UW Men's Basketball WIN vs. Purdue @ Kohl Center, Madison, WI

It was a positively HUGE night in the 2018 UW Men's Basketball season (IMO). Let's break down the evening and see how the night went...

Don't forget to warm-up first!

Anthem - great singer.

Perhaps this biggest news of the night started well before the game - it was rumored you had to be "in your seats" by 5:40pm for a 6pm game time. It was the night chosen to retire former UW player, and current Charlotte Hornet, Frank Kaminsky's number in the rafters of the Kohl Center. It appears through his four years he grew very much as a man and player. The UW Athletic Dept was bestowing this honor on his as a thank you for his contribution to their program, school, and city.

 Classy towels on everyone's seat to have for the game and your collection of "Frank the Tank" memorabilia.

They played a bunch of "Frank Highlights" during timeouts and other points of the game, and then had a big ceremony during halftime:

This guy was dressed to impress in an all red suit, and high-tops. Classy.

Banner, up!

Frank gave a wonderful speech to the whole crowd, thanking the University, his teammates, the fans, and his family for his true growth period at UW. Class act in my book.

Finally, to really seal up a fun night, the UW men beat 6th-ranked Purdue in one heck of a "defensive struggle". It was a very tight game through the first half with the barn-burner of a score tied - 21-21. The 2nd half was equally as "offensive" and late into the half, UW pulled away and Purdue could not get back. The last 2 minutes were a bunch of fouls and clock usage drills. Job well done, UW, kudos!

I will finish this post by mentioning something I can't help but notice - this was my third UW Athletic event in my time in Madison and all of them have been spectacular "products" - Men's Hockey, Volleyball, and Men's Basketball. Great games, great crowd, great venues. Nicely done, UW!
(which kills me to say as an Illini)

Chief's Tavern, Madison, WI

Any place that has a WiFi password of 4BIGBEERS is alright with me... or so I found on Superbowl Sunday 2018. I'd decided to check out a bar merely down my street a few blocks and take in the "big game".

What a local WI treat this place is. Decor that looks like a 70's or 80's basement, almost no sunlight, patrons and a sassy bartender that swear out loud, enough snacks and food to keep you happy, and a nice dozen or so beers on tap, plus bottles of even more varieties.

My gastronomic portion of the night went like this:
Spotted Cow - this is a WI classic
Spotted Cow
Pretzel w/ "Cheese" - bartender apologized for "too much cheese", uhhh, this is WI, lady!
Bell's Amber, sure - why not?
Free Superbowl Sunday Pulled Pork sandwiches with chips n dip, baby carrots, and crudites - huzzah!!!
And for dessert a nice cold Atwater Brewing VJP (Vanilla Java Porter) on nitro pour - very good, imo

I think I spent about $25 in total, should have tipped more. Sorry, Sam. It was a good game, fun visit and I've already been back more than once (ok, only twice).

(Bundle up, Sam)

Notes 2 Know:
 - This bar is Cash-Only, which goes perfectly with the overall theme, imo. They also have an ATM inside too, phew.
- The kitchen has a small menu that's served until a bit after dinner time most nights.
- They have an "anytime menu" that you can get at any hour, but it's more like snack items - hot pretzel, nachos, etc.
- The have a system set-up with a local pizza place across the street to have patrons order their own custom pies and have them brought to your table/barstool. Lots of options on size and toppings. Delivered hot too.
- They have live music pretty often. Started at 6:30pm on a Friday when I was in.
- The Men's john is out the back, between the outer & inner doors. Trust me, this one's worth gold.

Here's a few more shots from the subsequent trips too:

Bacon n Black Olive, try it.

Glass Blowing @ Madison Glass Academy, Madison, WI

This is my 2nd foray into the world of decorative glass blowing and I was stoked to try again.

To be clear, and from what I gathered, this teaching studio is inside of The Vinery Stained Glass Supply Company. There are no signs for or any indication on the outside of the building that this is the spot for the "Madison Glass Academy" - Ok. Luckily, my spidey-sense told me it was the place though... glass-glass. I'm sharp.

I walked in and went right over to my "professor" for the night, who I had all to myself for the duration (I was the only student, but they can have classes up to 6 people and are usually full). It was pretty evident that my instructor made a living not only from teaching, but making glass "pipes" on his own time. That being said, he was very personable and pleasant to learn from.

This class was basically a "monkey-see, monkey-do" type of lesson. He showed me one time how to make a glass ornament, then I made about 8 of them over the one-hour course.

The process is pretty simple. They have pre-made glass tubes that you place crushed, colored glass, called "frit", into. You then heat it all up, melting the outer glass "bulb" and frit at the same time. They melt "together" and turn into a single substance. Once it's melted and red-hot, you blow through the tube on the end of the "pipe" and make a circular shape, hopefully.

Below is a look at the torch with no safety glasses on first, then with a blue-tinted safety glass in the second image. The glasses protect your eyes from any glass explosions and also allow you to see the glass heating up much more easily (though it is harder to see the flame... getting close to your fingers, for example).

When the glass gets to that hot-pink color (above), depending what frit color you place inside, you know it's time to blow. The blowing is a lot like blowing a bubble with gum, but more forceful, and it could explode molten glass all over you (ha!).

Once the blown glass cools down (maybe 15 minutes time), you score and then snap off the blow tube, add a ferrule for hanging an ornament string, and you're done. Viola!

To be honest, it was pretty interesting, semi-remedial, and fun too. If my first foray into glass blowing was a 8 or 9 out of 10... I'd give this a solid 4 to 5, and perfect for a beginner. For me, the "experienced glass artist", it wasn't amazing or Earth-shattering. Then again, for the $49 price on Groupon, it was a fun way to spend an hour and I came away with almost an entire Christmas tree worth of ornaments (or presents for the whole family - hint, hint).

Chazen Museum of Art, Winter Trip Pt. 2, Madison, WI

This is everything I took in besides the special exhibit in Part 1. Enjoy.

Now that I have some feel for the place, I didn't really need to spend too much time there. I could easily find the special exhibit, then hit up some areas I hadn't seen my first trip. It was only about 45-60 minutes worth of time, and way cool to see everything there, some for the first time.

Didn't see the artists info near this table display, but it's probably not too far away.

Chazen Museum of Art, Winter Trip Pt. 1, Madison, WI

The special exhibit this trip was an Aboriginal display of their modern art, from various regions/tribes in Australia. I thought it was very interesting and more than worth the price of admission (free to enter, donations accepted throughout).

I learned a lot.

I thought the sheer diversity of styles, art and methods was pretty interesting. Plus, the colors. I believe they are getting much of their supplies for their surroundings... but perhaps now they use traditional paints and such. Also, I would say, you cannot get the detail (pointillism-esque) of these images from my pics. Even in person I had to walk up close to some of the pieces to see how they were painted/done.