I'm really not a crotchety old man yet. I promise.

Yeah, it's been 2+ weeks since I last wrote posted. And I'm ok with that. You know why? Because no one wants to read about me sitting on my behind. There hasn't been much action in the past few weeks (not like there was really much action in the weeks/months preceding that, but I digress), though there has been some plans made for action in the future. Like a January visitor to help celebrate 28, and possibly a springtime trip to New York City. oh, and I'll be getting a dog in a few days.

But I'm still trying to figure out what, if anything, I'll be doing on New Years. Part of me wants to just sit at my place alone, struggle to make it until midnight, and fall asleep. (in actuality, I give this the highest odds of happening.) I'd like to make a trip somewhere, since I now have the 2nd off of work, but don't know where to go. Maybe Tampa for the Outback Bowl, or Chicago to see some friends, or elsewhere. who knows?!

Otherwise, things are quiet here. I have yet to do any Christmas shopping, but have an outline of what I want to get for most people on my list. It will just be a matter of getting the items in an orderly fashion, without inflicting bodily harm upon myself or others during the act of acquiring said items. I would consider doing my shopping online, but I'm getting to the point where I'd have to pay more to get the packages in time.

In sports news, Iowa's Shonn Greene received the Doak Walker award, given to the best running back in the NCAA. I was hoping he'd be invited to the Heisman presentation, but knew he'd have about a 0.3% of winning, since he's not a QB that plays in a league that barely plays defense (I'm looking at you, Bradford and McCoy). The Royals signed Kyle Farnsworth. great. awesome. He can throw 97 mph. And tackle dudes (see video below). That's about it.



Umm, what else. . . Oh, the weather is kind of ridiculous. Monday, it was 60 degrees. Tuesday, we got an inch or two of snow in a decent-sized snowstorm. Last night it was raining, this morning I had a layer of ice on my car (and some on the parking lot, which I found and promptly slipped on), and then the temperature got into the mid-40's. Now there's this forecast for the weekend/early next week


Taken from wunderground.com. Yes, the high is supposed to be 61 on Sunday. And the high on Monday is forecasted to be 16. That's gonna be hell on my joints.

The return of an old favorite

no posts lately. No big surprise. Nothing of note has been happening here. Really. There was that election thing last week, which was cool. There was a little football game this weekend that was rather exciting. . .

My dad was down on the field, a place I really wanted to be. Alas, I was a little ways away, watching on TV.

I've been going back and reading through some of my older posts. I used to write some alright stuff, you know! Maybe I'll try to get back to that. Starting today!

It'd be neat if I had a photo story to post. I don't.

Something I do have, though, is a backlog of movies that I've seen and haven't discussed. You know what that means. It's time for everyone's favorite movie reviews!

I'm pretty sure the last one I saw was Vicky Cristina Barcelona, when I was in DC. It's the latest Woody Allen movie, with Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem. Of course I was going to like it. I just didn't know how much I would like it. It was great.

The movie, if you haven't heard about or seen it, is about a couple of girls (Vicky and Cristina) in a city (Barcelona). Vicky (a very pretty Rebecca Hall) is a grad student, with a fiancee back in the states, using her time in Barcelona to study, umm, Spanish stuff? The Catalan Identity, according to imdb. Good to know. Cristina (Johansson) is just kind of along for the ride. Bardem plays an artist, meets up with the girls, romantic comedy hyjinx ensue.

The settings were great, and the music was perfect. Classic-style Spanish guitar played a pretty big part of the movie, and made me want to go buy a classical guitar. (Note: I have yet to buy said classical guitar.) There were some kind of cheesy parts, as were to be expected, but the acting was great, the story was solid, and the cinematography was great. I would highly recommend checking it out if it's still playing anywhere, otherwise you'll have to wait for the DVD (set to release in January, which coincidentally lines up with a couple of birthdays, I can think of one person who will be getting it). It's an excellent movie, definitely one of Woody Allen's best in maybe 15-20 years. At least my favorite in that time period. That's why I'm giving this movie a whopping 5 Flenker Thumbs Up!!!!

Stuff on a Thursday afternoon

I'm watching the Iowa/Michigan game in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. It's like watching a JV basketball game at this point. It's painful. Somehow, the Hawks are only down by 10. I'm hoping for a big Iowa run in the last 7 minutes of the game, and then a magical run through the rest of the tournament to steal a spot in the NCAA tournament. I can dream, right? Either way, however this season ends, I'm happy with Todd Lickliter as the coach, he's done better than I had expected for his first year, I was thinking maybe 10 wins, right now they're sitting at 13 I believe. And next year should be even better, most of the team is sticking around, and Lickliter will be bringing in his first recruiting class. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Anyways, posting might be kind of sparse over the next few days, maybe weeks. Tomorrow is my last full day in Iowa, then I'm leaving for the KC area on Saturday, hopefully around noon. I'll update things around here when I can, and hopefully soon there'll be a guest spot from my soon-to-be temporary roommate, Charczuk. So keep an eye out for that!

Well, the game is getting a little ridiculous now, I'm just hoping that the Hawks will score 40 points. Ugh.

What is this? Is this actual content??

First, let me say I hate looking for airfare. (more like air un-fare, amiright??? thanks, I'll be by myself at the bar all night.) I'm trying to get home for Christmas, but not currently having a job is making it difficult. Luckily, both of my parents have graciously offered to help out, so it will be a very Flenker Christmas in Iowa.

Speaking of jobs, I had an interview last week, and have something else lined up soon, so hopefully one (or both) will come to fruition, and I'll actually have some sort of income to spend frivolously. (is there any other way??)

