A Burst of Color On A 10 Degree Day

The rose cart at Fresh Market, Geneva Commons.

And I'm Fondue You, Too!

After a lunch at ChicksNSalsa and popping into Archivers and a Replay CD store, we managed to have a spellbinding New Year's meal at Michael and Victoria's candlelit home with a smorgasbord fondue. Cheese, bread and vegetables, then cooking chicken, steak and shrimp in healthy broth, hours of conversation, jazz and drinks. This fondue thing is addictive. Now I'm off the hook for taking Cath to The Melting Pot fondue restaurant (Naperville and Schaumburg), at least for this week. Home before the ball dropped, appreciate that our friends bought all that gourmet food that very afternoon after flying in from Sarasota that morning. Salute!

I have no idea what this cartoon says, but it must have to do with stringy cheese.

A Final Word On Gouty Arthritis

http://www.gout.com/professional/index.aspx

The gout in my left foot is still evident and woke me from a sound sleep again...but it may be subsiding on my diet of NSAIDs and Second City gaffaws. The above link shows even more factors that are implicated in gout. Although I don't eat a ton of red meat (in fact, very little), I did enjoy shrimp kabob at Red Lobster this week--a minor factor in this major flare. Interestingly, it's not only the beer that hastened my episode, but two new additions to my "diet": low dose daily 81 mg aspirin and niacin. I added a low dose aspirin as part of my plan to live forever about two months ago. I added niacin tablets about two weeks ago! Known to possibly prevent heart disease, I thought "what the heck". Well, "the heck"! Combination of low dose aspirin, newly taking OTC naicin, a couple of shrimp earlier this week, and a few beers on vacation, and boom, my foot looks like a hacky-sack. Each of the factors added to my risk, and the sum can be painful. Immediately, I will flush the baby aspirin and the niacin. I enjoy shrimp rarely. I avoid red meat in general. So, that leaves my one vice as beer, and only on vacation.

I'll keep the beer.


For anyone wanting information about gout, the professional videos in the link above are very infomative.

That's the story, boys and girls. I will not post more about gout here as there are plenty of websites about it. Let's just say that I'm still in anguish over here, but will, prayerfully, be over this sometime in the near future. Signed, the Gimp.


P.S. By looking at these photos, you'd think I have a thing for blue dresses. I don't.

Second City Touring Group Rocks The Noble Theater

After spending three hours in a nearby bookstore's chair while Cathy commisurated down the street with her high school friend over crab cakes and clam chowder at Hugo's Frog Bar in Naperville, I was deserving of some levity. And side-splitting laughter I got. At the Noble Fool Theater, St. Charles, IL, located at Pheasant Run, a sellout crowd was treated to 1.5 hours of absolutely outlandish skits. About 80% rehearsed and 20% improv, this team had everyone rolling in the aisles tonight. Young, hip, quirky and irreverent, this is the second year in a row that we ventured out to Second City's Dysfunctional Holiday Review. Three men, two women, and three lonely stage chairs = absolute charm. Fast paced and lively. Highly recommended skit comedy.

Internationally Know Doctors Test New Treatments For Gout

A perfect adjunct to your New Year's "Facelift In a Syringe" Botox Party.

I'm willing to try anything as I limp out the door to Second City. Perhaps some gaffaws will lessen my aching left dog.

I Gots The Gout! Wicked Bad!

I've been limping all week from sudden onset gout in L foot. Very hard to walk, and impossible to paint my condo as I had intended. Shucks. : - ) I get gout about 1-2x per year. Prednisone and Advil keep me upright. Barely. I couldn't go to Ikea. I even found a tophi on my ear (those with gout know what I mean). Strongly hereditary, I know my grandfather and dad have had it. I have friends that have it, but I've not seen a scientific relationship between friendship and tophaceous gout, so I guess I'll keep the friends for now. My brother never mentioned it to me, but I'll ask him so he'll know when it strikes suddenly at night like a venomous spider sinking his fangs into the toe...and then twisting them around for shits and giggles.

Well, I had been doing the exact wrong treatment: aspirin and beer. Both are horrible--not just horrible, but downright deplorable--for gout. I did not know this until WebMD review. I swear, I'd down a couple beers--I am on vacation, you know, and even the dastardly gout can't take that away from me--and six hours later it'd hurt like someone spanked my foot with a ball peen hammer. Beer contains uric acid, a sin for us gouty types. I thought it'd kill the pain. And aspirin, another uric acid no-no. So here I sit, 4AM, foot inflammed going on day 4, popping steroids like a raving insomniac. But my gut is full of pizza...no beer, lads and lassies. Wonderful event for about 8 friends--Lou Malnati was in da hooouse. Last night was special--cheers! We spoke of movies and books. About three people said they're going to buy Travis Thrasher's Ghostwriter, set in Geneva, IL, as I told them what a wild and fun read it is. You go, Travis. Truly enjoyed the guests and will plan another in short order. Very fun time had me forget about my foot for, oh, about three minutes, until I stood on it again. Sincerely, the Gimp.

P.S. Don't look up your health problems online or you'll see x-rays of people with completely rotted out joints, like the one above, and then you'll feel lower than the testicles on a salamander.

Lou Malnati's Chicago Deep Dish with Malted Beverage

We have to get more chores done today, including a foray to Ikea to get those Expedit storage boxes (and I'm going to try to live my full life expectancy by foregoing the traditional Swedish meatballs for, instead, the grilled salmon so that I can prep the vascular system for the onslaught of goo later in the day). We've invited a few pals over for "pizza", a rather generic invitation. Little do my fine friends know than they will be feasting on not only some beers of the world from Binny's, but some authentic Lou Malnati's original Chicago deep dish 'za. Yep, right from Geneva Commons in Geneva, IL.

