Looking for something to do on Monday Night this week?

If you can, head on down to Joliet, IL and join myself and a few of my good friends as we ring in the holidays with a few hours of Traditional Irish Music and Pub Songs.

The Hatfield Sisters, two professional fiddle players have returned from being overseas and on tour and will be hosting the event. Together with John Condron, Max Dunne and Charlie Champess on the Guitars and Tin Whistles and myself backing them up on the Bodhran.

We will be playing from about 8pm to Midnight, give or take an hour. Performing all our favorite Jigs, Reels, Hornpipes, Slides and a few Pub Songs thrown in for good measure. Whats a holiday session without a rousing chorus of "Fairytale of New York"?

Here's how to get there:

Chicago Street Pub
75 N. Chicago St
Joliet, IL 60432

From the train:
Take the Rock Island Metra line from La Salle Street station in Chicago all the way to Joliet's Union Station. Takes about 1 hour 10 minutes. Walk from the station approx 1/2 block west on Jefferson St then go up north on Chicago st for about a 1/2 block to find the pub. Look for the Rialto Theatre and you can't miss the pub.

From the car:
Take your favorite route to get to I-80. Find the Chicago Street or Route 52 exit and go North for approx 1-mile. Enter the Will County Court House parking (Its free after 5:00pm) and find a good place to park on the north end of the parking lot next to Jefferson St. Walk approx 1/2 block from the lot up Chicago St. to the pub.

From the drunk tank:
Stagger stagger crawl, Stagger stagger crawl, Stagger stagger crawl. When you find it, Order a pint or two from Ben the Bartender. Tell him "Steve" sent you for the special discount.

Once you are there and freshened up with an adult beverage or two; Sit back, Relax and Enjoy some of the finest Trad Music west of Chicago.

This past weekend marked the halfway mark in my commissioning process. I am now over the top and going down hill in my pursuit of becoming an Officer. Only two months are remaining of class room instruction then starting in march, we start the field training. After a couple months of practicing that, in late July I ship out for Phase III instruction then pending success, I will earn my commission on August 6th. Just 5 days prior to leaving for IFC in Indiana.

Lieutenant Liedt has a nice ring to it, eh?

For those that haven't figured it out yet, I am currently attending the Traditional course of Officer Candidate School for the Illinois Army National Guard. The course length in total is 18 months long, but its broken down into weekend drills only, once a month. Then two 3 week training courses during the summer. I completed my Phase I this past summer in wonderful Camp Ripley in Minnesota. Phase II is currently being held at the Illinois Military Academy and my Phase III will be in Ft Lewis, WA.

My body aches, but the will ain't broke yet. I'm finishing this program one way or another. By the way, anyone have a couple of arms and perhaps some abdominals that I can borrow? I think they broke mine this past weekend.

The Midwest FurFest 2010 was held at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Rosemont, IL. A new hotel for the con. Very convenient for travelers coming to or from O'Hare airport. There were 2285 registered attendees, 413 Fursuiters and very expensive food prices. MFF raised over $11k in donations for the "Castaways" charity. They specialize in providing homes for unwanted dogs. When the Con Chairman handed over the check to the Castaways folks, they got all choked up. Even my own eyes misted up a bit. But I'm sure that was only because of some furry fuzz in my tear duct, I'm sure.

The following Furtopians were found at the site:
Liedt
Alexandre
Kishi
Shim
Deval
Relaxing Dragon
Red Yoshi
Sheeta
Cimarron
Kishka

Next year it will be be held at the same location. I will know to bring my own snacks and drinks next time. $11 for a pack of nuts, really? $6 for a can of soda? I drank a lot of water this weekend.

Its been a really long time, but this upcoming weekend. I have a 4-day weekend and have no plans what-so-ever. I can't remember the last time I've had so much time off and nothing planed to do with myself.

