Late in the day yesterday the topic of Ice Cream Trucks came up.
DanT said:
I suggest Dale would excel at driving an ice cream truck. I can just picture him in a snappy white uniform and bow tie borrowed from Tom Keefe. Best of all rather than playing tinny tunes on an amplified xylophone, he could play the The Galaxy song followed by Tom Waits!
I love Ice Cream Trucks!
But what an awkward business to be in. You drive through peaceful neighborhoods, a stranger with a truckload of treats who is trolling for innocent, impressionable customers, playing your music as loud as possible, knowing full well you are sparking parent – child arguments in every other house up an down the street.
“You already had ice cream with dinner!”
“But Daaaaaad. It’s the MR. WHIPPY truck!”
“That stuff is too expensive!”
“Everybody else is getting some!”
And so on.
At the wheel of an Ice Cream Truck you are potentially powerful outside actor in both the dark and the light realms of family dynamics. You are an Attractive Nuisance, a Harmony Destroyer, a Child’s Best Friend and a Lasting Memory Maker, sometimes all in the same visit.
As a parent, I’m sorry to say I was an Ice Cream Truck Grinch.
As a kid, I loved it best in the late summer evenings when the truck would be all lit up and I’d stand in line, full of anticipation, clutching my dollar while I looked over the menu. Ice Cream Sandwich, Drumstick or Toffee Nut Crunch Bar? The street rang with the sound of laughter and bells, mosquitoes buzzed around yellow lights, and the air was full of the smell of custard and exhaust.
Mmmmm.
Listen! The Ice Cream Truck is coming!
Trail Baboon 
Since my dad has owned an ice cream truck when I was little, he was always willing to cough up some snack cash as I was growing up. Nostalgia maybe? Or maybe just sympathizing with the ice cream guy? Or maybe just a sucker for his whining kids. But since my dad would always gets us something, now that I’m the parent, I find that I am also an easy mark for my daughter in this arena. In fact, yesterday afternoon at the zoo (Como Zoo… went w/ everyone else in S MN to see the polar bears), I got us both frozen lemonades from one of the zoo stands.
Morning everyone!
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Gooooooood Morning, All! was feeling a little lonely (it IS very quiet in here) but then remembered Trail Baboon and the gathering of friends.
our town was too small for ice cream trucks. but we could get a treat every once in awhile and my favorite was a Push Up – orange sherbet kind of thing. and the next fave was a Dream Bar – a combo of orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream. but now the Schwanns Guy doesn’t even come out this far 🙂 i imagine he would, if invited, but my worst nightmare would be to have ice cream delivered to my door. i like the safety of the decision point at the store when i think, “well, it’ll melt on the way home, better not.” but i’d love to see Dale drive up, truck lit up and playing Ina Gadda Davida. i buy him out.
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funny barb, i thought of ina gadda davida when i read dales entry for the day. we have been together long enough i think
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dale isn’t form here guys. he speaks of custard which comes from other lands. it sounds like he had the same music though. tick tick ding ding tick tick ding tick tick ding ding tick tick ding.
one of these days an ice cream truck will come by with an offering of bach cello concertos playing and menu of drumsticks ice cream bars and fudgecycle but also an offering of peach praline, mocha nut, pineapple guava, and an option of expresso and micro brewed beers for the parents to salve their wounds.
cmon mr whippy, everybody loves you.
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Good morning!
Believe it or not, there is a film about turf wars between competing gangs of ice cream trucks. “Comfort and Joy” was directed by Scotland’s Bill Fosyth, the guy who did “Gregory’s Girl,” that obscure classic “That Sinking Feeling,” and “Local Hero.” I can pretty much promise that anyone who enjoys Dale Connelly humor would enjoy “Comfort and Joy.” But good luck finding it.
Barb in Blackhoof, our family had ice cream delivered to our door when I was a kid. Everyone in the family plumped up like the Michelin Man.
For those who haven’t figured it out, the names of bloggers that are underlined have some kind of web site. Mine is a photography site called pBase. I invite anyone with an interest to step inside and stroll around pictures of my cabin, some of my work when I photographed weddings, etc. I lost half of my images in a hard drive disaster, so we are rebuilding the base now.
Have a great week, everyone. If I’m very, very, very good, I might treat myself to ice cream.
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what kind?
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Butter pecan sundae with nuts, whipped cream and sauce. Yum!
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sorry for your loss in the harddrive mishap but the photos on the website are wonderful. the elevators in turner the cityscapes the ladies the infrared liam the guitar. very very nice.you have a great eye.
