This is not a post about traffic management. I don’t have crash statistics or advice on how to create a better bike/ped environment. This is about the three intersections in Our Fair City that have given me the most trouble. The most baffling, frustrating, horribly laid out intersections in all of Minneapolis. This, dear reader, is a post about how directionally incompetent I am. I hope you can relate to at least one of the following three clusterfucks:

#3: Ceder/Franklin/Minnehaha

Look at this! It’s not even an intersection! It’s a triangle! Still, somehow, this “intersection” is a destination for me. There are all sorts of good bars in this area and I’m usually able to find pretty cheap or even free parking. But have you ever gotten out of your car and tried to find anything but the Taco Bell? It took me 45 minutes to find the Cabooze the first time I went to a show there. That time has diminished with each subsequent visit, but it’s not down to a straight line from my car to the bar. There are also just too many crisscrossing, arbitrarily turning streets in one place for my puny little mind. Once I figured this intersection out it wasn’t so bad, but I still hate having to deal with it.

#2: St. Anthony Main

This is another destination area for me: Mac’s Industrial, The Otter, The Bulldog, Nye’s, Surdyk’s, friends’ apartments. Too many streets try to be in the same place at the same time: it’s like all the streets want to touch the White Castle or something. Is the destination on East Hennepin, Central, 1st Avenue, University, 4th Street? Forget it. These, plus all the overlapping ancillary side streets, have turned me around and made me (and many many of my friends) really unsure just exactly where something in this clusterfuck of an area is.

#1: Lake and Hiawatha

When someone gives me directions to a place, and those directions involve going through or near the intersection of Lake and Hiawatha, I immediately ask them if there is a different way I can go. Don’t get me wrong: I can drive on Hiawatha without getting lost. I can drive on Lake without getting lost. I can even turn onto Lake from Hiawatha and vice-versa. But if the directions involve a turn otherwise, HELL NO. I am not lying when I say I have lost a full hour and a half to this intersection more than once. Minnehaha? Snelling? What the hell are these streets doing here, if not to confuse the hell out of me? Where the fuck is 28th? And, for that matter, which 28th am I looking for?

This is an anomaly I’ve only otherwise encountered downtown (which would probably eek in at number four on this list): the street and avenue are in the same number area. Between 26th and 32nd streets and avenues all intersect and seem to alternate street/ave/street/ave in the same parallel progression. And when you finally find the avenue you want going in the direction you want, the avenue your directions tell you to take all the way through this intersection, it’s no longer there! I’m looking at you, 28th Avenue.

Bah! This exercise has gotten my blood all worked up. These are intersections that I truly hate. And I’m not just throwing around “hate” like some third grader talking about school pudding. This is the meaning of hate your mom thinks of when she says, “We don’t say ‘hate,’ it’s such a strong word.”

So what about you? What intersections truly cause you to lose all control and just drive through yards because that’s faster?

(Side note: I did not include St. Paul in this list because the entire city of St. Paul is itself one giant clusterfuck intersection.)

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Target - Clear Rx

I have never had a bad experience with Target Pharmacy until last week. I somehow got a prescription refill dosage that was sliced in half. I had half as much as I needed for this month.

This week, I was told I could pick up a prescription after 2:30 PM on Sunday. When I came in Monday morning, I was told it hadn’t arrived yet and I needed to wait until afternoon. These were two separate Target stores.

After airing my grievances on Twitter, I discovered that others have had problems with Target Pharmacy.

Have you had issues with Target? Where do you get your prescriptions filled?

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In a scene straight from a Ben Stiller comedy, I accidently dropped part of a toliet paper holder into said toliet just as it was flushing. Bad enough anytime or anywhere, but I did it at my brother-in-law’s condo while there attending my mother-in-law’s funeral.  After a day of using the public restroom across the street (it was 8 degrees!) and dark looks from my long-suffering wife, the plumber arrived and gave the okay to use the toliet again — much to everyone’s relief. We can laugh about it now.

Rest in peace, Gerry. A story like this would have cracked her up. I know she is laughing at me from a better place.

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You can’t have a Grinch without a do gooder.

Who is The Cheer Meister? “the one who deserves a backslap or a toast”

Which Minnesotan has really stepped up the game and done some good in 2008?

Doesn’t it just seem like Mn should have a Cindy Lou Who Award?

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The Grinch Who Stole Minnesota

This year there are some mighty fine Grinch candidates from our fair state.

Who gets your vote?

McHale? Childress?

Petters? Paulose? McGuire?   

Someone else?

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nine inch nails, nov 25 2008

Photo Originally uploaded Uploaded on November 26, 2008
by invisiblepilot

I was supposed to be Greg’s date for the NIN show, but the show was postponed. And hard as it is to believe some cooler kids than us got them for the make up show.

