I returned a couple hours ago from my little trip to Minneapolis. If success is measured by achieving one's objectives, then I guess this was a successful trip. I talked to both Al and Prof. Polakiewicz, and both of them agreed to write letters of recommendation for me, meaning that I now have my three. I guess next up I should find out what information I need to supply them with and think about taking the GRE.

But you actually want to hear all the juicy details about the trip, don't you? Good, I thought so. By the time I had gone to the gas station, quit forgetting things, and finally got on the road to Minnesota it was about 11:45 Wednesday morning. It was rainy and windy the entire drive, but the worst stretch was driving down 29 between Shawano and Wausau. That area was being hit by sleet/freezing rain, which made driving very difficult on the slick roads. I was pretty much stuck following the slowpokes in front of me, lest I end up in the ditch like several other cars. Including stops, it was a little after 5 when I arrived at the hotel and checked in. I spent the first several hours just sitting in my room watching tv, including the first 5 innings of the Twins-Tigers game, which I had thought about attending before I got cheap and lazy. I left the room finally about 8:45 and walked down to the Bell in hopes of encountering someone I would know. I first went upstairs to the projection booth, where I found Bob and Adam running the European shorts. After talking to Adam for a few minutes, I headed downstairs and sat at the bottom of the stairs. That's where I ran into Daryoush. He had with him Mic, star of After Freedom. I accompanied the two of them back to Espresso 22, where I talked to Mic for a while, during which time Daryoush restocked damn near everything in the place. Then the three of us - along with one of Daryoush's dozens of lady friends - went over to the Kitty Kat Club for a beer. It was my first time in there, but I still noticed instantly that the place screams Jason McLean. Anyway... Mic was picked up by a couple of sisters, Daryoush went home, and I walked over to the Oak to see if anyone was there. Andy and Joe were trying to close up and Dave was picking a few things up, so I got Dave's attention, he opened the door for me, and we ended up standing outside talking for quite some time. I finally had to cut him off so I could leave and find some food, as it was about 12:30 by that point. I walked back to my hotel room, gave Market Bar-B-Que a ring, and then headed over there for some late night eats. After that I was finally able to sleep, so I headed back to the hotel and hit the bed.

Yeah, and that was just Wednesday. I got climbed out of bed about 9:30 Thursday morning so I could get the free continental breakfast at the hotel before it closed at 10. Then I went back in my room and sat watching tv. About 1 the cable went out, so I finally decided to shower, dress, and head out. I stopped by the film society office, but once again Al wasn't there. I then walked down to Coffman to check that out. I wasn't exactly impressed, but I'll get back to Coffman later. It took a lot of work, but I eventually found the Whole. Joe, who now apparently works full time doing a/v stuff for the U, was doing the sound for the show, so I stood around talking to him until about 4:45, when I left to go meet with Prof. Polakiewicz. I talked to him at 5, and he agreed to write a letter for me. I then headed over to Oak, but there was nobody there I knew, so I started walking toward the hotel when I noticed Al's car in the parking lot outside U Film's office. Since he was finally there, I stopped in and talked to him for a few minutes. He was sort of busy, but he handed me a couple free passes to get into movies last night. I left and went over to Oak, where Edi was playing at 5:30. I was only able to stick around for the first hour, because then I left to drive down to the Riverview to see Mr. and Mrs. Iyer. I got there just in time to see the movie. After that movie got out, I was able to look around and see that just about everyone who volunteers at or generally hangs around the film society was at that movie. I talked to a few of them before the next movie, Jylama, started. With nothing better to do, I decided to stick around for that one too, which turned out to be an unwise decision, for it was too slow of a movie to be watching at 9:30. Yes, I fell asleep during part of it. The movie was out by 11. I noticed Penfield waiting for the bus, so I gave him a ride home, and then I drove back to the hotel. Still having not eaten anything since lunch, I went across the street to Leaning Tower. The service sucked and the atmosphere is way cooler at the one on Lynndale, but I got 10% off by showing my room key from the hotel. Then I went back and must have fallen asleep pretty quickly, but I really don't remember. In fact, I was quite surprised when I woke up this morning and found all the lights and the tv off, because I don't remember turning any of them off.