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yes, Steve – your photos are breathtaking! for infrared is there a special camera or lens or?
very nice
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beautiful morning for golf, enjoy and say hi to jim ed for us
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All right! Good morning, Dale, and others who will be here or are typing in their comments while I type mine. It’s a new day! It was very nice to have the Trail Baboon to use over the week end and even better to have it on this Monday morning.
I agree that there would be some negative things about selling ice cream to kids from a truck, but you would have a lot of stories to tell. You could also apply to be a substitute teacher. I did that and I certainly have a lot of stories about that. Here you go, Dale, drivc the ice cream truck in the summer and be a sub teacher during the school year. No, I guess you shouldn’t do this if you want to remain sane.
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I think I love the idea of the ice cream more than I love the actual ice cream. There was an ice cream truck when we rented a house on the Outer Banks one year. It had the music, but it also had a huge cow’s tail and when a kid pulled it, the truck mooed. What a blast! The tail was a bigger draw than the ice cream, but once you were there, you had an ice cream too!
susie
PS This morning I was reading the paper and eating my cereal and suddenly noticed that it was very quiet and jumped up to turn on Radio Heartland when I suddenly remembered. . . I’m sure I’ll have many more of those sad “trying to turn on the lights during a power outage” moments. I wonder how long it will go on. . .
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I want that ice cream truck with the tail and the moo!!
I have to say that I turned RH on before I head off to elem sch library this a.m., but it is not the same sans our friend Dale. And if Mike Pengra is accompanying us this a.m.– hello Mike!
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Ooh, I envy you the Outer Banks, susie. Have a friend on Folly Beach, SC that I visited one summer…
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Steve in St. Paul, Netflix: “Comfort and Joy, High-powered single woman Jane Berry (Nancy McKeon) is focused on the important things in life: advancing her career and spending a fortune on shoes. But after getting in a car accident on Christmas Eve, Jane awakens to discover that she’s a married, stay-at-home mom with two kids and a penchant for charity work. Is she dreaming, or is this new life of hers for real? Co-stars Dixie Carter, Paul Dooley and Steven Eckholdt.” I put it in my queue…I love Local Hero!
Morning, y’all!
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Cynthia Big OOppsss!
There are two films with the same name. Get the one starring Bill Patterson and directed by Bill Forsyth. You are barking up the wrong tree there.
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Oops, indeed. I see it is not on Bill Forsyth’s list of movies either. Oh, well…keep looking, eh?
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Well, what a shock to log on this am and find all this action over the weekend. I am trained to log out and to allow my mind to go elsewhere over the weekend.
I don’t really get into ice cream trucks, but early morning milk deliveries are a part of my history that I miss–the sound of that milk truck lurching down the street alternating wit the sound of clinking bottles.
Now, Dale, that’s a job. Early morning, too, just like you are accustomed.
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love your icon jaques,
i think dale was made to be an early morning milk man. remember the milk box that was kind of insulated to keep everything cool enough until the house got up to retrieve it?
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jacque that is
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Hmmm…. I remember the milk man growing up in WI. I loved that service! I also recall my mom (who has a naughty sense of humor) telling people that the red hair my big brother and I had came from the milk man since she and dad weren’t redheads. It actually skipped a generation on both sides of the family.
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It’s so good to start off a Monday laughing!
I remember how magical our ice cream truck seemed. It came out of the blue, played music, gave you something delicious, then happily left.
Porkys on Lake Street had the best hot fudge sundaes,
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Knew I should have gone with the ice cream sandwich, if for no other reason than to be different-I love how the cookie part gets sort of mushy.
With barb, I grew up someplace too small for an ice cream truck, but we did get money to stop at the drive in on our way home from the town pool every day (next to the golf course-used to golf in the morning and swim all afternoon). Sometimes, we would save up for the banana split-the ultimate!
I got the makings of homemade ice cream at the Farmer’s Market this weekend, so need to get cracking on that project with all this inspiration (after which I really should spend a day golfing and swimming, but will, alas, be back at the desk).
Mondays are the toughest for this recently back to 9-5 employee (also continuing the free lance gigs as they come in).
barb-I wish we were close enough to participate in your CSA. Does goat milk make good ice cream?
Just heard The Prairie Sun, right on schedule. Bless you, Mike Pengra!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I tried to check the RH stream for my Prairie Sun fix, and got a metaphor for my relationship with MPR: “Connection Error”
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Que sera’, sera’ is playing on RH now!??!??
