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.

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.

"The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist"

That quote was taken from the myspace page of Nels Cline, my recommendation of the day, and I find it rather humorous. Cline is a more recent addition to Wilco, a talented guitarist and writer. Most of the stuff on his myspace page is kind of jazzy, which I really dig, but there are some rock influences in there, as well as some experimental stuff too. Most excellent.