in most cases, i think what i'm writing is mildly interesting, while my faithful reader(s) know better. today, however, even i know that this isn't the least bit interesting. i'm quite a salesman, no?

the reason i'm writing tonight is that, in all likelihood, i won't have anything tomorrow. i didn't have anything yesterday, and i don't want to go three days content-less, yknow?

so i'll tell you that we're 35 days away from opening day, and i'm pumped-plus. i was in the freakin' office until 715 tonight (i'm usually a 5:02 kinda guy), determining that, with 1126 at bats all-time, chris truby is indeed the River Bandits all time leader. (how amazing is that? guy spends four years--FOUR YEARS--in A-Ball, a level many top prospects skip, and still winds up making the majors. stunning, in a way.)

where will i be tomorrow? i'm taking a classic rud road trip: depart davenport, glenview-bound 330 p.m., depart glenview 530 friday morning. in the interim, the plan is to watch the coolest, and youngest, rud perform at the glenbrook south variety show. i also plan to watch sportscenter with coach.

to the anxious reader, this one's for you, baby!

above you'll see the e2 reunion photo, taken about 130 sunday morning at the blue whale. clockwise, from lower left: nemo, myself, harper, a-train's bunny ears, jenny, deedz. a good time was had by all.

and below...

is the final piece of the puzzle, tina (who, i'm not sure if you're aware, likes sweaters, not unlike unstadt), asleep behind didi's "two" sign. (that's right! all six in the same room! perhaps the first time ever...) quite a crew, and a memorable evening.

in other news, my father and i had a fairly amusing conversation friday night, 11-ish, after i had just finished using the rud family turbotax to complete my return. here is a snippet of dialogue:

dad: interesting. i wouldn't think that someone making (insert rud's meager salary here) would have to pay any taxes.

me: that's the way it works, i guess.

dad: but what about all of bush's tax cuts?

me: (smiling) dad! those only go to you!

dad: (laughs a rich man's laugh)

me: (laughs a poor, but rolling with the punches, man's laugh).


after all this heavy political talk, i figure i should offer some entertainment. so, i present to you...


a certain chart-topper, a tap-your-toe-and-stomp-your-feet singalong, it's...

"The Superbowl is Gay!"

(the artist has chosen to make "Superbowl" one word, perhaps to avoid lawsuits.)


enjoy!

Saturday, February 22

a largely unsuccessful scalping journey became largely successful this afternoon when, as nemo and sacks and myself were heading to a closed ticket window to purchase a pair of ducats to see the nucats, sacks asked a gentleman whether he had any extras. gentleman pulled out the extras, said 'take 'em...they're nice seats,' and went in, (intentionally) uncompensated.

so sacks and nemo and i entered the united center (which, by the way, boasts two statues, not just one), and heard that the cats trailed the illini 9-3. we arrived at our seats to see that the cats were down 9-7. but, alas, the next seven minutes would not go well, as northwestern dropped to a 33-16 deficit. they closed the gap to 10 at the half, and played close for much of the second half before stumbling late and succumbing to a 12- or 13-point defeat.

but a good showing for the cats.

(note: northwestern is now 0-1 when I've seen them in person.)

by the way, the seats were excellent. club-level, a fine hoops-watching angle.

Thursday, February 20

went to see iowa-indiana tonight with a few folks from work--free tickets! indiana won...i see a lot of parallels between the hoosiers' season this year and illinois' last year---high expectations, slow start to the conference season, peaking at the end. i think indiana will advance farther in the ncaa tournament than any other big ten team...they're still really good.

anyway, as has been the case whenever i've travelled in the big ten (which, granted, hasn't been a lot), the crowd disappointed me. students were lame and quiet, and there's no song where the place screams 'go hawks!' at the end, or something like that. like illinois, iowa's a traditionally strong team, but i've been underwhelmed by the home crowds at both games (granted, when i saw illinois live, it was a blowout against the cats, but tonight was iowa against a national power).

