Miami sounds real nice right about now...

Andrew will be pleased. I had a very busy and productive weekend and did more than just sit on the coach and watch seasons of TV. Friday night I was a rare night owl. I branched out of my comfort zone at pretentious restaurants/bars Cosmos and Bellanote in Minneapolis, danced a bit at Sneaky Pete’s (I shudder to all innocent bystanders who had their evenings ruined by my dance moves), and mingled a bit at 508. It was a long night but very fun. Note to future partiers in Minneapolis. We did a little experiment. A cosmopolitan at: Sneaky Pete’s - $7, Bellanote - $12.50, Cosmos - $14.50. $14.50 is a LOT for one beverage. Needless to say Johnny’s wallet to a bit of a hit. Saturday during the day was pretty mellow. I slept in, ate some dinner, played some basketball at the gym with Mike, and then Saturday night I went to the Gopher football game (more on this a bit later.) Sunday, I actually spent a large portion of the day in Northfield, MN doing a presentation. After I got home, I did a bit more work before I rented a movie – Tropic Thunder. I give that movie a C/C+. It has a few parts of it which are unbelievably funny but there are large stretches where it was really quite boring. Tom Cruise has a small role as an egotistical movie executive. His conversations with Matthew McConaughey (who plays Ben Stiller’s agent) were extremely funny. Other than that… meh.

1. Saturday night, I am all excited for the football game. It is a nice rivalry game for the Floyd of Rosedale trophy between the Gophers and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. Although the Gophers have a huge lead in the series, the last decade, the trophy has basically been traveling back and forth between Minneapolis and Iowa City. Bottom line, Hawks came to play, Gophers didn’t and needless to say the Gophers got crushed. That’s not why I am upset though. As I was entering the stadium on a chilly November evening, I noticed there was an abnormal amount of activity outside the Metrodome. There were beer cans everywhere, a man puking on the sidewalk, and already more trash talking and fighting than in any other game I have ever witnessed. As I entered the dome, and was greeted to a sell out crowd, I knew this would not be a typical football game. To give Iowa credit, they came in large numbers from Iowa City; I would guess around 10,000 Hawk fans showed up. However, the Iowa fans were by far the most drunk, obnoxious, unclassy, embarrassments I have ever seen in my life. I have been to stadiums all over the country. I have also seen approximately 100 football games in person. I have seen warm, welcoming crowds like at Nebraska, apathetic crowds like at Northwestern, bored and unenthusiastic fans like Michigan, et cetera. The whole game, the Iowa fans taunted obscenities, spilled beer everywhere, and just acted like asses. I have no interest in ever going to a game at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City and be surrounded by such lunatic clowns. Iowa has surpassed other teams to now be my most hated team in the country.

2. How exciting is this Minnesota senate race? About half way through the recount, and incumbent senator Norm Coleman has only a 180 vote over challenger Al Franken. It is just amazing that after three million people voted, it will come down to 0.01% difference.

3. You know what one of the worst feelings in the world is? When you work out but only one side of your body is sore. I did some leg work but only my right quadriceps are sore. It’s really annoying to walk when only one side is sore and the other feels great. I feel all out of balance.

4. I read in the paper this morning that Michael Jackson is in court again because he is being sued by some Sheik for $5 million over a loan. I just read the headline. The whole Michael Jackson thing makes me sad. One of my hidden bands to listen to when I am feeling down and want to be cheered up is the Jackson 5. Plus, it is absolutely undeniable the brilliance of all of the 1980’s music MJ made. His videos were groundbreaking. His dancing skills are legendary. Unfortunately, he has had a rough decade and I wish him the very best.