Okay, so I woke up at 9:30 again this morning and went to have my free breakfast. Then I went back, showered, got dressed, and packed up everything to leave, because I had to check out by 11. Just made it. Then I walked over to the film society, but Al still wasn't there. I sat around talking to Adam for a while, we walked over to Harvard Market so Adam could get donuts and the Strib, and by the time we got back to the office Al was there. I talked to Al again and then asked him if he'd write a letter for me also, which he agreed to do. Okay, good, so my major goals for the trip having been accomplished, I could head back to Appleton. I was making pretty good time with the exception of taking nearly a half an hour to make it through Menominee (thanks to some poorly marked road construction that had traffic backed up on 94 east for miles). I was finally getting a little hungry by the time I reached Abbotsford, so I stopped there at the Hardee's - big mistake. Apparently Hardee's has decided to revamp their entire menu. Pretty much anything that was on the menu a couple days ago is no longer on the menu. The burger that I did have was okay, but it wasn't the Hardee's burger I had gone there to eat. I'm not sure if I'll be back any time soon now that they fucked up their food. I made good time getting back again after that and made it home by 5:15.

And now back to Coffman. Man, they fucked that place up big time! While I appreciate what they were trying to do, the whole place is just an awful fucking mess. To begin with, we were told that the remodeling job would open the place back up again after spaces were chopped up and made more confined back in the 70's. Mission failed. Horribly. In fact, the rooms are smaller and the building is more compartmentalized than ever. The biggest problem is that too many things are now packed into too little space in the union, they don't fit in well with the shape of the building (apparently the architects have never put puzzles together before), and now there are weird hallways leading in all directions. The worst is trying to find the Whole. The Whole is in the same location that it has always been, but getting there is now a lesson in determination, perseverance, and sign reading. Because they promised everyone, his brother, and his brother's girlfriend's extensive relatives space in the union, they filled in all the space in basement, leaving just a labyrinth to wander through in attempt to find the Whole. After finding the Whole, a couple things become quickly apparent. They ripped out the wall with all the old show posters plastered to it and placed a concession stand there. They didn't place a set of doors to seperate the Whole from the rest of the basement like they were supposed to so shows could go on when the rest of the union is closed. The old light booth is now an s&m cage with the mixers and stuff in it. The ticket booth is in definite need of being broken in. The actual Whole is in even more need of being broken in. Other than the concession stand, the bathrooms, and the sound system, the Whole is largely unchanged, with the exception of a thick layer of paint that covered everything up. The place looks too new and sterile now to be a music venue. Back to the rest of Coffman, about the only thing I can say that they didn't fuck up was the book store - it's HUGE - especially the textbook section. In fact, they have room in the textbook section for about twice as many books as they have in there now. I missed out on seeing Mike Nelson doing a booksigning there Wednesday afternoon because I wasn't in town yet. The area on the ground floor with all of the dining options isn't nearly as tacky as the original designs appeared, but now it's just confusing. I really wanted to see the theater too, as I'm told it's actually kind of cool, but it was locked, so I missed out. I didn't walk all the way down to the river, but I did walk out on the patio in back and look down, and what I saw of that was pretty decent. Of course, they told us that we'd be able to stand in front of Northrop and look through Coffman to see the river, and that's about as far from the truth as possible. Hell, it was probably more possible with the old Coffman. I didn't go check it out, but I'm told that the computer lab in Coffman isn't open 24 hours as promised either. Basically, we threw $70 million dollars away on a piece of shit building that was better left as it was (even though that sucked also). I could have designed a better remodeling job with zero architectural experience than these jokers did. I know they're really trying to trumpet this design-build concept through this job, but the Coffman redesign looks more like they did it build-design.

Okay, that's enough... I'll shut up now.