And we have a winner!   This week’s caption contest inspired a lot of great answers. So many, in fact, that I narrowed it down to three and had a panel of guest judges help me pick the winner.

Second Runner Up:

Todd Barwick

“Wait until you see the size of the ice cream scoop.”

First Runner Up:

Kraig Byron 

 “Bob learned the hard way that one day of jet propulsion engineering classes was not quite enough.”

And our WINNER! Nick Roberts

 “Mr. Johnson finally got a hearing aid. Sadly, the insurance company would only pay for the Army Surplus model.”

For his creative answer, Nick wins a classic (old logo) Triple M Street Team Sweatshirt from my own collection, an old logo Triple M coaster, an old logo button to wear proudly, a CD of my choice plus the bragging rights “ Life is Good Sticker”.

Thanks for playing and we’ll have a new photo on Wednesday!

A lot of people are ripping on Steven Jobs and everyone at Apple for coming up with the name IPad for their latest new magical device.  Okay, it may sound like a feminine product, but at least it’s better than the name of this resort…

The Grammy Awards will be handed out Sunday night. And  up to now I haven’t beeen too geared up for the show..because I’m not really into the nominees and the lineup of performers doesn’t grab me. However I did learn today that Jeff Beck will be leading a tribute to Les Paul, the “Wizard of Waukesha” who invented the solid body electric guitar and died last year.

I still don’t think the show will be as interesting to me as in past years, because most of the performers don’t interest me…at least as much as they did in past years.

Back in 2005, Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge blew the roof off the joint with their tribute to Janis Joplin. Etheridge had just successfully battled breast cancer, so this performance was a big victory celebration for her.

I’m actually a big fan of figure skating. 

I’ll pause now and wait while you’re making fun of me.

Okay?  Are you done yet?

I’ll wait a moment more.

Enough already!  Let’s get on with the blog. 

U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir is getting some grief for the outfit he wore at the U.S. Figure Skating Championship in Spokane a few weeks ago.  Here’s the outfit:

Some animal rights groups are upset because he’s wearing fox fur.  They’ve written an open letter to Weir asking him to stop.  Actually they’re not the only one writing an open letter to Weir.  The family of the fox that was used in the costume is also upset.  I’ve obtained the letter from the fox’s family and will reprint it here.

Dear Mr. Weir,

What the @#$?! 

We are writing this letter on behalf of our beloved brother, Melvin who you wore in your skating routine the other day.  We are very disappointed and we know Melvin would be too.  He was a big fan of ice, but not figure skating!!!  He loved ice hockey.  He would be so ashamed to know that he ended up in a skating rink, but that it had nothing to do with hockey.

Melvin was a huge fan of the Quebec Nordiques and often spoke of traveling to Canada just to see where the team used to play.  Even after the Nordiques moved to Colorado, he still wore his Quebec jersey proudly.

We often talked about Melvin’s second career as a fashion accessory.  He imagined he would end up around the neck of some old blue hair in New York City living on the Upper East Side of town.  Limo rides, shopping sprees and fantastic dinners with Manhattan’s elite.  Melvin was up for that! 

He did talk about ending up in some sort of ice skating costume, but he would have been much happier being associated with a female skater like Sasha Cohen.  He liked Sasha A LOT. 

So please Mr. Weir, to honor our fallen brother Mevlin, don’t wear him out on the rink again!

Sincerely,
Fox Family

Yummm..

For the weekend of January 29—–

1. Jorma Kaukonen at the Barrymore Theatre Friday night at 8. The amazing former Jefferson Airplane treats us to his amazing guitar playing and country blues chops. He’s joined by David Bromberg for this show.

2. Isthmus Beer and Cheese Fest, at the Alliant Energy Center Saturday from 1-5pm. Wisconsin breweries make some fantastic beers–and this is a chance to try many of them, and see how they taste when paired with a variety of cheeses and yes, even chocolates! Plus bluegrass from the Cork ‘n’ Bottle String Band.

3. American Cancer Society Benefit with The Rousers, Paul Filipowicz and the James Rolland Band. Starts at 1pm Sunday at the Harmony Bar.

Freaky Band Name of the Week: The Catalog Babies. With the Arge and the Pointy Birds Friday night at the Frequency. I could find nothing about this band on the internet, but the listing says “rock.”

Jimmy!

Groundhog Day is coming up next Tuesday, and all eyes will be on Sun Prairie as Jimmy the Groundhog makes his weather prediction.

Okay, not all eyes. Not hardly.  Jimmy doesn’t get a much publicity as say, Punxsutawney Phil out east in Pennsylvania. Old Phil has been around a lot longer than Jimmy, and there was that whole Bill Murray movie that gave him extra cred, so it is tough to compete.

But did you know there are other weather prognosticating animals vying for your attention as well?

There’s Furby the Wonder Chicken in Vancouver, British Columbia. Spike the Porcupine hails from Duluth, MN. In Cottage Grove, a pot-bellied pig named Hamlet would go shadow-seeking, but alas he died last year.

Did you hear about the cold-blooded alternative in the fine metropolis of Snohomish, Washington?  There, they celebrate “GroundFrog Day,” with a big old bullfrog named Snohomish Slew. He lives in a 75 gallon tank at the Just Frog Amphibian Center in Snohomish. 

If you think all that is kind of silly..I wonder what you’ll think of this.  PETA  is now asking the folks in Punxsutawney to replace their groundhog with a robotic version. William Deeley, who’s president of the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, says hogwash to the group’s claims that Phil is being mistreated. He says says the animal is “being treated better than the average child in Pennsylvania.”

HAPPY GROUNDHOG, GROUNDFROG, ROBOT DAY EVERYBODY!

More about Sun Prairie’s Groundhog festivities here.

I got an e-mail today from Midwest Sports Events- an organization that promotes active sports in the area.  Midwest Sports Events is working with an organization called SOIL in Action to provide assistance to Haitians displaced by the recent earthquake.  For their part, Midwest Sports Events is collecting running shoes and t-shirts to be donated to the cause.

As you probably already know- at this time money is the biggest need for the people of Haiti.  However, in the next couple of months as things start to get back to something resembling normal, there will be a great need for these items.

I know that everyone who regularly takes part in any active sport has a closet full of shoes and t-shirts (drives my wife CRAZY!).  Clean out your closet this weekend and take your stuff to the 2010 Great Lakes Multi-Sport Expo at State Fair Park in Milwaukee.  Look for donation bins at the main entrance both Saturday and Sunday.

For more on the 2010 Great Lakes Multi-Sport Expo, head to the “Activate With M” page at 1055triplem.com

Milwaukee Brewer pitcher Ben Sheets just landed a $10 million dollar deal with the Oakland A’s.  It seems crazy because Sheets did not throw a single pitch last season.  Let me type that again: HE DID NOT THROW A SINGLE PITCH LAST SEASON!

That’s the way to go.  Don’t do anything and get a lot of money.  Hmmmm.  Perhaps I should try that with my blogging.

Now without further adieu, here is my latest blog:

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What did you think of it?  Hopefully this will land me $10 million!

Obama in line to meet Wilco!

It’s great to see how many people are opening their wallets to help with the relief efforts in Haiti. That includes musicians who have made their music available for download in exchange for donations.

You can now add Wilco to that list. They’re making two complete concerts available, in hopes you’ll donate to Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam International.

Click here for more information.