Last night we hit up the Violent Femmes to kick off ‘fest. They haven’t missed a beat. Edward Sharpe and the Avett Brothers opened up for them. They both held their own. Petty tomorrow and then the Eagles next week. In for a treat this year.
We had a very festive weekend. On Friday we headed out to Jocelyn’s swim team Christmas party. The party was at Thunder Bay Grill out towards Brookfield. The setup was nice. There was a small menu of four different entrees that we could choose from. I had the steak and J had the pork chops which I ate one of so I can vouch for their deliciousness. There were tons of raffle prizes given out during dinner. The prizes include such wonderful prizes as salsa, small novelty gift sets and some nice swimming gear for the swimmers. After dinner a lot of the team stuck around but J and I ducked out quick to go see the Christmas train which was about ten minutes away. The train was supposed to arrive at 9:30 but it was over an hour late. Luckily there was a shelter we could stand in to keep warm. While we waited around the kids sang carols with some teacher type lady. Finally the train arrived. It was so cold and windy I didn’t get to look at the train as much as I would’ve liked to. The train was the Canadian Pacific and it had every car decorated with Christmas lights. It also had one boxcar that opened up and acted as a stage for a band. I got to hear one song but it was so cold we had to get back to the car and someplace warm. After that we headed back to the swimming party but everyone was leaving and going to play poker at a team member’s house. That really wasn’t our cup of tea so we headed home for the night.
Still in holiday mode I got a majority of my Christmas presents wrapped during the day on Saturday. At night we went to go see the Christmas Carol at the Pabst Theater. I hadn’t been to the Pabst since grade school so I was looking forward to it. If you want to get in the holiday mood or like the Christmas Carol I highly recommend seeing the play. The actors were great and did an outstanding job. It is one of those events where you walk down the street and are singing Christmas carols on the way home. After the play we headed to Nick Richard’s party, singing Christmas carols of course. He and his girlfriend had rented out their condo’s party room for her birthday. The whole crew was there. We stayed there for an hour and then headed to Flannery’s to keep the party going. After the bars closed a couple people came over to our apartment for some Rau Braus and some late night movie watching. The movie watching was briefly interrupted by a pull-up contest. I bought this new bar that mounts on the door frame and you can do pull-ups on it. I have never claimed to be strong but my pull-up ability is nonexistent. Due to the weight that I gained back after my leg injury I have some extra pounds again and trying to pull that up is impossible. Right now I can do two. Jocelyn ended up beating everyone in the contest, even the guys, with five. Nothing beat after bar fitness. We finally closed it down pretty late which made for a rough Sunday but the fun was worth it.
This Saturday we went to a cookout at Craig and Jackie’s for Olivia’s birthday. We arrived about six. It was your normal cookout with beers and brats and had plenty of both. After we ate we got out the bocce ball set and I proceeded to mop up the yard with anyone who wanted to test my bocce skills. After my victorious bocce session we sat around the bonfire. One of my favorite things is an outdoor bonfire with some friends and some suds. Jocelyn and I ended up being the last ones around the fire with Craig. We decided around 2 that it we should wrap things up so we headed back to MKE.
Wednesday the Bodeans were holding a free concert on the roof of the Pabst to celebrate the launch of their new CD. A lot of people showed up, as you would expect for a free concert. I was able to get a great view from the alley by the Safe House. They only played an hour but seeing the Bodeans is always a treat, especially when they’re free.
Saturday was my friend Bill Moeller’s bachelor party. The crew went golfing up in Mequon but I have already had my allotted two rounds of golf this year. It’s an expensive sport and I don’t really like playing all that much so I skipped the golf and met everyone downtown. We met at one of Bill’s friend’s condo a couple blocks up from where I live. The guy has a very nice condo and it’s a straight up bachelor pad. The bottom floor has the kitchen and a small living room with a plasma TV in it. Then you go upstairs and its bachelor heaven. To the right you have a small bar area and to the left is a huge sectional sofa in front of a 100″+ projector TV. There was also a great sound system, a Vegas slot machine, and a stand up Ms. Pacman/Galaga video game. Then there is a fairly spacious rooftop deck with a great view of the Milwaukee skyline. We spent a couple hours there and enjoyed all the toys. We drank some beers, smoked some cigars, and ate some meat, all traditional bachelor party events. After that we headed over to a club called Mantra on North Ave. I almost wasn’t allowed in because I was wearing tennis shoes. They weren’t even real tennis shoes, they were nice brown ones. I couldn’t believe it; I hate those bouncers who need to compensate for inadequacies. What got me made is once I got into the club it was baron. There was no one there except for us. Well once I calmed down we danced and had some fun. They have authentic water hookahs at Mantra and Evraets had never had one. So we chipped in and bought some strawberry tobacco and smoked like we were in a sand hut. After Mantra we decided to go to 3. We got there and the line was immense due to the Summerfest crowd but we were with the right people. The reason we really started to going to three was because of Billy and the group of guys that we were with at the bachelor party. They went to high school with the original owners and Billy practically lived there the first year they were open. So they were able to talk us in. We drank some vodka red bulls and whoop whooped until closing time. After close the group went back to the condo as did half of the Milwaukee club scene. There was a rocking after party, something which I have not been to in ages. So around 3:30 Craig and I left. Craig wanted some sleep and didn’t want to sleep amongst the phat beats so he came back to my place. We stopped and Mykano’s and we were served the last gyros of the night. We ended up getting to bed after four but it was a lot of fun.
