Pokematic's Dolls and Gymnastics in Ann Arbor Adventure

Hey everyone. Little backstory, mskate is into American Girl Doll and Gymnastics, and I'm into Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. On Saturday March 2nd all 3 of those things came together in Ann Arbor Michigan. In one of the nearby cities there was a major local American Girl Doll sale where multiple people were selling parts of their collections. Not to far away in Ann Arbor there's Crazy Jim's Blimpy Burger, a small burger place that was featured on Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. Then at University of Michigan, the state college that's in Ann Arbor, there was a men's gymnastics competition between them and Oklahoma University. I'll get to all this in a moment, but first I'd like to thank my sponsor, good luck. Have you ever wanted to live an interesting life, one great for being an influencer type person like myself where you have things to talk about online? Well with good luck you can get this. Go to the good luck store and mention pokematic, and you can get a fun life so you can make blogs and vlogs like me. Jokes aside, lets get into the story.

OK I'll actually start out with a funny story from earlier in the week. Mskate was taking care of my grandma on Thursday and without her around I decided I was going to see Madame Web because it seems like it might be leaving theaters soon (because it's bombing hard) and I like the Sony Spiderman Universe. I didn't tell her I was going to the movies because I didn't think it was that big of a deal, and it wasn't known when she'd get home so she might not even notice I left. Like a responsible theater goer I silenced my phone before the movie started. About an hour and 10 minutes into the movie I decided to check the time on my phone because I forgot my watch at home, there are 12 missed calls and multiple missed texts trying to figure out where I am (my brother in law asked if I died). Apparently mskate was freaking out that I wasn't home and thought something bad happened, so she called my mom asking if she knew where I was and called her dad to try to figure out what was going on. I didn't mean to cause problems, I just wanted to see a movie. That was funny.

OK, now for the main story. Mskate found an American Girl Doll swap meet about this time last year that we missed out on, and kept it in mind to make sure we didn't miss it this year. I'm not much of an AG fan but I appreciate the neat dolls and the stores as seen in my vlogs to the Columbus store.

We got there pretty close to when it opened and started looking around. Mskate wanted to get the Christmas outfits and Addie books, and maybe some other things. There were many venders of different types. Unlike things like craft shows or flea markets where everyone is kind of "a professional seller," there were some people who were like professional sellers and some that were just collectors that are leaving the hobby. Basically it was everything American Girl had to offer, mostly clothes and accessories, and a number of playsets and dolls, but some people had the books and one person had a bunch of empty boxes for sale. One of the venders was a former employee of the Columbus store that was selling display model dolls and an employee apron she picked up when the store was closing (because it's unfortunately closed now). I almost bought one of the store display dolls that was mounted on a piece of display wood since I love "store things" (I have a "thank-you for shopping at blockbuster sign," a family video "free kid's movies" and "new releases" sign, a Chuck-E-Cheese table topper, various display stands, and some other things), but as I said I'm not super into American Girl Dolls so $50 for something that only has some attachment to and interest in is not really worth it. It was pretty fun. skate found some books and outfits that interest her, and I found a toy camera and can of almonds (the same brand that Mskate really likes). After the first purchase we didn't have a bag, so I pulled out the grocery bag I keep in my picket and used that for our purchases. She got one of the first outfits from the 90s and a christmas dress (don't remember which doll it's for though).

Now that the American Girl Doll sale was over, we went to Crazy Jim's Blimpy Burger. Part of the great thing about Tripple D is that it spotlights restaurants that aren't like 5 star and super expensive, but are still very good and successful (it's not like a "bar rescue" or "restaurant impossible" where the restaurant might be bad again by the time that the episode airs, or completely out of business, making them a "safe pilgrimage"). Then there's the other great thing that the featured restaurants are all over America, and I've started keeping a list of restaurants in places I might go to one day. One of the restaurants on that list is Crazy Jim's Blimpy Burger, a burger stand in Ann Arbor Michigan. This isn't the first time I've been there (vlog below), but this is the first time they had pumpernickel buns (and I love pumpernickel bread when I can get it on special occasions). On their bun options they have pumpernickel listed, but they didn't have it the other 2 times I'd been there. Anyway, it was great. I had a triple with cheddar cheese, grilled onions, grilled banana peppers, grilled salami, lettuce, raw onions, and pickles on the pumpernickel bun. Mskate had a double with pepper jack cheese and grilled mushrooms on a bed of lettuce. Definitely not healthy, but REALLY good, definitely recommend. On the TV for customers they had food network on (as I think they always do), and it just to happened to be Triple D; it wasn't their episode, but it still was Guy.

