1. Going to Bon Jovi After All: I was surprised to find out the other day that Bon Jovi will be making a second Twin Cities appearance on their world tour when they come to the XCel Energy Center in St. Paul January 27. I was given a password for the presale and bought four tickets Friday morning. I will be going with Amanda, Jason, and Nicky Volin, who all expressed interest in going to the Minneapolis show in November. I will be excited to see who the opening act is, but it was rumored to be Collective Soul. Bon Jovi’s latest album, “Have a Nice Day,” was the group’s best ever album for opening week sales, but from what I’ve heard so far, I’m not too thrilled. I still think their 2000 album “Crush” is their best.

2. Meeting Up with Chris: Plans for Saturday are to go to Sioux Falls with Amanda for the afternoon. Chris Ahrendt and I were chatting on the phone and it turns out he will be back for the weekend to do some wedding planning with Carol, so the four of us are going to meet up for dinner.

3. Blown Call: I still can’t believe the way that White Sox-Angels ALCS Game 2 ended the other night. AJ Pierzynski swung and missed at strike three, the umpire called him out for the third out of the inning, and catcher Josh Paul rolled the ball back out to the mound. As the Angels left the field, Pierzynski decided to take off running to first, thinking the ball had been trapped by Paul. The umpire then called him safe after earlier calling him out, and after a Joe Crede double, the White Sox won 2-1. If I were an Angels fan, I’d be irate right now.

4. Convocation Craze: The other day was a huge DSU Convocation, a thing where everyone gathers for a big school meeting. I don’t really get the point of the things. Anyway, I wasn’t there, but from what I hear, I shoulda been. Sue Conover, the Theater professor, got up in front of the hundreds of students and faculty to acknowledge me for my four-plus years of service to the Drama Club. She asked “is Ryan Glanzer here?” Ten seconds passed while everyone looked around for me. Then she told everyone I was doing a Freshman Showcase play on the Seinfeld episode about masturbation. So now I’ve got dozens of people–professors included–approaching me asking me where I was and asking me about masturbation. Between that and the recent article in the newspaper I wrote on Rasterbater, the program that makes those gigantic posters, everyone on campus thinks I have a problem.

5. On This Date in Ryan Glanzer History: On October 14, 2003, I made a trip up to the dorms to visit some of the old gang, including Scott Headrick, who won his first ever Person of the Day award. That day I also did some shopping in Sioux Falls and saw Kill Bill in the theater. In 2004, I rehearsed for the Freshman Showcase with Holli and Melissa, and started watching the HBO made-for-TV-movie “Angels in America.” Professor Wayne Pauli won his second POTD award with his hilarious story of pinching his butt in his broken toilet seat.

Random Stories | Today’s Topic: Nicky Volin
In lieu of Nicky Volin’s emergence back onto the scene with his plans to attend the Bon Jovi concert with me, I will share with you my top three Nicky stories.

1. In 2003, Nicky and I decided to go see Bon Jovi in St. Paul. Nicky had graduated in December and was working for his dad, which I believe is still the case. I went to Sioux Falls to pick up Nicky and we went to the Cities together. Nicky laid down two ground rules for the trip: no girls and no drinking. We arrived in plenty of time, but on our way to the XCel Energy Center, we couldn’t find a parking spot. We ended up parking several blocks away and had to walk in sub-zero weather without coats on to get to the show. Nicky was so cold he considered buying a $200 leather Bon Jovi jacket to wear back to the car after the show.

2. In one of my first ever weeks of DSU, I took a picture of Nicky when he walked into my room shirtless. I was looking at the pictures a few days later after I got them developed, and Nicky walked into the room. The picture of Nicky was laying out on my desk, partially covered by a book. Nicky noticed a picture of a shirtless person with ample breasts. “Hey, Glanzer, I see you got pictures of naked girls in your room!” Nicky exclaimed. “No, Nicky,” I said as I unveiled the entire photo. “That’s you.”

3. Few DSU students were as well-known as Nicky. Therefore, we on fourth floor decided to have a Nicky Volin roast before he graduated. (As it turned out, we would roast him twice, but the first was better.) The lobby on the floor was full of friends that night, including Nicky’s longtime crush Laura Carrow. As Nicky re-enacted a story in front of the group, he lost his balance and fell over onto a table full of snacks and juice, sending them flying in the air. I thought it was hysterical.

Top Ten List | Today’s Topic: My Top Ten Albums of All-Time
1. “Bat Out of Hell,” Meat Loaf
2. “Pinkerton,” Weezer
3. “Bat Out of Hell II,” Meat Loaf
4. “Crush,” Bon Jovi
5. “Slippery When Wet,” Bon Jovi
6. “Make Believe,” Weezer
7. “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” Elton John
8. “New Jersey,” Bon Jovi
9. “Brand New Man,” Brooks & Dunn
10. “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” Flaming Lips

Well that is all for Friday. I am off to work at AmericInn where I picked up someone’s shift.

Ryan