Minneapolis Metblogs » minn_paul

Frozen and Disappointed

minn_paul — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 11:42:59 +0000

Looking through the ads in the massive Thanksgiving Day StarTribune, I saw exactly what I wanted to get my daughter for Christmas this year on sale at Best Buy. Of course it was only on sale until 11am, and quantities were limited. Thus began my first (and most likely last) Black Friday shopping experience,,,

Knowing that I would have to get there early to score one of the few (Thing I won’t mention so as to not give any hints) I decided to head to the store early (1:30am). I anticipated a couple hours of sitting in my car, reading and listening to the radio. Followed by a leisurely walk to the doors of the store shortly before open.

Arriving at the store (1:30am - 3 1/2 hours before they opened) I found the line to be 60-70 people long. Ugh. I’d better get in line, don’t want to miss out on the great deal. Sadly, as is often the case I was completely unprepared. Standing outside for 3 1/2 hours in 8 degree weather in lightweight shoes with lightweight socks, a t-shirt under my lightweight jacket, and a baseball cap on my head was not the way I expected this to go.

Needless to say, the ran out of (the item) before I had a chance to purchase it. I did get a mini-DV camcorder at a great price, mainly because I would have felt like a complete fool had I stood outside that long in the cold for nothing.

At least I’ll be able to film my daughter “not” receiving her present!

It’s madness. Madness I tell you

minn_paul — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 01:35:58 +0000

As I was driving aimlessly around town this evening, I happened by a scene at the Richfield Best Buy. Apparently the new XBOX360 system goes on sale tomorrow and Best Buy is opening their doors at midnight to give those hardcore gamers a chance to score one early and lose a night of sleep in front of their televisions.
I drove by the Best Buy at around 6:30pm. The line was already around the back of the building!! The funny thing is, I found a website that shows the inventory of the new XBOX at every Best Buy around the country. The Richfield store has less than 200 units. Those poor souls at the back of the line don’t even have a chance!!! HA

Choxie

minn_paul — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 01:50:22 +0000

If I see another of Target’s CHOXIE: Chocolate with Moxie commercials I’m going to SNAP!

Run for a Reason

minn_paul — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 01:05:08 +0000

This year the company I work for instituted a new program. Everyone in the company gets to skip a day of work and use it as a volunteer. So on Saturday a group of us will be helping out at the 3rd annual “Max’s Run For A Reason“.

Last year, Jennifer and Mitchell Best sponsored the second annual event to raise funds and awareness for the newly founded Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC) Program. It was held in memory of their son, Max Best, who died without explanation in December 2002.

They are having a 5k run and a 2k walk. I’ll be there handing out free bagels early in the AM. Drop by to say hi, and help a good cause at the same time!

Happy Halloween!

minn_paul — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 15:23:24 +0000

The last several years I have purchased pumpkins at least a week before Halloween. This year I made the mistake of waiting until 9:30am today, Halloween morning.

If you want to be scared on Halloween go and see the pumpkins that are still available. There were rotten ones, ones with holes, ugly ones, and quite a few that wouldn’t even stand up. It kind of reminded me of the Island of Misfit Toys. Many pumpkins that will never find a home. I picked two pumpins up, hopefully they’ll last until tonight!

Adopt a pumpkin today!

Talking about local authors…

minn_paul — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 16:40:38 +0000

Minnesota must be the place to live if you want to be a bestselling author! Vince Flynn, who lives in St. Paul, is currently at #4 on the NYT hardcover fiction list with his most recent book Consent to Kill.

I am a huge fan of the espionage/spy genre, and I must say that Mr. Flynn is really developing into a great writer. This is the best book he’s written yet! If you get a chance, pick it up.

It really was a movie weekend

minn_paul — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 01:25:38 +0000

Since we’re on the topic of movies today, I ended up seeing two this past weekend.

On Friday I saw Doom. Let me preface this by saying that I’ve played every incarnation of the video game and have enjoyed them all. I did not enjoy the movie. It had alot to offer fans of the game, the sets were great, the effects were good, but the movie was crap.

On Sunday, I saw North Country. I would be surprised if Charlize Theron didn’t win another Oscar after her performance in this film. As sad and heartbreaking as this film can be, it is also unbelievably heartwarming. This is definitely a must-see.

Curling Cam!

minn_paul — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 00:15:47 +0000

In the course of my usual stumbling around the internet this evening, I came across an interesting site: Opentopia.com. It’s a site that seems to compile live camera feeds from around the world. (Don’t worry, everything I’ve seen on it is safe for work!).

You can search for local cams, most of them are cameras on college campuses. I found two that were somewhat interesting.

One is a live camera from Duluth, showing the lift bridge. The other is a live camera from the St. Paul Curling Club. I’ve been watching this one for a few minutes now, I don’t really understand the “sport” of Curling, A heavy rock and brooms on ice??? Maybe I’ll grab a few beers and watch this instead of the Vikings next Sunday. I’ll probably feel better afterwards!

How many do you want?

minn_paul — Sat, 15 Oct 2005 02:03:33 +0000

I stopped at a local convenience store tonight, and the moment I got to the register the cashier says “How many do you want?” After giving her a perplexed look, she told me that everyone coming in has been buying lottery tickets.
Apparently the “jackpot” has gone up to 290 million. I don’t play the lottery. Back when I was in college I worked at a gas station and saw many people spend waaaay too much money on those little tickets. Even the guy who used to scour the lot for cigarette butts with a little tobacco left in them would spend 5-10 bucks a week. With odds of 1 in 146,947,962 I’d rather keep my buck!
How many of you drop your cash on those little paper slips??

Sound Unseen

minn_paul — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 23:45:04 +0000

For anyone who loves great music and film, the 6th annual Sound Unseen festival is playing through the 16th. I’m definitely going to try to make Scene Minneapolis 1977-1986 at the Oak Street on Tuesday the 11th:

Minneapolis has entered the pantheon of rock, most assertively for the zenith it experienced from the late