Oh sure, I have lots of house chores to do, need to get the Garage picked up from summer-time workshop mode to winter time car park mode. Seriously need to close out the fiscal year of paperwork and generally clean up stuff in my office room. Tear up the flooring in my bathroom and find the cause of a water leak into my basement directly below it. And a whole laundry list of mundane stuff like that. But, other then the mundane tasks, I really have no responsibilities for 4 whole days.

I am so used to be overburdened with stuff like Army OCS drills, music performances, concerts and shows that I have to attend to support friends, functions at one pub or another that i must attend, etc. But this weekend is free. Totally.

I'm think I'm going to go nuts.

Okay furs, watch the news around Chicagoland. If you hear any reports of some short furry going crazy and running around the southland giggling and causing mayhem, chances are its me and I've finally gone over the edge.

Looking for something to do on that weekend and do you live in the greater Chicagoland area? Well, I have something for you!

There is a Grand-Opening for a new Irish Pub in Willow Springs, IL at:
8933 S. Archer Ave.
Willow Springs, IL 60480

The name is changing from "Stag's Head Pub" to "The Irish Legends" and will be under new management direct from the Emerald Isle of Ireland itself.

There will be weekend long activities including live musical performances starting Thursday night the 30th and ending Saturday night the 2nd. I will be performing on both days with my Bodhran, Bass Guitar or Flute depending what were playing. The Alcohol wil be flowing so this is recommended for folks and furries over the age of 21.

The entertainment list is still growing, but we are having multiple Traditional Irish folk music sessions, Step Dances, Pub Song singers, Rebel Song singers, Musical acts from Ireland itself and more things to come that I don't know about yet.

So come for the Guinness, stay for the music and have a "Reel" good time with us.


If Irish music is not your cup of tea but good old fashioned Rock and Roll is, then my other pub has something for you too:

Chicago Street Pub
75 N Chicago St
Joliet, IL 60432

Chicago Street Pub in conjunction with McBrody's Pub also is Joliet will be hosting their annual "Mustache Fest" on October 2nd. They will be rotating 6 or 7 local Chicago Rock bands between their facilities all day. This is killer music and I have been attending it for the past 3 years. Unfortunately since I have my own gigs at Irish Legends, I have to take a pass this year.

One cover charge will be good for both places and they are easy walking distance from each other. Say hi to Mike the owner of CSP for me if you go.

The Irish Legends website: http://www.theirishlegend.com
Chicago Street Pub website: http://www.chicagost.com/entertainment.htm

Sweet Home, Chicago!

I was just informed yesterday afternoon that my schedule has changed once again, and this time it is to my advantage. So I know have the weekend free to attend Midwest Furfest 2010 and guess what? I'm going!

Already booked my hotel room at the Con Location, Hyatt O'hare I think, tried to sign on for Con Registration, but their online registration is a bit wonky. Can't complete the checkout service while here at work or over the net on my phone. So, I'll try when I get home.

Going to shovel out the big bucks and go for Sponsor level like I did last year. I enjoyed the perks of being Sponsor level, hehe.

So watch out Cornivores, the UberHoof of the Ungulates will be in full Revolutionary mode then. Its time to Unite!

I was really looking foward to this Con, not only is it an inaugural convention, but it was fairly local for me too. But then, Uncle Sam had to change my military training dates and I'll be doing that instead of being furry.

So I wish all the best for the Staff, Volunteers and Attendees. Make this a very sucessful event so we can have another one next year.

Top o' the morning Furries.

Just making a little advertisement for some Traditional Irish music sessions that I'll be performing at starting next week. If you live in Illinios and not far from the SW suburbs of Chicago I encourage you to come out, have a pint or two and enjoy some nice tunes with myself and a few friends.

Every Monday evening from around 8:30ish to 11:00ish we play at:
Chicago Street Pub
75 N. Chicago St, Joliet IL 60432.
This is in downtown Joliet near the Courthourse and Rialto Theatre. There is plenty of free public parking all around after 5pm.

