Conner's Blog

Today’s five includes five local items you should read.  For those of you who don’t know, local means Minnesota.  They are all great pieces that came through my reader this week.

• Art tells the Internet to stop censoring itself.  I look back on my use of $%#ing swear words with shame.
• Sorni posts a map of the US explaining where certain people come from.
• Amber posts what could be the funniest date recap I’ve read in recent history.
• Kaeti contemplates selling her car, and makes a pretty convincing argument that she could survive.
• Doniree posts a excellent post on risk taking and then announces that she is taking a big risk. (go wish her luck)

Happy Friday everyone, remember the workday isn’t far from being over.  Enjoy your weekend and I’ll see you back here next week.  (or later today, you never know)

I intended to write individual posts regarding my week off when my parents were in town.  Sadly this turned into a massive failure.  I’m just going to put up this post running down what we did and my thoughts on each adventure.

After a slow Thursday morning, we headed out the door to Como Zoo.  I had thought going to the zoo on the first day of the State Fair would help with the parking, but I was completely wrong.  We found a spot eventually, but for a while, I was wishing we had taken the bus.  Como zoo was great as always.  If you haven’t been, you should go while it’s still summer.  Winter is a great time as well, but it’s nice to see the animals outside, instead of in a crowded barn.

Later that evening we visited the Walker for Target Free Thursday nights, we walked through the Quick and the Dead, and then walked out to the lawn to watch Solid Gold perform as part of the MN artist day.

I won’t spend much time on Friday, we headed out to the state fair early and had a great day.  You can check out my recap post here and my photo set here.

We got up Saturday and headed off to Minneapolis to shop at the Mill City Farmers Market.  This is my favorite market in the cities, and I was able to pick up some hot peppers and some apple chipotle bread.

After our shopping, we wandered into the Mill City Museum.  I was a bit skeptical at first that the museum would be worth it, but I walked away really happy to have gone.  It’s full of a lot of history and the Flour Tower tour is really neat.  This is a tour that takes place on an elevator showing scenes and narration from mill workers that tell the history of the mill.  The tour ends at the top of the tower where you get to see some of the original equipment and also take in a gorgeous view of the river.  I recommend the museum, and be sure to check out the 19 minute movie that plays every half-hour.

After the museum, we walked across the Stone Arch Bridge, head a late lunch at the Bulldog N.E. and then we wandered into the Guthrie and enjoyed the Endless Bridge before heading home for the evening.

Sunday, we woke up and drove to St. Paul.  We attended mass at the St. Paul Cathedral and then headed downtown to the Science Museum.  The Science Museum was a lot of fun, we went through the Titanic Exhibit which was really interesting.  It was incredible seeing artifacts which had been retrieved from the wreckage.  The rest of the museum was interesting as well, but the highlight was the Titanic Exhibit.  After the museum we had lunch at Great Waters Brewing, a brewery I hadn’t managed to visit before this.  I had their session beer and my dad had the Stout which he really enjoyed.  We wandered through the St. Paul Central Library, which wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be.  We were planning on visiting the Capitol, but got there too late.

I had no additional plans, so I took my parents on a tour of St. Paul’s Cathedral Hill, then drove through a portion of the Ground Rounds.  We stopped at the Lyndale Rose Garden and walked down the band shell.  It was a gorgeous and and it was a lot of fun seeing the roses in the garden and the crowds around the lake.  We ended the evening by visiting Moto-I where I introduced my parents to fresh sake, something I try to do with anyone who visits me.

My plan on Monday was to check out the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and then walk downtown for a late lunch before seeing the Twins.  Unfortunately, the MIA is closed on Mondays.  We decided to walk downtown looking for things to do.  We ended up at the observation deck of the Foshay.  This was really neat, the view itself is worth the eight dollars, and the small museum is an added bonus.  After getting our fill of the view, I took my parents over to see Target Field, followed by lunch at Brits Pub before going to watch the Twins beat the White Sox.

