du Chien. Throughout the weekend, we split our time among these border towns.
Unlike the drive for our last anniversary trip, which took over ten hours, this one took just over four hours. On the way, we stopped over in the Troll Capital of the World, Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, because we saw a billboard with a name of a restaurant—the Grumpy Troll—that mimicked the name of our cabin in Iowa—Grumpsters Log Cabins. We took the similarity in name as a sign and took the exit. While our lunch was merely okay (afterwards, we heard the locals talking about the real place to go), it was still worth the trip to visit the Mount Horeb Mustard Museum. Sure, there were a few troll statues around town, but it was the real oddity of a mustard homage that sparked our interest. Below are a few photos from the museum:
(The world’s only mustard vending machine!)
After leaving Mount Horeb, we got back on the road and made our way to the Wisconsin/Iowa border.
(to be continued…)
August 13, 2008
WEVL needs your vote!
Hey there Mild Uproar readers, today is the last day to vote for Memphis Flyer’s “Best of Memphis” poll. Last year, our favorite WEVL was ranked #1 for Best Radio Station. It would be great to see them repeat!
So, if you love the station or even the fact that WEVL brought us two crazy kids together (celebrating our 2nd anniversary yesterday, I might add), then please take the online poll.
TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO VOTE!!!
August 6, 2008
Neighborhood Damage
We were pretty lucky in our neighborhood with only little damage, mostly fallen tree branches. Here are a few photos I took while walking to our landlord’s house to pay the rent:
100 years ago
Last week, we got a letter from The Department of Water Management explaining a project to install a new water main underneath our street. The project, which isn’t expected to be completed until late September, is to replace the old main that was installed in 1908. Included in our letter was a list of facts about what was going down one hundred years ago:
1. Henry Ford introduced the Model T car.
2. Cincinnati Mayor Mark Breith stood before city council and announced that “women are not physically fit to operate automobiles.”
3. A New York City regulation made it illegal for women to smoke in public.
4. The first Mother’s Day was observed.
5. The first time a ball signifying the new year dropped in Times Square.
6. The first Gideon Bible was placed in a hotel room.
7. The first horror movie Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde premiered in Chicago.
And since I have been going video crazy lately, here is one of the workers workin’.
August 5, 2008
The Storm
Check out these short video clips taken with my digital still camera of last night’s thunderstorm.
Take special notice of the lighting strikes!
Above, heavy winds in Holstein Park.
And, how it all started. Yes, those are tornado sirens!
August 4, 2008
Working Lolla (Video Update!)
Yesterday, I finished up a three day working stint for VH1 at this year’s Lollapalooza, which had to be largest attended in the festival’s history. Luckily, most of our time was spent away from the crowds and sun, and on a platform interviewing artists. The platform was about fifty yards away from the AT&T Main Stage on the south side. So, even when we were working or waiting to work, we had a great spot for some of the main acts and even a decent position for the Myspace Stage, which was positioned on the opposite side of the AT&T Stage. And sense we had very few interviews to get, we had multiple chances to actually go out into the festival. So, basically I got paid to attend the festival.
Here is a list of some of the musicians I was able to see (working and not working): The Go! Team, Duffy, Gogol Bordello, Mates of State, Bloc Party, Stephen Malkmus, Radiohead, The Ting Tings, Dr. Dog, The Gutter Twins, MGMT, Explosions in the Sky, Okkervil River, Broken Social Scene, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, James Lidell, Lupe Fiasco, Wilco, The Whigs, Brazilian Girls, Chromeo, G. Love, Gnarls Barkley, Girl Talk, Mark Ronson, Kayne West, and NIN.
The platform from where we were stationed most of the day. Every once in awhile it got busy with the local news.
Our vantage point from the platform.
Here we are working with a reporter for Rolling Stone out in the festival.
The insanity of a Girl Talk show.
Another angle of our spot on the platform as Radiohead is about to take stage. Notice the Sears Tower on the left hand side.
The sun setting over the city.
Radiohead at night.
The Buckingham Fountain in the middle of Grant Park (remember Married… with Children).
A few more photos here.
VIDEO UPDATE:
Radiohead performing “No Surprises” for an insane amount of people.
July 31, 2008
Move over. There’s a new Kenny in town.
It’s official. Ken Griffey Jr. is now a White Sox.
How very strange.
Above, the infamous #1 Upper Deck rookie card of Griffey, which I somehow manage to get in a pack of baseball cards in my stocking on Christmas of ’89. At the time, the card’s worth was priced at $35 – $40 (if I remember correctly). And, according to the article linked above, the card was once selling for up to $1000. I guess I should have sold mine around that time. I still remember that day when I opened that package and caught glance of glorious #1 staring right back at me. I felt like the luckiest kid on the block. This must have been how Charlie felt when he discovered the Golden Ticket!