On Wednesday starting next week, we have a enw place too. Same time frame of around 8:30 to 11ish and we'll see how things go after the first session to see if its worth repeating. I would really like to get a few friends out here that night to throw some support tot he pub.
Stag's Head Irish Pub
8933 S Archer Ave, Willow Springs, IL 60480

Hope to see some of you at these gigs. Especially the one in Willow Springs.

Liedt

The Greater Chicagoland Furtopia Furs are gathering once again! We've decided to go out and watch a furry movie that is coming out soon. After going through everyone's schedule, the informal furmeet will be:

August 8th at the Regal Lincolnshire Stadium 21 & IMAX
300 Parkway Drive, Lincolnshire, IL - (847) 215-2803

We don't have a time yet, since the movie hasn't been released so we don't know the show times. But it'll probably run every 2 or 3 hours all day, so we'll have a plethora of time to muster and watch it on the 8th.

Afterwards we're kinda thinking of doing some put-put golf after the flick. There is an outdoor mini-golf place across the street from the movies; Par King on Milwaukee Rd. or an indoor glow in the dark golf house in the same strip mall facility. This hasn't been poured in concrete yet since no one knows what the weather will be like yet on that weekend.

So, if anyone wants to go, drop me a line and I'll add you to our numbers. If the address kinda looks familiar, it is. This movie theatre is just down the street (like a mile) from where the last few Midwest Furfests were held.

No, this is not a call to arms for the Ungulates to Unite and take over the Furry Fandom by force, but that day is surely coming so don't get too complacent if you're a Canid, Feline or Vulpine. The Hoofers will take over soon.

Today is Bastille Day in France. Bastille Day is the French national holiday which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale (National Celebration) and commonly le quatorze juillet (the fourteenth of July). It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789; the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation, and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution. Festivities are held on the morning of 14 July, on the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris in front of the President of the Republic.

The Furtopian Furries for the Greater Chicagoland area are getting together for an Aquarium Crawl this upcoming Sunday, July 11th starting at 9:00am at the main gates of John G Shedd Aquarium in down town Chicago.

All are welcome to join us for a day of watery adventure and exploration as we dive deep into the exhibits and science of aquatic animals.

The address is:
John G Shedd Aquarium
1200 S Lake Shore Dr
Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 939-2438


If you don't like to drive in downtown Chi-town, then I highly recommend taking public transportation. There is a bus that is convenient from Chicago's Union Station at the corner of Monroe and Canal that goes there. Take the CTA #130 Museum Campus. Costs $2.25 for one-way or you can buy a pass at the Train Station for a 1-day Fun Pass of $5.75. This pass allows you to take all CTA busses all day.

We plan on meeting at 9:00 am at the main entrance. Just look for a small group of people probably wearing a Furry oriented T-shirt or something. I do not plan on wearing my tail this time (sniff). Didn;t think it was appropriate for an aquarium. Plus, didn't want Shamu think I was his lunch.

Speaking of Shamu, did you know that Whales and Dolphins are officially Ungulates? Not that long ago, scientists at a much higher pay grde then me placed teh Cetecea into the infra-order Ungulata and combined them with my very own artiodactyls (Even-toed Ungulates) to create the Cetartiodactyla Order. So in essence, I'll be visiting my distant cousins during this trip.

So many people I know have come down with the Con Crud this year. I thought it would be best if I let everyone know in mass, how to cure it. This works!

Do you have that rundown feeling, does your head go reeling?
Are you nervous, jumpy or on the edge?
Is it neuritis, neuralgia, a head cold or stress?
Or maybe its your sinus drainage.

Do you have high blood, Berry-Berry?
Or maybe you're a little overweight?
You better make some correction in all this infection,
Just send in one dollar ninety eight.

Get rid of that; runny nose, that nagging cough, that sneeze, that wheeze and other injuries.
Take the wonder drug that cures all your ills;
Take Jeremiah Peabodys polyunsaturated, quick dissolving, fast acting, pleasant tasting green and purple pills.

