September 29, 2006

Chasing Windmills (Overture)

Chasing Windmills is one of the most groundbreaking and addictive videoblogs on the planet. Lucky us, they're right in our urban backyard. Season Two started this week, and this is a prelude to what we're in for. You might recognize some local geek celebs in starring roles: Steve Marsh, Alexis (in character), Max Sparber, Brand & Butter boys, Amber.

If you're new to Chasing Windmills, head over to the blog and watch the first episode from Sept. 25. Then watch the second episode, Adamant. Seriously - do this. Now prepare to have your mind blown. eBay auction from our anti-hero. Brilliant.

RELATED LINKS:
WCCO Story
Chasing Windmills Interactivity Model

MORE MINNESOTA VLOG NEWS
Dispatches from the Frozen North - now with video
Wanda Wisdom in hot pursuit of Michele Bachmann
Mooki our cat does battle with a cereal box
Melt your brain courtesy of David Howell

As always, your comments and videos are welcome. Have a great weekend!

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 05:47 AM | Comments (5)

September 28, 2006

First Image

What's the very first image you can remember? For me, I think it may be a photo of myself in a little button-up red coat outfit. Either that, or my mom's friend Bev. Strange.

This short film is from my talented neighbor John Akre, who calls this "animation sociology." This fits into John's larger project called On Transit, a cross-country train trip combined with animation. Check out more video clips at sloppyshorts.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2006

Hive Modular

Prefab home design/build firm Hive Modular and landscape design/build firm rosenlof/lucas teamed up for a cool project. At the end of this video is an invitation to a party. The project was the focus of an episode of an HGTV program.

This video was made by superstar musician-filmmaker-landscaper Mike Brady.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 10:44 AM | Comments (4)

September 26, 2006

Wanda Searches for Michele Bachmann

I hope you didn't miss the big news. Drag queen podcasting superstar Wanda Wisdom proposed marriage to ultra-conservative Republican candidate Michele Bachmann. In this video, Wanda goes a-searching for her bride-to-be. I can't wait for the next video.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 06:07 AM | Comments (4)

September 21, 2006

Investigative Report: Sneak Peak

The hot story today: Klobuchar aide loses job for viewing leaked Kennedy ad. [Video: WCCO] Local blogger Noah Kunin went looking for past ads from Scott Howell, who makes ads for the Mark Kennedy campaign. Noah found a Kennedy ad that hadn't been released yet. I'll show you just how easy and legal it is to find video ads on the unsecure Scott Howell web site - coming soon.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 02:25 AM | Comments (7)

September 20, 2006

Anoka Homecoming, 1989

Behold.... BACK-STAGE performing at Anoka High School's Homecoming in 1989. I had a mullet at Fridley High School in 1989 - I would've rocked hard to this action. Check out the dude shredding Eddie Van Halen-style then, and now: James Linborg.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 12:31 PM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2006

Tim Fort's Kinetic Art

UPDATE: This video should be working now!

Artist Tim Fort says:

Kinetic Art Movement...Constructed in the City of New York Mills, Minnesota in August of 2005: My biggest and wildest kinetic-art video ever! It's over six minutes of non-stop action using many stunts never seen before.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 07:42 AM | Comments (17)

September 15, 2006

Brains! Brains! Brains!

In the midnight hour... she cried Brains! Brains! Brains!

Yes friends, it's the return of the Zombie Pub Crawl. Last year, Jeremy Wilker documented the gruesome festivities. This year he was not alone - there are plenty of zombie videos on the YouTube. This zombie karaoke comes to us from bxfilms.com. Rock.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 05:32 AM | Comments (1)

September 14, 2006

Beatbox vs. Drums

My favorite music, this week, comes from the formidable St. Paul hip-hop group Heiruspecs. Their secret weapon: Human beatbox Muad'Dib.

I got a chance to film them recording their new album recently - watch for a video with an interview on another media web site tomorrow... and be sure to catch Heiruspecs @ the Triple Rock this Sunday with New Primitives, who are another amazing live band.

RELATED VIDEO: Battle Rap

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 08:37 AM | Comments (2)

September 13, 2006

Keith Ellison Victory

Keith Ellison has won the Fifth District DFL race. Here's a little taste of the victory party.