With no job, and basically no friends in town, it sometimes makes me feel very isolated and antsy (example: on my "Things Chris Needs to do List" for today there is 1) go to the post office, then 2) watch Heroes tonight. And the baseball game. exciting. And the post office might not happen, since that would require putting pants on). It's been a while since I've made friends with people other than co-workers or friends of friends. And since Big Texas was hoping that I would help introduce him to new people, I've got an uphill battle going on. My first few missions have been failures, but I've got another coming up tomorrow: the Project Jenny, Project Jan and Fujiya & Miyagi show. I will do my darndest to meet at least one person there.

I have met a couple of people at the Iowa Alumni Club game watches, so that's nice, but have yet to do anything with any of them. (Maybe tonight I will call to see if people would like to hang out. I think that's how it's said. Oooh, that could interfere with my Heroes watching, so maybe not tonight.) Note to networks airing games from Iowa City: you don't have to show cornfields and hogs and rusted-out trucks sitting on a farm every time you're in Iowa City. You could show actual scenes from downtown, or the Old Capitol Building, or university buildings or something. I mean, we were a shot of a jug band in overalls, sitting on a porch, away from looking like Missouri. And no one wants that.

It's amazing how the Iowa Hawkeyes football team winning a game can change my mood so drastically. I was downright giddy after their win this past weekend. Which is kind of sad, to be excited about a win over the annual whipping boy of the Big Ten - Illinois. But something needed to happen, because I was basically inconsolable for the 3 weeks before. (The Hawks hadn't won since I moved down here, and their only two wins were games that I attended. I was taking the blame, I felt like I was jinxing the team, letting everyone down. These things rattle around in my head. Yes, I'm nearly 27 and college-educated. Thankfully I realized that wearing my Fred Russell jersey during the game is good luck. I also discovered the proper position in which to sit to make the team play better. And if I have to eat the same, kinda gross hamburger that I ate last week, so be it. Disaster averted.)

If only it would not get into the 90's for just one day

Another weekend has passed in Austin, and this time I actually did stuff! Well, not on Friday. I didn't do a damn thing that day. Or really Sunday, either. I don't know if I left the apartment on either of those days. But Saturday, phew, that was a packed day!

Adam's taking a couple of classes in addition to his full-time job, so Saturday was his day to study. And since I was feeling rather restless, as well as just feeling like a turd after sitting around all day Friday, I thought I'd get a ride with him to the University of Texas campus and check things out. The plan was that he'd meet with his study group, then work on a paper, then we'd find somewhere to watch the Iowa game before we went to the Animal Collective show. Of course, I had to wear my Iowa shirt, so I thought I'd be hearing about it all day long. Much to my surprise, I didn't hear a single comment about the Hawkeyes. And I had never seen so much burnt orange in one place in my life. I would estimate that about 85-90% of the people I saw were wearing the color, and I'm being totally serious, not exaggerating at all. It was honestly kind of scary. I thought all of the Longhorn fans would turn to me with glazed eyes and try to eat my brain and then drape me in a shirt proclaiming my love for all things Texas. I think the Iowa shirt actually helped me out, though, they were probably too busy trying to figure out if "Iowa" was a foreign country or a band. Like "Iowa and the Hawkeyes" or something like that.

Anyways, the campus is pretty nice, definitely a different style than any I've been on. There are very few green areas, mostly buildings one right after the other. The architecture is a nice change from the usual university-type that I'm used to. Plus, they have a couple of fountains and a turtle pond, which I thought were nice touches. (again, I've taken pictures, but they're with Adam's camera, so I need to get them off of their. I'm pretty terrible about that lately. . . sorry)

We ended up going to the bar where the Iowa Alumni meet to watch games, which I think will be a regular weekend spot for me. The parts of the game that we saw were great, the Hawks leading 10-7 when we had to leave for the show. Unfortunately, things didn't end as well, as they lost 17-13. And it killed me to not be able to watch the end. We didn't have to leave, but I paid $15 for the ticket and I really wanted to see Animal Collective again. Although, we probably could have stayed for the rest of the game (which ended around 11 pm central time) and still made it in time for Animal Collective (doors were at 9, show was supposed to start at 10, the opening band didn't start until shortly after 11). So that put me into an even worse mood, especially when I decided I wasn't in the mood for the openers. So what do I do to make everything better? Order a Jack and Coke!

The show that Animal Collective put on was enough to pull me out of my pissy mood (for the most part). They put on one of the best live performances I've seen both times I've gone, so I would really recommend seeing them if they head to your area. They can attack you with a huge sound, and then a minute later be playing a delicate melody with some light, airy vocals floating over top. They played a great mix of songs off of their new album Strawberry Jam, as well as some older ones and yet-to-be-released songs (one such song is one of my favorites of theirs, so I'm hoping it'll be on some upcoming release). While they didn't play their song about kitties, or the one about puppies, they had enough great material to make the show enjoyable throughout. I'm glad that this was my first show in Austin.

Here's a video I'm "borrowing" from youtube that someone took from this show. It's of an okay quality, of a great song, so enjoy! (I'm pretty sure this is the same song that I posted a video of from when they played in Iowa City. Weird!)



Now tomorrow is a big day for media releases, the new Iron and Wine comes out, as well as the new Weakerthans album. Also, on DVD, Knocked Up will be available. But the biggest, most hyped item hitting the shelves will be Halo 3. Now if I had an xbox 360, or $700 to spend on one and the game, I'd definitely be buying it. Seeing as how that's a substantial chunk of the money I have (without any more coming in at the time), I think I'll pass. I'll just try to make friends with people lined up for it, maybe they'd invite me over.

Alright, time for me to go out and buy some new sheets. Exciting, right? Well, there may be some more excitement, and if there is, I'll definitely post pictures. Promise.

