Great news for the lightrail. Minnesota will be getting 400 million in federal dollars for transportation next year. $80 million is earmarked for the Northstar Commuter Rail Project. The story really doesn’t say all that much but it will be cool to watch the Northstar evolve. Commemorative Hiawatha Line posters still available here.

When we last left our friends, the boy from Rochester had gone to do his own thing, and I met up with yet another friend under the clock on Peavey Plaza. It’s Sommerfest, and he and I went to Orchestra Hall that night to enjoy the festivities there. Out on the plaza, it’s more of the festival atmosphere, with a few vendors hawking hot dogs, ice cream and beer, all at over-priced fees, and jazz combos putting everyone in fun mood.

We, however, were on our way inside, to hear the Minnesota Orchestra perform Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, followed by Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev dueling each other with selections from their versions of Romeo and Juliet. Interestingly, the orchestra alternated between the two composers’ versions, while four actors performed selections from the script. It worked very well, and I realize more and more that I’m a lot more familiar with orchestral music than I think. I recognized so much from the performance, with little “aha!”s happening in my head as I discover the origins of the music I hear here and there. It has its drawbacks when I can’t listen to a certain theme in Piotr’s Romeo and Juliet without thinking of a butter commercial, however.

The performance was amazing, I saw a conductor (Andrew Litton) who I had never seen before, and both during the performance and afterwards, I got to spend some time with a friend who I really don’t spend enough time with. All in all, an evening well-spent starting with with pop and ending with panache, all within twelve square blocks.

What to do on the last Sunday of the month in the mid-morning? I think it’s time for brunch. I’ve had a friend up from Rochester for the weekend, always a good thing for me, because it means I actually do a little cleaning at my place, to at least give the appearance that I’m civilised. And we’ve been exploring all the things that Minneapolis has to offer before he heads out to live in Madison.

He arrived Friday afternoon, and we went to Block E to see the cheap matinee of Sky High. Quite enjoyable, albeit a little predictable. Typical Disney Channel stuff, but on a bigger budget, and still fun. The Block E theater is really convenient, but they need to work on their popcorn. It generally tastes like salty, lukewarm packing peanuts. The buttery goop gives it a slightly better taste, but since you now have to add your own butter, like at most theaters, you only get the top really well-covered.

Afterwards, we stayed at Block E for dinner at Applebee’s. It’s a chain place, but again, nice and convenient. I then left my friend to his own devices and met up with him after the next part of my evening, which is the subject of my next post.

Local casting calls for ABC’s the Bachelor.

Also, looks like Minneapolis is waffling on our smoking ban.

The irony in the last line of this quote left me rolling my eyes (from the strib):
John Alexander, who owns Johnny A’s, a sports bar in Minneapolis, agreed. “I can’t pay my taxes,” said Alexander, who said he has dismissed his private security staff at the bar. “My business has gone down by 35 percent.

“It’s a slow death,” he added.

I was out rollerblading on the Kenilworth trail today, and there were some reps from Hennepin Parks handing out survey forms at the trailhead at Cedar Lake Parkway. The survey was four pages (big print, with pictures). It asked about how frequently you use that particular trail throughout the year, what you were using it for that day (exercise, socializing, pet walking, etc.), how you got to it, how you heard of it, what type of activity you’re involved in (running, biking, skating, etc.), your opinion on trail conditions, and a few demographic questions.

I feel like I did my part for society. The trail system is one of my favorite things about living here. I was proud to be able to check off that I use it for moderate or vigorous exercise fairly often. Six months ago, I maybe took a walk every once in a while and that was it.

Also, it’s kind of difficult to write while standing on rollerblades and wearing wrist guards. I hope they can read what I had to say.

Anybody see any survey takers in other parts of town today? The map in the survey covered the Kenilworth up to downtown, the Greenway out to Hiawatha, and then the Southwest LRT out through St. Louis Park. I wonder if there were folks stationed at the other ends of those trails.

I was reading a post from our metblog friends in SF and their captain, Christina, had come up with a question that I would like discussed in this city. Here is the post, by the way. She is talking about the differences in security since 9/11 and how it has effected us. She also talks about the difference between London and San Fran. How do we feel about the added security measures? Do you feel they are too invasive? I want to know what other folks in the Twin Cities feel. Metbloggers, feel free to make posts about this.

I personally feel security hasn’t changed all that much. The only place I have really noticed it is going to the airport. It may take a little longer to get through security, but i am surprised it took as long as it did for them to get their crap together. I remember when I was a kid we flew out to Colorado for a ski trip. I had my camera and a pocket knife (Swiss Army) in my pocket and the metal detector did NOT go off. From then on I have felt security at airports has been a big joke. Now I feel they are actually doing their job. I think it has gone a little overboard on what they consider a “weapon”. My mom had to leave her nail file at the airport because it had a handle. Come on now.

Other than that, nothing has really lept to my attention. So….what do you guys think?

Someone just sent me info on this really cool program by Google. It is called Google Earth and it rocks. I downloaded it and serched for a bunch of fun things. It is basically a map program that uses satelite images. If you have a nice computer, you can scroll way out and in and move it around like a neat spy movie. Our city looks really tiny from space. We sure have a lot of suburban sprawl. The images are a bit old, but Google says they will be updating them every 6 to 18 months. It is neat to look at foreign cities and monuments. Go check it out!!

I was at dinner at Brit’s Pub last night, and I stopped short when the realization hit me that the “businessmen” sitting next to me didn’t look old enough to drink. Brit’s on a Tuesday isn’t exactly the time all the young singles hit the bar, so I was taken aback.

Because it hit me that I’m no longer able to assume most people are my age. I’m at least 5 years older than them, maybe even 10.

Then today, I get another dose of old-feeling: I am filling out an online form that requires a birthday, and the default is 1984. That meant I had to scroll to find my birth year (1973).

I still get carded, so I guess that’s some consolation.

Today is the first day in awhile in our lovely state where the temp is resonably cool. I could spend the whole day outside and be perfectly happy with it. I hope everyone gets outside to bike/run/rollerblade today, because it is the first day when i feel you aren’t flippin’ crazy!!

This past weekend we hit highs with the heat index that broke the 100 degree point. A few times we even broke 110. What did I see? People jogging!! I know people love to make sure NOTHING stands between them and their workout (no offense Erika :) ), but get serious. Give your body a break on those days. Running in that heat is NOT healthy. It puts undue strain on your heart and lungs. Work out inside at a gym or at home in your A/C.

Maybe it’s just because I thinkrunning is dumb in general. I can’t fault people for enjoying it, but I think punishing yourself like that is silly. Plus, I have bad knees. Only step aerobics for me…

I was going to announce the new metblog in Detroit, but I seem to have no thunder. Has anyone seen it? I think someone has stolen it…

Anyway, I WILL announce that Metroblogging has been mentioned in Forbes Magazine as a ‘Best of the Web’. The article isn’t written very well, but my grammer is nothing to brag about, so I am not complaining. It is just cool that we got mentioned. The funniest thing in the article is the mention of what our motto would be:

“If this site had a motto, it might be “Think globally, blog locally.”

Um…they obviously have never been to the home page of metroblogging. That IS our motto. Silly Forbes…