RELATED LINKS:
Pioneer Press
Minnesota Daily
New York Times
Associated Press
CQPolitics.com
The Nation
Blog of the Moderate Left
The Insomnia Report
Mercury Rising
nihilix
minvolved
Letters to the Wild Blue Yonder
Lost Forest After Dark
American Hot Sausage
Power Line
John Wayne of Today's Minnesota

RELATED VIDEO:
Much better video of Ellison victory party
How Can We Make America Better? featuring Amirah Ellison

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 07:29 AM | Comments (6)

September 12, 2006

Jesse James Days

Every year, the residents of Northfield Minnesota get together and celebrate the defeat of Jesse James. There is a bike race, parade, carnival, and robbery re-enactment. This years festivies took place on September 6-10, 2006. This video shows the re-enactment and carnival. The re-enactment scene was put together for the Northfield Historical Society as part of a video to highlight events that took place last year to celebrate Northfield's sesquicentennial. The carnival shots are from Friday evening.

CONTRIBUTOR: Aleshia, digImashaghen

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 01:18 AM | Comments (1)

September 11, 2006

Bloggers on 9/11

When the world changed on Sept. 11, 2001, the web changed with it. Phone lines and news sites were overloaded, so many people turned to the first-hand reports of blogs. And, as Dan Gillmor said, bloggers may have written the first draft of history on that day.

September 11 came up in several blogger interviews for the film Blogumentary. Here are a few excerpts. The first is with the Minnesota conservative bloggers at Power Line. We started out talking about Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, which led to Iraq, which finally led to 9/11. The next interview is with Jeff Jarvis, who explains how his blog was born out of his first-hand experience of the attacks. Lastly, we hear a bit from then-New York blogger Anil Dash, who writes today of his sadness for hope lost.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 07:53 AM | Comments (0)

September 08, 2006

Central Corridor

The heavily-trafficked, 11-mile Central Corridor is the crucial transit artery connecting our twin cities. The Central Corridor Coordinating Committee voted at their June 6, 2006, meeting that light rail transit be the locally preferred alternative for the Central Corridor. However, not everyone agrees with that assessment. Sheldon Gitis [sgitis-at-yahoo.com] writes:

I have been documenting meetings, hearings and other public events surrounding the Central Corridor Project since last January. I have many hours of footage that I think convincingly shows how current plans to put a train down the middle of University Avenue are remarkable similar to past highway construction projects which were run through low-income neighborhoods.

The attached clips are from a public hearing that took place at Central High School in St. Paul.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 10:11 AM | Comments (3)

September 06, 2006

Food Fun Finale: Uffda Treat

You thought the fair was over, did ya? Not until we hear from Karina one more time, as promised. The final Food Fun victor was the Uffda Treat. It's the perfect way to top off this fine series of interactive gastronomical video adventures.

I vote Karina goes vegan this week to counteract all those deep fried goodies.

Klaas has some state fair videos too, be sure to check out 3 girls and a horse. (Yes, it's safe for work.)

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 07:54 AM | Comments (1)

September 04, 2006

How Can We Make America Better?

I went down to the Minnesota State Fair with 10 year-old Amirah and we asked people, "How can we make America better?" Amirah's dad is Keith Ellison, running for U.S. Congress. We wanted to talk to real people for his campaign ad. This is the "director's cut" version, with bloopers and responses from everyone who talked to us on camera.

Watch the official Keith Ellison for Congress campaign ad here.

Copy and paste on your blog:

More options: Blip.tv, YouTube, Google video

Disclaimer: I was paid to make the official campaign ad by Keith Ellison for Congress. This longer version I did on my own, because that's how I do.

RELATED VIDEO: Keith Ellison environmental press conference

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 12:28 AM | Comments (14)

September 01, 2006

Food Fun: Deep Fried Mac 'n' Cheese

Hello friends! I've been in NYC this week, so everyone give a big hand to Karina for sacrificing her digestive system for the sake of serious, investigative vlog journalism. Today we have the finale: Deep Fried Mac 'n' Cheese. On a stick.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 02:41 AM | Comments (2)