I saw this graffiti on the side of a bridge right between New Brighton and Arden Hills, going northbound on 35W.

Yep, it says “CAVEAT EMPTOR.” That’s Latin! It means “buyer beware.” This would be a poignant piece of graffiti to paint on the side of a bridge in Minnesota, as bridges are built by the government, who gets their money from you, the tax payer. Buyer beware! These bridges suck! Except it was painted on a railroad bridge.

Last night, as my Beagle-Jack was answering the call of nature in our back yard, we had an unexpected encounter with Nature, in the form of an adult possum, perched atop a chain link fence. These nocturnal marsupials are relative newcomers to Minnesota, and are just the most recent in a group of wild animals I have seen in the Twin Cities metro. I’ve also spotted deer near downtown Saint Paul, bald eagles in Fridley, and red-tailed hawks just about everywhere. What sort of urban widlife encounters have you had in the Twin Cities?

You didn’t believe me.

In multiple posts and comments, I told you the smoking ban, alley-walking ban and txting ban were part of a slippery slope of government interference in our lives. This is how we lose freedoms, I claim, one step at a time.

MPR has a story about a person who got emphysema because of exposure to wood smoke. I heard a different version of the story on KTLK-FM this morning. I really feel for the lady. She never smoked and has a smoker’s disease. I am sympathetic.

The story says her neighbors have agreed *not* to heat their homes with wood this year. That’s super nice of them. The local authorities didn’t require the entire neighborhood to go smoke free or anything. The neighbors did the right thing for this special case. Kudos!

However, the MPR story shows a picture of a fire ring with the caption, “A fire pit and piles of wood stacked in the back yard of the O’Link family remind Jamie and Marty of a time when they romanticized the smell of wood smoke.”

WAIT a minute…that’s a leap from one person’s exposure to wood-heated homes to a fire ring outside, right? Well, I guess it is all smoke…so that means….Alarm bells are going off here. This connection, coupled with the anti-wood smoke news report skew I heard this morning, suggests “particulate matter in the air” from burning materials of any sort is the next target of the nanny state.

I’m going to make a prediction that soon our state’s consumer protectionism nazis will be at it again. Pretty soon using an outdoor stove, fire ring or using an indoor fireplace will be under attack. Maybe even charcoal grills!?!

“We didn’t know that the wood smoke was bad to inhale,” the public will cry. State Attorney Generals will sue the big box stores who sell patio fire rings. Weber Grills have to fund thousands to research a smokeless smoker. Cracker Barrel, the restaurant chain known for it’s expansive wood-burning fireplaces, will go out of business. Local campgrounds will face class-action suits from the last 10 years of campers who unknowingly exposed themselves to wood smoke while cooking their S’mores.

It’s only a matter of time before your home fireplace will be regulated down to gas-only. I hope I’m wrong, but I predict that burning wood, both indoors and out, will become the next scarlet letter of the nanny state police.

Put *that* in your pipe and smoke it.

The Minneapolis Metblog is having an open call for authors. If you’re a blogger looking for a wider audience, or simply have a desire to write about what’s happening in Minneapolis Saint Paul, keep reading:

While already having a blog doesn’t hurt, especially to demonstrate your ability to post frequently, it’s far from a requirement. If interested, send me an e-mail telling us briefly about yourself, blog link (if you have one) and what type of topics you’d like to cover. We’ve got new authors! Hooray!

I just stumbled across this video showing history through photos from 1906 through Obama’s election. The I-35W Bridge Collapse comes in at 8:20.


Some graphic stuff here, so be forewarned.

They say that things are going to change now. 

I say let’s rock.

Photo “A Taste of What’s to Come” originally uploaded November 7, 2008 by katbaro.

I am currently in the process of building/loading my new iPod and adding a bunch of new cd’s. In the mean time I’m listening to She&Him Volume One.

What’s in your shuffle?

The all-Twitter version.

• The James J Hill Library is on Twitter: @jjhill_library. Blogging, too. Matt the Librarian is doing an awesome job. Interesting insight as to how a business research library works.
• ThriftyLocalHipster’s website is still not operational, but they are putting all the happy hours and various events that they would post if they had a website on Twitter: @localhipster.
• You tell me whether @MPRMemberDrive is as annoying to read as it is to listen to. It does have some quirky behind the scenes stuff. I guess I don’t ever think about what it’s like to sit/work inside a radio studio. And official tweeter Jacquie Fuller (On-Air Fundraising Manager at MPR) has a sense of humor.
• The PiPress folks are using @MNvotes to attract election day votecasting stories. Tweet ‘em your tales of polling place folly/woe/appalledness/crowds/whatever. You could probably tell ‘em how pleasant and stress-free your early voting experience was, too. Use the hashtag #mnvotes. They’ve got some useful tidbits and factoids, too. And a terrible retweet from @MayorRTRybak (because the original was a terrible tweet).
• Jason DeRusha turned me on to Second Act, a store in Eden Prairie that sells discounted fancy TVs. I was perusing their website looking at electronicals that I really have no good reason to buy and I noticed that they are twittering at @secondact. That fact alone made it so much more likely that I would personally shop there. They’ve got some small business behind-the-scenes stuff and the occasional deal. And, apparently, their own fantasy football and baseball leagues. Guess what the prizes are….
• The Link is the latest local non-profit to jump into the social media fray with @thelinkmn. They’re still pretty new (to Twitter), but so far they have some tidbits about non-profits in general, issues specific to their mission (”Our mission is to build a supportive community network that links youth and their families to their inner strength through life skills, education, advocacy, supportive housing, and a dynamic network of social services to transform lives.”), and some things about what people in their organization are actually doing as part of their jobs. If they keep that up, I’d say it’s a great example of helping people to get to know their organization. (via @lisa_ray)
• Speaking of non-profits, the Nonprofits Assistance Fund (@NAFund) has certainly been a leader in using Twitter and teaching other NPs how to do the same.