Lou's was featured in the ninth episode of Season Five of Throwdown! with Bobby Flay on Food Network. Marc Malnati (Lou's kid) beat master chef and TV celeb Bobby Flay in blind taste throwdown. Now that's some good chow. Here's Marc now teaching Bobby the Chicago way to sizzle pizza sausage. It was a good episode.

Lou Malnati's Pizza Style
Lou Malnati's is a prototypical Chicago style pizza. A thin crust of pizza dough is laid in a seasoned deep-dish pizza pan and raised up on the sides. The ingredients are placed on a Chicago style deep-dish pizza in the opposite order of a thin crust pizza. The first ingredient is thick slices of mozzarella cheese that are placed directly on the dough. Then additional ingredients like mushrooms, onions and sausage are spread on top of the cheese. The pizza is then topped with a tomato sauce made with whole chunks of tomatoes. One of the more popular features of a "Lou-Mal" pie is the "sausage patty," which is, as the name describes, a single patty of Italian sausage below the layer of tomato chunks or sauce, as opposed to the more traditional crumbled sausage.


http://www.loumalnatis.com/

Salute! Only four more days until New Year's resolution diet.

My Patio Chairs--Take A Load Off

I'd offer you a margarita and some suntan lotion, but I ran out of those little drink umbrellas in October.

Some Say Cell Phones Cause Brain Cancer.

I say: Naaaaah!

You Must Be Careful Out There When Sledding. Please!

That's gonna hurt in the morning!


Distracted kid eats shit. Twice!


Man with Minnesotan accent is a human bowling pin.

It's Here!

http://redinthecity-chicagored.blogspot.com/
Macy's display pilfered from Red In The City, a blog with great Chicago photos. Sometimes you see a blog where the author has--like a great book--a "voice". Red in The City is just such a blogmeister.

Tsunamichuck's Nordy on Lake Tahoe, 2009

My friend Chuck is an avid winter paddler. Having moved back to Reno, he has just resturn from a 6 week solo paddling trip to Japan! You put me to shame with getting out there and doing it, even in the snow, and taking sublime photos such as this. Happy New Year, friend.

T'was The Night Before Christmas...

...and I'm headed to Darrin and Shelia's for some vittles and cheer.

The Nails -- 88 Lines About 44 Women

I caught the Nails live in Boston at The Paradise on Commonwealth Avenue by scoring free tix from WBCN. I knew no song other than this hit. But this hit--oh, this hit--she rocks! Sweet video, Fronic!

Gun Law by The Kane Gang

I'm guessing that author Travis, who knows his 80's tunes better than Mark Goodman and Martha Quinn, might know this ditty. Or Slidesgal from Pnet, my Ogunquit paddling friend who has done her seat time in that college radio worn-leather chair-- The Kane Gang, with theri one hit, Gun Law. I't not exactl;y The Fixer from Pearl Jam, but it'll work. Reminds me of mixing it up at Spit in Boston, circa 1986.

The Fox River Valley, City Hall, St. Charles, IL

The Fox Valley is a more rural region within Illinois and Wisconsin that borders the more urban portions of the Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. This region centers on the Fox River of Illinois and Wisconsin. Around 1 million people live in this area. Despite its rural and largely Republican polity, the people of the Fox River Valley have had a strong tradition of anti-pollution activism, championed in the 1970s by the "Grey Fox," a secretive activist who exposed polluters with various publicity stunts.

Native American tribes that lived near the Fox River included the Potawatomi, Sac, and Fox tribes.

Some of cities in the Fox Valley are part of the rust belt. Within this region are Batavia, Illinois, St. Charles, Illinois, and Geneva, Illinois, which may be referred to as 'the Tri-cities area'.

Major Cities:
Aurora, Illinois
Batavia, Illinois
Oswego, Illinois
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Brookfield, Wisconsin
St. Charles, Illinois
Geneva, Illinois
McHenry, Illinois
Algonquin, Illinois
Carpentersville, Illinois
Elgin, Illinois

---from Brooks, July 2007

Pearl Jam The Fixer

Straightforward American rock. I just bought the iTunes album--It rocks. PJ, known for pointless, meandering but inspired drivel, finally decides to write songs before they hit the studuio--something they've not done since their iconic Ten LP. Well, it shows. This whole albun rocks! Suggested.


Yeah, hey, hey
When somethings dark, let me shed a little light on it
When somethings cold, let me put a little fire on it
If somethings old, I wanna put a bit of shine on it
When somethings gone, I wanna fight to get it back again

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, fight to get it back again
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

When somethings broke, I wanna put a bit of fixin on it
When somethings bored, I wanna put a little exciting on it
If somethings low, I wanna put a little high on it
When somethings lost, I wanna fight to get it back again

When signals cross, I wanna put a little straight on it
If theres no love, I wanna try to love again

I’ll say your prayers, I’ll take your side
I'll find us a way to make light
I'll dig your grave, we'll dance and sing
What's saved could be one last lifetime

hey, hey, hey
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, fight to get it back again
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

The Best Christmas Movie of All

Stuckey's, Goodfield, Illinois.

I'm headed to Goodfield, IL. Home of this old Stuckey's. Remember Stuckey's?
http://www.stuckeys.com/about.php


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuckey%27s

Bueller? Bueller?