Well, it won't upset your stomach, Its good for arthiritis,
It soothes all your aches and pains.
Get rid of those hammers in your head,
Don't be a hyprakrondriac, start feeling better again.

Clear up that fungus or mongus;
Its good for every ailment, including water on the knee.
And its guaranteed to be just what you need
For quick, fast, easy relief.

Get rid of that; runny nose, that nagging cough, that sneeze, that wheeze and other injuries.
Take the wonder drug that cures all your ills;
Take Jeremiah Peabodys polyunsaturated, quick dissolving, fast acting, pleasant tasting green and purple pills.

Oh, yeah! Little green and purple pills, oh, yeah, little green and purple pills.....


Lyrics written by Ray Stevens. you can catch his live, family friendly performances every weekend in Branson, MO.

I received a few replies from other furs regarding our next trip in the greater chicagoland area and have narrowed down the dates to the following:

July: 10, 11. 24, 25 and 31

August: 1, 7 8.

Shoot me a line if you care to come along and what day you prefer. So far we have a small group of about 5 attending.

Lets begin plans for our next Furtopia Tour of the Greater Chicagoland area. I believe next on our hit list will be the Shedd Aquarium in downtown Chicago itself.

Here is what I have regarding the Shedd:
Hours of Operation: Everyday 9am to 6pm

Ticket Prices: $26.95 per adult, plus $2.00 for the Fantasea Exhibit, plus lunch. They do have a group discount, but it will be for 15 adults minimum. Also, Military get a $2.00 discount

I DO NOT recommend taking a vehicle there. Parking is available nearby but it will cost you about $19 and up for the day. Plus, traffic is a bear downtown. Chicago has a population of about 6mil and everyone drives it seems.

I DO recommend taking public transportation. There is a bus that is convenient from Union Station at the corner of Monroe and Canal that goes there. Take the CTA #130 Museum Campus. Costs $2.25 for one-way or you can buy a pass at the Train Station for a 1-day Fun Pass of $5.75. This pass allows you to take all CTA busses all day.

For lunch, since we may not have any vehicles, I cannot say its BYO, so well, have to cough up the cash to buy something there at their cafeteria. Plan for that. The museum campus does not have any restaurants very close, we’d have to walk about a mile to go offsite for a bite to eat.

Coordinating Notes:

I’ve been able to look up the dates for the following known events in the area. Please keep these dates in mind so we can try to get max participation for this event.
LAFF Bowling will be held on: Jul 19th and Aug 21st
LAFF Softball is on an unknown date, if anyone has LiveJournal please check, its blocked for me.
Megaplex Furry Con FL held on Jul 23-25
Rocky Mnt Fur Con held on Aug 6-8
Indy Fur Con held on Aug 13-15

Military Training Dates:

My own dates blocked out are the following:
Jul 15-17
Aug 13-15

If you think you may want to attend, please post a reply with the dates that are open to you. After I see we have about 5 or more posting, then we'll start to eliminate dates until we have our tour date set. I'd like to do this between now and the end of August. Starting September, the Shedd hours change (and the climate) so lets try to do this in the summer.

Ungulates Attention!

Officer Candidate Liedt has returned and in one piece (barely). My back is in a fiery pain, my knee feels like it's scraping against bones, I can barely lift my arms over my shoulder, and my feet are like hamburger; but I passed the course. Pretty high ranking too. I finished 1st of the 8 Candidates from from the great state of Illinois, and am sitting in the top 10% of all other candidates from across the midwest. What I didn't know was that Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota all send their candidates to the same place (Camp Riley, MN) for combined mass training. We started with 134 candidates and finished with 97 graduating to phase 2.

