A Great Success

Okay, so I didn't win *anything* in the raffle, and there were only three porta-potties this year (I swear there were at least 4 at past events), and I couldn't inveigle anyone in my family to come. Besides those small things, the 11th Annual WORT Block Party was a raging success. I even remembered to wear sun screen on my face so I only have the lightest hint of colour from my hours in the sun.

I think it is fair to say that this Block Party is a must attend tradition for me. Palmer had to be in Chicago, so unfortunately I was on my own for a chunk of the day, but there was plenty to see and do and tons of folks to talk to.

First off, I have to say that WORT volunteers are amazing. I can count myself in their number in an extremely limited capacity, but I see the same dedicated people at event after event, promoting the station, doing community events, and generally just being a presence off air. This was a great block party to be a part of and the block party goers and vendors were all pretty swell.

Cindy is the sweetest poodle. She was rocking a skull and crossbones doggie sweater. Last year I saw her hanging out in the basket of her human's bike. She's a WORT Block Party regular, too!


It was such a fun day! The weather was odd, partly cloudy most of the day, sometimes quite chilly until the sun came out, but it stayed dry. The music was fun, and I took pictures of all the bands but none of them came out very well. The Nob Hill Boys started the day off with bluegrass and had the crowd eating out of their hands by the end of the set.

Conspicuously absent from my photographic record are any pictures of the "No Crap on Tap" beer table, brought out by the Madison Homebrewers and Tasters. Considering how much time I spent near it, I don't know how I got away without even one photograph. How odd.

I did, however, get a picture of my first beer and my lunch. The beer was a Flanders Ned Red from Grumpy Troll in Mount Horeb. It was fresh and tangy with a sour flavour. Really nice beer. Went perfectly with my Dorowat on Injera from Buraka (so happy they were there this year).
I ran into lots of folks I knew, some who I inveigled to come down to the Block Party, some who were staff and volunteers at the station, and the rest just folks I've known from as far back as 18 years and as recently as a month. There were tons of families there, including one with a two-year old who was such a fan of Rockin' John that he made him a card. I overheard his folks saying that they listened to his show every week and the kid couldn't get enough. He was pretty thrilled to meet his radio hero.

Here are the friends of mine I managed to take pictures of, I'm kind of bummed that I didn't take *more* photos. I guess after 3 Grumpy Troll Beers (the Flanders, the Spetznaz Stout and the ass-kicking Maggie IPA) and a delicious Lake Louie Brew that I couldn't even finish, I wasn't much for picture taking.

E and M enjoying a Family Farm Defender's Grilled Cheese sammy.
Miss P and I in and end of the day embrace.N rocking the giraffe umbrellaMe and Palmer's friend K
All in all it was a fabulous day. I highly recommend putting this on your to do list for 2009.

Gomeroke!

This coming Tuesday is the Gomeroke 4 year anniversary party! I'm planning on getting to the show ($5, starts at 9), we'll see how that pans out.

Gomeroke is, to put it plainly, AWESOME.

Check out the Gomers here (MySpace warning), and their song list (and an explanation of Gomeroke) can be found here.

I'm thinking of "Harden my Heart" by Quarterflash, for my primadonna performance. I don't see the song on the list, but I'll email them beforehand to see if they can do it!

Holy Democracy, Batman

Quest for local foods

So, in case you didn't know, the Dulcinea is flat broke. Well, not busted, but due to medical complaints she hasn't been working for a while. Wisconsin Foodshare is back in play for our household (money for the little one, but not for me), so I'm looking forward to using our "Quest" card (the electronic replacement for paper food stamps) at the Willy St. Co-op to buy local foods.

The other place I'm even more excited about is the Northside Farmer's Market, where you can use your Quest card to purchase tokens and use those with each vendor (for qualified items).

The Northside Market is on Sundays, and I haven't gone this year (this past Sunday Opened the Market). Perhaps this week, as I'll be in the market for fresh local eggs and honey, never mind some good locally produced meat and whatever vegetable matter has become available thus far (ooh, it looks like RHUBARB and SPINACH are expected!!!! Squee!).

I'm really looking forward to it.

Local Eats

I've been focusing on eating more locally produced things, which means getting my chocolate from Gail Ambrosius, my beer from anywhere in Wisconsin (more on beer another day) and this evening, my ice cream from The Chocolate Shoppe, via Woodman's.

Bobby Bryan Band at the Brink

Finally getting out to see a little Non-Progressive rock this week:

Thursday at The Brink Lounge, 8pm.

Be there!

Bobby Bryan Band (warning, music/MySpace page, but if you can, listen to "Forty Days"!)


A little snippet from the last time Palmer and I head out to see the BBB at the BL can be seen here.

New Post / Inka Heritage

Man, I've not done much of anything but sleep lately. Been sick, getting better, still feel like hell.

One thing I can do is rec a restaurant: Inka Heritage.

Check out their website. They've a gallery with pictures of many of the dishes. The one with the egg and the fried plantain is the Lomo Inka Heritage, which Palmer got, and that was tasty. The plantain in particular was very delicious.

I had the Lomo Saltado, which was very very tasty.

A nice place to bring folks from out of town, take a date or treat yourself. Yum!

OMG, I'm getting another cat

My kitten (okay, she was a teenager at 14 months, a young [cat]woman), died Thanksgiving morning 2006, and we've thought about getting another cat. I think the "poop in a box" + vet bills (having to put a cat to sleep on a holiday? expensive AND devastating) has kept me from feeling as though I really wanted another cat.

But this? This is really too much to miss.

Kitty Wigs.



Oh yeah.

I think it's too late in the semester to work on adopting a cat from school (and by this time in the semester I'm too crazy to even consider it), but now I know, I need to share a wig, er, my heart and home, with a cat.

Ooh Pasties!

No, not pasties, pasties! Pervert.

Specifically, Cornish Pasties. This weekend is the Mineral Point Cornish Festival and Palmer, M, and I are heading out Saturday to enjoy the culture, primarily through food.

There is a Miner's buffet featuring Beef Pasty, Beef Pie with Dumplings, Beets with honey and horseradish (yum), and something called figgyhobbin, which absolutely intrigues me.

Why Cornish Fest? Well, firstly there is almost no reason to miss cultural celebrations with food, but more importantly, my youngest is a bit Cornish (indeed, his grandfather has visited the town which bears their surname - I've seen the picture), and I like the idea of learning more about that part of his background. Plus, FIGGYHOBBIN.

Mineral Point is just far enough away to seem like a drive and close enough to not feel too far away. It has a bunch of old buildings and I'm looking forward to seeing people dressed up in 'traditional' Cornish gear.

Viva Blackpool!

I'm in the midst of watching Blackpool, which is absolutely fantastic, and it strikes me what romantics many of us are without realizing it.

On the surface, I don't think of myself as romantic at all, but some things just hit me a certain way (read: in my gut) and I think it's because of that very romantic vein inside me. I suppose it's that romance, like anything else, comes in different flavours, but passion, love, and devotion are (nearly) universal.

The series is very nice, it reminds me a bit of The Sopranos only with less swearing, fewer strippers, and musical numbers. And much less 'whacking'. And...much more endearing characters.

And David Tennant.

Sunshine

Went to see the new Danny Boyle flick, Sunshine, at the rip-off fabulous Sundance 608 theater tonight.

It's being marketed in that stupid way in which really good films too often are, badly. If you've seen an ad for it that doesn't appeal, ignore it and get yourself to the theater.

It's a film which demands to be seen on the big screen. Catch it while you can.

And after you've seen it, check out the movie site.