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And here's the vlog from one of my other times.

While we were on our way to Blimpy Burger, mskate looked into the gymnastics meet. She knew it was a gymnastics meet happening but couldn't figure out how to buy tickets. While we were at Blimpy Burger mskate figured out it was a free event so we just had to go to the arena. We drove to the arena and found parking while finding our way to the arena entrance. Apparently UofM gives out free souvenirs at every event, and this time they were giving out capes. The even cooler thing is the seats were unassigned, and we were able to sit right up close to the floor routine mat. Mskate wanted to sit up higher but then I said "babe, when are you going to be able to sit almost front row again?" so we sat right close to where they do the floor routine. I'm not into gymnastics or sports in general, but I do kind of enjoy watching things in person and stadium energy; I have no energy watching alone on TV or online, but if I'm watchin in person surrounded by excited fans I have some energy. What was really cool is I got a picture with the Wolverine Trooper.

The event was pretty cool. I got a lot of videos and pictures of the competition, specifically the competitors that mskate and her mom like. What was really funny is they steadied the rings for the ring event using a crutch. I also saw some pretty wild falls, which was interesting. They also gave away t-shirts between events, and while we didn't win them I did take note of how they did the tight roll for throwing, and learned how to do that for when we travel since it will make it better for packing (less space).

Good news is UofM won, which made everyone very happy. After the event the entire team was signing autographs. I had them sign the picture they were giving out, and mskate had them sign one of the capes we got. I was able to get the picture signed faster than mskate, mainly because I was willing to hold my arm above the children that were taking a long time to get through the line. I ended up getting pictured and ending up on the U of M website in my yellow shirt and puffy jacket and blue jeans (school colors) as I'm reaching over children to get the autographs of the team.

Protected picture of me in the crowd.

It was quite a fun and full day. Sunday was pretty basic, just went to church, got my hair cut, cleaned my shower, and my kitchen faucet decided to break so I got the replacement and called a plumber. It should get fixed on Tuesday. Yep. Well this has been Pokematic, signing off, and bu-bye.

Pokematic Experiences and Reviews Barbie 2023

Collaborating with Tom Green at his Comedy Show

Hey everyone, so if you don't know by now, I have a podcast I do with my friend Bio, and every episode I find some way to mention Tom Green and his career. You can watch the Peanut Butter Podcast here. Well I went to his website and checked out his tour schedule, and I saw he was doing a show in Muskegon Michigan (which while not "convenient," isn't unreasonable for a little weekend get away). So, I decided to book a hotel room and have a little trip. I was hoping to take a picture with him and maybe get him to say "peanut butter on a sausage" after the show, but what happened was SO much better (soon you'll find out the meaning of the title).

Now I've never been to a "real" comedy show before; the closest was a "last comic standing" thing my college did in one of the schools ballrooms with maybe 20 attendees, everything else is either comedy channels on Serious XM or Comedy Central specials. I didn't really know what to expect, but I was ready for a night of fun. The place that was hosting it is called "Back Alley Comedy," and it is one of the most interesting venues I can imagine. First off, it's not a comedy club, it's a bowling alley. I was trying to get the address by googling "Back Alley Comedy Muskegon" expecting a comedy club or bar or something, and I kept getting this bowling alley. After clicking on some links I realized "oh, this bowling alley does comedy shows too; that's interesting." Everything leading up to this wasn't that eventful (I drove for a good 4 hours, checked in, watched some spongebob on TV, that's kind of it). Now for the main event.