My phase 2 started today. For the next 12 months I'll be attending courses at the Illinois Military Academy in Springfield, IL. Fortunately I only need to go for 1 weekend a month, just like regular reserve's drill duty. Then, next year, in August of 2011 I'll ship out again to Ft Lewis in Washington, and once again all the Midwest candidates get together to complete our phase 3 and final step towards our training. Immediately after phase 3 in WA, we return to our states and will be honorably discharged from the enlisted ranks of the National Guard to be sworn in, that same day, as Commissioned Officers.

So I completed the first and hardest step in the process with honors. I won't say its all downhill from here, but at least it wont be much harder. Thank you all for your earlier support as I went off to go chase down a dream.

On a side note, while I was conducting my Land Navigation practicals and exams out in the woods of Minnesota, I saw a lot and I mean a lot of deer out there. Every time i saw one near me, I of course had to yell out my tag line of "Ungulates Unite"! But, seems I only scared them off, wasn't able to recruit any of them, yet.

I'm down to my last few days of freedom. Come tuesday morning at o'dark-thirty in the morning, I report to the Illinios Military Academy in Springfield, IL for a couple days of inprocessing before we board a bus and get shipped up to Camp Ripley, MN for Phase One of Officer Candidate School. I've been preparing myself for the better part of a year to get this opportunity.

I've been in the US Army in one form or fashion for about 12 years in total. Nine of that has been active duty, the remaining time have been with the Reserves or National Guard. For the majority of that time I've been a Non-Commissioned Officer, but after the end of the training I'm starting next week, I will then be promoted to Officer as a Second Lieutenant.

It will be a long long road though. A total of 18 months from start to finish. Phase One is three weeks straight. Then I return home and for the next 12 months, I just return to Springfield IMA for a weekend a month just like any other reservist. This is Phase 2. Then, next summer, I ship out again to some location for a couple weeks for Phase 3 training return to IMA Springield and finish up my courses. Finally, 18 months later the surviving class members have out granduation/promotion ceremony and put on the Gold Bar on our Uniform for the first time.

I will be the 2nd oldest student in our class so far. But I am by far the most Militarily experienced. I blew everyone away during the prep days for the past few months. I even beat an IMA record at Land navigation. We had 40 minutes to complete the course, I did it (100%) in 12.

Reminder call to anyone interested:

Saturday, May 22nd at 10:00am CST, some of the furries from Furtopia.org will be getting together for a semi-organised Fur(less) Meet at Brookfield Zoo on the west side of Chicago, IL.

http://www.czs.org/czs/Brookfield/Zoo-Home.aspx

See the link above for driving directions, park hours, ticket/parking prices, and exhibit information.

We are going to meet at the front of Roosevelt Fountain after the park opens at 10:00am and have a picnik style lunch together around noon-ish. Fursuits are not recommended for this as I did not get park approval for it. But tails should be okay, at least, I'm wearing one of mine.

We'll have anywhere between a half dozen to 10 furries that I know of attending. Should be a fun relaxing day at the Zoo.

This will be the first series of hopefully many Furtopia Furry adventures in the Greater Chicagoland area.

All attendees (up to 16 that is) will get their very own Event Badge that they can print their name on.... oooh!

Anyone one in the Greater Chicagoland area care to go to the Zoo? About a half a dozen Furries from the Furtopia Forums (say that 10 times fast) have been planning a little meet up and a day at the Zoo. We've decided on the Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, IL on Sunday May 23rd. The park opens at 10:00am and we will probably meet at the water fountain thing near the entrance immediately after it opens.

Tickets for general admission strt at $13.50 and go up from there depending on the special exhibits you want to see during the day. Oh, and the Zoo have Okapi, so that makes me very happy to see my friends again.

Kinda planning a nice picnik style lunch, but nothing concrete on that yet. If anyone wants to come along, let me know. I'm going to try to make a simple Badge for the trip, but nothing spectacular. So I'll need a tentative number of how many to make.

Hope to meet some of you there.

After many years of avoiding, I finally created my FA account. * Hoofy Hugs * to all my furry friends.