A weekend of long goodbyes

My last weekend as a resident of Iowa was an excellent one. Between great food, great fun, and great friends, I couldn't have had a much better time. Marin made it into town on Thursday, Jim and Haley on Friday, and Bill eventually made it (after some car issues) on Saturday, as well as Jeff, who made the trip all the way from northwest Cedar Rapids. After some drinking and Wii playing at my brother's place Friday night, Saturday was spent in Iowa City, taking in some of my favorite restaurants and sites one last time before I left. And oh yeah, there was a football game. For those of you who may not have noticed, the Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the Syracuse Orange 35-0 in front of 70,585 (mostly gold-clad) fans in Kinnick Stadium, in only the 3rd-ever night game hosted in the historic stadium. The first couple of pictures were taken from where Marin and I sat for part of the game, the last one was where everyone else was seated. We weren't able to get 6 tickets together, but it went alright with 4 together and 2 others. (I'm pretty proud of the pics, since my camera is broken and all)




The weather was beautiful, the Hawkeyes looked great (it could be that Syracuse looked terrible, but either way, I'm happy with the result), and I think a good time was had by all.

Of course, I had to forget my phone charger at my brother's place this weekend, so my phone died midway through the day on Saturday, and I wasn't able to get in contact with a lot of the people I wanted to, and made things more difficult overall, but we pulled it off pretty well. And it may have been for the best that I wasn't able to get a hold of a lot of people, because then I would've probably been stressed with trying to get everywhere to see everyone. As it was, it was a rather relaxing time with some good friends. We ate at all of the places I needed to hit one last time: Oyama for sushi with Marin, Oasis for one last falafel, Hamburg Inn for breakfast Sunday morning with everyone, The Pit to have some excellent Iowa BBQ (before I get some Texas BBQ, which may be even more excellent), and Whitey's for some wonderful ice cream. (For those of you not from Eastern Iowa/Western Illinois, yes, there is an ice cream chain around here known as "Whitey's". It's delicious ice cream.) Then yesterday I hung out with Travis for a little while before I had to go, then dinner with my dad and step-mom.

There were a few times where I think the air was rather dusty, it made my eyes water up a little. I don't know what the deal with that was. . . But I was so glad for how things went, and for my friends that were here that read this, I hope you all know how grateful I was for you guys to come down and hang out with me on my last weekend in town. For my friends that read this that weren't able to make it, no worries, we'll have more opportunities to get together. Everyone is welcome down in Austin, any time! Just give me a little warning.

Now today is going to be spent washing clothes, packing, getting my oil changed, buying some new sandals (Kenna ate mine last night), and watching a little bit of the 49ers game tonight with KP. I promise I will post one last time before I go, and will post more pictures from this past weekend as I get them from the various people that took them.

My kind of town

This past weekend was a blast! A huge weekend in sports, and a fun trip for the Flenker(s)!

My dad and I started for the Second City early Friday morning, so we could make it in time to take a shuttle to the Cubs game. All along the way, we saw cars full of Hawkeye fans making the trip east for the weekend, a sign of things to come. If you were in Chicago this past weekend, there was a very good chance that you saw black and gold all over the place. Like in this photo I took at Wrigley Field on Friday:

(click to get a better view!)

The game was fun, Hunter Pence was a one-man scoring machine on this day. He hit 2 homers, drove in 5 of the Astros' 6 runs, and the other run he scored. The highlight for me may have been BJ Armstrong singing the 7th-inning stretch, and the fans saying "Root, root, root for the Hawkeyes" instead of Cubbies. It was great. Another great thing? The Royals winning 9-4 over the Twins in the first game of the doubleheader! (I'll get to the second game in a bit.) I had to put this picture up there for H. I'm sure she will appreciate it. . .


After the game, my dad and I headed to our hotel, just in time for the nightly serving of freshly baked cookies. These may have been the best chocolate chip cookies I've had in a long, long while. I wish I had had my camera with me to take photos of my dad and me stuffing our faces. If the cookies weren't enough, we hit up a Lou Malnati's for some Chicago-style pizza. Delicious stuff!

We made it back to the hotel in time to see the end of the Syracuse game get interrupted since a pitcher was throwing a perfect game through 8 innings. A Twins pitcher. Against the Royals. Now I'm a fan of baseball, I would always root for a no-hitter to be thrown, let alone a perfect game. But not when it comes to the expense of the Royals. So when the lead-off man in the 9th was walked, I was cheering. When Mike Sweeney came up to bat for the first time in nearly 2 months and promptly hit a laser into left-center field, I almost jumped off of the bed for joy. Sorry Twin fans, I just couldn't see my team be a part of history.

Saturday morning we got up and headed downtown, towards Soldier Field, and the first game of the Hawkeye's football season. And again, the sea of gold was prevalent. This was the view of the south parking lot, full of gold flags and thousands of drinking Iowans.


And this was the scene inside the stadium, for what was supposed to be a "home game" for Northern Illinois. Unfortunately for them, they were outnumbered by at least 2-to-1 by Iowa fans.

(Their fans are in red. Everyone else was cheering for Iowa!)

Also, this was the view from our seats, not too shabby, even if they were in the second-to-last row. This is one of my favorite moments of any Iowa game, when the team comes out as a group, with the "IOWA" flags out in front of them!


And, one last picture, this time of the mass of people trying to get out after the game had ended.


This was an awesome weekend, I'm extremely glad I was able to go, especially since it was my dad's first time at both Wrigley and Soldier Fields.

This coming weekend should be even more exciting, as Iowa plays their first home game of the season, the reason why I'm still here, why I waited to move. I needed to say one last goodbye to Kinnick as a resident of Iowa. And, I needed a good time to have some people in town and have a good old time. So if you're in the area, you're more than welcome to stop by Iowa City and join in any fun, there should be plenty to go around! But for now, I'm exhausted, enjoy the pictures!

