Week #17: Rollin' through the City

I was in Chicago for a work conference this week and was able to extend my stay one additional night. My wife decided to join me for the last two days. She took the train into town for a fun weekend. We read an article a short time ago about architectural tours in Chicago. My wife thought I needed some culture and researched various walking tours. I decided to ratchet it up a notch and do the tour on a Segway. It turned out to be a great decision.





After a brief ten minute crash coarse on how to operate a Segway, we hit the road. Surprisingly, it only took a few minutes to get the hang of it. Even though our tour lasted two and a half hours, it seemed to go by too fast. We spent most of the time by Lake Michigan zooming by the museums (Shedd, Field, Adler, etc.), sculptures, Soldier Field, and various 1920's era buildings. Our guides were very nice and informative (even though one of them was the exact clone of my wife's Father and sounded like him to). Cool dude.





We learned a little about architecture and a lot about Segways. By the time our tour was over, our entire group was cruising around like veterans. Those things are amazing. To move forward, backward, or side-to-side you just shift your weight around. There is some balance "thingy" in the machine that prevents you from falling. They go up to 12 mph and become very easy to handle. Next time you are in the windy city (apparently many cities do these tours) give the "Segway Architectural Tour" a try. You won't regret it.

Week #16: Rollergirls

I always wanted to make it to the Derby, but I assumed it would be of the Kentucky variety. Yet this week, I found myself at a Roller Derby competition. I went with a good friend of mine who attended one of their matches last year. He and I were surprised by how many people were there. We should have known this was coming when we stopped at a restaurant fifteen minutes away and saw a couple of guys with "Brew City Bruisers" t-shirts on. I couldn't believe how many people were into this.

All of the seats were taken when we arrived, so we did the "standing room only" option. I had to learn some of the rules of the game: 5 players each side, 1 jammer (who scores all the points), and 1 pivot. They skate around a flat track and score points whenever the jammer passes someone from the opposing team. We struck up a conversation with a very nice woman. She happened to be the mother of two of the skaters. I got the back story on why one daughter went by the name of "Milwaukee's Breast". Apparently, she wanted to be called Milwaukee's Beast but the local paper misspelled her name to be breast instead of beast, so she decided to run with it. Good choice. Her other daughter goes by the name " The Other White Meat" and I questioned what does the family call her on Thanksgiving. The comment surprisingly fell flat. Overall, the women were very athletic and put on an entertaining show.

The Rushin' Rollettes ran right over the Shevil Knevils in the first match. The next few games were much closer. The women gave themselves great names. In the pictures above, I am being given a headlock by "Servin' Justice", had an awkward moment with "The Sea Hag", an interesting moment with the woman (?) in red, and got angry with the "Termiskater". After the Derby we had a great talk with Servin' Justice and Termiskater. In fact, Termiskater invited us to the "after party" when they closed down. As fun as that sounded, we had to be on our way and sadly had to decline the invitation. All and all, it was a fun night and I recommend anyone to give the Roller Derby a try. For those of you who do, here are the official fan rules (from the program) ... 1) No spitting on anyone you're not related to 2)No swearing around kids or old people 3) Wear deodorant at all times 4) No dying in the stands during a bout. How can anyone go wrong by following these practical simple rules? You can't! Mark your calenders for when the next Roller Derby event is in town.

Week #16: Photos

Dave and the "Termiskater" and apparently the roller derby fans weren't feeling charitable on this night (unless you count a nice comb donation).

Week #15: Extra Photos

A blurry picture of the action and dinner before going to the big fight with my brothers.

Week #15: The Sweet Science

I had never been to a boxing match until this week. I was reading an article in the paper last week about a promising up and coming young boxer named Luis Arias. It went on to say that he was fighting the next week about an hour south of me. I mentioned it to my wife and she said I should give it a shot. I called my two brothers and the night was on.

We met for a great dinner beforehand and then were on our way. We were going to the Wisconsin Golden Gloves semifinals. When we arrived, we had to use the restroom and found a victorious fighter (Daniel Rivera 141 lb. weight class) cleaning himself up after the fight. I talked to him and challenged him to a fight (you can see the pre-fight picture above), but was denied. He was a real cool dude. We proceeded to see about fourteen fights in all. Our sight lines were very good (the third row). We saw many knockouts and a lot of beat downs. A couple guys were definitely bleeders (see picture above). Towards the end of the evening, the more seasoned heavyweights came up. The matches became more even and the fights were very exciting. Our boy, Luis Arias, won a closer than expected fight and I look forward to hearing a lot about him in the future. It was so entertaining that my brothers want to do it again next week for the statewide finals. I had a lot of fun and would recommend it to anyone with a strong stomach. It definitely wasn't Las Vegas, but the fights were still a good time and a nice night out with my brothers. I can see now why boxing is called "the sweet science".

Week #14: No Meat, No Chicken, No Fish, No Dairy ... Make Goldie Go Crazy!!

Don't let the smiling face (you see above) fool you. I was a full-fledged Vegan this week. I have learned now that vegetarians are WIMPS! I spent the entire week eating like a vegan. This means that you can't eat anything that had a face or a family. I almost messed up my first morning by trying a handful of dry honey nut cheerios (I didn't). I noticed the smiling bee on the cover of the breakfast cereal. I googled Vegan and found out that not only milk but honey was also off limits.

I had lunches of wheat berry salad, Garden Burgers, cashew nuts or a salad with no cheese, eggs, or ranch-like dressing. I learned that Tofurkey is incredibly edible when you add spicy organic salsa (and are extremely hungry). To Vegans, tofu is a miracle food!! With the proper spices and sauces, it can be a meat, pork, or a chicken-like food.

The hardest part was going out to restaurants. I don't know how us vegans do it. Me and my Hackey Sack people have it rough. We are overlooked!! I was supposed to go out with a client for a steak dinner this week and I had to postpone. I checked the menu online and called up the restaurant, but they had no real vegan options for me. On my fifth day, my wife found the only certified green restaurant in the State of Wisconsin.

http://www.cafemanna.com/index.html

It was my vegan paradise! I could be myself without feeling ostracized. Bring on the Falafel with Citrus Tahini and the Baba Ghanouj, but I was warned about the Green Juice. Our waitress read us the "Vegan Miranda Rights" for this drink: I must drink it within thirty minutes, my face may become flush (it did), and I may feel a little woozy after drinking this. It is made of kale, swiss chard, bok choy, cucumber, romaine, ginger, etc. Loaded with vitamins and minerals to help detoxify. It was probably the healthiest drink I have ever had, but it tasted like drinking fresh-cut grass in a blender. You can see the misleading smile on my face above, while drinking this concoction.

This week was a lot more difficult then I thought it would be. Lots of cous cous, tofurkey, garden burgers, oranges, pickles, and water make a man hunger for a HAMBURGER!! 12:01 a.m. this Monday, that is what i am going to do (the alarm is set).