Posts

Showing posts from September, 2007

On Mountain Dew

I have a few friends that are in a rather platonic relationship with the yellowish citrus beverage known as Mountain Dew. Some people are made of the stuff which leads them to make stuff like this, a "treasure trove of love letters" to Dew . I do not enjoy the beverage as much. However, its brother beverages Code Red and to a lesser degree the new Game Fuel have cohabitated with me and I liked it, thank you. Some acquaintances have debated the origins of Mountain Dew. They claim the beverage was invented in Benson , MN. I being one to pry deeper into these things set out on a little research. It was not very difficult. I discovered numerous websites listing the origins in Tennessee or Virginia. Check them out here , here , and here . These blow all kinds of holes through the Benson origin. I suspect the Benson Theory may have erroneous been attributed Genesis status because Mountain Dew was very localized beverage before Pepsi bought it in 1964. Pepsi's introduction of

He never said a word

He made striped shirts fashionable. He can be credited with being world famous for saying absolutely nothing. He was the world's most recognizable mime artist. France, myself, and the world are mourning the loss of master pantomime , Marcel Marceau. His adept use of movement and expression entertained and thrilled many. I can credit Marceau with influencing my elementary physical education coordinator to hold a lyceum on mime in 5th or 6th grade. I think I am one the only students that still utilizes those skills. My skills are hardly a fraction of Mr. Marceau's. A few years ago while clawing through second hand books I found a program from one of Mr. Marceau's performances. I paged through it until I found out what he really looked like under the white face. A friend of mine had been to a performance of Marceau. He recalled being amazed at his pantomime of an escalator. How do you eulogize a mime? A moment of silence or lots and lots of noise? I think I should just paint

On the road to glory: We’re Talkin’ About Playoffs!

Image
W ow. This is the 2nd full episode this month! Once again you can find it on the Intramural Glory website. I blogged in February about the making of this episode here . Also don't read further if you haven't seen the episode. There are spoilers here. Click here for the latest episode, We're Talkin' About Playoffs. By making a incredible comeback in the previous game, Team Unglaublich land themselves in the playoffs. However, a snowstorm attempts to block their progress and not even the Ledge can prevent that. Well, maybe if he had a weather machine. So the team is missing a few players, notably Owen, Boima, Old Guy, and Rob. Kyle makes a surprise visit but cannot be coaxed to play. The Cougar attack saga is still being milked. To try to get to the bottom of things Shelby hires a detective. However, by some miraculous act, Cougar is ready to play. I don't think he contributes much during the game but he certainly gets lots of face time in this episode. So does thi

I got small and...

Image
...went to Dinkytown. This particular Dinkytown resides on the east bank of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus. It is a very boho kind of place. You've got beggars, protesters, musicians, outdoor cafes, bookstores all packed into a few acres of real estate. About 3 blocks west you have the Mississippi River and a collapsed bridge. There are many lurkers on an adjacent bridge looking at it. It is sort of like Minnesota's version of Ground Zero except there were no terrorists (we think). I hung out at this remarkable bar called the Kitty Kat Club . It is only a block from the fabled Loring Cafe. The place is quite a bit different that your typical drinking emporium. It is decorated in a rather peculiar fashion. Because of one particular theme room (Rembrandt's "Man in the golden helmet"), the Kitty Kat reminded me of the Kevin Myers Show I used to do in the Grove. I should upload some pictures because describing it would do no justice [I did, 08.10.07]

The truth will find you out (even in Ireland)

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=462964&cc=5901 Well, Steve Ireland did not lose his grandmother after all. Although he did lose a child. I wonder what Roy Keane would have done to Mr. Ireland in this circumstance?

On the road to glory: The moment of truth

Intramural Glory returns again with an episode on its own website: http://www.intramuralglory.com If the episode's title is any indication, then we're in for an epic dramatic climax following the "brutal" attack on Cougar. Well, I'm not sure there was a moment of clarity much less truth. Maybe Owen's moments may have represented something akin to a super villain considering his wrongs and turning around. Whatever the case, Team Umglaubich won. This episode continues to follow the players' antics with Shelby, a spiritual guide, Owen's parole officer, and April the sports psychologist, interspersed with the actual game. I must admit I was wrong about Shelby also being the psychologist. Clearly they are 2 different people. Shelby and April also appeared in a shot together. But where have I seen April before? She almost reminds me of a former classmate of mine name Tara Mandich. Ah, what does the world care? So they win and probably make it to the playoffs