(an aside: by the way, when northwestern is okay--as iowa is this year--and plays a good team, welsh-ryan can get rocking. there's potential, a decade down the line, for evanston to be the toughest place to play in the conference.)

based on my disappointment at illinois and iowa, i've devised a theory on the midwest...bear with me, as this is still in progress. but here goes...

in the less-populated parts of the midwest (i.e. the parts where cedar rapids or springfield are considered 'the big city'), there's not much to do. as a result of this dearth of entertainment options, these people have less fun. more importantly, they're less experienced at having fun, and therefore worse at it. being bad at having fun, when it comes time to do fun things--like yell--they're incapable. this results in happy, corn-fed, and altogether quiet people. quiet people are incapable of yelling properly at big ten basketball games.

Tuesday, February 18

for your enjoyment, installment four (20-11) of the official redhothalos fifty greatest records ever (as compiled in november 2002 and tweaked in january 2003) is available for your mockery.

because i had been thrice emailed about it, a gift i received in the mail today was not necessarily a surprise. however, it is super. it was received from someone best described, i would say, as a friend of a friend, a friend of a friend who shares an interest in music (although not necessarily the same kind of music), and who had promised me that he had created "the greatest mix cd of all time." seamlessly produced (dig the cross fades, including a baby's bottom-smooth one into "i'm trying to break your heart"), it is eclectic and exciting, and i've got nothing more to say at the moment--after all, i've not been through it even once yet. it came tracklist-less, but with an o.henry-like message on a post-it note: "TRACKLIST AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST--BUT, IS CONSIDERED AN ADMISSION OF DEFEAT." i'll eventually cave, i'd guess.

i feel old. not old, rather, but senile. you ever get that feeling that you've misplaced something, but convince yourself that you haven't, but then when you go to look for it, it's gone? that happened to me last night, with an excellent book i've been reading, John Helyar's Lords of the Realm, a book about the labor history of baseball that my dad initially loaned to me in about 1997. i was getting to the juicy stuff--the collusion leading to andre dawson's bizarre 1987 appearance at chicago cubs spring training--and now it's gone. i'll scour, but i'm not optimistic.

sigh.

four quick comments:

1) the 'twist' to close joe millionaire was beyond lame.

2) joyce, who works the service desk at an area auto shop, has wasted my time with her incompetence. hopefully the bright yellow car's ready for tomorrow.

3) 20-11 on my favorite fifty records ever list should be complete tomorrow.

4) you'll notice that bright eyes' lifted or the story is in the soil keep your ear to the ground has been 'most enjoyed' for about a week now. that's not sloth on my part---the cd's stayed in the player that long...perhaps the last album to do this, to this extent, was the strokes' is this it?

Sunday, February 16

many of you 'who knew me when' know that i spent a large portion of the first 18 or so months of my collegiate life at the behemoth known as blockbuster/wherehouse music. and while it was, on surface, a dreadful chain store, i did meet some people that i consider to be excellent friends while an employee.

i was finally able to get former blockbuster/wherehouse boss jerry on the phone tonight, after we had each made small effort to communicate over the past year. it was a truly outstanding conversation, mostly about nothing, but good because he and i generally operate on similar wavelengths. in fact, i would say that at least a small percentage of my mannerisms/personality was somehow inherited from jerry because, hey, he was the guy in charge. so while discussion mostly revolved around the chicago rock scene, dan bernstein and terry boers, and bix beiderbecke, it certainly was an outstanding time (nearly two hours of it), and i certainly hope that it's not another year before it happens again.

i also heard from didi today. she's, quite simply, and outstanding person. her call made watching golf (tiger's intriguing, no?) far more interesting.

in other news, sports illustrated published an outstanding article about the 'princeton offense' this week: about innovator pete carril, his efforts to keep it 'in the family,' and the spread of the offense to that point that its actually 'trendy.' of course, northwestern's bill carmody, one of my favorite people in sports, was carril's long-time assistant, taking over the princeton job when carril retired. anyway, carmody is a focus of the story---at one point, reporter grant wahl refers to his 'conan o'brien features.' woof.

the article details the popular spread of the offense, to the point where four nba teams are now using elements of it. i was skeptical of this statement---until i saw the new jersey nets run exactly one offensive set. turned on their game today, saw jason kidd spin dribble, saw richard jefferson immediately cut to the hoop, saw jason kidd throw a lob, saw jefferson throw down a thunderous dunk. the most basic play in the offense, and it's gone completely mainstream. incredible.

i know---not much of a story--but it's a bit interesting, right...?

