YESSSS! THEY'RE IN... WOW!

Normally here in WI in late September, us sports fans are watching the Milwaukee Brewers close down the season as usual while Green Bay Packer football heats up. After all, Packer football here in WI is a religion. Literally. Churches and businesses plan their attendance and openings around it. If a game happens to fall during church hours, they break into the service with an updated score. It's amazing. I've witnessed it dozens of times. There are a bunch of rabid sports fans in this state, and I am one of them I'll admit!

But, right now, Packer football must take a back seat to Brewer Baseball. For most of my lifetime, each and every baseball season, it has become the norm for the Brew Crew to close up shop on their last day of the season... aaah yesss, but not this year! Nope! Not since 1982 has the Crew locked up a postseason berth of any type...the first in my adult life. Now, to sit back and enjoy the true start of baseball season!

CC Sabathia and Ryan Braun (my two favs) put the Crew in the playoffs for the first time since 1982 with big help from the New York Mets (thank you Mets!). Making his third consecutive start on three days' rest, CC pitched a four-hitter and Braun hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning to lead the Brewers over the dreaded Chicago Cubs 3-1 today. This was nice redemption for the Crew. They blew a big lead in the NL Central last year, and were in danger of a big fold this season after going 3-11 to start September. They made a gutsy and unprecedented move by firing manager Ned Yost a couple of weeks ago and upping Dale Sveum to manager. But, I do say Yost deserves credit for building this team into a contender nonetheless. Watching this unfold right to the end, and then when the Mets finally lost to Florida, streamers and confetti fell from the rafters and fireworks went off in the outfield as (interim) manager Dale Sveum and the Crew began showering each other with champagne in the middle of the clubhouse. Finally!!!

After yesterdays dreadful performance (ughhh!) by the crew against the Cubs B-team, this was so deserved. It has been a hella long draught.

The Crew will face Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs. The NL Central champion Cubs (arghhh!) will play the Los Angeles Dodgers. I am rooting for the Dodgers to knock off the dreaded Cubs. Go L.A. Sweep!

Yep. This has been a hella long time coming, and I'm going to enjoy each and every game from now till their World Series victory. Hey, anything is possible, isn't it?

It's baseball season... and I'm fkn lovin it this year!

More to come my peeps...

Peace, Love, Sole...

JD

I'LL CROSS THAT BRIDGE WHEN I COME TO IT...

Right now, I'm on holiday (vacation) till Monday Sept. 22, so I thought I'd get some internet stuff done this morning. So I'm looking at my homepage and a news headline grabbed my attention..."New Interstate Bridge in Minneapolis Opens" so I immediately clicked on the link to read the story. Man, what a difference 13 months makes. More on that in a bit. You know, I live in the Green Bay-Milwaukee-Chicago region, and it's so much easier and quicker to get down there than it is to get over to the Twin Cities, but I must give the Cities their just due. I love it over there. My first trip was as a young lad in the mid-late 80's when my great Aunt D. lived there. She passed on in 2001 at the ripe young age of 104 (RIP). Currently, my cousin and his bride reside over there, and I am long overdue for a trip there myself. I last went in April 2007.

I'll just say this, anyone who has never been there is in for a surprise. It is a sprawling, massive metroplex of nearly three million people. They've got the Mall of America, tons of Caribou Coffees (a direct competitor to Starbucks here in the upper midwest and awesome coffee to boot), it's the home of the (hated) Vikings, other pro sports teams (the T-Wolves, Twins & Wild), Prince, Morris Day, The Time (my fav Funk band) and my personal fav, Flyte Tyme studios, owned and operated by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis (of The Time). Yep. One day, I'm gon' get my ass in the doors there and meet those dudes. All that Janet Jackson material in the 80's and 90's was recorded there, plus stuff by New Edition, Alexander O'Neal, Cherrelle, The Human League, Johnny Gill, Keith Sweat, Karyn White and many, many others... These two cities are very unique and each one is a bit different from it's counterpart. I'll just say that Minneapolis is the more cosmopolitan and style conscious of the two, while St. Paul has more of a laid-back, working class charm all it's own. Been to both and I like each of them. Oh, and the people are pretty friendly there as well.

The I-35W brigde that collapsed on Aug. 1, 2007, well, yours truly has been over that bridge quite a few times on my jaunts over to the Cities in recent years, so it is with great amazement that I say job well done in getting that bridge built in such a short timespan. When I heard the news about the bridge collapse, I immediately contacted my uncle to see if my cousin (who is an EMT btw) was alright, as he usually is out on rounds during the rush hour. Of course he was alright, but I guess he did have to respond to some calls to help survivors. Now, I am anxious to get back over there and take a drive across it. And do a ton of things while over there as well. And a lot to do there is, believe me. As you head from St. Paul over into Minneapolis via I-35W, this bridge really gives you a spectacular view of the Minneapolis skyline, especially at night. Quite impressive I might add. My advice, get there. I guarantee you will not leave disappointed.

