New Orleans and Dora the Explora...

Why is this little girl so happy?


Hello and welcome to Just a little love on a friday.

I would first like to say to all the people in the NO area that we are all hoping that you get out okay and things get rebuilt and repaired soon. I know a few people who have been to NO and they say it is a beautiful city. Daryl M, Preston, and a few other WGBA employees got down there when the Greatest Football team EVER won the Super Bowl. Go Packers. I was hoping to get to that one but oh well. Politics kept me away from the San Diego one also, but that is a whole nother story.



I sent an email to Kris Rhodes, who lives or lived in NO, earlier this week. Here is what she said,

" Hi Chris,

My husband and I have evacuated to Birmingham. Tomorrow we'll head to Minneapolis to stay with my parents. We think we still have a home in Bay St. Louis... although it may be one of the only ones still standing and there's no telling if all of our belongings are still there.... and our condo in New Orleans is probably in worse shape. This is a complete nightmare! My husband's sister lost her home in Bay St. Louis... and his other siblings are also bracing for the worst. We're all okay and that's what is most important but I'm numb right now to all of the images that I see on the TV.

Kris"

If you have the time email her and let her know that you are thinking of her. She needs all our support at this time. I am willing to start a fund raising campaign if we need to. The TundraTalk Rhodes Trip I will call it. If you want to donate let me know and I will try to get it going. I am sure anything we can do to help at this time is appreciated. Stay strong Kris, we got your back...

Last weeks blog on the Chuck Meter got a few comments that I would like to recap...

First off Marcus who lives in Toronto Ontario sent me this note about a Chuck signing in TO


"I loved Fargo Rock City. I think you lent it to me. I stumbled across Killing youself to live by accident, but Immediatly bought it. I'll have to get his 2nd one (Coco puffs) next. I agree, the Drug use and Kiss really disturbed me. Not the woman/Kiss analagy, just the fact he loves Kiss so much (They are the one Band I dispise). My Loylties are with Alice(Cooper). There was one part in the book he talked about Drinking, I think it was the night out with "Uma". He mentioned he was drinking Gingerale and Brandy. I was waiting for the name of the drink to come up (Chris, Do you remember what he called them in Fargo Rock City??) Witty Chucks!!!, because when he drinks them he (Chuck) becomes instantly funny. He's going to be here in Toronto on Wed. at a Bar to promote his book. I'd like to try and make it down, But the shift 3 - 11pm might pose a problem. "


Well Marcus made it down to the show and had this to say...

"Hey I made it down to the Horseshoe.
I printed off the Chuck Blog and gave it to him. Maybe he'll leave a rebuttle(The Link to Tundra Talk was on every page). He talked on stage for about an Hr. Read a bit from his book (Mastadon's). Its funny when he'd reading a part where he's having a conversation with a Highschool girl, The reading "Voice" he uses for his voice in the conversation sounded alot like Mitch Hedberg for some reason. Its funny, I never heard his voice before, but hearing him speak except for the Mitch voice pretty much was the voice in my head when I was reading K.Y.T.L. I picked up S.D&C.C.P.'s and took KYTL with me and got both signed. I was the 1st in line and there was a Huge line behind me. I didn't really get to talk to him as long as I would have liked. But he seemed like a nice guy. He sipped from a pint glass. I meant to ask him if it was a "Witty Chuck" or not. "

Marcus thanks for showing him my blog, but I am a bit embarassed that you did so. I guess I will have to write him and explain it now. Kinda odd that his book signing and me writing a blog about him all happened at the same time. I told Nick Chase about this and he responded...

"It's weird and cool that Chuck has become big enough for this many people to go out to see him. Wow."

I agree. Chuck really has impressed me especially since I hated him so much to come to now where I kinda respect what he has done. Oh well.

On to the subject at hand. Dora the Explorer. I know you are probably saying now, "Chris I thought you learned your lesson with the Blues Clues show." Obviously I have not learned a thing. Last weekend we took McKenna to an 'appearance' of her favorite person in the world, besides her daddy of course, Dora. She loves Dora. I guess if you want to make a comparison to me, it would be like meeting the Nature Boy Ric Flair. That would be awesome.

