a bittersweet goodbye....

...to the 25th season of concerts on the square.

we said goodbye to the wisconsin chamber orchestra, andrew sewell, and picnicking on the capitol lawn last night at the last concert on the square of this summer. it was a real doozy. we had a big crew. the group is documented in this panoramic photo. (sorry to those of you who were photographed on the edge of an image; you may appear a little altered).

click for photo enlargement.

tracy silverman came to sing his original ode to madison, the official song of the city "coming home." a recording of this song is played at the end of every concert on the square, but this time, it was live. cecely took a nice long embarrassing video of us singing along with tracy at the top of our lungs. we decided not to share it with you. instead, we made a little ode-to- madison montage to watch while you listen to tracy silverman sing to you about the glories of coming home to madison.

when the chamber orchestra put their instruments away, and tracy packed up to head back to wherever he's from, american family insurance sponsored a madison celebration laser light show. they blasted bizarrely short snippets of top 40 hits over the speakers, and we all danced. david air guitared. it was quite a celebration.

tour de fat

fat tire beer has sponsored many bike-related events throughout the country to promote their special brand of brew. the tahoe fat tire party has an event slide show posted online, and my dear friend kate graces the first slide. here is screen shot of this page.

she is wearing a special pink wig, intricately intertwined with her own blond locks. we know a celebrity. from california. awesome.

modern day flip book

scroll from left to right to simulate a flip book of superb bowling technique.


(you can enlarge the image by clicking on it)

a quick french lesson

a quick french lesson from our favorite tv show* flight of the conchords.




* except for lost

i canoe, can you canoe?

with jack and roxanne in town, everyone agreed that a great way to celebrate the reunion of jack and roxanne with madison would be to go for a little canoe on lake mendota. the plan was that jack, roxanne, mark, carol, matt, jessica, and kirk would rent canoes from hoofers at the memorial union, we would meet them there, and would take a leisurely float around mendota. please use the following map to track our voyages (click on the map to get a closer view).

we set sail from our usual put-in place on the yahara river (1). we made our way up river, which was much easier than the last time we did it, since the water level has fallen a few feet. when we reached tenney park, we decided that we would shell out the $5 fee and use the tenney locks (2) to get onto lake mendota. it's a pretty slick operation. i'd recommend it if you haven't done it. it's a modern engineering marvel.

once we made it onto lake mendota, and around the break wall (3), we discovered that it was a much windier day than we anticipated, and, as they say in california, the surf was up. it was going to be a long haul, heading into the wind, to make it to the union, but jack and roxanne are worth that kind of struggle. meanwhile, the other party rented canoes at the union and set out heading east on mendota (4). we met up somewhere out in front of the edgewater hotel (5), and decided we'd continue to fight our way into the wind to see if we could find some shelter from the wind and waves in university bay (not on map). not more than a couple minutes after meeting up, jack, roxanne, mark, kirk, and carol all capsized (6). it was a nervous couple of minutes, but they all were wearing approved floatation devices, so everyone was ok-ish. the uw life guards witnessed the accidents and dispatched the boat to help our capsized friends (7). you might want to click on these photos to get a better view.

vessel rescue picks up jack and roxanne

some pleasure boaters make sure mark, carol, and kirk are ok. check out how much water is in their canoe.

they picked them up out of the drink, and ushered them back to the memorial union safe and sound (but wet). we followed them to the union (8), where we dined on brats from the brat stand before we retraced our route back. the wind and waves at our back made the return trip a breeze. we ran into smoothdavehamm and some of his comrades just before reaching the yahara (9). it was a lovely and eventful afternoon.

here we are making our way back down the yahara at the end of the afternoon.

talent

a talented cat from the neighborhood wants to show you her sweet dance moves.



thanks laurel and demian for catching that special moment on video.

welcome back

welcome back jack and roxanne!

our friends from texas have made a triumphant return to madison for the weekend. they blog. a lot. we can't waste any time in documenting their visit to madison, or they will certainly beat us to the punch. they've been known to engage in competitive blogging before.

upon their arrival, we descended on the terrace. we had some beer and shared some laughs.

after the terrace, we went to jordan's big ten pub for two reasons. the first reason: tradition. the second reason: roxanne needed some cheese curds, and so did everyone else. jack, on the other hand, needed some runts ®.

runts:
jack and the runts:

jack and roxanne have been instrumental in our quest to develop a beer coozie collection. ever the thoughtful friends, they brought more for us. this one prompted us to ask a few questions.....
1. how did that dvd release party go on september 11?
2. why weren't all the fragglerock seasons released at the same time?
3. why don't we have a fragglerock dvd?

perhaps today we will discover the answers to these and other pressing questions. one thing is for sure: there will be more to blog about.

ducks on mendota

these are some snap shots i took last night of ducks at the memorial union terrace.


it was a lovely evening. then it started to drizzle, so we went out for sushi.

if you don't know...

most of mackinac island is a michigan state park, but before it became a state park it was the 2nd national park in the u.s. national park system.


