Judge Hellman

I'm sorry I missed an impromptu house concert this weekend, even if my own show was pretty fun. There were probably more people at the show I missed. I'm not sure what that means.

One of these days I'm going to finish the companion to my embarrassingly nerdy balderdash page for Wise & Otherwise. We've played a lot in the past month, and there's quite a buildup of cleverness to archive. Thank you (and your Manfriend) once again for a lovely time yesterday, havot.

The icon featured with this post was the cause of much consternation for our darling fiendish dog this afternoon. I don't know where the squirrels are getting this stuff. The not-cold-enough weather must be causing them to go insane and turn to robbing bakeries or something.

If you have a caption I should write on it, and I know you do, please comment.

Looks like Girlyman are coming back to Chicago in April. This time to Schubas. Tickets appear not to be on sale via the Schubas website right now, but the show is listed on Girlyman's website. It's on a Wednesday night, which is a little less than optimal for me and my dahling, but we'll still probably try to hit it.

I've decided that if the Mountain Goats ever come back to Chicago, I want to be there. The Sunset Tree is definitely growing on me.

Also known as "How Carly Got Her Couch Back".

It was great to see those of you who were able to make it up here. We love our friends!

My main purpose here is to post this photo of the dog, who does love people, but gets a little worried when there are lots of them around. As Bryan said, she spends a lot of time in a "cute, worried state". So you can see a picture of the dog reclaiming her space:

( dog pix cut )

Totally pointless post. I have this desk that I really like, from IKEA. It's apparently purchasable from them, shipped, for $99 right now. I feel like I should tell y'all that, just in case you have a need for a desk.

This will never compare to the sweet deal jessypie got on her desk, but still.

(rubs shoulder, following nudgery pokery)

Right on cue, it snowed and I had to make soup, this time potato leek. I also made pound cake. So it was not the healthiest meal ever, involving lots of cream and butter, but it was delicious. We can't always eat mounds of vegetables.

I took Carly to the vet this morning for a check up. This has been a somewhat constant part of our lives for the past month and a half or two months -- the continuing saga of making sure she's back in total health. The doctor said he was very happy with where she was, and now we don't have to go back for a month. Prior to today, it's been about every two weeks. So that was a very happy thing to find out. A healthy doggie is a happy doggie.

Well, okay, a healthy doggie who has rid the world of all rodents, cats, trucks, skateboards, etc. is a happy doggie. But this was a good start.

A quick note from Michigan, which is a repeat of some of y'all:

I wish we could be in many places at once for ringing in the new year. I'm totally happy being where I am, but I'm thinking of my peeps in the Chicagolands too. Can't wait to hang with you in this new year.

Some of you may not be aware that I am the King of Euchre on the internets. But not just regular old Euchre. Oh no. I am the king of the two-handed version. I am the Keeper of the Rules for two-handed euchre.

Behold my top ranking:

http://www.google.com/search?q=two+handed+euchre
http://www.google.com/search?q=euchre+for+two+players

I get more email about this page than anything else on my website. That's not really saying much, since it amounts to maybe one email a month, but hey, it's good to be King.

I got an email from someone the other day telling me how she has educated her husband in the ways of euchre thanks to finding my page. I told her I was similarly schooled by my wife's family, and that I taught them cribbage in exchange. That's not entirely true, because my ex-sister-in-law who was instrumental in my euchre education is a monster cribbage player herself, but whatever.

Part of the response I got today, and the reason I had to post, was this:

"Nothing like marrying a midwestern girl, I always say."

Indeed.

[Update, for the anonymous person who was wondering how I got the royalty status:]

I didn't do anything special to get the high ranking. I did submit the page specially to Google, but I think the main thing is the page has been up there for a couple years now, and it's highly relevant for those search strings. Time, and a fairly well-crafted page, will get you a good ranking if that's what you're after. Incoming links also help, of course, but I have no idea if I have those or not.

Lease: signed. Now we need to get keys. The call goes in later today.

A mischievous Irish friend told me "Cead mile failte" means "You can have then van" in Gaelic. I actually believed him for a second, because I don't know a shillelagh from shinola. Fortunately, the internets saved me.

In honor of the internets, I will present to you what Joe needs.

- sign and mural artists
- a double
- your help
- an editor
- you
- to learn about libel
- to try a number of different things
- food, badly
- wood to build his house
- to catch as many fish as he can to make money
- good commentaries
- to stop reviewing whack games

and finally...
- a "Whack-A-Mole" in his yard

One of wild_basil's recent favorite movies is now in the public domain.

Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant star in Charade, downloadable now.

In other news, we have been accepted at the new apartment in Evanston we applied for last week. So we'll be moving for real. The trumpets will sound before long, and this time we're not letting volunteers eat a big tasty brunch first.

The Reader has a PDF edition. Am I the last one to find out about this?

First post from the temporary home in Evanston. Master P is a gracious host, and Rebecca is an interesting movie. wild_basil's brother and his girlfriend love it, and it wasn't until the first 60 or 80 minutes passed (out of the more than two hours) that I finally found myself seeing the hype. Hitchcock's pacing is so weird; some parts seem to go so slowly, but every bit of it matters once everything picks up. I just wish the stupid video company (a VHS cassette, how quaint!) hadn't stuck a preview of five different movies at the beginning -- one of the movies was, alas, Rebecca, so Twist #1 was ruined for me. Fortunately, Hitchcock's movies were not built on just a simple twist.