So I get to this place and the signage is like REALLY retro. I'm talking neon signs, the word "bowl" is on a disk thing that's spinning, it has this really old font; it was like something out of Fallout. I looked inside and saw they had Dance Dance Revolution and I knew afterwards I had to play, but first things first, I'm here for comedy. I bought my ticket there and ended up not having enough cash to pay (tickets were $30, I had $24). Thankfully they were able to ring me up at the bar with my credit card. They were quite busy, so it took them a while to ring me up. Since I was there I decided to get a Long Island. That took even longer, and it definitely wasn't one of the better Long Islands I've had (a bit too strong for my tastes, I enjoy more sours). Regardless, it still helped make sitting with a group of strangers easier. I sat up front, because I wanted to be right there with the action (and maybe get called on). I sat with a family whom after some small talk I learned the parents grew up with Tom Green and they were bringing their son to introduce him to his genius. That was cool.

Now for the main event; OK, the pre-show before the main billed act. The MC whom I guess is a regular came up and did some warm-up jokes. I gotta say, he was pretty funny. Then there was a lady comedian. I specify gender because she did some "I'm a woman, these are jokes about being a woman" jokes, but as a testament of how good she was she managed to make them funny to me, a single man. But that was only 30% or so of the act. The rest were funny regardless of gender. Now what was really awesome is she did some "play the audience" jokes, and being in the front I got to help. I don't want to say what the joke was, but my response to one of the questions was so bizarre it made her laugh. After she said the material she had written to the answer everyone else had, she worked my response into the punch line and asked me to elaborate more, and the end of my response she just lowered the mic, and walked over to take a drink, like "I can't build on that, that is just way too weird."

OK, now it is time for the reason I booked a hotel and drove 4 hours, Mr. Tom Green. Oh man, that was amazing. I was basically sitting right in the middle of the front row, and Tom Green walked down the middle of the event hall to the stage. He was within 1 foot of me, it was neat. Now out of respect for the art of comedy club comedy, I won't go into details about what his jokes were (which he made a joke about, there was a woman who was taking a picture with her phone and he joked about "the Instagram look at me I'm watching Tom Green" before going into a creative way of saying "don't record this"), BUT seeing that I was PART of the show, I want to talk about how I collaborated with Tom Green. Now even though I've not been to a real comedy show, I knew "if you sit up front, you're basically asking for the comedian to make fun of you," and that's exactly what I was hoping for, and it happened. There were 4 times when Tom Green spoke directly to ME, and made fun of my responses. And it's not like he was just "what's your name, here's a joke about your name," or "oh so your single, how hairy are your palms, I see you found a way to transplant the hair to your face" or something like that. No, there were a couple of times where we had a little bit of a back and forth; brief, but I still threw back some more material for him to work with. If you want to hear the full details, they're in this video here.

But what REALLY made it awesome, is after his routine he came walking down the middle and he patted me on the shoulder in a way that said "thanks for playing along so well loud guy." Then after the show as I was on my way out there were some people that said "hey you're the loud guy, that was good;" some more verbal than others. So yeah, there it is, I collaborated with Tom Green. Yeah, it's not like he was on the Peanut Butter Podcast or brought me on stage, or anything like that, but I've had yet another brush with fame. I know the title is a little click-batey, but when else am I going to be able to make a title like this again. Plus, I did give him at least 2 minutes of material directly at me, and in the world of internet videos that gives you a collaboration credit.

Now for the remainder of my little trip. After the show I played 2 games of Dance Dance Revolution in the arcade of the bowling alley, and I did pretty good. I'm not one of those "super heavy, my feat are barely touching the ground" kind of players, but I regularly set high scores on medium difficulty. And now my name is enshrined on at least 4 songs in the DDR cabinet of the Sherman Bowling Center (at least until someone plays perfectly on the songs I played, I got some combo breakers unfortunately). Then I filmed a Peanut Butter Podcast with Bio when I returned. We were both quite tired, so that meant things got a little weird.

The next morning I woke up early enough to eat the continental breakfast. Normally that doesn't happen, but the bed was so uncomfortable (super firm) and people were walking down I managed to wake up before they closed. Yay. I packed-up my stuff, checked out, and went home. It was REALLY fun. I hope to be able to do it again sometime. This has been Pokematic, signing off, and bu-bye.