Is it Sunday yet?

Packermania is borderline hysteria.  Last night I had DVR’d the news because we were watching something else.  We fast-forwarded through all of the Packer news and Packer tie-ins to the weather report.   I think it took us less than 5 minutes to watch the rest of the newscast.  Look, I love the Packers as much or maybe more than the average fan but I don’t care about all of this superficial crap.  I don’t care the Eli Manning likes Seinfield and now the Green Bay stations won’t air any Seinfeld while the Giants are in town.  During Michael Strahan’s press conference he reminded people that”they do have Seinfeld on DVD, you know.” I don’t care about the shoveling, the weather, that Charles Woodson didn’t originally want to come here, what Favre eats before games, or anything else.  I just want kickoff to come and watch some Packer football.

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Mayor Nelson finally has his blog up and running.  His first post is about JanBoree.  I will be out of town tomorrow and part of Sunday so I will miss most of it.  I would have liked the pub crawl.

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Its crappy attitudes like this that makes me glad we have a strong art community and a mayor who appreciates public art even though people may not like it.  Brookfield Mayor Jeff Speaker is opposed to displaying a sculpture where a lot of people may see it.  His exact quote from the Journal story was “Am I for public art? Yes, I am, It’s just that I didn’t support it being right front and center because there may be a few people who do not appreciate it.” Typical suburban thinking…lets make everything as vanilla as possible as to not offend anyone. You tell me what is more offensive; the sculpture shown in the article or an ugly gas station?  The sculpture or another boring fast food restaurant?  Speaker goes on to say “roadways might not be the place for art, saying they could become traffic distractions. Parks and greenway trails might be better sites, he said”  What is more distracting, public art or mile after mile of ugly cluttered signage along Bluemound Road or Capitol Drive?

I think that public art should be displayed so that more people can see it not fewer.   That is why I like the “guitar sculpture” that was erected in downtown Waukehsa.

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If karma truly exists, I’ll bet this man will eventually suffer a real heart attack at some restaurant where he has pulled this scam and nobody will blink an eye.

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Andrew Ruggeri has decided to keep his namesake “Ruggeri’s” open in Delafield afterall.  He originally was going to close it but worked out a good deal with the new owner of the building.  This is definitely a good thing because it will help draw more people to Rugerri’s Black Trumpet in Waukesha.  Now you may be asking how would a restaurant in Delafield help a restaurant in Downtown Waukesha?  The answer is brand loyalty.  People who go to Ruggeri’s and enjoy it are more likely to make a trip to Waukesha to check out his other restaurant.  I eat out somewhat often (though not as much as I used to) and brand loyalty means a lot to me.  I really enjoyed Fishbones in Delafield so when I heard the owner had a new restaurant called Zin, I couldn’t wait to try it.  Same goes for several other restaurant groups in the area like Bartolotta’s and NStars (Harry’s Bar and Grill, The Knick, and North Shore Bistro).  If you like one of their restaurants there is a greater chance you will check out their other places.  I foresee the same thing happening with Ruggeri’s and the Black Trumpet.

 

Blogs, sports, food and beer

Its kind of old news in the blogosphere, but last week a bunch of the Journal’s “Now” bloggers were up in arms about Franklin NOW blogger Fred Keller’s weekly photo caption contest about Ted Kennedy being deleted by the Journal because of the comments were getting out of hand.  They are citing freedom of speech and censorship as the reason for their outrage, but if some liberal posted something offensive, like a doctored photo of George Bush doing coke they would be demanding that it be removed and the liberal who posted it be kicked off of the NOW page.  While I don’t agree with the Journal trying to censor his posting keep in mind that the NOW websites and blogs are owned by the Journal so they have every right in the world to edit or remove any content they want for any reason they want.  Don’t want “the man” telling you what you can and cannot post? Start your own friggen blog on WordPress or Blogger.  At one time I considered moving my blog over to the NOW page for Waukesha in an attempt to attract more readers but I didn’t want anyone deciding what I can and cannot post so I decided to keep it on WordPress.  I would advise any of these people who are whining about the poor treatment of Keller to take your words and post them where nobody can censor you.  Not that any of this matters anymore as Fred has returned to blogging on the Franklin NOW site.

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Andrew Ruggeri is closing his Delafield Restaurant, Ruggeri’s in Januaryto focus on the Black Trumpet Restaurant and Clarke Hotel in Downtown Waukesha.  I am kind of surprised he didn’t just sell the restaurant.  It is kind of nice to see that he is dedicated to the Downtown Waukesha project.  I for one cannot wait for this restaurant to open.

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The prices of microbrewed beer may rise with the shortage of hops this season.  Macrobrewers like Miller and Anheuser Busch shouldn’t have to worry. I don’t believe I have ever tasted any hops in their beer anyway. 🙂

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In sports news the Packers won again, the Badgers upset Michigan, The UWM Panthers, Marquette Warriors, and Wisconsin Badgers all won their season opening basketball games.  Oh, and Notre Dame lost to Air Force.  It was a great weekend indeed.  This has been the best year to watch the Irish.  For years we have had their “greatness” shoved down our throats.   They get undeserved BCS bowl bids (and lose all of them) because they are Notre Dame instead of giving the bids to more deserving teams like say the 2006 Wisconsin Badgers.   They gave Ty Willingham only 3 years and just as his recruits are coming into their own, the fire him because they thought they could get Urban Meyer from Utah.  He make the right move and went to Florida where he has been tremendously successful.  They hire Patriots assistant Charlie Weis instead.  He does a good job with Willingham’s guys and cons them into a 10 year contract extension.  As Willingham’s guys graduated and his own recruits have come in they have sucked.   I love it! 

Also in sports, James Wigderson, a Cowboy’s fan, takes a shot at Packers’ fans and their behavior.  Every team has crappy fans, Wigderson seems to want to paint Packer fans as a bunch of drunk, immature, jerks.  I disagree,  Packer fans are probably more civil than most.  You see them tailgating with fans from opposing teams, joking in the stands, and some friendly teasing when the other team looses.  Sure there are jerks out there, but for the most part I would say we are better than most cities.    I was at a game in the Silverdome when a drunk Lion’s fan pissed on a kid’s Packer stocking cap that he had left on the floor.  The kid and dad left to use the restroom and returned to a piss soaked hat.  Classy.   I was at a Bears game in 2001 and their fans are the most obnoxious jerks around.  When Tampa Bay was still in the division and got a small taste of success they were a bunch of classless obnoxious jerks too.   I am sure his beloved Cowboys have some pretty crappy fans as well.