geekysteve.com

No fish fry reviews - sorry. The 'ole waistline needs a serious break from that Friday night ritual, so I've been actively avoiding that temptation.

I did however attend a Mallards baseball game last weekend with my friend Dan and his family and we had a blast. Dan and Tara purchased some awesome seats that were located literally behind home plate:

Not a bad seat for $7!

The game quickly became a lop-sided trouncing as the Mallards went ahead of their opponents (from LaCrosse) in the second inning to the tune of 9-1... So, we had to find other sources of entertainment and the most obvious option was to watch and shout along with a Mallards staple: The Beefstick Guy.

He sells a variety of items, but as he climbs up and down the stairs and makes his way through the seats and bleachers he shouts, "Peanuts, sunflower seeds, caramel corn," (and then with heavy emphasis on the "EE" and with the crowd of 7,000 people joining him) "bEEEEEEEEEEEfsticks!"

You'd think it gets old... but it never does - the whole crowd yells along with him and before you know it, you're joining the crowd. I figured I'd take a picture with his legend:

I also took a picture with Dan; upon review of the photo we promptly noticed two things - one, we're getting old, and two, we got "photo-bombed" by a little kid in the background... classic!

The night quickly came to a close and was capped-off by some fireworks and live music. We weren't able to stay for the music as Dan was there with the entire family (including his nephew who was visiting from New Jersey), so we watched the fireworks for a bit and then called it a night.

In other news, I'm continuing to get the apartment "in order." I got a magnetic knife holder and a few Victorinox Fibrox knives:

And, I finally got around to mounting the TV on the wall... what a difference that made. I'm waiting on one more component to arrive and then I'll be done with the set-up of the living room entertainment pieces (and I'll be able to get the last cardboard box out of the area).

I also bought a "cat sitter" DVD (I'm embarrassed to admit it) to help entertain the cats a bit. At the old apartment, the cats enjoyed watching birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and other critters as they scavenged bird seed from my upstairs neighbor's (aka "Psycho") porch. Here, they don't have that luxury, so I hoped the DVD might be a nice diversion from time to time. Turns out Shiloh loves it:

...Probably the best $5 I've ever spent on a DVD.

And finally, here's one last shot of Shiloh sitting on his favorite toy. I'm not sure why he chose to sit on it like this, but I thought it would make a fun picture.

I realized that I forgot to include some additional details from last week, so consider this a "pot-luck" entry of sorts...

If you'll recall from a previous entry, I stopped by Art Fair On The Square last week, and saw some really neat artwork. One of the artists that really stood out was this guy - he had these mean-looking dogs and cats featured in his work:

I would've loved to buy some of his stuff, but if I recall correctly, he was asking $3,000 or $4,000 for that painting... yikes! I realize it takes talent to conceptualize and create something like that but wow.

And speaking of wow, we (Mark, his friends Chris and Brenda, and me) donated a few bucks to a charity so that we could get our pictures taken in some crazy hats. I chose this viking number -

Our group photo was taken and posted somewhere online... I've managed to misplace the URL, so I guess I'll never see the fruits of our donation. Something tells me it's not a big loss.

Changing to another subject, I met some really nice folks (Kevin and Kelly) down at the MidTown and we got to chatting about documentaries; turns out we had all watched the "Beer Wars" documentary (I mentioned it here in a previous blog entry). One of the things they did in Beer Wars was demonstrate that nearly all light beers taste identical, and that when challenged, even the most die-hard beer fanatics couldn't tell the difference between 3 beers in a blind taste test.

We decided to give it a try ourselves, and the fine staff at MidTown proctored our test - they set-up 4 blind samples of light beer for us:

We blind-tested the 4 beverages; I took time to smell them, inspect them, cleanse my pallet between samples, and everything imaginable to try and better my odds of guessing correctly. Kevin and Kelly did the same; we all laughed heartily at how difficult (read: impossible) it was to differentiate between them.

As you can see, I received a perfect score of 100% misses. While Kelly and Kevin both correctly identified Miller Lite, Kevin was the clear winner with 2 correct answers. I encourage you to try the test for yourself - it's really quite funny/ironic/eye-opening.

Speaking of funny - it's been a while since I've posted or shared something from failblog.com and/or icanhascheezburger.com... as if trampolines weren't dangerous enough, check out this handy work:

And finally, for my last bit of randomness, I'll leave you with a photo of what I wake-up to just about every single morning:

Sorry for posting two entries in a single day, but wow - today was a good day in every sense of the word.

It rained cats-and-dogs last night - some areas around Madison reported 6+ inches of rain in the 'ole rain gauge. I don't know about you, but I sleep really well when there's a good rainstorm. So, with the A/C blasting cold air, the rain pouring down, and with two cats curled up near me, I slept like a million bucks. It's been a long time since I had a good nights' sleep (too many things going on - the mind races all night).

I woke-up extra early to ride the trainer for an hour or so; watched the news, felt refreshed, had a good sweat going, and felt really good (I normally dread the trainer). Had the usual breakfast (.5c Fiber One, .25c Skim Milk, 1oz fresh blueberries, supplements, and coffee), then hit the "Beltline," only to find that traffic was non-existent. I easily made my way over to Fitchburg, where I had an early morning Trigger Point/Deep Tissue massage scheduled.

My legs have been trashed lately (probably due to overtraining), and I figured a massage might help loosen them up and recover a bit. The therapist did an absolutely amazing job on the 'ole levers - and while moments of the massage were quite painful (especially the calves), I felt awesome afterward. I hopped back in the truck, drove to work without any traffic once again, and had a great morning of work - got tons of things done.