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Catherine – i’ve tasted WONDERFUL goat milk ice cream. but it was made by one of the Goat Ladies who has a separator ($400) so it was really, really cream. the fat in goats’ milk (oh, oh – here i go) is a smaller particle and doesn’t separate the way cow’s milk does. that’s why it freezes so nicely and part of the reason why it digests more easily. but i’ve made ice milk with our Girls’ milk and i thought it was great. not as rich, of course. but i cooked a “custard” of milk, eggs and sweetening (could be maple syrup, sugar, whatever) and then chilled that and froze it. yum.
i’m not a licensed dairy so i stay small with local customers and don’t advertise. but today Alba gave me a gallon and the other two made up another gallon. uffda!
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Completely off-topic. I think it was Clyde & Tim who mentioned Ernest Shackleton awhile back on TBB. I just finished “Shackleton’s Forgotten Men” last night… I’ve read a few Shackleton books and seen the film that ran a few years ago. Why is it that theses men are NEVER mentioned in those books? Not even a passing mention of the other ship and men who set up food depots along the way for the 2nd half of Shackleton’s trek. The cynic in me says that it’s not as nice a story since the mission was ultimately a waste (since Shackleton never got across the peninsula to use the food depots) and some of the men on this trip didn’t make it. Aaarrggghhhhh.
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and you thought you had some difficult challanges!
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My town was also too small for an ice cream truck, but I made it to a local small grocery for lots of popsicles. I am married to a Wisconsonite (I usually refer to him as a Badger) whose dad worked for a subsidiary of Land o Lakes. We observe ice cream purity in our home, which means that we have lots of very rich ice cream and its not remotely related to “frozen custard”. Coffee, vanilla, and butter pecan are our favorites, and I make a mean sticky gooey hot fudge sauce. When we lived in Winnipeg there was great Italian shop called Nucci’s, that has the best gelato I’ve ever had. Hazelnut is my favorite. I am leaving for Bismarck this afternoon to spend the whole week with my daughter in the dorms at Bismarck State college for a Suzuki string institute. My posting may be sporadic, but we’ll see what I can do.
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what does she play and how do you make hot fudge sauce? enjoy the week. we will be here when you get back
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She plays the violin. She heard our friend Ed play the fiddle when she was 6 and almost wrestled him to the ground to get her hands on his violin. She has been studying the violin ever since. The hot fudge sauce has 1/2 c. heavy cream, 3T butter, 1/3 c of brown sugar, 1/3 c of granulated sugar, pinch of salt, and 1/2 c. Dutch process cocoa. Melt the butter in the cream on low heat, add the sugars and salt, and stir until dissolved, remove from heat and add cocoa. It’s a recipe from Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Chocolate Desserts. My mother tells me that Maida’s father, Gabriel Heatter, was a famous broadcaster in the 30’s and 40’s.
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got it thanks. enjoy the music. it makes the world better all around and it is so neat to watch the kids get it. as fun as suzuki is i like toaugment it with something like peter ostrushko to teach the love of the tune. thats the other half of the deal. dorms with you daughter sounds memorable. file it away.
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post picture on your return
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Renee, here in Firecracker land we have a Nucci’s and it’s pretty darn good. (By that I mean YUMMERS!) http://www.nuccisbistro.com
On a sad note, we are lacking a darn good old fashioned hard ice cream shop.
“Yes!” to Lisa’s Shibboleth Zig Zag flavor and Beth-Ann’s Trail Baboon Mix and to Steve and Barb’s pictures and to tim’s kinks nod and Gus’ confession and Linda’s cheerios bar memory.
See you later, kids. Who’s up for poker tonight?
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Donna, the Nucci’s I know is a little hole in the wall on Corydon Ave in Winnipeg where groups of Italian-speaking men sit around watching soccer on TV and drinking espresso. The gelato case takes up 2/3 of the floor space, and they have more than 20 flavours. You get your gelato and then stroll down the avenue watching people stroll or sit in other Italian restaurants and small sports bars like Nucci’s.
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kick you butt
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Nucci’s in Winnipeg sounds fabulous, Renee. The one here may be a knock off — I haven’t noticed any Italian men drinking espresso or watching soccer– but the owner and chef is an Italian grandmother and that’s why the food is so good. I called her a while ago and asked how many flavors of gelato they had – “Dees wayk way hahvuh ehtayn.” When I asked if they ever have more than eighteen she said, “Eh… ee tink mahbeh way hahvuh tuhwontay sumuh dehs, boot dees wayk way hahvuh ehtayn.” I’d love to work there part time and learn how to cook and talk like her.