The weekend is upon us. Let there be rock.

(Melismatics @ The Fine Line- Uploaded on October 13, 2008 by Sara Montour )

Are you going to meet this weekend head on with blaring speakers and blasting subwoofers? Or perhaps you are going to curl up on the couch with a book and a nice cello addagio?

Hey, whatever cranks your Victrola.

This last week I had to blast though about 25 cd’s I bought at Half Priced Books.  I finally got to one of the two new Cd’s I bought a few weekends ago, Ben Folds. There are some really good songs on it, but I’m not sure I’m ready to review it. My gut tells me the work of music is decent, but not great.

This weekend  I’m looking forward to giving the new Franti and Spearhead cd a serious listening.

What are you listening to?

This morning I was looking at the new batch of photos by Invisible Pilot in the Metblog pool and for whatever reason I started wondering about the various people in the pics.

( Uploaded on October 5, 2008 by invisiblepilot )

You know the usual questions: Who are these people? Why do they look familiar? Do they like drinking whiskey from a flask?  

Then almost if by cue, a few minutes ago my buddy SeanH sends me an email and says he was talking to a friend that ran into an old timey friend whom recently moved back in town. This old timey friend, Kim, has a website which is InvisiblePilot.com.

Hmmm, that sounds familiar I thought for about 15 seconds before my slow ass brain could make the connection. Hah! I’ve seen that invisible pilot around. So I sent Sean the Metblogs link and he put names to the faces. So I do know them. Whether or not they drink whiskey from a flask, I’ll never tell.

So, yo Kim, what up? Welcome back to the T.C.

Nice pics, keep’em coming.

And for those of you that are looking for something to do this weekend there’s a party, elevenoneighteen.

saturday october 18th, 7-11 PM
art, chinese food, drinks and a dj (analog aries) @ the northrup king building
enter on Van Buren Street & follow signs to the third floor, gallery space #332
1500 jackson street northeast |

Art, Chinese Food, drinks, and a dj! What more could you ask for?

(Don’t say money)

If you’re not at the bloginar or observing Yom Kippur, try this on Thursday.

Beyond the Pure: Readings by Writers of Color, is returning to The Carol Connolly Reading Series at Intermedia Arts (”Minnesota’s first and only ongoing series of public literary readings whose mission it is to provide a platform for writers historically excluded from traditional literary settings.”).

Beyond the Pure: Readings by Writers of Color
Thursday, October 9, 2008
7:00 PM at Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis
Admission by donation; wine & beer reception to follow

Curated by Julie Bates & Carolyn Holbrook; hosted by Carolyn Holbrook

Featuring:
IBé was born in Guinea, and grew up between Sierra Leone, Chicago, St. Cloud, and the Twin Cities. Quite naturally, he lives in the Middle of the Atlantic…with a mailing address in Minneapolis, MN. Among others, he writes about the African Experience, both in Africa and in America. Bridge Across Atlantic, his first collection of poems, is a small dose of these stories.

BAO PHI has been a performance poet since 1991. A two-time Minnesota Grand Slam champion and a National Poetry Slam finalist, Bao Phi has appeared on HBO Presents Russell Simmons Def Poetry, and a poem of his appeared in the 2006 Best American Poetry anthology. He has performed in venues and schools across the country, from the Nuyorican Poets Café to the University of California, Berkeley. Currently he continues to perform across the country, remains active as an Asian American community organizer, and works at the Loft, where he creates and operates programs for artists and audiences of color.

SUN YUNG SHIN is a 2007 Bush Artist Fellow for Literature and author of the collection of poems Skirt Full of Black (Coffee House Press 2007); co-editor of Outsiders Within: Writings on Transracial Adoption; (South End Press 2006) and author of Cooper’s Lesson (Children’s Book Press 2004), a bilingual Korean/English illustrated book for children. She’s currently working on her second book of poems with the working title The Invisible Choir and a memoir of her immigration and naturalization. Her website is www.sunyungshin.com.

Funds for this activity are provided by the COMPAS Community Art Program through a grant from the McKnight Foundation. The Carol Connolly Reading Series is sponsored in part by The Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts, DreamHaven Books, Patrick’s Cabaret, SF Minnesota, and the University Club of Saint Paul.

Intermedia Arts on: [web] [facebook]