#14 - CHICAGO & THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

IGood morning! I had another blog planned for #14, but it has been delayed. I had a rant planned that would tackle one of the illegal activities that occurs in American arachnoculture and other exotic animal hobbies. But, as a courtesy, I contacted two friends that would be mentioned to give them a chance to give me their thoughts on how the issue concerns them and they replied that they would answer but have yet to. Tomorrow I will go ahead, with or without them.

But that gives me a chance to "diary" a day in the life and talk about what I am celebrating today: The Chicago Blackhawks have won their third Stanley Cup as Champions of the NHL in the past six years. The 2010-2015 Hawks are a true dynasty. I am a hardcore hockey fan. Honestly, I don't follow any other sports and have no use for the American big three: baseball, football and basketball. No interest. Outside of hockey I like real football (soccer) and MMA, but they are casual interests. Hockey is my game and I've been a Hawks fan since I was a kid.

However, I want this blog to recall yesterday's adventure for me and the Pennell family, who are enjoying their visit to America and stay in my home. As I mentioned, in yesterday's blog we had a Cubs game planned for last night. Tickets for the Hawks game would have been next to impossible to get and über-expensive. My bonus dad Joel (my preferred term for my "stepfather:") was able to get us great Field Box seats for the Cubs game from a friend that is a season ticket holder. But, as I also mentioned, my Bristolian friends seeing their first American major league baseball game would be completely dependent on the weather. And it has been raining heavy here in Chicagoland.

After a breakfast smorgasbord at one of my regular spots called Burnt Toast, I first took my mates to Cabela's - a huge hunting, fishing, outdoor store - where I had taken Mark when he visited last October. The photo at left shows us in front of their centerpiece taxidermy display.

Then it was onto downtown Chicago where we our adventure with on and off heavy rains would begin. After parking downtown near Millennium Park we had to seek shelter in a Starbucks and wait out the rain a bit. Then we finally made it across the street to the park, but our visit was short as it started pouring again.

The decision was made that we needed to change plans to an indoor venue. Brandon wanted to see the Shedd Aquarium so headed two miles south to the museum campus and the sun had come out again. The line ("queue" to my Brit guests) to get into the Shedd was insane so we walked around the lakefront and museum campus. Here's a great shot of the Pennell's with the glorious Chicago skyline in the background.

From the Museum Campus we drove north up Lake Shore Drive past Oak Street and North Avenue Beaches and went to Lincoln Park Zoo. This is Chicago's famous Free Zoo, although parking is $25. The weather cooperated while we were there. I hate zoos, but it had been 25 years since I'd been to LPZ, a place I used to visit regularly especially the reptile house where I would be allowed behind the scenes thanks to being friends with the Curator and keepers. The highlight was a big male lion who put on an amazing display of his incredible roar.

After the zoo we headed to Wrigleyville, but the skies had opened up. It was already obvious that there was little chance that our baseball game would take place. But we had plenty of time and parked ($50!) and headed to Casey Moran's, which is an amazing sports bar and beer garden right beside Wrigley Field. Beer and buffalo wings and we were content, but outside the window the thunder, lightning and torrential rain was out of control. Our plan was to wait it out a bit, but with the Hawks playing on the other side of town with a chance to win their third Stanley Cup in six years. I was thinking of escaping Chicago and heading back out to my rural home to catch most of the game on TV.

So I got a bit excited when I checked the Cubs website and saw that the game had been officially postponed until the end of August. The Pennell's wouldn't get their American baseball game and that was disappointing for all of us. But it would have been tough to watch the slow-paced baseball game while paying attention to the exciting sport of hockey on my iPhone. And the fact that Casey Moran's was filling with Blackhawks apparel wearing fans coming to watch the hockey game was making me envious So our high-priced parking space next to Wrigley Field was abandoned and we got out of the city. The rain was coming down hard and the police and emergency teams were coming out in force. Obviously the city was preparing for chaos if the Hawks won the cup, but there was also the flash flood and tornado warnings. It was a crazy evening to be in downtown Chicago. So I drove as fast as possible to make the one hour trek home. Several underpasses were blocked by police cars as people had failed to make it through the deep water on the road. A few detours and we were on the tollway and headed west. We made it home with about a minute left in the first period, ordered some food to be delivered and settled into watching the Hawks game. I did my best to explain the rules as we watched and Mark and Brandon had already become Hawks fans and had t-shirts Mark had bought when he visited me last October.

