Well, just when I thought I had reached the pinnacle of nerdiness, I find a whole new level and climb on up. Today I crashed a party... An NPR party, that is!

Ummm... Yeah.... So my normal Saturday morning routine is to lay in bed until I just can't stay asleep any longer. I'll then turn on our local NPR station and attempt to stay in bed just a bit longer. This morning I woke up just after Car Talk had started but felt lazy laying in bed, so I got up. I listened to most of the show, then Whad' Ya Know came on. I'm up in Wisconsin often, and always check to see if I can get tickets and work it into my schedule to go see the show taped, but have never managed to do it.

Anyway, a couple of months ago they decided to do a show at somebody's house, and took entries from people who would like to host the show. The winner turned out to be somebody from my town of Shawnee, KS. They've been talking about doing the house party for a while, and I was thinking it would be cool to see the show when it's in town, but didn't expect to be able to get in. Hell, I don't know the hosts or anything. But when the show came on this morning I was listening and they were talking about the beautiful house overlooking the historic 435 interchange. 435 only cuts through a small section of Shawnee so I figured I'd head out and try to find the place, at least to get a picture of the house and the crowd.

After driving for a bit, I finally found the only house I could see that overlooked 435, and it's a beauty. I'd seen the house before, and thought it was rather old, but it's still being built. It took me a bit before I could work my way up to the house, but by the time I got there I knew I was in the right place. Cars were parked all up and down the street. At first I just drove by to get a picture, but then I decided to see if I could manage to get in and catch the last hour of the show. I found a place to park a bit down the street and wandered up to the house. I asked a woman out at the buffet if I could take some pictures. She said sure, but that the front door was closed, I ought to go in the back. So I did.

The house had now walls, just studs everywhere, and there were chairs set up all over the house. I found a spot kind of in the middle, I think I was standing by the crew. I was behind a stairwell, but I did manage to work my way forward once to get a (fuzzy) picture. I guess I got in around the end of the first hour, and got to listen to the band play their whole song during the break when the station was in top-of-the-hour news. But I got to catch the entire second hour.

I certainly noticed that Boulevard truck on my way in, but by this long into the show, I was starting to feel rather comfortable. The majority of the guests didn't seem to know the hosts, and most of them were drinking margaritas. I decided to head outside to grab a beer. I wonder how much it costs to get one of these keg trucks to come out to a party... They had Boulevard Wheat, Boulevard Pale Ale, and some sort of stout that was actually labeled as Wheat on the tap. I had a Wheat first (no lemons... the nerve!) and went back for a stout later. I actually think it may have been their Bully Porter, but I'm not entirely sure.

So I watched the rest of the show. They did the quiz, and a neighbor girl got to be on. I think the first people to take the quiz lost, but the second group got it. The prize package included a six-pack of Boulevard Pale Ale, and the Boulevard guys weren't really sure if she was actually 21, but I figure she was. After the show, Michael Feldman saw me in my Packers hat and I got a compliment and a handshake out of the deal. Pretty cool.

I thought about sticking around to hit the buffet (Chicken Brats!), but decided against it. I really need to go get some bathroom supplies here in just a bit, and I needed to finish up cleaning the bathroom and figuring out exactly what type of plumbing supplies I need. Anyway, it was cool to finally see the show live. I'll definitely have to get tickets in advance next time I'm heading up near Madison...

Well, mildly pathetic that the highlight of my week was crashing an NPR party, but it was fun. Well, the Particle show on Tuesday was pretty damn good, but I'm sure I'll catch them again. I doubt I'll see Whad' Ya Know in my home town again any time soon...