Sweet home Chicago

Well, I'm leaving for the next few days, I'll be going to Chicago to catch a Cubs/Astros game tomorrow, and then watch the Iowa Hawkeyes take on the Northern Illinois Huskies at Soldier Field! I'm pretty excited about it, my dad and I have been looking forward to this ever since they announced it. And after the past week that we've had, we could use a little vacation, especially after spending nearly all day yesterday moving him and his wife into their new place, a super nice condo in the Quad Cities. So more about that later, I need to pack and hit the road! I'll be back Sunday, hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

don't call it a comeback

Again, sorry for the downtime here, I've been busy with work, a party, some running, and a lot of playing NCAA football. (Plus, my "internet" has been kind of testy lately.) Sunday I played it with a member of the Iowa Hawkeye football team (Bradley Fletcher) and won! It was pretty wild, playing with someone who is actually in the game. (I won on a last-second play, after Fletch had been screwed with fumbles and interceptions dropped by his secondary all game long. I felt bad for beating him, but I had to.)

The party on Saturday went well, there was much drinking, some games played (washers, where you try to throw a washer into a box with a cup in it, kind of similar to horseshoes, and beer pong), grilling done, and some hanging out. Here are a few pictures, courtesy of my new camera. (click on any photo for a [much, much] larger version!)

We threw a football around a little while, Jim is catching the ball here, even though he has perfect form for punting it

Jeff goes for the leaping catch



I admire my perfect spiral



My brother struts around like this a lot (and looks a lot fatter in this picture than he actually is... he's sticking his chest/gut out a little here)

My mom and step-dad



My family. . .




Mom's so proud



My sister, excited about playing washers (we were on a team for one game, which was won with a clutch toss by me, right into the cup)



Me and Kay, in what I think it one of the best photos of me ever taken (and not just because I'm standing next to a pretty girl, I just look like the money here)



Me and Jim (and yes, he did come home with me that night)



I swear this was Angela's idea

I'll leave it at those photos for now, but there are a couple more pretty entertaining ones from afterwards, when Jeff, Jim and I were at my place. And note: these are all obviously pre-haircut, but the hair was lookin' pretty good for the last go-round.

"Is this heaven?"

One of the reasons that I'm waiting until September to move to Austin instead of right after my lease is up on July 31, is that I really, really, really want to go to one last Iowa Hawkeyes home football game. Here are some reasons why this is a big deal to me (in video form):

First, the Hawkeyes' entrance always gets me going. The team comes out in a bunch, as one group:



After every Iowa touchdown, the crowd does this cheer, that usually goes for a few minutes, until the team kicks off, when the crowd does the whole "key shake" thing that seems to be pretty standard around college football.



Those were both from the Ohio State game this year, which was dubbed the "Gold Bowl", all fans wore their gold apparel. I wasn't able to go to the game (I wasn't going to spend $500 on a ticket), but it was the biggest game in Iowa City since '85, and the atmosphere was amazing. If only we'd won the game. . .

Next up are a couple of songs near and dear to every Hawkeye fan. First, the fight song



And next, the song played after every Iowa victory, "In Heaven There is no Beer" (being performed by the marching band at the Pep Rally before this past season's Alamo Bowl):



And now for a few special moments in recent Hawkeye history. This clip is from last season, in a game that was much closer than expected, that ended with one of the most memorable defensive series ever. Around here, it's known simply as "The Stand". (it's a long video, just a warning)



Here's one that I was in the stands watching with Marin, last season's homecoming game against Purdue



Finally, one of the more emotional games I've ever watched.



and a longer clip (with crappy effects edited in)



A little back-story is required on this one. In December of 2004, a few days after Christmas, my grandma suddenly passed away, kind of shocking the entire family. Everyone traveled to Arkansas for the funeral and visitation, which happened to take place on New Year's Eve. Of course that night, the family was all together, and drank massive amounts of alcohol. The next day was a lazy one for everyone, recovering both from the night and just trying to mentally recuperate from everything. The next day, January 1, 2005, was also the day of Iowa vs LSU in the Capital One Bowl. Knowing that I was going to the U of I and a big Hawkeye fan, everyone encouraged me to watch the game, reassuring me that it wouldn't be inappropriate, grandma would've wanted me to watch it, stuff like that. So here I am, already an emotional wreck, watching a sport and team that can get me worked up even more. At first things were going really well, Iowa was out to a 14-0 lead. But LSU stuck around, chipped away, and eventually took a 25-24 lead with about 40 seconds to play. I thought it was over, especially when the team didn't notice that the clock had started, and they were lining up for the last play of the game, 56-yards away from the end zone. I was crushed, but still, it was just a game, and didn't really matter, the events of the past week had put things into more perspective.

After that final play, I couldn't take it anymore, once Warren Holloway caught the ball and ran in (a senior, playing in the last game of his career, catching the ONLY touchdown pass of his career), I broke down, started crying, jumping around and yelling, not being able to believe what had just happened, and not knowing how to react. (Thinking about it now, and every time I watch the clip [I have it on a DVD], I get teary-eyed, I can't help it) I called my dad, and he just kept yelling, "It's a miracle! I've never seen anything like this!"

That is and probably will always be the most memorable sports moment in my life. Just given the circumstances and everything that we had all gone through, it's something that I will never forget.

I'm proud to be a Hawkeye.

A random hodge-podge about whatever I feel like at the moment

I feel like I haven't been a good blogger lately, my updates haven't been as frequent of late, mainly because I haven't done anything worth mentioning of late. Really, the past few days have just been spent reading (Then We Came to the End), sleeping (when I'm not sweating all the time), watching episodes of The Office (which has been great, I think episode 1 of season 3 ["Gay Witch Hunt"] was one of the funniest TV shows I've seen in a while, season 3 has been amazing this far, I'm 11 episodes deep), playing video games (SMU has gone on a streak, we've won our last 3 Big-12 games and are bowl-eligible), and avoiding the 90-plus degree heat as much as possible. Which means either sitting between two fans at home or going somewhere the air conditioning has been running. This weekend the a/c might need to be turned on here, it's supposed to get in the upper-90's, and the humidity is supposed to be on the rise. Great.

