parshall.net

Detroit

2011-01-28T04:34:05Z

I mentioned to Jen a few cities that I wanted to travel to and see the Blackhawks play. Montreal, Toronto, Boston, New York, and one other of those cities is Detroit. Jen, having connections in the Detroit area, hooked us up with some FANTASTIC seats. And hey, it was Jen's birthday weekend, where else would she rather spend it than in beautiful downtown Detroit watching a hockey game with me, her friend Tina, and my Uncle Willard (who drove in from Cleveland to meet us)?

Was a decent game, Hawks won 4-1. But the highlight was being 8 rows behind the Hawks bench. Able to hear them yell on occasion, watch the line changes, watch the equipment guys throw stuff back and forth, and see my 2nd NHL arena outside Chicago. Fun trip.

View the photos: | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

Sky diving over northern Illinois

2010-10-17T23:28:47Z

Wanted to do this for years. Thanks to a Groupon discount, I finally got around to it. Although, whatever i saved on the drop reservation, I gave back to them with the video package. But hey, figured I'd only do this once, so might as well take as much away with me as possible, assuming the parachute opens up and I land on my feet and walk away.

View the photos: | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17

Sure, after the jump my ears wouldn't fully pop until five days later, and it gave my girlfriend Jen whiplash, but it was AWESOME!

Bears Press Pass day @ Soldier Field

2010-10-15T01:09:37Z

Tribune Media Group hosted a Press Pass day at Soldier Field on Tuesday, October 5th. Much like the Sox Park Press Pass day, it included a stadium tour through the fancy seats, the visitors locker room, on the field, and a dinner & panel discussion. This one featured Super Bowl champion Keith Van Horne and current Bears QB Caleb Hanie. Fun night.
View the photos: | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17

BiPlane ride over DeKalb

2010-09-29T12:32:10Z

Sure, this happened over a month ago, but better late than never... check out a video of DeKalb from above!

Drive Ireland trip, 2010

2010-08-20T01:28:20Z

A while back my girlfriend Jen and I were chatting and I mentioned that I needed a vacation. "Go back to Ireland" she says. Soon I'm getting links to vacation package deals from her, and one catches my eye as a good deal with travel and accommodations for a week and I really started considering it. And, we got to stay a night in a CASTLE!

"Want to go?" I asked her, and before you know it, both of us were booked for our third trip each over the pond to Ireland for a week of driving on the left side of the road, zig zagging from east to west to north to south. From Dublin to Galway to Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland to Doolin to Blarney & Cobh before heading back to Dublin.

Here's some pictures from the trip... enjoy.

White Sox press pass day @ Sox Park

2010-07-26T02:19:28Z

Tribune Media Group hosted a Press Pass day at Sox Park on Sunday, July 25. Wasn't sure what to expect, but I had a trip walking through the ball park. Winding from the Scout Seats lounge area, out to the field behind home plate, down into the visitors dugout & locker room area, and then up to the Stadium Club for some food & listen to Moose Skowron and Ron Kittle talk baseball.

Fun day, have to say.
View the photos: | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32

Me & the Cup

2010-06-29T02:21:15Z

Been less than a month now since the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, and I think I've played Kaner's game winning goal 1,000 times on TiVo.

Since the Hawks brought home the Cup, I've managed to see it three times: once in the parade, once in the Tribune newsroom during it's media tour day, and once at the United Center during a Blackhawks Standbys meeting.

Never got to linger around it long enough to read all the names... but at least I got to touch it. Twice. As little as four years ago, I wasn't sure if that would ever happen. Now, if I only had a good camera shot of me & the Cup... ha!

Thank you, Blackhawks.

2010 Chicago Blackhawks: Stanley Cup Championship Parade

2010-06-12T21:24:18Z

2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks playoff & parade photos

Much like I did in October 2005 when the White Sox won the World Series, I took the day off of work and walked amongst thousands of other Blackhawk fans (and other people who were not hockey fans but don't need an excuse to converge with a crowd) to watch the Hawks parade up Michigan Avenue with the Stanley Cup.

Also, here's a view from half a block south on Michigan Avenue as the Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup rally kicks off with the standard National Anthem. We could barely hear anything that was being said on the stage where we were standing (poor speaker placement), but you can kindof make out the voice of Jim Cornelison in the background.

2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34

Amped up for hockey night in Chicago

2010-05-08T01:17:24Z

If these videos don't get you ready for Blackhawk hockey, I don't know what will...

The Logo

Testify by Rage

91 All Star Game Anthem

Now, these last two aren't Blackhawk-centric, but I still dig them.