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What I remember about the ice cream truck was that you had about 45 seconds to convince your parent to cough up some change for the ice cream truck once you heard it or it would be gone…at least it seemed that way. We’d hear it a couple blocks off, but as often as not I’d see it rolling away from our block by the time I was outside with my hard won treat money (maybe that was planned on my Mom’s part – doubtful though, as she is not a cruel woman). Or it would move along down 43rd and not turn onto Colfax…
On the other hand, I grew up not far from Lake Harriet, so ice cream cones from the concession stand there were an essential part of biking around the lake, going to a concert at the (old, dumpy) bandstand, or having a picnic at the big picnic area. Nothing like a chocolate, gooey mess to say, “yep, it’s summer, and I’m a kid…”
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Love your icon, Anna! 🙂
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Thanks – it’s me when I was about 3, maybe 4. Not sure what I was up to, but clearly no good. 🙂
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Ice cream is the fruit of memory. For me, memories of my family’s creamery, where ripple ice cream was known as zig zag. As a child, I knew one employee only as ZIg ZAg, the BAnana VAnilla King.
Our ice cream truck played a tune my mom called the Peetely Peet Song. She loathed that truck with an unholy passion.
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shes back!!! now you are a regular. welcome lisa. peetely peet is a great name for the ice cream tune that plays in my head when i think of it
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I haft be Short and Pithy here; I am on an iPad riding the Southern Tier freeway in New York State. what an overwhelming welcome! I will introduce myself better when I am on a better medium but for now will tantalize you by saying I knew Mike P back whe dinosaurs still roamed the earth…and Cynthia from Mpls about as long.
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The ice cream treat I remember was called a Cheerio bar, which always confused me a little, since the name was the same as the small donut shaped oat cereal. It was a simple bar, vanilla ice cream with a chocolate shell. I looked it up, since everything in the world has been discussed at length somewhere on the Internet, and found an interesting article on a legal tussle between Popsicle and Good Humor in the 1930’s. Here’s the link if you are curious.
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Nice picture Linda! How did you get it to show? I ask even though I have a photo with my posts, and I don’t have a clue about how I did it.
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I registered for a WordPress account – if you edit your profile, there’s an option to add a gravatar (Globally Recognized Avatar). You can then select which accounts you want to associate the gravatar with – Yahoo, Facebook etc. – or just keep it WordPress only.
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thanks linda
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And now Ballad of the Runaway Horse…double triple blessings, Mike!
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you’re comment about the prarie sun reminded me i had let it lapse so i turned it back on in time to hear ballad of the runaway horse too. i miss the old show already and it hasn’t been off the air 2 hours yet.
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you can still get a version of Cheerios called Eskimo Pies, with dark chocolate!not as big as the old ones of course
alas we had no ice cream truck in my neighborhood growing up, but my dad ran a grocery store so we could call him up and ask him to bring stuff home every night
been listening to classical (99.5-2) instead of RH all weekend, quite soothing
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when one door closes another opens i believe was the phrase. i may get to listen to my own stuff that is archivesd away and i never find time to listen to. this may be the best thing ever. i know exactly what i like and i have gig after gig of stashed stuff to get to later. now may be later.
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Won’t do. Eskimo Pies are not on a stick, and they are not the right shape.
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isn’t it funny how hooked we get on the way the world needs to be in order for it to fell correct?
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I grew up in rural Minnesota and we always had to drive to get ice cream. What I remember most is my Grandparents driving us the 20 minutes into town for ice cream treats!
Now I live in Minneapolis and some years the ice cream truck does come by, and yes I have even ran after it to get an ice cream sandwich. This years truck’s repertoire includes “Santa Claus is coming to to town” which just seems wrong in June! I think Ina Gadda Da Vida” would be much better!
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find out what he need to plug it in a see if he will add it to his play list. that could be the biggest smile ever.
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but it’s gotta be sung by the Finnish throat singer. 🙂
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even better
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In the office with light steraming in the huge windows but I am sitting in the dark.
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i’d like to see the photgraph
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open those windows. i remember the guitar teacher (thanks bill cagley) who told me april and may are the two months for perfect days. not too hot not too humid no bugs to speak of. i have noted it every year for 30 or so years and will pass it on one more time. it is one of lifes valuable lessons. count the perfect days and get out in em
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Windows do not open; one of the stupidities of modern life–windows that do not open.
