Why don’t you walk away/The sun won’t swallow the sky/Why don’t you walk away/Statues will not cry

Last night Amy and I were at the game in our “usual seats.” (We are splitting a partial package with someone so now we have familiar people around us.) Before the game I met us with Oh, it’s THOSE Girls (who are just as funny in real life as they are in blog life.) Oh, and you all may be jealous but I saw their sign (dubbed as The World’s Coolest Sign) in person. Yep, it is as cool as you think.

Here are my Game Notes:
* One of the “Regulars” sitting in front of us took his shoe off and sniffed it. It’s not really baseball-y but it sure is damn weird.
* Franz Ferdinand played when the White Sox pitcher was taken out…I love the sound of you walking away. Someone with cool music taste is working the sound booth.
* Oh Sweet Baby Jesus! Save me from the know-it-all fans. We had a group of men sitting behind us kept making comments about pitching styles and fielding practice like they knew what the hell they were talking about. Dudes, just because you watch Sports Center doesn’t mean you can speak intelligently about baseball. Don’t get me wrong, I normally don’t make any sense but they kept trying to one-up themselves.
* So far my record is 3-1 for in attendance wins.

Photos from the game:

Amy had to handle all four of our Twingo cards. I am not saying she did a bad job but we didn’t win.

These are the headsets that I have declared I won’t wear.

The cup holders at The Dome suck! They are tilted at a sharp angle so beer spills out. Alcohol abuse!

Today at noon I will be back at The Dome drinking beer and cheering on the Twins (with TBL) whilst my co-workers sit in cubicles working. Mmmwhwahahahaha (evil laughter)

Pimping out my local radio station
You have heard it all before, I love 89.3 The Current! Tomorrow (which also happens to be my birthday, thank-you-very-much) they are having a Radio Free day. This means the whole day will be requests. You can go online and submit your picks! Do it! DO. IT.

Radio Free Current – Control the Airwaves

Here are my selections:
Babyshambles – Delivery
Fratellis – For the Girl
Kooks – You Don’t Love Me
Leonard Cohen – Democracy
Travis – All I Want To Do Is Rock
VHS or Beta – Bring on the Comets
White Stripes – Icky Thump
22-20s – Devil in Me
Radiohead – Creep
Vicki Lawrence – Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia

Monday Night Happy Hour at the Red Dragon
On Monday night we decided to change it up a little bit and head towards uptown to the Red Dragon.
* Before Monday night I had never walked into the Red Dragon sober.
* After a couple of beers the selections on the jukebox seem to be the world’s greatest party mix.
We were trading dollars like strippers in order to one-up the weirdoes at the bar that kept picking Luther Vandross. Nuh uh. No one likes a little Luther at a bar…No. One. Better.
* I squealed like Vegan Joe at the midnight showing of Lord of the Rings when I saw the jukebox had The Libertines, Kaiser Chiefs, Regina Spektor and Dexies Midnight Runners.
* The Red Dragon is known for their curiously strong cognac glasses filled with pretty, fruity drinks.

On next week’s very special episode of Monday Night Happy Hour…we will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo. Too bad there isn’t a parade so that we have an excuse to drink in the streets again (a la St. Patrick’s Day.)

Music of the Day
Franz Ferdinand – Walk Away

You’re motoring/What’s your price for flight/In finding mister right/You’ll be alright tonight

I, for one, am glad today is an off day
Sheesh, as baseball fans we should be used to the rollercoaster of emotions but this weekend was tough. I listened to yesterday’s game whilst driving around Edina (said in a snobby voice) running errands. At one point the announcers just stopped giving our score. Texas has 7, Texas has 8, Texas has 9. Oh yeah, Minnesota still has nothing.