And then they did it. The cup was hoisted by Jonathan Toews and then handed to the 40-year old Kimmo Timmonen. Kimmo had played little in the playoffs because his skating and skills had understandably diminished with time, and 40 is old for a pro athlete playing the fast and tough game of hockey. But the Finnish hockey player was a superstar at one time, and played for years for the Nashville Predators, which are my "other team" as I lived in Nashville for almost 7 years and used to go to their games when I couldn't see my Hawks.

Tomorrow we'll be back on topic - the hairy spider hobby - and I'll get into full on rant mode. Thanks for sticking with me for this "diary entry" blog. This afternoon Mark adds some more ink to my ongoing sleeves and tonight we will celebrate some more. But mañana I will deliver a rant!

All the best, MJ

#5 - SUNDAY, FUN DAY

One week from today I will be picking up my dear friends the Pennell family at Chicago's Airport after their journey from Bristol on the southwest coast of England to Amsterdam and then a KLM direct flight into Chicago. I can't wait.

Mark always says "Sunday, Fun Day". He works hard operating his Serious Ink Tattoo Studio Tuesday to Saturday and then Sunday is meant for relaxation and a few cold Tiger beers.

For my blog I thought I'd lighten up on my usual blogs on Sundays and have a little more fun, covering other topics and avoiding my rants. One idea I had was to answer questions from my readers. This alone can keep some venom and controversy in the content. I will answer honestly, frankly and bluntly with no-holds-barred, complete gloves off bare knuckle responses. Vale tudo style (anything goes) for those who know fighting. I won't shy away from anything. There is one rule though: If I answer your question and stir up some shit, you must be willing to have your name published as the question's author. Email me at spidershoppe@icloud.com and next Sunday (assuming anyone bothers to submit) I'll answer some questions.

As an incentive for you to submit questions, I am offering a prize for my favorite question (may be the most controversial, may be the most intelligent, may be the most ridiculous - it's subjective). In the last blog I mentioned the incredible downloads available at Andrew Smith's lovetarantulas.com. Yesterday I bought two items from his site. I didn't need them. The first is my one hour documentary of our 2006 Costa Rica field trip. I made the film so I didn't need to buy it! However, in fairness, I wanted to show the same support for the site that I asked of you so I spent the $10 (that's right only $10 to download two fine products for the tarantula enthusiast!). I have the 720p HD version of my "In Search of Costa Rican Tarantulas" in three different file formats. The second item is "Baxter's Bumper Book of Tarantulas". I also didn't need another copy of this. I have early drafts and the final product as I was part of the editorial team. But this is a pioneering work on tarantula keeping and breeding by England's pioneer and a must for every true tarantula enthusiasts library. So, ask my favorite question, and I'll provide you with free copies of both!

As far as Sunday miscellany: 
1. I'm a huge hockey and diehard Chicago Blackhawks fan. Sadly, they lost 4-3 last night and the Stanley Cup Final is now tied at one game each. But a split of two road games is a good thing in hockey and I look forward to the return to the Madhouse on Madison for Game 3.
2. I have loads of spider feeding to do today. Keeping up with my collection is a 7 day a week job. It's a rainy, sleepy Sunday morning and I'm going to head out for some breakfast and then get a Netflix movie or three going while I work on the spiders.
3. My buddy Jason has been in Peru for over six months. He'll return while the Pennell's are here and I know he can't wait to be reunited with the spiders he left in my care. He did sell off much of his collection before he left, but has made some purchase while out of country and has a nice assortment here that I've been growing for him.

