Oh, glory be: Brickzilla may have a role in St. Pat's parade

Olson's mouthpiece is being tight-lipped about how Brickzilla will hit the pavement for Minneapolis' St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Brickzilla, aka Brickman, is the name of the sculpture tethered atop the advertising company, formerly known as Olson+Co, owned by John Olson. The work of art, viewable from streets and highways near the Basilica of St. Mary, was created by artist Steven Olson, John's brother.

"Brickman is not going to march in the parade, but he's going to roll in the parade," John said, noting that his company is the parade's "Marquee Sponsor." Brickzilla's coming off the building? "I didn't say he was coming off the building. I said he's going to be in the parade ... rolling."

What's Steve's phone number? "My brother actually doesn't know anything about it, but you are welcome to call him," said John, who is just full of it. "I heard you're going to help us lead the parade." No, I don't think John heard that. "The parade is going to be big this year," Olson lobbied. "Why WOULDN'T you do this? You haven't met my kids [Miko, 10, Ava, 5, Zellie, 2] or seen my wife [Cindy] in a long time."

Is this the same St. Patrick's Day I spend answering the phone "O'C.J." and noticing people dressing in green and drinking too much, making the roads unsafe for all?

"Just in St. Paul," John said. "Minneapolis is a lot more civilized than that. We are meeting at the Millennium Hotel on Nicollet Mall at 6 p.m. for the 6:30 p.m. parade. Anybody who can river dance, play music or has a pet is welcome to join. Minneapolis is going to be the place to be on St. Patrick's Day for the first time!"

And the safest place for me to be is at home, sipping a Crispin Velvet, three-fourths cup of Crispin Brut, the hard apple cider, topped off with Guinness.

That means Frisbee was a "teammate of Carl Eller and Sandy Stephens. Sandy had his hands on my fanny more than anybody else in my life because I was the center and he was the quarterback," Frisbee joked Tuesday. I told Frisbee, who practiced law in Minnesota before moving to Arizona in 1998, that Eller could use a lawyer or somebody who could talk some sense to him. The former Vikings defensive lineman, nicknamed Moose, doesn't need to tick off that judge again. In February, Hennepin County Judge Dan Mabley gave Eller an unexpected early start on 60 days in the workhouse for his January conviction for refusing a sobriety test and manhandling Minneapolis officers. The incident started after Eller rolled through a stop sign near his home last April.

The Hall of Famer was in court to hear his sentence when his yapping off about police corruption, bias and racism ticked off Mabley, who didn't care that Mama Moose, as Eller's mom, Ernestine Eller, was in the courtroom sobbing.

"I feel bad about Carl right now because I don't understand him pulling the race card on this deal," Frisbee said. "I think he just had a relapse."

Eller has not accepted responsibility for his huge role in putting this whole case in motion.

"The other part of it is that he has received many accolades for being an adviser to athletes regarding drug and dependency issues," Frisbee said. "He was acting entirely contrary to what he was preaching." Amen. Are you listening, Moose?

Madoff is expected to plead guilty today in New York City for operating the biggest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history.

"I don't want to sound flip about this. I feel for the people who did lose money," said theadventuresofmelindajacobs.com writer and a member of Oak Ridge Country Club in Hopkins. Gossip is that about 40 percent of the club's members invested with Madoff. When asked if a lot of Oak Ridge members lost money, Melinda said, "I'm not going to comment on that." That non-response is consistent with buzz I've heard about Oak Ridge CC members being discouraged from discussing this financial scandal.

*Melinda disputed my assertion that her father is a billionaire, saying "Have you checked the markets lately?"