Lincolnite

The Wilsons are headed northwest this summer. I would love to hear any advice any of you folks have to help improve our trip. First we're going to spend three nights at a cabin at Fort Robinson. We'll be there with my parents and my sister's family. We last went in 2009 when Robbie was three. Our family has grown 40% since then, so it will be exciting to get back out there with the larger crew. After that we plan to head up to the Black Hills. We'll probably hit Cascade Falls on our way up toward Hot Springs. After that ... who knows! There's so much to do: Custer State Park; Needles Highway; Jewel Cave; Sylvan Lake; Harney Peak; the mammoth dig; Mt. Rushmore; Reptile Gardens; and on and on. We'll probably rent a cabin and stay for anywhere from 3-7 days; four days is probably most likely at this point. I've been to the Black Hills many times, but my most recent visit was way back in July 1995*. I imagine things have changed a fair bit since then. What's hot these days that we just have to see? What should we definitely avoid? Any "hidden gems" we ought to investigate? Any cabin recommendations? The vacation is five months away but I'm already looking forward to it. Who doesn't love a road trip? Joey and Keishor have never been on a vacation like this so it will be fun to see their reaction to everything. I imagine we'll hear many shouts of "This is so cool!". And probably lots of "Are we there yet?"s as well. I guess that's unavoidable. * The last time I was in the Black Hills was in 1995 with my parents. It was our last major family vacation, though my sister didn't go with us. I read a lot of books on that trip, one of which was Congo by Michael Crichton. I really enjoyed it. On a particularly scorching hot day we decided to enjoy the air conditioning in a theater. We decided to see Congo since I had just read the book. SPOILER ALERT: the movie sucked donkey socks. Whodathunk that one of the most memorable parts of that trip would be going to watch one of the most wretched atrocities in cinema history? Amy! Amy! Ugh. Stupid animatronic gorilla.

The Downtown diners among you have probably been waiting for Toppers [WARNING: obnoxious music] to open so you could check it out and compare it to all the other pizza joints in the area: Yia Yia's, Lazzari's, Sam & Louie's, Papa John's, Old Chicago, Pies & Pints. Taste of Lincoln has a first look. The core message: Toppers isn't a dine-in restaurant, it's a carryout and delivery joint. Oh sure, you can dine in. But seating is extremely limited, and that's just not the focus of the restaurant. Toppers is a new Domino's, not a new Sam & Louie's. You might wonder then, as I have, why they chose the location they chose. It seems like such a dine-in-oriented and expensive location. I suppose visibility is a big reason. Getting established Downtown isn't easy, so they want to catch folks' eyes and stay on their minds by locating in a prominent, frequently-seen spot, as opposed to situating in a boring ol' strip mall like, say, Papa John's. Will diners go for it? It's obviously far too early to tell. You can help be the judge on that by giving Toppers a try at some point. I would be happy to, though I'm not sure when I'll be able to grab a carryout order to test them out. Depending on their delivery zone, perhaps I'll go that route instead. Let us know what you think after you give Toppers a try.

I'm not the parking scofflaw that my wife is -- I have 1 or 2 tickets to my name, she has several plus a tow -- so I'm presumably not the target of the proposal to bring parking boots to Lincoln. Instead, they're focused on major violators, those with several outstanding, unpaid tickets. Considering how obnoxious it can be to deal with the City's towing company, putting up with a boot seems like a veritable tiptoe through the tulips. The current estimate is that the boots would be used 400-450 times per year. Think about that. There are so many people not paying their parking tickets that the boots could be applied more than once per day. I probably shouldn't be surprised, but I am. That seems like a lot to me. Are there any downsides to putting boots on cars? There's the inconvenience, of course. But it's significantly less inconvenience than dealing with a towed car so that doesn't feel like a viable complaint. Anything else?

When the difference between acceptable and unacceptable use of a property is a simple IRS designation, common sense ought to win out. And it did! Miracle of miracles. In the linked situation, the difference between an outfit being able to set up shop on West O Street and not being permitted was whether or not they were a registered non-profit. Considering how little a non-profit status has to do with a group's use of a property, that's a pretty silly distinction. Zoning laws are supposed to be about things like safety and use clumping (or separation), not petty bureaucratic distinctions. So kudos to the Planning Commission for not blindly sticking to the letter of the law. That being said, I wonder why this situation developed in the first place. Why do non-profits get leeway that other organizations don't? If this property shouldn't be used for its newly-intended purpose, then it shouldn't be used in that manner by anybody, non-profit or not. Perhaps this is a loophole that ought to be closed. I dunno. Zoning regulations are (mostly) foreign to me. If there's something to be fixed, let's fix it.