Now, WikiAnswers claims one is able to pick up their very own Griffey rookie card for a mere $15 – $40. Oh well.
P.S. – For those scratching your heads about the post’s tile, Kenny Williams is the General Manager for the Chicago White Sox.
July 29, 2008
Mr. Smog plays Millenium Park
Yesterday, Trey and I caught Bill Callahan (aka Smog) playing at the Jay Pritzker Pavillion in Millenium Park as part of the the Audible Architecture Concert Series. Good, good stuff.
A few songs I can recall: Rock Bottom Riser, I Feel Like the Mother of the World, Our Anniversary, Sycamore, Diamond Dancer, Bloodflow, and Cold Blooded Old Times.
July 27, 2008
Sox vs. Rangers aka Trey’s “first” game.
Last Monday, Trey and I caught the Red Line to see the Good Guys take on the Texas Rangers. Seeing as this was Trey’s first game at The Cell, I had gotten us Lower Deck seats, which gives you a much better ballpark experience. As you see above, our tickets were just between the foul line pole and left field. If today’s game was going to produce a high number of homers, we would be in a good position to make a dive for a souvenir. After finding out seats, and watching a presentation for Stand Up To Cancer with Lance Armstrong, we grabbed us our respective dogs and beers. See below:
Super Comiskey Dog
Veggie Dog.
As you can see, my Super Comiskey Dog was a bit more attractive than Trey’s sad veggie dog. Next time, Trey said he was going to waste the money on a Comiskey Dog just for the extra condiments so that he could properly dress his veggie dog.
Back at our seats, Trey was immediately befriended by a group of ladies sitting next to us. The first thing they noticed was that not only was Trey not dressed in any Sox gear, he wasn’t even donning any black. When Trey mentioned he was just there for the game, the ladies seemed determined that he have a good time. Perhaps, I shouldn’t have said that it was Trey’s first Sox game because I believe they took it as if it were Trey’s first baseball game. In fact, as I learned that day, Trey has been to several baseball parks, including the soon to be history Yankee and Shea stadiums. Anyway, once the game started up, the ladies pretty much kept to themselves. I did not notice that the gals cheered the loudest for my man Crede, who I guess is the dreamiest when it comes to the opposite sex.
My surroundings included a family rooting for the Rangers and a loud duo from New York who commented on every aspect of the game. At times funny, they started to get on the nerves of the Sox fans around them when they began taking pleasure in the Sox’s lack of offense. At one point, one of the ladies next to Trey asked them why they were even at the game. It turns out they were Mets fans who were just visiting friends in Chicago. Their friends, who were die-hard Sox fans, had given them their Lower Deck seats, while they watched from the Upper Deck. Lucky us.
When one of the ladies got in an argument with one of the New York kids about baseball, it was her lack of even basic baseball knowledge that was a bit embarrassing. You see, one of the kids (the one not in the argument, I might add) was wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey (“I hate the Yankees,” was his explanation to me). Well, our lady mentioned how the Sox had beaten the Red Sox in the World Series. The statement makes no sense since both teams are in the American League, making it impossible to compete against each other in the finals. On top of that, she made some type of statement about how long it had been since the Red Sox won the championship. Umm, 2007. The kid was quick to jump on the attack with this obvious blunder. The lady, who was frustrated with losing this battle, even seemed to deny that this was true, which how can you argue a hard fact of who won the World Series? Heck, I don’t have a problem with being ignorant of baseball, but you better know something if you plan on starting an argument with it. So, that was a bit awkward.
(Note: Our lady’s confusion might have been that the White Sox had defeated the Red Sox for the Division Title in 2005, a year after the Red Sox had won the World Series. In 2005, it was the White Sox who won the World Series. Furthermore, she might have also forgotten that the Red Sox had won the championship last year, and was trying to claim that the Red Sox hadn’t won the series since the oh, so distant past of 2004.)
Still, despite this bit of uneasiness and the fact that the Sox had such a lackluster game (even though I finally got to see a Carlos Quentin homerun in person), I had a nice time at The Cell. And though I don’t think Trey will be rushing to another game, I think he had a good time as well. After this loss, the Sox have gone on to a 4-game winning streak, with a 3.5 game lead over in the Twins for first place in the AL Central Division. So far, I am 2-2-1 for games I’ve attended this year.
Trey doesn’t seem too torn up about the lost.