I was eating breakfast one day, minding my own business reading the paper, when McKenna stood up in her chair, slammed her hands down on the table and yelled DORA! I said where? Looking at the TV to see Dragontales, not Dora on. She pointed at my paper and lo and behold right in the middle was this tiny ad about an appearance of Dora the Explorer in Edmonton. I said wow kid, you really got good vision. So in the ad, which McKenna demanded that I cut out for her, it says that you have to go to the mall and obtain a "ticket" which guarantees you an audience with Dora. I guess I would cut out the Ric Flair ad also, so it isn't that crazy. So I explain to her that Dora is coming to town. She says, lets go, and starts to climb out of her chair to go right now. Great, now I have to explain to her that it is still two weeks til she gets here. Doesn't work, she insists all the way to day care that we go right now. She understands the concept of 'sleeps' so we tell her that it is 14 sleeps til Dora. That kinda settles her down. 14 sleeps til Ric would be tough for me too.



This is the closest I have been to Ric.

So after I drop her off I drive to the mall to obtain her a ticket for the 'apperance' of Dora. I love my kid. The place does not open til 10 and I am here at 9 so I kill some time, not much, and go back to the store. The lady asks me why I am here and I tell her, so she is kind and shoots me a ducket. I am the best dad in the world.

That evening when she gets home I hand her the ticket, and she goes nuts. And again she wants to go right now. We explain again and she wants to go to bed to make it happen sooner. Wow, maybe we should give her a new ticket every night. Nah, that would never work, she would want some kind of pay off every day. Back to the drawing board.



One ticket to Dora heaven. Notice the number is 79. They gave out 600. No self respecting dad would accept any ticket higher than a hundred.

So the 'Day of Dora' rolls around. Mckenna is on cloud nine. She eats her cereal and takes time to pick out the special dress for the occasion and just the right toys to take along. What would I wear to go and meet the Nature Boy. How about, a nice frilly robe that has my name on the back in sequins? Nah, maybe a full suit and tie, dress to impress. That is an option. I would probably go with a simple black 4 horseman tee shirt. Yeah, that would rock. I would drop the four fingers at him the minute I saw him. He would love me. Oh sorry back to the Dora thing.

We head off to the mall about an hour early to secure a good place in line so we can get to a wedding later. Congrats Wes on your commitment. Anyway, we get there and this is what we see...



We place ourselves in line and wait it out. I definitely would wait in a long line to meet 'THE Man". I probably would be willing to make it a day. McKenna instantly has lots of friends because she brought her Princess Dora. The mall was smart to do this. The planned it right at noon so all the kids would be hungry. Parents have to buy food and drink for the kids. I tried to defy the marketing to not comply by buying stuff in the mall but I needed a tie to go with my suit, the dry cleaners lost my other one. We had to buy McKenna food, Donna was hungry also. The family in line next to us said they spent about 140 dollars in the mall. We probably spent 60 bones. They made a lot of coin off Dora's appearance.



AS it gets closer to the event more people show up and find out that you need a ticket to get an audience. How do you explain that to your three year old that you can't go see her cause your daddy is a dead beat. Losers. Not me, I am the best one here. Security, yes they had it, was pathetic. They could not control this line to save their life. Just before the whole thing started this woman who looked like she just left the cologen(sp) chair pushed her way into the front of the line and butted in front of about 500 kids. I soooo wanted to just drag her out by her greasy hair but I did not.



McKenna and her dora.

It was crazy in there when Dora came out. Kids went nuts. Parents started pushing, mass hysteria. McKenna was in awe. She sat on my shoulders and everytime I turned my head she got mad cause she could not see Dora.





There were even people on the roof. Just plain nuts. We finally got up to the stage and she got a big hug from Dora. She was so happy. Now would I hug Ric Flair? I probably would try. He would probably prefer just a big Whoooooo! Man that would be cool. We asked McKenna what she was going to say to Dora and she said "I love you." Ahhh how sweet. I would probably tell Ric that he was cool and ask him to lock the figure four on me. What says I love you more than asking for a figure four.



