Jump Around

On Wisconsin

So those that know me, know I graduated from The University of Wisconsin (I've got to add the The, like The Ohio State).

Ann and I go to a few games each year. We always have friends tailgating so sometimes even when we don't have tickets we'll roll into town. If you haven't been to a game there you just don't understand how electric the whole town is on a game day.

Last week we got lucky enough to get tickets to the nationally televised night game against Iowa. I took some bad pics with my phone. Not really worth of posting.

The day looked like this, arrive at tailgate 3:00, go to game at 7:00, come back to tailgate at 10:30, eat some food and go to friends house. Does it get any better than that. Oh yeah, the weather was also unseasonable warm, between 75-80 at game time. Perfect day.

If you've never been to a Badger football game, one of the great new traditions is the playing of House of Pain's song Jump Around between the 3rd and 4th quarter. This started in the late 90's and has continued. I found a you tube clip it's in the post just above this one.

Sunday Morning Pastime

One of my wife and my favorite pastimes is Sunday morning breakfast. Since we've lived here we are able to try a different breakfast spot any Sunday we want (there weren't this many choices at our former home). Of course one of the top priorities at breakfast is good coffee.

A couple of weeks ago we found my new favorite place. Cafe Hollander, located on the upper east side of Milwaukee, very near UWM. This is the place that has reminded most of European Cafes. The location, outdoor seating, eclectic staff and patrons all add up to a great easy going, Sunday breakfast.

Their website, http://www.cafehollander.com/

Pics.

Here's some pics from Europe Cafe's summer 2006

Work is a Zoo

That's my excuse for not posting recently. If you don't know I work in K-12 public education in a semi-urban environment. The last two weeks has been absolutely crazy.

So some recent random things.

Tonight the movie "In The Company of Men" is on the HD Movie channel. Which reminded me of when I watched that movie probably about 8 years ago. Great movie in a sick, twisted, kick me in the head kind of way. Which got me thinking of other movies I would describe in the same way (if you have any to add, please comment)

My list (in no particular order except #1 is #1 and will always be #1 don't even try and convince me otherwise)

1. Requiem for a Dream (when I was contemplating renting this movie back in 2000 my friend said to me "dude it's like a kick in the head)

2. Kids (Casper is the dopest ghost)

3. Trainspotting (although the Born Slippy by Underworld is a great song)

4. Basketball Diaries

5. Seven

On to other movie news/reviews I saw a couple recently I can (sort) of recommend. First, if you liked Roadhouse, the early 90's Patrick Swayze movie. This was a staple on video tape (remember that) (do you like all my parans this post?), my freshman year of college, check out Shooter, starring ........ Marky Mark. He might in fact be the next Patrick Swayze. Shooter was entertaining and cheesy in exactly the same way. So what do you think was better Roadhouse or Point Break... which leads me to

Hot Fuzz, which has the all time great Point Break references ever. Hot Fuzz is worth the entire 2 hours simply for the last 20 minutes. I'll put the shootout in Hot Fuzz right up there with Heat and Hard Boiled.

Finally, if you want an inspiring documentrary check out Born Into Brothels. A story of kids in India that are children of prostitutes. It's not exactly up lifting but is truly a great documentary.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

We knew baseball is the main sport in Nicaragua, however, our Lonely Planet book had indicated that the season would be complete when we were visiting. Lucky for us, it was wrong. We were in Granada bumming around on a Saturday afternoon when we found out there would be a baseball game that afternoon between Granada and Leon (archrivals in baseball as well as politics, attitude, etc, think Red Sox vs. Yankees, that type of rivalry). We couldn't pass up this opportunity.

We took our $1.00 cab ride to the ball park


Immediately people were wanting to sell us tickets. Kids were also in the stadium yelling down at us to come into the game. The excitement of the game on their face was contagious. We later found out that kids are let in free to games (they are supposed to be with an adult, but that rule is not enforced). We ignored those trying to sell us tickets and Ann worked her magic at the ticket booth, asking the lady what kind of seats were available. We had our choice betwee 30 Cordoba seats (roughly $1.50) and general admission, or the more expensive 50 Cordoba seats (approx. $2.50). Given those choices we went for the expensive seats. When we got into the stadium we were ushered into basically the best seats in the stadium. They were fenced off with an usher so that "common folk" could not take these seats. This area was probably 25% full and I imagine the locals sitting here were at least middle to upper class.



One of my favorite sights was the couple that rolled into seats near us with a cooler of ice, coke and a bottle of rum and just started mixing their drinks.


We enjoyed a couple of beers (they were expensive at the stadium, $1 as opposed to the normal $0.70). The concession stand was similar to what you might find at a high school football game. A few tables set up as counters with big tubs filled with ice and beer in them. Perfect.

Concessions

This was the kickin' sound system.

The game was enjoyable and the talent appeared to be pretty good. The star pitcher for Granada had reached AAA amateur ball in the majors.

Even Brett Favre was there.

