Big Weekend

Last weekend I went to Stillwater, OK for my Uncle Dennis' National Wrestling Hall of Fame induction. There's some pictures here too. Here's an interview that he did for the USA Wrestling website. So you have some context, it was taken after a hot windy morning of golf for him. I haven't seen the video yet, but there it is.

My favorite part of the weekend was seeing both sides of these legends of their sport. For example, I got to meet Dan Gable and most of the conversation centered around how he was going to pay for all of his daughters' education. Apparently, being a wrestling legend doesn't pay for Master's Degrees.

Then there was my introduction to Greg Strobel by my Uncle Duane. At a wrestling exhibition in North Carolina, Strobel was responsible for a group of wrestlers that were either blind or deaf. And at some point he came up to my uncles asking if they'd seen the blind and deaf wrestlers because he'd lost them. Later in the evening, I went to a feature on the Lehigh wrestling program which is celebrating its 100th season this year. And as the historian was talking about the different coaches who'd brought Lehigh success he mentioned Strobel, who'd returned them to prominence after a down period and now serves as Assistant Athletic Director at Lehigh. Funny, I knew him as the guy who temporarily lost a bunch of deaf and blind wrestlers and now he's in charge of 25 varsity sports programs.

The rest of the weekend was spent at Silver Dollar City on Sunday and meeting Allison's family on Monday before driving back home to Lincoln. A little over 1200 miles of driving all told.

In Brief

Tonight I went to the Maine v. Nebraska wrestling dual. For 24 years Maine and Nebraska have taken turns traveling to the other's state with a select group of wrestlers. Tonight they wrestled Lincoln area wrestlers and this weekend they'll go to Kearney and wrestle another group. There were a bunch of matches and the final score was 34-31 Maine.

After, I went to Ivanna Cone, hoping to time my trip there so I could see the Friday night fireworks after the Saltdogs' game at Haymarket Park. Leashed to the railing on the platform outside The Creamery Building was a beautiful brindle bulldog type dog, but no owner was around so I couldn't ask its name. I began standing in the line for ice cream on the stairs outside in the hall. Fortunately there was a very tattooed couple standing in line ahead of me to bide the time by gazing upon.

I got a small cake cone of hot cocoa, right as they put coffee 'n' donuts on the board. Last weekend I got a chocolate soft serve cake cone from Zesto's. I kinda forgot how great a cake cone that has been marinating in ice cream for the duration tastes. It has it all, texture, taste, and interactivity.

Good news, however, as I left the building, the fireworks were going off, and the aforementioned tattooed couple were feeding a dish of ice cream to Devo, their brindle English Bulldog/Boxer mix.

On Wisconsin.

I took a vacation last week to Southern Wisconsin. The reason I went north to Wisconsin at the end of February, instead of someplace warmer, is because I like beer, and New Glarus Brewery isn't someplace warmer. Plus, I had to take my vacation now, or I wouldn't have the opportunity again until after the first weekend in June. Surplus, it is really nice coming home from a vacation and having nicer weather, opposed to having worse weather at home after your vacation.

Folk

I stayed Sunday night at my Uncle Dennis' home in Minnetonka. I really enjoyed my time with Ceri on Monday morning, seeing her apartment and eating at the Bad Waitress. Barb and Steve were interesting bed and breakfast hosts, and their dog Libby was very nice too.

Tuesday I met Bruno, owner of the Alp and Dell store, which is connected to the Roth Kase cheese factory. He looked a bit like Bruno Kirby, but had a mustache and fun German accent that made "graze" sound like a legitimate pronunciation of "grass," very Chicago Bearse SuperFan. Later in Monroe, I was trying to get directions from a city crossing guard, and he pointed with his left hand to the left and said "take a right turn." I clarified if he meant left or right, and he said, "You have to understand the Swiss." I'm not sure what it is I have to understand about the Swiss, but it was funny enough anyhow.

My tour of New Glarus Brewery was highlighted by a comfortable chat with Brewmaster Dan Carey. I was taking their audio tour and went into their room with two large copper kettles, and he was in the process of replacing the insulation around the bottom of one of them. As I walked in, he said, "The things I do for beer." In the five minutes I spent there, he managed to cover topics as diverse as the climate shift that slowly moved hops cultivation in North America from Upstate NY in the mid-1600s to Eastern Washington and now north to BC to the anxiety of executing the fermentation and brewing of his Wisconsin Belgian Red (adding over a pound of cherries to each bottle complicates matters) to the joy he had in running around like Charlie Chaplin in his brewhouse before he had a big computer that automated the process for him.

