Weekend Entertainment

COPYRIGHTED PHOTO -- FULL CREDIT GIVEN TO "DOCTOR FUN"


This past weekend was filled with a range of entertainment and summer activities primarily built around celebrating my 6th month anniversary with my girlfriend (JAN). We started with dinner at "Azia" on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis on Friday night. Azia, ihttp://www.aziarestaurant.com/food/nouveau.htm, s a very nice pan-Asian restaurant where the owner walks around asking patrons about their meals. I loved their decor, quality of wait staff, the valet parking service, and of course the food. For an appetizer I shared the "cranberry puffs" with JAN but focused on my own platter of maki sushi which was excellent. My main dish with a combination of scallops, shrimp, and calamari with a "three star" hot sauce which was very tasty. For dessert we finished with the "Almond Joy" ice cream dish which was not only excellent but THE perfect "cool" dish after my spicy main course!! I would rate Azia with a "4.5" (out of 5) so give it a try if you find yourself in the area.

Following dinner we traveled to Acme Comedy Club in Minneapolis for some stand up comedy featuring Tom Simmons who has played on Comedy Central. Clearly Mr. Simmons is no fan of President Bush based on his joke selection. Perhaps the most entertaining aspect of the evening was watching the woman in the FRONT row who talked louder than the comedians did when she ordered drinks -- Simmons made fun of her but she had no clue she was the butt of the joke. Finally I would point out that each guest was given a promotional DVD of "Lucky Louie" which is a new comedy on HBO apparently. I appreciated the marketing effort but had HBO hired me as a consultant (resume ready if needed) I would have arranged for the club to play a short video clip of the DVD on their pre-show screen which was playing some comedy clips anyway along with having drinks served in plastic tumblers with the HBO logo printed on them -- my fraternity party training has paid off :)

On Saturday JAN and I ran in a 5K run in Burnsville to support the "Tender Hearts Foundation" to raise funds to help homeless children. I can only reflect on how positive and upbeat the event atmosphere was with DJ music, a pancake breakfast, and hundreds of runners working hard for a souvenir t-shirt. Contrast this charity fundraising event with any visit to a government office such as the Department of Motor Vehicles. Instead of government "helping" people in need it should leave us with our assets so we can support the creation of more charity organizations.

Later on Saturday JAN, her mum, and I enjoyed seeing the "Da Vinci Code" which I am happy to rate with a "4" and commend Ron Howard (loved him as Opie and Richie) as the film's director. I enjoyed the book and the film. Again, if the Catholic Church wants to hire me as a consultant my resume is available :) The Church's (I am Lutheran, more Reformationist actually since I avoid cult of personality as much as I can -- for full disclosure) attack on this book helped Dan Brown sell millions of copies. Instead I would have loved to see the Church give an advance to a Believer/talented writer to have him/her write a work of fiction telling the story of Jesus from the Church perspective to reach the masses the way Dan Brown has done.

After the film JAN and I hosted our friends Rich and Alison for some classic summer grilling. The weather was perfect and the food was excellent especially the dessert which was "flavour burst" butter pecan ice cream from "Kalli's Popcorn Shop" in Apple Valley which is owned by our neighbors - Bob and Kathy. Kalli's is my kind of small business serving pop corn, ice cream, and gift tins so my rating is a "5" in terms of customer service, quality, and atmosphere for similar shops.

Enjoy the summer,

Todd