Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Wisconsin Culture
It occurred to me that I just had my last weekend in Madison for the summer. I’m really glad I made the most out of it and was able to waft in some cheese-lovin’, beer-lovin’, brat-lovin’ Wisconsin culture.
Friday night, Brad, Tony, and I went to a Madison Mallards game. If you guessed that the Mallards are a baseball team you would be correct. If you guessed that they were a minor league baseball team you would be wrong. The Madison Mallards are part of a league consisting of other Wisconsin/Minnesota local teams that have no affiliation with minor league baseball or for that matter any talent. It is essentially a glorified rec league with a stadium, mascot, announcers, and boat loads of beer. The mallards have a seating section of the stadium that is separate called the duckblind where the ticket price includes all you can eat and all you can drink. I assume it is called the duckblind because Mallards are ducks and blind is how drunk you are by the end of the game. Unfortunately, by the time we reached the stadium these seats were sold out. So instead we just pretended that it was all you can eat and all you can drink. It cost a bit more than the duckblind would of but it had a similar effect. To sum it up I had an awesome time and no idea who won. On the way out we were sitting on the grass and finishing our last beers. A couple of punk 9 year-olds, with XXXL shirts, walked by us. One of them had a stick that he was using to extenuate his pimp walk. Tony yelled to him that he had a nice cane, and the 9 year-old yelled back trying to start a fight. Hilarious. We finished the beers and ran away, scared for our lives.
Saturday, Tony, Bo, and I joined their graduated frat brother Will and some girls on a sailing trip on Lake Mendota. Will is a member of the sailing club that they have and the perks are that you can take out a boat whenever you want. The seven of us climbed into the 6 person capacity boat and took off with the strong winds. We went pretty much all the way to the other side of the lake where we stalled the boat and Bo went in for a swim. The winds picked up and as much as we tried to stay still, we were essentially dragging Bo along. While he was in the water we tossed him a beer and he realized what a challenge it would be to open it while not losing hold of the rope. He used his teeth to crack open the jostled can and it foamed all over his face. It made for a good laugh.
After another classic Madison grill out we began the evening’s festivities, getting drunk. We started with the video power hour which was a huge hit with Tony, the king of power hours. After a couple more chill beers we went across the street to the Betas. They were having a beer pong get together and Will and I staged a dramatic comeback to represent the Pi Lams in King of the Court (Mendota Court). We ducked out of Beta and began the search for Jon Wirt. Jon is a friend of mine from North Star who I have kept in touch with through Blumberg because they are roommates here in Madison. We followed his trail from Quentin’s to State Street where we found him with some people from my high school, Matt Horvey and Steve Rubinstein, and Eric Daniels, another North Star guy. After a couple drinks we went to City to cap off the night. While the night ended for me as I went to bed, the rest of the night went on for some others.
The next morning I was caught by surprise to find out that a couple of the guys went into another house and stole some shit. Some DVD’s and even a digital camera. It was weird because just recently I thought about a friend of mine while I was in Israel that stole something and I called him out on it. I can’t remember if he returned it, probably not, but I was proud of myself for expressing my disappointment in him. I have yet to say anything about how I feel to the guy that stole this stuff, but I feel like I should. Maybe I could convince him to return the camera discretely. Needless to say, my respect for him has gone down. I wonder what he thinks of his drunken actions, I bet he is not proud.
That morning also finalized to spend Sunday at the Wisconsin State Fair. Brad, Jenna, Will, Tony, and I piled into the car and took off towards Milwaukee. Tony brought the paper into the car and we read some articles before finding a much better use for the paper, a weapon to wage war between us in the back and Jenna and Brad in the front. Everyone but the car was a winner because we had a great time and the car was a complete mess by the time we reached the fair. The fair was somewhat forgettable. The one stand worth remembering was the flavored milk stand. We got cups of Cherry Vanilla milk and even Root Beer milk. Both of which were amazing. Root beer milk sounds scary but was in fact delicious. We saw a horse riding competition where the riders were judged on how well they handled their carriage. Lame. The stench of animals and their feces was repugnant but awakening for my appreciation of the life I was lucky enough to avoid, farm-life. The rest of the fair is not really worth mentioning, it was basically a bunch of overpriced food stands, overpriced beer tents and bad musical entertainment. On the way out they were giving away Full Throttle energy drink, we each grabbed two and went back to the car. Most people found theirs disgusting but I thought an Energy drink high could add some excitement to the ride home. I drank just over three 16 oz. cans. I was buzzing. It probably explains why I didn’t get tired until 6 in the morning and did a lot of reading.
I have really enjoyed the new economics book I got. I read part of it before and it caters to less advanced economic students but it does a good job of showing different market structures and what makes them unique and interesting.
