There's a mighty wind a-blowin'...

...across the land and 'cross the sea...oh, there's a mighty wind a-blowin', it's blowin' you and me.

What a great movie. If you don't know what movie I am referring to, get a sense of humor.

The Windy City has been just that this week- windy, freezing cold, and our first snowflakes of the year are falling right now. I really like the holidays, but I'm not crazy about the long, cold, dark winter that is upon us.

Quick weekend wrap: Madison, WI is a like a fine, fine woman that you just know is seeing about 100 other people besides you: You don't want to see her too often, you don't want to know what is going on with her when you're not there, and you feel a little dirty afterward. But DAMN, when you have that rare weekend when you do see her, it's the greatest. And that was how Madison did us again this year. Props to Hard for running the show, plus props to Dolph, BLoyd, Blando, Speedy, LongMan, K-Rock, Emily, cousin Tyler, and the lovely DeeTrain for their enthusiastic participation. It was madness. We checked in to the hotel at 5:30 Friday afternoon, received our first call from the front desk about the noise promptly at 6:30, and it was all downhill from there. The Hawks played a stellar game against an emotional Wisconsin squad on Barry Alvarez's swan song at Camp Randall, and we celebrated the win before, during, and after the game. Tremendous effort all around.

I can't wait for Friday, September 21, 2007, which is the scheduled departure date for the next Madison trip.

A few other notes on this Hump Day:

1) Congratulations to You, Me & Iowa, recipients of the L.A. Music Award for Alternative Rock Band of the Year. You guys rock and we here at the Offering hope that you ride this wave to fame and fortune.

2) D-Rock didn't get the MVP of the National League, losing out to both Albert Pujols and Andruw Jones. That is disappointing because a) it's the only thing Cubs fans were rooting for after it was clear we weren't going anywhere last year, which was around mid-August, and b) judging by pure value to the team (i.e. asking "where would this team be without this player, and where are they now?"), Derreck Lee was clearly more valuable than Pujols and Jones. The Cardinals had the best record in the league and the Braves won the division yet again with the best rookie class in years. The Cubs were absolutely CARRIED by D-Rock through most of the season. How many games did we win 5-3 when he had 4 or 5 of the RBIs? How many games did he get half of our hits? It's sad that your team has to make the playoffs to be in the running for this award. It's like saying if your team doesn't win 94 games, you can't be valuable enough. Not true.

3) Phish is releasing what many people think to be their greatest show ever, New Year's Eve 1995. There are a bunch of packages available, including the CD with a t-shirt from the show, champagne flutes, and other stuff. It is a truly fantastic show, one of the first shows I ever got on tape and one that I listened to over and over as a young Phish fan. Highlights for me are the opener of Punch You In The Eye->Sloth, the Drowned->Lizards->Axilla (Pt. II) in the second set, and the Col. Forbin->Mockingbird Gamehenge thing. What a show. What a year for Phish that was: A Live One came out and was their first platiunum album, they played a rocking Chalkdust on Letterman when they were in town for the NYE shows, a fantastic fall tour leading up to it, including 10/20/95 at the Five Seasons Center in Cedar Rapids, IA, where I got baptized as a die-hard...makes me nostalgic for the good old days when I could see them two or three times a year without even traveling.

4) Big weekend on the horizon. Last Hawkeye game of the year against a tough Minnesota team, a big holiday dinner Saturday afternoon courtesy of Gate, who has to make up for missing Madison, a bachelor party to attend on Friday night, and a HUGE Bears game on Sunday against a red-hot Carolina Panthers squad. And I promised TheGirl I would see the Pompeii exhibit at the Field Museum sometime. Yikes.

I'm out. Stay warm, it is awful out there.
T