The Bestest Ever

Have you ever met someone with some weird, strange obscure fact about them? For example, Bickels uncle is the one who invented those little urinal soaps. Strange right? Or how about that person who is the online Monopoly champion from 1997-2003? I've decided to give myself a random fact. The trick here is to make up something really random, so there is no factual truth to it. So here it goes.....

1. "I've published a book under the pen name Alex Kendall. Mostly the books are collections of memoirs that have been woven into fictional tales of my life. It was picked up by Random House, but never fully distributed. Every time someone buys my book though, I get $2.97". That sounds believable right?? Alex Kendall-that name sounds on the border of made up or actual fact. Plus, the fact that the book was never distributed leads people to believe it's one of those un-found gems in the literary world.

2. I'm the Midwest Bocce Ball champion from 2006. Ok, the fact that Bocce ball doesn't get played a lot AND I can say it with a straight face, should lead people to believe it's true. Besides, who would have a set of Bocce balls around if they decided to challenge me?

3. "I was on the Price Is Right, but never made it to the showdown". Ok, here's the logic in this. If you watch this show, you can't honestly tell what year it was done it. 1978? 1999? Who knows! And since the show airs daily, it would be hard for someone to say "No you weren't". The only downside is that I would somehow slip up and mention that I broke the Plinko game......

4. "I used to work at Starbucks and I gave John Goodman a Mocha". Due to the fact that most people would believe that a top-notch celeb such as John Goodman would in fact go into a starbucks, allows this to work. If I were to say that Katie Holmes, Chuck Norris or Morgan Freeman came into my starbucks, people may not believe me. But I can switch out John Goodman for a number of celebrities: Corey Feldman, That guy who played Balki in Perfect Strangers, Dave Coulier, Macho Man Randy Savage or Michael Bivins, and it would still work.

And the winner is: Midwest Bocce Ball Champ! I chose this because I am semi-decent at the bocce ball game, and the fact that I look like I may be able to actually play leads this white lie to the front of the line. So next time you see me, be on the lookout for this lie to somehow slip into our conversation, in order to make me seem a little bit cooler.

In other news, the city of St. Paul (i.e. Minneapolis' lesser cool sibling) instructed a non-profit organization called Portage for Youth (who help underprivileged kids express themselves through art and theater) to paint over a mural they had worked on. The reason: The mural had too many "graffiti elements". The Star Tribune wrote:
The theater is owned by Portage for Youth, a group that encourages troubled kids to express themselves through art, executive director Raeann Ruth said. And the mural, running alongside a garden, had butterflies, flowers, leaves and vines.
But then came the complaints, said City Council President Kathy Lantry, who represents the area. She drove to the theater in early April, expecting to find a garden scene. Instead, she recalled thinking, "this is not that."

This is the photo of the finished mural (photo from Star Tribune)

And the mural as it's being painted over. Nothing says "advocate for art" quite like telling kids that the mural they worked so hard on needs to be painted over because a city official doesn't like it......I saw the mural when it was being done, and it was one of the better legal murals I've seen. If you'll notice the fence behind the theater covers the scene from the street, so I don't see what the deal was. Mind you, this whole mural was done with permission. I wonder if the Nicollet Ave. mural project will face the same problem?