Last night Brad, Bo, and I had another fun night at the bars. Monday night is the Beer exchange and they had a market crash at 11:00 PM just as we got there. All of the beers were sold at a dollar a piece. I got to try a lot of new beers for a low price. To finish the night we went to the Red Shed and enjoyed $1.50 top shelf mixers, another great deal. I spent under ten dollars for drinks and food and would have easily paid thirty on a weekend night for the same stuff. How can you not drink on a Monday night. My drinking has probably gotten a bit excessive since I got to Madison, but I didn’t drink a lot the rest of the summer and will probably cool off during the school year.
My fantasy football research is complete and I am getting more and more excited for what is like Christmas and my birthday rolled into one, the draft. Brad and I will have a lot to talk about on the way home to Chicago. The curtains are closing in on the summer and I am going to continue to make the most of it. Three summers in one was a brilliant decision, go me.
Friday night, Brad, Tony, and I went to a Madison Mallards game. If you guessed that the Mallards are a baseball team you would be correct. If you guessed that they were a minor league baseball team you would be wrong. The Madison Mallards are part of a league consisting of other Wisconsin/Minnesota local teams that have no affiliation with minor league baseball or for that matter any talent. It is essentially a glorified rec league with a stadium, mascot, announcers, and boat loads of beer. The mallards have a seating section of the stadium that is separate called the duckblind where the ticket price includes all you can eat and all you can drink. I assume it is called the duckblind because Mallards are ducks and blind is how drunk you are by the end of the game. Unfortunately, by the time we reached the stadium these seats were sold out. So instead we just pretended that it was all you can eat and all you can drink. It cost a bit more than the duckblind would of but it had a similar effect. To sum it up I had an awesome time and no idea who won. On the way out we were sitting on the grass and finishing our last beers. A couple of punk 9 year-olds, with XXXL shirts, walked by us. One of them had a stick that he was using to extenuate his pimp walk. Tony yelled to him that he had a nice cane, and the 9 year-old yelled back trying to start a fight. Hilarious. We finished the beers and ran away, scared for our lives.
Saturday, Tony, Bo, and I joined their graduated frat brother Will and some girls on a sailing trip on Lake Mendota. Will is a member of the sailing club that they have and the perks are that you can take out a boat whenever you want. The seven of us climbed into the 6 person capacity boat and took off with the strong winds. We went pretty much all the way to the other side of the lake where we stalled the boat and Bo went in for a swim. The winds picked up and as much as we tried to stay still, we were essentially dragging Bo along. While he was in the water we tossed him a beer and he realized what a challenge it would be to open it while not losing hold of the rope. He used his teeth to crack open the jostled can and it foamed all over his face. It made for a good laugh.
After another classic Madison grill out we began the evening’s festivities, getting drunk. We started with the video power hour which was a huge hit with Tony, the king of power hours. After a couple more chill beers we went across the street to the Betas. They were having a beer pong get together and Will and I staged a dramatic comeback to represent the Pi Lams in King of the Court (Mendota Court). We ducked out of Beta and began the search for Jon Wirt. Jon is a friend of mine from North Star who I have kept in touch with through Blumberg because they are roommates here in Madison. We followed his trail from Quentin’s to State Street where we found him with some people from my high school, Matt Horvey and Steve Rubinstein, and Eric Daniels, another North Star guy. After a couple drinks we went to City to cap off the night. While the night ended for me as I went to bed, the rest of the night went on for some others.
The next morning I was caught by surprise to find out that a couple of the guys went into another house and stole some shit. Some DVD’s and even a digital camera. It was weird because just recently I thought about a friend of mine while I was in Israel that stole something and I called him out on it. I can’t remember if he returned it, probably not, but I was proud of myself for expressing my disappointment in him. I have yet to say anything about how I feel to the guy that stole this stuff, but I feel like I should. Maybe I could convince him to return the camera discretely. Needless to say, my respect for him has gone down. I wonder what he thinks of his drunken actions, I bet he is not proud.
That morning also finalized to spend Sunday at the Wisconsin State Fair. Brad, Jenna, Will, Tony, and I piled into the car and took off towards Milwaukee. Tony brought the paper into the car and we read some articles before finding a much better use for the paper, a weapon to wage war between us in the back and Jenna and Brad in the front. Everyone but the car was a winner because we had a great time and the car was a complete mess by the time we reached the fair. The fair was somewhat forgettable. The one stand worth remembering was the flavored milk stand. We got cups of Cherry Vanilla milk and even Root Beer milk. Both of which were amazing. Root beer milk sounds scary but was in fact delicious. We saw a horse riding competition where the riders were judged on how well they handled their carriage. Lame. The stench of animals and their feces was repugnant but awakening for my appreciation of the life I was lucky enough to avoid, farm-life. The rest of the fair is not really worth mentioning, it was basically a bunch of overpriced food stands, overpriced beer tents and bad musical entertainment. On the way out they were giving away Full Throttle energy drink, we each grabbed two and went back to the car. Most people found theirs disgusting but I thought an Energy drink high could add some excitement to the ride home. I drank just over three 16 oz. cans. I was buzzing. It probably explains why I didn’t get tired until 6 in the morning and did a lot of reading.