Let’s move on…
Tomorrow I will be sitting in the Upper Level behind home plate. Here are my predictions:
* Boof will be pitching (yeah, I don’t get any credit for that.)
* The Twins will win
* I will have something snarky to say about
* I will be drinking a beer
* I will be telling Amy the funny thing that Oh, Those Girls said (you girls are so damn entertaining!)
* Swish, swish Swisher will make me relive the memory of when I thought he was an ass and then I read this story about how his long flowing locks were donated.
* I will be bragging to Amy about how the next day I will be sitting in The Dome drinking beer at noon, skipping work.

Non-baseball but no less important (well, it does get kind of ramble-y)

Everyone wants pink sparkly shoes

I couldn’t cram my size 7 feet into this dainty works of sparkly polymers.

Okay, Morgan’s mama may be mad but I had to post the picture of Mo-mo with the pink shoes. I couldn’t get a clear shot of him walking in them but he LOVED the shoes. As soon as they were on his feet he would take off. It appears that this 20-month old has achieved what most adult women have not…walking in heels.

Are you ready for Jenapalooza?!? (Warning: self-promotion ahead)
Okay, that was said in the whole “Can you smell what the Rock is cooking” sort of way. Hey! I don’t watch wrestling but I do drink with someone who is The Rock’s biggest fan.

I am fully prepared for Jenapalooza 2008! I have Red Bull, juice, vitamins, sunglasses (for the morning hangovers), drinking purse, baseball gear, comfy shoes, clean underwear, charged iPod and a full tank of gas. I am ready Mother Booze. I am ready Father Baseball. I am ready Brother Concert. And I am ready Sister Christian. (Couldn’t resist.)

Monday 4/28: Monday Night Happy Hour
Tuesday 4/29: Minnesota Twins baseball game
Wednesday 4/30: Minnesota Twins game (it’s a noon game so I am skipping the last half of work.)
Thursday 5/1: Happy Hour and My Birthday
Friday 5/2: Concert – tentative, very tentative
Saturday 5/3: Nordeast Minneapolis Bar Crawl
Sunday 5/4: Celebrating my birthday with my girls!
Monday 5/5: Monday Night Happy Hour
Wednesday 5/7: Swell Season Concert
Friday 5/9: VHS or Beta Concert

What’s got Vegan Joe (and me) squealing like a 16-year old girl at the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Something-Something? (Yeah, I had to go there.)
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
I guess I know what we’ll be doing on May 12.

Weekend Recap
* Watched four more episodes of Gossip Girl. (Thanks to Amy for feeding my addiction, she knows what I am talking about.)
* Watched the first few episodes of Brothers & Sisters. (My Monday Night Happy Hour Crew is obsessed with this show.)
* Went to the St. Paul Art Crawl.
* Stayed in my pajamas all day Saturday.
* Saw Priceless (French title Hors de Prix)
* Realized that saying “stimulus” (as in rebate check) is funny.

MOD
Ever since I wrote “Sister Christian” in my blog (a few paragraphs up) I have had this song stuck in my head. Now it’s your turn, here’s my gift to you!

Sister Christian – Night Ranger

No, no, no/Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me/Till I come marching home

Sigh
· Twins defeated in extra innings by Rangers (L 5-6)
· Liriano sent down after ugly start to season
· Today’s pitching match-up: Baker vs. Ponson (this could possibly be a cheer too)

Cheers
· Morneausey hit a Grand Slam
· Gomez got a homerun (I am a day late and a dollar short on announcing that.)
· Along with Those Girls list of funny things the announcers said… “Good gravy!”

Welcome Mat
Welcome to my newest commenters:
s.rail and super johan

Non-baseball but no less important

Are you fucking kidding me?!?
Yes, the swearing is absolutely necessary. You see, I woke up this morning to find what is pictured below. God damn Mother Nature! Why do you hate me so? (It could be because I take her name in vain.)