My waitress at the New Glarus Hotel Restaurant was Courtney, and she enjoyed her "Swiss Barmaid" uniform, and it showed in her service. Roy owned the Bville Mini Mart in Blanchardville, which at one point made more Limburger cheese than anywhere in the world, making Blanchardville the Limburger capitol of the world.

Joe was my server at The Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co. He was very nice and even gave me a free sampler instead of adding an additional taster to my tab. "Shirley" was the older tour guide at the Capital Building. I added myself to the tour she was giving to a Fourth Grade class. Her technique was interesting. She was trying to be educational, but didn't really have the patience if they weren't quickly educated. She was talking about all the different countries that the various stone came from and would give them a hint by providing the first one or two letters of the country. When more than one student said Germany, after she had provided G and R, she kinda snapped at them.

Food

UPDATE: I had a scramble with red pepper, gouda and something else with hashbrowns and a chocolate malted shake at Bad Waitress.

My first meal in Wisconsin was a liverwurst sandwich at Puempel's Tavern in New Glarus. Tuesday started with a big breakfast of muesli, ham, 4 yr. aged cheddar cheese (exclusively from Brown Swiss milk), Deppeler's Baby Swiss (made from whole milk, while normal Swiss is made from skim), croissants, scrambled eggs, OJ, and coffee. Lunch was a Limburger and onion sandwich on rye at Baumgartner's. Supper was at New Glarus Hotel and was three different sausages (Kalberwurst, veal, and smoked) with sauerkraut, roesti, and spaetzli.

Wednesday was granola, French toast, and bacon, with OJ and coffee. Lunch at Marigold Kitchen in Madison was a grilled salmon BLT. Supper, just some baked goods from New Glarus Bakery. Thursday's breakfast was muesli, frittata, cantaloupe, and toast.

Fun

Sunday I went to the Huskers' last regular season wrestling match in Ames, IA against Iowa State. The Huskers won 4 of 10 matches, but it was a great wrestling environment with passionate fans. I was happy to catch up with my aunt and uncle, and we watched the Oscars together. He has decided to be the Vikings chiropractor for another year.

While I was not very pleased with the quality of the roads WI provided, they were kinda fun to drive on, what with the hills and curves. I can only imagine what it's like to ride a Harley-Davidson motorcycle on its native roads. I was sort of paranoid though because no one followed the speed limit, not that I really saw any patrol cars while there.

I enjoyed my tour of New Glarus Brewery, and I recommend that you tour the source of some food product that interests you some time. While I didn't learn a lot about the process I hadn't already known, it was really neat to meet the man responsible for such a high level of craft.

As for the Capitol Building, it might not have had as much art as Nebraska's, but it made up for it in execution of materials and size (Its outer dome is the fourth largest in the world.). Plus, I love that the gold statue on top of the dome, "Wisconsin," is a woman with a miner's helmet with a badger on top of it. Wisconsinites are Badgers because the miners that partook in the lead mining rush didn't build homes and just lived in their mines in the sides of hills like badgers.

The Jasper Johns print exhibit at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art was everything I'd hoped it to be. My favorites were Fool's House, Periscope 1, Good Time Charley, and Ventriloquist (bonus for the whale, as I'm almost done with Moby Dick). His black and white 0-9, and Alphabet were nice classic Johns prints too. I liked how he would sometimes hold off printing something until he found the right paper. There were as many types of paper as there were prints. It was interesting to me how he started by taking everyday objects/symbols and manipulating their presentation to challenge the meaning we've assigned to them, and he has moved toward using stock images from his own art, to do the same thing.

Fermented

I had two pints of Fat Squirrel, my favorite New Glarus brew. One of Spotted Cow, their most popular. A tasting that included Spotted Cow, Uff-da! Bock (another favored brew), and Snowshoe Red Ale (not a fave). I had a solid Badger Porter with my Limburger sandwich, and chased it with Blumer's root beer. My grilled salmon BLT was accompanied by Capital Brewery's Wisconsin Amber, which was nicely balanced with hops and malt flavors.

My tasting at The Great Dane (in the top five brew pubs in the nation with over 3000 barrels a year) included Oktoppelbock, Peck's Pilsner, Stone of Scone Scotch Ale, Emerald Isle Stout, which I enjoyed each of, and Black Earth Porter and Crop Circle Wheat, which I didn't.

