Every year as the snow begins to melt, which happened earlier than normal this year, I look at our city in disgust. Every year it seems like there is more trash and sand built up in yards and roads. I know it really isn’t any more than the year before, I’m just used to the illusion of clean that the snow gives us. All things considered, this city is fairly clean. I love it for that. I also understand that because we get snow, we are going to have cluttered gutters in the spring. It is just that on top of the brown grass and leafless trees makes for not a very pretty city. I guess we only have to wait about another month or so before things start to green up. Then I can enjoy the outside again.

The Riverview is showing the 2006 Oscar nominees for Best Short Documentary this weekend (Feb 25-26): PG-13 Sat-Sun at 10:30 & 4:15

I’ve never gotten a chance to see these nominees; it’s always one of those categories that gets read off and clips shown during the Oscars and I’m completely out of touch with the films. Now here’s a chance to see them!

Metroblogging has a new look!! There are a ton of new features and things to play with on the new layout so feel free to browse around. You might notice that there are a ton of clickable menus on the side. I personally think it looks more streamlined than the way it was before.

One new feature they are toying with is the ability for everyone that wants to post pictures to the Minneapolis Metblog group on Flickr will be able to. I will hopefully let you all in on more details as they emerge.

Have fun with the new layout!!

So I have begun my training for the Breast Cancer 3-Day by walking 3 miles four times a week. I need to start slow, ya know? But due to it being winter outside (finally), I need to walk inside somewhere, and this week I chose Mall of America because it’s fairly convenient and it opens early for walkers so you don’t have to dodge so many people. I’m already tired of walking there, though, because it’s basically a big circle, and you can only walk by the crepe stand so many times before you break down and buy one.

Anyway, today I overslept a little and decided to brave the crowds anyway (big mistake). However, I went up to the fourth floor thinking that there probably wouldn’t be many people up there. Boy, was I right. There is nothing up there except for Hooters and the movie theater. When did that happen? And do they have any plans to put anything up there again? The last time I remember going up there was in college to go bar hopping because you could get stamped at one bar and then go to any of the bars, and I remember that being fairly awesome. It was very bizarre to see so much empty space in a place filled with so many people.

There are other indoor places that I plan on trying out for walking, like the Excel, the Minneapolis skyways, and the tunnels at the U. Hopefully springlike temperatures will come back soon, though, because I miss walking down to the river along Summit.

I may be wrong but I think this is a large metropolis, am I right? We are not as large as some, but I feel we have reached a status allowing us to get special movies. Again we were passed over to recieve a limited release movie. The movie I am speaking of is called Night Watch. It is a Russian movie that has been all the buzz around the U.S. on when we would see it here. It is also the first movie is an “epic fantasy trilogy”. What makes me most upset is the fact that I see no indication it will spread to a wide release. So that means just because Hollywood feels that we aren’t large enough to get exclusive movies, I may have to wait and rent this movie. Grnated it won’t be for everyone. It is a stagerring 3 plus hours long, subtitled, and sometimes I have heard the plot is hard to understand. The trailer looks awesome, though!! You really should check it out here. I’m not sure what we can do to make these movies come here, but we should sure try…

Many of us have a three-day weekend and that means its one of few Sundays a year when hitting a concert and having a few beers doesn’t mean starting off the work week with a splitting headache and bags under the eyes.

With that being said, I highly recommend you check out Electropolis Plays Metropolis this weekend. Electropolis is a local avant-garde psychedelic jazz meets experimental rock quartet known for their improvisational talents with homemade instruments and song structure. But this Sunday is special — it’s their performance of the soundtrack to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, the classic 1920s silent sci-fi film.

Beyone the feat of creating a live-action soundtrack that actually fits the action of the film, the group will position itself at various locations throughout the theater, so the audience is sitting in live surround sound. You can read more about it in Thursday’s Pioneer Press article here. I have the DVD of the first and only other time it has been performed in ‘04, and it really is one of those rare experiences. If I’ve piqued your interest but you still need another little nudge, you can read my interview with the group here.

Hope to see you there! Your boss never knew Sunday could be so fun.

My favorite local musician, Coleman Lindberg, will be playing at the Fine Line on Tuesday, Feb 21. There are three other acts playing: Sick of Sarah, Small White, and Somatic Fuzz. Coleman goes on at 9:00.

The show’s 21+. It’s $3 at the door, but you can get free tickets off the Fine Line’s website. Click on “Free Tickets” and then on “Tuesday.” (Except that I just checked and for some reason it’s under Wednesday. Just look for 2/21/06.)

Each artist gets paid according to how many of their comp tickets come through the door, so if you could be so kind as to circle Coleman’s name on your free ticket that you print, that’d be swell.

I’ll be out of town and sadly unable to attend, but I just saw him at Harvey’s on Wednesday night and he’s in fine form. Coleman’s a “folk/punk/popster” kinda guy. Can’t vouch for the other bands on the bill.

And, hey, it’s four artists for free, or for $3. At the Fine Line. That’s a pretty low-risk way to check out some local music in a decent venue. What else are you gonna do on a Tuesday night?

This is old news now, but I came across an article G.R. Anderson wrote at the City Pages about how the redistricting of Minneapolis happened and what the effect was on city council races.

I’m a relatively new resident of the city, so I didn’t know much of anything about the history going into the primaries. Sounds like the whole thing was kind of a mess. My guess is it probably won’t go much better after the next census, when the next re-districting happens.

During the lunch hour, I can always smell the chicken frying at Rainbow. Sometimes it really makes me want fried chicken. Sometimes it really doesn’t.

The other day I was running on the Greenway, and right near Nicollet I smelled the most powerful barbecue smell. Made me want to climb up the hill and over the fence to find it.

As some of you may know, I have been playing World of Warcraft since it was first released over a year ago. I just learned today that our very own Metroblogging founder, Sean Bonner plays, too. In this article, he’s mentioned by name as a “mover and shaker” in the tech world who is a member of the guild We Know.

So, Sean, if you need an experienced Business Analyst with QA experience in your guild (or a good priest, mage or hunter) throw me a line!

Zug Zug!