Artsy Fartsy
I like to think I support local creative endeavors (and to a point I do) however, I have never been on an Art Crawl. Like Amy said, the only Crawl I have ever been associated is one with Bar in front of it. Har-dee-har-har Amy, har-dee-flipping-har-har. Last night Stacy and I went to show our support to Risa (Curlz). She has a studio that is Stop #1 on the St. Paul Art Crawl. I love her art. I loved seeing her and Joel. I was a little snarky to the other people enjoying the art crawl but it was kind of like shooting sitting ducks. Conclusion?
· St. Paul is crazy…as a Minneapolisan (I don’t know what we call ourselves) I am ordered to think that.
· Charming old studios are charming but also old, as in no elevator to the fifth floor.
· I think after seeing a few studios that it would all start looking the same.
· No beer.

Here are a few photos from Risa/Curlz studio (with her permission)



Music of the Day
To back-up the awesomeness of Minneapolis (and in turn Minnesota) I would like to present local girls who done good!

The Andrew Sisters – Don’t Sit Under That Apple Tree

It’s a beautiful day/Sky falls, you feel like/It’s a beautiful day/Don’t let it get away

I’ll be brief…
Boof gets a Quality Start but no win.

I saw an hour of last night’s game before I decided to get stuff done instead of dozing on the sofa. Today’s game starts a 2:35 p.m. CT.

Don’t worry, things will get more interesting (blog-wise) once I get to a few more games…4/29 and 4/30.

Non-baseball but no less important

What happens in a PT Cruiser stays in a PT Cruiser
Setting: A parking lot
Cast: The PT Cruiser parked in front of us.
The plot: Two very consenting adults were enjoying a little backseat hook-up.
The proof: See below.

Summer in the City
Summer in the city, I’m so lonely lonely lonely/So I went to a protest just to rub up against strangers – Summer in the City, Regina Spektor
You know summer is arriving…
* The hot dog cart is back on Nicollet Mall
* Cops on bikes (the pedal variety)
* The Farmer’s Market has started (on Nicollet Mall)
* I went outside and walked in the sunshine – see proof via the video montage below.

City Pages Best Of
Minneapolis’ premier weekly entertainment paper, the City Pages, puts out a Best Of issue each year. Readers get to vote on Best Restaurant, Best Date Spot, Best Minnesota Bad Boy, ect, ect, ect. Anyways, this year Best Craft Show award goes to…drum roll please…my friend Tracy’s No Coast Craft-O-Rama!!! (Roar!) Seriously, if you are a local you must check out this awesome (ain’t your mama’s) craft fair in December.

Music of the Day
Last night I went outside to enjoy the lovely weather. (Gasp, outside? Yes, outside.) I took a bunch of photos and have now compiled them into an original Jen Music Montage. Note the song is U2’s Beautiful Day. Fitting, I believe.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I had a nightmare/I lived in a little town/where little dreams were broken/and words were seldom spoken

Twins 5, A’s 4
Okay, you know you’re old when…
...a 9:00 p.m. game time is too late.

Seriously, I am at work at 7:00 a.m. so staying up until midnight is just not a great idea. Don’t get me wrong, I have done it before for Mother Booze but a televised baseball game, nah… I did watch the first half of the game and I was happy to see some offense. (The homerun off of Livan was the turning point; I talked myself into going to bed.)

Here are my bullet points:
* I am happy to see Monroe make the news for something different than “Where does he belong?” “When does he get to play?” “What is he doing here?”
* Gomez did have a bad night.
* Oh, Those Girls raised a good point in their blog today…The A’s fans were freaking loud (and a smidge ghetto, but I am not judging.) Come on folks, I couldn’t hear Dick & Bert’s interview with Baker…you kept distracting me.
*Tonight is Boof’s turn. The last time I saw Boof pitch was when I was at the game last Thursday. Hopefully he will be boo-ed by the crowd tonight. HEY, stick with me here! Boo-ed because he did such a great job and the A’s fans are reacting. It is sad when a player gets boo-ed whilst at home. Yeah, I am talking to you Section 225.

