May 31, 2007

String of Things

String of Things is a lovely, lyrical meditation by Will Hommeyer (Blue Moon Productions) on the art of the violin, featuring Serwan Hassan, violinist, and John Waddle, master craftsman.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 12:48 AM | Comments (3)

May 30, 2007

Boring backyard video time

Here's what happens on Minnesota Stories after a summery holiday weekend. You are subjected to my boring backyard home video. Let this be a warning to you people - if you don't send in your own backyard home videos, we'll have to setup a webcam on paint drying. Mwahahaha!

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 12:43 AM | Comments (4)

May 29, 2007

The Battle of the River

A war between Minnesota and Wisconsin. Everything was destroyed. The only way to survive is to have control... of the river.

A hastily-assembled student film by Biscuit Productions.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 03:40 PM | Comments (1)

Memorial Day @ Fort Snelling

The historic Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis commemorates veterans of the American Civil War on Memorial Day. The First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry brings history to life.

This video was filmed on Memorial Day of 2006. Americans have opened nearly 1,000 new graves to bury U.S. troops killed in Iraq in the year since.

RELATED VIDEO:: Vlogmatic.com visited Fort Snelling on Memorial Day

MORE ABOUT THE FIRST MINNESOTA: Power Line "Every Man Did His Whole Duty"

MUSIC: Frank C. Stanley, Tenting on the Old Camp Ground (1902)

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 01:53 AM | Comments (1)

May 25, 2007

Mall of America

As seen recently on Rocketboom, a quick look inside our beloved Mall of America with a little Southdale history thrown in for good measure.

This is slightly different from the Rocketboom version. It features a bonus photo of Hooters, but is missing the lightly anti-consumerism message at the end (no purchase necessary).

Have a great weekend, and send in your BBQ funtime summer videos!

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 03:22 AM | Comments (5)

May 23, 2007

Minneapolis Summer Incidents

Hey look, it's a rare video from The Honeys! Chuck and Lori have to tell you what's been going on in their backyard now that it's summer: Gunshots, petty theft, and beautiful surprises.

Share what's going on in your backyard. Make a video and drop us a line at story@mnstories.com. Operators are standing by.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 02:17 AM | Comments (11)

May 22, 2007

Ethiopian Dance

Are you ready to boogie down? This video is called "Guragegna at weddings" courtesy of Minneapolis-based video producer Biruk.

Somewhat Related Video:
Ethiopians Protest Carter, another Biruk-produced video

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 02:37 AM | Comments (1)

May 21, 2007

Immigration officials in Minneapolis

Twin Cities Daily Planet reports that U.S. Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents may have been working with Minneapolis police Saturday afternoon. In this video from Immigrant Rights Now, you can see an ICE agent apparently questioning a young Latino man while community members tell the young man to remain silent.

UPDATE:
25 indicted in alleged 'major prostitution ring' in Twin Cities (Star Tribune)

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 12:32 AM | Comments (2)

May 17, 2007

Bike to Work Week

These is way better than "Don't Buy Gas Day." This actually shifts your energy usage from oil to your body. Brian Barber submitted this pumpin' video of him taking his bike to work. Brian says, "If we can bike to work here in Duluth, it can be done anywhere."

This Friday, both Minneapolis and St. Paul are celebrating people walking or biking to work. More info here.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 01:44 AM | Comments (6)

May 16, 2007

The Corpse Flower Blooms

Time lapse video of the Gustavus Adolphus College corpse flower (titan arum) named Perry as it bloomed on May 12th, 2007. Apparently, the rarely-blooming flower smells like rotting meat. Mmm-mmm!

Related Link:
KARE-11 story on the corpse flower

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 03:07 PM | Comments (3)

May 15, 2007

Sculptor of Debris

Twin Cities-based director Mark Wojahn profiles artist David Hamlow. Hamlow saved five years of product packaging and created a geodesic dome - forcing him (and us) to confront and question that vast, seldom-seen quantity of consumption.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 06:47 AM | Comments (5)

May 14, 2007

Climate Porn

Minnesota House Deputy Republican Leader Tom Emmer gives us his take on climate science. (Hat tip: Aaron Landry)

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 02:51 PM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2007

Jim Ruiz sings "Minneapolis"

After not playing for six years, Jim Ruiz stepped onto the 7th Street Entry stage and reclaimed his "Legendary" status, along with a great band: Allison LaBonne (The Owls) on acoustic bass, Peter Anderson (The Honeydogs, etc.) on drums, and Kim Anderson (Tin Star Sisters) on marimba.