Tuesday was my parents last day, and it was spent checking out the MIA, viewing the Walker Sculpture Garden, and then lunch at the Blue Door Pub.  We also went to the State Capitol and we were impressed by the building.  If you haven’t been to see the Capitol building you should really go, it’s a really impressive structure and they have a lot of interesting history inside.  This was the end of my parent’s week here, and I had a great time doing many things I’ve been meaning to do this year.

My parents were in town from Wednesday until Tuesday recently.  We did a ton of activities around the Twin Cities, these posts are my recap of the events.  I hope that they inspire you to explore your city whether you live in Minneapolis, St. Paul, or anywhere else.

My parents flew in the afternoon on Wednesday and we didn’t do much after they arrived.  We ate supper at my apartment and then wandered down Nicollet mall, stopping at Brit’s Pub for a beer.  The following morning we woke up and headed out the door to check out Como zoo.  If you haven’t been to Como zoo, you should really take the time to check it out.  I’ve been there three times since moving to Minnesota and have had a great time all three times.  I recommend going there in the summer and the winter every year.  It may seem strange to recommend a zoo in Winter, but if you go on a fairly warm day, you may get to see tigers playing in the snow.  Additionally, the arboretum is a wonderful place to soak up some humid air.

After spending the morning into the early afternoon at Como, we ended up grabbing dinner and walking to the Walker Art Museum.  We walked through the Quick and The Dead exhibit and then wandered out to the lawn to catch a bit of Solid Gold’s performance.  It was good start to the week and included two free attractions in one day.

This is my first year fully active in the MN blogosphere and I’m shocked at how insane the state fair coverage is.  I mean I love it, but it’s kind of nuts.  But, that isn’t going to stop me from writing my own recap.

First I have to make a confession, I’m not a fair food lover, I don’t crave cheese curds, deep fried candy bars, or any other food throughout the year.  I don’t make plans about the first food booth I’m going to run to, I just wander and choose 2-3 things to keep me from collapsing (though I think you could live by calorie osmosis at the fair).

This year I went with my parents who were visiting me from Montana.  My dad is a huge fair food lover, and I tried a few new things because he was along.  Overall I only tried the following items.  Ratings are in parenthesis.

• Australian Potatoes (3/5)
• Cheese Curds (4/5)
• Caramel Apple(4/5)
• Fries (3/5)
• Raspberry Milk Shake(5/5)
• Roasted Corn (4/5)

I also had  Beer on a Stick from Summit. This is me and my friend Jason showing off our over priced sampler.  (It was damn tasty though, Horizon Red was my favorite which wasn’t surprising at all)

We spent a few hours wandering through the animal barns.  I hadn’t done this during my last two fair adventures and had a great time seeing how MN does things.  One thing that shocked me was the fact that the kids brought their pigs out into the public walk ways in the pig barn.  I don’t really know why it surprised me, but it seemed like a recipe for someone getting hurt.  Thankfully this guy wasn’t out and about.

These guys were pretty funny to watch.  One goat was chowing down on his neighbors hay and they got into a bit of a tussle 

I ran into a high school friend who happened to be working at a booth in the Education building, after chatting for a bit we checked out the samples from Pastamore based on a Foursquare tip.  I loved the Meyers Lemon infused oil, though I have no idea what I would do with it.  We wandered up Machinery hill and I drooled over the giant trucks while the rest of Minnesota got excited about four wheelers and snowmobiles. Oh and did loved the old tractor exhibit.

We finished off the night with my parents getting a cone of Martha’s Cookies.  These were tasty as usual but still overrated in my opinion.  We ended up spending close to 10 hours at the fair, and by the end of the day I felt a lot like this kid who we encountered earlier in the day.

Even though I didn’t walk out of the fair feeling like I was going to pop, I had a great time.  I’m not much for really crowded places, but I can deal with it at fair time.  I took quite a few photos, if you feel like it stop by my State Fair set over on Flickr for piglets, giant stuffed animals, and a girl on stilts.