McKenna was walking on clouds the rest of the day. I am sure I would be too if I got to meet Ric Flair. Maybe someday McKenna will get me a ticket to see the man. That would be awesome! I can only wait. I wish it was only 14 sleeps.

Have a nice day and GET BACK TO WORK!!!!

I hate Chuck, kinda...

The object of my ire at times and todays blog subject, Chuck Klosterman


Okay, we got a few responses to last weeks blog. Some good and one really confusing one. Oh well, here is what James the self proclaimed "Gay Trucker" had to say about the application for Canadian citizenship.

"Bwahahahahahahaha! Awesome, Coach! Loved the part with quotes from Donna (I agree with her by the way).

ps. Welcome to the civilized world - congrats on your citizenship in the country that is home to Wayne Gretzky - the greatest human ever. The guy who created Quizno's is a close 2nd. You'll probably get denied, but I like that you tried. It's good to improve on oneself, and removing yourself from the whiny, selfish, ego-centrical society that the USA is... 'nuff said. "

James"

Uh, okay James, I am not sure if you are referring to Don Cherry as the Quiznos guy, but okay. I hope I don't get denied, it costs $200.

And this response came from a person who did not feel it important to leave their name...

"TRAITOR, only a Packer fan would go canadian (note small caps on the "c"). canada isn't even a real country and if you want free healthcare then become a citizen of Mexico and sneak across the border to the good old USA. Thats how you get free healthcare here. If canada is so great then why do I have a bunch of canadians working around me, scooping up the California gold and back talking Old Glory..drunk mother f**kers!!! Canook Go Home!! "

This person called themselves the American Bad Ass. Dude, you have issues. I would suggest the first step would be to stop drinking Nyquil before noon and seek professional help.

Now, on to the subject at hand. I just finished reading this book....



I will tell you right off the bat, I really liked this book. I honestly did not put it down. It is written by Chuck Klosterman. A good North Dakota boy who when I lived there wrote for the Fargo Forum. He know is senior writer at Spin Magazine and writes for the NY Times among other things. The story is about a cross country trip to visit the 'landmarks' where rock stars meet their demise. For instance the first place he goes is in NY where Sid Vicious killed Nancey Spurgeon and then OD. Sounds kinda morbid but it really is very entertaining. Chuck intertwines stories about the women he loves, most of whom do not really love him, and how he deals with it. He at one point compares all the women he has loved in his life to all the different members of KISS. That includes all the players during the non-makeup days. It really is kinda deep on one level and really weird on another. Chuck also wrote, Fargo Rock City, and Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. Both also very entertaining.

Nick Chase is actually quoted in this book, and once in his previous book. About the only think I really dislike about this book is the drug use. Although I find it somewhat facinating, I just don't believe that a good ND boy should be doing the drugs he talks about. Nick compares it to the 'blading' in pro wrestling. That is the process of cutting your forehead so you bleed like a pig and we all think it is a devastating match. We all know that it is a drama and a soap opera so none of the wrestlers need to bleed during a match to prove anything to us. He does not need to tell us about his drug use, the story is still just as good and we don't think of him as any cooler because of it.

Now this Blog is not just a review of this book. I have met Chuck once or twice, but I feel like I know him. Actually to explain my 'relationship' with Chuck there are varying degrees of my Chuck Meter. How can I actually say I have a relationship with him when I only met him once? I don't really know but I do. Let me explain the Chuck Meter.

When I was in college and shortly thereafter, I would read his columns in the Forum. It was mostly in the Forums weak attempt at reaching the younger generation, called RAGE. It sucked. But I read it every week. I think that Chuck wrote pretty much every article in the thing. I will tell you at this point I hated every word this guy ever wrote. I thought his opinions were garbage, stuff like when reviewing the new Poison or Crue album he would go on and on about how great the record was. But the bands that I thought mattered like REM he had no time for. I hated Chuck. I still have copies of this paper just to prove how bad it was. Really.