Did you go?

Was Trent looking old? How did they sound?

I want to hear about it.

.

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The Senate recount bores me and this New York Times op-ed reminded me why.  A victory is arbitrary.  What’s the difference between this recount and flipping a coin to determine the winner?  And with the end of Georgia’s Senate race, thus ending the Democrats’ quest for a 60-seat majority, and the start of the holiday season, how many Minnesotans are still following this recount?  I bet it will not resolved before Congress resumes in January, but, hey, maybe I’ll be surprised.

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This looks cool — anybody been? Going?

WHAT: The Twin Cities’ Best Craft Sale featuring hundreds of independent artists, crafters and designers

WHERE: Midtown Global Market, Lake St. and Chicago Ave., Minneapolis, MN

WHEN: Friday, December 5 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday, December 6 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

HOW MUCH: It’s FREE!

More info here.

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From katbaro in the MSP MB Pool, it’s Santa!

Real beard? Yes or no.

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Sorry for the hiatus metbloggers; I just made the move from St. Paul to Minneapolis and am still sans personal Internets (so I write this from work while I scarf down my sandwich), as well as still buried in boxes.

As I mentioned when I first introduced myself to you fine folks, I’ve been super excited about all the new shops, restaurants, bars, parks, etc., that I get to scope out. First on my list?  The first day I can get my ass out of bed early enough to make a stop, I’m so hitting up the Wuollet’s at 50th and France on my way to work.  One of my favorite local radio sales reps used to bring these fabulous donuts into the office for myself and other colleagues at the ad agency where I used to work downtown. These left quite an impression and are absolutely to die for.  Maybe it’ll be my Friday morning treat in a couple of days…

On the topic of Things I Intend to Do, I’m hoping to get here for The New Standards Holiday Concert, sponsored by 89.3 The Current.

The Deets:

• When: Saturday, 12/6; 8PM
• Where: Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul
• Who (my faves - so far - are bolded): The New Standards (jazz trio) will be joined by musicians including Mason Jennings, Jeremy Messersmith, Electric Arc Radio, The Frantzich Brothers, The Warblers (Chris Osgood and Dave Ahl from Suicide Commandos), Lucy Michelle, Matt Wilson, and Jello Slave (Michelle Kinney and Jacqueline Ferrier-Ultan).
• Dollars: cost is $29 + $2.50 facility fee (discount available to MPR members!)

Now I just need to recruit a friend or two willing to fork out the change and join me.

In other 89.3 The Current-related news, PD Steve Nelson is moving to the news side of things as the Programming Director on that side.  His shoes are being filled by Jim McGuinn from WXPN in Philadelphia (which if memory serves me correctly, The Current did a little station swap with those nice folks over the summer to expose MN listeners to Philly music and vice versa… interesting…).  Get the details from CityPages here.

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The Star Tribune is pulling out the perennial election reform editorial. Let’s take a look at how instant runoff voting and fusion voting could have kept our state out of the news.

Dean Barkley only got 15% of the vote and everyone with two feet on the ground expected that. If we had instant runoff voting, I’m not going to suggest Barkley would have won, but I will say one of the two Man-Children he ran against probably would have had a much clearer mandate after all was said and done.

Michele Bachmann won reelection despite her very strident, best efforts–no one expected that. If we had fusion voting, the Change Vote would have been unified and Bachmann would have been defeated by a potentially double-digit margin, like she should have been. Had the Independence Party been able to nominate someone on another party’s ticket, that would not have left the door open to another change candidate to run on a credible party’s ticket (and like it or not, people looking for change do see the IP as a credible party to vote for). The change vote was split instead of united and now we have at least two more years of a raving loon to look forward to.

I’m no fool. I don’t see fusion voting or instant runoff voting as magical gateways to European-style multiparty democracy. This is America, land of the Two Party System (Plus Some Strong Independents Sometimes, but Shh! Two Parties!). This is not about changing the duopoly. This is about ensuring that the public’s will for support or change is heard instead of being dismissed due to procedure and that each person elected has a clear mandate to lead, not some joke of a plurality. 42% with a margin of only three digits (or hell, even four) out of two and a half million is not a mandate. Neither Franken nor Coleman deserve this election. And winning by two points because your constituency couldn’t figure out which of your opponents was the better Anyone But Bachmann choice is not a mandate—it’s dumb luck.

The bottom line is this: if more people vote against you than vote for you, you should not win. These reforms unequivocally fix that.

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I fly for work a couple times a month, but haven’t for a few weeks and today was met with a welcome surprise in the main concourse — giant, unmissable, flight status screens!