Here's the group playing our beloved theme song, "Minneapolis."

More video from Legendary Jim Ruiz live show

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 08:28 AM | Comments (2)

May 10, 2007

Painting a mural in Mexico

Minnesota artist Jim Grafsgaard writes:
This mural was created in the small village of Santiago Tejupan in Oaxaca, Mexico during February 2007. I designed it for the newly organized Casa de Cultura, at the invitation of the Director, Patricia Mendoza. We had the help and participation of about 25 adults and children for the 2 week project, and generous support from the municipal president to help buy materials.

RELATED EVENT:
"TU CASA es MI CASA" @ Gallery 13 - a benefit art fiesta for the Casa de Cultura of Tejupan Mexico

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 03:42 AM | Comments (1)

May 09, 2007

Teens Encounter Christ

Exciting! Awesome! Spiritual! All this can be yours through Southern Minnesota Teens Encounter Christ. A guided three-day weekend will have you surrounded in "prayers, scripture, discipleship, and God’s Agape Love." And maybe some rockin' tunes, if this video is any indication.

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

May 08, 2007

Finding Morel Mushrooms

From YouTube user spaceman455:

I went into the woods close to our home here in S.E. Minnesota and found a few of them today 05/07/07. Its going to be a fantastic season for Morels here in Minnesota this year! In the past 4 days out looking I have brought home 388 tasty morel mushrooms ! Yummy !

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 01:33 AM | Comments (6)

May 07, 2007

The BENT Festival

The BENT Festival visited Intermedia Arts in April 2007. Local circuit bending artists were showing off their wares and making a ruckus, including the irrepressibly cute duo beatrix*jar.

. . .

GEEK NOTES: This video was made with a Nokia N93. You can see it gets rather pixelated with concert footage, which actually looks cool with this genre. It looks much better with adequate light. It's possible to edit in-camera as well, but this was edited in iMovie. For some reason iMovie messed up the sound under titles and transitions, probably because it's not great at handling MP4 video files. All in all the N93 is a fun little camera to have in your pocket if you're using it as your phone and only want to carry one device.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 03:17 AM | Comments (4)

May 04, 2007

E-ride Industries

The Rake magazine... now with video. Pimp My E-Ride profiles electric car entrepreneur John Herou of e-ride Industries, located in Princeton, MN.

Produced by Cristina Cordova of Chasing Windmills fame.

. . .

Minnesota Stories is powered by you. If you've been whipping out your camera this spring, drop a line to story@mnstories.com.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 01:13 AM | Comments (2)

May 03, 2007

"Shinders to Borders"

Here's a cool Minneapolis story for you: "A short film about a dirty old block, currently wearing new cheap makeup." That would be Block E, once home to rowdy punks and drunks. Now home to... shoppers and drunks?

A film by artist Stewart Van Cleve. YouTube version here.

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 05:22 AM | Comments (4)

May 02, 2007

Town Ball

TOWN BALL: The Glory Days of Minnesota Amateur Baseball is a new book from the University of Minnesota Press about Minnesota’s town team baseball from 1945 to 1960.

This is a video trailer for the book - a novel idea, wouldn't you say?

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 03:40 AM | Comments (1)

May 01, 2007

Roll Overs... Seatbelts... Live or Die

The carnage! Fortunately only stuffed people were harmed in the making of this video, but the message is serious and aimed at prom-going teens: If you're not buckled up, you could be seriously hurt in a vehicular rollover.

Filmed by Duane Kuss of DigElog ROCORI at ROCORI High School. Demonstration by the Cold Spring Police Department and Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD).

Posted by Minnesota Stories at 12:39 AM | Comments (0)