I know it’s only Monday, but I’m already thinking about next weekend. If today’s weather is any indication of the upcoming week it should be a great weekend to be outside.

Which is why this Saturday I’ll be attending the Ramsey County  Master Gardener’s plant sale in the morning and then heading over to Lake Phalen WaterFest for the early afternoon. 

A few of the WaterFest activities: On-the-water education in Wilderness Inquiry Voyageur canoes (Canoe rides!), Kid’s fishing lessons and stream monitoring, Rain garden tours,Raptors and other live animals, the Toonies Puppet Show, Native plant give-away, Powder Puff and 3M clowns and stilt walkers, and solar boat races.

Where else in town can I see raptors while getting advice on rain garden creation?

For this type of variety I’m willing to brave the clowns and stiltwalkers.

Anyone else want to go?

(Photo courtesy of cameraphone10000 / Mothers Day Sunset)

Y’know, I’m still a little pissed about the smoking ban in bars. I pretty much took the Eddie Izzard view on the matter: “Yes, no smoking in bars, and soon there’ll be no drinking and no talking.” I’ve heard all sorts of “but it’s nicer to breathe clean(ish) air than all that cigarette smoke.” Sure. Whatever. It’s still government overreach… and doesn’t even pretend not to be.

So, you’d imagine I’d flip my shit when I saw this:

In an effort to rid its playgrounds and beaches of cigarette butts and secondhand smoke, Ramsey County is considering making many of its recreation areas tobacco-free zones.

But… no. I am having a really hard time getting my blood worked up about keeping cigarettes away from places where children play. I know in the depths of my political soul that it should not be the government doing this–that people should have the good sense not to smoke at a playground. But the plain truth is most people don’t.

And this placates me even more:

Tobacco use would still be allowed on Ramsey County golf courses and at picnic shelters.

Golf really isn’t golf without a cigar. And who of us has left a picnic satisfied without eating a cigarette or two.

Maybe you can come up with a good point to help piss me off about this?

The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden turns 20 this year.

You’re no doubt familiar with this photo; the famous “Spoonbridge and Cherry” fountain-sculpture that defines our city as one that doesn’t exactly take itself seriously.

The Claes Oldenburg sculpture was commissioned by the Walker Art Center in 1985 and was installed three years later on May 9, 1988. On August 29, 2007, it was eaten in a freak walk-by assault.

I was doing some quick research and found out it was fabricated by Lippincott, Inc., North Haven, Connecticut; Merrifield-Roberts, Inc., Bristol, Rhode Island; and Paul E. Luke, Inc., East Boothbay, Maine.

It seems ironic that the piece of art that most defines our city is actually the product of a Swedish artists and three East Coast states. Do you think they’ll be sending the Spoonbridge a birthday card?

Photo from oopsilon under Flickr CC license

MinnPost is reporting on something very interesting that is happening within in the Minnesota chapter of the Republican Party. When the party convenes this fall in St. Paul, six of the delegates will be pledged to Ron Paul.

While this may not seem like anything newsworthy, it actually kind of is. (In fact, MinnPost did two stories on it. Two!) Fully half of the delegates from three of the four Twin Cities districts (the fourth, fifth, and sixth) will be going to St. Paul wearing Ron Paul tshirts. The state party isn’t happy about this. In fact, in an email sent to some supporters, the state GOP said:

“You should also be aware that, unlike your service as a State or local delegate, your influence on the process is considerably limited. The other primary states will, by convention time, have determined the Presidential nominee. The platform process is divided and the opportunity to participate in even a piece of it is limited. After the convention, the platform is generally ignored. For this reason, the role of National Delegate is generally seen as a ‘reward’ for long and faithful service to the Party, rather than as a ‘representative’ to a deliberative body or a ‘learning opportunity’ for newcomers.”

In other words, a pat on the head for being able to do so darn well. Now sit down and shut up while the grownups discuss business.

This really makes me want to poke my head into the X come September when the convention rolls into town. Because I think it may look something like this.

But, I don’t know. Are you a member of the Ron Paul Revolution here in the Twin Cities? Or are you a lock-step GOP member? Give us some insight on what the hell is going on here.

This photo uploaded on April 25, 2008 by Aaron Landry is the kind of Saturday we’re having in the Twin Cities.