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you always do a great job of getting out to enjoy the real part of the day anyway unlike most of the world. i’ll be thinking of a med free clyde today. report in on how its going.
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Linda… love your “gravatar”. My daughter and I stood and watched the ostriches for awhile yesterday at the zoo. One of them was lying down w/ his/her neck outstretched and wings flared out on the ground. I swear she/he was sunbathing!
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Tim mentions that he thinks dorm time with my daughter during her violin camp is memorable. it certainly is. Two years ago we stayed in a dorm for another Suzuki institute in Montreal. We were lodged in the mother house of the Grey Nuns in the middle of Montreal.. There was a crypt in the basement (we never saw that). The building was beautiful and very old, and had been purchased by Concordia University. The nuns made a deal to turn half of it into a dorm and house their remaining sisters in the other half.
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the crypt in bismarck would be a good one too i’ll bet
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Greetings! No ice cream truck in our neighborhood as a kid. sniff … But when we had money from out small allowance, we would walk a mile or so to this little store and load up on candy. There was rarely candy or ice cream in our house — with 7 kids it just disappeared immediately.
When we went to our parents’ cabin in NE Wisconsin, we liked to take the canoe or the kayak my dad made and paddle for 15-20 minutes to the Brookside Market to buy treats. It was 5 minutes by car, but it was cool to go by boat and park at the dock in front of the store.
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I don’t recall an ice cream truck in our neighborhood growing up either. Lots of senior citizens, I guess. But there was a family produce stand / candy mecca for area kids near the elementary school. We biked there a lot in summer. And we also biked to the branch library and Rexall drug store for hot fudge Mary Janes in summer. Yum!
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I grew up in St. Louis Park. Our ice cream truck was “Mr. Softee”. I voted for ice cream sandwich in the poll, but my all time favorite treat from the truck was a banana split. Chocolate, strawberry and pineapple sauce over a split banana and three huge dollops of soft serve vanilla, loaded with whipped cream, topped with a cherry, and served in those rickety plastic ‘banana boats’. I used to inhale those suckers as a 10-year old. Now, I’m not sure I could finish one in a hour on an empty stomach.
Unrelated to ice cream, I’m listening to Radio Heartland this morning. The music is the same as ever, just great, but without a human voice to tie us all together, it will forever more be Radio Heartless.
Dale, I hope your blog is a rousing success and you return to the airwaves sooner rather than later.
Chris in Owatonna
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i think radio heartless is a sad reality. it reminds us of the music the boys introduced us too but reminds us of the rude departure. i’m hoping it turns out to have a silver lining though. kepp your fingers crossed. it brought you out chris. welcome to the blog group. i don’t remember seeing you here before. say hi to fleet farm for me
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Radio Heartless indeed! I had the hd radio on by 6:30 but didn’t even hear Prairie Sun! It seems really mindless music without Dale. You better find some airways or streaming soon Dale, withdrawal is tough!
We rarely saw the ice cream truck but it was certainly momentous when it did appear. We had Cherrios, Fudgesicles and Popsicles to tide us over though. luckily enough. What wonderful days those were! There’s nothing like youth that’s for sure!
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WE had 2 ice cream truck options…Good Humor man with bow tie and sophisticated treats like Chocolate Eclair (reminded me of the ones near my grandparent’a apartment in NY) and BAker Boy’s that was loud, rude and had flavors like grape bubble gum. I remain a purist and think bad thoughts about Babker Boy even though I am thousands of miles aaway. Many of the Good Humor treats had surprise chunks of pure fudge around the stick. Kind of like the the surprise of finding Heartlanders getting into the Baboon Trail Mix!
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Baboon Trail Mix, can I get that at the co-op in the bulk section.
Bet it is loaded with nuts!
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I remember the ice cream trucks from my Ohio childhood, it was always a race like Anna described to find some money and get out the door fast enough. But I haven’t lived in an area where ice cream trucks circulate for so long that I’m actually a bit surprised to hear that they still exist.
I like the format of this blog and how you can reply to responses – as does tim, I see 😉
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i do like the response option. i hope it doesn’t get too adicitive.
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I’ve been watching you, Tim, and I think it might be time for you to taper off a bit. I know you have that feeling: “I can quit at any time.” But you’re hitting it pretty hard, pardner.
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You can stop anytime, right tim?… 🙂
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but don’t
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great picture anna, ok thats it i’m done for now
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Morning everybody and welcome back Lisa!
Sitting on the deck with my Kwik Trip cappuccino… it is indeed a nice day!
