Last week I tried to walk in off the street and eat my lunch at the PJ Star and after about ten long minutes waiting in the lobby, I got shut down by the Gatehouse Nazi’s...I mean the Gatehouse Human Resource people. So I went to the Pekin Daily Times and had my lunch over there. The next day I put the post up on MBIP and shortly after it went up, this Tweet appeared in my Twitter feed from Adam Duvall, who’s a sports writer at the PJ Star:

I Tweeted back to Adam that I’d love to be his guest for lunch, we ended up talking on the phone and Adam said that in addition to lunch, he’d give us a tour of the PJ Star newsroom! That sounds like a ton of fun, so let’s get over there, toot sweet!

I told Adam since he was nice enough to invite me for lunch, I’d pick up something to eat, so I stopped at Khaki Jack’s and got some of their award-winning pizzas, chicken wings and some cheese-filled bread sticks. That’s the owner of Khaki Jack’s, Tony on the right and bartender Chuck on the left serving up the pies.

And here we are at the Peoria Journal Star, let’s go in and see if we can get into the inner sanctum this week!

There’s Adam in the lobby...

And this time we quickly side-stepped the Gatehouse Human Resource goons and made our way to...

The lunchroom at the PJ Star! It’s got a real throwback feel to it. Time to let this luncheon party get underway!

Lunch

I told Adam to tell people in the newsroom to stop by and here’s entertainment reporter Thomas Bruch walking through the door. This will be the second time I’ve had lunch with Thomas, here’s a link to the first lunch.

Here’s the food spread out from Khaki Jack’s and the three of us digging in. Everything was really tasty, if you’ve never eaten at Khaki Jack’s you should definitely stop by and sample some of the grub there!

And now other guests have begun to stream in and say hello. Clockwise from top left: Robin, who’s a receptionist here with Thomas, Matt Buedel in full-bore hobo mode attacking the pizza, Dave Reynolds and Chris Kaergard, Adam Gerik and Andy Kravetz. Great to see all of them!

A group shot of our pizza party at the PJ Star. Good times with good people!

We made a pretty good dent in the food and we left this for the night shift to snack on.

It’s just about time for our newsroom tour, but first Matt and I recreate the time I tried to walk in off the street and write for the PJ Star. I’m playing the role of Christine McNeil and Matt has channeled his inner Marty Wombacher and is portraying Yours Fooly. If you missed the story of this harrowing encounter in my life, you can read about it by clicking here and scrolling down to the bonus story: You Just Don’t Walk In Off The Street And Write For The Peoria Journal Star! Okay, it’s time to take a newsroom tour of the PJ Star!

Newsroom Tour

Here’s Adam leading the way into the PJ Star newsroom...

And here it is, wow, it’s big in here and the first thing I notice is that it’s really quiet in here! It’s kind of like a library. Let’s go meet some of the people who write and edit the content of the newspaper.

Mickey sits up front and she’s the first person you’ll see as you walk in here. She's a news assistant and she also lives right down the street from MBIP World Headquarters and told me there’s always beer in her house, so we may have to make a trip there soon!

Here’s Adam at his desk where he churns out sports copy for the paper.

Kirk Wessler is the Executive Sports Editor and writes The Captain’s Blog.

This is MBIP pal and PJ Star writer and columnist’s, Phil Luciano’s desk. Phil wasn’t in the newsroom, so I left a bunch of MBIP cards littered around his desk. And yeah, his desk is pretty messy, but it’s no match for...

This desk! This desk looks like a garbage dumpster threw up on it and it wins the messiest desk award of the day! And who’s award-winning desk is this?

It’s Thomas Bruch’s desk! Congratulations on the fine mess you’ve created in the midst of this newsroom, Thomas!

This is Michael Anthony Noel, who’s an Art Director here at the paper and the two of us decided to show off our index fingers in a tribute to MBIP friend, Danielle! I only pray we did her justice in this pose! Michael also is part of a church called, Not Your Grandma’s Church. Michael said he’s a big fan of MBIP and it was great to meet him!

And here’s a guy I’ve known for quite a while, Steve Tarter! Steve’s been a luncheon guest here on MBIP quite a few times and we’re having lunch soon, so stay tuned for that! Years ago when I was doing my magazine, POP, Steve wrote for me and I was his editor. Steve worked for the bus company back then. Now over twenty years later, Steve’s the business editor for the PJ Star and I empty garbage for a living. I think I took a wrong turn somewhere, but what are you going to do?

Here's Matt Buedel at his desk. I’ve slipped an MBIP card into his tiny little Christmas sock and I also made a donation to...

His Gatehouse Retirement Cup. This is actually the 401K plan that the good folks at Gatehouse Media have set up for their employees! Everyone gets an empty cup. I love corporations so fucking much! They’re just so...corporate!

Here’s the Executive Editor of the PJ Star, Dennis Anderson. Last week when I put the PJ Star failed luncheon post up here at MBIP and had some fun at the paper’s expense, Dennis showed a lot of class by personally inviting me out to lunch to make up for the Human Resource people shutting me down. That was nice and that lunch is coming up soon here on MBIP, so, as always, stay tuned!

Check this out, while everyone else toils in a communal newsroom, Adam Gerik does his duty in this fancy-schmancy corner office with a door that he can shut the rest of the world away! Well la-dee-freaking-da!

He’s also got one of the coolest Life magazine covers ever framed on the wall.

Adam was nice enough to let me sit at his desk and pretend like I've just walked in off the street and I’m writing for the PJ Star! And what was it like to finally write for the Peoria Journal Star? Well...it kind of tasted like chicken!

Thanks to Adam Duvall and all the nice people at the PJ Star for the friendly hospitality and a fun afternoon. Whenever people say bad things about the PJ Star I always tell them that I’ve got friends there and they’re all talented writers and editors. They can’t help it that they work for Gatehouse Media which is kind of a cunty corporation. And now it’s time for...

The Fourth Week of the Year Long MBIP Vs. Bartender Armwrestling Tour!

This week the MBIP Vs. Bartender tour is taking place at Jerry’s Bar, a basement bar that regular MBIP readers are familiar with.

There’s the owner of Jerry’s bar, Jerry to the left and to the right is Anne, the bartender for the evening. And since she’s bartending tonight, she’s also going to be armwrestling! It’s time to let this week’s bout begin!

It’s Mad Dog Marty Vs. Avenging Annie!

The bell has sounded, let the armwrestling begin!

Wow, this is tougher than I thought. Avenging Annie has a steel-like grip she’s developed from crushing Budweiser cans for the last four decades. I’m trying, but she’s getting the best of me...