I'm getting really excited about going to Milwaukee next weekend to see the Brewers/Royals series with KP. It should be an awesome time, it turns out that a friend of mine from work is getting married in Milwaukee the Saturday that we'll be up there, so we're going to be crashing the reception and imbibing the free beer that will be available. Then, we'll find a place to stay the night and maybe hit up the game the next day, which just so happens to be Bill Hall bobble head giveaway day. Sweet! (And A, if you're reading this, I hope you liked the game tonight. That'll teach you to talk shit about a series before it's over, the Royals wiped the walls with the Cardinals tonight, 17-8, and won the series 2-1. Way to go.)

I think now, just for H, I'll list off the Hawkeyes (current and former) that I've seen out and about in the past week: Seth Gorney, Matt Roth, Nate Kaeding, Albert Young, Dace Richardson, Jake Christensen, Duez Henderson.

Speaking of former collegiate athletes, Bill interviewed former Iowa State Cyclone and current professional basketball player Paul Shirley today. Shirley's senior year at ISU was my freshman year there, and I would occasionally see him eating in my dorm's dining center. And occasionally I'd sit next to him (for lack of another seat) and strike up a conversation, just about whatever, trying to not bring up the fact that he was nearly 7-feet tall and on the basketball team. He went to Iowa State on an academic scholarship, and is extremely easy to talk to, so we had all these short snippets of small talk. Anyways, when Bill was here this week, I jokingly told him to ask Mr. Shirley if he remembered me from the Friley Hall Dining Center. Little did I know that Bill would actually ask him. Unfortunately, Paul didn't remember me, and probably won't be calling me to catch up any time soon. I don't blame him, he's probably talked to all sorts of interesting dudes, and has a hard time remembering some random redhead from nearly 9 years ago. I forgive you Paul.

Well, it's time for bed now. And since the "internet" isn't really working right now, this will probably be posted in the morning, but don't be fooled. This was really written at the time it states, 11:45 PM on Thursday night.

What a time to be alive

The "internet" is down at my place, so, in order to keep you, the reader, happy, and in order to check my email, I walked down to the University's library to get online. (that may have been the most commas ever used.) I walked past the Pentacrest (pictured to the above), where workers were setting up stages and fences for Barack Obama's appearance tomorrow! I'm pretty excited for it, things fell into place really well, I don't have to work or anything. And it's kind of cool that he's going to be in Iowa City for an Earth Day Rally. Now if the weather cooperates, all will be well. Today it's beautiful outside, hopefully it will continue tomorrow, and the 40% chance of there not being a thunderstorm will happen. (does that make sense to anyone? Cause I'm not sure if I understand what I was trying to say)

While I was walking, I decided that there are some things that I need to do around Iowa before I make the move to Austin in August or September. The main thing that I want to do before I leave is to go to one more game at legendary Kinnick Stadium. Another thing that I thought of today was that I need to go to the Field of Dreams. (It's only little more than an hour away from me, and I've never been there! It's one of my favorite movies, how could this happen?! I need to go there with my dad and have a catch.) I have to try the restaurants that I haven't hit yet. (Note: Baldy's and Jimmy Jack's can be taken off the list, I've been to both now and liked them very much. Venuto's can also be removed, they have unfortunately closed.) I really should sell some of my stuff, or at least find a place to store some junk. I have way too much stuff that I don't need to bring to Texas, so a Flenker Sale may be in order. I really, really need to get my resume in order before I go, and I should start looking at jobs. I also want to get into better shape, that's kind of been slacking lately. Too many beers, I believe. I'm sure I'll come up with other must-do's this summer.

On a sad note, it pains me to say goodbye to Tyler Smith. He's leaving the U to be closer to his ailing father. I can't blame him, and wish him the best. If he ends up in Tennessee Orange next year or the year after, I will be cheering for them. They'll have two former Hawkeyes involved, how can I not?

One last thing, H has put up her answers to the questions posed by The Flenker! Thanks Haley! If you want to be interviewed by yours truly, leave a comment and I'll contact you with some goodness.

5 Burning Questions (an interview by Minty)

Well, you are now reading the blog of the newest member of the Buffalo Wild Wings' Blazin' Hall of Fire. At the BWW in Iowa City, you become a member by downing 18 of the Blazin' Hot Sauce wings in under 5 minutes. I got it done in just over 4, which was a little disappointing to me, but I finished, and that's all that really matters. Honestly, it wasn't that hot. I went through them so fast, it didn't have that much of an affect on me. The hardest thing was actually eating the wings in the time allotted. The wings had just come out of the fryer, so they were hot to the touch, and burned my mouth just from their temperature. So now, if you're in the area, look for my picture on the wall, and I can show you my new shirt, proclaiming my accomplishment. (Naturally, I got ice cream afterwards)

Today's post is an interview of The Flenker by Minty! She posed some thought-inducing questions, which were a pleasure to answer! If anyone out in the ether wants to be interviewed by Flenker, read the directions at the bottom of the post. Without further ado, let's get Minty on Flenker.

1. What day/event would you relive/redo if you could?

If it's just one to straight-up relive and have the same experience, it would probably be the day that the Iowa Hawkeye football team destroyed Ohio State in Kinnick a few years ago. And not just because of the Hawkeye win, but it was just overall a great fall day. The weather was almost perfect for me, I watched the game in Muscatine, sat in the hot tub, and had an excellent night back in Iowa City. All around, a good time.

