April 19, 2008 - Craig Ferguson Night

Now that I have your attention I will tell you about last night. I KNOW! I was supposed to Blog about it as soon as I got home but, quite frankly, it was too late and I was too tired and oh well, I could go on and make excuses but you know how that is. Aren't Iowa girls beautiful? Click on the picture to enbiggen it.

So the whole point of the evening was to see Craig Ferguson. I had two tickets and asked my friend Matt McCoy if he would like to go with me. He said that he would and that he would take me out to eat before the concert so we have been anticipating this for weeks. Well at least I have. I don't have a job anymore. Matt is a State Senator and works with Downtown Development and is a Dad and he is busy. I suppose he was anticipating a night of enjoyment and entertainment also. Any way we have been looking forward to it.

But first we had to eat. The venue (aren't I impressive for using that word?) for dinner was the Cafe Di Scala It is in the Sherman Hill area of Des Moines and when we got there I realized that I had eaten there in a previous incarnation (A previous incarnation of the restaurant not me)
On the way to the restaurant Matt took me by the home that he has been remodeling. He buys houses, fixes them up and flips them (as if he didn't have enough to do?) I should have taken pictures. It is in a beautiful area of Des Moines and he had done a fantastic job with it.
This is the restaurant - It sits on a hill and Des Moines you need to get your street sweepers out in this part of town!

Inside the restaurant taken without flash. sorry I wiggled it a little but you get the idea.

My dinner companion. And yes for those of you who know him that is Kevin Cooney (channel 8 Newsman) in the background. The place was very full with people going to see Craig.
This is Tony Lemo. He owns the restaurant and lives upstairs. He came by several times to make sure everything was all right. It was. Actually more than all right. We started out with Zuppa alla Calabria: spicy peasant soup with Marsala onions and romano crostini. This was followed by Pollo con Prosciutto: chicken breast stuffed with Italian cheeses and wrapped with La Quercia prosciutto Roasted and served with twice baked mash potatoes and sauted asparagus. It was- absolutely perfect. We had a very nice custard for dessert.

Matt told me that Tony started the restaurant (even though his family was nervous when he did it) at age 24 and it is obviously a great success. You could spend a lot longer dining there than we did but we had to be off to see Craig.
As we were leaving we ran into these kids who were celebrating Prom (?) and again aren't Iowa Girls gorgeous? ( I took two pictures and had to use them both.)
Hoyt Sherman Place was the venue (there is that word again) for the Concert and it is one of Des Moines treasures. A museum and Art Gallery as well as a place for performances such as tonight's. It is owed by the Des Moines Woman's Club and is a great place to go. Parking was at a premium however as the lot was full and we saw people walking from blocks away. I, however, knew of a place where there might be a spot so we drove around to the other side and the "goddess of the parking lot" smiled upon us. There was one place left right by the stage door. Of course if you know your place in the Universe there is always a place for you.

So we walked around to the front and went inside. I had tickets in the 8th row center and had won two other tickets also. They were in the 7th row just to the right of us and my friend Kurt and his wife were supposed to use them but Kurt got tapped to of to the Scottish Rite Leadership Conference in Minneapolis and went there. (you can read his report here.) Lyssa told me that he had been elected a "Fellow" and would be going into Washington, DC once a year for a meeting. Congratulations Kurt. By the way I found out that Lyssa is a blogger and a quilter. Her blog is Blondie Speaks. I spent about an hour yesterday reading it.

Another thing, I told you the restaurant was full of people going to see Craig. Well Kevin and Molly Cooney and their dinner companions were in the row right in front of us off to the left. Small world.

Before Craig came out there was a warm up act of about 30 minutes. Randy (sorry I did not get his entire name) entertained us with jokes about Des Moines, The Hotel Savory and Google. He was actually pretty funny but we were there to see the Craigster.

And he did not disappoint us. He came out on stage about 8:30 and went non-stop until 10:00. Ninety minutes of constant laughing. He did not sit down or stand still. He was all over the stage. He had the entire place laughing and it was like sitting in surround sound laughter. the jokes came one right after the other and if laughter is the best medicine - I am cured for about 6 months. He did Sean Connery (the only James Bond) (poor Daniel Craig), talked about his mother, going to a rock concert the first time he was in America and how the teen-agers could only afford one cigarette. He discussed his alcoholism and when he bottomed out with only 27 cents in the bank. How he got his break and was on the Drew Carey Show. I mean it was non-stop funny. If you ever get a chance to see him, do - it is worth it.

I think that perhaps he loves doing this. He has a TV show and is very successful but if you look at his schedule he is someplace every weekend. To fly across the country every weekend to do a 90 minute live show show one of two things. Either he is nuts or he loves it. I don't think he is nuts (although he might argue with me) so I will go with the other. Anyway he made my day/week/month. Thanks, Craig.
I took a couple of picture of the house as they were leaving. I did not take picture of Craig or the show as that would not have been the honorable thing to do.

ADDENDUM: However it is on YouTube and Lyssa found it. You can read her take on the evening here. She has a clip of the show on her post.

Right after the show Matt called his son Jack and talked with him. This would have been a night that Jack would have been with him but he was with his mom instead. So thanks, Jack, for sharing your Dad with me. I'll take you someplace sometime next summer.

Next we had one more place to go. A fund raiser for Leonard Boswell. Leonard is our United States Congressman and he is being challenged in the primary so there was a party and Matt wanted to drop off a check. It is interesting to see people react to Matt when he comes in the door. They are genuinely glad to see him. He has been through a lot of challenges this past year and has held up under it all well. I am proud to know him and love watching him "work" the crowd. But for him it is not work. He loves it. I, on the other hand, am just happy to sit back and watch what is going on.
The new President of the Iowa State Education Association was there. Chris beat out two friends of mine to be elected. I have been going to ISEA meetings for a long time and I don't remember a three-way race before. I hope he enjoys the job.
Congressman Barney Frank was there to help with the fund raising. He had just finished speaking as we arrived. I wish I had gotten a chance to hear him. Congressman Boswell and he were both very nice and gracious and it was really nice to get to meet them I don't usually go to these things so I had two (no make that three) great new experiences last night.

The host for the event was Rich Eychaner and this is the view from his 24th floor penthouse. His home is full of art treasures and to say that I was a little jealous would be an understatement. But just a little. I like what I have and it would be a hell of a thing to have to take Bailey and Max for a walk in Downtown Des Moines. (Although I suppose if I had his money I could just have one apartment for the dogs to "go" in.) I did not see any sign of animal life (except human) in the place.

This is Mrs. Boswell. She saw me sitting in a chair watching people and came over for a visit. I think she is Leonard's greatest asset. Lovely gracious and (of course) a teacher for 37 years. I wish we had gotten to talk longer. Below is Matt and "my" Senator Herman Q involved in a discussion in the kitchen. (even the kitchen has art hanging in it - although I don't know why that should be surprising. I have a Kyle Boyd print of the Golden Girls hanging in mine.)
This is Rich and Matt and Gloria, the caterer when the party was over. It was a neat thing to go there and see the political party of my choice in action. I probably won't get any more active than I am now but I do vote and I will continue to do so. Hope you have enjoyed reading about my adventurous day yesterday as much as I enjoyed participating in it. ARTYAL, Hugs, j-bear.