Dave "Wally" Dahl

I made my own jersey today at CafePress.com.

You should all buy 3.

End of summer melancholy

Where did august go? Where did summer go? Heck, where did most of the 1990's go? To hell hopefully, where it belongs. But I digress...

Tomorrow I'll be taking a day off. This is probably the first year I haven't gone anywhere for a long vacation in about 6 years. So I decided that in addition to my seemingly annual Kansas City baseball road-trip, I would take one or two days off and be a kid again.

So that's exactly what I'm doing tomorrow. I'll be doing things that I used to when I was 9-12 years old and I'm bringing the kids! With summer ending soon I figure it's now or never.

Here's a list of things I hope to do:

1. Ride my bike (In keeping with the spirit of things, this shall be
my primary mode of transportation)
2. Launch model rockets
3. Visit the Olson Jr. High enviromental studies pond and do some exploring
4. Take a trip to Snyders and buy things I don't need
5. Play some tennis ball baseball (ghost on first and third, uh, and second...)
6. Midday video game fest
7. Whatever else suits my fancy
8. Close off the night with a Twins game on TV

I'm really looking forward to this. It's kind of sad that things like this are what excite me now, but that's where I'm at in life so I say embrace it. I'll let you all know how everything turns out.

Cabin Kids! #3: Paging Doctor Freud

Completion! The cabin spoken of here is nearly finished and Jordan, Matt, Steve and Bridget (but mostly Bridget) are gearing up for "Phase II" of the operation which involves a lot of painting, decorating, scented candle placement and the search for and acquisition of a variety of trendy Navajo rugs.

Incidentally, the pancakes that Bridget made for the boys were "delicious".

With the next big SURGE retreat planned for the weekend of August 26-28, the Cabin Kids! have a lot of work to do. Chad will be coming up early next week and will, according to Double-J, "No doubt bring that accursed acoustic bass of his." Matt and Steve are excited though because he's bringing his GameCube and that new StarFox game—sweet! Even Bridget plans on pretending to like Mario Kart: Double Dash so "Durgan won't feel bad."

Any way you slice it, it looks to be a busy weekend for the Cabin Kids! Next week we'll have a full report from day 1 of "Expressionary Dreamional Genuflection 2005".

My church sign

Is this good or bad?

Your Brain is 53.33% Female, 46.67% Male

Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female You are both sensitive and savvy Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve

What Gender Is Your Brain?

Phenomena, doo-doo-dee-doo-doo!

I picked this up today. It's the first season of the Muppet Show. I've loved the movies ever since I was a kid but the show had pretty much already came and went by the time I was born. I can't wait to watch all the Muppet antics that I missed as a lad.

The Muppets had a huge influence on my life. Growing up Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo and the gang were some of my very best friends. Them and Kaps anyway. This might sound trite and stupid but I think much of my sense of humor was based on the Muppets. To this day I still quote lines from "The Great Muppet Caper" (clearly the best of the Muppet films).

I'm probably a little biased though as I watched that movie about 3 times a day for 6 years...

Cautiously Optimistic

I am cautiously optimistic about this.

I have a feeling Hollywood is going to screw this up. They'll downplay Johnny's Christian faith and sensationalize his relationship with June. If they put any gratuitous sex in there I'll burn down 20th Century Fox headquarters.

Reese Witherspoon sucks, but I think Joaquin Pheonix may do a decent job as the man in black. It looks like he's done his homework getting the mannerisms and voice down. I guess they re-recorded a bunch of his songs with Pheonix singing and that's sort of interesting idea for a musical biopic.

Great dialogue here though:

Warden: Mr. Cash, about you refraining from performing any tunes that remind the inmates that they're in prison...

Cash: You think they forgot?

Enough wallowing in pretentious sorrow, here's Doug K.

Last night Aaron, Ben and I had dinner with Mr. Douglas Kuklok at the Green Mill. We reminisced, shared some laughs and just generally reveled in joyous merriment.