Living out in the country I never got ice cream from an ice cream truck… the bulk milk truck that picked up our milk would deliver butter, cheese or, in later years, pudding that we ordered from the dairy… not quite the same thing though.
In Rochester there is a sort of ‘Mexican’ themed ice cream truck I’ve seen a few times now; really bad sound system and plays rather odd music not to mention rusty old van painted blue with -at least to me- strange pictures painted on it… it’s kinda SCARY!
My computer automatically started RH again this morning and it’s interesting in that it’s a totally different kind of the same music! Same vein but all different… Pretty cool Mike, Thanks!
I do have to say I listen to The Current in the car and I enjoy about 50% of their music but, as I’ve said before, it’s the announcers that make it fun. Jill Riley and Steve Seel do their morning show and they are fun to listen too.
Now I need to go back and catch up on yesterdays blog; it went late into the night I see…
Later!
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Ben – I thought I noticed that, too on RH. Different music, but in the same vein. It’s all good. I’ve seen folks offer alternative stations on blog, but 24/7 of folk music is not my bag, either. I enjoy folk music, but what gets me jumping are a capella, Harry Belafonte, Frank Sinatra, show music, Brave Combo, Beau Soleil, Billie Holiday, etc. Jumping genres, traveling time, tight harmonies and rolling rhythms are what float my boat.
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Me too, Joanne – I’ll keep listening, and eventually get used to that woman’s voice doing the station ID. It is of course different, but I just heard some of my favorites, so I guess I’ll stick here. Nice job Mike apparently with the Prairie Sun.
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Ben – I agree about the Current, though I’m not quite ready for Steve Seel and and that mix of music at 7:30 a.m. (wish he was still on midday, though – he’s a good DJ).
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its cool to see all the new folks with the new venue. maybe taking the effort to get dale to respond with music out will set us free. yeah thats it
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A sacattering of issues
1. I like the reply feature but it does not tell me what are new replies up above the bottom entry. I can tell by the number they are there, so I have to go search for them.
2. One of the few, if not the only, regular exhuberances of my childhood was that we went to town, one block long, every Tuesday evening when stores were open late. Watched drunks stagger down the street (I do not think that was in my parent’s plan), bought a Sat. Evening Post and a quart of ice cream, and went home and ate it. Stopped at our daughter’s last night coming home from Brookings, Fireworks. (South Dakota changed its name to Fireworks apparently because that’s what it says on the border as you enter.) Had home-made ice cream with grand kids outside as sun set. Best ice cream since my childhood.
3. Ben, I got confused last night–you live in Rochester, right?
4. By sitting in the dark I meant radio darkness–not up to listening to anything.
5. Radio heartless is funny but sad. Baboon Trail Mix is great; that we should keep as a shibboleth.
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Morning Clyde,
Yep; me and one of our dogs on the deck, in the shade– well, I’m in the shade; she’s laying in the sun– are part of the Rochester contingent on TBII… I’m not sure of any others from this area? Are you lurking there anyone?
Other ice cream memories I have:
The county fair every year was where I would get drumsticks from the 4H building restaurant…
And I seem to recall as a child riding with my Dad to deliver hogs to Elgin MN and then going to Dairy Queen. But Dad rightly points out that DQ was in Rochester and no where near Elgin and we wouldn’t drive past the farm to go to DQ… but I’m sure we did and his dilly bar always lasted longer than mine!
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We have a regular now in Owatonna so we are covering Hwy 14 a bit.
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and st peter lisa
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Clyde — Shibboleth would make a great name for a icecream flavor. Maybe a blend of thrawberry, marthmallow, and dark thocolate.
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Good, Donna, funny. But it would have to have Biblical flavors, such as manna, hysop, and lentils. Would probably be made of goat’s milk. The point of the word actually was to identify those who could Not say th’s.
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May I humbly suggest Shibboleth Zig Zag, which can be made at the now-only-imaginary Rice Lake Creamery? (The creamery is gone, so it’s ice cream names are up for grabs.)
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you are an english major aren’t you.
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agreed but it does have the intimacy that was a little schizo before when the reply would pop up 14 entries later. i think i like it but it does require going back. i am clear now and have a picture of you sitting in the dark. a different picture. brookings fireworks is a hoot, thanks for the smile
shibboleth is a marvelous word i was not familiar with before. i’ll vote with you on baboon trail mix
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Argh! This infernal ‘keyboard’ added an apostrophe to its!
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this is wher ethe english major comment was supposed to go.
