Smokum if you got them

Yesterday was the final day you could legally smoke indoors in public and Bob Bruce was broadcasting from the Six Foot Under Lounge at Daniel Arthurs. Right there is the making for a blog.

I usually don't smoke, but decided it was a happening and therefore opted to attend.

Billy has two heroes in life. One is Brian Kilmeade from Fox News and the other is Bob Bruce. When Billy's neck is strained from watching the boob tube he takes solace in just laying there beside his transistor AM radio. I swear the dial is permanently stuck on 600. Billy is a P-1 and when he heard that Bob Bruce of the BBRE was doing a remote, he insisted I drag (no pun intended) him along.

We showed up at about the same time as the press and I quickly found a spot for him on the open air patio out of the way of the busy wait staff and haze of the cigar smoke. The Six Foot Under Lounge was humming due to the deft hands of Erika and Heather. They were cranking out martinis and other potables as fast as they could.

The co-owners were kept busy. Dan was doing interviews and I caught Lori in the middle of a delivery.


Some of the Ex Club wags were there as well. Pete, Bernie, Gary,...but no Puzzler. The Puzzler was offered a spot near Billy but then he might have been exposed to daylight which is something he fears. There is a reason why Billy calls him the Puzzler.

Billy was able to meet Abby who he has only heard about in the past. Abby is Bob's call screener and hopefully she is able to weed out the prank calls and keep the show moving smoothly. Billy asked me to give Abby one of his calling cards and I so obliged.

Courtney, the Gazette photographer who is a pleasant upgrade from Lorraine was there along with crews from KCRG and other stations. Somehow my mug made it to the front page of my morning friend.

It was fun while it lasted but I believe it will be more fun after today. Billy can breathe a little easier...actually we all will.

Friends (Not the TV Series)

Well I didnt sleep very well last night as I tossed and turned trying to decide what I should put into todays blog. This thing has got me consumed. All these thoughts racing thru my head. I think I have a following of about 3 regular readers right now and if the cute redhead at the dangerous reception counter of the Blend decides to take a look it will be 4. I'm kinda partial to redheads what ever the tint de jour is this week.

This was my second visit to the Blend in as many days, having hopped on the Kangaroo train the night before. The bartender remembered me and swiftly served up my Stoli's on the rocks with a lemon twist.

This night I was there with friends and if they are friends of mine, they are undoubtedly friends of Billy's. The reason we were at the Blend is because of the 5:01 club which was destined for the Piano Bar until a private party moved some to the Blend.....but the real final destination was Bricks. The 5:01 people were moving furitvely and more often than Osama bin Ladin. I sure hope they find him and give him the dickens.....Speaking of Dickens...do you remember Dickens Cider.....Billy always enjoyed that beverage, but now its hard to find.

Joining us at the Blend was Bob...he is Tom Arnolds uncle and he is giving up his parking pass so we can take Billy to the football game tomorrow at the Carver- Kinnick Arena. We will be able to park in the Iron Lung section and it will be just a short roll to the arena. Actually I think he is feeling bad for taking Billy's seat at the premier of the Final Season last week and he is trying to smooth that over.

Other friends were Tom & Carol....actually Tom and Carol are Billy's Godparents....they are both retired but both still working. Tom keeps working away a various word puzzles and Billy keeps working away at solving them. Billy is a bit dyslexic due to the way he has to watch television. You see since he spends most of the time in the iron lung he watches the TV thorough a series of mirrors positioned at precise angles throughout the room. This gives him a reversed image of the actually picture and when there are words on the screen they are backwards. Its a real bitch when he is watching something that is closed captioned. Consequently he doesn't watch a lot of TV instead he has his trusty AM transistor radio which he has set on WMT 600 most of the time since that signal comes in loud and clear. His Favorite program is Rush Limbaugh. What's not to like about Rush...nuff said. His second favorite is the BBRE which for those of you not on the cutting edge, stands for the Bob Bruce Radio Experience. I believe he is close to being a P1 which is quite an accomplishment. He likes Bob Bruce because he's kind of sort of a sports guy and although Billy will probably never play sports he can dream. Billy doesn't really give a crap about the flap over the Twin Pines golf course, though.

Carol, is a retired school marm and comes over to Billy's house a few times a week and tutors him. She has that European flare about her which is evidendenced by the socks inside her sandals. Billy likes Carol's tank side manor and appreciates her efforts. Carol is also a Hawkeye fan and has the fancy seats and she has promised Billy a chance to view the game from up there sometime. Do you have any idea how hard it is to drag Billy to our seats. Those concrete steps give us a workout and , quite frankly we do block most of the aisle. That elevator up to the top would be such a treat.

After Bob rushed off, Gary and Mary arrived. Gary is Cedar Rapids' newest pizza baron. He is also former past president of the Ex Club and scribe of the newsletter commonly know as the Rag. Billy likes me to read the Rag to him and he is especially fond of the jokes at the end. Mary looks a lot like Jamie Lee Curtis and chokes down Funnies like there is no tomorrow.

We can't talk about friends with our mentioning Snatches; which is Billy's newest friend.

If you want to tailgate with Billy tomorrow look for the upside down Cubs flag...he should be nearby. ( See Picture)