Wow, was that an unsatisfying game! Manny plays solid, the Wild get a goal from the line of Weinhandl-Foy-Smith (!) and they still lose 2-1 to a San Jose team that didn’t really look like much of a powerhouse. Joe Freakin’ Thornton seemed sluggish and Borat’s friend Nabokov was hardly challenged in net (only 9 shots in the first two periods).
Top seven things I’d like to spend money on in 2007:
- Debt Elimination
- Basement Project
- HDTV and Home Theater System
- Vespa Scooter
- Memberships and Season Tickets – Various
- Cabin and Land on Lake Superior
- Aston Martin Rapide (pre-order) 🙂
Top seven cities I’d like to visit in 2007:
- Beaver Creek, Colorado
- Hamilton, Bermuda
- London, England
- Orlando, Florida
- Portland, Oregon
- ReykjavÃÂk, Iceland
- Tokyo, Japan
The latest Wild player event occurred tonight at Buffalo Wild Wings in Apple Valley. Defenseman Kurtis Foster showed up early and signed my daughter’s jersey and a “To DK” photo before the event was even scheduled to start. He continued the trend of friendly, polite players in kid-friendly environments that I think reflect very well on the Wild organization.
Our next game is coming up this week–Wednesday night against San Jose. Hopefully a few more people will be healthy by then (Demitra for a birthday goal?). Two points and a strong goalie performance would really help–the Pacific is getting too dangerous to fall further behind now…DK
Top seven Minnesota restaurants I’d like to visit in 2007:
- 112 Eatery, Minneapolis
- Chambers Kitchen, Minneapolis
- Chez Jude, Grand Marais
- Cosmos, Minneapolis
- Midtown Global Market, Minneapolis
- Salut Bar American, Edina
- St. Paul Grill, St. Paul
Top seven Minnesota golf courses I’d like to play in 2007:
- Giants Ridge, Biwabik
- Somerby, Byron
- Somerset, Mendota Heights
- Town and Country, St. Paul
- White Bear Yacht Club, White Bear Lake
- Wilderness at Fortune Bay, Tower
- Windsong Farm, Independence
Top seven non-Minnesota golf courses I’d like to play next year:
- Augusta National, Georgia
- Bandon Dunes, Oregon
- Challenge at Manele, Hawaii
- Cypress Point, California
- Pebble Beach, California
- Pine Valley, New Jersey
- Shadow Creek, Nevada
Winter continues to hide from Minnesota this year. Yesterday we played at Meadowbrook Golf Course in Hopkins under sunny skies and a temperature of around 55 degrees. The course was in good condition for this time of year and there were a lot of people taking advantage of the opportunity. Temps today will approach 60, so there are a few more chances for people to get out and enjoy the weather.
Tonight my wife and I went to see the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at St. Mary’s Basilica in downtown Minneapolis. The ninth is my favorite classical work to see performed live–the sight of all of those people on stage at the same time is unparalleled. The acoustics in that building were not the greatest, but the beauty of the architecture made up for it.
It boggles my mind that people can’t shut up for 90 minutes. Unless you are saying you need an ambulance, be quiet! Between the people talking, the guy with the repeater cough and the lady flipping through her program during the performance, it was hard to focus on the music. Still, I enjoy attending classical performances and this is a work I think everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. The peak of the chorus in the last movement brings a tear to my eye every time…DK
Minnesota passed a new law this year that requires all counties to conduct a post-election audit of 2-4 randomly picked precincts. The paper ballot totals for Minnesota Governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. Congress will be manually counted and compared to the results of the optical scan machines. If there is more than a 0.5 percent difference, an automatic recount of the entire county will be called.
Look what I found on the floor this week. I went to a different junior high in Saint Paul, but all of these people became friends of mine in high school, including my wife. Recognize anyone? Are you one of them? Drop me a line at dk@7minutemiles.com and give us an update…DK
The drive home tonight was magical: 70 degrees in November, both windows rolled down, great music playing on the iPod, sweet smells from restaurants and bakeries, the joy of driving a Mini around tight curves and a beautiful sunset over the Mississippi River. Probably won’t get another one of those for about six months…DK
Here is the tentative list of the people who will be representing me in the major offices:
- U.S. Senators: Norm Coleman (R) and Amy Klobuchar (D)
- U.S. Representative, District 2: John Kline (R)
- Governor: Tim Pawlenty (R)
- MN Attorney General: Lori Swanson (D)
- MN Secretary of State: Mark Ritchie (D)
- MN State Auditor: Rebecca Otta (D)
- MN Senate, District 38: Jim Carlson (D)
- MN House, District 38A: Sandra Masin (D)
- Eagan Mayor: Mike Maguire
- Eagan City Council: Peggy Carlson, Paul Bakken, Meg Tilley, Cyndee Fields
Overall, I think it was an interesting mix of results in this election. I’m neither excited or angry, so I guess that’s a positive. I do plan to communicate more with the people listed above and make them work for their money, something I haven’t done nearly enough in the past…DK
Today’s the day we’ve all been waiting for–the day when election ads stop on TV! Seriously, though, I encourage all of you to get informed and exercise your right to vote. You can’t bitch about things later if you don’t vote today. The League of Women Voters site has a good ballot site and will tell you where to vote.
I voted this morning at 8:15am and did not have to wait in line at all. My wife got there when the polls opened at seven and she had to wait about a half hour. The counter said I was ballot 243–let’s get those participation numbers up…DK
Yet another late season round, this time at Sawmill Golf Club in Stillwater. Sunny and sixty today, with a few more good golf days forecast for later this week. Sawmill was running an 18-for-18 promotion, so the price was right and the tee sheet was full.
It’s been six years since I last played Sawmill and today I found a course that was fun to play, but the conditioning of several greens was less than optimal. It’s also very short (5500 yards from the white tees) and they weren’t picking up leaves, so it was hard to find balls. Small price to pay, though, for November golf in Minnesota.
Our new office is done–at least until we earn enough money to buy a pool table and Chexx Hockey (new pictures here). The ceiling fans, fluorescent lights and security cameras were installed, the video editing workstation is configured, the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner has been set up, most of the trash and boxes have been removed and today our ultimate office chairs arrived.
Wow, a late October, sunny, mid-60s day in Minnesota. Of course the temperature dropped about 40 degrees the next day, but we’ll take it. The Legends Club was in superb condition and the food in the clubhouse continues to be well above average. The forecast for the weekend shows promise for at least one more round in 2006.
Tonight my daughter and I went to the Wild event at Joe Senser’s in Eagan. Finns Mikko Koivu and Petteri Nummelin were very nice to us: they answered her question, signed her jersey and gave me my favorite “To DK” signed photos. The organizers from the Wild were also very nice to us and I thanked them for holding great events like this that are kid-friendly.
The Hockey Unplugged event started with an hour broadcast that I believe will be pondcast from the Wild site in a few days. After the broadcast, the large crowd got in line for autographs. We waited for a bit, but the line wasn’t moving at all. Instead of leaving, we decided to get a table and have a snack. Afterwards, it was a very short wait and a fun end to the night…DK