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I checked out Wikipedia, as shibboleth I was not so sure of-I want to keep the concept of Baboon Trail Mix (recipe, anyone?), but not so sure we really want to capture and kill by the Jordan any newcomers, just because they don’t have the inside scoop.
(with apologies to English majors for the appalling grammar in that last bit)
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There was no ice cream truck in Rogers when I grew up in the ’60s, but we would sometimes go to the Mill for a Brown’s cone—on Sundays! Rogers in the 60s was quite isolated compared to now 🙂
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Barb in Blackhoof They didn’t print a “reply” thingie with your question about the IR photographs. I’m JUST starting to do them. I have a very old, very cheap Olympus digital camera (got it for $20) that is quite sensitive to IR. And then I have a Hoya R 72 filter on it. What’s cool about this setup is you aren’t looking through the filter when you frame and compose your shot. With a digital SLR like I mostly use, you are always looking through that filter, or trying to.
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thanks, Steve, for that explanation. gonna pass it on to this Steve, the Farm photo guy.
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As a parent, I’m sorry to say I was an Ice Cream Truck Grinch.
Yeahhh, I can attest to that. I can remember a few times, though, when I ran out to the ice cream truck (with or without my parents’ blessing–shh, don’t tell.) I always enjoyed those strawberry toffee crunch bars. Thinking back on it, the ice cream truck that came to our neighborhood was maybe not what you’d think of when you think ‘ice cream truck.’ It was old and really beat up, and did not look like it could be the source of such sugary goodness. But, the guy who owned it was always really kind, so that kept the neighborhood kids coming back.
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gus
we won’t tell. nice to have you in the fold.
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I’ve often thought that a strategically placed ice cream truck could do rather well on a seasonal basis. Particuarly if one offered the really upscale ice creams. Hanging around the corporate center of downtown Mpls., I think a lot of those high-rollin’, big-buckaroo’s would plunk down a fin just as easily as they do for a latte. I think it’d come down to marketing and making yourself hip. Certainly, I would try to come up with a name that connotes something more palatable than ‘Mr. Softee.’
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NY and Chi have carts downtown, which I think are wonderful, a special part of the city culture. Shame Mps and SP don’t. Can’t you see carts on Nicollet Mall? I thought 45 years ago when it was built that that was part of the point, and not for MT Moore to threw her hat. Did you catch it ?
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I think ~everyone~ caught MT Moore…it was too good not to.
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MT more show was Wonderful! I wanted to be her when I grew up!
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A sort of moderate version of hpyerglacemia?
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all things in moderation especially moderation
they opened up the nicollet mall and downtown in mpls to carts this summer for the first time should be interesting to see what comes of it.
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I’m switching back and forth between here and searching out things medical–a weird mix of experiences.
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Whoo Hoo! Jasper’s playing Indigo Girls. Hope he’ll play a lot of Kinks this summer too.
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a well intentioned man about town doing the best things so conservatively.
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This brings back to mind the ice cream truck that worked (and my still be working) my old neighborhood on the West Side of Saint Paul. It was a particularly beaten up specimen, I sort of remember that the wheels wobbled a lot and it had a hard time driving in a straight line. But most memorably, it played incredibly out-of-tune, demented-sounding music, rather like one of those greeting cards that plays music when you open it. I never, ever saw it stop and make a sale. It just wandered the neighborhood endlessly and forlornly…. a bit like those ghost riders in the sky chasing the devil’s herd….
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great image nils. i enjoy your input.
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Ooh, brings to mind the beginning of Steven King’s “Cell.” Now there’s a book you don’t want to read without a strong stomach. Got it kind of by accident and ended up listening to the audio version on a road trip…
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Nils,
We live on the west end and I think I know the truck you are talking about and yes, it is still going, although I don’t think I have heard it yet this year.
That nut comes around at 9:30pm some times and the music is often odd.
Never bought from the guy because it is just too late, and like Dale, I am a Grinch that way.
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mike is playing don’t think twice for me . my request for the closing of the show. bless you mike. its a good mix of music. fare thee well
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now i’m done
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Boy, look what happens when you post way late… takes 45 minutes to read the blog!
We did have the JollyWagon when we moved to the bigger town, but I remember driving to the Zesto ice cream place after supper. My would bathe us and get us in jammies and pile us into the car. Warm summer night, down by the lake, sweet memory.
I remember a kids book we had in the 80s, Garth Pig and the Ice Cream Lady (Mary Rayner) who was of course a wolfe. Whole series of these very funny books.