Correspondence
Those Girls – I will be at the game on April 29th. Shall we meet up for happy hour or something?
James – The new Raconteurs album is awesome. I do have to say that the newest White Stripes album is a little more favored than this one.

Non-baseball but no less important

Bonfire of the vanities
When I was looking this up to use as a reference I found there are three major references to this.
1. Refers to the burning of objects that are deemed to be occasions of sin
2. The novel
3. Film

Okay, now the real reason for this topic…last night Stacy (a bonafide pyro) lit the first fire of the season. We sat on the deck experiencing the sounds of South Minneapolis at night. Nothing makes me feel as hypersensitive as sitting outside exposed.

The Prostitute of the #5 Bus
Yesterday morning as I was sitting on the #5 bus route (affectionately called the Ghetto #5) I was disturbed out of my mindless daydreams by the bus drive yelling at someone. Now, this isn’t a rare occasion. Many-a-times I hear bus drivers shouting and fighting with the less-than-stellar commuters (of course I am extremely well behaved.) This morning was particularly chuckle-inducing. You see, a lady-of-the-night was trying to get on the bus without paying and our bus driver wasn’t having it. She was in full Pretty Woman gear – fishnets, plastic boots, and tube top. Anyways, their screaming match was entertaining enough that I had to turn off my iPod so I could hear everything.

Damn you, Television, be less addicting.
American Idol – Due to an unforeseen emergency happy hour I missed the first two singers of the night (one of which was Dreamy Jason Castro.) However I personally believe that Carly stole the show with Jesus Christ Superstar!!! Come on, she was fan-fucking-tastic. Oh, and Lucy has corrected herself, she likes Jason Castro now. “Hey, I like that guy!” Yeah Lucy, you better say that. Everyone else was good. I didn’t really buy that much into David Cook’s cheese-o-rama but it didn’t suck and I still like him.
Deadliest Catch – This show has sucked me in, heart and soul. The captains, the crew and the greenhorns are now part of my life. I often find myself starting sentences…”Well, if I was on the Deadliest Catch…” (That usually ends with “…and that is why I would never been on the Deadliest Catch.”

Music of the Day
It has been a while since I posted a Travis song. I am a new fan (compared to the rest of the world) to this band and I have Liat to thank for that. She brought me to their concert last summer and ever since then I have been collecting their music. Three Times and You Lose is a great song but it is the video that I love. The grainy and artsy New York scenery.

Travis – Three Times and You Lose


Swear Count: 2

Oh who put all those cares in your head/You can’t live your life on your deathbed/And it’s been such a lovely day

Off Day for Baseball
Off Days on a Monday are pure gold for me and my Monday Night Happy Hour Crew. You see, I don’t have to nag them about going to a bar with a television and they don’t have to pretend to listen to me when I talk about the game. It’s a Win-Win. During the non-raining portions of the evening we were sitting outside at The Local drinking Black & Tans and enjoying extreme people watching. Once it started raining we headed to our old stand-by of Rossi’s. It was there at Rossi’s that I caught the first half of the Mets/Cubs game. (Like others in the blogosphere I was disappointed that Santana wasn’t pitching.) Hey, baseball is baseball…no matter who is playing…so I just sat back and enjoyed it.

Upcoming Games
Tentative – Tuesday, April 29 vs. Chicago White Sox
Confirmed – Wednesday, April 30 vs. Chicago White Sox, noon game

It’s not like I am an uber White Sox junkie (the opposite in fact) but I couldn’t say no to a noon game the day before my birthday. There is nothing like sitting in The Dome and drinking beer whilst all your co-workers are slaving away in cubicles. Don’t worry cube-mates; I will have one for you. Mmmwhwwhahaahaaa (insert Gargamel type laugh.)

Non-baseball but no less important

Nature vs. Nurture – Lucy edition
I am afraid of deer, dolphins, nature, suburbs and natural bodies of water.
Lucy is afraid of feathers.

