He's gonna get schnockered!

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Last night Vivek and I decided that we couldn't spend our first New Years in Minneapolis at home, playing video games (Vivek just got a new one - Medal of Honor 2 for the Wii, which, despite his claims, is very violent). So, we had dinner at a place called "The Duplex" and then drove around for about 30 minutes before we finally decided on a place to spend the last two hours of 2007. It's true that we did not have plans ahead of time. I've been recovering from a cold, so our typical New Years celebration, dancing, was out of the question, and we still have no Minneapolis friends to bug on nights like these. Anyway, we eventually ended up at a peanut bar where we found a couple stools at the bar and marveled at all the 80's music that someone had queued up on the jukebox. It wasn't a bad place, and I'd probably go back with a group of friends to chat with over a beer (in fact, their draft beer is served in giant mugs, something I'm finding to be a recurring theme here).

Anyway, besides the 80's music, there were other great things to listen to at this place. Here are a couple phrases that I overheard last night. They're not funny on their own, but imagine they're being spoken by Frances McDormand's character in Fargo (but with a man's voice), and you'll get why Vivek and I were chuckling through the night.

"Jonas! Jonas! .... He's gonna get schnockered!"
"The housing market is still way down?" "Jah"
"Who cares? I gotta seat!"
"Oh! You know goddamn well whose coat that is!"

There's something about the Minnesota accent that just delights me whenever I encounter it. It's so much more interesting than the Missouri and Utah accents. The Minnesota accent, when encountered, is a great thing. And, I swear I didn't hear it, not even once, until it started snowing up here. Maybe the snow brings it out in people, or maybe I'm just looking for it more, but I hope that it doesn't go away when the snow starts melting.

Anyway, that's as interesting as our night got. It was definitely better than watching Vivek shoot at people at home (on the Wii, of course) but may not make for an interesting post. But honestly, if you didn't chuckle at this one, you really need to watch Fargo again.