Don't Tug On Superman's Cape

As some of you have probably already seen we have announced the 3rd Annual German Benefit Dinner at Gasthof's! The dinner and silent auction will be held on Sunday, September 16th with two dinner seatings - one at 4:30 PM and one at 6:30 PM. If you'd like to come out and join us let me know. Last year we had over 270 attend and it's a ton of fun, a ton of awesome food, and a ton of great people. You won't be disappointed. Tickets are $25 each and include and all-you-can-eat German buffet dinner as well as a glass of beer or wine. How can you beat that?! You can't, I tell you.

Congrats to Rachel, Mike and Bob on completing their half Ironman on Sunday! Way to go! Mike and Bob will also be doing a full Ironman in September in Madison. Keep up the great work, boys!

So, do you think Lindsay Lohan has a problem?

I was shocked to see that both Tom Snyder and Bill Walsh passed away this week, and they both died of leukemia. Most people probably don't remember Tom Snyder - I for one only saw a few of his shows but he was entertaining nonetheless.

I tell ya', ya' gotta be careful how you spit. I guess on the up side this bloke took Jim Croce's advice and didn't spit into the wind.

We found out this weekend that my nephew and Godson Stephen is moving to Minnesota! He's going to be working at the Gunflint Lodge up in Grand Marais, which is about 6 hours north of the Twin Cities. He'll be stopping at our place Sunday night on his way up from Ohio and will bunk with us for the evening. He loves the outdoors and is very excited about this opportunity. He's another nephew of mine that is pursuing what he loves for a career, which is way cool. Great job, Stephen!

What the heck?

Yeah, I like Jim Croce. I was wearing a Jim Croce shirt to the concert on Saturday night and this drunk man comes up and asks me to tell him a cool story about Jim Croce's bar. I told him I really didn't have one and he was legitimately disappointed. So I thought I'd come up with one - you know, just in case he's reading my blog.

So, Julie and I were down in San Diego for the Rock 'N Roll Marathon and we stopped at Croce's to check the place out and to buy said shirt. I was humming "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" waiting for them to get me my shirt and this older gentleman at the end of the bar asks me if we're from out of town. I told him we were from Minnesota. He invites us back for an intimate concert that evening - a concert he told us we'd never forget.

We came back a few hours later. The place was dark and smoky, and we could see the guy we were talking to earlier that day up on stage with an old acoustic guitar on his knee and a cigar in his mouth. He spots us and motions for us to come over. His face was worn and dark, and he had a thick, bushy mustache which tickled when he kissed me. Whoops, scratch that last part.

He mentioned that he had heard me humming "Leroy Brown" earlier and asked if I'd like to join him on stage to sing it with him. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity even though I'd never sung in public before. Sure, lots of times in the shower, with my hair done up in a shampoo Mohawk, but I digress.

He begins the song and sings the first verse, and remarkably well I must say. By now the smoke had affected my voice and when I sang the chorus with him I sounded like Stevie Nicks to his Tom Petty... or Don Henley if you prefer "Leather and Lace". Anyway, I had a great time up there on stage with him and the crowd cheered us on enthusiastically when we were finished.

I bought him a drink and Julie and I sat at a small table in the corner which he had reserved for us. After he finished his set he stopped by our table and thanked me for singing with him. He kissed Julie's hand which must have tickled her because she giggled like a schoolgirl, and he signed my shirt "All the best, Jim Croce".

And now you know... the rest of the story.