at the moment, i feel two conflicting impulses. as one of the seven people worldwide who love northwestern athletics, my goal is to watch the cats hoopsters play every chance i get. problem being, despite the fact that they're an okay team, they always lose when i watch them. the best example of this is the michigan contest, which the cats actually led by eight at the half. i listened to the first half on the radio, and was so excited by the prospect of beating a hot team that i headed to the local sports establishment with satellite television (at least two "sports bars" in the qca have cable tv, and that's it...) to watch the second half. result? utter and complete collapse.

a breakdown of how the cats have fared relative to my behavior:

records are listed (Overall, Big Ten):

watched on television: (0-7, 0-6)

listened to the radio: (4-2, 2-1)

read about after the fact: (6-3, 0-2)

you might be thinking that, when games are on tv, the opponent is obviously of superior caliber - - why would anyone ever televise northwestern-new hampshire (except for the exciting wildcats-wildcats matchup?) - - so the cats are less likely to win. and it's a valid point, but check out the conference record...they only win if i listen to the game!

it's quite simply, frustrating. i know it's better for the team if i listen, but i can't force myself to do so. wednesday's opponent is the gophers, and i think i'm going audio only---better to keep an eye on the american idol vote.

the best thing to come out of saturday's (televised) loss against michigan state was that i bought groceries afterward. my most efficient grocery trip ever. woof.

Thursday, February 13

tonight, i did my good deed for the month, visiting the local donation center to part with a pint of blood.

as such, i felt i should reward myself...i had been looking for an excuse to visit jimmy's corner, which is, from what i can tell, the only nearby establishment that serves gyros. it's been about 18 months since i've had gyros, and i've found that i miss gyros greatly.

sadly, when i arrived at jimmy's corner, around 6:55, i found that it was closed. things close early here.

this left me in a bind - - alas, i had banked on gyros for dinner, with no alternatives. i had pasta last night, i had no thawed meat, i didn't want to settle for cereal.

no, i'd settle for fried potatoes. good thing about fried potatoes, though...burning them is inconsequential---they'll taste about the same, i've found, regardless of how long they're cooked.

so, after 10 minutes of frying--boom--lightbulb. i diced some onion and red pepper, and threw them in a smaller pan. i threw some tortillas in the oven. i microwaved some leftover turkey, and...

success!! a turkey-potato-onion-red pepper-jalepeno burrito. i'll probably never duplicate it again, but i'm proud of my minor brainstorm.

Wednesday, February 12

new content alert: numbers 30-21 of my fifty favorite records ever (or at least at the time the list was compiled) list is now available for your perusal. it might be a while before the next installment gets complete, only because i find myself using a lot of the same descriptors and superlatives. tedious to write, but worth finishing at some point.

[disclaimer: what you are about to read comes from the same person who stated, during february of 2001, that the elton brand- and ron mercer-led chicago bulls would be in the postseason--as high as a fourth seed--the following season. needless to say, this person is a ridiculous optimist.]

as i watched my beloved bulls tonight (an OT loss at philadelphia...i couldn't see the end because the fox sports affiliate on my cable provider switched to national programming---i believe because chicago viewers were scheduled to see depaul at the conclusion of the bulls game, and the bulls had run long), i couldn't help but think that tyson chandler will be an all-star as early as next year. he's not a particularly talented basketball player--his defensive positioning is awwwww-ful (quoting bill walton), and he's really got no actual set of offensive skills. but he can jump 'out the gym,' and has a nose for the offensive glass.

quite frankly, even if he doesn't become an all-star (which he will), jerry krause will have made the right decision by dealing elton brand to get him. witness elton's mighty l.a. clippers, who are probably worse than the bulls.

tyson chandler is one of the league's most exciting players. now if they could just deal jay williams and settle on a crawford-rose-robinson-chandler-curry lineup...a boy can dream.


and in other news...

after an ironing disaster last night (forgetting that i own one of those mini-boards, i used the iron-on-towel-on-table method), my coffee/dining room table is now strangely psychalic---half mahogany and half pink. as such, after work today i purchased $18 worth of wood furnishing supplies--minwax pre-stain, minwax mahogany 605 gel stain, a wooster 2" bristle brush (dubbed 'The Brush for Wood Finishes') and something called a 'stain marker' from minwax. i'm hoping to use the marker only, and return the rest. less disaster potential, that way. however, i anticipate the marker won't suffice, and then we'll let the experimentation begin. i'll keep you posted.

the moral of the story: don't be stupid, stupid.

