September 30, 2005

I'm Still Dancin'

You've probably seen it shimmering in the rush hour morning light. The Peace House mosaic wall is hard to miss, perhaps to compensate for our blindness to the homeless people it serves. The Peace House is coming up on it's 20th anniversary on October 16. Here's a little piece of Peace House's past. Meet Iceman.

CONTRIBUTOR: "Media Mike" Hazard, The Center for International Education

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 08:07 AM | Comments (5)

September 29, 2005

MMA: Stnnng

That's right suckas, it's more Minnesota Music Awards. This band is the most exciting thing I've seen in a long while. Ladies and germs, City Pages Picked to Click Band of the year, Stnnng.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 05:35 AM | Comments (5)

September 28, 2005

When Frogs Attack

Sometimes mysterious videos of unknown origin show up in my mailbox. This isn't one of those times. My man Tom Elko emails me with this: "I've got a vhs tape that a friends uncle shot. Its of these frogs that started hanging out in his back yard, and he eventually started feeding them worms by hand. He would come out and they would swim across his pond and hop up to the porch and eat worms off of his finger."

Frogs are so cool.

MUSIC: Chub Creek Music, Ballad to the Frogs

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 04:33 AM | Comments (10)

September 27, 2005

MMA: Spider John Koerner

Will the highlights from this year's Minnesota Music Awards ever stop? Here's a little taste of the legendary bluesman Spider John Koerner, who got the whole room a-clappin' and hollarin'. This is a guy that used to hang and play with Bob Dylan. This is one of the guys The Beatles came to find when they landed on U.S. soil, or so the story goes. Like Mark Wheat says: Isn't it amazing that you can go down to the Viking Bar on a Sunday night and see this man play?

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 09:54 AM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2005

Mangos Y Chicharrón

Secrets of the city... we have an unlimited supply. Did you know that on certain lucky days, on a certain corner of Lake Street, a big-hearted Mexican lady named Rosa sells fresh seasoned mangos and chicharrón? It's true. The proof is in the vlog.

CONTRIBUTOR: Allison Herrera, Everybody's Broke

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 06:00 AM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2005

MMA: Conrad

You've seen him around. He's that guy who's at every show. That's his job.

I can think of no better way to describe veteran First Avenue stage manager Conrad Sverkerson, who was honored at the Minnesota Music Awards. Conrad gets huge respect from the musicians in this town. Who knew that under all those dreds was this sweet guy who loves to play golf? The most touching moment of the night was when he mentioned his first time stage managing for Soul Asylum, and how bass player Karl Mueller's spirit was in the room. Not a dry eye in the house.

Check out this great old interview with Conrad. I always wondered about the logistics of the big screen going up and down.

. . .

BONUS MMA VIDEO: A drunken Joey Molland obnoxiously tries to rev up the crowd. I thought him pretty annoying at the time, but I gotta admit his showbizzy schtick has a lovable quality.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 04:55 AM | Comments (9)

September 22, 2005

MMA: Rain and Turtles

This year's Minnesota Music Awards was totally booming and flashy. Of course I'm talking about the crazy-ass storms that raged as the awards began. That didn't stop Minnesota music fans from showing up for one of the best MMA shows in recent years.

Duluth's Trampled By Turtles swept the bluegrass category, winning Best Bluegrass Artist/Group and Best Bluegrass Recording. Here's a little taste of their "shredgrass" footstompin' music.

I was rooting for another Duluthian in the house, Charlie Parr, to win an award. Didn't happen, but if you want to see him in action check out this video from the Minnesota Stories archives.

No doubt HowWasTheShow and Ross Raihala will have more to say about the awards. We do too - more video, anyway, in the coming days.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 06:45 AM | Comments (9)

September 21, 2005

Nightcrawlin'

Go outside at night and listen closely. You'll notice it especially in the fall... tiny sounds, crickly-cracks, secret life bristling in the ground. That be the sound of earthworms coming alive, otherwise known as nightcrawlers if you're a fishin' grandpa. And it drives our cat Jasmine nuts. The very ground is teasing her... over here! No, over here! Our entire yard becomes a Confuse-a-Cat.

MUSIC: Under Feather, Runaway Train (Presumably no relation to the Soul Asylum song.)

Under Feather is a Minnesota band (or guy) with a killer bio: "Sometimes alternately Lennonesque and Floydian, but always intimate and imaginative, Under Feather creates an alternate universe of sound textured with swirling rhythms and a unique vocal style that draws the listener into the artist's vision and holds them prisoner. "

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 05:31 AM | Comments (4)

September 20, 2005

Tooth

Perhaps this would be a good time to say: Minnesota Stories wants your short fiction films! Oh sure, we wholeheartedly focus on non-fiction, but let's shake things up a bit shall we?