On my way back home, I stopped in Omaha for a tasting at Nebraska Brewing Company. I previously enjoyed their Scotch Ale, and liked their Belgian Wit, American Pale Ale, and Chermaca Porter (cherry and some maca type aphrodisiac for Valentine's Day) this time around. I wasn't impressed with their hefeweizen, nut brown ale, or IPA.

I got a couple bottles of New Glarus' Wisconsin Belgian Red, one of which I opened last night. I wish I'd gotten more than two. It was really great, but don't take my word for it.

All told. I traveled 1372 miles.

I'm a Waffle House Kid

So we got to Columbia right before 11pm on Friday night and checked into our reserved Red Roof Inn room. Saturday morning we went to breakfast at Waffle House. Pretty fun "Americana" experience but not as good as some places I've eaten food. Then was the first session of the Big XII Wrestling Championships. The Huskers did pretty well with four wrestlers winning their matches to get into the championships and three getting into the third place matches.

For the break between sessions, we went to Flat Branch Pub and Brewing. I got the Sampler of brews with my spiced lamb pesto pizza. The six varieties starting with the straw and going clockwise were Oil Change Stout, Milk Stout, Green Chili, Honey Wheat, Brown Ale, and Irish Red Ale. I didn't care for the Green Chili, which--surprise, surprise--tasted like a green chili pepper or the Brown Ale, which wasn't the strongest example of the variety. The Irish Red was pretty weak. The Honey Wheat was very drinkable. The two stouts are what took the cake. They have the same recipe but for 50 pounds of oatmeal flakes in the Oil Change, and lactose sugars in the Milk. This is an excellent pairing for a tasting because it allows you to isolate ingredients. So if you're in the area and want really good food with some pretty good beers, go to Flat Branch Pub and Brewery in Columbia, Missouri.

The second session of wrestling for the Huskers wasn't very successful. Only one wrestler won his match. So they finished with four second places, two third places, and one fourth place. But the rest of the wrestling was top notch and we enjoyed most all of it. Well worth the trip. Now we just return on Sunday and stop in KC for lunch. Thank you for your well wishes that got us through some harrowing driving on Highway 2 before we got to the Interstate.

Docus and Eigil

So today was fairly good. Orders slacked off so I was able to leave work about a half hour earlier than normal. This allowed me to go to the Husker's wrestling match tonight against Oklahoma State. I was very glad to see Fred Ambrose as the referee. He is in the Wrestling Hall of Fame and looks like a Turk.

After the dual, which the Huskers lost, I went to the last showing of The Last King of Scotland in Lincoln at The Ross. (Nevermind, I guess they've extended the run.) I now know why Forest Whitaker is winning all the awards so far for best male actor in a leading role. I really liked Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson, and DiCaprio did a good job in The Departed. But Whitaker was better. Near the end of the film, there are two grotesque scenes. They are a powerful part of the film, and what I'm afraid of is that they might even be integral to the film. And for a sidenote, Gillian Anderson is very attractive when blonde and tan.



When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are; it won't be answered.

Stern and Callum

A New Post

This evening was a good one over all. I went to the Huskers' wrestling dual against Oregon State. For good or for bad, the Beavers ended up on top. It didn't help that the Huskers are still missing a Heavyweight wrestler, so they have a forfeit which gives the other team 6 points each dual. They lost 21-15.

But things started looking up when I went to Amigo's King's Classic for a King Royale and a Steak 'n' Tater Burrito, best of both worlds (American-Fast and American-Mexican). Then for dessert I went to Ivanna Cone for the first time in a long time. They had two of my favorite workers tonight and the one remembered me.

I had a dish of chocolate peanut butter crunch, which had Grape-Nuts for its crunch, and Mini-Cini, a toned down version of their cinnamon. I didn't realize it was Grape-Nuts making the crunch until about two-thirds of the way through, but they worked well, holding their crunch to the end. The mini-cini wasn't as good as the regular cinnamon, if you're going to use a flavor, embrace it.

I'm not Remiss

I find it interesting that Bank of the West is right across the street from Taco del Mar. By the way, Taco del Mar is no Chipotle nor Oso Burrito, nor Qdoba.

The Huskers lost their last home dual of the year against Oklahoma tonight. But I did get to do some catching up with another old schoolmate from Doland, Jason LaBrie. He went to University of Mary, in Bismarck, where he wrestled. He was ranked #1 in the NAIA his Junior and Senior years, with 2nd and 4th place finishes at nationals. He is now between medical rotations in his last year of med school.

Touching Base

The Huskers won their dual against Mizzou in not the most dominating fashion dropping the last few matches and needing a bye to keep distance from the Tigers.

