Is the blog lame???

Do I need to go to something new?
Am I some kind of 21st century dino??
I'm not so much feeling the blog... kind of like Strehlo... the posts have been lagging...
I have to admit... I hate the fallacy of MyFace or SpaceBook... "Yeah, I have 137 friends"... 133 of which you honestly couldn't care less about... so I don't really want to get involved with an imaginary list of "friends"... if the Drunkards went to that format I would have about 8 friends... on purpose!

Anyway... post a comment on your thoughts... thanks!
~peace~

HAPPY LABOR DAY... To All The Workin' Stiffs....

Just a reminder that Labor Day is about the hard working folks in this country and the hard-fought battles that earned you things like vacation and sick time, basic worker's rights and not to mention THE WEEKEND!!! So remember that Labor Day is not so much about hot dogs and the end of summer but rather some very hard fought victories that a lot of us take for granted everyday! Okay... I'm off the soapbox....

Please enjoy Mr. Steve Earl....

Rockin' It Through August

Hey peeps... been awhile... AGAIN!
Anyway... just trying to make August go as slow as possible so I can spend my last waning days of freedom from the daily grind in peace and happiness.

Last couple weeks....
Attended and played at the Shnag-Dang-Doodle.... a party very similar to Tomten located down in way West Duluth - or Fon du Lac... whichever... we had a great time and helped fry the keg!

Sid and Mark "The Stalwart" Macham rockin' the djembe...


Nice night shot of the "stage" with Colleen Myhre doin' her thing....


Caught the Hoghed Festival fireworks in Proctor, MN last night... as always a great show!

Other than that... just livin' the dream!

Garden tomatoes.... the yellow ones are "Lemon Boys" and are yellow when ripe... just so ya know... DellMarie gave some to one of her clients last summer and she let them sit on her counter to ripen cuz she was waiting for them to turn red... won't happen... they're awesome tomatoes though! Made salsa today!!! YEAH!



Cover of the week... very short snipet of some half-assed pep band doing a cover of Waiting Room by Fugazi at a kickball tourney ... the guitarist is LOST but I'm LOVIN' IT! In a word... inspiring!

Hey Hey...
Wrapping up July with the 7th annual (if my memory serves)... FREE RANGE FILM FESTIVAL right here in Wrenshall, Minnesota. In fact, we have to drive about 2.5 miles to get to the barn where they show the films... that's right... the BARN!
Not sure you can find any other independent (or dependent for that matter) film fest held in an actual barn. So this is special for sure.
Took in some nice films - a couple highlights included a documentaries on a hockey mom from a suburb of the Twin Cities who gave up her 9 to 5 and became a stay at home mom but supplemented the family income by hosting sex toy parties at night... or the doc on the 69-year old "Cocksman" dubbed "Dynamic Tom" who talked explicitly about his sexual exploits and desires... imagine your grandpa talking about bangin' chicks and shaved you know whats... wow!
A doc on the co-founder of Jelly Belly and how he sold out and basically got SKEREWED big time... interesting... oh, and a little short on the photo archive in England and the crazy requests they get for photographs... like the Dodo Bird in the wild - never mind the Dodo went extict in the 1700's before photography was even invented... or a picture of Hitler at the 1948 Olympics???? WHAT?

And a nice addition to the event this year was a pretty entertaining band from Minneapolis-town playing outside the Barn during the breaks... complete with keys, bass, guitar, drums and ukelele...

The other ultra-cool thing about this deal is that they don't give a flying funk what you bring on it to supplement your movie watching... so most folks haul in a few brews or a jug of wine or cocktails... again, where can you do that in this freedom-filled country... Wrenshack... that's where!
The night session was packed... the entire upstairs was full - probably a good 100+ folks and they have two screens going down stairs as well... so it was well attended.
So pics from the event...

Some crazy dude in a clown wig trying to shag some film-goers in...


DellMarie, Carrie and Kenny in the Barn...


The big sceen in the barn...


The Barn outside at dusk...

Sorry...

Just needed a place to post my picture for my new Fantasy Football team... The Wrenshack Ramble....
So pay no attention unless you are a fan of the Sasquatch...

WHOA DIG-A-LYE.... It's been a while!

So we've been pouring all our energy into the big TomTEN and have been neglecting blog posts for anyone who is actually reading.