As for one that I would like to redo, it gets a little trickier. There are a lot of things that I've been reflecting back on, things I think I should've handled differently. At first I thought I would redo my whole going to Iowa State University, but then I wouldn't know some of my best friends, including Bill, Heinricy, Charczuk, Jim, and others. I also, in turn, wouldn't know Haley, and may not have ended up in this here blogosphere. And, my life would've been totally different, I wouldn't have had many of the experiences that I've lived. That's not to say that one way is better than the other, I can't say that. But I don't regret what I've done and where I've been in that regard. I think the main events in my life that I would like to redo are the social events, when I've just been awkward and all-in-all a party pooper. I wish I would've been more supportive of going to different parties. And I wish I wouldn't let a negative attitude towards things (movies, bands, people, etc.) get me in such a bad mood, to the point where I can't enjoy anything, and I bring the other people around me down as well. I can think of a few instances of this happening in the past few months, and I apologize for all of them.

Also, I wish I would have gone to see the Apples in Stereo when they were in town a few months ago.

2. Is there a word that you can't spell correctly no matter how many times you try?

I know there are some, I just can't think of any right now. I'm usually a very good speller, and good grammatically, but every now and then my fingers don't want to work properly. Usually, I'll have troubles with words ending with an "-ly", not knowing if it is"-ally" or "-ely" or just simply "-ly." One of my favorite words to spell, conversely (see, I had to look that one up), is "awkward." Not only because it fits me so well, but I really like the w's being that close together.

3. You have to eat from one fine fast food establishment for every meal for the rest of your life; which is it and why?

Well, if Oasis counts, I would go there and eat falafel every day and be happy. I eat there almost every day as it is, so it wouldn't be too much of a change. But if I have to pick a more "traditional" fast food joint, I'll go with Wendy's. I could survive on Jr Bacon Cheeseburgers, fries, and a Frosty until the end of my days. (Of course, the fries would be dipped in the Frosty)

4. If you were given the chance, what famous person (dead or alive) would you want to interview you?

This is kind of a tough one for me, there are so many musicians and writers that I'd would love to find out what sort of questions they would ask of me, and how the conversation would go. But I think I'd have to go with Buck O'Neil. When he died last October, I literally cried, even though he had reached the age of 94, and had been in fairly poor health. As I've noted many times before, he's one of my heroes, and would love to have him pick my brain, and, even if he would be the one asking the questions, I would learn so much about baseball, and probably a lot about life. Of course, we'd have to toss a ball around, and catch a ballgame in Kansas City. Then we'd get some barbecue and have some iced tea.

5. Which Wilco song is your favorite from a lyrical standpoint? Which is your favorite from a musical standpoint?

Another excellent question, it's very hard to choose just one. . . Lyrically, "Pieholden Suite" is probably my favorite, while "Forget the Flowers" might be my favorite musically. Now if you ask me this again tomorrow, you may get two different answers. But I feel that both of these are solid songs.

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Now everyone else plays along! You may have seen this done elsewhere, but now it's your turn. Just follow these simple rules.

1. Leave me a comment on this post saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Another photo story (with apologies to Haley)

I've decided that now would be a good time for me to post the next photo story of The Flenker. This comes from my weekend in Minneapolis for the Iowa/Minnesota game. We decided to go to Gameworks in downtown MPLS, where on their menu, they had a challenge: eat a one-pound hamburger with all the fixin's, and get a $10 giftcard to use in the arcade. The burger was $12, so we figured it'd be worth a net $2 to do it, so all the guys got it. Haley had something like a salad, and Bill got a turkey wrap. I've decided to caption the photos this time, to add to the story. One last note before the photos, this was the meal that turned Haley off of beef. I can't imagine why, there was 5 lbs of it on the table.

I was acting interested in what H was saying, but my mind was on the burger

Me and the boys discuss the game plan


Ordering with gusto

Guessing the size of the behemoth

The Flenker is not impressed

Digging in

I like my burgers a little pinker, but this will have to do

I was going so fast, it appeared as a blur (notice Strickland in the background, empty space on the table)

I slowed down a little for photographic evidence (Strickland still burger-less)

Time for a bib

Getting near the end (Strickland still not eating)

Wiping the mouth while Strickland watches with jealous eyes

VICTORY!

And, just for fun, another one of my favorite pictures of me, in full BEEYAH! mode during the combined birthday party for me and Dan (pictured, my co-beeyah) this past January.

Reflections on the day

Much love and thoughts go out to those in VA today. This news hit me hard for some reason, I had flashbacks to the shootings here at the U of Iowa campus in November of '91, one of those events where I can remember where I was when I had heard about it. That was nowhere near as bad as this one, and I thought that the one in Iowa City was terrible. Sure I was only 10 at the time, but I knew it was a tragedy. (I still remember the Hawkeyes wearing all black, decal-less helmets for their next game against Ohio State, and upsetting them for a very emotional victory. I know it may cheapen the events to bring in sports here, but it was a big thing for me at the time.) And it provides, to me, a perspective and sheer magnitude of what happened today. I felt like I should say something about it. Terrible, sad news all around.

In brighter news, things in Iowa City today were rather relaxed. The weather was absolutely perfect, getting up to around 75 degrees and sunny. Much nicer than what everyone's getting out East. I was still dog-sitting, so Tucker and I took a walk around the neighborhood. It made me really want to have a dog of my own to walk. I like Tucker and all, he's a sweet dog, but it's a little emasculating to be walking around with a miniature wiener dog. I took some time to read outside, and even did a little studying outside for my upcoming finals. Not looking forward to those, but I am looking forward to being done. And looking forward to the summer. Then work was fine, it actually went by quickly, which is always nice. I decided that I needed to spend a little of the money I made from the dog-sitting, so I picked up a six-pack of Samuel Adams Honey Porter, because it sounded interesting to me. I like porters, and I like honey. So I figured it would be good. And I figured correctly. I'm finishing up my first one right now. It starts with the taste of a porter, but a little smoother, and has a nice, sweet, honey aftertaste. Definitely worth checking out if you like darker beers.