Glory Road is a good movie 3 outta 5 stars. I need to get better; I'm a bit sick.

Peace out you.

Saturday Night's Alright for Wrestling

Tonight the Huskers had a dual with American University. They won, and for the fans, only 3 of the 10 matches went the full seven minutes. Unfortunately, one of the matches that ended early involved a distant relative of mine, David Ingalls. He had the uneviable task of wrestling Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov. Notice that Muzi majors in Russian (what a stretch for someone from Uzbekistan).

The Husker match was at 7pm. At 5 this evening I went to my local public library and got two books from Junichiro Tanizaki, one a set of seven short stories, the other Some Prefer Nettles, and a book of pictures of Lee Lawrie's work mostly from the Nebraska Capitol. I was introduced to Tanizaki in my Non-Western Lit class at Union. I read and presented on an essay from him "In Praise of Shadows." I loved this essay and recommend it for any artist or aesthete. Here is an excerpt:

A glistening black lacquer rice cask set off in a dark corner is both beautiful to behold and a powerful stimulus to the appetite. Then the lid is briskly lifted, and this pure white freshly boiled food, heaped in its black container, each and every grain gleaming like a pearl, sends forth billows of warm steam-- here is a sight no Japanese can fail to be moved by. Our cooking depends upon shadows and is inseparable from darkness.

I looked thru (side note: Emerson pushed for that spelling of through to be standardized to make the language more efficient) the Lawrie book while enjoying a dish of peanut butter and jelly, grape Nerds, and toasted almond ice cream at Ivanna Cone.

After wrestling, I went to Donnie Darko at Starship 9. It was the director's cut which I think helps frame the film a bit better. It was nice seeing it in the theater, but I wonder why Douglas is showing it now. I'll find out. Donnie Darko is a 5 outta 5 (the fifth star is for Wendi). The casting deserves an award for how accurately everyone is placed. As per six degrees of separation, Katharine Ross, Donnie's therapist, was the girlfriend of the Sundance Kid and Benjamin Braddock and daughter of Mrs. Robinson; Patrick Swayze is a motivational pederast; one of the bullies Seth Rogen is also in 40 Dollar Virgin as Cal, the bigger friend. Noah Wyle one of many Dr. Dreamies on ER, and Drew Barrymore, child star turned Tom Green divorcee are also in it as teachers. Then you have the only performance with Jake and Maggie as brother and sister. I'll stop now. I know more and could tell you more, but I'll stop now.

Keyser Soze

Perkiomenville, Indeed!

I believe I previously mentioned, in this space, Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania. If I didn't, I should have. It previously raised its head as the residence of an AdventSource customer. Hodiernally, Mike Spaid, heavyweight wrestler for Bloomsburg University , is from there. The Huskers did well enough winning the dual 30 to 12. Another wrestler for the Huskies, I just now realized the irony of the Huskers beating the Huskies, Brad Forbes shares a name with my boss.

In other news, that crazy delicious video, Lazy Sunday, has garnered artistic and capitalist interest combined here.

Wrestle the Line

I went to the Huskers first wrestling dual of the season against the Boise State Broncos. The Huskers won, but they were supposed to. I was particularly impressed with two redshirt freshmen Chris Oliver, a four-time Nebraska High School champion, and Paul Donohoe from Michigan and easy on the eyes (I've included a link for the ladies and non-traditional males). Surprisingly enough at the match, I was reunited with an old classmate from Doland, SD, Nathan Troske. This summer at the Back to Doland Days was the first I had seen him in ten years and now twice in five months. He is now living in Gretna and working for Interstate Electric.

After the match, I went to Noodles & Company and had a mean (well-made, not malicious) dish of Wisconsin Mac and Cheese with steak and three potboilers(My mother caught that these aren't potboilers but potstickers, silly me. Are there foods that serve as potboiler though? Maybe turkey, cran sauce, potatoes, and pumpkin pie for ThxDay). Then as I was walking by The Grand I noticed that Walk the Line was going to start in less than ten minutes. "What timing." I thought to myself, "I guess Ivanna Cone will have to wait another day." So the film was good. I don't think it was as good as a comparable biopic film in Ray. Reese Witherspoon deserves any nominations and awards that she gets for her fine work. Joaquin Phoenix has a really hard name to spell. He also worked really hard for this role and his work paid off, but he didn't become Johnny Cash like Jaime Foxx became Ray Charles. His singing was fine, just not the Man in Black. His mannerisms evocative. BUT that hare-lip, something must be done.

Kind Regards,

The Evil Prince in the Wild Jungle