Since the big Dingwop, we've been attempting to get back to normal with some berry picking, muffin making and hay bale moving. On a sad note, in the early morning hours of the day after the party, Chloe, our oldest girl, passed on to join her siblings in the sky. She did have one helluva last night... I'm sure she had more beef brisket and table scraps than any dog should hope for. Anyway...
Our girl Chole... rest in peace...


A few pics from the big TomTEN party...








The other big news is that I did even more damage to my hand yesterday... as the folks know who made it to TomTEN... as I was preparing the beef brisket I was gonna put on the grill at 5:00 a.m. on Saturday... I was slicing some fat off the thing and sliced my pointer finger on my guitar fretting hand... and then I fire up the grill at 4:30 in the a.m. and about a half hour later I go to open a vent, not thinking the thing is hot as hellfire... and psssssssss... that's the sound of a finger burning... the same pointer finger... so I had to super glue (no shit) my finger in order to play that night... anyway, so I was washing out a glass I make cocktails in and the whole bottom busts out of it and in the confusion, I slit my finger wide open across the top knuckle... no doubt I could have used stiches... but I took it like a man and wrapped it up and will tell kids about the scar years from now... this is what it looked like today...

Oh, and lastly... RASPBERRIES... this is just the crop from the back little patch... not the big garden patch... so yeah... the berries are freakin' HUGE! Like little strawberries! Can you tell I'm excited???

The Wrenshack Victory Garden

So this year has been probably the best year for the ole garden in quite some years. We have corn that is knee high by the 4th of July... eating lots of radishes already... tomatoes are on the vine... peas are climbing the fence... squash is beginning to squash it... and DellMarie ate her first two raspberries of the season today!
So... a couple pictures...

DellMarie with a bunch of radishes...


And DellMarie with the "Popster"...


And DellMarie finding her way out of the raspberry patch... she walked into it 2 days ago and finally made her way out today!


And tongiht... a 2-fer... following up with the regular guy does good with a cover...
First up... for all you old-skool Van Halen fans... an obscure gem... Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now... Major props to the psuedo horn solo!!


And another blast from the past from the same cat... so good I couldn't resist... I LOVE HALL & OATES... And obviously I'm not afraid to admit it... once I tried to play a early H&O greatest hits tape that Mama D bought me at some Esko garage sale and everybody at the party - including my sister - told me to shut it down!! WHAT THE HELL??
So this one's for all you Hall & Oates haters...

The Countdown Is On!

Officially less than 2 weeks out from the big TomTEN!
Excitement abounds!
Final preperations are being made... new guitar strings have been purchased... tunes are being frantically practiced... lawns will be mowed... or at least our lawn will be mowed... the Love Log is being prepared for loving and giving love... beers are being chilled... well not quite yet but...

So a new twist on the song of the week... going with the cover of the week... some wanna-be rock-star... much like me... decides to cover a tune and throw it up on YouTube... so I'm gonna pick what I think are top-notch covers... for the underdogs of the world...
Let's get it rollin' with...

Not much happenin' here... just ramping up for TomTEN...
Oh, a fun addition to the festivities will be the famous LOVE LOG!
I know I've professed my affinity for it already but be prepared to take your picture kissing/hugging/caressing/feeling-up the storied Wrenshack LOVE LOG... it will bring your lovingness a special something you can't get anywhere else... it's the Northwoods Viagra!!


And a couple new pictures of Fin... he's still most happy when he is carrying something around... so happy!!!



Alright... So I tried and tried to find a decent live vid of this tune but was unable... so you get a big nothing for visual but the Felice Bros got it happenin... check it out...

From Tomten 09....

So it's been raining and cold and windy and raining some more ever since I have gotten done with school... but hey, a crappy week off from work is still way better than a beautiful week when you have to be at work...

So, without further chatter....
The song of the week... as an enticement....

Almost forgot to rub it in....

Bring on the nasty comments... what do I care... I'll read them with a cocktail while you're at work... HA HA HA!!!!1

You're Invited.... To TomTEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check it...


If you're reading this and know about TomTEN... make your best effort to come... and bring a friend!
~peace~

Northernmost Pilots to Headline TomTEN

Hey folks...
Breaking news on the TomTEN front... looks like we'll have the Northernmost Pilots headlining the 2nd Annual Northwoods Dingwop... TomTEN.



