April 28, 2006

Flickr Photowalk

Sure, these new-fangled "video blawgs" are neat and all, but my heart belongs to Flickr. I'm not even getting paid to say that. Flickr is like eyeball surfing around the world, only not as gross as that sounds.

Every month or so, photo geeks in the Twin Cities get together for a little photo excursion, aka a Flickr photowalk. This video is from a photowalk at the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory in St. Paul. Here are photos from that walk.

Look like fun? It is, and you can tag along on the April photowalk this Sunday, April 30 at 11am. It's at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market. UPDATE: Here are the photos from the rainyday outing.

RELATED LINKS:
Sharyn's photos are featured in this video.
Dave Polaschek (photos) organized this walk.
Cafesjian's Carousel is open May 2.

MUSIC: Circus Day in Dixie (1916)

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 04:22 AM | Comments (14)

April 26, 2006

Como Ave. Jug Band

Have y'all seen the Como Avenue Jug Band? Well, now they've got a movie in the works: The Mystery of the Stolen Jug. This was sent in by band member and co-director Chuck Terhark. The excellent voiceover is John Farrell.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 12:04 PM | Comments (4)

April 25, 2006

Geek Prom 2006

Behold! The supreme spaztastic spectacle of the upper midwest: Geek Prom. April 22, 2006 at the Science Museum of Minnesota. WARNING: Contains glimpses of male geek nudity. Seriously.

WELCOME ROCKETBOOMERS! This is the "director's cut" of the Geek Prom video. For more geek-related videos, check out Flickr Photowalk, We Media @ Carleton College, Bruce Sterling and Rabbit Esoterica.

. . .

Girl Friday has a good roundup.

Slashdot thread - view at own risk

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 01:22 PM | Comments (15)

April 24, 2006

Where's Your Food From?

Most of us aren't connected to our way of life. Even our basic necessities of food and clothing often come from far away places made by far away people. Carleton College senior Elizabeth Van Buren decided to design her final project around both her love of cooking and the environmental. Wouldn't it be great if you always knew where all the organic ingredients in your meal came from?

Vlog-maker Karina has the recipes, and word on the street is: Sustainability is delicious.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 10:04 AM | Comments (6)

April 21, 2006

Crew Jones

Filmmaker Mike Scholtz says: Meet Crew Jones. Minnesota's number one banjo 'n' rap band brings the flavor of the North Shore to the streets of Duluth. If you like what you hear, Crew Jones is playing Duluth's Homegrown Music Festival on Saturday, May 6, sometime after the clock strikes midnight in the Tap Room.

Oh yeah - Happy Earth Day! Heck, we'll feature enviro-vids all year around. Just not on Earth Day. Too predictable. Also, there aren't any done yet.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 03:01 AM | Comments (1)

April 20, 2006

Al Franken for Senate?

Will he or won't he? After watching Al Franken come out swinging from the heart at Saint John's University, he certainly seems to be priming himself for a U.S. Senate campaign. There were a lot of supporters in the audience, and at least a few Republicans. There were no announcements though - he's still testing the waters.

If you want to get a behind-the-scenes look, check out Al Franken: God Spoke. One of my personal documentary luminaries directed the film: Chris Hegedus, (The War Room, Startup.com).

PIMP ALERT! Minnesota Stories gets a nice mention in the May issue of WIRED magazine, courtesy of Rocketboom's Amanda Congdon. Woohoo!

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 03:32 AM | Comments (5)

April 19, 2006

Global Warming

Earth Day is this weekend. Are you doing anything to prolong our life on this planet? If so - or if you have any thoughts on that - turn on your camera and email me. We'll have an Earth Day video or two in the next week, hopefully not involving scary children.

Check out Twin Cities-based GreenGuardian for info on how to reduce, reuse, recycle or properly dispose of household waste. Sometimes they have inexpensive compost bins available, too.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 12:19 AM | Comments (2)

April 18, 2006

MN RollerGirls

Hard rocking, skirt tearing mayhem? Yeah, I'd say that pretty much sums up the Minnesota RollerGirls season climax. Too bad this was my first game, because I'm going to be jonesin' for these vixens-on-wheels all summer long.

This is a taste of the battle for 3rd place between Garda Belts and Atomic Bombshells. The main event followed, with the Rockits besting the Dagger Dolls.

The next RollerGirls event isn't a game, but the 2nd Annual Wheelie Awards sounds like a good time considering fans can vote for "RollerGirl You Most Want to Land in Your Lap."

RELATED LINK: Star Tribune article and photos; Max's photos

Special props to Wet Spot for the hospitality!

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 02:14 AM | Comments (9)

April 17, 2006

Resonance

For the last year, filmmaker Paul Creager has been researching the story of the how a centuries-old Japanese temple bell found its way to the city of Duluth, Minnesota in 1947. His research has turned into an adventure and feature-length documentary called Resonance: The Odyssey of the Bells which just received the Japan Foundation's annual international TV and Film Production support grant for 2006.

Paul writes:

"What began with research on a little known MN story has now grown into a full scale international documentary film project that has taken me to Japan two times in the last year and England this May. This is my first film. Production/research is scheduled to be wrapped by the fall of 2006 and the film completed by early 2007."