On Monday Mr. T posted a Where In Lincoln featuring sledding on Choo Choo Hill. That's what I've always called it anyway, thanks largely to my time on the Lincoln Southeast cross country team. I'm not sure if any other local schools called it the same thing. Regardless, do any of you know why we called it Choo Choo Hill? Long-time Lincolnites will remember that there used to be a train engine sitting at the top of the hill. Specifically, Chicago Burlington & Quincy locomotive #710. It sat there for a few decades, until it was removed in 1990, restored, and then placed where it still resides today: in the Haymarket. We have Mr. W.E. Haydon to thank for that engine. You can read about it here.

It’s been a while since we first visited Frank & Simon’s Great Food on West O St. Since then, F&S has well established itself as a popular deli, sandwich, and salad place with a loyal following. To celebrate the end of its first very successful year, Frank & Simon’s will be convening the First Annual Run With the Big Dogs hot dog eating contest on Friday, February 24, 2012 (doors open at 6:15 PM and competition begins at 7 PM). Entry fee is $25. Whatever complete maniac can first eat fifteen hot dogs and buns will win a trophy AND a 3 day/ 2 night vacation for two. Additionally, all entrants will receive a T-shirt and also be entered into a random drawing for ANOTHER 3 day/ 2 night vacation for two. Finally, for a $5 donation, there will be an accompanying “Best Dressed Dog Contest” in which participants will race to design an amazing hot dog. The best dressed dog contest will earn the winner a pogocard. This sounds like a lot of fun, and there will be generous amount of prizes. The contest will raise money for Best of Business local charity fund. Registration deadline for the contest is February 10. Frank & Simon’s is open Monday through Saturday, and is located at 201 Capitol Beach Blvd.

Not long after the Cooper Y announced another building expansion, here's news that a southeast Y is in our near future thanks to $1 million from Ed and Mary Copple. YMCAs are taking over this town. My wife is a member of the Cooper Y (South 14th Street) and it's frequently packed. Beyond that, its programs are packed. Signing up the kids for activities means being quick on the draw if we want to ensure they get a spot. There's certainly demand for more YMCA services. The location of the new Y is up in the air at this point. Will they choose Village Gardens, despite its relative proximity to the Cooper Y? How about the area around Walmart? Or perhaps something farther north, perhaps near St. Mark's United Methodist on Pioneers Boulevard? At the rate their growing, maybe they'll choose all three. I'm curious how many of you readers are members of the Y or participate in Y programs in some capacity. How many of you might become a member if it moved in near you? Where would you put it?

It's not nice of weather forecasters to get me all excited about the possibility of ridiculous amounts of snow, only to later break my heart by telling me we're probably looking at little more than six inches, with a non-zero probability of bupkis. I've really got to stop listening to weather forecasters. Of course, as soon as I do that they'll get one right... Enough whining. Who among you tried to go to the grocery store yesterday only to find out that they were out of many of the staples? I didn't go, but I heard that was a common complaint. Snowstorm or not, at least many folks' cupboards will be full this weekend.

The site of Lincoln Recess is now known as Parkhaus. After all these years, it finally has a name. Parkhaus is, of course, an appropriate name. See, it has housing and parking. You can park where your house is. Get it? OK, so I'm not completely sold on the name. That's ok. At least the darn thing is getting built. The structure is even nearing completion. How awesome is that? Pretty soon you'll be able to move in to a suite with a by-the-bed leasing option that won't leave you on the hook if your roommate bails out mid-lease. I'm excited to see what sorts of tenants they get lined up for the retail space on the first floor. Jeff Korbelik says that PepperJax is interested in opening a shop Downtown. That, to me, sounds like a match made in heaven. What do you folks think about the name and the building? Sure, it's not the 15-story building (or giant two-building complex) we once dreamed of. But it's not too shabby overall, particularly considering it was planned and built on the tail end of a recession. I still miss Star Ship 9, but it's hard to argue that Parkhaus leaves us worse off.

Ignite Lincoln 3 was held last night at Bourbon Theatre in Downtown Lincoln. Folks who weren't there keep asking me how it was. It was a whole lot of fun. I say that despite being in a nervousness-induced coma for half the night. I was presenter #14 out of 16 so my tension had plenty of time to build. Still, I managed to pay attention to almost all of the speakers. (Sorry Hope and Collin, I pretty much missed yours!) Here's a quick overview of the speakers:

