Secrets of the City

First! Hope everyone has a “Good Friday.” Ha ha ha. OK, I need my coffee.

I could have been first. I considered it. But I didn’t find a whole lot of value in it.

That’s what she said.

Hey kurtis, when is mnreads again? Monday?

Also, can anyone recommend a good place to get a massage in St. Paul?

It’s Monday, E. I submitted a post about it, it should pop up any second.

Has anyone mentioned that the “Dead Hobos” stomped the “Dead Hoboes” and the rest of the crowd at Merlin’s Rest into the ground at trivia on Wednesday? What a sweet victory that was!!!

Did you get laid, afterwards, Douglas? Tell me you did.

Congrats DouglasG! and teammates.

I wonder if I can take a tiny bit of credit for the team names, since I raised the question of correct spelling of “hobo” in the plural.

That prank website is pretty funny.

Obviously using the correct spelling of hobos gave you the edge.

Rat you seem like you are drinking already?!?!

Holy Schmokes, Rat. A little controversial, not only for you but so early in the game.

Good on ya’!

I’d just like to point out that yesterday deserved an OT of its own. I’ve got the day off, and it definitely felt like Friday when I got home yesterday.

Is the Coleman farce just about over? His people haven’t seemed to notice that he falls farther back every time more votes get counted.

You win big like Douglas, you get a little bravado. Yellin’, shoutin,’ wantin’ to fight everybody.

You win big like Douglas, you get a little bravado. Yellin’, shoutin,’ wantin’ to fight everybody.

Haayy!

I’m glad to hear the Hobo’s won!*

*The ‘ is for the missing e.

What a glory hog, that Douglas is.

I couldn’t have done it without you mnblrmkr! Bixby on the other hand… I’m thinking about writing her an e-mail informing her she is no longer wanted on the team.

Tonight I am going to live the high life… It better still be sunny when I BBQ.

Can you fully enjoy grilling outside when it’s not green and there’s no leaves on the trees, and the next day you could be looking at snow?

I’m contemplating going for my first outdoor run in months at noon, and I’m thinkin’: It’s kinda cold.

La la la you’ve got to grill for today.

With enough beers….I Can! Yes We Can!

I start grilling on Memorial Day, and I end on Labor Day.

But I’ve been accused of operating under too many self-imposed rules.

Well you do have to limit your exposure to grunt food.

Your grillin rules are my linen rules.

I went for a short run on one of the first melty warm days a few weeks ago.

I was standing on the corner and a really nice driver decided it was necessary to go out of his way to spray me with a wave of water. He was actually smiling when he drove by. It was awesome.

I showed my appreciation my saluting him with my middle finger.

The joys of running! I haven’t since.

btw: Has anyone read Once a Runner?

I, for one, welcome our gilling overlords. I also plan to dust off my Sear GrillMaster 300 and fix some seasoned turkey burgers this afternoon.

Gotta remember to get some beer, or the grill won’t light. Mrs. Lungs likes Sam Adams, so I’ll spring for that. Also, some wine for Easter dinner.

Without rules, it’s all darkness, Bob.

If you wait for nice days to grill, those days may never come. Enjoy them while they last. Having said that, I’m going to go to Bascali’s with friends for dinner tonight.

You grill between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

In the presence of royalty you bow obsequiously.

Rules, Douglas, Rules.

You grill when weather permits. I have grilled in every calendar month of the year. And, I don’t believe in royalty.

In the presence of royalty you bow obsequiously.

Couldn’t we just hold hands instead?

“Couldn’t we just hold hands instead?”

I’d rather hold your flag pin.

@DouglasG: Ahem! Who was it who discovered what turned out to be the tie-breaking correct answer?

Yessir. One of the Dead Hoboes you so clearly mock! We bow to your intellectual superiority but you wouldn’t have won the tie-breaker without us!

(And it was so cool to hear the Auto-Erotics, our nemesis week in and week out, exclaim “Where did THEY go to school” after DouglasG correctly answered the tie-breaking question: What was Ulysses Grant’s birth name?)

The other guy had no clue on the Hyram Ulysses Simpson Grant answer either, so we may have been able to win either way. I am glad they didn’t ask about President Leslie Lynch King, Jr.