Well I had intentions of writing about a bit of the past week’s events but it’s nine and I’m just getting to photo processing.  So to prove to all my readers that I’m alive and to give you a taste of what is to come, here is a few of the things I did over the past week.

• Como Zoo
• Tried Thai
• The Walker
• Solid Gold at the Walker
• Sculpture garden (day and night)
• State Fair
• Mass at the Cathedral
• Science Museum (including Titanic)
• Capitol
• Mill City  Museum
• Mill City Farmers Market
• Gutherie’s Endless Bridge
• Stone Arch Bridge
• Introduced my parents to Sake at Moto-i
• Foshay’s Observation Deck
• Twins-White Sox
• Minneapolis Institute of Arts
• Lyndale Rose Garden
• Harriet Bandshell

The next few days will see photos and some words to go with them

Well a tornado struck downtown Minneapolis today.  I was at work near the Mall of America when it happened and followed the action via Twitter and other sources.  I was a touch worried about my place because the tornado struck not far from it.  In fact the tornado struck the Electric Fetus which is less than a mile as the crow flies from my house.  But thankfully I was lucky and had no serious damage.  Lots of other people weren’t so lucky and I’m hoping they get things rolling quickly to get their homes and cars back in order.

In case you were wondering, here is the extent of the damage to my place.

A damp floor and damp sheets.  Nothing that a fan and the sun can’t fix.

Today was another example of how the man on the street armed with the right tools is the best source for news happening now.  The media may be able to present it better but following events on Twitter or elsewhere reported by citizens gets you a better picture right away.

Update: I’ve turned this post into a page http://connermccall.com/mnreading.  I’ll try and keep the page updated.

My reading list is always expanding, rarely shrinks, and causes me no end of worry whenever I see the unread count head over the 150 range.  I know I could hide the unread counts in Google Reader and save myself the pain, but for some reason I’m resistant.

One thing that has been a constant in my reading list, is that Minnesota based blogs take up most of my time.  Given 200 unread items, I usually have 150 unread items tagged Minnesota.  Here my recent list of Minnesota blogs.   There is no reason for the order, it’s just how the came out of my reader

• East-Lake – A bit about Minneapolis.  Check out his Top Beers page
• Like you give a damn – A wonderful tumblelog about Minnesota
• A Blog About Sarah – Sarah writes about a lot of things and takes great photos
• A Day In The Life – Technology, memes and poo have been recent topics
• A Nod to Nothing – Pretty much as it says, a lot of nothing about nothing
• Aaron Landry – Minnesota’s resident pizza expert
  
• Ambulance Driver – If you’ve ever wondered what an EMT’s day is like, here you are
• An Amber Colored Life – She claims she’s really good and hanging out
• Babbling - The opposite of babbling as it is usually interesting and understandable
  
• Because Emily Says So – Bacon, her cat, and other randomness.
  
