Roadtrip Recap: Fin.

OK, at this point it's been a month since the roadtrip (and I honestly have more interesting topics to blog about, like the 2010-11 NHL season OMGOMGOMG) and I know I've lost what little audience I had to begin with. But goddammit, I'm going to finish this, if only so when I'm 79 and back in diapers, I can read this and remember. And we better have flying cars by then too.

Roadtrip Recap: Days Five - Six

[Please note this post will probably be more incoherent than usual as I am watching the first NFL game of the season (Fuck you Brett Favre!) while composing this. Which reminds me that I should do a Bears preview post before Sunday for what promises to be another woeful season. Is it October yet?]

So I'm gonna finish the Canadian portion of the way overdue trip recap now. Thank Jebus.

Roadtrip Recap: Days Three & Four

At the rate I'm going, by the time I finish this, I'll be on my next vacation. Or the NHL season will have started.

Anyway.

Roadtrip Recap: Days One & Two

Well I haven't gotten this recap up as quickly as I'd like. For gods sake I'm only at the halfway point of uploading all of the pictures I took. It really has taken me the week after the trip to get my bearings and a somewhat stressful week back at work didn't help matters much. I'm not sure if anyone even cares anymore, but I figure I'd better write this down before I get too old and can't remember any of it.

And Here. We. Go.

Game 1: Cubs 12, Brewers 2 @ Miller Park

Game One refers to the fact this is the first Cubs game I've attended this season. Thus far I have tickets to four games total. I had an opportunity for free tickets last weekend, but was obligated to attend a wedding shower instead. For now, I'll spare everyone my thoughts on the institution of marriage. In any case, the Cubs bullpen blew that game anyway, and everyone who went said they froze their ass off.

To be honest, I didn't much look forward to going to this game. I'm completely engrossed in the Hawks and the entire NHL Playoffs and don't have time for baseball - especially since the Cubs have been even worse than I expected thus far. I think this game was the first Cubs game I've watched in its entirety all season. Amy's folks went up to Milwaukee this weekend and we stayed up there Saturday night. That is why I was stuck watching Game Five in a hotel with a TV older than half of the Hawks team. Oh Well.

Now I love Wrigley Field, but the older I get, the more I realize what a piss smelling shithole it is. I'm all for architectural preservation, but after attending several new ballparks (AT&T Park in San Francisco is my fave), I won't shed a tear if they tear down everything but the bleachers and scoreboard and start from scratch. Miller Park is a nice ballpark. Bathrooms without cardboard in the stalls, wide berths in the concourses, a roof to close when it's ass freezing/raining (as it was Sunday), and a fine food and drink selection. Although I must say the bratwurst was just ok (I've been spoiled since having one in Germany) and you'd think the folks in Wisconsin would know better than to put nacho cheese on cheese fries. Speaking of brats:

Amy and I deemed this UUP: Unnecessary Umlaut Placement. According to Amy, the umlaut in "Brat" would cause the word to be mispronounced "Brait", as in rhyming like "wait."  Perhaps I should start an UUP Facebook group. Although I bet there is one already.

Game 73: BJ's 789, Hawks -3 - Mel resists the urge to fling herself off the upper bowl

Actually the score was 8-3 in favor of the Jackets, but it did feel like the score in the title.

Here's the short version of the recap, which can be summed up in two pictures:

Who knew I would so prophetic in predicting that damn cannon would go off so often I would wish I had brought my earplugs. Just call me Cassandra. The second picture was taken at some point in the third period - I was wishing for a quick painless death.

Anyway, onto the bitch session long recap:

Random Musings: OHIO, rain and that hockey thing

I'm sitting in our hotel room in Columbus as it's raining outside (the annoying steady kind - ugh) so the plans of running around town for pictures is kinda out the window. It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow, so I'll probably attempt to get up at a reasonable time in the morning to do an abbreviated tour before leaving town. So out of boredom, a few random thoughts:

- I never did a recap of Game 72. Oh well, I've been busy. The Hawks won 2-0 to gain sole possession of the Western Conference lead. Niemi earned his shutout, unlike most Hawks shutouts where whomever is in net faces less than 20 shots. Not a perfect game by any means, but probably the most satisfying win in awhile. It looks like the Coyotes and Sharks are going to play turnstile to see whomever wins the Pacific. That's fine - let them worry about each other. Not to jinx, but at this point the conference is ours to lose.
- Huet's in net tonight versus the Blue Jackets. An interesting choice by Q. Perhaps it will help his confidence to play on the road without the mouthbreathers booing him. Note: I will not boo him unless he lets in a softie like he did versus the Stars - it was really bad. If my maths are correct, with a regulation win not only will we clinch a playoff spot, we also knock the Blue Jackets out of a spot. So a possibility of witnessing some joyful schadenfreude in person. Don't worry, I'll take plenty of pictures at the game and post em later.
- Saw and took pictures of some very cool things on the drive out here. I'd show them to you, but my dumb ass left the USB cord at home. DOH! Anyway, we saw a really neat art deco theatre that is still showing movies in Indiana, some cool neon (including an awesome rusty chicken) and an abandoned movie theatre in Springfield, OH. Actually Springfield is one of the most depressing towns I've ever been in. You can tell it's one of those towns that has been decimated by the economy - lots of boarded up and abandoned buildings, people milling about aimlessly. If I would have had more time, it would have been worth a closer look-see.
- On the way home tomorrow we're going to make a slight detour to Cincinnati to stop at Jungle Jim's International Market. Amy really wants to go, and after looking here, it looks like it might be fun. Their camera policy seems a bit hazy so I'm going to have to be sneaky with the little camera.