A variety of beverages were also served.

We like hanging out with Doug because he's basically just like us. I guess that's good or bad depending on how you look at it, but as the decade of CONstruction officially begins today we will continue to look to Doug for both hope for our futures and fresh inspiriation in the art of sarcastically tearing people apart.

It's our therapy, so eat me. Amen.

.

I'm Still Here

She said to me, over the phone
She wanted to see other people
I thought, well then
Look around, they’re everywhere
Said that she was confused
I thought, darlin’, join the club
24 years old, mid-life crisis
Nowadays hits you when you’re young
I hung up, she called back, I hung up again
The process had already started
Least it happened quick
I swear I died inside that night
A friend, he’d called, I didn’t mention a thing
The last thing he said was “be sound”, sound
I contemplated an awful thing, I hate to admit
I just thought those would be such appropriate last words
But, I’m still here, and small
So small, how could this trouble seam so big
So big
Well the palms in the breeze still blow green
And the waves in the sea still absolute blue
But the horror
Every single thing I see is a reminder of her
Never thought I’d curse the day I met her
And since she’s gone, and wouldn’t hear
Who would care
What good would that do
But I’m still here
So I imagine in a month or 12
I’ll be somewhere having a drink
Laughing at a stupid joke
Or just another stupid thing
And I can see myself stopping short
Drifting out of the present
Sucked by the under tow and pulled out deep
And there I am standing
Wet grass and white head stones, all in rows
And in the distance there’s one off on it’s own
So I stop, kneel
My new home
And I picture a sober awakening
A re-entry into this little bar scene
Sip my drink till the ice hits my lip
Order another round
And that’s it for now
Sorry, never been too good at happy endings

Words by Ed Vedder

Poo-Poo you John Garland!

Carlos Silva: 145.2 IP, 54 K, 3.27 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 7-5
John Garland: 145.2 IP, 69 K, 3.40 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 15-5

Better ERA and 7 walks all year for Silva! 7 walks! That's insane!
J.C. Romero walks that many in one inning of relief.
Plus Carlos is playing hurt and needs surgery in the off-season.
If the Twins actually scored 4 or 5 runs once in a while he could have 15-18 wins by now.

And if John Garland is reading this: you suck and you are a fluke.
In my mind you will always be the Kyle Lohse of Chicago, and that can't be a good thing.

Now go back to doing what you do best, headhunting Kansas City Royals.

Cabin Kids! #2: Oh great, meet Chad

As the series continues, we now focus our attention on one of the well-known, but lesser-liked cabin kids: Mr. Chad Durgan. Chad can't wait for the cabin to be finished so he can hook up his GameCube to the built in video projector.

Ladies and gentlemen I present to you Mr. Chad Durgan—although most people just call him Durgan. Durgan is 24 years of age and just a real piece of work if you are into the whole sarcastic yet emotional, whiney yet brooding sort of thing. I know I am. Anyway Durgan, like a surprisingly large portion of the Cabin Kids! was homeschooled for much of his life—although Durgan did do some time at Bethlehem Academy and was also a PSEO student at FCTC. Chad currently works with his dad in a small silkscreening company.

Durgan is sort of the "wacky" one of the group. He loves comedy and all things crazy and zany! As such many don't understand some of Durgan's more nuanced traits, though this really isn't anyone's fault but Durgan's own and he has brought this upon himself (his incessent quoting of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" certainly isn't helping matters). Durgan is a renaissance man of sorts. He enjoys computers and music and video games and generally things the ladies don't know or care about. And speaking of ladies, Durgan was at one time (like so many others before and since) enamored with one Bridget Erwine. Alas it was not to be and now Durgan enjoys simply sitting back and watching others like Matt and Steve crash and burn as they attempt to woo the fair lass.

Durgan is an anxious young man, always feeling that at any moment a bear may soon devour him. However, he does not let this wear his spirits down and soldiers on in his quest of whatever it is exactly that Durgan is looking for.

To be continued...