...now ya know.

the spice of life

we've been buying eggs from a fella at the tuesday evening east side farmer's market. he's from rainbow fleece farms, which is primarily a sheep farm. the most exciting thing about his eggs, other than the fact that they put to shame what you can get in a grocery store, is the wide variety of colors and sizes of the eggs. some weeks they range from pink to green. here's a sampling:

his lamb bratwurst ain't too shabby either.

backyard

behold the backyard daylily bounty

fudgies*

we went to mackinac island last weekend. as you may recall, we camped in the u.p. on friday night. on saturday morning, we set out for mackinac. the drive takes us past the infamous mystery spot, and it was hard to not go. we had a ferry to catch, and we had been there before, so we pressed on without the mystery.

before moving on, one more mention of the mystery spot and a reflection on a 2005 visit....
those angles are so MYSTERIOUS!

moving on.

we took the star line ferry across the straits of mackinac only because we would have to wait an hour to take the arnold line. does it matter? it does if you're david and you've only ever taken the arnold line. he let go of tradition (or some semblance of tradition) and climbed aboard the star line, basked in the sun on the top deck, and enjoyed the rooster-tail water spray coming off the back of the ferry.


the grand hotel was glowing in the sun on our arrival. it's pretty cool.


we did the requisite circumnavigation of the tiny island by bicycle (no cars allowed), and took in the views of the mackinac bridge, blue water, and tourists who don't know how to ride bicycles.


after the ride, we climbed the hill to the historic mackinac fort and role-played the soldier lifestyle. david shot the cannon, and i stood watch in a sentry tower.

after all the bike riding and fort defending, we had to fix david's glasses.

mackinac by day is cute and historic, full of visitors buying fudge and t-shirts, sitting in restaurants and taking carriage rides. there are beautiful old homes to stare at. the cold lake huron water is great for dipping your toes, and ice cream shops are on every corner to offer a chance to cool down. every 10 seconds, beautiful work horses clip-clop past, pulling visitors, luggage, and supplies. it's pretty great.
at night, after the last ferry leaves, the place changes. the summer staff, largely college-aged michigan kids on permanent vacation mode, punch out of their hotel and restaurant jobs and hit the bars. the transformation is shocking. we sat on the front porch of our hotel, sipping oberon, and took in the spectacle. the bars were crowded and 21 year olds had complete run of the city. we felt old, but in a good way.

the next morning, we were on the 9:30am ferry and homeward bound. this is a nice panoramic of mackinac from the ferry on a cloudy summer morning.

we had fun.

* "fudgies" is the term for tourists on mackinac, due to the high volume of fudge consumed by tourists. it sounds derogatory to me.

sophia petrillo

estelle getty passed away this morning. she, of course, is best known for her role as one of the four magical ladies who brought us so many wonderful memories on golden girls. as a memorial to estelle, and in honor of betty, rue, and bea, i'm considering getting this mount rushmore-style tattoo across my back.


golden girls was the best show about the sex lives of four older ladies ever! here's to you estelle getty.

camping

we finally put up the tent and slept outside. it's been too long since we last camped, and friday night offered us the chance to camp again. we pulled up to the site in j.w.wells state park in the scenic upper peninsula of michigan just after sunset, just before moon rise. our site was a waterfront gem with a clear view of a big orange full moon rising over green bay. it was lovely.

david got busy making a fire by the light of the moon (with a little help from the lantern, too) while i tried to photograph the moon and the reflection of the moonlight on the water.


the pictures of the moon and the moonlight didn't go so well.

you get the idea.

here's a look at the site in the morning.

then we took the tent down, and drove east for mackinac island.

friends?

we were out of town this weekend (more on that in subsequent posts), and were a little worried about how the cats would handle 2 full days of time alone together. we returned home this afternoon to find both cats alive, and the house intact. these two might just become friends after all.

birthday celebration

the birthday celebrations began tonight in earnest. birthday hats, cupcakes, a jumprope, and the wisconsin chamber orchestra rang in the final birthday eve of marta's twenties. something to celebrate, indeed.

birthday hats:

a jump rope:
the wisconsin chamber orchestra (playing to the outdoor crowd at concert on the square):

staring contest

we may be nearing a truce.

new project, correction

in the previous post regarding the beer coozie project, i neglected to include 2 gift beer coozies in the coozy collection count. that was my mistake, and i am deeply indebted to jack for bringing that to my attention.

now, for the corrected coozy collection....

1.) coozy a, a hand made gift from a very special friend in seattle


2.) coozy b, a texan beauty from very special friends in austin

thank you. we do love gift coozies.

3.) and, of course, coozy number 1

new project

how did we live this long without amassing a collection of beer coozies? it doesn't make any sense.

let the collection begin with beer coozy number 1.

all together now....

a group photo in 3 steps:

1.) conversation interrupted


2.) flip flop investigation (flip flop remains on david's foot)


3.) flip flop removed, group photo achieved

standoff

like i said in my previous post, the cats are still getting to know each other.

ben franklin is perched high above the door in his private room, and keeping a close eye on all who enter.

aretha is staked out under the dining table, and making sure ben doesn't come out of his room.

tensions are a bit high.