July 2008

Last night we finished watching The Wire: Season 2, about the Baltimore Port; it’s unions, an international smuggling organization, and more about the drug trade from Season 1.

It started really slow and I was worried I wouldn’t like it, but by the end, I was hooked. It wasn’t as exciting as the dangerous drug trade, but it kept my mind moving since I really have no idea how the port system works. And like season 1, there is a story being told that really makes you wonder just how corrupt the whole thing is. It’s just scary to think about just how realistic it is.

Next up is Season 3, about the city bureaucracy.

Previously: The Wire: Season 1

The Fringe Festival starts this week, running from July 31 - August 10, and this year, I’m definitely going to see a few shows. I say that every year, but this time I mean it! Now I just have to pick which shows to see.

- Full show schedule
- Erica’s 2008 Pre-Fringe Priority Show List
- Fringe by Numbers: Choosing a Top 10 Numerically
- So very Fringe: hidden gems in 30-plus dance offerings
- MNSpeak.com: Fringe

Tickets are $12 each, which I think is a little expensive if you want to see multiple shows, but they do offer ticket packs, and MPR members get a discount so there really isn’t a reason to not go.

Tricia and I just finished reading, uh listening to, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince this weekend. It had been at least four years since I last read a Harry Potter book, but now I remember why they are so well liked. The books are very entertaining, and once you’ve followed a characters story for five books, you just have to finish the rest of them.

I’ve given up on actually reading books and decided to stick with audiobooks, and Harry Potter is a perfect example of how listening to the story can be much more entertaining than reading it. Jim Dale does such an outstanding job that he has won two Grammy Awards for his work. And the number of voices that he has created is so astounding, that he holds a Guinness World Records for having created and recorded 146 different character voices for the final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I didn’t know this, but Jim also does the narrator work for my favorite new TV show, Pushing Daisies.

We did most of our reading while on driving trips to Kansas City and to the cabin, so there were times when I couldn’t pay as much attention as I really wanted to, sometimes missing out on entire scenes. Or we’d often go a week or two without reading, and so in those situations, I was very thankful for a site like wikibooks.org that would summarize each chapter.

I’m quite looking forward to reading the next and final book, but also the movie for the Half Blood Prince, which gets released in theaters on Nov 21. Here is the trailer for the movie…

We spent the weekend at the family cabin near Dorset, MN with my parents and brother Jeff and his family. Over the last few years we haven’t been able to spend as much time up there, but every time we go up north, we pledge to change that. Unfortunately my job makes it really difficult to take that much time off, especially to a place without easy internet access. Dial-up just doesn’t cut it!

On our way up we stopped at the St. Joseph Meat Market, after a recommendation from a friend. They specialize in sausages, all types of varieties including the famous “funeral hotdish in a smoked brat” available at the State Fair. St. Joe’s isn’t directly on our way to the cabin, but I’m thinking this will now be a regular stop.

My other highlight of the weekend was the beer I picked up at the local liquor store, the Schell’s Lakemaid Lager. Each bottle has a picture of a featured Lakemaid, like Miss Muskie and Miss Crappie, as well as the size of the fish you caught under each cap. And the beer was quite good, especially for a lager.

Here are a few pictures:

Bridge Collapse Retrospective: at 6:05 pm august 1st, 2007 the 35W bridge collapsed into the mississippi river, 13 people died, scores of others were hurt, and a community responded. this is a wcco.com special project sharing their collective stories of one of the greatest disasters in minnesota history

I’ve only made it through a few of the survivor stories, but I’m very impressed with it so far, but will continue to watch each section. I like how the whole thing feels like a WCCO TV production with the graphics used.

All four sections were excellent, survivors, responders, officials and wcco, with stories from every perspective. Would have been nice if each interview was one video, instead of separate videos for each segment, or if one interview would lead right into the next. I wish I could just hit play and listen to the whole thing instead of constantly hitting back and play.

Also see the similar to the Star Tribune’s 13 seconds in August.

Last night we braved the downtown crowds and went to the Aquatennial Parade. I have fond memories of the Aquatennial as a kid, but not because of the parade, but because of the events associated with it. Rollerblading races, milk carton boat races, and the sand castle competition. I’ve probably only been to the parade a few times, and now I remember why. It was really boring.

The spacing was horrible, way too many floats with royalty from the suburbs, cars with random people in them, and not enough excitement. I much prefer the Holidazzle Parade in the winter.

Felt like I needed a change, so I switched themes today. I’m still working on some layout options, but I really like the flexibility of this one. I took out the Flickr sidebar and will instead create new posts when needed. What do you think? Yea or Nay? Let me know if you notice anything odd about the design or the rss feed.

Andrew Zimmern: Here’s a question, what’s the best available turnkey location for a new restaurant in the Twin Cities, and what’s the best space currently occupied that could become available any day now?

The comments section is a nice read of available spots in Minneapolis and St. Paul, including a few in Longfellow…

- The addition to the house just south of the Riverview Theater - this used to be Kee Mee Chow Mein, and another commenter suggested an Izzy’s or another ice cream parlor. This was also one of the possible locations for my walk-up Sloppy Joe restaurant called Sloppy Moe’s.

- The old Armstrong’s space on 42nd ave and 34th st - I think a few years ago, tLMC and I talked about opening a craft beer bar here, but he noted there are some parking and liquor license issues with this location.

But the big news is that Thom Pham (of Azia) has announced that he will be moving forward with Mix in the old Molly Quinns on East Lake. Sweet.

I didn’t make it to the show last night, but here are a couple reviews…

Chris Riemenschneider: Pop Life: The Hold Steady’s ‘Positive’ jam at First Ave: I’ve seen every Hold Steady show that’s gone off in Minneapolis, save for one of the two in the two-night stand at the Triple Rock early in 2005. I do believe last night’s was the best yet.

Words To Sell: The Hold Steady @ First Avenue: For any other band, last night’s show would have been an absolute triumph, but for The Hold Steady, it was simply a good homecoming show, but compared to past First Ave. shows, something was lacking to make this a truly memorable show.

City Pages: The Hold Steady almost killed me

And a few pre-show links…

Vita.mn: Music: The Hold Steady’s ‘Positive’ Jam
The Hold Steady Q&A
Hold Steady Skit on Letterman
The Hold Steady “Sequestered in Memphis” on Letterman