Sorry for no music today, I was too busy enjoying the weather. I'll try to do it tomorrow, but no guarantees. It may be too nice again. Plus a day off never hurt anyone. But, here's a music-related recommendation, I guess. If you're a fan of Wilco, you should watch Jeff Tweedy's live concert DVD, Sunken Treasure. I saw him on this tour here in Iowa City, and I have to say I enjoyed the show I saw in person more than any of the concert clips from the DVD, but I think I was spoiled with that one. There's still some good footage, including Tweedy playing "How to Fight Loneliness," a song he didn't play here, much to my dismay. If I can figure it out, I'll put up a couple songs from the show that I went to from a bootleg that I found. It's pretty good quality, and makes me smile every time I listen. (PS - tickets for Wilco at the Adler Theater in Davenport, IA, go on sale this Saturday. It's their first show in the US after a European tour, in the city where I was born, a city half an hour away from me. I'm pumped.)

Well it's been a long day, and this beer is making my eyelids a little heavier, so I think I'll be hitting the hay. I stayed at the place I was watching last night, which was a nice little vacation of sorts, but I like my bed way way too much, so tonight's sleep should be good. Good night (or day, depending on when you're reading this) everyone, hope the next few days are brighter all around.

Happy Jackie Robinson Day!

60 years ago today, Jackie Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers for opening day, marking the first time an African-American played in the modern era of Major League Baseball. I really don't know why he and Buck O'Neil have had such a huge influence on my life; it's not like I can really relate to them that well, being some white boy from Iowa, but they're still heroes to me. Maybe it's just because they're were such big figures in the history of baseball, and therefore are big figures to me. Robinson's former team, the Dodgers, are playing in the Sunday Night game on ESPN, so I've been watching that, listening to Jackie's beautiful wife Rachel tell stories and cheer for the Dodgers in the booth. For some reason, baseball stuff can make me tear up, and tonight was no exception. It's been just a great ceremony and game.

This weekend was fun, my visitors Bill and Haley made it safely and in time for the Hawkeye's spring practice. The weather was almost perfect, only a light sweatshirt was needed when the sun was out and wind died down. The practice went about how I expected, a tense moment occurred when Dominique Douglas (Doug E Fresh or DD from now on in this blog) started limping around, but he came back a little later and made a few outstanding catches. I liked watching Arvell Nelson, as he has become my favorite quarterback, but I doubt he'll get a whole lot of playing time right away, behind Jake Christensen. We shall see what happens, though. Doug E is still my favorite Hawkeye. Todd Lickliter made an appearance and received a very nice standing ovation from the 20,000 fans that showed up to watch a practice.

After the game I introduced my guests to falafel, which was a great success. I was slightly nervous about this, since I had been building it up to them so much, but I don't think they were let down. It was a good time. Thanks Oasis! We then went to a local used bookstore, where I picked up a couple more books that I probably shouldn't have. I got Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut, The Metamorphosis (and Other Stories) by Franz Kafka, and An Evening of Long Goodbyes by Paul Murray. I got that last one because the blurbs on the cover compared Murray to Nick Hornby, one of my favorite writers, and because the cover reminded me of those "Old Spice" commercials with Bruce Campbell. It seems to have been well-liked by critics, so hopefully it'll be a good find. If not, I only paid half-price for it at a used place, so no big loss.

After the book store, we headed down to the Riverside Casino, because Haley really wanted to see it. And who am I to keep someone from new experiences? It turns out I should've kept her from this one, as I got my ass handed to me by a Walt Disney lookalike at the Blackjack table. With spirits and funds low, we decided to head to Buffalo Wild Wings for some food. I was tempted to try for the "Wall of Flame" by eating 18 of the Blazin' Hot wings in 5 minutes, but didn't really feel like spending that much money on the wings. I did sample the sauce, though, and am confident that I can do this. So sometime in the near future, a Polaroid of The Flenker will be on display. (The sauce is hot, I'll give them that. But not debilitating-ly so. And if my little brother can do it twice, that means it's not going to be a problem for me. The only problems I would have [and did last night] is going to the bathroom with the burning sauce on my hands. Not good times.)

We ended the night at BoJames, had a few drinks and a rather enjoyable time, stumbling (literally for H) home and getting to sleep. The morning brought us breakfast at the Hamburg Inn, and then a rushed goodbye as I was heading for work. More time would've been nice, but a great weekend either way.

Well, I'd love to stay and write more, but I'm dog/house sitting for some friends, and I don't want to leave Tucker by himself for too much longer. He's a sweet dog, a miniature dachshund, we've been hanging out most of the night, just laying around and watching baseball. But there's no internet there, and I needed to grab some things from home anyways, so I figured I'd drop a quick note on this here blog of mine. And I would like to welcome Haley's Dad to the scene, I hope he enjoys everything around. Anyone who is a Hawkeye fan is a friend of mine!

Gin, why do you treat me so good?

(I know my title's grammatically incorrect. But it's ironic! It's supposed to be that way because it's funny!)
Today's shaping up to be a Good Day. There's the spring game or practice or scrimmage or whatever they're calling it for the Hawkeyes today, the Hawk Shop is having a big sale, my dad's coming up, and Bill and Haley are on their way to Iowa City! Now if the clouds would go away and if the sun would warm things up a little bit, it would be pretty perfect.

So last night got a little out of control. . . One of my brother's roommates was celebrating his 21st birthday, making me feel like an old fart. But he supplied the alcohol, so I can't complain. He had mixed up some delicious "gin buckets" and had a keg. I stuck with the gin (if you want to win me over, feed me Tom Collinses all night long). I stayed there for a little while, then went out to meet up with some friends. In spite of my best efforts, I did not get into a fight. (I don't know what it is, but ever since New Year's Eve, I've been feeling a little punchy when I get some liquor in me. And honestly, dear reader, I haven't really been trying that hard to get into fights. I don't think I really want to fight, but it makes for a good story.) Nothing that exciting happened, just hanging out with some friends and having a few cocktails. I'm pretty sure I called Bill and Haley about 5 or 6 times throughout the night. I used to be an out of control drunk-dialer, but I've reined myself in fairly well of late. That, and I don't drink too often anymore. I'm an old man living in a kid's town. And while that may push me to drink, I wouldn't want to do it downtown, and don't really feel like being super pathetic and drinking at home alone all the time. So, I'll just stick with my blog.

