Jason Kendall - Just in Time.

I've been watching Jason Kendall throughout his career, mostly when he was with Pittsburgh and owned the Cubs. More than once he beat us all by himself, and for some reason he was always out of the Cub's grasp.

Now, this season, on what hopefully is a still rising wave, he has come to the Cubs. Like many Cub fans, I am wary of good signs. Maybe I shouldn't be, they really HAVE made the playoffs, and even advanced a round, but when things are going good, we all look for a shoe to drop. This isn't the shoe dropping, this is us getting a very good catcher, probably past his prime, but with serviceable stats over the last month, much better than what we've been getting. AND, he can catch the damn ball.

Jim Hendry made the announcement during the game this evening, that Jason Kendall had been acquired from the Oakland A's for Rob Bowen, the catcher we got for Barrett, and Jerry Blevins, a relief pitcher that has spent this season putting up decent stats for the Cubs' A and AA teams.

Losing Michael Barrett was a good addition to this team, for whatever reason you want to believe, witness the won-loss record since he left, now filling the hole he left behind with Kendall starts to put this team on the roll that will take them into the post-season.

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Who is Trying to Move Cornfest Out of Town?

Here in DeKalb, Illinois, there are few things happening that don't have to do with Chicago. We are close enough to the city that any festing bug we might have, we can get it there at Bluesfest, Taste of Chicago, or even at Summerfest in Wisconsin. All of these are nice venues that can afford bigger acts and not so far away that we can't make a day of getting there. So the local fest shouldn't have to be a big deal. Yesterday in a restaurant I saw a petition against moving Cornfest out of town, and in downtown shop windows there are signs saying Save Cornfest. I can't find a word of any of this in the local newspapers, but am beginning the process of searching out what is happening right now.

Cornfest is what we do in DeKalb. According to the write up on the web site, this is the 30th year, but I remember it when I was very young, then it was just called the Corn Boil. Over the years, the Cornfest sound stage has been the source of ridicule, where many an almost-was and sort-of-been has spent an hour or so of their declining careers entertianing, or just survivng the Cornfest beer garden. Acts like Eddie Money, Greg Kihn, Blue Oyster Cult, Joan Jett, Survivor, Night Ranger, and the Marshall Tucker Band, all past their respective primes, have sported the Sunday afternoon headliner tag. Some of them showed up to play, some just for a check, but they were here entertaining in DeKalb.

Nearby in Sycamore, they spend the summer blocking off the streets and putting on fests since they rebuilt their downtown area. It used to be only Pumpkinfest, now it seems like they are blocking off downtown every month for something, and the storeowners and residents deal with the traffic inconvenience and enjoy the financial boosts and entertainment. It seems to do them good.

In DeKalb, they are wanting to move Cornfest out of town?
I just don't get it. I was only able to skim the petition I signed, but it mostly said what I have repeated here. I thought that I could find answers online, but nothing yet. Any helps and links will be put up, bring them in. I guess I will wait and continue to look for details before writing anymore about it, but since google search brought nothing about cornfest up but some three year old pictures, I figured I'd try to send up a flare.