Send me your questions for next Sunday. I will reply with brutal honesty and characteristic truth. MJ

The Dreaded Followup Album

Sophomore jinx? Could Jimi Hendrix ever top "Are You Experienced", which is quite possibly the greatest debut album in history? Anyway, here I am composing the second blog and I have already spent myself with the whole bumper sticker saga.

I'm in Milwaukee. Wisconsin. Not too far from my hometown Chicago, but still it has to be a bit odd that I landed here. There wasn't really a plan. I've now lived in 4 states in 12 months. Geographic states, that is. There have been oodles of emotional states.

About a year ago I was still in Nashville. I was transplanted there by my former wife's career and enjoyed a six-year run in Music City. I really did love it there. But all good things implode, and post-divorce I ended up needing a change. Next thing I knew my life was condensed down to what fit in a minivan and I was driving across the US to live north of Seattle and work for Alex at Tarantulas.com/Northwest Zoological Supply. It was a return to Washington state as when my ex and I first got together she was finishing grad school at WSU in the eastern part of the state. I lived in Pullman, WA, among the rolling wheat fields right along the Idaho border for 14 months in 2000/2001. But now I was on the other side of an incredibly topographically diverse state. I was living on the coast, enjoying the breathtaking views of the Puget Sound, vast stands of evergreen and glacier-draped mountains. Then the gloom set in. Mindset and weather. The dreary grey mist of the Pacific Northwest "winter" did me in. Seattle's a great city, but not if you love sunlight. Six months of bleak drizzle and stifling overcast ensued. I wanted to be anywhere else — definitely not in the big, expensive, lonely unfurnished apartment I had stupidly rented.

A plan was hatched that allowed me to continue to conduct sales and operate the website for Tarantulas.com from a remote location, and before long my possessions were again distilled to single vehicle capacity, this time in the Grand Cherokee I bought when the minivan died. After a short 9 month stay in Seattle, I was again relocating, this time headed back to family—and I thought a promising romantic relationship—in the Chicago suburbs.

I think I'll spare you the details of the two post-divorce relationships that contributed to my Bedouin nomadism. Let's just leave it with the fact that there was one at the beginning of my Seattle run that burned hot and fast like a chemical peel, and another at the end that contributed to my departure before its own fizzle. They're a huge part of the story, but let's move on shall we?

Regardless of romantic woes, the path led me back to my hometown and some much needed time with family and a few friends. I stayed with my mom and stepfather for a couple of months and I am still regrouping. I needed my own space, especially after being so unsettled since leaving Nashville. Actually, after my wife and I split I lived in my dingy little "Spider Shoppe", taking showers in my landlord's warehouse, so the unsettled feeling actually goes back further. I needed to unpack my boxes, many of which were still sealed from Nashville, and find a new home for me as well as my dog Taylor and parrot Jesse.

When I returned to Chicagoland I quickly visited my friend Bill Korinek of Theraphosid Breeding Project in Milwaukee. Billy and Bruce Effenheim operate TBP together and are extremely successful tarantula breeders. It was good hanging out with them again and, as luck would have it, Bill had recently purchased a duplex and the lower apartment was available for rent. Over beer and wine and good food we discussed the possibility of me moving in. What is more homey than a house already full of thousands of tarantulas, chameleons, leaf-tailed geckos, roaches and monkey frogs? I couldn't resist. I knew more beer and wine and good food would follow too! So the worlds of Theraphosid Breeding Project, Exotic Fauna Enterprises and a part of Tarantulas.com collided into a sort of exotic animal frat house on the south side of Milwaukee.

And that's how I ended up in Milwaukee. I'm less than 2 hours from family, but have my own little home, something I have been without since my marriage ended. Taylor has a little backyard to enjoy and we take long walks in the park right across the street.

Until next time...

Swing low sweet chariot, MJ