I hope that some people had a chance to catch the sunset last night.
It was lovely.
Sunset
Monthly Archives: June 2008
Family Night
Last Friday was Family Night for Ames on the Half Shell. By all measurable criteria the event was a smashing success. More than twice the amount of children made it to Family Night this year than last.
Plus I got to see many of my friends and their children. Take a look at some of the fun that was had on that evening.
Of course there are about 80 more pictures in on my website in the AOTHS Gallery.
AMES ON THE HALF SHELL
Here is a Family Night Fun Fact. Despite the fact that there were 5 times the amount of children at Family Night than there were for the first night of of AOTHS and Red Monkey was free for children, less than half the amount of Red Monkey that was consumed on the first night was consumed on Family Night.
If you picked up what I was laying down with that big run-on sentence, you might be wondering how that was possible. The fact is that I am to blame. I laid off the Red Monkey during Family Night because I thought the youth of Central Iowa would pick up my slack. They did not. Now I have to hit the Red Monkey doubly hard this Friday night to make up for lost time. But I mean really, what is wrong with this generation?
I also learned a few things on Family Night. I learned that Shannon can’t blow bubbles. I learned that if you sign up to run the 5K during Scandinavian Days they give you a pretty sweet free shirt. I learned that Becky proved that she doesn’t know anything about hats because she wore a balloon hat around most of the night. I learned that even if you have somebody watching the bounce house, children will get in a fight and scare other small children. I learned that the Baier children will take their tats like men when the time comes for them to get their tats. I learned that security is such a tough job that I didn’t get a chance to talk to everybody nearly as long as I had hoped.
Of course I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Ames on the Half Shell will happen again this Friday night. This week the band is Burnin’ Sensations and they are excellent. If you have a hole in your schedule between 5-8, this is the place to be. Also Friday is somebody’s birthday. I don’t wish to embarrass them (yet), but at the very least it is worth the price of admission (79 cents less than a gallon of gas) to wish her a Happy Birthday!*
Plus it is Friday the 13th. I’m not a superstitious person, but it might be a good day to be in a large crowd.
*That exclamation mark is not a random choice of punctuation.
A New Tenderloin Joint
Monica started working at this restaurant on Sundays:
Lake Shore Cafe
Monica talked up this joint’s tenderloin.
Shortly after hearing about this tenderloin I spoke with Scottie D. Scottie D. was all bummed out because I proposed the idea of a Tenderloin Road Trip in 2007 and then never delivered.
A plan was hatched and we headed out to this Lake Shore Cafe to make some estimations of our own.
I will reserve judgment on the tenderloin until some other tenderloins have been weighed and measured.
BNLL
Some pictures from a couple hours at the Little League Park watching Jesse and Lowell’s team.
Heaven and Hell
With all due respect to Dante and his circles of Hell, the only definition of Hell that I have ever been able to get behind is “separation from God”.
Now that I have that figured out, I should work on a better definition for Heaven. While it is certainly true that we can’t know what Heaven is like, it is my belief that we get glimpses of Heaven while we are on Earth.
I recently had one of those glimpses.
A piece of this rhubarb pie is a glimpse of heaven. I wish you could experience it for yourself, but you’ll have to get your own.
The War of Hot Dog Aggression
Teresa usually gets mad when I make fun of the South. I can’t help it. My prejudice against the South is based in real life experience. There is a reason we whooped them in the Civil War. If they still can’t get over it, that is their problem.
It isn’t as if the South has contributed nothing to the rest of the world. I’ll give the South points for the following:
- Tennessee Williams
- William Faulkner
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Mississippi Blues
- Instant Self-Esteem Boost for Northerners
- Shoeless Joe Jackson
- Robert Johnson
- George S. Patton
- Lead Belly
But that is about all I’m willing to give them. Despite this fact my sister brought me back the following items from her recent trip to Kentucky to visit Ernie.
That is correct. Pickled Watermelon Rinds and Hot Dog Sauce! Is the South really trying to be taken seriously by the rest of the world?
I’m leery to crack into the Pickled Watermelon Rinds, but this Saturday I’m going to fire up the grill and try the Hot Dog Sauce. I’m even going to buy special hot dogs for this experiment. Who knows? Maybe Hot Dog Sauce is the wave of the future.
For more information on the purveyor of these intriguing products, click on the link below:
Hot Dog Sauce
Friday Night is Family Night
If you are sitting around your home with nothing to do with a flock of kids by your side this Friday night, then I have good news for you!
This Friday is Family Night at Ames on the Half Shell and there are plenty of activities for children.