Who has the most irrational fear?

Record Store Day
I celebrated my first Record Store Day! I don’t think I have ever seen the Electric Fetus so packed before (except for in-store performances but that doesn’t really count.) The Electric Fetus was drawing the crowds in with DJ Freddy Fresh spinning some vinyl (yes, it felt weird typing that) and pizza. We Minnesotans love our free food giveaways. I picked up the newest albums from the Raconteurs and The Kooks.

Speaking of the Kooks…
I have been a huge fan of The Kooks ever since I received my semi-annual Care Package full of CDs from Astralwerk’s. Their first album was full of catchy songs that propelled them on to every music show and magazine. I saw them perform on Live From Abbey Road, Later with Jools Holland and Late Night with Conan. Now that I have finally listened to their new album Konk, I know that they aren’t flukes. I can’t wait until they come here on May 31 so I can see what kind of show they put on. Go ahead, check them out. I know you want to!

Hey wait! I forgot to post my April Music Mix
Each month I make a new mix CD for my car. Granted I only drive a total of ten miles a week (unless I have to go to The Suburbs) so I barely make it through a whole CD before the month is over. Anyways, here is April’s Mix
Icky Thump – White Stripes
Juicebox – Strokes
Get Free – The Vines
Golden Skans – Klaxons
I’m Yours – Jason Mraz
Can’t Get it Right Today – Joe Purdy
A cause des garcons – Yelle
Bring on the Comets – VHS or Beta
Blue Lights Flashing – Travis
Sex Bomb – Tom Jones
Well Respected Man – The Kinks
Gasolina – Daddy Yankee
Liberty Song – Levellers
Rainbow Connection – Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Tom Petty – American Girl

MOD
This song was featured on the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack.

Devotchka – Till the End of Time

And he’s oh, so good/And he’s oh, so fine/And he’s oh, so healthy/In his body and his mind

Well, it appears we were virtually shutdown last night. Ah, man. I was hoping for a Liriano Miracle. I only got to watch the last three innings (and I had to arm wrestle an almost-three-year-old for the remote.) I did some toddler appeasing by flipping between baseball and Chimp Eden (oh, brother.)

I don’t have much else to write about since the Twins didn’t do anything (literally.) Wait! I was very happy to see Kubel in Right Field. Although he didn’t do anything offensively I think he has proved himself in the past so hopefully he’ll get another start today. So there.

Non-baseball but no less important

Record Store Day
Hey, looks like fate is making this one easy for me. I still haven’t gone out to pick up my copy of the Kooks new album. In honor of Record Store Day I will be hitting up the Electric Fetus today to show my support and possibly buy more CDs than I really need. Hey, the morale is…support your local music stores! Don’t get me wrong, I like it easy too. I love Bordersstores.com, where I can check if items are in stock. I sure do love ordering from Amazon.com (mostly because I get gift certificates from work) but every so often you have to go outside your comfort zone. Now, I get how sometimes these independent stores can be intimidating and cliquey (some of them are) but everyone is still there for the same reason, music. Although you may get a weird look if you are searching for a Back Street Boys album (and no, that’s not from personal experience.)

Now, all I have to do is get my lazy ass up and get dressed. I know that the occasional scruffy person shops at the record store but I think an old Twins t-shirt and flannel pajama bottoms may be pushing the envelope.

Music of the Day
Not that I am bragging or anything but I think my niece is pretty kick ass when it comes to her music taste. The first song she ever sang (that was gag-inducing children’s music) was Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer.” She has since moved on to singing AC/DC’s “Listen to the Money Talk”, Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville”, Beastie Boy’s “Sure Shot” (she doesn’t really like it though), Plain White T’s “Delilah” and now almost the entire soundtrack to Juno.

Lucy singing The Kinks “Well Respected Man”
Sorry about the bouncy camera, we were on a bumpy road. I was also trying to keep Lucy awake so she looks a little out of it.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com