All hail my netbook!

Wait a second. You’ll remember Douglas, I was talking about Hyram during the quiz. Of course, I was thinking it was a middle name.

Also, what is the one common denominator to the two Dead Hoboes teams that have won?

They didn’t have Steve on them!

Can you fully enjoy grilling outside when it’s not green and there’s no leaves on the trees, and the next day you could be looking at snow?

HELL YES.

Grilling in winter is key. Gives me time to step out for a cig, and the meat tastes better, just like fish taste better in the winter through the ice because of the cold water. Ok, I made that part up

(Just funnin’ with you noodleman.)

St. Paulies…
Has the Blue Door’s hype mellowed out yet?
In other words, how long will 2 peeps have to wait to have a seat?

Tonight…

Let it be known that I was a member of the MNVenger that did win one week — to the chagrin of the Auto-Erotics.

@Douglas: Please copy us on the e-mail to Bixby so she can respond to all. I love a front row seat in an e-mail war.

@Nood: Do you change your team name every week?

It’s Spring – Yay! My neighbors are out in their gardens preparing to brighten my view and my summer once again.

@Cat: I would do anything for my best friend that I have only met once.

@CiSC: I have no say in the team-naming matter. I guess Bixby, kurtis and DouglasG are the team-naming mavens.

@kurtis: You do remember, when the original question about the president whose middle name was “Simpson” was asked, I did wind up suggesting we go with Ulysses S. Grant? (Yeah, I know “Herbert Hoover” was also my suggested answer.) And you said I could hit you if Grant was correct?

We also guessed the “Irish singer with air-brushed teeth” question incorrectly, too, but, darn, I thought Van Morrison was a good guess.

There was no real theme to follow at this weeks’ quiz, which made making wild guesses that much more difficult to make.

@mnblrmkr: I did not know you also informed DouglasG about “Hyram.” But we did find out that Grant took “Simpson” for his middle name while at military school. His instructor thought “U.S. Grant” would be a cool moniker, so Grant removed his birth name (Hyram) and added his mother’s maiden name.

We also guessed the “Irish singer with air-brushed teeth” question incorrectly, too, but, darn, I thought Van Morrison was a good guess.

Now, how often are you going to have a mostly deaf dude on your team that would know that was Shane McGowan of the Pogues?

Divine intervention!

It wasn’t just “Irish singer with airbrushed teeth” there’s probably tons of those. It was that he was scandalized that they did it. That was key.

I would have guessed that if I knew the guy’s name. As it was, I could only think “that Irish punk band,” and couldn’t even come up with “The Pogues.”

I’ll probably skip next weeks and possibly the following week, then I can be more regular. I have a busy stretch coming up.

@Cat – Just saw your question about Once a Runner.

Best. Running. Book. Ever.

Also, very difficult to find. Send me an email if you want to borrow my copy. Or, you can wait until April, when it’s supposed to be back in print. I also have the sequel, Again to Carthage. But it was kind of a disappointment.

@Miller: Ha! I thought about e-mailing you to see what you thought as I figured you had read it.

I was late to the table and tried to find it a couple of years ago to no avail. It’s now on amazon.com – yippee! I need some inspiration to get back on a regular run schedule.

Thanks for the book loan offer, though. Appreciate it!

I just now realized that it’s already April.

Here’s a good article about the book.

Going for a run now. In shorts.

You think that’s wise?

Ideal running weather, rat.

It wasn’t unwise.

The thing about the email I am awaiting kicking me off the Dead Hoboes is that, even if the grumpiest MNSpeakers got together to write it, I don’t think anyone could come close to the bitchiness contained in the original email. Which, if you think about it, is quite astonishing considering how bitchy we can all get on MNSpeak.

Also, I was completely useless at trivia except that I was able to provide an answer about McKinley’s assassination based on the fact that I knew roughly when Garfield was assassinated (on his way to his reunion at my alma mater). Looking back, I really should have talked more, even if it meant providing tons of wrong answers. Oh why do I keep making the mistake of being a good listener!

Whatever, I’m still going to show up a trivia and make it really awkward.