I have really enjoyed the new economics book I got. I read part of it before and it caters to less advanced economic students but it does a good job of showing different market structures and what makes them unique and interesting.
Last night Brad, Bo, and I had another fun night at the bars. Monday night is the Beer exchange and they had a market crash at 11:00 PM just as we got there. All of the beers were sold at a dollar a piece. I got to try a lot of new beers for a low price. To finish the night we went to the Red Shed and enjoyed $1.50 top shelf mixers, another great deal. I spent under ten dollars for drinks and food and would have easily paid thirty on a weekend night for the same stuff. How can you not drink on a Monday night. My drinking has probably gotten a bit excessive since I got to Madison, but I didn’t drink a lot the rest of the summer and will probably cool off during the school year.
My fantasy football research is complete and I am getting more and more excited for what is like Christmas and my birthday rolled into one, the draft. Brad and I will have a lot to talk about on the way home to Chicago. The curtains are closing in on the summer and I am going to continue to make the most of it. Three summers in one was a brilliant decision, go me.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Where's Robin?
Things have certainly livened up a bit since Sunday night. For a while it was essentially Bo and I and a big empty house. Now Tony and Brad are back and I’ve had some more human contact. While they were away I had a lot of time to read and I finished Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The only thing I knew about the book is that it was about drugs and Vegas. That pretty much sums it up. I know a lot more about drugs and I managed to look at Vegas in a whole new light. To celebrate, Tony and I decided to watch the movie for Fear and Loathing. If you know anything about the story, watching that movie sober just wouldn’t be right. If I could read the book while I was under the influence it would have served the story justice.
Tony and I worked hard to cash the keg starting at about 8:00 at night. We worked through several pitchers during the movie and when it was over we continued to drink while watching a Dave Chapelle comedy special. After that we did a power hour and by midnight I had drank more than enough. I went back to my room and fell asleep with the door open and my clothes and the lights still on.
At five o’clock in the morning, I awoke sober enough to brush my teeth change out of my clothes and turn off the lights. As I was trying to fall back asleep I noticed a big bug flying overhead. Then I thought it looked more like a bird, and then I realized what it was, a bat. It was flying back and forth like a lunatic pacing the small room. I turned the lights back on and kept the door open giving the bat a chance to escape but he missed his opportunity. I came back with a little plastic tray. When I returned, the bat had curled up like a fuzzy ball on the wall. I snuck up on him and swung for the fences, but I failed to make contact. The bat flew back and forth and on every pass I took a swing. Eventually I took him out and tossed him out the window. It was quite the adventure.
I have also started formulating a letter and a resume for applying for NFL front office positions. I will probably have to settle for an internship but if it doesn’t pay I could supplement my income with poker. I am also starting to settle on a plan for selling myself. I am going to try to sell not only my ability to be helpful as an intern but also to sell myself as someone who has thoughts and ideas that make me a worthwhile investment for the future. I assume when they look for interns they are almost as intent on finding someone that wants to stick around and move up as I am in sticking around and moving up. I will work hard to sell my skills because my experience does not really speak volumes.
I only have another week here in Madison so I intend to make the most out of it.
Tony and I worked hard to cash the keg starting at about 8:00 at night. We worked through several pitchers during the movie and when it was over we continued to drink while watching a Dave Chapelle comedy special. After that we did a power hour and by midnight I had drank more than enough. I went back to my room and fell asleep with the door open and my clothes and the lights still on.
At five o’clock in the morning, I awoke sober enough to brush my teeth change out of my clothes and turn off the lights. As I was trying to fall back asleep I noticed a big bug flying overhead. Then I thought it looked more like a bird, and then I realized what it was, a bat. It was flying back and forth like a lunatic pacing the small room. I turned the lights back on and kept the door open giving the bat a chance to escape but he missed his opportunity. I came back with a little plastic tray. When I returned, the bat had curled up like a fuzzy ball on the wall. I snuck up on him and swung for the fences, but I failed to make contact. The bat flew back and forth and on every pass I took a swing. Eventually I took him out and tossed him out the window. It was quite the adventure.
I have also started formulating a letter and a resume for applying for NFL front office positions. I will probably have to settle for an internship but if it doesn’t pay I could supplement my income with poker. I am also starting to settle on a plan for selling myself. I am going to try to sell not only my ability to be helpful as an intern but also to sell myself as someone who has thoughts and ideas that make me a worthwhile investment for the future. I assume when they look for interns they are almost as intent on finding someone that wants to stick around and move up as I am in sticking around and moving up. I will work hard to sell my skills because my experience does not really speak volumes.
I only have another week here in Madison so I intend to make the most out of it.