The Chuck Meter was at this time in my life RED. I hated everything about this guy. Mostly because I thought I could do better, I just didn't. I started a music magazine in Bismarck with my friend Mike Pierce. He also hated Chuck. Donna and Robby DuPuis also wrote in this paper. The paper was called Tangerine Press. I can't really remember why we called it that but we did. We put out about five issues. Each issue we put out more copies, and near the end we even had sold ads. It was kinda cool. I made a point to write completely different and about the things that Chuck did not. We were the Anti Chuck if you will. We never trashed him, but it was obvious we did not like the same things he did. Something happened and we stopped. We did get some hate mail from a magazine in Fargo called Yhatzeen. We liked that. Chuck mentions in his new book that he was also hated by that magazine. They apparently wrote about how much they hated him though. We took the high road.



Fast forward to about 1997, I attended a WCW event in Fargo North Dakota with Nick Chase. The event was Thunder. It was cool, I drove all the way from Green Bay to attend on the hope that I may get to see the Nature Boy Ric Flair. Denied. But I did meet Chuck. Nick introduced him to me. I said hi and all the hate came back. I secretly hoped he was still working in Fargo and rotting away. I thought I had a victory there.

Well I move to Canada and Nick tells me that Chuck is working in Ohio. I think good for him, and change the subject. Unitl I one day I am parusing the aisles in the local Chapters and I see it. Fargo Rock City, written by Chuck Klosterman. Here comes the Chuck meter.



I bought the book. I read it and did not put it down. What is wrong with me. I hate this guy. I find out that this guy and I have some things in common. He used to tape MTV, so did I. I used to have about 30 tapes of MTV in my library. I have since taped over them. He also liked a lot of the same music for the same reasons I did. I was sick. The hatred also turned to envy. I was jealous. I have always wanted to write a book, and here he is the guy I hated and tried to be unlike, he has not only a book but a best seller. I hate him more now, but I also hate myself a bit for liking the book and wishing I could have written a book. I just was too busy or lazy. In the front of the book he gives his phone number to call him if you want to tell him what you think. I did. I also decide since he has a love for Poison if I ever meet him again or get his address I would send him my promo copy of 'Nothing but a good time'. It is a promo 12" vinyl copy that was sent out before they released the album, and it has no name on the record. Just a big ? in the middle of the record. I think Chuck would appreciate that. Chuck meter at Green and Red.



A few years later, he puts out his second book, and I find this one the same way I found the last one.



Parusing the Chapters in Calgary. This time I am in the store with some people I was currently on strike with and when they ask me what I bought with my per diem money, I am forced to explain that I kinda know him and that I hate him. They ask me why I bought the book then. I have no answer. Oh, and to add insult to injury one of the guys I was there with had read Fargo Rock City and loved it. I hate Chuck. One of the other guys wants to borrow it from me. I loan it to him and two years later I still have not gotten it back, and it bothers me. Chuck meter at Green and Red. But more green than red.



Fast forward to now. I, this winter, while at Chapters, looked up in the computer about Chuck to see when his next book is coming out. I found out it is coming in spring and briefly forget it. Later Nick reminds me and reads the passage that he is quoted in. It is a funny story and I go out and get it. I sit down and read it in a span of about 30 hours off and on while working and taking care of McKenna. I read most of the book and then I took the time to read the 'testimonials' on the back of the jacket. This pissed me off. My Chuck meter just about went back into the red. Douglas Coupland and Bret Easton Ellis both have testimonials on it. Two authors I highly respect. I own every Coupland book and still to this day consider Generation X the best book I have ever read. That book changed me. To see him praising Chuck really bothered me at first. Then I just thought about it and realized I need to let it go. Chuck is a talented writer. Did I just write that?

I really like the book and wish I had had the idea of the cross country trip. I would love to just get in the car and drive. Then sit down and write about it. To this day I am kicking myself for not writing everyday during the strike. There were a lot of stories that I have forgotten or just did not get recorded that today if I sat down and tried to write them down it would be impossible. Not for a book, but more for myself and the people that I was embroiled in that drama with.

So where does that leave me on the Chuck meter? Well, I guess now a days I am at Chuck Meter Yellow. I like his stuff, and I have recently asked Nick for his email so I can contact him and tell him how much I like his books and how I do not hate him as much any more. I am sure he has no clue, or even cares. Either way I will be anxiously awaiting his next book. Not sure where the Chuck Meter will be after that one but I will let you all know.



Now have a great day and GET BACK TO WORK!!!!