Tuesday, February 11

sometime over the past month or so, i mentioned in this space the supremely talented mike lowe, my favorite ex-wnur broadcaster. while pining for his inevitable future at 'the network,' mike can often be heard whining about the pathetic state of local news. mike's what one would call a 'journalist.'

anyway, tonight i caught first-hand exactly what mike's gripe is. you see, between performances on american idol, the local fox affiliate was of course plugging its 9 o'clock news. so we cut to the anchor, who says "good evening, i'm [i don't know his name.] tonight on the fox 9 o'clock news, what makes simon cowell so mean? plus, our kid reporter gives you a glimpse into culinary school! that's all coming up on the fox news at nine."

now, i know that this isn't the most happening area, but there has to be something more newsworthy than a 2-minute commercial for a fox show and a 7-year-old (the 'kid reporter') reading a script about cooking school. i mean really.

in other news, i was thinking about one of the finer weekends of my college life today, and it wasn't even a weekend. it was thanksgiving '01, featuring a wnur trip to the nu-illinois game with flax, nemo, mendel and ben golom****. read about it here. (check the november 22 entry. i'm called 'not low' on the 'people-to-hang-out-with' list) good times.

new content alert: former roommate, present pal, and eternal twerp nemo has resurrected his own web page. check link under 'pals' at left, or simply click here to view. expect topics to include joe millionaire, tony kornheiser, and frozen pizza rolls.

Monday, February 10

i was electronically told that the redhothalos experience is 'the highlight' of eric's day 'very often', which leads to me to believe that either a) corporate america just isn't that interesting or b) eric's a liar. i'm inclined to think that it's probably the latter, although even such an insinuation is flattering.

that is why, despite not having anything to say and very much wanting to go to sleep, i've posted this bit of nothingness.

being a highlight of a day is scary. now there are expectations. i'm going to bed.

there are some people that you hope--i mean really hope--that you never lose contact with. and then 9 months later, somehow all contact has been lost. or at least that happens with me.

fortunately, however, all contact is not lost! tonight i had the pleasure of engaging in a 100+ minute conversation with sumo, and it revolved almost not at all around sports. there was actual catching up done, which is always a blast.

sumo learned that i professionally receive beer from middle-aged men, while i learned that he's putting our tax dollars at work to publicize his rec league basketball team. i mean, this is important stuff.

there exists the possibility that i will return to chicago this weekend, for what would be the first of three consecutive weekends of said trip. (the following weekend is already booked, with nu-illinois happening at the united center, while the one after that will probably see another return to watch my sister perform.) the conversation with sumo, one of the world's genuinely good people, increases the possibility that this weekend's trip will occur.

it sure was great to hear that guy's voice.


in other news, i this weekend purchased bright eyes' lifted, or the story is in the soil keep your ear to the ground, which was gurs' pick as his favorite album of 2002. i think it's a real neat album, and i'm happy i bought it. the music can be a bit repititious, but his lyrics are nearly always interesting.

that's my story. back to the grind, i guess.

Friday, February 7

i think that this shall be a solid weekend. nothing exciting planned, but that is precisely what should make it exciting.

it's not that much has been going on recently, it's just that most of it has been spent in a car. dating to the final full weekend of january, when the d-port-chicago and subsequent return trip was made. the week of 27-31, 300 miles were put on the car, driving to various schools for work-related purposes. last weekend, more than 700 miles were driven in a d-port to minneapolis and back jaunt. and then on tuesday, i drove 360 miles, returning mama's beloved automobile and then arriving back in d-port for wednesday work.

i love driving--i count my summer of '00 as a pizza delivery guy as the second-greatest job i've ever had (the best being the current one)--but interstates get boring.

my big plans? watch the cats go for a winning streak tomorrow, and tape up flyers at the local independent record store. my brother dave's band, kungfu rick are on their farewell tour [and fresh off a show at cali's legendary gilman street] and will be rocking the qca on march first.

and that's it.