Well Summerfest is over. I didn’t go that much this year. I don’t know why but for some reason it just didn’t have the appeal that it had in the past. I went to see the Violent Femmes on Thursday and then this last Sunday I saw Dark Star Orchestra on the closing day. At least the coming week we should be able to find some parking spots.
My weekend started Thursday because I took Friday off. Thursday night I went to see my coworker Roman’s band One Drum at the Jazz Estate up by North Ave. It was a good time and the music was kicking. The small place was packed and alive with fun. I was going to head home at midnight but it was such a good time I stuck around until the end. When the show was over I helped Roman break down some of the band gear. He was a kind soul and gave me a ride home sparing me from the winter elements. When all was said and done I ended up getting to bed around four in the morning.
Friday I had the day off so I spent it doing absolutely nothing. I did go meet Roman for lunch and hung out at our normal Friday lunch stop, the Ardor. Since I wasn’t working I was able to enjoy a beer with my lunch. Once Roman headed back I stayed and talked with the patrons a bit. On my way home I was stopped by three limos of drunken people in Santa hats. They were on a scavenger hunt and had all arrived at the same place at once. I had to take their pictures by a statue in Cathedral Square. Once I finished taking their pictures they all started running around tackling each other, one person got tackled in the street. I guess if you steal the other teams Santa hats you get extra points or something. This was too much craziness for my day off so I walked home. Friday night we just relaxed and got ready for the weekend. This weekend was Jocelyn’s dad’s second annual holiday gathering/celebration of her sister Arianne’s birthday in Chicago. Saturday we drove to Chicago and dropped our stuff off by our hotel about noon. I was starving so J and I headed to Miller’s Pub and got a bite to eat and a beer. While we were there the waitress told us about a German festival going on up the street so we figured we’d hit that once we were done. Once we finished we set off to find the outdoor German festival. We got a block and then decided to stop at the Berghoff Tavern. It looked like a historic place so we went there and had a Berghoff. From there we walked up and found the festival. Once we were there we both regretted eating because the food smelt delicious. We made it to one of the heated tents and got a little cup of glog. We sat in the tent a bit and then walked around and looked at some of the German crafts. Upon finishing there I went and showed Jocelyn the hotel that I stayed at when I was in Chicago. From there we headed back to our hotel with a brief stop at the new Millennium Park. Back at the hotel I took a nap for about two hours and watched some TV while J talked with her dad and sister. Then we decided to go eat a Giordano’s pizza that we saw on our way to Miller’s Pub. Once we got there we found out that it was closed. Never fear, Ryan is here! I remembered where another one was at. I ate at this one when I was down in Chi the last time, not to mention it wasn’t too hard to find because it’s right next to the Sears Tower which is kind of hard to miss. We then ate too much. We took a cab home because the snow was really starting to come down. We got to the hotel and called it a night.
Sunday we all woke up and put on our best thermal underwear for the Bears v. Texans game. The temp was in the single digits with wind chills in the negatives, it was cold. We all got bundled up and walked to the stadium which was a mile or so away. The walk wasn’t bad but once we got to our seats things really started to get cold. The not moving around made things pretty bad and the Picl family was frozen to the bone. To make things worse the first half of the game was utterly boring. Once the first half was over we left and went back to the hotel to warm up at an Irish Pub. We warmed up there and got our cars and headed to the ESPNZone to watch the Packers game and the Illinois game for J’s dad. It turned out the Illinois game wasn’t on in the state of Illinois so we didn’t want to stay there because it was too crowded. We went to Pizzeria Due, which is down from Pizzeria Uno. I called my cousin Steve and he met us there and we all talked, drank, ate and watched the Packers lose to Jacksonville (but they still clinched a playoff berth). Once we finished there we went to pick up Jocelyn’s other sister from O’Hare. We got her and went to Gibson’s Steak house to eat. I had the porterhouse and the food was good. Schwarz’s steaks are still the best but this was good. We were stuffed once again thanks to J’s dad, thanks. After dinner we all said our goodbyes and headed home. We got lost on the way home because we couldn’t find N. 294. We saw a hundred S. 294 but no N. Finally we got on and I drove home so J could sleep. End of weekend.