No longer do you need to walk down to the hidden screens between security checkpoint 1 and 2 to find out if your flight was delayed — now you can see it in 4-color glory in the main concourse whilst perusing the Beanie Babies and Sharper Image shopping selections!

Yes! All of our worries have disappeared. The world is a better place.

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How was your Thanksgiving?

I took last Wednesday off and spent the day with my family. After proclaiming the day Epic Wednesday “the last shopping day before Thanksgiving” we set out on our adventures.

 Scheduled for the evening was a trip to see the holiday lights in Phalen Park. It’s a drive along Lake Phalen that’s decorated by lights,joy,cheer, and corporate sponsorship.

From the Eastside Review,

For 37 nights starting Nov. 25, families will be able to drive a half-mile course within Phalen Park and view 43 different displays illuminated by LED lights, such as ice castles with snowdrift peaks, soldiers with horns, Santa Claus in a North Pole truck, and a tunnel of lights.

Sightseers will pay a vehicle entrance fee of $8 Sunday through Thursday and $10 on Friday and Saturday or holidays.

IF YOU GO:
What: Holiday Lights in the Park
Where: 1615 Phalen Drive East
When: Daily holiday tours are from 5:30-10 p.m. from Nov. 25-Dec. 31.

The profits go to to Second Harvest Heartland, Union Gospel Mission, the St. Paul Parks Conservancy Fund and UnderConstruction.  

The lights were pretty cool, but sadly my child node cried the entire ride. None the less, I only have two laments.

 1) It would have been nicer with snow. 2) We should have stopped at the cookie and hot cocoa stand near the entrance. I misheard directions. Live and learn. Or dare I say, that’s how the cookie crumbles?

So if you like holidays,charities, and festive lighting you should check it out.

More info:
Lights in the Park
For the brave, some video I shot and barely produced.

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Flickr cc via laneg

We’re nearing the twice a year phenomenon of Minnesotans who aren’t smart enough not to realize ice on lakes isn’t strong enough to walk or drive on, do so and then fall in and sometimes drown and/or lose their cars to the icy waters.

I looked up my post from last year on the subject, and figure it just about sums up what I wanted to post today:

Now that we’ve had some consistent cold, I hereby declare an official countdown until the first clueless Minnesotan yokel drives his SUV/truck onto a half frozen ice lake only to have it fall in.

That will kick off the local media frenzy about waiting until ice is XX” thick before you drive a vehicle out. They will interview local officials who give their recommendations and then interview the clueless guy whose car is now at the bottom of the lake with the fishes.

Then we’ll have approx 2.5 months of quiet before the ice thaws enough for someone to again park their car on thin ice, have it fall in and kick off the Spring-parking-on-ice local media stories. And the countdown has begun…go!

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Our MB peers over at the Mumbai Metroblog are covering the terror attacks.

Their citizen journalism efforts were even mentioned in yesterday’s CNN story, “Tweeting the terror: How social media reacted to Mumbai“

The minute news broke of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai, India, social media sites like Twitter were inundated with a huge volume of messages…

With more than 6 million members worldwide, an estimated 80 messages, or “tweets,” were being sent to Twitter.com via SMS every five seconds, providing eyewitness accounts and updates.

Many Twitter users also sent pleas for blood donors to make their way to specific hospitals in Mumbai where doctors were faced with low stocks and rising casualties.

Others sent information about helplines and contact numbers for those who had friends and relatives caught up in the attacks. Tweeters were also mobilized to help with transcribing a list of the dead and injured from hospitals, which were quickly posted online.

As Twitter user “naomieve” wrote: “Mumbai is not a city under attack as much as it is a social media experiment in action.”

Neha Viswanathan, a former regional editor for Southeast Asia and a volunteer at Global Voices, told CNN, “Even before I actually heard of it on the news I saw stuff about this on Twitter.

“People were sending in messages about what they were hearing. There were at least five or six blogs from people who were trapped, or who were very close to what happened.”

One tweet from “Dupree” appeared to be coming from inside one of the hotels: “Mumbai terrorists are asking hotel reception for rooms of American citizens and holding them hostage on one floor.”

A group of Mumbai-based bloggers turned their Metroblog into a news wire service, while the blog MumbaiHelp offered to help users get through to their family and friends in the city, or to get information about them, and has had a number of successes.

Flickr also proved a useful source of haunting images chronicling the aftermath of the attacks. Journalist Vinukumar Ranganathan’s stream of photos were published by CNN and other major broadcasters. A Google Map showing the key locations and buildings with links to news stories and eyewitness accounts, and CNN’s iReporters flooded the site with their videos and images of the terror attacks.

The Mumbain Metrobloggers have 6 new posts up already today. Read the Mumbai Metroblog here.

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