I would just like to conclude by saying "congrats" on getting this bridge completed, and I do anticipate getting my turn to drive across it one day soon.

Anyways, that is whats on my mind at the moment. Stay tuned for more...

Later my peeps...

JD

THOUGHTS AND QUOTES FOR THE WEEK...

Wow. We jumped right from summer warmth to fall coolness right after Labor Day. It is good hoodie weather out here. I cannot believe how cool it has become over the last week or so. This has been a cooler than average September so far. We had clouds and drizzle here in Northeast WI (The 920) off and on, but finally the sun came out today and it was actually nice, but cool tho.

OK, y'all know I love a good quote or two, so I'm gonna share a couple with you for this week:

"When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge".

Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) Physicist & Nobel Laureate

"Tomorrow I will be better than I am today...better as a golfer, as a
person, as a father. That's the beauty of tomorrow. There's no such thing as a setback".

Tiger Woods

I'll have more random thoughts as time permits. I've got a lot going on right now, but I'll make the time to share some thoughts and hopes for the 2008 Presidential Elections coming up in less than two months, along with a lot of good stuff from the world of JDawg!

Hey, post ur thoughts or just check in if u'd like...love to hear from y'all.

Later my dudes and dudettes...

JD

P.S. WHADDUP FSFers and SW Bloggers!!

LAST SUMMERTIME WEEKEND '08

Everyone that knows me knows that I am a music lover. I can appreciate all types of music, but my interests primarily lie with what I term "rhythmic" or urban music. I love anything with an urban feel, sound or edge to it. I can listen and enjoy everything from Hip Hop to Dance to R&B to Jazz and then some.
I'm fortunate enough to live in an area close to two major cities, Milwaukee and Chicago, and these cities most certainly have urban-oriented stations. At times, if the conditions are right, I am lucky enough to pull in two of my favorite Milwaukee stations: V100.7 Jams and Jammin' 98.3. If I cannot pick them up via the FM dial, I simply log on and stream them over the internet. But in just the last 5-6 years, I have also re-embraced probably my favorite genre right now, that being Electronic/Dance music. Unfortunately, there are no pure Dance stations in this area, so the internet is vital to my pursuit of this type of music. One of my faves is C89.5 FM out of Seattle. Simply put, an awesome station in a class by itself.
Another station that specializes in Dance music is the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point campus station WWSP 89.9FM, for their Saturday night "Killer Tracks" program (starting at 7PM CST). Also in my area, a bootleg radio station at 106 FM that signs on Friday evenings and goes all weekend long playing nothing but uninterrupted pure Dance/House/Techno/Electronic music along with some Funk and Disco as well. No DJ's, just pure music. Amazing!

Well, for the past year, I have made the 45 mile trek out to the tiny resort town of Green Lake, WI to a pricey resort called the Heidel House. Just to put it in perspective, this resort is situated on a very large and deep lake in central WI and it's simply stunning. No wonder well-to-do people from the Milwaukee and Chicago metropolitan areas flock up here in droves to get some R&R and a chance to chill for a couple of days before heading back to the rat race. The Heidel House has this show lounge where they bring in different acts, and tonight, I made my third trek in the past year out there to hear a great band, Milwaukee-based Jegani.

Jegani is not your average band. They specialize in some of my favorite types of music. Dance, Electronic and Funk music. And their sound is tight. And professional. I'm also amazed, because the average age of this group is about 40-45, well beyond my years, and they are all seasoned professionals who have worked in the Dance music world and bring their high energy sound to a posh resort in the woods, on a lake in central WI. They cover all types of Dance/Disco music from the 70's through the 2000's. I have never seen a band that only does the kind of music, and on a whim last summer, I checked them out. And I was impressed. And I am not easy to impress for that matter, so they won me over.
Upon listening to them, you can go from Chic's "Le Freak" to Kylie Minogues "Can't Get you Out of my Head" to DJ Sammy's "Heaven" to the Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams" just to name a few. And a lot more beyond that... Since Dance music spans 30-plus years, there is plenty for this group to do, and there is some major talent within this group.
So to close out the last weekend of Summer 2008, I had to go and hear them one more time. Perhaps I can catch one of their shows the next time I am in Milwaukee, cause they play a couple of gigs down there during the year as well.

Check out Jegani at www.jegani.com

On another note, My Brew Crew is now at 80-56 after sweeping the Pirates today! Let's catch those Cubs, win the division, and get into the playoffs! Go Crew!

Anyways, it's 3:29 AM and my bed is calling. Gotta go. zzzzzzzz.....

Later...

JD