Bayview Summer Expo; Goodbye Dan
Yesterday afternoon, my manager and I took in our fifth consecutive Bayview Event Center Summer Event Planning Expo. Bayview is in Excelsior along Lake Minnetonka, and is renown for their boat cruises and reception hall for weddings and events. This expo is an odd little gathering for local marketing departments to come see what types of programs, music acts, speakers, and fun activities are available for business functions.

It’s mostly a way to blow off work a little early on a gorgeous summer day, but Bayview also puts out a buffet of delicious food. This year, the free buffet included a paella bar and a fish taco bar. I wouldn’t normally be a big taco guy, but they had delectable grilled walleye and fresh guacamole and a bunch of toppings, so I went hog wild, snarfing down six tacos (cheese-less, of course!)

Next it was on to Maynard’s, which is right next door to Bayview, for co-worker Dan Payette’s going away party. Dan got a job in San Antonio and yesterday was his last day. Various comments and speeches were made, most along the lines of “lucky bastard escaped!” Drinks and appetizers were consumed for several hours. Lauren even stopped by for a while before driving my tipsy ass home.

Baseball Rant (Move on to next article, Dave.)
After our fun at Lake Minnetonka last night, we came home and watched the Twins/Mariners game. I was dismayed to stay up past midnight only to see the Mariners win on a horrendous call by the second base umpire, calling the runner safe on a grounder, allowing Ryan Langerhans to race around third and score the winning run.

In another game in Toronto, Rays’ manager Joe Maddon argued after the Rays were denied a run when umpire Angel Hernandez ruled the runner who had just scored never touched third base, which replays show was another wildly poor call.

And of course the most obvious pitiful call came in Detroit, when Armando Galarraga was robbed of the 21st perfect game in MLB history when Jim Joyce called the runner safe on a grounder to first which would have ended the game.

Between the terrible calls and a slew of quick ejections in the past week (Mark Buehrle, Roy Oswalt, Joe Maddon), it seems like the umpires think they’re gods and are above everyone else on the field, which is severely taking away from my enjoyment of watching a game. I hope the league gets it right today and reverses the Jim Joyce call, and I hope they implement instant replay for any close play. Who cares if there’s a two-minute delay, I just hope they get their act together and start making more correct calls.

Meat Loaf’s New Album Features Bon Jovi, House, Jack Black, Etc.
First of all, being a big Meat Loaf fan, I was surprised to find out he released a new album nearly a month ago and I never heard about it until today. Secondly, I was more surprised to find out the title of the album is Hang Cool Teddy Bear.  Huh?  Thirdly, I was even more surprised to find out one of the songs was written by another music favorite, Jon Bon Jovi. And lastly, I was surprised to learn the album features appearances by entertainers such as Jack Black, Kara DioGuardi, and even Hugh Laurie, better known as TV’s Dr. House.

Considering how disappointed I usually am with non-Bat Out of Hell Meat Loaf material, I’m not sure if I’ll give this album a listen or not. But Meat Loaf has certainly piqued my curiosity with this wild album title and parade of celebrity cameos.