In fact, I’ll just give you a list:
- Free cup and unlimited refills of Red Monkey root beer. (Red Monkey is caffeine free)
- 1 ticket for every child to the duck pond. At the duck pond child will receive a prize.
- Face Painting
- Temporary tattoos
- Bubbles
- Coloring table
- Balloon lady (My understanding is that this is the balloon lady to end all balloon ladies.)
- Bounce house
- Spin Art (Costs a buck I do believe and worth every last one of those pennies.)
- Pizza (from Happy Joe’s I do believe.)
- Sno-Cones (This has yet to be confirmed, but this will be a fundraiser for Access.)
Of course there are also adult activities.
- Rocking the stage will be Murphy’s Law
- Pizza (from Happy Joe’s I do believe.)
- Spin Art (Costs a buck I do believe and worth every last one of those pennies.)
- Beer (Including two microbrews from Olde Main and a chick drink known as a Mojito*)
- Red Monkey (This is the best root beer ever.) There are other sodas available, but why would you want them when you have Red Monkey on tap?
The event kicks off at 5 PM and lasts until 8 PM. It is in the Bandshell Park near downtown Ames. This is followed by an After-Hours Party at London Underground.
Admission is 3 bucks and children under the age of 10 get in free.
I will see you there.
*When I was serving beer last week more men than I would have guessed ordered Mojitos. I don’t think that they were all ordering them for their girlfriends or ladies they were trying to impress.
Random Flower Day
It feels like a good day to post random pictures of flowers.
Here is a bonus image of another one of my attempts to tribute Impressionism. Specifically its emphasis on light in its changing qualities.
I like it any way.
Real American
The job posting for a Scab Nader has been closed. Nader has returned to the United States from his trip to visit family in London. We celebrated his return to the States with a meal at King Buffet and a viewing of Prince Caspian.
While eating the semi-edibles at King Buffet, Nader wowed me with his tales of London. One of his tales made me particularly proud. Proud of me. Proud that I have had an influence for the good on this man.
However, there was disturbing aspect of Nader’s return that I had to document. He came home with a way creepy mustache. I think you all know what I believe about mustaches and the men that wear them. He swore to me that he would shave it that night while he was shaving his head. I hope so. Nothing good ever comes from a man growing a mustache.
Creepy Mustache
Look at Yourself
I’m unable to look at that mustache.
Even this cool hat doesn’t help out that mustache.
One last bonus image.
Although I can not in good conscience endorse his facial hair selection, Nader did do one thing in London that makes me very proud.
A few months back Nader joined up with my Rambo Platoon for a viewing of Rambo. This was the first time that Nader had seen a Rambo movie in the theater. He groused about it for days. However, I assured him that although he has been a naturalized citizen for nearly 20 years, it was this viewing of Rambo that made it official that he was a Real American. I even told him that he should get a Certificate of Real Americanism from the Real American Bureau some time this year. (Note to self, need to fake up that certificate at some point.)
While he was in London his mom put pressure on him to move to London so that he could be closer to family.
He told her the following:
“Mom, I’ve seen Rambo now. Once you’ve seen Rambo you are a Real American and can’t move out of the United States.”
I am so proud.
Of course a 64 year old woman living in Tehran doesn’t have the foggiest clue who Rambo is, but that hardly matters.
While I was tearing carpet out of the basement with Jay on Saturday we came across a Rambo toy gun from my youth. I might give that to Nader to show him my appreciation for spreading the Rambo message to Tehran.
On a personal note: Even though Rambo is just a terrible, terrible movie, it isn’t anywhere near as insulting to the franchise as that awful Crystal Skull movie. I’m still angry about it.
More From Friday
Duff flooded a few hundred feet from the Computer Mine on Friday. The woods behind the Computer Mine flooded as well. I think all this water caused some of the animals from the woods to be a little more active near the building.
Earlier this year I figured out that Steve the Groundhog (as opposed to Angry Steve that works in Software or Steve the Hardware Plant on Dan’s desk) is in actuality a Stevie. A Stevie like Stevie Nicks, not like Stevie Wonder. I figured this out because I saw a few baby groundhogs hanging around the entrance to their hole a few weeks back.
On Friday I saw 4 baby groundhogs. I was able to get these heavily cropped pictures of some of the baby groundhogs.
They really blend in with their natural surroundings so they make for less than spectacular photos, but believe me that they are cute in person.
I also ambled down to the flood with Vest during my lunch break and snapped off a few pictures.
While we were over by the flood the water rose rapidly enough to close us in. We had to cross the water just to get back to the dry land of the Computer Mine.