In the 7th inning the bank of lights behind home plate went out. This caused quite a delay. But as things tended to work in Nicaragua misfortune quickly turned into good luck. Listening to a couple of local guys in front of us I knew that they spoke very good English so I thought I would strike up a conversation. The guys (like every Nica we met) were just great guys, very friendly. Both had basically been refugees in the U.S. during the war in the 80's when they were kids. They were educated attending college in the U.S. and then returned home in the 90's.

One of these men was a banker and the other Juan Carlos had a few business interests. He along with his brothers owns a night club in San Juan del Sur as well as a Subway restaurant there. They also own a coffee plantation, this revelation led to us talking for nearly 30 minutes.


These guys were so nice they bought us a beer and we got their email addresses.


Shortly thereafter the bank of lights was fixed and Granada won the game.


I can't remember if I mentioned earlier but Nicaragua has mandatory rolling blackouts, they typically last 4 hours or so. Due to the baseball game the blackout was delayed until the game was complete. But as soon as the game was over lights went off all throughout town.

Who is Out There?

A friend begins all of his blog entries with song lyrics. I can't steal his trademark, but if I could I would have titled this "hello, is there anybody out there."

Shortly after beginning this I discovered that there is a downfall to blogging as opposed to emailing friends. You aren't sure if anyone is ever reading the stuff. Not that I care really, except that when I talk to my friends and they say "how was your trip" or "do you have any pictures" I have to answer with "well they are on the blog."

Then there are my family members who apparantely thought that I only posted one blog. My sister said to me the other day, "oh there's more than one post." Um, yes, that is sort of the point.

So, now I have discovered google analytics it can track how many hits the page is getting and where from. I like this, it gives me a flavor of whether anyone is paying attention. But now I'm left with this question... WHO LIVES IN TONY WISCONSIN? Show yourself, leave me a comment or if you want to email me direct, that is fine too. I have friends in Eau Claire, but I didn't think Tony. Maybe I am wrong.

Regarding comments, if anyone has tried to comment and been frustrated that first you had to sign in to Google, I have removed that as a requirement. You can now comment directly without any sign in.

Upcoming blog teaser. We attended a pro baseball game in Granada, story and pics to follow in the coming days.

Chance Encounters, Amazing People

It's 7:00 on Saturday as I sit down to update. I've got my favorite coffee in Milwaukee ready to give me a jump start on this Saturday evening. If you live in the area make sure you check out Stone Creek Coffee. The coffee is great, the atmosphere of the shops is even better and the friendliness and attitude of the workers is top notch. Sip, ahhhh.

Back to Nicaragua...

While on Ometepe 2 significant events occurred that changed the course of our trip from a solo tourist expedition to a trip of deeper cultural understanding and meaning.

First, while visiting laguna de ojo I met and began chatting to two Americans who also happened to be there. They had offered to take a picture of Ann and I together. It turns out Sara and Melissa were from Chicago. They had traveled up from Panama to return to Granada, where they had both lived and worked for a period of time. Over the next few days we would quickly become friends and in turn meet some of their friends native to Nicaragua.

The second event is thanks to my wife’s Spanish abilities. We had arranged for transportation from our hotel on Ometepe to take us back to the ferry stop about 45 minutes away. Two middle age couples joined us on that trip. My wife struck up a conversation with one of the women, she was probably about 50. That woman asked how we were going to get from the ferry back to Granada. My wife explained that we would take the same route that we had on the way down. We would catch a van from the ferry stop to the city of Rivas, from there we would catch the collectivo bus (yellow school bus, think Romancing the Stone) from Rivas to the Granada bus station (not really a station more like a dirt pen inside of some fences) and then finally a taxi from the station to our hotel. While this trip had seemed like an adventure on the way to Ometepe, the novelty of that adventure had worn off for the trip back. Immediately this woman whom we had just met offered to drive Ann and I (with our luggage) back to Granada. This was an incredibly generous offer. We ended up spending the better part of the morning with this foursome. The two women, native Nicaraguans were best friends in college and each had significant roles in the war in the 80’s. One of them remains living in Managua with her husband a French expat. During the war she was a key liaison between media correspondents and troops. The other woman, now lives with her husband, a native Mexican, in Los Angeles. There she is a tenured professor at Loyola Marymount University. Her department is the masters degree program in educational administration with a specialty in educational anthropology. She and Ann really got to talking. During the war, this woman fought for the cause of human rights for both sides. Both of these women had some incredible experiences during the war only a few of which they were willing to share openly. We did learn that they had both seen heavy fighting, had both risked their lives and also had seen mass graves. I told them they should really write a book together or even go on a speaking circuit. They were amazingly interesting.

Their husbands were equally as friendly. Talking about Nicaragua, Mexico, France and the United States. These people were incredibly caring and friendly to offer us a ride. Little did we know that the benefit to us would be less in the ride and more so in the chance just to meet and converse with such amazing people.

A village

Concepcion Volcano on Ometepe Island

The next 3 pictures are in and around Masaya Volcano near dusk. This volcano you look down into, as opposed to having a cone you look up at. The local legend has it that you are looking down into Hell.