We had a gig Tuesday night at the Turf Club. The Turf is about the only true rock and roll bar left in this city. The kind of bar people go to for drinks and there just happens to be bands playing. Most clubs you only go to if you know the band and want to pay to see them. The Turf has a built in crowd which is killer for a band like ours that would have a next to impossible time getting 10 of our friends to come out and see us on a tuesday night. The gig went pretty well considering we didn’t rehearse for it and it’s one we almost didn’t have. Dan Boardman booked the show one night at the Turf when he was trashed and forgot to mention it to anyone. Luckily a friend of ours was at the Turf on saturday night and saw our name on the board, called one of the guys to tell him he’d see us at the gig. “What gig?” “Tuesday at the Turf.” “Uhhh...we have a tuesday gig at the Turf?” So that’s how we found out. Thank god we did too. Tuesday night is already our practice night so we would have been playing in our practice space just a couple blocks from the club. We would have finished up about the time our show would have been ending and a couple of guys would have gone over to the Turf for some drinks like they usually do. Imagine walking into the club just after the gig you missed. That would have sucked.

West Indian Girl is a killer band. Put out one of the best records in recent years if you ask me. I let them know that through an email about a year ago and got an answer back from a guy in the band named Fran. We’ve traded emails over the past year and when i saw a tour date for Minneapolis i couldn’t believe it. He emailed me to tell me he put me on “the list” (so i didn’t have to pay to get in). I thought that was a pretty nice gesture but figured it would never happen. Well, Mike and i show up to the front door and i give it one of these: “I MIGHT be on the list, so maybe i should check.” This gets me out of the embarrasment in case he forgot but still gets me in lookin cool and smooth if it is. Guess what? It was. Killer. I actually wanted to pay anyways because i figured they get a cut of the door and a band like this probably needs every dollar they can get to make it across the country on a tour. That’s a tough life. I bought a couple t-shirts and a poster to make up for the ticket and i know they see more of that money anyways. Soon as we got in i found Fran and said hi. He was pretty rushed to get on stage and seemed nervous which i can understand. The bands record is killer in it’s big full production so i couldn’t really imagine how they would pull it off live so i didn’t have very big expectations. They blew me away. They killed it live! And we let them know between every song with a huge round of applause and yelling...they whole place did. They were the opening band so i don’t think a lot of people there knew who they were but by the sounds of the crowd after every song they made a bunch of new fans. I let each and every one of them know it too after the show. Mike and i had a chance to talk to all of them and get autographs and stuff. It was pretty cool. I could have seen the night going long and crazy if we’d decided to “hang with the band”. But we didn’t. Meetings the next day made sure we wouldn’t pull that stunt. What a great band though. Looking forward to seeing them play again.

It was too nice a day to not take a long ride on the motorcycles and we’d seen the billboard announcing that Red Wing Shoes was having it’s first ever warehouse sale. When i read in the paper they would also be displaying the “World’s Largest Boot” i knew we had to go. The ride down was great. Haven’t gotten those bikes out on the 70mph roads in a coule years. Sad i know. Those damn bikes hardly ever see 4th gear, let alone 5th. The warehouse sale wasn’t much to see. Found a few pair of boots i would have picked up but i had no way to get them home and Pam would have hated them anyways. The score was the huge boot. That was amazing. They had the facts which i’ll never remember, but it took the hides of 20 some odd cows to make and if the Statue Of Liberty needed a boot, this onn would be too big. Funny shit. You can never go wrong by taking ordinary shit and just making it huge.

Saw this sweet ride around the lakes one saturday or sunday and got the bug. Real bad. It doesn’t look like any bike i’ve ever seen before. It’s dirtbike like but smaller and fatter and has these huge fat tires that just make it look killer. Did as little research ion the internet and found out it’s a Yamaha. 200cc (which is perfect for all the riding i do.) Gets damn near 100mpg. Costs less than a Vespa, and it would help ease all the miles i put on my Kawasaki. I have to have one. Convincing Pam i have to have one is a different story. Wish me luck.