Well, I'd best wake Amy up and get ready for the game. Go Hawks!

Goin' East

So we'll be leaving for Columbus, OHIO (it's more fun when you put it in caps) shortly. I'll be at the Hawks/Blue Jackets game tomorrow night. Thankfully I'm in a good mood to travel due to the Hawks win over the 'Yotes last night. Anyway, Toodles (Mr. Jim)!

An interesting and bloody trip to St Louis: the short version

This is a short post, as I am writing this from a Panera (or is it St Louis Bread Co) in Springfield on the way back from the weekend trip to St Louis.

The trip started out fine, but went downhill rather quickly. Friday was a driving day - weather was crappy (snow, sleet and fog) but we left early enough so the roads weren't too bad. We spent the evening in the hotel - mostly watching the feed of the Hawks game, which made me disgruntled for the rest of the night.

Saturday started out good. Waffle House for breakfast, spent the morning and afternoon driving around looking at an assortment of things, taking pictures. Mid afternoon, met the SCH folks at a bar - had a few drinks (does it really only take me three drinks to get me tipsy these days? I am SO OLD.), spent most of the time being socially awkward in the corner. Went to the game, enjoyed two periods of hockey with the Hawks up 2-0 on the Blues. Then, I got up to use the washroom before the third period, proceeded to bash my shin on one of the seats. I thought I had just bruised it, but noticed the blood on my shoe in the washroom. Um yeah, I ended up in the ER, and 4 hours and 5 stitches later, I came to the conclusion I probably just shouldn't leave the house anymore due to my utter clumsiness.

So that definitely took the fun out of the weekend. Poor Amy now has to drive the whole way home, as of course I fucked up my driving foot. It doesn't hurt too bad, but it's gross, and I don't handle blood well, so the healing process should be enjoyable.

I'll put a proper summary up later, including pictures (although not of my leg, unless someone really wants to see it). I plan on just watching the BIG GAME(tm) when I get home and not doing much but feeling sorry for myself until I have to go to work in the morning.

But hey, I didn't bleed on my Toews jersey!

On, Wisconsin!

So aside from sulking in the hotel room watching the pitiful excuse for a hockey game last night, we did a bit of shopping and walking around Madison this weekend. I think we drove around in circles for twenty minutes trying to relocate the Sunkist ghost sign I saw while driving into downtown Madison. And then we went to two Octopus Car Washes so I could get pictures of the Octopi - one of my favorite signs I hadn't grabbed a picture of yet. Below is one of my favorites. At the second location we had to make a quick exit because they were trying to get us to come in and get a car wash - oops, sorry. I'll have more pictures of various things in Madison up on Flickr probably tomorrow.

One of our favorite activities while in Madison, is to shop the bookstores. Because if you've ever seen our apartment, you would know we don't have enough books . We ended up at Avol's and I scored two cool books, both for under $20. The first was a Marcel Duchamp art biography - a first edition from 1959. It has a lot of good pictures of his works. The second caught my eye as I walked by:


Something about the design of the cover I just love. I'm curious to read the travel tips pre German unification. The book includes pictures - below are my two favorites:


How great are those? This book is better than the German Phrase book I bought that included how to say "Help, I have the runs," to a pharmacist.

Today we first went to a postcard show with Amy's parents. They're huge collectors - my ADD only allows about 30 minutes of viewing before I get cranky. Amy bought me a cool vintage CTA subway postcard. One of these days I'll put pictures on here of all the cool Chicago postcards and other vintage souvenir type things I have. The nice thing about Amy's parents going to so many flea markets and antique malls is whenever they see cool Chicago stuff cheap (which it usually is outside of Illinois) they'll pick some up for us. We got a 1933 Century of Progress walking cane for Xmas! After the postcard show, we went to the largest antique mall in Wisconsin in Columbus. They weren't kidding - apparently it was once a canning factory (complete with working freight elevator) and they had stuff on 3 levels. We spent 3 hours there and didn't even see it all. I exercised restraint and only bought the original Star Wars double LP. I'll definitely have to go back some time - I also got some cool pictures of the water and light plant which was next door.

And of course, no trip to Wisconsin would be complete without a stop here on the way home:


String cheese, cheddar cheese spread and Sprecher's Orange Dream Soda. Yum.