• Beer Musings of Minneapolis-St. Paul – The title says “Beer”  Click Now!
• Bekiyrah - Photography, journalism, social science and law
• Lazy Lightning – A great place for south metro news and food reviews
• Bleat - Our own world famous blogger, Lileks could make my blog funny
• Secrets of the City – I subscribe to a few of the feeds here, a great place for local news and entertainment
• Blogging at FL250 – Written by a Minnesota based pilot.
• Brain Popcorn – If the title doesn’t capture your attention, the content will
• buildcontext - Musings on the web from Ben Hedrington
• Bus Tales – If you’ve never ridden a Metro Transit bus, here is a taste of the experience
• Camacho Watcho – If you like food and food photography, Katie has you covered
• Chocolate Mussolini – Jenni says “i have dedicated my life to the pursuit of awesome.”
• Cinna.mn – 32 flavors of Minnesota (and then some)
• Coincidence is Not Fate – “Inane ramblings of someone who thinks he knows more than he actually does. Or something.”
• Completely Inappropriate – Because sometimes inappropriate is just appropriate
• Doniree - She’s awesome becuase she uses Premium bottles to make fresh tortillas
• doodledee - Another interesting yet random blog
• Doug Hamlin’s Blog – Doug doesn’t post often, but when he does it’s worth the wait
• Drewko - For the trip of life
• Easier being Green – Great advice on how to live greener
• Embrace your age cause you livin’! – The title alone is inspiring
• The Empty Envelope - Artist, poet, wife, mother…
• Eye, me, my – Marissa writes about fashion, design, and other things
• Eyeteeth - A journal of incisive ideas
• Fresh.mn – Fresh info from Minnesota
• Ginger Sorvari – I started following Ginger during the Best Buy layoffs.  Her perspective has been very interesting..
• Girl Friday – Confessions of a Minneapolis Concierge
• The Punsultancy – Servicing all your pun needs
• Hilarity Ensues – She claims she can’t write funny captions, I don’t believe her
• The Hot Dog Blog – People eating hot dogs and writing about it = awesome
• How Does She Do It – She loves bacon so of course she’s cool
• How Many Licks, Mr. Owl? – Defining products that defy explanation
• I was told there would be bacon – “I’m a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a vest soaked with booze.”
• Jason’s DeBlog – Jason Derusha’s online home, tune in for Good Questions
• Just a Cool Cat – Music and links, what more do you need
• Kristofer D. Layon – Web Design & Online Collaboration
• Les Petites Images - Photos and other things, but I love her photos
• l’etoile magazine blog – Lots of good stuff, but their Weekend what’s what is wonderful
• Letters to Bob – I just discovered this site, drunken musings = great fun
• Live from Minnesota – A lot of interesting things
• Meg’s Single Step – blogger, social butterfly, and librarienne
• Minneapolis & St. Paul Restaurant Critics – Your where to eat guide to the Twin Cities.
• Minneapolis Metblogs – Our local Metbloggers rock
• Minnesota Microphone - Minnesota spoken word news and events
  
• Minnesota Pictures – “Photos that define Minnesota”
• Braublog - News about local media from MinnPost
• Minnesota Blog Cabin – I’m unsure if this is still going, but it is a column about the MN blogosphere
• Mmmmmm, Dinner – The title pretty much covers it
• MN Headhunter/Nerd Search – A great blog for any job seekers out there
• Monkey Disaster – “Pop culture and some news put through a filter of optimistic cynicism”
• More Cowbell - A great source for info on the local music scene
• News Cut – MPR’s Bob Collins keeps you informed
• No Smoking in the Metrodome - Short and sweet Minnesota Twins news and trivia
• Overheard in Minnespolis – Funny, funny, and even more funny
• Paleo-Future Blog – A interesting look at how the past looked toward the future
• Polymer Studios – A blog about web consulting
• Rachel’s ThinkSpot - Musings from Rachel
• Random Stuff From Sheldon – Basically, anything I feel like sending out to the blog world
• Singlespeed - A biker with a keyboard
• South 12th – Another interesting tumbleblog from the Twin Cities
• Stuff about Minneapolis - Paul is the curator of this wonderful site
• SugarFang.com – Brianne Pitt’s blog, full of interesting tidbits
• Swirlspice - Erica write about  interesting things
• The Deets – Ed Kohler takes on toilet paper, the yellow pages, and other stuff
  
• The Heavy Table – A great new addition to Twin Cities food blogging
• The Product - “obey the rules. often enter. organize your material”
• The Same Rowdy Crowd – A great blog about communication
• The Waiting Line – “Do you believe in what you see?”
• This is why I love Minneapolis – Great info about Minneapolis
  