Thursday, February 6

much madness tonight, mostly via the telephone, mostly because i simply wasn't entertained by wacko jacko. call me pathetic, call me what you will.

madness opened with the long-awaited return call from now 25-year-old brother dave, who could kick your ass. i'm not sure what we discussed, although i believe an all-too-short amount of time was devoted to er reruns on "the national network." pardon the interruption also came up, although he wasn't impressed by tony's equipment/shower stalls joke. i also heard about the time he was hit by a car.

those of you familiar with my iowa lifestyle know that my circle of friends, depending on your definition of 'friend,' is as limited as 2 and perhaps as expansive as 8. further telephone madness ensued when eisch, one of the two, called to break our 'drink mgd and catch up' date. even worse, after weeks of planning, said date won't happen for at least 10 days, as eisch is soon headed to cancun with his family. his dad won the trip for selling a lot of seed corn. i'm not making this up.

fields of opportunity, indeed.

in other news, the mountain goats' tallahassee is the latest addition to my "albums-that-kick-my-ass-but-not-because-they're-ass-kicking-albums-per-se" list, a list that also includes neutral milk hotel's in the aeroplane over the sea and the polyphonic spree's the beginning stages of... . i'm not saying that the mountain goats' album is as good as the other two, i'm just saying that it carries a certain weight that most records don't have.

Wednesday, February 5

Northwestern 74, Indiana 61

Yes, it's true. 15 years, 26 meetings, it's all over.

And with three minutes left in the game, behind the glorious WGN radio call of Dave Eanet and David Kaplan, that four-syllable rally call could be heard: "Hoo-sier Dad-dy, Hoo-sier Dad-dy."

And an 0-7 start is suddently forgotten. And we're suddenly looking ahead to what could become a winning streak: Home against Wisconsin, home against Purdue. At Michigan State, home against Minnesota. Suddenly 4-8 doesn't seem so unlikely.

Bill Carmody is a genius, and he will, one day, in the not-too-distant future, lead this team to the NCAA Tournament. And--I'm serious-- within 15 years, the Cats will have moved into the upper echelon of the conference.

Four years of Mohamed Hachad will be exciting to watch. That boy can play.

Nothing like a great win to raise a die-hard fan's spirits.

And it wasn't even close.

Monday, February 3

update: my fifty favorite records listing now includes numbers 31-50. link directly to 31-40 here. 41-50 can be directly accessed on the menu bar at left.

also, a birthday wish is in order. my favorite older brother, dave, turns/turned 25 today.

Sunday, February 2

solid weekend.

left friday at 9 am, returned sunday at 9 pm. minneapolis with workies keith and josh, selling bandits merchandise at the minnesota twins fan fest.

we sold out of our inventory of 2002 river bandits card sets by saturday at 2 p.m, less than halfway through the event. this is because 2001 top draft pick and minnesota native joe mauer was in the set, and he's already a hero up here. after 6 sold in the night's first 20 minutes, we knocked up the price 3 bucks, to 12. stunning.

much thanks are due to my daddy, who called friday morning to mention that the cats women's hoop squad was playing the gophers sunday night. thanks to nemo's resourcefulness, i was able to find out that matt pearl was making the trip. managed to meet up with matt, sam king, and a freshman whose name i can't remember while they were eating dinner [our crew had already done so.]. i had a baked potato and a kiddie cocktail [nur don't buy beers] on the station, which was a treat. topics of conversation included terry tate, office linebacker; wnur deportes' trip to columbus, ohio; the heated battle for a coveted spot in lexington, kentucky; "cry me a river;" and a picture of one (1) person with four (4) chins in the 2002 nu women's basketball media guide. in all, i spent 2 1/2 hours with that crew, and it felt like 15. superb experience.

during the weekend's festivities, i also got the chance to interview twins gm terry ryan, who gave me 12 minutes of his time, and twins minor league director jim rantz, who gave me a bit more than that. i spoke with top prospect justin morneau for about 6 minutes, and jake and joe mauer's parents assured me that they'd tune in to broadcasts this year despite the fact that their sons no longer play here. on the downside, we were not able to get a picture of hall of famer harmon killebrew in a river bandits hat. on the upside, we did get torii hunter in one.

we boothed next to the twins new affiliate in rochester, the redwings. chuck, matt and nick qualify as super cool guys...nick was a college radio dj in the 80's, and counts 'take the skinheads bowling' as his favorite song.

nick got a great picture of the bandits crew, joe mauer, and joe's bobblehead. picture located here. dig that studly guy on the right. not that one.