Today, I know that many of you were in conference rooms all #minnpost this and #minnpost that like a *bunch of nerds, but from what I can tell the rest of the world was out and about freaking out. 

Parking lots were full, lines were super long, and it seemed everyone had to get flowers for Mothers Day Then I spent the afternoon #tilling, #planting, #**, and #carryingFurniture for @abossyFriend.

Did anyone make it to the plant sale at the Arboretum?

(*Actually, I can’t wait to hear all about it)

(#** Twitter talk:minnebar)

MinneBar -– one of the largest BarCamps in the world – is being held this Saturday at the University of Minnesota’s Coffman Union.

For those unfamiliar, BarCamp is an ad-hoc “unconference” — a user-generated conference that’s rich with participatory workshops, discussions, demos and more. Lots of discussion about start-ups, programming, open source and social media in talks mostly run by average people who are passionate about learning, sharing and collaborating.

This year’s schedule of events runs 8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m.

Here are just a few panel highlights: Blogging for Benjamins; This Thing called Twitter; Social Search in the Corporate Enviroment; The Mathematical Foundations of Music; Why Should I Care About Grails? Full list here.

More than 400 people have registered already. Everyone is welcome, and the event is free. More info here.

(Geek note: If you’re planning to be there and are on Twitter, be sure to use #minnebar as your hashtag and follow @minnebar for updates.)

Last night, a staff member at Coffee House Press told me that the proprietors of Nate’s Clothing downtown (27 N 4th St) closed the sale of their building yesterday. The Star Tribune ran a story in March on the impending ownership change, saying it would be sold to Uppal Enterprises, which plans to install a nightlife establishment or restaurant.

Coffee House, which currently roosts on the fourth floor, will mostly likely be moving to Northeast, possibly in the vicinity of the old Grain Belt Brewery. CHP is a non-profit press that has put out some award-winning books. If you’re not familiar with them they have various events going on around the Cities in the coming weeks.

Local artist Scott Seekins also has a studio on the fourth floor of the building, so he is being displaced as well. He will have a longer trek to complete his “performance art” rounds through the downtown skyway everyday if he has to move to a different neighborhood. (If you’re familiar with Seekins, you know that he always wears either a white suit or a black suit, depending on the season. I saw him at the Mayday parade last weekend in snowy garb, and as my friend said, “That means spring.”)

So, that’s a three-for-one hit to the rootsy side of downtown: the mom ‘n’ pop clothes business, a non-profit book publishing press, and a local artist all leaving the Warehouse District. God knows we could use another Aqua.

If you were traipsing by Northrop Auditorium on the U of M campus on your way to class yesterday, perhaps you saw the camel brought in to celebrate Israel’s 60th. From The Daily website:

Gopher Israel and Hillel, the University’s Jewish student center, observed the 60th anniversary of Israel’s establishment with Israeli music, a kosher buffet, a piñata and a camel on the Northrop Auditorium patio.

According to the article, Gopher Israel received $6,000 in grants for the celebration, which was considered by some to be an “educational opportunity” for students not familiar with Israel and/or Judaism. I’m wondering what percentage of that grant money was animal care and transportation costs. A clever PR move to attract attention, but I don’t really see how a live mascot helps educate students about the Israeli nation.

I fly for my job - a lot. And almost always on Northwest Airlines.

This week I was on four Northwest flights (New York and Chicago [and back]), and on my outbound flight to Chicago yesterday morning I heard something completely new and foreign to me during the in-flight announcements:

Something to the effect: “As part of Northwest Airlines’ commitment to the environment, we will be coming through to collect aluminum cans, newspapers and plastic for recycling…” The flight attendant read a whole little speech about it.

Apparently this is part of a bigger environmental program called EarthCares.

However, during my three other NWA flights this week, the cans and papers were thrown into the same garbage sack with all the other trash — just like always. Maybe it’s an effort in-progress.

The University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is holding it’s Auxiliary Spring Plant Sale this weekend. Hours are 9am-3pm Saturday, May 10, and 10am-3pm Sunday, May 11.

On sale for the first time ever will be three new rose bush varieties named after the Scandinavian caricatures Sven, Ole, and Lena.

According to [Arboretum Director of Operations Peter] Moe, Ole is a pale pink rose and Lena is a frilly pink and white flower, while Sven features fragrant mauve-to-violet-colored blooms.

That sounds much more enjoyable than an actual Sven and Ole joke.