January 2009
125 posts
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"I wish Minneapolis were farther from Fargo, or... →
Poor guy! The one time the Empire Builder isn’t seventeen hours behind schedule, and he’s got to be on it! Based on my experiences, it’s shocking his wish didn’t come true.
“If only the Empire Builder would take much, much longer than scheduled to arrive at its destination” is very high up on the list of Minneapolis-specific wishes that are likely to be...
"Why the Real Estate Boom Will Not Bust, And How... →
Published by Doubleday Business (February 21, 2006). Includes a blurb from the chief economist at Fannie Mae (“an important book!”).
18 used copies available from $1.88.
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"Now, it's important not to let anyone see you... →
Making your own butter at home over at In the Kitchen at Parties.
Nation-wide switch to digital TV postponed. →
mediation breaks the news and predicts:
I’m guessing this affects 0% of you.
Guess again, Taylor!
My apartment is full of old-person electronic items that barely function, my TV principal among them. It has rabbit ears and has never known the corrupting touch of cable. I don’t even know where the cable would go — is it put in with tweezers? Is it an actual...
The Fugs, “Slum Goddess.”
I always...
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"Retroactive Minnesotan," week 2.
An excellent weekend with Retroactive Minnesotan.
Mastered on Saturday:
Some teenagers taught me how to bury beer in a snowdrift so that it doesn’t explode and your parents don’t find it.
Jane (Edina!) and Louise (Minneapolis) took me out in a Volvo wagon to learn how to whip shitties on a frozen parking lot (Louise’s tweet above — as you can read, it wasn’t just...
WatchAn animation on the 3rd Avenue bridge here in Minneapolis, courtesy of mediation.
Anyone know who this was?
"DISTANCE EDUCATION/DISED 2604: Prof. Catherine... →
A video by Eileen Maxson. “Professor Poplar’s lecture entitled ‘Existentialism and Stephen King: The Artist’s Role in Society According to The Shawshank Redemption’ is plagued with technical disaster.”
More of Maxson’s work here.
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Idea for a best-selling stunt memoir (#1).
I play every single Parkers Brothers board game ever manufactured, every day, for a whole year, including Clue and Monopoly but also lost classics like Pit, Flinch, Rook and The Game of the Lincoln Highway.
Concept: I weave into the narrative interesting anecdotes about the history of the games and the individuals that invented them, autobiographical glimpses into my own messy, confused...
Hard at work at the Times' London bureau. →
Via Minus Manhattan.
This weekend at the Art Shanties.
tumblelikeyougiveadamn gives you an overview:
Saturday - Croquet tournament using hand-made wickets from artist Bill Gorcica, 11AM - Gypsy-punk combo The Ex-Lovers in the Black Box Theater Shanty, 12 to 2PM - An old-fashioned pageant of survival and warfare in the Imperial Transatlantic Expedition Shanty, 2PM - Also on the ice: Bicycle Races & the recently-completed World’s Largest Cribbage...
You would be shocked at how many terrible...
Awful.
Abysmal.
Not bad, actually.
Absolutely dreadful.
Disgraceful.
Just terrible.
Unbelievable.
Beyond shameful.
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Mass media opportunities tonight.
If you tune into Art Matters on KFAI 90.3 this evening at 7pm, you can listen to me mumble and mince for a few minutes about the Art Shanty Projects and Salon Saloon!
While in KFAI’s studios today, I ran into Dave Oppegaard, who will be reading from his new book The Suicide Collectors tonight — along with fellow S. 12th Ave. resident, fitness blogger and respected novelist Geoff...
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South Twelfth's great gourmet office drink recipe...
Last month, we sponsored a contest to see who could come up with the best — or at least most plausible — recipe for an exotic beverage using only items commonly found in office kitchens. You know: sugar, cocoa mix, instant coffee, stuff like that. You can read the original post here.
Well, we got so many replies that we are now just finishing sorting through all of them and deciding...
"And out of an abundance of caution, because there... →
How To Clean Your House
Tess Lynch helps you with the cleaning:
1. Pry hands away from keyboard.
2. Put away interesting things first (doodle pad, silly hats, animal friends).
3. Give yourself a really hard time about how messy it is. I like to start off with something like, “You are such a slob. Look at Georgia’s apartment. You’d rather live there, wouldn’t you? She looks like she lives like Audrey Hepburn. Get...
Billy Bragg, “Waiting for the Great Leap...
“They says if you was white, should be all right
If you was brown, stick around...”
– Big Bill Broonzy, “Black, Brown and White.”
I hadn’t realized, until my friend Tim mentioned it, that Joseph Lowery’s invocation at the Inauguration (“we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around, when...
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My apartment smells like cookies.
And I haven’t baked cookies in here for a very long time. Still, the aroma hangs in the air, unexplained. Is it a gas leak? No. Gas leaks don’t smell like cookies. It’s unexplainable. And who cares, anyway? My apartment smells like cookies. Can this day get any better?
Washington, D.C.’s Make-Up play “Pow!...
See you at Bedlam Theatre for the inaugural ball... →
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This Recording reminds you to rent "The Passion of... →
You don’t really need an excuse to push The Passion of Joan of Arc and Fishing With John up to the top of your Netflix queue. But Molly Lambert makes the case, in case you do.
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Ronnie Mack, “All My Friends Die...