Paul also organizes the Square Lake Solstice Festival. Now in its 5th year, the festival will feature a commissioned film score and headlining set by Low, and they're accepting local animation and film submissions. Send your work on dvd in mpeg format and bio to:

Square Lake Productions
972 Geranium Ave. East
Saint Paul, MN 55106

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 04:04 AM | Comments (1)

April 14, 2006

Mike Gunther (Behind the Scenes)

Here's a real treat for your Easter weekend: Devil-dancing ladies squarin' off with church-folk! Who will be victorious in this battle for our souls? That's right, you are because you can watch the "hot" new music video from Mike Gunther and His Restless Souls' new album, Burn It Down for the Nails. The song is "Walk All Over It" and it's directed by Suzanne Scholten, who also plays in the band and designed their excellent logo.

This video is a little behind-the-scenes glimpse, shot by myself and our friend Arica. Suzanne works tiny miracles with the "raging rhythm of hell's scarlet brides." Mike Gunther is one funny sun'bitch. And in the end, Anna Lee and Lorika get baptised. Hallelujah!

Mike Gunther's CD Release Show:
Saturday, April 15, 2006 @ Turf Club

In other news, you can listen to a new interview about Minnesota Stories on Radio MNartists.org, produced by Marya Morstad. [MP3]

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 08:46 AM | Comments (6)

April 13, 2006

Discovering Origins

This video comes to us from artist and educator Kari Tauring, who writes:

The following is the work samples submission for the 2005 Bush Artist Fellows in Multimedia Performance Art. While I was not selected as a finalist this year, I am so proud of the work samples that Kip Overbo helped me get together. We were both struggling with new software and mini DV format etc.

The learning curve was steep but I am happy to share the results with you all. Many thanks, of course, to Kathi Polley and Julie Dalgleish at the Bush Foundation Office for their encouragement and assistance.

See Kari Tauring and Friends live in a Discovering Origins Building Traditions May Day Show at the Bryant Lake Bowl Monday May 1st, doors at 6pm.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 02:44 AM | Comments (0)

April 11, 2006

Lori's Garden Corner

Hey! Sorry, there is no new video for today. A guy's gotta work and sleep, you know. Have you watched us try to fry an egg on the sidewalk?

Okay you green thumbs, let's hear what you have going on in your basements and gardens. Maybe you can help Lorika figure out why most of her tomatoes don't seem to be sprouting. You'll hear all about our fledgling tomato empire in this video, enhanced with delicious backyard beer.

Be sure to keep up with the Strib's Green Girl if you're digging in the dirt. Lorika's Secret Farm blog and Flickr photos document our own backyard shenanigans (ahem) .

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 03:39 AM | Comments (7)

April 10, 2006

When Winter Lets Go

Good riddance, I say! This is called When Winter Lets Go in Minnesota by Michael Bischoff and Jenny Larson. Starring Isaiah Larson Bischoff, with music by Brothers Frantzich. Michael's previous video is Winter in This Town.

Here's a heads-up, mediamakers. Earth Day is on April 22, and Minnesota Stories wants to know what your doing to "Get Green" or simply celebrate the wonder of life on Spaceship Earth and right here in Minnesota. Send your ideas and submissions to story@mnstories.com.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 11:19 AM | Comments (3)

April 07, 2006

Morris Day on Video Soul

Ain't nobody smoother than Morris Day. Here's an interview with him I found on YouTube from around 1987. He chats with Video Soul's Donnie Simpson about recording with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis at Flyte Tyme studios in Minneapolis.

Here's the video for "Fishnet." Have a great weekend!

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 09:07 AM | Comments (3)

April 06, 2006

Mates of State

This was an awesome show. Please excuse my rambling throughout.

Contains an excerpt from Starfire's video "Dangerous" - his latest entry for videobloggingweek2006. Woo-hoo!

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 04:04 AM | Comments (11)

April 05, 2006

By Hand and Heart

From filmmaker Christine Sweet:

By Hand and Heart: The Poetry of American Sign Language (ASL) is a documentary work-in-progress about the visual poetry of a non-word-based language, and it is also about an art form: ASL poetry. The project, supported by an access grant from IFP Minnesota, originated with my curiosity about sign language. I had no previous acquaintance with Deaf culture or people other than a basic course in ASL. My goal is to introduce other hearing viewers to the richness of Deaf language and also spotlight some of the cultural barriers between hearing and Deaf. I'm grateful for the participation of local Twin Cities' Deaf community members you'll see in this trailer: Deaf poet Cara Barnett, some of her third-grade students at St. Paul's Metro Deaf School, Deaf storyteller Estella Bustamante performing for a mixed audience of Deaf and hearing children, ASL interpreters Patty Gordon, Susan Boinis, and Anthony Verdeja, and Anna Saindon, ASL student at The College of St. Catherine.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 03:48 AM | Comments (11)

April 04, 2006

Becky Lourey

Meet Becky Lourey. We try to avoid stump speeches here on Minnesota Stories. But this speech is from a gubernatorial candidate I wasn't familiar with, in the intimacy of a lovely dome home. She's also earned the full endorsement of frequent MN Stories contributor Karina.

What do you think - will she give Mike Hatch a run for the money?

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 03:42 AM | Comments (3)

April 03, 2006

Da Bomb

Kids + special effects = hilarity!

I was on a certain Minneapolis radio station awhile back, and one of the hosts said "Hey, my kid makes these funny little videos." Next thing you know I'm watching a DVD called "DA BOMB" full of adolescent hijinx. Featured here are Pirates vs. Ninjas, Assasinaton: Favre, Dragon Ballz, and Viva La BEN!!!!!!!!!! Directed by Sam. I hope one day I can show you a particularly bizarre work entitled Amish Bob and Toga Man.

SEE ALSO: Wizards & Swords

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 01:33 AM | Comments (4)