At lunch, I stopped at a local farmer's market and scored some super fresh local sweet corn - 3 ears for $1.

Near the end of the day, Phil (co-worker) and I went to a local market where we scored some really good cheese (English Hollow Cheese??), some produce, and some Wild Blue Popcorn kernels. I figured I would try my hand at air-popping some corn in the microwave.

I drove home and went about making dinner. I had fresh, organic, locally sourced chicken, fresh locally grown sweet corn, and a fresh, dirt-grown, locally sourced tomato with some roasted broccoli, a Diet Root Beer (from Point Brewery), and 1 Tbsp of an all natural BBQ sauce:

I used my new favorite seasoning for just about everything: Mrs Dash. It's salt-free, and the Chicken seasoning is amazing, as is the "Extra Spicy" (use it on veggies), and the "Table Blend" (use it on tomatoes and eggs).

Best of all, I enjoyed this guilt-free, 364 calorie feast out on the deck, because the weather was incredible - mid-70s, no humidity, sun in just the right place, iPod playing some good dinner music... bliss.

I'm still out on the deck now (at 8:30pm), enjoying my air-popped popcorn (it's super good; hit it with some Mrs. Dash as well) and browsing the web. I really wouldn't mind if today never ended - it's been a good day!

I'm confident in stating that Mid-Town Pub has some spectacular fish, as I've now sampled every one of their fish offerings, save for the shrimp. This will be a quick review, as my visit to MTP last week was short - I'm trying desperately to get 100% settled-in to the new place, and spending hours at a fish fry (as enticing and attractive as it would be) isn't on the schedule right now. :-(

I arrived to MTP at around 7:30pm on Friday night, just as the primary Fish Fry crowd was starting to disperse. I grabbed a seat at the bar, where I promptly put in a request for some French Onion soup, a beverage, and some of their famously fresh-popped popcorn.

The bartenders wasted no time in bringing out a bowl of velvety french onion soup - the staff at MTP is so fantastic, I simply can't say enough great things about them - along with the popcorn and drink.

True to MTP form, the soup was scalding hot, so I left it to cool for a bit, and instead munched on the popcorn as I browsed the fish fry menu. I opted for the grilled fish, with a baked potato - figured I'd be a little healthy. MTP fish frys also come with coleslaw, tartar, and a piece of garlic toast.

I eventually was able to try the soup and it was superb. MTP makes a mean soup (and a killer chili, which is always available); their soup offerings are unique, creative, and different with every day - it's rare that you'll find the same soup on the menu twice in one week.

The fish arrived within 10 minutes of placing the order and featured three large white filets of cod, each of which was lightly coated with a flaky, light-colored seasoning (almost like a rub). It's important to note that the fish isn't "grilled" in the traditional sense of the word - it's cooked on a flat-top, but is served very "clean" (no signs of grease, slime, etc). You won't find grill marks, however (other than a nice, uniform sear).

I took a bite and was immediately satisfied - the fish was fantastic in every respect: moist, flaky, slightly-firm, cooked to perfection, and wonderfully flavorful. MTP's cod can't be messed with - fried or grilled, it's incredible stuff.

The baked potato and garlic toast were equally good; the latter moreso than the potato (it's just a simple baked potato, afterall). I scarfed down the meal in record time, paid my bill, thanked the staff and headed home.

MTP Grilled cod = WIN

Service = 5 stars
Food = 4.25 stars
Value = 4.25 stars
MISC = 5 stars (friendliest place in Middleton, and probably all of Madison)

Summary: MTP continues to deliver good food, great service, and a great environment. And while I didn't include pictures (forgot the camera at home), it should be noted that I don't wait for weeks to post my reviews - I'm prompt and responsive... ;-) When "review sites" spend less time Facebooking and digging-on other sites and more time reviewing, readers win. Waiting weeks for a review/update = bad.

I had to take a work-related trip to Chicago yesterday, where I had an opportunity to visit our corporate headquarters. The HQ is located in the heart of downtown Chicago - on LaSalle Street, near the Washington Street intersection. It's a gorgeous area; I really do enjoy big cities.

I arrived a bit early for my meeting, so I grabbed a seat at the Starbucks "patio" that was located in front of our building, settled-in, did some work, and took a few minutes to do some quality people watching.

So much personality in the city - the buildings are majestic, the shade makes things seem more inviting, and the hustle and bustle makes you feel like being active - like you should be working harder. And work harder you'd have to if you wanted to live in downtown Chicago - I almost choked when I saw the hourly parking rates for the ramp I had to park in... $27/hour!!!

I made my way up to the 40th floor of the building and was stunned by the incredible views. One of the folks pointed-out this awesome "green space" that sits atop the City of Chicago's City Hall building:

Apparently that rooftop is indeed part of city hall - pretty impressive.

The meeting went well and wrapped-up at around 5:30pm or so. I then made my way over to IKEA where I bought a desk and a bookcase for the apartment. The desk turned out to be a major failure - it's far too large for the apartment, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it.

But the bookcase/entertainment stand seems to be working well:

The stand measures about 6' long and stands about 32" tall. Within the next few weeks I'll mount the TV to the wall and shuffle some things around. With any luck, I'll also sell that small 13" TV in the lower left corner of the photo, and will find a place for that box in the lower right corner of the photo. I can't wait to be 100% settled-in.

Now... does anyone need an oversized desk that's never been used? :-)