Here is the tentative lineup...
Waayy Blitzed (Mark & Toria Macham)
Wayne Misgen (that would be me!)
Sid "Sleepy" Bruhjell featuring Mic Anheuser
Jim "Sav" Savre
TBA
The Northernmost Pilots

Things are ramping up... schools out in 3 days... working on new tunes... we've got a good buzz going on at work about TomTEN... of course those are all older teacher-types... but thats ok.

Just wanted to share one thing with you cats... and feel free to send me your own....
This week I'm giving an imaginary award to the "most uncomfortable feeling of the week"
And it goes to....
Driving on the Oliver bridge, which connects the tiny town of Oliver and ultimately Superior and West Duluth, while a Bazillion ton train rides on the tracks directly above you.... as the picture details... you are on the section below... and mind you, the road used to be big wood slabs instead of concrete or pavement up until 5 years or so ago....


OH... song of the week goes to...
Charlie Parr with "Loser Like Me"

Can You See The Love?

So I'm stacking up some wood yesterday and come along this chunk of wood and I'm like..."Wow!" and thought to myself... I should save that... so I did.
I stuck it out on the front steps and when I saw DellMarie next I told her about the cool piece of wood she needs to go check out... she comes back in and says, "yeah? So what?"... so I figured she is spawn of the devil and filled with hate... you decide if this is worthy of at least a "yeah, that's cool man" or not.
Here it is....
Some other pics from the afternoon...





So... final touches on the TomTEN lineup are being made... yet to be determined if we'll have new additions to the lineup... but promises to have a few suprises.
If I haven't announced it yet... TomTEN goes down JULY 17... be there and bring a friend!

And finally... the song of the week goes to....
Deer Tick (since it's that time of year)... with Easy.

Happy Birthday Wayne... I got you a SNOWSTORM!

What the hell.
So May 7th, my birthday, brings a freakin' snowstorm... we got like 2+ inches that stuck on the ground... so if it was actually cold enough where the first 2 inches didn't melt on contact, we would have had 4+ inches of snow... May 7th.... only in Minnesota... I'm not complaining though... keeps things interesting... could you imagine living in Arizona... today it was 88 degrees. Tomorrow it will be 87 degrees. This weekend it will be 88 degrees again....ugh. One of these pictures is during the day of the snow and one is at night after it really started to stick as you can faintly see in the background.


So DellMarie and I watched a little CSI Miami tonight and I came up with a great drinking game for that show... If you've ever watched it... Horatio Cane, the lead detective dude played by David Curruso of NYPD Blue fame, has a tendency of saying a dramatic line, putting on sunglasses and then walking off the camera shot. Example.... Cane says,"The verdict is in Frank, (puts on sunglasses) but the jury is out." and then he walks off screen... every freakin scene he does ends this way...
If you took a drink every time this happened you wouldn't be awake to see the end of the show.

So I decide to YouTube it and there is a plethera of Heratio Cane one-liners but the best part is that there is a bunch of folks contributing their own... like "Sir, there was semen found on the victim's lips. CANE: "Sometimes the truth (puts on sunglasses) is hard to swallow."
or "Sir we found the victim's penis in a jar of peanut butter. CANE: "Well you could say (puts on sunglasses) he was fucking nuts."
Check it out... hilarious. Play the game too - you'll be like teenage wasteland... "We're all wasted!"

Alright, so song of the week goes to The Swell Season... "Low Rising"... diggin' ths soulfullness of this one...

5 Weeks & Counting....

Yup... just 5 weeks until SKOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!!!
It'll go by like a blink of an eye... and so will summer.
So, haven't been doing much lately... preparing for the gardening season and TomTEN.
I mentioned to the kids at school that I'm looking to buy a PortaPotty and they were all very curious as to why... and one of my All-Stars says, "Why didn't you just ask us to steal you one... you know we're bad kids."
So I'll be working up the official logo for TomTEN this week... again, we're rocking it on JULY 17... mark your calendars with ink!

