Summerstuff

In the past week I have...

Attended a Madison Mallards baseball game:

A bunch of coworkers got tickets and tailgated before the game.  I hadn't seen a minor league baseball game since the Kenosha Twins existed, and the players used to board with our neighbors over the back fence during the summer, and my older sisters used to scheme ways to get their attention ... anyway.  I hadn't seen a minor league game in a long time, and this was fun.  And a lot goofier than I remembered.  See guy with cape and keytar above.  He played a song between innings: winner had to identify song and artist.  Also, at Mallards games, anyone who catches a foul ball can turn it in for a free wiener at the concession stand.  The Twins definitely didn't do that.


Gone to my first Capitol Farmer's Market of the summer:

Believe it or not, it was my first Saturday morning at home since the outdoor markets began on April 17th.  The weather couldn't have been better for my first outing of the season.  My haul included fresh raspberries and spicy cheese bread, and I got there early enough to walk around without being slowed to a crawl by the crowds.


Taken part in a surprise birthday party:

I suppose that isn't a summer-specific activity, but it's always fun to get together for a celebration with friends.  Bonus points if the night includes karaoke at a bar, where friend Mark sings a Smiths song while the birthday girl does an interpretive dance behind him.


Driven down to Chicago for a free night of music in Millennium Park:

The Cultural Center hosts a series called Downtown Sound, featuring different bands each Monday.  Last night's show in the Pritzker Pavilion featured Huntsville and On Fillmore with Nels Cline.  Though some of Huntsville's material isn't exactly my thing, I found most of the performances fascinating.  It's interesting to watch Nels and Glenn and Darin work with the sheer variety of implements they bring to the stage in this incarnation.  Garden weasel wheels playing crotales, battery-powered tripod massagers on a drum head, chirping stuffed birds played through guitar pickups, and something that was possibly bamboo on a rope, twirled in the air like a foxtail.  Nels and Glenn joined Huntsville for the last 45 minutes of their set, and you know when there are two drum kits being employed, I'm happy.