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…that should be “my mom would bathe us”.
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Maybe a potato truck would be less controversial? Just think of all the varieties of potatoes you could serve, and “You’re My Little Potato” could be its theme song!
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Great idea, Christina. I can hear it now…
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I like it! Think of all the topping possibilities…(baked potato on a stick, maybe?)
Hmm…this is making me think of my high school days, skipping class and hanging out at Annie’s Parlor on West Bank, dipping my hot, salty french fries in a hot fudge malt. Yum….)
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I wish there had been an ice cream truck driving around when I was growing up! I’d always see them in movies and think “that would be so cool! I want to run after the truck to get ice cream!” Alas, I never had the opportunity. I do remember working one summer for the Steel County Highway Department, and it was a very hot day (over 100 and very humid), and we were surveying in Hope, in the cornfields. A Schwann’s truck came up and we tried to get him to sell us some ice cream (we were desperate, it was so hot). He wouldn’t. He just kept saying he couldn’t open the boxes. We were extremely disappointed. We took turns sitting in the air conditioned work truck so we wouldn’t get overheated.
There was a small local ice cream store that opened up when I was in junior high though. It was called Blast and they had ice cream cones for $0.50. The small was larger than a large at DQ. It was great 🙂 My brother and I used to bike down there (about 2 miles) with our chore money ($0.50 a chore) and get ice cream. After band concerts in the park, we would go with our parents. It was great 🙂 I still go there whenever I visit my parents in the summer, though Blast has moved to a different location. It’s always busy in the summer.
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Out in the hinterlands, aka Granite Falls, we definitely did not have ice cream trucks. My friend Katie Betzen’s family owned the local DQ, and I thought she had the best life ever.
My dad made ice cream, and was brilliant, in a Tom Sawyer way, to convince each of us kids to sit in the basement laundry room (concrete floors with a drain) taking our turn at the crank. And always apricot – we’ve wondered lately why they never made other flavors.
Dale I could so see you doing an ice cream truck gig, though for some reason that music makes me melancholy, and I don’t know why.
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Trying to establish my account here and not getting very far.
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Well, it’s official now. I just looked at the Radio Heartland site and ALL traces of Dale, Trial Balloon blog and the Dale Connelly show are gone. There’s just the schedule, the Listen button and the song listing. I didn’t see any way to look at archives, but I never figured out how to do it before, either. It was all still there this morning.
The end of an era …
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I did a search on their (mpr website) search engine for the Dale Connelly show and was able to get to the page with the archives.
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I always had Trial Balloon down as one of my Favorites, and can still get there by clicking on this:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/trial_balloon/
The archives are still there too…
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Thanks Christina.
Did finally listen to MPR this afternoon, the afternoon dosage of syrup, and heard that Pipe Dreams is now on at 6 a.m. Guess I will not be listening to that either. I am refraining from drawing a conclusion.
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ok, Dale – the goats are feeling a little left out. they would love to browse in that beautiful woody area – staying well away from the baboon, of course.
just in from letting my “fly predators” loose. i think this is probably one of the cleverest boondoggles invented to relieve poison-aversive tree huggers from their hard earned retirement savings. 🙂 have any of you used these? (sorry to switch from yummy ice cream thoughts to fly control)
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Oops. Baboon is gone again.
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So, does the absence of the baboon mean Dale has signed off for the night?
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I can’t predict when the baboon will come and go.
She is on her own schedule, I think.
Thanks for all the ice cream today, everyone!
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Hmm, so she’s a ‘she’?
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I drove a Hav-a-Bar ice cream truck one summer when I was young and foolish. One day a lady came out and yelled at me for coming at her kids’ nap time. I started to cry and told her I was just trying to do my job. When I got back to the garage that evening I found out she had called my boss to apologize.
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what do you do now. i hope it is allows you to enjoy ice cream more?
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Some comments from way up above:
Steve–“Local Hero” is a great movie and there is no way, no way, that Northern Exposure was not in some part based on that movie.
Sherrilee–Shackleton’s forgotten men is a tragic story. I read polar stories because they are so tragic and heroic for such a stupid purpose. The story of the men who finally got to the SP is very dull because they really prepared and got lucky.
Dale–Who cares about the baboon; I have been waiting for a report of the PRM Open Golf Tournament, as we all have.
Good night. Hope you noticed I got my account/blog working.
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OK, Clyde — what does the PRM acronym mean? So, fess up, Dale — who won at golf today? Tom Keith probably has had more time to practice than you …
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public radio morning of course
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