So this week I'll throw down a quick Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down (thanks to C. Strehlo)

Thumbs Up: The #8 Canadiens ousting the #1 Washington Caps
Thumbs Down: the entire being of all things Detroit Red Wings

Thumbs Up: Catching Zach Galifianakis on Saturday Night Live last night - if you want a few laughs... the guy is hilarious!
Thumbs Down: Being home at 10:30 on a Saturday night

Thumbs Up: DellMarie becoming a vegetarian
Thumbs Down: DellMarie becoming a vegetarian

Thumbs Up: The Deadliest Catch (yeah, I'm way late... just discovered it like six months ago)
Thumbs Down: DellMarie watching Dancing with the "Stars"

Thumbs Up: The famous Duluth Homegrown Festival this week (130+ local bands at a crapload of venues in Duluth)
Thumbs Down: Having to get up at 6:00 every morning this week

Thumbs Up: The smelt I fried up last night
Thumbs Down: The smell of the smelt package in garbage this morning

Alright, so if you are a avid DOOW reader, you'll notice I updated my 5 tunes... and you'll obviously get the theme.
So with that, the song of the week goes to Hank Williams III with a live version of "Country Heros"... check it out.

Hot off the DINGWOP PRESS...........

It is official...
TomTEN goes down on....

JULY 17

We will have details soon... and invites and official logos and so on....

Sounds like we'll have a similar line up as last year... working on a a new act or two... should be a great time. Spread the word... invite your friends... we're less than three months out!


~Peace~

Happy EARTH DAY!!.... Remember... LOVE YOUR MOTHER!

Hey peoples...
In honor of EARTH DAY today... we'll go with John Gorka doing "Houses in the Fields"... a bit of a cheesy video but a great message....
all I have to say is (as John says)....
"THE SPACES WON'T BE SPACES ANYMORE"...
...
...
Peace.

The Three Worst or Best Videos on Headbangers Ball

So... back in the day I lived and died for MTV's Headbangers Ball... some of you younger folks may not even know what the hell that is.... anyway, now I'm rockin' out to Bob Dylan, the Avett Brothers and Dr. Dog... BUT... I'd like to pay some tribute - good, bad or ugly, to my teenage past.... so here we have...........
the top (or bottom) three best (or worst - more likely worst) videos from the very late 80's or very early 90's.... oh, and no matter how painful it is... watch the WHOLE VIDEO!!!
here we go...
At number three... GOTHIC SLAM rocking "Who Died and Made You God?"


And number two... we'll go with M.O.D blasting out the screw-you-to-fluffy-hair-rock "True Colors"


And the number one greatest horse-shit video in Headbangers Ball history (at least until I can remember one that is worse....and that will probably take 3 minutes) goes to....
Yankee Rose by David Lee Roth...yeah, they actually played this on HBB - and to be honest it isn't in the same genre as the other two videos but Roth shaking ass, thrusting his man-ness at you and pretending his microphone is a penis...all I can say is ... ENJOY!

Cardinal Sin

Hey peoples... didn't have to work all all this week... spring break at the schoolhouse... ya'll need to make a career change and get a job in education... you won't get rich but it's just much easier on your constitution.

So HAPPY EASTER to everyone... DellMarie and I didn't make the trip on down to the metropolis to celebrate with the family... instead we opted to have a little Easter of our own here with some nice crab and parmesean stuffed mushrooms for dinner... can't wait.

The TomTEN date is tentatively scheduled.... pencil in your calendars for Saturday, July 17. The dingwop will be BIGGER AN BETTER than last year... or your money back!

Oh, almost forgot... the title of the post... in a sure sign spring has sprung... we saw one of these guys today flying around the backyard... good to see... and quite a beautiful bird to see...


So with hockey season wrapping up and the NHL heading into playoffs, I'm augmenting my Song of the Week this week and going with something special for all you hockey fans out there... or even Pulp Fiction fans... or even Samuel L. Jackson fans... Think my new band name might be... Inglewood Jack

Spring Has Sprung... The Beard is GONE DADDY GONE

Not sure what else to say... I was quite proud of my big beard... the kids at school asked me why I might shave it, like I was a lunatic - one even said "Mr. Misgen without a beard would be like cereal without milk".... no lie...... DellMarie hates....HATES my clean shaven face.... but it will grow back... so here is my once-a-year shave.....

The before.......

And....

The....

After.....................................

As you can see... I actually broke a sweat sawing through the big beast.... but I'm cold now!

Thanks for taking an interest in my facial hair!

~Caio....

Oh, coming soon... TomTEN Date!
Oh again.... so this week's tune... GONE DADDY GONE... THE VIOLENT FEMMES.... 2 things that are ridiculous in this video... The bass player's mullet AND the mosh pit!?!?!


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