The whole town seemed to come out for this event. This dude had the vibe of someone who worked at Red Wing Boots for 40 years. He seemed proud. He just sat on that bench and soaked it all in. “Yep...i helped make this all possible.” And he’s right. Not many shoe makers left in this country. Not many that make so many boots with so much quailty either. Those boots will last forever and they’re one of the few that are worth resoling to keep them going. I have a few pair of Red Wings myself and they have seen some miles.

There’s something really funny about an 80 year old lady standing next to the world’s largest boot as her husband takes her picture. Does she really care? “And here we are in Red Wing Minnesota looking at the world’s largest boot...” I guess.

It’s not a good public gathering without mini donuts, that’s what i always saw. I love these little mobile stands. This is one of the better well kept ones i’ve seen. Note the red and white striped skirt running along the bottom covering up the wheels of the trailor. You don’t see that much. Usually they just leave it off...concerned more with selling stuff than appearances i guess. I appreciated them giving a shit so i picked up a bag of mini donuts and i gotta say they were some of the best mini donuts i’ve ever had. The best out there are the Tom Thumb mini donuts at the Minnesota State Fair...they are the best by a long shot, but i gotta say these gave the Tom Thumbs a run for their money. Mini donuts are one of those things you see all the time and people like them so much i don’t think the people that make them put much care into them. How can they not be good? Well, i’ve had some shitty mini donuts before...and it’s most of the time actually, so these people need to pat themselves on the back for a job well done.

Damn near everyday we can this summer Mike and I have ridin’ the motorcycle to St. Paul for sandwiches at the Acme Sandwich Co. The best “homemade style” sandwich anywhere. The place has soul and vibe and all the things that are missing in so many restaurants these days. And it’s in a small neighborhood in St. Paul which makes it even cooler...tucked in between cool old houses like this one. It’s awesome seeing people keep up that 1950’s green color, and those old tv antennas will always be cooler looking than the new ugly-ass satellite dishes peiople put on their roofs. (We’re guilty of that too.)

We went to St. Paul for dinner at Tanpopo. After dinner we were driving through downtown and saw what looked to be a new jazz club. We stopped thinking it was probably just a coffee shop jazz club but were surprised to see they had beer and wine. We hung out for a bit. Nice place. Good atmosphere. A lot of young people hanging out. It was open stage night so they came in waiting for their shot at the stage. These guys took the stage and had all the skills and none of the soul. I guess the soul part just takes age or experience and they had neither. They were still fun to watch. The drummer was technically great, but had no idea how to play in a band to make a song what it needs to be. He could solo all day long and you can see that in my picture. He’s doin’ his thing while the other two dudes stand in the background not knowing what the hell to do with themselves. It’s not what you play that counts, it’s what you don’t play that counts.

Peter is a friend of ours who i admire a great deal. He owns Bev’s Wine Bar, Jetset Bar and Moose & Sadies Coffehouse. Bev’s was the first wine bar in town, and still the coolest low key bar space in town. Jetset is a cool modern design gay bar. And Moose & Sadies was the first real coffeehouse in Minneapolis he opened over 10 years ago. All of his businesses are the best at what they do. He closed Moose & Sadies a few months ago to give it a redo and invited us to the test run reopening. What can i say about the new place? Awesome. They now serve food that is as good as my favorite resturants in town and the space is killer. This is easily Peter’s biggest project and dare i say his best. We’ll be eating here a few times a week if it stays this good.

This is the summer i decided i like something i’ve spent my whole life hating. Beets. Who knew...the damn things are actually pretty good. With all these summer salads Pam and i have been getting when we eat out i think i ate one by accident and didn’t puke. Now i’m crazy about them...all the way to buying jars of the damn things and eating them right from the jar. I ate so many one day that they actually turned my poop and very creepy redish color. That scared me so i’ll try not to eat so many in one sitting again.

Hmmm...not really sure about that one. I do like the fancy beer bottle and top the Grolsch beer comes in... and sometimes i do enjoy the taste of a “full bodied” beer, but i’m still a light beer in a can guy. American lawn mower beer, it doesn’t get any better than that.

What do some people think they are doing when they head out into a public space and get damn near naked with a body like that? That’s just wrong. I feel bad for people around me when i take my shirt off and expose all my whiteness...but at least i’m skinny! Sometimes i wonder if going to these public pools is really worth it.