Stompin' Tom Conors

Cup Raise

hockey weekend in vancouver

2010-01-27T01:43:40Z

It was a long way to go to see the Blackhawks lose a hockey game, but the chance to see the city of Vancouver was worth it nonetheless.
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Friday morning bright and early with hangover state of mind we had a tour of the city. The afternoon, as the Advil had taken full effect, I shuttled freely back to North Vancouver to visit the Capilano Suspension Bridge to take a wobbly walk 200 feet above a stream. Friday evening back at the hotel bar, we mingled together along with some Blackhawks who made an appearance to meet and greet us, and sign their name on memorabilia many fans conveniently packed along with them.

Saturday morning we got to see the Hawks take their morning skate at the arena. Afterwards, I wandered aimlessly about the city streets, seeing what there was to see and killing some time before the main event, the Blackhawks vs. the Canucks. Unfortunately, the Hawks weren't up to the task on this particular evening.

If I was thinking ahead, a return flight to Chicago would have been delayed until later in the day Sunday as to afford me a little more time in that beautiful city (or, more to the point, time to partake in some zip-lining down Grouse Mountain).

I guess I'll have to leave the zip line until next time I return to Vancouver. Until then, feel free to check out what I saw as preserved the moments in picture.

Star Wars in Concert @ the UC, Part 2

2009-12-07T05:06:37Z

Photos from the Star Wars in Concert show from the UC tonight . . . . . . . . . . .

Fun show... front row seats didn't allow us much of a view of the entire orchestra, but the musicians sync'd up to the edited clips from the movies was really well done. But both Mike & I felt something was missing... having only two tickets and not three so our good buddy Allen could have come down from Wisconsin and joined us. He probably would have enjoyed it more than the two of us did combined.

And oh yeah, the @unitedcenter crew that got me the tickets wanted a picture of us, check THIS out!

More info on Star Wars in Concert.

Star Wars in Concert @ the UC, Part 1

2009-12-06T16:32:40Z

Not too long ago I saw a half hour program on WTTW-TV (Chicago PBS) about the Star Wars In Concert production. Nice behind-the-scenes look at the show that features an orchestra playing the music from the Star Wars movies accompanied by a multimedia presentation of the movies.

When they announced it was coming to the United Center, I dropped an email to my buddies Mike & Al who are fellow SW movie geeks. Everyone was interested in it, but the price tag was a little steep for everyone.

So then last week, I notice the @unitedcenter Twitter account run a contest to win a pair of tickets, so I threw my name into the hat just for the hell of it, and for the first time in my life, the Jedi Mind Trick WORKED.

Check out how it went down. . . . .

JR

2009-11-19T23:57:15Z

When the Hawks announced they were going to have a Jeremy Roenick heritage night, I knew that I was going to go to that game. The Blackhawks under new management really go nuts with these gimmick nights (can't wait for Sergei Krivokrasov night!), but it was nice to see JR back in a Hawk sweater, one even he admits he should never have been removed from (thanks old management).

I grew up watching Payton and the Bears, Jordan and the Bulls, Baines and the White Sox, but for whatever reason never embraced the Blackhawks until JR came around. I missed a lot of Savard, Wilson, and Larmer years and the anthems in the Old Barn; but glad Roenick, Chelios, and Belfour woke me up and opened my eyes to the greatest sport to watch.

So cheers, JR. Nice to see you again. And nice to see the Hawks beat San Jose 4-3 in overtime (cheers, to Seabrook too).

Foley calls

Fixer

High Performance Delivery

Back Breaking Hits

Puck Drop

Thank You, Fans

Ireland pictures never get old

2009-10-24T01:27:44Z

It's been well over a month, but pictures from Bike Ireland friends still float by now and then. And with every one, it makes me wish I could go back immediately.

This one was sent by Jan in Nebraska. Seeing this, I want to go back, and take my Orrie with me. Something tells me he'd love it over there too.

Chicago Marathon coverage

2009-10-11T15:24:50Z

Chilly morning for a marathon (in the mid-30s), so Orrie & I didn't last long out there watching the marathon. We did see a Green Man, Darth Vader, Fred Flintstone, and Grim Reaper run by, as well as whatever the hell this thing below is camped out across the street from where we were standing.

We didn't see my friends Adam Caldarelli or Greg Gugger go by. I'm sure they did, but the crowd of runners makes it difficult to catch familiar faces. Standing there watching the waves of people run by, it can get you a little seasick. And it's exhausting standing out there in one spot for so long watching people run by the halfway point of a 26.2 mile marathon.

And since I do like to see the finish of the marathon as well, we went back home and turned on the TiVo and watched some of the race, and I actually saw me & Orrie on tv, ha!