Public house hazards

Let me tell you about the guy who tried to take me home last night.

I decided to swing by Big Chicks for dinner in order to support my favourite bartender. I may have mentioned before that all the bartenders get to bring their own music; David just plugs in his iPod and puts it on shuffle. Thanks to him, I may have no choice but to buy the new Ladytron single.

I figured it would be a slow night, what with everyone recovering from Mem Day weekend and all, but it was actually pretty busy. The sign on the door said "DIVA DATE" and I soon discovered that many of the new faces at the bar were there for the lesbian speed dating. (The second person to point out that that is a contradiction in terms will be smacked down.) I parked myself next to one of the old faces, my bar buddy DB, and ate rare beef. A few stools away was a cute wittle candy striper who looked like he was being hit upon by a lipstick lesbian in cooter cut-offs.

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An Urban Moment

Monday evening, I was dragged away from Sidetrack by the needs of my party to Eat Something. Nuphy was present, so Mañanitas was inevitable. We sat at our usual table. (Has anyone else noticed this? You go to a restaurant that you visit occasionally--every other month or less--and, without specifically requesting it, you get seated at the same table every time.) It's a good one, on a dais right up under the windows onto Halsted, excellent for people watching.

I can't remember if it was Nuphy or ottr4bear who first called our attention to the tightly-parked car trying to edge out from between a Jeep and an Audi. In any case, we were soon captivated--and not only us, but the two tables next to us. As we broke into chuckles at each new bump of bumpers, patrons further away began taking notice.

All of the sudden, an enormous SUV came into sight, apparently hovering for the soon-to-be-vacated spot. The response from the watching crowd was immediate and uproarious (causing confusion among patrons seated further back). Alas, the driver was pulling into another spot we hadn't even noticed, our giddy anticipation evapourated, the other driver did a Uie into the northbound lane, and we all went back to our food.

My indulgent coworkers

A few weeks ago, I promised a squat Mozambican professor to give him a tour of my workplace. I met him at the front desk an hour ago. My friend the diehard Cubs fan was on duty so I asked her for the score of the Cards/Astros game. All tied in the bottom of the 9th! I watched a bit of it while the two of them chatted about Clemens' comeback and Dusty's departure, but I was pulled away waiting for the next pitch with two strikes and two outs against STL.

About forty-five minutes later, I parted from my professor and came back to the desk to find another pal on duty. I talked him into letting me check the final score--and found that there wasn't one. Same score, eleventh inning. Good man that he is, he watched with me as the Redbirds slowly loaded the bases until Taguchi brought Molina home to win it. (DCF came back at this juncture to make the observation, "You're looking way too cheerful.")

It doesn't quite make up for the news of Roger returning, but it will at least end the afternoon on an up note.

Imitating art a little too closely

In the grand tradition of the Mighty Ducks:

The Isotopes began playing in 2003 when the Calgary Cannons relocated to New Mexico. Their major league affiliate is the Florida Marlins.

The name was chosen by the fans in the city, taking the name (in part) from an episode of The Simpsons where Homer Simpson discovers that the local team, the Springfield Isotopes, are secretly planning to move to Albuquerque during a lengthy losing streak. Some of the nicknames for the team are "Isodukes," "Archdukes," "Artichokes," and "'Topes." "Isotopes" could also be considered a reference to the fact that New Mexico has a number of well-known scientific/military facilities dealing with nuclear technology, such as Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP). (In The Simpsons, Springfield's main industry is the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.)[Source: Wikipedia]