I don't know much about this short film, other than it springs from the depths of Tom Siler's web site and mind. Tom is perhaps best-known as the instrumental half of Tulip Sweet. But you can catch him in a real cool gig this Sunday, Sept 25, with his new group Larmes de Colere. They'll be serving up a soundtrack to D.W. Griffith's melodramatic masterpiece Broken Blossoms (1919) at the Varsity Theater. So there.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 04:38 AM | Comments (6)

September 19, 2005

Honey's Squirrel Problem

Everyone knows squirrels are totally evil, right? In our last apartment, a crazy squirrel made a nest in our deck and tried to jump on Lori whenever she tended to the plants. Now we live in a house, and squirrels have holed up in our attic, chewing the very foundation of our home and sanity. But if there's one thing Lori won't tolerate, it's squirrel-munched tomatoes. This is our varmint-trapping adventure.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 08:04 AM | Comments (16)

September 16, 2005

7 Days in New Orleans

"The whole 7-day deployment changed me forever." Starfire's brother Jim is a paramedic. Here's his first-hand account of life and death in New Orleans. Some harrowing stuff, but also... the Bush girls. This is a must-see.

CONTRIBUTOR: Starfire, Starfire.tv (where you can listen to several podcasts of Jim in New orleans via phone.)

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 06:53 AM | Comments (3)

September 15, 2005

Como Park Waterfall

New videobloggers are popping up in Minnesota, showing us our state through new eyes. Isn't that exciting? This video is from Jim Nihart, who documented his visit to Hamm Memorial Waterfalls in Como Park. I don't even think I knew these falls existed. You'll feel soothed and relaxed after watching this.

CONTRIBUTOR: Jim Nihart, Shortpantz Picture Company

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 02:12 AM | Comments (2)

September 14, 2005

Minneapolis Primary

Follow Chuck and Lori as they vote in the Minneapolis Mayoral Primary. Looks like Rybak won Minneapolis and Coleman beat out Kelly in St. Paul. Did you vote?

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 09:18 AM | Comments (7)

September 13, 2005

Night Gamers

I know Halloween is a ways off, but hey - Target has loads of sugary sinister treats in stock, so it's the season of the witch. Or in this case, the vampire. Night Gamers explores the youthful netherworld of vampire role-players. Right here in Minneapolis. Mwooa-ha-ha-ha.

CONTRIBUTOR: Juliah Rueckert

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 08:50 AM | Comments (8)

September 12, 2005

River of Relief

Storm Aid: Minnesota's River of Relief brought over 20 of Minnesota's radio stations to the Washington Avenenue bridge to raise money for American Red Cross Minneapolis. Last I heard, Minnesotans contributed around $660,000 to Hurricane Katrina victims last Friday morning. Among the many experts floating from interview to interview was my old political science professor, August Nimtz. Behind the media hoopla, two women played drum and flute - an offering of metaphysical relief.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 12:08 AM | Comments (0)

September 08, 2005

Minnesota Bluegrass Festival

One of my favorite things about Minnesota Stories is getting to experience life and events outside the Twin Cities. Here, Duane Kuss and Aaron Cheeley take us to the The Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Festival. Once again, an event I didn't know existed. And I happen to have a soft-spot for the olde-tymey bluegrass music.

CONTRIBUTOR: Duane Kuss, My Stories of Life

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 03:57 AM | Comments (9)

September 07, 2005

Talk Talk Talk

A poem from Susu Jeffrey, a talking head talks about the power of talk.

CONTRIBUTOR: Media Mike Hazard, The Center for International Education

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 02:54 AM | Comments (0)

September 06, 2005

Reaction to Hurricane Relief

"What do you think of the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts?" That's what I asked passersby on the final day of the Minnesota State Fair. Everyone who answered is included in this video.

RELATED LINKS:
Star Tribune: Minnesota's Camp Ripley in line for 3,000 evacuees
Starfire.tv: Katrina bound. A wonderful audioblog post from Starfire's brother, a medic en route to Baton Rouge, LA.
MinnesotaHelpers.com is helping evacuees find available housing in Minnesota.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 04:06 AM | Comments (3)

September 02, 2005

Donate Today

Our thoughts are with the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Donate to the Red Cross.

Citizen video of the hurricane aftermath:
Rocketboom
Current TV

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 01:53 AM | Comments (0)

September 01, 2005

State Fair: Trippy Midway

Here's a trippy trip to the Minnesota State Fair midway, culminating in a long-anticipated ferris wheel ride. No magic mushrooms were harmed in the making of this video.

MUSIC: Autopilota, courtesy Adonis Music

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 07:28 AM | Comments (9)