Somehow, I've never been hungover. Well, that's not entirely true, I was hungover after my "drunkest night ever" and a little bit after my birthday last year. But aside from those times, the Next Day is usually fine for me. Like today, I woke up at 9 after going to bed around 4, and feel wonderful. I feel like going to a Hawkeye football practice! I think I shall. First I must shower and pick up a few things in my room before my guests arrive. Maybe tonight H and I can have a joint blog posting. That'd be intense!!! Until then, have a wonderful Saturday folks!

I'm leaving this place, but there's nothing I'm planning to take

Cassadaga, the latest album from Bright Eyes, was released yesterday, and I'm getting through my first full listen of it now. It's good. Very good. And on this glorious, seemingly ironically excellent day, it's perfect. (For those of you not reading this from the Midwest, there has been some extremely unseasonably cold weather, complete with some huge, huge snowflakes falling in Iowa City today. Incredibly beautiful. I love this. It's like Iowa City knew that I was going to be leaving after the summer, and wanted to give me one last snow, just as a nice little going away thought. Everyone around is bitching about the weather, while I'm walking around with a big, dopey smile on my face.) This album is a nice mix of some country-tinged tunes, showing what I feel has been the natural growth of Conor Oberst. If one were to listen to Fevers and Mirrors and then immediately play this album, they'd probably find it hard to believe that both came from the same band/musician, but, listening through their catalogue as it's grown, the band becomes more of an organic being, maturing with each song. It may help that Oberst around the same age as me, so maybe I'm kind of growing the same way. That may be a stretch, but it's nice to think. I haven't decided on a favorite song yet, I'll have to listen a few times more.

For other things in my life right now, it would seem like today would be a Bad Day. I mean, to borrow an analogy from Bill Simmons, I had a no-hitter through 7, brimming with confidence. I had lost the perfect game with a walk and an error, but was still going strong, no one could touch me. Then, on my best pitch, I gave up a triple off the wall. Now the other team is threatening to score, while my bats have been silent for sometime now. And I'm pretty sure the pitches were being tipped somehow, and the signals between me and the bench had somehow gotten confused. Now, with confidence shaken, I gotta try to maintain composure and finish the inning. I know about 94% of the people reading this won't get the reference, and that may be a conservative estimate. But I find it hilarious, so the whole day was fun for me. Just humor me this. Thanks.

However, part of the bright side of losing the no-hitter is that I've made up my mind. I'm going to Austin. It'll be after the very first Iowa Hawkeye home football game, just because I want to see another game at Kinnick before I leave. So, most likely sometime after September 8th, I'm heading south. I know, I know, some people may be skeptical about moving to Texas, home of our president, but Austin's a college town, suposedly similar to a (much) larger Iowa City, and I think my ideals will fit in there quite nicely. Plus the music scene is exactly what I want. So there's not a lot that can change my mind at this point. Unless someone offers me a lot of money to move to Boise right now. Eventually I'll get there, but there are other things I'd like to do and check out right now. Plus, I don't know if an opportunity like this will present itself again, so I gotta take advantage. So, as Howard Dean once said, "Beeyah!!!"

The Official Welcome!

I just wanted to post the picture that hawkeyesports.com had up as their intro page. When I first saw it, I got a big, stupid grin on my face. I'm excited for the next few years of Hawkeye basketball.

Welcome to Iowa City, Todd Lickliter!

What a great sports day, aside from the Florida victory in the championship game tonight. Now we have to put up with a year of hearing the question "Is Florida the best school for athletics?" Who cares. Of course, if this were Iowa, I would be heading up those questions. But since I hate Florida, it's stupid.

Speaking of Iowa, we finally have a basketball coach! Butler's Todd Lickliter will don the black and gold next year, a candidate that I hadn't heard mentioned very often. However, I love this hire. He was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Coach of the Year for Division I, after the Bulldogs racked up 29 wins and a Sweet-16 appearance, where they lost by 7 to eventual champion Florida. In the season, his team beat Notre Dame, Purdue, Maryland, Old Dominion, Gonzaga, and Bruce Pearl's Tennessee. Thank you Gary Barta. Your first hire seems like a good one. We'll have to wait and see exactly how good it turns out, but the first impression from me is a good one.

Finding out about the new Iowa coach tonight was just the icing on the cake of Opening Day!!! My Kansas City Royals dominated the Boston Red Sox 7-1 (which I totally called here, about 2/3rds the way down in that post, and it still stings to see me talking about going to Opening Day and then to end up not actually going. . .), $55 million man Gil Meche went 7 and 1/3 strong innings to pick up the win, Tony Pena, Jr had two triples, John Buck hit a home run, and though future stud Alex Gordon went 0-3, his first at-bat looked decent. I mean, he came up to bat with the bases loaded the very first time he stepped into a major league batter's box, against Curt Schilling. And while it would've been amazing to see him hit a homer (which would've made me start crying tears of joy), he had a respectable at bat, fouling a few pitches off before missing a nasty splitter in the dirt. He'll get better.

Well, I'm off for now. I'm absolutely beaming from this day, though. We even have a severe thunderstorm watch, which makes the night that much more enjoyable for me! Let's hope this continues for a while. I'll try to post a little more about my weekend concert tomorrow. . . Until then, I'll leave you with the wise words of Woody Allen, from the movie Zelig.

"I love baseball. You know it doesn't have to mean anything, it's just beautiful to watch."