• Steve Ramos: "Pinball: A Game Of Skill" (Website | Twitter)-- Steve did a great job starting things off. Going first is rough, but a relatively unusual topic like pinball was a nice way to break the ice on evening.
• Shane and Sunny Dwyer: "Great Pictures With Any Camera" (Website) -- They kept it simple and relatively informal with some nice tips for basic photo composition.
• Jane Garrity: "The Startup Visa: Helping The World's Entrepreneurs Create American Jobs" -- Jane made an excellent, simple case for the importance of tearing down Visa hurdles as a way to boost the American economy.
• Calvin Pappas: "Silicon Valley To The Silicon Prairie" (Website | Twitter) -- Calvin argued that Nebraska has plenty of resources to compete with Silicon Valley, and that we ought to do it our own way rather than stealing directly from their playbook.
• Julie Beno: "The Secret Life Of Librarians" -- Julie was a hoot and she achieved her goal of demonstrating that librarians are about much more than just putting books on shelves.
• Steve Maly: "Get Real" (Website | Twitter) -- Steve reminded us to be the real us, not a fake us. The crowd loved it.
• Jordan Pascale: "The Evolution Of Reporting" (Twitter) -- Jordan is watching you. No, really. He and other Journal Star writers are keeping in touch with goings-on around Lincoln via Twitter, Facebook, and so forth. Got tips for how they can use social media better? Let 'em know.
• Shauna Groenewold: "And They Lived Happily Ever After" (Facebook | Twitter) -- Shauna told a nifty story about how social media (and Ross Nelson and Jon Miller) helped save a wedding.
• Tanner O'Dell: "Attraction of Awkwardness" (Website | Twitter) -- One of two high schoolers, Tanner made the case that we should all embrace our awkwardness.
• Shane Farritor: "Becoming More Creative" (Website | Facebook) -- Shane talked about creativity and the importance of taking small risks.
• Brenda Ealey: "Intellectual Freedom" -- Brenda's presentation focused on the importance of keeping information free, and she used Walter the Farting Dog as one of her case studies.
• Hope Edwards: "Serve To Lead" -- Hope, the second of the two high schoolers, was behind last fall's LPS Student Serve day. She talked about the day and about how if a couple high schoolers can kickstart an event involving 9,000 students doing good, then anybody can make a difference.
• Collin Caneva: "Turning A Headwind Into A Tailwind" (Website | Facebook) -- Collin's talk focused on using headwind (adversity) to your advantage and turning it into a boosting tailwind.
• Brent C. Wilson: "A Foster Family's Tale" (Website | Twitter) -- That's me! I talked about our family's two years as foster parents, culminating in the December 22nd adoption of Joey and Keishor.
• John Coffey: "Nebraska Sucks!" -- John stole the show with his excellent tale of how Nebraska sucks ... people back after they've tried (and tried and tried) to leave.
• The Colonel Mustard: "Modern Representations of Expressionism: In Freedom of Thought and State of Being" (Website) -- The folks behind "X Files: The Musical" and "Jurassic Park: The Musical" ended the show with a song and dance number.

Overall the mood of the evening was energetic and vibrant. Then I went and made folks cry. (Dammit, Wilson!) I'm a terrible crowd estimator but the theater was packed. I'll guess there were ... I don't know, 300-350 attendees? There were more people than there were seats. The emcee for the night was Ross Brockley. Ross was ... well, not for everybody. Nathan Johnson summed it up pretty well: "Ross Brockley hit on all the important issues: politics, creeping on high school girls, and racism." Any comedian is going to have some misses. That's expected. But Ross at times forgot who was the focus of the night. For example, rather than building on the crescendo after John Coffey's presentation and allowing The Colonel Mustard to finish the night with a bang, he completely deflated the energy in the room. It was tacky and uncomfortable. But don't let that give you the wrong impression. Before last night I was cautiously optimistic about Ignite Lincoln. Now, I'm 100% sold on it. It was fantastic. Thank you to the event organizers, all of whom are volunteers. Thank you to the presenters, each of whom did an excellent job. And thank you to sponsors Firespring and Turbine Flats for the financial support to make it happen.

So ... apparently Lincoln is the home of Gongs Unlimited, a gong distributor featured by the Wall Street Journal. Big gongs, little gongs, cheap gongs, expensive gongs -- you name it, they've got it. I can't say that I plan to be in the market for a gong any time soon, but this is a classic example of how there are all kinds of businesses in town that most of us aren't aware of. And even the businesses we are aware of often do things we don't know about.

A portion of the sidewalk/trail at Pioneers Park will get a facelift thanks to a $148,800 grant from Nebraska Game & Parks. Thank goodness. The sidewalk has been up for rehabilitation for quite a while. Heck, portions of it were in sad shape back when I used to ride my bike to the park as a kid. I do some running at Pioneers Park and it's generally much easier to run either on the streets or cross country rather than on the crumbling, unlevel sidewalk. I see that a portion of the work will "level the trail to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act". Leveling will be great, but I wonder if they'll also modify some of the steep portions of the path. Those portions, though far from ideal for the casual user, are also kind of fun. Speaking of Pioneers Park, I spent quite a bit of time running out there recently. I was running for mileage so I ran all over the park. I tell you what, people use every square inch of that park, and they do some unusual things in some of the less-accessible portions. I didn't witness anything particularly naughty -- except for the grinning fellow who probably wasn't smoking tobacco -- but boy, you've got to watch out that you don't accidentally step on a napper's head or interfere with a dog's game of Smell Everything! when you come around just about every corner.