In other news, not that many people are roadtripping these days with presidential orders to conserve fuel, but at least now Illinoisers have the ability to use our I-Passes on eastward travel. I think that's pretty cool.

When we saw Lost in Translation a month or so ago, I enjoyed it. I didn't necessarily understand the huge response it got, but I enjoyed it.

Having seen these ads, I now understand the whole point of Bill Murray's character being in Japan, and why that would be funny.

Had a gig last night with Antje at the Horseshoe. I'm back to my old tricks of not telling anyone about them, but that's okay because we're short one person right now (new steel player should be starting soon).

It was a pretty fun show, but the amusing part was getting asked to sit in with the band playing after us. I'd never met them before, let alone heard their music. We went over the beginnings of the tunes quickly so I'd know how they started, then off we went. It was pretty fun, and I get to add another feather to my hired gun cap. Yee haw. They're called True Historians. Their singer is pretty amusing, had a lot to say to the audience when they failed to pay enough attention.

I'm playing a jazz gig this Thursday at around 9 PM at a new place in our neighborhood. It's called Pressure Billiards Cafe, so if you'd like to come down and play some pool while listening to a good group of jazzy jazzers, the more the merrier.

I think Chicago's getting a dose of what whos_your_venus says they're getting in Michigan this weekend. It's lovely here as well. What better way to commemorate the occasion than to watch a movie about the frigid Antarctic? I can't think of one either -- we really enjoyed the penguins and their little fuzzy, full-bellied chicklets.

I'm feeling a little loopy right now. I must need ice cream.

Actually, I think this turned out pretty good.

1. Go here.
2. Pass it on.
( my answers )

You may be wondering to yourself: if I put my birdfeeder four or five feet off the ground, on a clothesline, will it be safe from bears?

I'm happy to tell you I have the answer.

Do your mood today a favor and look at these pictures, taken in Alaska, forwarded to me from my aunt the NH State Moose Biologist. Having family in the wildlife business is a wonderful thing.

Blues tonight at the Bad Dog. Come see me, and three other guys ten years older than me, create more thoroughly non-groundbreaking entertainment.

Do I know how to sell it, or what?!

So, am I the only one who didn't know you're supposed to keep soy milk refrigerated before opening it?

We've been buying ours by the half gallon in containers of six. Since the little, quart-sized containers are always just on the shelf, not refrigerated, I assumed this was fine. And we've never had any trouble until recently. The last case that I bought had one go bad, and and today I discovered that one from the last batch had blown up in our cupboard. It's pretty gross.

Anyone know what gives? Is it a difference in the packaging? The soy milk, provided it stays in the carton until we open it, has always tasted just fine, with these two exceptions.

This is really aggravating, because it might mean that the only way to buy soy milk affordably will be to switch to buying the smaller containers, which means more wasted packaging. What's a dirty hippy to do?

Attention, lincoln squarers especially. I just got a gig for next Wednesday, July 20, at the Bad Dog. I'm playing around 10 PM, so it's a little on the late side, but if y'all wants to come see some bluez for a bit, I'd love to see you there. I'll be rushing like hell to get there following rehearsal with the country band.

It's with this guy, a recent arrival from Atlanta. He moved here just two weeks ago, but he had a couple friends here (guitar and bass player in the group) hustling gigs for him. These guys, who are all about ten years older than me, seem to enjoy working a crowd, so it promises to be pretty fun, especially if you like blues.

wild_basil and I are kind of young looking. People comment on this from time to time. Since I spend more time in bars and the like than she does, though, I tend to hear about it more. Here are some of my favorite moments of people not believing I was the age I really am.

• I said to my friend, where did they find you? Did they steal you out of band camp or something?
• Did you dye your hair grey like that?
• During my first month in Illinois, at a little bar in Ottawa, where I'm trying to get some liquid courage for karaoke:
  Me: Can I have a [some alcoholic item]
  Bartender: Let me see your ID
  Me: [hands over California driver's license]
  Bartender: [incredulously studies license, then shows it to someone else behind the bar, then studies it more, looking increasingly disgruntled]
  Bartender: I can't serve you. I'm sorry.
  Me: Really?
  Bartender: Yeah.
  Me: [sigh]
• (with thick Irish accent, getting carded in a pub) Well, are yeh yoong, or do yeh just look yoong?
• At Von Freeman's jam session in Chicago, my first time there a couple years ago
  Me: Could I have a ginger ale?
  Bartender: Are you old enough to be in here?
  Me: Oh yeah, definitely.
  Bartender: Lemme see your ID.
  Me: Okay, but I just want a ginger ale
  Bartender: I'm not givin' you a glass of water if you aren't old enough!

There was also a time last Christmas when I bought my stepdad some whiskey at an NH Liquor Store, and I couldn't find my ID at first. The guy studied me while I was doing that, noticed the grey hair and said "How can you have grey hair? You have a stressful life or something?"

I have a tax question maybe some of y'all could help me answer. I remember when I first got out of college, lo these 5 and a half years ago, they told us we could deduct student loan interest for the first five years that we were paying the thing back.

I expected this might have changed under our current regime.

This thing seems to confirm my suspicions. Do any of you happen to know if that limitation has been removed?