• Twin Cities Tour Guide – “Hop on the blog and enjoy the Twin Cities!”
• Twin Cities Photoblog – Great photos from Minnesota and beyond
• Twin City Sidewalks – A blog about sidewalks that is more interesting than you think
• Uptown Mpls Blog – A photoblog centered in Uptown
• Uptown, Minneapolis – “Musings about the Uptown area of Minneapolis”
• We Got Served – Minneapolis and St. Paul restaurant reviews
• We Have Mixed Feelings About Sven Svengaard – “being cheap and watching bad TV in Minnesota”
• I’ll Tell you What it Shwas - Interesting things from Suzi
• Whiskeymarie - A little bit of crazy for your reading list
  
• YAYBIA! – A great blog about advertising
• Your Dress Would Look Better On Me – One last interesting blog about a lot of different things

That’s all I have for you today, of course there are many more Minnesota based blogs.  One things I’ve discovered since I started trying to keep much of my internet browsing local, is Minnesota has many talented writers.  If you want to add your blog to the list or link to your favorite Minnesota blog please do so in the comments.

I get the keys to my new place next Thursday.  I’m really excited for many reasons.  One thing that I realized I kept going back to was the fact that I’m getting out of Burnsville.  Anyone who I’ve talked to about my planned move in the last few months knows my dislike of this suburuban community, but I need to be sure to give it some props.  There are a few good things, and I should give it some credit. 

1. Cub Foods and Target – I love the Cub and Target in Burnsville.  Both stores are always well kept, clean, and stocked.  Both stores are busy, but not too busy.  I find the staff at both locations to be some of the best around.  I’ll miss the Cub down the street.
2. The Caribou off Nicollet and Burnsville Parkway – This location has the coffee temperature right, the evening staff is nice, and they always ask if I need my travel mug rinsed out.  They have great service, but need to serve French Roast more often.
3. Red Lion Liquors -  For a small liquor store this place rocks.  The staff is knowledgable.  They have a great beer selection, including a solid selection of local brews.  Their wine selection is excellent to.  I’m going to miss them, though I know there are great liquor stores in Minneapolis to.  I
4. Valley Natural Foods – My introduction to the world of co-ops.  I didn’t shop there nearly enough, but when I did I was always pleasantly surprised.  I’m looking forward to The Wedge being within walking distance.
5. The Atlantis movie theatre -  This is a new theatre that was built and opened in the last year.  It’s not the greatest theatre in the cities, but it’s really nice, and they let you get free refills on your soda regardless of the size.  Someday they will open their bar and restaurant, which will make it a convienent one stop destination for unimaginative but fun date nights.

I will be posting a list of things I won’t miss sometime next week.  Also, don’t expect a lot from me next week, I’ll get a Where? up, but that’s probably going to be the extent of my posting.

Apparently, Art is still confused and thinks Twincy is a cool way to talk about Minneapolis/St. Paul.  He is wrong.  His reasons may seem sound but I’m going to break them in two over my leg like Bo Jackson breaking a baseball bat.

Equity:  Art says msp is improper because it gives St. Paul an extra character.  Well boo hoo, last time I looked St. Paul is the capital city, it deserves its place in the sun.

Specificity:  It is true that MSP is the airport designation for the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport.  However, this is an easy fix.  When talking about the Twin Cities just use lower case letters.  It makes more sense to use an airport designation so outsiders know what we are referring to.  As someone from Jacksonville, what MSP stands for and they will most likely know. Ask what Twincy means and they will probably think you are talking about an obscure sex act.

Uniqueness:  This is another poor argument.  MSP is widely used,  it’s used by Amtrak and every airline in the world.  Out of all the cities in the world, only the Minneapolis/St. Paul area can use the MSP designation.  Twincy is unique only because it’s stupid and no one wants it.

As I stated before, I braved the 40 degree weather on Saturday.  Along with the photos of the playful tiger, I also stopped by the Stone Arch Bridge.  I took a bunch  of photos but these were my favorites. 

A unique view of the bridge.  It shows off the oddity of the bridge’s shape. 

I’ve always been curious to the story of this support in the middle of the river.  It looks so forlorn sitting out there by itself.

I only took this because the sky was so blue.  It didn’t turn out quite like I expected but I still like the depth the bridge gives the shot.